"The Name Game"

Author: Michelle
Email: michellabella52478@yahoo.com

4 months later

"Leaving for the doctor's office now?" Angel asked Buffy as she put her jacket on over her sweater and overalls. She struggled in trying to tie her sneakers. "Need some help?"

"I can get it myself. Have to get used to not being able to bend down." She rubbed her protruding stomach. He or she gave a powerful kick. "It's going to be a strong one, that's for sure. And yes, I'm going to the doctor's. Xander is picking me up in a few minutes."

Angel frowned at the mention of Xander. It bothered him somewhat that the young man would be accompanying Buffy to her sonogram. The vampire wished he could go with her to the doctor's, but the sunlight made that impossible. He wanted nothing more than to be able to see their baby on the computer screen, or whatever it was called.

"Oh. Good luck."

Buffy sat down on the couch next to her husband. "You're upset about Xander going and not you."

"Being a vampire may have it's advantages, but this isn't one of them. I want to be there with you; to see our child."

She nuzzled closer to him. "You'll see him or her soon enough. Angel, you are going to be a terrific father. And Doctor Rich can print a picture of the baby. You aren't missing out on anything."

Angel reverted back into brood mode. "Sometimes I wonder."

"Hey!" Buffy forced him to look her in the eye. "You've been great through all this. The freaky midnight cravings, morning sickness, mood swings. And you give killer massages. What more could a pregnant, cranky Slayer ask for?" Buffy heard Xander's car horn. "That's Xander. I'll be back later. I love you."

"I love you too," Angel repeated as she left.

Buffy lay on the table while Doctor Rich rubbed the jelly on her stomach. Xander sat in a chair across the room, looking uncomfortable. "Hey, Xand. You okay?"

"Yeah, fine, great. Is it almost over?"

Both Buffy and the doctor laughed. "You could have waited outside," she pointed out.

"And miss seeing my niece or nephew? I don't think so," he responded.

"Which reminds me," began Doctor Rich. "You are far enough along in your pregnancy that we can determine the sex."

Buffy stared in amazement. The idea of finding out the sex of the baby never crossed her mind. "Seriously?"

"Would you like me to find out?"

"Yes!" Xander shouted.

She glanced at him with laughter in her eyes. "Hello? Are you carrying this baby? Are you the father? I don't think so." She thought about it for a minute. Buffy didn't know if Angel would want to know. "Could you write it down on a piece of paper? I'm not sure if my husband wants to know."

"Of course, Buffy." The doctor moved the instrument over her stomach. "Would you like a picture of the baby as well? So your husband can see?"

"Oh, Angel would love that. He always feels bad that he can't come to these appointments."

"He must be a hard worker," considered Doctor Rich.

From the other side of the room, Xander stifled a laugh. DEAD BOY? A HARD WORKER? THAT'S A LAUGH. When he caught sight of Buffy glaring at him, the young man fell silent. He didn't want to upset the already-hormonal Slayer. "Sorry."

Doctor Rich continued with the sonogram. When she finished, she printed up a copy of the baby's picture and pulled out a piece of paper. She wrote down the sex of the baby, folded it, and placed it in an envelope. "Here you go. I'll see you in three weeks."

"Thank you." She and Xander left the room.

"How was your appointment?" Angel asked when Buffy returned to the mansion twenty minutes later.

"Good." She handed him the envelope.

The vampire looked confused. "What's this? The bill?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nope. It's the sex. I had Doctor Rich write it down so we could find out together. That is, if you want to know."

"They can do that?" It amazed him how much had changed since the eighteenth century.

"Yep. Did you want to know?"

"Do you?"

"Truthfully, yes. We could get a head start on decorating and clothes-buying," she admitted. "But if you would rather be surprised--"

"No. If you want to know, I wan to know." He did want to know. Angel wanted to be prepared. It was simply vampire instinct.

"Let's open the envelope." She managed to sit down next to him; it was getting harder and harder as her pregnancy progressed. But to her, it was worth it to be carrying Angel's child.

Slowly, the two opened the envelope. Angel took the slip of paper out and opened it with Buffy. They wanted to find out at the same time. Upon seeing what the paper said, she kissed Angel. "Congratulations. We have a daughter."

"She's not dating until she's forty."

Buffy laughed. "Spoken like a true father. Welcome to the wonderful world of parenting, Angel. A girl. Wow."

"Are you going to tell the others?" he asked.

"You think I could keep this from Willow? Please." She pulled out the picture that the doctor had printed up. "But let's look at our daughter first."

"What do you think of Aileen?"

Angel was confused. "Do I know Aileen?"

Buffy swatted the vampire playfully across the chest. "For a name." She waved the baby name book in front of his face.

"It's nice."

"You're not going to be helpful, are you?"

He shrugged. "Sorry. What kind of names are you looking for?"

"Well, I've been going through some of these books and come to the conclusion that our daughter should have more of a connection to the Irish than just her last name."

