Biology – Chapter Five

“So, uh…what do you think?” Buffy asked softly as Giles took her hand.

Dr. Kiffling smiled and handed two vials of Buffy’s blood to his nurse. “I have my suspicions, but I’d prefer to wait until we receive the results of the blood tests. It shouldn’t take long.”

“How long?” Giles questioned, lacing his fingers with Buffy’s.

“Forty-five minutes? An hour at the most.”

Giles nodded and glanced at his watch, sighing heavily. “That should give us enough time to pick the boys up.”

Dr. Kiffling tilted his head and regarded the couple closely. He was sure that Buffy’s eyes were darker now than they were five minutes earlier.

“Perhaps one of you should pick your children up…the other stay here. Just for, uh…safety reasons.”

Giles narrowed his eyes and then quickly looked at Buffy. The desire burning in her eyes would have been hard to miss. He exhaled slowly, nodding in agreement with the doctor.

“I can pick them up.”

Buffy shook her head quickly. “You dropped them off. I’ll take Mom with me.”

Giles was quiet for a moment. “If you’re sure.”

She looked into his eyes and nodded, inhaling deeply when she felt the intense urge to jump into his arms. “I…better go. Like…now.”

With a whispered ‘I love you’, she turned and ran out of the room. Giles sighed heavily, partly with worry for his wife, partly with relief that he had been given at least another hour of recovery time.

* * *

“What did the doctor say?” Joyce asked hesitantly.

Buffy huffed and changed lanes. “Nothing. He took some blood, said he had an idea what was going on. But…he wants to wait until the blood tests come back before he says anything.”

“Well, that makes sense.” Joyce offered in her ‘Mom knows best’ tone.

Buffy stopped for a red light and looked at her mother. “Is there a disease that makes you want to have sex all the time? Because…that’s the only symptom I’ve got going on right now.”

Joyce cleared her throat as the light turned green. “Is it only with Rupert?”

“Huh?”

Joyce took a deep breath and smiled. “Do you only want to have sex with Rupert? Or…”

Buffy cut her off quickly, finally realizing what her mother was asking. “Oh, no. It’s only Giles. And the scary part is…it’s more than ‘wanting’. It’s more like…I ‘need’ to be with him.”

Buffy pulled into the school’s parking lot and sighed. Joyce registered the worried tone in her daughter’s voice. “I’m sure everything will be fine, Buffy.”

“Yeah.” Buffy mumbled as she opened the car door.

Joyce followed suit, wanting to believe the words she had spoken to Buffy. But, if she were honest with herself, she wasn’t sure everything would be fine. It was now a waiting game.

And Buffy didn’t inherit her lack of patience from her father.

* * *

Giles chuckled softly as Haddie untied his shoelace. “Fun game, Haddie?”

Haddie giggled and proceeded to untie his other shoe. Giles shook his head in amusement, glancing at Willow as she sat down beside of him on the couch.

He gestured towards his daughter, a warm smile on his face. “See what you have to look forward to?”

Willow grinned and shifted uncomfortably. “I wish it would happen sooner rather than later. I am now completely jealous of Buffy’s five month pregnancies.”

Giles’ eyes darted to her stomach, lifting his hand as they darted back to Willow’s eyes. “May I?”

“Yeah, definitely.” Willow answered quickly.

His smile grew as he placed his hand on her abdomen, feeling the child kick against him. “It’s amazing…feeling how strong an unborn child is. I can’t imagine what it must feel like for you.”

“Oh, sometimes like having an anvil resting on my bladder. But, most of the time…yeah…pretty indescribable.”

Giles soothingly rubbed his hand over her skin. “I would sit for hours and…” He coughed lightly, trailing off as he slowly removed his hand. “Sorry.”

Willow smiled brightly. “Don’t be. She enjoys it, being touched. Oz talks to her all the time.”

Giles grinned, blushing lightly. “I used to read to them every night. Well, to the boys.” He reached down and pulled Haddie onto his lap. “Hadley preferred me to sing. Didn’t you?”

Haddie grinned and pulled the top two buttons of Giles’ shirt free. “Da, da, da, da!”

Giles chuckled again, shaking his head in amusement. “As much as I love hearing you call for me…I think we need to start working on teaching you some new words.”

When Willow shifted again, Giles turned to her and smiled. “You don’t have much longer, Willow.”

Willow returned the smile, thinking not for the first time how lucky they all were to have Rupert Giles in their lives.

* * *

Buffy and Joyce had returned fairly quickly with the boys. Giles had taken a seat on the couch, Lucas perched on one knee as Braden climbed up to sit beside of him. He listened attentively as his sons took turns telling him about their respective day.

He glanced at Buffy, sighing inwardly when he noticed her lightly flushed face. She bit her lip and lowered her gaze from his. As tired and sore as he was, he still felt the urge to take her somewhere…possibly upstairs to one of the dorm rooms…to relieve her tension.

