TITLE: Between the Days

AUTHOR: Kelly Rowe

RATING: PG - 14

DISCLAIMER: Buffy, Angel and all other characters (except those I make up) are the absolute property of Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy and Warner Bros (If I owned them, the events of Buffy season 4 or most of season 3 wouldn't have occurred).

SPOILERS: Until the Day. BTVS up until Surprise (season II)

TIMELINE: AU. After the events of Until the Day

DISTRIBUTION: You want you can have it, just tell me where you put it.

Six Weeks after Buffy and Angel's Wedding:

Buffy and Angel were stood next to Joyce as Rob's coffin was lowered into the ground. Joyce had been crawling around Buffy looking for comfort since some climbers had found the body in a cavern outside of LA; since the body had been unidentifiable they LA coroners had used dental records to prove that it truly was the body of Rob Porter. Buffy was understandably upset, not only over the unjustified death of her step-father but also that those Wolfram and Hart hypocrites had come to the funeral even though they had obviously (at least in Buffy and Angel's mind) killed him. When the funeral was over, they all turned to walk away and Buffy almost fell because of a sudden dizziness.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked concerned. Buffy had been acting and feeling weird since she'd found out about Rob's death.

"I'm fine, just upset" Buffy answered hugging closer to him.

"Why don't you leave her alone?" Joyce added nastily to Angel.

Buffy closed her eyes and counted to ten, "Don't start on Angel... especially not today."

"Whatever" Joyce said stalking off.

Buffy buried her head into Angel's shoulder, "I can't take this anymore, she's driving me nuts."

"It'll be okay. Just remember she's leaving to stay with your Aunt Shirley tonight," Angel said trying to comfort Buffy.

They walked off in the direction Joyce had taken and they both were hoping that the rest of the day would pass quickly.

Late that night Buffy and Angel went out on patrol, just to work off some of the aggression that had been building up over the past few days. They didn't encounter many vampires and quickly headed home... they'd just walked through the door when Buffy had another dizzy spell.

Angel grabbed her before she could fall and said, "That's it Buffy. Tomorrow you're going to the doctors."

"But- but..."

"No buts," Angel told her as he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.

"Angel, I'm fine. It's just stress over the funeral and stuff" Buffy told him as he put her down on the bed.

"No excuses, you're going."

An idea came to Buffy; she pulled him down onto the bed and straddled him.

"Do I really have to go?"

"Yes. You're not going to bribe me with sex this time," he told her.

"Are you sure about that?" Buffy asked him as she began to undo his shirt and planted a kiss on each new bit of skin she exposed.

Angel squirmed under her touch, "No... I'm really not sure."

"Good!" Buffy said as she made a move towards his belt buckle.

Angel couldn't take it anymore, he rolled over until he was on top and was just removing her shirt, when the phone rang.

"Let the machine get it," Buffy begged.

"Yeah," Angel replied continuing his quest to undress her.

He removed her shirt and pants, as Buffy pushed his shirt and coat off of his shoulders. Buffy and Angel were down to their underwear and were starting to remove them, when the bedroom door flew open and revealed Cordy and Doyle standing there.

"Oh My God, I'm blind," Cordy yelled as Buffy and Angel scrambled to put their clothes back on.

As they came out of the bedroom Angel growled, "This better be important."

"It is. I had a vision..." Doyle began.

"Oh great... what big ugly thing do I have to kill now?" Buffy asked sarcastically.

"None. The Oracles want to see you both, now" Doyle replied.

"Then we'd better go see what they want," Angel said pulling on his duster and helping Buffy into her coat.

Twenty minutes later Buffy and Angel were standing beneath the post office with Doyle performing the ritual. Suddenly they stood before the Oracles...

"Welcome Warriors" the female said, "What did you bring us?"

"An antique silver bracelet," Angel replied handing the gift over.

The Oracles examined their gift and then the female said, "You are here to hear why you must protect the slayer from all harm over the coming months."

"Why?" Angel asked confused, why would Buffy need protection?

The female exchanged a look with the male, "The child the slayer is carrying is important to the future of Humanity."

"The child?" Buffy asked.

"Your dizzy spells were the first sign," the male said impatiently.

"Guard the slayer well, warrior. Your daughter must arrive safely," the female told Angel.

The next thing Buffy and Angel knew they were back by Doyle.

"So how'd it go?" he asked.

When they all arrived back at the apartment, they found Cordy waiting around anxiously.

"What's wrong?" Cordy asked the minute she saw them.

"Nothing..." Angel said trying not to smile.

"Something is up though, they wouldn't tell me anything," Doyle told her.

Buffy and Angel exchanged looks. "Well, they did tell us something..." Angel said cryptically.

"For God's sake just tell us," Cordy demanded.

"Angel and I are going to have a baby," Buffy informed them.

Cordy and Doyle were in shock; they'd expected to hear about some sort of demon and not the arrival of a new family member.

"Congratulations," Cordy told them as she hugged Buffy.

"Way to go, man. Alive for just over a month and already procreating," Doyle said patting Angel on the back.

"So do you want a boy or a girl?" Cordy asked.

"Girl," Buffy and Angel chorused.

"You both want a girl?" Doyle said.

"I didn't care either way... a boy or a girl would've been great. The Oracles said it was a girl," Angel explained.

"Ooh, ooh... can I be Godmother?" Cordy asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Buffy replied.

Angel shot Doyle a 'get out I wanna be alone with my wife look' and Doyle said, "Princess let's go home."

Cordy realised what he meant, "Okay, we'll talk tomorrow Buffy."

"Night guys," Buffy called after them.

As soon as they were gone, Angel wrapped his arms around Buffy. He'd been given a tremendous gift... he'd never thought that he'd get to be a husband and father.

"So..." Buffy asked him, "How do you feel about this?" She was so excited, once Angel had told her he couldn't have kids she'd banished it from her mind and now here she was...

Angel kissed her, "I'm so happy... we're going to be a family."

"Of warriors," Buffy replied sadly.

