Angel wrapped his arms around Buffy's shoulders and led her to his car. He
fished his keys out, opened the passenger door and helped her inside. Just as he was getting
behind the wheel another contraction hit Buffy. He started up the car, peeled out of the driveway
and sped towards the hospital.
" Angel!" Buffy cried gripping his arm in fright. " I'd like to make it to the hospital
in one piece" " Right sorry." He slowed down but now he was going too slow." " Not that slow!"
She said hitting his arm. " At the rate you're going I'll be having the baby in the car!" " Sorry."
He said grinning sheepishly. Buffy smiled and shook her head. " Its ok."
The rest of the ride to the hospital was silent, and thankfully Buffy only had one
mild contraction. When they got to the hospital Angel pulled into the ambulance zone. Two
interns were on break so he rolled down the window and called to them. " My girlfriend is in
labor. Can you help us please?"
The intern closest to the door rushed inside and brought out a wheel chair. He
opened the passenger door so Buffy could get out and helped her to sit down. " Thank you."
"You're welcome miss." He turned to Angel. " You go park the car and I'll take her to the check
in desk." Angel nodded and drove off to find a parking space.
When Angel walked in the hospital ten minutes later he was upset to see Buffy
still waiting to be helped. " Hey. Why aren't you being helped?" " The nurse at the counter told
me to take a number and wait my turn." " I'll take care of this." He wheeled Buffy to the counter
and cleared his throat to get the nurse's attention. She ignored him. " Excuse me? Excuse me!"
The nurse walked up to them annoyed. " Can I help you?" " Yes, my
girlfriend is having a baby." " I can see that. But like I told her you have to wait your turn."
"You don't understand, she's in labor right now." The nurse was about to argue her point when
another contraction hit Buffy hard.
" Ow!" She whimpered holding her stomach. The nurse walked over and
looked at her concerned. " Has your water broken yet honey?" Buffy nodded. " How long ago
was that?" " I'm not sure. I woke up and discovered I was soaked and figured my water had
broken." " How long ago was that?" " About an hour and a half, maybe two."
" Ok sweetie we're going to get you up to a room right now." She
motioned for a passing intern to come over. " Can you take miss..." " Summers." " Can you take
Miss Summers to a room in maternity please?" The intern nodded and wheeled Buffy away.
Once Buffy had gotten settled into her room Dr. Calender came in
to check her over. " How are you feeling Buffy?" " Nervous, excited, scared." Jenny smiled at
her. " That's completely understandable. Well your chart says your contractions are ten minutes
apart. I'm gonna check to see how dilated you are." Angel kept his eyes on the floor as she put
Buffy's legs in the stirrups and checked her out.
" Well your coming along nicely. You should be ready to deliver in the
next four hours or so." " Four hours! Isn't there something she can take to speed it along?"
Angel asked. Jenny smiled. " No. This kind of thing we have to let happen naturally." Angel
nodded. " Buffy I'll be back in about an hour to check on your progress. In the meantime I suggest you relax."
After Dr. Calender left the room Joyce and Hank walked in. " How are you
feeling sweetheart?" " Ok I guess. I just want to get this over with." " What did Dr. Calender
have to say?" " My contractions are ten minutes apart and that I should be ready to deliver in
about four hours. She said that for right now I should just sit back and relax, but I'm one hundred
percent sure I'm not gonna be able to do that."
" We're all here to help you get through this honey." Hank said taking her
hand. " Yea Buffy. Just watch some tv and before you know it, it will be time to have the baby."
" I hope you're right mom. I hope you're right."
Nearly five hours had passed and Buffy still wasn't ready to deliver. During
the wait Angel did everything in his power to keep Buffy comfortable. He rubbed her feet, got
her ice to chew, and held her hand when the contractions came. Having Angel in the room had
defiantly kept her sane.
" How are you feeling sweetheart?" He asked rubbing her belly. " Anxious. I just
want to get this over with. I want to see our baby so bad and all this waiting is driving me
crazy! Angel laughed. " I'm sure it wont be too much longer now baby." " It could take another
day. When mom had me she was in labor for sixteen hours." " But every person is different
Buffy. You're right. Maybe it wont be too much longer now." She said hopefully.
Two hours later and Buffy had finally reached ten centimeters. It was finally
time to have the baby! Dr. Calender moved Buffy to delivery while Angel got changed into
scrubs. When he came into the room they had Buffy propped up on pillows with her legs in the
stirrups. Dr. Calender took her position on the stool and Angel grabbed Buffy's hand.
" Ok Buffy when I tell you to I want you to push. Push!" Buffy griped Angel's
hand as she pushed with all her strength. " Good Buffy. Again." Buffy pushed again, her tiny body
straining from the effort. " I see the head. Hold on for a minute Buffy."
Buffy fought her body's urge to push. " Good Buffy. Now one big push should
do it." Buffy squeezed Angel's hand and pushed down with all her might. " Wait the umbilical
cord is wrapped around the baby's neck! Stop pushing Buffy."
" I can't it hurts too much!" " You have to Buffy. If you don't the baby could
strangle. " Come on baby you can do it." Angel said. Buffy clamped down, stopping herself from
pushing. Jenny reached down and gently removed the cord from the baby's neck. " Ok I removed
the cord. You can push now." Buffy gave one final push and fell back on the bed, panting from
the effort.
Dr. Calender reached down and pulled the baby the rest of the way out. " It's a
boy!" She exclaimed. " A boy? Baby we have a son!" Angel said turning to Buffy. When he did
he saw she was laid back with her eyes closed. " Buffy? Buffy!" he exclaimed shaking her. But
she didn't respond. She just lay there unmoving as the baby cried in the back ground.