Part 9

Two weeks later Buffy found herself fretfully shopping with Willow, Kathy and Dawn - not that she could move at the speed she once did during pre-pregnancy days. In fact at her now eight and a half months pregnant she in all probability should not be out of the house, but since she had spent the better part of a week compelling Angelus to attend her mother's gallery opening with her; she needed a picture perfect outfit for the occasion.

It was not an unproblematic mission because everything that Buffy looked at made her feel fat, achy and repulsive, notwithstanding everyone's reassurances that it was all in her imagination. In the long run she found precisely what she had been looking for, it was midnight blue - more or less black - in colour with thin straps which led to a bodice that accentuated her now bigger breasts and a skirt that fell in soft folds down to her knees, for all intents and purposes hiding - at the very least minimizing - her pregnancy weight gain.

As she dressed that evening with help from Kathy, she began to question if she had made the suitable selection after all. However from the look in Angelus' eyes as he entered their bedroom to change his clothing cast all of her doubts out-of-the-way. As she completed applying her light makeup - and clandestinely watched Angelus undress and redress in her vanity mirror - she could not help but smile as he came up behind her and lay a quick chaste kiss upon the satin-smooth skin of her cheek.

"You look beautiful," he whispered softly, his warm breath against her ear. "Are you ready to go?"

Buffy gave herself one last glance in the mirror before she offered Angelus her hand. "Anytime you are."

Angelus took a hold of her hand and helped her to her feet. They exited the bedroom and found Kathy waiting for them, all dressed up and looking more grown up than ever before. Buffy spotted the look in her husband's eyes and realized that he wasn't exactly ready to see his baby sister as the adult that she would soon be.

"Where do you think that you are going looking like that?" he asked as a scowl crossed his expression.

Kathy simply stared straight back at her brother, not in the least intimidated by him, "With you to Joyce’s gallery."

"My mom did invite her," Buffy added smiling at her young sister-in-law.

Rather than face an argument - one that he already knew that he would not win - with the women in his life, Angelus held out his free arm to his sister. With an eerily familiar self-satisfied smirk, Kathy took it and the three of them set out for an evening full of artistic appreciation.

Picking up Willow on their way through to Joyce's gallery opening, they arrived as the opening was just getting started. The group was soon abandoned by Kathy when they were met by Dawn at the gallery's front entrance and the two girls ran off to check out a group of cute guys. It was not long after that Angelus found himself standing alone as both Willow and Buffy met up with some people that they knew from high school - another so-called 'freak' Amy Madison and her date. Sighing he headed towards the bar and had just about reached it when someone tapped him upon his broad shoulder. Turning around swiftly he discovered that it was Lindsey.

"Howdy stranger."

"Lindsey," Angelus acknowledged as he disregarded his best friend's blatant sarcasm. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, just fine. Not that you would in reality know. Where the hell have you been?"

Angelus chuckled, "Linds, did anyone ever tell you that you bitch like a woman?"

"Only you and my mother," Lindsey retorted smarmily. Looking over the crowded gallery he spotted Buffy and her little red-headed friend, "I'd ask you how the little woman is doing, but I can see that she is blooming. When is she due?"

"Twelve days," Angelus answered tranquilly.

Lindsey's eyes bulged out of their sockets in unrestrained terror, "Shouldn't she be in the hospital or something?"

Ordering himself and his best friend a drink, Angelus was silently amused by Lindsey's panic. "Not quite yet."

"Okay," Lindsey said as he grabbed the tumbler of scotch that Angelus held out to him and gulped it down. "I am never ever going to be a father - too nerve wracking."

"And no woman will have you."

"Angelus, I'll have you know that I have *so* many women after me -"

"Shit!"

Lindsey shook his scotch-laden head, "I'm not kidding -"

"Shut up and look already, Linds."

Lindsey glanced over in the direction in which Angelus was pointing and saw a nightmarish scene begin to unfold before his very eyes. It appeared that Darla had returned from her Angelus-imposed ostracism and that she was now making her way over to the exceedingly pregnant Buffy.

"Angie, I think that -" Lindsey began, but Angelus was already on his way over there to save his spouse from the bitch from hell. Putting down his empty tumbler next to Angelus' full and forgotten one, he went off in search of what on earth passed for security at the minuscule gallery.

Buffy scarcely had time to register what was going on, one second she was gossiping with Willow and Amy Madison and then the next she was being seized and vigorously rotated around. To her very consternation her aggressor was none other than that malevolent witch, Darla that harassed both her and Angelus all those months ago.

"Well, if it isn't Angelus' petite Barbie doll," Darla said sardonically. Raking her eyes over Buffy's now fuller-figure she continued, "I guess you're not so *little* now, are you?"

