FUTURE IMPERFECT

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.

Author's Note:  Another fight's coming and no Wesley won't get hurt again, at least no more than anyone else, and a little bit more humor, I hope.  And as in all of my stories this is and will stay a S/B, as for Angel well I haven't made up my mind yet about who to pair him up with, right now Cordelia and Gwen are the two front runners, but there's still time for a write in vote-one that ISN'T Buffy.   In the next chapter everyone arrives and that fight I talked about earlier.  As always reviews are greatly appreciated.

CHAPTER 11-BUSTED, AND EARLY MORNING MUSINGS

The next morning came overcast and breezy.  After their long night the morning found Wesley and Faith snuggled up tightly, with Wesley's arms wrapped securely around Faith's body, and her head lying on his chest over his heart.  Neither had experienced a particularly peaceful night, as Faith had gotten up on more than one occasion to dry heave into the toilet.  During those times Wesley had been awakened, as at times he seemed to unconsciously know when Faith was no longer near or in pain, and lay there listening with a worried lump in his throat.  Usually on Wednesday's Wesley and Faith were in early, attending a weekly meeting of some of the professors.  Wesley's Wednesday classes numbered only two; however those two classes took up the entire day.  Most of those two classes consisted of lecture, and at times Wesley was more than glad to let Faith jump in and add her own special something to the lecture.  In fact there had been more than one occasion in which Wesley had been caught watching Faith rather than his students.  After realizing what had happened Faith had always smiled and made a joke to break the tension before Wesley was allowed to continue the lecture.  But on this Wednesday morning neither felt like doing anything but staying right where they were.  The night before had been eventful enough for the both of them for days.  But with Angel staying the night and their secret most likely being fully out the two only stared at their alarm clock and moaned.  They were about to go back to sleep when, from the kitchen, they heard the sound of Hope crying.

"It's your turn…," Faith mumbled sleepily as she rolled over and buried her face into her pillow.

"No…I changed her the last time…you were in the bathroom…," Wesley whispered back through a yawn as he tried his best to position his face directly in the nape of Faith's neck.

"So…it's still your turn…," Faith whispered back with a slightly frumpy frown on her face before she rolled over and forcefully pushed Wesley out of the bed.  He landed with a loud thump and immediately sat up and glared back at Faith.

"What was that…," Wesley started to say angrily as he blinked his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision.

"Just do it Wes…please…," Faith mumbled softly with a pleading look on her face and one eye open as she suddenly looked like a very small and helpless child instead of the former rogue slayer.

"Since you put it that way…I love you," Wesley replied with a sarcastic tone at first before he uttered the last part with a voice that was full of love as he leaned over the bed and kissed Faith on the forehead.

"I love you to," Faith mumbled back sleepily with a tired smile on her face before she yawned widely and fell back to sleep as Wesley grabbed his bathrobe and stumbled out of the bedroom. 

He softly ran his hand along the wall to find his way before the world fully cam into focus and he didn't have to squint any longer.  His head still hurt but not as bad as it had on the drive home.  He stopped suddenly when he heard what he thought at first was Hope crying out in pain, but then when he listened again he realized that it wasn't Hope that had groaned in pain it was someone else.  With a worried scowl on his face he pushed open the door to the living room and almost laughed when he saw what had happened.  Sitting on the floor beside Hope and rubbing his elbow was Angel, looking well rested and mostly like he was enjoying himself.

"What's wrong with your elbow," Wesley asked with a tired yawn as he walked into the living room and sat down beside Hope, who squealed with delight upon seeing him.  Angel shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the floor before answering.

"I turned around to fast and hit in on the edge of the bookcase," Angel replied with a slight wince before he picked up one of Hope's toys off of the floor and smiled. 

"May I ask why you and my daughter are already up…," Wesley asked with a slightly concerned frown on his face as he picked Hope up into his arms and hugged her. 

"She woke me up a little while ago with her crying and I was just trying to calm her down," Angel said with a slightly reluctant smile on his face as he handed the toy to Hope, who immediately grabbed it and jammed one end into her mouth. 

"And bringing her into the living room so that she could play with her toys…you thought that would calm her down," Wesley said with a fake look of disapproval on his face as he took the toy out of Hope's mouth and wiped away a little bit of drool that was running down her chin. 

"Guess I was wrong…but she did seem to like it when I held her," Angel said with a content look on his face before he watched intently as Wesley set Hope up on her feet and aimed her directly towards Angel. 