"Hey," Angel said softly to her, "we'll deal and the kid's gonna have the best two trainers in us." Angel kissed her and Buffy jumped into his arms and he carried her off to the bedroom for a private celebration of their good news.

The next few weeks were hectic for Buffy, Angel and the gang. The agency gained some new Human clients, Buffy returned to college after her mid-year break was over and Cordy and Doyle moved into a brand new apartment. With things so busy and very little demonic activity around, it was almost easy to believe that they were a normal married couple.

Until...

// Buffy was in a hospital room, holding her tiny new born daughter in her arms... awed by the fact that she had been a part of creating something so perfect. She saw a shadow pass by the door, "Angel... is that you?" When there was no answer Buffy turned her attention back to her child, then out of the corner of her eye she saw the shadow pass by again. This time she chose to ignore it, suddenly it appeared in the darkened doorway and in a menacing voice that chilled Buffy to the bone, it said, "I'm coming." //

Buffy awoke with a start, breathing hard; she could still feel the terror from that dream... Buffy wasn't sure how she knew it, but she knew that dream was a warning that she and her daughter were in danger.

She sat up and shook Angel awake, he shot immediately, "Buffy... are you okay?"

"No," she told him, "It's coming."

"What's coming?" Angel asked concerned.

Buffy looked at him, "I don't know... I couldn't see it clearly."

"Tell me what you remember," Angel said soothingly. On the inside however he was mad, even now after everything they'd been through... something else was coming.

"I was in a hospital and I was holding her, then there it was," Buffy told him what she remembered, "It said I'm coming."

"Are you sure it wasn't just an ordinary nightmare?"

"No, it felt real..." Buffy replied silently begging him to believe her.

"Okay... it'll be okay. I'll protect you," Angel told her. With Angel's reassurance in her mind, Buffy snuggled closer to him and silently prayed that Angel was right.

A couple of hours later Angel headed up to the office and was greeted by Doyle, who was sporting a black eye.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" Angel asked him glad for the momentary distraction from his own problems.

"Princess hit me," Doyle told him.

Angel tried not to laugh, "Why?"

"Beats me," Doyle answered.

"I thought she'd already done that."

"Oh, ha-ha... very not funny," Doyle replied wishing he'd stayed home.

"Sorry. Maybe you should go home..." Angel began.

"I'll be okay, let's just get to work."

"Alright," Angel said letting Doyle have his way.

They got to work and after a while Angel began to wonder where Cordy was... but he knew better than to ask Doyle. They'd been doing some research on one of their more unusual cases, when they heard someone come into the outer office. Angel went to see who it was and received a nasty surprise... it was Joyce.

"Hello Joyce," Angel said civilly.

"Angel," Joyce replied coldly, "Where's Buffy?"

"She had a class," Angel told her.

Joyce turned around to leave, "Tell her to call me."

Angel watched his mother-in-law leave and wondered what she was doing back, she was supposed to have moved in with her sister Shirley (who lived in New York) a month ago.

Doyle came up beside Angel and said, "No matter what problems I have in my life, at least I'm not related to that bitch."

"Sometimes I can't believe that Buffy is related to her either," Angel commented.

Doyle decided to have some fun with Angel, "You know they say that if yer wanna know what the daughter will be like in 20 years, look at her mother."

Angel realised what Doyle was doing and took his revenge. "If you think that Joyce is bad, you should see Cordy's mom."

Doyle stood there trying to figure out what kind of woman could possibly be worse than Joyce, while Angel went happily back to work.

Meanwhile Buffy was in her psych class, totally bored and feeling nauseous. She was so wrapped up in trying not to throw up on her fellow students that she didn't notice Riley staring at her. She was so happy when class was over, all she could think about was getting home and having Angel wait on her, the last thing she wanted or needed was Riley trying to hit on her, but that's what she got.

"Hi Buffy," he said.

"Riley?" Buffy acknowledged wishing he'd crawl back under his rock.

"So... Haven't seen you around lately" Riley tried to make conversation.

"That's probably because it was vacation and no one was around," Buffy replied wondering whether his parents were really brother and sister.

"So wanna go see a movie or something with me?" Riley asked.

"Sorry Riley, but somehow I don't think that my husband would appreciate that," Buffy told him.

Riley looked at her in shock, "You're married?"

"Yep... a little over two months," Buffy replied.

"Congratulations" he told her trying not to cry.

"Thanks and bye" Buffy said escaping.

Riley watched her leave and wondered why she'd marry some guy, when he was available.

The second she got home, Buffy dumped her stuff on the kitchen table and made a beeline for the bathroom. When she came out she collapsed into the nearest chair and fell into a deep sleep. That's how she was when Angel found her a couple of hours later, looking all cute and vulnerable.

Angel leaned over and gently kissed her, which cause Buffy to awaken, "Hey."

"Hi..." Angel replied kissing her again, "How are you feeling?"

"Better now. Before I wanted to throw up, but now I'm fine."

"Your mom came by the office today..." Angel began.

Buffy paled, "Suddenly I feel like throwing up again. What is she doing back here?"

"I don't know... she wants you to call her," Angel told her.

Buffy cuddled up to Angel, "I'll call her later."

Angel hugged her back and asked, "Are you hungry?"

Buffy looked Angel up and down, "Totally."

"Well... what do you want?" he asked.

"You," Buffy said kissing Angel until they were both breathless.

Angel kissed Buffy again and then backed off to let her make the next move. He had to wait all of two seconds until Buffy jumped into his arms and he carried her off to their bedroom.

It was a few hours later that Buffy finally got around to calling her mother; she didn't want to do it and wished that her mother had just stayed away from both her and Angel.

~Ring, Ring~

"Hello?" an impatient voice answered.

"Hi mom!" Buffy tried to say cheerfully but instead it came out flat.

"It's about time that you called me. What were you doing that could possibly be more important than speaking with your mother?" Joyce ranted.

Buffy couldn't believe she had to deal with this and decided to just tell her mother the truth. "I was having sex with my husband," she replied knowing it would disgust her mother.

Joyce was actually silenced for a moment, "Buffy don't be vulgar."

