Scene 3
Miranda’s shop. A couple of days later. Early afternoon. Miranda has just opened the shop and is on her way in with a cup of coffee and some sort of Danish in a bag. After a few minutes, Giles pops in from next door. They are alone in the shop.
Giles: “Just thought I’d pop in to see how you were feeling.”
Miranda: “Things are pretty good. Still a bit hormonal, but I guess that’s to be expected. And a touch of morning sickness.”
Giles: “Eight weeks is a bit early for morning sickness, isn’t it?”
Miranda: “I have a suspicion that things may be moving along rather quickly [She pulls her blousy shirt up to reveal a small, but noticeable start of a belly]—who knows what’s normal for someone like me, right? How goes the researching?”
Giles: “Nothing concrete, I’m afraid. I did find a reference to a text that may be of use. I don’t currently have it in my collection, but I talked to someone in LA who I think will be able to locate a copy.”
Miranda: “Used book dealer?”
Giles: “Not quite. An ex-watcher, actually—you met him when you were there before, he...” [She doesn’t let him finish.]
Miranda: [horrified] “Not Wesley.”
Giles: “Yes. Thankfully, he’s quite sure he knows where to get a copy.”
Miranda: “You didn’t tell him why you were interested in that particular book, by chance?”
Giles: “No, well, of course I didn’t use your name, but I wanted to get his input on other potential leads so I described the particulars of the situation.”
Miranda: [relief] “Oh, thank God.”
Giles: [apologetically] “At the time, I hadn’t realized the two of you had met—I’m afraid he was able to guess who I was talking about.”
Miranda is obviously freaking out at the news. She’s inhaling deeply and bends over, putting her hands on her thighs. It’s not that she WANTS to show so much emotion, but she can’t help it.
Giles: “Are you feeling sick? Can I get you something?”
Miranda: [more upset than angry] “It’s not bloody morning sickness. Dammit. How could you Giles? I thought I was quite clear on the matter.”
Giles: “I don’t see why you’re so upset—it’s not as if he keeps in touch with anyone up here. I didn’t see the harm and we had quite a useful conversation.”
Miranda: [She’s very flushed and sort of talking to herself under her breath] “fuck. Fuck. Ok. Maybe he won’t say anything. Maybe he’ll just sit in his little office buried under a pile of books and no one will ask what he’s doing and he’ll just merrily research away. I mean, why would he tell anyone, right?”
Giles: “Well...”
Miranda: [eye's widening] “Well what?”
Giles: “Well, he mentioned that to get the book, he’d have to visit a rather unpleasant sort of dealer—Not something our Wesley is likely to do alone.”
Miranda: [more emotional reactions and cursing to self] “When is sundown these days?”
Giles: “About 6pm, about. Why?”
Miranda: [to herself] “Ok. Ok. I have until 9 (??) or thereabouts to talk to Spike. Right. I can do that.”
Giles: “I still don’t see...”
Miranda: “Yes, well, remember the ‘not relevant’ third party we discussed a couple of days ago in this little development we have?”
Giles: [He’s suddenly putting it all together] You don’t want Angel to know you’re pregnant. It’s not relevant because they’re both vampires. Oh, good lord. Good lord. [now it’s Giles who is looking rather upset] Does Buffy know? Does Spike know? [Miranda gives him a look; a ‘hell no’ kind of look] Good lord.”
Miranda: “THAT’S what I’m saying. [noticing that Giles has gone a bit pale] Are you alright? I’m sorry—it’s not your fault. Of course it’s all my doing and I’ll deal with it. I just wish it didn’t have to be today of all days.”
Giles: [not actually listening—it’s obvious to us that they are upset for very different reasons] “Good lord. This could be BAD. This could be very very bad. [to himself] Funny, Wesley didn’t mention anything.”
Miranda: “Just don’t say anything to anyone. I’ll take care of it.” [She’s practically pushing him out the door.]
Giles: “But...”
Miranda: “I will deal with it in my own way. Promise you won’t say ANYTHING. I’ll see you later.”
Giles: “But...[reluctant]...alright. [beat] Be smart about this.”
[Author's note: At this point, I think Giles would call Wesley and just ask about Angel’s behavior without actually saying why he’s asking. Wes would tell him that Angel has been acting fairly normal, but things have been rather stressful (this is the time when the stuff with Wolfram and Hart and Darla is just starting). Giles’s soul-less Angel fears are alleviated, hence he keeps his promise not to tell anyone what he knows.]
