Co-Written with Scribes1015!

While Buffy slept, Angel managed to get the large box for the crib up the stairs. he planned on leaving it there until after the wedding. Besides he was sure that Buffy would want to paint, and do all sorts of things before the crib would need to be set up. Still, the mere sight of the box exhilarated him. With Lindsey being here, he hadn't had a whole lot of time to process the fact that she was pregnant. It kind of blew his mind, 72 hours ago, everything, all of this was nothing but a fantasy. Now he was dragging cribs upstairs, and putting away baby clothes.

Tomorrow they would be going to her first OB appointment, it was moments like these that he wished he could freeze.

There was a time that he didn't believe he would ever experience happiness again, sometimes he still felt as though this was a dream. That he was going to wake up alone, in that barren apartment he'd kept in Los Angeles. Shuddering from the thought, he quickly shoved those ungodly onesies Lindsey bought into the furthest corner of the closet. Hoping she would eventually forget about them, but knowing that wasn't likely.

Gently lifting her from the couch, he carried her tiny frame up the stairs, and softly placed her on the bed. Clothed only in his earlier discarded shirt, she mumbled incoherently, reaching across the bed in search of him. Not bothering with a shower that night, his need to be close to her too great. He swiftly shed his own clothes, slipping between the sheets as he pulled her body close, his palm settling upon its new favorite resting place.

OoOoO

The next morning Buffy had practically flown out of bed at the sound of the alarm. Her appointment wasn't for a couple hours, but she wanted to get there early, just in case. She was nearly through showering by the time Angel joined her, though he refused to step out of her way.

"Where are you going," he asked her, his voice still thick from sleep.

Buffy eyed him wearily, there was no way he had forgotten what today was, "To get dressed," she said as she tried to move past him. His hands grabbed her hips, halting her movements, as he simply shook his head.

"It's early," he whispered huskily, pulling her body flush against his own. Touching his lips to hers before she could protest, he inched her body forward, turning her around until her palms braced on the shower walls.

Using her hips as leverage, he slipped inside her hot center, careful not to hurt her, he set a relentless pace, pumping furiously, he felt his own orgasm building. Reaching around he worked her swollen bundle of nerves until he felt her begin to convulse around him.

Making sure to hold her steady until he was sure that she'd recovered. The last thing he wanted to do was explain a fall to her doctor. Still unable to believe that this was real, he watched her towel off through the clear glass of the shower as he rinsed the soap from his body. Once again silently thanking the powers for this second chance.

OoOoO

Buffy sat next to Angel on the lounge in her OB's office, her fingers laced with his, as they anxiously awaited for her name to be called. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to be nervous about, but her mind was going a mile a minute. Sure she had been to Dr. Lawrence dozens of times, but she'd never been pregnant before.

Angel had to move his hand to Buffy's knee twice to stop its bouncing, he certainly hadn't expected her to be the nervous one in this situation.

"What's wrong," he questioned her for the third time since they had arrived.

"Nothing," she chirped in the way that meant there was absolutely something wrong. Threading his hand with hers once more, he brought her fingers to his lips. "I'm scared," she whispered so quietly he almost hadn't heard her.

Abandoning her hand, he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his side."I've got you," he spoke softly down to her, placing a single kiss to her forehead.

Nodding her head, she relaxed into his embrace for a few minutes, concentrating on the sound of his heartbeat she tried to clear her mind.

"Do you think it has a heartbeat yet?"

Angel chuckled lightly, "Well I would hope so, is that not something that babies have?"

"Embryo," she corrected.

"Huh?"

"Embryo. It's what it's called during the first part of pregnancy," glancing up at him, she gave him a small shrug. "I kind of got lost in one of those books Lindsey bought, it's not a baby, well not officially anyways."

"Mrs. O'Connor," a curly haired nurse called from the doorway opposite to them, interrupting whatever it was Angel was about to say. Standing together, Angel's hand stayed on Buffy's back, gently guiding her to the room the nurse directed them too.

The nurse who's name Angel couldn't remember had politely asked him to have a seat in the room. Handing Buffy a plastic cup, she explained that they would need a urine sample, and directed her to the restroom.

Suddenly Angel felt very overwhelmed in the confines of this small room. He had been fine earlier, but now surrounded by so many pamphlets and posters he found himself feeling very out of place.

Studying one of the posters on the wall, it was the profile of a woman's body, showing a nearly full grown infant inside, he couldn't imagine how something that-that big would ever come out of Buffy's tiny frame. Surely that picture was disproportioned, there was absolutely no way.

Trying to keep himself occupied, he moved over to look at the trinkets on the counter top. Picking up one of them, he was trying to decipher what the clear tube like thing was meant for. Shaking it around he noticed what looked like a black latex ring inside of it. Curious, he stuck his fingers in the opening, grasping the rubber he pulled the ring out just as Buffy returned, her eyes bulging.

"Angel, what the hell are you doing," she hissed quietly, hoping no one could hear her.

It was then that Angel noticed the sticker stuck to the bottom of the contraption.

Nuva Ring Demonstration Appliance.

Buffy nearly lost it at the look of realization on his face, she could count on one hand the number of times she had seen that man blush. This time definitely took the cake, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him as he fumbled to sit the appliance back on the counter.

