Chapter 4
"Mmm, that was fun." Angel said as he followed Buffy into their bedroom. They were both wrapped in towels and only a little wet.
"I didn't think that we could do that with this BULGE here!" Buffy laughed.
"I can show you things that you never even dreamed of in your wildest fantasies. I'll show you someday."
"Promise?"
"Of course."
They started kissing again and heading towards the bed when the door downstairs slammed and Dawn's voice traveled up to them, breaking the mood and the kiss.
"Buffy! Angel! I'm home!"
"We're up here. Stay down there, we'll be down in a minute!" Buffy called as she walked to the door and shut it. "I thought she had to stay after and make some stuff up today."
"Don't look at me."
"Oh, I'm looking." Buffy said temptingly.
"Ugh! Dawn needs to go back to school. You're starting to be way too enticing right now for me to resist you."
"We could always try that quickie out. I can be quiet."
"Buffy."
"I know. Dawn's here."
"Actually I was going to say yes, but it's your choice." He started to walk out playfully, but Buffy wrapped her hand around his forearm and turned him around. He met her in a kiss and they went over to the bed.
An hour later, they were dressed and Buffy was brushing her hair. Angel had gone downstairs to talk to Dawn and help her out with her history report that was due soon. This was her life now. She was married and she had a child on the way and one that wasn't really hers, but of her blood, was with her husband downstairs. Buffy had never thought she would see the day that she would call Angel her husband, but it had long past and she was used to it by now.
"Buffy?" Angel called up the stairs.
"Yeah?" she answered from the top of the stairs.
"Faith is here. She wants to talk to you!"
"Ok." Buffy said as she reached the bottom stair.
"She's in the kitchen." He said walking back to the living room after giving her a too quick kiss.
Buffy walked into the kitchen and stood for a couple of seconds just staring at the other slayer. A thousand memories, good and bad, swam through her head every time she saw the once rogue slayer.
"Hey B. Are you ok?" Faith's voice interrupted her reverie and she looked at the brunette sitting in her kitchen.
"Nothing. I was just. remembering. What did you want to talk to me about?"
Faith looked at her for a few moments longer warily then said, "Um, it's about this." Faith gestured to Buffy's stomach.
"This? Why, what's the matter?"
"Nothing! Nothing is wrong with you or Conner. It's just. now that I see how happy you are, I want one of my own and Spike is being stubborn. He refuses to even think about the possibility of me doing the donation thing, much less having kids!"
Buffy just stared at Faith. This was definitely something Faith was serious about. But that wasn't what freaked Buffy; it was the fact that Faith WANTED to be a mom. Maybe she was jealous of Buffy and Angel's happiness together, only Faith knew that. Buffy wasn't about to pry though. In her experience with Faith, it was best not to pry.
Buffy walked over to a stool and sat down by the other slayer. She just sat there, not saying any thing, and looking at her nails. Buffy wasn't exactly sure what she should say to this. Except: "What do you want me to do about it?" Sure it sounded harsh, but it wasn't meant to be.
"Ok, I'm just gonna brush that bleakness sounding tone away and chalk it up to raging hormones when I answer." Faith said, looking only the slightest bit hurt.
"Faith, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it the way it sounded."
"I know, hence the whole 'raging hormones thing'. But the answer to that is: talk to him for me. Buffy, I really want to have kids, like you. When I see how happy you've become, I get." Faith paused and looked down a little embarrassed.
"You get what?"
"Jealous."
"Faith, why would you get jealous of me?"
"Like I said, you're so happy. I mean look at you! You and Angel never fight!"
"Oh, we fight. We've fought plenty of times!" Buffy interrupted.
"That's not the point. The only time you two have ever fought is when he's Angelus or you're arguing about life and death. Namely your guys'."
Buffy was silent. She knew that Faith was right about that, so she allowed her to talk on her own terms.
"Spike and I aren't like that. We argue about the dumbest things! But I love him! I love the neutered freak of nature! And you know as well as I do that he loves me."
"I do."
"Then why do we fight?"
"Because you love each other."
"Well, THAT makes a whole lot of sense."
"Actually, it does. Unconditional love. It's simple really. Yes, you may fight about stupid things. Yes, you may feel like you want to get out now before you get hurt, or you hurt him. But no matter what, you can't bring yourself to do it. There have been plenty of times that I wanted to get out of Angel and I's relationship. Definitely before we found out the curse had no loophole. It all seemed too hard. Not worth the struggle of wanting to be with him in the physical sense and not being able to. But do you know what? It didn't matter how many times I broke it off, or he broke it off. We can't stay away from each other. We're bound by our love and each of us owns a part of the other one. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Kind of."
"Have you ever heard the saying 'The other half of my soul is missing'?"
"Yes."
"That's what I'm getting at. Once you find that other half of your soul, it never leaves you. No matter where you are and where he is, your soul has been completed. That's Angel and I. And that's Spike and you."
"It couldn't be."
