A/N: thanx to my beta darlawinifred for helping me out so much with this story. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story. Keep doing so, the more reviews I get the quicker a new chapter will be posted. And as you can probably guess everything in italics is a flashback.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everyone with the exception of the baby belongs to Joss Whedon and ME.
Chapter 4 - My Life is now Yours
9 months later: Hospital
Buffy was lying on the hospital bed, breathing heavily, wishing that it would all be over. The pain she was experiencing was unbearable. She had been at the hospital for about 4 hours and the doctor was telling her it was nearly time to deliver the baby. As she lay there panting, wishing that she could start to push and have it over with her mind started to drift back to everything that had happened in the last nine months.
9 months ago, Buffy's house
"Mommy, I'm pregnant"
Buffy could remember that night as if it were yesterday. Her mother's world had come crashing down around her when her daughter had spoken those words. Her baby was going to have a child. That wasn't supposed to happen. Joyce looked at her daughter with pain in her eyes and choked out.
"Excuse me?."
"I'm pregnant." Buffy repeated, tears staining her cheeks
"No, you can't be." Joyce felt her own tears start to fall from her eyes
"Mom, I am so sorry. I never meant for this to happen."
Joyce didn't reply to her daughter's words but she yelled out for her husband
"Hank! You need to come here." she called out.
Hank Summers emerged from the living room and spoke immediately upon seeing the tears in his wife's eyes.
"Joyce, What is going on here?" the tone of his voice was demanding to know why his wife and daughter were so upset.
"Buffy, do you want to tell your father what you just told me or shall I do it?" she asked trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.
"Mom, please." she pleaded.
"Tell him Buffy. Right now."
Hank looked on bewildered. What was happening in his family?
"I'm pregnant."
Anger and hurt immediately crossed over his face at the words. Unlike his wife, he didn't try to stay calm. He decided to go straight to the yelling.
"Get in the living room. NOW!"
Buffy had never seen her father so angry and it frightened her. She knew he wouldn't take the news well, but had hoped that at least he would stay calm. However, that obviously wasn't going to happen. She followed him into the living room. Her tears gradually starting to subside. She sat down on the couch and looked at her father, who just looked back at her. An eerie silence settled in the room for a moment before Hank spoke up.
"Who is the father? And don't lie to me. You are my daughter and you will tell me the truth" His anger was evident in his voice.
Buffy just looked at him for a moment. She didn't want to tell him.
Didn't want them to know what had happened. But she knew she had no choice. She had to tell them the truth.
"An ex boyfriend" She was surprised at how calm she sounded. Because she certainly didn't feel calm, every nerve in her body was screaming and jumping up and down. But she knew she had to keep her voice calm, or everything would turn out worse than she already knew they would.
"An ex boyfriend, And what is the name of this ex boyfriend?" Hank demanded to know.
"Angel." she sighed.
"Angel what?"
"I- I'm not sure. It's Angel O-something."
"Are you telling me you are pregnant to a boy and you don't even know his last name?" screamed Hank.
"No, I know it, but I'm upset, I can't remember."
"Well you better remember."
"Ok" Buffy sounded like a scared, lost little girl. She tried to dig into her memory to remember the name. "It's O'Donnaghan. Angel O'Donnaghan"
"And just how old is this Angel O'Donnaghan? Does he go to school with you?
"No. He's 19. He's an apprentice mechanic."
"Oh, that is just fantastic. I guess he lives downtown. With the rest of the no users." he spat
"Yes." It took all her strength not to cry.
"Well young lady, looks like we have a decision to make, I'll make the appointment with the doctor tomorrow."
At this Buffy was completely alert, and she decided that being calm could go to hell.
"No." she shouted, "I had a decision to make. And I already made it. I am keeping this baby; don't think for one minute that you'll stop me. This is my body and I will decide what happens to it." This was the first time she had ever raised her voice to her parents and it felt good.
"Don't you take that tone with me young lady. You are still a minor
and therefore I -"
"No." she snapped, "this isn't about you. You can say or do whatever you want, but I am having this baby."
