3 Months Later

Buffy watched the passengers load off the plane. She and Angel were waiting for Willow, Xander, and Giles. They had arranged this meeting a little while back. Buffy was now six months along and her stomach was pretty swollen. Angel had done nothing but pamper her since they had found out they were expecting. She wasn't complaining. When they had arrived back in New York two months ago, Angel had immediately gone to work fixing up the guestroom and changing it into the nursery. He made sure the plug- ins were covered and the crib was just the right color and the walls were just the right color. He bought toys of all shapes and sizes from FAO Schwartz Toy Store. Up on the roof in the poolroom, Angel had bought a little fort for the baby. He was ready to show it off to everyone who was willing.

"Buffy!" Willow called.

Buffy looked around and saw the red head waving frantically at her from the door. "Willow!" Buffy screamed. They two girls ran up to each other and embraced tightly. "Oh God I miss you!"

"Hey Buff." Xander said.

"Oh Xander!" Buffy hugged him tightly. "Giles!" She grabbed his neck too and they embraced. "I missed you guys so much!" They all shared in a much needed group hug.

"Geez Buff, did you swallow a basketball whole?"

Buffy laughed. "Wanna feel? He's kicking with happiness."

Willow and Xander put their hands on her stomach excitedly. "What's it feel like when he kicks?"

"Kinda like hard to pop bubbles."

"Hey." Angel said.

"Angel!" Willow hugged him tightly. "I missed you too!"

Angel hugged her back. "It's great to see you all again."

Giles and Angel shook hands. "You look well."

"I think I got a little bit of a tan."

"Can vamps even do that?" Xander asked as he and Angel hugged.

"I can."

"Right, the ring."

Angel nodded. Buffy had a huge smile on her face and it made Angel's heart jump. She was so happy with her friends here. It made him smile too. They walked down to baggage claim, Buffy and Willow talking so fast that the Angel figured it was some foreign language that only best friends knew. After waiting for what seemed an eternity, all the bags were gathered and they were on their way back to the apartment.

"Well, this is it." Angel said, as the elevator doors opened to his and Buffy's apartment.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Willow said.

"You own this?" Xander asked.

"Yup. And we own the roof too. There's a pool up there. It's in a glass house." Buffy said. She winced suddenly, but tried to hide it. Giles, Xander, and Willow didn't notice it, but Angel did.

He pulled her into the baby's room while the others roamed the apartment. "Baby? What's wrong?"

"He's kicking. It kinda hurts now." Buffy said, wincing again.

"His strength is growing."

"Yeah." Wince. "I think I need to lie down, but I don't want to sleep. My best friends are out there. They have so many stories to tell and I don't want to miss one." She looked down at her stomach. "Go to sleep for Christ's sake!"

"Here." Angel walked behind her and pulled her to him. With both hands, he gently rubbed her stomach putting just enough pressure so the baby could feel it. It wasn't too bad for the mother either. She moaned low in her throat.

"Mmm, that feels good."

"Is he going to sleep?"

"I think so, yeah. Just keep going until.."

"Hey Buffy! Angel! Where are you? It's story time!" Xander called.

"We get interrupted." She finished.

"Be there in a second." Angel called back. He smiled down at Buffy and bent to kiss her then her swollen stomach. She stroked the back of his neck and his back. They walked into the living room holding hands and massaging her stomach together.

"Everything ok?" Willow asked.

"Fine. He's just kicking is all." Buffy said. "So, um.. Story time is it?"

"You bet ya!" Xander said excitedly.

Angel helped Buffy sit down in the huge lazy boy and get comfortable. When she was in the chair sitting Indian style, Angel sat down in front of her and leaned his head back onto her knee. Xander sat on the part of the couch that had a footrest pop out, Willow took up the big comfy corner where the couch made a turn, and Giles sat next to the little built in table.

"So, how's Anya and Tara?" Angel asked.

"Oh, of course you two wouldn't know." Giles said sadly.

"What? Know what?" Buffy asked.

"Anya died." Xander said.

"Oh, Xander. I'm so sorry. How?"

"At our wedding, things were going horrible. I was too scared to go through it. I was afraid I would turn into my father as it turns out. I stopped the wedding, but I didn't tell Anya the real reason. Instead I said it didn't feel right without you guys there. Anya got pissed off and said she was tired of waiting for me to get over you leaving. She said that if I was ready to grow up, come find her. When she stormed outside, a car came out of nowhere and hit her. She died in my arms on the street looking beautiful in her wedding dress."