"Let's see how this works…go to Uncle Angel Hope…," Wesley whispered softly into Hope's ear before she smiled widely and began to wobble slowly towards Angel, with Wesley following closely behind to catch her if she fell. 

"Did I mention yet how lucky you two are…," Angel asked with an uncharacteristically happy smile on his face as Hope carefully walked towards him before falling into his waiting arms.

"I think you did last night…right before you told us that Faith was pregnant…now are you positively sure that…," Wesley replied with a tired look on his face as he tied his bathrobe closed and sat back down, leaning his back against the couch. 

"Sorry Wes but I know what I heard…you and Faith are going to have a baby…again," Angel said with a smug smirk on his face as he turned Hope around and gave her another toy.  Wesley sighed deeply and looked away.  "It's what you wanted right…,"Angel asked with a concerned frown on his face as he helped Hope roll a small ball around on the floor in front of him. 

"Of course we wanted to have another baby…we just didn't expect it so soon after Hope, you should have seen Faith when she found out that she was pregnant with Hope, I slept on the couch for a good long while, before she got lonely and let me sleep beside her again," Wesley said softly at first before finishing with a joking smile on his face as Hope rolled the ball towards him. 

"Well I hope that won't happen this time…but you'll have to go pick Gwen up sometime today at our hotel and bring her here…knowing her she'll want to know everything," Angel started to say with a broad smile on his face before he sighed as he finished. 

"So then you and Gwen are…I mean…," Wesley stammered out with an uneasy frown on his face before Angel turned Hope around and aimed her back towards her father. 

"No…we're not…although she wishes we were," Angel replied with an equally uneasy frown on his face that he tried his best to hide. 

"So then you and Cordelia finally worked through…," Wesley started to say with a small sigh of relief before Angel interrupted him.

"Wrong again Wes…my relationship with Cordelia could best be described as…complicated, with Connor still around and Liam serving as a constant reminder we…and…," Angel said softly with a sad frown on his face as he stared out the window at the gloomy morning.

"I understand…it's still too painful for you, and Gwen has tried to use that to her advantage," Wesley inferred with an uncertain look on his face before he yawned widely.

"Haven't lost your gift for pointing out the obvious I see," Angel said through a short chuckle, one that made Hope look his way and babble something.  Wesley shifted in place a bit before pressing on.

"Duly noted and moving on…so how'd you break the news to everyone back in Los Angeles," Wesley asked softly while he lurched forward and bear hugged Hope, who let out a happy giggle before trying her best to reach the ball on the floor in front of her.

"Well I could hear Lorne praising the music gods in the background and Connor being his usual brooding self…," Angel started to reply with a slightly more relaxed look on his face as he pulled himself back up to his feet.

"Like father like son…," Wesley interjected with a small smirk on his face, one that Angel didn't see as he walked to the window and gazed sadly out.

"Yeah…Cordy tried her best to sound angry but she failed miserably…," Angel added with a longing sigh before he continued.  "Gunn was pretty much speechless and Fred…well she and Cordelia will probably give you two a piece of their minds when they get here tomorrow, undoubtedly they'll have called Sunnydale by then, I should warn you that today could be your last normal day around here," Angel finished with a tentative look on his face as he walked over and sat down on the couch, idly shuffling his feet.

"Just as long as they know that none of them are staying here and that Hope generally doesn't like meeting so many people at once, she's usually pretty shy around new people, once when she was six months old Faith let a student hold her for a bit while Faith made a phone call, Hope screamed bloody murder until Faith took her back," Wesley said with a slightly nostalgic smirk on his face as he stood up with Hope in his arms. 

"Then you'd better keep her away from Anya…even Spike's better with babies than she is…except for Christopher of course," Angel replied with a short laugh as he leaned back and took an unneeded breath.  Wesley cleared his throat before sitting down in his chair with Hope in his lap.

"Speaking of Spike…how are you holding up with he and Buffy being together and their good news…," Wesley asked hesitantly as he kept his gaze on Hope's face as she set about squirming around in an attempt to get free of Wesley's grip.  Angel's countenance visibly crashed through the floor before he forced himself to respond to Wesley's question. 

"I…I don't…how about you give me the grand tour," Angel finally replied with a crestfallen look on his face before he stood up abruptly and walked out of the room.

"Well the next few days are certainly going to be…interesting," Wesley mumbled sarcastically with a worried frown on his face before he stood up and followed after Angel, a slightly unhappy Hope in his arms.

