March 2002:

Since New Year’s things around the Summers-Weckerly household had fallen back into a comfortable routine. Although Buffy still battled with some depression from time to time, those periods were getting much shorter and infrequent. The two witches still lived with Buffy, Spike and Annie. Since someone from the Scoobies always seemed to be there, anyway, Spike figured having them living there really wasn’t that big a deal and it helped to have someone there so Spike and Buffy could patrol together without worrying about finding a sitter for Annie. Buffy had signed up to take a couple more classes at UC Sunnydale for the summer session and was actually looking forward to them.

Today, though, was a lazy day around the mansion. Spike had just gotten back from a long mission with Angel’s crew in a dimension called Pylea. The Cheerleader had gotten sucked into a dimensional portal and transported to a different world, so they, of course, had to go get her ass back.

“What’d need me for?” Spike had asked Angel when he’d called.

“It’s Cordelia, Spike! You remember her, our link to the PTB?” Angel retorted.

Spike had rolled his eyes and sighed. God, why can’t Angel keep better control over his humans!? he thought, but he went with them, anyway.

Now Spike was laying on the couch in the great room, looking forward to catching up on his favorite soap, “Passions”. Tara had taped them for him while he was gone and he was ready to see all the drama he’d missed.

Buffy and Annie were playing on the floor near him with Annie’s new “Princess Make Up” kit that Tara and Willow had given her for her birthday. Annie LOVED it! It had cute little princess dresses along with lip stick and nail polish in a dozen colors and lots of colorful barrettes and ribbons for her hair. Buffy painted Annie’s finger and toe nails and Annie painted Buffy’s, then, when the polish had dried, they worked on tying ribbons and barrettes in each other’s hair.

Buffy turned to Spike to ask him what he thought of their new hairdos when she saw that he had fallen asleep. A wicked grin passed over her lips and she turned conspiratorially to Annie, she put her finger to her lips, whispered “shhh . . . .” and pointed to Spike.

**~**

“Hello!” Xander called from the garden before walking into the mansion. “Anybody home?”

Bloody hell Spike thought as he turned over on the couch and hoped that Buffy would deal with the interloper.

“Spike? Buffy? Anybody home?” Xander and Anya walked into the main room.

Obviously, Buffy was not going to deal with them. Spike sat up from the couch and said, “What the hell, Harris! Can’t a bloke get some decent kip ‘round here?”

Xander broke out in hysterical laughter. “Spike, sweetie, I think you’ve been living with too many women for far too long.”

“What the hell are you on about, Harris?”

Anya reached down into the makeup kit that was still lying open on the floor and pulled out a stick of bright red lipstick, holding it up for him to see. “I really don’t think that “Apple Passion” is your color, Spike, perhaps something in mauve would be more suitable for your complexion . . .”

Xander pointed at his own lips then his hair, Spike ran the back of his hand across his mouth and it came back blood red from the lipstick that had been applied in his sleep. Running his fingers through his hair, he found innumerable barrettes in all shapes and sizes adorned his head. Then he noticed his toenails and finger nails were painted in the same shade of red as his lips, “Bloody hell! . . . . . BUUUFFFFYYY!”

Spike stood up and looked around, Buffy and Annie were nowhere to be seen, he closed his eyes and concentrated a moment, training room.

Spike stomped up to the door of the training room and flung it open. Buffy and Annie shrieked in hysterical laughter and backed up away from the ticked off vampire.

“You bloody women!” he scowled at them before racing into the room, grabbing Annie up in his arms and swinging her through the air. Annie squealed in delight as he lowered her to the ground and she slid a few feet across the mat on the floor. Buffy was bent over in hysterical laughter, Spike hooked a foot around her ankles and pulled her feet out from under her, sending her sprawling down on her butt before he covered her and started raining growling kisses all over her face and neck, which elicited more screams and laughter from her. Annie jumped back up and climbed on Spike’s back, banging her fists against his shoulders.

“Oh, Bitty-Buffy, you are! I’ll teach you to mess with Big Bad!” he grabbed Annie off his back and flipped her head over heels above his head bringing her to rest gently between his body and Buffy’s. Showering both of his girls with raspberries and growling kisses as they screamed and squirmed and laughed.

“Who’s Big Bad?” Spike demanded.

“Mama!” cried Annie through her squeals.

“WHO?” Spike said again, redoubling his efforts and tickling her sides.

“Mama!” insisted Annie again.

“I didn’t hear you!” Spike sing-songed before planting a huge raspberry on her tummy.

“YOU! You are!” Annie finally acquiesced.

“Say it!” Spike demanded between kisses.

“Papa’s Big Bad!” Annie and Buffy chorused through tears and laughter.

Spike sat back, his hips pinning Buffy’s thighs, Annie still lying on top of Buffy. Both girls tried desperately to breathe after the laughing fits and never-ending tickling torture that had been dealt to them at the hands of Big Bad.

