Chapter 25: Expecting One, Getting Two
The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
But I send you a cream-white rosebud,
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips
- "A White Rose" by John Boyle O'Reilly (Irish Poet 1844-1890)
"This is lovely," Buffy rested her head on Angel's shoulder while they were
sitting together on their sofa in the living-room. Ashlynn had fallen asleep on
his other side only minutes ago, while David's head rested in his mother's lap.
Angel put the book of poetry, he'd been holding, down and smiled at her, "Yes, it is. Do you feel better now?," he asked and gave her a concerned glance.
"Much better," she replied with a smile of her own. "It wasn't that I was really
feeling sick or so, just Brent made me so angry yesterday and although you
distracted me last night, the anger still lingers under the surface. Maybe it's a slayer thing or an ex-slayer thing for that matter." She sighed, "Do you think he will try anything?"
"I don't think so, but then you'll never know. But one thing is for certain, he
won't succeed in a court. As I said yesterday, he can hardly go there and tell
the judge, hey, I want my kids because my wife's living with an ex-vampire."
"You know, Brent isn't that sort of guy actually. I don't know what Riley said to him, but it must have been bad to cause that kind of reaction." Maybe it would be nice to have Riley right in front of her now, to pummel him or hit him --- very hard. But then, she had to admit with an inward sigh, she wasn't the slayer anymore and for that her strength had gone. So, no such luck to torture Riley slowly and ...
"Well, I never liked him," Angel interrupted her thoughts.
"Yeah, you told me before," she replied and hid a grin thinking back to that
special event. "And of course you weren't jealous at all when you told me that."
"It was only one part of me disliking him. I don't usually develop sympathies
for people who attack me without introducing themselves first."
"In Riley's defence you have forgotten to mention the fact that you were a
vampire at that point," she gave him a pointed look.
"And?," he raised a brow and turned his head to look at her. "I wasn't running
around to eat little commando boys alive."
"Just put yourself in Riley's position for a moment..."
"Do I have to?," he winced, but a smile was in his eyes.
She playfully punched him his arm, "Angel! Well, anyway. Try to see things from
his point of view. You're a demon hunter and you're basically human, trained and
stuffed with drugs but still human, and on your patrol you meet a vampire. Would
you ask for his name first?"
"I might," now he grinned.
"Yeah, sure," laughing she shook her head. "And then find out that said vampire
has some connection to the girl you're ... er ... uhm ... that is...,"
embarrassed she broke off.
"Buffy," he cupped her face to make her look at him, "I know you and Riley were
sleeping together." The grin suddenly returned, "Although I could hardly believe
it then. What did you ever see in that guy anyway?" When he saw tears well up in
her eyes he sobered instantly, "Hey," he said softly, "I fear that came out
wrong. I didn't want to make you sad. I don't mind you sleeping with him."
Seeing her raising a brow, he grimaced and amended, "No rewind that. That would
take things too far. Of course I didn't like the fact you were with him, hell, I
hated it, when I found out who he was I wanted to dismember him, slowly,
painfully, but," he paused for a moment and looked deeply into her eyes, "I could hardly blame you for being with someone else after I'd left you. You found
exactly what I wanted for you, someone normal or almost normal, human, who could
take you into the sunlight and ease the darkness in your life. It was my problem
to deal with the burning jealousy in my gut."
"Burning jealousy, huh?," she smiled, the tears forgotten.
"Hmmm," he replied, pulling her head closer for a kiss.
Their lips only an inch apart she whispered, "Maybe we should get the children
into their beds now."
"And then what?," he asked, his eyes darkening with passion.
She grinned, "You'll just have to wait and see."
"I think I'd like that," he said and gently scooped Ashlynn in his arms.
*****
"I think that's a beautiful colour," Willow sighed flipping through the bridal
magazines. She, Cordelia and Buffy were sitting in the dressmaker's studio and
trying to decide on the dresses for the bride and the bridesmaids. Buffy had
decided to wear a sort of ivory white and Mrs. Collier, the dressmaker, had
congratulated her on the choice. The colour was much softer than the hard bright
white, brides usually wore and the material, a combination of silk, satin and
lace was pronouncing her body at the right places.
"You really improved your taste," Cordelia complimented and nodded her head
approvingly when Buffy held her arms out to model in front of the mirror. "That's a beautiful dress."
Mrs. Collier glanced up from where she was pinning the dress and gave the
brunette a quick smile. "Have you decided on the colour for the bridesmaids yet?
I really need to know to make certain everything will be ready in three weeks."
"Three weeks," the ex-slayer sighed happily. "Just tink about it. Only three more weeks and I'll be Angel's wife. I still feel like walking in a dream."
