The last chapter! Thank you so much to those that reviewed and followed the story. I hope I did it justice.

Chapter 28

Seven Months Later

Giles sat at his desk, staring down at the reports sitting in front of him. Some were from various Watchers, others school reports from the instructors, and some leads on new potential Slayers from Willow at the Coven. It was nearing 1 in the afternoon and he had not touched a single one. His mind kept drifting to the events of last night. A small smile played across his lips.

A light knock at his door, brought his attention back to the present and, sadly, away from the echos of squealing delight he remembered from last night. Thankfully, the subject of his daydream walked in the door. "How was class?"

Buffy shut the door and smiled, swaying her hips as she sauntered over to his desk. "Sweaty." She walked around to stand in front of his chair, perching herself on his desk. She put her legs on either side of his chair and leaned in to kiss him.

He pulled his chair as close to the desk as he could get and wrapped his arms around her back. She slipped down onto his lap, slipping her arms around his neck. "Mmm," he hummed and pulled back. "Should I be concerned that an afternoon engaging in intense activity with a bunch of girls puts you in such an amorous state?" He hands slipped under her shirt and up her sides, removing the garment. He gave her a mischievous grin. "Or perhaps thrilled?"

Buffy smirked. "Reign it in, Cowboy. Not gonna happen. You belong to me, and me only." She leaned down and started kissing him again. He pulled her tight against him. She circled her hips around his. He brought his hand to the back of her neck. Buffy, without breaking the kiss, reached up and pulled her hair from the ponytail, letting her hair tumble down. Giles' hand immediately went into her hair and gripped it tight, pulling her head back, exposing her neck. He scraped his teeth and nipped at the sensitive flesh before soothing it with his lips. She ran her fingers through his hair as he worked his way past her collarbone and between her breasts. He gently nipped at her nipple through her sports bra, causing her to groan loudly.

He pulled back, whispering against her flesh, "Did you remember to lock-?"

Before he could finish his sentence, the door flung open and Andrew ran in. Buffy yelped, hugging herself to Giles for coverage. "Do you two ever check your phones?!" Andrew yelled in near hysterics.

Giles had his arms wrapped around Buffy as much as he could, looking over her shoulder while her head was hiding in the crook of his neck. "Andrew, what the bloody hell are you doing?!"

"Giselle is in labor!"

Buffy immediately sat up and met Giles' gaze. They stared a moment before Buffy jumped up. "We gotta get to the hospital. Now!"

Giles grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and held it in front of him, only half remembering the state of his arousal. He patted his pants and then his jacket and turned around. "I can't find my keys."

"I'll drive," Andrew said. "Come on!" Giles walked ahead of Buffy who was following him out the door when Andrew stopped her. "Shirt."

Buffy looked down. "Shit!" She turned back and pulled it off the desk, sending the reports flying to the floor. She ran out of the room to catch up with Giles, Andrew right behind her.

Giles lead the way through the hospital lobby to the elevators. He, Buffy, and Andrew gathered inside, Andrew pressed the button for the fourth floor. The ride up seemed to take forever. Buffy thought she could have made it up the stairs before the elevator reached the floor.

Andrew lead the way down the hall to Giselle's room. They walked inside but it was empty. Giles looked around, worry etched into his features. "Andrew?"

Andrew left and went to the nurse's station, Buffy right behind him. "Excuse me. We're looking for Giselle Lancaster? She was in room 412 but it's empty."

The nurse looked over the three of them, Giles having just stepped up behind Buffy. "Are you family?"

"Yes," they all three answered.

The nurse looked doubtful but answered nonetheless. "The baby was breech. They took her for a cesarean."

Buffy turned a worried eye to Giles. He placed his hands on her waist and addressed the nurse over Buffy's shoulder. "Are they doing well? Giselle and- and the baby?"

"If you want to have a seat in the family waiting room over there, the doctor will be with you as soon as possible."

"Giles?" Buffy begged.

"Can you tell us anything at all?" he pleaded.

"The doctor will see you when she has news." She looked back down at the files in front of her, ending the interaction. Buffy wanted to grab her hair and force her to talk, but Giles wrapped his arm around her waist and lead her away.

