Title: Unwilling Bride

Author: Neamh1

Disclaimer: Not Mine

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, i love reading your feedback and the comments were excellent! Sorry but for those of you who asked i can't reveal whether or not you'll get to hear the letter Angelus left for Buffy, you'll just ahve to read on and find out for yourselves. Please keep the reviews coming, they are greatly appreciated.

Angelus received Molly's letter and wished that he could do as she had asked; he wished that he could leave his dirty manhole and go back to his wife but he knew that if he left now then people would die and it would be because of him. No, he would see this through to the end and hope that there was something left of his marriage to salvage when he returned.
He wrote Molly another letter telling her to call Willow within the next week and ask that she come and speak with Buffy, telling Molly that she should say nothing except that he had needed to go away on business and that his absence had resulted in Buffy's melancholic mood. He hoped that Buffy would speak with Willow and their talk would help her.

Back at the estate...
Buffy sat in her room on her bed. Awful couldn't begin to describe what she was feeling, and not the awful that she'd felt for the past six weeks since he'd left, but sick. She was tired but couldn't sleep because she felt she would vomit at any moment and she couldn't remember feeling this ill in a long time.
She had felt this way for the past couple of days and was actually considering asking Molly to send for the doctor as she couldn't stand another day of feeling this way.
She was considering whether or not to send for the doctor when there was a knock at the door. She didn't answer and when she heard her friend's voice on the other side her heart skipped a beat. She couldn't ignore Willow could she?

"Buffy? Please let me in. I'm alone and I really need to speak with you. Molly is very worried and now you've got me panicking. I won't leave until you open this door and if you make me stay out here all night I will make you pay." Willow said from the other side of the door, her voice muffled through the thick wood.

"Alright." Buffy said and slowly made her way to the door, knowing that Willow would wait there all night and if she made her do it there really would be hell to pay later.

Unlocking the door and standing to the side she let Willow in then closed and locked the door again. Turning back to her friend she attempted to smile,

"Buffy you look awful, are you okay?" Willow asked, taking in her friend's pale face and limp hair. She helped Buffy back to the bed when she saw her struggling to walk. "Buffy what's wrong? Molly and Angelus said that they thought you were just severely depressed but this is something more." Willow said more than a little concerned now that she'd actually seen her friend.

When she'd had the letter from Molly explaining things and asking her to come as soon as possible she had been concerned but at the same time, thought that the maid was simply being paranoid.

"I don't know. I feel awful." Buffy complained, and lay back on the bed only to quickly shoot up and empty her stomach contents into the chamber pot on her desk.

"Okay, that's it. I'm sending for the doctor whether you like it or not." Willow said and got up and left the room, she returned a few minutes later and told Buffy that she had sent Molly to get the doctor. She felt Buffy's forehead, thankful that she didn't have a fever. "How long have you been felling like this?" Willow asked.

"On and off for the past couple of days, sometimes I don't feel so bad and can eat something but its not long before it comes back up again and I'm sick. I hate feeling sick, pain I can take but I feel so weak when I'm sick all the time." Buffy said and Willow nodded knowing that the few times Buffy had been sick through childhood had always been difficult for her as she hated the feeling.

"Well Molly has gone for the doctor so I'll go call for a maid to get you another chamber pot. I'm just curious but what have you been doing if you've been this way for the past couple of days. Is this the first time you've brought up your food?"

"No, but I sneak out when everyone has gone bed and clean out the pot." Buffy said and Willow shook her head as she left the room to get a maid.

An hour later and the doctor had finally arrived with Molly; his buckboard was outside and he carried his small bag with his supplies inside. Asking Willow and Molly to leave Buffy's bedroom he asked Buffy some questions and checked her over. Willow and Molly paced outside the bedroom door waiting for the doctor to finish his business and tell them what was wrong. They both feared that it would be something serious, for perhaps the illness that had taken over her father had been unknowingly passed to Buffy and she was only now displaying some of the symptom's.
Finally fifteen minutes later the doctor opened the door and smiled to them then left without saying a word. Willow and Molly rushed into the room to find Buffy sitting on the bed.

"Buffy, what's wrong? Did the doctor say you'd be okay?" Willow asked.
Before she could get an answer from Buffy they heard a commotion downstairs and loud footstep's rushing up the stairs. Riley and several of the servants followed him inside her bedroom, the servants attempting to remove him from their mistress' bedroom.

