Title: Acting
The Part
Author: Pattyanne
[email protected]
Disclaimer: None of the
BtVS
characters belong to me.
Feedback: Love some, thanks.
Rating: Up
to NC-17
Summary: AU. William St. James is
an actor in a hit television
show. While
appearing at a fan convention, he meets
Buffy and her six year
old daughter, Melanie
AN: Hey, check out the pretty picture vamps
made
for the story:
www.offangsandfairytales.net/actingthepartmain.html
Part twenty-eight:
"Now...who's that
one?"
"Eeyore!"
William smiled as Melanie squeezed his hand
and
bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
"Why does he look so
sad?"
"He's very gloomy," she announced knowledgeably.
Buffy stood
a few feet away, rummaging in her shoulder
bag for the tube of sunscreen
she'd stashed there earlier,
listening to Melanie patiently identifying the
various
Disney characters meandering around the town square,
and their
relationships to each other.
After slathering a goodly amount of the
lotion into Melanie's
delicate skin, she plopped a child sized visor cap on
her
daughter's head and pronounced her ready for the sunshine.
Their
status as hotel guests entitled them to the special
consideration of being
admitted to the park a full two hours
before the gates opened to the general
public. They ambled
slowly down Main Street, stopping whenever Melanie
lingered
in front of the shop windows to examine the treasures behind
the
glass.
Buffy was having a difficult time giving her full attention
to
the map of the park she carried in her hand while at the
same time
trying to keep an eye on William. Every time
Melanie paused in front of an
item in a window that caught
her eye, he reached for his wallet with the
full intention of
buying it for her.
Anything...and everything...she
might desire,
from a package of colored pencils bearing the likeness of
different characters, all the way up to a blown glass replica
of
Sleeping Beauty's Castle that was bigger than the little
girl's doll house
and carried a four digit price tag, was all
her's for the asking as far as he
was concerned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You can't
buy her everything in the park."
"I won't."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was difficult
stopping him. He got as much pleasure as
Melanie did out of everything he
gave her, but if he was
indeed going to become a permanent fixture in their
lives,
he had to learn how to control his impulsive spending
habits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"But it's
her birthday present."
"The trip to Disneyland is her birthday present.
You
don't need to....no, William...no....I said no and I
mean it! Put it
back!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They started
off their day in Fantasyland.
Melanie happily rode the merry-go-round
five times
in a row, waving to her mother every time the horse she'd
chosen made it's circular progress.
Dumbo's Flying Circus made her
squeal with giddiness
as the elephant shaped car swooped up and down.
They
sat three across through Snow White's Adventures, Mr. Toad's
Wild
Ride, Peter Pan's Flight To Neverland, and Alice's
Adventures in
Wonderland.
Although Buffy was leery of it, they took a stomach
churning
ride on the spinning teacups. Melanie shrieked with giggles,
in
a way her mother had never heard before, as the cup and
saucer spun in
increasingly rapid circles, propelled by William's
strong
hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you sure
you're feeling better?"
"Yes."
"I knew those teacups were a
mistake, especially
so soon after breakfast. You still look awfully
pale."
"I'm okay, I promise."
Buffy shook her head. "Well, I still
think we should just
sit down and....what? Is it coming again?...okay,
there's
a bathroom right over there..."
"Mommy?" Melanie looked up at
her mother as William
headed for the men's room. "Is he okay?"
"He
will be,
baby."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Storybook
Land enchanted Buffy almost as much as
it did Melanie The tiny houses and
buildings, taken
straight from the pages of fairytale books and
Disney
movies, were so well detailed and realistic that they
almost
expected to see the Three Little Pigs or Snow
White come out of their
cottages.
As the boat wound it's path through the twists and
turns of
the waterways, Melanie leaned further and
further over the rail, trying to
peer into tiny windows
and doors, listening to the sound of familiar
voices
singing snippets of songs from each movie represented.
William,
sitting on the opposite seat, watched her
carefully, edging forward
nervously every time she
seemed destined to tumble into the water.
When
he couldn't stand it anymore, he made Buffy trade
places with him and
wrapped his fingers in the back
straps of the child's overalls, keeping a
firm grip on
them.
Behind his dark glasses, he met Buffy's amused
gaze
and shrugged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy
scowled. "I'm NOT wearing that."
"Oh, come on....it'll look
cute."
"Then YOU wear it."
"Buffy..."
"No! You may have
bought it, but you can't force me
to wear it. It's ridiculous for a grown
woman to wear
mouse ears."
