Chapter 2 - Stormy and turbulent

Lorne asked Angel to join them. The moment he set foot into the room, Buffy angrily demanded, "What did you do this time? Decided I needed a baby to have a normal life?"

"Baby?"

"I am not in the mood for puzzles, cryptic answers, riddles or anything else that does not qualify as a straight answer."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Buffy."

"I am pregnant. Care to explain?"

"Pregnant? You are pregnant?" Angel looked rather hurt.

"Yes."

"Um… congratulations," he barely managed to get out.

"No, wrong answer. I want an explanation. Now!" Buffy was livid.

Lorne could see that this wasn't going anywhere so he said, "Sweety here doesn't remember the conception."

"But, I thought you were dating that army boy," Angel said confused.

"I have not… Why does everybody think… Wait a minute, how do you know about Riley?"

Angel realized he had slipped up. Buffy would be furious knowing he was keeping tabs on her again.

Before things could get out of hand Lorne interjected again, "She has not actually had sex since… well… you."

Buffy gave Lorne a murderous glance. What else had the green demon been spying on while she had been singing?

Now Angel was really confused. Did she remember that day after all? "Me as in…?" Angel asked cautiously.

"You as in the night of my seventeenth birthday?" Buffy suggested sarcastically.

"Oh, that time."

"What the hell do you mean by 'oh, that time'?" Buffy asked, trying to hide how much that comment hurt. "The one and only time, if you actually need a reminder." It seemed like Angelus and Angel actually were in agreement over that night, since even Angel had tried – and obviously succeeded - to forget about it.

"God, I don't care anymore how I got pregnant or who the damn father is. I'm just glad it isn't you." Buffy screamed. She stormed towards the door.

As Buffy reached for the door knob, Lorne gave Angel a hard stab to the ribs with his elbow. When Buffy had opened the door an inch Angel finally said, "I think I might be the father, if you really haven't slept with Riley."

Buffy froze on the spot. Not turning around, she slowly and quietly closed the door again. Still not turning around and gripping the door knob for support, she said in a whisper, "What? What did you say?"

"I said-"

Lorne leaned towards Angel and whispered in his ear, "If you don't wanna screw up completely, do leave the second part out this time."

Buffy had turned when she heard them whispering. With a face like stone she just stared at Angel and waited for him to say something.

Angel had to contemplate what exactly Lorne had been referring to. His mind was in absolute turmoil over what was unfolding here. Thinking was not his strong point at the moment. Again, Lorne stabbed him with his elbow.

"I think I might be the father," Angel said, observing Buffy closely.

"Come again?"

"I… you don't remember, do you?"

"I already told you that I have no clue what is going on here," Buffy said close to tears. "But obviously you do." Again he had kept things from her. Even after all this time apart it hurt like hell.

"I… for a moment there I thought… maybe even hoped that you… How can this be?" Turning to Lorne he said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, you are the other part to this puzzle. I could feel it clearly."

"Oh, God, Buffy." Angel went over to where she was standing and wanted to embrace her, but she stopped him.

"No. You can't be the father of this child. Even if we had slept with each other, which we can't and didn't, since you are still you, and even if I wanted you to be, it's not possible. Right?" She looked at Angel. Looking at Lorne she repeated, "Right?"

"Well, cupcake, I know it sounds a bit strange, but I assure you, part of that child is him. How that is actually possible, I have no clue. But I am dying to hear this story." Lorne made himself comfortable in a chair, putting his feet up on the table and waited. Angel looked at him, motioning with his head for the door that he should leave them alone.

"No way, I earned it. Consider it my payment."

"Payment? You never charge for these things."

"Today is an exception."

"Fine, the short version. After that, you leave us alone." It wasn't a request.

"Well?" Buffy said.

"Remember Thanksgiving?"

"Sure."

"That day happened twice."

"Now that explains everything," Buffy said with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

"You don't remember the first time."

"I gathered as much."

"Although I thought you might have, when Lorne said before that you… that the last time you slept with anyone was… with me. For me that was only a few weeks ago, so I wasn't sure at first which time he was referring to, if you might have remembered." Taking a step closer to her, he whispered, "I would never forget that one night, Buffy. Never." He had noticed the flash of pain that had showed on her face for a second. "It's the most precious memory I own. Well, apart from…" Angel went over to the couch and sat down. He needed some distance between them. The memories of the day he had given back were an overwhelming bunch.

"In the first version of that day, I didn't kill the Mohra demon right there in the office. We followed it into the sewers."

Buffy snorted. Did everything damn thing in her life have to revolve around sewers?

"I came in contact with some of its blood. It made me human."

"What?"

"I was human. It took me a while to realize, but once I was sure, I followed you and found you at the pier. We went back to my place and talked, decided to take it slow, see what would happen, what it meant."

"You are kidding, right?" Buffy couldn't believe that she would have so much restraint.

Angel smiled. "No, but it didn't last long anyway. The next moment, we were making out on the kitchen table. We spent the whole day in bed." Angel sighed mentally. That had been the good part. Now came the bad part.

"Then, I went out to take care of the Mohra demon. It didn't work out the way I hoped. You had to save my life. After that I asked the Oracles to take back my humanity, because it would have ultimately meant your death. So they turned back the day and allowed only me to remember what had happened. I already knew how to kill the demon when it came through the window the next time and you know the rest."

