Chapter 21: Almost There

Disclaimer: Joss owns the characters, but I own the story.

After two weeks of Lamaze classes the couples had learned how to do their breathing exercises and learned the difference between false and true labor, also how to handle it from the onset right up to delivery and what to pack before going to the hospital. The men in the class except Spike seemed a little confused about some of the information they were getting from the class. Mrs. King always took the time to go through the information again answering questions a long the way to make sure that everyone was on the same page.

Spike had become quite the expert on everything that Mrs. King taught the class, because of the books he had picked up from the library on childbirth. Whenever he and Buffy had a quiet moment together, they would read these books together. Spike and Buffy practiced their breathing exercises every night, but when Buffy decided that she didn't feel like it, Spike would coax her into it with offers of chocolate and other extra- curricular activities. Buffy often commented that the breathing part of the exercises gave her erotic thoughts and made her want to have sex and making this comment to Spike, he never hesitated to accommodate her.

Now in her eighth month, she has begun seeing Dr. Ryan every week. He says that she continues to do well, but he would like for her to spend less time on her feet and relax through her last three weeks. She and Spike are going through their last two weeks of the Lamaze class and are readying themselves at home for the big event. They both made a checklist of the things that she should pack in her overnight bag and of the things he would need to assist her through her labor, he also went down the checklist of what to do before leaving for the hospital and for after they get there. The instructor told the men in the class to buy a stopwatch, so that they could time their significant others contractions and told them that it would come in handy when they practiced their dry runs to the hospital.

One night Spike decided to try a dry run just to see how long it would take them to get to the hospital. He and Buffy climbed into the SUV and Spike told Buffy not to start the stopwatch until they were actually out of the driveway, which she did. As they rode through town at a normal speed, she kept an eye on the watch, and as soon as Spike pulled up at the hospital entrance, Buffy pushed the button, stopping the watch.

"Ok luv, how long did it take us?"

"It took us fifteen minutes to get here from the house."

"We made good time. I hope that the baby will decide to come at night, otherwise Giles or Red will have to bring you to the hospital and I'll join you when the sun goes down."

"Well, just in case it is daytime when I go into labor, we had better bring Willow and Giles up to speed so that they are prepared for it."

Buffy and Spike went home and sat down with Dawn, Giles, Willow and Tara, to speak to all of them about what she and Spike discussed about the possibility of her going into labor during the day and how they can help her until Spike can get to the hospital.

"Now. We are hoping that the baby will come at night, but in case it doesn't, we need each one of you to be prepared to help me, when Spike can't."

Spike explained to them about the stopwatch and how to use it to time Buffy's contractions and then told them how long it took them to get to the hospital from the house, and proceeded to explain stuff from their class. By the time Spike was done going through everything, the others knew as much as he and Buffy did. As Buffy neared the end of her eighth month, she begun having contractions, which was explained to them in Lamaze class as Braxton-Hicks contractions. When they begun happening, she was scared out of her mind, but tried not to panic and told Spike what was happening, he got the stopwatch and started timing her contractions and took her through the breathing exercises.

After about thirty minutes of this, the contractions stopped. They waited for more contractions but none came, this was their first taste of what true labor would be like. Mrs. King said that false labor would begin happening in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy. She and Spike were already prepared for this in every way possible, she had her overnight bag packed and it sits by the front door along with Spike's goody bag, complete with a regular snack for him. Buffy had gone through a couple more false labors in the last week, one of which she and Spike thought was true labor because of the way it occured. It was during the early evening when the other members of the household had left the house, Giles had a business meeting and Dawn went with Willow and Tara to Xander and Anya's place. Buffy had decided to lie down to get some rest before dinner, which Spike was preparing. Being half- asleep, she began feeling some tightening in her mid-section and decided it was nothing, she then started drifting off to sleep. When it happened again, Buffy started focusing on it, remembering what it felt like when it happened before. A few minutes later it happened again and made her have to catch her breath, this went on it for a while and when she was done guessing, she urgently called out to Spike.

He ran up the stairs taking them two at a time to get to her. When he got up to their bedroom, he saw her sitting up in bed, wincing in pain with one hand pressed against her belly, panting.

"Buffy, what's wrong?"

"I think this is it, get me to the hospital NOW!" she hissed in pain, gritting her teeth.

"Right away, luv," Spike said as he helped her up from the bed, slipping her sandals on her feet.

Spike helped her walk slowly down the steps as they made their way to the living room, where he sat her down on the couch.

"Sit down for a minute luv, I have to call the doctor and have him meet us at the hospital."

