Glancing at her bedside clock, she saw it was after ten. She decided to get up and find some food; she was ravenous. Before she began the daily struggle to get out of bed, she looked down at her swollen belly, smiling as she ran a hand over it and felt the baby kick. She sighed in elation.

All of a sudden she felt a sharp pain. Her body was paralyzed with fear as she realized something was going wrong. Very wrong.

The bed around her was soon soaked, realizing her water had broken, and she panicked, trying to think of what to do.

"Rupert!" She called, trying not to get too hysterical.

Her husband walked into the room casually; thinking his wife was only asking him to help her out of bed again. As soon as he saw the frightened look on her face, he knew something was wrong.

"My water... it broke." Joyce told him in a distraught voice.

"W-w-what? B-b-but I thought that wouldn't happen for a long time. Not for months!"

"Well, it's happening now!" Joyce replied, her voice starting to rise.

Giles did the only thing he could think of. "BUFFY!"

Buffy was seated peacefully on the couch, watching "Batman and Robin" on HBO, trying to use the nice shots of George Clooney in rubber as a way to forget her disturbing dreams. She'd been doing an all right job of it when she heard Giles screaming. Recognizing that he was in a panic and not about to yell at her for something, she jumped up and raced up the stairs to look for her stepfather.

She found him standing in the middle of the master bedroom, looking pale and paralyzed. Seeing her mother struggling to get out of bed, she rushed to her side and helped her up. "What's going on Mom?"

"My water broke, Honey. We need to get to the hospital." Seeing her daughter nod her head, Joyce decided she would probably be the only useful one. "Rupert, please go get me my suitcase from the basement. Buffy and I can pack it."

Giles stared at her, stunned.

"Giles... basement... suitcase." Buffy told him in a firm voice. That seemed to get through to him, because he rushed out of the room, presumably down to the basement.

Joyce was almost amused at how they could face all sorts of demons without batting an eye, but a woman in labor had them all flustered. She got Buffy to pull out certain items for her suitcase as she dressed. Giles came back bustling in with the suitcase and Joyce sent him on a search for his car keys, wondering how long it would take him to remember they were on the key rack in the kitchen, as usual.

Buffy quickly grabbed all the items Joyce had told her to and packed them up. Soon, the two women were coming down the stairs, Buffy lugging the suitcase. Giles rushed and grabbed it from her, remembering that since she was pregnant as well, it wasn't a good idea for her to carry heavy objects.

The three of them soon got into Giles' Camry and headed off to the hospital. As they drove down the street, Buffy gazed back at the house, wondering how different her life might be when she was home again.

They took Joyce into a hospital room immediately. Buffy was a nervous wreck. She needed Angel there for support, but he wouldn't get back from New York until that afternoon. She tried to call Willow, then Xander, but neither were home. Surprisingly, she got through to Cordelia who told her she'd be there as soon as possible.

She kept her promise, rushing into the waiting room a few moments before Giles came in to bring Buffy into Joyce's room.

The three of them came in and found Joyce hooked up to various monitors and machines, Buffy was too scared to even ask what they were for.

Cordelia hung back, keeping her mouth shut as Buffy sat down in the chair next to her mom, who tried to calm her daughter by showing her what some of the equipment was for. Buffy watched the device that monitored Joyce's contractions like a hawk, realizing that in about 6 months she'd probably have the same thing hooked up to her.

They were going to just keep Joyce under observation for a while, see how strong and far apart her contractions were before they did anything.

Seeing that her mother was all right and that even the contractions weren't too bad, Buffy relaxed. Even Cordelia stopped worrying she would see something gross and pulled a chair next to Buffy so that the three females could talk, while Giles, paced back and forth and cleaned his glasses whenever asked a question.

Xander showed up about an hour after Buffy had called him, and Joyce sent Giles and the three teens to the hospital cafeteria for lunch. Giles only got some hot tea and the teens stared as it shook in his hand.

He left them alone soon to be with his wife and the other two tried to occupy Buffy. Glancing at her watch, Buffy found it as already after one.

"Oh no! Angel's flight is coming in at 2:30 and I am supposed to pick him up!" She exclaimed.

"I'll go meet him at the airport." Xander offered.

Both females looked at him in surprise.

"What? It's not like I'm doing it as a favor for him, I'm doing it for you."

Buffy smiled appreciatively. "Thanks."

"I just need to run home; my mom will let me borrow her car."

Cordelia dug her keys out of her purse. "Here, take mine."

"You're letting me drive your car?"

Sighing, she replied. "Well it would me kind of hard not to, what with you being nice to Buffy an all."

Buffy smiled at the couple's odd conversation. Xander soon left and the girls got up to head back to Joyce's room. On their way, they ran into a frantic Willow, tugging the cool as ever Oz along with her.

"Oh there you are!" Willow exclaimed as she saw her two friends before pulling Buffy into a fierce embrace. "What's going on? Is your mom okay? Are you okay?"

"Mom's doing pretty well. Since her water broke they aren't going to stop the labor; they're just keeping an eye on her to make sure there is no infection. Right now they're waiting to see if she can do it the old fashioned way or if she'll need surgery."

"Oh wow... are you okay?" Willow replied.

Buffy nodded. "Angel will be here soon, Xander's picking him up."

Angel rushed off the plane, eager to see Buffy. Three days didn't seem like a long time, but when it was three Buffyless days it felt like months. He especially wanted to see her because he knew she'd been apprehensive with him leaving after her dream.

He entered the airport and looked for his blonde love.

