Chapter 5
by buffygirl52789
A couple hours later Buffy knocked on the door of Angel's apartment. She frowned to herself as suddenly she felt a wave of nausea and dizziness. This is a weird cold, she thought to herself, a little worried. She tried to push it from her mind as she heard someone on the other side of the door.
Angel immediately grinned when he saw her. "Buffy. Hey," he reached out and gave her a big hug.
She instantly forgot about her strange ailment and melted into his arms, smiling. "I missed you. I couldn't stop thinking about last night."
"Me neither." He kissed her on the lips. "I love you. It feels so good to say that."
"I love you too." She stepped inside his apartment, and he closed the door behind her. As she stood there she suddenly saw everything go blurry, and she felt as if the room was spinning. She tried to blink a few times to steady herself.
Angel noticed the odd expression on Buffy's face. "Buffy? Are you okay?" He reached out and touched her arm.
Things slowly came back into focus. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I've just been feeling a little funny today, I think I'm coming down with a cold or something."
He looked concerned. "Should you see a doctor?"
She quickly shook her head. "Oh, no, I'm sure it'll pass. It's nothing to be worried about." She walked over and sat down on his bed to hopefully prevent another dizzy spell. He sat down next to her, staring at her intently.
"You look tired," he said worriedly.
She laughed it off. "That's nothing new. I'm the slayer, I'm awake at all hours of the night. Besides, I seem to remember not getting much sleep last night."
He couldn't help but smile at that. "Well just make sure you take care of yourself. I worry about you." He stroked her hair gently.
She looked at him and smiled. "I know you do. But I've had a long day, and right now I just want to unwind." She ran her fingers suggestively across his chest, hoping he got what she was saying.
He touched her cheek. "Well I would love to...but I don't know, if you're sick, maybe it isn't such a good idea."
Buffy looked a little upset. "But I'm fine! And I thought vampires didn't care about germs anyway."
"It's not that. Just maybe we should wait until you're feeling better. And besides, isn't your mom home tonight?"
She slumped in defeat. "Yeah. But I could get around that."
He leaned in and kissed her gently. "Well I wouldn't want to get you in trouble. Tell you what, you go home and rest, you're not going to be able to fight your cold if you're this exhausted. Then as soon as you're feeling better we can have another very special night."
"I'd like that." She kissed him again. "And I think my mom thought something was up this morning...that's a conversation I'm not quite ready for yet."
He looked at her. "Your mom will probably want to kill me."
"Angel, what we did last night didn't have anything to do with my mom. It was about me, I was ready and I have no regrets. So she'll just have to deal with that," Buffy said simply.
He smiled. "You really are mature beyond your years." He stood up. "Why don't you let me walk you home."
"Okay. I'd like that." She took his hand and they exited the apartment together.
> > > > >
The next morning Buffy awoke to a wave of nausea. "Oh no," she muttered, as she dashed to the bathroom and proceeded to throw up.
"Buffy? Are you okay?" Joyce stood in the bathroom doorway as her daughter wiped her mouth and flushed the toilet.
She shook her head weakly. "I don't know. I think I have a bug or something."
"Poor baby. Why don't you go lie down. You don't have to go to school today," Joyce said, concerned.
Buffy thought for a minute. She really shouldn't miss school, she couldn't afford to fall behind in her classes and besides, she needed to check in with Giles. But she really did feel like crap, and crawling back into bed sounded really appealing. "Okay," she said. "But if I feel better in a couple hours, I should go in."
Joyce tightened the covers around her daughter as she climbed back into bed. "Okay. Right now you need some rest. I knew you seemed off yesterday, this must have been coming on you."
Buffy nodded. "Thanks Mom."
"Sleep tight," Joyce said, closing the door as she left the room.
She stared up at the ceiling. What is wrong with me? Any other time she had gotten a stomach bug it had come on her all at once, it had never been preceded by strange dizzy spells and exhaustion. She closed her eyes, hoping that she would wake up feeling better.
> > > > >
At the end of the school day Buffy entered the library at Sunnydale High. Her hopes had come true, and she had awoke feeling much better after sleeping for a couple hours.
