A/N: I’m getting some questions about the timeline for Buffy’s pregnancy. Gestational age is the age of the fetus from actual conception. Due dates, etc., are calculated by the first date of the last menstrual period (LMP). The LMP is, in most cases, 14 days prior to ovulation and conception. So…yeah….they start counting before conception even actually occurs.
Chapter 48
Buffy looked down at the photo. It looked like an amorphous blob, really. But it was so much more than that. It was a life. It was a life that she and William had created. It was her baby, their baby. Buffy looked back up as she felt the airport van pull into the driveway of the estate and slow to a stop.
“Well, this is the address,” the driver said.
“Would you mind pulling over closer to the guesthouse? It’s supposed to be around back,” asked Buffy.
A couple minutes later Buffy was paying the driver and collecting her one bag of luggage. The guesthouse was of Japanese architecture. It appeared to be one long rectangular building. The exterior walls consisted of movable sliding wooden panels. Buffy could see that in most of the rooms every other wood panel had been slid open to reveal a screen of mounted rice paper.
What appeared to be the entryway was open. As Buffy walked inside she noticed that the interior of the house seemed to be subdivided by screens into a series of airy spaces. The wooden panels and all of the flooring had been stained a dark, almost black walnut. Buffy knocked softly on one of the wooden panels and waited a few moments. She could hear William laughing inside and moved towards the direction of his voice. As she turned the corner and came upon what appeared to be the living room she called out, “William?”.
Buffy came to a sudden halt as she struggled to take in the situation. William was sitting on the sofa with-No, it couldn’t be. They were laughing and sharing a glass of wine. Buffy started to feel slightly dizzy and attempted to shake it off. Spontaneously she took a step back, attempting to retreat in embarrassment. It was too late to simply pretend she had never intruded, he had seen her.
“Buffy!” he said, placing his glass of wine on the table. “What a surprise!”
“I-I’m sorry. I’m obviously interrupting. I should have called,” she finished, emoting all of her insecurity.
“You’re not interrupting,” assured Catherine. “We were just sampling a wine one of the local vineyards sent over, thinking we might want to stock it in the cellar. I’m Catherine, by the way,” she said.
By that time William had walked over to her and enveloped her in his arms. “I missed you so much,” he said softly. “You have no idea what a welcome surprise this is. Please, come on in. Let me give you a taste of this wine, it’s incredible really.”
William had taken her hand in his and led her over to the sitting area. As they circled around the couch Buffy could see a toddler playing quietly with some crayons and drawing paper on the floor and an infant in a car-seat/carrier.
“You know,” said Catherine, I’ve got to run to the restroom. Do you two mind keeping an eye on them for a few minutes? I promised I’d take Dylan out to the pool and I need to change.
“No problem,” said William as Catherine left the room.
Buffy sat down on the sofa, her head was spinning and she suddenly felt queasy. “Luv? Are you okay? You’re looking a little off. Still have a touch of the flu?”
“No, I’m fine. I am tired. And, is it alright? My being here I mean?” asked Buffy.
“It’s more than alright,” said William as he sat down next to her and kissed her softly on the lips, “it’s perfect. You’re perfect.”
William felt a tugging on the leg of his pants and looked down at the toddler standing before it, “What is it, poppet? What do you need?”
“Swimming!” said Dylan as he held out the little swimsuit that he had retrieved from his mother’s tote bag. “Weeyum, you help.”
Just then Carys decided to make herself known, her fussy whimpering escalating into a full-blown shriek. Buffy picked the infant up and after cradling her to her chest she began to bounce up and down while at the same time she swayed back and forth, “Shhh, your mum will be back in a minute.”
William meantime had begun to help Dylan change into his suit. “See, I’m wearing big boy underpants now,” said Dylan proudly. “My dad said that he would buy me the foxers kind, like his.”
“I think you mean boxers, poppet,” suggested William as he helped Dylan step into his suit.
“Yeah, foxers. Do you wear foxers, Weeyum?” asked Dylan.
“Yup! I’m a boxers man too,” he said as he patted the toddler on the bottom. “There, you’re all set for the pool. Go pick up your crayons. Your mum will be ready to take you down in a minute.”
