Title: Acting The Part Author: Pattyanne snapkik@yahoo.com Disclaimer: None of the BtVS characters belong to me. Feedback: Love it! Rating: Up to NC-17 Summary: William St. James is the star of a hit television show. While appearing at a fan convention, he meets Buffy and her six year old daughter. Part three.... Ordinarily, Buffy would have been instantly suspicious and on high alert at the sight of a relative stranger approaching her child and engaging her in conversation. Both she and the public school system had spent a great deal of time and energy hammering home the lesson 'Don't talk to people that you don't know and do NOT...under ANY circumstances...go anywhere with them!' Secretly, she had always harbored a deep fear that Melanie's crippling shyness would derail whatever lessons she had assimilated, preventing her from causing a scene should anyone try anything. It was one of the many worries that went hand-in-hand with raising a child in an increasingly dangerous world, a world that seemed to prey on them in a brutal fashion. These troublesome thoughts, along with the other day to day fears, were the monsters in her closet that sometimes prevented her from sleeping. She worried about everything; whether Melanie was getting proper nutrition...or if she was getting enough rest. Was she being teased in school? And what about her teeth? Were they going to come in straight, or might she need braces someday? Was she too warm? Too cold? Sleeping too much? Not sleeping enough? Whenever she caught a cold, Buffy fretted that it might turn into something worse. Childhood disease was very high on her anxiety scale, even though she knew that the odds of Melanie developing one were in her favor. Logically, she knew it...but in the middle of the night, the time when all her worst fears began to run through her agitated mind on an endless loop...she still feared it. She worried about leukemia, juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, encephalitis, meningitis, undetected heart disease, immune system deficiencies, influenza, hepatitis, fatal allergic reactions, tetanus, epilepsy, and every virus known to man. Even the lesser evils...such as chicken pox...scared her. Since she couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her baby, she was afraid that she sometimes overcompen- sated for it with her extreme protectiveness, leaving her with a guilt trip a mile wide over the notion that it had perhaps contributed to Melanie's compulsive shyness. Buffy also worried about fires and earthquakes, about killer bees and tainted food, about car crashes and stray dogs. She felt perfectly justified in that last one because Melanie...who was sometimes shy to the point of tears with people...had no qualms whatsoever about animals. She would fearlessly approach any that she came across, confident that every four legged creature in the world was as gentle as she was. And, ironically, she worried about whether she worried too much. Of course, she HAD to do all the worrying...since Angel did none of it. ****************************** "Why are you all by yourself here?" William asked. "I'm not. Mommy's getting lunch. See?" She pointed over his shoulder. He turned around to look, and sure enough, Melanie's mother was standing at the cash register paying for her purchases. No father around at all, it looked like. Sticking his hands in his front pockets, he leaned against the table. "So...did your Daddy come along with you today?" he asked casually. Melanie shook her head solemnly. "No." She was frustratingly brief in her reply. If he wanted more information, he'd have to dig for it. He definitely did. "He stayed home, then?" "I guess so," the little girl shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe." Not helpful at all. He was trying to come up with another way of finding out her mother's marital status when Melanie solved the problem for him by herself. "My daddy lives somewheres else," she informed him. "Oh. I get it." Although he was happy to hear that Melanie's mommy might be available, he felt a pang of guilt for being pleased that this beautiful child's home was broken. But he comforted himself with the thought that anyone stupid enough to leave this little girl and her mother really didn't deserve them in the first place, and surely they were better off without him. He decided to change the subject. "Are you having fun today?" "Oh, yes," she said, giving him a smile that melted his heart. "I liked talking to you." William returned her smile. "Well, I like talking to you, too," he said sincerely. "Are you going to be staying for the party tonight?" She nibbled her lower lip for a moment. "What time is it at?" "I think it starts at 9:30." Melanie shook her head, making her curls bounce. "I have to go to bed at 8:00," she informed him. "Even on Saturday?" he asked. "Uh-huh. I can only stay up late on Wednesday." He felt another tug at his heart. "Mommy lets you stay up for the show?" "Yes." "Does she like it, too?" Melanie crossed her arms in front of her on the table, and laid her cheek against them. "She's only ever watched it once," she said, yawning. "She says mostly TV isn't very good anyway." William