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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you to everyone who has commented. Thanks must also be given to CordyKitten for her suggestions about making my LiveJournal page better. And now onward & upward!
Chapter 12

The next few weeks flew by in a haze of cleaning, luxurious shared baths, and lovemaking. The days before the party were spent running errands and picking up various drinks and food. Buffy was polishing tables in the dining room while William had taken Gunn to get more ice when a wave of nausea overtook her. She barely made it to the kitchen sink before her breakfast came back up. After rinsing out her mouth, she sat on one of the dining room chairs.

This hadn't been the first morning she felt slightly queasy. She quickly did the mental math and then re-calculated several times. She grabbed her purse and headed to the corner pharmacy. When she returned, she sprinted up the stairs to their room. In the bathroom, she opened the box and read the directions thoroughly. She urinated on the little stick and then set it on the counter. She couldn't watch it mature. What if she was wrong? She went to sit on the corner of the bed, but couldn't stay still. She alternately bounced her knees, waiting for her fate.

She heard William call out to her from the lobby. She yelled back and he was up the stairs in a flash. He burst into the room, hoping she was ok. He wasn't sure what to make of the nervous bouncing Buffy sitting on the bed.

"Are you alright, love? What's goin' on?" he asked, concern lacing his voice.

She shook her head. "I can't look. Can you go in there and see?" She pointed to the bathroom. He looked at her questioningly, following her gaze. He slowly approached the bathroom; turning the knob gingerly as if afraid it was going to explode.

When he entered the bathroom, he saw the little stick lying on the counter. He took a sharp intake of breath. It wasn't just her fate that hung on the results of that little stick but his as well. He cautiously approached the stick. She had left the directions sitting next to it so the results would be easier to decipher. He gazed at the little stick and its little pink lines. He didn't have to read the directions to know what two lines meant. The breath he hadn't known he had been holding was released in one relieved sigh. He picked up the little stick and returned to the very anxious patient.

She stood up quickly as he re-entered the bedroom, holding the little stick. She couldn't wait; she had to know.

"So? What's the verdict?" she asked nervously.

He grinned broadly. "I'm pretty sure that two are better than one, don't you, pet?"

She squealed with excitement and jumped into his waiting arms. She peppered him with kisses before he sat her back down.

"Well, mum, guess we have more than just our engagement to celebrate tomorrow night, huh?" he asked, barely concealing his excitement at their impending parenthood.

"Oh! We should get some sparkling juice since I can't have champagne now," she suggested. He set the stick down on the table and she gathered her purse to fetch yet more beverages.


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When they returned to the hotel, Willow and Tara were seated on the couch in the lobby. Tara rushed to greet Buffy and then pulled back, brow furrowed. Buffy looked at her worriedly.

"Tara, what's wrong?" Tara's brow was still furrowed and she looked Buffy up and down.

"Your aura. It's different. There's a slight color change here – " Tara said slowly. She placed her hand on Buffy's abdomen. Suddenly her eyes lit up and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Tara, what the –" Buffy started to sputter. Tara grinned broadly.

"You're pregnant. That's what the color change is. It's the baby's aura." Buffy's hand shot to her abdomen and she looked down. When she looked up, Willow and Tara were grinning broadly and William's eyes were brimming with tears of joy. A smile spread from ear to ear on Buffy's face as she looked at her fiancé, hand still on her abdomen. The witch was better than the home pregnancy test. She was carrying their child. It hadn't really sunk in yet. Silent tears slid down her cheeks as she thought about how happy her mom would have been to be a grandma.

The witches hugged her tightly, excited for her and also happy they were going to be aunts. They made up some flimsy excuse of needing to pick up a few things and quickly left the hotel. Buffy stood there, frozen, hand clutching her abdomen. When she was able to form words again, both she and William started speaking at the same time.

"Blimey," he said, shaking his head, running his fingers through his hair.

"Wow," was all she could say. They looked at each other and broke out in a fit of laughter.

"Guess you didn't need to buy that pregnancy test after all, did ya?" he joked

"Guess not. Well, now we have a wedding and a baby to plan for. Plus, we need to find a place to live because we are not raising this baby in a hotel. It's nice, but we need space," she stated.

He strode over to her and embraced her. "So what do you think, mum? What should we name the nibblet?"

She gazed at him, tears leaking from her eyes. "If it's a girl, I want her middle name to be Joyce." He brushed away a tear from her cheek.

"Deal. I'm gonna go call Lorne. See when he's planning on showing up. He said the publisher had my contract ready and he was gonna bring it with." He kissed her on the forehead and headed to Angel's office.