Giles looked up in surprise as she walked in. "Hello Buffy. I thought you were home sick today."
She sat down at the table. "Yeah, I didn't feel good this morning, but now I'm better." And she really did feel better, she wasn't nauseous anymore, but she had another dizzy spell in English class, and she still felt exhausted, despite having gotten a few extra hours sleep.
Willow and Xander entered the library. "Hey, it's the Buffster. Nice of you to make an appearance," Xander quipped.
"Are you okay? I called this morning after you weren't in first period and your mom said you had a stomach bug," Willow said, looking at her intently.
"Yeah, but I'm much better now," Buffy said quickly. Willow continued to look at her suspiciously.
"Well, if you're still feeling under the weather, I don't see any reason why you couldn't go home now. It turns out that I was wrong in my calculations, and the Demon Prince Galthius will not be rising for several more...decades," Giles said sheepishly. "But it would still be best if you patrolled tonight."
"Done," Buffy said, standing up, relieved that she was off the hook with staring at ancient demon texts. She looked at Willow. "Will, would you mind helping me with what I missed today?" Truthfully she couldn't care less what she had missed, but she just wanted to talk to her friend.
"Sure, we can go to my house if you want," Willow said cheerily. "Xander? You want to come along?" Buffy felt disappointed, she couldn't exactly talk about the recent developments in her life in front of him.
"I think I'll take a rain check. My uncle Rory's in town, and someone needs to make sure he doesn't break into the liquor cabinet," Xander half-joked.
Willow nodded. "Okay. Well, we'll see you later." The four of them exchanged their goodbyes before the three teenagers headed out.
> > > > >
As soon as the two of them entered Willow's bedroom, the redhead sat down on her bed, looking expectantly at her friend. "Okay, so what is going on? I know that something's different."
Buffy broke into a grin. "It happened. With Angel."
It took a moment for that to register with Willow, but when it did her puzzled expression turned to one of shock. "Oh my God! You mean...it happened?"
Buffy nodded excitedly. "Two nights ago. It was so romantic Will, he cooked dinner, and we danced..."
Willow squealed excitedly. "Oh Buffy, I'm so happy for you! So how was it?"
"It was amazing," Buffy said honestly. "And I didn't even tell you the best part! Well, second best part. He told me he loved me, and he gave me this." She held out her hand that sported the Claddagh ring.
"Oh Buffy, it's beautiful! Oh my God, I still can't believe you actually..." Willow shook her head in disbelief.
"I know. I don't even know if it's really hit me yet. And I saw him last night. But I didn't stay long, because I didn't feel that great," she said.
"Are you okay now? I knew you seemed a little sick yesterday," Willow said.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I woke up with this really bad nausea, but I'm okay. Still a little tired though," she said, deciding not to mention the dizzy spells in fear of scaring her friend.
"Well it's probably nothing to worry about. Maybe you ate something funny," Willow suggested.
"No, I doubt Angel's cooking gave me food poisoning," Buffy joked. She stood up, walking over to the mirror to examine her reflection. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll pass." Suddenly she saw her reflection get blurry. Disoriented, she felt her knees buckle, and she grabbed onto Willow's dresser to prevent herself from falling completely. A wave of nausea accompanied her dizziness.
"BUFFY! Buffy, what's wrong?" Willow said, alarmed. She took her friend's arm and helped her back to the bed.
She blinked as her vision became clear again, and the nausea passed. "I don't know. I just got dizzy."
Willow gave her a no nonsense look. "This isn't the first time that happened, is it?"
Buffy sighed, massaging her temples. "No. It happened last night and this morning too. Must be part of my cold."
"Colds don't make you dizzy," Willow insisted. She sat down at her computer and began punching keys. "Name all of your symptoms. Maybe we can figure out if it matches some weird illness."
Buffy's eyes widened. "Weird illness? You think I have a weird illness? That's comforting."
"Buffy, please, this could be something serious, even mystical. You are the slayer after all." Willow looked at her expectantly.
Buffy sighed, giving in. "Well there's the dizzy spells, the nausea, the vomiting, the constant tiredness, and I had a headache yesterday."
