Chapter 2: Telling the Gang

Summary: Before she can leave Sunnydale, Buffy has some loose ends to tie up.

A/N: In response to Challenge 3064: conception by conspiracy *non-stargate* by shelli.

A/N2: Thanks to my betas: zigpal, JediKnight and AshDawnSoulmates.

A/N3: Instead of starting a new story for this interlude stuff, I just decided to extend the paternity test ficlet into a mini-story.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

-----------------------------

Still Giles' apartment

After Buffy went into more detail about the father of her baby, Joyce asked the logical question, "So, you think that you'll move out east to be closer to him?"

"Yeah. If it makes him uncomfortable for me to live in the same town, then I'll just live somewhere along the coast." Seeing the look in her mother's eyes, Buffy explained, "A lot of the guys seemed interested in being part of the baby's life, even if they weren't the dads."

Joyce hesitated, then blurted out, "I want to come with you."

"What? What about the gallery?" Buffy put up a token protest; inside she was doing the Snoopy dance, though.

"I can get work some place nearby," Joyce shrugged off the concern. Then she decided to admit the truth, "To be honest, Buffy, I was really only staying here because of you. Ever since you told me about this place, I've wanted to leave. But I couldn't because I didn't want to miss any time with you."

Buffy tried one final time, "If you're sure…" Then she gave a deep sigh of relief and smiled brightly at her mother, "I would love for you to come. I have a feeling that I'll need my mommy in the coming months. Not to sound too childish here – especially since I'm going to have one soon."

"It makes perfect sense. I wanted my mother when I was pregnant with you. I think all women do," Joyce confided the pregnant woman's secret.

Clearing his throat, Giles interjected, "And I'd like either Wesley or myself to go along as well. At least until the child is born. You'll need protection as your pregnancy progresses."

"Which one of you?" Buffy inquired, trying not to pout to get her way.

"Whichever one doesn't stay behind to train the new Slayer," he answered her honestly. As much as he wanted to be the one to join her, the Slayer needed the right Watcher.

Buffy couldn't stop herself anymore and murmured, "Can I be selfish and say I want Wes to train her?"

Giving her a tender embrace, Giles replied in kind, "Only if I get to be selfish and want the same thing as well."

Joyce smiled at the pair and chipped in, "That's my choice, too."

"Although, she deserves the best, and that'd be you…unfortunately," Buffy added, this time with a pout.

"Face it, Rupert. You are a hot commodity," Joyce couldn't help but tease the man.

Giles blushed at the words. "Yes, well…" he started to stutter out, then gave up to polish his glasses.

Buffy giggled as she linked her arm with her mom's, "I think we broke him."

"Good to know we can," Joyce smirked back.

-----------------------------

Just before six, Willow and Xander showed up at the apartment with their significant others, eagerly demanding where the Watcher and Slayer went, and why.

Willow began first, "So, what's the real story for your trip? I'm not buying Watcher/Slayer bonding."

"We actually did grow closer," Buffy pointed out.

As expected, Anya spoke her one-track mind, "Oh, are you orgasm friends now?"

Which caused Xander to cringe. "Ahn, please! No mental images of Buffy and Giles like that!" he pleaded, rubbing his head in a futile attempt to get rid of those images.

Buffy bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "No, it was nothing like that. But you guys should sit down; this will take a while," she commanded as she took her own seat.

Now Willow looked worried. "What's wrong?"

"Where should I start? Umm…well, I'm no longer going to be the Slayer," the petite blonde blurted out.

Xander's head snapped up at the announcement. "Huh?"

"What?" And Willow was doing a great impression of a fish out of water.

Giles rolled his eyes before scolding his Slayer, "I don't think that's the right place to start."

"Why not?" Buffy shot back, then turned to her friends to explain, "I got a visit from a messenger for the Powers That Be. A new girl is coming to take over the Hellmouth 'cause I gotta leave."

Willow tried to keep up. "Is there demony badness someplace else?" she guessed.

Buffy shook her head, "Not that I know of. I'm just supposed to go into semi-retirement."

"How do you know this messenger is legit? Maybe they're really a bad guy trying to trick you," Xander pointed out.

Shaking her head again, Buffy assured them, "No. I met Whistler during the Angelus thing. He's the real thing."