"Why not?"
"He doesn't have a soul."
"Doesn't matter. He had this thing called soul residue, or something like that. Even if he is dead, a part of his soul is still attached to him. It allows the original soul to find its body. How do you think Angel's soul was restored to him?"
"That's why I love him like I do?"
"In a way, yes."
"Will you still talk to him about it?"
"No."
"No? Why not?"
"Because it's up to you two to decide what YOU TWO want, not me. I would help, but Faith, you're still learning to get back on your feet after all this time. This is just one of life's lessons. It's one my mom taught me, and it's one I'm trying to teach you now. I grew up and took on responsibilities that were far more important than anything I've had to deal with. Now you need to do the same. Life isn't all fun and games Faith. Not anymore."
"You can't at least, you know, drop hints?"
"No. The hint dropping is up to you."
"Please?"
"I'm sorry."
"Well, how do I go about it then? I've never had to so this before."
"Neither have I. What? You think I planned on having Conner?"
The two girls laughed. Lord knows that Buffy had definitely not planned on getting pregnant! Besides, Angel and Buffy had both thought that neither of them could have kids. Not to mention the fact that neither of them knew about the whole no-loophole-in-the-curse thing.
"So, maybe I could go and get pregnant behind his back and then say it's his."
"Faith!"
"I'm kidding! I'll talk to him. But let me warn you, the screams coming outta him will be heard all the way in LA." Faith said as they walked to the front door.
"You'll survive."
"I hope so."
"See ya B."
"Bye Faith."
"Later Angel face! Later Dawn!" Faith called into the living room.
"Bye!" came the reply from the living room.
Buffy shut the door and walked into the living room, plopping down on the couch beside Angel.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"Girl talk. You wouldn't be interested." Buffy said smiling to herself.
"He might not be, but I am." Dawn interjected.
"Grown up talk. Not for little girls' ears." Buffy retorted.
"Hey! I'm not little."
"You're my little sister. Key word being little."
"Was that a pun?"
"Pun? Pun to what?"
"You said 'Key word'. Was that a pun to me being the key?"
"No! Besides, you're not the key anymore. You're just Dawn. You've always been just Dawn."
"Whatever."
Just then Willow walked in with four bags of good smelling food that read Arby's on them.
"I got supper!" the red head announced.
"Yes!" Buffy said, trying to hop off the couch and get to the food in Willow's hands. She wasn't much good at it though and Angel had to help her up. "Well that sucked." Buffy said as they walked to the dining room to sit down and eat.
"Mmm, that was fun." Angel said as he followed Buffy into their bedroom. They were both wrapped in towels and only a little wet.
"I didn't think that we could do that with this BULGE here!" Buffy laughed.
"I can show you things that you never even dreamed of in your wildest fantasies. I'll show you someday."
"Promise?"
"Of course."
They started kissing again and heading towards the bed when the door downstairs slammed and Dawn's voice traveled up to them, breaking the mood and the kiss.
"Buffy! Angel! I'm home!"
"We're up here. Stay down there, we'll be down in a minute!" Buffy called as she walked to the door and shut it. "I thought she had to stay after and make some stuff up today."
"Don't look at me."
"Oh, I'm looking." Buffy said temptingly.
"Ugh! Dawn needs to go back to school. You're starting to be way too enticing right now for me to resist you."
"We could always try that quickie out. I can be quiet."
"Buffy."
"I know. Dawn's here."
"Actually I was going to say yes, but it's your choice." He started to walk out playfully, but Buffy wrapped her hand around his forearm and turned him around. He met her in a kiss and they went over to the bed.
An hour later, they were dressed and Buffy was brushing her hair. Angel had gone downstairs to talk to Dawn and help her out with her history report that was due soon. This was her life now. She was married and she had a child on the way and one that wasn't really hers, but of her blood, was with her husband downstairs. Buffy had never thought she would see the day that she would call Angel her husband, but it had long past and she was used to it by now.
"Buffy?" Angel called up the stairs.
"Yeah?" she answered from the top of the stairs.
"Faith is here. She wants to talk to you!"
"Ok." Buffy said as she reached the bottom stair.
"She's in the kitchen." He said walking back to the living room after giving her a too quick kiss.
Buffy walked into the kitchen and stood for a couple of seconds just staring at the other slayer. A thousand memories, good and bad, swam through her head every time she saw the once rogue slayer.
"Hey B. Are you ok?" Faith's voice interrupted her reverie and she looked at the brunette sitting in her kitchen.
"Nothing. I was just. remembering. What did you want to talk to me about?"
Faith looked at her for a few moments longer warily then said, "Um, it's about this." Faith gestured to Buffy's stomach.
"This? Why, what's the matter?"
"Nothing! Nothing is wrong with you or Conner. It's just. now that I see how happy you are, I want one of my own and Spike is being stubborn. He refuses to even think about the possibility of me doing the donation thing, much less having kids!"
