OK so here we are at what was meant to be the final chapter, but then I just couldn't stop writing so you'll get more
This happened to be one of the easiest chapters to write so I hope you enjoy it.
I also wanted to thank LS and Toni for the beta work. Thanks for everything.
Title: This Look of Love Chapter 9 of ?
Rating: PG and that is for a curse word or two.
Feedback: Go for it. This is for all of you not me.
Archive: Copy, cut, paste I don’t care it’s all for pens anyway. No one in my house wants to read it.
Summary: This fic takes place about a year after Willow and Tara graduate. The entire gang is here from S6. Willow and Tara are getting ready for a very big event. MAJOR romance… zero ANGST
Author’s Note: Some of the events in this fic actually took place in my own life. Of course some did not. You can use your imagination and decide which are which. Enjoy
Copyright Disclaimer: Joss and Company owns all the characters. But they are alive and happy here. So screw ME. Not me, but you know ME.
Chapter 9 -
Housewarming“Honey,” Tara called, looking out the bedroom window as she pulled on her skirt. “I think they’re here. I’m going downstairs now.”
“No Tara wait,” Willow yelled from the bathroom. They had just finished taking a shower and while Tara was already dressed for company, Willow seemed to be lingering caught up in the memories of the morning. “I just need one more…” Willow’s words were stopped suddenly when luscious lips met hers. “Kiss.”
Tara moved to walk from the room. Willow grabbed her wrist in hopes of pulling her back. Tara turned towards her grinning evilly. “I didn’t invite them you did. So now I am going down to let them invade our honeymoon. You might want to put some clothes on.” Tara pulled the towel from Willow’s body. “And one more thing,” she paused, “you should really sweep up from our spell just in case they want to see the house.” She winked naughtily and walked out of the room. Willow smirked, pulled on a shirt and skirt and swept the floor.
Tara stepped down the stairs and walked to the front door. She pulled it open and moved out onto the front porch. She noticed Xander’s car pull into the driveway. Anya was driving with a frightened Buffy in the front. Buffy had both of her eyes covered with her hands and Dawn was waving at Tara from the back seat. A large white van parked in front of the house and Xander and Giles climbed out. Dawn jumped out of the car and raced across the lawn to leap into Tara’s outstretched arms. The rest of the scoobies slowly walked up to the blonde witch to greet her. Willow stood in the doorway watching the mass of hugging family.
“Will,” Xander waved her over, “Come join the love fest here.”
Willow smiled and slowly stepped down to join them on the front lawn. Anya pulled out of the pile to give her evaluation of the house in front of them.
“Nice place,” she stated matter of factly. “You bought this without Tara knowing it.” Turning to look at Buffy, she muttered, “Pants.”
Buffy gave a knowing smirk and asked, “Who picked it out?”
“Well,” Tara replied with a half smile and a wink, “actually if you want to be technical about it, I did.”
Buffy turned sticking out her tongue and saying, “Pants.”
“Maybe,” Anya spat back, “but I’m still ahead.”
Dawn just couldn’t resist making a point by saying, “Did anyone actually notice what the newlyweds are wearing?”
They all looked at the terribly tense women wearing t-shirts and skirts. Willow and Tara looked at each other; Willow didn’t understand the conversation. Tara and Dawn took a quick moment to fill her in. With that explanation Willow thought it was rude and a bit offensive.
“Hey,” Willow snapped, “that’s my wife you are insulting! And me too I think? We have a partnership here no struggle for power in this relationship. So just stop that game right now.”
Anya and Buffy just looked at each other and laughed, shocked at how serious Willow became at their jest.
“Don’t go postal,” Anya screeched. “We’re just having good clean fun here. God you can’t take a joke. Hose her down Tara.”
Willow was whispering something under her breath and they all sensed she was upset.
“Anya,” Xander interrupted, “you might just want to drop it for now.”
“Oh sure,” she grumbled rolling her eyes, “take her side why don’t ya.”
“No sides here Ahn,” Xander cowered, “just making peace that’s all. So where’s the food?” He abruptly changed the subject. They walked over to the car, opened the trunk and removed 5 bags of groceries.
“We didn’t know what you had here so we thought we’d get a nice assortment,” Giles said. They all carried a bag and followed the women into their new home. They carried everything into the kitchen.
“So,” Dawn asked, “ Can I get the fifty cent tour?”
“Actually,” Tara replied, “You can have the nickel tour, free of charge.” She walked over and wrapped her arm around Dawn’s shoulder. Buffy and Anya followed, still caught up in their game. Xander, Willow and Giles stood in the kitchen putting the food out on the table.
“So,” Xander asked, “How did she like her wedding present?”
“Well,” Willow responded like a child on Christmas morning. “She had absolutely no idea. I drove around to throw her off, and blindfolded her. When we got to the front steps I took off the blindfold and she was in shock. It was the greatest thing.”
“So then she liked it a lot,” he smiled giving Willow a small punch on shoulder.