"Look..I had them stitch your name on it
and every-
thing. "
"Don't care. Not listening." She turned around and
found herself facing a determined looking child peeking
up at her from
beneath her own 'mouse ears'. They
exchanged looks for a moment, then Buffy
sighed and
turned back to William, snatching the hat out of his
hands.
"I'll get you for this," she muttered, slapping the ears
on.
"Promises, promises," he said softly, handing his credit
card to
the sales clerk.
On their way out of the shop, he leaned down to
whisper, "Maybe you could wear those the next time
we...."
Buffy
looked at him as he waggled his eyebrows sug-
gestively. "If there IS a next
time."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surprisingly to
Buffy, William's presence in the park
hadn't drawn much attention.
His sunglasses, and the two toned and tousled curls he
was now
sporting seemed enough to throw all but the
most observant eyes off any
track....until they stepped
into Tomorrowland.
The futuristically
themed section of the park was filled with
people who knew all there was to
know about anything
sci-fi oriented, and they had no trouble spotting one
of the genre's newest rising stars.
William, good natured as always,
spent some time signing
autographs and posed for several pictures while Buffy
and
Melanie browsed around the gift shops and the arcade. They
played two
games of air hockey and fed a small fortune in
quarters into the different
video games and pinball machines.
When William rejoined them, they sat at
a small table with an
umbrella awning over it and had lunch. After they
finished,
William bought Melanie a box of popcorn and he and Buffy
watched
her as she walked around tossing kernels to the tiny
sparrows that hopped
around the ground practically at her feet.
"You having fun, love?"
Buffy smiled as he pulled her chair closer to his. "I'm
having more
fun than I can ever remember having here
before. I mean...I've been here
plenty of times, but..."
"Yeah," William nodded. "I know...me, too. And
it's dif-
ferent, seeing it all over again through a child's eyes. Like
it's all brand new."
"Exactly." She leaned over and returned the
light kiss
he placed on her lips.
When she began to pull away, he
slipped one hand around
the back of her neck and prevented it. Nuzzling her
ear, he
spoke quietly. "Can I ask you something kind of personal?"
"Of
course you can. What?" she added when he hesitated.
"Well...it's
this...have you ever thought...that you wanted to
have more
children?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The question,
spoken so quietly, made Buffy's skin prickle
with goosebumps.
Truth
was, she had always wanted to have at least three
children. Having grown up
as an only child, she knew better
than most that it could be a lonely life.
She hadn't lacked
for friends, but at the end of the day, when families
withdrew
into the private cocoons of their own homes, she'd always
felt a
bit left out.
After meeting and marrying Angel, in their first flush of
love and happiness, they had talked many times about
raising a big family
full of kids. It wasn't until she was
locked into her commitment that she
began to see the
other side of THAT coin, the side that wanted no part
of
it until HE felt they were ready.
Even though she was only
twenty-eight, Buffy knew that
women had just so much window of opportunity
when it
came to reproduction. She didn't have a limitless supply
of eggs
in her ovaries.
Her biological clock wasn't exactly ringing its alarm,
but
it WAS ticking.
Sitting here now next to William, hearing him ask
her that
question, it suddenly began sounding off like a police
siren,
matching the loud boom-boom-boom of her rapidly
beating
heart.
"You're really thinking that question over, aren't
you?" he
asked, a small grin tugging at the corners of his
mouth.
"Well...no. I mean, yes."
"No, you mean yes?" he chuckled.
"Once more with clarity?"
Buffy's cheeks turned pink. "I meant that I
wasn't...that I
just..." She sighed at her own tripping tongue,
deciding
to just cut to the chase. "Yes...I want to have more
children
someday." She took a deep breath. "I've always wanted
to have a
big family."
"A house full of kids?"
"Yes."
"Me,
too."
She felt that same delectable chill creep up and down
her spine.
Turning to face him, she opened her mouth to
speak....
"Mommy! Can we
go see Small World now?" Melanie
skipped back to them and grabbed her
mother's hand,
pulling on it. "Can we?"
"Um...yes. Sure we can, baby."
Flustered, Buffy turned
her attention back to her daughter. Rising to her
feet, she
firmly controlled the urge to let her knees quiver and
began
gathering up the remnants of their meal.
"And the boats, Mommy?"
Melanie asked. "And can we
ride on the train?"
Stuffing the trash in
the can, Buffy nodded. "Yes, we can
ride on the
train."
TBC....
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deeply