"So you're leaving and Faith is coming back?" Now it was Willow's turn to cringe.

"No, it's going to be a new girl," Giles responded calmly.

Xander thought for a moment, then asked – not entirely sad about it, "Faith die?"

"She's just losing her powers." Buffy paused before she continued, "See, I have to leave, but I need to keep my powers because the demon community knows me too well. Faith, not so much. And since she's not getting out of prison anytime soon, the PTB decided to bypass her. The new girl should be arriving any day now."

Willow was like a dog with a bone. "But why do you have to leave?" she demanded.

"Remember back in March…when I got hurt?" Buffy reminded the group of her time in the infirmary.

"Yeah," they all nodded.

Buffy ran her hands over her face and back through her hair. "Well, as it turned out, Walsh had a back-up plan for creating the ultimate soldier."

"Oh goddess, she implanted a chip in you?!" Willow leapt to the wrong conclusion.

"Not exactly. No chip, but she definitely stuck something in me." She took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

There was stunned silence for several minutes.

Tara was the first to break it with her stuttered question, "Professor Walsh inseminated you?"

"Who's the dad? Riley?" Xander guessed. If that guy had anything to do with this, he – and probably Willow – would show the ex-commando that the 'shovel speech' wasn't just words.

Buffy shook her head, "That was the point of this trip: to find out. All we had was a list of possible candidates. Giles found a magical paternity spell, but we needed something from each of the men to do it."

Willow looked hurt. "Why didn't you say anything to us? We would have helped you."

"Honestly? I was afraid of how you would react. Even when we knew that the dad was human, I didn't want to risk telling you until I could cross at least one of the names off the list," Buffy told them as kindly as she could. She didn't want to hurt their feelings after all. "I just needed time to adjust to the idea."

If it wasn't Riley, and it was human, then… "Who?" Anya questioned.

Bracing herself, Buffy told them, "Ethan Rayne."

"He isn't, is he? 'Cause that would just be-- " Xander broke off, shuddering.

Buffy nodded her agreement of that sentiment. "Which is why I wanted to find out first. And no, thankfully, it's not Ethan. It's a nice guy from the East Coast," Buffy was relieved to say.

Then Xander spoke without thinking, "I still don't get why you have to run away again."

Joyce stood up, angry at the young man's careless words. She saw the pain flash in her daughter's eyes before she slid the mask back in place. "She's not running away! She was given her freedom by the beings that forced this burden on her in the first place. They understood that she deserved a chance to raise her child. Why can't you? You can leave anytime you want. Shouldn't she have the same right?" she demanded.

Putting his hand on Buffy's shoulder in a show of support, Giles chimed in, "And it's not as if she will entirely give up slaying. She just has to put her child first. Even Whistler said so. The Hellmouth will be protected; as Buffy said, a new Slayer is on her way," he added with a glare.

"But she wouldn't be as good as Buffy," Willow pouted, not wanting to lose her friend.

Buffy snorted, "I wasn't as good when I was first Called. At least she'll have a good Watcher to help her out."

Surprised, Willow glanced at the Englishman. "Giles is staying here?"

"Either myself or Wesley. He has come a long way from the prat he was last year," Giles said in warning. Wesley deserved another chance if he came.

Joyce grabbed her daughter's hand as she added, "I will be going with Buffy. I care about you kids, but this is my daughter and grandchild. I need to be with them."

Xander gave her a sad smile; he was sorry to lose the best mother the group had. "We understand, Mrs. S."

"That's right," Willow agreed. Then she moved to kneel in front of her best friend. "And I'm sorry, Buffy. You didn't deserve to have this done to you. But if it gives you a chance at a regular life, then maybe it's a good thing."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked, not caught up to Willow's train of thought.

Willow turned to him, a heartbreaking expression on her face. "They basically raped her, Xan. Maybe not in the physical sense like we understand it, but her body was violated."

Horrified, Xander rushed to Buffy's side to apologize, "Oh my gosh! I hadn't thought about it like that. I'm sorry, too."

Buffy reveled in the love of her friends for a moment, then spoke up, "It's not like it's your fault, guys. What's done is done. Like you said, it's a blessing in disguise."

-----------------------------

A/N: Next…Faith and Wesley.