Giles was coming dangerously close to having a nervous breakdown. He just couldn't dismiss Mrs. Frank's crazy comments about Jenny being pregnant from his mind from his mind. He just kept going over and over them in his head. True he hadn't seen much of her in the last few months but she was after all a busy women, she couldn't have just been avoiding him. He just didn't see why if she was pregnant, she hadn't come and told him. Even if he was angry with her, he still loved her and the thought of her having his baby thrilled him beyond belief. However it was yet another strikes against her that she hadn't come and seen him. Finally to spare his sanity, he decide to do the only thing he could do, seek her out and find out everything he needed to know.
Jenny had a new pet project. She was spending all her free time working between teaching classes, birthing classes and the tech-fair on the trying to translate the Romany curse. To do so in the end, she had almost had to re-write the computer program from the ground up. Soon she thought it might work, well enough for her to tell the others about it. She was going to pick up the orb of Thessula she needed for it tomorrow. If the damn tech-fair hadn't taken up so much of her time, she might have had it done a week ago. She was heading towards the school, when suddenly someone bumped it to her, sending her things flying. "Sorry" the person murmured in an all to familiar voice. " It's all right, " she said trying to retrieve the things she dropped. It was then that she realized it had happened, she couldn't bend over to pick the stuff up. Her stomach was too large, she felt suddenly like crying. She straightened and came fact to face with-"Buffy" she said, " How are you?" .The young slayer looked at her "Fine and you?". " Great " Jenny said as Buffy's eyes drifted down to her stomach. "I can see that" Buffy said coolly. There was an awkward pause until Buffy blurted " Look I'm gonna come right out and say this, I'm still pissed but he misses you, he won't talk to me about it but I know he does. And I suspect not only do you miss him, you need him now more then ever." She stopped for a moment " You should go see him for every ones sake" .She then picked up Ms. Calendar's things, handed them to her and walked off, leaving Jenny shaking. Now that Buffy knew Rupert would find out for sure. She sighed nervously and turned her attention to the group of students helping her with the tech-fair.
Buffy caught up with Willow in the cafeteria, "Hey" she said "Hi" Willow said " How was-uh, you know last night". Buffy smiled " Patrolling went fine, no sign of Angel though". Willow nodded "Is that a good thing or a bad thing ?" Buffy sighed "Both, if I don't see him I can almost for get the past and what I know I'm gonna eventfully have to do but it also means he's probably up to something. If I do see him it brings up the past and the fact I have to kill him " Willow nodded again sagely. "Hey "Buffy said, " Speaking of bringing up the painful past, is it my imagination or is Ms. Calendar-" "Pregnant" Willow cut in. Buffy nodded and Willow smiled "Totally, she's hiding it well though" "Not for much longer" Buffy said "She's getting pretty visible, hey I wonder if Giles knows" " Knows what? " Cordie said sitting down along with Xander. "Giles knowing about Ms. Calendar being ""-Pregnant "Cordie Cut in "You Know " Buffy said, Cordie rolled her eyes at her "Everybody knows except one tweed clad librarian from what I can tell ". Buffy shook her head sadly " Her funeral when he finds Out, I'm not telling him ". Cordie nodded " Neither am I, it's incredibly gross to think of those two and sex in the same categories, but she had better tell him soon, because the clothes she's wearing are all wrong. So last years maternity and she had such good fashion sense too". None of the gang wanted to ask the inevitable question of how the hell Cordelia knew about last years maternity cloths, let alone maternity cloths at all. Buffy rolled her eyes "Come on we don't even know if it's Giles's kid, I mean when would he have slept with her with out us knowing?" "Maybe he just never said anything" Xander put in " I mean the G-man hardly has a social life as it is "" True " Buffy said " And to tell you the truth, I wouldn't want to know about it. I hate to say it but Cordie's right, the thought of Giles getting it on, kind of gives me a Wiggins"
