Chapter 18

Buffy sighed heavily and sat down on the couch in her trailer, leaning over and burying her head in the couch cusions. She wasn't feeling very good and she hadn't been for the past few days. Her stomach was queazy, she always had a headache, the world spun at times, and she just felt off. She was in New York again, beginning filming on Alice. Bam was in Florida filming Jackass 2 and Ville was in Europe touring. Angel was still in Sunnydale running his lawyer business.

It had been almost a month since she had gotten to leave and come back to work. She was excited about getting back to work, but she missed Angel a lot. After talking it over one night, the two of them had decided to wait until May or June of 2007 to get married. It was far enough ahead that they could plan around it and a honeymoon. She didn't want a huge wedding like all the stars seemed to have. She wanted one that was a backyard ceremony with just their closest friends and family there. After a long argument with Bam, she had given in and let him be the one to plan the reception. He promised to make it "memorable." Buffy knew that with Bam, "memorable" meant huge party that will probably get them kicked out of the township the party was held in.

As far as wedding dress shopping went, all Buffy had to do was put in a call to her friend Vera Wang. Vera had been excited and had scheduled a meeting where they could sit down and start plans for Buffy's custom wedding dress. When asked where she wanted to have the wedding, Buffy had paused. She didn't really know at first, but when she sat down and really thought about it... One place kept popping into her head. Her great-grandfather's huge Southern plantation in upstate Alabama. The backyard was perfect for a wedding. It had a rose garden back there that rivaled the White House's. People begged to have weddings there and the historical societies wanted to give tours, but her family had never allowed it out to be rented out to the public. She remembered visiting the plantation when she was a little girl and getting lost in the roses for hours. Her uncle Victor owned the plantation now and Buffy hadn't been there since she was 9.

There was a knock on her trailer door. "Come in." Buffy called.

"Hi." Joyce Summers walked in and shut the door behind him.

"Mom!" Buffy smiled and stood up, but the world spun and she was forced to sit back down.
"Buffy!" Joyce rushed to her daughter's side. "Are you ok, sweetie?"

"I don't feel so good."

Joyce felt Buffy's forehead and cheeks. "You don't seem to have a fever. Where's Mandy?"

"She's on set waiting for me."

"Honey, you need to go home. You can't work when you're sick."

"No, I'm fine. It's just a little dizzy spell." Buffy stood up, wavered a little, but she didn't fall down. "See."

"How long has this been going on?"

"A couple of days." Buffy sat back down. "It's on and off all day."

"Have you been to a doctor?"

"No." Buffy waved it off. "I'm sure it's just a touch of the flu. I'll be fine." She brightened. "Hey, what are you doing in New York?"

"I came to see my daughter since she doesn't come to see me."

"Mom, I'm busy….."

"I know. And I also came to discuss the wedding."

"Don't worry about the wedding. It's not till next year and Bam's taking care of the reception, and that's the main hassle, so it's all good."

"Well, your uncle Victor suggested having the wedding at the plantation."

Buffy perked up. "Really? I was going to ask about that."

"That's wonderful. I can't wait to tell him."

Buffy's phone rang and she picked it up. "Yeah? Oh, yeah. Ok, I'll be there." Buffy hung up. "Mom…."

"Go. I'll meet you at your apartment tonight. We'll go out for dinner."

"I'll call you when I get off."

"Ok dear." Joyce kissed her daughter's cheek before the petite blonde stood up and walked out.

Angel paced his office and glanced at the phone. He wasn't busy today. In fact, he wasn't busy for the next week. He had a few clients that were supposed to come in at various times during the week, but he could rearrange them. "Cordy!" Angel called.

Cordelia opened the door to his office. "Yeah?"

"Do me a favor."

"What's that?"

"Clear my schedule for the rest of this week. Reschedule them to next week or whenever's good for them."

"Why?"

"I'm surprising Buffy in New York."

"Awe, that's so…. Romantic! She'll love it." Cordelia turned around, muttering to herself, "Wish someone would be romantic to me."

Angel chuckled and headed out of the office.

"Surprise!" Bam said when Buffy walked into her apartment after dinner with her mother. He had a huge smile on his face until he saw how haggard Buffy looked. "Are you ok?"