"Fine." he screamed at her. "But there are going to be some changes. For starters you will not be going to school"
"But-"she objected only to be cut off instantly
"Buffy don't argue with me. No one will know that you are having a baby. You will be confined to the grounds of this house for the duration of the pregnancy."
He paused for a moment to think and Buffy looked over at her mother who thus far hadn't said anything. She looked utterly devastated at the news she had been given less than an hour ago. She thought about what would happen between now and when the baby was born. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her father's angry voice.
"No one will know that you have a baby, or that you are pregnant. You will not have any contact with any of your friends. You are 16 years old Buffy and you will do what I say."
Buffy looked stricken and hurt by her father's harsh words. But he didn't seem to notice as he continued in his rant
"As for when the baby is born, there will be arrangements made."
"You are not separating me from my baby." she ground out through
gritted teeth
"Arrangements will be made, and I will inform you of them when everything is set up. Now go to your room. Get out of my sight. I have never been so ashamed of you before in my life"
Fresh tears sprang to her eyes as she jumped up from the couch and ran from the living room. She ran to her room where she cried herself to sleep. Meanwhile downstairs, Joyce still sat mute and in shock, while Hank headed for his office. He had some calls to make.
"Ok Miss Summers, it's just about time for you start pushing, so get
ready"
Buffy was shocked at the sound of the doctor's voice she had been miles away. She almost forgot where she was. But that changed as she felt the searing pain of another contraction.
"OH MY GOD" she screamed out at the pain. Her hands clenched around the sheets in order to have something to hold on to. Her mother was in the room with her, but she remained standing by the window, detached from the whole situation.
"Ok, Buffy, time to start pushing. Let's make you a mom."
As she listened to the doctor's instruction, no longer having to fight the urge to push, her mind drifted once again.
3 months ago
"Buffy" Hank yelled up the stairs "Come down here. We need to talk"
Buffy sighed inwardly thinking to herself 'what does he want now. Doesn't he think he's made my life miserable enough'. She stood up from the bed and headed downstairs. As she entered the living room, she noticed the self- satisfied look on her father's face.
"Buffy, sit down. I have some news for you."
She did as she was told and waited for him to continue.
"I know you said that you wouldn't be separated from It so I have come up with a solution."
At hearing her father's harsh words she got angry and decided to
voice her anger.
"Dad don't call my baby IT again, this is a baby, a human life and you may not like it but it is my baby, and you won't talk about MY baby like that"
Hank looked like he could spit daggers as his daughter spoke. He
yelled
"I will call that thing whatever I please. Now you will sit down, shut up and listen to what I have to say"
He noticed his daughter was about to protest, so started talking before she could.
"Now, you are determined to stay with it, but you won't be doing so here. You will not disgrace this family in that way, I won't allow it. So, you won't be staying here. I have arranged for you to live with an old colleague of mine in a small town a couple of hours from here."
"Dad." she objected only to be cut off once again
"As I was saying." he went on "You will live with this colleague in his home in Sunnydale. He is a well-respected man with a good reputation; I haven't seen much of him in the past 18 years since he went back to England to start a family. However, we have kept in contact and when I learned he had come back to the states, I thought this was the perfect solution."
Buffy was having difficulty comprehending what her father was saying. She couldn't believe that he was going to send her away. She was trying not to cry and noticed her father was still talking at her.
"You will go there as soon as you and it are released from the hospital, which I will arrange to happen at the soonest possible time. However, there is one other thing"
"What?" she asked, unshed tears glistening in her eyes.
"No one there will know that the baby is yours." Buffy looked up as a different voice spoke those words. She saw her mother standing in the doorway.
"Mommy, please no" she pleaded.
But Joyce had made her decision.
"No, Buffy, no one can know, please. Promise me you will keep it a secret. You made a mistake and you might actually need to deal with the consequences." Joyce had a hint of begging in her voice.
Buffy's tears began to fall silently down her cheeks. She couldn't find her voice to speak the words, so she merely nodded her head in agreement.