*                       *                       *                            *                       *                           *

After Giles had left Buffy and Spike had tried their best to coerce Dawn into telling them what it was that she and Giles were hiding.  They thought about using the good cop-bad cop scenario first, but they quickly came to the conclusion that they'd have to think of something else.  Buffy had gone out shortly after that decision to get something to eat, against Spike's misgivings, and Spike had taken the chance to try to find out everything that he could.  While Dawn had gotten up to go to the bathroom Spike had waited until she had closed the door behind her before he went on the hunt.  It didn't take him very long to find the Dringogen texts that Dawn had jammed into her bag. He opened the cover of the old book and furrowed his brows as his gaze set upon the short note that lay inside.  On a piece of yellow notepad paper he saw:

Dawn

I hope this book answers all of your questions regarding the concerns that you brought to my attention.  If you need any help translating anything or find a passage or picture that you don't understand feel free to come and ask me, Faith and I will lend you all the time that we can spare…if all else fails you can take care of Hope while we check out a few leads.  I'm sure that she would love for her aunt Dawn to take care of her for awhile.  When you're done with this book just return it to me and I'll see that it gets back to the right place…and remember don't tell Buffy and Spike about this book or where you obtained it, if they ask…well you're a slayer, you'll think of something…I hope…

Wesley

Spike read and reread the note at least a half dozen times before Dawn walked out of the bathroom, complaining about something that Spike didn't hear because he was too absorbed in his thoughts.  Dawn got only to the corner of the bed before she noticed her open book bag lying on the floor and the Dringogen texts in Spike's one hand, the cover open, and a yellow note in the other. 

"There something that you want to tell me Nibblet," Spike asked with a calm and almost completely emotionless look on his face, appearing to Dawn like someone that knew everything but wanted her to actually try to explain. 

"What do you mean," Dawn asked with a guilty smile on her face as she slowly and nervously walked past Spike and went to the window.  Spike squelched the small fountain of anger welling up inside him before pressing forward.

"Seems that this note that I'm holding in my hand is written to you, from someone that Peaches and his whole crew have been worrying their bloody heads off about for the past three years…not to mention that he says that a certain dead slayer can help you to, and then Hope…," Spike replied with a forced calm frown on his face as he placed the note back in its place and shut the cover of the Dringogen texts, all without turning his gaze towards Dawn.

"Is their daughter…Hope is their daughter, okay Wesley and Faith are both alive…here's a shocker, they're married…and they've been here in New York for the past two years or so teaching at a small college outside of the city, I don't know the 411 about how or why Faith is alive and not dead…so don't ask, but I only ran into them when I went to get a book to help me with a problem," Dawn rambled out, slowly at first, before she quickened her pace and at the end left Spike glad that he had known her for a good long while, long enough to be able to decipher her and Buffy's ramblings. 

"Why didn't you tell big sis or me about this problem…didn't you want us to…," Spike started to ask with a slightly hurt look on his face as he set the Dringogen text on the bed before Dawn stepped in. 

"I knew that you'd worry and rush on over here…just like when I was the key and everybody had to protect me…I just wanted to do something on my own for a change," Dawn replied with a frumpy frown on her face as she crossed her arms dejectedly and plopped down onto the bed near Spike.  Spike exuded his usual haughty smirk before slipping an arm around Dawn's shoulders and giving her a good natured squeeze.

"It's okay pet…so Faith's alive, married, has a kid, and with her old watcher…bet she didn't see that one coming, so do I get the pleasure of telling Buffy that her old friend Faith is still alive or…," Spike started to say with a loving smile on his face as he gave Dawn another squeeze before a voice from behind stopped him.

"Faith's alive…what…how…," Buffy asked with a look of total disbelief on her face as she stood near the nightstand, her coat on and three takeout bags in her arms.

"Looks like the cat's out of the bloody bag now Nibblet…," Spike smirked before standing up and taking the takeout bags from Buffy and setting them on the table.

"You'd better sit down for this Buffy…because it's a long story and I don't want to have to repeat myself," Dawn said with a slightly fearful frown on her face as she stood up and helped guide a confused Buffy towards a waiting chair at the table that Spike had pulled out.

*                          *                         *                        *                       *                         *

Faith awoke to something that she hadn't had much of ever since Hope that been born, silence, complete and total silence.  Reluctantly she left the peace of the moment and slid out of bed.  Undressing as she went Faith entered the bathroom and threw her clothes in the hamper before shutting the door.  With a pensive and worried frown on her face Faith regarded herself in the full length mirror that Wesley had hung on the back of the door.  He used it mostly to make sure that he looked like a professor of history should, something that had garnered from Faith a long line of softly whispered jokes and ideas about her being hot for teacher.  Faith still looked greatly as she had back when Sunnydale was the main location in her life, then it had changed first to the women's prison and then to her new life in New York with Wesley and Hope.  Her face still held the look of a college freshman rather than the former rogue slayer and mother of one.  As he eyes traveled down her body her frown deepened, despite the fact that in truth she was in better shape now that she had been at any time during her slayer days. 

