Chapter 17
Xander's Basement
"I can't stand it, Xander! Why do we have to stay in your musty basement? I mean, Giles and Joyce are off in merry old England, Buffy and Spike are in L.A. and the four of us are stuck here. Do you see the problem with this? And, it's been too long since you've given me proper orgasms. A few quickies in the bathroom don't count." Anya ranted as she lounged about in Xander's orange reclining chair.
"Anya, it's not like you have to be here. Nobody knows where your apartment is, or even the fact that you actually have one since you're here all of the time anyway. Besides, Buffy and Spike were in some serious trouble and had to leave." Xander said in a more patient tone than he actually felt. Tara and Willow just watched the interaction between the two with quiet amusement.
"Sorry. It's just that it's whites day, and the bleach gets to me."
"Xander, honey? Would your guests like some fruit roll ups? I have strawberry!" his mother exclaimed in drunken happiness.
"Ooh! Strawberry is my absolute favorite! Tell her to bring down the snack goodness." Willow said.
"Sure mom!" he yelled back. Maybe Giles and Joyce would come back with good news. But was Anya right? Spike and Buffy were probably living it up in LA while they were all stuck here, bored and restless. Man, he wished he could be there...
******************
"Placenta abruption is when the placenta prematurely pulls away from the wall of the uterus, causing painful, vaginal bleeding..." Spike continued to listen with a heavy heart as the doctor droned on what was happening to Buffy and their unborn child. Wesley and Cordelia came along to offer support, but all they were really doing was driving him insane. Everyone was talking to him like he was some stupid kid who didn't understand anything. Hell, he was old enough to be their bloody great- grandfather. He understood all right. As the old saying goes, shit happens. Huh, did it ever.
Why couldn't Dru have warmed him about this? Why didn't the idiot doctors of Sunnyhell warn her, tell her about the possibility of it? But, he guessed no one saw it coming. Everything was always "fine and dandy." He needed a smoke, a drink, a kill, anything to take his mind off it all.
They were really pissing him off now. Idiot doctors. What did they know? They wouldn't let him see her, hold her hand, be by her side, something! He never felt so hopeless in his entire existence. He became accustomed to always taking charge in his unlife; doing things his way; making his own destiny. But then, he thought, what if my past choices was the cause of this? What if the Slayer and the baby were somehow being punished for his mistakes? And the child shall pay for the sins of the father. What if Buffy blamed him? What if she stopped loving him?
As a vampire, he was never religious. He decided that if he knew nothing of God or the Devil, then why worry about either? But today, first time in nearly one hundred- twenty years, he prayed. To the Powers that Be, to God, to angels, to whoever was listening, to spare his love and their child. He never prayed so hard in his entire existence. With head bowed and hands clasped, he silently cried as he continued to beseech the higher beings for help.
*******************
She couldn't believe this was happening. After everything she's been through, they were just going to rip her baby from her body. But it wasn't time! She wasn't due for another two and a half months. But at this point, a cesarean section was absolutely necessary. She was utterly terrified. What if her baby didn't make it? An innocent, little baby who had yet to experience life, taken away so abruptly? How could it happen?
She had literally given her life, her youth for the Powers. Couldn't they cut her some slack? Always sacrifices. It's not fair! she screamed in her mind. Shortly, her baby was going to be taken from her womb. There was no guarantee if it would survive or not. But maybe, maybe it would all be okay. The baby had to have inherited strong genes of some sort. But what if it didn't? What if her baby didn't even live long enough to cry, for her to hold it in her arms? Never get to see it open it's eyes, first laugh, first steps... What if she was forced to miss it all?
"No, no, nooo!" she cried out unconsciously. She was on the verge of hysterics now. The pain in her belly was now a constant reminder that she could lose the one thing that se loved more than herself. That she wouldn't get the chance to know what it would become. She decided that if she lost her baby, then she was done. No more slaying she thought. She was tired of making sacrifices.