"Buffy what's wrong? I just saw the doctor leaving and he wouldn't tell me what was wrong with you?" Riley asked and moved over to the bed, almost knocking Molly over in his process to get closer to Buffy. She tried to move away from him but her lack of strength and the queasiness in her stomach didn't aid her as he pulled her body into his arms and stroked her hair.

"Riley let go of me." she said and tried to push at his chest with her hands.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong with you." he said, not even budging at her pushing.

"Riley let her go." Willow said and attempted to pry his arms from around her friend but Riley pushed at her knocking her to the floor.

"Okay that's enough!" shouted a third voice and Riley was pulled roughly from the bed and thrown onto the floor.

Buffy looked gratefully into William's eyes and he nodded to her before grabbing Riley up from the floor and tossing him to the servants telling them to escort him outside.

When everyone had left the room but Willow, William and Buffy it was time for explanations.

"Where is he?" Buffy asked, wanting to know why Will was there but not her husband; was he really not coming back and was now sending William to deliver a personal message? The thought made her stomach churn and she leaned over grabbing the chamber pot and heaved, having nothing left to bring up she retched violently then sat back when she got herself under control again. She hadn't noticed Will rubbing her back as she'd been leaning over the pot.

"He's coming soon. Should be here before the end of the day, I left early to get here as soon as possible; he had to pass a message on before he started back but he told me not to wait. Lucky I did get here first; I think he would have killed the sheriff if he'd walked into that. What's going on? What's wrong with you luv?" William asked, noticing now how pale she looked.

"It's nothing really; I'll be fine soon. The doctor gave me something to take in my tea and said I should be feeling better in a few days," she said with a grateful smile to him. "Do you mind leaving me alone for a while, I want to get some sleep." Buffy said, feeling so exhausted she could hardly keep her eyes open any longer.

"Alright, if you need anything we'll be downstairs." Willow said and ushered the other two from the room.

"I'll be staying until after dinner so if you feel up to it perhaps you could join us in the dinning room later?" Willow said before closing the door wanting to give Buffy some time to think about it before she
could refuse flat out.
She snuggled down under the covers and got comfy, knowing that she would need to gather some energy for Angelus' return. She couldn't decide if she was glad that he was returning or not, everything was going to come out now anyway, she just hoped it would be over soon.
She couldn't think about it anymore, her mind slipping into grateful rest as her body relaxed and recuperated for the upcoming confrontation of the two lovers.

Four hours later...
Angelus reined his horse up outside the front of the estate. It had only been a few weeks but he realized how much he had missed the place whilst he'd been gone. But there was something that he had missed even more, or he should really say someone. He had ridden his horse to the point of exhaustion to reach the house early, not wanting to spend anymore time away.
Toby came from around the back of the house and took his horse from him and Angelus rushed inside and headed straight upstairs but Will's voice halted him before he could reach the top.

"Come down here for a while first, she's sleeping." Will said, Angelus took one last look up the stairs and went back down and followed Will into the parlor where he found Willow sitting drinking coffee. She sked us to leave her a few hours ago but she's still sleeping; we'd thought we'd leave her until dinner and ee if she felt well enough to come down. You got back quick."
"I rode hard. How is she?" Angelus asked, not wanting to get sidetracked from the topic of Buffy.

"She's been imputing her stomach the past few days, feels tired and looks really pale but she said the doctor gave her something to put in her tea that would make her better." Willow spoke up, she didn't actually know what was wrong with her friend but she didn't want to voice any concerns until she knew for sure.
Angelus ran his hand through his hair in frustration, all he wanted was to go up there and speak with her, hold her and comfort her. He was about to go when he heard pounding on the front door, exchanged looks of confusing passed between the occupants of the room and they all left the parlor in time to see the butler open the door and the sheriff and some of his men enter the hall.

"What's going on?" Angelus asked, trying to keep his calm at the intrusion.

"I've come for Buffy." Riley said stepping forward and approaching Angelus, a look of pure confidence in his eyes.

"Like hell." Angelus replied and Will quickly stepped up beside him to try and defuse the situation. At seeing the man flank Angelus' side, Riley's men moved forward ready to protect their boss.

"What's this all about Sheriff Finn?" Will asked, wondering what excuse the sheriff would come up for storming into their home; he knew it was in part because of his actions early. No man liked being put down the way Will had done him when he'd thrown him out of the house, but Riley had a deadly advantage over them. He was law here and his men would do whatever he said, they had no backup and despite what they did for a living. It would take a while to clear things up if Riley and his men were to drag them off to jail.

