Buffy's hand shot to her stomach as her eyes squeezed shut, her face wrinkling up with the strange pain shooting through her. The pulling sensation had halfway woken her up earlier but she'd brushed it off as probably just something to do with Angel, them having been sexualy active for the first time in far too long, her body not used to it... but this right now felt like it was fifty times - at least - more intense than she remembered.
Struggling to sit up, her focus seemed to drop a little to the little pool of wetness that seemed to be around her. "Oh," she whispered out loud.
Slowly he felt consciousness beginning to reclaim him as his wife's warm body slipped from his arms. The memories of last night seemed to assault him all at once causing his eyes to pop open, as though he needed to verify that it hadn't all been some dream. Breathing a small sigh of relief that she really was by his side, it took him a second to notice her face, scrunched up as though she was in pain.
Sitting up, he'd been just about to ask her what was wrong when he noticed the ring of wetness surrounding her.
His mind making the connections, he gently started running a hand across her bare back, pulling her into him, he held her against him for a few seconds until she seemed to relax a little. A million different thoughts swirled through his mind, they hadn't even had time to call her doctor or figure out which hospital was the best for her to deliver at. Hell he didn't even know where the damn hospital was.
Her face buried against his neck as she waited for the pain to pass, then as soon as she felt as though she could breathe again, she instantly burst into tears, clinging to him as though her life depended on it. It felt as though there were a hundred different emotions floating through her, and each of them were trying to force themselves out just as their daughter was. Completely overwhelmed, she was scared, in pain, nervous, excited, but most of all in that very second she was just so fucking grateful he was there.
In an effort to remain as calm as possible for her sake, he gently raked his fingers through her hair, as he held her to him. "Looks like we're having a baby today," he whispered, his voice as steady as he could manage. Softly rubbing the curve of her stomach, he tried to soothe her as best he could. "Shhh, don't cry beautiful, I'm right here, I'm right here…" he told her softly as though he could hear her thoughts.
Nodding her head, she sat there clutching him for a few more minutes, until her tears began to subside, she couldn't believe this was actually happening. "We need to call my doctor," she managed, her voice shaky, "and Lindsey's going to be so mad at me," she added as her lip began to quiver once again, her emotions all over the place.
"Hey, don't worry about Linds, he's not going to say anything," he promised, brushing the hair back from her face. "But how about we get you up and dressed, then I'll call your doctor and see what she says." That was going to be one hell of an explanation as to why they were in the middle of Oklahoma instead of California, at this point he just hoped that she could point them in the direction of the best hospital. Releasing her from his arms, he slipped from the bed, grabbing his discarded shirt he quickly helped slip it over her head, before quickly picking up the rest of their scattered clothes.
Slipping on her panties, she didn't even bother with the damn leggings at this point, "I need a shower."
"A shower," he repeated as if that was the most delusional thing he had ever heard. She needed a hospital, not a damn shower. Though the look of panic that crossed her features at his questioning glance had him quickly backpedaling. "Angel we had sex like five times last night, I need to shower."
Trying his damndest to keep it together, he nodded his head as he helped her to her feet. "Okay, okay... we'll get you in the shower, I'll call the doctor and get everything ready to go."
Whatever she'd been about to say was cut off as another wave of pain began to roll it's way through her. Lacing her hands around his neck, she braced herself against him, trying to remember how to breathe as her stomach coiled tightly. "We need to start timing these," she groaned as the last ripples of pain went through her.
Time the contractions, call the doctor, get her in the shower, find a hospital… that was the mantra that he kept repeating inside his head. He also needed to grab her bag, and get himself dressed, but right now that was the least of his worries. Guiding her from the room, he caught a glimpse of Lindsey as they passed the living area and instantly just started shaking his head. The last thing he wanted was for him, not realizing what was going on, to start popping off about anything in front of her. Thankfully he seemed to take the hint, as a look of utter confusion crossed his features just as he led Buffy into the bathroom. "Give me just a second Lindsey," he yelled over his shoulder before closing the door.
Sitting her on the counter next to the sink, he got the shower running and helped her over the tubs edge. He was torn, he didn't want to leave her alone, but he needed to call her OB and tell Lindsey what was going on. As though she could sense his panic, she reached out with her hand, tracing her fingers along the side of his face. "I'm okay," she tried to reassure him,"It's been pretty drilled into my head, that these things take hours, especially the first time."
