Some various drabbles...I swear...I am working on fixing up the next real story. It's already written, just needs some adjustments.
SUV - July 10, 2005
Beep, beep.
Buffy looked up from sharpening her stake when she heard a horn sounding like it came from the driveway.
She put the stake and knife down on the coffee table and glanced over at three month old Katie as she napped in her playpen.
Peering out the window she saw a sleek looking SUV parked in the driveway next to Angel's GTO.
"Who the heck…?" she wondered.
The door opened and Angel stepped out, waving at her to come outside.
"Oh I'm so killing daddy." She said under her breath as she picked Katie up and went out the door to meet her husband in the yard.
"I know." Angel said the second he saw the look of anger flashing in Buffy's eyes. "We agreed to make decisions together, but I wanted to surprise you with something…and I know you've wanted me to get a more family friendly car…so I got this."
"How did you pay for this?" She asked bluntly, "We don't actually have real jobs you know…and lets not forget the whole 'I'm pregnant' thing…"
"Funny story, I'll get the car seat and I'll tell you during the test drive, Ok?" He asked.
She glared a moment then agreed, heading to grab the baby bag and lock the door while he took the car seat out of the GTO and installed it into the new truck.
...
Ten minutes later they were rolling down the street.
"So what's this funny story?" she asked, trying to hide the fact she really liked this truck.
"Well, I was at the office, and this cop comes in with a stack of case files. Turns out he had contact with Kate Lockley, the cop in L.A I told you about…" He said to ask if she remembered her.
"Yeah, Ok." She said to keep him going.
"Well Kate informed Jack Harlow, the cop in my office, how we handle the less 'neat' cases and he wants to hire us as consultants."
"Consultants?" she asked.
"Yeah, all the case they can't explain, they have us look into. Mostly the demon related ones, maybe a few paranormal. The partnership would be beneficial both ways, they get higher case closure and we get a steady paycheck."
"Who gets paid, us or Angel Investigations?" she asked for clarification.
"The business get the money, we need to keep the girls fed and the bills paid. But as owners we do get a small percentage."
"Can't be that small if you bought a car…" she deadpanned.
"No, not enough to buy a car."
"Well?" she asked.
"This was my first case."
"This truck?"
"Yeah."
"And there is an explanation right?" She asked after a moment of silence.
He chuckled, "Well it used to be possessed."
Suddenly she didn't like the car so much, "Possessed?" She asked looking around and back at Katie in the back seat.
"Not anymore, I fixed it."
"How?" she asked, not sure she was ready to relax yet.
"It was a demon spirit, but Giles and I lured it out, one of the more experienced Slayers at work killed it. No big."
She frowned, "I miss all the good stuff…" she pouted.
"Well, we could switch off." He offered.
"Huh?"
"You go be the big boss at work, and I'll stay home with Katie."
"Can't" she denied.
"Why not?"
"And what were you planning to do when she got hungry?"
"Oh, right." He realized, no Buffy meant no breast milk.
"Why don't we just bring her to work?" He asked a moment later.
"Come again?"
"Well we do own the company, and it's completely safe. One of us can stay with her in our office, trade daughter duty in shifts thought-out the day?" He proposed.
She thought it over for a few minutes, "Could work."
"We can give it a try now."
She looked up and realized he was parking at Angel Investigations Inc.
"Angel." She cautioned.
"Come on Buffy, you can't lie about it. I know you love our daughter, but staying home is slowly driving you mad. You do remember the little stress relieving Slay-a-thon you went on after Katie was born? When you were last pregnant I went a little overboard in protecting you from everything outside the house, but I know now too much down-time for you is dangerous, your body is not really designed to be a housewife. The girls here need some better trainers and I think the job would be good for you. I don't mean I want you fighting or doing anything overly strenuous in your condition, but you do need some exercise."
"Are you calling me fat?" She snapped.
His eyes widened, "What? No…I…I'm just saying…"
She leaned over and kissed him to stop the guilty rambling, "I'm just kidding. I get what you're saying and I appreciate the gesture."
"You're saying no?" he asked.
"Hell no! I'm saying have fun with Katie, I'll meet you in the office around 4pm for her feeding, Bye." She kissed him goodbye and took off for the building.
"Ok…That went well…"
Just then Katie began to cry.
Angel quickly got out of the drivers side and unbuckled Katie's car seat from the back, "Come on honey, let go see daddy office."
...
Hockey - July 11, 2005
Angel was sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the TV on the wall across from him.
"No! Are you blind! It was right by your foot!"
Buffy wandered into the room and spotted Angel yelling at the TV.
"What did the TV do?" she asked confused.
"No, the goalie missed the puck! Idiot let the other team score!"
"Who are you rooting for?" she asked, sliding into the seat next to him.
"Philadelphia Flyers"
"Are they good?"
He turned to her and she suddenly found herself buried under an avalanche of the history of Hockey and why the Flyers were the best. She zones off after the "Are you kidding…?"
Thankfully a roar from the TV drew his attention again and she snuggled up beside him.
After a few more shouts at the TV she took the remove away from him, "You're going to break it." She scolded when she saw the cracks.
"I hate when my team's loosing." He sulked.
"Well then you won't mind if I change it, there is this lifetime movie coming on about a runaway and how she reconciles with her estranged father." She said changing the channel.
Angel gave her a devastated look, "But…the…I…"
She stared at him, like she was saying, 'Go ahead, try and take the remote back from your pregnant wife and the mother of your daughter. I dare you.'