"No Buffy, I need to hear you say the words. You have to promise me"
"Ok. I promise." her voice was barely a whisper.
There was a whirlwind of emotions running through her head. A mountain of questions that she needed the answers to. She didn't even ask before she got the answer to the most dominant question.
"I know you're wondering how you will explain your being there with a baby. That has also been sorted. You will tell people that the baby is that of an distant relative who died in childbirth. Rupert as her only relative has been given custody of the child. And you as the girl's best friend volunteered to act as nanny to the baby." Hank smiled at his clever idea.
"Dad no one will believe that." she argued.
"Of course they will." he dismissed her argument without pause "they will believe it because Rupert is well respected in the community and therefore they have no reason to doubt his word."
"But dad-"she tried again.
"No Buffy, it has been decided, you will leave as soon as possible after the birth. You can go back to your room now."
Dejectedly, she got up and left her room. Resigned to the fact that she could never be a real mother to her child.
Buffy was brought back to the present by the most overwhelming urge to push she had felt so far, and then she heard a cry. She looked down to see the doctor wrapping up a small bundle in a towel. He handed it to the midwife who made her way toward Buffy. She was fighting the urge to cry, but when the bundle was placed in her arms, she couldn't fight it anymore and a single tear slid down her cheek.
"It's a beautiful little boy." the midwife smiled.
As Buffy looked down at her child, she felt a surge of love, the need to protect, the need to always be there for him.
"Hello little guy, you're beautiful aren't you. You know what? We need to decide what we're going to call you."
Buffy thought of all the names she had picked out over the past few months, but none seemed to fit. But as she looked into her son's eyes, she knew exactly what she would call him
"I'm going to call you Anthony. Because it means priceless. And that's what you are little guy you're priceless. And you're mine. I'm never letting you go."
She leaned down and kissed his forehead, and whispered, "I love you Anthony".
She looked at him lying in her arms until he fell into a peaceful slumber. And she thought of how she could never tell anyone that he was hers and how much she loved him. She let her tears drop, thinking of the day she would be leaving and the lies would begin.
A/N: I know I said in an earlier chapter that Buffy was 17 but that was a mistake, she is 16 years old in this story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everyone with the exception of the baby belongs to Joss Whedon and ME.
Chapter 4 - My Life is now Yours
9 months later: Hospital
Buffy was lying on the hospital bed, breathing heavily, wishing that it would all be over. The pain she was experiencing was unbearable. She had been at the hospital for about 4 hours and the doctor was telling her it was nearly time to deliver the baby. As she lay there panting, wishing that she could start to push and have it over with her mind started to drift back to everything that had happened in the last nine months.
9 months ago, Buffy's house
"Mommy, I'm pregnant"
Buffy could remember that night as if it were yesterday. Her mother's world had come crashing down around her when her daughter had spoken those words. Her baby was going to have a child. That wasn't supposed to happen. Joyce looked at her daughter with pain in her eyes and choked out.
"Excuse me?."
"I'm pregnant." Buffy repeated, tears staining her cheeks
"No, you can't be." Joyce felt her own tears start to fall from her eyes
"Mom, I am so sorry. I never meant for this to happen."
Joyce didn't reply to her daughter's words but she yelled out for her husband
"Hank! You need to come here." she called out.
Hank Summers emerged from the living room and spoke immediately upon seeing the tears in his wife's eyes.
"Joyce, What is going on here?" the tone of his voice was demanding to know why his wife and daughter were so upset.
"Buffy, do you want to tell your father what you just told me or shall I do it?" she asked trying desperately to keep her emotions in check.
"Mom, please." she pleaded.
"Tell him Buffy. Right now."
Hank looked on bewildered. What was happening in his family?
"I'm pregnant."
Anger and hurt immediately crossed over his face at the words. Unlike his wife, he didn't try to stay calm. He decided to go straight to the yelling.
"Get in the living room. NOW!"
Buffy had never seen her father so angry and it frightened her. She knew he wouldn't take the news well, but had hoped that at least he would stay calm. However, that obviously wasn't going to happen. She followed him into the living room. Her tears gradually starting to subside. She sat down on the couch and looked at her father, who just looked back at her. An eerie silence settled in the room for a moment before Hank spoke up.
