ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
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BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
11,815
Reviews:
182
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Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
11,815
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
BIRTHDAY PLANS
CHAPTER 116 - BIRTHDAY PLANS
JANUARY 15, 2009
WEDNESDAY
9:30PM
"I think I'm out for the count," Buffy said, woefully, standing by the bedroom door, her nose red and sore, looking over to William who was working on a paper for tomorrow night's class. The cold she'd gotten last week was now in full swing and between teaching all day and going to school last night, it was making her feel run down. Like shit, would be another way to describe it.
"Goodnight, luv. I'll be in as soon as I can," William said, ing ing up and walking over to her to give her a hug and a kiss.
"You don't want to catch this, believe me," she warned, turning so his kiss landed on her cheek instead of her lips.
"Ah, Elizabeth," he said, in mock seriousness, putting his hand up to her face to caress it, and giving her a little wink, "know I'll share all with you, luv, even your germs."
That did it, he got her to grin.
"Very chivalrous of you William, and my germs and I thank you," she said, coughing, "but I'm sure you won't be doing any thanking, should my illness bearing visitors decide to pay you a call."
He chuckled.
"Night, don't stay up too late," Buffy said, as she went into the bedroom.
"I won't, I'm almost done," he said, going back to the desk.
He stretched before he sat down, then decided to get a bottle of water from the refrigerator. It was hard being a student again, not that one forgot how, just that now, he had other responsibilities to attend to as well.
He'd been in the zone, but now the little break to tell Elizabeth goodnight, had broken his concentration.
There was one little thing he had to check online in regards to his paper anyway, so he decided to log on.
Might as well check his email while he was on, he reasoned, not unlike any other modern student happy for the distraction.
There was the usual junk mail, an email from the university, and one from Xander and Dawn, as well. He opened the one from Dawn first.
It read:
01/15/09
7:13pm
Dear William,
Buffy me me you signed up for a couple of classes. So, how does if feel to be a student again? The pressure, the work, the late nights? Welcome to my world. Ha-ha.
I know, you just started, so you probably haven’t experienced the full joy of all that yet.
I’m teasing! I have every confidence that you’ll do fine, and I think it’s a good thing that you did this.
The reason I’m writing is to remind you (if you didn’t remember) that Buffy’s 28th birthday is next Tuesday, thst. st.
Call or email me if you need some ideas, or if you want to run some by me.
Love,
Dawn
P.S. I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but Buffy has had some pretty bad birthdays in the past, so she usually likes to ignore them or down play them. Almost like a superstition. Just thought you should know that, in case she gets all weird or something, that it’s not anything you’ll have done or not done.
The next letter was from Xander, which had been sent a few days before.
It read:
01/13/04
William,
Alex and I both wanted to tell you and Buffy again how much we’re enjoying the remote control cars you sent us.
I’m glad that you liked the toolbox and the tools.
Thanks for sending Alex the photo of his picture he made up on your refrigerator. He got a real kick out of that, made him proud, I think.
Next spring, I expect you to make good use of the fishing pole, so when we come to visit, you’ll be able to show us the best watering holes.
Angela and Ann say hi, too. Well, at least Angela does, Ann just says, ‘Wum and ‘Buh.’
Oh, before I forget and get bitched at for it, I spoke to Willow today. When I told her I was going to email you, she told, no, not told, ordered me to tell you that it is Buffy’s birthday next week. I leave you to take it from there.
Xander
He had forgot, he thought, guiltily. Not that he supposed he could be held responsible for that, since he’d only been told her birthday once, and that was in the RV on their trip across country. Still, now that he knew, what was he going to do for her? Buy her?
He checked his Buddy List and found Dawn online.
WSW: Dawn?
DSCG: William?
WSW: yes, it’s William
DSCG: how’s it going?
WSW: I’m well, Elizabeth has a cold. I just came online to look up something for a paper I’m writing and saw your email. I’m glad you did remind me (Xander just wrote and Willow told him to remind me, too) about Elizabeth’s birthday. I wouldn’t have remembered.
D no no problem. did you even know?
WSW: Willow, Elizabeth, and I talked about our birthdays in the RV once, but no, I wouldn’t have remembered it from that conversation. What do you think?
Should I take her somewhere nice, or just buy her a nice gift and have a quiet day? You said something about her not liking her birthday.
DSCG: well, she didn’t in the past, but she may be a bit more willing to celebrate now.
WSW: why?
DSCG: why do you think? because of you, silly man!
WSW: Oh. *smiling* Still, I don’t want to do something that she won’t like, so I think I need yourice.ice.
DSCG: why don’t you just ask her ahead of time? I mean, I know she surprised you on yours, but I think that would be your best bet...see what she sounds like when you bring it up.
WSW: Do you think she’d be honest about it? I mean, what if she says do nothing, then she’s angry at me, because I didn’t.
DSCG: well, you’ll never go wrong getting her a gift. I wouldn’t even bother asking her if that’s alright or not, only if you wanted to do something else. Technically speaking though, her birthday is in the middle of the week, and so if you want to do something for her, say on the weekend before or after, then she should be less anxious about it.
