West Side of Cleveland: DeLuca Luxury Apartments: 11th Floor: Apartment #314
"When are you goin' to tell them?"
Buffy lifted her head from the magazine she had been reading on the couch. She looked at Graham from across the apartment, standing at the counter island pouring milk into the cup of tea he had prepared for her.
Buffy frowned, catching the hurt look flash across Graham's face. "Not yet."
Graham carried the cup of tea in one hand and a beer bottle in the other.
"Thank you," Buffy accepted the tea as Graham sat down.
"Buf, before we know it, it's gonna be really hard to hide your belly. And they're gonna wonder who the guy is that knocked you up."
"Jeez," Buffy frowned with an impish smile, "you make it sound so raunchy."
"Honey," Graham began to smile, "the things we do together are pretty raunchy. You are very adventurous." He teasingly winked at her. "Which is great for me," Graham said, sitting back and taking a sip of the beer in his hand.
"Shut. Up." Buffy's cheeks reddened with embarrassment.
Graham looked at her. "Seriously, Buf, they're gonna find out sooner rather than later." He removed his arm from along the back of the couch when a thought entered his mind. Graham solemnly lowered his gaze to the beer bottle in his hands. "Do you not want to tell them 'cause you're embarrassed of me or somethin'?"
"What?" Buffy frowned and put the tea cup down on the coffee table. "No, of course not." She shifted closer to him and circled her arms around his neck. "I'm not embarrassed of you or-or ashamed—in fact, sweetie, I am very, very proud to be with you. I just want to tell everyone in my own way. What about us?— About the baby… Do you want everyone to know?"
With a chuckle, Graham said, "Summers, I wanna shout it from the fuckin' rooftops. I want everyone to know. I want everybody to see the woman I love carryin' my baby." He rubbed a hand over her flat stomach. "Absolutely."
"Will this shouting off the rooftops be in the direction of Riley?" Buffy asked, the smirking smile on Graham's face slowly fell away. "Right…"
Graham rubbed a hand over his face and tried to explain himself, "It's not like I'm hidin' you or that we're together, it's just…"
"You don't want to hurt him?"
"The guy was madly in love with you, Buf. If he knew that not only are we together and happily in love but we're havin' a baby…" Graham shook his head, "I-I couldn't hurt him like that." Rubbing a hand over his face, Graham released a heavy sigh, "I know it doesn't make any sense and that he's moved on but… It doesn't matter how well you moved on with your life, a cut like that—from someone you were in love with it still hurts, y'know?"
Buffy understood his reasonings. To show him that she understood, Buffy held a hand to his bristly cheek and nodded, "You tell him in your own way, like how I'll tell the gang in my own way. But just so you know, Miller, I am madly in love with you."
Graham took her hand touching his cheek and brought it to his lips, "Right back atcha, babe."
"I do want them to know," Buffy told him, pressing her forehead to his. "I want everyone to know."
A small smile twitched at Graham's lips. He closed the small space between their mouths with a soft kiss, taking his time to savor the feeling and taste of her lips against his own.
The Council Headquarters: Lower Level #1: Library
Entering into the redbrick, Victorian library, Buffy moved her eyes around the large room in search of Watcher's doing their studies.
There were a few students sitting at long tables, with their noses buried deep into the demonology textbooks.
Buffy's gaze landed on Giles standing at the library's help desk. He was looking through the stack of books, which had aided him in his own research.
Inhaling a deep breath, Buffy pushed herself from where she stood and crossed the long distance between her and the help desk.
As she passed, a few heads lifted from the books and looked at Buffy with startled large eyes. The Watcher's that were in training were startled to see the Vampire Slayer in the library, since she was rarely spotted in such a place. Most of her time was spent either locked away in her large executive office, travelling to secret locations across the world for various meetings, or down in the Pit.
Giles lifted his head from the books he was checking back into the library and gently smiled at his former charge. "Oh, Buffy," he said, genuinely happy to see her, "it's good to see you."
"Yeah," she tried to smile at him, but her nerves were getting into her way. "Um, Giles, I came here for a reason."
"Oh?" He closed the book that had been opened in front of him and gave her his undivided attention. "What is your reason then?"
"Well, you." she answered. "You're my reason."
Giles' smile slowly fell with concerned uncertainty. "Is everything alright?"
"Um…" she looked around, feeling the eyes of the Watchers' studying on her back, "... yeah. Can we talk?—In private. I-it's important."
Pinching his brows together, Giles frowned, "Of course," he stepped out and around from behind the help desk. He held out his hand, gesturing to the back office.
Buffy closed her eyes, forcing herself to push past her nerves and talk to the Watcher. She followed Giles into the large office.
Giles' Office
Crossing the cherry wood office, Buffy's eyes moved around the beautiful and masculine room. Books aligned the shelves that wrapped around the office. A large cherry wooden desk sat at one end of the office.
Buffy followed Giles to the fireplace and sat down in light brown leather chairs.
She sat down and watched Giles move to the drink chart. He poured himself a small glass of scotch and looked at Buffy silently offering her some.
Shaking her eyes with amusement, Buffy declined and instead, Giles poured her a glass of water.
"Now," Giles began as he sat down with his drink in hand and smiled at Buffy. "What is that you wanted to talk about?" He asked, taking a sip of the malt whisky.
Putting the glass of water down beside her on a small table set in-between them, Buffy looked at the older man and cleared her throat. "Um…" she looked down at her rubbing hands, "... As you know for the last few weeks I haven't been feeling well."
Giles slowly nodded, without vocally responding.
"I went to the doctor and she did a few tests and, uh…"
"What is it?" Giles asked.
