Chapter Four

Buffy looked up, smiling at Giles as he handed her a mug of tea.  Her smile faded slightly when she recognised confusion in his eyes. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Hm?  Oh…sorry, um…nothing.”  He cleared his throat and sat down on the sofa next to her.  “I was just thinking about questions I need to ask the Board before my return to work.”

“Okay, well…can we not think about work right now?”  She asked, taking a careful sip from the mug.  “Willow was telling me about Brielle’s upcoming date.”

Giles looked at Willow, his mug pausing halfway to his mouth.  “With you…yes?”

Willow’s eyes widened.  “How did you know?  I mean…we’ve been keeping that quiet.  We haven’t even told Xander yet.”

Giles stared at her in disbelief.  “If you’re wanting no one to know, then you should work harder at keeping it quiet.”

Willow looked at Buffy.  “You already knew?”

“Well, yeah.  I mean…you guys knew about us before we told you, didn’t you?”

“That’s different.  You’re Buffy and Giles, you’re kinda destined to be together.”  Willow rambled.

Giles furrowed his brow.  “As Watcher and Slayer, perhaps.  Not as…we are.”

Buffy glanced at him, the last bit of that statement sounding hesitant…and curious.  Then she quickly returned her attention to Willow. 

“Hey, calm down.  It’s all good, Will.  I’m pretty sure that we only know because we know you so well.  And…the fact that we understand trying to hide a new relationship when you’re still learning how you fit together.”

Willow smiled at her, taking a bite out of a Jaffa Cake.  “Do you think Xander will be okay with it?”

Buffy nodded quickly as Willow’s smile faded into a look of slight panic.  “Yeah, I mean…they only went out a few times.” 

“You don’t think it’s weird?”  Willow asked softly.

“Absolutely.”  Giles answered without hesitation, then smiled – winking at Willow, causing her to smile to return.

Buffy looked at Giles’ hand, his long fingers tapping out a rhythm on his thigh.  “What’s that about?”

“Hm?  Oh…a song going through my head.  It’s on constant loop at the moment.  I’ll play it for you later, if you’d like.”

“That’s so sweet.”  Will sighed, curling her feet underneath her. 

Buffy kissed Giles’ upper arm, then looked back at Willow.  “So,  Brielle…”

Willow sighed again. 

Giles chuckled as he took a sip of his tea.

* * *

A few hours later, Buffy followed Giles into the kitchen – leaning against the stove, crossing her arms over her chest as he opened the blood fridge.

“Okay, what the hell’s going on?”

He looked at her as he dropped the unopened pouch into a mug.  “I’m…scheduled for a snack.”

“What?  No…not…”  She took a deep breath and gestured towards him.  “What’s going on with you?”

He felt a brief wave a panic, but stamped it down quickly.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”  He replied pouring the freshly boiled water into the mug to warm the blood pouch.

“You.”  She said, staring at him as if he should know exactly what she was talking about.  “You’re acting weird.”

“You lot always think I’m acting weird.”  He said with a chuckle.

“Rupert.”

He was quiet for a moment and then met her eyes.  “Can we talk about it later?”

“So, there is something wrong?”

“No.  Not wrong.  At least, I don’t think there’s anything wrong.  Just…well, something is different and it’s not something I want to talk about right now.”

“You know that that’s not going to fly with me, right? You can’t say something like that and have me not asking questions.  That’s not how this works.”

“Please, love.  I promise, it’s nothing sinister – there’s nothing to research.  I’m just…thinking about something.  And I won’t discuss it while Willow’s here.”

“Fine.”  She pushed away from the stove and took a step towards the doorway.  “I’ll ask her if she can leave so we can talk.”

He grabbed her arm quickly, pulling her back towards him.  “Please don’t do that.”

“Then tell me what’s going on.”

“Why can’t you just trust me on this?  Just this once, Buffy.  Please…just trust me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Giles.  It’s…this intense need to know what’s going on. I can’t feel your emotions anymore.  I don’t know if your weirdness is something to be concerned about or – ”

He bent down and kissed her soundly.  She placed her hand on his chest and gently pulled back after a few moments. 

“Well, that wasn’t fair at all.”  She whispered.

He smiled softly and went back to preparing his snack.  “I’m fine, love.  There’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“We’ll talk when Willow leaves?”

“Absolutely.”  He replied before taking a long sip from the mug.

“You promise?”

He nodded, crossing his heart with the index finger on his right hand.  She snorted a soft laugh and rolled her eyes. 

“Fine.  I’ll let it go for now.  But as soon as she leaves, we’ll be having a chat.”

He finished the mug quickly and then rinsed it out as he met her eyes.  “Yes, we will.”

With a heavy sigh, she left to go back to the living room.  Giles chuckled softly and then followed her.

* * *

Willow had barely left before Buffy looked at Giles expectantly.

“Okay, out with it.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it.  Then he cleared his throat and stood up. 

“Um…follow me?”

She stared at him as he stepped into the hall.  “Don’t think that having sex is going to stop me.”

Giles stopped and laughed, gesturing for her to come with him.  “I wouldn’t think that at all.  I wasn’t even thinking about sex.”

“You’re not?”  She asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

“I wasn’t.”  He replied with a grin.  “Will you please just come with me?”

“Ugh…fine.”  She mumbled, following him down the hall.  When he went past their bedroom, she furrowed her brow.  “Giles…”

He pushed the bathroom door open as he looked at her.  “I told you I wasn’t thinking about sex, Buffy.”

