-A Month Later-

"I can't wait for this baby to be born," Joyce says shifting in the bed.

"Let's hope it stays in that belly of yours for a couple more months," Giles says laying in the bed next to her. It's a habit that he has picked up to sit next to her in bed for a while each day after he comes home from work. She has just spent the whole day at home alone, and he wants to give her some company before he cooks dinner or trains Buffy.

"I know, it's just four months of bed rest is a big ask," she complains.

"It seems like a pretty small trade-off for our baby's survival to me," he says.

"You make me sound like a jerk," she complains.

"Sorry," he laughs. "I'm not the one that has to sit in a bed for the whole day."

He reaches over, and puts a hand on her stomach.

"Anything interesting happen today?" she asks.

"I read a book on middle ages warlock lore," he says.

"Let's discuss the meaning of the world interesting," she says.

"I'm sorry, I wish I lead some interesting life, and I could regale you with at the end of each day. Perhaps this would help," he says pulling a box out of his pocket.

"Giles," she breaths.

"Joyce, I love you, and…" she reaches out a puts a hand on his arm to stop him.

His heart nearly stops beating as he waits for her to speak.

"Giles, I love you too. I am so sorry, that I am saying no. We've only known each other for a few months, and for a big chunk of that time you were waiting on my hand and foot when I was in bed."

"I don't mind. Our baby needed…" he starts.

"I know," she says with a smile, "It's just not time to talk about marriage yet. I want us to get to know each other more, when I'm not pregnant. I had one marriage end in divorce. I'm not going to enter into another marriage until I am 100% sure it's not going to go down the same way."

"It would be nice to get married before the baby comes," Giles points out.

"Yes it would, but I don't exactly plan on getting married from my bedroom, so that's not really an option," Joyce points out.

"Ok, well, we could get engaged before the baby comes then," Giles says.

"This baby isn't a good enough reason to get married," Joyce says.

"I have better reasons, they are just a little bit hard to share after you've already said no," he says.

"I'm so sorry Giles. I'm pretty sure that I'll say yes sometime. I just… not right now. Having a baby together, living together, that is a lot, and it's going to have to be enough for right now," Joyce says.

"Ok, maybe I'll just keep this then?" he asks hopefully.

She nods her head, and he slips it into the drawer beside them.

"At least you kept this from being another boring day on bedrest," she says.

-Two Months Later-

"Are you ok?" Buffy asks her mother as she sits on the edge of the bed.

"Of course," her mother says in the false cheerful voice that Buffy usually only has the pleasure of hearing when her mother is talking about her slaying.

"'Cause you are making that squinty face that usually either means you are on the phone with dad or that you have a headache," Buffy points out.

"You have a headache? Isn't that one of the signs that your preeclampsia is turning into eclampsia?" Giles asks with concern.

"It could be, but I think in this case it is a lot more likely that I just have a headache. I have had it all day, and nothing bad has happened so far. I'm fine." she says waving off his concern.

He maneuvers himself part way behind her, and begins to rub her temples so hard that it's painful, but also feels good. She moans, and leans against him.

"I'll leave you guys alone to be gross," Buffy says turning to walk out of the room. Then she hears a weird sound, like a wounded deer, and she turns back. Her mother is shaking in Giles's arms.

"What did you do?" she shouts at him.

"It's not me Buffy. She's having a seizure. We have to get her to the hospital," Giles says, and Buffy doesn't miss the second that he lets terror show on his face before he manages to hide it.

"Should I just pick her up?" Buffy asks.

"What else is slayer strength for?" Giles asks again trying to mask his terror.

Even with Slayer strength, Buffy isn't quite sure how to carry her mother. At eight months pregnant her mother is bulky. Buffy tries three or four grips before Giles urges, "We need to move."

Then she throws her mother over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The stomach that is her baby brother rests uncomfortably on her chest, but she doesn't really care. All she cares about is making sure that her mother's seizing body doesn't hit anything as she runs downstairs.

Giles fumbles with the car keys and Buffy lays her mother in the back seat.

"Are you ok to drive?" Buffy asks him.

"It will be faster than the ambulance," he replies not really answering her question.

She closes the door to the backseat of the car, and opens the front seat.

"You have to sit back there with her," Giles says with a voice that is pleading.