And that was the moment that Dr. Kiffling chose to reappear. Giles gently placed Lucas on the floor and smiled at the two boys.

“I would wager that Willow wouldn’t mind hearing about your day.”

Willow chuckled when both boys turned to look at her. “Come on, you know you want to tell me.”

Braden and Lucas ran over to her without a second thought. Giles cleared his throat and stood, catching Joyce’s eye. Joyce looked down at the napping Haddie and gave him a quick nod, silently assuring him that she’d help Willow with the children. He gave her a small smile of thanks and moved to Buffy’s side.

Buffy took a deep breath and looked at the doctor. “Do you know what’s wrong with me?”

Dr. Kiffling nodded and looked down at the papers in his hand. “I do.”

Buffy squeezed Giles’ hand, her worry showing in her eyes. “Is it…bad?”

“I suppose that depends on your definition of ‘bad’.” He looked back up and glanced at the three children and two adults on the other side of the room. “Would you prefer to go through the test results somewhere else?”

Giles opened his mouth to respond, closing it when Buffy shook her head quickly. “No, just…tell us.”

The doctor motioned towards the two chairs sitting in front of Giles’ desk as he leaned against the edge of the desk. “Very well. You’re suffering from Hypogonadism.”

Buffy’s eyes widened. “Huh? You said it wasn’t bad…depending on my definition of the word. That sounds…bad. Like…really bad.”

Giles stared at the doctor. “Are you sure?”

Dr. Kiffling nodded as Buffy turned to stare at her husband. “You know what it is? Someone needs to tell me what it is…now.”

Giles cleared his throat and turned his head, meeting Buffy’s eyes. “Hypogonadism is the medical term for, uh…well…menopause.”

Buffy waited a second, sure that she had misunderstood him. With a puzzled look in her eyes, she shook her head. “I’m twenty-eight.”

Dr. Kiffling handed the papers to her and spoke softly. “You are also the Slayer.”

“A Slayer. I haven’t been the Slayer in a very long time.” She looked down at the papers held in her trembling hand. “Are you sure about this?”

“Quite.”

Giles slid his arm around her shoulders as she glanced over to find Willow and her mother in deep conversation with Braden and Lucas. “And the whole me needing to have sex with my husband pretty much non-stop?”

Dr. Kiffling smiled in understanding. “Your body realizes what is happening. It’s attempting to force you into procreation one last time.”

“And…there’s nothing I can do to stop it?”

“No. I do realize that this is an uncomfortable situation. There are a couple of things you could do to make this transition easier for you and Mr. Giles.”

“Uh-huh…what?”

“Well, there are some medications that you can take that will speed up the process. Or…you could have another child.”

“She’s, uh…she’s taking contraceptives…” Giles whispered softly and ran his hand through his hair.

The doctor nodded knowingly. “If she weren’t, she would have already conceived.”

“If we…” Giles started, stopping suddenly and looking into Buffy’s eyes. “Do you want to have another baby?”

“I was hoping for a little more time. Like…a couple of years…”

Giles nodded slowly. “As I. Do you?”

“Yeah.” Buffy whispered, her eyes glistening. “But…not like this.”

Dr. Kiffling narrowed his eyes. “I’m sorry?”

Giles exhaled slowly, brushing a tear from her cheek with his thumb. He spoke to the doctor, but kept his gaze locked with Buffy’s.

“Our children were conceived through love…and…tenderness. We, uh…well, what Buffy and I are experiencing now…it’s desperation. It’s harsh. Not without love, because we love one another very much. But, the act itself…”

“I understand.” The doctor interrupted quietly. “I do have a theory, however.”

Buffy and Giles both turned to the doctor, silently requesting him to continue.

“My theory is that the reason your love making has this ‘harsh’ quality about it at the moment is due to the contraceptives. Your body is fighting to conceive and has decided that if it fights harder, the barrier will fall. Does that make sense?”

They both nodded and Buffy took a deep breath. “So, I come off the pill…our sex life returns to normal and we have another baby?”

“Not instantly, but theoretically speaking…yes.”

Buffy turned to Giles, noticing his furrowed brow. “Giles, what is it?”

Giles thought for a moment and met the doctor’s eyes. “We, uh…had some difficulty in conceiving our daughter.”

Dr. Kiffling smiled brightly. “I’m aware of the medical history. I honestly don’t think that will be an issue this time. If you want another child, this will be your last chance. I’m sorry that you’re having to make a decision such as this in a spur of the moment manner…”

“It has taken five weeks for the contraceptives to be eradicated from her system each time. Does this mean – ”

The doctor shook his head slowly. “Her body is desperate for a child. It will flush her system of medications quickly. As I said, it won’t be instantaneous…but it could be as quickly as a week or two.”

Buffy chewed at her bottom lip for a moment. “Giles?”

He answered her with a tender smile, before leaning into her and kissing her lips.