SUMMARY: Buffy has to tell her friends and Giles, who makes a helpful suggestion. Buffy reflects on the differences in her life. FEEDBACK: Please! And I am still writing this story so feel free to give me your ideas and tell me anything you don't like or that I need to fix! Thanks. Email: h2odevil804@hotmail.com

Chapter 2

The next day Buffy met Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia after school. She knew she had to tell them the news sometime and it seemed best to get it over with.

"Buffy!" Willow cried when she saw her, she and Xander rushed over practically knocking her down in their enthusiasm. They had talked to her on the phone last night, but seeing her was a whole different thing.

"Woah guys!" Buffy grinned "Careful." She patted her stomach. "Listen guys there's something I need to tell you all at once. It is part of the reason I left." They all sat down, looking worried.

Buffy took a deep breath,

"I'm pregnant"

There it was out, she couldn't take it back now, she looked around at her friends fearful of their reaction. They all just stared at her. She smiled weakly and waited for somebody to say something.

"Guys? Talk? Please?" Buffy pleaded with them. "Cordelia don't you have some sort of tactless remark to make?" Cordelia shook her head. Willow could see that her friend was struggling, she tried desperately to think of something she could say.

"Congratulations?" she said hesitantly. This was too much for Buffy. She started to cry. Willow put her arm around here, but she wanted to cry too. Everything was going to be so different now. She had no idea what to do.

Leaving the others behind Willow took Buffy for a walk. Buffy was grateful, there were some things she only wanted to tell her best friend.

"How did this happen? I thought vampires couldn't have kids. It is Angel's right?" she asked, gaping at Buffy. She hadn't thought of the possibility that Buffy could've slept with someone else before. Obviously neither had Buffy.

"Oh god I wish it was somebody else's kid Will. Anybodys. I am carrying a vampire's child. Who knows what it is."

Buffy also told Giles. Surprisingly he was the least shocked and the most helpful.

"A slayer pregnant by a vampire with a soul, intriguing." Giles tried to suppress the fact that it was his teenage slayer, pregnant by a vampire that had turned evil and was now in hell. He tried not to think about it at all because he knew that if he did he would do something terribly drastic. And from the look on Buffy's face she wouldn't be able to handle it. She needed all the help she could get.

"I wonder if there any other accounts of something like this happening. There is of course the rumor that only the slayer can have the children of vampires. I shall have to look into it. In the mean time I have done some research and found a spell you can use."

"For what?" Buffy interrupted, "And what do you mean you've done some research, I only told you like two seconds ago."

"Ah.well.you see" Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them as he fumbled for an excuse.

"My mother told you didn't she." Buffy correctly guessed, Giles look of guilt was all she needed to confirm this. "I told my mother not to tell anyone."

"Well she was worried, and rightly so." Giles defended her. "She just called to tell me that you were back, and I coaxed it out of her a little."

"Giles!"

"Sorry, but I knew you would only have run away for something big and you weren't going to tell me."

"You didn't even give me a chance!"

"Okay, then why don't you tell me, exactly why did you run away?" Giles asked in a voice that showed he clearly expected her not to answer.

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"Exactly"

"Well I would have told you I was pregnant, I told everyone else and it's not something I can hide for long!"

Giles looked at his little slayer. She looked so small and alone, and scared. And that was probably exactly how she felt, small, alone and scared. She needed Giles' support, not arguments and she definitely didn't him to chastise her, she knew what she had done.

"Buffy, let's not fight." He sighed. "I have found a binding spell that will stop the baby from growing but won't hurt it. Actually it also doubles as a protection spell, because nothing, aside from your death, could kill your child. Now there is a big evil coming up, an ascension actually and we must keep you safe, I can take the spell off when this is over, or after you finish high school, the spell can be used for up to one year."

Buffy looked at Giles, she was so glad he was in charge again. He was her stronghold and she needed him. "What exactly does this spell do?"

"It stops the baby from growing, and it protects it. Once you take the spell off the baby's growth will go back to normal. It's like freezing time, if you will."

"Okay," Buffy said wearily.

Time went on as usual, with school and slaying and dates. Buffy was just careful not to get to involved with anyone. Her life was back to normal, or as normal as it would ever was, being the slayer and all. There were three big differences in her life from last year though. One, no Angel, Buffy was so used to him being around, that his absence was a huge hole in her life. She was trying to forget him, to get on with her life, but sometimes it was hard. He had been there from almost the beginning of her slaying life, either helping her or trying to kill her. It was almost like there was a big weight off her mind now that he was gone. Two, she was pregnant. No matter what was going on she never forgot the little life that was growing inside her. Well, not exactly growing at the moment but it was always there. And she was always thinking about it, and how hard it was going to be to raise a child, and teach him or her about vampires and everything. It was just so hard to imagine. The third thing was perhaps the smallest new thing in her life but it was so strange and different that it made Buffy wonder if being pregnant was starting to effect her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about Spike. As much as she didn't want to admit it, he was the reason she had the courage to face her friends and her mother. He had been there for her, comforted her and given her advice. It was so different then the old Dru-whipped Spike she remembered. He had been nice to her and for no reason or purpose of his own, that she could see. He had just been.sweet.