destructo-girl.com

"Old Enemies, New Friends"

Author: Pamela
Contact: destructo-girl@cox.net

Buffy sighed and glanced at her watch. Xander was supposed to have been there ten minutes earlier to pick her up. She'd forgotten how hard life was without a car.

Of course, living without a car is much easier when you aren't entering your third trimester of pregnancy.

It had been almost two weeks since the accident, and Buffy had gone to the doctor for a checkup. Angel normally would have insisted on joining her, but Joyce had needed him to go to a meeting with her. The two still worked together, although it was a strained relationship.

Cordelia and Edge had dropped her off before her appointment, before heading to the mall. They were going to join her, Angel and Xander at her house later for pizza and videos.

Buffy looked at her watch again. Maybe Xander had to work late. He definitely wouldn't have forgotten her. She looked around for somewhere to sit, thinking that a hospital should definitely have a bench to sit and wait when a black car screeched to a stop in front of her.

Her eyes widened in shock and horror, feeling stupid for not being the least big apprehensive about standing out in the dark in her condition. Sure, the Hellmouth was closed... but the world wasn't totally free of vampires.

As the driver's side door opened and a very familiar man with platinum blonde hair on his head and Doc Marten's on his feet popped out, Buffy gulped.

Angel searched the refrigerator for something small he could snack on until everyone got there and they could order the pizza. He was starving and didn't think he could wait any longer. When he looked at the clock and saw it was half past six, he brightened, Cordelia was due with Buffy any moment now, and Buffy would order the pizzas and then he could eat!

Angel had spent the last three hours in a meeting with Joyce and some very interested buyers. He'd probably have to go to a sale in New York in a few weeks, an idea he didn't like, but at least he knew Giles would be there to make sure Buffy would be okay. She would be about eight months along when he left and he just wouldn't feel secure knowing she was home alone and could possibly go into labor at any second.

Maybe they could go look for a new car for Buffy the next day. Giles was at a teacher's conference in LA, but would be back early the next morning. The two of them had decided that they would be able to find a good car for the slayer. Of course, they'd bring her along too. Although she knew nothing about cars, she would want to pick out colors.

There was a knock at the door and Angel frowned. Who would be knocking? Cordelia and Edge were bringing Buffy, and Buffy wouldn't knock on her own door. Angel shrugged and headed to the door. Maybe she forgot her key, or maybe Xander had gotten there early.

"We're here! I don't suppose we lucked out and Xander decided not to come, right? Because I am just never that lucky!" Cordelia babbled as she and Edge came into the house.

"No, he didn't call, so I assume he's coming." Angel replied as he leaned out the door and looked for his wife. "Where's Buffy?"

"How should we know? It's not our day to watch her!" Cordelia replied, taking off her sweater and hanging it in the closet.

"You were supposed to pick her up!" Angel informed her, slamming the door, intent on getting his keys to go pick his wife up as soon as he chewed Cordelia out.

"I was NOT!" Cordelia shouted back at him. "Her mom was supposed to pick her up!"

Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest and nodded before pulling Edge into the living room to watch TV. Angel sighed and rushed into the kitchen to call Joyce's cell phone.

Joyce frowned as she Toby's diaper. "No, why would she? Did she leave you?" She replied, not bothering to hide the hopefulness in her voice.

Angel restrained himself from commenting, instead explaining. "Buffy had an appointment with her doctor today and I thought Cordelia would drive her home, but she says you were supposed to."

"I never heard anything about this. Buffy told me Xander was giving her a ride as soon as he got off work. Do you mean my pregnant daughter is standing around by herself in the dark?!"

"Not for long, I'm leaving now to pick her up." Angel replied, hanging up the phone and grabbing his keys off the counter.

Joyce sighed and shook her head as she disconnected. "Looks like your sister married a loser too, Toby. Must run in the family."

"Slayer?! You're huge!" Spike exclaimed as he got out of his car and walked over the Buffy, looking her over in disbelief.

"Jeez, tell me how you *really* feel!" Buffy replied, not caring that she'd let her enemy offend her.

"Well, I just never imagined you in the motherly way, Luv." Spike explained. "You and the wanker sure didn't waste any time, now did you? He is the one that knocked you up, isn't he?"

