by Heather

DISCLAIMER: I own none of these characters. They are the property of Joss Whedon and those other people. If I owned them, do you think there ever would have been a RILEY!
SPOILERS: Everything before and including "A New Man" and "Expecting".
NOTES: I started writing this to take care of my Riley RAGE, but it turned into something else. I never meant for it to be this long, but, Oh Well. It has a little bit of B/R in it, but I PROMISE that it has a happy ending.

Giles sat, staring at the paper in his hand, trying to make the hardest decision of his life. He had just deciphered a prophecy from a very rare book he had recently acquired, and what he had just read scared him more than anything else he had faced in his time living on the Hellmouth. Now he was forced to decide on the best course action and he didn't like place his thoughts were taking him. No matter how much he disliked the idea, he knew that he had to make the called he was dreading and it had to done before he let Buffy know there was anything wrong.

"Well this is exciting" Buffy thought as she walked through the empty cemetery. She had been patrolling for the last 2 hours and hadn't seen anyone or anything. Well, unless you count Spike, she had seen him moving into his new crypt. She started thinking about the way things were going in her life. There was her new boyfriend Riley, things were going well with him. They had been going out for about a month now and things were looking good. She was finally heading for that 'normal' life Angel wanted so badly for her.

"AAHHH, where did that thought come from?!?" Buffy asked herself jumping up from the tombstone she had sat down on. She thought she was doing better, not thinking about him as often. The truth was, she had been doing better and had been really happy until her trip to LA over Thanksgiving. Things had changed since then and that's when her unsettling thought about her relationship with Riley had started. True, she wasn't really even with Riley then, but she had been excited about the possibility.

Now, she kept finding herself comparing him to Angel, and he was of course coming up short. Buffy decided that she had patrolled enough for the night and it was time to head back to the dorm. She was really tired, maybe she'd be able to sleep all night without any of those weird dreams about Angel that she had been having lately.

That was something else that was bothering her, the dreams seemed too real. They were too vivid and she could remember too much of them after she was awake. The dreams didn't make sense though. They were more like fragments of memories from something that had happened and she had forgotten. Of course that couldn't be what they were because she clearly remembered every moment she had ever spent with Angel.

She finally just pushed the thoughts out of her mind as she crawled into her bed. A good nights sleep, with no dreams, was all she needed to clear her head. These things were just bothering her because she had been so tired and not feeling very well lately. Everything would seem better in the morning.

Giles paced his apartment for the 50th time in the last five minutes. He was no closer to finding out about this prophecy now, than he had been last night. His only hope was that Angel would have more information about it when he got here. That was the other thing that had him pacing. Angel was coming back to Sunnydale. He had known that as soon he told Angel about the prophecy, he would be on his way back. That was in fact the one of the reasons he had called him. No matter what had happened in the past, Giles knew that Angel loved Buffy more than anything else in the world, and if Buffy was going to survive the coming troubles, she was going to need that love.The other reason he had called was that from the few conversations he had had with Angel since he left Sunnydale, he thought Angel might have information about the prophecy.

The knock on the door interrupted his pacing. He opened the door to see Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley standing on the other side. He was a little surprised that Angel had brought Cordelia with him, but he was it total shock over seeing Wesley. He recovered from his shock and remembered his manners, "Um, Hello, good to see you all. Come in and have a seat."After everyone was seated, a tense silence settled over the living room.

"Giles, what's going on?" he asked, not being able to hold off any longer.

"What you can't wait any longer for the bad news?" Cordelia asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Angel just looked at her and Giles took this as a sign to start his tale. "Yes, well, I guess I should start by telling you how things have been on the Hellmouth lately. The vampiric activity has been, well, virtually nothing for the last few months. In fact, the last real vampire problem Buffy faced was Spike, looking for the Jewel of Amarh. We've has other things to deal with, of course, the Chumoush Indians and The Gentlemen, for instance, but as for as the vampires, nothing. Even the number of fledglings rising has drop significantly. There have only been ten or fifteen to rise in the last three months."

"It's been good for Buffy, of course. It's given her time to adjust to her new college life as well as more time for her studies and for practice. At first, I didn't think anything of it. We've seen lulls in activity before, but the longer it lasted the more and more concerned I have become. I began to research every volume I could get, looking for anything that would lead me to answers. Then I remembered this book." holding up the book he had just retrieved from his desk. "I bought it some time ago and set it aside to look through. I had forgotten I even had it until I came across it a few days ago."

"So, I started going through it and I came across a passage on slayers. That is where I came across this prophecy. At first I didn't really look at it because it didn't seem to mention the slayer, then I noticed the date it was going to occur." Giles said, as he picked up a piece of paper from his desk and began to read. "In the two thousandth year, in the second month, a great battle between Good and Evil shall occur for control of the Earth. It shall be known as the End of Days."

Angels head shot up as he listened, "The End of Days?" he asked.

"Yes, which is why I called you. You mentioned this to me in a telephone conversation, asking if I had any information. At the time it was the first I had heard of it, now it has come up in a prophecy. Where did you hear about it and what do you know?" Giles asked, glad to be finished with the background information so that they could start with the real research.

Angel stared at the floor, trying to come to a decision about how much of this story he could tell Giles without bringing up questions he wasn't ready to answer. Finally he gave Cordelia a look to let her know not to dispute anything he was going to say and started talking, "I'm sure Buffy told you about the Morah demon that attacked when she was in LA." When Giles nodded he continued, "Well, a couple of days later another one showed up. It was talking about 'a great darkness' that was coming. It said the 'End of Days' was upon us. I killed it after that and I just wanted to see what it was talking about so I called you to check it out. When you said you had heard nothing of it, I just kind of let it go for the time being."

Angel looked at Cordelia, to see her giving him a look that said, "liar."

"Well," Giles said, "between your Morah demon and my prophecy, we have to references to an occurrence known as the End of Days and little other information except that it will happen next month."

"I suggest we start going through everything available looking for any references to this 'End of Days." Wesley said. It was the first thing he had said since arriving.

Everyone looked at him for a moment and then agreed.

The next day, as Buffy and Willow were walking across campus when they saw Riley coming towards them. After saying hi, Willow excused herself to go and talk to a friend standing near by. Buffy hugged Riley and they sat down to talk.

"How have you been? It seems like I haven't talked to you in forever." Riley asked.

"I'm fine and you saw me yesterday." Buffy answered. Hoping to change the subject she asked, "Has Pro. Walsh been keeping you guys busy?"

"Yeah, even though there has been such a low level of activity. She has had us training and running sims." Riley said, noticing the change in topic, but deciding to let it go for now.