**
A few hours later (~7pm). Miranda’s house (outside). We see Angel lurking outside the front door—he’s thinking about/rehearsing what he should say. He finally gives up and just steps up to the door and rings the bell. The door opens. It’s Spike. Both he and Angel look a bit surprised.
Angel: “Uh, Spike”
Spike: “P…Angel. To what do we owe the pleasure—[looking around, mocking] is there evil afoot?” [He wants to be more snarky, but he obviously restrains himself. He’s in a good mood.]
Angel: [stalling while he thinks of an excuse for why he’s there] “What’s with the powder?” [Spike is wearing a black t-shirt and black pants, both of which appear to be covered in a hefty splattering of white powder.]
Spike: “Flour. [thinking of something] I’ll invite you in if you have ANY IDEA how to make a cake.”
Angel: “A cake?”
Spike: “It’s Miranda’s birthday. I’m having a bit of a knees-up for her tonight. Thought I’d make a cake, but I can’t seem to remember how it goes...made a bit of a mess.”
Angel: “Sorry. No idea. Besides, you can’t invite me in.”
Spike: “Oh right.” [The way he says it, we get the impression that he COULD if he wanted, but isn’t going to correct Angel]
Angel: “Speaking of Miranda, is she home?”
Spike: “Nah. Still at the shop. Why? She expecting you?”
Angel: “No. Uh, I just need to talk to her about a thing. An antique, actually. It’s kind of a visual thing. So I brought it here to, uh, show her.” [smiles, proud of himself for this *brilliant* ruse. ahem.]
Spike: “You can probably catch her if you head there now—you have the address?”
Angel: [a bit thrown by Spike’s helpfulness] “I can find it.” [He turns to go, but Spike stops him.]
Spike: [uncomfortable] “Listen. Uh. She said you took good care of her. Did what I asked. So. [Spike’s way of kinda-sorta saying ‘thanks’] [pause] You could probably stop by—during the party—for a minute, if you wanted.”
Angel just kind of makes a ‘maybe’ face and then takes off. He’s not quite how to react to non-sarcastic!Spike.
Scene 4
Meanwhile...At Miranda’s shop. Anya is watching the front. Miranda is working out in the basement—she still has an over-abundance of energy. There are weapons of all types strewn across the mats and hung on the walls. She is in the middle of the floor and is practicing with two long swords. She moves them in what looks like a highly choreographed pattern—starting slowly and working up to faster and faster speeds. Just as she is at the highest speed, requiring the most concentration to maintain, Anya comes strolling into the room, leading Angel, talking a mile a minute about the sales they’ve had today. Miranda immediately loses her concentration—she loses her grip on the swords and they go flying across the room. In a rather impressive save, Miranda takes a dive to prevent the one that is heading straight down into the floor from hitting the ground (which might have ruined the blade). She’s lying on the floor, sweaty and out of breath.
Miranda: “Anya, I do believe I specifically requested no interruptions. [shaking her head] I can see the entry now in the Watcher’s Immortal Chronicle ‘Distracted Immortal beheads self in tragic training accident’”
Anya: “So in that scenario, would I inherit the shop?”
Miranda: [laughs at this] “Go keep an eye on the register, would you Anya?” [Anya heads upstairs]
Angel: “That couldn’t actually happen, could it?”
Miranda: “Absolutely. And leave it to me to be the first. ”
Angel: [looking around] “What’s with the arsenal?”
Miranda: “Oh, just the usual, I gather, for Sunnydale—an apparently insurmountable Big Bad has all of us in a tizzy.”
Angel: “Sounds about right.” [He helps her up. She mops her face with the towel and catches her breath.]
Miranda: “How about a proper greeting, then? [She kisses him on the cheek in traditional ‘greeting’ style] Lovely to see you, Angel. You’re early—didn’t expect you for at least another couple of hours.”
Angel: “But you knew I’d come.”
Miranda: “Who knew that Watchers were such chatty Kathy’s?”
Angel: “Were you going to tell me?”
Miranda: “Let’s not start here. Can we step back a moment? Come with me upstairs—I’ll give you the tour.”
Angel agrees and they head up to the main part of the shop. She has Anya give him a tour, while she changes her clothes. When she’s done, she sends Anya home and turns over the ‘closed’ sign in the doorway. Anya says that she and Xander will be coming to the party and they’ll be bringing a present. She leaves.
Miranda: “I’m sorry I never called. I meant to. Spike and I patched things up and then things just got kind of crazy. I tried writing you a letter [she walks over to a drawer behind the counter and pulls out a few different sets of paper]—I’m better with written words than I am on the phone. Still, they never quite came out right, so I never sent any of them.”
Angel: [a little surprised] “What did you want to say?”