She wandered out to the courtyard and sat down next to the fountain, near where she had first seen him over a month ago. Her world had been so different seven weeks ago. Then, she was a single Slayer with no love life and now she was engaged to the love of her life and was pregnant with their child. She spread her hands across the smooth stone and leaned back, tilting her face toward the sun.

Her meditation was rudely interrupted by a vision. A dark disturbing vision of the type she hadn't had since before The First started making their move. She saw the First Slayer, then flashes of a battle much larger than when they closed the Hellmouth. It shook her to her core. When she stood up, her body was shaking. She slowly made her way back into the hotel.

William had just hung up with Lorne and was making his way toward her when he noticed her blanched expression. He rushed to her side just as she collapsed.

She awoke in their room and could sense she wasn't alone. Of course he hadn't left her alone. He was far too concerned for her welfare and the welfare of their unborn child. But he wasn't alone. Her eyes fluttered open and she could see Willow, Tara and Giles seated on the small couch and chairs at the front of the room. William was perched on the side of the bed, holding her hand.

"Hey, you. Gave us all a bit of a scare," he said nervously. She smiled weakly at him.

"I'm fine. Just had one hell of a Slayer vision. In full Technicolor too," she said quietly, struggling to sit up. Giles had silently made his way toward the still pale Buffy.

"I thought your visions had ceased after the Hellmouth was closed. What did you see?" Giles asked, fatherly concern obvious in his question and look.

"I saw the First Slayer. She spoke to me. And she's still just as riddly," Buffy started to explain.

"What did she say to you?" Giles questioned.

"She said, 'The battle is not over. The final battle is yet to come. Events have been set in motion to bring upon the battle to end all.' When I asked her what motions had been set, all she told me was the battle with The First had set everything in motion. Then I saw part of the battle. I saw thousands of Slayers on a pitch-dark field, dying and fighting. And I saw a girl that sorta looked like me, but she had curly hair." Buffy took a breath and looked at her former Watcher.

"Giles, what the hell is going on? Is there something you're not telling me? Again?"

Giles took a deep breath and removed his glasses to clean them. "There is a prophecy that I recently discovered."

Buffy looked at him, eyes narrowing. "Let me guess. It has something to do with Angel coming to visit you."

"Ye-yes," Giles sputtered, removing his glasses to wipe them again.

William slapped his knee and stood up. "I knew it! I knew that poncey bugger was hiding something. It's not the Shanshu, the oracles told him that much. What's the prophecy say?"

All eyes were on Giles and his audience was waiting for an explanation. He took a deep breath before starting.

"The prophecy concerns the daughter of The Slayer. The text was slightly vague, but I believe the translations read, 'She, borne of the Chosen One and a Champion, will bring 1000 years of peace to earth. No demon shall enter and no demon shall exist on this plane that is without soul. When She is of age, it will begin. ' It also referenced the Shanshu prophecy, though not in so many words. I am so sorry I didn't tell you before, but I really wasn't sure if I wanted to burden you with this information."

Buffy's eyes were still narrowed. "Burden? This prophecy has something to do with my daughter and you didn't want to 'burden' me?" Her voice grew shriller as she spoke. William took her hand and gave it a calming squeeze, a move that betrayed his true feelings. He agreed with her, but he didn't want her to stress herself out too much.

"Don't take that tone with me. All I meant was that you've been under a great deal of stress the last few years. I had no intention of increasing that stress, especially until I knew how your reunion with Spike would go. Now, that being said, Angel is the one who came to me with the vision. I merely consulted some ancient translations to confirm its accuracy," Giles explained. Buffy continued to glare at him.

"So Angel is the one I need to be angry at? Well color me shocked," Buffy said sarcastically.

"So where is tall, dark and forehead anyway?" William chimed in.

"He's downstairs in his office," Willow stated. "After we got Buffy upstairs, I found him in London and popped him back here after I brought Giles back."

Buffy started to move to get out of bed but was quickly stopped by William.

"Nuh uh. You and the nibblet are staying here. I'll go get Captain Broody," William commanded, quickly striding out of the room.

When he reached the lobby, Angel was exiting his office. Angel stopped, crossing his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes.

"The next time you and Buffy want to have a little mid-day hanky panky, don't do it on my desk," Angel spat at him angrily.

William smirked. He was going to enjoy making Angel uncomfortable. He composed his face to try and express the seriousness of the situation.

"She's awake and right pissed at you. She wants to know about your vision," William said.

The two men ascended the stairs in an uncomfortable silence. When they reached the room, Angel stopped. It wasn't because he hadn't been invited in; he had. It was the quick, fluttering heartbeat that caught his attention. He stared at Buffy, shock obvious on his face. William turned to him, aware of what Angel must have only now realized.

William slapped him on the back and grinned broadly. "Oh yeah, Buffy's pregnant. Isn't that great?"





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