"Well, that's good I guess. I mean, you guys will be in still be in practice when things pick up again." Buffy said, not really paying attention, she was starting to feel really strange.

"Yeah, I guess, but it cuts back on the time I get to spend with you." He said, trying to get her to smile. When she said nothing but just kept staring off into space, he asked, "Buffy, what's going on with you lately?" Buffy started to answer him but realized she was about to be sick. She jumped up and ran inside the nearest building to the bathroom. Willow, who had still been standing nearby, saw her running and quickly followed. By the time she got to the bathroom, Buffy was standing at the sink washing her face.

"Buffy are you okay?" Willow asked, walking up behind her.

Buffy looked at her through the mirror, "Yeah, I just got sick suddenly. I haven't really felt good this morning, it's probably something I ate. I'm fine now, lets go back outside. Riley is waiting to see what happened, I'm sure."

As they walked out the door, they ran into Riley, who was on his way in. "Buffy are you okay? What happened?"

Buffy looked at him and put on her best 'I'm fine' face. "I'm okay, don't worry. I think I just ate something that didn't agree with me."

"Good, I'm glad your okay. I'm sorry to have to run, but Pro. Walsh just called. I have to go in for a while."

"That's fine, I have to go check in with Giles. I haven't talked to him today and he's been researching the lack of vampires." Buffy said.

"Okay, I'll talk to you tonight?" He asked

"Yeah, come by Giles when you get finished, I'll still be there." She answered reaching up to give him a goodbye kiss. *NOTE TO SELF UUUGGGGHHHHH*

Riley left for the Initiative headquarters and Buffy and Willow headed to Giles apartment to see if he had come up with anything.

Giles, Angel, Wesley, and Cordelia had stayed awake until the early hours of the morning researching the End of Days. It was now 2 p.m. and they had just resumed their search.

"Why aren't the Super Slayer and her groupies here helping us. This is what they do. Why are we the ones stuck here doing the research while they are out having a life." Cordelia asked, putting down the very large book she had been leafing through.

"Cordelia, Buffy and the others know nothing about any of this. That's why they're not here helping." Giles answered

"Giles, we need to tell Buffy what's going on, she doesn't like to be kept in the dark." Angel said, thinking about how she had reacted at Thanksgiving when he had kept his presence in Sunnydale hidden from her.

"Yes, well, I had hoped to have more information for her before....." he was cut off by the door opening and Willow and Buffy entering the apartment.

"Hey Giles, we came to see...Angel?" She took a few steps towards him and then proceeded to faint.

"Buffy!" Angel said as he ran forward to catch her before she hit the floor. He picked her up and carried her over to the couch.

"Is she Okay?" Giles asked

"Yes, I think she just fainted." Willow answered as she sat down on the couch next to Buffy.

As they were talking , Buffy began to move around. Angel knelt down on the floor next to her. Buffy slowly opened her eyes and found herself looking into the the dark brown eyes that haunted her dreams. She smiled as she looked at Angel. This was the best of all her dreams. In this one he was there when she woke up. Suddenly, she remembered. This wasn't a dream. This was Giles apartment and she had come over to see him and found Angel here. "What is going on???" Buffy asked angrily as she sat up on the couch.

Everyone looked at each other before everyone finally looked at Angel. "Can I talk to Buffy alone?" Angel asked

"Yes, we will just go in the other room." Giles said and motioned for Willow, Cordelia, and Wesley to follow him.

After they had left the room, Buffy looked at Angel and waited for him to start. "Buffy, um, Giles may have found the reason for the lack of activity lately."

"What is it?" Buffy asked somewhat hesitantly. She new the look on Angel's face. It was not good.

"Giles found a prophecy predicting the End of Days"

"Wasn't that a movie?" Buffy joked, but it didn't hide the fact that she was really scared. Ever since she had died at the hands of the Master, even the word prophecy could give her chills.

Angel knew that she was scared, he also knew she was trying really hard to hide it so he acted as if he didn't notice and continued. "It's supposed to be a great battle between Good and Evil for control of the Earth. I heard about it from a demon I killed a while back and asked Giles what it was. He didn't know anything at the time, but when he found this, he asked me to come back and help with the research."

"Okay, so why all the secrecy? I thought we agreed, no more lurking." Buffy asked

"I wasn't hiding, I just got here last night!" Angel answered, "We weren't being secretive, exactly. We just wanted to have as many details as possible before we told you."

She really wanted to be mad at them for keeping her in the dark, but she wasn't. They were trying to protect her, like they always did. Besides, she was just happy to Angel around for a while. "Okay, so I guess we should get the guys over here so we can get to work." Buffy said.

"Alright."

Three hours later, everyone was at Giles' going through every book they could find looking for anything about the End of Days. Buffy was sitting in the corner trying to concentrate on the book in front of her, but she really didn't feel well. She knew that everyone would worry about her if she said anything so she was trying to keep it to herself.

"Buffy are you alright?" She should have known she couldn't hide anything from Angel.

"Yeah, I'm fine." When he didn't look convinced she added, "I'm just a little tired." She breathed a sigh of relief when he accepted her answer and went back to his book.

Willow, who had heard the entire conversation, came up to Buffy. "Are you really okay?

"Yeah, I guess I'm still a little off from whatever it was that I ate that made me sick." Buffy told her.

They were stopped from discussing it anymore when Riley knocked on the door. He looked a little surprised when he saw how many people were inside. Buffy cringed when she saw him there. She had forgotten that she told him to come over.

"Hi, um, what's going on?" Riley asked

Buffy stood and walked over to him, "We found a prophecy that may be what's causing things to be slow."

"Oh, well what's going..."

Riley started but was interrupted by Cordelia's loud coughing. Buffy looked at her, then at Angel. This was not going to be fun. "Oh, Guys, this is Riley. Riley this is Cordelia, Wesley, and Angel." She said pointing to each of them in turn.

"Hi, how are you doing? How do you guys know each other?" Riley asked looking at Buffy.

There was a very loud cough from Xander, who gave Buffy a 'let's see you explain this' look. She stared at him for a minute before answering.

"They are just old friend. They used to live here and help me sometimes. When they found out about this prophecy, they came back to help out." Buffy said, hoping this would change the subject to safer areas. It worked.

"So what's going on?" Riley asked

They told him what was going on and everything they had come up with. Riley said he had to get back to the Initiative to tell Pro. Walsh. Buffy walked him to the door, feeling better about things. Everyone had met and there hadn't been any major problems. Just as Buffy was relaxing, it happened. Riley turned around and kissed her goodbye.

Buffy was supposed to patrol that night. Not that there was much to do, but she had been looking forward to it. She would have time to sort through her feelings and try to make sense of some things. It would have been good for her, but things were not going the way they were supposed to go.