Dylan walked over to the area that he had been working in and obediently began to pick up the crayons and put them into the Tupperware container.
Carys was still being fussy and her cries were increasing in intensity. Buffy shifted the infant to a cradling position. The little girl began rooting, searching, open mouthed at Buffy’s breast. “She’s hungry,” said Buffy.
“Don’t look at me, pet,” said William.
When Buffy looked up her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Her emotions felt raw as she looked down at the little creature that she held in her arms.
“I’m sorry,” said William as he moved over closer to Buffy. “Do you want me to take her?”
Buffy shook her head no, “Isn’t she beautiful?”
“That she is,” said William as he caressed the infant’s head, cupping it in the palm of his hand. “Is it hard for you? Being around a baby?”
Just then Catherine breezed back into the room, “Mummy’s here Carys. Are you hungry?” she asked as she took the child from Buffy’s arms. “Thanks for watching them. I think I’m going to take the kids over to the pool, feed Carys, put her down for a nap, then Dylan and I can get in a swim. What do you say Dylan?”
“Yeah!” yelled Dylan as he bounced up and down on his toes.
“How about we postpone tomorrows start time to 10:00 AM?” asked Catherine.
“Sounds fine with me. But, are you sure?” William attempted to confirm.
“Absolutely!” said Catherine. Then she looked at Buffy and said, “I hope to see more of you. Don’t be a stranger. There’s no need for you to make yourself scarce, I’d actually welcome another opinion.”
Catherine asked William if he wouldn’t mind carrying her tote-bag and the baby carrier out to the pool and the two of them left, children and provisions in tow.
Buffy took the few minutes of quiet to gather her thoughts, “What the hell were you thinking?”
She pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed Willow’s number. “Willow Rosenburg,” she answered.
“How did you talk me into this!” said Buffy frantically.
“Wow! Slow down! What did he say?” asked Willow.
“Nothing, I haven’t told him yet. When I got here and intruded on his sampling wine with Catherine Zeta Jones I kind of got a little distracted,” answered Buffy.
“What? I thought you said he was working for some couple by the last name of Douglas….Oh. My. God,” said Willow.
“Yeah,” said Buffy as she heard William walk back into the room. “I’ve gotta go Will, I’ll call you soon,” she said before hanging up.
“Are you okay, luv?” asked William as he walked back over to Buffy and joined her on the couch.
“Yeah. I’m good. But, we need to talk,” said Buffy.
“Ah, of course. The infamous list,” he said. “In all honesty, I thought that we were going to have time to talk all this through before leaving London. But, I was met with a pleasantly distracting surprise upon returning to the hotel if you recall. Anyhow, the airplane was just too public. But, here we are. Now, it’s just you and me. We have all night. I’m so glad you came. I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t quite know where to start though,” said William as he jumped up and started pacing in front of her.
Buffy took a deep breath before standing and walking over to him. She reached out taking both of his hands in hers said, “When Angel left, I realized that I never really knew who he was. And, not knowing that, we never had a chance, not really. How can you feel secure in someone’s love of you, the real you, if you never reveal your total self to them? You said “no secrets”. You said, “This will be real”. I want that. I need that. I demand that. I want to know who you are.”
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Chapter 49
William leaned down and captured Buffy’s lips in a gentle kiss. “I want that too,” he said as he started to rain kisses down the side of her neck. “I want you.”
Buffy felt her knees weaken and that familiar tingling sensation begin to grow deep in the pit of her stomach. “Oh no! No distracting me with the smoochies.”
“Sorry, luv. It’s just that, well, it’s been days, and I’ve missed you,” he said looking a bit sheepish.
William took Buffy’s moment of hesitation as permission. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“William, put me down! We were going to talk,” demanded Buffy struggling against him.
“Me have way with my woman now. Talk later,” said William as he quickly carried her over to the far wall, slid one of the interior panels open and threw Buffy unceremoniously onto the bed.
“No way, cave boy. Talk now. Shag later,” clarified Buffy.
“Did you just say shag, luv?” asked William.
“What? Oh my God, I did, didn’t I?” exclaimed Buffy. “That’s your fault,” she said poking him playfully. “You’ve got me talking all funny.”
