While Buffy slept, Angel managed to get the large box for the crib up the stairs. he planned on leaving it there until after the wedding. Besides he was sure that Buffy would want to paint, and do all sorts of things before the crib would need to be set up. Still, the mere sight of the box exhilarated him. With Lindsey being here, he hadn't had a whole lot of time to process the fact that she was pregnant. It kind of blew his mind, seventy two hours ago, everything, all of this was nothing but a fantasy.

Now he was dragging cribs upstairs, and putting away baby clothes. And tomorrow they would be going to her first OB appointment, it was moments like these that he wished he could freeze.

There was a time that he didn't believe he would ever experience happiness again, sometimes he still felt as though this was a dream. That he was going to wake up alone, in that barren apartment he'd kept in Los Angeles. Shuddering from the thought, he quickly shoved those ungodly onesies Lindsey bought into the furthest corner of the closet. Hoping she would eventually forget about them, but knowing that wasn't likely.

Gently lifting her from the couch, he carried her tiny frame up the stairs, and softly placed her on the bed. Clothed only in his earlier discarded shirt, she mumbled incoherently, reaching across the bed in search of him. Not bothering with a shower that night, his need to be close to her too great. He swiftly shed his own clothes, slipping between the sheets as he pulled her body close, his palm settling upon its new favorite resting place.

OoOoO

The next morning Buffy had practically flown out of bed at the sound of the alarm. Her appointment wasn't for a couple hours, but she wanted to get there early, just in case. She was nearly through showering by the time Angel joined her, though he refused to step out of her way.

"Where are you going?" he asked her, his voice still thick from sleep.

Buffy eyed him wearily, there was no way he had forgotten what today was, "To get dressed," she said as she tried to move past him. His hands grabbed her hips, halting her movements, as he simply shook his head.

"It's early," he whispered huskily, pulling her body flush against his own. Touching his lips to hers before she could protest, he inched her body forward, turning her around until her palms braced on the shower walls.

Using her hips as leverage, he slipped inside her hot center, careful not to hurt her, he set a relentless pace, pumping furiously, he felt his own orgasm building. Reaching around he worked her swollen bundle of nerves until he felt her begin to convulse around him.

Making sure to hold her steady until he was sure that she'd recovered. The last thing he wanted to do was explain a fall to her doctor. Still unable to believe that this was real, he watched her towel off through the clear glass of the shower as he rinsed the soap from his body. Once again silently thanking the powers for this second chance.

OoOoO

Buffy sat next to Angel on the lounge in her OB's office, her fingers laced with his, as they anxiously awaited for her name to be called. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to be nervous about, but her mind was going a mile a minute. Sure she had been to Dr. Lawrence dozens of times, but she'd never been pregnant before.

Angel had to move his hand to Buffy's knee twice to stop its bouncing, he certainly hadn't expected her to be the nervous one in this situation.

"What's wrong?" he questioned her for the third time since they had arrived.

"Nothing," she chirped in the way that meant there was absolutely something wrong. Threading his hand with hers once more, he brought her fingers to his lips. "I'm scared," she whispered so quietly he almost hadn't heard her.

Abandoning her hand, he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his side."I've got you," he spoke softly down to her, placing a single kiss to her forehead.

Nodding her head, she relaxed into his embrace for a few minutes, concentrating on the sound of his heartbeat she tried to clear her mind.

"Do you think it has a heartbeat yet?"

Angel chuckled lightly, "Well I would hope so, is that not something that babies have?"

"Embryo," she corrected.

"Huh?"

"Embryo. It's what it's called during the first part of pregnancy," glancing up at him, she gave him a small shrug. "I kind of got lost in one of those books Lindsey bought, it's not a baby, well not officially anyways."

"Mrs. O'Connor," a curly haired nurse called from the doorway opposite to them, interrupting whatever it was Angel was about to say. Standing together, Angel's hand stayed on Buffy's back, gently guiding her to the room the nurse directed them too.

The nurse who's name Angel couldn't remember had politely asked him to have a seat in the room. Handing Buffy a plastic cup, she explained that they would need a urine sample, and directed her to the restroom.

Suddenly Angel felt very overwhelmed in the confines of this small room. He had been fine earlier, but now surrounded by so many pamphlets and posters he found himself feeling very out of place.

Studying one of the posters on the wall, it was the profile of a woman's body, showing a nearly full grown infant inside, he couldn't imagine how something that-that big would ever come out of Buffy's tiny frame. Surely that picture was disproportioned, there was absolutely no way.

