Disclaimer: The Characters on Angel were do not belong and were not created by me, but the talented Joss Whedon.
Wesley Wyndam Pryce lay nestled against his wife, breathing heavily in his sleep.
Lilah was counting the time on the radio alarm clock beside her. Another contraction gripped her uterus. She kicked Wesley's leg urgently.
"Wake up Wes. It's time." She hissed.
"What? God, you're in labor?" Wesley was instantly wide awake.
"No, I want you to lock me in the closet. Of course I'm in labor." Lilah rose heavily from the bed.
"Alright we're leaving immediately, don't panic." This was suggested in a neutral tone as Wes scrambled into his clothes.
"I'm not." Lilah grinned, observing Wes fumbling with his belt buckle in his haste. "Don't you go all AWOL of your senses on me lover."
"You never cause me to leave my senses Lilah." Wesley said coldly. "Now hurry up and get dressed woman."
They left their apartment. Wesley courteously held the door open for her to go first as always.
Once they were in the car and driving, Lilah raised her eyebrows expectantly at Wesley. This was not the way to the birthing unit.
"We need to go to Lorne's nightclub first." Wes concentrated on the road ahead. It was three in the morning. He didn't want to have an accident caused by driver fatigue.
"Have it your way Wesley." Lilah scoffed, she played with her wedding ring, worn on a gold chain around her neck because of her swollen fingers. "You never trust me."
"And I never will." Wesley parked the car outside Lorne's nightclub. He quickly walked over to Lilah, to help support her waddle through the crowded club.
Lorne came over to them immediately. Leading them into a back room.
"This is the last favor I'm ever doing for you Mr Benedict Arnold." Lorne declared frostily to Wesley.
"So what ballad shall I sing?" Lilah smirked, Wesley considerately pushed out a chair for her to sit on. "'Looks like we made it'? 'Annie's theme'? 'Unchained melody'?
"Is there a song entitled 'I'm a treacherous evil senior lawyer at Wolfram and Hart'? Get on with it Lilah. Your contractions are coming closer together." Wesley stood impassively by her, his arms folded hostilely.
"See the stone set in your eyes, see the thorn twist in your side, I wait for you." Lilah sang the first few bars of U2's 'With or without you'. It had been the song she and Wesley had danced to, at their wedding reception two years ago.
"She's clean, the gravid grapefruit could be doing a cloaking spell. But she seems to only intend to safely give birth and keep your child afterwards." Lorne announced surprised.
"Good, thank you Lorne." Wesley breathed relieved. "Get up." He ordered curtly to Lilah. He gently helped her rise.
They drove without further incident to the birthing unit.
Kitted in blue coveralls, with what looked like a shower cap on his head. Wesley sat beside his wife and waited for her labor to progress.
After ten hours had passed with no delivery, the gynecologist wanted to perform a Cesarean.
Lilah shook her sweaty hair in protest. "Wes." She pleaded.
"No, you'd think she'd be too posh to push, but she wants to deliver naturally. Wishes to return to work as quickly as possible." Wes confronted the medical team. "So piss off and leave her to it. You're not needlessly cutting her open so you can avoid a law suit."
"Thank you Wesley." Lilah panted gratefully.
"Everyone knows American Cesarean rates are the highest in the world, for no bloody good reason." Wesley raised her right hand to his lips. He kissed it briefly. "You're doing well Lilah."
Two hours later his son arrived into the world. Screaming at the top of his lungs.
"I love you." Wesley pressed his lips on hers. "He's beautiful Lilah."
Lilah had tears in her eyes, as she cradled their child. "He is, isn't he? Healthy, perfect."
"For your sake, let's hope he stays that way." Wesley straightened up. "I'm going home to sleep. I'll be back in eight hours. Can I bring you anything?"
"No thank you. I've got all I need right here." Lilah softly kissed her son's tender skull.
Wesley checked the prepared nursery one more paranoid time, when he returned home. No mystic runes scrawled around the bassinet, no occult hidden charms in the teddy bear mobile, Lilah had hung up last week. It all seemed to be as she had promised. This was a straight forward planned pregnancy and resulting delivery, with the purpose of her having the child, she had apparently always secretly wanted.
Wesley threw himself down on their bed, falling instantly asleep. He awoke at sunset.
Showering, he reflected on their marriage. Succeeding only on the basis that they never discussed their work. Sometimes they'd run into each in the field as it were. Always amusing, occasionally awkward. His parents adored her, apart from the fact she was evil naturally.
Lilah was a wonderful daughter in-law. Hosting them uncomplaining the past two Christmas's. Flying out with him supportively to England, when Mum had her stroke last June. Of course there was also the opportunity for Lilah to break into the New Watcher's Council Library, and photograph secret documents with her spy camera. But as she had explained afterwards, Wolfram and Hart had wanted to prevent the apocalypse that was due to happen in Scotland next year as well.
