Spike And Faye As Parents - Tumblr Posts

excerpt from Chapter 10 of Further On Down the Road (now posted to AO3!)

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask... Pureed stuff is best for his age right now, I get that, but... well, are you sure you're feeding him the right stuff?"

Spike glanced over his shoulder at the guacamole on the table. "I mean, we made that ourselves here on the ship. Can't get much healthier than that, right?"

"No, that's not quite..."

"Nutrient-rich foodstuffs and things with protein. That's what DB's list said to strive for. Keep an eye on labels for words like 'preservative free' and 'low sodium' and 'no sugar' because apparently kids aren't supposed to have salt until they're one and should avoid sugar until they're two. What a restrictive diet, sheesh." Faye muttered, heaping some guacamole onto a chip for herself.

"Yeah, I get that," Jet interrupted. "It's just... I know you guys are excited to give him real food and you were doing separate ingredients of things day by day to make sure he doesn't have allergies... that's all great. I just... it seems odd to me to give him guacamole, smoothies, and soup."

"We don't want him to choke on little bites, Jet!" Faye reasoned. "All those things you described are either purees or a step beyond... straight liquid!" She looked over at Spike. "I think we're doing just fine. Look, he's loving it!" She pointed at Lupin's rapturous expression.

"Besides Jet, you saw the cost of baby food at the store." Spike added.

Jet looked to the ceiling thoughtfully. "True enough." He brought his gaze over to Faye. "For that matter, you ought to just keep him on the tit as long as possible."

Yes, I know I haven't updated my longfic in weeks. Yes, I know I fell off posting prompts. Life is... a lot sometimes, you see. Stress and depression are hard to push away in order to be productive. There are times when it just can't happen. In light of that, and in the spirit of "spring forward" (for the record I am not a fan of participating in daylight savings time) ...I've decided to cheer myself up by posting a snippet of something that's been written for ages but which I am far from ready to post simply because we're nowhere near this point in the timeline of my longfic. Most of the scenes are patiently awaiting their turn but this one wanted to be shared ahead of time 😘

So, let's spring forward many months! Hope y'all enjoy this sneak peek at the not-too-distant-future of Spike and Faye's "Music Keeps Us Together" family!

***

"Baby, baby, sweet baby," Spike murmured softly, cradling his infant daughter to his chest. She was so tiny that his palm could press against just about her entire back. Somehow she seemed tinier than Lupin had been at her age and that had already seemed ludicrously small. It blew his mind that human beings grew up from such itty bitty beings.

He tried stroking. He tried patting. The baby was having none of it. Her piercing cries literally made Spike's ears ring. He winced at her effortless volume and glanced worriedly at the forms on the bed but neither stirred.

Faye was sprawled out on her back with a sheet partially wrapped around her head to cover her eyes from the dim light in the room. She was out cold. Little Lupin, with a pale and sweaty face, lay pressed against her right side with his head pillowed on her flung out right arm. The toddler looked miserable in his sleep.

Well that made it unanimous.

At least Spike knew the baby's cries weren't going to wake anyone else on the ship. Jet had gone ahead and added some soundproofing when he'd fixed up the hull sections of the ship. If Spike were to open the door then the sound could travel to the rest of the ship but as long as he kept his squalling daughter in the bedroom it should be fine.

Spike had been around loud noises countless times. Firing guns, exploding buildings, being around ship engine's roaring to life, Faye's piercing shrieks… he'd never worried that he might lose his hearing until now. If he didn't have tinnitus after this baby, he'd be surprised.

At this point though it was fairly obvious what her needs were. The fruitless rooting at his chest was indication enough that his little girl was hungry. Well how about that, she took after him after all. Her eyes were that baby blue that would probably change with age. The mess of dark hair could go either way but that vocal range was 100% inherited from Faye. This appetite though… that had Spiegel all over it.

He moved to the left side of the bed and sat on the edge next to Faye. He tried to gauge her ability to cooperate with his next move but she seemed deeply unconscious which would probably be helpful at this point. With painstaking care he nestled their daughter against her left side, right against her left breast. For the billionth time he found himself feeling grateful for Faye's preference of sleeping topless - if not entirely nude whenever possible.

Her position was somewhat awkward but only for Spike trying to assist the baby in nursing. Alora latched on immediately but Spike couldn't just let her go because she was too tiny to truly support herself to any degree and while Faye could provide sustenance while unconscious she obviously couldn't hold the baby properly in place.

All was peace and quiet for what must have been a stretch of actual minutes. Spike nearly dozed off in the quiet that enveloped the room as Alora ate. But Faye twitched in her sleep suddenly and Spike found himself blinking in that confused state that happens when jerking awake just before falling asleep.

He had approximately two seconds to realize Faye was shifting before her voice reached him. Man, maybe Baby Alora had damaged his ears a bit.

"Spike! Take the baby!" Faye commanded urgently.

He instinctively yanked Alora off Faye's nipple and back towards himself, nearly falling off the bed as he cradled Alora and scrambled away. Faye had pulled her arm free of Lupin's sleeping form and twisted her body enough to hang her head off the bed so she could be noisily sick onto the floor.

Baby Alora, completely unprepared for the sudden loss of tit, and probably confused by Spike's stumble as well, began to wail again with all her tiny might. Whether it was her cries or Faye's vomiting, little Lupin was soon conscious also and in no time joined his mom in throwing up. Unfortunately the little boy wasn't as adept at throwing up over the side of the bed - or rather, no effort had been made at all. He couldn't exactly blame the boy, he was young and hadn't been sick often.

Clutching his bawling baby girl to his chest, Spike backed away from the other half of his family. Fuck, he wished he could plug his nose.

"No more contact with other kids," Spike called over to Faye as she regained control of her stomach and sprawled weakly back onto the mattress. "Those snotty little germ factories got Lupin sick and he passed it on to you."

Faye moaned piteously. "He has to get to know others his age." Eyes clenched shut, she gagged a few times as her stomach tried to purge the nothing that was left.

Spike scoffed. "Baby, he's a toddler. He doesn't need any milk dates."

It was rewarding to hear her chuckle even if it came at the end of a round of dry heaving. Lupin, done puking for the moment, groaned and tried to bury his face under the blankets. Alora remained unmoved by anything going on, the plight of her mother and brother not registering on her radar in the least, and kept on howling.

"Fuck she better not get sick," Faye muttered. "Her poor little throat is already raw from screaming."

Spike, who had been about to approach, paused in thought. Alora was basically still a newborn - could she handle being as sick as her mom and brother? Spike didn't think so. But on the other hand they'd all been in this room for hours now, since Lupin had first started feeling clammy and ill. Was it already too late to quarantine? Most likely. And anyway Spike needed Faye to feed Alora - there wasn't much milk stored yet and no formula whatsoever because neither of the kids seemed able to stomach it.

He sighed. Nope, this was just going to be life for the foreseeable future and that's all there was to it. At least he could contact Ed and have her leave a dead drop outside the door. And, well, Alora couldn't cry forever after all.

Right?