"Who is the father? And don't lie to me. You are my daughter and you will tell me the truth" His anger was evident in his voice.
Buffy just looked at him for a moment. She didn't want to tell him.
Didn't want them to know what had happened. But she knew she had no choice. She had to tell them the truth.
"An ex boyfriend" She was surprised at how calm she sounded. Because she certainly didn't feel calm, every nerve in her body was screaming and jumping up and down. But she knew she had to keep her voice calm, or everything would turn out worse than she already knew they would.
"An ex boyfriend, And what is the name of this ex boyfriend?" Hank demanded to know.
"Angel." she sighed.
"Angel what?"
"I- I'm not sure. It's Angel O-something."
"Are you telling me you are pregnant to a boy and you don't even know his last name?" screamed Hank.
"No, I know it, but I'm upset, I can't remember."
"Well you better remember."
"Ok" Buffy sounded like a scared, lost little girl. She tried to dig into her memory to remember the name. "It's O'Donnaghan. Angel O'Donnaghan"
"And just how old is this Angel O'Donnaghan? Does he go to school with you?
"No. He's 19. He's an apprentice mechanic."
"Oh, that is just fantastic. I guess he lives downtown. With the rest of the no users." he spat
"Yes." It took all her strength not to cry.
"Well young lady, looks like we have a decision to make, I'll make the appointment with the doctor tomorrow."
At this Buffy was completely alert, and she decided that being calm could go to hell.
"No." she shouted, "I had a decision to make. And I already made it. I am keeping this baby; don't think for one minute that you'll stop me. This is my body and I will decide what happens to it." This was the first time she had ever raised her voice to her parents and it felt good.
"Don't you take that tone with me young lady. You are still a minor
and therefore I -"
"No." she snapped, "this isn't about you. You can say or do whatever you want, but I am having this baby."
"Fine." he screamed at her. "But there are going to be some changes. For starters you will not be going to school"
"But-"she objected only to be cut off instantly
"Buffy don't argue with me. No one will know that you are having a baby. You will be confined to the grounds of this house for the duration of the pregnancy."
He paused for a moment to think and Buffy looked over at her mother who thus far hadn't said anything. She looked utterly devastated at the news she had been given less than an hour ago. She thought about what would happen between now and when the baby was born. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her father's angry voice.
"No one will know that you have a baby, or that you are pregnant. You will not have any contact with any of your friends. You are 16 years old Buffy and you will do what I say."
Buffy looked stricken and hurt by her father's harsh words. But he didn't seem to notice as he continued in his rant
"As for when the baby is born, there will be arrangements made."
"You are not separating me from my baby." she ground out through
gritted teeth
"Arrangements will be made, and I will inform you of them when everything is set up. Now go to your room. Get out of my sight. I have never been so ashamed of you before in my life"
Fresh tears sprang to her eyes as she jumped up from the couch and ran from the living room. She ran to her room where she cried herself to sleep. Meanwhile downstairs, Joyce still sat mute and in shock, while Hank headed for his office. He had some calls to make.
"Ok Miss Summers, it's just about time for you start pushing, so get
ready"
Buffy was shocked at the sound of the doctor's voice she had been miles away. She almost forgot where she was. But that changed as she felt the searing pain of another contraction.
"OH MY GOD" she screamed out at the pain. Her hands clenched around the sheets in order to have something to hold on to. Her mother was in the room with her, but she remained standing by the window, detached from the whole situation.
"Ok, Buffy, time to start pushing. Let's make you a mom."
As she listened to the doctor's instruction, no longer having to fight the urge to push, her mind drifted once again.
3 months ago
"Buffy" Hank yelled up the stairs "Come down here. We need to talk"
Buffy sighed inwardly thinking to herself 'what does he want now. Doesn't he think he's made my life miserable enough'. She stood up from the bed and headed downstairs. As she entered the living room, she noticed the self- satisfied look on her father's face.
"Buffy, sit down. I have some news for you."