Nodding his head, he was just about to tell her that he would be right back, as she started picking up the shampoo bottle, only to drop it as what appeared to be another contraction tore through her. Panicking, not wanting her to fall, he quickly kicked off his boxers and stepped in behind her. Holding her to him, he waited for her breathing to return to normal before letting her go again. "Let's just hurry and get you through this shower, huh?"
OoOoO
By the time she'd shampooed and conditioned her hair, and scrubbed her body clean with a loofah, she had already had two more contractions. He was no expert, but it sure felt like things were moving a bit faster than they were supposed to. Grabbing them towels, he left Buffy in the bathroom for a second, as he all but ran from the room, towel tied around his waist to grab their clothes. Once again he passed a puzzled looking Lindsey, but just shook his head, he needed to get her situated before he could deal with him.
Sitting on the commode, she was twisted sideways so that her head could rest on her arms against the counter's edge, as yet another contraction ripped its way through her body. Doctor Laurence had warned her about false labor, and told her that a good indicator of active labor was the inability to speak through contractions… but not only could she not speak, she felt like she couldn't fucking breathe as the current one worked it's way through her.
She hadn't expected things to be this intense, not at first. She had watched dozens of episodes of A Baby Story, and this was not how she envisioned her labor starting out. If things were already this bad, she didn't even want to imagine how they were going to feel once she was in real labor.
Thank God for epidurals.
That was exactly how Angel found her, hunched over, trying to breathe her way through whatever pain she was feeling.
"Hey," he said softly, hurrying to her. He dropped to her level, his hands rushing to her, unsure of what he could even do to help right now.
"I'm starting to feel like maybe we don't have a lot of time here after all," she ground out as soon as she was able.
Angel nodded, trying to keep his own panic still in check. "Okay. Well, let's get dressed, I'll grab your bag-"
"Yours too."
"I don't have... I didn't bring it, I didn't think I would need it..."
"I know, but it's in the backseat."
"I got it," he promised... very much not knowing what he was even doing or if he'd remember a single thing here in another five minutes. "We'll get ready, grab what we need real quick... Lindsey will know how to get to the closest hospital and it's just going to have to be figured out when we get there."
His heart sunk a little as he knew how much time, energy, love she had put into trying to perfecte everything when it came to this moment. She'd had a doctor and a team she trusted, her friends who were more like family than anything else would be there, she had wanted 'last photos' before the baby was here taken if possible... the house back in Sunnydale, the nursery just sitting there still empty... and instead everything was like this. Like this between them, scrambling to get her where she needed to be, without Willow or Xander, Tara or Cordelia, hell he didn't have the house set up if she did indeed want to work things out and move here. It wasn't Buffy ready, it wasn't baby ready...
Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths along with Buffy. He couldn't get caught up in all of that, he knew that they didn't have time for him to meltdown.
Taking great care, he helped her slip into her clothes around another contraction before rushing into his own. Grabbing a couple of towels, he helped Buffy back out toward Lindsey.
"Would someone please tell me what in the fucking hell is going on already?" Lindsey damn near shouted, his eyes going back and forth between them, his hands waving about.
Angel took a deep breath again. "I'm going to need you to drive us to a hospital." Lindsey's eyes grew wide.
"I think my water broke in your bed," Buffy said, emotional over it again. "I'm sorry."
His eyes only grew wider. "That's probably not the grossest thing that happened in there tonight first of all. Secondly, what in the fuck?! She's in labor and you two are just dilly fucking dallying along, taking a shower, what in the hell is wrong with you?!"
Angel couldn't say much, he thought it was as fucked up as him. He just shrugged and repeated they needed to get to the hospital.
"Fucking hell!"
"I'll get her to the car, go grab her bag please?"
Lindsey's hand flew around some more before he all but ran off muttering he needed to find some fucking shoes, a fucking shirt, a fucking bag... Angel just let him go process while he tried to get Buffy to the car. After asking her where she wanted to be, he laid the towels down quickly, moved the black hospital bag that was his, and got in beside her in the back seat, his eyes flipping between her and the house where Lindsey was currently dragging ass it seemed.
OoOoO
Reaching behind him with one hand as he tried to drive without crashing and killing all of them, he grabbed Buffy's phone as she asked him to call the gang once he had a chance. She started groaning loudly seconds after and he stole a glance at what was happening in the back seat. "You had better start sucking the baby back in long enough for us to fucking make it there," he called out to her, pushing the gas pedal harder.
He didn't like the look on her face or the sounds coming from it either. Angel looked like he was about to throw up, pass out, something. It wasn't far from what he felt or looked like either he was sure.