Angel was patrolling with her. Giles had insisted that she not go alone, with the threat of the End of Days coming and Angel had been the logical choice. She didn't really mind that he was there, it was just that instead of sorting through her feelings she was becoming more and more confused.

The thing that was bothering her the most was the fact that Angel now knew about Riley. Earlier, when Riley had kissed her, she had been terrified of what she would see when she looked at Angel. She had slowly turned around after Riley had left to see that everyone else was also looking at Angel to see his reaction. He didn't even seem to notice or care that another guy had just kissed her. He just kept on looking through his book.

That was what was confusing her. She was over him. She was happy with her life the way it was now. So why shouldn't he be over her too. It made sense, they had agreed to forget. So why did the fact that he didn't care hurt so much?

Angel was back in Hell. He didn't know how he had gotten here, but that was the only place this could be. No, he couldn't say that he didn't know how he had gotten here. He had gotten himself here. It was his choice to leave Buffy. It was his choice to give back his humanity so that he could protect her. He knew that if given the chance, he would make the same choices again, but somehow that gave him little comfort at the moment.

So far he was doing a pretty good job hiding his feelings. Of course, he had lots of practice. The hardest part had been realizing that Buffy had moved on. Seeing her kiss her boyfriend goodbye had been like dying all over again. He had never known that someone could feel that kind of pain and not die from it.

He had covered himself well though. By the time she had turned around, he had been absorbed in his book.

His thoughts were interrupted by Buffy's voice. "So this feels like old times. You know, in an extremely awkward sort of way," she said as they walk through the cemetery.

"Yeah, maybe someone else should have come with you." he said.

"No, I'm glad you came. We haven't had any time to talk. I mean, we'll always be friends, right?" she asked, hoping his answer wouldn't make things worse.

"Of course we will."

"So friends talk. Come on, I don't know anything about your life in LA or your business. How is everything going?" she said, glad to have a conversation started.

Angel smiled. She was trying so hard to make things better between them, he figured he should at least make an effort. "Things are good. I'm pretty busy most of the time. Cordelia wishes I was busy with more paying customers, but I don't like to take money from people. Anyway, I've seen some pretty weird stuff." he stopped talking when he heard Buffy laugh quietly. "What?"

"Nothing, you've just changed a lot since you moved. You don't try to hide in the shadows as much and you talk more." she told him.

He smiled at her but looked serious, "I could always talk to you." Buffy smiled back, but suddenly couldn't think of anything to say. Angel noticed that the awkwardness was coming back so he quickly asked, "So how are things going with you?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. School and slaying take up most of my time. When I'm not doing that, I usually just hang out with the guys or Riley...." she stopped suddenly. She really hadn't intended to mention Riley, but she was nervous and babbling.

Angel stayed quiet for a minute, then said, "Yeah, Riley seems like a nice guy."

"Okay, I REALLY don't want to talk about Riley with you." Buffy said, quickly walking ahead of him.

"Buffy" Angel said trying to catch up with her. When she didn't stop he grabbed her arm, "Buffy"

"Angel, I just don't think that.." she started but Angel interrupted her.

"Are you happy?"

She thought about it for a minute before she answered, "Yes".

"Then that's all I need to know." He said looking her in the eyes.

Buffy just stared into his eyes. She knew that he meant it. No matter what, he was happy for her. But the truth was, she wasn't happy. She hadn't been happy since he left her. She also knew that he could see the truth in her eyes. They just stood there looking into each others eyes ,for what seemed like forever. At the same time they stepped towards each other. The only thought going through Buffy's head was *He's going to kiss me, and I'm going to let him.*

"Buffy" They jumped away from each other at the sound of Riley's voice.

"Riley!" Buffy said, putting as much distance as possible between Angel and herself. "What are you doing?"

"Pro. Walsh has us out tonight." Riley said, noticing Angel for the first time. "Hi"

"Hello" Angel said

"So, are you guys patrolling?"

"Yeah, Giles doesn't want me out alone with this whole End of Days thing so Angel agreed to patrol with me." Buffy answered, feeling very weird about being there with the two of them.

"Oh, well that's good, you know, that you have help." Riley said looking at Angel. He was trying to figure out what it was about him that he didn't like. "I don't mean anything by this, but can you handle yourself in a fight with a hostile?"

Buffy almost laughed but managed to just cough.

Angel just looked at him, "Hostile?"

"Sorry, a vampire or other demon." Riley said

"Yeah, I can hold my own." Angel said with a smirk. It was a smirk that reminded Buffy of Angelus and she decided it was time to change the subject.

"Guys, I don't think we're going to see anything tonight.." Buffy was suddenly thrown forward as a vampire hit her from behind. There were six vamps and they had them surrounded. Angel looked around trying to find a weak spot. By this time Buffy had regained her balance and was also taking in their surroundings.

"Well that was rude." Buffy said to the vamp that had hit her.

"I'm sorry, I must have forgotten my manners." He replied with sarcastically.

"That's okay." Buffy said, seconds before she shoved the stake she had gotten from her back pocket through his heart.

At the same time, Angel staked the one that was standing on his right. Another of the vamps charged him. He just stood there until the last second then used the vamps own momentum to shove the stake through.

During this, Buffy had staked another one. The two remaining vamps looked at each other and then ran away.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, no sweat." she replied. Then she remembered Riley. She looked around and found him still standing in the same place. He was just staring at the two of them. "Riley, are you alright?" Buffy said, walking towards him.

"Yeah, its just, wow. That was like...wow. The two of you took out four hostiles in about thirty seconds." He said. Then he looked at Angel, "I guess you can handle yourself."

"Well, he has years of practice." Buffy said, and actually kept a straight face.

"Oh" was all that Riley said.

Angel laughed quietly.

Buffy, Angel, and Riley arrived back at Giles' around midnight. They found that everybody was still there and still searching for answers. Giles looked up as the entered the apartment, he noticed that both Buffy and Angel looked like they had been in a fight.

"Giles, the vamps of Sunnydale have made their return." Buffy said as she sat down on the couch. Willow looked up quickly as Buffy made her announcement, "Is everybody alright?"

"Yeah, there were only six of them. We took care of them, no problem." Buffy said.

"Only six?" Riley said sarcastically. He couldn't believe that they were all being so calm about this. The Initiative never went into a combat situation unless they had the advantage. Buffy was acting as if being outnumbered two-to-one was no big deal!

"Riley, drop it!" Buffy was way past being annoyed at him. All he had said all the way to the apartment was things like, "being surrounded like that was careless." and "You should never provoke a fight when outnumbered." Everyone pretended to be total interested in whatever it was they were doing. Except for Xander, Anya, and Cordelia, they just stared at Buffy and Riley.