“Oh yea,” she nodded. “I can say with confidence she loved it. All of my efforts were hugely rewarded. Oh and she absolutely loved the bed. Thanks for all your help Xander. I really couldn’t have done it without you.”
“What?” Xander snapped his head around to face willow.
“Not that, that,” Willow blushed, “The house. Getting the house ready for Tara.”
“Ah hmm,” Giles cleared his throat. “Yes your efforts should be applauded. Good job Xander.”
At that moment Anya burst into the kitchen abruptly interrupting the conversation. “Did you see the tub in the master bathroom?” she asked in disgust. “It’s beautiful, and big and you could have really great sex in it.”
“Oh yes I know,” Willow said with a very large grin suddenly realizing she said that out loud.
They all just looked at each other and didn’t say a word. Tara, Dawn, and Buffy soon entered the kitchen.
“So what’s going on,” Buffy asked.
“We were just talking about all the great sex you can have in that bathtub up there,” Anya said sarcastically.
“We were?” Tara inquired cocking an amused eyebrow.
“NO!” Willow answered loudly. “We were not, well maybe just a little, but you can and it’s just the way Anya brought it up and I just made a comment, and she made me think of things and I just forgot where I was, and then I remembered and we are on our honeymoon, and it is a really great tub so lets move things along here. How about those presents now?” Tara laughed at her and walked through the kitchen planting a very large kiss on the red head’s lips.
“Oh, yes,” Buffy rubbed her hands together with greed. “Lets get those gifts in here and see what you got.”
“Okay,” Willow said, “sounds like slayer strength volunteering to unload the big van out front.”
“No,” Buffy pouted, “I’m pretty sure that is not what I was doing, but now that I have I guess I’ll go and carry all of the gifts inside.” Her words slowly faded as she walked out the front door.
The rest of the gang grabbed some food and carried it into the living room. Tara walked through the room lighting the candles they’d placed around the house during their lovemaking. The magnificent glow in the room reminded her of their wedding day and a very happy smile lit her face. Willow noticed her smile. She grabbed the beautiful blonde around the waist and whispered softly, “Whenever I light a candle, I’ll always think of you and our wedding and this house and last night. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Tara turned to kiss her.
“Okay,” Buffy yelled with arms full of gifts, “Help would be nice here. If you two can pull yourselves apart long enough, you can use your hands for something other than groping.”
They ignored Buffy and continued kissing just to frustrate her. Willow pulled away with a smile and Tara pulled her back.
“Where are you going,” Tara asked with a pout, “I’m very certain I wasn’t finished yet.”
“Oh, well never say I left you unsatisfied,” Willow growled as she passionately offered the blonde her lips. “I’m at your command.” The sound of someone choking to clear her throat interrupted them.
“Well then,” Anya replied, “that was quite the display.”
“You know what I saw,” Buffy snapped quickly, “Pants. Major pants display there!”
“I guess the score’s pretty even then,” Dawn professed.
“HEY!” Willow yelled in frustration, “Standing here, standing right exactly here! I am pretty sure I told you that I do not appreciate this little game.” She was beyond infuriated, and making certain they were aware. “This is my house! And in my house you will not try to determine which one of us is wearing what. Got it?”
“Got it,” Dawn, Buffy and Anya replied simultaneously.
“Good,” Willow smiled triumphantly and returned to her wife.
“Pants,” Anya whispered into Buffy’s ear. And they quickly found a place to sit.
The living room had very little furniture. The small love seat and a few old recliners were quickly filled. Willow and Tara opened up folding chairs and sat down in front of the gang. One by one Dawn delivered packages to the women and Anya kept a detailed list of every item. She wanted to put it in order by most expensive gift but everyone laughed at her and she just kept writing.
“No toaster?” Buffy asked, “How can you get married and not get a toaster?” She was seriously confused and needed an explanation.
“Did you register for one?” Anya asked Tara.
“Actually no we didn’t. We still have that little one from my dorm room so we thought we’d skip it.”
“Bridal registry,” Anya said it very slowly and directed it straight at Buffy.
“Oh so you can tell people what to buy for you,” Buffy looked surprised, “is that new?”
They all just looked at each other in disbelief.
“Well no, not so much,” Xander laughed.
“Oh, well good idea then,” Buffy hurried to change the subject. “Ok, so that’s everything then.”
“Well not exactly,” Willow moved to the closet in the hallway. “I,” She caught herself. “I mean we actually got a small gift for all of you."
Tara smiled. She knew that the ‘we’ was a polite gesture, but she really had no idea what the gifts were. Honestly she was frightened that the retaliation from the gift giving might just force her to disassociate herself from the entire thing.
“Okay,” Willow began to explain. “All of you really put a lot of yourselves into our wedding. I know that I might have been a bit nuts with the scheduling, but there was a reason for that.”
“A bit nuts?” Buffy laughed sarcastically. “How about largely obsessive and completely insane?”
“Yes I’d have to agree with that,” Anya chimed in. “Insanity was smeared all over that day.”
