Chapter 13
It was Halloween. Everyone was outside, dressed as demons, vampires, witches, anything you could think of. Everyone except 9 people. 2 witches, 1 ex-demon, 1 vampire, 1 vampire slayer, 1 key, and 3 humans. It was no costume party. Especially when they were scattered through out the town. Tara had decided to stay in the hospital with Willow, who was making progress, but hadn't woken up yet. Xander and Anya were at Giles' house, ignoring the doorbell whenever it rang, seeing as they had other things on their mind, such as each other. Giles was with Joyce and Dawn, who had decided that she was too old to be trick-or-treating. Buffy and Spike were enjoying the peace and quiet of their underground home. The only movement Buffy made was to get up to go to the bathroom, which was often. She stayed in bed, her swollen belly not letting her do much.
It was about 5 o'clock when the little kids started their rounds of the houses to collect candy. It got dark around 7:30, which was when the older kids came out, some looking to just have fun with their friends, the others looking for trouble. It was almost 8 when the real demons came out. They were estatic. This was the only night in the year when young people and small children were willing to stay out late.
In the hospital, Tara was talking to Willow, confessing to her what she had found in Spikes crypt a little more than a month ago.
"So anyway, there I was, standing in the bathtub when the side suddenly opened. I think that's when the little blue light disappeared. I walked down the stairs, and I swear I heard a door shut. When I was down on the floor, I look around, and it's exactly what you would expect when you walked into someone's one story house. Only it was empty. I walked through what could only be the living room first. When I was done there, I saw that there were 3 doors off in the corner of the room. I went through the first 2, finding nothing. But when I got to the 3rd door, it looked as if someone had been living in it that morning. The dresser had clothes that looked like Spike's in it. The closet held maternity clothes, but what looked like Buffy's style. When I was done there, I walked through the bathrooms, just in case. When I found nothing, I walked into the kitchen. I didn't find anything until I looked at the table. On it was a single slip of paper. Buffy had written a letter to me; not knowing it was me until I got about half way down, telling me not to tell anyone about what I had found. She told me I could talk to Dawn, in private, but no one else. But I couldn't hold it any longer. I thought I'd tell you, cause, well, I tell you everything. And the doctor said it was good if someone talked to you. Cause he said that you were listening. And I figured you wouldn't get up and yell it to the world if I told you. She said they would be coming home soon, cause if I went through their bedroom, I'd know why. It was the maternity clothes. I swear, I think she's pregnant. I so happy, yet kinda jealous. I mean, here she is the Chosen One, usually not living that long, and pregnant. Here we are, young and viable to have kids, but won't be able to have a child of our own, cause, well, for obvious reasons." Tara stopped, just staring at her girlfriend.
It was only about 8 o'clock, and she had run out of things to do. She had been at the hospital since about 6 o'clock, talking to Willow about everything she could think of. Now, at a loss for words, she sat, staring. All of a sudden, the slow beeping of a nearby machine got faster and faster until Tara panicked. She ran out the door and flagged down a nurse, who ran off to find a doctor. Less than a minute later, doctor and nurses rushed in, and rolled Willow out of the room, without saying a word to Tara, who stood there, in shock of what was happening. She sat down hard in the closest chair, and sat there until her mind cleared. She ran to a nearby pay phone, for once glad that she always kept 50 cents with her, just in case. She called Giles, told him what happened and asking him to bring the others with him to the hospital. When they got there, Anya, not knowing what was going on, not understanding why everyone was sad, tried to do what she had seen people on the TV do. She walked over to Tara, and gave her a hug. She expected the Wiccan girl to pull away, but Anya got the unexpected. Tara immediately fell in her embrace, hugging her back, and began sobbing. Anya looked scared, not knowing what to do, and made eye contact with Xander, her eyes frantic. Xander gave a small chuckle and went over to the girls and pulled Tara from Anya and into his own embrace. He stood there until he felt Tara start to fall. She felt her knees buckle, and began to slip from Xander's arms. But instead of letting her go, he sat down with her, in the middle of the hospital room. Giles and Anya sat down also, forming a circle around Tara, comforting her until her fell asleep in Xanders lap.
Buffy woke with a start. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep. The little television Spike had bought the second month they were living together droned on at the other side of the room. It was about 10 after 8 when she woke all of a sudden to a feeling of dread that had washed over her. She began to think why, when she remembered Willow. She felt her eyes start to water when she called Spike into the room. She told him what she thought was happening. He sat there, listening patiently, until she was finished, and when she was, he sat with his arms around her while she silently cried. After a couple of minutes she pulled away.