She stood in the doorway, watching as he opened first one drawer and then another.  Then her eyes widened when he found what he was looking for.  She stepped into the room and he licked his suddenly dry lips.

“Can, uh…can you take this for me, please?”

“Giles, that’s a pregnancy test.”

“I’m well aware.  I even remember when you bought it – the day after we decided to start trying to have a baby.”

“Yeah, but…”  She shook her head as her eyes glistened.  “You’re a vampire, you…we can’t…have a baby.”

“You, um…have missed a couple of cycles.”  He said softly, reaching into the medicine cabinet.  “I thought maybe it was because you’d gone back on the pill, but…”

“I haven’t.”  She whispered as she watched him pull out an unopened box of birth control.  “I didn’t see a need for it.  I’m not sure why you thought I’d go back on it…”

“Regulation of your cycle?”  He said, placing the box on the counter. 

“I don’t understand…”

“Earlier, when I was going to make tea…”  He swallowed emotionally, and leaned against the double vanity.  “I heard a very distinct sound – a heartbeat.  Um…another…heartbeat.”

“What?”

“I thought, perhaps…well, maybe Willow was…but, it wasn’t coming from her.”  

Buffy wiped away a tear that had spilled over her eyelid.

“It, uh…it was coming from you.  It…is…coming from you.”  He said, placing his hand on the top of the vanity. 

She looked at his hand as his fingers began to tap – the same rhythm he was tapping earlier.  Her eyes darted to his and he smiled warmly.

“That’s what I’m hearing.”

“Oh my god…”

“So, I think you should take the test.  And then maybe we should see a doctor because – ”

“I’m pregnant?”  She whispered, her voice shocked and confused.  “But…Giles…”

“Obviously, you conceived before I was turned.  And the fetus is large enough now that I can hear the heartbeat.” 

His eyes glistened, then lightened to a shade of amber she’d never seen before. 

“I know this is unexpected…”  He started, lifting his hand to her cheek as another tear fell. 

She sniffled, nodding as he caught her tear with his thumb.  “Unexpected is a word.”

“Will you?”  He asked softly, glancing at the pregnancy test in her hand.

“Is it really needed?”  She asked, furrowing her brow.  “I mean…you can hear the baby…”

“I’d like to see the plus sign – I think you should see it as well.”  He said, his thumb lovingly stroking her skin. 

“I can’t with you in here…”

He chuckled softly and leant down to press a tender kiss to her lips.  “I’ll go make us a cuppa…”

“I’ll be out soon.”  She whispered as he lowered his hand from her cheek.  “Why am I so nervous?”

“I assume for the same reason that I nearly had a panic attack earlier.  We never thought this would happen…becoming parents.  And now, here we are…”

“Yeah.”  She smiled as he stepped into the hall.

“I’ll be in the living room, love.”

She nodded, then closed the door.  She looked at the test in her hand and sighed nervously.

“Here we are…”

* * *

He looked up as she walked into the living room, two mugs of tea on the coffee table in front of him.  He rubbed his palms over his thighs and then stood up, a nervous smile on his face.

“Yes?”

She held the test out and shrugged her shoulder.  “I haven’t looked at it yet.  I mean…it didn’t feel right looking at it without you.  So…I don’t know.”

“Here…”  He gestured towards the sofa.  “We’ll look together.”

She sat down and looked into his eyes as he sat down next to her.  “So, you’re pretty certain it’s going to be positive.”

“I am.” 

“And…you’re okay with that?”

He looked at her curiously for a moment.  “Of course I am.  We were trying before…”  He cleared his throat and turned his body towards her.  “Are you?  I mean…”

“Yes!  Yes, Giles, I’m absolutely okay with it.  I’m just…how did I miss this?”

“Well, it has been a fairly stressful time for us.”  He smiled.  “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”  She took a deep breath, counted to three and placed the test on the coffee table – result side up. 

And then she smiled. 

“Wow.”

His eyes glistened as he stared at the test.  “Wow, indeed.”

She tilted her head as she looked at him, somewhat surprised by his reaction.  “But…you already knew.”

“That doesn’t lessen the emotion felt by seeing a positive result, love.”

She smiled as he leaned into her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. 

“I love you, Giles.”

“Will you marry me?”  He asked, seemingly out of the blue.

Her eyes widened, her smile faded.  “What?”

“Oh…”  He closed his eyes for a split second and shook his head.  “I’m aware that I just made it seem as though I asked because you’re pregnant, but I assure you…that isn’t the case.”

“What?”  She repeated, watching him as he stood up and walked over to the fireplace. 

He reached up and pulled a small, ornate box down from behind a picture of the two of them.  He turned to look at her, a smile in his eyes. 

“This has been my desire for many months, Buffy.  Well before I died.”  He walked over to the sofa and knelt before her.  “I’m not asking because of the baby.  I’m asking because I’m in love with you and have been for so long now.  This definitely isn’t the path I expected our lives to take – me being a vampire.  But, the love and compassion and trust that you’ve shown me – I’d never make it in this world without you, souled or not.  Though, I’m extremely happy to be souled.”

She laughed, wiping a tear from her cheek.  “Well, this day has certainly turned into a banner day for Summers-Giles household – news of the new Charter, a baby, and a marriage proposal.”

“But…is there an engagement to add to that list?”  He asked, his eyes shining brightly.

“Oh!”  She laughed again, nodding enthusiastically.  “Yes!  Yes, definitely.  Of course, I’ll marry you, Giles – yes.”

He laughed with her, removing the ring from the box and then placing it on her finger. 

And just like that, a new chapter was started.