William started to gently tickle her in the ribs, “Wait a minute. Are you saying I talk funny? Take it back!”
Buffy started laughing and squirming underneath William in an attempt to escape his attack. Without much warning her stomach lurched. She used one hand to push him off of her, hard. She clamped the other hand over her mouth and through it managed to say, “Bathroom! Going to be sick.”
William quickly sat up and pointed to one of two partially opened panels off the bedroom. Buffy sprinted to the bathroom, fell onto her knees in front of the commode, and quickly emptied the contents of her lunch.
William followed her into the bathroom. He pulled Buffy’s hair out of her face and held it while she finished. “Done, luv?” he asked.
“I think so,” she said still a little shaky.
William walked over to the sink, wet and wrung out a washcloth, then crouched down on the floor next to Buffy. “Here,” he said as he ran the cool washcloth over her face. “Buffy. You’ve been at this for several days now. Maybe you should see a doctor.”
“I-I did see a doctor,” she said softly.
“Well, what did he say?” asked William with obvious concern.
“Mouthwash?” asked Buffy.
“Huh?” said a confused William.
“Do you have any mouthwash?” clarified Buffy.
“Yeah, under the sink,” he answered.
“Will you go and get my purse?” asked Buffy.
“Sure. Buffy, I love you. You’re scaring me a little here. Whatever it is that’s wrong, I want you to tell me. Even if its really bad,” pleaded William.
“Just get my purse. Please? I’ll tell you,” said Buffy. She remained on the floor for a few moments and took some steadying breaths. The bathroom was completely black. There was a black tub, black commode, and black sink. The only color in the room came from the blood-red towels. It was obviously a space William had decorated.
Buffy quickly rinsed her mouth out with the mouthwash, and then made her way back into the bedroom. It was sparsely furnished. The room contained only a bed with a nightstand on both sides, and a large cabinet that looked like an apothecary chest. The chest, nightstands and the bed’s headboard were all of black lacquer. The bed was covered with a red silk duvet. She climbed on top of the king-sized bed and reclined against the pillows.
“Here, luv. Here’s your purse,” said William as he handed her the bag.
Buffy propped herself up on one elbow and began rummaging through her purse. She extracted a plastic baggie, broke off a small piece of crystallized ginger, and popped in into her mouth. She then pulled out the ultrasound picture and handed it to William.
His face reflected his confusion as he looked at the photo. “What is it, pet?” he asked.
“It’s an ultrasound photo,” said Buffy as she closed her eyes and took some shallow breaths, trying to push down the nausea.
William piled a bunch of pillows up against the headboard of the bed to prop himself up and climbed on top, alongside Buffy. He enveloped her in his arms, pulling her so that she was cradled against his chest, and then positioned the photo so that they could look at it together. “An ultrasound of what?” he asked, his voice a little tremulous. “Is-is it a tumor?”
“Oh! God, no! William, it’s not like that. It’s a baby. Our baby,” she said.
William remained silent as he tried to let what he had heard sink in. “A baby?” he asked sounding totally bewildered.
Buffy became instantaneously choked up and as much as she tried to fight back the tears, they won out. Tears spilled from her eyes as she said, “Please, it’s- it’s so important to me that you believe me. I’m not one of those, what I mean to say is, I really did believe that I could never have children. This wasn’t just-Oh-God-I had this entire speech worked out and I can’t remember it, I’m doing this all wrong” sobbed Buffy.
“Shhh. Buffy, luv, please, you’re going to make yourself sick again. Look at me,” demanded William.
Buffy shyly and tentatively looked up at William, “What?”
“Buffy, I love you. And I don’t believe for one second that you attempted in any way to deceive me,” assured William. “A baby…”
William ran his hand through his hair as he looked at the ultrasound photo. It didn’t really look like much of anything. But there it was, at the bottom-Summers, Buffy. Estimated due date March 8, 2004. Estimated gestational age 19 days. William suddenly became aware that Buffy was talking.
“William, I know that this may seem unfair. For me to make this decision on my own, but I need to let you know that I intend to keep the baby. I mean, I can’t, or won’t terminate the pregnancy. I-I just couldn’t,” said Buffy tears streaming down her face.
