5 Months since the fall of Sunnydale
Cleveland, Ohio 2003
Pet Adoption Center
Bent forward with his hands on his knees peeking into a clear glass window at the line of cages filled with dogs of all sorts of ages and breeds.
Xander scratched the top of his head still unsure why there were doing this. A dog was a lot of work, work that would most likely be thrown onto him.
A hand slid onto his shoulder and gently squeezed, turning his attention.
"Buf, are you sure this is a good idea?" He turned his good eye to his wife of five months. "I mean a dog?"
"Honey," Buffy began as she lightly combed her fingers through his dark hair, "we agreed."
Xander faced her and held his hands at her hips, "No, I seem to remember you telling me what you wanted and unleashing that puppy pout forcing me to say, yes."
"And it worked," she shifted to the tips of her toes and brushed her mouth against his.
"I don't see why we're doing this," he huffed.
Buffy ran her hands up and down his muscular arms, "I'm lonely." She admitted. "Since I can't fight or do much of anything while I'm pregnant, Dawn's off in England with Giles and Willow looking at colleges, and you're gone most of the day building the New Council. I want something to do."
"But a dog?" Xander felt a bit of guilt knowing that he put her under strict restrictions during the duration of the pregnancy.
As soon as they settled at their new home in Cleveland, Ohio, Xander persuaded her to stop patrolling for the sake of the baby. He knew she didn't patrol because she was desperate for a fight, but it was something to do—Something familiar after everything else in their lives was suddenly uprooted and changed.
She couldn't work at the New Council yet because it was still currently under construction. And she was trying to space everything out that had to do with preparing for the baby, as something to do during the week.
With all that in mind, Xander felt more like a jerk for being so firmly against the dog she wanted.
Releasing a heavy sigh, Xander folded like a taco and said, "Go on, pick our new dog."
The large grin that brightened her entire face was all that Xander wanted. He'd give her just about anything if she'd smile like that.
He watched her with a keen eye as she tossed her glance around the adorable set of barking dogs. Until her gaze set on a small German Shepard puppy in a cage playing with a chew toy, minding its own business.
"That one," she said with certainty. "I want that one." Her eyes were glued to the small puppy with a black and golden fur.
Xander held his hands on her shoulders and kissed the skin behind her ear. "Okay," he whispered and looked for an employee to help them.
Meanwhile, Buffy leaned in closer to the window, catching the young puppy's attention. She smiled softly and pressed the pads of her fingers against the window, "Hi, puppy."
Back Room
Sitting in the back room, waiting for the employee to bring the puppy so that everyone could familiarise themselves, Buffy held Xander's hand in her lap.
She mindlessly played with his fingers as her patience wore thin, she did not express any annoyance aloud, but Xander sensed it. It was easy to sense her agitation and he also thought that she needed to run to the restroom. She's been running there a lot during this pregnancy, the doctor jokingly warned her that she'd been going there more often as the pregnancy advances.
The door opened and a little bolt of energy, in the form of a puppy ran straight to Buffy.
Buffy smiled, catching the puppy into her arms.
"Oh, my goodness, you're a cutie!" She hugged the young dog and laughed as the puppy licked her face.
Xander watched the interaction with a tugging smile. More than anything, he loved seeing his girl happy. After everything that she's been put through these last seven years, the selfless sacrifices she's made, and the heavy and agonising burden of being the Slayer caused her, he just wanted to do something—anything to make her happy.
"Hi, there," Xander reached out to pet the puppy's head when the puppy suddenly growled at him. He quickly drew back his hand shocked at the sudden personality change.
Xander turned his eye from the puppy to Buffy, back to the puppy then to Buffy again with disbelief as the puppy resumed cuddling into Buffy's neck.
"Did you see that?" Xander shrieked.
Buffy frowned, "See what?"
"That-that-that—He growled at me!"
Buffy frowned and looked down at the sweet and adorable puppy and said, "No, he didn't."
"Uh, yea-huh, he did!"
Pinching her brows together, Buffy scratched the puppy's head looking down at it, "Did you growl at Xander?"
The puppy panted happily with its tongue sticking out and licked Buffy's face again.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Buffy cooed the dog, instantly in love.
"Seriously, you're just gonna ignore the fact that the dog that'll be in this family for the next… thirteen to fifteen years just growled at me."