"Ok, hurry. This hurts," she hissed as another contraction hit her mid- section.

"Buffy, do your breathing exercises," he said to her while he held the phone, waiting for his message to reach the doctor through his answering service.

"I can't." she whimpered.

"Yes, you can. Look at me, remember what we learned in class. Hee, hee, blow, hee, hee, blow," He demonstrated for her and she followed his instruction. Spike was momentarily distracted, until the person on the other end spoke.

"Uh, huh."

"Ok, he's on his way? So are we, thank you," he said to the person on the other end.

"Hee, hee, blow, hee, hee, blow," Buffy continued her breathing as Spike hung up the phone. She appeared to be more relaxed.

"Did the contraction end?"

Buffy nodded.

"Now take a cleansing breath," Spike instructed her and with that, Buffy inhaled and exhaled deeply.

Spike helped her off the couch and they both walked to the door, Spike picked up the bags as they went out the door, locking it behind them and to their vehicle. He pulled out of the driveway and rushed through town to Sunnydale General Hospital and pulled up to the ER. Helping Buffy out of the vehicle, he held on to her as they walked to the desk to explain their situation, but the nurse at the desk already could see what was going on.

"Buffy Summers . . . having . . . baby," is all Spike could muster in his excitement.

"Ok, Dr. Ryan has reserved a labor room for her," the nurse said as she flagged an orderly over to them with a wheelchair for Buffy.

"Thank you," Spike said.

Once Buffy was securely in the wheelchair, the orderly whisked her off down the hall through labor and delivery with Spike in tow. Spike was told to wait outside while Buffy was attended to by some of the nurses, getting her undressed and into a hospital gown and being strapped to a fetal monitor. When they were done he was allowed into the labor room with Buffy, he went in and observed his wife lying in the hospital bed with a strap across her abdomen.

"Buffy, how are you luv? Is that a fetal monitor? Is there something wrong with the baby?" he asked, sounding a little worried.

"To answer all of your questions. I'm fine. Yes it is, and no, they're just using it as a precaution to monitor the baby's heartbeat during my contractions. Do you have your cell phone with you?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Call Dawn and the gang and tell them where we are, their over at Xander's."

"Ok, pet."

Spike sat there beside Buffy's bed and dialed Xander's number. Spike listened as the phone rang on the other side and then a voice came over the line, it was Anya.

"Hello, Harris residence. Anya speaking."

"Anya, its Spike. Listen. Buffy and I are at the hospital, she started having contractions and we came right in. Tell everyone to come to the hospital, this may be it."

"Ok. How is she?" Anya asked.

"She's fine. So far nothing else has happened."

"I'll let everyone know and we'll be right there," Anya said hurriedly, then hung up the phone.

Spike pushed the button on his cell phone turning it off, then turned to Buffy and saw her eyes closed.

"Buffy, you alright, luv."

"Yes, just resting my eyes."

Dr. Ryan came into the room, dressed in his hospital scrubs and spoke to Spike as he walked over to the monitor to check on things.

"Hi. Are you Mr. Summers?" he asked Spike.

"Yes, I'm Buffy's husband, William."

"Well, I'm glad to finally meet you, William," Dr. Ryan said reaching over and shaking Spike's hand.

"Thank you. Um, doc is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine. But, Buffy is a strong young lady and can handle this. Buffy, how do you feel?" Dr. Ryan asked.

"I'm good."

"From what I can tell, the contractions have stopped. The monitor hasn't shown any activity since you came in, but that doesn't mean that they have stopped completely and you haven't dilated yet. This may be false labor, but we'll wait about an hour and see what happens and if nothing does you can go home." Dr. Ryan said as he marked on Buffy's chart before leaving the room.

"Ok, doc."

Within the next few minutes the gang arrived at the hospital and Dawn asked the nurse at the desk for her sister.

"Excuse me, we were told that Buffy Summers was brought in, she's having a baby," Dawn explained to the nurse at the desk.

"She is in Labor Room 4, but only two people can be back there at a time and her husband and doctor are already with her."

"But I am her sister, I should be allowed in there," Dawn protested.

"I'm sorry, those are the rules," the nurse said.

Spike heard Dawn's raised voice in protest and came out to see her, and the rest of the scoobies. Dawn immediately ran to him as they all did to find out what's happening.

"Spike, how is Buffy? Has she had the baby yet?" Dawn asked with the scoobies hanging on every word.