Buffy lifted her eyes to the Watcher's face and felt utterly terrified. She suddenly left like a sixteen year old again just about to be scolded by her father.
"Buffy?"
Buffy swallowed and opened her mouth to say, "I'm pregnant." Her gaze fell away from his face, unable to take the look of disappointment on his face.
After a minute, Buffy lifted her gaze back to Giles' face and saw that he was softly smiling at her. It was the reaction she had expected at all.
"I assume Graham is the father."
Buffy blinked with genuine surprise, "Yeah—How-how did you know that?" She asked with utter bafflement.
Giles wolfishly smiled with a low chuckle, "It was only a matter of time between you two. Anyone could see that."
"Really, you knew?"
"Not yet, but," Giles placed the scotch glass on the table beside her water and looked at her, "I see the way he looks at you. Even a blind fool could recognise his affections for you."
Buffy looked down at her hands in her lap, unable to help the smile on her face.
Giles watched his Slayer gently smile. It was a look of love that was etched into her features, it was a look he remembered well, but a look that rarely ever showed on her face. "I know only one other man that could make you smile like that. It was before you truly knew the evils of this apocalyptic world in which we live."
Instantly, Buffy understood who he was talking about—Angel. It was getting harder to remember, but there was a time before the collapse of Sunnydale, before her second and much more permanent death, before the utter heartache, a time before she knew of a curse that would ruin and change everything. Buffy was innocent to her destiny's horrors.
That time was harder to remember that now, but she recognised that air of innocence in her relationship with Graham. It was easy, filled with love, and understanding. It excited her and made her feel good and confident about herself.
"I have to ask," Giles' voice took her from her thoughts as she looked at him again. "Does he make you happy?"
Her throat clenched with emotion, feeling as if she could cry for the actual joy that she felt in this last month. "He does. We haven't been together long at all but," she paused then said, "Graham makes me happy. I love him."
Giles smiled at her with fatherly approval.
"Now, I have something to ask you," she began. "Could you—I mean, would you be the grandfather to this baby?"
Giles' heart fluttered in his chest. He felt overwhelmed with emotion, touched by the gesture.
He reached to her hand and wrapped into his own. "I would be honoured."
Tearfully smiling at the Watcher, Buffy gave his hand an affectionate squeeze.
Lower Level #4: Armory: Firing Range
Aiming the modified military issued Beretta M9, in which Graham had let weapons department engineers or 'squints' as Graham fondly nicknamed them.
With a few squints standing behind him holding clipboards, Graham closed one eye and fired the pistol at the target.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
The target on a reel came forward, as Graham checked the bullets in the magazine.
"Wooden bullets," Graham looked at the weapon engineers behind him.
"It's state of the art, sir," one of the engineers said. "We are using this Beretta M9 as well as a few other guns as prototypes for the future of our weaponry. I know, Miss Summers is not fond of guns but… with someone of your expertise and experience with firearms would be a great use for us."
"Agreed." Graham aimed the pistol in his hand again and fired at the target when the gun range door opened.
Giles stepped into the room and watched Graham fire the altered gun at the target with perfect aim.
Sensing that someone else had entered, Graham turned to see Giles standing at the door. Wearing a look of surprise, Graham was half expecting to see Buffy standing behind him,
Looking at the squints, Graham nodded for them to leave.
The engineers scurried out of the gun range, leaving Giles and Graham alone.
"You have very good aim," Giles said, stepping forward as Graham turned his back to him and took apart the modified pistol with great care.
"Uh, thanks," Graham said and released a breath before turning to face the older man. "I guess Buffy talked to you."
A small smile twitched at Giles' lips. "How could you know that?"
"'Cause since I've been here, not once did you ever come talk to me on your own."
"I apologise for that," Giles put his spectacles back on.
Graham shrugged, "Nah, don't be. I could've tried too."
Giles gave the former Special Forces officer an appreciative nod, "Very well. Buffy came to me and told me tha—"
"—I know, you don't think I'm the guy for her or-or that I might leave her or somethin' but I won't. I love her. I'm gonna do right by her and our baby."
Smiling softly, Giles looked at the man that had captured his Slayer's heart carefully.
Giles removed his glasses and took out a handkerchief from his pocket and began to clean the lens. "On the contrary of what you may think, I happen to think you are rather very good for Buffy."
Graham frowned with surprise, "You do?"
"Yes, I do." Giles looked at the blue-eyed military man and slipped his glasses back on. "I don't need to tell you that Buffy has not had the easiest life since she was called. In fact, life has been rather very cruel to her. She has been betrayed by her closest allies and she's been forced to make sacrifices that no one should ever have to make. Her trust has been violated too often. And her faith in love and in life has also been desecrated too many times for a woman of her age. She tries hard not to show it but she's been walking in a black mist for some time."
"And you think I'm good for her?"
Giles nodded with a kind smile, "Yes, Graham, I think you are very good for her because for the first time since she was seventeen years old, Buffy is happy. She is genuinely happy. And I do not think it's presumptuous to say that you, Graham are the main reason for that. You have restored her faith in love. You have given her something to not only look forward to but to believe and trust in again. Thank you," he told the younger man.
Graham stared at the Watcher, unsure what to say. More than anything, he felt determined to make Buffy happy. "She's helped me, too. Loving her…" Graham lowered his gaze down to his hands, "... revived me. She brought me back to life."
Taking a step towards his surrogate son-in-law, Giles laid a hand over Graham's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "Perhaps, Graham, this is where you were meant to be all along."
"That's what I think too." Graham tossed the older man a small smile, accepting Giles' quiet approval.