Instead he saw Xander.

His heart became paralyzed in fear and he felt all the blood rush out of his face. Buffy couldn't be there, which meant something had happened.

Something was very wrong.

Angel practically ran to the younger man. "What happened, is Buffy okay?"

"She's fine, Angel, but her mom... she went into labor, so Buffy's at the hospital."

"Oh God... she was so worried and I just dismissed it, and now she's been all alone while trying to deal with this!"

"Don't worry, Cordy is with her."

"Cordy?"

"We'll hurry."

Angel and Xander rushed into the hospital and found Buffy, Cordelia, Willow and Oz sitting quietly in the waiting room. As soon as she saw him, Buffy flung herself into Angel's arms.

As she let all of her tears pour from her eyes, Angel whispered words of comfort to her, while worrying that things might have taken a turn for the worse after Xander had gone to pick him up.

After Buffy calmed down, Angel took a seat with her on his lap. Willow told him and Xander that the doctors had decided that if they didn't give Joyce a cesarean, it might be too hard on her and the baby; at her age and since the baby was already premature.

They were expecting news any moment and as time had gone by, Buffy had gotten increasingly worried, but her friends noticed as soon as Angel arrived, Buffy seemed to feel a lot better. He had a way of making her feel things would be okay.

After about ten more minutes of waiting, Giles came out into the waiting room with a big grin on his face.

"Everything's okay?" Buffy asked, jumping out of Angel's lap.

Giles nodded. "Yes, both Joyce and Tobias are doing well! Tobias weighs six pounds, two ounces, and I am told that is very good news."

Buffy squealed and hugged him. Ecstatic with relief, he swung his stepdaughter in the air before setting her down. Angel smiled and hugged Buffy as well, then, as Willow and Cordelia hugged her and started chattering excitedly, he walked over to Giles and plucked a cigar out of his pocket that he'd picked up in New York.

"Congratulations, Dad."

"Are you ready to hold your new brother?" The nurse asked Buffy, smiling warmly as she picked the newborn up out of his crib in Sunnydale General's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. She carefully placed him in Buffy's arms, then gestured to the rocking chair they had moved next to the crib. "Go ahead and have a seat, get to know him. I'll be right here if you need me." She instructed before turning and leaving to go attend to other preemies.

Buffy sat down in the care and cautiously held her new sibling. "Um... hi, Toby, I'm Buffy, your sister. Wow, I can't believe I'm somebody's sister!" She smiled down at his small face, his blue eyes staring up at her in wonder. "I promise to do my best. Mom can get a little crazy, especially with the parenting books... But Giles, well, I guess Dad... he's perfect. Sure, he'll diss your clothes, your lingo, and everything else, but he's there for you whenever you need it. And he understands, no matter what you've done. Trust me, I've made some *huge* mistakes, but he's always backed me up. Plus I have great blackmail. Um... well, like I said, I'll try to be a good sister, but unfortunately I might not be around too much, at least for a while. I'm having my own baby. Yup, you're an uncle. I'm sure you'll be great. Speaking of, would you mind if I let Angel practice on you? He's your soon to be brother in law. You'll like him; he's pretty much the greatest guy ever! So, since he's going to be a dad, he needs to learn as much as possible. You don't mind, right?" Toby yawned, making Buffy smile. "I didn't think so."

Buffy talked to her little brother for a few more minutes before the nurse told her he needed his rest. She kissed him on the forehead and handed him back to the nurse. Waving goodbye, she left the room and took off the yellow robe they'd given her to wear, then headed up to her mother's room.

"Oh, Mom, he is so perfect!" Buffy gushed from her chair next to her mother's hospital bed.

Joyce smiled back at her. "Isn't he? Definitely to most gorgeous little boy I've ever seen."

"How long did they let you stay with him this morning?"

"Only about ten or fifteen minutes... seemed to fly by."

"I know, it's like I only got to hold him for a second and then they were taking him away. Especially since I've waited two days to see him!"

"Well, the doctors told me that he and I could probably come home on Friday, so that's only four more days and then we can hold him and watch him as much as we like."

"Actually, Dr. Crawford already told Giles that he has to make sure you and I aren't up at all hours with the baby. You have to rest after your surgery and I've got this whole 'second trimester' thing about to happen."

"Let me guess, he's a nervous wreck?" Joyce smiled.

Buffy nodded. "When I left this morning, he and Angel were in the nursery trying to construct the crib, but Giles is so tense it wasn't going well! We really should have gone ahead and set the nursery up months ago."

"Giles listened to me and let Angel stay with the two of you?"

Buffy nodded. "I figured he'd make Angel sleep on the couch, but he lets him sleep in my room with me, albeit reluctantly. For some reason, even though we're going to get married and I'm already pregnant, the idea of Angel and I having sex freaks Giles big time!"

Joyce smiled. "Honey, you're like a daughter to him. He's not going to like the idea of you having sex. It's a fact of life."

"Why?"

Joyce shrugged. "I have no idea. Maybe it's that fatherly protectiveness."

Buffy thought about it surprised that it didn't bother her too much. "Well, I better get going. I have to make sure they don't destroy the house."

Joyce laughed. "Please do that! And make sure you eat well this week while I can't watch you Honey. You're eating for two."

"Yes, Mom." Buffy sighed as she kissed her mom on the cheek before heading home. She had a long afternoon ahead of her, since she was positive that she and Angel would spend it putting the nursery together since Giles was a wreck.

Ooh... but first she'd get some lunch. Chinese food sounded really good!

The End

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