“I, Elizabeth Anne Summers, take you, William, to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful and equal partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to believe in you, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live and beyond.

The ring is a circle . . . an ancient symbol of eternity and completeness, so perfect, with no beginning and no end, just like my love for you. I give you this ring to wear with love and joy as I choose you to be my husband this day and forevermore.”

~~ * ~~

Buffy was glad Willow had insisted on video taping the ceremony, because she was so nervous she was sure it would all be a blur to her when it was over.   The whole thing was like a few freeze frames in her mind. 

The stairway coming down into the garden was carpeted with dusty-pink rose petals, she remembered being sorry she had to step on them to descend down to where Spike and the others waited for her. 

The whole garden was lit with the same candles and twinkling lights as the night Spike had proposed to her, it seemed to glow in warmth and love, she remembered thinking, Ooo, pretty.

When she got to the bottom of the steps she remembered her mom and Giles waiting for her, they walked her the rest of the way to where Spike and the Justice of the Peace were waiting and, when asked, “Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” they all three answered, “We do.”

She remembered Spike and how absolutely handsome he looked in the traditional black tux.  He literally made her heart jump. He had an dusty-pink rose on his lapel that matched the ones on the steps and those she held as her bouquet.   Giles had moved to stand by Spike as his best man – Giles!  She still could hardly believe it when he had offered to stand up with Spike.

She remembered handing her bouquet to Willow and thinking that Willow looked lovely in the lacy, long sleeved, floor length peasant dress that was an antique ivory color.  After looking at many brides maid’s dresses in the wedding shop, from skanky to just plain hurl-worthy, they’d settled on something simple for her best friend to wear.

Buffy remembered the look on Spike’s face when he saw her in her dress, like he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.  She would have preferred to not have been so very pregnant in a wedding dress but, had chosen, after urging from Faith and Willow, to flaunt it instead of hide it. “Look, B., we all know you’re knocked up – why wear a muumuu?  Hell, girl, you got it, flaunt it!” was how Faith had put it and Willow agreed.  So Buffy had chosen a strapless, open back dress that hugged ALL of her curves before flowing freely down to the ground.  It was made of taffeta, in the same dusty pink as the roses, and covered completely with an delicate lace in the same antique ivory as Willow's dress. Pearl earrings and a pearl necklace completed the ensemble.  Her hair was up off her neck and baby’s breath adorned her hair where it was twisted up in the back.

She remembered holding her trembling hand out and Spike sliding the wedding band on that matched the engagement ring and she remembered sliding the plain gold band on his finger.  And then they were kissing.

                                                                                                *********************

“I, William Weckerly, take you, Buffy, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to believe in you, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live and beyond.

The ring is a circle . . . an ancient symbol of eternity and completeness, so perfect, with no beginning and no end, just like my love for you. I give you this ring to wear with love and joy as I choose you to be my wife this day and forevermore.”

~~ * ~~

Spike couldn't remember ever being so nervous in his unlife as he fumbled with the bow tie the was supposed to be wearing.  Christ, this was harder to do than he remembered, especially without a reflection.  Giles, who had volunteered to stand up with him as best man, much to Spike’s surprise and Buffy’s delight, had gone to check on the last minute arrangements with the food and such, leaving Spike to fight alone with the demon tie, best man my sodding ass, he thought, completely exasperated.

A knock on the door followed by a “Hey, you decent?” elicited a smile from Spike.

“Never really been accused of that before, pet, but I’m dressed – mostly.”

Faith entered the room. “Giles said you might need some help with that – what with the reflection deficit and all.”

“Wouldn’t turn you down. Might require Slayer strength to defeat it.”

Faith raised an eyebrow but just took the tie from his hand and started settling it under his collar and getting the tie wrestled into submission. 

“You’re not just marrying Buffy, today, you know,” Faith started as she worked with the tie.

“Yeah, how’s that?” Spike watched her face as Faith concentrated on the tie.

“You’re marrying a Slayer.”

“Sussed that out myself, pet,” Spike retorted dryly. 

“I’m just saying, you, me, Buffy, we’re all cut from the same cloth. Warriors, powerful, used to doing as we please, used to being in charge; not so much with playing well with others.”  Faith felt like she was just stating the obvious and spoke conversationally.

Spike stayed silent, waiting to see where this was headed.

“Want.  Take.  Have.  She wanted you, she took you and now she’s gonna have you. Forever.  Are you ready to live with that? Forever? To be second to a Slayer and play nice with her friends?”  Faith kept her voice even, not challenging, like she was asking about the weather.

