"You owe me a new pair of shoes, brit-boy."

"No one told you to dress like you were having a date with Brad Pitt. We were attacking a Roxnor demon."

"It's known as a sense of style as opposed to your permanent sense of stodgy."

Angel trailed behind as they entered the Hyperion, one hand clutching his sword, the other pressed to his forehead. He wondered if vampires could have a tension headache.

"And another thing---" In a burst of superhuman speed, she raced across the lobby and grabbed the phone before anyone else had even realized it was ringing.

"How does she do that?" Angel whispered.

"Some sort of genetic mutation that allows her to hear sub-sonic phone vibrations."

Cordelia stuck her tongue out as she smoothly settled the receiver next to her ear. "Angel Investi – oh, hi." Angel noted that Cordelia's greeting was decidedly guarded. The rest of the conversation consisted of her saying um, ok and sure until she ended it by saying, "Yeah, I'll tell him". She then proceeded to fish a nail file out of her desk.

"Who was that?"

"No one."

Angel put down the sword he had started to clean and looked full on at Cordelia. "It didn't sound like no one to me."

"Just Willow calling to catch up."

"Willow? Willow Rosenberg?"

She rolled her eyes up briefly. "Know anyone else named for a tree? Yes, Willow Rosenberg."

"And she called to chat?" Angel's voice was getting the tiniest bit of an edge. Wesley had abandoned the book he was perusing and began to look back and forth between the two.

"Yes, chat. It's something that you wouldn't know about because you prefer to sit downstairs in that dark apartment of yours and hide."

"I don't hide, I think. And you don't chat with Willow because you're not friends."

"Of course we're friends. I've known her since kindergarten."

"Last time you mentioned her, you called her a two-faced boyfriend stealing witch."

"As if any of that was a lie."

Angel became completely still, his voice as dangerous as the edge on his sword. "What was she calling about? Telling me "nothing" – not the right answer."

"Are you threatening me?" She asked incredulously as Angel suddenly loomed over her.

"That's enough, both of you." Wes' shout of anger was so unexpected that both Cordelia and Angel turned toward him in surprise. "You, stop trying to intimidate her," he said pointing toward Angel while Cordelia gloated. "And you, stop being so childish and tell Angel what he wants to know."

Cordelia pouted for a moment before talking. "Giles thinks there's some big vampire hotel in Sunnydale. Willow thinks you should run there and help. I think Buffy's the slayer."

Angel had sat back down and was now hunched forward, hands steepled under his chin. Finally, he picked his head up and looked over toward Cordelia. "You're right, she doesn't need me running over there. Riley's highly trained and between the two of them it shouldn't be a problem."

Cordelia got an uneasy look. "Riley isn't exactly there. He had to go back to one of those vowel states because Bessie is giving birth. Do you think that's a cow or a person? Important thing is the slayer. She's still there."

"Buffy would have been hard pressed to take down a gang of vampires by herself when she was in top condition. And at 27 weeks, it hardly counts as her physical peak."

"You've been keeping track of her pregnancy?" Wesley didn't bother to hide his surprise.

"Of course not," Angel stammered. "I'm just good at math."

"Fine, run off." Cordelia waved her hand at him. "Stay there, I don't care. But when I have a vision…"

"I'll be there to catch you. " Angel said softly. "Buffy is always going to be important to me but Sunnydale isn't my home any longer. I'll be back seven, eight hours tops. Acceptable?"

She shrugged and looked away.

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWM

He had been shadowing Buffy for the last hour, but so far, not only hadn't any large groups of vampires materialized, nothing had happened at all. He was about to pack in it and go back to LA when a single vampire appeared. He waited, not because Buffy was going to need any help in this situation, but because he enjoyed watching her.

"So, you're the slayer."

"That'd be me. So any last words before staking time?"

"Didn't think the slayer would be so fat."

"Fat!" She was so incensed the vamp almost got the drop on her. "I am glowing with happiness." She punched him in the jaw. "A hallmark mom-to-be." A backspin ending with a kick to the stomach. "I am woman, hear me roar." A karate chop and the vampire staggered back. "Meanwhile you look like a metal hair band reject, more from the motley side rather than the crew." And with that, she plunged her stake straight into the vampire's heart.

Before she had time to dust herself off, she was surrounded by fifteen more vampires.

Giles had been right. The rumored nest was a reality.

Buffy took down the first four easily, but the remainder were acting as a unit, putting pressure on her. Even if she hadn't been pregnant, it would have been a difficult fight. With her added bulk and different center of gravity, two different vampires got in blows. Angel didn't wait another second and leapt into the fray.

They hadn't fought together in close to a year, but it might as well have been yesterday. They anticipated each other's moves, working together as a deadly unit. In less than five minutes the remaining vampires were dust.

"How did you know?"

"Willow."

She nodded. "Thanks."

He breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't angry with him for interfering.

There was no mistaking her pregnancy now, especially since she was wearing a loose pair of black pants and a white tank top. Her face was rounder, her hips had widened and, she appeared to have a basketball attached to her abdomen. Plus she was sporting beautifully large knockers which Angel was finding impossible to drag his eyes from.

"Angel!" She sounded both indignant and dismayed. "Are you staring at my chest?"

"No! Of course not….well, maybe a little."

"Why should you be different than every other guy I meet," she harrumphed.

"Giles has been staring at your…" he couldn't even bring himself to say it.

"No. Giles doesn't count. He's old."

Angel decided not to remind Buffy that he was five times older than Giles. "I'm sorry. I've got no excuse."

She shrugged. "I guess I should be grateful that for once in my life I actually have boobs."

"You always had boobs. Very nice ones."

"You don't have to try to cheer me up here, Angel. I'm aware that I've always been pretty flat chested."

"Size isn't that big a deal. It's –ah- more of a - a sensitivity thing." he stammered.

"Do you want to change the subject?" she smirked.

"Please, yes," he said gratefully. He was no longer staring at her chest (he was never going to stare at her chest again, he decided), instead his gaze dipped lower. He watched fascinated as her whole belly moved of its own accord.

She smiled as she realized what he was looking at. "Here, give me your hand." His hand almost spanned the entirety of her swollen abdomen.

"I can feel it." He was in awe. "I can feel the baby kicking."

"I still don't know how I got pregnant." They had both started walking back toward her dorm. "And I have no idea how I'm going to slay and go to school and take care of an infant. I don't even know how long I'm going to live." She put her finger to Angel's lips when she saw his protest forming. "But then I feel the baby, my baby moving and I know this has to be a good thing."

He nodded. In that moment he knew it was.