Within a blink of an eye, they found themselves celebrating Christmas, New Year and Buffys Birthday, all before they eventually had a one year old. They couldn't believe it, little Liam, their special little guy was one year old.

It was one of the fastest 12 months they had ever experienced, from being scared during labour, to being full of joy and love was a gradual transition. As much as Buffy longed for children, when actually faced with going through childbirth and beyond, it put her on edge, but she soon found that it wasn't as scary as the thought it was, that it was the best feeling ever.

They had a small party in their garden with friends and family in attendance, spending the day celebrating, all except Angel's parents, Kathy wasn't doing well and couldn't make the trip, so they decided to make their way across the country to be with her when she felt better.

In the time that they had been back together they had never been back at Angels parent's house as a couple. So, once they landed and were settled in, he showed her the place he reluctantly called home when they had moved all those years ago.

His parents had never bothered to redecorate his room, sure they kept it fresh and tidy, but it was almost a like for like with his old room back in their Sunnydale house, almost. She could see where he tried his best not to make it homey and tried to keep it as separated as best as he could.

Buffy flipped through the yearbook from his senior year and her heart ached when she landed on his photo, although he had the perfect bad boy image, she could see the pain behind those deep chocolate eyes of his. He only shrugged when she looked at him sadly.

She read through the masses of scribbles from his classmates, all positive words for the future and all nothing but nice messages on what a great guy he was. He sat down beside her on his old bed and slipped an arm around her dainty waist, pulling her close so that she could rest her head upon his shoulder.

"How are the guys doing?" She tipped her head towards the photo of Angel and two of his classmates that he became fast friends with when he transferred.

Angel smiled "Yeah Jesse's great, he's away on business again… Spike and Dru are good, he said if we have time, we can drop by on them" also transferring in his senior year, the loud-mouthed Brit was both a friend and foe at times, they clashed like hell but always had each other's backs.

Buffy smiled back, she had only spoke to the couple on the phone a handful of times but felt some sort of connection with them… Like her and Angel's story, they two were separated as teens but Drusilla had patiently waited until the day she could fly across the Atlantic to be with Spike forevermore.

So far it had been almost impossible for them to come out to California, so perhaps they would make the time to seek them out and finally meet "Sure, we can meet them" turning towards Angel, she gently kissed him and sighed.

Hearing his father call upstairs that Liam had finally fallen asleep for his daytime nap they decided to head out on a walk. Buffy was shown around some of his old haunts including the mall and the bookshop that almost rivalled the one back home.

Sensing that Buffy was retreating into herself, he stopped her as they entered the park and pulled her into his embrace, planting a loving kiss on her mouth "I know that time for both of us wasn't the best, but I'm glad I could show you here, it wasn't all that bad"

That was true, despite hating every second that he spent here when he first arrived, he soon learned to love this new city and the friends that he had made. This is where his passion for writing was further fuelled and where he decided that he would take a chance on moving back to Sunnydale.

Buffy crinkled her nose as she smiled but before she could say anything else, Angel pulled her tighter against his body as he dipped down to kiss her again. Like a couple of teenagers, they let their emotions take over and their kiss became heated until someone wolf-whistled as they walked by, causing them to break apart in embarrassment.

The rest of the trip back East was pleasant, she had finally met Spike and Drusilla. Watching the banter between Angel and Spike was amusing, the playful back and forth went from friendly to almost hateful leaving both of them scowling but by the end of it, they were back to being the best of friends.

Dru was a bit of an odd character she had to admit, despite her melodic voice and swaying arms, Buffy felt like there was something charming and innocent about her. The couple fawned over their son before announcing they were expecting their own and promised to make the time to visit out West where possible.

Kathy was doing much better, and Colin was spry as ever, both of them soaking up as much time with their three guests as they could before the return date came around so fast. Leaving them at the airport had been difficult, hating the distance that was due to separate them.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Angel leaned against the wall of the house as he stepped outside for a break from work, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Lately it felt like no one wanted to even breathe without his authorisation and he didn't know why everyone was so on edge.

His eyes snapped open when he heard his name being called out and was faced with Darla. She looked back to her former self, her skin was tanned, her hair curled neatly, and that devious smirk seemed to be back as well. Great.

Before he could say anything, she cleared her throat and smiled genuinely this time "I was wondering if Buffy was home?" When she stood still and began to pick her nails, he felt bad for assuming the worst about her.

Ever since she came home, they had all entered a silent mutual agreement – nothing would be brought up and they would remain civil towards each other. Them and the couple next door only spent a handful of times in each other's company, so they wouldn't call themselves friends, far from it.

The longer he waited to reply, the more he could see her outgoing demeanour slip, she lost that bite and went to being barely able to look him in the eyes.

