Chapter Two:



"So how's the new apartment?" Dawn asked. The sound of crunching was all Buffy could hear. Crackers, chips, whatever Dawn was eating - it was annoying. It was rude to eat while talking on the phone. That was what their mom had taught them.

"It's really nice," Buffy answered, putting another cookie in her mouth. She was lying on her new bed in her new room, wearing the nightie Dawn had given her for her birthday, trying to get accustomed to it. Nightgowns would be more comfortable to wear than PJs once she reached the sixth or seventh month of her pregnancy. She reached for another cookie from the bowl next to her and gazed with contentment at her room. She felt like a girl from the nineteenth century with the Victorian-like decoration. The new room was much cozier than hers in the castle. The only thing she was going to miss about that room was the view.

"It's got two bedrooms and a storage room. It's really big. Shows the power of having so much money," she said after she swallowed the last piece of her cookie.

"As long as you and Xander don't use it all," Dawn warned. "You know what that money is for."

"I know," Buffy said. "It'll be weird not living in the castle anymore."

"So you left Leah in charge of the Slayers?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, she was the one most willing to lead, but I also appointed Satsu and Rowena as seconds in command." She wondered what she would have done without Leah, Satsu and Rowena. Well, the same, obviously, but they did make her job much easier. She trusted no one more than them to keep everything safe for her until she came back. "We'll keep in touch with them, and they'll report to us about any new activity."

Dawn hummed her understanding, and then the irritating crunching came back, and along with it came the new reality. The reality of Buffy living the normal life. The one she had always craved. No Slayers, no castles, and on top of that, no vampires. It felt strange somehow, not as fulfilling as she had always pictured.

"What does your bedroom look like?"

"Why tell you when you can come over and see it?" Buffy said, knowing that Dawn would get the hint.

"Buffy, I'm celebrating Easter with Kenny's parents. That's huge, okay?"

"Dawn, last time we saw you was on my birthday. You didn't even stay for spring break. And even if college would allow it, I'm sure you wouldn't have come over on Valentine's Day." She hoped she didn't sound like a needy mother; perhaps it was her hormones speaking.

"Yeah, because the best way to celebrate a lovers' holiday would be with my sister and her boyfriend."

"You know, calling Xander my boyfriend is getting really old."

"Really?" Dawn had stopped crunching, but now her voice got even more annoying. "I dunno, the way you said 'we' instead of 'I' for example."

"I live in an apartment with Xander now. We're doing this whole pregnancy thing together. It's hard not to refer to us as a 'we'."

"Us?"

"I think I'm gonna hang up." And that was exactly what she did.



~*~*~*~




"Shouldn't the eggs be outside?" Buffy asked, looking around at the unrecognizable apartment. Xander had it all Easter-like. The colored eggs were placed neatly in every corner. Cute little stuffed bunnies were seated on the sofa. The table was pushed to the wall, and on top of it lay the confectionery.

"Don't want the Easter Bunny stealing what was left in my wallet," he said. "You should taste the marshmallow bunnies."

"I think I'll stick with the chocolate eggs."

Xander drew out a chair for her. She gave a quick smile at the weird gesture, and then sat down, staring at the table, which also had Peeps and jelly beans on it. "You've got quite a selection here."

"I like variety." He sat next to her, snatching one chocolate egg.

"Variety looks nice." Buffy smiled at the pretty colors of Easter eggs.

"I'm glad you like it." Xander's hand reached out to hold hers. She looked warily at his hand, and then her gaze went to his face. His eye was… sparkling?

Thud. Sting. It was only when pain shot over her thighs that Buffy realized that she'd banged her knees against the table.

"What's wrong?" Xander asked, startled.

"Uh… bathroom, I need bathroom…" She started walking away a little too quickly. The bathroom was right by the end of the hall, so she just headed to her room, her mouth babbling something she couldn't comprehend. "Or better yet… my room. Room is fine."

She shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it, a heavy sigh escaped her lips, and her hand settled in her hair, holding the strands nervously. What the hell happened? Man, she needed someone to talk to. If only Dawn wasn't at Kenny's parents' for the holidays.

