29

Rose woke up in bed with no idea how she'd gotten there. A quick glance around the room, seeing her clothes in an untidy heap suggested quite strongly how she'd gotten to bed. She turned her head to look the other way. Slowly, carefully, hoping not to wake Spike. And found herself gazing into the blue depths of a wide-open pair of eyes. She should have known better.

"Morning, luv," Spike drawled, pulling her close for a cuddle. "Sleep well?"

"Evidently." It was nice, just laying in Spike's arms, not doing much of anything, but she seemed to feel rather more pressure on her bladder than usual. According to her books that stage of the pregnancy was sometime off, but her body wasn't listening to the experts.

When Rose emerged from the bathroom, she started picking clothes up off the floor when the queasiness hit her. As she raced back to the bathroom, she managed to gasp out, "Could you please get me one of my nausea pills, love?"

&&&&&&

Some time later, things were picked up to Rose's satisfaction, and Rose's queasiness had subsided and she'd had something to eat, to Spike's satisfaction.

"Do you have any idea what you might like to do this weekend, pet?" Spike finished brushing her hair, enjoying the sight of the silky chestnut waves falling around her shoulders.

"Not really, no," she replied. "Was there something you had in mind?"

"Matter of fact, I do," he responded with a smirk. "Haven't taken you out shopping for new clothes for a while. I kind of miss it."

"But why should I buy new clothes now?" Rose asked. "Pretty soon I'm going to be too fat for them." She looked at her reflection critically, trying to see if anything was starting to show yet.

Spike wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him. "That's why we'll get you some maternity clothes, babe." He turned her around, then dropped to his knees, pressing his ear against her stomach. It almost seemed that he was afraid that if he didn't listen in on the baby frequently, it wouldn't actually be there. This time, he listened even longer than usual, a frown of concentration on his face.

"Is there something wrong?" Rose wasn't sure what Spike would know about it, even though he had spent over a century among humans as opposed to her few scant months. But surely he had to know more about it than she did.

The happy, sappy grin that was becoming part of his facial repertoire asserted itself. "You may need those maternity clothes fairly soon, luv," he remarked.

"Why is that?" she queried.

"Tell you later," he replied mysteriously. "But there's nothing wrong, babe. At least nothing that I can tell." He started whistling while he chivvied her into shoes and jacket, but refused to say another word on the subject no matter what tactics Rose used to attempt to pry the information out of him.

&&&&&&&&

"Did we have to get an entire wardrobe in one day?" Rose moaned, flopping down on the sofa. Despite the fact that Spike was laden down with boxes and bags, her hands were empty. They had had quite a heated row about it in the store to the amusement or embarrassment of nearby shoppers, depending on their inclinations. Right now though, Rose was glad not to be carrying anything. Her feet ached. They almost never hurt like this. She must be gaining weight, she thought, conveniently forgetting that she really wasn't on them all that much anymore.

Spike emptied his loaded arms into a welter on the bed. They could sort it all out later. Maybe they should've taken things in stages though. Rose looked all wrung out. "Sorry, pet," he apologized. "I guess I just got carried away." Maybe next time he should wait till dark, limiting the time they had till the stores closed. But a mall with a built on parking garage added to a Wolfram and Hart supplied car had simply added opportunity to his impatience. "But you really do look cute as hell in those maternity clothes."

"I looked fat," she argued. That had been another running topic of contention. Spike looking forward to her belly beginning to bulge, and Rose dreading it.

"Bollocks," he said rudely. "Besides, you're going to have to deal with the fact that you're going to gain some weight, luv. It's part of the deal."

"I know," Rose admitted. "I've just been feeling a little crabby lately. And tired." She yawned. "See? After all that sleep I got last night, I could still lay down and take a nap."

"I'll clear the bed off," Spike offered, heading for the bedroom.

"I said that I could, not that I was going to," she snapped, then sighed. "There I go again. I'm sorry, darling. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Spike joined her on the sofa. "You're growing new life inside you, sweetheart," he murmured in awed tones. "Bound to take a bit out of you. Are you sure you don't want that nap?"

"Maybe later," Rose conceded. "Right now, I think I want something to eat." She got up and headed for the kitchen. Spike followed her and watched in amazement as she built herself a sandwich. The term built was definitely appropriate. He privately thought that she wouldn't be able to open her mouth wide enough to take a bite. And what she put on it. It looked to him like she was using a little bit of everything she could find in the fridge. It looked ghastly. But she surprised him again by not only being able to eat it, but also apparently enjoying it immensely.

