"You're not happy," Willow announced critically.
Buffy frowned and folded the last tiny t-shirt. "Well, you're happy enough for both of us."
"Buffy..."
The Slayer glanced at her best friend's hugely mounded stomach. "Are you sure you're not having triplets?"
Willow laughed. "The last time you asked that, Spike wouldn't let me get out of bed for three days."
Buffy smirked. "Oh, yeah, I bet that was a hardship." She rolled her eyes at the red-head's unrepentant grin. "I mean, I hardly showed at all until the last month and, yet, Conor was normal sized."
"Different body types." Willow shrugged and picked up another cookie. "Or maybe it's all these goodies. I can't stop eating sweets!"
"Jenny claims they're chock full of something to stave off post-partum depression, or maybe that's just the chocolate chips."
Wrinkling her brow in concern, Willow watched her friend load folded baby clothes back into the basket. Buffy's shoulders were slumped and her lips were drawn down. She looked tired, no, more than tired, deeply exhausted.
"When was the last time you got a decent night's sleep?"
"Before I got pregnant," Buffy responded, trying to sound wry but coming off pathetic. "Conor likes to stay up half the night, which is fine since I'm a night owl, but then he likes to stay up half the day, too. And..." She bit her lower lip and shook her head slightly. "It's normal."
"But, you start patrolling again this week, right?"
"Yep." The Slayer sighed heavily, not looking forward to resuming her responsibilities. "Faith's been a great help, but it's not fair to make her do double duty forever."
"And I'm guessing that Angel's not being any help, is he," Willow said shrewdly.
Buffy sighed again. "I never said he had to help. It's not his baby. He didn't want me to have Conor." She shrugged and settled back on the couch, nibbling on a cookie. "He could have been a lot worse." Her eyes took on a haunted look as she remembered some of the threats from early in her pregnancy.
"Buffy, you should tell him that you used artificial insemination. He's going nuts thinking you slept with some guy. I'm surprised Xander's still alive, because he's the number one suspect."
"Maybe if he *asked* instead of demanding. Anyway, most of the recent stuff has been him trying to get me and the baby to move into the mansion."
Willow's eyes widened in shock. "No, Buffy, don't! Angel's nuts if he thinks he can protect the baby there, even though he does rule Sunnydale."
"Don't worry. I'm not that stupid. If I didn't see how much he dotes on Conor, I'd think it was a way to get rid of him."
"I wouldn't put it past Angelus," Willow muttered.
Wiping the crumbs from her leather skirt, Buffy took a sip of her lemonade. "I don't know why Angel wants me to live with him. He barely pays attention to me anymore. I'm sure he's got plenty of willing bed mates."
Willow watched pain cross her friend's face, but couldn't deny the truth. During Buffy's pregnancy and post-partum, Angel certainly hadn't been celibate. It just wasn't in his nature. But, from the ones she knew about, outside of Spike and Drusilla, they were one time encounters and purely for sexual release.
"Well, it wouldn't have been healthy for the two of you to have sex until...It's been six weeks..."
Buffy nodded. "The doctor cleared me three days ago, though that was really only for show. Thanks to my healing ability, I've been fine for three weeks. I thought Angel would figure that out, but he never brought the subject up and...I never felt comfortable talking about it. I haven't seen him since before my appointment." She shrugged it off, hiding the pain. She had at least expected him to be on her doorstep. He had known about the doctor's appointment, if not the purpose behind it. "He doesn't want me anymore. It's okay."
Willow rolled her eyes. "Buffy, if he didn't want you so much, he wouldn't have been so pissed off the last nine months. The idiot loves you."
"He'll never say it."
Wincing at her friend's sad whisper, Willow nodded and reached out to take Buffy's hand. "Probably not, and he's an idiot for that, too, but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel it. I've seen it." She smiled gently. "Did you know that the night he first saw Conor he returned to the mansion and crowed to everyone about his son?"
The Slayer gave her friend a startled look. "Really?"
Willow nodded and squeezed Buffy's hand. "Really. He passed out cigars and everything. Spike called him whipped and they pounded on each other for awhile, but Angel really didn't have his heart in it." She grinned at the memory of the two male vampires propped against the couch, bruises and bleeding and smoking the smelly cigars.
"All he does when he comes here is be nasty to me and then go play with Conor for an hour or so. It's like he's two different people, or that I get the demon and my baby gets what's left of the man."
"He's perverse," was the only answer Willow could give.
After Willow left, Buffy checked on her napping son, then put away the clean laundry. She thought about taking a nap herself, but her recent dreams had been so erotic...
Walking through her bedroom she stopped as she caught a glimpse of herself in her full-length mirror.