Cordelia and Willow exchanged an amused glance before they continued flipping
through the magazines. "I like that colour," the former mayqueen pointed at a
pale sort of green."
The red-head thought about it for a moment, then nodded approvingly, "Yeah,
that's lovely. What do you think?," she took the magazine from Cordelia and held
it up so that Buffy could see it.
"I like it," she agreed. "We take that, what do you think Mrs. Collier?"
"It's a good choice," she nodded, "It's a bit of a contrast to the bride's dress
but not too much to make the eyes hurt. There's one thing though. The groom and
the other men should wear black or dark blue then. No pale blue," she shuddered,
"that would be bad."
"We'll take care of it," Buffy promised and grinned, "I kinda like Angel in
black."
"Not really surprising, it was his favourite colour for a long time," Cordelia
replied, "if you go hundreds of years in black it's kinda hard to break the
tradition." Suddenly realising that they weren't alone, she amended, "Uhm ...
that is ... I mean, I don't mean hundreds of years literally, but you get the
feeling it has been so long. With the guy wearing the same colour all the time."
Her concerned gaze was on Mrs. Collier, but the dressmaker was only grinning at
her and then said.
"I know what you mean, my husband has a thing for green and sometimes you think
he hasn't changed at all over the years we know each other."
The three women exchanged glances and grinned, the citizens of Sunnydale were as
oblivious as ever.
*****
Dr. Barabara Greene smiled at the young couple sitting in front of her. She knew
Buffy Summers or Davenport for some years now and had already delivered her first two children. She'd been happy then, but today in the company of her new
life-partner she looked radiant and the way he looked at her ... she sighed
inwardly, she would give a year's salary to have a man look at her that way.
"Alright then, Buffy," Dr. Greene smiled, "would you please remove your clothes
and ...," when she saw the ex-slayer smile, she laughed, "well, I believe you
know the procedure. Just get ready for the ultrasound." She looked at Angel, "Mr. uh ... I don't think I remember your name?"
"It's Angel. Just call me Angel."
She nodded, "Fine, Angel. I suppose you want to watch?"
"If it's okay," he said hesitantly.
"Of course," she gave him a bright smile. "We encourage the expectant fathers to
participate as much as possible in the pregnancy. The times when fathers were
merely watching from a distance are fortunately over." She motioned Angel to
follow her to the table where Buffy lay outstretched and now only wearing her bra and panties. "Okay then," she began, put gel on the ex-slayer's abdomen, and then began to move the ultrasound-probe over Buffy's skin.
Angel followed everything fascinated and with awe and his future wife seeing the
expression on his face fell in love with him deeper and harder than ever. How was it possible to feel so much happiness and not to burst?
With one finger on the screen Barbara Greene began to explain, "See here, that's
the baby's head," she said with a smile and Angel's eyes widened. He could do
nothing but stare on the monitor where he saw the child, his' and Buffy's, it
wasn't even eight weeks old and yet it was perfect.
"And here you can see the legs," she pointed at the screen again and Angel had to admit that he wouldn't have recognized one single thing without her help.
Ultrasound seemed to be a tricky business and his admiration for doctors grew.
"At this early state of pregnancy it's not always possible to find a heartbeat,
but that's perfectly normal and ... oh ... oh," she stared at the screen for a
moment, then turned to Buffy and Angel. The smile on her face was a bit
surprised, "Well, it seems you're going to have twins."
"Twins?," ex-slayer and -vampire asked incredulously.
"Uh-huh?," she nodded on a laugh. "Definitely. Here see," she pointed at the
second head that was now visible behind the first."
"Twins," Angel repeated and this time in awe. He reached out and took Buffy's
hand. "Just imagine," he breathed.
"Oh, Angel," Buffy was on the edge of tears again. Inwardly she shook her head
over herself. It had to be a side-effect of her pregnancy, she decided. Or maybe
it was the way the man she loved looked alternatively at her or the screen where
Dr. Greene now tried to get a better look of the second baby.
"That one is shy," she smiled. "Doesn't want to show." With a shake she finished
her session and handed Buffy some tissues to clean herself off. "This is
certainly a surprise but from the looks on your faces it's a pleasant one."
"Yes, definitely," Buffy assured her.
"Oh yes," Angel agreed. "It's a wonderful surprise."