&&&&&&&

Rose had finally given in and taken a nap, and it had rested her enough that she had had the energy for other activities later that night. Instead of holding her in the afterglow as he usually did, Spike was laying with his head carefully rested on her stomach, listening, again.

"Seems a little strange," he remarked, running a hand over the curve of her hip. "You bein' so dainty and all that you have room for all three of us inside you."

"Three?" Rose mumbled. The surge of energy had burned off, and she was ready to sleep again. "Do you mean you, me and the baby?"

"I wasn't counting you, pet," Spike replied, finally abandoning his listening post and coming up for a snuggle. "You live there. I was talking about me and the kids."

Rose was utterly confused now. "Why are you referring to our baby in the plural?" she inquired.

Spike kissed her. "Babies," he corrected. "I heard two heartbeats. And neither of them is yours. Theirs beat a lot faster."

"Two babies?" She felt a surge of panic. One baby, though a joy, was a little intimidating to someone who had literally had no experience with them, even to being one. Two though, was threatening a full-scale panic attack.

Spike smiled and cuddled her closer. "Don't get yourself in a tizzy, babe." He gave her another kiss to reassure her. "I predict that long before they make an appearance, you'll have more advice on taking care of them and raising them than you know what to do with."

&&&&&&&

"Any progress on the prophecy, Rose?" Wesley peeked into her office Monday morning.

"A little," Rose replied. "So far, I've got something about one who was believed to be beyond redemption being the founder of a new race. But I've hit a snag. There's what looks like a deliberate crossing out in the next section, and I can't figure out how to bring up the words so they're legible."

"Let me see." Wesley peered at the text. "Yes, that does look as though it were deliberately defaced. I don't think physical means should be used, they might cause more damage. But I believe that I have a spell for this sort of thing. It may take me a while to find it, though."

"What should I do till then?" she asked. "I don't have any other projects running at the moment. Besides, I thought this prophecy was important."

"I said that it had a red light over it," he replied. "It's a system that Wolfram and Hart had in place, and we still use it because we haven't come up with anything better. But just because a prophecy is about to come to fruition, doesn't necessarily mean that it's important. I struggled with one translation, rushing it for dear life merely to find out that all it predicted was the arrival of a very minor and relatively benign deity so many dimensions removed that I wonder that that particular prophecy was even in the vaults."

"So there's no way of telling whether or not it's important?" Rose inquired. She rubbed her eyes. She wasn't entirely sure that she bought Spike's explanation of things, but she really did seem to be tired a lot of the time lately.

"Not until we get more of it translated," he admitted. "There's usually a little leeway as far as time is concerned. But you really look done in, Rose. Why don't you take the rest of the day off and get some rest?"

Rose was torn between biting his head off for suggesting that she was unable to do her job, and a real desire for as much sleep as she could possibly get. "Are you sure you can't put your hands on that spell anytime soon?" she asked, not entirely sure what she wished the answer would be.

Wes shook his head. "It's in one of my own personal files, and I haven't entered it into Wolfram and Hart's systems, nor do I intend to. So, yes, it will take a bit of looking. Especially since it isn't even in this building. It's at my flat."

Rose unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn. "Maybe I will take the rest of the day off," she conceded. "But don't expect me to make a habit of it. I'm getting a little put out with being treated like I'm breakable."

"Of course not," Wesley soothed. He then put on his sternest expression, although the twinkle in his eyes negated the effect somewhat. "I expect you to be back here bright and early tomorrow, hard at it."

"I will be," she promised. She yawned again. If being pregnant was taking this much out of her in the early stages, she shuddered to think what it would be like when she came near to term.

&&&&&&&&

"Hello, Harmony. Is Angel busy?" Rose asked.

"He's cussing out the paperwork again," Harmony replied with a giggle. "Go right in. He'll probably be happy to have an excuse to ignore it for a while."

Rose took Harmony up on the offer, not even bothering to knock.

Angel didn't even raise his head. "Whatever it is, Harmony, it's going to have to wait."

"It's not Harmony for a start," Rose remarked. "When was the last time you got out of this office, Liam?"

"Too long," he admitted, pushing the papers away from him as if they were contaminated. "What brings you here, Rose?"

"I don't seem to have anything else to do," she confessed. "I'm stuck on my current project until Wesley can bring in a spell from his personal collection at home." Instead of asking him for transportation back to the apartment she shared with Spike, she had a sudden inspiration. "Would you like me to give you a hand with all that?"

