Part Seven

"How cute!" Cordelia exclaimed at the little outfit Buffy held up for inspection by the crowd of women that were crammed together around the couch.

Buffy had come home after class to find the apartment decorated in blue and pink streamers and full of friends and family and baby shower gifts. Cordelia and Tara had decorated when they had gotten out of class, while Willow and Anya bought food and wrapped gifts. Her mother had come too. The shower was women only by tradition, but there were gifts from the men in her life as well.

So far there had been several cute outfits from old friends of her mother, a purple teddy bear from Xander, a teething guitar made of red rubber from Oz, several children's books from Giles, a crib from her father, and a car seat from Wesley -of all people. The Slayer smiled at that, remembering that she'd have to get a second one. She still hadn't told anyone other than her mother about the twins. There had also been two beautiful receiving blankets, one in blue, and one in pink, since no one had been told the gender of the baby. They were made of thick cotton, and edged in satin. Willow and Tara had chipped in and bought a changing table, while Anya had bought a cute stuffed walrus. Strange, but cute, and definitely better than some presents Buffy could have thought of. Her mother's present was somewhere in the mail, according to the people who were shipping it, so it would come later.

Buffy was in enthroned in an overstuffed chair, and perfectly happy to be the center of attention. She put the little green pajamas with singing frogs on them down and reached for another gaily wrapped present. She grinned. "This is almost better than Christmas!"

"But it's not for you. It's for the baby." Willow grinned. "That one's special."

Quickly the blonde removed the sparkly silver paper. Inside the wrapping was what looked like a large white and silver bound book. Buffy opened it. Inside were pages of clean lined paper interchanged with clear pages that would hold photographs. Every page was decorated in small, beautiful illustrations of baby animals, real and fantasy. The front page had a blank space and written in Calligraphy below it "child of Buffy Summers." The space was obviously meant to be filled with the name and date of birth.  Buffy felt tears coming to her eyes. She looked up. "It's beautiful. Who's is this?"

Cordelia looked around the room before answering. "It's from Angel. He made it himself."

"Angel knows?" Buffy's head turned sharply.

The brunette nodded a little uncomfortably. "Yeah, it kind of slipped one day over the phone. I hope you don't mind."

Buffy looked down at the gift in her hands, and ran one tenderly over the cover. "Tell him....thank you."

As Cordelia nodded, Joyce Summers decided it was time to change the subject. "Anyone up for cake? We do have a table full of treats."
 
Quickly the women converged on the counter that was covered in snacks. The best dessert was undoubtedly the cake that was covered in icing and decorated with an icing drawing of baby kittens and the words Congratulations Buffy. As they happily munched away at cake, veggies and dip, and other hors d'oeuvres, the conversation quickly turned to something much lighter than a certain vampire.

"Carmine!"

"No!" Willow moaned. "Carmine's the name of my second cousin, and she's a real witch....well, not really. You know what I mean!"

Everybody chuckled.

"What about Tyler?" Tara suggested.

"That's not bad," Cordelia agreed. "What do you think, Buffy?"

The Slayer laughed. "I think there's still a few months before I really have to worry about a name."

"So you'll actually get something done early for once instead of at the last minute," Cordelia grinned.

Buffy stuck her tongue out at her. "And I'll probably end up changing my mind again anyway!" She leaned back in the chair and took another fork-full of cake. Miss Kitty batted at her shoe lace. Buffy leaned awkwardly to the side to see the kitten without her stomach in the way. "You want some?" she asked the cat, who meowed loudly and stood up against her leg.

 The blonde put her fork down in reach of the kitten who took a small nibble of icing. A small dab of icing was left on her nose, and everyone laughed as she tried to lick it off, crossing her eyes in the process. Finally she batted it with her nose and licked it off her paw with all the dignity she could muster. Then she stalkedover to the window and jumped up on the sill to watch the world go by. They let her go.

"We still haven't found a good boy's name," Cordelia reminded the group, bringing the conversation back to topic.

"Or a girl's name," Willow reminded her. "Not unless Buffy likes Carmine, Mildred, and Hulga."

"Ick," Buffy grimaced. "I will not give a girl a name that'll get her laughed at, or has stupid things that rhyme with it." She looked pointedly at her mother.

"There's nothing wrong with the name Buffy," Joyce replied in good natured defense.

"Except that it rhymes with muffy, scruffy, huffy, toughy, puffy and fluffy!"

"I didn't write the English language."

"But you did pick my name!"

"Seems you are a bit huffy sometimes."

