Worries
Xander shot up in bed, gasping as he shook off the last of the nightmare. He’d been taking a nap while Spike was downstairs doing some gabling and trying to get into their accounts and it felt odd to wake up alone from a nightmare.
He got up from the rumpled bed and walked to the bathroom, washing his face and trying not to look in his eyes in the mirror. He’d been having dreams the entire time they had been captured, and they weren’t stopping.
In fact they were only getting worse. In addition to the dreams of people in while coats taking Spike away from him he had added both Buffy and Angel, and now it was not only Spike but a small wrapped bundle as well.
He tried not to let it show but he lived in fear of his baby being taken away from him. Since they had decided to keep the baby he’d been worried sick. From everything to whether or not he’d be a good parent, to if his child was normal or had birth defects to being caught and his child trained as a soldier with an even worse childhood that he had.
He wanted to get further away from Sunnydale, and Spike had agreed. They just wanted to get organized so they could figure out where to go. There weren’t that many doctors that would specialize in male pregnancies; they were going to have to search.
He heard the door to the suite they were in open and froze, hiding behind the door to the bathroom.
“Xander?”
“In the bathroom. Shit Spike you scared a year’s growth out of me! Knock or whistle a Sex Pistol’s songs or something.” He slumped in relief and went into the main room, nearly throwing himself at his mate.
“What’s wrong Love?”
“Nightmares.” He snuggled into the vampire’s embrace, inhaling his scent and feeling safe for the first time since he woke up a little while ago. More and more he was associating the smell of leather and cigarette smoke with safety. He wasn’t sure if it was a side effect of the pregnancy or if it was the hyena within getting out a bit more, either way it was nice. Of course the blonde refused to smoke around him anymore, fearing for his health and the baby’s.
Spike picked him up and took him back to the bed, not even stopping to kick off his shoes. It wasn’t sexual, it was comfort, and he loved the care Spike was taking with him, trying to help him get over his fears.
Ever since escaping the vampire had become even more protective of him, with good reason. Spike was becoming the very model of an alpha male protecting his mate and Xander had already resigned himself to being coddled within an inch of his life. Not that he was going to complain about it.
After a few moments of comfortable silence he moved so he was face to face with his mate on the bed.
“Were you able to get everything done?”
”Yeah Love, most of it at any rate. The few accounts I had set up that Peaches knew about have been closed, bloody bastard was trying to stop me from getting access to any funds. Shows what he knows, those were just there to let him play with. Tonight we’ll go out and get one of those cell phones and you can call your mates before Red worries herself into a fit. Maybe she’ll have some info on where to look for a doc for you Love.”
“Yeah, and while Las Vegas is nice it’s weird. I always thought it was gangsters that built this town, not demons. Was Bugsy Segal a demon? Or maybe Warren Beatty? Cause that would explain how an old guy like him got Annett Benning. And his sister’s weirdness.”
He heard the rumble of Spike’s laughter. “Bugsy was a human working with demons Love, and no one can explain Shirley McClain. You have the strangest mind sometimes Xander. We can be ready to leave day after tomorrow if you like. We can get supplies for the trip tonight.”
“I want to go to a bookstore I guess. From watching too much TV I know I’m not supposed to drink and eat bad things while pregnant but that’s about it. Willow sent some stuff with us I know, but…I want to do this right.”
Spike’s hand came down and reached under the sweats he was wearing to stroke the scar where the scientists had implanted the artificial womb. He was only about seven weeks along so he hadn’t gained any real weight yet but Spike was fascinated with his abdomen.
“It’s hard to believe there’s a life growing inside of there isn’t it? Wonder when you’ll start growing Xan, once you get too big you won’t be able to go out really, you’ll have to hide.”
Xander quickly hid the grin that had stretched across his face.
“Spike? Will you still love me when I’m fat?”
The vampire all but jumped up and looked like he’d just seen a rampaging elephant coming after him, his eyes wide and panicked.
“Oh bloody hell Pet! Red didn’t say anything about you being knocked up was going to turn you into a bint!”
Xander laughed and pushed Spike down so he could roll on top of him. “Relax Spike, I’m just pulling your leg. So far I can report no cravings of ice cream and pickles, no morning sickness, and no crying over weight issues. I don’t doubt that I’ll be big as a whale, men aren’t made to carry babies, but that will be worth having a kid.”
Spike looked relived. “You are evil Pet. I was about to run screaming from the room, and I still reserve that right if you do start puking up your toe nails.”
“You run and I’ll make sure to aim for your duster buddy.” He leaned forward and nipped at Spike’s lips and then kissed, slipping his tongue in when his mate opened his mouth. It was always an experience to kiss Spike, the cool mouth and strong muscle that stroked his never let him forget who he was with.
He ran his tongue on the underside of Spike’s teeth and felt the resulting growl when Spike shifted to his demonic face. He leaned away long enough to lick along the ridges above his eyes before going back to kissing. He very carefully slit his tongue open on one fang and the taste of blood filled his mouth before Spike licked at him, trying to taste every inch.