"What do you want?" Buffy replied as her hands automatically crossed her abdomen in a gesture of maternal protection.

Darla simply smiled as she sipped the glass of Chardonnay that she was holding in her well manicured hand. "What I've always wanted - Angelus."

"Excuse me -" Willow started intending to defend her best friend.

Buffy held up her hand as she cut Willow off, "It's okay, Wils. I can handle this bitch."

"Handle me? Barbie, I doubt that you could handle a mouse," Darla laughed cruelly, her face twisting in a heinous expression. "But speaking of handling - since you're out of commission, maybe Angelus could use someone to help him handle his *many* needs."

Buffy's temperament got the better of her and before she even realized what was taking place, her hand had reached out and slapped Darla so vigorously that the reverberation ricochet throughout the room, causing a bizarre silence to fall over the crowded gallery.

Darla's face contorted further, lustrous with genuine unadulterated detestation. "You fucking bitch," she screeched at the top of her lungs. "I'll kill you and you're stinking brat too."

As Darla made her move towards Buffy, Angelus - who had been in close proximity - stepped between them. "I'm not about to let you lay a hand on my wife - or me. Leave now or I'll have my mother-in-law's security people throw you out."

Throwing the remainder of her drink in his handsome face, Darla started to walk away. Yelling over her shoulder she told them, "This is not over."

"Yes it is," he replied pulling Buffy close to his side. When he was certain that Darla had left the vicinity he turned back to Buffy, "Are you all right? The baby?"

"We're both fine," Buffy assured him as she snuggled closer, ignoring the twinge of pain that came and went soon after. "But if you don't mind - I think I wanna go home."

"Okay," he answered dropping a kiss on her forehead. He moved away to go and collect Kathy, but had only taken a few steps when he heard Buffy cry out. Turning back he saw Buffy leaning heavily on Willow.

"I think that Buffy would really prefer going to the hospital instead of home," Willow told him.

"Is she -?"

Willow nodded, "I think so. Why don't you get her into the car and drive to the hospital and I'll let everyone know and meet you there"

"Fine," he rejoined as she grabbed a hold of Buffy gently and started to lead her outside to the car. "Come on, sweetheart."

When the others - Kathy, Dawn, Willow, Lindsey, Giles and Joyce - ultimately arrived at Sunnydale General Hospital they were told that Buffy was being settled into a room and that both her husband and the doctor on duty would be in to speak to them soon. The large group sat in the maternity floor's waiting room - intolerantly - and around ten minutes later both the doctor and Angelus entered the diminutive room.

Before either one had the opportunity to speak, Joyce jumped in, "What is going on?"

The doctor smiled since he was used to dealing with apprehensive relatives. "Mrs. McKenna is in the initial stages of labour. We have called her obstetrician and apprised him of the circumstances. All that we can do now is make Mrs. McKenna comfortable, monitor the baby and wait."

Angelus spoke next, "Since it could be awhile, maybe you should all go home and I'll call you if anything happens."

"Not on your life," Joyce answered immediately. "Buffy is *my* daughter and I'm staying."

"If Joyce is staying, then so am I," Giles told his ex-student in no uncertain terms.

Angelus did not even try to reason with either one of them, he was only on tentative terms with Joyce and if he remembered correctly, Giles could be fairly stubborn when he wanted to be. However as he looked over at his baby sister and his sister-in-law he could see that they were wiped out.

"Linds - uh - could you take Kathy and Dawn to my place?"

"Yes indeed," Lindsey answered just relived to be allowed to get away from the hospital. He had never felt comfortable in or even near one since he had been shot by one of his own clients and spent almost two months in one when he had worked in Los Angeles a few years earlier.

"Angel - we wanna stay until Buffy has the baby," Kathy whined as Dawn nodded her agreement.

"No, you both have school tomorrow," Angelus replied in his no argument voice.

"But -"

"Girls," Willow butted into the conversation. "I'm going to go home too - so you won't be the only one's leaving. That's if Mr. McDonald doesn't mind dropping me off too?"

"It's not a problem."

Angelus watched as Lindsey and Willow dragged the two reluctant teenage girls away, before turning back to remaining parties. "Are you both sure -?"

"Yes," Joyce replied certainly.

"In that case, Joyce. Would you like to see Buffy before I go back in there?"

Joyce nodded and surprised Angelus by placing her hand upon his arm. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Buffy is in room 316."

Approximately a full eighteen hours after Buffy had been admitted to Sunnydale's one and only hospital, she - although tired and sore - gave one irrevocable push and brought her and Angelus' first born, their daughter into the world. A few moments later when one of the nurses placed the baby into her waiting arms, she overlooked all of the soreness and felt only a sensation of love and triumph, more than ever when Angelus placed one of his arms around her and one of his fingers touched their daughter's minuscule hand.

