Alchemy – Chapter Four

Six hours later…

Buffy was pacing back and forth in Giles’ office, her hand absently rubbing her stomach. Giles watched her carefully, monitoring her movements. He knew it wouldn’t be long until their son was born. She had never made it to her due date with her prior pregnancies and he was sure this one would be no different.

He felt a gentle nudge to his right arm and turned his head to find Xander sitting next to him on the couch. “I’m sorry. Did you say something, Xander?”

“Yeah. I said ‘how are you doin’, Giles?’.”

Giles chuckled softly. “Fine. I’ve no reason to think this will not work. Though I have to admit, I am worried about the distinct possibility of casualties…”

“I, uh…was actually talking about your impending fatherhood.”

“Oh.” He glanced at Buffy and smiled. “It’s not as if I haven’t done it before. This one, however…it is a little bittersweet.”

Xander’s eyes widened. “Did you want more than four?”

“No.” Giles answered softly. “But, there is a difference in making the decision to stop at four children…and having that decision made for you by nature.”

Xander nodded in understanding. “You gonna tell me if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“No.” Giles responded with no hesitation.

Xander grumbled playfully and then looked around the room. “Okay, I know I just got back a few minutes ago from dinner with Anya, but…I know the kids were here when I left.”

“They’re sleeping upstairs. Julian and Peter are with them.”

Giles’ eyes followed Buffy, narrowing slightly when she paused in her pacing. Giles stood up quickly, mumbling an ‘excuse me’ to the young man as he made his way to his wife.

“Buffy?”

She looked up at him and exhaled slowly. “I’m okay. Just a twinge in my lower back.”

“Maybe you should rest. We can ask someone to wake us when they arrive.”

Buffy raised her tired eyes. “I need to wait until they’ve been picked up.”

Giles nodded slowly and guided her to the couch. Xander smiled and scooted over, giving Buffy enough room to sit comfortably between him and Giles.

“Hey, Xand.”

“Hey, Buff.” He grinned and touched his fingertips to her stomach. “And Little Buff.”

Buffy chuckled. “Little Buff?”

Xander nodded happily. “Yep. I’m fairly certain you’re having a girl. And…I’m pretty sure her name will be…” He thought for a moment. “Xandetta Rain.”

Giles snorted. “First of all, Xandetta is…well, just no. Second of all, though I’m sure Ethan would be chuffed at the name ‘Rain’, it doesn’t work in this instance. Third of all, Xandetta Rain sounds like either a movie or a song title…and both of them D grade.”

Xander pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell me what you really think next time.”

Buffy rubbed his arm soothingly. “Oh, Xander…even you have to admit that Xandetta Rain isn’t your best attempt at a name.”

“Well, you guys keep shooting them down…I’m running out of options here.”

Buffy started to respond, stopping when the Liaison Officer for Extrications ran into the room. “Groups One, Two, and Three have been successfully extricated from the area.”

Giles stood quickly, reaching down to help Buffy up. “Casualties?”

“None in the process of extrication, Mr. Giles.”

Giles smiled and gave a nod of relief. “Good. Very good.”

Buffy, however, instantly read something in the officer’s eyes that he was desperately trying to hide. “And the number of casualties before extrication?”

“Three casualties, ma’am. Witnesses state that they were under heavy vampiric attack two hours before we arrived. I’m sorry.”

Buffy swallowed and leaned back against Giles’ chest. “Faith?”

“One of the survivors, ma’am.”

The officer cleared his throat and met Giles’ eyes. “Wet-Works have initiated their attack. Extrications should return to base within four hours.”

Xander’s eyes widened. “Four hours? Damn, that’s fast!”

The officer grinned softly. “Not your typical choppers, sir.”

“Obviously.” Xander smiled and then looked back at Buffy and Giles. “Four hours…you could get a little rest in. I can go down and keep Anya company while she’s tracking that Clementine demon.”

“Klavantite.” Buffy and Giles corrected simultaneously.

Xander chuckled and shook his head. “Whatever. I’ll keep her company and…I can come wake you guys up if I hear anything. And I talked to Willow about an hour ago. She and Oz are coming by as soon as Maria wakes up.”

Buffy ran her hand through her hair, her eyes dull from near-exhaustion. “Yeah…I don’t think I’m going to be good for anything if I don’t get some sleep. The baby’s kinda protesting me being all vertical at the moment as well.”

Giles gently rubbed her lower back, smiling when she moaned softly. Xander rolled his eyes and motioned towards the door.

“Can’t you guys at least wait until you’ve gotten to your room?”

Buffy glared at Xander. “Okay, when you’re less than two weeks away from giving birth and your back aches non-stop and your husband knows exactly what to do to relieve some of the pain, then you’ll have the right to say something. Until then, you don’t.”