Trying to keep himself occupied, he moved over to look at the trinkets on the counter top. Picking up one of them, he was trying to decipher what the clear tube like thing was meant for. Shaking it around he noticed what looked like a black latex ring inside of it. Curious, he stuck his fingers in the opening, grasping the rubber he pulled the ring out just as Buffy returned, her eyes bulging.

"Angel, what the hell are you doing," she hissed quietly, hoping no one could hear her.

It was then that Angel noticed the sticker stuck to the bottom of the contraption.

Nuva Ring Demonstration Appliance.

Buffy nearly lost it at the look of realization on his face, she could count on one hand the number of times she had seen that man blush. This time definitely took the cake, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him as he fumbled to sit the appliance back on the counter.

"Why in the world would you need that?"

He was adorable, and totally terrified. Walking over to him Buffy simply wrapped her arms around his stiff frame, "I love you," she managed between breaths in her attempt not to laugh.

Directing him to the chair in the corner of the room, she chose to sit on his lap while they waited for the doctor to come in.

OoOoO

Thankfully Angel had enough time to recover from embarrassment by the time Dr. Lawrence arrived. She apologized profusely, joking that she worked on babies' time, they didn't work on hers.

"Oh, no," Buffy told her with a big smile. "That's fine. I took the whole day off from work and am in no hurry."

Angel shook hands with her easily and the doctor began to ask a few questions about Buffy's history and then on to where they were now. Angel couldn't help but still feel a little uncomfortable discussing how he and Buffy were not husband and wife, and then more so as they tried to explain they had been married before when she'd asked how they'd divorced and now were engaged and having a baby on the way.

"You two sound like you've got one heck of a story to tell," she said with another easy smile their way. She talked a few more minutes before standing, clapping her hands together and saying she would give Buffy some privacy while she undressed and got ready for the exam.

Angel continued to sit in the chair in the corner to be out of the way, only answering questions as they were directed his way at the time. He watched as Buffy got her height and weight checked, her blood pressure, had a breast and pelvic exam, had blood drawn and what seemed like a million other things.

He felt excited when they were asked if they wanted to try to hear a heartbeat. The doctor left for another few minutes which gave him time to get up out of his seat and come over to Buffy and talk over a few things themselves. When she did return, the doctor brought along two extra people.

"Okay, well first we're going to try a little wand on top of your stomach to see if we can't find the heartbeat. You are still rather early on so I don't want either one of you to get worried if we don't hear anything. We do have a second option we will try out if that is the case," she assured them.

Buffy held onto his hand tightly as the clear gel was placed on her skin and the newest of the young women to enter the room began searching for the baby. Angel felt like he didn't breathe the entire time and couldn't help but feel a little bubble of worry all the same when it didn't work.

They were both reminded this didn't mean to start to panic and they began getting a verbal walk through of a transvaginal ultrasound. Angel barely heard everything they were saying though, his mind running a mile a minute until a big smile graced the young woman's face. "There you are, little peanut," she said softly.

Doctor Lawrence told them it was actually rather lucky they were getting this option number two so that they could see the baby and not just hear the heartbeat. She told them she liked to wait a little longer for scans when it could be helped. But she said she was happy all the same and they could enjoy the little show while they got all the information they needed for measurements.

Seeing the very tiny evidence of this little person they had created and getting to hear his new favorite sound which was that same little person's heartbeat echo throughout the small room was the most amazing thing Angel thought he had ever experienced in his life.

They had one last question and answer session, Buffy was given a load of paperwork, a bag of goodies from the office and a copy of a few of the photos that had been taken from the ultrasound and then she was directed back up to the front desk to make her next appointment.

OoOoO

Buffy was riding on a high she never wanted to come down from as they stepped into the elevator. She was glad they were the only ones on it as she couldn't help but jump up and down a little but from excitement then there was also Angel nearly undressing her all over again in the middle of it.

They linked hands back up once reaching the lobby. There was a small pharmacy right beside the entrance that she said she wanted to stop in and she picked up some vitamins she'd just been recommended and a few other random items before paying for them.

As they were leaving, she felt a strange feeling as she walked passed a car sitting in the first row of parking spots. There was a dark haired man sitting behind the wheel. She could have swore he looked familiar and her mind raced as she tried to place him as they continued walking. She kept putting him back at her apartment complex from her time in Texas but she wasn't sure.

Looking back over her shoulder, she watched as another man got into the side door. He didn't look familiar. Buffy shook her head and decided to put a pin in that for now. She didn't want to get Angel all worried over nothing right now and just wanted to laugh and talk with him about the appointment, the baby...

