Disclaimer: I own nothing. NOTHING. (Except the plot.)
Author's Notes: Set in Season 4. Enjoy the story and send feedback to me at: queenclaire@chickmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Willow entered the room she shared with Buffy to find her roommate pacing up and down. Buffy's face was white and she looked anxious and stressed out.
"What's up, Buff?" Willow asked gently.
"Oh God, oh God, oh God," Buffy began to mutter to herself as she paced.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Willow asked. "Did you have a fight with Riley?"
Buffy shook her head. "No. No. It's not that."
"Then what is it?"
Buffy sat down on her bed and Willow sat next to her.
"I did one of those, um, pregnancy tests today," Buffy said quietly, close to tears.
"Oh God, Buffy," Willow said. She was almost afraid to ask but she had to. "And..."
Buffy nodded. "I'm pregnant." She started to cry. "Oh, God, Willow, I'm pregnant, what am I going to do?"
* * *
Buffy and Willow stayed up almost night talking.
"I don't know what to do," Buffy said, for maybe the tenth time that night. "Should I tell Riley and decide what to do with his help? Or should I just work things out for myself? Because if I'm going to have an abortion, he doesn't need to be told. And I probably will, because there's no way I can have a baby. I mean, I'm hopeless with kids, and I'm the slayer, I can't just forget about all the vampires out there because I have to look after a kid..."
Willow said nothing, just let Buffy talk.
"On the other hand, I'm the slayer. Short life expectancy, right? And I would like a kid...but just not right now."
"And," Buffy continued, "what would my mom say? What would GILES say when he finds out his slayer is pregnant? Oh God..."
She began to cry again. Willow put her arm around her and let her sob.
"Tell Riley," Willow said.
* * *
She told him.
It took him a few minutes to get it to sink in.
Buffy was trembling. He took her into his arms. "We'll figure something out."
* * *
"An abortion would solve all our problems," Riley pointed out.
"I know, I know," Buffy said. "Make it all go away, like it never happened. But there's a BABY growing inside of me, Riley. A baby. And you're suggesting we just...kill it?"
"Buffy, you're two months pregnant," Riley reminded her. "It's not a baby, it's a bunch of cells. Tiny."
Buffy's mind was spinning. "I just don't know what to do," she sighed.
* * *
Two days later, Buffy sat in the waiting room of the clinic. Her heart was pounding and she wondered was she doing the right thing.
"Buffy Summers?" Her name was called.
She couldn't do it. She just couldn't.
Buffy walked out of the clinic, her head held high. She couldn't go through with the abortion.
Motherhood awaited her.
* * *
"We have some news for you," Buffy began tentatively.
She and Riley were going to tell Joyce and Giles at the same time. It seemed easier to get it all over with at once.
"I'm pregnant," Buffy said, and then looked at their faces to see their reactions.
They were shocked.
"We didn't exactly plan this," Riley said, "but it's happened now, and we have to deal with the consequences."
"We're not going to get married for the moment," Buffy added, "but we're going to get an apartment together. I'm going to leave college."
"Buffy, your education..." Joyce objected.
"Mom, it's not like it matters whether I go to college or not," Buffy reminded her. "I'm the slayer, remember?"
Joyce nodded in acceptance.
"And I do want kids," Buffy said. "Maybe I didn't plan on having one so soon...but I think this is a good thing, I really do." She looked at Giles. He hadn't spoken. Her eyes met his, seeking approval.
"Congratulations, both of you," he said. Impulsively, Buffy went to hug him.
* * *
Several weeks later, Buffy patrolled with Riley. Giles had stressed that as soon as she felt that it was getting too much for her, she was to stop patrolling, but she knew that wouldn't be for another few months yet.
A demon sprang out from behind some trees, and Buffy sprang into action, kicking and punching. It was stronger than she had anticipated and she found herself struggling.
Riley attacked the demon from behind and together they defeated it.
"We make a great team," Buffy grinned as they continued to walk hand-in-hand.
Suddenly another one appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. It grabbed Buffy and threw her a few metres away. Riley yelled and viciously stabbed the demon until it collapsed. Then he ran to Buffy.
She lay on the ground in a crumpled heap. "Oh, God, Buffy," he whispered as he tried to get her to regain consciousness. "Oh, please, wake up..."
* * *
"Is she OK?" Joyce sounded panicky, not surprisingly.
On the other end of the phone, Riley bit his lip. "The doctors aren't sure yet. There say there's a chance that she might be paralysed."
"Oh God!" Joyce was working hard to hold back the tears. "Riley - what about the baby?"
His sobs told her what she needed to know.
* * *
Two weeks later, Buffy came out of hospital. The doctors were amazed that there was no permanent damage done.
"No permanent damage?" she had raged to Riley. "I lost the baby I was carrying - and they don't consider THAT permanent damage?"
She had been angry, very angry these last two weeks. And when she wasn't screaming at someone, she was crying.
Now it was time to get back to life, to return to the way things had been before.
She walked to her room with Riley by her side. When she pushed open the door it looked exactly the same as it had before she had been rushed into hospital. Nothing had changed - except her.
It didn't seem right that the world should keep turning and things go on as normal, while she had just miscarried the baby that she had grown to want so badly.
She could have aborted her child. But she hadn't. Why had her child been taken away from her? Was it God punishing her for even thinking about having an abortion?
Buffy didn't know. Everything had changed. She looked at the world through different eyes now.
She looked into Riley's eyes. She could tell he understood what she was feeling.
Slowly he pulled her towards him and held her tightly. She began to cry.
Some time later she pulled away and dried her eyes.
It was time to start living again.
|
|
|
|
Rave
Barbie Girl (Becca)
biscuit07
Filmtheory (Jim)
Malice (Jess)
MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
Reset (Allie)
Shay (Marrisa)
somnambulist29 (Shea)
Stephanie Loss
Wendyness (Wendy)
Questions?Contact Us
|
|
All stories on this site have been archived with the authors' consent. Do not copy these stories for your own uses without the express consent of the author themselves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM and Angel TM are © UPN, WB, Fox and its related entities. All photos on the site are © UPN, Fox, Warner Bros, and/or their respective owners. No profits are being made by use of these images.
Powered with the assitance of eFiction.
|
|
|
