Xander Harris, after due consideration, decided that Buffy Summers had to be just about the cutest pregnant woman he had ever seen. She had always been tiny and thin, so even the slightest change was easily visible. It was also cute that she had gotten so into the whole maternity wardrobe thing. He watched her coming down the stairs in her comfy stretch pants and pink maternity top with puppies on it. It was darling.
The illusion was ruined every time she opened her mouth. After extremely long and sometimes loud arguments, he and Willow and Dawn had convinced her that she simply had to stop patrolling till after the baby came. It made her feel useless, bored and cranky. She claimed she felt like a whale and that her feet and back constantly bothered her. Xander felt that he should have a massage license given all the time he had spent trying to sooth her. It didn't seem to help her all that much, but he kept trying.
Buffy knew she was irritable from the discomforts of pregnancy and took it out on Xander and Dawn. She didn't feel too bad about it. He seemed to take it in stride, and she considered it her God given right to spread the discomfort around a little. While she was grumpy sometimes, her mood was tempered by a happiness she had never expected. She had hopes for the future. For the first time in a long time, Buffy had more thought of the future then when she would make a mistake and die in the dirt of some cemetery. More importantly, she had stopped hoping for that night to come. For so long after her return from bliss, she had tried to find some kind of resolution within herself, and inevitably failed. When she started seeing her sister as something other than a responsibility, when Xander quietly staked out a place in her heart and life, when she began planning for their child, she finally began looking beyond herself. She never thought of it in such succinct terms, but her life began again when she started caring about other people again. The simple lessons can be the hardest.
Xander smiled at her as she crossed the room and in what he was sure was a deliberate action, flopped as ungracefully as possible onto the couch. "I'm a whale," she said.
"No, you aren't," Xander said automatically, "You're beautiful."
"Lots of feeling there, Xand," Buffy muttered.
"I can only tell you so many times," he replied. "When are you going to believe it?"
"Never; I'm a whale."
Xander grinned, still not looking at her. "OK, you're right. You're a whale. As a matter of fact, you're a whale of a whale. We better not go to the beach, 'cause somebody will harpoon you. Hey, no! I know! Get in the tub and we can have tours come through. You could learn to spout and wail mournfully. We'll make a fortune! Come on, let's practice… mmmuuuuuuaaaaarrrrrrrgggghhhhhhhuuuueeeee." He ended with a bad imitation of a humpback's song.
Buffy just looked at him with a straight face and nodded during his speech. When he started making whale noises, her lower lip started quivering. When he finished, she wailed, covered her face and ran out of the room, still wailing at the top of her lungs.
Xander waited three beats and called after her, "Faker!" A raspberry came out of the next room. A few minutes later the slayer herself returned from the kitchen with a soda in her hand. The other hand was on her back, and she was frowning. "Back hurting again?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's lower down and I think it's getting worse. I haven't lifted anything heavy or anything like that," she said.
Xander frowned, putting aside his curiosity about exactly what she would consider heavy. "Want me to call the doctor?"
"I don't think so. I'll be fine." She sat on the couch and rested her feet on his lap. "Rub my feet."
He did. "You are such a big baby," he said, "It's still the second trimester. It gets much worse than this."
"Thanks. Now, you do it"
"Do what?"
"Have the baby. If it's so easy, you do it." Buffy was smiling sweetly.
"Nope," Xander said with a wide smile. "I did my part. My work here is done." This time, for variety, she kicked instead of slapped him for his comments. "Cut it out or I tickle."
Buffy said, "You wouldn't dare."
"I would, "Xander said, "I am Xander Harris, the Nighthawk, semi-fearless assistant slayer of vampires. What have I to fear?"
Buffy giggled. "Me," she said.
"Hah!"
"I'll beat you mercilessly."
"You'd just have to take care of me."
"I wouldn't. I'd watch you lie in the street and suffer."
Xander stroked his fingernail once up the ticklish (he had come to find) sole of the slayer's foot. "Would not," he said.
Buffy jumped a little at his touch. "Would so.
"Would not."
"Would so."
"Very mature, Buffy." Xander said, trying to look stern, but then quickly added, "Would not."
Rupert Giles was not having a good evening. He had returned to England after recovering from the problems with Willow. Hearing that Buffy was pregnant had been a surprise, but not an altogether unpleasant one. To watch Buffy grab as much happiness as she could, or would allow herself, was one of his pleasures in life.
When he had been told that Xander was the father, he had almost laughed out loud, but his mind had quickly thrown up a list of all the men that had been part of Buffy's life and he had realized that there was no one even close to being as suitable. The boy worked skilled labor for good pay. He was surely brave and protective, and the little one would always have a playmate. Most of all, Xander's capacity for love made him ideal. Once Alexander Harris gave his love, it was absolute, even unto the end of the world, as had been amply demonstrated. How much stronger would the love for his own child be? Giles had encouraged the young couple. How he wished to God he had not. He drank steadily with a shaking hand and considered a simple fact that research had made clear. Slayers are not meant to have children. In the records it showed that through the years, few slayers had ever become pregnant and of them, very few had ever brought a pregnancy to term. He hadn't wanted to believe it at first and he had checked and rechecked. Then he had begun a frantic search for a solution, but one did not exist. It was sheer chance whether a body made by the powers that be for other purposes could produce life. Giles sat and drank and waited for the sun to rise in southern California.