"Good," Dr. Greene opened a drawer and pulled out some sheets to hand them to the expectant father, while Buffy was busy putting her clothes back on. "I know Buffy is an old pro when it comes to pregnancies, but a twin-pregnancy is special and can cause problems." Hearing the expectant parents gasp, she hasted to continue, "But not regularly. We're only taking more precautions. Twin pregnancies tend to end early. Most twins are delivered during the eighth month, mainly because there isn't enough room for them anymore. But Buffy is young and healthy, there have been no problem with her first two children and I don't expect any now. I just want you to read this information so you know what could come your way." She gave them an encouraging smile.
"But having twins doesn't mean you have to be especially careful," she went on,
"you can behave the same way you did during the last two times." She flipped
through her time-planer. "But we will monitor the pregnancy more closely
especially as the second twin was so reluctant to show himself today."
"How often do I have to come," Buffy wanted to know.
"I'd like to see you every two weeks for a start and when everything is fine
after the end of the 12th week we can stretch it to four weeks," the doctor
replied, then told her the date for the next appointment.
The former slayer thought about it for a moment, "Okay, that's okay. Then the
appointment after that will be ... uh ... a week after our wedding. We'll be back then."
Barbara Greene looked up, "When will the wedding take place?"
"Sunday in three weeks," Angel told her. "If you'd like to come we would be
pleased."
"Thank you," she nodded, "I'd like to do that. Including the twins it's the
fourth baby I'm involved with regarding Buffy. Will you go on a honeymoon?"
"Yes," Buffy answered and smiled, "A week to Hawaii." She sighed happily and Dr.
Greene had to chuckle.
"It is okay for her to fly?," the former vampire asked, suddenly concerned.
"Sure," the doctor assured him. "No problem. But I will give you the address of a collegue of mine who lives on the main island. Just in case. Alright then, see
you again in two weeks."
*
"I can't believe this," Angel held Buffy in the circle of his arms. They were
standing in the parking-space of the hospital and he was inhaling the scent of
her shampoo. The smell sent pleasant shivers through his body. "Twins," his voice was full of awe.
"Isn't it wonderful. I can hardly wait to tell mom and our friends. And Ashlynn
of course." She chuckled, "now she's going to insist that at least one of the
babies has to be a girl."
"Probably," he agreed. One of his hands moved down and came to lay on her
abdomen, "Hi you both. Mommy and daddy love you very much."
"Let's go home, Angel," she said and pulled back. "And then let's get the kids
from mom. And then let's celebrate. I have suddenly a major craving for
ice-cream."
He laughed when he opened the door for her. It felt great to be alive!
End Chapter 25.
The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
But I send you a cream-white rosebud,
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips
- "A White Rose" by John Boyle O'Reilly (Irish Poet 1844-1890)
"This is lovely," Buffy rested her head on Angel's shoulder while they were
sitting together on their sofa in the living-room. Ashlynn had fallen asleep on
his other side only minutes ago, while David's head rested in his mother's lap.
Angel put the book of poetry, he'd been holding, down and smiled at her, "Yes, it is. Do you feel better now?," he asked and gave her a concerned glance.
"Much better," she replied with a smile of her own. "It wasn't that I was really
feeling sick or so, just Brent made me so angry yesterday and although you
distracted me last night, the anger still lingers under the surface. Maybe it's a slayer thing or an ex-slayer thing for that matter." She sighed, "Do you think he will try anything?"
"I don't think so, but then you'll never know. But one thing is for certain, he
won't succeed in a court. As I said yesterday, he can hardly go there and tell
the judge, hey, I want my kids because my wife's living with an ex-vampire."
"You know, Brent isn't that sort of guy actually. I don't know what Riley said to him, but it must have been bad to cause that kind of reaction." Maybe it would be nice to have Riley right in front of her now, to pummel him or hit him --- very hard. But then, she had to admit with an inward sigh, she wasn't the slayer anymore and for that her strength had gone. So, no such luck to torture Riley slowly and ...
"Well, I never liked him," Angel interrupted her thoughts.
"Yeah, you told me before," she replied and hid a grin thinking back to that
special event. "And of course you weren't jealous at all when you told me that."
"It was only one part of me disliking him. I don't usually develop sympathies
for people who attack me without introducing themselves first."
"In Riley's defence you have forgotten to mention the fact that you were a
vampire at that point," she gave him a pointed look.
"And?," he raised a brow and turned his head to look at her. "I wasn't running
around to eat little commando boys alive."
"Just put yourself in Riley's position for a moment..."
"Do I have to?," he winced, but a smile was in his eyes.
She playfully punched him his arm, "Angel! Well, anyway. Try to see things from
his point of view. You're a demon hunter and you're basically human, trained and
stuffed with drugs but still human, and on your patrol you meet a vampire. Would
you ask for his name first?"
"I might," now he grinned.
