Fred didn't know when she'd fallen asleep, but she'd slept the entire night through, wrapped in her husband's arms. When she opened her eyes again, she blinked at the bright sunshine filtering through the curtains of the room. She rolled over a little and smiled when she saw Wesley was still there and she was still very much alive.
Squirming out of his arms, Fred decided to go check on Regan. It was a rarity for her to be up before Wesley, which meant he had to be tired. She knew the spell he'd cast the night before had to have taken a lot out of him. Once she was out of the bed, she slipped into the bathroom and washed up before pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She stared at herself for a few moments in the mirror, amazed that all of this was finally over with and she was back with her family.
After slipping out of the room, she padded over to the room Regan was staying in and opened the door. She blinked in surprise since Regan was rarely up before either of them. A small wave of fear gripped her body until she heard her daughter's voice filtering up the stairs. It sounded like she was talking to herself and Fred smiled. Regan was definitely their daughter since Wesley and her had a habit of talking to themselves when they were working on something.
Going down the steps, she followed Regan's voice and stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. She couldn't believe how much taller her daughter was. And, she couldn't believe that she was cooking. A lot of things had changed it seemed, and it broke Fred's heart knowing they had changed because she hadn't been there. But Fred also knew there was nothing that could change that and she needed to be happy because she was with her family again.
"Why are you putting bread on a cookie sheet?" she asked as she stepped into the kitchen. "Is this something your dad taught you? Because the last time he tried to cook for me, he almost burnt down the Hyperion Hotel."
Smiling, Fred stepped into the kitchen and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "How's my girl doing?" she asked before planting a kiss on the top of her head.
When Regan heard her mom's voice, she looked up, blushing slightly before glancing back down at the bread. "Well, there's no toaster, and Uncle Giles used the grill to make toast the other day, so I thought I'd try it. Uncle Giles is actually a pretty good cook."
Just as she finished her explanation, she found herself being pulled into a tight embrace. Taking a deep shuddering breath, Regan wrapped her arms around her mother and closed her eyes. Part of her was still amazed - it was her, and she was there. Her mother was back.
"Glad you're home," she whispered. "It wasn't the same without you, but you're back now."
Looking up her mom, she frowned slightly she noticed a faded streak of blue in her hair. It was almost impossible to see it, but the sunlight seemed to hit it just right. Reaching up, Regan ran her fingers through her ponytail, wondering if that would always be there or if it was because she had just been returned.
She had so much she wanted to ask her but didn't know if she should. Her mom had said she knew what had happened, but where had she been? Had it been a good place? Had she been okay? She didn't want to think that her mom had been in pain the entire time.
"The other soul guardian said that we couldn't find you because it hadn't been the right time. But you were...you were okay, weren't you? While you were gone? She protected you?"
"I'm happy to be back, too, sweetie," Fred whispered as she rubbed her hand over Regan's back. "I've missed the both of you so much and I wanted nothing more than to come home." She wanted to make sure her daughter understood that she had wanted to come back and had tried. Fred never wanted Regan to think she hadn't tried.
When Regan started to fire questions at her, Fred shook her head. She was definitely her daughter. "I was fine. I little lonely but it all worked out in the end," she said. She then leaned down and softly kissed Regan's cheek before the oven beeped. Pulling away, she stepped closer to it.
"Even though you've killed a demon, I'm still a little frightened to allow you to use a hot over," Fred said as she opened the door and slid the bread in. Once the door was closed, she smiled at her daughter before going over to the fridge. Inside was some eggs so she took the carton out before getting a bowl down.
"We can make some eggs, with shredded cheese, too," she said as she went back to the fridge and took out a block of cheese. "Now just to find a shredder." Fred started to look through the drawers. "So tell me what you've been up to. Any little boyfriends? Or has your dad been keeping them away with his guns?"
Regan shook her head when her mom took over making the bread. She had done so much, but she couldn't use an oven? She decided to let it go, though. Her mom had been gone for so long, and it was actually kinda nice to have her fussing over her again. "You need to leave the door cracked open," she said, pulling it open slightly before stepping back. "Uncle Giles said the bread can burn otherwise."
She then joined her mom, watching as she looked for the cheese shredder. She had been lucky enough to find the sheet to put the bread on, so she wasn't sure where anything else was. Except for the plates. She had found the plates, and she could help by getting those down.
Although she was very glad she wasn't holding any when her mom asked her question.