"Gosh, am I being vulgar?" Buffy replied sarcastically. She was sick of Joyce's interference and it was times like this that she wished Joyce weren't her mother so she could ignore her.

Joyce decided to change the subject, "How's school going?"

"Boring."

"How's married life?" Joyce asked hoping Buffy was miserable so she could say I told you so.

"Wonderful," Buffy answered happily.

Joyce was shocked, "Wonderful?"

"Well, as wonderful as it can be. He's *so* great, especially now with my morning sickness and raging hormonal mood swings," Buffy informed Joyce somewhat evilly. She knew she had yet to tell her mother that she was pregnant and was in a way deliberately using the news to upset her.

"You’re pregnant?" Joyce yelled. "You are the most irresponsible girl... not only are you too young to be married, but having a child will ruin your life, like..."

"You ruined yours by having me," Buffy finished, "Well don't worry this mistake won't bother you again."

"Buffy, I didn't..." Joyce could be heard saying as Buffy hung up on her.

Buffy began to cry and Angel saw this as he came into the room and wondered what in hell Joyce had said to her top upset her like this, as he pulled Buffy into a hug. Buffy was also thinking, suddenly all the things that went on between her and her parents begun to make sense. Why her father pretended she didn't exist, her mother's attitude towards her... she'd just never realised until now it was because they'd never wanted her. Buffy snuggled closer to Angel and continued to cry, while he just held her close and offered her, the love and support she needed.

A week later and Buffy still was ignoring Joyce and Cordy finally started to show up at the office again. She and Doyle were back to being all lovey-dovey to each other and Angel decided that he was better off not knowing what was going on with them. Just when Angel was sure that everything was returning to normal, Buffy's Aunt Shirley showed up with something important she had to tell Buffy. Angel showed Shirley downstairs and since this was the first time he'd ever seen her, he was just so amazed about how alike she and Buffy were. Buffy was just finishing up her psych homework, when she spotted Angel with her favourite aunt in tow.

"Hey," Buffy said getting up to greet her aunt.

"Hi sweetie," Shirley replied hugging Buffy.

"I see you met Angel..." Buffy trailed off giving her aunt the opportunity to express her opinion of Angel.

"He's a keeper. Smart, sexy and obviously nuts about you," Shirley replied.

Buffy was so happy with Shirley's answer that she hugged her again, "What are you doing out here?"

"Well... Joyce told me about the fight..."

"Don't even bother apologising for her," Buffy said angrily and tried to walk off.

Shirley grabbed Buffy's arm, "I'm not here for Joyce. I just think it's time that someone in this family told you the truth and it should be me because I caused this mess in the first place."

"The truth about what?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Who you really are," Shirley answered.

Buffy stared at her like she was crazy, "What?"

Shirley sat down and said, "Please listen."

"Sure?" Buffy replied sitting down across from her aunt. Angel was going to leave them alone to talk, but Shirley stopped him. "You should here this too," she told him.

Angel walked over and sat next to Buffy and wondered what Shirley was going to say to them. "Joyce isn't your mother... I am" Shirley announced. When Buffy and Angel seemed to be frozen in shock and not capable of saying anything she continued, "I didn't want to give you to Joyce... there were so many things..." Shirley paused for a moment trying to pull herself together, "I had nothing, less than nothing. No job, no money and no place to live, but I did have you. Child services threatened to take you off me and I didn't know what to do... then Joyce and Hank lost their little boy and they offered to look after you until I got back on my feet. I took the offer and a couple of months later when I had all I needed to take care of you, I went to get you but Joyce wouldn't give you back. I went to all the authorities but no one would help... a couple of years later they agreed to let me see you if I didn't tell you who I really was..." Shirley couldn't go on she was so upset; she wished she could erase all of her mistakes.

Buffy stared at her aunt... who was really her mother and a lot of things fell into place. Why she and Shirley had always been so close no matter how many miles there was between them, why her parents seemed to resent her very presence and why she'd always felt out of place with them.

"I don't... know what to say?" Buffy mumbled in confusion.

Shirley realised Buffy needed some time alone to sort through some things and got up. "I'm staying with Joyce if you need me... I hope that you'll call," Shirley said leaving.

Buffy started to cry and Angel pulled her close. "I don't even know who I am anymore," she sniffled out eventually.

"Yes you do."

"Okay then, who am I?" she asked.

"You are Buffy McKee... pregnant vampire slayer, college student and savoir of the world... who is married to an ex-vampire private detective, who loves you and worships the ground you walk on," Angel told her.

Buffy smiled a little, "I guess no-one could accuse us of being normal."

"Normal is over-rated," Angel replied. After a couple of minutes Angel said, "I have to get back to work. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah. I kind of need to be alone to think," Buffy sniffled.

"Okay, but remember I'm right upstairs if you need me," Angel replied heading back to the office unwillingly. Buffy watched her husband go and realised how lucky she was to have him in her life. She lay down on the couch and tried to make sense of her life and just before she could come to a conclusion she fell asleep.

// Buffy looked around her and was confused as to why she was suddenly in a hospital room, needing to find out she climbed from the bed and began to walk down the empty corridor. She walked past the empty rooms and the deserted nurse's station, she moved a few more steps and realised that she was standing outside of the hospital's nursery. Buffy couldn't help herself, she looked through the window and saw that there was only one baby in there... the nametag on the crib said "Baby McKee".

Buffy took a step back in shock, but step forward again when she realised that there was a shadowy figure standing over the baby. She instantly recognised it as the same thing from her last nightmare, but for some reason this time she could see it clearer... it was big, tall and seemed to be muscled. Buffy stood there frozen... she was torn between panic and wanting to save the child, suddenly it looked up at her and said, "I'm closer than you think."//

Buffy awoke startled and confused, when she hadn't had another nightmare after the first one she'd assumed that it was just a nightmare... now she wasn't so sure. Now she had a feeling that it might be real, but there was always a chance, however slim, that the upsetting news might have caused it. She got up from the couch and went into the kitchen to get herself a glass of water to calm her down, when she'd returned to some sense of normalcy she came to an important conclusion... she needed to confront both Joyce and Shirley. She had to do it, she had to know whether they were the cause of the nightmares or whether there was some big, ugly evil after her baby. Also all this stress they had put her under wasn't exactly making her feel on top of the world and like it or not they both owed her more of an explanation than she'd gotten. Buffy quickly went off to the bedroom to get ready.

