Jenny raised a hand and knocked on Rupert's door. She almost lost her nerve and was turning to leave when he opened it. He smiled at her " Hello" he said, "Hi" she replied awkwardly. He opened the door wider " Please come in" he stated, she did and he shut it again. " So" she said," So" he replied, they moved in to the living room. "Why don't you sit down? " he said, she smiled " All right but I'll warn you it will take an hour and the both of us to get me back up again" he laughed and she thought well this isn't so bad, maybe I'll survive it after all. She sat down gingerly on his couch, dressed in a black skirt and a red top; she looked as pregnant as she was. It baffled him that he hadn't noticed before and annoyed him.
He sat down next to her " So" he said slowly, " How have you been?" " Fine" she said then realized he wasn't just asking about the last few weeks or so. She smiled sadly " I was worse at first, with the morning sickness and the insomnia" " Oh" he said, she nodded and admitted " I cried a lot at first, fifty percent from loneliness and self-pity and fifty percent from over exerted hormones I think " "And how is the –" he stopped and cleared his throat, it was then Jenny realized how hard this was for him and how much trouble he was having keeping his own emotions in check. "The baby is fine," she said " Healthy and strong, with a good heart beat" " Really?" he said looking relived, she smiled and nodded again " Yes and kicking right now like a soccer player!" he looked at her stomach in surprise," Here" she said taking his hand " Feel this" " Oh no" he said " I couldn't –" but she had already pressed his hand to her stomach.
He smiled as he felt the fluttering against his palm " Doesn't that hurt?" he said slightly in awe. " No" she said " In fact I think it tickles a bit " Suddenly the dam broke, " Why didn't you tell me Jenny ?" he burst out. " I tried" she said " So many times I tried " " I know" he said, she looked at him " You did ", he nodded. " Yes I realize now, all the times I refused to talk to you were times you tried to tell me, but you could have come to me here or after classes at the library"." It's not easy" She began " To have to tell someone, something like this, I didn't know how, especially with the way things are between us." To her utter horror tears began to fill her eyes. She hoped he didn't notice, no such luck, he handed her a box of tissues." Thanks" she said, " I was afraid you'd be even angrier with me or accuse me of doing this on purpose".
The thought had never crossed his mind; it wasn't in his character to think of people like that. Also as angry as he had been with her, he knew that she wouldn't have done that to him." I would never have accused you of that" He said, " I was angry at you but I wasn't that angry. I just wish you had told me, so you wouldn't have had to go through this alone" .He placed his hand on her stomach again tenderly " This baby is ours, mine and yours Jenny and neither of you have to go through anything alone again". She placed her hand on top of his and smiled tearfully, feeling in truth better then she had in weeks.
The next morning Jenny took her time, Willow was covering her classes, and so she swung by the magic shop and picked up her orb of Thessula. It had been on her tongue to tell Rupert about the curse but she knew then he would go tell Buffy. She didn't want to disappoint them yet again if it didn't work, so she kept her mouth closed about the entire thing. She'd tell them about it after, she tried to translate the rest of the spell. After that she went to the library, walking in she met dead silence. The equipment was there for scanning but nobody was doing anything. " What's going on? " she said praying she's got an answer but not really expecting to yet. She struggled with the crate she was carrying, it held books she wanted to give Rupert and was probably heavier then she should have been lifting. As if on cue Xander jumped up and took it from her " Thanks" she said. She put a hand on her lower back; it always seemed to ache these days. Buffy smiled at her sadly "Angel " she said, " He's why were so quite ", Jenny felt a pain almost physical run through her and the smile melted off her face. "He's been lurking around my bedroom, leaving little notes" Buffy finished. Jenny sighed and sat down heavily, suddenly feeling very tired." He's got an invite in to my house and Mom " Buffy said " And I can't always be there to protect her"" There must be a spell to revoke the invitation," Giles said. " Ohhh" Jenny said standing up as fast as she could " What!" Giles said, " What is it ?" Jenny looked at him " I might have a spell like that". She watched, as the air seemed to deflate out of everyone in the room, "What" she said then looked down at her stomach " Oh sorry".
She opened the crate she was had brought with her and took out a red leather bound volume " This might help" she said handing it to Giles. "Thank you " he said. The tension seemed to lift a little after that, since her mother was going to be out Willow and Buffy were going over to her house to work the spell that night. Jenny had work to do to, after everyone had left for the day she set about working on the curse. She'd been at it about an hour when a knock sounded at her door. " Come in " she said looking up as Rupert entered, He smiled " Working late" he said, she nodded " If I don't take a break soon I'll fall asleep at the key board " she said. He chuckled then grew serious " It meant a lot to Buffy giving her that spell today" He cleared his throat " And a lot to me". She smiled " I do what I can, it's the only way things will ever be right between her and me"He smiled " True, well I'd better go I still have to get the spell off of Buffy and do my own apartment " He turned to leave " Rupert wait" she called, he stopped " I'm almost done here but I don't want to say anything yet. I might have something to tell you," she said " Something important, can I stop by your place later" .He smiled " Of course " he said then went out the door.
She put the last little bit of the curse in to the computer and hit translate " Come on,"she whispered "Come on " The computer hummed and groaned. Suddenly the screen lit up in English. " It worked, " she said staring at it " It actually worked I can't believe it " " Nether can I said " a filmier voice. She looked up and her eyes widened with terror " Angelus" she whispered as he strode towards her. He smiled a evil grin " Alive and in the flesh, well so to speak" he said " Jenny you and I have much to discuss"
To be continued…