"Do you think everyone's all right? I mean, it's Halloween. It's Halloween on the hellmouth. Hopefully they're all inside somewhere," Buffy worried for her friends and family.
Buffy had decided that she was bored out of her mind sitting in her bed all day. So Spike helped her from her bed, and onto an easy chair, where they sat and watched TV. They watched Halloween parodies for 2 hours, talking during the commercials and laughing at some of the funny parts of the shows. They were in the middle of a Simpsons Halloween episode when Buffy felt a small pang in her stomach. Figuring it was from hunger, she got Spike to get to the kitchen and bring her some crackers. As she munched away, she felt a bigger pang and wetness that could only mean one thing.
"Spike?"
"Hmm..?" he asked his attention fully on the box in front of him.
"Spike."
"What.." he replied, turning slightly toward her, but not looking away from the TV.
"Spike. My water just broke."
That got his attention. He jumped up, ran to her bedroom, then ran back, empty handed, his eyes showing he was freaked out.
Buffy laughed, then calmly began to get up, when he ran over to help her. He helped her out the door and into the car. Then he remembered something and ran back into their home. He came running out, her bag in hand.
"Are you sure you've never done this before?" He asked her as she sat next to him like nothing was happening while he was acting as if everything was happening at once.
Buffy only laughed and shook her head. They were silent until they got to the hospital. She was registered and ushered to her own room where she would wait until she began labor. When that occurred she would be moved into the maternity ward. (AN: I know that they would already be in there, but she's not for a reason. Just read and find out.)
The doctor had pulled Tara out of the room that she was in with her friends to talk to her about what had happened to Willow. He explained that there had been a blood clot, and had stopped the circulation of blood to her heart. It had remained only for a few minutes under the hands of the doctors and she was all right, except for the fact that she was still catatonic. Around 10:30, while Tara was still in the hall listening to the doctor, she noticed as a nurse rushed down the hall, quickly followed by a nurse behind a wheelchair. Before the woman in the chair got past her, Tara recognized her, then the man that was beside her, telling her it would be all right. Before the doctor could get another word out, Tara cut him off.
"Buffy?!"
Hearing her outburst, Xander and Anya stuck their heads out the door, looking in the direction Tara was pointing. They saw a nurse behind a wheelchair, but couldn't see who was in it. Then they saw as the man next to the chair looked back at them, as he felt their eyes on him. Xander knew immediately who that was and felt anger wash over him.
"Spike?! What's he doing here? Why I oughta…" he trailed off, not wanting to say anything in front of the doctor.
Tara, Xander, Anya, and Giles ran to the front desk, where they asked if a Buffy Summers had checked into the hospital. After confirming that Giles was her father, and Tara, Xander, and Anya were her brother and sisters, the nurse told them that she was in labor and couldn't be visited until further notice. After hearing that she was in labor, Xander nearly passed out, but Giles, not being as lucky, did pass out, and landed with a thud as the girls stood in shock trying to hold up Xander.
Buffy was holding onto Spike's hand as she listened to the doctor in front of her tell her to push. She had a very angry glint in her eyes as she tried her hardest to glare at Spike and try to push a little person out of her body at the same time.
"Why…the hell…did you…do this…to ME?" she managed between pushing.
"I'm sorry, luv, but I had no idea this was going to happen," Spike replied as he tried to get his hand out of Buffy's death grip. He heard a crack and a lot of pain as a bone in his hand broke. The sound was followed with several more cracks.
"That's it, Buffy. Keep pushing. Almost there. All right, one more push," Buffy dimly heard the doctor try to reassure her that it was almost finished. She felt the pain decrease suddenly. But that didn't mean her anger decreased. She was mad as hell. She was about to yell at Spike when she heard the first cry of an infant.
"Congratulations! It's a girl!" When Buffy heard those words, her features softened noticeably. Then, her hand tightened around Spikes again when she felt more pain.
"Ok… if it's out…WHY THE HELL DOES IT STILL HURT?!" she practically screamed at the doctor.
"Oh my. I don't know why we didn't see this in the beginning. It seems there's another coming," the doctor replied as he sat down in front of Buffy once more.
Spike had been shocked into silence when he heard the first cries of a newborn child, his newborn child. But when he heard that there was a second on the way, he was beyond shock. He slumped into the chair next to Buffy's bed, and couldn't feel his hand anymore.
He must've passed out, because the next thing he knew, he was awake in his own bed, with a black cast up to his mid-arm, stopping 3 inches before his elbow. He looked around and remembered where Buffy was. He pressed the call button next to his bed to get a nurse in the room.
When she walked in, she was all smiles.
"Welcome back to the living," she chirped happily, "I bet you're wondering how your wife is."