"Yeah, sure," laughing she shook her head. "And then find out that said vampire
has some connection to the girl you're ... er ... uhm ... that is...,"
embarrassed she broke off.
"Buffy," he cupped her face to make her look at him, "I know you and Riley were
sleeping together." The grin suddenly returned, "Although I could hardly believe
it then. What did you ever see in that guy anyway?" When he saw tears well up in
her eyes he sobered instantly, "Hey," he said softly, "I fear that came out
wrong. I didn't want to make you sad. I don't mind you sleeping with him."
Seeing her raising a brow, he grimaced and amended, "No rewind that. That would
take things too far. Of course I didn't like the fact you were with him, hell, I
hated it, when I found out who he was I wanted to dismember him, slowly,
painfully, but," he paused for a moment and looked deeply into her eyes, "I could hardly blame you for being with someone else after I'd left you. You found
exactly what I wanted for you, someone normal or almost normal, human, who could
take you into the sunlight and ease the darkness in your life. It was my problem
to deal with the burning jealousy in my gut."
"Burning jealousy, huh?," she smiled, the tears forgotten.
"Hmmm," he replied, pulling her head closer for a kiss.
Their lips only an inch apart she whispered, "Maybe we should get the children
into their beds now."
"And then what?," he asked, his eyes darkening with passion.
She grinned, "You'll just have to wait and see."
"I think I'd like that," he said and gently scooped Ashlynn in his arms.
*****
"I think that's a beautiful colour," Willow sighed flipping through the bridal
magazines. She, Cordelia and Buffy were sitting in the dressmaker's studio and
trying to decide on the dresses for the bride and the bridesmaids. Buffy had
decided to wear a sort of ivory white and Mrs. Collier, the dressmaker, had
congratulated her on the choice. The colour was much softer than the hard bright
white, brides usually wore and the material, a combination of silk, satin and
lace was pronouncing her body at the right places.
"You really improved your taste," Cordelia complimented and nodded her head
approvingly when Buffy held her arms out to model in front of the mirror. "That's a beautiful dress."
Mrs. Collier glanced up from where she was pinning the dress and gave the
brunette a quick smile. "Have you decided on the colour for the bridesmaids yet?
I really need to know to make certain everything will be ready in three weeks."
"Three weeks," the ex-slayer sighed happily. "Just tink about it. Only three more weeks and I'll be Angel's wife. I still feel like walking in a dream."
Cordelia and Willow exchanged an amused glance before they continued flipping
through the magazines. "I like that colour," the former mayqueen pointed at a
pale sort of green."
The red-head thought about it for a moment, then nodded approvingly, "Yeah,
that's lovely. What do you think?," she took the magazine from Cordelia and held
it up so that Buffy could see it.
"I like it," she agreed. "We take that, what do you think Mrs. Collier?"
"It's a good choice," she nodded, "It's a bit of a contrast to the bride's dress
but not too much to make the eyes hurt. There's one thing though. The groom and
the other men should wear black or dark blue then. No pale blue," she shuddered,
"that would be bad."
"We'll take care of it," Buffy promised and grinned, "I kinda like Angel in
black."
"Not really surprising, it was his favourite colour for a long time," Cordelia
replied, "if you go hundreds of years in black it's kinda hard to break the
tradition." Suddenly realising that they weren't alone, she amended, "Uhm ...
that is ... I mean, I don't mean hundreds of years literally, but you get the
feeling it has been so long. With the guy wearing the same colour all the time."
Her concerned gaze was on Mrs. Collier, but the dressmaker was only grinning at
her and then said.
"I know what you mean, my husband has a thing for green and sometimes you think
he hasn't changed at all over the years we know each other."
The three women exchanged glances and grinned, the citizens of Sunnydale were as
oblivious as ever.
*****
Dr. Barabara Greene smiled at the young couple sitting in front of her. She knew
Buffy Summers or Davenport for some years now and had already delivered her first two children. She'd been happy then, but today in the company of her new
life-partner she looked radiant and the way he looked at her ... she sighed
inwardly, she would give a year's salary to have a man look at her that way.
"Alright then, Buffy," Dr. Greene smiled, "would you please remove your clothes
and ...," when she saw the ex-slayer smile, she laughed, "well, I believe you
know the procedure. Just get ready for the ultrasound." She looked at Angel, "Mr. uh ... I don't think I remember your name?"
"It's Angel. Just call me Angel."
She nodded, "Fine, Angel. I suppose you want to watch?"
"If it's okay," he said hesitantly.