"Drop it? Buffy, you could've gotten us all killed!" he almost shouted.

"Your not mad because I started the fight, your mad because Angel and I took care of four and scared the other two away with our 'pointy sticks' before you could even get you little ray gun out of the holster!" Buffy shot back.

"What! okay I think we just need to call down and talk about this later." Riley said noticing that everyone was looking at them.

"Fine." Buffy said and walk over to pick up a book from Giles' desk. "So where are we with the research Giles?"

"Yes, well, uh, nowhere I'm afraid." Giles said sadly.

Buffy was about to speak when the door flew open and Spike strolled in.

"Hello everyone, I just thought I would drop by and... Angel, when did you get back into town?" he asked, "I thought you were still in LA playing detective."

Angel just looked at him. He had heard from Giles that the Initiative had done something to Spike to make him unable to kill, but that didn't mean he was one of the good guys.

"What no hello for an old friend?" Spike said with mock hurt in his voice.

"What do you want Spike?" Buffy asked

When he turned to look at her, he noticed for the first time that Riley was there. An evil grin spread across hi face.

"Well, well, well. Look at this, the ex-boyfriend and the present boyfriend in the same room. This has got to fun." he said.

When he saw the horrified look on Buffy's face and the confused one on Riley's he knew he was right. The boy knew nothing about Buffy and Angel's past.

"Oh Slayer, did you forget to mention your past history with Angelus to your new boy toy?"

"Spike, that enough!" Angel said coming towards him.

"What's the big secret? Everyone knows that you and the Slayer were practically inseparable for, like, three years or something. I figured he knew, too." Spike said, with fake innocence.

Buffy turned to face Riley, who was staring back and forth between Buffy, Angel, and Spike. He stared for a few seconds and then turned and walked out the door. Buffy followed him out.

Willow turned to Spike, "Now what did you go and do that for?!?" she asked angrily.

"I'm evil!" Spike said as if she shouldn't have had to ask.

Outside Buffy finally caught up with Riley.

"Riley?" she said He turned to look at her. "So he was the 'office romance' that hurt you so bad you didn't want to give me a chance?

"Yeah. Riley that was a long time ago." she said quietly.

"Not so long. He's here, isn't he. It seems to me that if he will drop everything in his life to come back here and put his own life in danger, just to help you, then it must not be completely over." Riley said angrily

"Why are you so mad? I'm not with Angel anymore, I'm with you!" Buffy shouted.

"You are, are you? Then look me in the eye and tell me that I mean more to you than he does." Riley challenged.

Buffy knew she had just lost this fight. She couldn't even convince herself of that, how was she supposed to convince him. She finally just looked stared at the ground.

"That's what I thought." he said, sounding more calm. "I always knew there was someone else i just thought that I would be able to make you see that you could love me too. I guess I was wrong."

"Riley, it wasn't supposed to work out like this, but I'm not going to lie to you. I love Angel and I always will. There are things that keep us apart, but it's no fair to drag you down with me. I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"Well, you did." Riley said and turned and walked away.

Buffy awoke the next morning in her dorm room. She sat up and looked over to Willow's side of the room, she was still sleeping. They had stayed at Giles until 4am, when everyone decided it was time for some sleep.

Buffy got up and started getting her things together for another fun day of researching at Giles'. Just as she was walking over to Willow's bed to wake her, she suddenly felt sick again. She ran out of the room, down the hall, to the restroom. As she came back into the room, she noticed that Willow was on the phone.

"Okay, I will. (pause) We'll be there as soon as we can. Bye" Willow hung the phone up and then looked at Buffy.

"Who was that?" Buffy asked.

"Giles. I told him that we were going to be late." Willow replied, starting to get ready. "We are, why?" Buffy asked, totally confused.

"Your going to the doctor."

"I am! No, no doctor, I'm fine, see. Perfect." Buffy said staring at Willow.

"No, your not. You've been sick for the last week and trying to hide it from everyone. Don't argue with me, see, 'Resolve Face'"

"Will, really, I'm fine. I don't need to go to the doctor." Buffy said, almost begging. She hated doctors almost as bad as hospitals.

"Buffy, please, do it for me. I'm worried about you. Plus, you need to be at you best if your going to fight this big battle."

"Okay, but the doctor is just going to tell me I'm fine. You'll see." Buffy said.

"PREGNANT!?!?" Buffy almost screamed.

"Yes, Miss Summers. You are nine weeks pregnant." The doctor said.

Willow, who Buffy had asked to come into the room with her, just stared. *Buffy was pregnant!*

"Miss Summers, I can see your upset. Would you like me to leave you and your friend alone for a few moments?" the doctor asked.

Buffy looked at her for a moment, "Yes, please."

"Okay, I'll be outside when your ready. There are several things we need to go over." The doctor said as she left the room.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Willow asked

"I can't be nine weeks pregnant, Willow." she said.

"I know this is a shock, but.."

"No, Willow, you don't understand. I haven't had sex in the last nine weeks. Parker was the last guy I was with."

"Oh, well Buffy, the doctor only did one test, I'm sure she just miscalculated." Willow said.

"I can't believe this this, this is not happening!" Buffy said, then she started to cry. "What am I going to do, Will?"

Willow put her arms around her best friend as she cried, "Don't worry, Buffy. Everything will work out fine."

Giles looked at his watch for the third time in five minutes. Everyone had been there for hours. Buffy and Willow were very late. When Willow called, all she said was that something had come up and they were going to be a little late. Well, they were now well past 'a little late'. Just as he was about to call their room, they walked in the door.

"There you are. I say, this is not 'a little late'." Giles scolded them as they sat down.

"Sorry" was all that Buffy said.

"Yes, well, here is the new information that we have come across this morning. The End of Days seems to be a gathering of demons, set on taking control of the world. They will all be called together by some mystical force on a day when their power will be at its strongest. I think that it will start here in Sunnydale because of the Hellmouth. If they can get control of it, then they will be too powerful to defeat."

"That's comforting," Buffy said, "So what is this mystical force that will call them all together, when is this powerful day, and how do I stop it?"

"Well, we don't know. That's what we are researching now."

"That's just great." Buffy said standing up, "You tell me that they is this big evil coming and if I don't stop it then the world will end, but you don't know how to stop it!" Buffy screamed. She knew she was over-reacting. This was no different from anything else. They would just keep on searching until they found the answers they needed, just like they always did. But, every other time this happened, she hadn't just found out that she was going to be a mother. This was all, just to much for her.

"Buffy," Angel said coming closer to her, "Calm down. We'll find the answers."