With Buffy's previous injuries with the pregnancy he felt utterly terrified right now trying to just get her to safety, to people who would know what the fucking hell they were doing. Because he absolutely did not.
OoOoO
Her two men both jumped out of the car, Lindsey hurrying to deal with the valet before rushing back to them, helping her inside the hospital doors.
Angel was damn near breathless as he tried to explain to the first person he saw what was happening. One of the two ladies stood up from behind the desk and came around, joined a moment later by a young male in some dark scrubs who'd grabbed a wheelchair. The young woman asked a few extra questions and told them more than once everything was going to be okay. "I'm going to take you to one of the triage rooms right over here just to check things out, okay? Then we will get you upstairs and get this thing going, alright?"
Buffy grit her teeth, nodding stiffly.
"Well, you are definitely having a baby today, sweetheart," she was told a few minutes later. "Let's get you back in the wheelchair and to a room up in labor and delivery." She pushed while Angel and Lindsey nervously trailed closely behind as they twisted and turned through the hallways and on the elevator ride.
She was handed off to a new, smiling nurse who confirmed all the information they had on her so far and asked some questions as they got to the room and she was helped up into the bed. "Are you both staying for the delivery," she then asked looking at Lindsey and Angel.
Lindsey laughed. "Oh, hell no. I'm making sure she's settled, that's it. End of story. Someone can come get me when all is said and done and it's safe, mmmk?" He hurried to wish them all luck, kissed her temple and told her he loved her before running out of there as fast as he could before someone could try and talk him into staying after promising Angel he was going to be okay.
The nurse got her all hooked up to wires and machines, continued her line of questioning, explained where they were looking as far as how much she was dilated and how her stats looked at the moment, then told her there were currently three women kind of in the process of having babies right now along with her and there were two main doctors on duty and promised they would be by to meet her as soon as they could.
"Is she okay?" Buffy asked when questions were prompted.
"Everything does look good, I will take a look here in just a moment but you look like you will be having a little one in your arms before you know it Mom and Dad."
Her next question as Angels' fingers tangled up with hers was how long until she could get an epidural, to which the nurse replied that she would put in a page to the anesthesiologist but let her know that with the rate at which she was currently progressing, baby may get here first. She went on to tell them that since they were a smaller hospital, they didn't have a dedicated anesthesiologist, so it usually took them a little while to get back across the hospital once they were paged.
Buffy just gripped Angel's hand tighter, curling further onto her side, chanting "He has to make it," before losing her ability to speak yet again.
Angel half listened, his attention too focused on his wife, to the rest of what the nurse had to say as she went over shift changes, and how Buffy would be moved to a new room once the baby was here, and again reminding them that she would be back to check her soon. She showed him where the call button was for the nurses station, and told him that he could turn on the television if he needed a distraction. Why the fuck would he need a distraction was what he wanted to say, but he kept his mouth closed, knowing the poor girl was probably only trying to help.
He was just glad that they were here, there were a few times in the car he honestly hadn't thought they were going to make it. By the time they got here, her contractions seemed to be nearly one after the other. It was all he could do to remind her to breathe, stroking her head in his lap with his trembling hands, as he tried himself not to have a full blown panic attack.
Thankfully it hadn't taken but a few minutes for the who he presumed was the Doctor to walk in. Her short grey hair instantly gave him some relief, assuming that meant she had a great deal of experience in this situation. The tiny woman introduced herself as Doctor Roberts, and told Angel that she had contacted Buffy's regular obgyn back in California, who seemed quite surprised to hear of her whereabouts.
She reassured them that both baby and mom were looking great on the monitors, then went ahead and performed her own quick internal examination.
"You're just about there, Dear," she reassured Buffy, who had seemed to go silent, completely focused on the pain rippling through her body. "I'd say she's got a centimeter, maybe a little over, before it's time to push," she told Angel, coming over to pat his shoulder.
"What about the epidural," Buffy groaned through clinched teeth, "I can't do this, it's too much," she sobbed, her hands covering her face.
"Oh sweetie, I know it awful, but you were built for this. I promise it's going to be worth it in the end. Now, we still have the page out for the anesthesiologist, but in the meantime, let's try a few things that might help."
Nodding her head, she tried her best to listen to what the doctor was trying to suggest, at this point she was willing to try anything to make this fucking pain stop, even for just a minute.
"Now we can get you up, and try some walking or we can get you one of the birthing balls to sit one, or are you more comfortable staying in bed?"