Buffy shot him a dirty look, forgetting to be apprehensive about being alone and defenseless with a vampire. "Angel is the father, yes. We're married." She informed him, proudly holding up her left hand so he could admire her ring.

Buffy smiled and rubbed her belly. "We're waiting until the baby's born so it can be a surprise."

Spike nodded. "Sure, I consider it my little brother or sister, after all, Angelus is my sire."

"Actually, my step-mother... which would make us candidates for Jerry Springer." Spike grinned.

"I'm going to go get Buffy... you better let Xander in when he gets here." Angel ordered as he headed towards the front door.

"Since when are you being hospitable to Xander?" Cordelia asked from the living room.

Before Angel could reply, they both were surprised to see an old black DeSoto pull into the driveway. Angel watched in disbelief as Spike popped out of the driver's side and opened the passenger door.

"Angelus! How... well I won't lie... it's not nice to see you." Spike sort of greeted as he helped Buffy out of the car.

The two of them walked up to the front door where both Xander and Angel stared open-mouthed at them.

"Sorry, I forgot... you do realize this is *Spike* you are buddying up with, right?" Xander replied.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Of course.. like I would get a ride home with a stranger! Spike, you *have* to join us! I know you don't usually eat human-food, but this could be fun!"

"Buffy, Honey, did you forget Spike is a vampire? Did you hypnotize her?! Buffy did you sustain a head wound?!" Angel babbled.

"Why, thank you, Pet. And yes, I'd love to join you." Spike purred before following Buffy into the house.

"December 12^th." Buffy answered, smiling giddily at Spike as he sat across from her at the dining room table. She looked over at her husband as he sat beside her and squeezed his hand. He smiled back at her before leaning over to kiss her sweetly.

Spike and Xander grimaced in disgust as they sat beside each other on the other side of the table.

Cordelia and Edge sat together rubbing their feet together and cooing at each other, oblivious to the fact that there were others in the room.

"I sure hope the baby takes after you, Slayer. A brooding baby would just be *sick*!" Spike sneered at Angel.

"Angel doesn't always brood." Buffy argued before grinning. "Although he's pretty cute when he does."

Xander shook his head and took a bite out of his fourth slice of pizza; amazed he still had an appetite with all the nauseating events occurring around him.

"Shut your bloody hole!" Spike barked at the boy before turning to Angel. "I can't believe you got such a sissy movie!"

Buffy sighed, she should have known better than to think it would be possible for them all to agree on one movie.

After much bickering, Cordelia and Edge decided to just go see a movie in the theater on their own. Xander opted on getting a good night's sleep before work the next morning and headed home, and Spike informed Buffy that he hadn't checked into a motel yet. Just as he'd hoped, Buffy happily insisted he stay in their basement.

Angel shook his head as he helped Spike settle in with a cot, as per Buffy's orders. He knew, due to her condition, her hormones were in overdrive and she had turbo maternal instincts, but this was just ridiculous!

After leaving a smug Spike in the basement, Angel tiredly trudged up the stairs to the bedroom he and Buffy shared. He couldn't help but smile as he saw her on the bed, watching the news and spreading baby oil over her large belly.

"Thanks for doing that." She said, smiling up at him. "You are so amazingly sweet."

"Like I could ever say no to anything you asked me." He grinned as he pulled off his clothes.

Angel felt a little nervous about that, however, he knew his childe well enough that if the vampire were planning to slaughter he and Buffy in their sleep, Angel would know it. For some reason, Spike honestly was enjoying Buffy's company, and that unnerved him, and he tried to pretend it wasn't because he was extremely jealous.

Angel kissed his wife on the cheek before pouring himself a cup of the coffee she'd made him and sitting down at the table with his newspaper. Seeing her pick up the teakettle after it had just whistled, he asked, "Making yourself some tea?"

Angel raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off as one of her cravings. When she poured some mini-marshmallows over the cocoa, she'd made in a mug and headed to the basement door, Angel sighed exasperatedly.

Buffy turned and looked at Angel in surprise. "Of course I made it for Spike. He is our guest, after all."

