Prologue

Buffy Summers groaned as she felt a contraction rip through her. Angel, who was holding her hand, grimaced in pain as his lover squeezed down on his hand. Buffy had been in labor for nearly 20 hours already and the twins didn't seem eager to make an appearance. The doctor had said that if the babies didn't start to come out within the next four hours, then she was going to have to do a c- section. Buffy was against anybody cutting her up and had refused the drugs she had been offered.

"Angel, I love you."

She looked up at her lover before alarms began to sound around them. The doctor and nurses worked to find out what was wrong.

Angel backed away to allow them room to work. Buffy had lost consciousness and her breathing was heavy. Angel stared helplessly at his wife. He hated being helpless. One of the doctors soon walked over to him.

"Mr. McFladgery, your wife has a tear in her placenta and one of the babies has his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, choking him. I need you to consent to emergency surgery to rescue both your wife and children."

There was a clipboard with a sheet of paper on it. The doctor needed him to sign. Problem was, Buffy was still seventeen, not legally married and only her mother had the legal rights to sign the sheet of paper.

"Buffy and I aren't married yet. She's still seventeen and her legal guardian is still her mother, I can't sign."

"Do you have her mother's phone number so we can call her?"

"Joyce threw Buffy out months ago. Since then, Buffy has tried numerous times to reconcile but Joyce doesn't want to have anything to do with Buffy."

"Ms. Summers and her children are going to die."

Angel relented and gave the doctor Joyce's phone number. He hoped that the kind doctor would be able to persuade Joyce to save her daughter's life along with the twins' lives.

Ten minutes later, the doctor came back with permission to operate.

Part 2

Joyce had come down to the hospital after giving permission to operate on her daughter and grandchildren. She was currently glaring at Angel, who was pacing the waiting room restlessly. They had been in there for almost three hours.

"You did this to her. If you hadn't had sex with her, Buffy wouldn't be in that operating room, dying." Joyce's words were cold and spiteful, intended to make Angel feel worse.

"I didn't think I could get her pregnant, Joyce. Vampires aren't supposed to be able to have children."

"You didn't think at all. You had one day with her and left for seven months."

"I left to save the world. If I had had a choice, I would never have left. Besides, I didn't hear you giving Buffy any support. You kicked her out and Buffy was forced to drop out of school and get a job that paid next to nothing."

Joyce was shocked at Angel's words. Brighid, who was also in the waiting room, entered into the argument.

"You weren't the one she confessed to. She is so scared that the babies are going to have vampiric traits, super strength and that they won't be able to control that strength. You weren't there when Buffy had morning sickness and the only reason you are here now is because you are still Buffy's legal guardian."

The doctor came in and all three jumped up. He did not have a good look on his face.

"Ms. Summers is out of danger as is one of her sons. The other is on life support in the NICU."

"Can I see them?" Angel was freaking.

"Only for a minute. This way."

The doc led Angel down a hallway and into Buffy's room. Buffy herself was asleep on the bed and one of their sons was wrapped in a pale blue blanket and white cap. Angel stepped into the room and sat down in the chair by her bed. Buffy woke up a few minutes later.

"Angel?"

He stroked her face."I'm here."

"How are our babies?"

"One is fine. The other is on life support."

Part 3

Buffy was scared. "Life Support?"

"He wasn't breathing when he came out because the umbilical cord was choking him. The doctors managed to cut the cord off before he died but he might have permanent brain damage from the lack of oxygen to the brain."

Buffy began to cry and Angel just held her. A few minutes later, a doctor came in to check on Buffy.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Melissa Knight. I'll be Buffy's doctor for the next couple of days."

"Can we see our son?"

"Just as soon as I examine you. Have you thought of names for your sons?"

"Eamon Cody and Trevor Teirnan. We want the healthy one to be Trevor."

Dr. Knight smiled. "I'll make note of it."

She continued to examine Buffy and during that time, Trevor became hungry. Dr. Knight had said that it was okay to breast-feed. She handed the baby to the new mother and left the room.

As soon as Buffy held him, she vowed that she would not put her children in danger. They would not know what was out there until they were of an age to handle it.

The baby in Buffy's arms had some dark brown fuzz that would be hair in a year and shocking green eyes. They were too green to have come from Buffy. Angel looked at his son and couldn't believe it."He has my mother's eyes!" He exclaimed, smiling.

Soon Trevor was fed and the new parents were making their way to the NICU where Eamon lay, hooked up to tubes and machines.

Part 4

Buffy was stricken at the sight of her baby boy in the incubator. He had tubes all over him and there was a tube down his throat. His heart monitor beeped steadily. Angel wasn't faring much better. It killed him to see his family in such pain. Buffy settled into her love's arms and sobbed gently for what seemed the hundredth time that day.

Soon Dr. Knight came back over with some x-rays. She did not look happy.

"Eamon was born brain dead," she began, "His cord had been choking him for some time in the womb. The CT shows that the flow of oxygen has been cut off."

She held the x-ray up to the light and indicated where she was talking about.

"Eamon will remain brain dead. There is little to no chance that he will recover on his own."

Buffy began to sob louder and Angel just held her tighter.

"However, there is a highly experimental surgery that we can try to correct the defect."

The doctor gave them some pamphlets to read over before making a decision.