Back in those days she had been slim partially because of being the slayer and all of the exercise that she had gotten but also because slaying hadn't brought in to much money and she had often been forced to do without.  But those days were now long behind her with Wesley and Hope keeping her active enough.  Had she been so inclined she thought that she might have tried her hand at modeling, as one of her more love stricken students had pointed out, she was still a major babe.  But those thoughts had been quickly thrown out of her mind by the murder of a young model that she had investigated with Wesley.  At first she had thought that the murder was supernatural in nature, but after finding out a great deal about all that the young woman's life entailed the thoughts of modeling went straight out the window.  The woman's murderer ended up turning himself in and after finding out that there was nothing supernatural behind the murder Wesley and Faith had resumed their normal way of life.

"Hey in there…," Faith cooed softly with an embarrassed smirk on her face as she laid a hand on her stomach and turned sideways to look in the mirror.  When she had been pregnant with Hope Faith had been a wreck most of the time, often angry at anyone and everyone, especially Wesley.  But as the pregnancy went on she was able to calm down and at the end she began making jokes that she had turned into one of those women that years earlier she would have made an endless amount of jokes about.  "Guess I can officially kiss my girlish figure goodbye," Faith thought with a frumpy frown on her face as she gazed at her profile in the mirror.

"You okay in there…," Wesley asked softly through the door as he leaned up against it and nervously scratched his chin.  Wesley's question shook Faith out of the dreamlike state that she had been in only seconds earlier.

"Yeah…I'm just thinking…," Faith answered quietly with a slightly sad frown on her face as she turned around and sat down on the edge of the tub.

"What about…," Wesley added with a slowly growing frown of concern on his face as he stood up straight and looked down at the doorknob.

"Nothing much…," Faith replied with a hint of sadness in her voice before she had to stop talking and bite her lip to calm her emotions.

"Can I come in…," Wesley asked with now a full scowl of concern on his face as he raised his hand up to the doorknob.  He didn't have to wait long before a muffled response from Faith gave him his answer.  "What's wrong…," He asked with a worried look on his face as he slipped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.  Faith remained quiet for a few seconds before answering.

"This is all just happening a little to fast for me…first Dawn shows up, that's fine we'd probably have run into her someday anyway, then Angel shows up…not that I'm not glad to see him but…," Faith answered with a very hesitant look in her eye as try as she might to keep her resolve a solitary tear slid down her cheek.

"You're worried that everything that's coming soon will forever destroy what we've built for ourselves here aren't you, well you can stop worrying Faith, you can't run yourself ragged by thinking about the what if's and possibilities of the world, doing that nearly got me…well both of us killed on more than one occasion," Wesley said with a very sympathetic look on his face as he sat down on the side of the tub beside Faith.

"Yeah mostly, but now with this new baby everything's going to be so crazy that something very bad is bound to happen…I'm just afraid that in the end this will all come crashing down on our heads…that we won't be able to take anything for certain…that…," Faith said at first with a serious frown on her face before she had to bite her lip again to stop herself from outright sobbing.

"You want to know what I know for certain right now Faith…I know to a certainty of one hundred percent that I love you and that you love me, and that we love our daughter and the life that we've made for ourselves here…and I don't care what calamity or near apocalypse strikes…you, me, and Hope will get this through this together…and that's a bloody promise that…," Wesley said with a very serious look on his face and loving glint in his eyes at first before Faith smiled and stopped him with a soft and gentle kiss that probably would have led to more but the two were interrupted by a heartfelt inquiry from Angel and Hope.

"You two okay in there…," Angel asked with a worried frown on his face as Hope joined in with a few incoherent mumblings of her own. 

"We are now," Faith answered with a merry smile on her face as she pulled away slowly from Wesley and turned her head towards the door. 

"Angel and I are going into town to pick Gwen up and bring her here…are you going to be okay until…," Wesley started to say with a small sigh as he stood up before Faith grabbed his arm and quickly opened the door and shoved him out before closing it.

"Of course, now you two have fun…," Faith shouted softly as if trying to make the command a joke before she turned her attention back to the shower that she had originally intended to take.

END OF CHAPTER 11