"She's so beautiful," his raucous emotion-filled murmur filled the room. "Just like you."

Buffy merely kept a tight hold onto her first born and smiled faintly, "I think she looks just like you."

Angelus soothingly brushed her damp blond locks away from her forehead before laying a tender kiss there. "I guess we're both seeing what we want to see in her."

Before Buffy had been given an opportunity to act in response to Angelus' out of character proclamation, one of the nurses rematerialized in order to take their daughter to the nursery. He kissed her hand as an orderly came in more or less instantaneously after that to take Buffy back to her room and Angelus told her that he would join her as soon as he had informed everyone that their little girl had finally arrived.

"I'll be waiting," she yawned as fatigue ultimately took the place of exultation. "Not that I have much choice in the matter anyway."

He smiled at her one more time before he exited the delivery room, as she watched him walk away she leaned back against the pillow. As they wheeled her down the passageway Buffy tried valiantly to stay awake for both her daughter's and Angelus' return, but she could simply not keep her eyes from drooping shut and she drifted off to sleep.

When entered the maternity floor's waiting room he found not only his mother-in-law and Giles, but that also his sister and Dawn had returned - evidently straight from school since they were still dressed in their exceptionally high-priced school uniforms - along with Willow and - to his amazement - Lindsey.

Kathy was the first to notice his appearance in the doorway and instantaneously demanded answers. "Well? What's going on?"

Angelus stared as the faces of the remaining people in the room turned to him with fervent expressions plastered across their faces. He took a deep breath before announcing, "One girl, six pound and four ounces."

"I can't believe it," Joyce whispered as tears began to fill her eyes. "I'm a grandmother."

"How is Buffy doing?" Willow piped up indisputably apprehensive for her best friend's well-being.

Angelus smiled at her fawning, "She's fine. She is exhausted, but fine."

"Can we see the baby?" Dawn asked with a superfluity of exhilaration. "Can we please?"

"Calm down, Dawnie," Angelus replied using Buffy's nick name for her younger sister. "Of course you can. They were just about to put her into the nursery."

He was quickly forced to move out of the way as the stampeding heard of people pushed past him and practically ran towards the nursery viewing area. After a few seconds there was only he and Lindsey left in the room.

"Okay," Angelus said once he was confident that he and Lindsey were alone. "Would you make your sarcastic comment already?"

Lindsey just shook his head, ruffling his salon-styled hair. "There is no sarcastic comment today my friend. I just can't believe that you are a father. You're the biggest fuck-up I know - next to myself anyway."

"I know," Angelus answered to some extent confused as to where this tête-à-tête was going. "Why are you saying this now, Linds?"

"My point is that now you're a father, a role-model. You need to cut out all of this shit and tell Buffy why you in actuality married her - how you feel about her. Start this marriage off as it should be from now on."

"Linds, look I appreciate your opinion, but I can't risk telling Buffy how I feel about her until I'm certain about how she feels about me."

Lindsey simply shook his head once more at his best and oldest friend, "Sometimes Angie, you are so stupid."

Then before Angelus could muster up a reply Lindsey walked away from him obviously to join the others at the nursery area. Sighing heavily Angelus followed, more perplexed than ever and wondering where he should go in regards to this new set of circumstances.

An hour or so later - just a scarce few minutes after Buffy had awoke - the undivided group endeavoured to acquire admission to Buffy's private room, but they were detained by a belligerent maternity nurse. Luckily - and without explanation - Angelus managed to by some means gain the necessary acquiescence for the whole group to visit Buffy; regrettably it also came with a five minute time limit.

As the lot of them entered her room Buffy looked up at them and a deliberate smile spread across her fatigued features. "Hi," she murmured delicately as she leaned back against the hospital provided pillows, her tanned flesh providing a stark contrast against the unnaturally bright white of the linen. "Have you all seen her yet?"

"She is so beautiful, honey," Joyce answered her daughter sniffling from unshed tears.

It was not hard for Buffy to notice that all of the females in attendance all nodded their concurrence with Joyce's proclamation with the identical tearful appearance. The men in the room - Giles, Angelus and Lindsey - looked tremendously uncomfortable at the show of emotion.

The emotional scene was broken-up by Dawn and her perpetual inquisitiveness. "I can't stand this anymore. What did you and Angelus name her?"

The room's focus shifted from the baby's looks to the married couple with the same curious look as Dawn had gleaming in her eyes. Buffy looked at Angelus who nodded his non-verbal consent for her to make known the name that they had spent hours agonizing over before at length making a decision.