"Well, yes, but she's not my wife. Well, not yet anyway," he replied.
"Oh! Sorry! Anyway, if you'll follow me," she started to walk out the door but stopped just outside of the doorway, waiting for him to follow.
When he walked into Buffy's room, he was surprised at the site. There she was, sitting in her bed, her hair all messed up, looking a wreck, but her face was glowing. She was holding two little bundles up on her knees. All he could see at the moment was a splash of pink and blue of the blankets. She looked up at him and smiled, absolutely delighted. He walked over to her, getting a look at the two infants in her lap. Both had raven black hair. Their eyes were still closed, but somehow they had both latched on to a pinkie of each of Buffy's hands. She had turned her attention to them again, but looked up at Spike once more.
"Meet Joy." She indicated to the small child wrapped in the pink blanket. He noticed that Buffy had brought along the little fuzzy bears they had bought on their first outing. The pink one was on Buffy's right, next to the little girl, Joy. The blue one was on her left, next to the little boy.
"I figured, I would name the girl, and you could name the boy," she explained when he stood waiting for the name of their son.
Spike thought for a moment, then had an idea.
"How 'bout…Liam?" he asked. He asked put his attention to the little boy next to him, as he lifted his hand to where Buffy's was, and watched as the tiny hand shifted from Buffy's hand to his own.
"Liam?" she paused, "Liam. I like it."
In the waiting room, Giles, Xander, Anya, and Tara had fallen asleep. The four jolted awake when the nurse's voice pierced their dreams.
"In case you were wondering, you may now see Ms. Summers. She already has one visitor with her at the time, but you can join him in room 108 in the maternity ward. Just think, giving birth on Halloween."
Though none of them said a word, they were all thinking the same thing, Only on the Hellmouth. All except Anya, who was lost in her own thoughts of what she could be doing with Xander instead of wasting her time in the hospital. They walked down the hall towards her room. They saw Buffy for the first time in what seemed like years, but in reality, was only about 10 months. Next to her sat Spike, who had a black cast on his hand. Giles and Xander laughed softly, knowing that it came from the wrath of Buffy. They didn't want to interrupt just yet, so they stood next to the closed door. When they all thought they would burst, they opened the door and filed into the room to hear what the last of the conversation between the couple.
"Buffy, will you marry me?"
It was Halloween. Everyone was outside, dressed as demons, vampires, witches, anything you could think of. Everyone except 9 people. 2 witches, 1 ex-demon, 1 vampire, 1 vampire slayer, 1 key, and 3 humans. It was no costume party. Especially when they were scattered through out the town. Tara had decided to stay in the hospital with Willow, who was making progress, but hadn't woken up yet. Xander and Anya were at Giles' house, ignoring the doorbell whenever it rang, seeing as they had other things on their mind, such as each other. Giles was with Joyce and Dawn, who had decided that she was too old to be trick-or-treating. Buffy and Spike were enjoying the peace and quiet of their underground home. The only movement Buffy made was to get up to go to the bathroom, which was often. She stayed in bed, her swollen belly not letting her do much.
It was about 5 o'clock when the little kids started their rounds of the houses to collect candy. It got dark around 7:30, which was when the older kids came out, some looking to just have fun with their friends, the others looking for trouble. It was almost 8 when the real demons came out. They were estatic. This was the only night in the year when young people and small children were willing to stay out late.
In the hospital, Tara was talking to Willow, confessing to her what she had found in Spikes crypt a little more than a month ago.
"So anyway, there I was, standing in the bathtub when the side suddenly opened. I think that's when the little blue light disappeared. I walked down the stairs, and I swear I heard a door shut. When I was down on the floor, I look around, and it's exactly what you would expect when you walked into someone's one story house. Only it was empty. I walked through what could only be the living room first. When I was done there, I saw that there were 3 doors off in the corner of the room. I went through the first 2, finding nothing. But when I got to the 3rd door, it looked as if someone had been living in it that morning. The dresser had clothes that looked like Spike's in it. The closet held maternity clothes, but what looked like Buffy's style. When I was done there, I walked through the bathrooms, just in case. When I found nothing, I walked into the kitchen. I didn't find anything until I looked at the table. On it was a single slip of paper. Buffy had written a letter to me; not knowing it was me until I got about half way down, telling me not to tell anyone about what I had found. She told me I could talk to Dawn, in private, but no one else. But I couldn't hold it any longer. I thought I'd tell you, cause, well, I tell you everything. And the doctor said it was good if someone talked to you. Cause he said that you were listening. And I figured you wouldn't get up and yell it to the world if I told you. She said they would be coming home soon, cause if I went through their bedroom, I'd know why. It was the maternity clothes. I swear, I think she's pregnant. I so happy, yet kinda jealous. I mean, here she is the Chosen One, usually not living that long, and pregnant. Here we are, young and viable to have kids, but won't be able to have a child of our own, cause, well, for obvious reasons." Tara stopped, just staring at her girlfriend.