“I wouldn’t ask you to, pet. But, we’re in this together now. We make decisions together now,” said William still completely stunned.
“I really had no idea, William,” assured Buffy. “I’m so sorry. I want you to know that, well that I don’t expect anything. I can do this. I haven’t figured it all out yet, but I know I can. Plenty of women do. I mean, you can be involved as much or as little as you like. You didn’t ask for this…”
“Neither did you,” observed William. “But here we are,” he said as he protectively placed his hand lovingly over Buffy’s stomach and lightly rubbed her abdomen.
“Yeah, but I’m making a choice here, to have the baby, be a mother. I want that responsibility,” explained Buffy.
“I see,” said William. “At least I think I do. Buffy, if I let you make the decision to keep this baby all on your own. You’ll always wonder if it’s something I would have chosen not to do. You’ll always feel like the responsibility and the joys that come with it are more rightfully yours. Not only does that seem unfair, pet, it is downright unfair.”
“But-” started Buffy before William placed two fingers over her mouth.
“No. I know you want a baby. But this isn’t your baby. Is it? It’s our baby. We need to make this decision together. Look, I know, you have doubts about me-” William was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He looked at the number and answered. “Crawford here.”
“It’s Wes. Just give me an answer then you can pretend it’s a wrong number. You’ve got her. Can I take the weekend off? You can call me when you need me-the usual two hours notice,” said Wes.
“Hey Wes. Yes, I’ve got her,” answered William as he looked pointedly at Buffy. “I’ll call you when I need you to take over again. Enjoy the weekend.”
Buffy looked over at him surprised and slightly alarmed. William tossed the cell on his nightstand and flopped back down on the bed. “I want to tell you some things about myself. Things you deserve to know, especially now. It’s going to take awhile. It’s almost time for dinner. Do you want to-” before William could finish Buffy cut him off.
“Food? Now? The answer to that is a world of no. It’ll be awhile before my stomach settles. I’ll take some ginger ale though, if you have it. In a bit maybe I’ll brave a cracker or two,” Buffy responded.
“How about we move to the living room? Better for pacing in there,” he suggested.
Buffy slipped off her shoes and followed William through the sliding panel. She walked across the rich red, black and gold Oriental rug and made her way over to the red leather sofa. The panels that led to the kitchen/dining area were open. William walked through and emerged seconds later with a ginger ale for Buffy. He was also carrying a bottle of scotch, an empty glass, and a pack of cigarettes. As he flipped open his lighter to light the cigarette his eyes connected with Buffy’s and he froze.
“Bugger!” said William as he closed the lighter and tossed it on the black lacquer coffee table. William began pacing as he poured himself two fingers of scotch and quickly drained the glass.
“I thought you quit,” said Buffy, quietly.
“I did. I’m just nervous is all, I kind of don’t know where to start,” said William as he continued pacing and poured himself another scotch.
“How about at the beginning?” suggested Buffy.
“I’m not even sure I know when the beginning was, pet,” said William.
“Okay,” said Buffy slowly. “How about you explain why you didn’t want me to go to the police about Angel?”
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Chapter 50
“Okay,” said Buffy slowly. “How about you explain why you didn’t want me to go to the police about Angel?”
“Well, that would be kind of the end point of this little story. I guess I can start there and we can work our way back,” offered William.
He walked over the dining room table, retrieved his laptop and came and sat on the sofa next to Buffy. He connected to the Internet and handed Buffy a business card. It simply said,
Phillip Cabbot
William logged onto Direct Net, Credit Suisses On-line banking service. Then pushed the keyboard over towards Buffy. “Enter the number I’m going to give you into the contract number field, 024-262-169717-002. Tab down to the password and enter 256A10G26Q.”
“What are we doing?” asked Buffy.
“Visiting your three million. The three million Liam stole from you,” as William said this Buffy watched the screen change. It showed two separate accounts held under the name of William Crawford.
“That one’s yours,” said William pointing at the second account.
Teasingly Buffy moved the cursor over the first account, then looked over to William for a reaction. “I have nothing to hide from you pet. If you want to take a peek, go right ahead,” said William.