"I don't want to get it up," she cried out, shaking her head frantically as another contraction started up.
"Okay, well let's try this, Dad lets get her back on her side." Waiting for a second as she watched Angel help her get turned over, she adjusted her monitors so they were once again picking up the correct readings. "Now Dad you come around here, and lay behind her," leading Angel to the other side of the bed, she waited for him to climb in behind Buffy. "What you want to do is put both of your hands on her lower back, and provide some counter pressure. I'm not saying it's going to make the pain go away, but it should make it slightly more bearable."
She stood there for a moment instructing Angel just where to press, and made sure to tell them that she would be back within the hour to check on them again, but she told Buffy that if she started feeling any urge to bear down then they needed to call the nurses station immediately."
Thankfully whatever the hell this Doctor had him doing seemed to help a little, Buffy no longer seemed as frantic, she was obviously still in a tremendous amount of pain, but her tears had stopped.
He wasn't sure if it was having her in his arms, or the sudden quietness of the room that got him, but as he continued to press and massage her back, the reality of the last twenty-four hours seemed to crash into him. He really had almost missed this,
"I'm so glad you're here," she moaned, her thoughts mirroring his own. "Angel I couldn't have done this, not without you," she yelped, gripping the plastic rails of the bed as more pain pushed through her.
Kissing the top of her head, he shook his head, "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere, I promise beautiful… I just want you to be okay, I want to see our baby girl in your arms."
She wanted to reply but it seemed every muscle her body coiled up, as a tremendous pressure like she'd never felt before pushed through her. Holding her breath, she grabbed the rails of the bed so tightly her knuckles were white as she began bearing down, not even realizing what was happening it took her a second to even notice that her body was beginning to push uncontrollably.
"Call the nurse," she choked out, gasping for air as her body gave her a tiny bit of reprieve. "Angel I can feel her trying to come out of me," she gritted out, tears once again falling from eyes as panic set back in.
Angel had never moved so fast in his entire life, grabbing the contraption that was attached to the bed he probably hit the little red cross fifteen times in a row. "Breathe, beautiful, just breathe through it," he tried to encourage her as he prayed for one of the fucking nurses to pick up. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her right now, even if for just a moment to go find someone.
Thankfully, the bubbly nurse from earlier came running in the door, just as Buffy fought with all she had to keep from pushing again.
"Okay, sweetie. Let's get you back on your back, I'm going to see what's going on, then I'll page the doctor again."
Angel helped the nurse shift Buffy, and listened to her instructions on how to pull her leg back from her knee. "Well, looks like baby inherited Dad's dark hair," she told Angel, smiling. "Let me page the doctor, then we can do a couple of practice pushes okay, I can see her head, but she's not crowing just yet."
Her entire body trembled uncontrollably as she waited. "I can't do this," she whispered again to Angel. "I can't, I can't, I can't. I just can't."
"You're doing fine, Beautiful," he promised, smashing his own worries down. He hated seeing her in pain and was beginning to think there was no way she would be getting any sort of relief in time. "I got you," he whispered, kissing her temple.
The nurse came back in, smiling, and quickly beginning to explain what Buffy needed to do once the doctor came back in. Another nurse came in and they were both told she was here for the baby, that she'd be the one to check their daughter out once she was born and make sure everything was okay. Buffy nodded and managed to do one practice push before another contraction ripped through her.
"Please tell me my epidural is about to happen," Buffy pleaded with the nurse.
The young woman made a somber face then took Buffy's hands in her own. "You will be able to have an epidural up until the point of crowning - as long as it's still recommended by Doctor Roberts. There are a few things that could make her believe it's too risky, but... I will be honest with you, you are progressing very quickly. I know this is scary but you are in amazing hands and we will get you through this no matter what." Another contraction came and she waited, doing her best to help Buffy through it. "Just remember, at the end of this? There's a beautiful baby girl. All of this will fade away as soon as she's in your arms, I promise."
"That doesn't help me much right now," Buffy cried out.
OoOoO
Angel was able to get behind Buffy while the nurses each took to one side of her as the doctor returned. The two younger women had been lovely, trying to keep Buffy from having a complete meltdown the longer labor went on. They had both mentioned how much dark hair it looked like the little one had and had asked him if he wanted to come look... to which Buffy threatened death in a wide variety of ways if he dared to go over there.
He had to admit he was a little curious... and a little not. He decided not to piss off the angry women with a baby trying to come out from her and declined in the end, though.