WSW: That’s a good idea, Dawn! In fact, we even have school that night and work during the day. Wonder if we can skip a class that night? I think I must now be remembering what it’s like to be a student, because I’m looking to get out of it already!
DSCG: LOL
WSW: LOL. Well, better get back to my paper, so I can finish and go to bed. Elizabeth already turned in, because of the cold.
DSCG: Bye William. If you need any help on ideas, call or email.
WSW: Okay. Bye Dawn.
William quickly finished what he had to do for school, turned off the computer, and finished up his paper. He hit the print button, took the papers out of the tray and put them into his backpack, after putting then into a folder.
Going into the bedroom he heard Elizabeth snoring. Snoring? Ah, the cold, he reminded himself. She said that he snored sometimes, but of course he didn’t believe her.
He got ready for bed and lay down beside her. She stirred beside him and he drew her to him, closing his eyes.
She’d made his birthday so memorable, he hoped that he could do something as nice for hers.
He fell asleep, ideas rolling around in his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JANUARY 17, 2009
FRIDAY
7:00AM
Buffy felt him watching her from across the kitchen table before she looked up. Not that she didn’t often feel him watching her, but then again, she did the same thing. She guessed it was just a thing between them. Neither of them ever taking the other for granted after all they’d been through to come to this point.
Still...
“What?” she asked, as she looked up and caught him.
“What’s what?” he asked innocently.
“I dunno, you tell me. You’re the one staring.”
“Just thinking,” he replied.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
He shook his head. “Not even worth a ha’penny. Oh, I did want to tell you that I’ll be driving myself today, so you don’t have to pick me up.”
“Why?”
“Got somewhere to go after work.”
“Where?”
William sighed. She wasn’t making this easy, and he hated to lie, but...”I’m meeting Clem at the hardware store. I asked him if he’d show me what I might need to refinish the bathroom floor, that you’ve been complaining about.”
“I didn’t complain. Only made mention of it; more than once,” she said, grinning. “I could go with, look at some new flooring...”
“No, I’m not even going to be looking at that stuff yet. Just some sub-flooring stuff and patching stuff. You should rest, help yourself get over your cold. I’ll bring home some dinner afterwards, okay?”
“Okay,” she said; feeling a bit left out.
“Good then,” William said, getting up and pouring coffee into their two ‘to go’ cups. He’d have to remember to call Clem later so they could get their stories straight. In fact, maybe he would actually do that, as well as go shopping for a birthday present for Elizabeth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JANUARY 19, 2009
SUNDAY
9:00PM
William waited until he heard the water running in the bathroom, before picking up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Dawn? It’s William.”
“Hey, William, how’s it going? Is something wrong?”
“No, nothings wrong. Well, not exactly, only, I’ve been out shopping twice, and I still can’t figure out what to get for Elizabeth for her birthday.”
“Twice, huh?”
“Yeah, told her I was meeting Clem at the hardware store the other day, which actually we did do, too...but that’s besides the point. Then I went yesterday, after I was finished helping Edna at the restaurant. Even looked at the stuff they have for sale, and I just...I don’t know,” he said miserably.
“Poor William,” Dawn offered. “Did you talk to Buffy about it?”
“No...I tried to talk to the professors about letting us make up the classes on Tuesday, but one of mine was being a right git about it, and I didn’t want to press him. Not that I’d care, mind you, if I had something special in mind. But I was afraid Elizabeth would take issue with my making one of my professors angry with me...”
“I think you’re over-thinking the whole thing, William,” Dawn said.
“I know, I know.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Well, I think I’ve come up with a good idea, tell me what you think...”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JANUARY 21, 2009
TUESDAY
6:05AM
Buffy moaned hearing the alarm go off. She pressed the snooze button and went back to sleep, but not before she felt William get up.
The alarm went off again. She opened her eyes to see William standing there with a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, luv,” he said.
She smiled up sleepily at him, “Morning,” she said, propping herself up and reaching for the cup, “ Thanks. What’s the occasion?”
“Why? Can’t a fellow do something nice without it being an occasion?” he asked, smiling.
“Of course he can,” she replied. Well, it was her birthday, but she didn’t think he knew. She hadn’t said anything, and her her had he. She figured he most definitely would have, had he known.
She was glad that he didn’t. She hated her birthdays.
Buffy got up and took her shower, and came out to the kitchen.
William was just putting breakfast on the table. It was French Toast, which is usually something they only had on the weekends.
She looked at him quizzically, but didn’t say anything. Oh well, gift horse and all that. Might as well enjoy it, even if he didn’t know that it was making her feel all birthday special.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usually, during the morning, she’d see him about numerous times as he went about his job at the school, but today she hadn’t. She’d even asked Marilyn if she’d seen him during the morning, but she reported that she’d only seen him before 9:00am.
She idly wondered if perhaps Mrs. Carpello had him working outside today, or had sent him to the store for supplies.
Around noon, one of the kids from the other classes came into hers to tell her that the office needed her to come down for a minute.
She left the classroom, but not before getting a grin from her assistant, which she wondered about.
When Buffy walked into the office, the first thing she spotted was a huge bouquet of flowers, consisting of yellow and white roses, a huge orange chrysanthemum, a bird of paradise, and a smattering of baby’s breath and greenery.