"I don't feel so good." Buffy said, flopping down on the couch and dropping her stuff on the floor.

Bam sat down next to her and felt her forehead. "You don't feel warm."

"I know. My mom's already done that bit. I just feel tired and like I'm gonna hurl at random moments. I was fighting it through dinner with mom, but damn... That just makes me more tired and pukey." She looked at her best friend. "What are you doing here?"

"I just finished over at Sirius, thought I'd stop by and see ya."

"That's sweet." Buffy closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the back of the couch.

"Can I get you anything?"

She shrugged. "Water?"

"Coming right up." Bam disappeared in the kitchen and started shuffling around. "How's work?"

"It's good. I can't wait for this movie to come out."

"They should ask Ville to do a song for the soundtrack." Bam came back in and handed her a glass of water. "This movie seems like a great movie for a HIM song."

"It does, doesn't it?" Buffy took a sip of water and sighed. "I have no clue what's wrong with me."
"I could give you a list."

"Funny."

"Have you gone to a doctor?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Want me to take you now?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Do you ever?" Bam held out his hand and when Buffy took it, he hauled her to her feet. "Come on. Let's get you checked out."
"Ape would be so proud of you."
"Why?"

"You're actually thinking about someone other than yourself."
"B, I love you. If there's something wrong with you, I want to try and fix it. You're my best friend. Besides, you're the logical part of the trio. Who would keep me from going too far? Ville?"

Buffy snorted. "I'm still trying to figure out which one of you has more sanity."

"That's why we need you to be 100 Buffy because Ville and I would be lost without you."

"I'm touched."

"Have you talked to Angel lately?"

"I talked to him yesterday."

"Does he know you're sick?"

"Yes."

"What'd he say?"

"He said he didn't care what I did."

Bam looked at Buffy and shook his head as they got in the car. "I've always said you're a horrible liar."

"He said I should go to a doctor." Buffy groaned. "I just don't feel like it. The press will get wind that I was in the hospital and then they'll have a field day making up stories about why. Probably because I'm anorexic or belumic or something like that."

"Well, you have lost some weight from that whole thing in Finland."

"And it's hard for me to put on weight."

"It's that psycho fast metabolism of yours. You need to let Phil borrow it for a while."

"Your dad is doing good. He's really started watching what he's eating lately."

"B, he went to a fair and stopped at every little stand that advertised food!"
"See, he was watching what he was eating. Or at least reading the signs to tell him what he was eating." She giggled.

"Feeling better?"
"A little. So, let's get some ice cream."

"B..."

"Please Bam. You know I hate hospitals. Let's just go get ice cream. I want a strawberry milkshake."

Bam glared at her for a long moment and then sighed. "Fine. But if you're still like this in a couple of days, you're going to the doctor, right?"

"Sure."

"Buffy."

"Ok. I promise."

The next day, Buffy was feeling better. Production for the day wrapped earlier than expected, so she had time to go out and enjoy the day. Despite the cold, it was a beautiful day outside. She drove to her apartment and headed up to change into something warmer and then go shopping. That all changed when the elevator doors opened and she discovered her fiance standing there with a dozen white roses and a huge smile on his face. Buffy squealed his name and jumped in his arms.

"What are you doing here?"

"Surprise." Angel kissed her passionately, holding her tightly.

"Big surprise!" Buffy hopped down and looked up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a slow week, so I thought I'd come surprise you. How are you feeling? Are you still sick?"

"I don't know. I feel pretty good today. My mom's in town and she's been checking up on me and having other people check on me. So, between everybody checking on me and work, I don't have time to be sick."

"Why haven't you gone to a doctor? It could be serious. With you travelling to other countries, it could be the bird flu."
"Because it's really moved into Finland." Buffy smiled. "I'm fine. I'm sure it's just a stomach virus that'll go away. It may already have."

Angel looked at her for a moment and then sighed. "How's work going?"

"Good."

"I would've surprised you there, but I wanted to use my key to your apartment and feel special."

"Awe," Buffy stood on tiptoe and kissed him gently. "You are special."

"So, what were you planning on doing today?"

"I was going to get changed and go shopping. Why? Do you have something better planned?"