He sighed and deflated, "Fine." He mumbled, looking miserable.
She grinned at the victory, and then changed the station back to the Hockey game.
After a second he noticed the game was back on, "What about your movie?" he asked confused.
"There is no movie." She told him.
"What?"
"I was testing you."
"Testing me? For what?"
She shrugged, "I read an article in a magazine, it said if your man really loves you, he'll give up the remote for you."
He looked down at her, "Seriously?" He asked. "I've risked my very life and soul for you…and you need to test my love based on if I'll give you the remote?" He asked astounded.
"You almost didn't" She countered.
"If my team was winning I might not have…" He joked.
"Hey!" she swatted at him.
After a moment his attention was drawn back to the screen and she snuggled against his chest, content to just be sitting with him. Katie was napping again and she was happy to just be motionless for a while after running around with the 'newbie' slayers all morning.
As she watched Angel scowl at the screen she remembered back to the first time she caught him watching hockey.
...
"Angel where does the…" Buffy paused in her question when she entered the living room and saw Angel watching sports.
"You watch sports?" She asked, coming up in front of him.
He bent to the side to see around her since she blocked his view of the TV.
She pouted, "Now I'm too fat to see around?" and turned to have a pregnancy induced depression session.
Angel seemed to realized he'd somehow hurt her feelings while barely aware of anything outside the TV, but quickly grabbed his wife's wrist and pulled her down into his lap.
"Hey, what's wrong? Did I do something?" He asked, holding her against him.
"You had to lean to see around me…" she mumbled.
"I'm sorry, I didn't even notice." He admitted.
"What are you watching anyways?" She questioned.
"Hockey."
"You watch hockey?"
He chuckled, "Yeah, why?"
"When did this start?"
"A few years ago, figured I needed a hobby."
"Why hockey?" She asked, curious.
"Well not only is it a great sport, but most the games are indoors, and they usually play at night; which may not be important now, but before when daylight posed an issue..."
Buffy nodded, "Yeah, I see what you mean. Kinda hard to see an outdoor game without high chances of combustibility."
She looked up at him but his eyes were back to the screen.
For a moment she was mad he was distracted from her, usually it was hard to get his eyes off her, but at the same time, having him be so completely normal was extremely adorable.
She kissed his cheek.
He didn't look away from the TV, but his arms tightened over her, his hand running over her budding second trimester belly.
...
Heartbeat - July 12, 2005
"Hey, Doc?" Buffy called, poking her head into the Angel Investigations medical lab.
Dr. Cassidy looked up from her paperwork, "Buffy? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" She asked, knowing Buffy hated the medical wing and was very unlikely to just wander by for fun.
"Yeah, I'm good. Angel and Katie are good too." Buffy said coming further into the room.
"That's…good." The young doctor agreed, then asked suspiciously, "So what are you here then?"
"Oh, yeah, about that…well…I was wondering of you might want to…do an ultrasound?" she said the last word quickly.
"Ultrasound? For what? Are you experiencing any discomfort?" Cassidy asked, concerned her recent patient may not have healed as well from giving birth as she had believed.
"No." Buffy said quickly, "No pain…not for another seven months anyways…"
"Seven months? Please don't tell me what I think you're saying…" The doctor asked.
Buffy shrugged.
The doctor sighed heavily, "Alright Buffy, you know the drill, lay flat on your back and I'll bring the imager over and see what's cooking."
Buffy hopped up on the exam table, lifted her shirt up and pushed her pant seam down to expose her mid-drift.
Dr. Cassidy wheeled over the ultrasound machine and picked up the tube of gel.
"This may be cold" she warned before squeezing a decent portion onto Buffy's belly.
"Oh, I hate that part…you say may be cold when you should say will be freezing."
The doctor shook her head and placed the probe against the gelled skin. After a moment of searching the screen she stopped over a pulsing image.
"Yup, that's a baby all right. Looks to be around 8-10 weeks."
Buffy forgot any remarks and just stared at the little heartbeat. She already loved it completely. "Oh, I forgot how incredible that was." She said softly as she watched her baby's heart beating within her.
"Buffy, I thought I told you to wait at least six weeks before resuming normal relations." Her doctor scolded.
"You have seen my husband, right?" Buffy shot back, looking now at her annoyed doc.
"That's no excuse."
"You try laying next to tall, dark and gorgeous every night and just fall asleep…scratch that, don't lay next to him at night, go find your own, he's mine."
"I don't think you need to worry about that." Dr. Cassidy reassured.
"Why's that?" Buffy questioned.
"I don't think Angel even registers other females when you're around…or even when you're not." She confessed.
"Really?" Buffy asked, a bit of pride seeped in, knowing he had eyes only for her.
"Defiantly." Cassidy agreed.
A minute later there was a gentle knock on the door follow by Angel voice on the other side, "Ahh, Doc? Is Buffy down here?"
"Come on in Angel." The doctor called and Angel opened the door and found his wife laying on the exam table.
She reached her hand out, "Come here! Lookie!"
Angel walked over and Dr. Cassidy repositioned the probe so he could watch the little heartbeat.
He smiled, "Wow." He mumbled while watching the screen.
"Now you can see what you've been hearing." Buffy said to him.
"Yeah, it's amazing." He said, sitting on the exam table beside her.
She rested her head on his thigh and he ran a hand though her hair.
They could watch that little heartbeat forever.
...