June 1st, 2003

"Angel.." Angel awoke to the sound of Buffy groaning. Quickly he jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Buffy was leaning over the toilet throwing up, her hair in her face.

" Get my hair out of my.." She pleaded before beginning to gag again. Angel attempted to find a hair band and pull Buffy's hair back, but it was too late, her hair was full of the contents of her stomach. Angel was panicked and he didn't know what to do. After all, he'd only been through a week of Buffy's pregnancy, and to be totally honest he was clueless. He sat down on the floor next to the body of his tiny girlfriend and silently pleaded for some help. Dawn walked by the bathroom and paused.

"Morning sickness is a bitch huh Angel??" She said looking at him sympathetically.

Angel nodded and gave Dawn a look that begged for some guidance.

"I'll see you all later, I'm going to the mall." Dawn seemed slightly oblivious to her sister, still gagging, after all, what did Buffy need from her, she had old lover boy. Dawn knew it was unfair to be jealous, but she loved the feeling of being needed by Buffy.

"Don't leave me Dawn.." Dawn heard her sister plea and turned back around walking straight into the bathroom.

"Scoot over Angel." Dawn said taking up her usually position by her sister. Quickly she pulled Buffy's hair back and started to try and sooth her.

"Rub her back Angel." Angel placed his hand on Buffy's back but her muscles tightened.

"No, let Dawn do it, she does it in little circles, she does it right." Buffy demanded in between waves of nausea. Dawn smiled sheepishly at Angel and started to rub her sister's back. Dawn and Angel sat with Buffy until her nausea passed and let her sit on the cool tile floor of the bathroom a while to recover. Angel pulled Dawn outside the hall for a second.

"How do you do it? You're so... good with her, it's like, you calm her down and take away her fear."

"Angel, I don't DO anything, for all Buffy cares I'm Spike, it's just my words and my actions that she takes to. I've been going through this with her every morning for over a month now, and we've got a kinda, routine. You can learn though. It's just... She's been a creature of habit since she got pregnant. It's the hormones. She loves you more than anything and if you were rubbing her back the way she liked I'd be on the way to the mall by now. I'll help you out getting used to being around the new and pregnant Buffy okay? You're gonna have to learn how to read her body. She's going to need you a LOT these next seven months and she's not always going to know how to tell you what she wants.."

Angel smiled gratefully at Dawn. "Thanks, hey Dawn, when did you get so knowledgeable about pregnant women anyways?"

Dawn shrugged, " I've talked to Buffy's doctor a lot, and I've done some reading, talked to some friends who have baby brothers or sisters. I'm pretty excited about the whole babies thing. I mean, these two little ones are the first good thing to happen in our family in.. forever."

Angel smiled at her and hugged her, "Things are kind of starting to look up aren't they? Thanks again."

"No problem, just want to make sure my big sister's got someone taking good care of her."

"So, what should I do now? Let you deal with her or do you want tell me what you think would help."

" My bet would be Buffy's pretty upset right now about the barf in her hair, she's sweaty, she's tired, she's weak, and she wants a shower. So how bout you go in there and help her take one.

"But Dawn that's kind of.."

"Oh come on Angel, you're like, a million years old, I'm not sayin you gotta help her take a, I want to DO you shower, for gosh sakes, Xander's helped Buffy take a few showers after mornings like these. Granted she was wearing a swim suit.. But that's beside the point. Just, be there for her, let her know you're still extremely attracted to her even though you just watched her throw up her entire dinner. And don't show her you're scared. She'll know." Dawn said before hugging Angel and kissing him on the cheek.

"You'll be fine, I'm going to the mall now. Call me on the cell if you need me." She said before dashing down the stairs.

Angel slowly and nervously walked back into the bathroom to find Buffy, tears running down her face, curled up in a ball leaning on the wall. He sat down next to her and took her still shaking body in his strong arms.

"What's wrong baby?"