Angel considered for a moment. Rose didn't really have any expertise in the things he dealt with as CEO of the law firm, but then again, neither had he when he had accepted the job. And she was a quick study. "Sure, why not. If nothing else, I'll have something pretty to look at while I'm dealing with all this." He saw her starting to flush, and also saw a look of consternation starting to cross her face. "And no, you do not look fat."

&&&&&&&&&

"I can't believe that my desk is clean," Angel muttered some hours later. He looked at the time and realized that it was well past noon. "I forgot all about lunch." He slapped his forehead. "Why didn't you remind me, Rose?"

Rose shrugged and struggled for a reply. She'd actually gotten so interested that she hadn't noticed the passage of time herself. "I guess I didn't think to," she replied quietly. "Don't tell Spike, please, Angel. I'll eat something, but he seems to have the idea in his head that if I'm a minute late for a meal or something that I'm going to keel over."

Angel grinned. "Getting a little overprotective, is he?" For once though, he was firmly on Spike's side, though he'd walk into the sun before he'd admit it. Rose needed protecting.

"I think he's getting delusions, too," she commented. "Last night he was trying to tell me that I'm carrying twins. Don't you think the doctor would have said something about that if it were true?"

"Sometimes it's not obvious at first," Angel answered, drawing on his meager knowledge of the subject. "What makes Spike think it's twins?"

"He said he could hear two heartbeats." Rose was still having trouble dealing with the concept, so she acted like she didn't believe it, even though her faith in Spike was absolute.

Angel paused to consider. He thought he might put a vampire's sensitive hearing against medical science in this case, maybe. "May I?" he asked.

"Why not?" Rose replied. "You're the only vampire of my immediate acquaintance who hasn't yet."

"Harmony listened to the baby before I did?" Angel felt a little miffed about that, even though if Rose hadn't brought up the subject, he'd never have asked.

"She asked first," Rose pointed out. "I didn't mean to slight you, Angel. It just happened. If it ever happens again, I promise that you'll be second only to Spike."

"I guess I'll have to be satisfied with that," he conceded, grinning, realizing how childish he must have sounded. He went over to where Rose sat and started to lean down towards her stomach.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing, you bloody ponce?" came a voice from the doorway. Angel and Rose turned, looking for all the world like guilty conspirators caught in the act. Spike stood there, scowling.

"I told him that you said there were two babies and he was going to listen," Rose explained quickly, hoping to turn aside Spike's wrath. "He was just going to confirm your diagnosis, as it were."

Spike looked mortally wounded. "Don't you believe me, sweetheart?" he asked plaintively.

"Of course I do," Rose replied. "But it doesn't hurt anything to double-check, does it?" Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She fought them back, but lost the battle. It was such a silly little thing to be crying about, but somehow, she just couldn't stop herself.

&&&&&&&&

"Were you able to distort the prophecy?" The creature speaking could have been the living embodiment of Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead. So, to a slightly lesser degree, in that it was smaller, was the one it addressed.

"I believe I have, my Lord," the underling sniveled. "But if I may make so bold, my Lord, distorting the prophecy does not prevent it from coming about."

"It buys us time, Kraj," the Lord replied. "It buys us time. And time we must have, to find the vessel of the prophecy and destroy it, lest it bring about an end to things as we know them."

"I and all the rest do search mightily for the vessel, Lord M'rek," Kraj assured him, groveling for good measure. "We will find it and destroy it, have no fear."

"I fear nothing," M'rek said haughtily. "But you have everything to fear if you fail me in this."

"Have I ever failed my Lord yet?" the toady sniveled.

"Of course not," M'rek replied. "That is why you are still alive. But if you fail me, I shall correct that."

&&&&&&

"Please don't cry, babe," Spike begged, dabbing at her face with a tissue. "I wasn't upset with you." He glared at his grandsire.

"I'm trying not to," Rose sniffled. "But I just can't seem to stop myself. Could this be what they call a mood swing?"

Spike and Angel both emitted relieved sighs. Neither of them liked to believe that they were the cause of Rose's tears. Somehow, thinking that it might stem from the radical hormone shifts made it a little more tolerable.

"'Spose it could be," Spike allowed. "Why don't you let me take you home now, pet? I think you've had enough excitement for one day."

Angel thought of protesting that he hadn't yet confirmed Spike's assumption that Rose was carrying twins, but decided to save it for later. Rose finally had the tears under control, and even though he couldn't lay claim to the blame, he probably would if he got into it with Spike and got her started again.