"Oh God." Buffy was crying. "Oh, Xander. I am so sorry we weren't there. This is all our fault."

"No! No it isn't. I'm sorry I used you guys as an excuse to stop my wedding. Maybe if I'd told Anya the truth, she'd still be here."

"When did it happen?" Angel asked.

"A year ago. It was before I called you in New York."

"I'm sorry Xander. I don't really know what else to say."

"You guys don't have to say anything. It wasn't your fault."

Buffy wiped away her tears. "Willow? What about Tara? Is she ok?"

"I hope so." Willow said.

"You hope so?" Angel asked.

"She left."

"What? You guys were perfect for each other. Last time we saw you two you were happy in love."

"Well, she didn't feel that way I guess. She left because she said I was using too much magick. I was using it for personal gain and leisure and that's not what witches are supposed to do. I tried to stop so she wouldn't leave, but I blew it when I tried to find you guys again with magick."

"I'm sorry Will." Buffy said.

"It's ok. It just wasn't meant to be is all."

"And your magick?"

"It's more powerful than it's ever been, but I don't use it that often. Now I work with Giles at the Magic Box. He gave me Anya's half. I help out witches who need help with controlling their magicks."

"Awe Will, I'm sorry about Tara. But it's great what you're doing."

"Thanks Buffy. I've missed you guys so much that it's been really hard sometimes. But I'm happy that you're here and I can talk to you and see you again."

"I missed you too. We both did. We just needed time to let old wounds heal. But just so we're clear, Angel and I aren't slaying. Our son isn't going to know anything about vampires and demons and witches and Slayers."

"But Buffy, he is going to have to learn someday. The Powers aren't going to take this lightly. They gave you the ultimate warrior and the they're going to figure out a way to get him to fight." Giles said.

"We know." Angel said. "But we don't really care. Eventually we'll tell him if he asks. But until that day comes, nobody mentions anything to do with demons or vampires. That includes Buffy and me."

"We're clear." Xander said. "And I didn't come all this way to chat about what not to do after the baby's born. I came to see my two of my best friends that I haven't seen in three years. So, what have you been doing for three years?"

"Um, we moved to San Francisco after Dawn died and then you guys found us. We freaked out and moved to New Orleans where you guys found us again. After that we had a spell put on us so no one, not even a powerful witch like Willow, could find us and then we moved here. Angel hooked me up with a friend of his that owned the New York Herald and got me a job as the new advice columnist. Eventually, Angel got tired of sitting around and waiting for me to come home. One night I came home and he said he'd just bought a huge building on the edge of Manhattan in the bad part of town."

"She asked me why I would buy a building there and I told her about the shelter." Angel said. "Anonymous Angels. I have lots of kids that come there and we get funding from all over. The government took recognition last year and held a huge benefit for it to raise money for new beds and some TVs, games, a pool table, some arcade games, and an air hockey table."

"Wow." Willow said. "But haven't you gotten some pretty weird kids there? You know, the kind that might be into demons."

"I've gotten a few. They come in, tell me something weird is happening to them, they show me where, and I'll take out the problem if it needs taking care of."

"That would technically be slaying." Xander said.

"We know we can't completely escape being warriors of the light, but we're not taking it on as a full time gig again. We can't bring ourselves to stand back and watch people that come to us for help die because we're too selfish to care." Buffy said. She was about to say more, but the doorbell rang.

Angel got up and went to the intercom. "Yeah?"

"Liam? It's Sam. I have more mail for Mrs. Maternity Leave up there."

"Come on up." Angel pushed the buzzer that opened the lock downstairs. He went back in the living room and sat down in his spot. "That was Buffy's boss and the daughter of my friend Sandra."

"Sandra's the one who owns the New York Herald." Buffy informed.

The elevator doors opened and Sam stepped in. She was a woman in her mid- thirties with chestnut brown hair and gray eyes. "Hey Buffy. Oh, you've got company."

"Hey Sam. Yeah, these are my friends Willow Rosenburg, Xander Harris, and Rupert Giles. We just call him Giles. They're in from.. LA."

"Oh. Hi. Nice to meet you all. I'm Sam, Buffy's boss and friend." They waved. "Um, your mail." Sam dug around in her large purse and pulled out a wad of envelopes. "Here are the letters that you can read through."

"That's all I got?" Buffy asked, taking them.

"No, there's a bag sitting in your office. These are the fifteen most interesting letters that the staff read. You pick out the five you're going to do for Wednesday's edition and I'll send Rob over to get them in the morning."