"No, not yet. They have her strapped to a fetal monitor, of sorts, to monitor the baby's heartbeat during her contractions. She hasn't had any contractions since we came in, but the doctor wants to hold her here for another hour to see if they will start up again. He said it might be false labor, and he said that she hasn't dilated yet, but we'll see what happens and if it doesn't, we'll be going home." Spike explained to everyone.

"Well, all we can do is wait," Xander replied as he and Anya went to sit down in the waiting room.

"I'm stepping out to smoke, but the lot of you can go in to see her, only two at a time though. Red, take lil bit in first."

"Ok, come on Dawn."

Willow and Dawn went to Labor Room 4, pushed open the door and saw Buffy lying there in the bed, she turned to see them coming into the room with her. Dawn rushed up to the bed to see her sister and hugged her.

"Dawn, Willow, hi guys."

"Buffy, are you alright?" Dawn asked.

"I'm fine. I had a few contractions, but so far, nothing else is happening. I may be going home soon."

"Hi mommy," Willow said finally speaking up as she moved in to hug Buffy.

"I'm not a mommy yet."

"No, but we're hopeful," Willow replied.

"Hey Wil, is Giles out there?"

"No, he had some business to take care of, but I left a note for him at home when we stopped by there to get my camera."

"Xander and Anya would like to come in to see you, so Dawn and I are going to the waiting room, but we'll be right outside, ok?" Willow said.

"Ok, see you guys later."

With that, Willow and Dawn left the room, and in the next few minutes, Xander and Anya came in.

"Hey Buf, how are you feeling?"

"Tired. I just want to go home and get in my own bed, other than that, I'm fine," Buffy complained.

"You will. Spike explained to us what the doctor said about the false labor, but you have to wait and see what happens first." Xander explained.

"I know. It is so boring just lying here."

"Hi Buffy,"Anya said, observing the monitor beside Buffy's bed.

"Hi, Anya."

"Does that thing hurt? It looks very uncomfortable." Anya inquired.

"No, it doesn't hurt."

"Oh."

"Well, we don't want to tire you out, so we're going to go out and let Spike come back in, see ya Buf." Xander said, Anya waving goodbye as they left the room.

Buffy looked up at the clock on the wall and saw it was nine-thirty, she and Spike had been there for a couple of hours. Spike came into the room with Giles following him, they went to her bed and Spike leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"Look who I found, luv."

Giles walked over, and kissed Buffy's forehead, held her hand and smiled at her, "Hi Buffy, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Giles. I haven't had any contractions since we got here and I'm ready to go home."

"As I understand it, you have another hour to wait before you can be released." Giles said.

"Yes, one boring hour. Where were you?"

"I had another meeting and when I went home, I found Willow's note and came straight to the hospital."

"Oh."

The three of them talked during that hour. Then Dr. Ryan and a nurse came into the room and checked the monitor once more to see if Buffy has had any more contractions, which she didn't. Dr. Ryan asked Spike and Giles to step outside in to the hall, while they checked Buffy to see if she had dilated, which they did. After a few minutes, the doctor told them that they may return to the room, at that time the nurse was unstrapping Buffy from the fetal monitor.

"Well, Mr. Summers, it was false labor and I'm releasing Buffy to go home, but she has to get plenty of rest, and no lifting. You and she may still have sex, but no rough stuff."

"Ok."

"If the contractions start up again, don't hesitate to get her right back in here," Dr. Ryan said as he left the room.

"Ok thank you, doc. Well luv, you hear that, you can go home."

"Yes, I heard and not a moment to soon. Let's go."

"Um luv, you might want to get dressed first."

"Oh yeah, excuse me."

Spike and Giles chuckled at how anxious Buffy was to leave, she gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom to change, while Spike and Giles exchanged a few words. It wasn't long after she went into the bathroom that she came back out fully dressed, ready to go. The two men were amazed at the speed that Buffy had getting dressed for someone in her condition, Spike couldn't help but smile at her.

"Ok, now we can go, pet," Spike said to her, picking up the bags as they all left the room.

The three of them walked down the hall towards the waiting room, where everyone else was seated. Buffy waddled out into the waiting area with Spike and Giles walking behind her, when Dawn and the scoobies saw her they ran up and hugged her.

"False alarm, guys. Dr. Ryan says the baby and I are fine though, and I have to get plenty of rest."

"It just wasn't time, yet," Willow said to Buffy.

"Well, I have two more weeks until my due date, so there is plenty of time for the baby to show itself. Those labor pains are quite the experience, let me tell you."

"Let's get you home and into bed, so you can rest, luv," Spike said to his wife as they all left the hospital, went to their vehicles and headed for home.

TBC