Chapter 45: Road to Redemption

“Oh my God,” Buffy moaned as she hung her head over the toilet. “I’m never eating again.” Spike sat on the edge of the bathtub gently rubbing her back. “Are you secretly feeding me at night or something, because how is it possible to have this much…ugh…” She retched again, and Spike grimaced but held her hair back for her. “Ok. Ok. I think I’m done.” She flushed the toilet and stood up on shaky legs. Spike helped her over to the sink, and she groaned when she looked at herself.

Her face was sticky with sweat but it was paler than a sheet, and she had dark circles under her eyes.

“You look beautiful, pet.”

“Oh shut up. You’re just saying that so you can try and get some. Well, I’m not in the mood.” Spike just smirked at her, dampened a wash cloth with cold water, and dabbed at her face, while she brushed her teeth. “Evil…horny…man.” He chuckled at her as she garbled her words between brushstrokes. She spat the toothpaste out in the sink and rinsed. “And we have to find a new doctor. Ours is an idiot.”

“What?”

“She says I’ve lost weight. Lost? I can’t fit into any of my jeans, and my comfy pants aren’t comfy anymore! I’m a whale.” He thought for a moment about reminding her that all the morning sickness she’d been having probably hadn’t helped her in the weight department. But, she didn’t look like she was in the mood for it. He went for the best thing he could think. It was the truth, but he knew she wouldn’t buy it.

“You’re sexy,” he reminded her.

“Right. A sexy, sweaty, puking whale.” She turned and lifted up her shirt, examining her belly in the mirror. It still wasn’t huge, but it had grown quite a bit in the past month. They’d already had a preliminary doctor’s appointment and then a second appointment. First scans of their budding baby were taped to the fridge and framed on the end tables downstairs.

Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred in regards to the demon community. Slaying was at its usual two-per-night average, and Buffy had an entire team with her when she went anywhere. Willow and Tara would cast confusion spells, Giles, Anya, and Xander would hold crosses, and she and Spike would do most of the fighting. Except now, she felt nauseated a lot, and she’d actually thrown up on one of her vamp kills before dusting him. Not a pleasant way to go, even for a vampire.

Maybe Buffy felt miserable, but Spike was enjoying the perks of this pregnancy. Her breasts were swelling. They still weren’t huge, but they were a little bigger, and despite the fact that he reassured her that her normal size was just right, he decided to partake in enjoying this new size while it lasted. She’d slap his head and call him a ‘perv’, and he’d spend a few hours showing her just how much of a ‘perv’ she was herself.

She was coming to the close of her eleventh week, and she was definitely feeling it. She fell right to sleep most nights, though she tried to make sure Spike didn’t feel too neglected. He was taking it like a champ though, and when she was feeling up it, he’d take advantage of every curve on her pregnant body.

She was still thin in the arms and the legs, but her belly was definitely noticeable. She would sometimes wake up feeling Spike’s hand caressing the smooth skin, trying to feel the baby, though the doctor explained to them that it would be a few weeks before Buffy would feel anything, and even longer before Spike could feel for himself.

Padding back into the bedroom followed by Spike, Buffy slipped out of her pajamas and stood in nothing but her underwear in front of her mirror. Spike came around behind her, wrapping his arms around her, cradling her belly in his hands. He placed soft kisses to her shoulder, and she smiled, leaning into his touch.

Just as he dipped one hand further, sneaking his fingers into her underwear and caressing her soft mound, the phone rang, and Buffy groaned.

“I’ll kill whoever it is for interrupting,” he growled into her ear. She smirked at the invisible air around her in the mirror, and she turned to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Buffy? It’s Dana.”

“Dana! Hey…um, what’s going on?”

“I was just calling to see how everyone’s doing.”

“We’re…we’re ok. I thought you’d be back by now.”

“Yeah. Well, the evaluation’s going longer than I thought, so the Council’s got another Watcher training me.”

“Oh. So when do you think you’re coming back?”

“I’m not sure. I’m learning a lot here, actually. Mr. Travers isn’t sure he’s satisfied with my progress yet.”

“Figures,” Buffy muttered. “I’ll tell Giles you called.”

“Thanks, B.” Buffy froze.

“What’d you call me?”

“Huh? Oh…I don’t know. What’d I say?”

“You called me ‘B.’”

“Huh. That’s…kinda weird,” Dana laughed. “You can call me ‘D’ if you want. Look, I’ve gotta go. Mr. Travers is staring at me like some watchdog.”