Part 5

Buffy and Angel discussed the surgery Dr. Knight had suggested for Eamon. It was risky and there was a chance that Eamon could die. Buffy didn't want her son in any danger.

"Do you want to just stand by and watch as Eamon's organs stop functioning, one by one, until he dies?"

"No, but the operation is long and difficult. He will be in there for at the minimum of twelve hours. He could die at any point during this surgery."

"But we have nothing left to lose. Please, Buffy, consent to the surgery. We should give Eamon a chance. The doctor that is going to perform the surgery has already done dozens of them with great results."

Buffy sighed. "Fine, we can try the surgery."

Angel was glad that Buffy had given in, for their son's sake.

Dr. Knight came back in to check up on Buffy. "So, what have you decided?"

Buffy answered for both of them. "Eamon can have the surgery."

Dr. Knight smiled. "Great, I'll book an OR for tomorrow. The surgeon, Dr. Russell, is flying in from the East Coast and will be here to talk to you both in a few hours."

"Thank you, Dr. Knight. We appreciate all you've done for us."

Melissa smiled and left the room. She was saddened by their plight. They seemed like great people. They loved each other and their sons very much, but there was something about the husband that bothered her. Whenever she would look into his eyes, she could see pain, too much pain for a guy who didn't look a day over 25. And the girl. She couldn't be any older than 18. Melissa wondered what a beautiful young woman like Buffy was doing with a guy like Angel.

Part 6

Buffy and Angel were waiting in Buffy's hospital room for news on Eamon. He had gone into surgery five hours ago and there had yet to be any news. Trevor had woken up twice to be fed. Things were tense in the room. The couple had been quiet for a while now.

Trevor interrupted the silence by crying. Angel picked him up and carried him over to Buffy, who had unbuttoned her nightgown to let her breast out. He handed the baby over to her. She had him in position but Trevor wasn't hungry. Buffy checked his diaper; it was dry.

"I can't get him to stop crying. He's not hungry and his diaper's dry."

Angel was now sitting in a dark corner with an unreadable expression on his face.

"He's not hungry for milk, Buffy."

Buffy was clearly confused. "Then what is he hungry for?"

"Whether we like it or not, our sons are half-vampires."

Buffy got what her husband was trying to tell her. "You think he wants blood?"

"Can't think of any other reason for his continued crying."

"It's worth a shot."

Buffy used one of her nails to break the skin of her wrist. When the blood start to trickle out, she held it up to her son's mouth. To her surprise, he grew razor sharp incisors and started to suck at the wound. He stayed like that for a few minutes before finally detaching. His teeth retreated back into his gums. Buffy was amazed.

"How did you know?"

Angel just shrugged.

"So far, the babies have been human but I am a vampire so it would only be logical that they would have some of my traits."

"So this means that they are going to have to drink blood as well as eating and drinking regular food?"

"Probably. They might have increased strength and faster healing abilities."

"I don't think that they do or else Eamon would have healed himself."

"What Eamon has, his body can't heal it. That doesn't mean anything."

Buffy started sobbing. "I just want our son to be okay!"

Angel enveloped Buffy in his arms and soothed her, whispered nonsensical, soft words into her ear.

It was in this position that Dr. Russell found them when she came in. She cleared her throat to get the couple's attention. They broke apart, but their hand remained knitted together.

Buffy was the first to speak."Is Eamon okay?"

The doctor smiled."Eamon is going to be fine. The weirdest thing happened in the surgery. The defect looked like it had been healing on its own, which normally is impossible, and then when we closed, his scar healed before my very eyes."

Angel shot Buffy a `what-did-I-tell-you' glance. It went unnoticed by the doctor.

"When will we be able to take him home?"

"A week or less, if he continues to do as well as he's done."

The good doctor left and the couple hugged and cried, happy that their son was going to be okay.

Part 7

A week later, Angel was checking Buffy and their sons out of the hospital. He had waited until nightfall so he could drive them back to the apartment. Buffy was only too happy to be leaving. She was deathly afraid of hospitals. She had been ever since her cousin Ciela had died in one when they were eight. Buffy would miss Dr. Knight. She had been so kind and helpful to both of them. Buffy hoped she would see more of her.

Buffy was holding Trevor and Brighid was holding Eamon while Angel brought the car around to the front of the hospital. They chatted idly about the gang, who had told Brighid that they were planning a welcome home party for them. That was not what Buffy needed or wanted. She just wanted to go home, curl up on the couch and sleep forever. She knew that this would not happen until the buys were off at college but she could still dream.

Buffy could hardly believe that she was a mother sometimes. But all she had to do was look at the adorable faces of her twins and she would be happy beyond words. She wondered if that was how Joyce felt when her mother had given birth to her.

< How could things go so wrong between them? > She wondered.< When did love turn into hate? >

Buffy didn't have time to ponder that because Angel had pulled up. He quickly got everyone settled before leaving the parking lot. Brighid was sitting up front next to Angel and Buffy was sitting in the back, in between the twins. They reached home soon enough and Brighid said goodnight before helping to get the twins settled. Their parents crashed on the couch, too tired to even move. They fell asleep there; Angel was sitting normally while Buffy rested her head in his lap. He absently stroked her hair as they talked until they fell asleep. Buffy was the first to wake up two hours later when Trevor began to cry.

As Angel watched Buffy feed their son, he only had one thought running through his brain.

And so it begins.

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