She turned on him suddenly, "Why are you here? I thought you weren't good for me or something! Shouldn't you be off forgetting"

She knew that this was making no sense, the things that she was saying had nothing to do with what they were talking about, but she was loosing control of her rational thoughts.

He just stared at her with a hurt look on his face. He didn't know what it was, but there was something going on. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and was just watching Buffy as she paced back and forth across Giles living room.

"Buffy, what's going on?" he asked

"What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on! I want to know why your here! You left saying that you were no good for me, but when there's trouble, you come running back because your the only one who can really protect me. So, I'm not seeing why your so bad for me. Because you protect me?" she screamed as loud as she could.

Angel just stared at her. He was in too much shock at her sudden attack to even defend himself.

"Buffy," Willow said

"No, Will, he's going to answer me this time. Why are you here?" she demanded. "Or better yet, why did you leave?

"Buffy," Willow tried again.

"No, Willow, I want to get this out. Do you know what he told me when I saw him at Thanksgiving? That in time we should be able to forget." She turned back towards Angel, "Well, I don't know about you, But I'LL NEVER FORGET!" The instant those words left her mouth, all of the images from the dreams she had been having since Thanksgiving came rushing back to her, along with several she had never dreamed. All at one it hit her. She looked up at Angel and the look on his face told her that he knew what had just happened. She had just remembered everything!

"I'll NEVER FORGET!"

Angel stared at Buffy in shock. He couldn't believe that she had just said that to him again. He could still hear her whispering those very words in his ear while they waited for the clock to count down. He slowly raised his eyes from the floor to look at Buffy. She was sitting on the couch now. There was a very strange look on her face as she slowly raised her eyes to meet his. Suddenly, he realized what had happened. Buffy had remembered!

Buffy just sat there, reliving that day. It had been the best day of her life. Finally, she stood, walked to Angel, and hugged him. She whispered, "I'll never forget."

"Neither will I." Angel said as he put his arms around her.

Xander looked around the room to see if anyone else was as confused as he was. The looks on their faces gave him his answer.

Suddenly Cordelia stood up and motioned for everyone to follow her into the other room. As she walked past, Angel stopped her.

"Tell them what happened to me." was all that he said.

"Alright." she said before leaving the room.

Once everyone was gone, Angel quietly asked Buffy, "Are you going to be okay?" She looked up at him. There were tears streaming down her face.

"I don't know."

She pulled herself from his arms and walked back to the couch. He followed and sat down next to her. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and then said, "I just can't believe it. One second I had everything I ever wanted, then the next second it had all been taken away, and I didn't even remember."

"Buffy, there was no way I could stay human if it the cost was your life. There was no choice." Angel said, hoping she understood.

"I know. I understand why you gave it up. If things had been reversed I would have done the same thing you did, but I wish I just wish I hadn't forgotten everything that happened." she said.

"It was for the best. Believe me Buffy. The last nine weeks have been the hardest of my life. I'm glad you remember but at the same time, I...what?" Angel said when Buffy paled suddenly.

Buffy didn't even hear him. *NINE WEEKS* The baby was Angel's! She couldn't control the huge smile that spread across her face. Angel was just looking at Buffy when he saw her begin to smile.

"Buffy, what is it?" he asked again. Buffy turned to him, ready to give him the good news when a thought hit her. Nothing had really changed. Angel still felt that he was no good for her and he was going to leave her again as soon as this prophecy was taken care of. If she told him about the baby now, he would stay, but it would be because he was being responsible, not because he wanted to be with her. She turned to him and tried to keep the smile on her face.

"Nothing, just thinking about ice cream."

Angel laughed quietly, "Yeah, ice cream is good." They just sat together for a few minutes.

Finally Angel said, "Come on. Let's go see how bad Cordelia has messed up this story."

"Okay."

"So Angel was turned human by the Morah demons blood?" Giles asked

"Yes, when it mixed with his." Cordelia said, not liking the interruption. "Anyway, he went and asked these guys if it was permanent, the Oracles, I think. Well they said yes, so he went and found Buffy. They were together for the day, but then the Morah came back to life and Angel tried to kill it by himself to protect Buffy. Except, he was human, so Buffy ended up having to save him. Then, after Buffy killed the demon, he went back to those Oracle people and they told him that if he stayed human, Buffy would die. So he told them to take back his humanity and the only way to do that was to take the day back. Anyway, everybody except Angel forgot and the day never happened. He killed the Morah before their blood mixed and that was the end of it."

"So, if everybody forgot, how do you know this and why did Buffy just remember?" Xander asked

"I don't remember it. Angel told Doyle and Doyle told me. As for Buffy, I have no idea."

"This is all very strange." Willow said.

"I really agree." Buffy said from the doorway.

"Cordelia, did you fill everyone in?" Angel asked.

"Yes, the best I could since I don't remember what happened."

"So, Angel, you were human?" Willow said.

Buffy answered for him, "Yes, he was human." She made sure she had Willow's attention before she said the next part. "Exactly nine weeks ago, Angel was turned human."

Willow squeaked and then slapped her hand over her mouth, "Sorry, hickups."

"Well, this is all very exciting, but we do have a prophecy about to come to pass and very little information about it." Wesley said bringing everyone's thought back to the bigger problem of the moment.

"Right, back to the research." Buffy said, turning around and going back to the living room.

They researched for the rest of the day, still coming up empty. Finally Buffy decided it was time for her to patrol. She walked into the other room to get her things ready. As she was packing her bag, she heard someone behind her.

"Buffy, did you tell him?" Willow asked as she shut the door. It was the first time they had gotten a chance to talk.

"No."

"Why not. He's going to be so excited." Willow said

"Will, I'm not going to tell him about the baby." Buffy said sadly.

"WHAT?"

"Nothing has changed. All of the reasons why he left, are still there. He still thinks that he's no good for me." Buffy said

"But, Buffy, if you tell him about the baby, he won't leave you." Willow argued

"I know," Buffy said, "that's why I'm not going to tell him."

Willow just looked at her like she was crazy. "Don't you want him to stay?"

"Of course I do!" Buffy said turning around quickly, "That's all I want. I want him to stay with me, be a father to my child, and for us all to just be a family. If I tell him, he will stay, but it will be because he feels like he has to stay. I want him to stay because he wants to be here, because he knows we belong together and can work through anything as long as we are together."

"Okay, I see what your saying, but Buffy, this it isn't just the two of you anymore. Your going to have a baby! Don't you think that it deserves a chance to know it's father?" Willow asked

"I just don't know what to do Willow." Buffy said quietly.