"Reilly isn't Irish enough for her?"

"Your last name is perfect. But I've been looking through the baby name books and found out that I really like Irish names. Like Aileen, Sharon, Erin..."

He shook his head vigorously. "Not Erin."

"You don't like Erin? It's so stereo typically Irish."

"I know. But it's been overdone. I'm an Irishman who thinks there are too many Erins in the world." He saw the questions in her eyes. "But if you like the name, it is fine with me."

Buffy shook her head. "No. You don't like it. It was only a suggestion." She flipped through the book. "Shannon. Means 'wise.' What do you think?"

"If you like it..."

She hit him over the head with the book. "You are not making this any easier."

"I'm sorry. I'll go along with whatever you want."

She groaned. "Fine." Leafing through the book, she came across a name she really liked. "What about Colleen? I like that name."

A look of sadness and grief fell across Angel's face. "I--I don't--"

"Angel, what's wrong? Why don't you like Colleen?"

Memories rushed through his mind; memories he long tried to suppress. They brought him back over two centuries in the past to a place he'd rather forget. Events Angel didn't want to remember. "Colleen was my mother's name," he stated flatly.

Buffy knew Angel didn't like to speak about his family. She could understand his reasons not to, having killed them at the beginning of his immortal life. "I didn't know."

"No, you wouldn't have."

"Could you--would you tell me about her?" For Buffy, it wasn't a question but a demand. She wanted to know all she could about Angel's family. They were her family now. Though telling her was Angel's decision.

"It's a long story."

She sat Indian-style on the couch to face him, motioning to the baby inside of her. "She and I aren't going anywhere. Please tell me."

"Her name was Colleen O'Malley Reilly. I loved her very much, she and I were very close. I'd always felt bad, particularly after getting my soul back, for being such a disappoint- ment to her. She had hoped I would settle down and marry, give up my drinking. I was twenty- six when Darla made me a vampire, and my father had made arrangements for me to marry the daughter of a friend of his.

"Mother wasn't opposed to this, but didn't approve of it either. She wanted me to marry on my own accord, but one didn't argue with my father. She was a gentle woman who never raised her voice or her hand to me or my sisters. She understood the pressure my father was putting on me.

"The night before the wedding, she sent me to the tavern to pick up the liquor for the party. Stopping first at my friend's house, we went to the tavern, Patrick and I, and spent the money on girls and booze. That was my last night as a human."

"That was the night you met Darla," Buffy stated. She was beginning to understand more about Angel through the story.

He nodded solemnly. "I saw her in the alley. You know how I felt about the noble- women, and that was how Darla was dressed. It was the night before my wedding and I was drunk. She would have been my last dalliance before I married. Darla turned me that night."

Buffy did not know what to say that wouldn't sound foolish in the wake of what he had shared with her. "What happened next?"

"It was three days later when I rose. I don't remember much about the first few minutes; it's very muddled. I awoke with this insatiable need to see my family. Family, friends, etc.

"I left Darla after sunset and went to the house where I had lived. I watched my family through the window. They were sitting at our kitchen table, talking. It was as if they hadn't noticed I was gone. I hadn't planned on killing them until that moment. So I knocked on the door. My mother answered, and when she saw me standing there, her face lit up. She invited me in and as she hugged me, I broke her neck." Angel saw the look of shock on Buffy's face. "I know, I know. It's unpleasant to think about, much less talk about. Anyway, she died instantly. I dropped her to the floor and killed the rest of my family the same way. Then I set the house on fire. I stood from a distance and watched the house burn to the ground. Then I killed my fiancé and her family. They were my first meal, and I enjoyed it. Those murders made me vicious; made me Angelus."

Buffy was flabbergasted. "You broke your mother's neck and set her on fire?" The cruelty and brutality of it all made her sick to her stomach.

"I'm sorry. I never planned to tell you; never wanted you to find out." He embraced her. "Buffy, I am so ashamed of what I've done."

"That wasn't you. I know that. It was Angelus, and you are Angel. Two different people. You have nothing to be sorry about."

He gave a small smile. "My mother would have said the same thing. She would have loved you. Wherever she is, I know she's happy for us."

"How could she not be?" She took a deep breath. "Angel, I'd like to name our daughter after her. She deserved to live on because she wasn't able to before. Your mother is a woman I would be proud to name my daughter after. After all, she gave me you."

"Colleen Reilly...I like that."

Buffy held onto her obviously shaken husband. Telling his story had taken a lot out of him. She could see the effects on his face. The tears in his eyes. "Colleen Emma Reilly. It has a nice ring to it." The baby kicked her with force. "Well, she likes it."

"Colleen Emma Reilly it is."

From the clouds in the blue sky, Angel's mother sat watching her son and his wife. "I like it too." A granddaughter was something Colleen Reilly never imagined she'd ever see. Angel had made her so proud. And he would only continue to make her prouder.

The End

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