Days in the Sun




July 24th, 2018 – Teenagers (2)

Having finished preparing the assorted jams and chocolate toasts that constituted his children’s mid afternoon snack, Spike hoped onto the kitchen counter with a glance at the clock. It was three thirty, they should be arriving anytime now. Jay had already munched on her share of snacks and returned to her room and dolls. Her two elders were freed from the summer school program they had signed up for at a three fifteen, and should therefore… haha… front door opening. And banging shut. The vampire threw a look at the ceiling, wondering how many times…

“How many times do I have to tell you not to bang that bloody door?” he asked, more than mildly annoyed, as Lisa walked into the kitchen.

“Uh, sorry dad,” she replied, somewhat sheepish, and Spike could only sigh.

He watched, puzzled, as she ignored the toasts that she was usually so fond of to open instead the fridge and pull out one of her mother’s zero fat, zero calories, zero everything yogurt. He noticed the slight flash of distaste when she took her first spoonful of the so-called food, and the immediately following look of determination.

“What’s up, luv?” he asked, certain that something was going on, but unable to guess what.

“Nothing,” she replied between two spoonfuls. “Will’s going to be a little late, he was waiting for someone.”

Clever attempt at redirecting his thoughts toward her brother. But it wasn’t going to work.

“Any reason why you’re ignoring these delicious treats your old father took so much pain in preparing for you?” he asked, biting in a chocolate and hazelnuts spread covered toast.

She threw a longing glance at the tray, before shaking her head and returning her attention to the yogurt in her hands.

“I just felt like something different, that’s all.”

Cocking his head, he observed her for a few seconds.

“Lisa… you hate the stuff. Always did. So something must have happened to make you even touch it.”

She didn’t answer until she had finished her snack and discarded the empty pot.

“I need to be careful about what I eat,” she said at last. “I’m starting to get a bit fat.”

Certain he had misheard what she had said – how many times had he thought to himself that she was too thin? – Spike stared at his daughter as she stood in front of the tray of toasts on the counter, seemingly caught between wanting to bolt out of the room and take a bite of something that actually tasted like food.

“Care to repeat that?”

She looked up at him, then, slightly embarrassed. “I just thought I’d start a diet,” she said with a shrug. “Lose a few pounds…”

“Why would you want to do that?” he exclaimed, incredulous.

She crossed her arms defensively. “I do what I want and what I want is to diet.”

“Who?” he simply asked.

“Who what?” she replied, frowning.

“Who put in your mind the incredible idea that you need to lose weight? Because you’re too sensible to have thought of that by yourself. Therefore someone very stupid or very mean must have found a way to convince you that you’re not gorgeous already.”

She blushed at that, and let out a somewhat annoyed “Dad!”.

“So, who was it?” he insisted.

Her pout turned sullen, but she did answer. “Jenny.”

“And you believe Jenny because?”

She started biting her bottom lip and her gaze fell away from his. “Because all the boys want to go out with her?” she murmured.

“Let me ask you something, luv. What do you think they see in her?”

She shrugged. “How would I know? I’m not a boy. I guess they just like how she looks.”

“And you want them to like you only because of the way you look?”

“Of course not!”

Her eyes were back to his, vaguely outraged now. Spike just returned her look calmly without a word. Several seconds passed in silence, and then a faint smile tugged at her lips.

“If a boy, or anyone, can’t see past the way you look, honey,” he said softly, “they’re not worth your time. And certainly not worth starving yourself over them.”

The smile widened just a trifle, and she stepped closer to hug him briefly. And then, without another word, she was gone, taking with her a couple of toasts. Happy with himself for having found the words that had convinced her, Spike didn’t realize she had taken food out of the kitchen before she had disappeared up the steps, and decided that, just this once, it didn’t matter.

The two teens were already in sight of the house when William decided that it was probably necessary to warn Sarah. He had seen, a few times already, how his father acted around any prospective date of his sister, and he had this nagging suspicion that Spike would be just as annoying for his son’s potential girlfriends. Which Sarah definitely was, even if she was only there today for a school project.

“Uh, I don’t know how to say that,” he started, and she gave him a questioning look. “The thing is, my father can be a little… weird. Overwhelming, even. I just thought I’d warn you.”

Her smile widened. “Wait ‘til you meet my father,” she replied.

Baffled – and slightly scared – by the idea that she was already thinking of introducing him to her parents, William only nodded, returning her smile, and opened the garden’s fence for her.

“Wow… Nice house,” she said, taking in both the house and the garden.

“Believe me, with two sisters, it’s not big enough,” he joked lightly.

Again, he opened the front door for her, and she smiled at him as she entered. People sometimes teased him about his manners, which he had picked up from a man born in the nineteenth century, but the thing was, girls usually liked the attention.

The question was, as he followed Sarah in, where would Spike be? If they could avoid him, it might be… Too late. There he was, coming out of the kitchen. William didn’t like one bit the lightly surprised look, soon replaced by curiosity.