"Of course," she gave him a bright smile. "We encourage the expectant fathers to
participate as much as possible in the pregnancy. The times when fathers were
merely watching from a distance are fortunately over." She motioned Angel to
follow her to the table where Buffy lay outstretched and now only wearing her bra and panties. "Okay then," she began, put gel on the ex-slayer's abdomen, and then began to move the ultrasound-probe over Buffy's skin.
Angel followed everything fascinated and with awe and his future wife seeing the
expression on his face fell in love with him deeper and harder than ever. How was it possible to feel so much happiness and not to burst?
With one finger on the screen Barbara Greene began to explain, "See here, that's
the baby's head," she said with a smile and Angel's eyes widened. He could do
nothing but stare on the monitor where he saw the child, his' and Buffy's, it
wasn't even eight weeks old and yet it was perfect.
"And here you can see the legs," she pointed at the screen again and Angel had to admit that he wouldn't have recognized one single thing without her help.
Ultrasound seemed to be a tricky business and his admiration for doctors grew.
"At this early state of pregnancy it's not always possible to find a heartbeat,
but that's perfectly normal and ... oh ... oh," she stared at the screen for a
moment, then turned to Buffy and Angel. The smile on her face was a bit
surprised, "Well, it seems you're going to have twins."
"Twins?," ex-slayer and -vampire asked incredulously.
"Uh-huh?," she nodded on a laugh. "Definitely. Here see," she pointed at the
second head that was now visible behind the first."
"Twins," Angel repeated and this time in awe. He reached out and took Buffy's
hand. "Just imagine," he breathed.
"Oh, Angel," Buffy was on the edge of tears again. Inwardly she shook her head
over herself. It had to be a side-effect of her pregnancy, she decided. Or maybe
it was the way the man she loved looked alternatively at her or the screen where
Dr. Greene now tried to get a better look of the second baby.
"That one is shy," she smiled. "Doesn't want to show." With a shake she finished
her session and handed Buffy some tissues to clean herself off. "This is
certainly a surprise but from the looks on your faces it's a pleasant one."
"Yes, definitely," Buffy assured her.
"Oh yes," Angel agreed. "It's a wonderful surprise."
"Good," Dr. Greene opened a drawer and pulled out some sheets to hand them to the expectant father, while Buffy was busy putting her clothes back on. "I know Buffy is an old pro when it comes to pregnancies, but a twin-pregnancy is special and can cause problems." Hearing the expectant parents gasp, she hasted to continue, "But not regularly. We're only taking more precautions. Twin pregnancies tend to end early. Most twins are delivered during the eighth month, mainly because there isn't enough room for them anymore. But Buffy is young and healthy, there have been no problem with her first two children and I don't expect any now. I just want you to read this information so you know what could come your way." She gave them an encouraging smile.
"But having twins doesn't mean you have to be especially careful," she went on,
"you can behave the same way you did during the last two times." She flipped
through her time-planer. "But we will monitor the pregnancy more closely
especially as the second twin was so reluctant to show himself today."
"How often do I have to come," Buffy wanted to know.
"I'd like to see you every two weeks for a start and when everything is fine
after the end of the 12th week we can stretch it to four weeks," the doctor
replied, then told her the date for the next appointment.
The former slayer thought about it for a moment, "Okay, that's okay. Then the
appointment after that will be ... uh ... a week after our wedding. We'll be back then."
Barbara Greene looked up, "When will the wedding take place?"
"Sunday in three weeks," Angel told her. "If you'd like to come we would be
pleased."
"Thank you," she nodded, "I'd like to do that. Including the twins it's the
fourth baby I'm involved with regarding Buffy. Will you go on a honeymoon?"
"Yes," Buffy answered and smiled, "A week to Hawaii." She sighed happily and Dr.
Greene had to chuckle.
"It is okay for her to fly?," the former vampire asked, suddenly concerned.
"Sure," the doctor assured him. "No problem. But I will give you the address of a collegue of mine who lives on the main island. Just in case. Alright then, see
you again in two weeks."
*
"I can't believe this," Angel held Buffy in the circle of his arms. They were
standing in the parking-space of the hospital and he was inhaling the scent of
her shampoo. The smell sent pleasant shivers through his body. "Twins," his voice was full of awe.
"Isn't it wonderful. I can hardly wait to tell mom and our friends. And Ashlynn
of course." She chuckled, "now she's going to insist that at least one of the
babies has to be a girl."
"Probably," he agreed. One of his hands moved down and came to lay on her
abdomen, "Hi you both. Mommy and daddy love you very much."
"Let's go home, Angel," she said and pulled back. "And then let's get the kids
from mom. And then let's celebrate. I have suddenly a major craving for
ice-cream."
He laughed when he opened the door for her. It felt great to be alive!
End Chapter 25.