He fumbled down and unbuttoned Spike’s jeans, making sure to carefully remove the hardened cock, before raising his hips to allow the vampire to pull the sweats down to his knees. He settled against the cool body underneath him, making sure their cocks touched, and started a rocking motion.
Spike thrust up to meet him and they quickly fell into a rhythm, moving together even as they kissed each other and let their hands roam. Xander found himself almost to the edge so he broke off kissing to make his way down Spike’s neck, laving the scar he’d put there so many months ago while at the same time offering his neck.
Their pre-come eased the way for their lengths to rub together, creating a delicious friction. Xander gasped when Spike’s fangs finally penetrated him, enjoying the feel of his lover drawing the blood from his veins before he bit as well. He came hard as Spike’s blood filled his mouth, the feel of it hot and slippery and home. He felt Spike follow him over the edge, a cool stream of come splattering his chest.
He collapsed on Spike’s chest and cool arms wrapped around him, holding him close. The only sound in the room was a rumbling purr and his breathing as it slowed. Xander found himself getting sleepy again, at least until a sharp smack was delivered to his bottom.
“Come on Love, we need to get moving so we can get everything we need. You’ll need to call Red once we get the phones. Shift your arse and get in the shower.”
Xander reluctantly got up and headed towards the bathroom, stopping in the door to bend over to pull off the sweatpants the rest of the way and making sure to moon his lover. He heard the springs on the bed creak as Spike quickly got up to join him.
He turned and smirked at the blonde. “Coming Spike?”
“Keep teasing like that Pet and it’ll be a week before we leave the room, never mind leaving town!”
*****
Spike stomped into the bookstore, determined to find his mate. How long could it take to pick out a few books at any rate?
Finding Xander in front of a large display with a slightly glazed look told Spike how difficult it was. There had to be a hundred different books, half of them with cutesy names or in pastel colors.
“Xander?”
“Dear god Spike how do we choose? This is worse than a research night at Giles’. At least there I have a vague idea of what demon to find in which book. This is just weird. Jenny McCarthy from MTV has a pregnancy book out even! Maybe we should look for a magic shop or something, I really doubt they have anything I can use here.”
Spike picked up a book, read the title and put it back. “I can safely say you won’t be needing information on a natural pregnancy Xan, or information on conceiving. And I really hope we won’t need the one about twins. A kid will be nice but I don’t know if we can handle two at once. Look, just grab a couple and lets get out of here. It’s not like you aren’t going to see a mall in the next eight months or so.”
He couldn’t keep the growl out of his voice, there were too many people in the mall, and kids running every direction and adults stopping to walk right in front of him while he was walking back from the cell phone place. Anyone could try to grab Xander in this mess and no one would probably notice it.
“Yeah, that sounds good Spike.”
He followed behind Xander the rest of the way through the store, watching as his boy picked out five books, one of which was nutrition he was thankful to see. He’d noticed earlier that Xander had taken more blood from him than usual. Consorts always needed the blood of their mate to live, but usually Xander was much more careful. Spike just figured it was because the child within his mate needed the blood too and planned to feed accordingly. Already tonight he had taken a little from three different muggers and pickpockets on the way to the bookstore. “Someone having a baby?” The cashier was a young thing, hardly as old as his boy and spoke with fake enthusiasm. Spike could hear Xander almost growl and felt him move closer. For once his lover had nothing to say so Spike jumped in to fill the gap. “His big sis is having a little one and we’re getting her some books. These are the kind she’ll need, yeah?” He gave her the cover story they had cooked up. It would look really weird to have a gay couple buying pregnancy books for themselves unless they wanted to say there was a surrogate mother out there somewhere.
The girl behind the register looked like she was finally excited about something. “Yeah these are great! I just found out I’m pregnant last month and you’ve got some great ones. The ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ one is required reading from my doctor, and the nutrition book that goes with it is great too. They even have an organizer, if you like I can order one, we just sold the last one the other day.”
This time it was Xander that spoke up. “Well we’re kinda from out of town, so we won’t be here when you get it in, but I’ll keep it in mind. If Willow wants it I’m sure she can find it.”
They made their escape, stopping in the middle of the mall to figure out what to do next.
“We still need to get a laptop Spike, Willow may have more of those files she hacked from the Initiative decoded. That plus I’ll want to do some research on the Internet on pregnancy too. Damn, I never thought I’d hear myself volunteering to do research. I keep on finding myself feeling like I’m in a Twilight Zone episode, either that or a bad comedy with Danny DeVito.”
“Look on the upside Pet, we haven’t ended up in a cornfield and I’m not planning on getting on a plane. I’ve got a contact already working on a laptop, she’s a Tesser demon and they’re computer experts, just look at the Gates bloke. Mandy should have it ready by tomorrow, that’s why we couldn’t leave tonight.”
“My god! Don’t tell me that Bill Gates is a demon!”
“What, you think a human would devise a way to frustrate so many people at once? Really Xander, you’re slipping, of course he’s a demon!”
“That just explains so much.” Before he could go on Spike heard Xander’s stomach rumble loud enough that even the human heard it and blushed.
Spike just laughed, he had long become used to the fact that Xander’s belly seemed to have a mind of it’s own and complained loudly at the lack of food. Being pregnant only seemed to make it worse.