Meanwhile upstairs Angel was having trouble concentrating, he was so worried about Buffy, she'd had so many bad things happen over the last few months... her step-father's murder, Zanthar - big evil ugly out to kill her, Joyce, her watcher's scorn and abandonment, the nightmare and now this mess. She didn't need all of this to happen, all she needed was for everything for once to run smoothly, to be normal. He'd told Buffy only a few hours earlier that normal was over-rated, but in this instance he'd make an exception.

"Hey boss-man," Doyle said coming into the office and disrupting Angel's broody thoughts.

"What's up?"

"The sky and Kate's waiting outside to see yer," Doyle replied trying not to show Angel exactly how much he hated that woman.

"This is all I need," Angel groaned. A second later he said, "Better let her in before she and Cordy kill each other."

"Are yer sure man? I can make up an excuse for yer..." Doyle told him seeing the look on Angel's face.

"What's the point, she'll just be back later," Angel sighed.

"I pity yer, man," Doyle muttered on his way out.

A minute later Kate came storming into Angel's office with an extremely angry look on her face. "How could you?" she demanded.

"How could I what?" Angel replied confused, wondering what he'd done.

"Get married..." Kate began.

Angel cut her off, "I wanted to invite you but you were on vacation."

Kate's eyes narrowed and she slapped Angel.

"What was that for?" Angel demanded angrily.

"You're a *PIG*," she cried as she ran from his office.

Angel just stood there confused about what had just occurred. He walked to his door and saw that Cordy was sitting at her desk with a big smile on her face.

"What?" he asked her.

"Kate just left," Cordy told him.

"I know," Angel said rubbing his jaw.

"I guess she was upset over the wedding," Cordy said.

"Hey... I apologised for not inviting her," Angel replied.

Cordy choked back the laugh and said, "That's not why she was upset."

"Huh."

"Kate was upset because she thought that you and she were... together. Then while she is out of town on her vacation, you marry Buffy, which caused Kate to turn psycho," Cordy told him.

Angel suddenly had a weird look on his face, "How in hell did she get that idea?"

Cordy just shrugged and went back to her work, leaving Angel to ponder what he'd done or said that had given Kate the wrong impression.

Buffy left home and headed to Joyce's and was there before she'd even realised it. She was standing outside of the door when she suddenly lost all of her courage, she wasn't sure that she was ready to hear Joyce's side of it or the other things that Shirley had yet to tell her. Buffy placed her hand on her abdomen and realised that she had to do this... not only for herself but also for daughter; they needed to know where they really came from. Buffy gathered her nerve and rang the doorbell and a minute later Joyce answered it. No one said a word; Joyce just moved back to let Buffy in and she went in to find her history.

Now that Buffy was there in front of them, she wasn't exactly sure about what to say. Part of her was so desperate to know everything about her past, but the rest of her was afraid... afraid that she wouldn't like what she did in fact hear. While Buffy was standing in silence deciding what she should do, Joyce got impatient and decided for her.

"Shirley, you started this mess... just tell her everything that she needs or wants to know."

"What do you want to know first?" Shirley asked Buffy.

Buffy looked up at the two women across from her, both of them had a valid claim to her affections and yet both of them were the cause of her current heartache and confusion.

"I don't know... I guess I'd... Who is my father?" Buffy finally asked.

Shirley looked uncomfortable, "I don't want to talk about him."

"Hey... you were the one who started this, if you hadn't of said anything then I'd of never known. I have the right to know," Buffy stated.

"It's a long story..." Shirley replied trying to weasel out of it.

Buffy looked her in the eye and said, "I've got time."

Shirley sighed, resigned to her fate. "It was the summer I went to Europe, it was my high school graduation present for being so perfect," Shirley began.

"For God's sake, just skip to the good stuff," Joyce interrupted impatiently.

"I met him in London... we had some fun, we parted and when I got home I found out I was pregnant..." Shirley hurried through the highlights.

"I guess it wasn't such a long story after all," Buffy muttered angrily.

"Well, what's his name? After all these years you do owe it to Buffy," 'and to me' Joyce added silently.

Shirley sighed, "His name was Rupert... Rupert Giles."

Buffy gasped in shock... Giles was her real father; she really didn't want to believe that. Buffy quickly got up and said, "I gotta go,” she was out of the door before anyone could even open their mouths.

Buffy headed straight home and threw herself down on the couch, staring into space, as her mind began to spin with a million different thoughts. They were all jumbled blurs, except for one, {my name should've been Buffy Giles... eeewww}. She was so engrossed in her own freaking that she never noticed Angel come downstairs, until he put his hand on her shoulder... startling her.

"Jeez Angel!" she yelled.

"Sorry honey," he apologised. Then Angel got a good look at her, "Are you okay?"

"Not really," Buffy told him, "I went to see them."

"Why?" Angel asked, "If you'd waited, I would've gone with you."

"It was something I needed to do alone and besides I had another nightmare."

"And you thought that they might be the cause," Angel contributed.

"But it wasn't... I still have the doomy feeling and they told me something... disturbing..." Buffy replied looking pale and upset.

Angel sat next to her, took her hand in his and asked tersely, "What's wrong? What did they say to you?"

"Shirley told me, who my real father was... is," Buffy said.

Angel held her close as he asked, "Who is it?"

Buffy looked like she was about to cry, so he pulled her closer. Finally she managed to say one word, "Giles."

"You want to talk to Giles?" Angel asked, wondering what was going on.

"No… It is Giles," Buffy cried.

Angel was certain that if he hadn't been sitting down, he would've keeled over at that piece of news. "Giles... Your old watcher, Giles? Giles who doesn't really like me?" Angel said stunned.