"Little Braxton did no such thing," Buffy scratched the puppy's back.
Xander crossed his arms feeling unheard. He glared at the puppy with a deepening frown. "Little Braxton…" the puppy laying its head on Buffy's shoulder looked at Xander, "… Cujo is more like it." Xander could've sworn that Braxton was laughing at him.
4 Months and 1 Week Later
Harris Residence
"In New York City, where no good event gets going before 9:00 pm, it's a very bad sign when you get invited to something that starts at 9:00 am."
Sitting on the couch watching the television with Buffy's ankles were propped up on a small stack of pillows and a bowl of strawberries balanced on her very pregnant belly. Buffy released a deep breath and popped another strawberry into her mouth and ran her hand over the puppy laying partially on her lap almost asleep.
The front door opened and closed, "Buf, I'm back!" Xander announced walking into the home.
He put down the yellow hard-hat in his hand over the small end table nearest to the door. He held a plastic grocery bag in his other hand.
"You'll never believe what happened tod—" he entered into the living room to see his wife lounging on the couch.
"—Did you get it?" She interrupted him uninterested to hear his story from his day at work.
Knowing what he was getting into as soon as he entered the door, Xander reminded himself to remain patient. He reached into the plastic bag and handed her a jar of peanut butter.
Throughout the last nine months, his wife, who he loved with his entire heart was getting on his last nerve with her ever-changing mood-swings. One minute she's hot, then cold, then up and down.
The baby was overdue and Buffy ran out of patience. She barked at him constantly and blamed him for everything that wasn't right. Then in the next turn, she's crying in his arms with apologies and telling him that she loved him.
It was a coin toss of which Buffy he'd get at this point in the late pregnancy.
"Here you go."
He watched her spin the jaw cap off and finger she scooped up the peanut and stuck it into her mouth.
"Uh," Xander cleared his throat and continued, "a pipe burst." He quickly added, "Don't worry, it wasn't in anywhere important. Luckily, we caught it before any real damage could happen. It's fine now—"
"—Great story. Can you tell it to me while you're getting me a spoon?"
Xander scoffed, shaking his head and turned away from her. He headed toward the kitchen.
He came back with a spoon in hand and gave it to her.
She snatched it away and continued to eat the peanut butter. "What were you babbling about?" Buffy gestured for him to continue his story she was not interested in.
Be patient. Be patient. Be patient. Xander said to himself over and over again, desperate to keep himself calm. You love your wife. You love your wife. She's beautiful and she's funny and she's carrying your baby. You love your wife. She's not driving you nuts. She does not want to make you pull out all of your hair. You love your gorgeous, funny, wif—
"—Xander!"
Xander closed his eye, calming his rising annoyance, "Yes, dear?"
"What the hell is this?" She held out the jar of peanut butter.
"It's what you asked for, honey."
Buffy pursed her lips together, "No, this is creamy. I wanted crunchy. There is nothing crunchy about this. Looks like you screwed up again."
Angered at his wife's impatient attitude, Xander clenched his jaw, keeping his mouth shut and stood from the loveseat chair.
"I asked you to do one thing…" Buffy began to scold him.
Shaking his head, Xander reminded himself of how much he loved his wife.
"Fine. I'll go to the store again." His words were sharp with rising anger.
"What's your problem?" Buffy argued with him. "Is getting your overdue nine-month pregnant wife crunchy peanut butter too much for you?"
"I'm not biting the bait, Buf." He moved down the hall towards the front door. "I'm not biting." He opened it and slammed the door closed behind him.
Stuck in the living room, Buffy threw the peanut butter across the room.
She closed her eyes and ran her hand over her face. She knew that she was really, really overreacting. That in her right mind, she would never say or act this way or put blame on her perfect and overly patient husband. He's been so good to her throughout this long pregnancy.
But she was so uncomfortable, hot and cold, she needed to pee every ten minutes. She's desperate for this baby's arrival and for her crunchy peanut butter. Through all of these obstacles, she took it out on Xander, knowing it was wrong.
The baby was late—about a week late. They had done everything they could to get this baby out; long walks with the dog, Buffy ate spicy foods, drank special tea, even tried castor oil, and nothing worked. There was only one thing they hadn't tried. They haven't tried sex for a number of reasons. One being, Buffy couldn't stand the thought of being touched in this state, she was so uncomfortable and felt so unsexy.