Buffy moved the cursor down to the second account and clicked. The balance read, “3,991,534.82.”“Oh. My. God. That’s, like, four million dollars!” said Buffy, stunned.
“No, luv. Its four million Swiss francs the current exchange is 1.33. That makes it just a little over three million. You’ve earned about a grand of interest. But, you’ll have to pay 35% of that in taxes to the Swiss. Or, I will, that is. For now, it’s mine. Your government would have a lot of questions if you suddenly had three million dollars transferred into your account without explanation. And, I don’t really want to offer them one. Since I already had an account open it was easiest this way. We’ll arrange for you to have access,” explained William.
“I have a million questions,” said Buffy as she closed the laptop and reclined back on the couch.
“I’m sure you do,” said William.
“How? Please, tell me you didn’t do something illegal.” asked Buffy a little alarmed.
“Nothing illegal. Liam knows it’s gone and he knows I have it. I sort of insisted. This was about making something right. He may not have really loved you Buffy. Well, we know he didn’t. He was just biding time. But he wasn’t the one that cooked up the idea to hurt you that way. That was that bitch, Darla. Liam will leave it alone,” assured William.
“How do you know? How do you know he will leave it alone?” asked Buffy.
“I explained to Liam the possible ramifications of his not returning the money. The way he took it? It was impulsive and sloppy. He’s too high profile now. He can’t disappear. The three million is nothing compared to what they could lose if this were to come out. They don’t need that kind of heat. It would ruin them both. Believe me, they have a lot more to lose. I told him that he could give it all back, or I’d support you going to the authorities,” explained William. “The rest of it is going back to the foundation from Darla’s trust fund. It’ll be an anonymous donation in your name. That took a little more work. Anyway, I’m not gonna hold my breath waiting for the invitation to be godfather now. I think I’ve shot that chance all to hell.”
“William, how are you involved in all this?” asked Buffy warily.
“Get comfortable, this is going to be a long story,” he started. “I first met Liam when I was 15. He was my roommate at the time I was attacked and killed that bloke. Found out later he had been hurting Liam as well. Wasn’t the last time I saved his sorry ass. Anyways, we were friends of a sort, growing up, watched each other’s backs. At eighteen, when we left the orphanage we went our separate ways and lost touch.
He went to work in a bar, that’s where he met Darla. She introduced him to her world and eventually he went to work for Master’s organization. I took a different route,” said William as he got up and resumed his pacing. He picked up the bottle of scotch and took a sip directly from it before saying, “I went to work for MI5.”
“You mean like James Bond?” asked Buffy incredulously.
“No! Not like bloody James Bond!” said William as he sat back down, sounding disgusted. “MI6 is the foreign service. MI5 is the UK’s Security Service it’s supposed to protect national security. I was a Generalist-Graduate Equivalent. Early on in training I exhibited a certain proclivity at behavioral profiling. Once in the field I found it easy to slip into a situation, read people, manipulate to position myself within an organization, infiltrate it, then get the goods.”
“All sexy secret agenty?” asked Buffy as she moved over closer to William on the couch and ran her hand under his shirt.
“God, why didn’t I ever tell a woman this before?” he asked as her hand ran over his abs.
“You’re serious!” she gasped.
“Course I’m bloody serious! Haven’t you been listening?” he asked standing up again and resuming his pacing.
“Sorry! Yes, I was listening. It just sounds so, well, unbelievable,” said Buffy.
“Yeah? Well it gets better!” he responded taking another sip from the bottle.
“William! You’re going to make yourself drunk or sick. You’re probably going to make yourself both drunk and sick. Please, put away the scotch,” Buffy pleaded.
William put the cap on the scotch and returned to sit back down on the couch, “Got me wrapped around that little finger of yours,” he groaned as he leaned his head on the back of the sofa and propped his still boot-clad feet up on the coffee table.”
“Don’t you think you should take your boots off if you’re going to put your feet on there? I don’t think the Douglas’ would want it scratched,” said Buffy.
“Yeah? Well they can sod off!” said William.