“Wow, is that gorgeous,” Buffy said, turning to the secretary, who was grinning at her.
Buffy smiled back, “What? Didn’t you call me down?”
“Elizabeth! Look at the card!”
She looked at Sue, her eyes big.
Sue nodded.
Buffy took the tiny envelope out from the middle of the bouquet and pulled out the card.
“Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!”
Please come home.
You’ve been released
From your teaching duties at
Montessori for the rest of the day.
Love,
William
Buffy looked up at the crowd that had now gathered around her. She spotted Mrs. Carpello, who nodded at her.
“Happy Birthday, Elizabeth. William called me over the weekend to see if I would let you out early today and I agreed.”
Buffy shook her head, “No, I shouldn’t...”
“It’s alright, really. We’ve got your class covered for the rest of the day. Go on home now, I insist,” Mrs. Carpello urged, “and have fun!”
Buffy smiled and got her coat. She grabbed the bouquet of flowers and headed for the door.
“Oh, one more thing,” Sue called after her, “William said he was getting a ride home with your neighbor, so he’s already there.”
“Thanks,” Buffy said.
Buffy got to her car. There was a single yellow rose underneath the windshield wipers. She smiled and took it out, careful not to break the stem, and put it in with the rest of the bouquet.
She pulled up in front of the house 10 minutes later, not knowing what to expect.
As soon as she walked in the front door, she could smell food. She quietly walked into the kitchen, where William, his back to her, was busy doing something at the stove...frosting a cake? Her eyes swept around the room, taking in his efforts. A large Mylar birthday balloon hovered over the kitchen table, floating above its pink, decorative weight. There was also a large glass bowl, filled with her favorite chocolates, a bottle of wine, and a huge to-go bowl of her favorite Mandarin Orange and Shrimp Salad from a place in San Diego, which she and William had stopped at once.
She looked over at the counter, and could also see a pizza box from her favorite place in town.
William turned around and saw her; “You’re home!” he said, grinning, as he walked over to her. He stopped and kissed her softly on the lips, “Happy Birthday, luv.”
“You did all this?” she asked, her eyes on his.
He shrugged, “I knew we couldn’t go out tonight because of school, and Dawn told me you didn’t like to....I just wanted you to have a nice day with some of your favorite things. I know it’s not much...”
Buffy swallowed the lump in her throat, “Thank you,” she said, putting her arms around his neck.
Clem stops by briefly to wish her a happy birthday and to drop over their mail. Along with the bills and advertisements, there are birthday cards for her with return addresses from England, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. She thanks him for that, and for the Mandarin Orange and Shrimp Salad he's picked up for her, at William's request, earlier that morning.
William and Clem stand there in the kitchen talking about the unlikely dual subjects of remodeling the bathroom and the finer points of frosting a cake, when she suddenly remembers her birthday in Sunnydale 7 years ago, when they came by. The faces of Clem the demon and Spike, his still black and blue, superimpose themselves over them for a moment. Imperceptibly shuddering, she blinks away the painful image.
Clem is gone and Buffy is standing next to William as he frosts a cake, pretending to be just a bit embarrassed by the unmanly act of it. She knows it’s just for show and that he’s enjoying doing it for her.
“I love your face,” she says to him suddenly, reaching out to caress his cheek.
William turns to her, with a half-smile, half-quizzical look; “I love your face, too. Love you,” he says, and puts a dab of frosting on her nose, which he then kisses off.
Buffy spends the next 6 hours being pampered, from her favorite foods, to a nice long bubble bath, complete with candles, wine, and chocolate.
Afterwards there had been a massage, lovemaking, and a nap, before they’d reluctantly had to get up to get ready for their evening classes.
She’s daydreaming during classes that evening, just thinking about how lovely her birthday had turned out to be. Not since she’d been a child, before her parents divorced, could she remember being so happy with the outcome.
Maybe that had been the trick all along - no expectations.
Even when she’d told herself that she didn’t have any in the past, somewhere in her heart, she’d still wanted something or someone to make her feel special one day a year.
It had been so much easier, since coming up here five years ago, to just totally give up wanting anything, on her birthday or any other day. Just live, just survive; reasonably well, if not happily.
But now there was William, and he was constantly surprising her in the smallest and largest of ways. He seemed to almost intuit her needs, even before she did.
Perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that her and Spike’s souls had truly become a part of each other’s during those last moments in the Hellmouth. Yet even before, Spike had always seen to her needs, those she didn’t admit to, didn’t lay claim to, those she wasn’t aware of having in her heart of hearts.
And now William was, too. Today, he had done just the right things, kept it simple, but yet so special.
God, she loved him!
“...isn’t that correct, Ms Worthington? Ms. Worthington?” her professor addressed her, “did you come for an education tonight, or just to stare off into space?”
“Yes,” she answered, fully aware of the vagueness in her answer, and for once, enjoying the look of dismay it caused.
She smirked to herself.
When her class ended, she hurried down the hall, until she got to William’s class, which ended later than hers. For some reason, she had butterflies in her stomach waiting for him to come out.
She smiled at her own silliness, her neediness, but her cup ‘o happiness just runneth over today, and she was going to go with it.