It was only about 8 o'clock, and she had run out of things to do. She had been at the hospital since about 6 o'clock, talking to Willow about everything she could think of. Now, at a loss for words, she sat, staring. All of a sudden, the slow beeping of a nearby machine got faster and faster until Tara panicked. She ran out the door and flagged down a nurse, who ran off to find a doctor. Less than a minute later, doctor and nurses rushed in, and rolled Willow out of the room, without saying a word to Tara, who stood there, in shock of what was happening. She sat down hard in the closest chair, and sat there until her mind cleared. She ran to a nearby pay phone, for once glad that she always kept 50 cents with her, just in case. She called Giles, told him what happened and asking him to bring the others with him to the hospital. When they got there, Anya, not knowing what was going on, not understanding why everyone was sad, tried to do what she had seen people on the TV do. She walked over to Tara, and gave her a hug. She expected the Wiccan girl to pull away, but Anya got the unexpected. Tara immediately fell in her embrace, hugging her back, and began sobbing. Anya looked scared, not knowing what to do, and made eye contact with Xander, her eyes frantic. Xander gave a small chuckle and went over to the girls and pulled Tara from Anya and into his own embrace. He stood there until he felt Tara start to fall. She felt her knees buckle, and began to slip from Xander's arms. But instead of letting her go, he sat down with her, in the middle of the hospital room. Giles and Anya sat down also, forming a circle around Tara, comforting her until her fell asleep in Xanders lap.
Buffy woke with a start. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep. The little television Spike had bought the second month they were living together droned on at the other side of the room. It was about 10 after 8 when she woke all of a sudden to a feeling of dread that had washed over her. She began to think why, when she remembered Willow. She felt her eyes start to water when she called Spike into the room. She told him what she thought was happening. He sat there, listening patiently, until she was finished, and when she was, he sat with his arms around her while she silently cried. After a couple of minutes she pulled away.
"Do you think everyone's all right? I mean, it's Halloween. It's Halloween on the hellmouth. Hopefully they're all inside somewhere," Buffy worried for her friends and family.
Buffy had decided that she was bored out of her mind sitting in her bed all day. So Spike helped her from her bed, and onto an easy chair, where they sat and watched TV. They watched Halloween parodies for 2 hours, talking during the commercials and laughing at some of the funny parts of the shows. They were in the middle of a Simpsons Halloween episode when Buffy felt a small pang in her stomach. Figuring it was from hunger, she got Spike to get to the kitchen and bring her some crackers. As she munched away, she felt a bigger pang and wetness that could only mean one thing.
"Spike?"
"Hmm..?" he asked his attention fully on the box in front of him.
"Spike."
"What.." he replied, turning slightly toward her, but not looking away from the TV.
"Spike. My water just broke."
That got his attention. He jumped up, ran to her bedroom, then ran back, empty handed, his eyes showing he was freaked out.
Buffy laughed, then calmly began to get up, when he ran over to help her. He helped her out the door and into the car. Then he remembered something and ran back into their home. He came running out, her bag in hand.
"Are you sure you've never done this before?" He asked her as she sat next to him like nothing was happening while he was acting as if everything was happening at once.
Buffy only laughed and shook her head. They were silent until they got to the hospital. She was registered and ushered to her own room where she would wait until she began labor. When that occurred she would be moved into the maternity ward. (AN: I know that they would already be in there, but she's not for a reason. Just read and find out.)
The doctor had pulled Tara out of the room that she was in with her friends to talk to her about what had happened to Willow. He explained that there had been a blood clot, and had stopped the circulation of blood to her heart. It had remained only for a few minutes under the hands of the doctors and she was all right, except for the fact that she was still catatonic. Around 10:30, while Tara was still in the hall listening to the doctor, she noticed as a nurse rushed down the hall, quickly followed by a nurse behind a wheelchair. Before the woman in the chair got past her, Tara recognized her, then the man that was beside her, telling her it would be all right. Before the doctor could get another word out, Tara cut him off.
"Buffy?!"
Hearing her outburst, Xander and Anya stuck their heads out the door, looking in the direction Tara was pointing. They saw a nurse behind a wheelchair, but couldn't see who was in it. Then they saw as the man next to the chair looked back at them, as he felt their eyes on him. Xander knew immediately who that was and felt anger wash over him.