"Well, maybe... I thought we could go shopping for food, rent a movie, and come home where I'll cook for you and then we can lay around and watch said rental movie."

Buffy laughed. "You trailed into lawyer speak."

"Sorry."

"That sounds like a damn good plan. Let me go get changed."

"Where should I put my bags?"

"Uh... Upstairs in the bedroom."
"Ok, they're in the car. I'll be back up." Angel kissed her cheek and headed down to his car. He managed to dodge the photographers staking out Buffy's apartment and get to his car unscathed. By the time he got back upstairs, Buffy was no where to be found. "Sweetie?"

"In here." She called from the bathroom. Her voice sounded like she'd just been throwing up.

Sure enough, when he opened the door, she was bent over the toilet and gagging. He rushed over and held her hair up for her, rubbing her back to try and soothe her. She obviously had nothing left to throw up, so Angel got up and doused a rag in cool water and handed it to her. "You ok?"

"It just hit me. I took off my shirt, and WHAM! Bathroom."

Angel let her rest against the cool tile of the wall and went and got her a sweater. He gently slipped it on and helped her get into a heavy winter coat. "Come on."

"What are you doing?"

"You're going to have to direct me to your doctor's office."

"Angel, no..."

"Yes. This isn't normal, Buffy. Randomly getting this sick could be serious. You need to see a doctor."

"Bu..."

"No. We're going."

"I wasn't arguing. I was saying the photographers are outside. Let's just pretend that we're going out to the grocery store."

"Ok."

"That would mean putting me down and letting me walk." He looked a little wary. "Angel, I can walk fine."

Angel sighed and set her down. Making sure she was steady, he took her hand and led her outside. The media spotted them and rushed over, but they hurried to his car spouting off stories of grocery shopping. They managed to make a clean getaway and, surprisingly, no one followed them. Buffy directed Angel to her doctor's office and he pulled into the private parking lot. Luckily, they didn't have to wait long to get in to see the doctor. Buffy's doctor was a tall woman with motherly features and she'd been taking care of Buffy since she had been born. After telling Dr. Morgans all of her symptoms, Buffy was forced to go through a series of tests and she even had to pee in a cup.

As they sat in Dr. Morgans office waiting for her to come back, Buffy could tell Angel was nervous about the results. "Angel." He looked at her. "I doubt it's anything serious. It's probably just a stomach virus."

"Yeah. Probably." Angel said, obviously not believing it.

Buffy took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Everything's going to be fine."

"Yes, it it." Dr. Morgans said, walking into the office and shutting the door.

"See." Buffy said to Angel.

"What's wrong with her?" Angel blurted.

Dr. Morgans laughed. "I'm surprised you haven't figured it out by now, Buffy."

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked. "It's not a stomach virus?"

"No. Frequent urination, morning sickness, dizzy spells, nausea, tender breasts... You're going to be a mother."

"Oh, that's such a reli... WHAT!" Angel said.

"I'm sorry, say that again." Buffy said.

"Buffy, you're pregnant. Congratulations. I have a few pamphlets of OBGYNs in this area that I highly reccomend..."

"Are you sure?"

"Obviously this wasn't planned and it's huge news, I understand, but..."

"Huge news? This is... This is... Oh my God!"

Dr. Morgans laughed. "Buffy, we need to start talking about OBGYNs and getting you on prenatal vitamens."

Buffy blinked, confused. "Wait, but... Me? Now?"

"These things happen and I know you don't believe in abortion..."

"No, I would never think that unless there was something seriously wrong..." Buffy's head snapped up. "There isn't, is there?"

"Not that I can tell, but I'm not in obstetrics. I need to prescribe you your vitamens, and then we'll talk about the best OBGYNs, ok?"

"Uh... Yeah, sure... Of course."

"I need to sit down." Angel said.

"You are." Dr. Morgans said.

"Oh. I knew that."

"Are you ok?"

"I think he's in shock. You may need to break out the smelling salts."

Dr. Morgans laughed. "It wouldn't be the first time." She pulled out some local OBGYN pamphlets and handed them to Buffy and began to talk about each one and the ones she highly recomended while Angel kept staring straight forward.