When he finally came out of his classroom fifteen minutes later, he was engaged in conversation with a pretty, dark haired, fellow student, almost missing her standing there in the process.
Feeling a bit let down, she tapped him on the arm. William spun around, smiling, then frowning a bit, as he saw her slightly hurt expression, which she didn’t quite manage to hide in time, “Hi, luv,” he said, putting his arm around her, “Sorry I didn’t see you, I was busy talking,” he apologized.
She didn’t say anything.
“Elizabeth, this is Wendy...um, sorry, forgot your last name.”
“Morrisey.”
“Wendy Morrisey, Elizabeth Worthington,” he said, introducing them.
“Nice to meet you, “Wendy said, but not before Buffy saw her eyebrows raise slightly at the mention of her last name.
“Nice to meet you, too. Are you enjoying the class as much as William is?” Buffy asked politely.
“Oh, I totally am,” she gushed, “Dr. Wittman just leads the most interesting discussions, doesn’t he William?”
William nodded, “Yes, very enlightening.”
“Well, that’s always a good thing,” Buffy said, then turned towards William, hopefully dismissing the interloper with her body language, if she got the hint.
She took his hand in hers and squeezed it; “You ready to go home?”
“Always,” he said, softly, as he looked into hazel eyes that were looking at him with such tenderness right then, that it made his heart ache.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carly, came out of the class and turned her head in the direction Wendy was looking, “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” Wendy said.
“Is that William?” Carly asked, her eyes catching the back of two figures, hands entwined, leaning towards each other.
“Yeah, him and his wife,” Wendy said.
“He’s married?” Carly asked, surprised. He didn’t strike her as a guy who could even get a date.
“I guess so, has the same last name as his.”
“Maybe it’s his sister,” Carly said.
“I don’t think so and eww if it was! I definitely didn’t get a sister vibe from her. More like a, ‘that’s my man, keep your hands off,’ sort of vibe.”
“Somebody gave a vibe like that to you over William?” Carly said, guffawing.
“Sure, why not?”
Carly turned to look at her, “Have you listened to this guy when he talks in class? He’s so...I dunno, let’s see, an egghead, naive, dorky, weird?”
“You think? I think he’s kinda cute, and he has a nice voice,” Wendy said, as she watched the two figures exit the building.
Carly snorted, “Oh yeah, he’s soooo Masterpiece Theater!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They walked hand in hand to the campus parking lot. Buffy felt almost giddy. Good grief, she thought, half-mocking herself. What the hell did he put in that wine? Or was it the chocolate? All this happy stuff, this can’t be good! Too good to be good!
And yet it was. Good as it got.
“I’m sorry, this can’ t wait any longer!” Buffy said, dropping her backpack and kissing William as soon as they were in front of her car. He dropped his, too. Leaning into her, his hands running up her sides, until they was one was in her hair, the other around her back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carly and Wendy chatted as they walked to their cars. Suddenly, Wendy stopped, as she pointed to a couple leaning up against a car a few rows away, oblivious to their surroundings.
“Is that?” Carly whispered.
Wendy nodded, gulping.
They heard the woman moan.
“Sheesh! Tonsil hockey much? Get a room,” Carly snickered.
“Shhh!” Wendy felt herself flush. William didn’t look too dorky from her perspective, in fact he seemed pretty sexy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before they’d gone to bed, he’d surprised her one more time by telling her that he had booked reservations for them at the Capistrano Seaside Inn for the following weekend. He said Dawn and John would be joining them there, at least for dinner, since they weren’t sure if they could stay overnight on Saturday or not, but if she wanted to change the reservations to another time, that was alright, too.
Buffy was curled up next to William; her hand drawing invisible doodles on his chest, still basking in the afterglow of the best birthday she’d had in recent history.
“Always hated them,” she said, sleepily, shaking her head in wonder.
“What? Or is it a who?” William asked.
“Birthdays. Well, mine, to be exact.”
“Why, luv?” he asked gently, already having been told as much by Dawn.
“Lot’s of reasons; either bad things happened or be disappointed by...”
She stopped talking, raising up on her elbow so she could look at William.
“What I wanted to really say is thank you for today; for making this birthday so special.”
“I didn’t do much,” William said, shaking his head.
“You did. You made me feel special. All day. But then you always do.”
“See? What did I tell you?” he chuckled.
“Extra special, then. Okay?” she asked, laughing as she playfully slapped him.
His face grew serious. “You can hate the day before your birthday, or the day after, but never your birthday. I won’t allow it!” he said.
The internal feminist model Buffy fought for a second with the pick your battles wisely Elizabeth, over the word ‘allow,’ before the latter won out.
“Why’s that?”
William put his hands on either sides of her face, staring into her eyes for a few minutes before stating the obvious, “Because you were born that day, Elizabeth, and because I love you and everything about you. So, you’re not allowed to hate anything about the woman I love, including the day she was born. Day you were born. That’s why,” he said, kissing her, “that’s why.”
END CHAPTER 116
Sorry this has taken so long to update. I'm trying hard to work out some details and choices I have to make in this story, and that's just derailed the flow of the process.
Hopefully, it will become clear to me soon.
Until then, enjoy the chapters.