Buffy climbed onto of Williams lap and as she straddled him she began to play with the soft curls at the base his head, “I think the scotch has made someone feisty,” said Buffy.
William lifted Buffy up and turned, laying her on the sofa. He nudged her legs apart with his knee as he crushed his mouth to hers in a passionate kiss. As he pulled away he said, “Let’s finish this, luv.”
“Right. I’m all about staying focused,” said Buffy as she sat back up and straightened her top. “So, you went to work for MI5”
“Yeah, in 1996 the agency became involved in working with and supporting other law enforcement agencies countering serious crime, organized crime, things like illegal drug importations, arms trafficking, excise fraud and illegal immigration rings. We come in when request to collect and disseminate intelligence, as well as, investigate, assess, and counter possible threats.”
After I had been with the agency about two years they sent me in to work undercover in Master’s organization. Master inherited the business from his father who had earned most of his money from drug trafficking, heroin. It took me a while to work my way in and up, but I did it. The fact that Liam was dating the boss’s daughter helped. Liam never knew who I worked for and my prior association with him proved helpful.”
“Old Quentin used a slightly different approach than his father before him. I think that a part of him wished that it was all legit. He set up honest businesses to launder dishonest money. He employed “clean skins” people without records, without alliances to any of the crime families to assist with trafficking. It was quite cleaver, really. I mean, these are low profile people. They’re like your neighbors. They have a job, pay taxes, drive a simple car or use public transportation.”
“Anyways, I happened to be out one night at a club with Liam and Darla. Darla mouthed off to someone and he called her a bitch. Liam got the brilliant idea that he had to defend Darla’s honor and punched the guy. The problem was this guy was bigger and he was packing a knife. He lunged for Liam, but only grazed him, leaving a shallow cut across his abdomen before I leveled a strong kick, breaking one of his kneecaps. Once he dropped to the floor I used a pressure hold to make him release the knife. Darla promptly picked up the knife and drove it into his stomach. Last thing I needed was to blow cover. I pulled out the knife and got them out of there. They guy lived. I got promoted to Darla’s bodyguard. Lucky me. Moved into the main house.”
“So that’s how it went. Me living the life and sending reports back periodically. But it was harder. When you do deep cover, you become that person. You do what would have been expected of them. I didn’t like who I was most of the time. I kept reminding myself that ultimately it was for the greater good. We would bring down Master’s and his organization. But the more I got to know him, the more I realized his heart wasn’t in it either, not really. It was more like the organization was running him. Then it came crashing down, I found out something that changed my life, forever,” said William as Buffy’s cell phone rang.
Buffy retrieved it from the coffee table, where she had left it after calling Willow. She recognized the number as Dawn’s. “It’s Dawn, she’s probably worried. I didn’t tell her I was leaving town,” said Buffy.
“Go ahead and answer it, pet, I’m not going anywhere,” William responded.
“I’ll just take a minute. Hello?” said Buffy.
“Buffy? It’s me, Dawn,” said the voice on the other end of the phone. “Are you okay? I’m working the 3-11 shift tonight. I heard about you passing out during a trauma yesterday. Connor won’t tell me anything and this is the first chance I’ve had to call!”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” said Buffy.
“Do you need anything? I can swing by when I get off,” offered Dawn.
“No. I mean I’m not home. I’m in Napa, with William,” explained Buffy.
“But, you’re okay?” said Dawn.
“Yeah. I’ll be back Sunday evening. I’ll see you at work on Monday. Tell everyone working at the Rumor Mill that Buffy Summers is alive and well-only a little embarrassed,” said Buffy.
“Will do. Have a great weekend Buff!” replied Dawn before hanging up.
Buffy put her cell-phone away and rejoined William on the couch. Buffy’s stomach made a large gurgling noise.
“Hungry, pet?” asked William.
“Actually, yeah, I kind of am hungry,” she answered.
“Well, what do you fancy?” he asked.
“French toast?” she suggested.
“For dinner?” he asked. Buffy nodded and he continued, “With cinnamon?”
“My hero!” she said as she got up and followed him into the kitchen. “How about some tea?” she asked.