Buffy glared at her mother for a moment, then began to laugh. The shaking woke her daughter, who kicked, startled by the sudden movement. Her son was right behind. The laughter subsided to chuckles interspersed with groans. "Kicking," she explained to her roommates, who were all staring at her. "They woke up." Everyone continued to stare. "What?"

"They?" Willow said.

"Oh!" Buffy smiled, finally understanding. "I guess the secret's out."

"It's more than one?" Anya looked perplexed.

The Slayer nodded. "Twins. A boy and a girl."

Tara looked thoughtful for a moment. "That means you only carry for seven and a half months doesn't it?"

"Thank the Powers that Be," Buffy grinned, rubbing one hand across her stomach. "A month and a half less of this. I don't think I could last nine months!"

"I don't think your stomach could stretch that far!" Willow giggled. "Though twins does explain why you've been famished all the time."

"And the fact that I don't fit into maternity clothes for most people my size," Buffy sighed. "And why I walk like a goose, and--"

"And we get the message," Cordelia cut her off. "You've already got all the sympathy you're going to get."

"Oh rats," the petite blonde smiled. "Then can I at least have another slice of cake?"

The sullen vampire looked down at the one he had just finished. It was a tender black and white rendering of Buffy asleep, curled naked in the sheets of his bed, her long hair flowing out in all directions. There was another of just her face; also black and white, except for the intense green eyes in the center that seemed to be looking right into his heart. One by his feet was a color sketch of just those eyes.

There were others of things he had never seen, but could so vividly see in his mind when he thought of Buffy that the drawings had almost forced his hand to draw them. The compulsion was too strong for him to resist it. One was a full color of Buffy, naked, her body expanded and softened with the curves of pregnancy, resting on a bed of wild flowers native only to the fields he had played in as a child. Surrounded by the greenery she looked like an Irish goddess. There were three or four other drawings on the same thing, with Buffy in various stages of undress and pregnancy.

The second pile of drawings concerned the child inside her. He had half a dozen sketches of Buffy and a baby. Sometimes it was a girl, and sometimes a boy. In all cases both were clearly peaceful and happy. The most compelling one was a color piece in which there were two infants, both feeding at their mother's breasts as she rocked in a rocking chair.

Angel sighed and lay back on the couch, carefully avoiding his pencils, and stared up at the ceiling. He had tried in vain for weeks to get Buffy out of his head. For some reason now he couldn't do it. He wasn't sure if it had been the news of her pregnancy, or her lack of significant other that drove him mad with dreams of going back to her, raising a family, making love.

Or perhaps he just had to admit that he was lonely. It had been a month since Wesley had left, and now except for the occasional job where Gunn was needed, or the random drop in from David Nabbitt, he was almost entirely alone. And that left him plenty of time to brood. He often toyed with the idea of going to Sunnydale to visit them before dismissing it as a bad idea. Intruding on Buffy's territory had proved to be a bad thing the last year. Besides, they hadn't expressed an interest in being visited. Oh, Cordelia still called at least once every week or two, and Wesley had even called once to chat as he called it. But it wasn't the same. The vampire hadn't realized how much he had come to depend on having friends around.

At least Buffy has friends. She'll need them desperately now. More so than I do. She would need them for support, friendship, in fighting these demons Cordelia had said were giving them all a little bit of trouble. Cordelia told him a lot of things. When she had mentioned the baby shower he had put his creative outpour into his gift for Buffy. But he didn't dare call to ask the brunette if the Slayer had liked it. The thought of her rejecting it made his heart grow cold, and Angel was sure he couldn't take the disappointment. He wasn't strong enough to anymore.

He could make excuses for not going, like a random demon problem or a book he was really into, but they were all lies, and he knew it. Angel was afraid. Of what he wasn't exactly sure. Rejection? Pain? He'd felt both before. And it had been him who left Buffy in the first place. He should have been happy that she had gone on with her life. Instead, all he felt was an insane jealousy. A jealousy of every man she'd ever dated, of her friends who could spend time with her every day and protect her, and even of Buffy herself, for being able to go on and have that life. It was a life he had desperately wanted for himself a couple of years ago.For him and her. Together.

Shaking his head, Angel stood slowly and went into the kitchen. The fridge was almost empty save one small bad of blood. Need to get more, he thought absently as he reached past it for the bottle of beer behind it.

Buffy smiled at the tiger and ghost in front of her. "Well we don't have any tricks, so I guess you'll have to settle for treats," she dropped mini snickers and sweet tarts  into each outstretched bag. "Now remember to ask your parents before you eat them," she reminded them, getting a smile of approval from the tired looking father behind them.