"Yeah, ok." Buffy nodded.

Sam came over to hug her. "You look great."

"Thank you."

"Has the daddy had any sympathy pains yet?"

"Sympathy pains?" Angel asked.

"You know, when the wife is pregnant and going through her personal little hell of pregnancy symptoms, the dad gets so worried over her that he gets queasy with her or he feels little pains in his stomach like you sometimes feel when the baby kicks."

"Uh.. No."

"Yes you have!" Buffy said. "Just the other day when I didn't feel good, neither did you. You said your stomach hurt and that you felt like you needed to go throw up! I felt the same way!"

"I wasn't feeling well that morning."

"Neither was I."

"You know what? I give up. I can't argue with you."

"Good, because our son can hear us and he doesn't need to hear arguing from his mommy and daddy." Buffy cooed at her stomach.

"Well, mommy and daddy, I gotta jet. Places to be, people to fire." Sam laughed. "Bye everyone. Nice to meet you all."

"Bye!" Willow and Xander called out. Giles waved politely.

Buffy turned back to her friends. "Sorry, she's just dropping off my work. Maternity leave my ass."

"It's ok Buff, don't worry about it." Xander said.

Buffy gave Angel the letters and he put them on the coffee table. She looked at her friends. "So, on the lighter side of things, what's new?"

"Um.. I don't exactly know if this is lighter, but Faith's out of jail." Willow said.

"Faith's out of jail? How? I thought they put her in on murder charges." Angel said.

"They did." Giles said. "But apparently a mistake was made in the system and she was only put in jail for five years."

"A mistake?" Buffy asked. "What kind of a mistake could happen that would put a murderer on the streets in five years?"

"A big kafluey mistake." Willow said. "They're still trying to figure out how it happened. I've been researching it on the internet too. You know, hacking into the LAPD files and stuff."

"I'm glad you're still doing that stuff Will."

"Whatever takes my mind off magick."

"Does Faith know where Buffy and I are? Because last time she was after our blood. Mainly Buffy's." Angel said.

"I don't think so. You guys are still pretty hard to trace. Well, magickly anyway. If she gets a hold of a New York Herald.. You guys have got a pretty good security system, right?"

Angel smiled. "Yeah. It's pretty tight."

"Yeah. Angel once came in with a baseball cap on and the security team almost tackled him because they'd never seen him in a hat before." Buffy laughed.

"It wasn't funny!" Angel said.

"Oh, you know it was!"

Angel stared at her a moment and then a smile spread over his face. "Yeah, ok."

"Buffy, this Faith thing could be serious." Giles said. "If she finds you.."

"She won't Giles. Don't worry about Angel and I, we'll be ok. We've been ok for the past three years." Buffy said. "Now, can we get off the business that involves slaying? Angel and I want to take you guys on a tour of New York."

"Sounds good to me!" Xander said.

"Let's go." Willow added, hopping up.

Angel stood and graciously helped Buffy out of the chair. "Shall we take the limo?"

"That ok with you guys? I don't think we have enough room in the SUV." Buffy asked.

"You guys have a limo?" Willow asked.

"Came with being a celebrity.. And pregnant. Sam and her mother Sandra insisted that we get around town in style from now on. After all, I am her favorite employee."

"Limo sounds great!" Xander said.

"Uh, did you guys bring anything fancy to wear?" Angel asked.

"Not really."

"It's ok. I have some extra suits that might fit you and Giles."

"And I have dresses that Willow could wear. God knows I can't wear em right now!" Buffy said.

"Where are we going that we need to be all fancied up?" Willow asked as Buffy ushered her to her and Angel's bedroom closet. Buffy opened the door to the huge walk-in closet. "Wow."

"We're just taking you to our favorite spots in New York. Plus, we have to look the part of celebrities. The press usually goes wild if they find out I'm out on the town."

"But you are the press."

"Not technically. I'm just the hot, young, and hip gossip columnist."

"What's this?" Willow asked, picking up a magazine.

"That's a magazine that I did a photo spread for. We wanted to bring our readers back to the New York Herald after the New York Times' gossip columnist hit it big by making fun of me and my advice."

"Did it work?"

"Oh yeah."

"Oh!" Willow unfolded the poster of Buffy. "Wow."

Buffy looked at the picture and blushed. It was the one where she was in a skin tight, red halter dress. She took the magazine away and shoved it back in the box. "Let's find you a dress, huh?"