She eyed her cell phone on the nightstand and strolled over there. She quickly pressed the speed dial. The phone rang, but there was no answer. Her foot tapped anxiously on the floor. If Dawn screened her, Buffy would forbid her from seeing the baby when it was born.

"Buffy," she heard Xander's voice calling her from outside. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm coming out in a bit," Buffy called back and looked at her nervous reflection in the mirror. If what happened outside was what she thought happened outside, then she was definitely screwed. What was she supposed to do now?

There was a gentle knock on the door. "Buffy?"

She sighed, running a hand over her hair once again, and opened the door to find a concerned Xander standing there. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

Buffy grinned. "Yes, everything's fine."

He stared at her for a brief moment, and the grin she was wearing was about to quiver. Then, thankfully, he handed her a glass of water. "Here. Thought you'd need this."

"Thanks." She reached to take the glass when she noticed her right hand still holding the cell phone. She took the glass with her left hand and placed the cell phone in on the dresser.

Xander looked at it suspiciously. "Who were you calling?"

"Uh, Satsu." She almost choked on her water. "Thought I'd check on them. Easter isn't exactly Halloween."

Xander nodded. "They can take care of themselves, you know."

"Well, sometimes they may need my help."

"Don't worry, you just focus on resting. If they need help, I'll handle it." He beamed fervently. "After all, I'm your Ron Stoppable."

"Yes, you are, as in best friend and nothing more."

"Oh, c'mon, it's obvious they're ending up together."

"As far as I've watched, they haven't."

"Well, they're still in high school. Wait a couple more seasons, when he gets her pregnant." He winked and walked toward the living room.

She broke into a nervous giggle. "Great."

Suddenly, her cell phone started ringing. She pointed at the ringing phone, jumping slightly and babbled, "Oh, phone call, gotta take this." She closed the door again and leaped to grab the cell. Some of the water in the glass she held had spilt on her dresser. She answered without even looking at the caller.

"Hello?" Her voice was squeaky.

"Hi." It was Dawn.

"Where were you?" she hissed.

"Having sex with Kenny," Dawn replied with a bored, casual voice.

At his parents' house? "Could you be any more disturbing?" she asked with a crinkled nose, still not used to their new sisterly relationship. While it had been natural for her and Willow to discuss their sex lives with each other, the whole 'girlfriends' thing with Dawn wasn't working well for her.

"You asked. Now what's the thing you wanted to talk about that couldn't wait until I got back to Berkeley?"

"Xander." There was something about the way she pronounced his name. Buffy had never been scared of Xander in her whole life, at least, not in the same way she was at this very moment. "He's hitting on me," she added quickly before Dawn asked anything.

"Wow, I thought you were going platonic with this."

"We are. It's just Xander's not following the rules."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"I was kinda hoping you'd tell me."

"You can explain the rules again. You seem to enjoy repeating our rules to me."

"It's not that simple. When I rejected Xander in high school, he took it badly."

"He's a big boy now. I'm sure he'll take it fine."

Buffy considered this. Dawn might have a point. Buffy kept anticipating Xander's reaction to things even after the destruction of Sunnydale, and a great number of her expectations were proven wrong. She might be mistaken about this one as well.

"Yeah, that's Buffy," Dawn said. She was probably talking to Kenny. "When will you find out the sex of the baby?"

Buffy grimaced. She wasn't sure she liked Kenny butting in, especially when it came to anything to do with her pregnancy. She hoped Dawn wasn't naked with Kenny in bed at the moment. However, she was definitely not going to ask. "Soon," she muttered.

"I hope it's a girl. What'll you call her if it turns out to be a girl?"

"It depends on Xander. We decided each one of us will name the opposite sex."

"And you've made that decision on what basis?" Dawn sounded less than pleased with this information.

"We flipped a coin."

"That's terrible. I had hopes for a good name for my future niece. Not that I like your picks. Remember Joan?"

Buffy didn't feel like rolling her eyes or remembering Joan. Joan was an awful moment in her life that she wanted to erase from her memory. She sighed. "I'm gonna have to go, Dawn. I've got another heart to break."

"Aren't you the living picture of Marilyn Monroe."

Buffy pouted. "Don't I know it!"

"Cheerio."