"Thank you!" the two chorused as they waved goodbye.

The apartment complex was one of several that allowed children to trick-or-treat inside, giving them a safe environment and plenty of places for younger kids to go without going too far from home.

Buffy closed the door behind her and returned to the television, where Arachnophobia was playing on the television. Absently she pulled a snickers out of the Halloween candy basket and took a large bite. She felt she deserved a little junk food after months of eating healthy. Besides, it wasn't like any weight gained from a chocolate bar would be noticeable. And in her large orange sweater with the jack-o-lantern face on the front she looked like a pumpkin. She was so tired of being pregnant! She certainly hadn't planned on putting on thirty pounds when she'd entered the frat house that night.

The doorbell rang again and, with a sigh, Buffy began to pull herself up from the couch. A laborious chore at best. She was only half way up, however, when the door opened and her friends entered. They had gone out to a costume party. Buffy had been invited, but had declined the offer as gracefully as possible. What would she have done anyway? Certainly not dancing! "How did it go?" she asked.

"Fantastic!" Cordelia grinned, sweeping dramatically into the room in her Athena costume. She did make a breath taking goddess. Wesley trailed behind her dressed as Apollo, Sun god. It was rather amusing.

"The music was great!" Willow gushed as she entered, followed by Tara. "And we won best literary costumes," she grinned. The two girls had decided to go as the Bronte sisters. A strange choice, Buffy thought, but the costumes looked pretty good. "The dancing was even better," Xander swept in, throwing his black cape out behind him and smiling behind his mask. Quickly he draw his rapier and swished a letter in the air that looked like it was supposed to be a Z...or an X. "And with my lovely lady Esperanza at my side I saved the day."

"Not quite Zorro," Anya replied dryly as she trailed in behind him in a Spanish looking dress.  "You haven't gotten to the good part yet."

"Later tonight my little Spanish rose," Xander grinned, gallantly bowing before her.

"Did you get a lot of trick-or-treaters?" Tara asked as they all joined Buffy around the television, still in costume.

Buffy nodded. "Two tigers, a demon, seven ghosts, three witches, a warlock, a bunny, two robin hoods, one Britney Spears, four Spice Girls, one Gonzo, and five black cats."

"Sounds like a good night," Cordelia smiled, reaching for the candy dish. "How much did you give them?" She exclaimed. "It's almost empty."

The Slayer blushed slightly. "Is it? We were a little hungry."

"Eating for three huh?" Willow teased.

"Been there," Cordelia laughed. "At least yours are human."

The others chuckled. Cordelia had told them the whole story. And upon Wesley's return they had gotten his version of events as well. Which proved to be very interesting.

"Doesn't make me feel any better," Buffy replied tiredly. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. It was becoming annoyingly difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep in. The last couple of nights she had taken to sleeping in the chair by the couch.

Everyone was silent through the last few minutes of the movie. Cordelia even screamed as the big daddy spider lunged at the main character. As the credits began to scroll up the screen Xander and Wesley made their farewells and left. Astoundingly enough the two men were splitting an apartment only a few minutes away. Xander had finally gotten a better paying job working for the local Video store, and been able to move out of his parents' basement. Anya changed and followed them out soon after, saying she'd be back in the morning after classes.

Tara fed Miss Kitty and Amy before vanishing into the shower, and Cordelia went into her room to finish her English Composition paper, leaving Willow and Buffy alone in the living room.

"So you had fun," Buffy commented.

"Yeah," Willow smiled. "You should have come. They had music, and munchies, and a cool costume competition."

"Peachy."

"Buffy, are you okay."

The Slayer smiled. "I'm fine, Will. Just really tired, and uncomfortable, and huge, and...well, you get the picture." She sighed. "I'll just be happy when this part is all over. I sound depressing don't I?"

"Only mildly," Willow assured her. "But I've kind of gotten used to cranky-pregnant-Buffy. It'll be nice to have happy-Slayer-Buffy back though."

"You make me sound like a series of Barbie dolls," Buffy replied.

"Except that Barbie's never had kids," her best friend replied. "Only siblings. And she doesn't even have parents! And they're all sisters. Poor Ken is completely out numbered."

The tired blonde had to chuckle at the image of Ken surrounded by all those mostly-teenage, going-through-puberty, anorexic women. It was kind of funny."Thanks, Will. I needed that."

"So you're happy...-er at least?"

"Yeah," Buffy smiled. "I think I'm gonna try and get some sleep in my own room tonight. I think Miss Kitty would like the chair back."