For nearly 25 minutes, Giles, Andrew, and Buffy sat alone in the waiting room. Andrew was frantically texting God knows who, while Buffy played musical chairs. She stood, she paced, she sat, she repeated. "Buffy, love, just come sit with me. Please?"

Buffy plopped into the seat next to him. "What if she doesn't make it?"

"Giselle will be fine."

"What if they baby doesn't make it?"

Giles could see the worry clouding Buffy's eyes. She was no doubt reliving her own pregnancy and its heartbreaking ending. He touched her hair. "The baby being breech only means it was upside down, not coming out head first. She was most likely bottom first, pushing the doctor's hand to a c-section. It's not strictly normal, but Giselle is a little early. The baby most likely wasn't in position and couldn't be turned."

Andrew looked up from his phone, paled. "Turned? You mean, they would have tried to... ouch."

"Most likely they tried having Giselle lie in different positions to coax the baby to turn herself. Should she get too far along into labor, a c-section is more likely."

Buffy watched him with a furrowed brow. "How do you know that?"

Giles slightly blushed. "I, uh, read the baby book."

Buffy smiled up at him. "You did?"

A doctor entered the waiting room and the three stood. "Mr. and Mrs. Giles?" she asked the two standing together, but also eyeing over at Andrew.

"Yes?" Giles said, stepping forward with Buffy's hand in his.

"I'm Dr. Scarsbrough, the on-call physician. I performed the c-section. The baby had started feet first. Normally we would have attempted a vaginal birth, but the umbilical cord was wrapped around one foot."

"Oh god," Buffy groaned, tightening the grip on her husband's hand.

"We rushed Miss Lancaster into surgery and was able to untangle the cord without incident. Both her and baby are doing great and resting now. Miss Lancaster is still out from the anesthetic, but being moved to the recovery room. As soon as she wakes, you can see her."

"When can we see the baby?" Buffy asked eagerly.

Dr. Scarsbrough took a moment to regard the anxious couple in front of her. "It's my understanding that Miss Lancaster is not keeping the child. That she is being placed for adoption."

Giles put his arm around Buffy's shoulders. "We are adopting her, yes."

The doctor nodded. "Miss Lancaster has requested that she have no contact with her the baby."

"What?" Buffy and Andrew spoke together.

"The documents have already been drawn up and sent over from her lawyers office. She has signed them. They are at the nurse's station waiting to be sighed by you and notarized." The doctor turned around and opened the waiting room door. She motioned for them to go first.

Andrew was the first to move, followed by Buffy, who gave Giles a tiny push along. They walked back to the nurse's station. Dr. Scarsbrough walked around the desk and talked with the nurse who had sent them to the waiting area in the first place. She took the folder that was in front of the nurse and looked it over. The two of them then came to the end of the counter where the soon-to-be parents stood. The nurse spoke, telling them what the document said and where for them to sign. Giles went first then handed the pen over to Buffy. The nurse turned the document and signed it as a notarized witness as well. She had them do the same two more times for the document to be in triplicate.

"Now this," she slipped a piece of paper on a clipboard over to Giles, "is the birth certificate form. This you need to fill out the rest of. We have the date, time, and birth weight filled in already. We need your names, signatures, and, most importantly, the baby's name." She handed him the clipboard. "You can fill that out any time before you leave today. We will then send it in for her official birth certificate to be filed and sent to you."

"Thank you," Giles muttered, staring at the blank space for the baby's name.

"Are you ready to meet your daughter?" the doctor asked brightly.

Buffy and Giles looked at one another, nervously. They both broke out into huge grins. Buffy looked back to the doctor and nodded. "Please."

The doctor lead the way down the hall, past the elevators and around a corner to the right. In front of them was another nurses station with a big glass window showing the nursery behind her. "Special Needs Nursery?" Andrew asked, seeing the sign next to the door.

"Just a precaution," Dr. Scarsbrough offered with a smile. "They want to keep a closer eye on her after the c-section. With Miss Lancaster needing anesthesia, the baby got some in her system also. She is fine, though," the doc quickly added upon seeing the look on Buffy's face. "There were no complications to either of them." She held open the door to the nursery, allowing them inside.

Andrew stayed where he was. "I'll go call the others."