She did as she was told and waited for him to continue.
"I know you said that you wouldn't be separated from It so I have come up with a solution."
At hearing her father's harsh words she got angry and decided to
voice her anger.
"Dad don't call my baby IT again, this is a baby, a human life and you may not like it but it is my baby, and you won't talk about MY baby like that"
Hank looked like he could spit daggers as his daughter spoke. He
yelled
"I will call that thing whatever I please. Now you will sit down, shut up and listen to what I have to say"
He noticed his daughter was about to protest, so started talking before she could.
"Now, you are determined to stay with it, but you won't be doing so here. You will not disgrace this family in that way, I won't allow it. So, you won't be staying here. I have arranged for you to live with an old colleague of mine in a small town a couple of hours from here."
"Dad." she objected only to be cut off once again
"As I was saying." he went on "You will live with this colleague in his home in Sunnydale. He is a well-respected man with a good reputation; I haven't seen much of him in the past 18 years since he went back to England to start a family. However, we have kept in contact and when I learned he had come back to the states, I thought this was the perfect solution."
Buffy was having difficulty comprehending what her father was saying. She couldn't believe that he was going to send her away. She was trying not to cry and noticed her father was still talking at her.
"You will go there as soon as you and it are released from the hospital, which I will arrange to happen at the soonest possible time. However, there is one other thing"
"What?" she asked, unshed tears glistening in her eyes.
"No one there will know that the baby is yours." Buffy looked up as a different voice spoke those words. She saw her mother standing in the doorway.
"Mommy, please no" she pleaded.
But Joyce had made her decision.
"No, Buffy, no one can know, please. Promise me you will keep it a secret. You made a mistake and you might actually need to deal with the consequences." Joyce had a hint of begging in her voice.
Buffy's tears began to fall silently down her cheeks. She couldn't find her voice to speak the words, so she merely nodded her head in agreement.
"No Buffy, I need to hear you say the words. You have to promise me"
"Ok. I promise." her voice was barely a whisper.
There was a whirlwind of emotions running through her head. A mountain of questions that she needed the answers to. She didn't even ask before she got the answer to the most dominant question.
"I know you're wondering how you will explain your being there with a baby. That has also been sorted. You will tell people that the baby is that of an distant relative who died in childbirth. Rupert as her only relative has been given custody of the child. And you as the girl's best friend volunteered to act as nanny to the baby." Hank smiled at his clever idea.
"Dad no one will believe that." she argued.
"Of course they will." he dismissed her argument without pause "they will believe it because Rupert is well respected in the community and therefore they have no reason to doubt his word."
"But dad-"she tried again.
"No Buffy, it has been decided, you will leave as soon as possible after the birth. You can go back to your room now."
Dejectedly, she got up and left her room. Resigned to the fact that she could never be a real mother to her child.
Buffy was brought back to the present by the most overwhelming urge to push she had felt so far, and then she heard a cry. She looked down to see the doctor wrapping up a small bundle in a towel. He handed it to the midwife who made her way toward Buffy. She was fighting the urge to cry, but when the bundle was placed in her arms, she couldn't fight it anymore and a single tear slid down her cheek.
"It's a beautiful little boy." the midwife smiled.
As Buffy looked down at her child, she felt a surge of love, the need to protect, the need to always be there for him.
"Hello little guy, you're beautiful aren't you. You know what? We need to decide what we're going to call you."
Buffy thought of all the names she had picked out over the past few months, but none seemed to fit. But as she looked into her son's eyes, she knew exactly what she would call him
"I'm going to call you Anthony. Because it means priceless. And that's what you are little guy you're priceless. And you're mine. I'm never letting you go."
She leaned down and kissed his forehead, and whispered, "I love you Anthony".
She looked at him lying in her arms until he fell into a peaceful slumber. And she thought of how she could never tell anyone that he was hers and how much she loved him. She let her tears drop, thinking of the day she would be leaving and the lies would begin.
A/N: I know I said in an earlier chapter that Buffy was 17 but that was a mistake, she is 16 years old in this story.