"Why in the world would you need that?"

He was adorable, and totally terrified. Walking over to him Buffy simply wrapped her arms around his stiff frame, "I love you," she managed between breaths in her attempt not to laugh.

Directing him to the chair in the corner of the room, she chose to sit on his lap while they waited for the doctor to come in.

OoOoO

Thankfully Angel had enough time to recover from embarrassment by the time Dr. Lawrence arrived. She apologized profusely, joking that she worked on babies' time, they didn't work on hers.

"Oh, no," Buffy told her with a big smile. "That's fine. I took the whole day off from work and am in no hurry."

Angel shook hands with her easily and the doctor began to ask a few questions about Buffy's history and then on to where they were now. Angel couldn't help but still feel a little uncomfortable discussing how he and Buffy were not husband and wife, and then more so as they tried to explain they had been married before when she'd asked, how they'd divorced and now were engaged and having a baby on the way.

"You two sound like you've got one heck of a story to tell," she said with another easy smile their way. She talked a few more minutes before standing, clapping her hands together and saying she would give Buffy some privacy while she undressed and got ready for the exam.

Angel continued to sit in the chair in the corner to be out of the way, only answering questions as they were directed his way at the time. He watched as Buffy got her height and weight checked, her blood pressure, had a breast and pelvic exam, had blood drawn and what seemed like a million other things.

He felt excited when they were asked if they wanted to try to hear a heartbeat. The doctor left for another few minutes which gave him time to get up out of his seat and come over to Buffy and talk over a few things themselves. When she did return, the doctor brought along two extra people.

"Okay, well first we're going to try a little wand on top of your stomach to see if we can't find the heartbeat. You are still rather early on so I don't want either one of you to get worried if we don't hear anything. We do have a second option we will try out if that is the case," she assured them.

Buffy held onto his hand tightly as the clear gel was placed on her skin and the newest of the young women to enter the room began searching for the baby. Angel felt like he didn't breathe the entire time and couldn't help but feel a little bubble of worry all the same when it didn't work.

They were both reminded this didn't mean to start to panic and they began getting a verbal walk through of a transvaginal ultrasound. Angel barely heard everything they were saying though, his mind running a mile a minute until a big smile graced the young woman's face. "There you are, little peanut," she said softly.

Doctor Lawrence told them it was actually rather lucky they were getting this option number two so that they could see the baby and not just hear the heartbeat. She told them she liked to wait a little longer for scans when it could be helped. But she said she was happy all the same and they could enjoy the little show while they got all the information they needed for measurements.

Seeing the very tiny evidence of this little person they had created and getting to hear his new favorite sound which was that same little person's heartbeat echo throughout the small room was the most amazing thing Angel thought he had ever experienced in his life.

They had one last question and answer session, Buffy was given a load of paperwork, a bag of goodies from the office and a copy of a few of the photos that had been taken from the ultrasound and then she was directed back up to the front desk to make her next appointment.

OoOoO

Buffy was riding on a high she never wanted to come down from as they stepped into the elevator. She was glad they were the only ones on it as she couldn't help but jump up and down a little but from excitement then there was also Angel nearly undressing her all over again in the middle of it.

They linked hands back up once reaching the lobby. There was a small pharmacy right beside the entrance that she said she wanted to stop in and she picked up some vitamins she'd just been recommended and a few other random items before paying for them.

As they were leaving, she felt a strange feeling as she walked passed a car sitting in the first row of parking spots. There was a dark haired man sitting behind the wheel. She could have swore he looked familiar and her mind raced as she tried to place him as they continued walking. She kept putting him back at her apartment complex from her time in Texas but she wasn't sure.

Looking back over her shoulder, she watched as another man got into the side door. He didn't look familiar. Buffy shook her head and decided to put a pin in that for now. She didn't want to get Angel all worried over nothing right now and just wanted to laugh and talk with him about the appointment, the baby...

OoOoO

As Angel drove, Buffy pulled her phone out and downloaded an app that was mentioned in her paperwork that she was reading over as the ride went on. It was one of those week by week countdowns plus had a lot of other little features she was toying around with. Turning to look back at him, she brought up the idea she kept coming back to about announcing their little bundle of joy after the wedding. "I may or may not be able to keep this information to myself that long though. Just a warning."

Angel chuckled. "Anyone I needed to tell already knows so..." he said with a pointed look. "So whatever you feel is best is fine with me, my love."

Buffy began reading what her phone said about what was going on with the baby this week out loud to him and threw in little bits of extra information she knew from how far she'd gotten in the book she had started at home.

Buffy was so happy they were able to squeeze her in today last minute but she also made a point to tell them her work schedule on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to avoid having to miss too much work if she could help it.

OoOoO

Angel grumbled as he looked down at his phone. He saw an e-mail from Lindsey in his inbox but he wasn't exactly wanting to deal with that line of thinking just yet. He had yet to even ask Lindsey if there was anything he'd found out back at the office but he was giving the man time to get back home, catch up on sleep and get back settled, too.

Deciding to wait until later to read whatever it was, he glared at the subject line of the evil witches' name once more before closing the tab and going off to find Buffy.