In fact, she didn't want Xander near her. The thought of his body over, being so close her made her hot—and not 'hot' in the good way. Xander didn't really want to have sex with her, either. Not because she was pregnant, he was turned on by that fact, but she was just so up and down that he didn't want to get the living crap beat out of him because he put his hand somewhere she didn't want or he moaned too loudly and she found that aggravating.
Buffy felt bad—terrible even. Between her mood-swings, Xander also took on most of the brunt work with the New Council, building it and getting it running, so when Buffy finally returned, it was a fully functioning facility with Slayers-in-training, Watchers-in-training, and Witches and Warlocks-in-training. He never carried that stress home in fear it would upset Buffy and therefore, stress out the baby.
She wasn't mad at the peanut butter. In a sane mindset and not nine months pregnant, Buffy wouldn't have cared. She wouldn't have gotten irrationally angry at him. She would've found the gesture sweet because he went out of his way for her.
30 Minutes Later
Xander reentered the front door with a new plastic bag in his hand.
For the last ten minutes, he sat in the driveway racking up every scrap of patience he could possibly muster before he came back inside.
When he entered the house, he did not expect to see Buffy sitting on the steps of the stairs waiting for him.
Jeez, it's just peanut butter. He fought the urge to roll his eyes and closed the door behind him.
Buffy watched silently as he dropped the keys into a bowl set on the end table next to the door.
He reached inside the bag and pulled out a new jar of crunchy peanut butter. He handed it out to her which she accepted.
Buffy looked down at the peanut butter in her hands. It was the peanut butter she craved for and once again, he went out of his way to give her what she wanted.
"Thank you," she said, still looking down at the peanut butter in her hands.
Xander looked at her surprised by the sincere kindness in her voice that had been absent in recent weeks. "You're welcome."
"I'm sorry I snapped." She looked at him. "I've been doing that a lot lately. I'm just…"
"… Uncomfortable," he finished her sentence.
Buffy raised her brows with a nod with agreement. She set the peanut butter jar aside. She manoeuvred herself to stand on her feet.
Xander reached out to help her but she pushed his hand away. "I'm okay," she told him.
Her hands set onto her lower back as her green eyes lifted to his face. Buffy held her hand against his bristled cheek. She brushed the pad of her thumb under his good eye.
A small smile curved at his lips as he pushed the fallen strands of her golden hair from her hair clip behind her ear. He took a tentative step closer to her, careful not to set her off—which she was bound to do at any given moment.
She lifted her chin waiting for him to finish the short journey. Reading her mind, Xander lowered his head and tenderly brushed his mouth over hers.
She tasted like peanut butter.
Buffy closed her eyes, comforted by his kiss. Her hands slid up his firm biceps and twined around his neck.
Xander deepened the kiss and ran a hand down her back as his other cupped her cheek.
With a wanting need, Buffy's removed her hands from around his neck and to the front of his pants. She was determined to push her insecurities aside and get this baby out of her.
Xander held her closer into his front, though her protruding belly created a space between them.
He broke the kiss with surprise when her hand gripped his hardening cock. "Whoa, Buf, are you sure?" He asked her.
"Yes," her arm hooked around his neck, "you're getting this baby out of me." Buffy crushed her mouth against his.
Xander's hand slid down her hips, finding the hem of the stretch fabric skirt she wore. He started to lift it up her thighs when she broke the kiss and let out a breathless, "Oh God!"
"What?" Xander immediately removed his hands from her. "I didn't do anything yet." He said defensively, knowing that he'd probably get her wrath for no apparent reason.
"Oh, no-no!" She looked at him with wide eyes, "I think my water just broke."
"Your water?—Water? Water? The water that breaks and you go into…"
Buffy nodded her head, "Labor, yes, so now would be a good time to get the bag while I get the car keys."
"Bag…" his brain tried to catch up to the events that were happening.
"Xander!" Buffy's annoyed voice pulled him from his stupor.
"Right!" Xander stuffed his cock back into his pants and ran up the stairs. "I'll get the bag!"
Buffy rolled her eyes and stepped into the dining room where a black duffle bag sat. Xander has purposefully placed the bag there so it would easy to get to.
"Buf! I don't see the bag!" He yelled from the master bedroom. "Buffy!"