Buffy tried to concentrate on her patrol, but her mind kept wandering. It had taken a lot of work, but she had finally convinced everyone that it would be alright if she patrolled alone. Now she was walking through one of Sunnydale's smaller cemeteries, just thinking about the way things were going. The last few days had been full of surprises. The first had been finding Angel at Giles'. Then there was the prophecy. Next, she had broken up with Riley, over her relationship with Angel. Then there was the fact that she was pregnant. And last, but certainly not least, she had remembered her wonderful day with Angel. The last two were the main things filling her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about that day in LA. She had never been happier than she was that day. She remembered Angels smile and his laugh. He was so different, laughing and joking. Things he had never done before. Oh, she had heard him laugh and seen him smile before, but it was different. Before, there had always been the pain of his past. It seemed as if, the demon had taken all of that pain and hurt with it as it left his body. He had been completely different. That was the day that their child had been conceived. Buffy shook her head. If she thought about this too long she was going to go crazy. She decided to just concentrate on her patrol, and let the rest work it's self out.

She was just about to leave the cemetery, when she felt him. She smiled to herself and then said in a loud voice, "If your going to follow me, at least come keep me company."

Angel emerged from the shadows with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry. I know you wanted to be alone, but I just couldn't let you come out here unprotected."

"That's okay. I was getting bored alone, anyway." she replied.

They walked along in silence for a while, just enjoying being together. Suddenly, someone walked into their path. Buffy couldn't see very well in the dark, but whoever it was set off all of her alarms.

"Well, I see it, but I don't believe it." the man said.

"Who are you?" Angel asked, stepping protectively in front of Buffy.

He didn't answer, instead just kept talking, "Hello, Angelus."

"Do I know you?" Angel asked

"You did, at one time." he replied, stepping into the light for the first time..

"Michael." Angel said

"It's so nice to be remembered. You know, I had heard that you now protected the slayer but i didn't really believe it. Well, I guess it's a good thing. She's going to need all of the protecting she can get with what's coming."

"Oh, you mean the 'End of Days'?" Buffy asked This seemed to surprise him. he looked at her thoughtfully for an instant, then said, "I guess you are different from the other slayers."

"Well, I try." Buffy said, running out of patience.

"It will do you no good." he said "Well, I was just stopping by to say hello to an old friend, so I guess I will be going now." Buffy pulled out a stake and started walking towards him, "Oh come on, why don't you stay a while?"

"Don't worry, little slayer, I'm not going far. You'll see me again." he said, then he was gone as quickly as he had shown up. Buffy and Angel ran forward trying to discover where he had gone. There was no sign of him.

Angel put a hand on Buffy's arm, "Come on, we need to back to Giles'."

"Why? Angel who was that?" she asked

"Trouble"

"Michael?"

"Yes, do you know anything about him?" Angel asked

They had just gotten back to Giles' apartment and had told him about their encounter with Michael. Everyone else had gone home for the night.

"No, not that I can recall." Giles answered.

"He's dangerous." Angel said, "I've only met him a few times before tonight, I know him more be reputation."

"Well, could he be the one that is going to call all of the demons together?" Buffy said, coming into the room.

"No, Michael is a fighter, not a planner. His reputation is about destruction and death, not great plans, but, he his still very, very dangerous. He usually works for someone, they do the planning and he carries out the plan."

Buffy thought about this, then asked "So do you think that whoever is running the show hired him to keep me busy."

"I don't know for sure, but my guess would be either that or to throw you off the trail." Angel sais

"What trail? We have no idea what is going on, other than the fact that it is called the End of Days." Buffy said tiredly.

Giles looked at Buffy, "We mustn't give up hope. Why don't you go home, Buffy. You have had a very long, very trying day." "Alright, but I'll be back the first thing in the morning." "Okay, have a good night." Giles replied.

Buffy walked through an underground cave. She had been here before, but couldn't remember when. There was chanting coming from another room. She walked forward slowly, trying to see what was in there. The room was huge. Inside, it was filled with every kind of demon she had ever seen and several kinds she had never seen before. They all standing together, surrounding something that she couldn't see. Buffy crept forward as quietly as possible, trying to get a better view. Just as she was nearing the edge of the crowd, it divided, giving her a clear view. Standing before her was something that she had faced before and hoped that it would be the last time.

Buffy woke, gasping for her breath.

"The First"

Buffy jumped from her bed, "Willow, wake up."

Willow slowly raised her head from the pillow and asked, "Buffy, what's the matter?"

"I know what big evil is calling the shots for this whole thing. We've got to get to Giles'"

"What? How do you know? What is it?" Willow asked as she quickly dresses.

"Do you remember The First?" Buffy asked

"The thing that claimed it brought Angel back from Hell to kill you, right?"

"Yeah, well, I just dreamed about this big gathering of demons and it was at the center of it."

"We've got to get to Giles'" Willow said, echoing her own words. As they were heading to the door, Buffy suddenly felt her stomach turn. "Oh, I so don't have time for this." Buffy said, leaning the door and hoping she wouldn't get sick today.

"Buffy, what's wrong?"

"Morning sickness." Buffy answered This brought her thoughts to the unborn child she carried. This prophecy was a lot more serious than she had thought. She new that she had to tell Angel about the baby. "I've got to tell him, Will." she said, voicing her thoughts. "I don't want to think the worst, but this thing is bad. If I don't make it out of this fight, Angel deserves to at least know the truth."

"Buffy, don't talk like that. Of course, you'll make it out, but I agree that you need to tell him." Buffy pushed herself away from the wall once she was sure that she wasn't going to be sick and they headed for Giles'.

"Giles, it was in the same cave that it was in the last time." Buffy said.

"Alright, the I say you and Angel go check out the cave and the rest of us will begin preporations for the upcoming battle." Giles replied

"Okay, we'll be back soon" Buffy said as she and Angel headed for the door.

"Do be careful."

"You know me." Buffy smiled as she left.

Once they were outside and their way, Buffy tried to decide the best way to tell Angel the news.

"Angel, we need to talk. There is something I need to tell you."

"Yes, we do. There is something I have to tell you too." He said

Buffy took a deep breath, "Okay, um, well, you know that I remembered everything from the day that the Oracles were supposed to erase."

"Yes," he said, not knowing where this was going

"Well, that's not the only thing that they didn't erase." she paused, "I pregnant."

There, she had told him. Now all she had to do was wait for his reaction.

He just stared at her with a look of complete shock. *BUFFY WAS PREGNANT!* He couldn't seen to comprehend what she had said. He was going to be a father?

Buffy was beginning to worry, when suddenly, Angel hugged her. He held her so tight that she could barely breathe. When he pulled away, there were tears running down his face.

"I don't know what to say. Your going to have a baby? Our baby?" he asked her in a strangled voice.