“Here, you start the kettle boiling,” he said as he handed her the teakettle and pointed to the sink. “I’ll start on our French toast. How about I continue this little tale while I cook? Now, where was I?”
As Buffy turned the flame on under the teakettle she replied, “You had just discovered something important, something life-changing.”
“Oh yeah,” said William.
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Chapter 51
William looked over and saw Buffy standing in the pantry trying to suppress a yawn.
“You’re tired, luv. Why don’t you go lie down in bed and I’ll bring you some supper,” offered William.
“No, I’m fine. My energy level is just-” Buffy’s sentence was cut off by another yawn.
William walked over to her, took the box of tea out of her hand, set it on the counter, and lifted Buffy up into his arms. “No arguing. I’m bigger than you, stronger than you, and at the moment more alert than you,” said William as he carried her back into the bedroom.
William sat her carefully on the bed, then walked over to the cabinet and opened the false front to reveal a state of the art entertainment center. “Here, you watch some telly. I’ll go make us some French toast and be back in a wink,” he said as he handed Buffy the remote control.
“William?” called Buffy.
He stopped in the doorway and turned around to look at her. She looked so vulnerable laying on the bed, heavy lidded with her arm outstretched, reaching for him. He went to her, taking her had in his, and sat alongside her, “What is it, luv?”
“I need to know the truth about everything. Promise me?” she asked.
“That’s an easy one,” he assured as he reached down and brushed his lips across hers. “Look, let me feed you, then we’ll finish this off and you can get some rest.”
Fifteen minutes later William had returned to the bedroom with a tray laden with tea, French toast and strawberries. As they began to eat he continued, “I told you that I was put in charge of watching Darla. Well, Darla had developed a rather bad drug habit. It started putting her in danger. She would place herself in stupid situations, her health was affected, and her judgment was impaired. I told Master. Darla was put on house arrest so that she could detox and I was tasked with keeping her inside. I thought she was insufferable on the dope? Buffy, you have no idea what I put up with. Anyways, on the third night she went totally ballistic on me. Ranting and raving, she demanded that I get her a fix. Course, I refused. She attacked me outright. That’s how I got the scar in my eyebrow, really, Darla’s ring. I managed to subdue her, then she broke away and ran through the house towards Master’s office.”
“Darla was convinced that he had a stash in there for business associates. She tore the place apart. Finally I managed to contain her. I actually ended up gagging her and tying her to her bed. Have to say, it was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. I figured there was nothing Master’s could do that would be worse than having to listen to that chit for one bloody more minute. I went back to the office thinking I would straighten up a bit. That’s when I noticed them.”
“Noticed what?” asked Buffy.
“Darla had pulled down a small wooden box off of one of the bookshelves. There were pictures of Master, a young Master, and my Mum. I had only ever had one picture of her, and I lost it when I left the Crawford’s, but I knew it was her.”
“Are you sure?” asked Buffy still trying to understand what it all meant.
“Yeah. He found me when he came home that night, still sitting in his office, holding the picture. The date on the back of the photo was eight months before I was born. Buffy, Master is my father,” finished William in a voice so hushed she could barely hear.
“But? So, he knew about you? Knew who you were?” Buffy asked.
“No. Apparently his father had arranged for a marriage with Darla’s mum. He threatened to hurt my mum if Master didn’t concede and follow through as planned. He never knew my mum was pregnant, he never knew about me. He kept his word to his father and stayed away. It was easy. They existed in two totally different worlds. She was a girl from the wrong side of the tracks and all that. They had met by chance, fallen in love, conceived a child, and then he allowed them to be separated. That was that. It was the beginning of the end for my mum. I have to wonder how it all would have turned out if only he had stuck it out. Told his old man to sod off.”
“But he knows now? You told him?” she asked.
“I told him. We got drunk that night together. He told me how he always regretted being his father’s pawn. He wasn’t really happy. He didn’t really have his heart in the job. Deep down? Master wanted to be a white hat. He was trapped. Trapped by fate. Trapped by tradition. Trapped by obligation.”
“I then had to ask myself, who was the bad guy here? Who was deceiving whom? It all suddenly seemed so murky. He trusted me. I told him all of it. Told him that I was MI5 and that they had been collecting information for a while. Told him it was just a matter of time before they had all they needed. Told him that he was going down, unless. Unless, he was serious about going straight.”