"You're not coming in?" Giles asked.

"You don't wanna see her?" Buffy asked, trying to hid her hurt.

Andrew gave her a soft, reassuring smile. "This moment is for the two of you. Go. Be a family."

Buffy smiled and quickly went back to give him a hug. She thanked him and kissed his cheek.

It was dimly lit, not like the rest of the hospital. The light was soothing and comforting, more likely for the newborn babies' sake than the parent's. Dr. Scarsbrough lead them to a small, clear bassinet in the far left hand corner. "Mr. and Mrs. Giles? Meet your daughter."

Buffy clung to Giles' arm for dear life and they stepped up to the crib. Laying inside was the most perfect baby Buffy had seen. She had a head full of black hair. Her eyes were closed and her perfect pink, bowed lips moved in a sucking motion as she slept. She was bundled up tight in a pink and purple blanket with a lilac colored hat upon her tiny head. "She's so tiny," Buffy whispered.

Giles glanced at the clipboard. "6 pounds and 9 ounces. 48 centimeters."

Buffy reached out then stopped. She looked at the doctor. "Can I?" She smiled and nodded. Buffy gently reached in, placing one hand behind the baby's neck and head and the other under her bottom. She seemed even smaller in hand. "Hey, baby girl," she cooed. She looked up at Giles with amazed, watery eyes, which he returned. The doctor showed her the rocking chair and Buffy gently lowered herself into it.

"May I?" Giles asked the nurse standing by, indicating the other chair not far off. She nodded and he picked it up, carrying it next to Buffy's. He sat the clipboard on the floor and looked over at his new wife, whom he had only been married to for a month, and newborn daughter, who was barely an hour old. "We didn't bring a camera," Giles whispered.

"Where's Juan Carlos when you need him?" Giles smiled at her response. "God, Giles. Look at her."

"I'm looking."

"She's beautiful."

"That she is." He reached out a hand and gently ran a finger along the baby's cheek. "She needs a name."

Buffy chuckled. "Then its a good thing we have a bunch of them." They rocked back and forth, unable to tear their gaze from the tiny bundle in her arms. "How could she not want to see her? And how does she plan to avoid it?" Buffy looked up, noticing that, thankfully, the doctor and nurse had left to give them some privacy. "I mean, she's going to see her eventually, right?"

Giles looked up at Buffy. Feeling his gaze on her, she met his eyes. He sighed then shook his head. "She wants to be moved back stateside as soon as medically ready."

"What?"

"She wants to leave, Buffy. Believe me, I tried talking her into staying. When she told me she wanted to give her up, I tried talking her out of that as well. Before you and I even discussed adopting her, obviously. But even after that, I told her we wouldn't force them apart. She could always be apart of our lives. Unfortunately, she doesn't want to be."

Buffy shook her head, returning her gaze to her daughter. "I just don't get how someone can walk away from something so precious."

"Most likely why she requested not to see her. One look and she would be hooked. Just like us."

"Both of her parents... I don't understand. Even An-... ugh."

Giles leaned in and kissed the side of Buffy's head, just above her ear. "He has his own demons to deal with," he whispered. He thought back to last night again. "We are going to have to finish putting the cot together."

Buffy gave him a sly smile. "If we can manage not to get distracted this time."

"I wasn't the one doing the distracting." Buffy giggled.

They silently watched their baby, yes, their baby, being rocked in Buffy's arms. "Valerie," Buffy whispered.

Giles lips quirked into a tiny smile. "Are you sure?" She nodded. "Valerie Giselle Giles."

Buffy looked up at him with tears and a smile. "Val. It seems perfect, considering today, you know." It was his turn to nod in response. "Ready to hold her?"

Giles took a deep breath. He maneuvered his arms over the arm of the rocking chair and under his daughter's tiny, cloth swaddled body. He pulled her close to his chest. She huffed a little as he settled her against him. He smiled, tears threatening to spill. "My god," he breathed. "She's just... so..."

"I know." Buffy laid her head against Giles' shoulder. They rocked together in silence. "Happy Valentine's Day, Daddy."

Giles smiled and kissed the top of his wife's head. "Happy Valentine's Day, Buffy."