"Yeah, I just found out yesterday. Look, I just thought you had a right to know. I didn't tell you to try and get you to stay or anything like..." He stopped her with a kiss.

When they finally broke apart, he gave her a half smile, "Did I mention that my soul is permanent?"

"WHAT?"

"That's what I was going to tell you." Angel said, "I found out right before Giles called to tell me about the prophecy. I wasn't going to tell you because I didn't think that it would change anything. But, being around you the last few days has shown me that, no matter what, I'll always love you. So, I'm here to beg for forgiveness and to tell you that I want my life to be with you. If you still want to be with me, that is."

His answer was Buffy jumping into his arms. She kissed him again and for a while they forgot about everything except the two of them and their future together. Suddenly reality came crashing back into Buffy's mind and she broke the kiss, but stayed in his arms.

"Angel, what are we going to do about this prophecy?" she asked as she lay her head against his shoulder.

"I don't know, baby." he said. "The only thing I do know is that there is no way I'm going to loose you now," he brought his hand to her abdomen, "either of you."

Buffy had been right when she said that the demons were at the cave. She and Angel had just reached the entrance and they could already hear the noise coming from inside. Quietly, they made their was inside to a place where they could watch without being seen. There were at least forty demons inside. They weren't all the same kind, there vampires, Morahs, and even some of those spiney-headed yellow demons. After listening to a conversation between several of the vamps, Buffy and Angel decided that they had better get back to Giles' before they were discovered.

They reached the apartment just before dawn.

"Cutting it a little close, aren't you? Giles said quietly as they came through the door.

Looking around the room, Buffy realized when he was being so quiet. Everyone else had fallen asleep in different places around the room. "Sorry, we didn't mean to worry you." she said.

"Well, what did you find?" Giles asked.

"They were there, about forty or so." Angel answered.

"Forty, you say. I thought there would have been more." Giles said thoughtfully.

"Hey, let's not complain!" Buffy said, "Besides, I think that fighting forty demons at once is plenty."

"Yes, of course." Giles said, "I did some more research after the two of you left, specifically on the First. I think that you are right about it being the power that has called them all here. Did you see any sign of it?"

"It's not like it's that easy to see. Last time there was just those no-eyed monk guys, and the First itself looked like" Buffy paused not wanting to mention Jenny, "it looked human. I didn't see anything except the demons, though. Did you?" she asked, turning to Angel.

"No, I didn't see anything." he said.

"This is precisely what I thought." Giles said, more to himself than to Buffy or Angel.

"What? Giles?" Buffy said.

"What? Oh yes. I do not think the First itself will be here at all. You don't get that old and powerful by putting yourself in danger. I believe that it has used its power to pull them all here and plans to make them do the dirty work, so to speak." He said

"Okay, I guess that's a good thing. Well, we heard some vamps talking and it seems that they are planning to, surprise, surprise, open the Hellmouth." Buffy said, sounding almost bored.

Suddenly she got a strange look on her face, "Wait, Giles, you are saying that the First isn't even going to be here for this whole battle. So, basically all we have is a bunch of demons trying to open the Hellmouth, again."

"Well, um, yes." Giles said.

Buffy almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. They had been researching this for days, trying to find out how to stop this prophecy, that was going to be so bad. Now, they find out that it's not really as bad a it looked. It was just the same thing that she had faced many times before, the Hellmouth opening. Of course this time they were going to be more than slightly outnumbered.

"They are planning to try, tomorrow night." Angel said "So I say that we attack them tonight, before they even make it to the Hellmouth."

"We will be severely outnumbered, but hopefully the element of surprise will work in our favor." Giles replied.

"Giles, we are going to be more than 'severely outnumbered'. I don't want any of you getting hurt." Buffy said sadly.

Giles stood up slowly and looked around at the people sleeping all over his living room.

"Do you think any of them will let you do this alone? Do you really think that I am going to send you in there to fight, and not be at your side?" he asked quietly.

"I know we don't have a choice Giles. I just don't want anyone getting hurt." Buffy said with tears beginning to slide down her cheeks. Giles was a little shocked when Angel walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He hadn't realized that they had gotten that close again. His shock was replaced by acceptance when he saw the smile spread across her face. It was a genuine smile, the one he hadn't seen on her face since Angel's departure from her life. They decided that they should get some sleep. It was going to be a hard fight and everyone needed to be rested. Giles headed upstairs to his bedroom, while Buffy and Angel lay down in an empty place on the floor.

Buffy lay there in silence for a few minutes. She had her arms around Angel and her head pillowed on his chest, his arms around her waist.

"Everything is going to be okay, right?" she asked quietly. He said nothing for a moment, the he replied, "We can't know, Buffy. That's the deal, remember?"

"I know"

"But, I can promise you this," he continued, "as long as I walk this Earth, I will do everything in my power to make sure that nothing ever causes you or our child pain."

She raised her head so that she was looking into his eyes, "I love you, Angel."

"I love you." he said as he lowered his head to place a gentle kiss on her lips.

"AWWWW, Isn't that sweet." came the amazingly annoying British voice that woke Buffy from he sleep.

She pulled herself from Angel's tight grip, waking him in the process, to glare at the owner of the voice.

"What's that look for?" Spike asked innocently.

She ignored him and took the hand Angel offered her to help her up. She also ignored the questioning looks they got from the others in the room.

"What are you doing here, Spike? Shouldn't you be decorating you crypt or something?" She asked, trying to get the attention off of her and Angel.

"Nah, I came by last night to tell you some information I beat out of this guy, but it seems you already knew. So I decided to stick around in case you needed a hand." he said

Buffy was shocked by his statement. She kept waiting for the joke or the wise crack that was sure to follow. When it didn't she decided that she needed his help too much to chase him away.

"Thanks, we could use it." was all she said. She wasn't sure what was going on, but for some reason she believed that his offer was real and she needed all the help she could get.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Xander asked. This broke through Buffy's shock and she began to give order, her mind in full battle mode.

"Well. we know that they are planning to open the Hellmouth tomorrow, so we're going in tonight." Buffy said, "We are going to be way outnumbered, guys. I want all of you behind Angel, Spike, and me. Carry as many weapons as you can and avoid being left alone, stay together."

They continued to plan until the sun set, then they began their trip to the cave.

Outside the caves main entrance, Buffy, Angel, and Spike awaited the signal that everyone was in place. The front entrance was the easiest, but not the only access to the cave. There were several smaller passages that lead inside. Giles, Cordelia, and Willow were using one, Wesley, Xander, and Anya were using the other. When everyone was in place, Buffy readied herself to go into the battle that she wasn't sure she could win. She stared into Angel's eyes, before kissing him passionately. Finally they broke apart and Buffy saw that Spike was giving them an amused look. Buffy took a deep breath and turned and walked into the cave.