"There isn't any room," Buffy says looking at her mother laying across the back seat.

"Find a spot," Giles says.

Buffy gets in the other car door, and crotches half on the seat of the car, and half off near her mother's head.

The seizure stops, and Joyce looks at Buffy confused. She opens her mouth but no words come out.

"You're ok," Buffy says calmly.

"Alastair?" Joyce asks looking at her confused.

"He's going to be fine," she tells him knowing that that is the name that they have picked out for her brother.

"Where is he?" Joyce asks.

"He's not born yet," Buffy says.

Joyce reaches down and touches her stomach. She seems to calm down. You can tell by her facial expression that the world is making more and more sense to her each second that passes. The fog that the seizure caused to cloud her mind has passed, "What happened to me?"

"You started shaking," Buffy says.

"A seizure," Giles says from the front seat.

"We have to go to the hospital, it's a symptom of eclampsia," Joyce says.

"We're on our way," Buffy says.

"Rupert, I hope you're not obeying traffic laws."

"This baby was conceived while breaking the law; I guess it can be born while we do it too," he responds.

In a few minutes they pull up in front of Sunnydale hospital, and wheelchairs, and nurses help her inside. They wheel her away.

"Where are you talking her?" Buffy asks a nurse.

"I'm sorry, you are going to have to wait out here," is the only response she gets.

"No, she's my mother!" Buffy demands.

Giles puts a hand on her arm.

"We have to make sure that she is ok," Buffy says turning toward him.

"I know, Buffy. We did everything we can. We got her here. She is going to be ok. We just have to let them do their jobs."

"Is she going to be ok?" Buffy asks him.

"Probably," he tells her pulling her into a hug.

"Are you the family of Joyce Summers?" a doctor asks walking toward them.

"Yes, I'm her daughter," Buffy says quickly rushing toward the woman.

"We are going to have to deliver the baby C-section," the doctor presses on.

"You can't, the baby isn't supposed to be born for another month," Buffy argues.

Giles puts a hand on her arm, "Can I go into the room with her?"

"You're the father?" the doctor asks.

"Yes," he says.

"She requested you," the doctor says, "Come on you've got to scrub up."

"Buffy, I'm sorry to leave you. Call Willow or Xander to say with you," he tells her giving her hand a quick squeeze as he follows the doctor.

-Later-

Allister looks like he appeared in his father's vision, minus the chubby cheeks. He was born a little premature, and so there was a good chance the chub would come later. He had a smile on his face from the second that he was born though, so much smile that he didn't have time to cry.

"What's wrong?" Joyce says worriedly.

"Nothing is wrong. He's here, and he's perfect," Giles assures her lifting the baby closer so she can see. "Hold him," Giles urges.

Joyce shakes her head, "As much as I would love to hold my son, I'm going to wait a couple of hours. I want to be certain I won't have a seizure while holding our son," she tells him.

-Later-

"You're a big sister," Giles says coming out into the waiting room. Willow must have made it to the hospital in record time, and gives her friend's hand a squeeze. Xander's house is a bit father away, but Buffy called him too.

"How is mom?" she asks quickly standing to go toward him.

"She's fine. She hasn't had another seizure. They had to take the baby out early, because it wasn't safe for either of them. She's going to get better now though. We just have to give it a little time for her blood pressure to normalize," Giles explains.

"Allister is going to be all right though? I mean, he's got to be tiny."

"He's kind of big for his how premature he is," Maybe he knew that he had to grow up really fast," Giles says.

"I did a spell. I'm not saying that is the reason why the baby is all right," Willow rushes on, "I meant to sound like when people say they are praying for you. Only this is a little bit more practical."

"We appreciate it, Willow," Giles says giving her a smile. He turns to Buffy, "Your mom is sleeping right now, but if you want to come meet your little brother you could."

Buffy stands up, and follows him into the room. When she gets there she can't believe how tiny he is. "You're sure he's ok?" she asks.

Giles smiles, and wraps his arm around her. "He's perfect."

Buffy looks up at Giles as he stares at his son through the glass of the nursery. She's never seen a look like that before. Not in her whole life has she seen someone look at another being with such intensity, such devotion, such love.

He turns to her to grin, a boasting sort of grin, and the look falls on her for a couple of seconds. Even by accident, even vicariously she enjoys the thrill of the warm look.