Wesley arrived back at the birthing unit. He paused at the ground floor florist, purchasing a huge bouquet of roses for her. Sometimes it was all about flowers.
He noticed the senior liaison officer Eve, from Wolfram and Hart, walk out the reception doors with her fiancé. They were carefully holding a wrapped wailing bundle between them. Wesley hadn't known Eve was pregnant.
He reached Lilah's private room. It was empty. He placed the bouquet down on a table. He casually wandered back into reception. He asked a nurse where Lilah was. Where was the baby? In a communal nursery he hoped?
"No Mr Morgan." The nurse began to explain.
"Mr Pryce. My wife has kept her maiden name." Wesley informed her patiently. His Dad had almost keeled over at their wedding on hearing about that.
"Oh, yes sorry." The nurse smiled. "Ms Morgan was showering I think. But the baby should be in her room. Wasn't there someone from her office in there with him?"
"Christ!" Wesley sprinted back to the room. Lilah emerged from the bathroom, walking gingerly. Their son was not in his crib.
"Bitch!" Wesley slapped her savagely across the face.
"I love you too." Lilah put her hand to her cheek. She regarded him warily. "Under a spell I hope?"
"You had to fucking go through with it!" Wesley put his hands around his wife's neck and began to strangle her. "Had to sacrifice our son to advance your career. All your lies. You evil, evil, bitch!"
Lilah choked, gasping frantically for air. She clawed at his face. Wesley continued to throttle her.
"Oh my god!" Harmony, Lilah's personal assistant came dashing in, holding the baby. "Get off her!"
Wesley heard his son's wails, instantly he dropped his hands.
Lilah staggered over to the bed, gulping in oxygen, rubbing her bruised throat.
Harmony passed her over the screaming baby. The vampire couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. "Ms Morgan, does he do that often? Because Domestic Violence is not something for you to be ashamed about. It's for him to be."
Harmony scowled at Wesley. "Asshole, I mean as a vampire I enjoyed seeing you do that. But as Ms Morgan's right hand undead gal I'm blown away by your mean behavior."
Lilah silenced her son's wails with a proffered breast. She winced with discomfort.
"Lilah, I don't know what to say. I over reacted. I'm extremely sorry." Wesley wished the floor would open and swallow him up.
"You're sorry, yadda, yadda. Heard it all before lover. I told you I sacrificed my first born when I was twenty four, interning in my last year at law school." Lilah gave a hurt disdainful sniff. "No one cares about sacrificing your first born Wes. The world doesn't revolve around your English butt, no matter how hot it is."
"Heard it before?" Harmony put her hands on her hips. "You mean those bruises on your arms, I noticed at the staff Halloween Party last year, was from him beating you up too?"
"I don't knock Lilah around!" Wesley denied hotly.
"They were from violent hate filled sex." Lilah corrected Harmony's false impression. "No I mean, he always thinks I'm being evil when I'm not. On New Year's Eve he thought I'd summoned a demon to take out our building's irritating concierge, but it was the lady who lived down the hall who did."
"I said I was sorry for that as well." Wesley stammered. He picked up the roses as a peace offering. "I brought you these."
"So what? You've played this tune repeatedly. A posy isn't going to cut it, making up for strangling me." Lilah said furiously.
Harmony crept quietly out of the room to give them privacy.
"Lilah, I'll see a therapist, work on my misogynistic issues." Wesley promised, sitting beside his wife on the bed. "I know what I did was unforgivable just then. But please, I've forgiven you over worse. Give me a second chance."
Lilah was silent for ten long cold minutes. "Okay, but if you ever raise a hand to me outside our B & D fun times, I'll kill you Wes, and I'm not making an empty threat. I'm not returning home until you show me the appointment card with your shrink."
"Thank you. You mean the world to me Lilah darling." Wesley confessed. He stroked their feeding son's cheek. Wesley furrowed his brow, when he noticed the tiny strawberry birthmark on his son's scalp. He had been too tired and emotional to spot it earlier. "What's that?"
"Just a birthmark, the nurse said it will fade. And if it doesn't, his hair will cover it. Peculiar shape isn't it?" Lilah pressed her index finger on the blemish delicately. "Kinda like a dagger?"
In the birthing unit's coffee lounge, Harmony was talking on her cell phone. "Hi, it's Harm, yeah she's fine. She'll be back at work part time again in a week. It definitely looks like the baby's the one we've been waiting for. He has the mark of the leader on his crown as foretold. Apocalypse still on track for 2035 I reckon."