This is the last chapter... if you read until now, you must at least like the story a little... so please review :-)

Spike walked across the beach toward Buffy, who was lying on a blanket. She was wearing a light summer dress, obviously enjoying the feel of the sun on her exposed skin, her smiling face and closed eyes turned toward the sky. In contrast, Spike was wearing the same kind of clothes as he had for more than a century. Comfortable. Black. Covered by his eternal duster. He eyed the glaring sun warily. Even knowing that it was harmless here, it was a bit hard, after all this time, not to fear sunlight. Deliberately, he placed himself so that his shadow was falling on Buffy. She opened an eye then, pouting.

“Come on, Big Bad. Let me enjoy it as long as it lasts.”

Shaking his head a little, he sat down next to her.

“She’ll be here soon now,” Buffy commented idly. “What took you so long?”

As unreal as it was, the sun was starting to make him feel hot, and the too faint breeze coming from the ocean wasn’t helping. He shrugged out of the leather and laid down on his side, letting his eyes caress the golden skin on his Childe. She was always tanned here. It was probably the image she had of herself.

“I couldn’t fall asleep,” he finally answered her question.

“After the last couple of days, you couldn’t fall asleep?” she asked, surprised, her eyes opening again to look at him curiously.

Indeed, it had been an exhausting few days. Ends of the world always were, and they both had experienced it enough times to know it for a fact. But still, sleep had eluded him for a long time after his Slayer had fallen asleep cuddled in his arms. He had been thinking about what would happen when he allowed his eyes to close. The dream, again. Cordelia, again. The offer, again.

He knew Buffy had been ready for a while, and only refused because he wasn’t. Hell, she’d been ready the first time. She had never, ever, complained about it. They rarely ever talked of the dream while awake. But he still felt a bit guilty about refusing and having her refuse too, because of him. And a bit afraid, too, that by having her refuse one more time he might rob her of the chance forever.

“If it was just you and I wasn’t in the picture,” he asked out of the blue, “would you accept?”

Her gaze darkened a little, just as her smile faded slightly.

“It’s not just me,” she answered softly. “And what use would I have for humanity if I couldn’t share it with you?”

He looked at her for a while, silent, stunned once more by how lucky he was to be loved so. No words could have told her how she made him feel, so he just leaned in and kissed the beautiful lady who had held his heart through decades he had stopped counting. Before the kiss could evolve into something more, they were interrupted by insistent coughing. The previous time, Cordelia had caught them in a… ‘compromising’ position. Spike had found the incident hilarious – it was just a dream, after all – but both Buffy and Cordelia had been mortified. Apparently, they remembered as he did, because they were both blushing brightly. It was all Spike could do not to laugh.

“Hi guys. If you would cut out the smoochies for a minute...”

Spike threw a glance at Buffy, finding that she was rolling her eyes at the angel in front of them.

“Wow, Cordy, we are so surprised,” his Slayer said sarcastically.

“Yeah,” Spike added in the same tone, “we would never have guessed we would see you again, since last time you said it was our last chance.”

“Of course, since you had said that the five times before that…”

“Six, luv,” Spike corrected gently.

“Yes, true, six. After hearing six times that you wouldn’t propose it to us again, we should have guessed you’d be back.”

By now, the brunette was sulking, arms crossed and lips pinched tight as she glared at them.

“Well, if you weren’t so stubborn,” she declared grumpily, “I wouldn’t have to keep insisting.”

Spike and Buffy exchanged a glance and burst out in laughter. It was just too easy to tease the girl.

“Cordy, why do your bosses want us to be human so much?” Buffy asked when she had calmed down.

“They don’t want it that much,” Cordelia said haughtily. “It’s a reward.”

Still chuckling, Spike shook his head. “If it was just a question of reward,” he smirked, “you wouldn’t be pestering us to accept, and you’d ask us instead what we really would like to get. Myself, I’d like a nice mansion in the south of France.”

Of course, he could have bought half a dozen of these with the money the New Council had been giving him and Buffy monthly ever since Giles and his girl had taken over and changed a few things. With a few careful investments, the money had accumulated over time, and paying cash for a house in which they spent a week every few years wasn’t out of the ordinary to them.

For a long moment, Cordelia was immobile in front of them, silent. But her eyes, unfocused, gave away that she wasn’t really there. At last, she blinked, and said with a sigh:

“OK. So, you got me. Yes, I will offer you humanity as many times as needed until you accept. And yes, the Powers have something in mind for you two once you’re human again...”

Once more, the two vampires looked at each other, not saying a word, but the same thought was going through both their minds. After all they had done for these damn Powers, they still wanted more? Would they ever leave them alone? What could they want from them as humans that they couldn’t do as vampires?

“Children,” Buffy said out loud suddenly, startling him. “You want us to have children. That’s why you want us to be human. Before you changed me back, you said I wasn’t pregnant yet, as if you expected me to be.”

By the blank stare Cordelia gave her, his Slayer was right.

“Not just children,” the angel admitted reluctantly after a second of silence. “Slayers. Like Dawn’s and Steven’s line of descent. And that’s all the information you’ll get from me.”

Spike felt Buffy take his hand, and she gave him the sweetest, most tender smile that had ever graced her lips. He returned it, with all his heart, letting her know that he understood. Even if it was what someone else expected from them, she still wanted it. She had wanted to have children with him years ago, she still wanted it now, and she would wait, as long as needed, until he felt ready. He wanted to tell her that, some day, he would want it too, but before he could she nodded and said, very quietly:

“I know. That’s OK.”

Cordelia gave out a deep sigh, and when they looked at her she was shaking her head, obviously disappointed.

“So, it’s no again, then?” she asked half-heartedly.

“Sorry Cordy,” Buffy said as she leaned against Spike’s shoulder. “See you in a few years.”

A few years… But how many, until he felt like he could be a good father? He had been a good Mate for a long time, or so he hoped. A good husband, too. A good slaying partner. A good Sire. A good friend. A good brother. A good trainer for new Slayers. He had seen his Nibblet’s children grow up, and their own kids, and even now he and Buffy still sometimes visited the scattered family for which they had almost become legends. Would eternity even be enough to prepare him to be a father? Eternity wouldn’t have sufficed to prepare him to be Buffy’s Sire. He had just learned as he went.

The brunette was already fading away when Spike’s hand rose toward her. “Cordelia, wait.”

The girl materialized again. Spike looked at Buffy’s face, finding her eyes wide, full of expectation and hope. And he knew he was making the right decision.