and the beat goes on...
_____________________________
Tara stood silently for a moment, her brain frantically trying to wrap itself around Willow’s words. She shook her head a little, trying to get the pieces to fall into place. It didn’t work. She opened her mouth several times to speak, but no words came out, until finally all she was able to blurt out was, “What?”
Willow paused, taking in a deep breath. For some reason, she didn’t want to say it again. But she had to.
“I’m pregnant.”
Willow had said it, and Tara’s ears had registered it, but still the blonde simply could not believe what she was hearing.
“How?” she asked after a pause.
“I…”
“Dammit, Willow, did you do something behind my back?” Tara demanded, raising her voice again. It was just all too much. She wasn’t sure how much more of this day she could take.
Willow’s eyes widened in shock at her wife’s accusation, “What? No! My God! How can you say that?”
The blonde set her jaw in a firm line, her voice low, “It wouldn’t be the first time…”
“That is not fair, Tara”, Willow replied, her tremulous voice giving away her hurt feelings. “That is not fair! That was over ten years ago! I thought we had put all of that behind us.”
“So did I”, came the short answer.
Willow paused to collect herself. She knew that her lover was only reacting to the sudden and overwhelming shock of Faith’s death and now this news on top of everything else had brought her to the point of breakdown. This wasn’t her Tara talking, and she knew it.
“Okay”, Willow said calmly, “Let’s just stop a minute. We’re both upset and we’re saying things… that we don’t mean…” she stalled a second, waiting to see if Tara was going to contradict her. When, thankfully, she didn’t the redhead continued, “What I was trying to say before was… I don’t know… I don’t know how. I just am.”
During Willow’s speech, Tara had calmed down considerably. Enough so that she regretted every single word that had come out of her mouth in the last fifteen minutes. She could tell that Willow was telling the truth, and it was time to move onto a new line of questioning.
“When did you find out”, she asked, her voice hushed.
“Yesterday”, said the redhead, “I went to see Dr. Gulliver because I was a couple weeks late. I was worried it might have been symptomatic of something bad… “ She looked her wife in the eye, tears brimming in her own, “I guess it was.”
Tara instantly caught the terrified look in her lover’s eyes and within seconds had her wrapped in a warm and calming embrace. “Oh, Baby, no…” Tara said, tenderly running her hands up and down Willow’s back as the redhead’s body was now racked with sobs. “Sweetheart, we’ll figure something out.”
“Tara, I’m so scared”, Willow blubbered, placing her face into the blonde’s shoulder, her tears dampening the fabric there.
“Sh, Darling”, Tara soothed, continuing to hold her wife close. After a moment, she softly questioned, “How far along?”
“Dr. Gulliver said two months”, Willow replied, lifting her head a little.
“And you have no idea”, Tara continued gently, “how?”
“Not how”, she confirmed, “Possibly when. I’m not sure.”
Suddenly the phone rang, startling both girls, but they did not move from their tight embrace.
“Should we let the machine get it?” Asked Tara.
“No”, Willow replied, gently pulling out of her partner’s arms and walking over the nightstand, “It might be important.” She lifted the phone from its cradle and answered. “Hello...” Her voice was hollow and distant, “Yes… Go on… Oh… Oh… Okay… We’ll be there… Bye.”
Tara looked to her lover, her eyes questioning.
“That was Giles”, Willow explained, “He’s on a plane. He has some news.”
“He’s on a plane?” Tara asked, “Coming here?”
“I guess the news is the ‘face to face’ kind”, Willow offered.
“When does his flight get in?”
“11 am tomorrow”, the redhead answered, glancing toward the clock, “Oh… I guess that tomorrow is now today.”
Tara looked over to the digital display as well. It was very late, and the events of the day suddenly hit her tired bones full force.
“We should probably get some sleep.” Tara said quietly, “Emily has school in the morning. One of us needs to get up to take her.”
“I’ll do it”, Willow offered.
“We both will”, Tara replied, offering her support. “C’mon, Will, let’s get ready for bed. We’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow.”
Willow nodded her head dumbly in compliance and headed into the bathroom to freshen up. Tara turned down the sheets and went to the dresser, pulling out one of her nightgowns and a set of Willow’s pajamas. She quietly disrobed and changed, taking her wife’s PJ’s with her to the bathroom and joining her lover there.
The two women both felt as though they were moving through thickened air, unable to move freely, unable to breath completely. They silently went through their evening evolutions and curled into bed, wrapping their arms tightly around one another in a desperate need for solace.
*****
The next day, after dropping Emily off at school, Tara and Willow joined Buffy and the three of them headed to Sunnydale Airport to greet the Watcher as he arrived. They were surprised to see Xander and Anya, along with their three-year-old son Joseph, waiting for them when they arrived at the small air terminal.
“What are you guys doing here”, Buffy asked, confused, but smiling.
“G-man is coming back into town”, Xander explained, “Have to give him the proper Scooby welcome.”
“We didn’t think you’d be able to get away from work”, said Tara, stepping forward to hug him, then Anya.
“That’s the nice thing about being the boss”, He beamed, taking Willow into his arms warmly, “You can delegate your work to somebody else.”
“Unless there isn’t anyone else, in which case you just close the shop”, Anya tacked on. “Notice how I’m okay with that? I’m not upset about the loss of lucrative funds because Giles is more important.”