“Hey!” Willow answered defensively, “and it paid off didn’t it?” She looked to her wife for approval. Tara nodded and Willow was satisfied. “Do you want your gifts?” she asked scanning the room.
“Yes” they enthusiastically replied.
“Okay then be quiet,” Willow said, “and let me continue. Anyway there is a reason that I was creative with the schedules. I was designing a new program and I needed to work out all of the kinks so that I could sell it. All of you were my lab rats,” she giggled.
They looked confused but Willow pressed on. “Anyway I proposed the program to Palm incorporated, and they asked me to develop it and make it compatible with their PDA’s. So that’s what I’ve been working on for the last month or so. So that brings me to the little gifts.”
She passed out the boxes to everyone also giving one to Tara. They vigorously unwrapped them and were surprised by the contents. She had given each one of them their own PDA. They weren’t sure why.
“What?” Willow asked, “You don’t get it? I sold it. They bought the whole idea. In fact they loved it so much they tried to woo me to join their creative development team. I made a fortune with this one and there is more to come.”
“Wow Will,” Buffy ignorantly replied. “If I knew what it was for, I think I would be really excited for you.”
“Duh Buffy,” Anya snorted, “It’s a Personal Digital Assistant.”
“A who now?” Buffy looked at her with confusion. “This isn’t one of those kinky battery operated sex thingy’s. No… cause you wouldn’t give one of those to my little sister. You didn’t give one of those to my little sister?”
“No,” Willow laughed at Buffy. “It’s an electronic calendar and notebook and so many other things. You can attach it to the computer and set up reminders of important events and things you need to do and so much more.”
“Games,” Xander asked. “Can I play games?”
“Yes,” Anya answered with disappointment, “Yes Xander you can play games with the little pocket calendar.”
“Cool,” he giggled. “Now that’s useful.”
“Actually,” Anya said, “You can track stocks and download your portfolio. I can seriously generate a great deal more revenue by using this. Thank you, Willow, for your very obsessive intellect.”
“Yes,” Giles said, “This is a splendid gift, and we can program birthdays and other things into it as well.”
“Giles,” Willow looked at him surprised, “I’m impressed.”
“Well I’ve actually been thinking of getting one of these blasted things,” he answered, “I’m afraid I might actually need some help setting it all up.”
“Well that’s actually part of the gift,” Willow explained. “I programmed all of them. I have made them completely compatible. See there’s a cord there and you can attach it to a computer and share information. Ohhhh, and if you want to give someone a file, you just put them together. They have an Infrared beam that allows them communicate back and forth.”
“Wow,” Dawn jumped up to hug Willow, “this is really cool guys thanks.”
“Well you can’t actually thank me,” Tara stood up getting a very large hug. “I had no idea what Willow was up to. Another little secret she’s been keeping.”
“That’s the last one,” Willow looked at her searching for forgiveness. “At least the last one I keep from you.”
“Ohh, secrets?” Anya’s ears perked up. “So you’re keeping a secret from us then?”
Hey! Now what?” Buffy looked up from shaking the PDA. “What’s the big secret?”
Willow’s little slip caught the attention of the crowd around them and she quickly tried to move the subject along.
“Oh there’s no secret yet,” Willow nervously answered. “Well at least not one I’m telling now.”
“Ohh,” Buffy looked around the room. “Come on Will, spill.”
“You’ll get nothing from me so forget it,” Willow answered back.
Anya interrupted their banter to say, “How come this thing has all of my wedding tasks programmed into it. What the heck?”
“Oh that’s my little gift to you,” Willow explained. “After the little blazing inferno at the wedding I thought you might like me to replace all of your itineraries. So I programmed them into each one. It’s a little keepsake,” She grinned devilishly..
“So we’ll never escape your over scheduling?” Buffy slapped her hand to her head with the PDA still in it. “Gosh, Will, thanks for the gift, I think.”
“No that part is just a little joke, I can delete the file,” Willow grinned with satisfaction. “But when the next big event comes, watch out.”
They all just laughed and shook heir heads. They bombarded Willow with questions about their new toys. Tara just smiled as they congratulated Willow. She had a pretty good idea what the next obsessively over scheduled event would be, and was very certain Willow would handle it like a pro, At least most of it anyway.
TBC
I'm calling the next segment
To have and to Hold and i'll just continue it in here.
Urn of Osiris
_________________**
WILLOW: That's a work ethic! Buffy, you're developing a work ethic.
BUFFY: Oh, no. Do they make an ointment for that
"you can not have more fan fic, you have a fan fic problem"
by mollyig » Wed Sep 11, 2002 3:04 pm 
and 
to you all today. 
. So here comes more cavity goodness.
I have a bit of her sarcasm in me minus about 1090 years. There will be more Anya to come soon.
for warm fuzzies. So glad you love it. Plenty more to come.
goodness to come. 
. You might have heard a bit of a hint about maybe there being more to come. How does it go first comes love, second comes marriage…I forget the rest.
at: 9/13/02 8:19:25 am
