Chapter 4. Kidnapper. I know I took long. Sorry.
They arrived at the hospital and Giles is trying to get someone to attend to Buffy, but everyone is busy doing other stuff. Xander and Spike help Buffy over to one of the seats, but soon they were assisted by a young doctor named Doctor Jones. He immediately gets Buffy a wheel chair, and gets her to the examining room.
Five minutes later, Dr. Jones returns to the waiting room. Xander, Spike, Giles, and Casandra walk up to him and listen to what he has to say.
"Is Buffy alright?" asks Xander.
"Did she have the baby?" asks Casandra.
"No," replies Dr. Jones. "It was a false alarm." Everyone is relieved by the news.
"Can we see her?" asks Xander.
"Sure." Dr. Jones leads Xander, Giles, and Spike over to Buffy's room.
"I'll wait here for Mr. Summers and the others to arrive," says Casandra.
As the guys enter the room, they see a machine next to a very pregnant Buffy. Buffy is feeling better and is lying on the bed resting her feet.
"So, how do you feel?" asks Dr. Jones to Buffy. She opens her eyes and sees Xander, Spike, and Giles.
"Believe me, I haven't felt that much pain since the time I…um, a long time ago," replies Buffy with a smile.
"Buffy, you seem to be in very good health. Without a doubt, your baby will come out very healthy and normal."
"That's a relief," says Xander. "I mean, that's great."
"Who is the father of the baby?" asks Dr. Jones.
"Me. I am." Xander gets close to Buffy.
"Yeah, right," Spike says in disbelief.
"Spike," says Buffy in a stern voice and with a serious face.
"You serious?" Spike rolls his eyes.
Dr. Jones watches them argue a little and sees that both Buffy and Xander don't have wedding bands.
"Buffy," says Dr. Jones. "Who is your regular doctor?"
"Doctor?" says Buffy. "Well, it's been a while." Buffy looks at Xander for help. "Xander, do you remember his name?"
"Uh, the doctor's name," says Xander, trying to think of something to say, but he is drawing a blank. "I totally forgot."
"He's out of the country," replies Giles.
"Right," says Buffy, giving a thank you smile to Giles.
"You're almost due," says Dr. Jones. "How could he be out of the country?"
"He was her new doctor and he had an emergency to take care of. He was going to find her another doctor, but…"
"Okay." Dr. Jones walks over to Buffy with her chart. "Well, you need to sign some papers. Are you her father?" Dr. Jones looks at Giles.
"Giles?" says Buffy. "Well, sort of."
"I'll take care of that," says Giles. Dr. Jones leads Giles out of the room.
"Go help Giles, Xander," says Buffy. Xander nods his head and follows Giles, leaving Spike and Buffy alone in the room.
"How do you like that?" says Spike, watching Xander exit the room. "Xander. You must have come back really wrong."
"Spike, I may still be pregnant, but I can still kick your butt," says Buffy. "So don't start with me."
Dr. Jones re-enters the room and is ready to do a sonogram on Buffy. He turns the machine on and Dr. Jones starts to put the jelly on her belly. Then he puts the mechanism on her belly and a picture appears on the monitor.
At the moment Buffy hears the heartbeat, she starts to cry. They all watch the monitor and see the baby moving inside of Buffy.
"It's a beautiful, baby girl," says Dr. Jones.
"It's a girl," says Buffy, overjoyed to know the gender of the baby.
Dr. Jones cleans everything up and puts the machine away. He then starts to wonder why Buffy seemed to be overjoyed with the sonogram. It shouldn't have been her first one and her knowledge of knowing the gender of the baby, too, was a little suspicious. He decided to ignore it.
"I'll be back with your copy," says Dr. Jones.
Buffy is holding her belly and she begins to realize the incredible feeling of being a mother. She suddenly feels the baby kick and gasp at the feeling.
"Oh, Spike," says Buffy. "She just kicked. Come over here." She grabs his hand and puts it on her belly and Spike feels the baby kick. He feels a little emotional, but he's a man and holds it in.
"Hey, she kicks pretty strong," says Spike. "Just like her mum." Buffy smiles at Spike's comment.
Dr. Jones returns with the tape and hands it to Buffy. Buffy takes it and holds it like it's precious to her. She wishes Xander was there to watch, but at least he can watch the video over and over again.
"You two brother and sister?" asks Dr. Jones.
"Spike?" says Buffy looking at him. "No, he's just a good friend."
"You two kind of have a closeness."
"Really, doc," says Spike with a grin.
"Friends only," says Buffy, giving Spike a glare.
Hank arrives at the hospital with Ann and Dawn. He is told everything that happened and that Buffy is okay. He is confused by that, but he forgets he's in Sunnydale and he has a daughter that is a Slayer. He'll figure out to live with all the weirdness.
Everything was done and they could bring Buffy home to rest and take it easy, since she is about six and a half months pregnant. Dr. Jones assigns her to be his patient since the unknown doctor out of town is not at her disposal.
Buffy is release from the hospital and taken home. Dr. Jones tells her she needs to get lots if rest during the last months of her pregnancy. Buffy is in her room and all the girls gather around to feel the baby kick. She is overwhelmed by the arrival of her baby and everyone is trilled by its unseen presence.
Downstairs are Hank and Giles reeling from the news that Buffy will be giving birth sooner than they all expected. Hank hands Giles a glass of bourbon.
"I gotta tell you something," says Hank to Giles. He sighs as he takes a sip of his drink. "I haven't been that great of dad to Buffy. I think she needed more…understanding, I guess."
"It's kind of hard with the situation that she's in," says Giles.
"I know. This job of hers is not a walk in the park and I was never there for her. Did Joyce know?"
"Buffy eventually told her about three years ago."
"How did she deal?"
"Like any other mother would."
"Buffy deserves much more than I can give her. The both of them do."
"Mr. Summers…"
"Please, call me Hank."
"Hank, nobody is perfect and Buffy or Dawn aren't expecting perfection from you. You just do your best and hope that what you do is right."
"You have any kids?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't. I do feel like in a way I've adopted Xander, Willow, Tara, Dawn, and Buffy."
"Yes, I can see that."
"They're wonderful kids. Well, they're not kids anymore."
"Just the way she talked about you."
"Talked about me?"
"Buffy, when she came to visit over the summer. It seemed like you were more like a father to her, more than I could ever have been."
"She talked about me?"
"Yes, she did." Hank sighs. "I just wanted to thank you for taking care of her and helping out whenever she needed." Hank shook his hand, then leaves the kitchen. Giles turns around on the stool he is sitting on.
"It was an honor."