“Come on Love, let’s feed you before your stomach is loud enough to wake the dead. Well any dead other than me that is”
Three quarters of an hour later found them seated in a nice restaurant, in a corner booth. It was nice and dark and the low hum of different conversations sounded like the ocean and Spike was glad the place was crowded enough to make it difficult for anyone to listen in to what they had to say.
Spike ordered fish and chips and Xander ordered what was becoming his usual, a rare steak. This time he had steamed vegetables and a salad rather than a potato, but the squinch of his nose said he didn’t really like the idea. The nutrition book was open on the table in between them.
“This sucks, low sugar, no caffeine, no artificial sweeteners, and loads of green stuff. Damn it this is a human/vampire hybrid not a human/rabbit! What else is there besides sugar and caffeine to drink? At least I’m supposed to have lots of protein, that I can do. Except they talk more about fish and chicken than beef, and that’s all I seem to want.”
Spike fought back the need to sigh. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to get into this before Xander ate, but his lover did mention it.
“Look you still have the hyena in your head Pet, not a lot but a little. Plus it’s a vampiric child. Only makes sense that you’d feel the need for red meat a bit more. Probably should have the others too, just to be on the safe side. We’ll stop on the way to the hotel and get you some vitamins.” Here he leered at his young lover. “Got to make sure you have plenty of iron in your bloodstream for me and the little one.”
The waitress came with Xander’s salad and he looked dejectedly at the mass of spring greens and spinach. Spike could just see the eight year old inside his lover trying to figure out how to get out of eating the stuff and laughed.
“It’s not funny Spike, I’m eating what looks to be grass and weeds. Something so green cannot taste good, it’s just not natural.”
“If you’re real good and clean your plate like a good little boy I’ll give you a treat when we get back to the room, an all night lolly. How’s that?”
“I’m thinking how wrong it is for you to be talking like that while I’m reading ‘You’re Pregnancy Week By Week’. That and I now have an x rated version of the Tootsie Roll song running around in my head, thank you ever so much.”
“Took your mind off of eating the lawn clippings didn’t it?”
“That it did Husband-mine, that it did.”
By the time they left the restaurant it was late. Spike quickly drove them to an all night pharmacy so they could get vitamins and some chamomile tea, Xander had read that it was high in vitamin C and was good for helping someone to relax enough to sleep. He was ready to try anything to keep the dreams away and Spike couldn’t help but agree.
As they left the store hand in hand Spike looked fondly at his mate. Xander had found calcium supplements safe for pregnant women that were chocolate flavored and had already eaten his daily allowance and was now bouncing along.
Watching Xander did not keep him from watching out for trouble, so when he pulled at Xander’s arm the brunette knew something was up. They quickly moved to cover each other’s back and Spike growled low. Warning off whatever it was from his boy. Xander to his surprise was doing much the same.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? A couple of faggot boys in our neighborhood look like. We’re gonna have to show these two we don’t like their kind around here, eh boys?”
Four human males, drunk and obviously stupid. He had seen one of them in the store but had dismissed him from his mind. He relaxed a bit, they could handle this. He felt Xander’s silent laughter vibrating through him from where their shoulders touched.
“My god, we’re in a big city where you can be married by an Elvis impersonator, I wonder why it’s a surprise when we run into rednecks? Hey guys, you do know that most people have seen Deliverance and know that you protest way too much right?”
“Why you…!”
The leader took a swing at Xander and that was the excuse Spike needed. He rushed to intercept the blow and caught the arm, then pulled it till the big idiot lost his footing and fell to the concrete dazed. Spike quickly disabled the two others, slamming his hand into the nose of one hard enough to kill him instantly while using the side of his hand to hit one quickly in the region of his Adam’s apple, making him pass out from the pain.
He heard the crack of bone and looked to see that Xander had snapped the other’ man’s neck, his eyes showing more of the hyena than Spike had ever seen before. His demon felt the call from its mate and reminded Spike that he was needed to protect Xander.
His human face slipped as he grabbed the git who had started all this. He let his fangs slide into the man’s neck right at the jugular and enjoyed the spray of hot fresh blood filling his mouth. He was soon done with his impromptu meal and looked to see if Xander was upset with him.
The brunette was smiling wanly and held out his hand to be held. “I don’t think there are any cameras around in this alley but let’s go before the other two wake up and call the cops on us.”
Once they got back to the car and was on the road again Spike looked at his love.
“You okay with that Pet?”
“Kinda too late now, besides while I may not like it, I know you have to protect me. I was scared for a second; I mean what if one of those idiots caused me to abort or something. And yes, eeeww. But a part of me loved what you just did.”
At this admission Xander looked sick, and Spike knew if he hadn’t had killed the man he’d go back and do it again for messing with his boy.
“Don’t worry Love. Like I said earlier tonight, for some reason your hyena is closer to the surface. You’re just reacting to that.”
“Right. Don’t worry. Easy for you to say, you didn’t eat a pig.”
[Reviews - 0] [Kudos - 114]
Download story PDF format or ePUB format or MOBI format
Table of Contents
Download story PDF format or ePUB format or MOBI format
Table of Contents