Annie sat up on Buffy’s stomach and faced Spike, her eyes dancing. "Funny face, Papa!”

Spike smiled and morphed into his demon face. Holding his hands up like claws ready to grab them. He growled and Annie shrieked in delight. Below her, Buffy laughed at the vampire sitting atop her with multicolored barrettes still in his hair. “Ooooo, Annie, I’m so scared! Protect me from the Big Bad!”

Annie lunged at Spike and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Spike fell sideways off Buffy’s legs, pulling Annie with him as he rolled onto his back, her atop his chest, still holding him tightly around the neck. “I got him, Mama!” Annie cried.

“Good girl!” Buffy jumped up and reversed the positions from earlier, she atop Spike, her legs straddling his, Annie between them. “We’ve got him now!”

Spike laughed and morphed back into his human face, holding his hands out in surrender on the mat. Buffy leaned down, nudging past Annie’s head, and dropped a happy kiss on Spike’s mouth.

"Who's Big Bad?" Annie demanded.

“Your Mum,” Spike said with a sigh and grinned up at her. Then, holding his fingernails up for Buffy and Annie to see he said, “Demon Bird’s right, though, ‘Apple Passion’ really isn’t my color, girls.”

**~**

June 2002:

“You look . . .” Spike searched for the word, “umm . . . Wow, Buffy.”

“Shut. Up,” Buffy said tersely as she turned in front of the mirror to inspect the God-awful green bridesmaid dress she was wearing. Buffy and Willow had tried in vain to get Anya to go with something simple in a neutral color, but there was absolutely no changing the ex-demon’s mind about these bridesmaid dresses. Buffy sighed, it will be over soon.

Buffy knew that Spike and Xander had reached a level of tolerability with each other over the years, but you could have knocked her down with a feather when Xander asked Spike to be his best man (Willow, he’d explained, was going to be his “best girl”) AND Spike had accepted. So, Spike, of course, was dressed in a Tux. It simply wasn’t fair that he could look that good and Buffy had to wear this green monster and look like a Bornnige Demon had puked on her. Her only consolation was that Willow had to wear one, too.

They were dressing now in one of the antechambers at the Moose Lodge where Xander and Anya’s wedding was set to take place within the hour. All of Xander’s family had come in for the occasion and it seemed Anya had invited every demon she'd ever known to attend.

“Well, we better get out there and make like the U.N. and keep the peace between the warring factions.” Buffy turned one more time in front of the mirror before rolling her eyes and starting for the door.

“Buffy,” Spike grabbed her arm and turned her back to face him. “You look beautiful.”

“Yeah, nice try, Spike . . . Next time, try saying that before you stammer for five minutes first!” Buffy rolled her eyes again but smiled at him and he dipped his head down to plant a soft kiss on her lips.

“You always look beautiful,” he whispered next to her ear before pulling away and opening the door for her. Buffy smiled and shook her head as she exited the room and headed to where all the guests were gathering for the ceremony. Xander had asked them to try and keep his relatives away from the bar and to keep Anya’s guests away from his relatives as much as possible. Reduced to wedding bouncers, Buffy thought blithely as they walked down the corridor, warrior wedding bouncers, maybe we could get business cards!

As they came into the main room, it was apparent that they weren’t a moment too soon. “You take the demons and I’ll take the humans, ‘K?” Buffy directed Spike. He nodded and headed towards the guests on Anya’s side of the aisle and Buffy headed towards the bar to try and cut Xander’s father off before things got out of hand.

 Things seemed to be going pretty well, the musicians had arrived and were playing some soft music in the background and the two wedding bouncers had managed to get the two warring factions into separate corners of the room, with the humans as far away from the bar as possible.

Spike was talking with a Tentacle Demon when he noticed someone come in who looked like a human, but smelled like a demon. He watched as the being, that appeared to be an old man, spoke with Xander and Xander followed him into one of the side rooms. Something’s rotten in Denmark, Spike thought. He excused himself and followed the pair out of the main hall.

When Spike approached the room where the two had gone, he stopped outside the door and listened.

“What happened? What was that?” Xander was asking.
 

“A glimpse of your future. Harnessed by magic,” the human-looking demon answered. “Listen. I don't have long here. The spell that brought me back, it won't last. But you can change things. It doesn't have to go like this. But you can't marry Anya.”
 

“What!?” Xander was really panicking now. The old man had shown him his future, his future with Anya and it was horrible! It was his parents all over again.
 

“You'll hurt her less today than you will later. Believe me. Sometimes, two people . . . all they bring each other . . . is pain.”

Spike had heard enough and opened the door. Stepping in he addressed the demon. “What’s goin' on 'ere?”

Xander answered him. “He says . . . he says that he’s me . . . from the future and he showed me my future with Anya and . . . Oh God!”

“Bollocks! That's a demon!” Spike narrowed his eyes at the thing in front of him that looked like an old human man. “What’re you playing at?”