Buffy just stared at Faith. This was definitely something Faith was serious about. But that wasn't what freaked Buffy; it was the fact that Faith WANTED to be a mom. Maybe she was jealous of Buffy and Angel's happiness together, only Faith knew that. Buffy wasn't about to pry though. In her experience with Faith, it was best not to pry.
Buffy walked over to a stool and sat down by the other slayer. She just sat there, not saying any thing, and looking at her nails. Buffy wasn't exactly sure what she should say to this. Except: "What do you want me to do about it?" Sure it sounded harsh, but it wasn't meant to be.
"Ok, I'm just gonna brush that bleakness sounding tone away and chalk it up to raging hormones when I answer." Faith said, looking only the slightest bit hurt.
"Faith, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it the way it sounded."
"I know, hence the whole 'raging hormones thing'. But the answer to that is: talk to him for me. Buffy, I really want to have kids, like you. When I see how happy you've become, I get." Faith paused and looked down a little embarrassed.
"You get what?"
"Jealous."
"Faith, why would you get jealous of me?"
"Like I said, you're so happy. I mean look at you! You and Angel never fight!"
"Oh, we fight. We've fought plenty of times!" Buffy interrupted.
"That's not the point. The only time you two have ever fought is when he's Angelus or you're arguing about life and death. Namely your guys'."
Buffy was silent. She knew that Faith was right about that, so she allowed her to talk on her own terms.
"Spike and I aren't like that. We argue about the dumbest things! But I love him! I love the neutered freak of nature! And you know as well as I do that he loves me."
"I do."
"Then why do we fight?"
"Because you love each other."
"Well, THAT makes a whole lot of sense."
"Actually, it does. Unconditional love. It's simple really. Yes, you may fight about stupid things. Yes, you may feel like you want to get out now before you get hurt, or you hurt him. But no matter what, you can't bring yourself to do it. There have been plenty of times that I wanted to get out of Angel and I's relationship. Definitely before we found out the curse had no loophole. It all seemed too hard. Not worth the struggle of wanting to be with him in the physical sense and not being able to. But do you know what? It didn't matter how many times I broke it off, or he broke it off. We can't stay away from each other. We're bound by our love and each of us owns a part of the other one. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Kind of."
"Have you ever heard the saying 'The other half of my soul is missing'?"
"Yes."
"That's what I'm getting at. Once you find that other half of your soul, it never leaves you. No matter where you are and where he is, your soul has been completed. That's Angel and I. And that's Spike and you."
"It couldn't be."
"Why not?"
"He doesn't have a soul."
"Doesn't matter. He had this thing called soul residue, or something like that. Even if he is dead, a part of his soul is still attached to him. It allows the original soul to find its body. How do you think Angel's soul was restored to him?"
"That's why I love him like I do?"
"In a way, yes."
"Will you still talk to him about it?"
"No."
"No? Why not?"
"Because it's up to you two to decide what YOU TWO want, not me. I would help, but Faith, you're still learning to get back on your feet after all this time. This is just one of life's lessons. It's one my mom taught me, and it's one I'm trying to teach you now. I grew up and took on responsibilities that were far more important than anything I've had to deal with. Now you need to do the same. Life isn't all fun and games Faith. Not anymore."
"You can't at least, you know, drop hints?"
"No. The hint dropping is up to you."
"Please?"
"I'm sorry."
"Well, how do I go about it then? I've never had to so this before."
"Neither have I. What? You think I planned on having Conner?"
The two girls laughed. Lord knows that Buffy had definitely not planned on getting pregnant! Besides, Angel and Buffy had both thought that neither of them could have kids. Not to mention the fact that neither of them knew about the whole no-loophole-in-the-curse thing.
"So, maybe I could go and get pregnant behind his back and then say it's his."
"Faith!"
"I'm kidding! I'll talk to him. But let me warn you, the screams coming outta him will be heard all the way in LA." Faith said as they walked to the front door.
"You'll survive."
"I hope so."
"See ya B."
"Bye Faith."
"Later Angel face! Later Dawn!" Faith called into the living room.
"Bye!" came the reply from the living room.
Buffy shut the door and walked into the living room, plopping down on the couch beside Angel.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
"Girl talk. You wouldn't be interested." Buffy said smiling to herself.
"He might not be, but I am." Dawn interjected.
"Grown up talk. Not for little girls' ears." Buffy retorted.
"Hey! I'm not little."
"You're my little sister. Key word being little."
"Was that a pun?"
"Pun? Pun to what?"
"You said 'Key word'. Was that a pun to me being the key?"
"No! Besides, you're not the key anymore. You're just Dawn. You've always been just Dawn."
"Whatever."
Just then Willow walked in with four bags of good smelling food that read Arby's on them.
"I got supper!" the red head announced.
"Yes!" Buffy said, trying to hop off the couch and get to the food in Willow's hands. She wasn't much good at it though and Angel had to help her up. "Well that sucked." Buffy said as they walked to the dining room to sit down and eat.