"Bye," Buffy whispered, glancing warily at the door. She looked at her reflection in the mirror for the second time. The thin line of her lips showed determination, but the worry in her eyes seemed greater. Buffy didn't want to hurt Xander, not with everything they were going through together. But letting him continue with the false hope that she would ever see him as anything more than a friend would just hurt him more. She had to kill any thought or hope he had about Buffy the Girlfriend or Buffy the Future Mrs. Harris. That was all for the best -for her as well as for him.

She found Xander sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of chocolate eggs on his lap. She almost felt her tummy ache at the thought of someone eating that much chocolate. He grinned when he saw her. "Who would've thought they'd show Brokeback Mountain on Easter?"

"Xander, we need to talk."

His grin faltered gradually, and a serious expression replaced the silly one. "Yeah, we need to, because I've got something to say."

Buffy fought the urge to swallow a lump in her throat, but then she straightened her back. "Maybe it's better if you heard me first."

"Buffy, there's a nice girl I met at the supermarket today," Xander said without making eye contact, his gaze fixed on the TV.

Buffy frowned. "A girl?"

He shifted in his seat a little. "Yeah, and I kinda wanna ask her on a date."

Buffy blinked, then rested one hand on her hip. "Why are you telling me this?"

He looked at her. "We've all seen Friends. Rachel wasn't comfortable with Ross dating while she was pregnant. I was worried that sitcoms were right. Are they?"

Buffy rubbed her temple, taken aback at the turn in the situation. "Uh, no, I'm okay with you dating."

He smiled. "Thanks." He patted the spot next to him on the couch without saying a word.

Buffy sat down, watching as his single eye turned its attention back to the screen. Her eyes remained staring at his face. She wasn't sure what to make of this. Xander was too eager to make a move a few minutes ago, and now he was asking her permission to go on a date with another woman?

Then instinctively, her hand went to hold his hand. It was when he didn't hold hers back that she realized what he was doing.


~*~*~*~


Nine months had passed. She lived through every nauseating and boring minute of them. Morning sickness didn't stick around too long, thankfully, but there was the major sweat problem in freaking frozen Scotland. Whenever she sweated or took off an item of clothing, she was met with raised eyebrows and eye-rolling. She was constantly reminded that she should be thankful she wasn't pregnant in California.

Then there was the issue of boredom. She wasn't allowed to lift anything, move anywhere, or drink anything she liked, which were mainly coffee and an occasional beer now and then.

Basically, she was glad those nine months had ended, and she was thankful she had a pretty normal pregnancy. She still wouldn't have easily survived without Xander by her side.

She smiled at the father of her child holding their daughter and making funny noises. The baby was healthy and beautiful. And Buffy had barely held her.

"Xander, seriously, hand her over."

"But she's so tiny."

"Can't you hear yourself? You're abusing the cliché."

Xander huffed and reluctantly handed Buffy their daughter. She gazed at the small, peaceful face, and then emotions came rushing. Nine months of nauseating dull hours vanished out of her memory when her eyes lay on her own child. The moments she remembered now were holding her daughter’s first ultrasound, hearing the sound of her heartbeat for the first time, having Xander's hand on her stomach feeling the baby's movements.

Buffy ran a finger over the soft, black hairs. She mostly took after Xander. Buffy couldn't see anything resembling herself in the pretty face.

"She's beautiful," Xander whispered next to her. "Now hand her over."

She gave him a look.

"C'mon," Xander whined. "You get to breastfeed her. What do I get?"

"Diaper changing?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Please, Buffy." There came the pout.

"Okay," she said, but held onto the baby when Xander was about to snatch her. "As long as you stop talking like Uncle Scrooge."

"Can't help it. DuckTales is on every day, and we're surrounded by Scotties."

"Whatever. You can't do Scottish." She grudgingly handed him the baby again, but she couldn't keep on the scowl for long, because the way Xander was holding her was enough for a smile to break out on her lips. He cooed and rocked her gently, and his eye gleamed with affection. He would make a wonderful father.

The question was: would she make a good mother? She was running a huge organization, far removed from society, in a big castle on the hill of nowhere. With the way things were now, she'd figured she had more of a chance at a normal life before spreading the Slayer powers.