Oh, and don't forget to R & R...as someone said to me (and you know who you are), "If feedback is your crack..." LOL
JANUARY 15, 2009
WEDNESDAY
9:30PM
"I think I'm out for the count," Buffy said, woefully, standing by the bedroom door, her nose red and sore, looking over to William who was working on a paper for tomorrow night's class. The cold she'd gotten last week was now in full swing and between teaching all day and going to school last night, it was making her feel run down. Like shit, would be another way to describe it.
"Goodnight, luv. I'll be in as soon as I can," William said, ing ing up and walking over to her to give her a hug and a kiss.
"You don't want to catch this, believe me," she warned, turning so his kiss landed on her cheek instead of her lips.
"Ah, Elizabeth," he said, in mock seriousness, putting his hand up to her face to caress it, and giving her a little wink, "know I'll share all with you, luv, even your germs."
That did it, he got her to grin.
"Very chivalrous of you William, and my germs and I thank you," she said, coughing, "but I'm sure you won't be doing any thanking, should my illness bearing visitors decide to pay you a call."
He chuckled.
"Night, don't stay up too late," Buffy said, as she went into the bedroom.
"I won't, I'm almost done," he said, going back to the desk.
He stretched before he sat down, then decided to get a bottle of water from the refrigerator. It was hard being a student again, not that one forgot how, just that now, he had other responsibilities to attend to as well.
He'd been in the zone, but now the little break to tell Elizabeth goodnight, had broken his concentration.
There was one little thing he had to check online in regards to his paper anyway, so he decided to log on.
Might as well check his email while he was on, he reasoned, not unlike any other modern student happy for the distraction.
There was the usual junk mail, an email from the university, and one from Xander and Dawn, as well. He opened the one from Dawn first.
It read:
01/15/09
7:13pm
Dear William,
Buffy me me you signed up for a couple of classes. So, how does if feel to be a student again? The pressure, the work, the late nights? Welcome to my world. Ha-ha.
I know, you just started, so you probably haven’t experienced the full joy of all that yet.
I’m teasing! I have every confidence that you’ll do fine, and I think it’s a good thing that you did this.
The reason I’m writing is to remind you (if you didn’t remember) that Buffy’s 28th birthday is next Tuesday, thst. st.
Call or email me if you need some ideas, or if you want to run some by me.
Love,
Dawn
P.S. I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but Buffy has had some pretty bad birthdays in the past, so she usually likes to ignore them or down play them. Almost like a superstition. Just thought you should know that, in case she gets all weird or something, that it’s not anything you’ll have done or not done.
The next letter was from Xander, which had been sent a few days before.
It read:
01/13/04
William,
Alex and I both wanted to tell you and Buffy again how much we’re enjoying the remote control cars you sent us.
I’m glad that you liked the toolbox and the tools.
Thanks for sending Alex the photo of his picture he made up on your refrigerator. He got a real kick out of that, made him proud, I think.
Next spring, I expect you to make good use of the fishing pole, so when we come to visit, you’ll be able to show us the best watering holes.
Angela and Ann say hi, too. Well, at least Angela does, Ann just says, ‘Wum and ‘Buh.’
Oh, before I forget and get bitched at for it, I spoke to Willow today. When I told her I was going to email you, she told, no, not told, ordered me to tell you that it is Buffy’s birthday next week. I leave you to take it from there.
Xander
He had forgot, he thought, guiltily. Not that he supposed he could be held responsible for that, since he’d only been told her birthday once, and that was in the RV on their trip across country. Still, now that he knew, what was he going to do for her? Buy her?
He checked his Buddy List and found Dawn online.
WSW: Dawn?
DSCG: William?
WSW: yes, it’s William
DSCG: how’s it going?
WSW: I’m well, Elizabeth has a cold. I just came online to look up something for a paper I’m writing and saw your email. I’m glad you did remind me (Xander just wrote and Willow told him to remind me, too) about Elizabeth’s birthday. I wouldn’t have remembered.
D no no problem. did you even know?
WSW: Willow, Elizabeth, and I talked about our birthdays in the RV once, but no, I wouldn’t have remembered it from that conversation. What do you think?
Should I take her somewhere nice, or just buy her a nice gift and have a quiet day? You said something about her not liking her birthday.
DSCG: well, she didn’t in the past, but she may be a bit more willing to celebrate now.
WSW: why?
DSCG: why do you think? because of you, silly man!
WSW: Oh. *smiling* Still, I don’t want to do something that she won’t like, so I think I need yourice.ice.
DSCG: why don’t you just ask her ahead of time? I mean, I know she surprised you on yours, but I think that would be your best bet...see what she sounds like when you bring it up.
WSW: Do you think she’d be honest about it? I mean, what if she says do nothing, then she’s angry at me, because I didn’t.
DSCG: well, you’ll never go wrong getting her a gift. I wouldn’t even bother asking her if that’s alright or not, only if you wanted to do something else. Technically speaking though, her birthday is in the middle of the week, and so if you want to do something for her, say on the weekend before or after, then she should be less anxious about it.
WSW: That’s a good idea, Dawn! In fact, we even have school that night and work during the day. Wonder if we can skip a class that night? I think I must now be remembering what it’s like to be a student, because I’m looking to get out of it already!
