A/N : Before everybody goes crazy, this story will be Spuffy, not Bangel! That is a promise. I just had to deal with the fact that once upon a time Buffy and Angel did have a thing. Anywho, on with the fic, and please keep those reviews coming, because they are very appreciated!
Chapter 5
"Well, honey, how on Earth did this happen?" Halfrek asked as she handed her best friend a tissue with which to dry her tears.
She'd found the bottle-blonde on her doorstep when she'd arrived home from a good night's vengeanceing. She'd had no idea dear Anyaka was still living in Sunnydale until last week when they ran into each other in town. Hallie was only there for work, the Hellmouth was a great place to track down troubled kids with parents and authority figures they wanted to punish.
On finding Anya outside her house, tear-stained and alone, she'd been a little worried about what might've happened to her. Her shock had risen doubly when her old friend announced she was pregnant, hence the question she asked now.
"It's called sex, Hallie" Anya rolled her eyes, "And when you have it without protection of some kind eventually you end up with a child growing inside of you"
"Yes, Anyanka, I know how it works" Halfrek joined in with her own eye roll, "But I would've thought you'd be careful, that you didn't want the patter of tiny feet around you and your man"
"We didn't really talk about it much" Anya shrugged, "The wedding is taking so much planning and so much of our time lately" she admitted, "We always used condoms and everything was fine till last week when I checked my dates and realised I hadn't bled like I was supposed to, which by the way is one of the many disgusting human habits I hate trying to get used to again!" she complained, "At first I thought yay, no grossness this month, no pain, no moodswings, and then I got worried because y'know it's a little strange to not have the routine you're used to"
"So, did you go see a doctor or...?" Hallie prompted when her friend went quiet again.
"No" Anya looked strangely at her, "Why would I see a doctor? I'm not sick" she shook her head, "I just, I went to the library and I found this book about human females and the cycles and things that we human women have" she explained, "and then I realised 'oh my God I might be pregnant!'"
"Well, what did, er... Xander say when you told him?" Halfrek asked, struggling to remember the name of the strange human male that Anyanka had taken such a shine too. He really didn't seem much like her type, but then whatever made her happy was fine with Hallie.
"That's the point, I didn't know how to tell him" Anya sighed, "At first I thought he'd like the idea, I mean he's pretty good when we help out with Spike's baby, Annaliese, but I don't know how he'd react to knowing I was going to get all fat and irritable and then shoot out a spawn of our own" she said worriedly, "And then we got into this fight, and he blamed my hormones for my moodswings and I just got so mad at him, and then I ended up here" she explained to Halfrek who nodded sympathetically but really wasn't sure what to say.
It was a couple of hundred years now since she'd last been human, and the world had changed a whole lot since then. These days women had options when it came to pregnancy and babies, but since she and Anya had never really talked about this kind of thing before, she wasn't sure that giving an opinion either way on this situation would end well.
"Sweetheart, I wish I could help you with this" she sighed, picking up her friends hand in both of hers, "but honestly, honey, I think you're going to have to figure this out with Xander"
"I know" she nodded, "I just wish there was a way to make everything okay, y'know like with money or a spell. Human life is so difficult and complicated sometimes"
Xander stared into his third cup of coffee as if it held the answers to the universe and everything. Of course it didn't, but he was kind of hoping that if he kept this up long enough eventually something would happen, something mystical or magical that would take away his problems. Here he was, a twenty-one year old guy, steady job, beautiful fiancee, a group of dependable friends, his own place, most men would kill for a sweet set-up like that, but Xander was having a little trouble seeing the many upsides to his life right now. The only thoughts that filled his head were related to babies.
It seemed Anya was pregnant, and if that was the case that meant the young Mr Harris was going to be a father. Most fathers he knew weren't exactly people to use as role models. Buffy's Dad left for a secretary when she was fifteen, Will's father had little time for her amongst work commitments and his religion, Tara's whole family were crazy with a side of weird, especially when it came to raising girls, and Xander would rather not think about his own father. The elder Mr Harris had been less than loving, and usually spent his time yelling at either Xander or his mother, often the result of too much alcohol.