“Oh…ok. Well, call back soon?”

“Yeah. Bye!” The line went dead, and Buffy frowned, hanging up the phone.

“What’d she want?”

“She was checking in.” She turned to Spike.

“S’wrong?”

“She called me ‘B.’”

“Yeah?”

“That’s…that’s what Faith called me.”

“Oh,” Spike said quietly. “Right. She knows Faith?”

“No. No, she doesn’t. That’s what’s weird.”

“Maybe it slipped out?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Buffy frowned and placed her hand on her stomach. “It’s weird to think about Faith right now. I know she’s in prison, trying to make up for what she did. But there’s so much that went down between us…A few years ago, I think she’d have been thrilled that I was pregnant just so she could enjoy tearing the baby out of me herself.” She shuddered.

“But it’s past now, luv,” he assured her, running his fingers through her soft, blonde hair. “She’s locked up; key’s thrown away. Nothing to worry about now, right?”

“I guess.” Buffy sighed and slumped down on the bed. “And I’m not looking forward to Dana coming back. I just…I know the sooner she gets back, the sooner she’ll let it slip to the council about the baby, whether she means to or not.” Spike sat down next to her.

“S’only a matter of time before they find out.”

“I know. I just don’t feel ready to take on whatever the Council has to throw at me. ‘Look within.’ It has to be them. Too bad that Voraos guy doesn’t make follow-up visits. I mean, he could at least stop in. ‘Hey, figure out my mysterious words yet? No? Well, here it is, all spelled out in black and white.’” She frowned. “Stupid prophets and their prophecies.”

***

“I want a baby.”

“Huh?”

“I want a baby. Let’s make one.”

“An, we just got married.”

“Which means it’s time to start trying. I mean, I’ve only got a measly twenty or twenty five years left of childbearing years left.” Xander furrowed his brows and walked around the counter at the Magic Box.

“Sweetie, we’ve got lots of time to have babies. Do you really think we’re ready for that?”

“Well, I’m making money now, and you’ve got a great job. Why not? Buffy and Spike’s baby will need a playmate.”

“You want our baby to have a playmate that might try to eat it?”

“Oi! I’m standing right here,” Spike announced.

“And so am I,” Buffy muttered. “No, our baby won’t be eating anybody else’s, but I’m pretty sure it’s trying to make me puke myself to death.”

“Ah-hah! Evil!”

“No, normal,” Buffy replied, sitting down at the research table. “You know how doctors tell pregnant women to increase their calories, blah blah blah? Well how am I supposed to do that if everything I put in my mouth comes back up?”

“Do we really have to talk about vomit? I mean, it’s going to scare away the customers.”

“What customers? You’re not open yet!”

“Sorry. You don’t have to take my head off.” Anya announced, moving over to flip over the Open sign.

“Sorry.” Buffy frowned and put her hands on her stomach. “Xander? Spike won’t tell me the truth. Do I look fat?” Xander looked at Spike for help.

“Oh no. You’re on your own, mate.”

“C’mon…”

“Nope. You made that crack about our baby eating your baby. Suffer.” Xander looked at Buffy and knelt down in front of her. Spike rolled his eyes. “Ponce.”

“Buff, you look great. You have that natural pregnant glow.”

“Well, you would too if you spent your entire morning hanging over the toilet bowl.”

“Can we not talk about vomit? Please?” Anya asked, marching back over to the register.

“Ok, what would you like to talk about, Anya? Oh! I know. Spike and I were discussing the baby’s room. We’re thinking a bunny rabbit theme. What do you think?” Anya’s eyes widened, and she stomped her foot.

“Xander, she’s making fun of me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that.”

“Yes you are! I don’t like pregnant Buffy. She’s…mean. And sweaty.” Buffy felt her own forehead and grimaced.

The door opened, and Giles came strolling in with his morning coffee and two newspapers. One to keep up on things in the U.S. of A. and the other to keep up to speed on the goings on of his mother country.

“Giles? Could you tell Buffy not to talk about bunnies? You know how that freaks me out and ultimately affects my work.”

“Buffy, don’t mention bunnies to Anya,” Giles muttered, sipping his cup of coffee.

“Hey! Don’t talk to me like a kid. I’m a mom now too.”

