ooooooooooooooo Here's another chapter. Review and Enjoy!
"Um, you know what? Actually, we don't need to talk now," Buffy said.
She couldn't tell him right now. She was too nervous.
"I really think we should," Angel said.
"Why?" Buffy asked. "What do you need to say?"
"Probably the same thing as you," Angel told her.
"Oh, I highly doubt that," Buffy said, voice slightly higher than usual, quickly getting up, starting to walk to the door.
"I just saw Faith, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't having a normal dream. She told me something kind of unbelievable. I have this feeling that it's for real, though. It would explain a lot of things. But I need to hear you say it, before I really believe it," Angel said.
Buffy stopped in her tracks. "Oh," was all Buffy could manage at the moment.
Faith told Angel that she was pregnant. He knew.
"Just tell me, please," Angel said.
"Why do you need me to say it? You already know, right? Faith told you," Buffy said, voice shaking, walking away again, just trying to escape the situation.
"So it's true?" Angel asked. "Buffy, stop please. Tell me."
After what seemed like an eternity she stopped, and Buffy finally nodded.
"You're pregnant."
Buffy nodded again, slowly.
"Whoa," Angel said.
"Yeah," Buffy mumbled.
"Are you mad?" Angel asked her.
"Are you?" she asked him, without answering.
"No," he told her.
"You're not?"
"No. Why would I be mad?" he asked her.
"I didn't know if you wanted... Never mind," Buffy said. "I need to go," she said, beginning to leave again, this time she started to run .
This was just too much to deal with.
"I think it's amazing, if you want to know the truth," Angel said, running after her, taking her arm and turning her around.
Buffy looked at him hard for a minute. Was he just saying that to try to make me feel better? Does he really think it's amazing?
"For real?" she asked him finally.
"Yes, for real," he told her.
"You don't have to say that, if you don't mean it. It's okay if you're not thrilled. I'll be fine, you know... umm, if it's not what you want. I can just do the whole baby thing on my own," Buffy said, her voice so shaky, that she didn't even know if her words sounded like words at the moment.
She was scared. Scared first of all, of being pregnant. Second, of Angel not wanting this situation. And third, she was so scared for the day when the baby would actually be born. Despite what she just said, she really didn't know if she could do it alone.
"You're not gonna do it alone. I'm here, and I'm happy. I promise," he told her gently.
"That's good to hear," Buffy said, feeling a little bit more relaxed.
"Oh God," Buffy suddenly shouted, clutching at her stomach. This hurt more than usual.
Angel made a move but Buffy held her hand up to keep him away for a minute. Buffy bit her lip as she closed her eyes and concentrated.
'Stop fighting. Stop fighting. Stop fighting,' she thought. 'The baby is supposed to be there,' Buffy told her body. 'She's good. Don't fight her.'
Buffy repeated this mantra over and over in her head for over nearly two minutes until the pain finally went away.
"Better," Buffy said.
"Are you okay?" Angel asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine as long as the war inside of my body doesn't start up again," she told him weirdly.
"War inside your body?" he asked.
"Umm, basically my body is kind of fighting this. Me Slayer, you vampire, you know? And my body isn't the only thing fighting, the baby's doing the same thing. Hence the war inside my body."
"I'm sorry," Angel told her.
Buffy actually laughed a bit.
"Are you okay with all this?" Angel asked her seriously.
Buffy swallowed. "It's still kind of just sinking in, and I'm scared, I won't lie," she told Angel.
"I get that," Angel said.
Buffy and Angel were quiet for a good half hour after that, both lost in their own thoughts, just trying to make sense of things, of their own feelings.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you and me are actually gonna have a baby..." Buffy finally said. "I mean, all I've ever known is that that was never a possibility. Now, it's reality. I wasn't ready for this, Angel, not right now. I'm the Slayer," she told him.
Angel nodded, but there was something else in his eyes. Like sadness, maybe? Buffy thought. I'm not trying to make him feel bad. I don't think I said it right. He needs to know exactly what I mean.
"With that being said, this baby is yours and mine. It's us. We're creating something here, it's scary, but it's beautiful too...I wasn't ready for this, but it's happening, and I'm still kind of flipping out, but I'm glad it's with you, Angel."
Angel smiled at her.
"I'm so used to protecting everyone, you know? I've always protected myself too, but now I've got to protect myself, to protect the baby. And that's gonna be an adjustment. I don't think I'm ready to be someone's mom."
"I've got your back. This baby is mine too. You know you're not in this alone. It's you and me in this. Don't ever forget that," Angel told her.
It was Buffy's turn to smile. "I don't think you need to worry too much. Trust me, not too many things are going to want to mess with me or this baby. Not that they're gonna know about the baby anyway." Buffy said.