OoOoO

As Angel drove, Buffy pulled her phone out and downloaded an app that was mentioned in her paperwork that she was reading over as the ride went on. It was one of those week by week countdowns plus had a lot of other little features she was toying around with. Turning to look back at him, she brought up the idea she kept coming back to about announcing their little bundle of joy after the wedding. "I may or may not be able to keep this information to myself that long though. Just a warning."

Angel chuckled. "Anyone I needed to tell already knows so..." he said with a pointed look. "So whatever you feel is best is fine with me, my love."

Buffy began reading what her phone said about what was going on with the baby this week out loud to him and threw in little bits of extra information she knew from how far she'd gotten in the book she had started at home.

Buffy was so happy they were able to squeeze her in today last minute but she also made a point to tell them her work schedule on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to avoid having to miss too much work if she could help it.

OoOoO

Angel grumbled as he looked down at his phone. He saw an e-mail from Lindsey in his inbox but he wasn't exactly wanting to deal with that line of thinking just yet. He had yet to even ask Lindsey if there was anything he'd found out back at the office but he was giving the man time to get back home, catch up on sleep and get back settled, too.

Deciding to wait until later to read whatever it was, he glared at the subject line of the evil witches' name once more before closing the tab and going off to find Buffy.

OoOoO

Darla was livid as she watched them leave the pharmacy. She couldn't believe he had gotten that little bitch pregnant. God, he sure was making one hell of a mess for her to clean up. One thing was for certain, she had to come up with a new plan and fast. There was no way she was going to stand by while that trashy little girl brought his child into this world. No, that certainly wouldn't do.

Damn Spike.

She could really use his help right about now. Had he not grown a conscience and tried to go to Angel, confess all sins and such, then she never would have had to kill him. He was always so selfish when it came to things she needed.

Ever since they were children she was always there for him, no matter what he needed, or wanted, she was there. Caring, feeding, even fucking him on occasion...they were only half siblings after all.

She had loved her brother dearly, but after years of their plots and schemes he had suddenly grown distant. Something changed in him after the whole Buffy incident, apparently rape was just too much for him to handle.

Not long after, he had begun to see a therapist. Then he started saying things like he had found himself, that no one was above redemption, he had even picked up the habit of going to Church.

Spike had always been flippant in his ways, coming up with these grand schemes, or ways of a new life, but he had always lacked follow through. Until Buffy. God that bitch was like a disease, a cancer that couldn't be cured.

When he came to her one afternoon, telling her that he was going to go to Angel, tell him everything. Confess his sins. She had tried to talk him out of it by telling him that he was being irrational. Reminding him that he would be lucky if Angel let him live, and even then he could plan on spending a good chunk of the rest of his life behind bars. Still it had done nothing to curve his thoughts.

It was pathetic really the way he looked up to her from his seat on her sofa. Tears streaming down his face, pleading with her to let him do what was right. Ugh just the memory made her sick to her stomach. It was then that she knew, the Spike she had known for so long was gone. Taken from her by shrinks and holy rollers, it was that day that her poor brother had unknowingly signed his own death certificate.

She had put on her best poker face, nodding in understanding, even taking him in her arms, offering him some form of comfort. She agreed that what they had done was wrong, and even promised to attend church services with him the next morning, before he planned to leave for Los Angeles.

Eventually after he'd calmed, she'd suggested he go spend what could very well be his last night as a free man doing what he loved. She had to hide the look of utter repulsion when he agreed, saying that he had heard they needed volunteers at the soup kitchen that night.

That was the last time she saw her poor brother alive, as soon as he was out the door she was on the phone. It was a good thing Forest still owed her that favor, no one was going to come between her and Angel.

Brother or not.

OoOoO

Angel hadn't been to the office since Lindsey left. Their plan for him to snoop around in order to gain entail about Darla had basically gotten them nowhere. Well, he had found out that Darla had moved to Sunnydale roughly around the same time that Buffy had come back. But what no one seemed to know was why.

Meaning that it was still up in the air as to whether or not it was simply a coincidence. With some digging of his own, thanks to the internet, he had also been able to find her address.

It was as Buffy thought, she was living in the new apartments just outside of town. Angel had half the mind to go knock down the cunts door and demand she tell him what her game was.

Luckily, she hadn't shown up since the night Buffy saw her at the house. Briefly he contemplated if she had come to apologize, but that wouldn't explain why she ran. No, he could feel it, in his gut that something was very wrong where she was concerned. Besides he had too much on the line to ever give that woman the benefit of a doubt again.