"Spike?! What's he doing here? Why I oughta…" he trailed off, not wanting to say anything in front of the doctor.
Tara, Xander, Anya, and Giles ran to the front desk, where they asked if a Buffy Summers had checked into the hospital. After confirming that Giles was her father, and Tara, Xander, and Anya were her brother and sisters, the nurse told them that she was in labor and couldn't be visited until further notice. After hearing that she was in labor, Xander nearly passed out, but Giles, not being as lucky, did pass out, and landed with a thud as the girls stood in shock trying to hold up Xander.
Buffy was holding onto Spike's hand as she listened to the doctor in front of her tell her to push. She had a very angry glint in her eyes as she tried her hardest to glare at Spike and try to push a little person out of her body at the same time.
"Why…the hell…did you…do this…to ME?" she managed between pushing.
"I'm sorry, luv, but I had no idea this was going to happen," Spike replied as he tried to get his hand out of Buffy's death grip. He heard a crack and a lot of pain as a bone in his hand broke. The sound was followed with several more cracks.
"That's it, Buffy. Keep pushing. Almost there. All right, one more push," Buffy dimly heard the doctor try to reassure her that it was almost finished. She felt the pain decrease suddenly. But that didn't mean her anger decreased. She was mad as hell. She was about to yell at Spike when she heard the first cry of an infant.
"Congratulations! It's a girl!" When Buffy heard those words, her features softened noticeably. Then, her hand tightened around Spikes again when she felt more pain.
"Ok… if it's out…WHY THE HELL DOES IT STILL HURT?!" she practically screamed at the doctor.
"Oh my. I don't know why we didn't see this in the beginning. It seems there's another coming," the doctor replied as he sat down in front of Buffy once more.
Spike had been shocked into silence when he heard the first cries of a newborn child, his newborn child. But when he heard that there was a second on the way, he was beyond shock. He slumped into the chair next to Buffy's bed, and couldn't feel his hand anymore.
He must've passed out, because the next thing he knew, he was awake in his own bed, with a black cast up to his mid-arm, stopping 3 inches before his elbow. He looked around and remembered where Buffy was. He pressed the call button next to his bed to get a nurse in the room.
When she walked in, she was all smiles.
"Welcome back to the living," she chirped happily, "I bet you're wondering how your wife is."
"Well, yes, but she's not my wife. Well, not yet anyway," he replied.
"Oh! Sorry! Anyway, if you'll follow me," she started to walk out the door but stopped just outside of the doorway, waiting for him to follow.
When he walked into Buffy's room, he was surprised at the site. There she was, sitting in her bed, her hair all messed up, looking a wreck, but her face was glowing. She was holding two little bundles up on her knees. All he could see at the moment was a splash of pink and blue of the blankets. She looked up at him and smiled, absolutely delighted. He walked over to her, getting a look at the two infants in her lap. Both had raven black hair. Their eyes were still closed, but somehow they had both latched on to a pinkie of each of Buffy's hands. She had turned her attention to them again, but looked up at Spike once more.
"Meet Joy." She indicated to the small child wrapped in the pink blanket. He noticed that Buffy had brought along the little fuzzy bears they had bought on their first outing. The pink one was on Buffy's right, next to the little girl, Joy. The blue one was on her left, next to the little boy.
"I figured, I would name the girl, and you could name the boy," she explained when he stood waiting for the name of their son.
Spike thought for a moment, then had an idea.
"How 'bout…Liam?" he asked. He asked put his attention to the little boy next to him, as he lifted his hand to where Buffy's was, and watched as the tiny hand shifted from Buffy's hand to his own.
"Liam?" she paused, "Liam. I like it."
In the waiting room, Giles, Xander, Anya, and Tara had fallen asleep. The four jolted awake when the nurse's voice pierced their dreams.
"In case you were wondering, you may now see Ms. Summers. She already has one visitor with her at the time, but you can join him in room 108 in the maternity ward. Just think, giving birth on Halloween."
Though none of them said a word, they were all thinking the same thing, Only on the Hellmouth. All except Anya, who was lost in her own thoughts of what she could be doing with Xander instead of wasting her time in the hospital. They walked down the hall towards her room. They saw Buffy for the first time in what seemed like years, but in reality, was only about 10 months. Next to her sat Spike, who had a black cast on his hand. Giles and Xander laughed softly, knowing that it came from the wrath of Buffy. They didn't want to interrupt just yet, so they stood next to the closed door. When they all thought they would burst, they opened the door and filed into the room to hear what the last of the conversation between the couple.
"Buffy, will you marry me?"