The Future
Part Ten- Expecting
Posted: April 13, 2004
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Through breakfast he didn't push, and she was thankful. She just felt...blah. But she had meant it, no doctor's, no hospitals. She hated both. Ever since Celia, and then the Kindestod...She'd go if it was life threatening, but she felt more flu-ish, than death-ish.
Not that she had gotten the flu since she was 12, but it still felt fluey.
After breakfast, Angel managed to convince her to go back upstairs and lay down, while Willow, Xander, Faith and Robin took the 30 or so girls to the lake, a day long excursion. Giles, and a few of the girls, stayed behind.
She lay in bed most of the morning, with Angel beside her, reading out loud.
In the afternoon, she felt well enough to get up and do things, some cleaning, putting clothes away, but Angel was firm; he didn't want her overexerting herself.
"I'm not a child Angel!" she cried after he stopped her form carrying the heavy suitcases.
"But you are my baby." He said, taking them from her. She sighed, and followed him up the stairs.
"I'm sick, not weak." She pouted. He looked back at her, and smiled.
"How are you?" Willow asked, flopping onto the couch beside the sick slayer. Angel had gone to do...something. Buffy wasn't totally sure what. Willow and the gang had come back about half an hour ago.
"Good. But Angel is being so...so..."
"Mom-ish?" Willow helped.
"Yeah, exactly. It's almost cute, in this incredibly annoying sort of way. I have a stupid little cold! Or the flu. I'm not deathly ill. Ok, so I haven't been sick since I was 17. And even that wasn't totally natural....Yeah, I guess it's sorta scary, but I'm the slayer-"
"You're super strength can't help your immune system, Buffy. But anyway, I know some spells and rituals and stuff, if you want me to try them, see if it's hellmouth related."
"But I'm sure it's just a 24 hour bug, something that'll pass. Just some stupid stomach bug." She repeated to sooth her own nerves. It almost worked, except for that tiny, nagging voice declaring that it was so much more than a bug.
~ * ~
After two weeks of nauseous mornings, and bedtimes, strangely nothing from like 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Buffy caved and agreed to go to the doctor's. They couldn't get an appointment until the following week, so Buffy, sick and tired of being sick, also agreed to try some brews from the Witch Doctor.
Willow did cleansing spells, and fed her icky tasting potions, trying to get the vomiting to stop. Nothing worked. Her only reprieve were those few hours between 10 and 8, where she could lead her normally abnormal life. She was also incredibly grouchy, not only from being sick, but from not being able to patrol. Faith, of course, was no help, taunting the blond slayer.
After Willow's failed attempts at finding anything mystical about the slayer's illness, she apologized profusely. She would sit with Buffy in her room, close to the bathroom, as ever, while Angel was out. He was more concerned than she liked, and not having him hovering was good. Even if that meant it was Willow's turn.
"Uh, Buffy? I've been thinking...."
"What, Will? Spill it."
"Well," she chose her words carefully, not wanting to piss of the slayer, "your symptoms....they have many causes, one being pregnancy." Buffy just stared. "Could it, ah, be possible..."
"Well, yeah, I guess so...we just got back from our honeymoon, and well, his soul's no longer a problem......but is it possible? I mean...he was dead for like....250 years....is it possible?"
"That his...uh, fish are still swimming? Is it possible for a vampire to gain forgiveness, and be rewarded with humanity?"
"You're playing the anything's possible card, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Well, yeah, if you put it that way, it's a possibility. Me being pregnant, that is. I mean, if he was able to gain forgiveness, then why couldn't I be pregnant with his child?" she mused. "But don't tell him! Not until we know for sure, ok? I don't want to disappoint him."
"You can't disappoint him! He loves you, for you!"
"Then maybe I don't want to disappoint myself." She whispered.
"Oh, Buffy." Willow hugged her best friend.
~ * ~
During her puke-free period the next day, she went to the store and bought a pregnancy test. Willow went with her, just for moral support. Willow waited while Buffy took the test, and then sat with her, both nervous as hell.
Once the allotted time had passed, what had seemed like hours, in fact only minutes, Buffy gulped and went over to the sink, where the test lay.
"I can't do it!" she said, turning away from the sink. Willow stood and looked at the test. Her eyes silently filled with tears. She turned and hugged her best friend. Buffy pulled away, green eyes scouring the green eyes under the red hair, but it was void of emotion, except for the tears silently coursing down the pale cheeks. "Well?!"
Willow's lips curved into a small, secretive smile, and Buffy grabbed the test from her, staring at the positive results.
The two girls jumped and squealed in excitement.
~ * ~
He slid into bed beside her, into her waiting arms. "I love you." She snuggled into him.
"I love you, too." He said, inhaling the distinct scent that was her.
"I learned something...interesting today." She told him calmly, though inside she was bursting.
"Oh?" Was his only response.
"Yup."
"And what would that be?" he asked in the darkness, taking the bait.
"I'm not sick."