For a long time, Buffy said absolutely nothing. Angel didn't dare to say another word either, not being able to read Buffy's reaction to what he had just told her. Even Lorne knew that his input was not desired at this moment. He just sat in his chair and tried not to make the least bit of noise to avoid any potential outburst being directed at him. He looked back and forth between Angel and Buffy, waiting for something to happen, but when that slight movement made his chair squeak, he even stopped that.

"You did what?" Buffy finally said, still trying to take everything in.

"I know you are angry with me, but… I did what I thought was best."

"For the last few weeks I almost got killed by amateur vamps, was worried sick about being impregnated by some evil power, thought I was going to die, take your pick. I even thought Giles had poisoned me again. I hardly was able to sleep and when I did, I had nightmares about what could be wrong with me."

"I didn't know you could get pregnant."

"If you had told me, or – here is a thought – had allowed me to remember as well, at least I would have had an idea what was happening to me. But no, you had to play save-the-world-on-your-own-and-be-the-martyr again, not letting me have any say in it. I am so sick of it. You put me through hell by not telling me."

"Buffy, please, I didn't mean to-"

Buffy held up a hand to silence him. Then she turned to Lorne. "You are sure I am pregnant?"

"Yes."

"You are sure the baby is fine?"

"Yes."

"Great, that's all I need to know. I'm finished here." She turned and left.

Angel ran after her. "Buffy, wait!"

"I can't talk to you right now. I simply can't. It's too much." She was really pregnant and Angel was the father. She got pregnant from a vampire. A vampire that had been human for one day. A day she didn't remember. A day that didn't exist. At least not anymore. But the baby was still here. She got pregnant from a vampire who for one day had been human and she couldn't remember. No matter how often she rearranged the facts in her head, they didn't make much sense.

Buffy made her way outside. Angel was still on her heels. "Buffy, I won't let you go like this. You could get hurt."

"I am just pregnant."

"I meant your slaying abilities. If they leave you again, you and the baby are unprotected."

"I just want to go home. I will still be able to drive a car. I don't need super powers to do that."

"Buffy, please. You are angry and I understand. But please don't drive like this."

"I am leaving and you can't do anything about it." Buffy turned to leave. But then she stopped and faced him again. "Wow, I'm having a déjà vu here, with role reversal though. How does it feel?"

Angel ignored her barb. "Let me drive you back to Sunnydale." He was not in a considerably better state of mind to drive, but still.

"I will not sit in one and the same car as you. What about 'I can't talk to you right now' is so difficult to understand?"

"You don't have to talk."

"I don't want to see you either."

That hurt. But Angel could see her point of view. "Okay, how about somebody else drives you back?"

"I will not burden anybody else just because you screwed up."

"Well, your car isn't even here. Mine is," Angel said a bit too smugly.

"Well," Buffy said in a voice just as smug as Angel's, "either you take me to my car right now or I will simply walk back."

Having no other choice, Angel drove her back to his place where Buffy had left her car. They drove in complete silence. Angel had thought that her anger would at least compel her to scream at him, to demand justifications or explanations from him. But she didn't utter one single word. When Angel stopped next to her car, she got out without saying one word or even looking at him. She slammed the door shut, got into her car and drove off.

Angel followed her. After a few blocks Buffy stopped and got out of her car. Angel slowed down and stopped as well. Buffy came over to the driver's side and with her arms crossed waited for him to turn down the window.

"Are you going to follow me all the way to Sunnydale?"

"That was the plan," Angel said calmly. He knew she would notice him following her and confront him.

"I am not that bad a driver."

"I just want to make sure you get there alright."

"I'll call when I get there, okay? I promise. Now leave me alone."

"Sorry, not gonna happen." He was sorry that he was going against her wishes by following her and aware that it would probably be counter-productive to getting her to talk to him. But he also knew that he would have no peace of mind if she went off like this. He could already imagine all the horrible scenarios of her driving too fast because she was angry with him and ending up in an accident.

"Fine, have it your way. I don't care if you waste your time and a lot of gas for no reason at all."

"Good, me neither."

"Damn it!" Buffy hit her palm against the door and yelled, "I can't deal with this right now!" Then she looked pleadingly at Angel and said, this time in a very weak voice, "I can't deal with this right now!"

Angel gently laid his hand on hers. Very calmly he said, "Buffy, I know that. I am not trying to push you. That's the last thing on my mind right now. I just want to see you get home in one piece, that's all. Please?"

Buffy took a deep breath and nodded. Angel very slowly removed his hand from hers, letting his fingers trail over her skin. Buffy turned and got back into her car.

When they arrived in front of Buffy's house, she got out of the car and quickly went inside, not once glancing over to where Angel had stopped his car.

Angel sat there for a long while, thinking about what he was gonna do. Buffy was pregnant. And he was the father. He had a hard time getting his head around this. It was unreal. He should drive back to LA and give Buffy some space. But ultimately they had to talk. About so much. He didn't even know where to start. Finally, Angel started the car. He only made it to the next crossing. He stopped the car again. He couldn't leave. It felt wrong. He started the car again and drove towards the mansion. It was all as he had left it, just a bit dustier maybe. He sat down on the couch and simply stared at the cold fireplace, unseeing. He would stay here. He couldn't leave. He would wait until Buffy was ready to talk.

TBC

Note:

Hope you liked it so far.

Next chapter: Angel has some convincing to do.