“Not second to A Slayer, pet, second to THE Slayer.”  Spike narrowed his eyes and stared at Faith to make sure she comprehended his meaning.  As far as he was concerned, Buffy was THE SLAYER, the ORIGINAL, THE BEST.  “Got no problem with that. I’m her willin’ slave.”

Faith just nodded as she finished the last touches on his tie. “Good then, guess it’s time to go meet your fate.”

**~**

Spike really wanted a smoke or a drink, or both, standing in the garden in front of the justice of the peace with all of Buffy’s (and his?) friends gathered, waiting for Buffy to appear.  He idly patted down his pockets before remembering that he quit smoking at Buffy’s request “some of us still have functioning lungs, including your baby” she’d said, so he quit, mostly.  But now was one of those times he thought that had been a really bad idea.

“Stop fidgeting,” Giles whispered so low only Spike could have heard him.  Spike would have rather faced ten Glagmonthe demons than be required to stand still at that moment in time, but he stopped and folded his hands behind his back to keep them still.

Then he saw her. God, she was lovelier now than he’d ever seen her.  Descending the stairs into the garden like an angel coming down from heaven, she absolutely glowed.  Spike couldn’t take his eyes off her, suddenly everything else became a blur.  He was glad Willow had insisted on videotaping the ceremony, because he was sure he’d never remember anything except the way Buffy looked right then.

Buffy was in front of him, smiling, her green eyes like liquid pools he could have fallen into and never come up from, then he was sliding the ring on her finger and she was sliding the ring on his and just that quick they were kissing and he thought he’d never tasted anything sweeter.

**~**

Buffy stiffened involuntarily in Spike’s embrace and Spike let out a low growl as they felt Angel approach and take the place where the Justice of the Peace had, apparently, just pronounced them husband and wife.

Holding Buffy tightly to his side, the pair turned to face Angel. Buffy slid her hand to the small of Spike’s back and under his jacket to touch the stake that he had hidden there.  If looks could have killed, Angel would have been so dusted, but, since they needed him for this, hard looks were as far as it went. 

For his part, Angel kept his eyes averted from the pair as much as possible while waiting for the guests to settle back down after the applause that erupted when the couple was declared man and wife.  Angel let his eyes drift across the gathering, noting that everyone except Xander seemed to be prepared to stay for this “less traditional” part of the ceremony.  Xander had wandered back into the mansion and was busily checking the hors d'oeuvres for freshness and hordouvery goodness.

When everyone had settled back down, Angel began. “At rector of prosapia Aurelius , EGO, Angelus, exspectata Buffy Anne Summers-Weckerly, The Slayer. Suus hostilis es nostri quod nostri es ipsa, suus pugna es nostri quod nostri es ipsa. is est iam of dominus versus , quod porro ut versus William the Bloody.  Cruor ut cruor sic vadum is exsisto”

Buffy had asked Spike to translate the ritual for her shortly after she’d agreed to it, thinking that, perhaps she should actually KNOW what she was agreeing to, after all. 

“Roughly,” he’d said, “it’ll go like this:

"As master of the clan of Aurelius, I, Angelus, welcome Buffy Anne Summers, The Slayer. Her enemies are ours and ours are hers, her battles are ours and ours are hers.  She is now of the Master's line, and further to the line of William the Bloody. Blood to blood, so shall it be.”

It seemed a little creepy, being made part of the Master’s line – since, he had, technically, killed her and she had killed him, twice, but, she figured she could deal with that creepiness if it did what Spike said it would, and she trusted Spike.

When Angel finished speaking, Buffy looked at Spike for confirmation that what he’d said was, in fact, the correct ritual and, at his nod she turned to Willow who handed her a ceremonial dagger.  Spike shrugged out of his formal wear, handing first his jacket, then the demon tie and finally his shirt to Giles, leaving Spike bare chested.

Turning back to Buffy, Spike changed into game face and Buffy held her breath as she sliced a deep gash in Spike’s neck, just at the point that it met the shoulder.   Spike pulled her to him and buried his fangs into her neck as she clamped her mouth over the bleeding gash in his. 

Thankfully, Willow retrieved the dagger from Buffy’s hand before it crashed to the floor. Spike’s bite was just as Buffy remembered and sent her head into a spin the moment his fangs broke the skin.  She tried to concentrate on the cool, coppery liquid that flowed into her own mouth, but the more she sucked on his neck, the more aroused she got until the only thing keeping her from buckling to the floor was Spike’s arms around her. 