DSCG: LOL
WSW: LOL. Well, better get back to my paper, so I can finish and go to bed. Elizabeth already turned in, because of the cold.
DSCG: Bye William. If you need any help on ideas, call or email.
WSW: Okay. Bye Dawn.
William quickly finished what he had to do for school, turned off the computer, and finished up his paper. He hit the print button, took the papers out of the tray and put them into his backpack, after putting then into a folder.
Going into the bedroom he heard Elizabeth snoring. Snoring? Ah, the cold, he reminded himself. She said that he snored sometimes, but of course he didn’t believe her.
He got ready for bed and lay down beside her. She stirred beside him and he drew her to him, closing his eyes.
She’d made his birthday so memorable, he hoped that he could do something as nice for hers.
He fell asleep, ideas rolling around in his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JANUARY 17, 2009
FRIDAY
7:00AM
Buffy felt him watching her from across the kitchen table before she looked up. Not that she didn’t often feel him watching her, but then again, she did the same thing. She guessed it was just a thing between them. Neither of them ever taking the other for granted after all they’d been through to come to this point.
Still...
“What?” she asked, as she looked up and caught him.
“What’s what?” he asked innocently.
“I dunno, you tell me. You’re the one staring.”
“Just thinking,” he replied.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
He shook his head. “Not even worth a ha’penny. Oh, I did want to tell you that I’ll be driving myself today, so you don’t have to pick me up.”
“Why?”
“Got somewhere to go after work.”
“Where?”
William sighed. She wasn’t making this easy, and he hated to lie, but...”I’m meeting Clem at the hardware store. I asked him if he’d show me what I might need to refinish the bathroom floor, that you’ve been complaining about.”
“I didn’t complain. Only made mention of it; more than once,” she said, grinning. “I could go with, look at some new flooring...”
“No, I’m not even going to be looking at that stuff yet. Just some sub-flooring stuff and patching stuff. You should rest, help yourself get over your cold. I’ll bring home some dinner afterwards, okay?”
“Okay,” she said; feeling a bit left out.
“Good then,” William said, getting up and pouring coffee into their two ‘to go’ cups. He’d have to remember to call Clem later so they could get their stories straight. In fact, maybe he would actually do that, as well as go shopping for a birthday present for Elizabeth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JANUARY 19, 2009
SUNDAY
9:00PM
William waited until he heard the water running in the bathroom, before picking up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Dawn? It’s William.”
“Hey, William, how’s it going? Is something wrong?”
“No, nothings wrong. Well, not exactly, only, I’ve been out shopping twice, and I still can’t figure out what to get for Elizabeth for her birthday.”
“Twice, huh?”
“Yeah, told her I was meeting Clem at the hardware store the other day, which actually we did do, too...but that’s besides the point. Then I went yesterday, after I was finished helping Edna at the restaurant. Even looked at the stuff they have for sale, and I just...I don’t know,” he said miserably.
“Poor William,” Dawn offered. “Did you talk to Buffy about it?”
“No...I tried to talk to the professors about letting us make up the classes on Tuesday, but one of mine was being a right git about it, and I didn’t want to press him. Not that I’d care, mind you, if I had something special in mind. But I was afraid Elizabeth would take issue with my making one of my professors angry with me...”
“I think you’re over-thinking the whole thing, William,” Dawn said.
“I know, I know.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Well, I think I’ve come up with a good idea, tell me what you think...”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JANUARY 21, 2009
TUESDAY
6:05AM
Buffy moaned hearing the alarm go off. She pressed the snooze button and went back to sleep, but not before she felt William get up.
The alarm went off again. She opened her eyes to see William standing there with a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, luv,” he said.
She smiled up sleepily at him, “Morning,” she said, propping herself up and reaching for the cup, “ Thanks. What’s the occasion?”
“Why? Can’t a fellow do something nice without it being an occasion?” he asked, smiling.
“Of course he can,” she replied. Well, it was her birthday, but she didn’t think he knew. She hadn’t said anything, and her her had he. She figured he most definitely would have, had he known.
She was glad that he didn’t. She hated her birthdays.
Buffy got up and took her shower, and came out to the kitchen.
William was just putting breakfast on the table. It was French Toast, which is usually something they only had on the weekends.
She looked at him quizzically, but didn’t say anything. Oh well, gift horse and all that. Might as well enjoy it, even if he didn’t know that it was making her feel all birthday special.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usually, during the morning, she’d see him about numerous times as he went about his job at the school, but today she hadn’t. She’d even asked Marilyn if she’d seen him during the morning, but she reported that she’d only seen him before 9:00am.
She idly wondered if perhaps Mrs. Carpello had him working outside today, or had sent him to the store for supplies.
Around noon, one of the kids from the other classes came into hers to tell her that the office needed her to come down for a minute.
She left the classroom, but not before getting a grin from her assistant, which she wondered about.
When Buffy walked into the office, the first thing she spotted was a huge bouquet of flowers, consisting of yellow and white roses, a huge orange chrysanthemum, a bird of paradise, and a smattering of baby’s breath and greenery.
“Wow, is that gorgeous,” Buffy said, turning to the secretary, who was grinning at her.
