Ch21: Resolve

Three days later, Buffy sat on the table in her doctor's office; slightly uncomfortable in the little paper gown the nurse had given her. The doctor had already been in for her examination, and had confirmed what Buffy already knew to be true. She was about four months pregnant and everything seemed to be free of complications as far as the pregnancy was concerned.

Buffy wished that she could say the same for her life.

After telling Spike all about her epic dream and laying all her fears out for him, she had decided that it was time to face the music and tell her friends about the baby.  She'd gone to the magic box, and was not really too shocked when she went straight to the shelf where the book was that explained her mystical pregnancy. The prophecy wasn't quite as cheesy as the one from her dream, in fact, it was more like one of those "if…then" statements from high school calculus or science. "If the slayer and the vampire meet certain circumstances, then this will be the result"; but it was still just as complex and she still needed Giles to decode it for her. 

She had of course told Dawn the news first, which was no problem at all. Dawn thought it was nothing short of the coolest thing that could've happened, and she was even happier to hear that Buffy and Spike would not be breaking up after all. The Summers women then set out to call Giles, making sure to call him during normal waking hours in England, since their news was likely to set him off enough without the whole middle of the night factor to deal with.

Buffy had asked Giles to decipher the text for her, which he gladly did, before realizing its implications. He was shocked at first, and almost started lecturing her on the reasons why having a baby with Spike was a bad thing, before Buffy interrupted him and told him that she was actually very happy with the situation. For the first time since her friends had brought her back from her grave, she felt totally and completely happy.  Her only concern was that there was something she was missing, and that some horrible evil would be coming after her child. Giles promised to do more research, and in fact found that there were no such strings attached (that he knew of). After calming her fears and realizing that she was happy and healthy, Giles couldn't really argue with her or focus on the negatives. He had promised to come visit soon and of course be there when the baby was born.

Telling Dawn and Giles had been so easy, that Buffy was lulled into a false sense of security when she told the others. She'd called everyone together for a meeting at the Magic Box, and tensions were high to begin with between the ex's in the bunch. Anya stayed perched behind the cash register, glaring at Xander who sat at the table across the room. Willow and Tara didn't glare at each other, but they didn't exactly make with the friendly conversation either. Dawn watched them all, and tried everything she could think of to break the ice before Buffy and Spike got there.

When the two blondes finally entered the shop, tension was so thick it could practically be cut with a knife. Xander immediately bristled, wondering aloud why Spike had to be there. Once Buffy told them what her news was, all hell broke loose. Xander had threatened to stake Spike on the spot, Anya had broken down and started crying about the unfairness of Buffy having a baby before her, and everyone had found out that Tara knew about Buffy and Spike's "relationship" before anyone else. Buffy had tried her best imitation of a resolve face when she told them all they could either support her or not be a part of her pregnancy, but the night had finally ended with all of the Scoobies leaving in an angry huff, and Buffy sobbing on Spike's shoulder.

Buffy was startled out of her memories when the door to her examining room clicked open. She turned, expecting to see the doctor, but smiled when she saw a familiar blonde head peek into the room.

"Spike! What are you doing here? How did you get here? How did you know I was here?"

"Hey, Love," he smiled, closing the door behind him and coming to kiss her gently. "You know, I can get anywhere I want to during the day as long as it's on my "tunnel route".  And you told me you had to come to the Doctor's office today…last night, remember?"

Her face flamed and she grinned as she did just that… remembering the things they'd done the night before after giving in to Dawn's requests to spend the night with a friend. Her being pregnant certainly hadn't slowed them down in the 'making up for lost time' department. "The nurse said it was ok that I come in with you, but if you want me to go…" He playfully turned away, as if he would walk out of the little room.

 She reached out and grabbed his hand, stilling his movement. "No. I want you to stay. Dr. Birch is coming back and she's going to do an ultrasound today."

"That's where you can see the baby on that little monitor?"

"Yes, that's the one. And if the baby is in a good position, we might can tell if it's a boy or a girl."

Dr. Birch entered the room, and was thrilled to see that Buffy wasn't alone. She did the ultrasound, and confirmed their suspicions that the baby was a girl. While Buffy dressed, Dr. Birch spoke with Spike in the hallway.

"It's going to be very important, William, for you to be supportive of her in the upcoming months. She needs to be as stress-free as possible, and I'm giving her some prenatal care information today. She'll need to take her vitamins and be sure to follow all the instructions I give her."

"That won't be a problem, Doc." He assured her. "I'd die before I let anything happen to my girls."

+ + + + +

As the weeks passed, all of the Scoobies began to warm up to the idea of Buffy having a baby. All of them, that is, except for Xander. He refused to even talk to Buffy about it, and refused to see that any good could come from a relationship with Spike that didn't include a dusty ending. He had made his feelings crystal clear- he was disappointed with Buffy for even having a relationship with Spike in the first place, and he was even more unnerved by the fact that she now thought she was in love with the so-called evil, soulless monster and wanted to bear its spawn.

He had even taken to stalking Spike's crypt and trying to pick fights with the vampire, which Spike gracefully declined, making Xander even more angry. When he couldn't get either Buffy or Spike to respond to his antics, he started in on Tara, thinking that she would be an easy convert. But that only lead to Willow finding out, which explained why she showed up on his doorstep one evening seething with anger.

"Xander, what the hell is wrong with you?" she asked when he opened the door.

"Well, hello to you too, oh best friend of mine." He said with a snort. "Why don't you come on in?" he mused when Willow pushed past him and stalked into his living room.

"Xander, why is it that everyone but you is supportive of Buffy? Why can't you stop for one second and see that she is happy, and that she needs the support of her friends?"

"Oh, I don't know, Will. Maybe it's the monster that's responsible for her being in this predicament to begin with."

Willow rolled her eyes. "Do you even stop to think about the crap that comes tumbling out of your mouth before you say it?" Her tone was so motherly that Xander had no response, other than to look wide-eyed at her like a child who's in deep trouble. "Think back if you will, and tell me this. Who put his own feelings aside and took care of Dawn last summer when we were all too caught up in our own grief to worry about it?"

Xander's eye roll was not enough for her. "Answer me!"

"Spike did."

"Yes, Spike did. And how many times did he try to hurt her, or ask us for anything, any single thing in return?"

"None," Xander barely whispered, not wanting to admit defeat.

"Right again. He did it out of respect for the woman that he loved and had lost.  And now, when we have the chance to pay him back just a little by being supportive, you act like a four year old. You have got to get over this disillusion that you are Buffy's ultimate protector. She's safe with Spike, and she's happy."

"But…"he started, only to be cut off by his best friend.

With her resolve face firmly in tact, she presented him with his options. "No buts, Xander. Now it seems to me that you have two choices here. You can either suck it up and go apologize to Buffy for the way you've been acting and truly be her friend, or you can keep acting like a childish…child and risk loosing her friendship forever."

Xander stared at her, slack-jawed, trying to process where this outburst had come from. Before he could really register any sort of response, she was out of her seat and breezing out the front door.

"I'll leave you to think it over. I trust you'll choose wisely," Willow said over her shoulder, just before the door closed behind her.

(tbc)