"Probably," Willow replied as Buffy stood and stretched, carefully so as to keep her balance. "G'night."

"Night," the Slayer yawned as she retreated to her bedroom for the night. She could hear the shower turn off as she got ready for bed, and then turn on again as Cordelia invaded the bathroom. She knew is was the brunette because of her insistence on singing in the shower. Fortunately she was a much better singer than an actress.

Carefully pulling her pajamas over her head, Buffy snuggled up against the huge pile of pillows she used as a back rest while she slept, gently picking up Angel's gift to place it out of the way. She paused once again, as she had for the past two nights and several times during the day, to look at the beautiful work he had done. She could hardly believe that he had put so much thought and time into a gift for someone who had treated him so badly. A tear came to her eye, and she wiped it away absently with one hand. I should thank him. But she knew it would likely never happen. Oh, she would do so if they ever ran into each other again, but she certainly couldn't call him. He probably wouldn't even want her to.

Trying to put the image of Angel out of her mind, Buffy snuggled deeper under the covers. The days were still warm, but the nights were actually cool, and sometimes could actually be called chilly. The though of Angel's warm body pressed against hers rose unbidden in her mind, and she couldn't shove away as determined as she was. His strong warmth. The sense of safety and stability she got from his presence in those few peaceful moments they had shared.

A slight bump on her tummy caused the tired mother-to-be to look down. It always amused her how she could actually see the little lumps and bumps caused by kicking feet and waving hands inside her. It was proof that she was actually carrying little lives instead of just having horrible indigestion and extreme weight gain and waist expansion. It made the aching back, swollen ankles, tender breasts, and sleepless nights worth it in some odd, twisted way that she still hadn't figured out.

My babies. The words sent a pleasant thrill through her. I love you.

Willow waved at her, then noticed the look on her face. "What is it?" she asked as Buffy approached.

"Bleeding," she replied, a little short of breath. "Not time yet."

Willow looked a little confused, but Cordelia caught on immediately. "My car is close. I can drive you to the hospital. I'm sure it's nothing too serious." Her expression was full of concern as she tried to speak lightly.

Buffy just nodded and followed her friend to the car, Willow walking beside her with a slightly scared look on her face that the Slayer hadn't seen since Willow had first started fighting demons and vampires. She managed a small smile for her friend's sake. "I'm okay, Will."

"Are you sure," the red-head asked. "I mean....could it be?"

Buffy shook her head. "I don't think so. There's no pain. No contractions." Please don't let it be a miscarriage, she prayed to whatever powers were listening.

"Oh. Okay," Willow nodded.

They reached Cordelia's car and she drove quickly -without speeding, but barely- to the hospital. Fortunately Buffy's OB-GYN didn't have an appointment and was able to see her immediately. Something almost unheard of in Sunnydale.

"So what is it?" Buffy asked nervously.

Doctor Santner finished her examination. "You can sit up now," she told her. When Buffy was back in a sitting position she continued.

"There's nothing wrong," Dorothy told her patient.

The blonde blinked. "Than what's with the bleeding? I've never had it before."

The doctor smiled. "It's called spotting. It happens sometimes. Usually around the time a woman would normally have her period if she weren't pregnant, though it can happen anytime. So it's perfectly normal. You may have it again or you may not, but don't worry."

"Great," Buffy sighed in relief. "Anything else?"

Doctor Santner shook her head. "Not really, though while you're here we might as well finish up with the rest of your usual exam since you were supposed to bein tomorrow anyway."

"Okay," Buffy agreed, and went through the usual somewhat embarrassing rigors of being weighed and measured, her favorite pass-time nowadays. "So how am I doing?"

"Just fine," her OB-GYN smiled. "Congratulations,you've officially put on thirty-five pounds in six months."

Buffy felt her face flush pink.

The doctor laughed. "Don't worry. I was more worried about you being underweight than a little over. I don't think you want to know the inches on your waistline."

"You're right, I don't," the Slayer nodded emphatically. "You can tell me after I give birth."

"Deal," the older woman laughed. "Don't forget to bring in your birth plan when you come in next week. We can go over it and I can answer any questions you still have."

"All right, thanks." Buffy left the office feeling much better than when she'd arrived.

Cordelia and Willow were waiting nervously in the outer lobby. "Well?!" they both asked in unison.

Buffy grinned. "I'm fine, fat, and healthy." She explained about spotting.

"This is just so much more complicated than I thought," Willow sighed. "So what took so long?"

"We got tomorrow's exam out of the way today," the pregnant Slayer shrugged. "Can we go home? I'm starving."

Go to Part Eight