The demon morphed into its true self, about seven feet tall and big as a house, but he didn’t address Spike, rather he kept his attention on Xander. “What I’ve shown you is true, you know it is! You cannot marry Anya!” he said before suddenly turning and disappearing out one of the exterior doors, leaving the groom and best man standing alone in the small room.

“What the hell's goin' on, Harris?” Spike stepped closer to where Xander was standing. Xander was in a complete panic. Spike could hear his heart racing, could smell fear on him and heat was radiating off him in waves.

“He . . . he said . . . he SHOWED ME . . . Anya and me, we end up just like my parents!” Xander finally met Spike’s eyes. “I can’t marry her!”

“Xander!” Spike took hold of the younger man’s shoulders and shook him. “Have you gone off your gourd!?”

Xander just kept shaking his head and muttering that he couldn’t do it, couldn’t marry Anya.

Spike shook him harder until Xander finally focused on Spike. “This is BOLLOCKS! What he showed you is pure crap! You are not your father!”

When Xander didn’t respond, Spike continued. “Do you love the demon . . . ,” Spike stopped and amended, “Anya?”

No response.

“Answer me!” Spike shook him again.

“Yeah,” Xander finally managed.

“Do you feel like you can’t do ANYTHING without thinking about her, every bloody minute of every day?” Spike pressed him.

“Yeah,” Xander admitted.

“Then you’re going to marry her, Harris, if I have to knock you out and drag you up there!” Spike held Xander’s eyes with his, his hands still gripping the younger man’s shoulders. “You can’t let ‘er go, she’s part of you, you’re part of ‘er . If you walk out on her now, you’re an even sorrier son-of-a-bitch than Angel, fucking up the best thing you’ll ever know.”

Xander’s eyes narrowed, considering Spike’s words. They were a dare, the same dare that Xander had used on Spike that morning when he laid on Buffy’s grave waiting for the sun to come up. It hadn’t worked on Spike, but Xander hated Angel even more than Spike did, if that was possible.

“What he showed you is not true,” Spike continued in a calm voice. “You are not your father,” he repeated again.

Finally, Xander nodded.

“Right then,” Spike stood back from Xander and straightened the groom’s tie and lapels. “Let’s go get you hitched.”

**~**

“I, Anya, promise to . . . love you, to cherish you, to honor you, but I’ll only obey you when you’re right and I was already going to do whatever it was anyway. I entrust you with my heart. Take care of my heart, won't you please, Xander? Take care of it because, it's all that I have. And, if you let me, I'll take care of your heart, too. I pledge to be your friend, and your wife, and your confidant and to have sex with you whenever I want. You make me feel safe and warm. I love you, Xander.”

“I, Xander, promise to love you, to cherish you, to honor you and obey you. I will take care of your heart, Anya, and make sure that it’s safe for now and ever more. I pledge to be your friend and your husband and your confidant and provide you with multiple orgasms from now until time passes away. You make me feel like a man. You make me feel loved and I’ll love you with every fiber of my being for all eternity.”

**~**

Buffy and Spike stood on opposite sides of the aisle, eyes locked on each other, as Xander and Anya repeated their less than traditional vows. Everyone chuckled at their promises of sex and orgasms, but the meaning of what they said didn’t leave a dry eye in the house. These were two people truly in love, it was as clear as the sun in the sky that they belonged together.

Spike and Buffy resumed their wedding bouncer roles as the reception started, but, other than a couple of small skirmishes between the two factions, the party went off without a hitch.

Anya and Xander opened their presents at the reception. Anya loved presents and just couldn’t wait to see what they’d gotten! When they got to the card from Buffy and Spike and the couple opened it, their mouths gaped open. “Oh, MY GOD!” they exclaimed in unison as they realized that their wedding gift from the pair of blonds was the deed to Buffy’s mom’s house. Anya waved the deed around in the air and ran first to Buffy and then to Spike, grabbing them each in tight hugs all the while saying “Oh, my God! Oh my God!”

Xander pulled Buffy into a hug after Anya went to find Spike. “You shouldn’t have done that, it’s too much!” he told her.

Buffy smiled. “No, it’s not. You’ve taken care of the house all this time and I like thinking of you and Anya raising your own family there. I love that house, but I could never live there. There're just too many memories between those walls for me. I want you guys to be happy, raise a beautiful family and fill it with love.”

“I love you, Buffy.” Xander’s eyes glistened as he pulled back to look at his friend.

“I love you, too, Xander.” Buffy gave him another tight hug.

“OI! Enough of that, now!” Spike walked up behind Xander, “Got your own bird, now, Harris, lay off mine.”

Xander turned around to see Spike trying to put on his best “Big Bad” threatening face, but the sparkle in his eyes gave him away.

“Yeah, thanks to you.” Xander extended his hand and Spike accepted it in a hearty handshake. “Thanks, man, for everything!” Xander said in all seriousness.

Spike shrugged and smiled. “Had to get Buffy off your bloody mind somehow, didn’ I?”

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