Buffy smiled back, “What? Didn’t you call me down?”
“Elizabeth! Look at the card!”
She looked at Sue, her eyes big.
Sue nodded.
Buffy took the tiny envelope out from the middle of the bouquet and pulled out the card.
“Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!”
Please come home.
You’ve been released
From your teaching duties at
Montessori for the rest of the day.
Love,
William
Buffy looked up at the crowd that had now gathered around her. She spotted Mrs. Carpello, who nodded at her.
“Happy Birthday, Elizabeth. William called me over the weekend to see if I would let you out early today and I agreed.”
Buffy shook her head, “No, I shouldn’t...”
“It’s alright, really. We’ve got your class covered for the rest of the day. Go on home now, I insist,” Mrs. Carpello urged, “and have fun!”
Buffy smiled and got her coat. She grabbed the bouquet of flowers and headed for the door.
“Oh, one more thing,” Sue called after her, “William said he was getting a ride home with your neighbor, so he’s already there.”
“Thanks,” Buffy said.
Buffy got to her car. There was a single yellow rose underneath the windshield wipers. She smiled and took it out, careful not to break the stem, and put it in with the rest of the bouquet.
She pulled up in front of the house 10 minutes later, not knowing what to expect.
As soon as she walked in the front door, she could smell food. She quietly walked into the kitchen, where William, his back to her, was busy doing something at the stove...frosting a cake? Her eyes swept around the room, taking in his efforts. A large Mylar birthday balloon hovered over the kitchen table, floating above its pink, decorative weight. There was also a large glass bowl, filled with her favorite chocolates, a bottle of wine, and a huge to-go bowl of her favorite Mandarin Orange and Shrimp Salad from a place in San Diego, which she and William had stopped at once.
She looked over at the counter, and could also see a pizza box from her favorite place in town.
William turned around and saw her; “You’re home!” he said, grinning, as he walked over to her. He stopped and kissed her softly on the lips, “Happy Birthday, luv.”
“You did all this?” she asked, her eyes on his.
He shrugged, “I knew we couldn’t go out tonight because of school, and Dawn told me you didn’t like to....I just wanted you to have a nice day with some of your favorite things. I know it’s not much...”
Buffy swallowed the lump in her throat, “Thank you,” she said, putting her arms around his neck.
Clem stops by briefly to wish her a happy birthday and to drop over their mail. Along with the bills and advertisements, there are birthday cards for her with return addresses from England, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. She thanks him for that, and for the Mandarin Orange and Shrimp Salad he's picked up for her, at William's request, earlier that morning.
William and Clem stand there in the kitchen talking about the unlikely dual subjects of remodeling the bathroom and the finer points of frosting a cake, when she suddenly remembers her birthday in Sunnydale 7 years ago, when they came by. The faces of Clem the demon and Spike, his still black and blue, superimpose themselves over them for a moment. Imperceptibly shuddering, she blinks away the painful image.
Clem is gone and Buffy is standing next to William as he frosts a cake, pretending to be just a bit embarrassed by the unmanly act of it. She knows it’s just for show and that he’s enjoying doing it for her.
“I love your face,” she says to him suddenly, reaching out to caress his cheek.
William turns to her, with a half-smile, half-quizzical look; “I love your face, too. Love you,” he says, and puts a dab of frosting on her nose, which he then kisses off.
Buffy spends the next 6 hours being pampered, from her favorite foods, to a nice long bubble bath, complete with candles, wine, and chocolate.
Afterwards there had been a massage, lovemaking, and a nap, before they’d reluctantly had to get up to get ready for their evening classes.
She’s daydreaming during classes that evening, just thinking about how lovely her birthday had turned out to be. Not since she’d been a child, before her parents divorced, could she remember being so happy with the outcome.
Maybe that had been the trick all along - no expectations.
Even when she’d told herself that she didn’t have any in the past, somewhere in her heart, she’d still wanted something or someone to make her feel special one day a year.
It had been so much easier, since coming up here five years ago, to just totally give up wanting anything, on her birthday or any other day. Just live, just survive; reasonably well, if not happily.
But now there was William, and he was constantly surprising her in the smallest and largest of ways. He seemed to almost intuit her needs, even before she did.
Perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that her and Spike’s souls had truly become a part of each other’s during those last moments in the Hellmouth. Yet even before, Spike had always seen to her needs, those she didn’t admit to, didn’t lay claim to, those she wasn’t aware of having in her heart of hearts.
And now William was, too. Today, he had done just the right things, kept it simple, but yet so special.
God, she loved him!
“...isn’t that correct, Ms Worthington? Ms. Worthington?” her professor addressed her, “did you come for an education tonight, or just to stare off into space?”
“Yes,” she answered, fully aware of the vagueness in her answer, and for once, enjoying the look of dismay it caused.
She smirked to herself.
When her class ended, she hurried down the hall, until she got to William’s class, which ended later than hers. For some reason, she had butterflies in her stomach waiting for him to come out.
She smiled at her own silliness, her neediness, but her cup ‘o happiness just runneth over today, and she was going to go with it.
When he finally came out of his classroom fifteen minutes later, he was engaged in conversation with a pretty, dark haired, fellow student, almost missing her standing there in the process.
