"Never Thought"

Author: Michelle
Email: michellabella52478@yahoo.com

Sitting on a cold gravestone, Buffy gazed up at the clear black sky. She counted the stars, imagining that they were all the vampires she had slain in the five years since she became the Slayer. But there were too many to count, just like the lost hours of her youth. Sometimes, on nights like this one, she would think about all the things she could be doing. Things her calling stole from her.

Buffy always considered her calling a burden. It took away any chance she might have had at a normal life. Not that, after five years, she really cared about that anymore. Who wants to be normal, she would think to herself. Not Buffy. She learned to appreciate being the Slayer. With it came strength, power, responsibility and Angel.

She sighed at the thought of her vampire lover. Angel understood what was entailed in being the Slayer. He knew how hard it had been for her, trying to maintain some semblance of a normal life while fighting vampires and demons in her spare time. And despite her sometimes immature behavior, the souled vampire still loved her.

"Well well well. If it isn't the Slayer. Waiting for little old me?" a blonde vampire asked sarcastically.

"Hmm...would that be 'me' in the universal sense or the personal sense?" Clutching her stake in her right hand, Buffy jumped off her perch. "Not that it really matters. Dust is dust."

With game face on, the vampire prepared to strike. "You're going to die, Slayer," he threatened.

"Oh, go bite someone," she retorted.

"I think I'll start with you." He threw the first punch, connecting with Buffy's jaw.

She fell hard to the ground. Stunned, but not hurt, Buffy stood up. In the midst of a roundhouse kick, she lost her balance. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME? she asked herself. She stood up again. In doing so, she was overcome by a wave of dizziness, leading her to faint.

The vampire laughed at his fallen nemesis. "This is too perfect." In one swoop, he positioned himself over the unconscious Buffy. As he was about to take a bite, he felt a sharp pain in his back. "Not now" were his last words before he exploded into a cloud of dust.

Angel saw the vampire's intended victim. "Oh my god. Buffy." He had only seen a vampire moving in for the kill, he didn't know that the kill would be his love. Kneeling down next to her, the first thing he checked was her breathing. It was normal. Angel exhaled in relief. "Buffy?" he asked frantically. She may be breathing, but he didn't know the extent of her injuries. "Can you hear me?"

As if on cue, Buffy moaned softly and opened her eyes, only to find herself staring into Angel's soulful ones. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you from a sharp, painful death," he replied. "Buffy, what happened?"

She shook her head. "I think I fainted." She stood up, only to be hit with another dizzy spell. Angel caught her in time. "Thanks."

"I'm taking you home," Angel told her matter-of-factly.

"I have to patrol. Vampires to dust, demons to kill," Buffy objected.

The vampire scooped her up in his arms. "Not tonight." He carried her the whole two miles back to her house on Revello Drive.

"Well, doctor, what's wrong with me?" Buffy sat on the examining table at her doctor's office the next morning. Angel and her mother made her promise to see a doctor. As much as she hated the idea, Buffy relented.

"There are a few tests I'd like to run. First of all, I'm going to need a urine sample and blood work. And you're going to have to answer a few questions," Doctor Halliwell said to her.

Question and answer. Buffy could handle that. "Shoot."

"What are your symptoms?"

"Symptoms?" The word made her feel like she had a deadly disease.

Doctor Halliwell nodded. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, okay. I've been feeling dizzy, nauseous, and last night I fainted."

The doctor jotted down the list in her chart. "Have you been sleeping well? Have your eating habits changed?"

"I'm sleeping fine, six to eight hours a night. I try to eat three meals a day, but I usually end up skipping lunch."

"What about your period? When was the last time you had it?"

Buffy had to think about that one. She never kept track of it; she'd always been irregular. "Two months, I think. But there have been times when I have gone longer without it."

The doctor closed the chart. "All right. I'm going to need that urine sample. I should have the results back from that in three hours, but I want to wait on the blood work until we get these results back." Doctor Halliwell led the way to the bathroom, showing Buffy where to find the cups.

THREE HOURS, Buffy thought. Three of the longest hours of her life. If it wasn't for Willow's attempt to keep her occupied, Buffy would have gone insane waiting for Doctor Halliwell to call.

"Your turn," Willow said to her.

Buffy turned her attention back to the board game they were playing. She picked up the dice and rolled a seven, placing the top hat on Electric Company. "I guess I'll buy it." She handed her friend $150 in Monopoly money.

Willow rolled, then moved her game piece, the car, five spaces to Boardwalk. "Yea!" she shrieked. She already owned Park Place. When she was paying for it, the phone rang. Buffy leapt for it.

"Hello?...Yes, this is Buffy...Mmm-huh...Are you sure?...I will, thank you. 'Bye." She hung up, as if in a trance.

"Buffy, what is it? What did the doctor say?" Willow stood up to be near her friend, who looked ready to faint.