Buffy stood at the bottom of the steps with an expression of annoyance and slight amusement watching her husband run around in a panic.
"Buffy!" Xander came around to the top of the stairs to see Buffy holding the black duffle bag in one hand and a set of keys in the other.
He flew down the stairs and took the bag from her. He placed the strap on his shoulder and held out his hand for the car keys.
Buffy dangled the keys by her index finger then pulled her hand away swiftly when Xander tried to get them. "Calm down." She told him with an even-toned voice. "I don't want to get into a car accident on the way to the hospital because my overexcited husband was being well… overexcited."
Xander took a deep breath and released, calming his frazzled nerves and of course, his wife, who was now in labour was the forward-thinking one.
Proving that he was fine, he went to take the keys from her again, when she snatched them away. "Buf," he clenched his jaw.
"Breathe," Buffy looked at him without annoyance in her eyes but with love.
It was a look Xander recognised and instantly felt at ease by it.
"We're having a baby." She said with a soft whispering voice.
A smile tugged at his lips. He craned his neck down and kissed her one more time and took the keys from her hand. "C'mon," he gently held his hand against her lower back, guiding her out of the home and to the car in the driveway.
Cleveland General Hospital
Maternity Ward
Delivery Room
"Push. Push." The doctor encouraged. She sat on a stool between Buffy's parted knees ready to catch the baby as it came out. "C'mon, Buffy, push for five-seconds. 5… 4…"
Buffy squeezed Xander's hand and shouted, "3-2-1!"
Xander's eyes widen at the painful clutching grasp his wife hand over his hand. He didn't want to cry out in pain knowing that she was in far worse than him. He gritted his teeth keeping his cries of pain inside.
He was finally able to extract his hand from her grasp and give it a shake. He hoped nothing was broken.
"Oh God, honey, did I hurt you?" Buffy asked pushing her pain away, concerned for her husband.
"I'm fine." He was back at her side and pushed her damp hair from her forehead. "You're doing great, Bufster."
"Okay," the doctor began, "the next contraction should be in about twenty-seconds."
Buffy's head fell back against the stacked pillows behind her. "Oh God, I can't push anymore. I'm so tired." She whined.
Xander kissed her forehead, "Yes, you can. You can do it!"
"Here we go!" The doctor said with a smile.
"I hate you and your encouragement." She glared at Xander.
Xander laughed until Buffy took his hand again and tightened her grip, cutting off his laughter quickly. "Ow-ow-ow-ow…" he grunted.
"Okay, Buffy, keep pushing!" The doctor said, "I see the head!"
Xander's wide eye turned from the doctor and went to Buffy. It felt as if everything slowed down to a crawl. He didn't feel the pain of her hand squeezing his hand and the world went silent. He blinked his eye and watched Buffy use her might and push out their baby.
His mind drifted back to Sunnydale High School in 1997…
Sunnydale, California 1997
Sunnydale High School
Hallway
Stepping out of the library, Buffy was distracted as she rummaged through her bag when a student bumped into her as he ran by.
The contents in her bag fell out from her bag and onto the ground.
Frustrated, Buffy kneeled down, scooping the items back into the bag.
Xander watched the run-in and quickly went to he help her. He kneeled down beside her to help her.
"Can I have you?" He said and immediately reheard what just came out of his mouth. His face turned beat red as she looked at him with raised brows and a curved smile of slight amusement. "Dyeh—can I help you?" He tried to cover himself but the damage had already been done.
"Oh, thanks…" she said, appreciative of his assistance.
"I don't know you, do I?" Xander asked, trying hard to recover.
"I'm new. I'm Buffy," she said.
Xander felt his heart pounding in his chest. "Xander—is me. Hi," he swallowed his embarrassment.
With a small smile, Buffy said, "Thanks," as she stood to her feet.
Xander rose to his feet, unable to blink totally in love for the very first time. "Maybe, I'll see you around. Maybe at school, since we both… go there…" he wanted to stuff himself inside a locker and never come out.
Buffy looked at him oddly but amused, "Great. Nice to meet you."
Giving her a smile, Xander passed her the rest of her books and watched as she stuffed them back into her bag and hurried away.
Xander shook his head, unsurprised that a beautiful girl like Buffy would quickly leave his dorky butt behind. He felt she was obviously way out of his league.
