Thanks for Reviewing! Finally re-writing the last couple of chapters of this story, so only a few more before its finished!
"How's LA?" her voice was barely loud enough for him to hear; he could tell she was in a mood. Angel picked up the glass of whiskey and downed the contents in one go before placing the phone between his ear and shoulder so he could pour another.
"Its okay, my neighbour is pissing me off, constantly being loud at night" he walked over to the sofa and slumped down heavily, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Even though he couldn't see her, he could sense her mood darkening further.
He sighed, fed up with everything that had been happening lately "What do you want me to say Buff? It's not like I'm happy being here!" he could practically hear the tick in her jaw as she counted down from ten so not to explode.
Buffy clenched the stress relief ball in her fist, squeezing it to its limits "You could tell your boss to shove the fake 'Oh Angel you're so fantastic, please lick my boots and you might get a promotion' job that he's got you on and come home!"
When he groaned, she continued "Angel, I am three weeks away from giving birth and you're acting like you don't care!" her emotions were a bitch, she could go from being exceedingly happy one minute to bawling her eyes out the next.
"Angel please, I want you home" she started to cry and it cut him deep, he hated to hear her cry, he didn't want to be here but wasn't given a choice; the big boss shrugged when he was told of the upcoming birth; that didn't matter to him, the job did.
Angel closed his eyes "Buffy, all I want is to be home with you… I hate that I'm here" she continued to cry over the phone so he whispered soothing words to try to calm her down. Being in her condition he didn't want her to exert herself.
That migraine, the one she thought came from a night of drinking too much lasted a few days then went away… it came back with a vengeance a week later, as did the sickness. She placed her head between her knees and took a few deep breathes.
"Buff, you okay?" she looked up slowly to see his warm brown eyes full of concern. Angel came over to the sofa and sat beside her; he pulled her into his embrace and kissed her forehead "Still got that migraine?"
"Yeah, it just keeps coming back… I've not been this unwell in years" she rubbed her hand over her upper arm and frowned, there was a virus that was causing havoc in Sunnydale and she hoped that this wasn't it, everyone infected was severely ill.
Also being one for disliking doctors and hating the hospital, she had avoided making an appointment, knowing that she couldn't push it off she groaned loudly "I'll call the doctor!" she shot him a look when he chuckled.
She got five steps away from him when another spell of dizziness hut her like a truck, she held her arms out to the side to keep her balance but it did nothing. She fell backwards and landed on her backside.
Angel shot out of his seat to try and catch her; he hooked his arms under her armpits just in time so that she landed on her backside softly "Buffy, Buffy, you okay?" he looked down at her to see her blinking rapidly to clear her head.
"Yeah… wow, I don't know why that happened" he picked her up gently and held her against his body, he could feel her weight against him, he had noticed that she would take dizzy spells during the day but she would play it off as just zoning out.
"I'm taking you to the hospital" her head shook violently from side to side before she pressed her body into his embrace, he knew her aversion to them but he'd rather take her there than wait on a doctor's appointment that could be in a few days time.
He ran his fingers through her hair then tilted her head back to look into her eyes, she looked vulnerable "I'm taking you, something isn't right" his eyes challenged hers before she frowned "Well you better buy me a cookie!"
Angel gave her that oh so charming lopsided grin that could bring her to her knees and chuckled "I'll get you a cookie"
She perked up but the smile on her lips didn't reach far "Better be a big cookie" he nodded at her then patted her ass as he led her out to the Plymouth. It didn't take long to get to Sunnydale Memorial to her annoyance and fear.
Buffy linked her fingers through Angel's and remained close to his side, they were told to sit on the hard plastic seats in the waiting room and a doctor would be along as soon as possible to see them.
Five minutes, twenty minutes, sixty minutes; each time she checked the clock she could feel the itch, the itch to run out of here and never come back work its way through her body. Being in tune with her Angel held her hand tight and smiled kindly.
An hour and a half later a stout man came down the corridor and called her name, the pair of them followed him through to one of the examination rooms. The doctor wrote down the symptoms that she was describing and nodding along "Hmmm"
Not liking the tone he used her panicked eyes flew over to Angel, he reassured her with his calming look, not to jump to conclusions "What's wrong?" her voice came out strangely calm despite her insides twisting painfully.
The doctor smiled kindly "Well it could be a few things, if you don't mind we'll have to take some blood and take from there Miss Summers" seeing the look of pure hatred being sent his way he shrugged "It's the only way to positively tell us why you've been feeling this way"
Buffy dug her nails into Angels hand, she hated giving blood but knowing that he was right she nodded mutely "Okay, let's just get this over with" she rolled up her sleeve and frowned; the doctor got the kit and tied the tourniquet around her bicep.
Angel ran his knuckles over her cheek "You're doing great" once the doctor finished Buffy smiled warily. He told the pair that he would send the sample off with the highest importance and get the results to them as soon as possible.
Thanking the doctor, Buffy yanked on Angels arm and got them out of there as fast as they could. She remained silent on the journey home, even as he promised he went to the bakery and bought a box of cookies but she didn't touch them due to worrying.
That night she found sleep difficult, Angel eventually drifted off to dreamland leaving her with her thoughts, she was worried that she could be victim to the virus or that there could be something more serious brewing.
Each day the sickness would come, Angel would worry and continuously check up on her from work and the migraine remained, finally after four days of feeling terrible the doctor called and asked for her to come back to the hospital for the results.