"It can't be," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

The red-head helped the Slayer onto her bed. "You can tell me," she assured Buffy.

"I'm pregnant."

She entered the mansion without bothering to knock. She knew Angel would be sleeping. She walked right into his bedroom and sat down on the bed next to the sleeping vampire. Buffy could not help but smile at seeing him peacefully asleep. His peacefulness would not last for long.

Sensing her there, Angel awakened. It made him happy to see her when he first woke up. "Buffy."

"Good afternoon," she said with a smile. She couldn't wait to tell him, but wondered how he would react.

"It isn't that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

"I went to the doctor today."

Angel sat up with a concerned look on his handsome face. "And? Is everything okay?"

"I can't tell you here."

"Buffy, tell me." There was an element of warning in his voice that Buffy couldn't ignore.

She didn't know where or even how to begin. "Angel, do you love me?"

"Do you even need to ask?" he responded.

"Please," she pleaded.

"I love you. You should know that by now," Angel answered. He kissed her on the cheek. He saw fresh tears in the corners of Buffy's hazel eyes. "Why are you crying?"

She thrust herself into his arms. The tears flowed freely, landing on the bed sheets. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" He gazed searchingly into her face. "You can tell me anything, Buffy."

Sniffling, she blurted it out. "I am pregnant."

Angel didn't say anything. She hadn't expected him to. "Angel?"

"Pregnant? How can that be?" It was all he could say through his shock.

Fear ran through her veins instead of blood. "You don't believe me."

"Don't say that, Buffy. Of course I believe you." STILL...

"But you don't believe it's yours," she accused.

"Buffy..."

She pushed him away and stood up. "It is yours; this is your baby. I've never been with anyone else," she cried. "And I don't know how."

He reached out to her. He did believe everything she told him. Buffy would never lie to him about something like this. What he didn't understand was how she had gotten pregnant. Vampires couldn't father children. "I know. I don't know how either." It sunk in. "We're having a baby."

"Scary."

"Uh-huh." Angel pulled Buffy close to him. "What are we going to do?"

She rested head on his bare shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you have options."

Buffy whirled on him. "You want me to have an abortion?" she asked incredulously.

"I didn't say that. This is your decision, Buffy."

"You honestly think I could kill our child? I love it already. Because he or she is the best part of you and me. I want this baby, Angel. It's practically a miracle. Hell, it is a miracle."

"And I will be here for you every step of the way. This is my child too. Anything you want, just ask."

"Will you go with me to tell the gang?"

"Of course."

"You're pregnant?" Xander exclaimed.

It was after dark and everyone sat in the Summers's living room. Xander's comment had been the first since Buffy broke the news. Mrs. Summers sat in the armchair in shock. Giles, Oz and Cordelia only stared at the parents-to-be. Willow simply watched everyone else. She had gotten over her initial shock hours earlier.

"Yes, Xander," Buffy answered. "Angel and I are having a baby."

"I thought Dead Boy only shot blanks," the wiseguy of the gang commented.

Angel growled at the young man. He usually ignored Xander's mean-spirited comments, but questioning his manhood made Angel one ticked-off vampire.

Cordelia raised her hand to signal her intended interruption. "Okay, I'm confused. I was under the impression that vampires couldn't have kids."

"We're not supposed to be able to. I'm still trying to figure out how," Angel informed the girl.

"I think we know how. Angel's 'little guys' got all excited and they he--"

"Xander!" the gang shouted.

"What's going to happen now?" Oz wanted to know.

Buffy and Angel looked at one another. "We've decided to keep the baby. I could never give it up. It's our child," she informed them.

"My baby's having a baby," Mrs. Summers stated softly.

She went to her mother. "Mom, are you okay?"

Mrs. Summers fixed her attention on Angel. "Are you planning to marry her?"

"Mother..." Buffy begged.

"That's all right. Joyce, I will marry Buffy. When she is ready. I cannot force her into a marriage," said Angel.

"But you can force her into having this child," Buffy's mother accused.

That sent Buffy over the edge. "I have had it. Mom, if you can't be happy for us, then I don't want you to be a part of my life. Or this baby's life." She stormed upstairs.

"While I am confused by the circumstances, I do wish to give you my congratulations," Giles said to the vampire.

"Me too," agreed Willow, Oz and Cordelia.

"Thank you."

Buffy returned downstairs several minutes later, carrying a large suitcase. Angel ran to her side. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Leaving," she replied coldly. "I can't stay here."

"Buffy, perhaps you are overreacting," interjected Giles.

"Keep out of it, Giles." She turned to Angel. "I want to go back to the mansion. NOW!"

The vampire took the suitcase from her, following Buffy out the door. "I'm sorry," he apologized to the gang before he closed the front door.

"Did you mean what you said in there? About marrying me?" Buffy asked when they pulled away from the house.

"Whenever you're ready."

"I'm ready now."

The End

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