"You know damn well what its about," he fixed his gaze on Angelus. If looks could have killed Angelus would be dead by now, "You've kept Buffy locked up in that room whilst you've been away! You've mistreated her and made her ill and I won't let it continue. I'm taking her with me where she'll be safe." Riley said with a smile and indicated toward his men, "And these fine men are here to make sure you put up no argument."

"You and I both know that there's no way I'm going to let you take her away from me." Angelus said, looking way more calm than he felt inside, he was struggling to restrain himself from ripping into the sheriff.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Riley said. All hell broke out then, Willow was backed against the wall trying to avoid being punched as Riley's men
attacked William and Angelus trying to subdue them. Arms were flying everywhere as at least three men attacked William and Riley and one other deputy attacked Angelus. Furniture was broken and the noise drew out the staff that could do little more than stand around watching the fight.

Buffy was woken by all the commotion from downstairs and without thought she quickly got up form the bed and pulled her gown around herself and made her way to the top of the stairs. To say the sight that greeted her was a surprise was an understatement. The hall of her home had become a war ground and she could see poor Willow backed against the wall, a look of terror on her face as she watched the men fight. Buffy had no idea what had happened to have caused the fight but someone had to stop it and it didn't look like anyone downstairs was going to do anything about it.

"Stop this right now!" she screamed at the top of her voice and the men below paused and all looked up to her as she moved a few steps down the stairs.

"Come on Buffy quickly, I've come to take you back to the city, you can stay with me for a while until we can arrange a divorce for you." Riley said holding out his hand to her.

"You want to divorce me?" she asked quietly looking to Angelus, she felt like fainting and she was suddenly glad that she had never opened the letters.

"No love, your pathetic friend here thinks that I've been locking you in your room and mistreating you." Angelus said to her and she looked between the two and Riley nodded telling her that what Angelus said was true.

"Riley..." She said on a tired sigh, "Angelus hasn't locked me up and he hasn't hurt me...physically." She added looking to Angelus who looked down in shame.
He knew that she would be unhappy with him leaving but had hoped that his first letter would have eased some of the hurt, obviously he'd been wrong.

"But look at you! You look ill Buffy, and I've heard talk around town that you haven't been seen since he left. You don't have to cover for him, I'm here now, and I'll take care of you." Riley said and started toward her only to be pulled back by Angelus. The two struggled against each other and fists started flying again.

"I'm pregnant!" Buffy shouted and again everyone stopped fighting and looked at her. "I'm pregnant and it's made me sick, that's why I've been in my room, I haven't been well enough to go out and you are just making things worse." she said in tears and would have collapsed on the stairs if Angelus hadn't caught her from falling.
He looked into her eyes and saw how tired she was but she'd never looked more beautiful to him, "I'm so sorry, I'll never leave you again." he said and saw the hurt in her eyes even as he said it.

"Riley, I think you should leave and take your men with you, and I wouldn't come calling again if I were you." Willow said as she stood beside William facing the sheriff and his men.
Riley took one last look at the woman he loved cradled in the arms of another man before storming out form the house and mounting his horse. He knew that he had lost her; he had never had her to begin with though had he?

Angelus picked Buffy up and cradled her against his chest as he carried her back to his bedroom, "You've gone past my room." she exclaimed when he headed straight along the corridor for his own room.

"You'll be staying in my room from now on Buffy. You're my wife and it's where you belong, with me in my bed. We've got some serious talking to do." he said and entered his room, closing the door and settling them both on the bed keeping Buffy in his lap despite her attempt to move away.
She didn't have the energy to fight him and finally sagged against his chest after a few minutes of struggling.

"You don't have to do this you know," she said quietly, really not wanting to have this talk, especially not with her seated on his lap.

"Do what love?" he asked, brushing away a stray strand of hair and drinking in her face. It seemed like so long ago they were together, not just weeks.

"Be with me just because I'm having your child." she said and he turned her quickly around so that she was straddling his lap and he could look right into her eyes.

"That is not why I want to be with you Buffy." he said fiercely giving her a glimmer of hope but she dared not let it free and she tramped it down remembering how he had left without a word. "I...I Love you Buffy, I love you with everything that I am; I thought you knew that. I know that leaving without waking you and speaking with you face to face was a terrible thing to do and I'm sorry for the pain that caused you but I thought that my letter would have eased some of that pain and any doubts you might have had to my feelings for you."

"What? You mean the letter that arrived two days after you left me alone in your bed without a word to anyone as to where you'd gone or when you'd be back? What did you think I would be feeling!" she said sarcastically to him. How could he think that a letter two days late would make up for anything? It didn't make a difference that she hadn't read it, she convinced herself.