Doctor Roberts seemed to have a better calming effect on the entire room once she walked back in and began softly speaking to each of them as they all got ready for Buffy to need to start pushing.
Buffy's screams practically bounced off the walls endlessly, her body was wound up so stiff in front of him that he was sure something was about to break inside of her, and time seemed to creep along slower than it ever had in his life while he prayed for this to end, for their daughter to just come out into the world and be okay, for Buffy to get to finally rest after everything... and his eyes were squeezed shut as hard as he could make them when it felt Buffy had practically collapsed back against him and a new sound entered the air around them.
Angel's eyes snapped open, finding the tiny, screaming body being placed on Buffy's lower stomach while the doctor checked both her and Buffy out quickly.
Buffy was half crying, half laughing as her hand cautiously reached down to the newborn. "H-hi," she whispered.
"Look at that pouty face," Buffy's nurse commented, smiling brightly again. "You look just like you mama!"
Angel's chin rested on Buffy's shoulder as he took in the image before him, Buffy's free hand finding him once more. He always heard people joking about babies not really looking like anyone and more like a potato or something when they first entered the world but he could one hundred percent tell his princess was absolutely going to take after Buffy. There were hints of him he could already see as well but Buffy's genes won out by far. "Hey, Peanut," he said softly.
The little one suddenly stopped screaming, only for a moment, at the sound of his voice before she started up again.
"Total Daddy's girl," Buffy panted.
When they had to take her away to do a quick check, get her vitals and everything, the doctor asked if she could have one of their phones and was kind enough to go take photos for them while he let his attention fall back to his wife for the moment. "Are you okay?" he whispered, smoothing down her sweaty mess of hair.
Buffy's eyes were still trained on their daughter as the nurses checked her out. Buffy nodded, tears back in her eyes. "I have never been better in my life, Angel," she whispered. "Thank you."
"For what, Love?"
"For being here. For her. For us."
Angel kissed her temple and pulled her closer.
After the doctor had finished all she needed to do for now, she gave him his phone back and wished them luck, she said she would be by to check on Buffy in her new room come tomorrow before leaving. Angel let Buffy rest more comfortably back in the bed before they brought their daughter back over to have some skin to skin contact, laying her down on Buffy's chest. The sight made his heart feel like it had never been more full and never more grateful for one more second chance to have this life together.
The nurse toyed around on the computer for a moment before handing them each a card with the official information on it for the time of birth, her statistics, and the room number they would soon be moved to once they were cleared to head up to the other floor. Angel snapped a few photos and sent them to Lindsey, telling him they'd get him shortly so he could meet the little one.
Not long after the nurse asked if they had eaten recently or if they were hungry before running off with a promise to find them each a tray or a bag from the nurse's station or something. Then when she did come back she not only had food but also two large white hospital bags filled with goodies, one bag for the baby and one for mostly mom.
OoOoO
As much as she couldn't wait to share photos and the news with the world, to have Lindsey meet his niece slash goddaughter, she was glad they both decided to take the little extra time to just be by themselves while the recovery room was still being prepped. She was utterly and completely in love with this creature, and she almost couldn't stand the sight when she got to witness Angel finally getting proper time with the little one in the large chair beside her.
She loved watching them interact, watching her tiny face scrunch up in a million new ways. She couldn't deny for a second that she looked like a carbon copy of her, but boy did she have some of her daddy's expressions. That way her little forehead scrunched up just before she'd start to cry absolutely melted her heart.
"I can't believe she's really here," she whispered softly, as she watched him, completely entranced, cradling her on his bare chest. The nurse having instructed him to unbutton his shirt when she came in last, so he could have some skin to skin time as well.
He was totally enchanted by the tiny being in his arms, he couldn't seem to take his eyes off her as she slept peacefully on top of him. Softly rubbing his finger over her squishy cheek, he couldn't get over how small she was. "I know, it's been one hell of a twenty-four hours," he agreed, taking his eyes off his daughter for a second to glance at her, only to notice the fresh tears rolling down her face.
"Hey, what's wrong, Beautiful?" he questioned, as he very carefully shifted their daughter in his arms so he could stand. His legs trembled as he took the few steps to Buffy's bed, terrified that the little one would somehow fall.
Scooting over, she made room for him to lay back beside her, her hand instantly joining his over their baby girl's back. "You wouldn't have made it," she cried, her arm sliding off their daughter and around him.