"Really!? I thought you couldn't get a doctor's appointment until Tuesday?"
"I can't. But I took this test, you see, and it confirmed what my body has been screaming at me all this time. And I'm not sick." He could hear the smile in her voice, could picture it in his mind.
"And what was that?"
"You gave me love, when I didn't think I'd ever find it again. Then you gave me your vows, to never leave me, and then you led me into this new and wonderful life." She said, ignoring his question. "And now you've given me life." She didn't have to see his confused look. She knew it all to well, and her younger self couldn't help but thinking, Who's Cryptic now?!
She reached for his hand and placed it on her lower stomach. "You've given me a chance to give you a family. Somewhere, inside me, life is stirring. And it's because of you."
It took him a moment to put things together, "I-bu-wha-hu-ah....." he stumbled to make sense of her words. "Wai-y-you-m-me-?!"
"Uh-huh." She nodded against his chest. "I'm pregnant, Angel." she smiled at his shocked silence. "I love you."
~ * ~
"I'm going to kill you!" she screamed as pain shot through her abdomen. He just sat behind her, taking her tirade. "I you EVER come near me again, I will so castrate you! Ahhh!" she screamed as another wave of pain hit. Though slaying had given her an incredibly high pain threshold, this was insane.
"We have painki-"
"NO!" she yelled, gritting her teeth at the pain. There was no way the longest living slayer, maybe even in history, was going to take the easy way out.
"Ok, Buffy, just one more, and then you'll have a baby to hold. Just one more big push, ok?" The doctor at Buffy's feet told her.
"I-I don't think I can." She cried, collapsing against Angel's chest.
"Come on, baby. Just one more push. You can do this." He murmured, pulling her hair out of her face.
"You just shut up!" she snapped.
"Ok, Buffy, here it comes, ok, push as hard as you can." The doctor instructed, and Buffy complied, pushing with all her strength, which didn't seem like much at the time. An infant's wail soon joined the other noises of the delivery room, and Buffy sagged against Angel.
"Congratulations, it's a girl!" the doctor soon handed Buffy a wrapped bundle, then she stepped back to allow the family to bond.
"Angel, look what we did." She murmured, clutching the newborn against her chest, breathing hard.
"I see, baby, boy do I ever see." He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Go ahead." She told him.
"Welcome to the world, Katherine Joyce Summers." She beamed at her husband, before turning her gaze once more to her child.
* If there was ever a need for a black out, insert one here! :D *
"You still aren't allowed to touch me."
*END*
Part Ten- Expecting
Posted: April 13, 2004
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Through breakfast he didn't push, and she was thankful. She just felt...blah. But she had meant it, no doctor's, no hospitals. She hated both. Ever since Celia, and then the Kindestod...She'd go if it was life threatening, but she felt more flu-ish, than death-ish.
Not that she had gotten the flu since she was 12, but it still felt fluey.
After breakfast, Angel managed to convince her to go back upstairs and lay down, while Willow, Xander, Faith and Robin took the 30 or so girls to the lake, a day long excursion. Giles, and a few of the girls, stayed behind.
She lay in bed most of the morning, with Angel beside her, reading out loud.
In the afternoon, she felt well enough to get up and do things, some cleaning, putting clothes away, but Angel was firm; he didn't want her overexerting herself.
"I'm not a child Angel!" she cried after he stopped her form carrying the heavy suitcases.
"But you are my baby." He said, taking them from her. She sighed, and followed him up the stairs.
"I'm sick, not weak." She pouted. He looked back at her, and smiled.
"How are you?" Willow asked, flopping onto the couch beside the sick slayer. Angel had gone to do...something. Buffy wasn't totally sure what. Willow and the gang had come back about half an hour ago.
"Good. But Angel is being so...so..."
"Mom-ish?" Willow helped.
"Yeah, exactly. It's almost cute, in this incredibly annoying sort of way. I have a stupid little cold! Or the flu. I'm not deathly ill. Ok, so I haven't been sick since I was 17. And even that wasn't totally natural....Yeah, I guess it's sorta scary, but I'm the slayer-"
"You're super strength can't help your immune system, Buffy. But anyway, I know some spells and rituals and stuff, if you want me to try them, see if it's hellmouth related."
"But I'm sure it's just a 24 hour bug, something that'll pass. Just some stupid stomach bug." She repeated to sooth her own nerves. It almost worked, except for that tiny, nagging voice declaring that it was so much more than a bug.
~ * ~
After two weeks of nauseous mornings, and bedtimes, strangely nothing from like 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Buffy caved and agreed to go to the doctor's. They couldn't get an appointment until the following week, so Buffy, sick and tired of being sick, also agreed to try some brews from the Witch Doctor.
Willow did cleansing spells, and fed her icky tasting potions, trying to get the vomiting to stop. Nothing worked. Her only reprieve were those few hours between 10 and 8, where she could lead her normally abnormal life. She was also incredibly grouchy, not only from being sick, but from not being able to patrol. Faith, of course, was no help, taunting the blond slayer.
