Balance chp 26: Clean up, clean up everybody everywhere
The next day started out quite interesting because when they all came down in the morning bit by bit, each of them nearly had heart attacks when they saw Calista, who was long up. She just gave them curious looks, then promptly forgot about their odd reactions as she began to potter around, taking charge of things. By eleven o' clock she had Gunn, Connor and Spike cleaning up, organising and putting away the weapons, had Angel and Buffy were put in charge of getting rid of the general messes around. She got Willow to cast a spell for purification around the hotel because, she said, she thought the hotel was feeling dirty and evil. For Cordy and Dawn she had a special job. She asked them to help her prepare for the birth of the babies by checking catalogues and the internet for cribs and clothes and the million other things they were going to need. The two of them were eager to comply. To Anya she gave the job of calculating expenses and making sure that they got their value for money, things Anya enjoyed immensely. Xander, Faith and Robin were ordered to take down the cage in the basement. Wesley and Giles she first scolded about the chaos of all the spell books and ancient text and all that stuff, then she ordered them to clear it all up and get it organised. Andrew, once again, was given the task of cooking. No one could figure out where this was coming from, except Connor of course.
"She's been like this for years." he smiled at Gunn when he asked, "She was always on our case to keep things organised, to keep them neat and orderly." He lowered his voice in case she was listening, "I think it's all she had to do most of the time, Daniel always insisted she stay in the caves, he said that's where a girl belonged. She became obsessed with everything being exactly as she wanted, every blanket had to be folded perfectly, all the food had to be cut exactly the same way every time, she went mad if it didn't happen."
"I couldn't blame her." Spike chimed in, "Having to stay behind all the time, I'd go stir crazy."
"Same here!" Gunn agreed, giving Connor a questioning look. Connor saw it and understood.
"I didn't really know any better, Daniel's word was law for us, so I didn't try to tell her any different really, but I didn't like her being on her own all the time, besides without her around I had no one to play with. So I did try to get her out of it when I could. It got harder as we got older though, we weren't allowed to play games really, and I was almost always out hunting, she was always in the cave, I only really got to see her at night when I came back."
"So how the hell did you end up together, even though it was inevitable?"
"Why was it inevitable?" Connor asked, though he was smiling. Spike smirked, and held up his hands, palms facing the ceiling. He nodded to his left one,
"Horny teenage boy," he then nodded to his right, "and horny teenage girl. Neither had any good stuff in their lives." He clapped his hands together, Gunn grimaced slightly. "See? Inevitable." Connor laughed. "Now answer the question peaches-junior." Connor rolled his eyes, Spike was forever calling him that, or mini-poof. It was irritating, but Connor actually didn't mind when he called him that in front of Angel, because his dad always got ticked off, and that was always fun to watch.
"Well, Daniel liked to go out for walks on his own as we got older and one night, because it was cold we lay down together, we did it all the time."
"Ooooohhh!" smirked Gunn knowingly, Spike grinned. Connor shook his head,
"We didn't do… that. We showed great restraint as a matter of fact."
"Sure kid, sure." Spike smirked. "So how'd you figure you'd knocked up your girl?" Connor shrugged,
"Daniel figured it out, she was throwing up a lot, and she kept crying for no reason, she was eating more and she was much more temperamental. Daniel was very suspicious because he'd caught us kissing before."
"I'm amazed he was ok with it, I mean back in those days… I dunno must have been the dimension getting to him." Spike muttered. Connor looked at the ground. Spike saw. "Or was he?" he asked slowly. Connor fidgeted slightly,
"I'd rather not talk about it." He muttered unhappily. They dropped the subject.
"How many more rooms?" complained Kennedy. Willow sighed softly, she may have really liked Kennedy, but as Spike would say "The brat is getting on my bloody last nerve!"
"About twenty Kennedy." she answered a little stiffly. "We want to make sure the whole hotel is done properly, so doing each room individually is better. Small magic is much safer then big magic, anyone will tell you that." Kennedy pouted like a five year old, and Willow resisted the urge to tell her to go away. That wouldn't be nice, especially Kennedy was only going around to spend time with her. She was beginning to feel tired but she didn't want to stop till she was finished, she wanted to please Calista who could use people doing everything for her for once.