He had been terrified to leave Buffy home alone for any amount of time, she basically had to force him to run to the grocery store by himself. There was no way he was leaving her here, while he went to the office, hours away in Los Angeles. So far he had been able to manage from home, but eventually he would have to show his face. With his line of work there was only so much you could do remotely, eventually his clients would want to meet in person.

Originally he had planned for Buffy to go into the office with him this week, unfortunately peanut had other plans. Morning sickness had struck Buffy with a vengeance.

He really wasn't sure why they called it morning sickness when it seemed to last all day and sometimes night. With as sick as she'd been he couldn't very well drag her all the way to Wolfram & Hart for the day. Hell, there were a couple times the last few days he'd had to threaten her with a visit to the Emergency Room.

Other than the days she had to work, she'd barely had the energy to leave the house. Trying to take as much stress away from her as possible, he had taken over the responsibility of securing a photographer for the wedding next week. Luckily he had found one that could fit them in last minute, he was paying her triple the price, but hell at this point it was worth it.

He couldn't wait to officially call her his wife again, but with everything going on, this whole wedding business was the least of his worries. Now that they had the baby to think about, and Buffy had been so sick, he found himself wishing he'd just said screw it. Taking Xanders advice on Vegas and been done with the whole ordeal. With as ill as she had been the last few days, he wasn't even sure the wedding was a good idea anymore. Though he didn't dare bring that up, he knew how much she had been looking forward to it.

Peeking inside their bedroom door, she was still in the same position she'd fallen asleep in when she got home from the preschool earlier. Tip toeing through the door, he tucked the throw at the end of the bed over her body. Sitting her a fresh water bottle on the nightstand, he gently kissed her forehead before flipping off the light, quietly making his way back downstairs.

OoOoO

Buffy was thankful she didn't have too long of a wait until seeing her OB again due to all the new symptoms. If she could find a way to remedy this business of morning sickness by the wedding - which was nearing very close now - she thought she might be willing to give up one of her kidneys or a finger or anything in exchange. The last thing she wanted was to be dreadful on their wedding day.

Not to mention the fact it'd more than likely give the surprise away. She'd been working so hard to keep that bit of information under wraps... and lately that hadn't exactly been the easiest task. There was the nausea, there was the being extremely tired, oh and the fact she was already outgrowing a number of her favorite bras. Angel certainly didn't mind that change one bit.

If it kept up, she was sure she'd be having a dress issue soon.

Lifting up the bottom of her shirt, Buffy wished for a little bump to show up soon. The only physical change to her appearance so far had been the growing bra size. Buffy moved her hands back out of the way so the ultrasound could begin and found herself excited over the fact they could get an external heartbeat this time, and also watching the screen as new measurements were taken of the little life growing inside of her.

After the ultrasound was over, she and Angel were led back to a regular exam room where she had her own measurements taken, finally got to empty her bladder in the restroom across the hall, and then her stomach as well as the latest round of sickness hit just as she touched the door handle. After cleaning herself up, that was the first order of business she needed to discuss with these medical professionals of hers.

She was happy to hear there was a good chance - but not a promised one - that it would end anywhere between now and a handful of weeks. She was given a very long list of things to try to ease the unpleasant symptom - many of which she had read about online and had tried to no avail. She also got a list of some over the counter options that may help and she planned on making a stop at the pharmacy to get absolutely all of them.

OoOoO

"Are you absolutely sure you don't want a Honeymoon?" Angel asked as an advertisement finished up on the television screen for some resort or another.

Buffy shook her head. "We already had that... and it was perfect. I don't want a Honeymoon, I just want the wedding and then... forever. I want to come home just be husband and wife, just live our lives as we're supposed to. Not to mention we're already spending enough money on the wedding, including putting Lindsey up at his choice of hotel and the transportation from there to here," she said with a roll of her eyes. Lindsey had made it clear many times over now that he was in no way staying in this house again any time soon, let alone when they were just becoming a married couple again.

Giles had also turned down their guest room offer but he planned on staying with Willow and Tara while he was here. She supposed it was for the best... she doubted anyone wanted to be witness to her and Angel's due antics. She also didn't want to try and find more hiding places for some of the nursery and baby items she'd been picking up here and there. She had wanted to jump right into decorating but waiting until one big thing was over had been the better play in the end. That way she didn't have to be paranoid of someone walking in and seeing it, maybe she'd start to feeling better here soon, and she could really get just the perfect game plan together. Angel had been clearing things out every now and then which helped her get the visual going in her head.