Holding the baby with one hand, he carefully slipped the other around her mama, pulling her up against his chest. After what they had been through today, and now seeing the two of them in his arms at long last, there was just simply no way he could envision his future without them in it. "Shhh, but I was here," he tried to reassure her, placing a kiss on the top of her messy hair. "Please don't cry," he begged her softly, his fingers dancing down her back.
"Angel, I couldn't have done this without you."
Rolling his head to rest on top of hers, he closed his eyes as he tried to commit every detail about this moment to his memory. "You're the strongest woman I know Buffy, you would have done fine… but I'm glad I was here, there's no place else in the entire world I'd rather be right now."
She knew the feeling, snuggling deeper against him, she softly traced the outline of their baby girl's nose, followed by the curve of her cheeks, she just couldn't seem to keep her hands off her.. He may think otherwise, but she knew there was no way she would have made it through that labor without him, he'd been the only thing to keep her sane. Especially not as she would have been panicking the entire time over his absence, plus with as fast as things happened, she didn't even want to imagine how she would have coped had she been all alone.
It wasn't long before both hers and the little one's doctors each showed up for one final check before they were moved upstairs to the recovery floor. Luckily she hadn't needed many stitches, still when they had her stand up for the first time, Angel followed right next to her as if her legs may give out at any second. She had to admit, it made her heart swell a little to see how much he still cared even though she was no longer pregnant. Between the ways things went last night, then this morning, it wasn't like they'd had much time to really talk about any of their stuff.
Her doctor told her that they were just waiting for a room to be prepared for her, that her nurse would probably be there within the hour to get her moved. She had asked about her pain levels, and gave her the okay for a quick shower, as long as Dad was there to make sure she didn't fall.
Angel bounced between the bathroom door, and the little clear container that held their daughter, apparently not wanting either of them out of his sight. She tried to make it a quick shower, not only was she too worried about the baby, whatever pain medication she'd been given after birth felt like it was beginning to wear off. She was definitely starting to feel the trauma her body had been through, grabbing a towel she wrapped it around her before stepping out. Already amazed at the ease in which she could move without an eight pound baby growing inside of her.
Once she was dressed and settled back in bed, Angel picked the baby up from her makeshift bassinet, and carefully handed her back over. None of this seemed real, he kept having these tiny moments of panic where he would be convinced this was some dream, and he was going to wake up alone back at Lindsey's. They still had a lot to figure out, but despite it all, he found himself deliriously happy, he couldn't keep his eyes off the two women of his life.
He watched in fascination as Buffy fed their little girl, knowing instantly that was a sight he would never tire of. "You're breathtaking," he whispered from his reclined position in the oversized chair.
"I don't feel very breathtaking," she huffed, feeling a whole lot more like a deflated balloon.
Sitting up, he once again took a seat next to her in the bed, placing his arm behind her head. "Are you sure you're okay," he half whispered, the reality of what she had been through slowly sinking in.
"I'm okay," she promised him. " A little sore, exhausted, but strangely buzzed. I don't think there's any way I could fall asleep just yet though, I just wanna watch her."
"She is pretty amazing, huh?"
Buffy nodded, "I know it sounds crazy, but a part of me still can't believe she's ours ya know? Like none of this feels quite real yet."
Sighing, he knew exactly how she felt. "I know what you mean, I keep thinking this has to be a dream, there's no way things can be this perfect."
"It is though, right? I mean, we're still okay?"
"Come here," he told her, pulling her closer. He knew they had a lot to discuss, but he didn't want this day to be tainted by any of their mess. "I love you, I don't know where my life would be without you in it, and I never want to get that close to finding out again… but we have the rest of our lives to figure all that out, I just want to spend the rest of the day just like this, with both of you in my arms."
Looking up from under lashes, she found herself fighting tears once more, her hormones clearly out of whack. "I love you more," she swore to him, tilting her head back to touch her lips to his.
The sound of someone clearing their throat had them breaking away from one another, Buffy's nurse pulled a wheelchair in smiling at the cute couple. "Are we all ready to go?"
Buffy smiled, "I think so," she told the nurse as she handed the baby to Angel so she could get back out of bed.
"She's a cute one," the nurse told them.
"Thank you," they both said at the same time.
As they were getting ready to go Angel paused. "Do you want me to get Linds or wait until we are settled in the other room?"
"I can bring him up in a few minutes if you'd like to take a little while longer before having visitors," the nurse offered.
Buffy nodded at that. "Yeah, that would be great. Maybe send him a message giving him a heads up though when you can?" she asked.
ButImBroken:
Written with Scribes1015!