"Do you know any other Giles?" Buffy snapped. A moment later she apologised, "Sorry... it could be another Rupert Giles... there has to be more than one of them… Right?"

Angel held her close for a minute and then said, "If you give me a few days to clear my cases, we'll go to Sunnydale and find out."

"Deal," Buffy said, snuggling as close to Angel as she could get, feeling his strength and security that he was offering.

One Week Later...

The closer that she and Angel got to Sunnydale, the worse this idea of Angel's seemed. Every one of her instincts was telling her that it was a really bad idea that it was probably going to upset a lot of people for what might be no reason.

Buffy made a decision, turning to Angel she said, "Maybe we should..."

"We're not going home until you at least talk to him about this," Angel told her resolutely.

"But..."

"No buts. Look if you don't do this, you are going to regret this for the rest of your life," Angel said.

Buffy knew Angel was right; she was just trying to chicken out, to avoid what may be a painful situation. "Okay, let’s do it!" Buffy replied uncertainly.

A little while later they pulled up in front of Giles' apartment and Buffy suddenly felt nauseous, whether it was from her nerves or her pregnancy she wasn't sure.

"Are you ready?" Angel asked her gently.

She didn't answer, instead she bolted from the car, running to Giles' door and when he answered it she barged past him and headed to the bathroom.

Angel walked up to a confused Giles and said "Hi,” before he walked past him.

Giles closed the door to his apartment and wondered why Buffy and Angel were in Sunnydale. The two most common reasons, which came to mind, were that, either they needed his help with some sort of cryptic clue to the destruction of the world, or they were just passing by and Buffy needed to use the bathroom. He wandered over to the couch and sat down waiting for some sort of explanation, but after a minute it became clear that Angel wasn't going to say a word until Buffy returned.

A few minutes later Buffy reappeared, looking so unlike herself... so pale and vulnerable. She sat down in the nearest chair and was about to say something, but suddenly bolted back into the bathroom, dropping something as she fled. Giles was worried and about to go check on her, when he spotted a photo lying on the floor. He picked it up and was shocked, the woman in the picture... he hadn't seen her in years.

"Shirley..." he whispered to himself.

"You know her?" Angel asked curiously when he saw Giles' expression.

Giles looked at Angel, "Once… a very long time ago."

Angel was now the one who wanted to throw up, he knew that Giles' admission was not conclusive proof of Buffy's parentage, but it was certainly enough to freak him out. However Angel decided to hide his panic and stay strong for Buffy's sake, she didn't need him to lose it... especially now.

When Buffy returned, Giles asked her, "Where did you get this photo?"

"She's a relative," Buffy answered cryptically as she returned to the living room.

"Oh?" Giles replied.

"Do you know who she is?" she asked carefully as she took a seat.

"Well yes, I just finished telling Angel that," Giles answered.

"Shesmyrealmother," Buffy blurted out as she ran from the apartment.

"What?" Giles asked Angel.

"It all started..." Angel decided to spare Buffy the heartache and explain it to Giles.

Half an hour later Giles walked into the courtyard in the centre of his apartment complex. It wasn't hard to spot Buffy; she was sitting all alone deep in thought. Giles took this moment to study the girl that he'd always considered to be like a daughter to him and that he now knew was his.

{She looks just like her mother. Why did I never notice it before?} He thought, {I can't believe that I helped in the creation of this wonderful girl, even if she did date the enemy… then marry him}.

As if she sensed his arrival Buffy looked up. "I guess this means Angel told you," she said staring as though she was trying to guess his reaction.

"Yes." They stood there staring at each other for a moment before Giles hugged her. This shocked Buffy for two reasons; one Giles was never one to show affection and two she never thought that he'd accept her.

"I can't say that it wasn't a shock, because it was. However if I have to have a daughter I am glad she's you," Giles told her.

"Really?"

"Yes. Although it's going to take a little time to get used to not only being the father of a slayer, but also to having Angel as my son in law," Giles replied.

Buffy pulled away, "Then you'll have a little trouble with him being the father of your grandchild."

Giles was shocked, "You- you're pregnant?"

"Yeah."

"Well..." Giles said in shock. "It's been a big day. Not only have I gained a daughter, who was once my slayer and a son-in-law who was once an ensouled vampire, but now I'm going to a grandfather."

Buffy took one look at Giles' perplexed expression and laughed, and in that moment she knew everything was going to be okay.

Buffy and Giles came back inside to where Angel was waiting impatiently. Seeing the look of apprehension on her husband's face Buffy said, "Everything's okay. There's just some major adjusting to do."

Angel sighed in relief, he was glad that Giles hadn't rejected Buffy. "That's good!" Angel replied happy for Buffy.

They all sat down and Buffy asked Giles, "How did you and Shirley meet?"

"Well... it was a long time ago. I was just in recovery from my Ripper phase and was pretty much back to my old self..."

"So you were a big geek," Buffy said cheekily.

"No, I was not!" Giles replied haughtily. "Anyway I was sitting in a coffee shop near my father's house, when this vision of beauty walked in. She sat down at the table next to mine and next thing I know she's shifted to my table and I'd asked her out. For the next six weeks we were inseparable and then she had to go home and we promised to keep in touch, but..."

"You didn't?" Buffy guessed.

"No, we didn't," Giles answered.

"Oh well... you eventually got your souvenir," Buffy told him.

They sat around discussing Giles' days in London, after a while they heard snoring and Giles and Angel realised that Buffy had fallen asleep. They both got up silently and went to check out Giles' latest demon book.

// Buffy suddenly found herself back in her and Angel's apartment, standing in the living room she called out, "Angel?" She didn't get answer and she was about to go out looking for him, when she spotted something unusual. Buffy walked towards the spare room and opened the door; she was shocked to find that instead of the mountains of junk it was decorated for a baby girl. She backed out of the room and headed back to the living room, suddenly her slayer sense went berserk and she heard an ominous voice say, "I'm coming."//

Buffy woke up screaming and Angel ran over to comfort her. "Honey, are you okay? Was it another nightmare?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Buffy whispered hugging Angel close.

"What's going on?" Giles asked concerned.