Miranda: [She looks at one of the versions of the letter in her hand and then puts it down and looks up] “I don’t want there to be any awkwardness between us because of what happened. I like you, Angel. I think we could be friends—and before you go thinking that I’m blowing you off in a terribly generic way, know that there are not many people in this world that I would say that about. There are things we have in common—things I don’t think most people would understand. And we’ve got time. [looking back at the letter on the table] Of course, being a girl, it appears to have taken me five pages to say just that in this version of the letter.” [frowning at it]
Angel: [thinking about it] “I think the awkwardness lasted maybe 30 seconds and I’m over it. What about you?”
Miranda: “I’m good.”
Angel: “And to be fair, I didn’t call you either.”
Miranda: [Knowing it’s not exactly the same thing, but playing along] “That’s absolutely right.”
Angel: “No hard feelings?”
Miranda: [warm smile] “None.”
Angel: [changing the subject] “Were you going to tell me? I mean, the timing seems about right.”
Miranda: [heavy sigh] “And here we are again. Yes. Yes, of course I would have told you. But it’s not real. I wanted to wait until I knew what it was before I told you anything. I haven’t even told Spike, for godsake. He thinks I’ve had the flu.”
Angel: “I’m guessing Spike doesn’t know what happened in LA.”
Miranda: “He knows I was with someone, but he doesn’t know it was you. I ask that we keep it that way for now—until we know more.”
Angel: “So you think the pregnancy is an apparition?”
Miranda: “I don’t know. Probably. [pause] Honestly, I’m afraid to let myself believe it. [leaning in close] This is something I’ve wanted more than anything for as long as I can remember. Believing even for a second that it could be real, that it might actually happen is so overwhelming—so thrilling—that it’s dangerous. I have to contain it.”
She fishes for the ultrasound picture and shows him.
Miranda: “But to see it. To feel it. [her eyes are now wide with excitement] It transcends anything I could have imagined—beyond words. Does every woman feel this way?”
But just then, the door opens and in walks Buffy.
Buffy: [before she notices Angel] “Feel this way about what?”
Miranda: “Feel this way about...Birthdays. Another year older—why is THAT cause for celebration?”
Buffy: [seeing Angel—completely thrown] “Angel. What....what are you doing here?”
Angel: “Uh. I had to show Miranda something. Something, you know, that she had to see with her eyes—so I brought it here.”
Miranda: [going with it] “Yes, they came across an artifact that they thought might be connected to...uh...Immortals like myself. Of course, it could be dangerous, so they couldn’t send it in the mail and uh, Wesley needed to know about it right away.”
Angel: “or else it might fall into the wrong hands and be used for...evil (?)” [He’s SUCH a bad liar]
Buffy: “So you took a picture of it and brought the picture? Someone needs to learn how to use the internet.” [seeing the ultrasound picture and not getting what it is]
Angel: “No, well, I do have the actual artifact with me, but it’s locked in the trunk of my car for safety.”
Miranda: “And based on this picture, I think I may have some idea what it is, but I need to check something that I have in storage, which I can’t get to until tomorrow.” [Angel gives Miranda a puzzled look]
Buffy: “So you’re staying overnight? Why didn’t you call me?”
Angel: “Uh, it was all kind of spur of the moment.”
Miranda: “He was just about to give you a call, actually. Right this very second. Good thing you stopped by.”
Buffy: [She’s so floored by seeing Angel that she doesn’t think to question the story] “So are you coming to Miranda’s party? The gangs all going to be there.”
Miranda: “Of course. You must come. We can talk more about the artifact later.”
He agrees to come to the party. Miranda says she has some shopping to do, but they can ride over to her house together if they don’t mind waiting. They head off. They arrive at the house a bit later, arms full of groceries (Miranda is planning to make scrumptious hors d’oeuvres.). Buffy and Angel will help unload, but then plan to go and spend a bit of time alone together and then pick up Dawn, etc., before the party starts. They walk into the kitchen—Miranda sees the mess and is initially annoyed.
She says to Spike “I give you one job—one task for tonight and you make a complete mess. I expected you to buy a cake, love, not make one—there are bakers in this town, for goodness sake. [Looking around] Blimey!” [Angel is taking some pleasure out of M’s chastising of Spike.]
Miranda: [softening] “Then again, it is outrageously adorable that you thought you could make me a cake and even had a go at it. [she saunters over to him] I’m starting to think there might not be anything sexier than a man covered in flour.”
They start smooching. Angel frowns and looks disgusted and he and Buffy quickly leave. On the way out, Buffy says “Believe it or not, you kinda get used to it after a while.”