“Dad, this is Sarah. We’re doing a school project together. Sarah, this is my father.”

He always deliberately left out his father’s name when introducing him to one of his friends, because there was just something very wrong about having ‘Spike’ for a name. It might have been a fine name for a vampire, but it was just plain weird for the father of three teenagers.

“A pleasure to meet you, Sarah,” Spike said with a grin, one of these grins that William was still learning to replicate in front of a mirror just about every morning.

He was learning, because it never missed. That grin was the ultimate weapon to make a woman blush. It always worked on his mother, and William supposed she had had more than enough time to get used to it, and it worked right now on Sarah. Which was kind of annoying, and gross, because hey, Spike had no right to grin like that at his son’s friend. And then, William caught the amused look his father was giving him, and understood that he was just trying to tease him. He rolled his eyes at him, silently promising himself that he would raise the issue in front of Buffy. Revenge was sweet, and fair play unnecessary.

“So, what kind of project are you kids doing?” he asked, playing the perfect role of a concerned father now, which William knew was more than a façade.

Before he could answer, Sarah was already replying.

“It’s for our history class. A research about the industrial revolution in England.”

“What a coincidence! I myself…”

William cleared his throat, and Spike shot him an amused glance before continuing smoothly:

“… did research about it for a book. I could help you, if you want.”

Right. Like William needed his father to intrude on his first chance at talking with Sarah without anyone around.

“Thanks, but we need to work on this by ourselves, dad, it’s schoolwork,” William said pointedly, just as Sarah was exclaiming:

“Oh, you write books? What kind of books?”

William repressed a sigh, his high hopes for this project – particularly, the hope of inviting Sarah to be his partner to the end of program dance two weeks later – melting like snow in the sun.

After a few minutes of talking with his son’s classmate, Spike had decided that the torture had lasted long enough. He had wished the two kids luck on their project, insisted for them to ask him should they have any question, and left them alone, with – it was mandatory – a warning look at William.

Buffy would be home late, as she was attending a seminar for her job, so he dutifully prepared dinner, before retreating to his office while it cooked. He lost all notion of time as he was revising the last few chapters of his new book, and was surprised when a knock on his door was followed by a somewhat pouting cry from his youngest child.

“Daddy? I’m hungry, is it time for dinner yet?”

With a sigh, he saved his work and noticed that it was indeed past dinnertime already. Buffy had told them not to wait for her, so they might as well go on.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t the only one who had lost track of time. Sarah was still there, and of course William invited her to stay for dinner. A quick phone call to her parents, and she was seated along with his children at the dinner table. She was a nice enough girl, pretty, too, and Spike could only congratulate himself for his son’s taste in women. Because, despite the claim that they were just working on that school thing, it was clear to Spike that it wasn’t all they had done. There was a faint smudge of lipstick on William’s mouth, but, thankfully for the boy, no other clues of more… advanced activities.

After dinner, Spike volunteered to drive the girl back home – Sunnyhell was a lot safer than a few years back, but it was still a good idea not to stay out after dark, like in any largish town. William came too, which gave Spike the opening he had been waiting for after they had dropped off Sarah.

“So, how was your research?”

“We still have to finish, but we found a lot of information,” William replied.

“Research about mouth to mouth?” he continued, just as innocently.

A quick glance at Will in the passenger’s seat revealed that the teen was now crimson.

“The thing about women,” he said, suppressing a chuckle, “is that they like to mark us. Why else do you think they wear lipstick?”

Spike couldn’t help laughing as he saw from the corner of his eye William wiping his mouth.

“It better have been nothing more than mouth to mouth,” he added, now serious, although he already knew nothing else had happened.

“Of course not!” William mumbled, still mortified.

Deciding that he had embarrassed his son enough for one day, Spike was ready to let the subject drop, when William asked, very quietly:

“How did you know that you were in love with mom? You know, that she was the one?”

Surprised, Spike remained silent for a few seconds, thinking about it. When had he known? Difficult question. He had denied to himself for such a long time that he felt anything different from loathing for the blonde Slayer…

“I’m not sure,” he said at last. “For so long, I hated her, because she was the Slayer and that’s what vampires are supposed to feel for the Slayer. And then, one day, I started dreaming of her. And I never stopped. And every time I saw her, I could almost swear I could feel my heart beating, and she made me feel so alive. Just by being close to her I felt alive, even when all she saw in me was a vampire and potential dust.”

They had arrived home, and as he parked the car Spike noticed William’s somewhat disgruntled look.

“I’m not helping, am I?” he asked, smiling apologetically.

“Not really,” William acquiesced with a shrug.

“You will know,” he said as William still wasn’t getting out of the car. “One day, you’ll just know, and it will be the most evident thing in the world. There will be no place for doubts or questions, and you’ll just wonder how you never knew before. But you have time, Will. Don’t try to rush things.”

With a half smile, William nodded, and they walked inside the house together.