Still holding Buffy, Angel answered, "She's been having nightmares that a demon... of some sort is coming after her and the baby."

"Maybe we should check the books?" Giles suggested worried about his daughter and grandchild.

"I think I should take Buffy home. Then I'll check out the books that Doyle and I have and call you," Angel replied.

"Really?" Giles asked disappointed that he wasn't going to get to spend more time with Buffy, especially since he wanted her to be a bigger part of his life.

Buffy hugged Giles and said, "We'd better go."

Giles accepted the decision (he wasn't pleased but he was adjusting) and walked them out to their car, before they left Buffy made him promise to come and visit them soon. As he watched them drive off, he began to regret just how much of Buffy's life he'd missed out on and then a second thought came to him, how was he going to explain this to the others and… to Jenny.

A couple of hours later they were finally home and Angel breathed a sigh of relief, he liked Giles and all but now he was his father-in-law and it was creeping him out.

He looked over at Buffy who was just standing around and said, "Bed now."

"I thought you'd never ask," Buffy replied dragging Angel off to the bedroom with her.

She pushed him down on the bed and straddled him as she proceeded to undo his shirt. She was kissing Angel as her hands ran over his chest and down towards his belt, when the phone rang. Since no one ever called them unless it was an emergency, Buffy answered it, "Hello?"

"Buffy, would yer put Angel on the line?" Doyle asked in way of greeting.

"It's Doyle," she said handing it over to Angel.

"This better be important," Angel growled into the phone, while Buffy giggled in the background.

"I had a vision," Doyle told him, wondering why it was that everytime he called Angel he was *busy* with Buffy.

Angel calmed down, "Of what?"

"Big, ugly, slimy and green... in some sort of religious place."

"Any clue as to where it is other than that?" Angel asked.

Doyle was silent for a second, "There was a sign... it said St. Anne's."

"It's an abandoned convent, not far from here," Angel said.

"How did you know?" Doyle asked.

"I had a thing for convents," Angel answered, "Pick you up in ten minutes."

"Okay" Doyle replied hanging up.

Angel gently lifted Buffy off of him, "Sorry honey. Hold the thought and I'll be back as soon as I can."

Buffy watched his retreating form and sighed in frustration, it seemed as if every demon on the planet was out to ruin her and Angel's sex life. She pulled out a magazine, flopped down on the pillows and began to wait for his return.

By the time Angel finally returned home, Buffy was asleep. Angel stood by the bed and looked down upon his sleeping wife and wondered why he was suddenly blessed with all these gifts. After all he'd done as Angelus he didn't believe (even now) that he deserved this redemption, but now he had it he wouldn't give it up for anything. He got undressed and climbed into the bed, snuggling close to Buffy and placing one hand gently over her abdomen, where he imagined that he could feel their child. Buffy felt Angel climb into bed and finally allowed herself to relax, she was so worried about him going out there and fighting off all the evil that she was supposed to be destroying. When she felt him put his hand on her abdomen, she placed one of her own on top of his.

"Hey," she said sleepily.

"I'm fine," he told her realising the reason why she'd woken up.

"Did I ask that?" Buffy said trying to cover up her growing concern.

Angel kissed her neck and said, "Go to sleep."

"I was asleep, but some big oaf climbed in and woke me up" Buffy complained jokingly.

"Well... if you'd rather sleep alone..." Angel teased pretending to climb out of the bed.

"Get back here," Buffy ordered pulling him back into the bed with her. Angel leaned over and kissed her, and then he rolled her on top of him. Buffy straddled her husband and was about to lean down to kiss him when the phone rang once again.

"Aaahhh... I hate phones," Buffy said climbing off Angel as he answered it.

She stalked off to the bathroom to sulk; not caring who was in trouble, all she cared about was having one minute alone with her husband without an interruption. When she'd calmed down, she came back into the bedroom and saw that something was bothering Angel.

"Who was on the phone?" she asked carefully.

"Giles... he thinks that he's found the demon that's after you," Angel told her quietly.

"Well then... what's the big ugly?" she asked forgetting her tantrum.

"He wants to tell us tomorrow, when he arrives," Angel said lying back on the bed.

Buffy climbed into the bed and into Angel's arms, "It'll be okay."

"Yeah," Angel agreed holding her close to him as they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Both Buffy and Angel were in a reserved mood the next morning as they awaited Giles' arrival. Buffy was having major mixed feelings about knowing about the 'big ugly' that was after her, part of her was thinking that it's best to be prepared and the other part was all don't tell me. A knock at the door sounded and Angel went to answer and a moment later returned with not only Giles, but Jenny too.

"Hi!" she said nervously, now having to deal not only with the demon, but also Jenny's reaction to the news about her.

"Hello," Giles said cheerfully.

"Hi Buffy," Jenny replied sending her a smile that said 'I know and I'm dealing'.

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "So what big ugly thing wants me dead now?"

"A Tarshvar," Giles said slipping into research mode.

Buffy looked confused, "A Tashi-what?"

"A Tarshvar. They're a race of demon assassins that can only kill after they've weakened their victims with nightmares," Giles explained.

"Wow," Buffy muttered.

Angel looked shocked, "I thought that the Tarshvar were extinct. I haven't heard of them in 150 or so years."

"Some must have survived," Jenny stated the obvious.

Buffy looked at Giles and said, "How do I kill it?"

"You don't," Giles told her.

"WHAT?" Buffy yelled.

"I get to do the killing," Angel explained.

"Oh, I thought you meant that it was un-killable," Buffy said calming down.

"So who do you think hired it?" Jenny asked curiously.

Buffy and Angel looked at each other and then chorused, "Wolfram and Hart."

Giles and Jenny just looked at each other as if they were trying to figure out why a law firm would want to kill Buffy and Angel.

Angel and Giles went upstairs to the office and discussed the Tarshvar. Once Giles was convinced that Angel would be able to handle the demon when it finally came for Buffy, he and Jenny left for Sunnydale. Angel himself wasn't sure he could handle it; he was terrified that he wouldn't be able to defeat it... that would lose everything that mattered to him. He practically ran to Buffy and pulled her into his arms and prayed for a miracle. After Buffy went to have her nap, Angel snuck out and went to visit some evil lawyers that he knew.