“We talked most of the night and into the next morning. He wanted me to stay, but I just couldn’t. I called the next morning and quit, just like that. Spent months in “debriefing” and then, finally, I told them all of it too, laid it all out,” William explained.
“What did they say?” asked Buffy.
“Bad spot of luck!” quoted William.
“What? You’re joking!” exclaimed Buffy.
“Nope. And I said, “Quite”. It was all very British,” related William as he briefly relived the moment.
“Then what did you do?” asked Buffy.
“Then I set out to earn a living. I had about 40,000 pounds in savings. Although my salary at MI5 was very modest, it had been going pretty much straight to the bank. I had spent very little while undercover. I rented some office space that doubled as living quarters. I’m sure that probably 75% of my clients that first year were from Master, but I couldn’t be sure and couldn’t turn them away. No one ever mentioned him and he kept his word to leave me be, to let me find my own way. Eventually, after I had experienced a certain amount of success I came to California,” he concluded.
“Was Master arrested?” asked Buffy.
“No. Not yet. Probably won’t ever be. He stalled his operations when I left. Told his associates that he needed to cool off due to the heat. It’s been the excuse he needed. He’s been selling off the business piece by piece. Don’t really know what his plans are, I hadn’t spoken with him until we were in London. I called him to have him check into whether Darla had some goon following you and to call in the favor.”
“Wesley?” asked Buffy.
“Yeah, he loaned him to me. He’s still been watching you. Making sure you’re safe,” admitted William.
“I thought that was only for a couple day’s while we were in London!” accused Buffy. “It’s really not necessary. Not to mention creepy!”
“I just- didn’t want anything to happen to you. That’s all. I’m pretty convinced that Darla doesn’t have a hand in this. It could be that whoever had an interest in you has moved on to another target. Or, it could be that he’s biding his time, waiting for an opportunity,” said William as he stood up and began his nervous pacing once again.
“Look, Wes can’t watch me forever. What? I’m going to be, like, sixty-five years old, playing in the front yard with my grandkids and one of them is going to ask “Grandma, who’s that guy over there?” And I’m going to say, “Oh, don’t mind him. That’s Wes. William asked him to watch me,” finished Buffy.
“Why are you “Grandma” but I’m only “William”?” he asked.
Buffy rolled her eyes before placing her hands on her hips and saying, “You’re missing the point here. And, I think you’re doing it on purpose.”
“Okay, you’ve got me there. Let’s just give it until I come back with Drusilla. If nothing else happens and you still want Wes gone, I’ll cut him lose,” promised William.
“Is that everything?” asked Buffy.
“I think so. I mean, don’t you think that’s enough? Truth is, it’s just the tip of it all Buffy. How could I possibly explain it all in this amount of time? I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it too. For so long I had no one. I didn’t belong anywhere. I didn’t belong to anyone. And now-” William drifted off.
Buffy put her fork down and said, “I think I’m done. You?”
“Yeah, I’m finished,” he said.
“Let me do the dishes,” offered Buffy as she started to climb off of the bed and lift the tray.
“No. You take a bath. It will just take me a second to throw these in the dishwasher,” assured William.
“Can you bring my bag in when you come back?” she asked.
“Of course. There’s a robe behind the bathroom door that you can use,” he said kissing her gently on the mouth before leaving to do the dishes.
Buffy walked into the bathroom and turned on the taps. She stripped off all of her clothes and took a moment to study her body in the mirror. It was hard for her to believe that there was a baby inside of her. From experience she knew that soon her body would be undergoing many changes. As she realized that the tub was well on its way to filling up, she turned her attention to looking for some bath-gel. She found a container of the Aveda “Revitalizing” bath-gel that the hotel in London had provided on the side of the tub and Buffy poured some under the stream of water. The fresh mint fragrance permeated the area and she breathed it in deeply. She had told him. He wasn’t running away. He had told her. She wasn’t running away. But, where were they, exactly?
“Where do we go from here?” Buffy asked her reflection in the mirror as she pinned her hair up.