Feeling a bit let down, she tapped him on the arm. William spun around, smiling, then frowning a bit, as he saw her slightly hurt expression, which she didn’t quite manage to hide in time, “Hi, luv,” he said, putting his arm around her, “Sorry I didn’t see you, I was busy talking,” he apologized.
She didn’t say anything.
“Elizabeth, this is Wendy...um, sorry, forgot your last name.”
“Morrisey.”
“Wendy Morrisey, Elizabeth Worthington,” he said, introducing them.
“Nice to meet you, “Wendy said, but not before Buffy saw her eyebrows raise slightly at the mention of her last name.
“Nice to meet you, too. Are you enjoying the class as much as William is?” Buffy asked politely.
“Oh, I totally am,” she gushed, “Dr. Wittman just leads the most interesting discussions, doesn’t he William?”
William nodded, “Yes, very enlightening.”
“Well, that’s always a good thing,” Buffy said, then turned towards William, hopefully dismissing the interloper with her body language, if she got the hint.
She took his hand in hers and squeezed it; “You ready to go home?”
“Always,” he said, softly, as he looked into hazel eyes that were looking at him with such tenderness right then, that it made his heart ache.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carly, came out of the class and turned her head in the direction Wendy was looking, “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” Wendy said.
“Is that William?” Carly asked, her eyes catching the back of two figures, hands entwined, leaning towards each other.
“Yeah, him and his wife,” Wendy said.
“He’s married?” Carly asked, surprised. He didn’t strike her as a guy who could even get a date.
“I guess so, has the same last name as his.”
“Maybe it’s his sister,” Carly said.
“I don’t think so and eww if it was! I definitely didn’t get a sister vibe from her. More like a, ‘that’s my man, keep your hands off,’ sort of vibe.”
“Somebody gave a vibe like that to you over William?” Carly said, guffawing.
“Sure, why not?”
Carly turned to look at her, “Have you listened to this guy when he talks in class? He’s so...I dunno, let’s see, an egghead, naive, dorky, weird?”
“You think? I think he’s kinda cute, and he has a nice voice,” Wendy said, as she watched the two figures exit the building.
Carly snorted, “Oh yeah, he’s soooo Masterpiece Theater!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They walked hand in hand to the campus parking lot. Buffy felt almost giddy. Good grief, she thought, half-mocking herself. What the hell did he put in that wine? Or was it the chocolate? All this happy stuff, this can’t be good! Too good to be good!
And yet it was. Good as it got.
“I’m sorry, this can’ t wait any longer!” Buffy said, dropping her backpack and kissing William as soon as they were in front of her car. He dropped his, too. Leaning into her, his hands running up her sides, until they was one was in her hair, the other around her back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carly and Wendy chatted as they walked to their cars. Suddenly, Wendy stopped, as she pointed to a couple leaning up against a car a few rows away, oblivious to their surroundings.
“Is that?” Carly whispered.
Wendy nodded, gulping.
They heard the woman moan.
“Sheesh! Tonsil hockey much? Get a room,” Carly snickered.
“Shhh!” Wendy felt herself flush. William didn’t look too dorky from her perspective, in fact he seemed pretty sexy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before they’d gone to bed, he’d surprised her one more time by telling her that he had booked reservations for them at the Capistrano Seaside Inn for the following weekend. He said Dawn and John would be joining them there, at least for dinner, since they weren’t sure if they could stay overnight on Saturday or not, but if she wanted to change the reservations to another time, that was alright, too.
Buffy was curled up next to William; her hand drawing invisible doodles on his chest, still basking in the afterglow of the best birthday she’d had in recent history.
“Always hated them,” she said, sleepily, shaking her head in wonder.
“What? Or is it a who?” William asked.
“Birthdays. Well, mine, to be exact.”
“Why, luv?” he asked gently, already having been told as much by Dawn.
“Lot’s of reasons; either bad things happened or be disappointed by...”
She stopped talking, raising up on her elbow so she could look at William.
“What I wanted to really say is thank you for today; for making this birthday so special.”
“I didn’t do much,” William said, shaking his head.
“You did. You made me feel special. All day. But then you always do.”
“See? What did I tell you?” he chuckled.
“Extra special, then. Okay?” she asked, laughing as she playfully slapped him.
His face grew serious. “You can hate the day before your birthday, or the day after, but never your birthday. I won’t allow it!” he said.
The internal feminist model Buffy fought for a second with the pick your battles wisely Elizabeth, over the word ‘allow,’ before the latter won out.
“Why’s that?”
William put his hands on either sides of her face, staring into her eyes for a few minutes before stating the obvious, “Because you were born that day, Elizabeth, and because I love you and everything about you. So, you’re not allowed to hate anything about the woman I love, including the day she was born. Day you were born. That’s why,” he said, kissing her, “that’s why.”
END CHAPTER 116
Sorry this has taken so long to update. I'm trying hard to work out some details and choices I have to make in this story, and that's just derailed the flow of the process.
Hopefully, it will become clear to me soon.
Until then, enjoy the chapters.
Oh, and don't forget to R & R...as someone said to me (and you know who you are), "If feedback is your crack..." LOL