Angel barged his way inside the Wolfram and Hart offices and headed directly to Lindsey's office. He kicked open the door and began, "You..."

"Angel, glad you could stop by. We were just discussing how to kill your family and friends... Maybe you could give us your preference," Lindsey interrupted.

All that Angel had wanted to say flew out of his head, he was so angry. In less than a second he was across the room and had grabbed Lindsey by the throat.

"If you or anyone from your stinking law firm harms even one hair on their heads... I'll make you regret the day that you were born," Angel threatened tossing him aside and storming out.

"My, my... We seem to have struck a nerve," Holland said sarcastically from his chair.

"You know he's going to defeat our Tarshvar," Lindsey stated.

"Don't worry, if that happens I have another surprise for him lined up" Holland replied evilly.

Once Angel was outside he didn't quite know where to go, he knew that he couldn't go home like this; he didn't want Buffy to see his anger. So he went down to the beach and watch the wave’s crash against the shore until he'd calmed down enough not to scare anyone. When he got back to the apartment, Buffy was still sleeping and Angel left her like that. It seemed like the first time in weeks that she hadn't had a nightmare and he didn't want to disturb her, so he crept up to the office to get some research done.

When he got there, Cordy and Doyle were gone, but he wasn't worried about them. He sat down at Cordy's computer and started his research on Tarshvar's and on Wolfram and Hart.

Ten minutes later Cordy and Doyle returning interrupted him. "Hey man, what are yer up to?" Doyle asked loudly.

Angel took his eyes away from the screen for a split second, "Research."

Cordy said, "When did he learn to use that thing? And if he can do it himself, why do I always get stuck with doing it?"

"You look cuter doing it, than he does," Doyle told her.

Cordy smiled at Doyle and asked Angel, "Did you find anything useful?"

"No!" Angel replied discouraged. Then he asked, "Cordy, could you go and get Buffy? I don't want to leave her alone for too long."

"Sure," Cordy told him.

Doyle looked at Angel and said, "Don't worry man... We'll beat this."

"I hope so," Angel whispered softly.

"Buffy?" Cordy called out when she got downstairs.

Buffy came out of the bedroom still sleepy, "Hi Cordy."

"Are you okay?" Cordy asked concerned, she'd never seen Buffy like this.

Buffy yawned, "I'm fine... Just a little tired."

Cordy wasn't convinced but she kept quiet, "Angel wants you upstairs..."

"Where he can keep an eye on me..." Buffy finished for her.

"Yep." Buffy headed upstairs with Cordy and when upstairs flopped down on the outer office couch and went back to sleep.

A couple of hours later she was still asleep and Angel was worried. When he'd called Giles about it, he had said that it was a sign that the Tarshvar was closing in on its target. Angel knew that there was no way he was going to let it hurt Buffy... Even if he died trying, he was going to kill it.

{It's almost time} the Tarshvar thought to itself, safe hiding in its underground lair. He was certain that the ex-vampire would not be able to stop him. He had never failed a mission, not once in his 1000 years of existence and he didn't intend to start now. Within the next couple of days the slayer would be a distant and fading memory. {Time for another nightmare} he thought as he sensed his intended victim fall into deep sleep.

//Buffy found herself running down some sort of corridor, she didn't know why she was running; she just knew that she had too. She found herself stood outside some sort of nursery and she looked inside. She was just in time to see a shadowy figure pick up a baby, her baby and disappear with it and Buffy started to scream. //

She was still screaming when Angel woke her up and pulled into his arms for comfort. When she'd calmed down she had an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, the last time that she'd had that feeling was when she was 18 and had to go through that darn slayer test and she didn't like the feeling or being reminded of that particular experience. This time however she had a greater reason to survive... and she was going to do just that, right after she took her nap.

Angel watched Buffy drift back to sleep and silently panicked, she was pretty much sleeping all day and night. According to Giles this meant that that the Tarshvar was closing in and he had to be ready for it. Angel got out of bed and moved into the living room to gather up some of his weapons, he had a feeling that it was coming any moment. He remembered that he needed to cut out its heart and to do so he'd have to immobilize it so that it was quick and without fuss. When he'd gathered his things, he went back into the bedroom and quickly dressed (he didn't want to face the demon in his boxers) and then he settled down to wait.

{It's time} the Tarshvar thought to itself. The slayer was extremely weak and defenceless; it would soon be time to call a new chosen one. He gathered his kit and left his lair to head for the slayer's home to deliver her death.

Even though Angel was now Human, he sensed the moment that it arrived (he wasn't sure how, but had no time to examine it). He grabbed his sword and dagger, he slowly moved from his hiding place so that he could see what was going on. It entered the apartment and Angel got his first look at the creature that had been hired to kill his wife, he couldn't believe how ugly it was... no wonder it hid in the shadows before it came out for the kill. Angel waited until it was almost in front of his hiding place; he leaped out from behind the cabinet and landed on the demon, knocking it down. Angel was the first to get up and he tried to keep the Tarshvar down by kicking it, unfortunately all that did was injure Angel's foot.

The Tarshvar stood up, "Foolish mortal... no-one is worth dying over."

"She is," Angel replied truthfully.

The Tarshvar grabbed Angel by the throat and squeezed, choking the life out of him. Angel was sure he was about to die, until a picture of Buffy flashed into his mind and he realised that he had to live. He also realised that he had the dagger in his hand... it wouldn't kill it, but it might cause it enough pain that he might be able to get free. He struck out with the knife, cutting it across the chest area, it was a deep cut and the demon's blood flowed freely. Within a few seconds Angel found himself freed and he backed away for a moment, then he charged the disorientated demon, knocking it over once again. However it soon was climbing back up, it had almost stood up when something shattered over its head causing it to collapse, when it was down Angel saw Buffy standing behind it.

Buffy saw that Angel was just standing there in shock, so to snap him out of it she said, "Are you gonna kill the thing or do I have to do all the work?"