All this in mind, Xander couldn't imagine himself in such a role. Picturing himself as a husband was confusing enough, and despite the fact he'd been the one to propose to Anya, the day they all went into battle against Glory, he realised right after that he really had not thought it through at all. Sure, he loved Anya, that wasn't even an issue, but the whole marriage thing was a much bigger deal than he'd really considered, and now a baby, it made Xander's head spin and his stomach lurch just thinking about it.
Of course the right and proper thing to do would be track down Anya, wherever she'd gone, and get this figured out. Talk over the options, probably bring the wedding forward so they were married before the baby came, try harder for the possible promotion at work, since it was likely they'd need the extra money more desperately now, then start child-proofing the apartment, buying a crib and clothes and all those other things that just over a month ago the gang had clubbed together to buy for little Annaliese.
Spike's daughter was surprisingly cute and cuddlesome, a long way from being like her parents in those respects. Xander loved the girl he thought of almost as a niece, though the connection he made came through Buffy rather than Spike. She played Mommy so easily, and the vampire had settled into the father role without too many problems. It amazed Xander how grown up they could both be, how responsible. Whilst he was perfectly capable of looking after himself and even Anya to a degree, knowing that in less than a year he'd have a baby to care for, a small being that depended on the money he earned, the love he could give, it was scary to a factor he never would've imagined it could be. After all, Xander had faced some of his deepest fears whilst living here on the Hellmouth. From the trivial like clowns to the real evil like master vampires and hell-gods, though he told himself he'd seen everything and there was nothing left to scare him, he realised now how wrong he was.
"Can I get you anything else, sir?" a waitress asked as she came over to his table.
Xander's eyes flitted up to glance at the blonde who smiled brightly at him.
"A pill that makes all the confusion go away?" he asked, the corners of his mouth lifting just slightly at his own attempt at humour.
"Sorry, we're all out of those" she smiled back, feeling bad for the man she'd been watching these past two hours together as she worked her shift and he downed three cups of coffee, a sip at a time, looking so lost.
"Then I guess I'll pay for this and go" he said with a sigh, pulling out his wallet and flipping it open.
As he handed over his cash, he spotted the picture of Anya and himself that he always kept close to him. They looked so happy, so young, so carefree. All that was about to change if she was having his baby, and he simply did not know what to do.
Xander got up from the table and walked down the street, not really looking where he was going and accidentally bumping into a man coming the other way.
"Oh, excuse me" the older gentleman said in his English accent that Xander barely paid attention to as he also apologised and looked around trying to get his bearings.
A bus pulled up beside him and the driver spoke.
"Hey guy, you in or out?" he checked and Xander realised he had actually stop right by the sign for the bus stop.
Taking one last look around he made a snap decision and leapt up onto the bus that would take him straight out of town.
The atmosphere was less than comfortable at 1630 Revello Drive. Spread around the living room and kitchen were a variety of people, some with books, some sharpening weapons, most trying to steal a glance at the person across from them without them noticing it. Annaliese and Connor were both surprisingly quiet, which nobody minded since they really needed to concentrate. Willow and Tara were still outside hours after they'd started, trying out different protection spells and barriers that should keep the babies and their protectors safe from harm as they waited like sitting ducks for Holtz, or anyone/thing else that might attack.
Buffy and Spike shared the couch, pouring over books that were strewn across the coffee table. Angel and Cordy shared the space across the room, she keeping an eye on the babies and also researching, whilst he checked his weapons and kept an ear and nose out for approaching enemies.
Through in the dining room, Wesley, Fred, and Gunn worked on other plans of action, both men stealing glances at their female friend whom they were both very attracted to, neither realising that despite appearances, the only one she really had eyes for was Wes.
"Bloody book reading's givin' me a headache" Spike admitted in a low voice that only Buffy ought to hear, though it was likely Angel was picking up on it too, "'S not exactly my speciality, much better with an axe than a bleedin' library book" he sighed, closing the particular tome in his hand with a thud.