Having a baby had changed her shape, but she didn't see anything that was an obvious turn off. Her breasts were fuller, but she had taken great care to keep them free of stretch marks, and they still were high and perky. Her hips were a bit wider, but her waist had returned to its small size, which made her more curvy.
Didn't guys like that?
Maybe Angel preferred her slender and Kate Moss-like.
She smoothed down her black leather mini-skirt, and turned back and forth, then pulled her t-shirt over her head leaving her in the prettiest, lacy maternity bra her friends could find.
"Very sexy."
Spinning around at the low purring voice, Buffy gaped at Angel who stood in her doorway, eyeing her appreciatively. She clapped her hands over her breasts and he chuckled.
"Modest, lover?"
"What do you want?" she croaked out. Warmth flooded her from his avid gaze. He hadn't looked at her like that in months.
"I've given you enough time to recover from the birth, right?"
"Um, yes," she replied hesitantly.
He smiled wickedly and took a step into the room. Buffy's eyes were drawn to the way his leather pants molded to his body, and the warmth inside her spread to the pit of her stomach.
Angel ran his eyes over her, admiring the new curves pregnancy had given her. Her mini-skirt clung to her hips and thighs and her hands couldn't cover her plump breasts. His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared as lust blossomed inside him.
"Take off your bra, but leave your hands over your tits like that."
Buffy's back stiffened at his drawled words. "I'm not a stripper."
He just smirked. "Do it, lover. You'll enjoy the results."
Suddenly angry, she snapped, "Why do you want me all of a sudden? Your tramps all busy or staked?"
Angel grinned wider at her jealousy and leaned against the wall, arms crossed lazily over his silk clad chest. "Just wanted to give you enough time to recover, my sweet."
"I'm a slayer. I recovered weeks ago," she snapped caustically, and was delighted to see Angel squirm and frown.
"How the fuck am I supposed to know that? I'm a vampire."
"What? You don't know nothing about birthing no babies?"
He scowled even harder at her sarcasm. "I figured six weeks were enough. I..." Angel growled and pushed away from the wall. "Off with the bra."
"You what, Angel? You didn't want to hurt me?" Buffy smirked and backed up towards the bed.
"I love hurting you, lover," he purred.
Lust flared in her and the back of her legs hit the bed. She tilted her head to stare up at him. "Then you would have forced me right after Conor's birth," she whispered, her breath catching in her throat.
Angel stopped his approach and gave her a disgruntled and discomfited look. "Drop it, Buffy. I'm here now."
"And I'm supposed to spread my legs just like that?"
He snorted. "I can smell your arousal. You're dripping, lover."
Emboldened, she reached out and cupped his leather bound erection. "You're aroused, too." Quickly she unzipped her skirt and shimmied out of it, leaving her in white bra and skimpy panties. Her hand went back to his crotch and she caressed him through the leather until he groaned and caught her wrist.
"Yeah, I want you, baby. I always want you."
"You should have asked me," Buffy whispered. "I would have told you I was fine weeks ago. We didn't have to wait."
"You should have come and told me," Angel shot back.
"And found you between the legs of one of your tramps?" Her hand tightened and he growled.
"You want me to be faithful? It'll never happen, but you'll always be first choice." He thrust into her hand, and wrapped his arm around her back, pulling her against him. "This is pointless and stupid. Take off your bra and cup your tits. I want to see them spilling over your hands." He gave her a lazy, hot look.
Legs trembling with sudden need, Buffy gave up the argument and stepped away from him. Kneeling on the bed, she unhooked her bra and cupped her breasts, her palms massaging her tingling nipples.
Angel stared at the picture she presented and his cock grew even harder. Quickly he stripped off his clothes, kicking his boots across the room, and knelt on the bed facing her. His hands slid down her back to her bottom and he pulled her against him, rubbing the tip of his cock against her flat stomach.
Breathless, Buffy looked up into his stormy eyes, then moaned softly as he ground their lower bodies together.
"Oh fuck, baby," Angel growled as his fingers slid beneath the elastic legs of her panties and caressed her silky bottom. "Why the fuck do I want you so much?"
Buffy pressed kisses to his chest and neck, and slowly lowered her hands. At the first touch of her pebbled nipples against his smooth chest, they both gasped and shuddered. She quickly found herself on her back, Angel between her spread and arched knees. His hands caught the sides of her panties and tugged them down. As she lifted her hips, she eyed his bobbing cock and licked her lips.
It had been so long.
Naked, Buffy reached for him, catching his forearms and pulling him down on top of her. "Want you," she breathed as their mouths met in a carnal kiss. She felt Angel shift and then his fingers were sinking into the wet heat between her legs, caressing her swollen flesh. She bucked upwards, moaning his name into his mouth. "Now, please."
Angel didn't plunge into her at her plea, and Buffy opened her eyes, pulling away from their kiss to look at him. The hesitation on his face made her nearly cry.