"Buffy what are you talking about? I left you a letter on the morning that I left, I left it on the table there." he said pointing to the bedside table which was void of anything but a lamp.

"I didn't see any letter," she said confused as he moved her onto the bed and got up going around to the other side of the bed. He looked around for a few minutes until he crouched down onto the floor and pulled something from under the bed. He held the letter up in his hand to her.

"Oh, that letter." she said as he handed it to her, it must have blown off the table or been knocked when I got up.

"Is that why you didn't read the others? Because you hadn't found this one and thought I'd just left you?" He asked, not moving back onto the bed just yet. Buffy nodded in reply feeling a little foolish for thinking such terrible things of him, but how had she known that the letter had been there? 'Perhaps if you'd opened the others' her subconscious said to her.

"Read it," he said, not moving from the other side of the bed.

With trembling hands she opened the letter and read his words, which had been meant for her the morning after they had made love.

My dearest Buffy,
I am sorry for not being next to you when you wake,
for not being there when you opened your eyes. It is
for urgent business that I have been called from your
side and had it not meant someone's life I would not
have left you for anything. I hope you can find it in
yourself to forgive me and I pray that you do not
regret our actions last night fore I cannot. As I
write this letter I watch you sleep and I've realized
something that had taken me far too long to
understand...I Love you. Your kind-heartedness,
courage and even your stubbornness has broke through
to the cold man that I was before and made me a better
person.
I promise that when I return I will never let my
business take me from you this way again. I hope to be
away for as short a time as possible and for your
safety I cannot disclose where I am going, but I
breath easy knowing that you are here and safe. Keep
my bed warm for me, for it will be the place I hope to
find you on my return.
Soon my love...
A

By the time she had finished reading the letter tears were flowing freely down her cheeks, she looked up into Angelus' eyes with a mixture of relief and love.

"I'm so sorry..." She started to say but he moved quickly onto the bed and put a finger over her mouth to hush her apologies.

"There's no need love, it's over now. I'm back and I'm not going anywhere without you again. Everything is going to be fine from now on. I love you." he said and kissed her forehead.

"I love you too." she replied and he raised her chin with his finger gently and pressed his lips to hers in a searing promising kiss.

"What did the doctor say to you?" Angelus asked, other thoughts filling his head now that he knew they would be okay.

"He said it was usual for some women to feel ill in the first few weeks but it should wear off. He gave me some herb to put in my tea, said it would soothe my stomach but wouldn't hurt the baby." she said, resting her hand over her flat stomach. She was still amazed at what they had created but she was also a little afraid, but at least now she knew that she had her Angel and things were going to be all right. They were having a child together.

His hand moved to cover hers and he smiled, "We're really having a child." he said, male pride and satisfaction filling him at the thought of her growing big with his child. He looked forward to the day when he would greet his son or daughter as Buffy gave birth and they prepared to spend their lives together as a family.

Three years later...
Buffy stood watching their daughter running in circles being chased by her uncle William. She laughed when he caught her and she heard her daughter's giggle as he swooped her up and swung her around in the air.

"She's as beautiful as you." Angelus said coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her wais. She leaned back into his chest, relishing in the feel of his muscled arms around her. They watched their daughter with smiles on their faces; her golden hair, long and wavy like her mothers, her dark chocolate eyes like her fathers; she was their pride and joy.

"Love?" Angelus asked, kissing her neck tenderly as his hands stroked her stomach and hips.

"Hmmm?" she answered being washed away by the feelings a simple touch from her husband could create.

"We should take advantage of the fact that Lily isn't paying any attention to us," he said, spinning her in his embrace to face him so that he could capture her lips.

"You had something on your mind?" she asked with a sly smile.

"You know I do." he said with a smile back and lifted her into his arms then sprinted back inside the house, not putting her down until they reached their bed.

Will looked up when he heard Buffy's laughter and shook his head as he watched Angelus carrying her inside as fast as he could.

"Where are mommy and daddy going?" Lily asked at his side, seeing what had taken his attention away from her.

"By the looks of it pet? They are going to get you a brother." Will said chuckling to himself, knowing that he would be in trouble later when Lily told her parents what he had told her.
He went back to playing with his favorite niece; it was likely that her parents would be busy for the rest of the afternoon.

The End.

AN: thanks to everyone who's stuck with me through this story and all the brilliant reviews i've recevied made it all worthwhile! hugs and kisses xx