Willow finished typing in her query and hit the return key. As a page loaded on the browser, Buffy noticed her friend's eyes get very wide.
"What is it? What do I have?" Buffy asked, panicked.
"Buffy...come look at this." Willow moved to the side and Buffy walked over and peered at the screen. The headline read 'Early Pregnancy Symptoms.' Her eyes met Willow's.
"But that's impossible. I mean I only...and besides, Angel's a vampire," Buffy said, as if that settled it.
Willow didn't look so convinced. "True. But stranger things have happened. And Buffy, you have to admit it is a little weird that you...you know for the first time, and then you have symptoms that are common for early pregnancy. It's all here, the nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, dizziness..."
"Okay, okay. But it's just a coincidence. I mean, it would be way to early anyways," Buffy insisted.
"Not necessarily. According to this some women experience symptoms within a few days of fertilization."
"But there was no fertilization. Angel's dead, Will! It's impossible." She sat back down on the bed.
"Did you guys use protection?" Willow turned to face her.
Buffy felt her heart sink a little. "No, but it's because he's dead! We both knew we didn't need it."
Willow gave her a sad look. "Buffy, I don't know. Doesn't the timing of this just seem a little suspicious?"
Buffy felt helpless. "Yes, of course it does. But that doesn't mean it makes any more sense."
"I know it doesn't. But that doesn't mean that it's not possible. Buffy, you're a slayer, we live on a Hellmouth. If it's possible for a slayer to fall in love with a vampire who also has a soul, then I think its also possible for you to get pregnant."
Buffy began to feel panicky. "But Will, I can't be. What would I do? I can't take care of a baby, I kill my goldfish! And Angel, I really don't think this is what he wants. And what about Giles, and my mom? They would kill me."
"Buffy, calm down. It's going to be okay. We don't even know for sure yet." She scanned the website again. "According to this, a pregnancy test won't be accurate until 6 days after fertilization. So we can just wait, and maybe your symptoms will stop and we'll laugh about how nervous we got."
"I hope so," Buffy said with a sigh. "But what am I going to tell Angel?"
"You don't have to tell him anything. Just wait a few more days, and then we'll see." Willow sat next to her friend. "It's all going to be okay." But somehow Buffy wasn't so sure.
> > > > >
Five days later
It had been a week since Buffy had slept with Angel, and her symptoms hadn't gotten any better. Despite patrolling hardly at all and sleeping much more than usual, she felt exhausted. She woke up nearly every morning to a strong sense of nausea. The dizziness still happened once in a while, and headaches were more frequent than normal. With every day that the symptoms persisted, Buffy got more and more scared.
Now the moment of truth had come. Buffy and Willow sat in Willow's bedroom in silence.
Buffy suddenly got up and began to pace. "This is the longest 5 minutes of my life."
"Relax. It's going to be fine. Whatever it says, we'll get through this," Willow said, sounding more confident than she felt.
Buffy looked at her helplessly. "Did you see the look the girl at the check-out gave me? Will, I don't want to be a teen mother."
"Well just think of it this way, if you are, you know Angel would be supportive, most girls don't have that," Willow said optimistically.
"But I don't even know if he would be! And Will, you know that we're both thinking that if I am, it's not a normal pregnancy. For all I know it's not even human."
"Buffy...that's not true. I'm sure it would be human," Willow said meekly. They both froze as they heard a soft ding from the bathroom. "It's time." She paused. "Do you want me to look?"
Buffy sat down on the bed and closed her eyes. "Yes. I can't."
Willow walked into the bathroom. For a few dreadfully long moments, Buffy didn't hear anything. She was about to get up and go in there herself when Willow came back into the room, holding the stick. The look on her face told Buffy everything she needed to know.
"Oh God," Buffy said, as the tears started to fall. Wordlessly, Willow put her arms around her friend. "What am I gonna do?"
"I don't know," Willow said, trying to be strong for both of them. "But we'll get through this." That only made Buffy cry harder. They sat there like that for a long time, neither of them knowing what to say or do.
TBC