"I'm fine, I swear. You won't hurt me."
"I wasn't thinking about that," he blustered, his hands sliding beneath her to arch her to him.
Buffy kept grinning, and with a dark scowl, Angel thrust slowly forward, entering her with as much gentleness as possible.
Buffy giggled and tears of happiness filled her eyes.
"You're really beginning to piss me off," Angel growled.
Lifting her head and wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her lips to his, kissing him with all the love she felt. With a groan of pleasure, Angel sank fully into her and felt her inner muscles clench around his cock. He began a slow pattern of thrusts and withdrawals, as his lips and tongue caressed her mouth and his hands massaged her bottom.
Buffy's hands slid down his back to his hips and she pressed him into her harder, as she lifted her pelvis to meet his thrust. "You won't break me," she whispered.
Angel tasted her tears and his control shattered. His next thrust sent her slamming into the mattress and the bed rocking against the wall, as he muttered, "Too long, too fucking long," over and over again against her mouth and cheek.
Clutching him to her, Buffy felt pleasure flood her and writhed beneath him. Each thrust drove the base of his cock against her long-neglected clit, and as her passion swelled, she began to pant harshly.
Angel buried his mouth in the juncture of her neck and shoulder, suckling on her salty flesh, as his cock throbbed and his balls tightened. He felt her heart pounding beneath his chest, felt her hands caressing him, her inner muscles fluttering, and he grunted loudly.
Control lost, he cried out her name and spilled himself into her. Buffy arched off the bed, her mouth open in a soundless cry as his orgasm triggered her own. Shudders wracked them and they bucked wildly for long moments until finally collapsing, both panting against the other's cheek.
Sated and drained, Angel rolled off her, flopping onto his back. He didn't stay there for more than a few seconds, before he was on his knees, looking down at her with more concern on his face than he had ever shown.
Buffy blinked up at him and gave him a goofy smile. "I'm fine."
"I hurt you, I had to have hurt you."
She patted his arm. "Silly..." Exhaustion swept over her and her eyes fell shut. "Just gonna close my eyes for a sec..."
Angel watched her fall into a deep sleep, then examined her carefully, probing gently between her legs to make sure she wasn't hurt. He refused to think about why he cared so much.
As he reached the conclusion that she really wasn't hurt and that she had gotten as much pleasure from their joining as he had, the baby cried in the other room. Angel glanced down at Buffy's face and saw the exhaustion in the circles beneath her eyes.
Rising from the bed, he pulled a pair of his boxer shorts from her dresser and tugged them on, then slipped from the room.
Buffy awoke feeling more rested than she had in months. Blinking at the clock, she realized that only about three hours had passed since...
The memories came back and she blushed in pleasure, then turned onto her side, reaching for her lover.
He wasn't there.
Frowning, Buffy scrambled from the bed and wrapped a robe around herself. She noticed his clothes were still where he had flung them, and she realized that Conor hadn't awakened from his nap.
Alarmed, Buffy hurried out of her room and into the nursery. She came to a stuttering halt at the sight that met her eyes.
Angel sat in the rocking chair, slowly rocking. Conor was cradled in the crook of his arm, and was suckling eagerly on the bottle the former scourge of Europe was holding. Angel even had a cloth over one shoulder for burping, and Conor was wearing a new diaper.
Tears flooded Buffy's eyes and she leaned against the door jamb, watching, as joy spread through her. She had watched Angel play with the baby before, but there was something about this scene...
Angel looked up and frowned. "Why are you crying?" he asked softly.
She shook her head and sniffled before slipping to her knees beside the rocker. One trembling hand stroked her baby's back as he drank the formula Angel fed him. She met Angel's worried gaze and whispered, "I went to a sperm bank, Angel. I could never let another man touch me. I just wanted a baby, something normal..."
"I asked you a hundred times, why are you telling me now?"
Buffy shook her head again and blinked away new tears. "Because it was wrong of me not to tell you, and I know you care about me and Conor."
Angel half-snorted, then fell silent before sighing softly. "Yeah, I do."
Rising to her feet, Buffy leaned down and kissed him tenderly. "For Angelus, the scourge of Europe, master of Clan Aurelius to care about humans...we must be pretty special."
"Yeah, you are," he admitted. "Just don't spread it around."
She chuckled and kissed him with a loud smack. "I'll keep it a secret that you changed a baby's diaper, too."
He gave her a half-hearted growl, then lifted Conor to his shoulder, rubbing the baby's back with more expertise than a man who claimed to know nothing about babies should have. Conor belched and Angel grinned proudly.
Buffy smiled, happy for the first time in weeks.
The End
Note: The formula is only supplemental. Buffy breast-feeds her baby.