Xander's Basement
"I can't stand it, Xander! Why do we have to stay in your musty basement? I mean, Giles and Joyce are off in merry old England, Buffy and Spike are in L.A. and the four of us are stuck here. Do you see the problem with this? And, it's been too long since you've given me proper orgasms. A few quickies in the bathroom don't count." Anya ranted as she lounged about in Xander's orange reclining chair.
"Anya, it's not like you have to be here. Nobody knows where your apartment is, or even the fact that you actually have one since you're here all of the time anyway. Besides, Buffy and Spike were in some serious trouble and had to leave." Xander said in a more patient tone than he actually felt. Tara and Willow just watched the interaction between the two with quiet amusement.
"Sorry. It's just that it's whites day, and the bleach gets to me."
"Xander, honey? Would your guests like some fruit roll ups? I have strawberry!" his mother exclaimed in drunken happiness.
"Ooh! Strawberry is my absolute favorite! Tell her to bring down the snack goodness." Willow said.
"Sure mom!" he yelled back. Maybe Giles and Joyce would come back with good news. But was Anya right? Spike and Buffy were probably living it up in LA while they were all stuck here, bored and restless. Man, he wished he could be there...
******************
"Placenta abruption is when the placenta prematurely pulls away from the wall of the uterus, causing painful, vaginal bleeding..." Spike continued to listen with a heavy heart as the doctor droned on what was happening to Buffy and their unborn child. Wesley and Cordelia came along to offer support, but all they were really doing was driving him insane. Everyone was talking to him like he was some stupid kid who didn't understand anything. Hell, he was old enough to be their bloody great- grandfather. He understood all right. As the old saying goes, shit happens. Huh, did it ever.
Why couldn't Dru have warmed him about this? Why didn't the idiot doctors of Sunnyhell warn her, tell her about the possibility of it? But, he guessed no one saw it coming. Everything was always "fine and dandy." He needed a smoke, a drink, a kill, anything to take his mind off it all.
They were really pissing him off now. Idiot doctors. What did they know? They wouldn't let him see her, hold her hand, be by her side, something! He never felt so hopeless in his entire existence. He became accustomed to always taking charge in his unlife; doing things his way; making his own destiny. But then, he thought, what if my past choices was the cause of this? What if the Slayer and the baby were somehow being punished for his mistakes? And the child shall pay for the sins of the father. What if Buffy blamed him? What if she stopped loving him?
As a vampire, he was never religious. He decided that if he knew nothing of God or the Devil, then why worry about either? But today, first time in nearly one hundred- twenty years, he prayed. To the Powers that Be, to God, to angels, to whoever was listening, to spare his love and their child. He never prayed so hard in his entire existence. With head bowed and hands clasped, he silently cried as he continued to beseech the higher beings for help.
*******************
She couldn't believe this was happening. After everything she's been through, they were just going to rip her baby from her body. But it wasn't time! She wasn't due for another two and a half months. But at this point, a cesarean section was absolutely necessary. She was utterly terrified. What if her baby didn't make it? An innocent, little baby who had yet to experience life, taken away so abruptly? How could it happen?
She had literally given her life, her youth for the Powers. Couldn't they cut her some slack? Always sacrifices. It's not fair! she screamed in her mind. Shortly, her baby was going to be taken from her womb. There was no guarantee if it would survive or not. But maybe, maybe it would all be okay. The baby had to have inherited strong genes of some sort. But what if it didn't? What if her baby didn't even live long enough to cry, for her to hold it in her arms? Never get to see it open it's eyes, first laugh, first steps... What if she was forced to miss it all?
"No, no, nooo!" she cried out unconsciously. She was on the verge of hysterics now. The pain in her belly was now a constant reminder that she could lose the one thing that se loved more than herself. That she wouldn't get the chance to know what it would become. She decided that if she lost her baby, then she was done. No more slaying she thought. She was tired of making sacrifices.