Angel looked a bit confused. "How is anyone not going to know?" he asked her.
"Oh yeah, that's right, you don't know. Apparently I'm not gonna get too big. They said if I stick with baggy clothes it'll only look like I've put on a bit of weight," she told him.
"You must be liking that," Angel laughed.
"Yes, I definitely like that," Buffy admitted. "I'm glad I don't have to sport a balloon belly. I think that would have been a bit of an inconvenience trying to Slay with the Apocalypse around the corner."
"Are you gonna be okay to Slay? Isn't that still dangerous for you and the baby?" Angel asked.
"No, actually. I'm apparently gonna be stronger than ever because I'm pregnant," Buffy told him.
"What?" Angel asked.
"The baby is half of you and half of me, meaning that there's a whole lot of strength in this child. She's already got my strength, and she's got yours too, and since I'm carrying her, your strength is transferred to me. I just have to make sure they stay away from my stomach, because while the baby is strong, she's still just a baby. I still have to take care of her."
"Her?" Angel asked.
"That's what Willow and Xander said," Buffy said, smiling a bit, biting her lip.
"Whoa."
"Is that a good whoa, or a bad one?" Buffy teased.
"It's a good one," Angel assured her. "She's gonna be beautiful."
"Well come on, how could she be anything but beautiful? She's got some hot parents," Buffy laughed.
She was feeling better about the situation now, starting to feel more calm.
"I can't believe we're actually having this conversation. I kind of feel like this is some illusion," Buffy said.
"I know what you mean," Angel said.
Both were quiet for another few minutes until Buffy finally asked, "So what did you guys find out yesterday when I was banished down here for lack of research skill?" Buffy asked, changing the subject, still feeling a bit weird, despite calming down.
Angel knew that things were still a bit awkward, so he jumped right into Buffy's new subject. He wasn't going to make her keep talking about the whole baby thing if she wasn't totally ready for more conversation. "Well, basically what we know for sure is that the big war is gonna happen when the moon is full, so the werewolves are gonna be able to help for sure," he told her.
"We kind of already knew that," Buffy said.
"No, we thought that, but now we know for sure," Angel told her.
"Is that all?" Buffy asked.
"We're pretty sure it's gonna start right here, since the Fortress was so close to where- you know."
"Where Faith and my best friends were killed," Buffy said sadly.
"Yeah," Angel said quietly.
"Good," Buffy said. "Let it be here. Let them come. We'll be prepared. Let them come and we'll kill every last one of them. I'll do it with a smile on my face. They're gonna pay for Willow, Xander, and Faith. They're gonna pay hard. They're gonna learn that you don't screw with the Slayer's people," Buffy bursted.
"I knew that was still all in there," Angel said.
"I've kind of been holding a bit in," Buffy sighed. "I've been feeling stretched out to my limits. Sometimes I feel like my strength is just running out," she admitted. "But I know that's not true. I'm still strong. I just needed to remind myself."
"You're more than strong Buffy. You're amazing. I don't think there's another word for it. You've been through so much and you're still here. Now you find out that you're pregnant, and I know you're more scared than you're letting on, but look at you, you're still strong and you're still fighting. You're gonna be fine. And if you ever need to let anything out, just vent. Yell, scream, do whatever you need to do," Angel told her.
"Just remember your words when I'm yelling and screaming at you," Buffy laughed.
"Speaking of yelling and screaming, you need to remember not to do that to your sister," Angel said.
"Why would I yell and scream at her?" Buffy asked, getting worried. "What did she do?"
"Nothing bad," Angel assured her. "I just think she's been getting in too deep too fast with the magic."
"What happened?" Buffy repeated.
"She just kind of passed out for awhile yesterday, that's all. She was trying to get all the information she could possibly get in the least amount of time, that, and I know she's been practicing a lot. I think the magic is too much for her right now."
"That's all?" Buffy said angrily. "My sister passes out and none of you, especially you, don't think to come and tell me?"
"She didn't want us to tell you, and Shayla made sure she was okay," Angel said.
"I don't care. If she passes out, I'm supposed to know, right away. I don't care how old she is, Dawn is still my baby sister... I need to talk to her about this magic stuff."
"I know, and that's why I told you, even though she didn't want us to," Angel told her calmly. "But you need to stay calm. Don't be mad at her. She's really just trying to help. She wants to get stronger."
"No, apparently what she wants is to give her sister a heart-attack," Buffy said. "I need to go find Dawnie. It's time for a sister talk," Buffy said, getting up.
"Be nice," Angel told her.
"Yeah, yeah," Buffy replied, heading out the door.