Angel cleared his throat "She'll be back in around five… you're more than welcome to wait inside for her?" Buffy was all for extending peace offerings towards her, although most of it was only for short bursts of time.

Darla nodded slowly, working up the courage to find her reply "Uh, okay…" when Angel opened up the back door, he extended his arm to let her enter first. When he asked if she would like a water or with the raise of an eyebrow, a wine, she shook her head "a water would be nice"

Angel poured a fresh glass and filled it with ice before handing it to her, she thanked him softly and took a sip. He watched as Darla looked around their kitchen with a smile on her face. As she was about to say something Buffy came bounding into the kitchen with Liam on her hip.

Buffy halted immediately and looked between the pair of them in surprise, she could see Angel didn't know how to feel about their houseguest and Darla looked a little out of her depth, holding onto her water with a death grip "Hi…"

Darla took another sip of water and sat the glass down on the kitchen worktop, before taking a few deep breaths "Buffy, Hi, I was wondering if we could talk…" she looked over to Angel for a second then back "in private?"

Taking the hint, Angel came over and took Liam from her arms as he kissed her softly "We'll be out back" with another look back at Darla, who actually looked apologetic, he nodded and headed back outside.

Buffy smiled kindly "How can I help?" She watched as Darla started tapping her fingers off one another, working up the courage to speak "Are you okay?"

Darla bit her lip as her eyes filled up with tears, she nodded quickly then looked directly at Buffy as she whispered, "Can you stay with me?" At the confused look that Buffy gave her, she pulled out a pregnancy test from her back pocket.

"Oh…" Buffy's eyes widened, once again blindsided by the blonde in front of her "Uh, are you sure, wouldn't you want Lindsay to be with you?" surely her husband would want to know before anyone else.

Darla sighed, her head falling down "I know that I should do it with him but, please?" The look she gave Buffy when she looked back up was so full of emotion that Buffy nodded and motioned for her to follow her upstairs.

They made their way into the master bedroom, Buffy pointed towards the en-suite "I'll wait here till you're ready". Darla nodded and closed over the door so that she could take the test. After a few minutes she reappeared and smiled.

"Test says results in three minutes…" after a questioning look from Buffy she continued "Thank you for doing this, I didn't want to be alone… I wanted to find out before I said anything to Linds', he wants this so much…"

Buffy nodded "…what about you?" a sickly feeling bubbled in her stomach, not sure if she wanted to know the answer as memories of that day where she heard them arguing about such situations came back.

Darla wiped at her eyes "I never wanted children, I didn't have the best childhood and I didn't want to inflict that on a poor baby" she laughed sadly "but after everything that happened, it made me realise that maybe I am capable of giving enough love?"

Buffy remained silent as she listened to Darla speak, she watched as the other blonde smiled wistfully as she looked around the room then picked up a photo of her and her boys.

"I'm not perfect, I know I'm messed up, but Lindsay has so much love to give and sometimes when I see you holding Liam, a part of me wants that too…" Darla placed the photo back down and turned to Buffy before glancing down to her watch.

Seeing fear work its way into her eyes, Buffy came over and rubbed her shoulder "Let's go see" they silently went into the en-suite and Darla paused before grabbing the stick but holding it out of eye line.

Buffy was ready to say something as Darla twirled the plastic stick in her fingers, but she took a deep breath and raised it, to view the result. She let out a scoff "I'm pregnant" then laughing this time she repeated "pregnant" before crying.

After a pause, Buffy came over and wrapped her arms around Darla and held her as she cried "Congratulations" she ran her hand up and down her back soothingly "You will be a good mom"

Darla sniffled "Do you really think so?" Although she was determined to give this baby a better life than she had, she still had those insecurities try to overtake her happiness.

Buffy sighed "How would you feel if it was negative?" She felt Darla tense before shaking her head sadly "then it means you'll prove that you want this to happen and will do your best for this baby"

The girls pulled apart as they heard Angel come into the room, whispering loudly "Buffy?" When they exited the bathroom, he looked at the pair then down to his sleeping son before nodding towards the nursery.

They followed behind him and crept down the stairs to avoiding waking the baby up. As they reached the kitchen Darla pulled Buffy back into a hug "Thank you, you've been too kind to me… I really do appreciate this" without saying anything else she slipped out the back door.

"Uh Buff…" she turned around to see Angel holding the pregnancy test, his eyes wide and looking at her belly in wonder.

Buffy smirked "Uh no, that's Darla's, she wanted some moral support" she let out a chuckle as Angel realised, he was holding something that someone other than she had peed on and contorted his face in disgust, throwing it away into the trash.