Angel shook his head and returned to the paper. Buffy shrugged and trekked down the basement stairs to surprise Spike with his special treat.

Giles struggled in the front door of Buffy and Angel's home with his suitcase and duffel. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found everything in place and a calm quiet throughout the house. Wandering into the kitchen, he found Angel seated at the table, sipping a cup of coffee as he perused the sports section of the local newspaper.

"Good morning." Giles greeted, pouring some water into the teakettle and setting it over a flame on the stove.

"Oh.. you know... extremely dull." Giles replied as he sat down on the table to wait for his tea. "I need a nice hot cup of Earl Grey to calm my nerves and then I shall be good as new. How's Buffy?"

"Actually... it's not all that odd. Spike has always had a thing for weak females. They bring out the protector in him. Now that Buffy's pregnant and powerless... she's fairly weak, and he's into that. He may be completely annoying, but I know he won't hurt her."

Angel shook his head. "I think she likes the attention. I mean, in her eyes, I'm her husband, therefore it is my duty to treat her like a queen. So when Spike does it, it really means something."

"Hardly! I've accepted Buffy's irrationalities due to the changes in her body, I know that she'll still ultimately want me. Spike is just extremely annoying."

As the teakettle began to whistle, Giles stood from the table and shook his head. "Very odd."

Angel stood in the hall with his arms crossed as his wife appeared in the doorway to the basement, out of breath.

"Boy, those stairs never seemed so hard to run up before. I remember, because when we first moved in, the doorbell never rang unless I was down there so I had to run up here." Buffy rambled, hoping Angel wasn't as mad as he looked or sounded.

"That's because you weren't nearly eight months pregnant then." Angel replied as he placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to the front door. "Are you all ready to go now? We're already leaving twenty minutes later than we'd planned because you were so busy talking to Spike."

Buffy smiled apologetically and held up a small notebook. "Yup, I've got my book for my notes.. just need my purse."

Angel rolled his eyes as he picked up Buffy's purse from the hall table and grabbed her a sweater from the closet.

"It could be chilly in Santa Barbara, plus, you know how they sometimes turn the air up too high in those dealerships!"

"I hear the Taurus is a lovely car." Giles suggested as they roamed the Ford dealership.

"It looks like a bubble." Buffy replied, yawning. They had already gone to the Infiniti, Honda and Mitsubishi dealerships, not finding any cars that would work for them.

Buffy needed a car that had four doors, so she could easily drive with a child in the backseat. It had to be comfortable for someone 5'3 to drive it... but not cramping Angel with his 6 foot frame. And it had to not look like an 'old person' car.

"Um..." Buffy flipped open her notebook. Angel hadn't noticed it before, but she appeared to have notes on many different cars written down. "Nope, it's very uncomfortable in the rear seat, and it has gotten a lot of complaints from customers."

Sighing, Giles looked at his watch. "It's nearly time for supper. How about we go glance about the Pontiac dealership next door, and if we have no luck, we can go eat and visit some other places?"

"All right." The salesman, Trevor replied and looked down at his paper. "Well, it already comes standard with several optional features for the GT.. the only options for the GT1 are a telephone and leather seats."

Buffy shook her head. "I have a cell phone and no desire to have leather in my car."

"Angel, I am going to be driving with a baby in the car. Babies make messes. Messes on leather is bad." Buffy reasoned. "Besides, leather would be really hot, so I'd have to get seat covers... and doesn't that defeat the purpose?"

Buffy smiled at the salesman across the table from between Giles and Angel. The two men both sat, resigned. They had come in, thinking they'd get Buffy a great car, using their male knowledge of cars. They hadn't expected Buffy's knowledge from the Internet would put them to shame.

Half an hour later, they stood out in front of the dealership, while Buffy's midnight blue Grand Am sports sedan was pulled around for her to take home. Once she had the keys in her hand, she smiled up at her husband and kissed him.

"Don't you want one of us to..." Angel replied as she sped off. "Ride with you?"

"So, you like your new car?" Angel smiled as he spooned his wife in bed that night.

"Oh, I have two new girl names for you to consider." Buffy told him. "What do you think of Veruca and Ursula?"