Angel was still insisting they were having a daughter but she also didn't want to decorate crazy in some theme and it turned out all wrong either. Some things like the wall, the big furniture and such she could get a head start on but a lot needed to wait until they knew for sure.

"We could always talk about a Babymoon later," she joked.

"What in the hell is a Babymoon?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Nothing," she laughed and went back to half watching her show and half trying to make a new log page for her pregnancy journal.

OoOoO

Darla paced the length of her apartment once more, the wedding was closing in and as much as she wanted to stop even that from happening it just wasn't working out in her favor. It felt too risky to pull something right now. Lindsey and Rupert Giles were already back around so that was just more people for her to have to try and dodge, more people always around the stupid brat.

It was already hard enough dealing with the fact Angel was there - always freaking there. He hardly left the pest's side since she was found to be carrying his child and she'd had enough of it.

Darla's stomach hurt as she imagined the ceremony to come. She'd be damned if this little reunion of their went on too long though, and there was no way she was going to stand for Buffy actually bringing his child into the world. That was her destiny, not Buffy's. Soon, they would all realize this. One way or another.

OoOoO

Refusing to repeat the whole tradition of spending the last twenty four hours apart before the wedding, Angel and Buffy spent the day with little bursts of seeing their handful of guests throughout the day. He checked three times over on every little detail he could think of to make sure all was in place for the wedding.

Xander wasn't thrilled with the idea of them turning down bachelor and bachelorette parties at first, but once they told him - and Cordelia - that they could throw them even though neither were interested in going it seemed to be a game changer. He wasn't sure what was happening at this party but he could gather their friends were having quite a time.

Angel was enjoying his evening all the same, taking Buffy on one last big date as her fiance. It had come about without much planning but you wouldn't have guessed it, getting permission at the last minute to go back to that fateful classroom had started it off. From there, she had suggested the next location and it just fell into a pattern of their "greatest hits."

A candle light dinner in the middle of the living room floor had ended the journey. It had been their final date before their first wedding and although he knew Buffy was tired, he felt it was important. Her eyes were heavy as she danced in his arms. He kissed her temple and told her how much he loved before snuffing out the candle and carrying her upstairs.

They may not have kept with the tradition of staying separated for twenty four hours before their wedding, but he planned to withhold making love to her again until she was his in every way. Watching her as she traded her clothing for his discarded t-shirt, he quickly stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed behind her.

Touching his lips to hers, he murmured once more that he loved her, and to get some sleep, before slowly sliding down her body until his face rested next to her still taught stomach. Though, if he stared hard enough he could swear that the slightest curve was beginning to form below her belly button.

Her hand drifted down to tangle in his dark brown locks. This was it, this was her definition of perfect happiness. She couldn't wait until this time tomorrow when she could officially call him her husband again. As miserable as she was the years they were apart, and despite all of the awful things they had said and done to each other… moments like this one made it seem like every single one of those bad ones were worth it. Like if they hadn't been through all of them, then they wouldn't be where they are now.

She only hoped that the pregnancy gods granted her a reprieve from the nausea and vomiting tomorrow. She had felt slightly better the last day or two, so she was desperately hoping the trend continued. The girls and her photographer were supposed to be meeting her early tomorrow at the venue, so that they could all get ready together.

She wasn't sure what Lindsey had planned for him and Angel, but she was thinking they would probably get ready here before heading to the venue. From what she had gathered Xander had even been invited to stand as a groomsman, though she didn't question it, for fear that she would jinx something.

"I think we should tell everyone at dinner tomorrow, about the baby I mean." Angel's hand instantly stilled, stopping the circles he was tracing on her abdomen, his head tilted to meet her yes.

"Ya," Angel questioned, not able to hide the smile from his voice. He told her that it was completely up to her when she decided to let everyone in on their little secret, the most important person to him-Lindsey was already well aware of their situation. Too aware.

"Mmm-hmm, I mean it's probably going to be the last time we have the opportunity to tell everyone in person. Especially Giles, besides it's not like we could hide it for much longer anyway."

She was making it really hard for him not to make love to her. Even though he had loved that they kept this news between just the two of them for a few weeks, well mostly-Lindsey didn't count. The idea of telling everyone sent a course of excitement through him. In some ways it made it all feel more real, nuzzling the side of her stomach, he placed a kiss just next to her hip bone. "You hear that , Peanut? Tomorrow you're not going to be a secret anymore."

Ever since Dr. Laurence had referred to the baby as peanut, the nickname had sort of stuck between the two of them. Well Angel mostly, but she found it adorable nonetheless.

ButImBroken:

Cowritten with Scribes1015!