"'We both go there…' Very suave. Very not pathetic." He noticed something left on the floor, probably from Buffy's bag. "Oh, hey, you forgot your…" he bent down and picked up a wooden stake, "… stake…" Xander eyed the stake, puzzled then back at Buffy to see her round a corner.
Present—Day
Cleveland General Hospital
Maternity Ward
Delivery Room
Xander snapped himself from his memories and looked at Buffy. More times than he could count, Xander couldn't believe that Buffy Summers was his wife and that they were having a baby.
He pushed her sweat matted hair from her forehead and pressed his mouth against her head. "Push." He encouraged her.
Buffy gave a hard push, using the remaining energy she had left. Despite her Slayer strength and pain tolerance, childbirth still hurt like hell, no matter what.
"Buffy," the doctor looked at her, "you're gonna have to push even harder, you're almost there."
"I'm sorry, I can't." Buffy caught her breath.
Xander kissed her head, "Yes, you can. I know you can do this. You're almost there."
"I can't. Please, do it for me."
With a tugging smile, Xander shook his head, "You are the strongest person I know. You can do anything, Buffy—including this. Push. One more time."
Buffy gritted her teeth and gave a hard final push finding whatever was left inside of her to do this.
Soon, a high-pitched wail of baby crying filled the room.
Buffy released a breath and tears immediately burst into her eyes, relieved that it was over and overjoyed to see her child.
Xander hugged his arm around her shoulder and kissed her damp forehead, watching the doctor hold the newborn.
"Oh my God, he's here." Xander broke away from his shock and looked down at Buffy. "He's so perfect."
Tearfully, Buffy nodded her head and watched as the doctor hand over the newborn to the nurse. "Where'd he go?" Buffy asked with worry.
"It's okay," Xander told her as his eye followed the nurse holding the newborn to a small table with a blanket ready to wrap him in. "They're just cleaning him up and wrapping him in a blanket."
"Oh, okay," Buffy felt at ease with that information. "But they have to be careful with him. He's really tiny."
Xander smiled into her hair and looked at the doctor carrying the crying newborn wrapped in a blue blanket.
The newborn was carefully placed in Buffy's arms.
"Oh…" Buffy let out a breath, "… he's so tiny." Her finger ran down the bridge of his little nose, instantly calming the newborn. "You didn't feel so tiny."
Xander gently brushed his fingers over the newborn's soft dark hair. "He has dark hair."
Buffy unleashed a tearful smile and looked up at him, "We did it," she whispered.
Looking deeply into her green eyes, he could easily get lost in. "I love you." Xander leaned forward and kissed her tenderly.
He broke the brief kiss and touched his forehead against hers.
"Do we have a name, yet?" The doctor gently asked, breaking the loving moment between the pair.
Buffy looked down at the newborn in her arms and said, "Joshua Rupert Harris."
Xander smiled and kissed the side of her head looking down at his newborn son, "Hi, Josh-y."
The newborn gripped his little hand around Buffy's index finger. She let out a tearful laugh she watched her new son slowly close his bright blue eyes.
Xander turned his eye to his wife with surprise as he listened to her sing softly to the sleeping infant:
"Wherever you go,
Wherever you may wander in your life,
Surely you know,
I always want to be there,
Holding your hand,
And standing by to catch you when you fall,
Seeing you through,
In everything you do,"
"Where'd you learn that song?" Xander asked.
Keeping her gaze over their song, Buffy smiled faintly with a bit of sadness, "Mom used to sing it to Dawn and me when we were little." With the tip of her finger, she gently touched Josh's brow. "I always thought she'd be here for this."
Xander touched the side of her head with his lips, "She is."
Pushing away her sadness for the loss of her mother, Buffy continued to sing:
"Let me be there in your morning,
Let me be there in your night,
Let me change whatever's wrong and make it right,
Let me take you through that wonderland,
That only two can share,
All I ask you is let me be there,"
Xander bent lower and brushed a kiss over the sleeping newborns head as he thought to himself, Life as I've known it has gotten a whole lot better.
Television Series Referenced:
"Sex and the City" episode 6; 'Hop, Skip, and a Week' season 6 2003
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode 1; 'Welcome to the Hellmouth' season 1 1997
Song Used: "Let Me Be There" by Olivia Newton-John 1973