Buffy stood in the middle of the cave and surveyed the damage. The corpses of demons lay scattered around the cave and the air was thick with dust from staked vampires. She had no idea how they had done it, but they had won. They remaining demons had fled when they realized that their numbers were dwindling.

No one seemed to be badly injured. Everyone had cuts and bruises, but mostly they just seemed tired and dirty. Slowly, she limped toward they edge of the cave, where everyone was beginning to gather. Just as she made it, her knee, which had been badly twisted during the fight, gave way and she almost fell. She was stopped before she hit the ground, however, by two strong arms wrapping around her waist. Angel lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way.

"Hey guys, is everybody okay?" she asked

"Yeah, we're fine." Willow said quickly, then she asked worriedly "Are you okay? You know, both of you."

Buffy smiled at her friends concern "Yes, we are both fine." she said, knowing that Willow was asking about the baby.

"Yeah, Will, you can't hurt them. I mean she Buffy, superchick, and since Angel's the one carrying her around I wouldn't worry about him." Xander said. Now that the fight was over, his sense of humor was returning.

Buffy decided it was time to let her friends in on her secret. She looked at Angel to make sure that it was okay with him. When she saw him nod in agreement, she said, "Well, it's nice of you to worry about Angel, Xand, but I don't think that's who she was asking about."

Buffy, Angel, and Willow all laughed at the looks of confusion on everyone else's faces.

"I'm pregnant." Buffy said finally Everyone stared at her for several minutes. Even though they were all clearly shocked, everyone offered her congratulations.

"Okay, if no one else is going to ask, I will." Spike said, looking around. "Who's the father?"

Angel and Buffy both burst out laughing at his question.

"I wondered who was going to ask?" Buffy said regaining her breath

"Well, who is it? Riley?" Spike asked impatiently.

"I am." Angel answered, "It happened at Thanksgiving."

Buffy started laughing again when everyone's faces dropped in shock once again.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say 'WOW'" Xander said.

Cordelia surprised everyone by wrapping her arms around both of them and saying, "Congrats, and I really mean it this time. But, let me tell you, pregnancy is not fun!"

Everyone laughed, having heard about her surprise pregnancy. They that everyone should head home to clean up and get some sleep, and they would all see each other the following day.

Buffy quietly whispered in Angel's ear, "Let's go home."

"Where's that?" he asked

"Anywhere that we are together." she answered.

Angel woke up suddenly, with a terrible pain in his chest. He looked over at Buffy, who was asleep next to him. *This is NOT happening* was the only thought going through his head as he ran down the hall of the mansion.

He had translated the curse that Willow had put on him, himself. There was no clause!

He fell to his knees in front of the stone fireplace, the pain in his chest almost unbearable. "Buffy" Then, as suddenly as it had come, the pain was gone. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He did not know what had just happened. He obviously hadn't lost his soul, but...*Breaths?*

"I'm alive! But, why?" Angel said to the empty room in a confused voice.

Then he heard it. He didn't know if it was really there or if it was just in his head, but he heard the voice of the male Oracle say, "The Powers that Be? Did you save humanity, avert the apocalypse?" That was what he had been told when he asked if the Powers had changed him back.

He wasn't sure how he knew, but he understood what had happened. He had helped Buffy stop the First's plan to destroy the world and for that had been given his humanity by the Powers that Be.

Slowly he climbed to his feet and made his way back to the bedroom. He walked to the bed and lay down beside Buffy. Angel was still in shock. He just stared at Buffy. She was finally his. Now they could be really be together. He would be able to spend his life with her, watch their child grow, and never have to worry about not being able to take them into the sunlight. Suddenly, he couldn't resist the urge to kiss her, any longer. He leaned close to her and gave her a soft kiss.

Buffy awoke slowly, she was still tired from the earlier fight. She was about to drift off again when she felt Angel's gentle kiss. She giggled quietly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and deeped the kiss.

When she finally broke away, to look into his eye, she knew instantly that something had changed. He looked happier than she had ever seen him.

"Angel? What is it?" she asked as she sat up.

He didn't answer her, his smile just go wider as he lifted her hand to his chest.

"You alive!" she screamed, throwing herself into his arms. "How?"

"The Powers. I guess they had a plan for me all along. I remember the Oracles saying something, but it didn't make sense at the time. I've redeemed myself."

Buffy was so happy she couldn't speak. With tears of joy flowing down her cheeks, she curled herself into Angels embrace.

Later, they both drifted off to sleep with thoughts of their future together filling their heads. They would be together, always, and they would never take that fact for granted.

Xander, Willow, Cordelia, and Giles filed into the hospital room carrying arm loads of balloons and gifts.

"Hey guys." Buffy said, trying to sit up higher in the bed.

"How is the new Mommy doing?" Willow asked, as she gave Buffy a hug.

"No, I want to know how the new Daddy is doing." Xander asked, looking across the room at Angel. "I see that there is a rather large bump on your head this morning."

"Shut up, Xander!" Angel laughed, as he rubbed the knot on his head.

He had gotten so worked up, the night before when Buffy's water had broken, that he had run into the door and nearly knocked himself unconscious.

"Touchy, touchy." Xander said good-naturedly.

Everyone joined in the laughter. Whatever problems had been between the two of them were now in the past. Over the past seven months the had become very good friends.

"Buffy, how are you doing?" Giles asked.

"Well, I am..." she was interrupted as two nurses came into the room.

Buffy smiled when she saw them. The two nurses walked up to the new parents and handed each one of them a small, squirming bundle.

"Everybody, we would like for you to meet, Briana Ailsa and Brenna Anne McClowery." Buffy said, as they turned the two baby girls around to face everyone.

As everyone began to make a fuss over the girls, Angel just stared at his wife. They had gotten married in a small ceremony almost six months ago, but he still couldn't believe that she was really his.

Angel was pulled back from thoughts by Xander's voice, "You have got two beautiful daughters, Angel. Just wait until they get old enough to date. You going to have to beat the guys away."

Everyone laughed when Angel just glared at him. After a while, everyone left to give the new family some time together. Angel sat down on the edge of the bed. He was holding Briana, while Buffy held Brenna.

Even though they were only a day old, it was already obvious that they girls were not identical. Both girls had their fathers dark brown eyes, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Briana was was a small version of Buffy. She was fair skinned, had blond hair and was the smaller of the two girls. Brenna, on the other hand, was almost identical to her father, with a dark complexion and black hair.

Angel stared at his new family. He didn't know how he had gotten so lucky, but he would thank the Powers that Be everyday for the rest of his life for this miracle.

END.