chuckled. "Well, she's right about that," he said. "Sometimes she watches movies with me." "Oh, yeah? What's your favorite movie?" She thought about it for a moment. "The Little Mermaid." she said. "What's yours?" He imitated her thoughtful look. "Promise you won't laugh?" Melanie nodded. "The Wizard of Oz," he stage whispered. "Oh, I like that, too!" ****************************** Buffy took a tighter grip on the tray in her hands, heading for the table where her daughter sat. As she got closer, she saw that Melanie seemed to be completely at ease with William St. James. She wasn't displaying any of the telltale signs of shyness. There was no ducking of her head, or turning her face in the other direction. She wasn't fidgeting or twisting her little fingers together, and her voice was fairly audible, even from a distance. Wondering just what kind of magic tricks this guy was capable of, she sailed up to the table and set the lunch tray down. "Hi." He straightened up and smiled right at her. "Hello," she murmured, trying not to conjure up any memories of those X-rated fairy tales she'd read the other night. "I hope you don't mind...I saw Melanie sitting here and..." "No," she said quickly. "I don't mind...if Melanie doesn't" Melanie sat up. "I don't mind, either," she said, examining the food on the tray. There was a moment of silence, then William said, "Well, what are you having for lunch?" Melanie pulled the top slice of bread from the sandwich and studied the ingredients. "Tuna fish," she said, wrinkling her little nose up. "Yuck." Buffy stared at her daughter. "What do you mean, yuck?" she asked. "You love tuna fish." The child regarded her with a steady look. "Fish are friends," she intoned, "not food." "Oh, for..." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Melanie...stop quoting 'Finding Nemo' and eat your lunch," she said firmly. Opening a carton of chocolate milk, she poured it into a paper cup and placed it in front of her daughter. "Come on, now. Take a big bite." Anything but resigned to her fate, Melanie sighed. "It's got things in it, Mommy," she complained. Buffy sat down wearily. "Things? What things?" William was having a difficult time keeping his mirth under control as he listened to the conversation, and was already sure in his mind who would prevail. "What's this?" Melanie held out her little palm, showing her mother a piece of something covered in mayonnaise. Buffy looked. "It's a little piece of celery." "I don't like celery," the girl said promptly. "Melanie..." "But, I don't!" Deciding it was time to wade into the troubled waters before the little one talked herself into trouble, William finally spoke up. "It may be none of my business," he said to Buffy, "and feel free to tell me to butt out...but I'd be happy to get her something else to eat. If you wouldn't mind, that is." By this point, Buffy was too tired to protest. "You're sure it's no trouble?" "Not for me, it isn't," he said, letting his eyes linger a bit on her pretty face. He pulled a cell phone out of his jacket pocket and punched a number. Buffy was the first to drop her eyes. "Jen..it's me," William said to whoever had answered his call. "Can you have...wait a minute..." He looked at Melanie and smiled. "What do you want, pixie? You name it and it's yours." Melanie didn't hesitate. "Peanut butter and jelly?" He nodded. "Jen, I want a peanut butter and jelly sand- wich...yeah...uh, grape?...okay...have them bring it to the buffet area...no, I'm not kidding...good...thanks." He stuck the phone back in his pocket. "Just a couple of minutes," he promised. ****************************** Buffy sat back, watching as he continued to engage Melanie in conversation, asking her about school and answering her questions about 'Outpost:Space'. Ten minutes after a member of the kitchen staff arrived with Melanie's sandwich, William glanced at his watch and sighed. "I hate to say it, but I have to go. Got to attend the photo op and sign some autographs." It was officially the last thing he felt like doing at the moment. Normally, he didn't mind in the slightest, figuring it was the least he could do for all the people who were nice enough to support the show, but today he had other things on his mind....a sweetheart of a little girl, and her beautiful mother. "I'm going to do that!" Melanie said cheerily. All of a sudden, things were looking up! "Great!" he said, staring at Buffy. "I'll be looking for you...." "Buffy" Melanie supplied. Unable to stop himself, he smiled at Melanie and brushed her curls back from her face. "See you later, pixie," he said, forcing his feet to start moving. "Okay." ****************************** "Mommy....can I have some more chocolate milk?" Buffy dragged her eyes off of William's retreating back and onto her daughter's face. "Sure, baby...here you go." "Thank you." She took a swallow, leaving a chocolate mustache on her upper lip. "He's really nice," she said, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. Her mother took over the job with a napkin. "Yes, he is." She sat back and looked into Melanie's eyes. "You like him very much...don't you?" "Uh-huh. Don't you?" Buffy smiled and nodded. "Uh-huh." TBC.....