Part 8 Bringing Up Baby
Vi was standing outside the bedroom door, looking uncomfortable, when Giles opened the door. "Hi, sorry to disturb you, but we were all getting a little worried about how you were doing. Well, everyone but Buffy and Spike. Not that they aren't worried, but we don't know if they are or not, because they're in Buffy's room and haven't come out yet either, so there's no way to tell, but I'm sure Buffy's just as worried about you as she is about Spike. Right? You're her Watcher," she said. Giles was trying to find the question that he needed to answer hidden in the babble, but before he could, the girl added more. "Buffy would probably be right here but you have Anya to take care of you, but Spike doesn't. Not that Buffy is taking care of Spike the way that Anya is. Taking care of you, I mean..." Vi wound down like a bright red top.
"I'm doing much better. As a matter of fact, I was about to see if we could find something to eat," Giles reassured her.
Anya said brightly from Giles' side, "Yes, there's no need to be embarrassed. We weren't having sex yet."
Vi turned an even brighter shade than before. "Guess I'll just go back to the game-room and let everyone know you're okay." Then she raced back the way she'd
come.
"Was that really necessary, Anya?"
"Yes it was, dear. I'm fairly certain that if I hadn't said something like that, Vi would have been terribly disappointed."
"You're probably right, darling," Giles laughed.
Anya said, "Of course I am. What I'd like to know is, did they drew straws, or did she volunteer to come up here?"
Giles blinked hard when they walked into the kitchen. Like the bathrooms, it was bright white with chrome fixtures, leaving no place for a speck of dirt or a germ to hide. Anya planned to remodel; everyone had already agreed to join the painting party, post-apocalypse. It wasn't that they didn't like a clean kitchen, but you very nearly needed dark glasses for this one. Buffy was seated at the island drinking coffee, and Spike was waiting for his blood to warm in the microwave.
Spike spoke first, even though he was clearly uncomfortable. "Hello Anya, Watcher. Head feeling better?"
"Good afternoon; I'm fine. How do you feel, Spike?" Giles said stiffly.
"Nice weather we're having," Anya said in very stuffy British voice that she actually did fairly well.
"It's been terribly warm for this time of year. One does usually need one's overcoat this close to the apocalypse," Buffy said in a horrible imitation of the same.
"Yes, quite," Anya said, then continued in her normal voice. "You need to clip your vowels more, Buffy."
"When did the two of you join forces? You didn't end up in each others' heads, too?" Spike asked, looking as alarmed as Giles did.
"Nope, we just decided to be friends," Buffy said with a wicked smile. It hadn't been that simple or quick for either woman. It started unnoticed by anyone else the night a few weeks ago, when Dawn was visited by the First. Buffy realized that night that she wouldn't make her life easier by isolating herself. Once she decided this, some of Anya's annoying traits became the reasons why she could be a good friend. Anya's view had been more practical. She told Buffy she hadn't been able to budge Xander away from the Scoobies, and she wasn't even going to try with Giles. Anya planned to be right in the middle of it all, because that's where Giles was.
"Female solidarity is a vastly underused asset," Anya said. "By the way, I could use your help, Buffy. Giles has promised to tell me more about the vision of Faith's birthday, and he keeps avoiding it."
"The guide said to let the future unfold naturally. I started out waiting for you to tell me the news then we just kept getting interrupted. You haven't seemed ill but you must suspect by now." Giles put a warm hand on Anya's tummy.
"You know? You saw our child in the vision?" Anya asked with a watery smile.
When Anya said the words "our child," it was like she had incanted a spell. Giles repeated the words as if to test their magic. Buffy and Spike looked at one another silently, agreeing they should slip out of the room and leave the expectant couple alone. Giles came out of his reverie at the sound of the door softly shutting and said "No—just a fairly obvious bump."
The last thing Buffy & Spike heard was Anya saying"Here I was worried about telling you and you already knew. Just how obvious and why didn't you tell me right away?"
When Anya and Giles had gone back to bed after sharing their news, the others gathered on the porch. Xander and Willow sat on the wide steps with Buffy. Spike leaned against a nearby column, and Dawn sat out in the grass. "I'm really proud of you, Xander." Willow
hugged her friend.
"Why, because I didn't point out that this has got to win a prize for worst timed child ever, or say something bitter about how old Giles will be if he lives long enough for the kid to go to high school? I didn't have the heart. Like I said, I owe it to Anya to see that her family's safe. That doesn't mean I'm ready to play Uncle Xander."
"Not going to do something foolish, are you?" Spike said, surprising even himself with his concern. He muttered something about his soul.
"You just don't want to lose the closet in case you screw up and Buffy tosses you out of bed." Buffy and Spike both denied sharing a bed at the same time. "Yeah, but you will. I'd be able to see that it meant to happen, even if Willow willed me blind," Xander said.
"You're okay with it, after what you told me he did?" Dawn ground up her words and spit them out at Xander and everyone else.
Spike straightened up and Buffy took a deep breath and started to stand. Xander put his hand on Buffy's shoulder to stop her and answered Dawn. "I'm not joining in on the rousing chorus of 'He's Got a Soul Now,' but your sister doesn't have battered woman's syndrome, and she's an adult, not to mention a Slayer. What she does is her business." Xander turned to Buffy. "Besides, if things go crazy again, I want to be supportive-friend-guy, not the one you're afraid to go to because he'll say 'I told you so.'"