Even if she completely retired, which was out of the question, she would always be a target. She was one of the original Slayers, the former Chosen One. She was the one that most of the others considered their 'queen'. She had a lot of accomplishments to her name. Any demon or vampire trying to build a reputation would want to take her down. Hell, even the more famous monsters would think killing her was a big achievement. Why else would Giles go through the trouble of making Buffy decoys in the first place?

She bit her lip, looking at Xander and their daughter. "So, any ideas about a name yet?" she asked, playing with her blanket and trying hard to ignore the persisting thoughts.

"Yeah, about that." His nervous tone made her gaze at him critically. "We're calling her Andrew."

Buffy blinked. "Come again?"

Xander opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, then his head dropped in shame. "I lost a bet."

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. "You bet on your child's name?"

Xander swallowed thickly, but said nothing.

Buffy could feel fire about to burst from her eyes. "Andrew is not a girl's name!"

"That'll make her special. C'mon, wasn't it special that Angel had such a feminine name?"

"I can't believe you're doing something Andrew told you to. And how can you even lose a bet to Andrew?"

Xander turned to face her fully, placing their daughter in Buffy's view, probably to protect him from her wrath. "Look, how about Andrea?" he rapidly suggested. "That way we can call her Andy, and you won't feel like shooting yourself."

Buffy was about to protest when a thoughtful look crossed her face. "Actually, Andrea sounds good."

Xander beamed.

"But I'm not calling her Andy," she asserted with a demanding frown.

"Whatever you say."



~*~*~*~



"Is Andy asleep?" Buffy asked over the phone, walking down the street with the groceries. A car honked so loudly she couldn't hear what Xander had said, but then she almost heard him mention Scotch.

"Didn't we agree that there will be no alcohol for the next two years?" she said.

"But, Buffy…"

"I'm already out of the supermarket," Buffy reasoned. "Xander, I gotta hang up. I can't talk to you while crossing the street, okay?"

The minute she hung up, someone suddenly slammed into her. Buffy was able to save some of the groceries but sadly the milk cartons fell and smashed. She turned around angrily to meet the frightened eyes of a blonde girl.

"I'm… I'm sorry," the girl stuttered. "But there's a man who's following me. He wants to rape me."

Buffy's eyes narrowed at the girl. Her accent wasn't Scottish. She sounded American, though she didn't look it. The big dark eyes, the features, and the skin color belonged somewhere else. She looked Mediterranean.

"Where is he?" Buffy asked, suddenly sensing a vampire nearby. At first, she planned to walk the girl to her house, but since there was a vampire involved, all bets were off.

The girl pointed to a dark alley. Buffy handed her the groceries. "Guard these with your life," she commanded, and headed towards the alley.

"Wait, you're going to him? Shouldn't we call the police?" the girl asked with fearful eyes.

"Trust me, I can handle it," Buffy said, walking to the dark alley, her hand already grabbing the stake in her coat pocket.

The alley was quite dark, so Buffy relied on her senses. The problem was she couldn't detect the vampire anymore. She figured it had gone somewhere else while she was talking to the girl. Maybe he had gotten to her now. When Buffy was about to turn around, she heard a crack. She unconsciously took position, her eyes looking at every possible place.

Then, suddenly, Buffy flipped backwards.

Vampires should be aware that Slayers were much faster and smarter, which was why she usually punned, just to make the fight more challenging. Tonight, though, she didn't feel like punning. She wanted to get back to her comfy sofa, with her daughter and her TV. Buffy didn't waste a second as she ran toward the vampire, who was about to get up, and swung a leg at his face, causing him to fall on his back. She spun and kicked again, leaving the vampire no chance of getting up.

Something moved in the background - another vampire. Spinning around, she saw no one. She quickly ducked, avoiding a punch from the vampire behind her, and turned her attention to the vampire she could see at the moment, thinking she would deal with the other once she finished with this one.

She avoided another punch and then leaped, stake raised to lunge at the vampire, who dodged in time. Buffy rolled on the ground before she rose up again.

The vampire kicked at Buffy's head, missing as she ducked and somersaulted past him. Once her legs were on the ground, she turned around and came face to face with…

Spike?



~*~*~*~