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Chapter 18


“Pregnant?” Willow asked in disbelief. “You’re pregnant?”

“I found out this morning,” Buffy said softly. “I…I didn’t know if I should
tell you, but…”

“It’s okay,” Willow said, giving her a hug. “I’ll help you through this.”

“Thanks,” Buffy said with a soft smile.

“Are you going to tell him?”

“I’ll have to,” Buffy murmured. “I don’t know how, but I know I have to.”

“What about your mom? When are you going to tell her?”

“I was kind of thinking I could put off that conversation,” Buffy replied,
picking at the fabric of the couch.

“For how long?”

“Eighteen years,” Buffy said, throwing her head back on one of the pillows.

“Buffy-“

“I know, I know, I have to tell her. Can you do it for me?” she asked with
a hopeful expression.

Willow gave her a gentle smile. “You can do it, Buffy. I’ll be there with
you, if you want me to.”

“That would be great.”

* * * * *

Buffy and Willow talked for several hours. When Joyce Summers walked
through the door, Buffy was almost feeling at ease with the idea of telling
her mother that she was going to be a grandmother. Almost.

“You have to, Buffy,” Willow whispered. “The sooner the better.”

“Why do you have to be the voice of reason?” Buffy pouted.

“Hi, girls!” Joyce said brightly as Buffy walked over to her mother. “Did
you have a good day?”

“Um…no…I really didn’t,” Buffy replied. “I had a really, really bad day
actually.”

“Are you pregnant?” Joyce asked, her face going blank.

Buffy eyes widened before she took a deep breath and nodded. “I am.”

“Oh, honey,” Joyce said as tears began flowing from both of them. She gave
Buffy a crushing hug before pulling back to look at her little girl. “How
many times have we talked about birth control?”

“I know,” Buffy said with a sob. “And I was taking the Pills, but I missed
a few and…I’m sorry. I was so stupid and I know that…I’m so sorry.”

Willow stood back, watching the tender scene. She was proud of Joyce for not
judging her daughter, but then again, she didn’t know who the father was
yet.

“Are you keeping it?” Joyce asked quietly.

Buffy nodded. “I couldn’t…I can’t get rid of it. It’s already a part of
me, even though it’s not even…formed.”

“Okay,” Joyce said, trying to control her tears. “I’m going to help you,
Buffy. What about the father?”

Buffy and Willow took a collective breath. Willow came forward to hold her
friend's hand, wanting to show her all the support that she could.

“Mom, you’re not going to like who the father is,” Buffy said quietly.

“Who is it?”

“Before I tell you, you have to promise me that you won’t freak out and try
to call him or contact him, okay?”

“Okay…I promise not to call him or contact him.”

“Or freak out?”

“I’m reserving that right.”

“It’s William Bradley,” Buffy said softly.

“William Br…oh my God!” Joyce cried, her hand flying up to her mouth. “Your
history teacher? I’m going to report him.”

“Mom, you promised!” Buffy said, her voice taking on a frantic, high-pitched
quality.

“I promised I wouldn’t call him- that doesn’t mean I can’t have him
arrested.”

Willow’s hand tightened its hold on Buffy as the other girl nearly
collapsed in sobs. Buffy crumbled to the floor, fresh tears streaming down
her face.

“Ms. Summers,” Willow said softly. “I know it’s not my place to say
anything, but I don’t think that would be the best solution.”

“Her history teacher took advantage of her- I can’t think of a better
solution than getting him thrown in jail,” Joyce replied, looking around for
the phone.

“Mommy, please don’t do this,” Buffy said in a choked voice. “He didn’t
take advantage of me…I love him.”

Joyce stopped and looked at the two girls. Willow cradled Buffy against her
as they both cried.

“Have you told him?” Joyce asked softly, getting a handle on her sanity
again.

“No,” Buffy said softly. “We had to…it’s over.”

Joyce had no idea how to feel about that. She didn’t want her daughter to
be involved with her history teacher, but she knew how miserable the coming
months would be carrying the child of a man she loved who she couldn’t be
with.

“I told you I’d be here to help you,” Joyce said softly. “And I meant
it.”

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief as her mother hugged her. “Thank you,” she
whispered, clutching at her mother as if she was a lifeline. “Thank you so much.”

* * * * *

Buffy stayed after class the next day, waiting for all of the students to
file out. Willow had offered to stay for support, but Buffy knew she had to do this
by herself.

Spike looked up as Buffy nervously approached his desk.

“What do you want, Buffy?” he asked, letting his anger from the previous
afternoon boil to the surface as he looked at the papers he was grading. If
she wanted to ignore him, it could easily go both ways.

“You said you wanted to talk,” Buffy said quietly. “I’m here to talk.”

“So now she wants to talk,” Spike said, looking at the ceiling. “Well, I’m
a little busy now, Miss Summers. Maybe we could do this another time.”

“Spike, please-“

“It’s Mr. Bradley,” Spike replied. He immediately regretted the callous
statement when he saw the pain in her eyes.

“After everything that we’ve been through, it’s back to the formalities,”
Buffy said, mostly to herself, before sighing in defeat. “About what
happened-“

“Look, it had to end,” Spike said with a shrug, not even committing to what
he was telling her. “It was best that it ended when it did, before
something bad happened.”

“Like what?” Buffy asked with a twinge of fear in her voice.

Spike looked around, making sure they were alone before he spoke again.
“Like the consequences that come with having sex,” he said in a low voice.

Buffy swallowed hard as she tried to get control over her raging hormones.
She fought to keep her hand from reflexively grabbing her abdomen. A
maternal instinct that she already possessed when she felt threatened by
something she had no control over. “And that would have been bad?”

“It wouldn’t have been good,” Spike said softly. It sounded convincing to
himself, but why did he not believe it?

“Okay, then,” Buffy said walking toward the door, her eyes flashing with
repressed anger. "I should get going."

“Buffy, I didn’t ask you to stay because of…the past. I actually wanted to
talk about something else.”

“Like what?” Buffy asked, turning around with a bored expression.

“I’m becoming more concerned about your grades.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. “Like I
give a shit.”

Spike watched in shock as she turned and walked out of the classroom. The
coldness of her voice had surprised him. The distance in the tone, as if
what they experienced together had never been real.





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