After Willow's failed attempts at finding anything mystical about the slayer's illness, she apologized profusely. She would sit with Buffy in her room, close to the bathroom, as ever, while Angel was out. He was more concerned than she liked, and not having him hovering was good. Even if that meant it was Willow's turn.
"Uh, Buffy? I've been thinking...."
"What, Will? Spill it."
"Well," she chose her words carefully, not wanting to piss of the slayer, "your symptoms....they have many causes, one being pregnancy." Buffy just stared. "Could it, ah, be possible..."
"Well, yeah, I guess so...we just got back from our honeymoon, and well, his soul's no longer a problem......but is it possible? I mean...he was dead for like....250 years....is it possible?"
"That his...uh, fish are still swimming? Is it possible for a vampire to gain forgiveness, and be rewarded with humanity?"
"You're playing the anything's possible card, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Well, yeah, if you put it that way, it's a possibility. Me being pregnant, that is. I mean, if he was able to gain forgiveness, then why couldn't I be pregnant with his child?" she mused. "But don't tell him! Not until we know for sure, ok? I don't want to disappoint him."
"You can't disappoint him! He loves you, for you!"
"Then maybe I don't want to disappoint myself." She whispered.
"Oh, Buffy." Willow hugged her best friend.
~ * ~
During her puke-free period the next day, she went to the store and bought a pregnancy test. Willow went with her, just for moral support. Willow waited while Buffy took the test, and then sat with her, both nervous as hell.
Once the allotted time had passed, what had seemed like hours, in fact only minutes, Buffy gulped and went over to the sink, where the test lay.
"I can't do it!" she said, turning away from the sink. Willow stood and looked at the test. Her eyes silently filled with tears. She turned and hugged her best friend. Buffy pulled away, green eyes scouring the green eyes under the red hair, but it was void of emotion, except for the tears silently coursing down the pale cheeks. "Well?!"
Willow's lips curved into a small, secretive smile, and Buffy grabbed the test from her, staring at the positive results.
The two girls jumped and squealed in excitement.
~ * ~
He slid into bed beside her, into her waiting arms. "I love you." She snuggled into him.
"I love you, too." He said, inhaling the distinct scent that was her.
"I learned something...interesting today." She told him calmly, though inside she was bursting.
"Oh?" Was his only response.
"Yup."
"And what would that be?" he asked in the darkness, taking the bait.
"I'm not sick."
"Really!? I thought you couldn't get a doctor's appointment until Tuesday?"
"I can't. But I took this test, you see, and it confirmed what my body has been screaming at me all this time. And I'm not sick." He could hear the smile in her voice, could picture it in his mind.
"And what was that?"
"You gave me love, when I didn't think I'd ever find it again. Then you gave me your vows, to never leave me, and then you led me into this new and wonderful life." She said, ignoring his question. "And now you've given me life." She didn't have to see his confused look. She knew it all to well, and her younger self couldn't help but thinking, Who's Cryptic now?!
She reached for his hand and placed it on her lower stomach. "You've given me a chance to give you a family. Somewhere, inside me, life is stirring. And it's because of you."
It took him a moment to put things together, "I-bu-wha-hu-ah....." he stumbled to make sense of her words. "Wai-y-you-m-me-?!"
"Uh-huh." She nodded against his chest. "I'm pregnant, Angel." she smiled at his shocked silence. "I love you."
~ * ~
"I'm going to kill you!" she screamed as pain shot through her abdomen. He just sat behind her, taking her tirade. "I you EVER come near me again, I will so castrate you! Ahhh!" she screamed as another wave of pain hit. Though slaying had given her an incredibly high pain threshold, this was insane.
"We have painki-"
"NO!" she yelled, gritting her teeth at the pain. There was no way the longest living slayer, maybe even in history, was going to take the easy way out.
"Ok, Buffy, just one more, and then you'll have a baby to hold. Just one more big push, ok?" The doctor at Buffy's feet told her.
"I-I don't think I can." She cried, collapsing against Angel's chest.
"Come on, baby. Just one more push. You can do this." He murmured, pulling her hair out of her face.
"You just shut up!" she snapped.
"Ok, Buffy, here it comes, ok, push as hard as you can." The doctor instructed, and Buffy complied, pushing with all her strength, which didn't seem like much at the time. An infant's wail soon joined the other noises of the delivery room, and Buffy sagged against Angel.
"Congratulations, it's a girl!" the doctor soon handed Buffy a wrapped bundle, then she stepped back to allow the family to bond.
"Angel, look what we did." She murmured, clutching the newborn against her chest, breathing hard.
"I see, baby, boy do I ever see." He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Go ahead." She told him.
"Welcome to the world, Katherine Joyce Summers." She beamed at her husband, before turning her gaze once more to her child.
* If there was ever a need for a black out, insert one here! :D *
"You still aren't allowed to touch me."
*END*