"Can't we take a break, I think there's much more interesting things we could be doing." Kennedy swiftly changed tactics and wrapped her arms around her waist, and nibbled her neck. Willow sighed, she was tempted, she could admit that, but still, purification needed to be done, Kai Enna had really infused her evil into this place.
"Um, sweetie, that's not helping us do this quickly." she managed to get out.
"I don't care." Kennedy said huskily and she pushed Willow gently against the wall and grabbed her in a hungry kiss. Willow felt her mind going light. Purification could wait she decided.
Calista looked up as Buffy and Angel came in, and smiled before she returned to the phone book she was flitting through.
"Whatcha up to?" asked Angel, going over and resting crossed arms on the lobby desk.
"I'm looking for the number for a doctor, I need to book my last check up." Calista ran a slim finger down the list of numbers, her brow creasing in thought then she picked up the phone handle and dialled the number. She waited for a minute and then Angel heard a female voice answer.
"Dr. Berrser's Clinic, how can I help you?"
"Yes, I'd like to book a final antenatal appointment, please."
"Ok, do we have your file?"
"No. I've only just arrived in L.A."
"Can I get a name and number to get in contact with your last doctor. Oh and I'll need your name."
"Of course. Calista Holtz is my name, and the last place I was in was the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Nevada."
"Ok I'll give them a call and then call you back to confirm your appointment. When would you like it to be?"
"Uh, anytime is fine for me really, preferably sooner rather then later."
"Alright just give me the number of the place you live at please." Calista gave the number of the hotel, mouthing thanks to Angel who'd written it down for her. She then said good bye and hung up. She then gave them a stern look.
"Is everything cleared up?"
"It's squeaky clean!" Buffy assured her.
"Absolutely." Angel smiled. Truth be told it really was perfectly clean, but only because they'd been so uncomfortable around each other that they'd focused completely on their work. Buffy raised her nose and sniffed deeply.
"Mmm, something smells good." she half moaned, she was starving now, it was two in the afternoon.
"Andrew's just finishing his cooking, he had to out to the shops twice before he had everything he needed."
"What's he making?" asked Angel curiously, the aroma was warming and intoxicating.
"Um, chocolate chip sandwich bread, Lady and Sons Chicken Pot Pie and he mentioned he'd give something called Chinese salad a try."
"Yum!" Buffy summed up her opinion in one little word. Calista smiled, then lead forward slightly, hampered by the belly.
"He may be annoying and as over eager as a puppy, but the boy is useful in some situations." She smiled brightly and then sat back and stood up slowly. She walked away from them, calling for Connor. He called back and then she disappeared as she went towards his voice. Buffy smiled after her and then turned to Angel and gushed,
"I love her! She's so cute!"
"Yeah, I know." Angel smiled broadly. "I wonder just how long she has to go. We ought to have a drill or something in case." Buffy smiled sweetly at him and he shrugged sheepishly.
"It may be worth a shot. But considering her size, I'd bet she'd pop during the drill."
"That would be a time saver." Angel commented thoughtfully. Buffy giggled softly, it was a big event. It'd been ages since she'd giggled for real. Angel chuckled softly, then stared at her and his smile faded slightly. She gazed back and became trapped in his eyes. She loved his eyes, those big brown puppy dog eyes. She loved him. She knew it and he probably knew it too. He straightened up and reached out to her, taking her hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed it, never taking his eyes off hers. She drew in a small, sharp breath at his gentle, cold touch. Their fingers entwined as they stepped closer together. She leaned her head back and he leaned forward, so slowly, it was almost agonising. Both knew what they wanted, both knew the other wanted it too, but they were still hesitant. Yet at last they met and their lips touched. Oh how wonderful it felt to be able to do that again. He reached up and stroked her face softly, making her tingle. Her whole body was tingling and her mind was in ecstasy. She knew she'd made the right choice in Angel. As they slowly parted Angel whispered
"I love you Buffy, I always have, always will." She smiled up at him then teased
"You can be so corny sometimes." He gave that delightful half smile of his and leaned in again. Buffy was about to do the same, when she got a chill up her spine and looked away from him. Right into Spike's hurt eyes. He stared at them, a hopeless look on his face, then turned and stormed down to the basement, no doubt heading for the sewers. Buffy knew she should follow him and explain. She didn't.
Night's Darkness