"You did pick a name, didn't you?" Kathy asked taking their silence for indecision.

Buffy nodded, "We did. We decided to call her Meghan. Meghan Isobel McKenna."

"Thank God," Dawn breathed a sigh of relief for her newborn niece. "You had me worried there. I figured you'd pick some peculiar name for her."

"Who us? Why would you think that?" Angelus joked as he grabbed a hold of his wife's hand and kissed it tenderly.

Less than a week later the couple at long last brought their first born home and was able to place her in the crib in the fastidiously ornamented nursery located diametrically across from the master bedroom. Buffy spent her days sleeping and taking care of Meghan while Angelus went off to work and Kathy headed for school.

Even with Willow and Joyce helping out where they could - Dawn and Kathy offered but Buffy told them they needed to put their studies for senior year ahead of all other considerations - Buffy was still always fatigued and as a solution Angelus decided that he could in fact do most of his paperwork from home. The circumstances improved as Angelus did more than his fair share when it came to caring for Meghan until Buffy recovered her strength.

However once she was back to feeling like her old self she discovered she had a major problem with Angelus' new life focus. Suddenly her in-name-only husband had what he had always wanted and she was left out in the cold. Although she knew that it was inappropriate, irrational even, she became more and more covetous of the time Angelus spent with their daughter.

She had on a small amount of instances endeavoured to divulge her feelings on the distressing circumstances to Angelus, but he was continuously busy with either work or their child. Confiding in Willow was growing ever more complicated not only because Willow was entering the final year of her college degree, but also because she was seeing someone she did not want to discuss with her best friend. Since both Dawn and Kathy were much too young - and too busy also - to be weighed down with her neurotic problems, it left her only one other option.

So Buffy prearranged to meet her mother at her gallery for lunch one day, but when she had tried to take Meghan along with her Angelus had insisted that she take some time out for herself and leave the baby with him. Although this action just gave Buffy something else to make a complaint about.

Arriving at the gallery a few minutes earlier than expected she walked in and saw her mother and Giles kissing. Buffy was conflicted at the sight tentative of whether she was horror-struck or invidious that they were so much in love and didn't care who knew it. Clearing her throat boisterously she could not help but smile as they jumped apart more rapidly than a couple of teenagers who had been caught making out by their parents. "I'm not interrupting anything - am I?"

"I - uh - no. I was j-just leaving," Giles mumbled nervously with just a hint of true embarrassment. "I'll see you tonight, Joyce. G-goodbye B-buffy."

"Bye Giles," Buffy answered with an evil smile - one of the few she had sported in weeks. Once he had gone she turned back to her red-faced mother, "And just what do you think you were doing young lady?"

"Since you are the one who gave birth just a little over a month ago, I think you know what was going on," Joyce retorted.

Buffy's face fell as her mother's words sank in, "Gross, no offence but I really don't want - or need - to know."

Joyce laughed as she grabbed her purse and walked around her desk to join Buffy. "So where shall we go for lunch?"

"I don't really care. Somewhere private maybe?" Buffy spoke delicately. "I really need to talk to you."

"Sounds serious," Joyce said putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "I know just the place."

The house had changed little since she had been there last - there were a few things different such as new knickknacks and a bottle of Giles' scotch in the liquor cabinet - but all in all it was still the same place that she had left over a year earlier. They sat at the dining table and ate in silence, neither saying a word, until Joyce's curiosity and need to help her daughter got the better of her.

"You wanted to talk to me?"

Buffy shook her head, "It's nothing. Just forget I wanted to say anything."

"Buffy," Joyce started as she placed a hand over hers. "I know we have had our differences, but if you need to talk or whatever, I just want you to know that I am here for you."

"I feel so stupid -"

"About what?" Joyce asked staring at her.

Buffy blushed sending her paling skin a bright pink colour. "It's just that Angelus - he spends all of his time with Meghan. I guess that I'm a little bit jealous."

"Is that all? Have you told Angelus how you're feeling?"

"Are you nuts? I can't tell him that, it's ridiculous," Buffy replied. "How can I tell him that I'm jealous of a five week old?"

Joyce looked at her intently, "I don't know how you can tell him, honey. But I can't see how anything will get better if you don't share your feelings with him. I know that Angelus and I are not on the best of terms - and we probably never will be - but I can tell that he loves you and I think that you need to sit down and work this out before it becomes unsolvable. You're father and I never bothered to solve anything and look at what happened to us."

Buffy tried not to flinch at her mother's inaccurate assessment of Angelus' feelings for her. "All right, I promise I'll try."

"Good," Joyce replied confident in her advice as they continued their meal in silence.