When Angel arrived at the hospital she was sitting outside, crouched down to the ground away from the main entrance, she was taking deep breaths and shaking. He picked her up and hugged her "You'll be okay"
She looked at him warily "You don't know that" she whispered before resting her forehead against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her gently "He's expecting us" she nodded softly as he led her inside.
They were greeted kindly by the same doctor as before, he let the couple sit down for a few minutes in silence then asked whether or not she wanted to be alone for the results or if she'd prefer Angel to remain in the room.
She gripped onto his hand tightly "Angel has to stay!" her body relaxed when his hand glided up and down her back in a soothing manner, she smiled over to him and mouthed 'I love you'
The doctor nodded and opened the file, having a quick read "Well Miss Summers, the blood we took we sent for a few different types of testing… good news is it's not a viral infection, so you're a lucky one to escape the latest illness doing the rounds"
At Buffy's confused look he continued "The sickness, the migraines and the dizziness made me suspicious and the results have confirmed it… these symptoms are due to the changes in your body… congratulations you're pregnant"
The pair of them only stared at the doctor; he raised his eyebrow at them. Buffy's bottom lip wobbled "I'm pregnant?!" her eyes filled with tears as she looked to Angel who still looked stunned, she looked back to the doctor to see him smiling.
"Yes Miss Summers, roughly 12 weeks but we would have to take a scan and discuss a few details such as when your last period was"
Buffy licked her bottom lip "12 weeks? Shouldn't I have known before now? Come to think of it, I can't mind the last time I had a period" she scrunched her eyebrows together then laughed, she couldn't believe that she was finally pregnant.
She faced Angel and was surprised by him kissing her deeply; he kissed her mouth then her forehead and ran his fingers through her fair "Pregnant!" he smiled widely at her, feeling excited and beyond happy that this was finally happening.
"Oh!" she covered her mouth with her hand and looked at the doctor with worry "I drank alcohol two weeks ago and a LOT! Will that hurt our baby?!" she couldn't believe that she'd been reckless and drunk.
The doctor shook his head "It shouldn't if it was just a one off event, if you continually drink heavily then it could cause problems… speak to reception and they will book you in for a sonogram, here are some pamphlets and I hope you have a nice day"
The pair of them thanked the doctor then made their way back home via the reception desk, as soon as they entered Angel pulled her into his arms and backed her up against the wall with utmost care and kissed her.
His hand covered her still flat belly lovingly and he looked into her eyes, she looked just as, if not, even more excited than he was "We finally have our baby" Buffy's eyes glazed over with tears as she nodded "Yeah"
He was still pissed that the big boss called and summoned him to the LA office, it was a case of get here and get here now. Wilkins was a dick who only looked out for himself, it was like Buffy said, it was a shiny new project that had nothing to do with a promotion.
He was the boss at the office in Sunnydale and the proposal would be a job in the LA office, even if it did come to fruition he would decline, the hell mouth was their home; they wanted to remain there with their child.
Hearing Buffy crying over the phone had hurt him, he felt like a proper let down that he wasn't there – the job was only for a week right enough but the pregnancy hadn't been smooth. The migraines continued, then came the high blood pressure and swelling.
A few times she had been taken into the hospital to be monitored as well as the baby, thankfully the past week she had been okay but being a two and a half hour drive away, it would be difficult to get there quickly during rush hour.
Day three away from her and two hours into his shift he'd had enough, he went into Wilkins office and told him flat out he was leaving to be with Buffy. The older man wasn't amused and said he wouldn't get the promotion but it didn't matter.
Saluting him, Angel grabbed his bag and ran down to the parking lot behind the building, the sooner he got on the road, the quicker he would be with Buffy. Thankfully by the time he reached Sunnydale the rush hour madness just started.
"Buff?" he closed the front door over carefully then headed to the living room; standing still he let the silence of the room wash over him. He followed that familiar tingle up the staircase and into the bedroom where she was asleep.
Angel crept into the room, doing his best not to disturb her then kneeled beside her. His heart clenched to see her puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks; it appeared that she hadn't stopped crying once they had ended their call.
"Angel?" her small sleepy whisper disturbed him out of his reverie, he ran his knuckles over her cheek softly then gave her a sad smile "Sorry for making you cry"
Buffy closed her eyes at how miserable he sounded; she placed her hand on top of his and pulled it away from her face as she struggled to sit up. Immediately he got off his knees and helped her into a sitting position on the edge of the bed.
"It's not your fault, its these god-damn emotions…" she let out a small chuckle and wiped the sleep away from her eyes, taking a moment to look at his beautiful face her hand gripped the back of his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss.
Angel responded vigorously, hoping that he could convey how sorry he was for leaving in the first place "I missed you" he kissed her once more before resting his forehead against hers. Buffy smiled dreamily at him then winced "What's wrong?"
She chuckled dryly "Yeah" she looked away from him when he raised his eyebrow, not fooled by her answer "I uh…" she winced again and placed the palm of her hand on the bottom of her back "I've been having pains… for an hour or two"
She looked away from his incredulous gaze and chuckled once more before grinding her teeth at the pain that shot through her "Buff?!" she made a strained noise then finally looked at him "Angel" she scrunched her eyes shut, the pain was getting more frequent and beginning to hurt like hell.