"Preaching to the choir" Buffy agreed, "and it's not like we're finding much anyway. I guess you and Angel really did defy all logic, reason, and even prophecy this time with the baby haveage"
"Looks like" Spike nodded, "Makes a change for me to do somethin' first, before old soul boy comes charging in with his latest trick"
"You two are impossible" Buffy rolled her eyes, smiling slightly, "How is it possible for two people who are like more than a century old to be such kids when they have to share living space?" she asked, giving him a look.
"We never got on" Spike shrugged his shoulders, looking across at his grandsire, "and now... well, maybe we've got too many things in common" he said, shifting his eyes back to Buffy and making his meaning very clear.
"Spike..." she sighed, really not wanting to deal with this right now, especially when it was likely Angel could hear every word from across the room.
"Can't help what I feel, luv" the bleached blond told her, getting up from the couch, "Anymore than your old mate the cheerleader can" he said, with a look as he walked away from her.
Buffy stared at Cordy for a moment and considered what he'd meant by that. Angel and Cordelia had seemed a little coupledy when they arrived but less so since they'd been staying in the house. Could it really be that she'd fallen for the same vampire than Buffy had been so head-over-heels for? Before she had much of a chance to contemplate that question, the phone rang in the hall and she moved to answer it quickly before it disturbed the children.
"Hello?" she said as she took the call, really hoping it would be Giles, after all she'd left various messages for him over the past day or so and as yet had received no reply.
"Hey there, honeycakes" said a cheery voice on the other end of the line, "Now those honeyed tones tell me you must be the gorgeous Miss SlayerGal herself"
"Who is this?" she asked warily, not recognising the voice at all.
"Pardon me, kitten, where are my manners? My name is Lorne, and I'm one of your good buddy Angel's pals from LA" he explained, "Could you maybe put our great leader on the line, or one of the other fabulous crew so I can talk to them about a teensy little problem we're having here in this our angelic city?"
"Okay, sure" Buffy said uncertainly. She put her head around the door to where Angel and Cordy were but they had both abandoned what they were doing and were now playing with Connor, talking in baby voices, and looking so damn cute, "Um, Wesley?" she called through to the dining room instead, "Call for you" she forced a smile as she handed him the phone, "Some guy named Lorne"
"Lorne?" Wes was frowning as he took the call, "Is everything alright?"
Buffy left him to it, and wandered through to the kitchen where Spike had headed to. He was sat on the counter when she found him, looking around the room as if it were full of people when of course it was empty.
"Havin' a funny sort of a flashback sat here" he smiled slightly as he felt her presence in the room, "Your Mum stood here, the Little Bit on the stool" he gestured to the position they'd once been in, "Things change too bloody quick" he sighed, eyes going to the floor.
Buffy felt the same pain he did, the loss of too many people, the shattering of too many dreams.
"Hey" she said as she appeared in front of him, "It's all going to work out" she assured him, managing a smile as he met her eyes, "I don't know how exactly, but it will. We're not going to let anything happen to Annaliese, I swear"
"I know" Spike nodded, forcing a smile back at her as his hand went to her cheek then brushed some lose strands of hair from her face.
Their would-be moment was unfortunately shattered as Wesley came through to the kitchen with Gunn and Fred right behind him.
"Is everything okay?" Buffy checked, shaking her head clear of the daze she'd found herself in for a moment there.
"Not as such, no" Wes admitted.
"Seems we got trouble back in LA" Gunn explained, "Bunch a big nasties tearing up our town"
"I've talked it over with Angel" Wes went on to say, "Since it seems likely that most of the demons or people that might attack to take or harm Connor are gone, he thinks it would be safe for the three of us to go back to LA and deal with the problem there" he told the Slayer and vampire, "He and Cordy would stay here with the baby if that is agreeable"
"Sure, that's fine" Buffy agreed, thought honestly she'd be glad when this whole mess was over, and she knew Spike felt just the same.
To Be Continued...