“That’s good”, acknowledged Tara, unable to suppress her smile. After all these years, Anya was still learning what it meant to be human. Having Joseph had helped a lot. Tara smiled at the young boy who was hiding behind his mother’s skirt. “Hi, Joseph”, she signed to him gently. He waved his pudgy little hand at her in a gesture of ‘hello’. Joseph had been born deaf. It was a terrible blow to both his parents, but they all had learned to adapt quickly. After all, this was the Hellmouth. There were far worse things that could have happened and Joseph was an otherwise healthy and beautiful little boy.
“How are you holding up”, Xander asked the redhead still in his arms. Willow only shook her head against his strong chest. “That bad huh?” He questioned sweetly, rubbing his hands across her back. She stepped away from him after a moment, wiping aside a few errant tears and moved back to Tara’s side, taking her hand.
“We’re dealing as best we can. There’s a lot to sort through”, Tara answered for both of them. Everyone nodded in understanding.
Joseph started tugging on Anya’s skirt to get her attention. “What, honey”, she spoke and signed to him.
“Grandpa, grandpa”, he signed happily, pointing down the hallway to where they could all see Giles approaching.
The Watcher was stumbling down through the terminal, carrying a various assortment of bags and suitcases. He appeared to be mumbling to himself about something and his expression was cross.
“Looks like he got stopped in customs again”, Willow commented wryly.
Buffy rushed up to relieve him of his burden, taking a suitcase and one of his duffel bags.
“Honestly”, he said once he and Buffy had rejoined the group, “How anyone could possibly confuse a book as a bomb is besides me.”
“Welcome back, G-man”, Xander said cheerily, extending his hand for Giles to shake.
“Oh don’t be ridiculous”, the Watcher said warmly, drawing the younger man into a hug. “It’s good to see you, Xander.” He then turned to the rest of them and greeted them in a similar fashion, until only Willow and Tara remained.
He took them both into his arms simultaneously, kissing the tops of their heads in turn. “I have news”, he said softly, “the nature of which I am not sure. I think it would be best if we retired to a place more suitable to privacy.” He had said the last sentence to the entire group.
“Let’s go back to my place”, Buffy suggested, “I don’t think the old house would mind some attention.”
Everyone quickly agreed and started to head out of the terminal, but Joseph stayed stubbornly behind.
“Joseph”, Xander signed and spoke. It had become a habit of the married couple to automatically speak and sign everything at the same time. “We need to go now.”
Joseph shook his head firmly and his crunched his face into a look of anger and disappointment.
“Joe, what’s the matter”, asked his mother.
Joseph looked to Giles and grumpily indicated, “Grandpa.”
“Oh Heavens”, said Giles suddenly, “How awful of me. I didn’t say hello to Joseph.” Giles walked over to the tiny boy and knelt beside him, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box that looked to be made of cherry wood. It appeared to be completely solid, until Giles shook it and a gentle pinging sound of metal strings being struck filled the air. To Joseph it only looked like the older man was shaking a block at him. He furrowed his brow in curiosity.
“That’s great, Giles”, said Buffy, mystified, “but you know he can’t…”
“Wait”, the Watcher interrupted. He shook the box again and placed it on the small boy’s cheek. Joseph’s eyes filled with wonder and excitement, his jaw dropped and he snatched the box from Giles’ hand and began shaking it wildly and holding it to his face over and over.
“He can’t hear it”, Giles explained as he stood and took Joe’s free hand, “But he can feel the vibrations of the strings inside when they are struck by the little ball bearings.”
Anya gasped in pleasure and ran over to Giles, kissing him firmly on the cheek. “Thank you”, she said, her eyes watering.
“It was nothing”, he replied tenderly. “Shall we?” He said signifying for them to go. They all nodded and headed out of the airport.
*****
Back at Casa De Summers everyone was assembled in the living room waiting Giles to deliver his long awaited report. He didn’t waste any time.
“I was unable to convince the Council to delay the activation of the next slayer”, he began, noting as he did that Willow and Tara both looked as if the life had just been sucked out of them. “And the reasons they gave me were inarguable”, he continued.
“How can you say that”, interrupted Buffy, speaking on behalf of her shell-shocked friends. “She’s only seven years old.”
“No, she isn’t”, Giles replied.
“Yes she is”, Willow said, suddenly finding her voice, “You were there the day she was born.”
“The next slayer”, Giles pressed on, “is fifteen years old and has been called to active duty in Savannah, Georgia.”
“I don’t understand”, Xander cut in, “Emily is the next slayer… isn’t she?”
“Why else would Gothragl have tried to sacrifice her”, Tara queried, stifling a shudder at the memory.
A human child born of pure love the next of the chosen…“The fact is”, the Watcher explained, “That Emily is not listed anywhere in the Council’s records as ever being a potential slayer.”
“Wait”, said Buffy, “you mean Emily is not ‘The Chosen One’?”
“No”, he illuminated, “not so far as being a slayer is concerned. But this doesn’t mean that Emily isn’t
A Chosen One.”
“Then what is she chosen for?” asked Tara.
Giles regarded the girl with a serious look on his face. “That is what I am here to try and find out.”
*****
TBC...
Edited by: DarkWiccan at: 6/2/02 5:48:55 pm