Xander grinned. “Well, considering I’m never going to have a husband or be pregnant…I guess I’ll never have the right to say anything about it.”

Buffy gave an exasperated sigh. “You know what I mean, Xand. And…I’m sorry, I’m just tired and cranky.” She looked up into Giles’ eyes. “Can we go to bed now?”

Giles smiled and gave her a nod before wishing Xander a good night and leading her out of the office. Xander snickered and closed the office door behind him, quickly making his way down to Anya’s territory.

* * *

“It’s a boy, I’m telling you.” Anya protested.

Xander shook his head. “No, they didn’t deny it when I said it was a girl.”

Anya stared at him. “They didn’t deny it when I said it was a boy either.”

Oz smirked as he followed Willow into the room. “Maybe it’s both.”

Anya looked up quickly. “You mean like a hermaphrodite?”

Willow snorted and handed Maria to Xander when he reached for her. “No…I think Oz was actually referring to twins. One of each?”

“Oh.” Anya thought for a minute and glanced at Xander cooing softly to Maria. “I don’t think she’s having twins. She’s no bigger than she has been in the past. And…when are we going to have one of those?”

“One of what?” Xander looked up, slight panic showing in his dark eyes when he noticed she was staring at the baby. “One of these? A baby?”

When Anya nodded, Xander smiled and held Maria out towards her. Anya flinched and moved away quickly.

“When you get over your fear of holding a baby, we’ll discuss it.”

“It’s not a fear. I’m not afraid of them. I mean, they’re not bunnies or anything.”

Willow raised an eyebrow, content to stand back and listen to the conversation.

Xander cuddled Maria against his chest, smiling softly as the little girl wrapped her fingers around his pinky. “It sure seems like fear. You haven’t held any of the kids when they were babies.”

“I don’t want to break them.” She whispered quietly.

Xander regarded her closely, concern in his eyes when he realized she was being sincere. “You won’t break her, Anya. She’s just a little human, she’s not made of glass.”

“She’ll break if I drop her. And…babies are squirmy.”

Xander glanced at Willow and Oz, who were smiling back at him. He motioned to the chair and looked into Anya’s eyes.

“Sit down, An.”

Anya furrowed her brow, but did as he requested. As soon as she was comfortable, he moved in front of her and transferred Maria into her arms before she had a chance to protest.

“Hold her firmly, but not too tight.” He whispered gently.

“Xander…”

“Ssh. I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” He smiled when Maria looked up at Anya and giggled. “See? You’re doing great, sweetheart.”

Anya relaxed a little at Xander’s comforting words. When Maria laid her head against Anya’s chest, she looked up with bright eyes.

“I’m holding a baby!”

Xander nodded and reached up, brushing a stray hair back from Anya’s face. “Yeah, you really are.”

“Can we have one now?”

Willow laughed loudly and Oz chuckled. Anya was getting ready to ask what was so funny when Amelia walked into the room.

“Teams one and three will be landing in fifteen minutes. Team two is about twenty minutes behind them. Peter and Julian have just brought the children down.”

No sooner had she gotten the words out, Braden and Lucas ran into the room with Haddie following them at a slightly slower pace. The boys stopped suddenly and Braden looked around the room.

“Where are Mummy and Daddy?”

“Still in bed.” Xander answered quickly. “I’ll…go wake them up, okay?”

“I’m hungry!” Lucas announced, rubbing his stomach in wide circles.

Willow laughed and knelt in front of him. “Okay, how about we go start breakfast while Xander wakes your parents up?” When Lucas nodded, Willow reached out and brushed her fingers through his hair. “What would you like for breakfast?”

“Eggs.” Braden and Lucas answered at the same time.

“Yegg!” Haddie echoed with a grin.

“Okay, eggs it is!”

“Squiggly eggs.” Lucas added.

Willow narrowed her eyes. “Squiggly eggs?”

Braden smiled and shook his head in a fashion that was very similar to his father’s. “Scrambled.”

Lucas turned to his brother and narrowed his eyes. “Squiggly!”

Willow laughed softly and ruffled the boy’s hair. “They do look squiggly, don’t they?”

“I like squiggly eggs!”

“Skiggy yegg!”

Willow laughed, standing and meeting Oz’s eyes. “I’ll get breakfast started, Xander’s going to get Buffy and Giles…”

Oz smiled, lifting his hand to caress her cheek. “I’ll stay here with Maria and Anya.”

Anya breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, ‘cause I wasn’t all that thrilled to think people were going to leave me here with a baby on my own. I mean, yeah…I’m holding her, but what if she cries or vomits or…”

Oz chuckled and gently nudged Willow towards the door. Xander grinned and left the room, making his way up to the dorm rooms to find Buffy and Giles.