Giles couldn't find Jenny anywhere and for a change he really wanted to talk to her. He had to find out, because in all honesty he was probably the only person who didn't know if it was true or not. He rounded a corner and there she was. She was directing students on hanging a banner for the tech-fair. He watched as she pointed out a crease in it to a student on a ladder. As she did the cream colored sweater she wore over her hazel skirt tightened a crossed her stomach. For the first time he noticed what others had been noticing for weeks and keeping from him. The round and unmistakable curve of pregnancy, it hit him like a punch in the stomach. She turned to the side and he could see it even more so, almost subconsciously she laid her arm gently a crossed her stomach and he knew it was all to true. Why hadn't she told him? She could have come to him at anytime, suddenly he remembered several times she had come to try to talk. Thinking it was about her betrayal, he had as Buffy would put it "Blown her off every time". And all the time she had probably just wanted to tell him about the baby. What an idiot he'd been! He strode towards her, she smiled as he approached. "Rupert" she said "Ms-"he stopped "Jenny", she smiled again (God how he loved that smile)"We need to talk " he said, "About what ?" she asked innocently, his heart was pounding. His gaze traveled down to her stomach and rested there. "Oh" she said following it " Yes I think your right but not here ". She was ever mindful of the students that were scattered around them, listening to their every word. "I agree" Giles said " Why don't I stop by your place tonight, say around eight?" she said. He nodded Great" she said "Giles" an annoyed voice called, he looked up to see Buffy standing a few feet away. A glance at his watch said he should have been in the library twenty minutes ago." I have to go " he said "Duty calls", Jenny nodded " Until eight then " she said," Yes" he said " until eight " then he hurried off. "Jenny let out a shaky breath as the baby kicked hard " I know little one" she said rubbing her stomach " I'm worried too, but soon we'll know what's to come"
" You okay" Buffy said to Giles as she sat in the library getting ready to spare." Oh" Giles said " Yes quite fine I think". Buffy smiled " Ms. Calendar pregnancy kind of threw you for a loop huh?" Giles looked at her " You knew about it?" He said, Buffy nodded " Everyone kind of knows" he looked at her "Xander and Willow and Cordelia" he said, Buffy nodded sadly " Xander's been helping with the tech-fair, lifting heavy things for her and Willows been covering her classes for her when she's sick " she smiled " Cordelia's handling the gossip end of things as usual" "And you" Giles said " I have tried to stay as far away from her as possible " Buffy said " I'm still sore about things. " " Why didn't one of you tell me?" he said sadly " Or one of the teachers who knew?" Buff's reluctant look conveyed things with out words " All the teachers know!" he cried, " Am I the only one who bloody didn't " " I think so " she said " "Then why not tell me " Giles said miserably " Didn't anyone think I'd want to know, that I wouldn't care?" " Something this big shouldn't be told by someone else" Buffy said, " it wasn't my place or Xander's or Willow's" She smiled looking much wiser to him then her seventeen years " And I think the teachers thought the same thing, plus in the last six months you've been hardly seen outside the library, you spend all your time cloistered in here with your books and you hardly see the other teachers except for staff meetings " She shook her head " Nobody's gonna tell you there because they're don't have time or they have things on their minds or Jenny's in the room . They hardly know you because you avoid them on purpose. That make's it hard to talk to you about anything with out feeling like you're over stepping your bounds and Intruding. They're definitely not going to come in here I mean it's like treading on hallowed ground, you do it as rarely as possible " Suddenly she seemed older to him and grown up, what she was saying was true he had avoided the other teachers and stayed in the library, he felt safer ironically safer there. This time his solitude had worked against him. " Or you really need to get your glasses changed because you're going blind as a bat". He smiled " Right let's get to work there some knew punches I want to show you". Tonight would come when it came.
Angelus was in a good mood, he had a big night planned, first up was to stalk Buffy, then torture Buffy and then kill Buffy. In that order, after that he was up for bugging Spike and reading the paper then going to bed. It was going to be a fun evening. Alas bugging Spike (or as Angel called him " The wheel chair challenged vampire " or " Roller boy" on a good night) had to be moved to the front of his list because he just couldn't wait. He loved this part too much. He came out of his and Dru's room (Hadn't taken her long to come back to him) and headed straight towards the big blonde dope. He had just opened his mouth to speak when from across the room Dru let out a cry. He satisfied him self with smacking Spike in the head and said " What's up Dru, see anything fun love?" She whimpered, " The darkness is coming back Daddy, an hurtful meddler seeks to destroy what we have here" " There's something new" Spike drawled " Hummm" Dru said moaned " The circle becomes complete, it's singing to me, Daddy make it stop ". Angelus smiled " Don't worry Dru we'll just have to make sure soon it stops singing and starts to scream ". Dru smiled " My daddy always knows how to make thing better". Spike rolled his eyes and wheeled himself slowly out of the room.
To be continued …