Spike had been prepared for the reaction his bite would elicit from Buffy and had braced himself to take her full weight in his arms if it came to that.  He could feel her orgasm building after only a few seconds and, although he would have liked to have brought her to climax right there, he didn’t think she’d appreciate that happening in front of all her friends, her mum and her Watcher.  If she had decided to do the ceremony with just Angel present, he most certainly would have taken her all the way, just to show the poof once and for all who Buffy loved.

Spike pulled out of her neck and changed out of game face while he softly nuzzled the bite marks, licking the remaining drops of blood from her skin and sealing her wounds.  He could feel her coming back to herself and he slowly eased his embrace and pulled her away from his neck, claiming her lips with his.  Each had the other’s blood on their lips, in their mouths, as they kissed. Mingling the tastes, the coolness and the heat until it was as one, inexorably linked together through space and time, each one claiming the other as their own.

“Wow,” Buffy murmured into his mouth as she pulled out of the kiss to get some much needed air.

“It is done,” announced Angel, Buffy had forgotten that he was even there, she had forgotten pretty much where exactly “here” was for a few moments.  Spike pulled her back into his arms for a final kiss before turning to face their guests, the music started and the newlyweds walked down the aisle in a shower of rose petals and into the mansion for the party.

Pulling away from her, Spike followed Giles into the training room to bandage his wound and retrieve his clothing as everyone hugged Buffy and congratulated her.  When the crowd around her had cleared, Willow pulled Buffy aside. “Wow, Buffy, I mean . . .WOW.  That was . . . Wow,”  Willow couldn’t stop gushing.  “I’m so happy for you Buffy, Spike really loves you and you obviously love him and . . . well, WOW.”

Buffy gave her friend a hug, “Thanks Willow.  It means so much that you were here today. And, yeah, pretty WOW-IE from my side, too.”  Buffy smiled at her friend before scanning the small crowd for Spike, but he wasn’t back yet.

“So, B., that’s the hottest wedding I’ve been to since . . . ever!”  Faith pulled Buffy into a quick, tight hug, “So, the big guy, you all done with him?”

Buffy looked at Faith like she had three eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Angel.  You all done with him?  Cause I was thinking, seein’s how you’ve got everyone all hot and bothered, that I might try a ride on that tilt-a-whirl.”  Faith swiveled her hips for emphasis.

“Angel?” Buffy shook her head in an effort to comprehend fully what Faith was asking, “Yeah, I’m done with Angel, in fact, well done . . . more like burnt to a crisp.  He’s all yours, if you want him.  Just watch it, he sometimes tilts when you’re expecting a whirl.”

“Got it covered, B.  You know me, always up for a wild ride.”  Faith gave Buffy another quick hug. “See ya’ later, yeah?” she called over her shoulder as she walked over to where Angel was standing. Faith leaned in and whispered something to him that Buffy couldn't make out and Angel followed Faith out. 

Spike, fully dressed again in his tux, walked up behind Buffy and put his arms around her, resting his hands on their growing baby in her abdomen.  He followed Buffy’s eyes to where she was watching Faith and Angel leave together. 

“Want.  Take.  Have.” Buffy said to no one in particular.  Spike cocked a brow and wondered briefly if that was something in the Slayer handbook, a credo like “Semper fi”.

“Think that’ll be alright?” Spike asked, watching the pair disappear.

“Faith’s a big Slayer, she can take care of herself,”  Buffy replied.

“I was more worried about Angel,”  Spike laughed into her ear.

Buffy smiled. “Yeah, I think Faith may be able to teach even Angelus a thing or two.”

Spike and Buffy’s attention was pulled back into the room as Wesley announced the first dance.  Buffy had decided pretty much everything for the wedding and Spike never said anything about any of it unless she asked for his opinion on something.   Of course, the planning was fast and pulling it together was done quickly, there wasn’t a lot of time for long discussions of seating arrangements and whatnot.

Because of that, Buffy asked Spike if he would choose the music for the first dance and he said he would, but he never shared with her what it was.  For him, it was a difficult choice, to try and find something suitable, something she’d like and something he liked.  Finally, he just decided to go with something he liked and hoped she would, too.

As Buffy and Spike stepped into the center of the floor, the music started and the Ramones started singing . . .

It wasn’t a really slow song, but not wildly punk rock, either, and Buffy loved that he could find something that fit them both and that echoed how both of them felt. 

As she moved in his arms to the beat, she sang softly along with the chorus, “Baby, I love you.”

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