"I just threw up all over the place, and I got puke in my hair, and I snapped at you. I'm sorry."

Angel smiled at her, "It's okay sweetie, I screwed up, weren't doing what you needed. I'm just going to have to learn to read your body. Let me help you get cleaned up."

Buffy gave him a weak smile and allowed him to help her undress, "When did you get so knowledgeable about pregnant women?"

"About five minutes ago when I talked to Dawn in the hall. She's one smart cookie and she loves you very much."

Buffy smiled, "She really is a great kid when she wants to be. She's helped me out so much this past month."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you too." Angel said looking guilty as he turned on the shower.

"It's okay, you're here now and that's all that matters. Now get in the shower with me before I fall down." Buffy gave Angel a weak giggle.

He smiled at her, the water dripping down her face and through her hair, "I don't think I've ever seen you look so beautiful."

"HA, are you kidding me? I just threw up my entire dinner, how attractive can I be? That glow I've got, it's just sweat and color from throwing up so much."

" It's not that Buffy, you ARE beautiful, and your smile, it's truer than it's ever been. When I first met you, if someone would have asked me if Buffy Summers was a happy woman, I wouldn't have been sure how to answer, but now, I know, your smile says it all, and you are happy. Oh, and Buffy Xander's right, you do glow, and not just after you've been sick."

Buffy smiled and pulled him closer to her under the dripping water, "I love you Angel, now shut up and rub my back."

After their shower, Angel found Buffy some comfy PJ's and got her settled under the covers. He then brought her orange juice and some toast. Angel stayed in bed with Buffy all day and they talked, watched movies, and slept. Buffy felt well enough to eat some "normal" food for dinner, and Angel fixed her a wonderful Italian meal of spaghetti and meatballs all before the rest of the gang returned home.

Willow walked into the house later that night followed by Dawn. Walking up the stairs they stopped at the door to Buffy's bedroom and heard hushed whispers and the occasional giggle. Willow knocked. "Hey Buff, it's us, we're home and just wanted to check on you two." "Come on in." Buffy's voice said, full of joy. Willow and Dawn walked into the room to find Angel holding his head close to Buffy's stomach and reading a story.

"He's reading to the twins." Buffy grinned.

Dawn and Willow smiled and joined them on the bed. " I see that."

"I'll go get you some more juice okay Buffy?" Angel said closing the book and hopping up, Buffy knew his intentions were to give her some alone time with Willow and Dawn.

"So how was your day Buff? You look like you feel a lot better than you did earlier." Willow commented giving Buffy's hand a squeeze.

" I do, Angel took the best care of me today. I even ate a good big dinner and I don't think I'll throw it up."

Dawn smiled at her, "Ah, and so you enter the second stage of pregnancy minus the morning sickness."

Buffy smiled, "let's just keep our fingers crossed and we'll see how I'm doing in the morning."

"Hey Buff." Dawn said nudging her sister playfully, "looks like you got a little bit of a swell going on there." She said taking her hand and placing it on her sister's stomach.

"You little liar, I do not!" Buffy said, trying to sound hurt and angry, but her smile and slight giggle gave it away.

" Angel does know the babies probably can't hear a word he's saying right?" Willow asked trying not to laugh.

Buffy laughed and then flashed Willow a huge grin, "I don't know, I don't have the heart to tell him the babies are probably the size of our fingers right about now." Willow and Dawn stayed a while to talk to Buffy and then went off to bed. Angel and Buffy settled down for the night, his hand resting on her stomach. To the relief of Buffy and everyone else, the spaghetti stayed down the next morning when Buffy got up. And so we enter stage two of Buffy's pregnancy.

**Alright guys, this is what I have so far. I'm writing it as I go so suggestions would be great. I am going to go all the way through the birth with this one, should be pretty comical. These next chapters will deal with the more exciting parts of Buffy's pregnancy, i.e. kicks, ultrasounds, and birthing classes. Keep reading and enjoy!**