Angel snapped out of it and set about cutting the heart out of the Tarshvar, chopping it into tiny pieces and then burning them.

They went out to dump the body and when they returned home a couple of hours later, they found their building laying in pieces all over the neighbourhood. They were just standing there in shock, when Kate came up to them.

"Angel," she called out, "I'm glad that you're okay."

"I'm okay too," Buffy said just to annoy the blonde bitca who was after her husband.

Kate ignored her, "It seems that no-one was injured, but you're now homeless and well... business-less."

Angel put his arm around Buffy and said, "It's okay, I've got all I need right here."

Kate was nauseated by the display of affection and walked off in a huff; neither Buffy nor Angel noticed that she'd even gone. They told the police everything that they knew (which wasn't much) and then checked into a nearby hotel. They went to sleep after deciding that any decisions they needed to make could safely wait until morning.

A few days later Angel and Doyle were chasing down a Nitox demon that had been flashing young women in a park, when Angel stumbled across his old haunting ground... the Hyperion hotel, with a great big for sale sign on it. Later on, after he and Doyle had finished with the case, Angel took Buffy, Cordy and Doyle to see it. They all loved it (especially Buffy) and Angel decided to buy it. It was the perfect place to run the business out of, it was also large enough for a family and most importantly there was plenty of places to hide if things got hairy, so Cordy, Buffy and the new edition would be safe. Angel put his arm around Buffy and looked around at their future home and he suddenly felt like he was home.

Six Months Later...

A lot of things had happened over the last six months. Cordy and Doyle had actually gotten married while they were on a case in Vegas (it was also two days after his divorce came through) and they were now happily living at the Hyperion with Angel and Buffy. Buffy was now eight and a half months along and was feeling frustrated at the fact that she couldn't do much, because of this she threw most of her extra energy into decorating the hotel and preparing for the baby. Angel and Doyle had restarted the agency, but this time as partners and under a totally new name... AD Investigations. Everything was going great; all that remained was the birth of Buffy and Angel's daughter.

Buffy awoke with a start, waking Angel at the same time. "Buff, are you okay?" he asked her concerned.

Her due date was approaching and he was becoming paranoid, due to a mixture of fear and excitement over becoming a father for the first time.

"We're fine," Buffy told him automatically.

Angel pulled her into his arms and held her as close as he could while he drifted off to sleep.

"Ow!" Buffy flinched a few minutes later.

"What?"

"It's nothing... my backs kinda sore" Buffy replied snuggling closer to him.

"Okay," Angel replied as he fell back to sleep.

He was awoken again a few hours later when Buffy let out a yelp, "What's wrong?"

"Angel... I feel funky," she said.

"Define funky?" he asked.

Buffy took a deep breath and said, "Like every thirty minutes or so I feel a sharp pain, funky."

Angel was suddenly wide awake, he got dressed, yelled for Cordy and Doyle... filling them in as he got Buffy's stuff that she'd packed and asking Cordy to call everyone else, and then he grabbed Buffy and drove her to the hospital.

Over the next few hours a crowd gathered in the maternity waiting room. There was Cordy and Doyle, Willow, Oz and their friend Tara, Xander and Anya and Giles and Jenny. Missing was of course Joyce (who wasn't interested), Shirley (who was desperately trying to get a flight out to LA from New York), Spike (who thought it was an abomination) and Faith (who'd told them that she'd rather sleep with Spike than go with them).

After another ten minutes had passed Cordy said impatiently, "What's taking so long?"

"Delia, be patient. The wee one will be along soon enough," Doyle told her calmly placing her in his arms, even though he was thinking the same thing.

Xander watched Doyle and Cordy and muttered, "What does she see in that guy?"

"Maybe she sees a guy who loves her enough to commit and not string her along for years," Anya replied testily.

"Hey, we are way too young to get married," Xander told her.

"Buffy's our age and she's married," Anya replied.

"And look what she's getting out of it... excruciating pain," Xander added.

"Pig," Anya said angrily.

"Demon wench."

Everyone was so busy watching the fight between Xander and Anya that none of them noticed Angel's arrival. "Hey" he said to get their attention.

They noticed him and suddenly he found himself bombarded with questions.

"Tell us now?"

"How are they?"

"When can we see them?"

"They're both great. We now have a daughter, 7 pounds 5 ounces," Angel told them.

They all hugged Angel and then each other, celebrating the newest arrival into the Scooby gang… their extended family. Since Buffy was still resting, Angel took them all down to the hospital's nursery to see the baby. A little while later (after all of the praise and congratulations) everyone headed back to the Hyperion, planning to visit Buffy and the baby the next day, only Angel stayed.

Later Angel was allowed to see Buffy, as he crept into her room, he saw that she was still asleep and he couldn't blame her, he'd seen the energy that she'd expended to bring their daughter into the world. He sat by her bed and looked at her in wonder, she looked so beautiful and serene; it was hard to believe that she was his and that they'd just had a baby.

"Hey!" Buffy whispered sleepily, breaking Angel away from his thoughts.

"Hi," Angel told her, "You look beautiful."

"Liar!" Buffy told him smiling, "Isn't she great?"

"Yeah. She looks just like you," Angel replied.

Buffy smiled and took a hold of Angel's hand, "We need a name for her."

"How about Kathryn?" Angel suggested his sister's name.

Buffy looked at him and asked, "Are you sure that it wouldn't upset you eventually?"

"Well, what do you suggest then?"

"That we use it for a middle name," Buffy replied.

"I like that idea," Angel said feeling somewhat relieved; Buffy had brought up a valid point.

"What do you suggest for her first name then?"

"Annika" she said.

"Annika?" Angel asked confused, they'd never discussed that name.

"It was Giles' mother's name," Buffy told him.

"Annika Kathryn McKee..." Angel said the name, "I like it."

"So do I and so will dad," Buffy said.

Angel was so happy, but he became hyperactive when they brought the baby into the room.

"We're a family," he proclaimed as he held his wife and daughter close and silently thanked the PTB for his second chance.

THE END