Xander Harris was awakened by two things; the phone ringing and Buffy poking him and saying "Hey, wake up, the phone's ringing." With a grumble, he reached over and picked it up. "Hello," he muttered sleepily.
"Xander, ummh, Hello, it's Giles."
Years of conditioning kicked in and Xander was wide awake in a second. He sat up in bed. "Giles! What's wrong?" He noticed Buffy wake up at his tone.
"It's, well, it's a thing about…"
"Have you been drinking?" Xander asked.
Giles actually nodded and then spoke after realizing his foolishness. "Yes, unfortunately," he said.
"Want to talk to Buffy? She's awake now."
"No! Not yet. You must listen to me very carefully." He told Xander what he had found. Xander had been very silent and had hung up the phone after finding out when Giles would arrive, later that evening.
"He didn't want to talk to me?" Buffy pouted when he hung up the phone.
Xander lay next to Buffy and wrapped his arms around her, holding her very close, and said, "He's coming here to see us. He wants to see you while you're preggers." Not a hint of distress entered his voice. He decided to let her enjoy one more day before the ugly news arrived.
"Cool…" Buffy whispered into Xander's shoulder, "but I think he's coming to kick your ass for taking advantage of me."
Xander forced a natural sounding laugh. "You took advantage of me, and you know it."
"Ok," Buffy replied, a teasing tone entered her voice. "You want to even the score and take advantage of me?"
"NO!" Xander said, too forcefully. He didn't know what effects that may have, but he was taking no chances. "No, I'm… too tired. I need to sleep. We're framing tomorrow and you know that means a hard day for me." When needed, Xander could lie with the best of them.
"OK," Buffy sounded disappointed, but accepting. "Go to sleep."
Xander didn't. He lay wide awake for the rest of the night, every hitch in her breathing or involuntary movement sending a chill of fear through his heart.
Finally, the endless night ended. He was glad to get to go to the kitchen and start coffee. While Buffy was in the shower, he called in and claimed to be sick. His boss never batted an eye, as Xander never batted missed work. When he heard Buffy coming down the stairs, he called, "Guess what? No work today. For some reason, the owner wanted the site closed."
"Good," Buffy said, sounding distracted, "You can come to the Doctor with me."
Xander froze. "What? Why?"
"No big deal. I spotted a little last night and thought I should ask about it."
"How much? Do you feel all right? Do we need to go right now?" Xander was near panic.
"No, silly." She went over and got a cup of decaf. "It's normal, no big deal. It's just that this is the third or fourth time it's happened, so I guess we better go."
"Third or fourth!" Xander tried to control himself, but he still yelled. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because according to the books it happens sometimes and it's only a matter of concern if it happens a few times. That's what's happened so I'm having it checked. I didn't want you to freak, which is exactly what you're doing." She walked over and gave him a quick hug. "I'm OK and the Baby's OK. All is cool"
Xander calmed himself, taking a few deep breathes. Given Giles news, it was a good thing they were going to the doctor today. "That's good. Sorry. I just, I don't know, worry too much I guess."
"It's OK," Buffy said, "I love you for it. When is Giles getting here? We should get Willow over here."
Xander nodded, his mind far from any thoughts of Willow.
At the doctor's office Buffy and Xander sat in a consultation room. He was visibly nervous, and Buffy tried to calm him to no avail. When the doctor came in, he looked concerned. "Buffy," Dr. Sanderson said, "I've seen a few things in your checkup that have me concerned. You say you've experienced spotting four or five times counting this morning?"
"Yes," Buffy said, "is there a problem?"
"Have you been having any lower back pain?" In an atmosphere of growing anxiety, Buffy nodded. "Have you had any Braxton-Hicks contractions?" Buffy nodded again.
"What?" Xander almost shouted, turning to her. "You didn't say anything!"
"I didn't think it was a big deal." Buffy replied.
"Alone they aren't." the Doctor said, "but in context of the other things we're seeing, they may be a cause for concern. Did you know you've lost a pound since you were here last?"
Buffy shook her head. Xander sat back in his chair and clenched his hands together.
Dr. Sanderson went on gently. "All these things taken together indicate that we need to be very careful from now on. I don't want to alarm you too much. There is no reason to think that this pregnancy won't be brought to term. I do want you to understand that to make sure things go well, we need to take steps now."
"What steps?" Xander asked.
"Well, first off, I want you to go on bed rest immediately, Buffy. That means someone stays with you all the time and you don't get up except to go to the bathroom. You get meals brought to you in bed. Don't think I'm exaggerating here. Bed rest means you stay in bed. Second, I'm giving you a list of things to watch for. You see any of these symptoms, you call me, any time day or night, understood?" They both nodded in shock. "All right, I'm writing a prescription. It's a medication to prevent labor. If you start having contractions, you take it, call me and head for the hospital. The nurse will give you some pamphlets with more information. Remember; if you're in doubt about whether you need to call me, call me. Understood?" Buffy was only able to nod. Xander couldn't react at all. "OK, we understand each other. I know all this sounds extreme, but we're dealing with a baby here. That means no chances. You would likely have this baby just fine, but taking these precautions takes a lot of the risk away."
"Right." Xander whispered.