“Not for another 6 months or so,” Anya pointed out. “I’ve read about human gestation.” She wrinkled her nose at Buffy. “Nine months is nothing compared to the gestation of a vengeance demon. An old friend of mine was pregnant for three years before she had her baby. But it turned out to be a fire-breathing demon that killed her right after the birth…” Buffy’s eyes grew wide.

“Stop talking now,” she pleaded. Anya shrugged her shoulders.

“Don’t have to worry about that, pet. Remember? Bitty Buffy’s all human.”

“So it’s a girl? You found out then?” Xander asked, eyebrows raised.

“No,” Buffy smirked. “Spike’s dead-set on it being a girl.”

“Emphasis on the word dead.”

“Xander,” Buffy warned.

“What?” The door to the shop opened again, and a few customers trickled in. Giles cleared his throat as if to put a halt to the talk of mystical pregnancies until the customers left. Buffy frowned and opened up a pregnancy book while Spike started reading through some book on demons.

They’d all but given up on researching the Voraos for now. All they could find about him was that he was a prophet. Well, he’d come to Spike, spoken his prophecy and left. Giles was fairly certain he wouldn’t return again. The bigger concern now was keeping Buffy and the baby safe from whatever inside danger was looming. Because the prophecy was so vague, the possibilities of where this danger was coming from were numerous, and that’s what scared Buffy most of all.

***

“I’m getting phone calls now?” She shrugged out of the grips of the two guards that held her arms, but before she could take a step ahead of them, they had her roughly in their hands again. It was all she could do to keep from busting their heads in, but she couldn’t do that. Not now. Not when she still had a lot of time to do for a lot of nasty mistakes. She didn’t want to add two more life sentences to her already bleak future.

“Just keep moving, Lehane.” The gruff guard gripped her arm tightly. They led her into a little room that had nothing but an old phone hanging on the wall, receiver resting on top. They let her inside the room and shut the door, sliding a steel lock into place to avoid an attempted escape.

Faith moved slowly toward the phone, wondering who in the hell would be calling her? It wasn’t Angel. He’d helped her. He’d done what he’d had to do, and she was sure she’d never see him again. It wouldn’t be Buffy. No way in Hell could she ever expect to hear from her again.

“Hello?” she asked, as she brought the receiver to her ear.

“Faith Lehane?”

“Who’s this?”

“You don’t need to know that right now.”

“Then why don’t I just hang up?”

“Because if you do, you won’t hear my proposition.” Faith was silent for a moment.

“Proposition?”

“What would you say if I told you I could move you out of prison?”

“Legally?” There was no answer. “I’d say you must have some kind of power to be able to do that.” There was a soft chuckle.

“You’re on the road to redemption, Miss Lehane. I understand that better than you’d think. Believe me, I do.”

“So what? You want me to work for you? Be your right hand?”

“Yes. Yes, I want you to work for me. But not just me. For the innocent people in this world.”

“And you trust me to do that? I’m in prison for murder, dumbass. I’m doing my part by staying under lock and key.”

“You really see it that way?” When there was no answer, the voice continued to speak. “You think you’re helping the world by staying behind bars, when you hold a power so great that…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you know I’m a Slayer. Big deal.”

“It is a very big deal, Faith.”

“I’m staying put. I don’t work for anybody, man. Last time I did that, it got me eight months in a coma.”

“If you come to work for me, you’ll be using your Slayer powers to fight the forces of evil. You’ll be doing a Slayer’s job, not an assassin’s.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I don’t expect you to believe anything else.”

“Yeah, well, believe this. I’m not going anywhere. This is where I belong. This is where I’m staying.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Faith didn’t answer. “No, I didn’t think so. You made mistakes. We all have. It makes us human. What matters is what you do with the rest of your time here. Would you rather be watching the hours tick by from your cramped little prison cell, or would you rather be out there ridding the world of evil, one demon at a time?” Still no answer. “Faith? Are you there?”

“What’s your name?” She heard a chuckle on the other line.

“Very well then. My name is Quentin Travers, and I’m with the Watcher’s Council.” He heard her breath hitch in her chest. “I realize we haven’t been on the best of terms in the past, Miss Lehane…”

“I get it. I get it. You just want me in your custody so you can lock me up and do whatever the hell it is you were gonna do to me in the past.”

“I’m offering you the chance to start over, Faith. The chance to get back the life you lost years ago. Put the past behind you for good. So what do you say?” When he didn’t receive a response from her, he took that as a yes. “When would you like us to arrange your transfer?”