"Mom," she said, rolling her eyes. "No...no boyfriends. I...well...Dad continued to home-school me when we were leaving in New Haven, so..." She shrugged. "Although I'm not sure what Dad did with the last babysitter."
She looked over as she got the plates out and set them on the counter, blushing a little bit. "I...Dad wasn't happy with her when I snuck out. She didn't even know I was gone. Dad was really protective of me while you were gone."
After Fred had found the shredder, she began to shred the cheese as she listened to her daughter speak. A pang of guilt ran through her as she thought about all she'd missed. She had left her husband alone to raise their daughter. Fred couldn't imagine how hard it must've been. It was then she promised herself she would never leave them again.
"He does it because he loves you, sweetie," she said before she cracked the eggs and put them in a bowl. "After you were taken from us, he was the same way with me. Right before Connor returned, the hotel was overran by these slugs that would infect you and suck all the water out of your body."
She started to stir the eggs and shrugged. Talking with Regan about demons didn't bother her because she knew her daughter had grown up on another dimension.
"Your dad had left to get something to kill them and Angel told me to stay in the office and research. I ended up getting infected by one. Your dad was really mad at Angel when he returned and found me," she said. She looked over at Regan. "When your dad loves someone, he really loves them, no matter what."
Taking a deep breath, she poured the eggs into a pan before looking over at her daughter again. She had changed so much over the year. Her little girl would soon be a teenager and then an adult.
"I'm sorry. If I could've came back sooner, I would've." She blinked her eyes as tears began to sting her eyes. "I know I should've tried harder and I wanted to. You have to believe me when I say I wanted to come home to you and your dad. I missed the both of you so much."
Regan leaned against the counter next to her mom, listening as she told her what had happened to her the night the slugs had invested the hotel. She remembered them mentioning the strange thing that had occurred before Connor had returned, but she hadn't heard about that.
"I bet he was," she said softly, knowing very well how her dad could get, like he had when Illyria had tried to trick them. "And I know he does."
She was about to tell her mom how she had worried about her dad too when she turned to her, tears in her eyes. Regan felt her throat tighten, and tears started to form in her own eyes too. "I know, Mom," she said, putting her arms around her and hugging her tightly. "I know you would have. And if we had know, we would have got you back before, but they kept us from finding the book, so we couldn't."
Taking a deep breath, she looked up at her. "We're going to protect each other now, right?" Suddenly, she smelled a slightly strange smell and looked at the oven. "Mom, the toast!"
Fred felt bad when she saw the tears in her daughter's eyes. Before she could say another word, Regan was in her arms and Fred held her tight against her. "I know, sweetie," she whispered before kissing the top of her head. "I know you two tried. And, we will always be here to protect each other, I promise."
When the smell of smoke filled the air, Fred quickly pulled back and picked up an oven mitt. She pulled the toast out of the oven and placed the sheet on the stovetop. "Hmmm," she said as she picked up a piece of toast and looked at it. She then started to giggle and looked at Regan. "Do you think your dad will notice if we put a lot of jelly on it?"
Just then, the eggs started to burn too and all Fred could do was laugh some more and shake her head. "Maybe we should just make your dad some tea and get some food from the main house. I don't think we're made for cooking," she said as she threw the burnt food away.
A strange smell woke up Wesley, who sat up in bed, raking his hand through his hair and rubbing his eyes. Looking over, he frowned at empty space next to him. For a moment, he almost panicked, worrying that it had all been a dream. Until he saw the open bag on the floor, Fred's clothes peeking out.
And of course quite vividly remembered making love to his wife last night.
There was still that strange odor, though. Getting up, he found his dressing gown and pulled it on before heading downstairs, following the smell. It lead him to the kitchen, where he found Fred and Regan, standing over the trash bin. It was then that he realized what he had been smelling.
"All of us might need to take lessons from Rupert, the way we cook," he said, walking in and kissing Regan on the forehead before wrapping his arms around Fred. It felt so good to be able to hold her like this again. "The smell upstairs woke me up."
"You must've been tired," Regan said, snuggling up to both of them. "You've never slept this late."
"I think last night took more out of me than I realized," he said, just enjoying standing there with his two favorite girls in the world. "How about you two? How are you doing this morning? Besides burning toast?"
When Wesley's voice filtered into the kitchen, Fred turned and smiled at him. She then watched as he kissed Regan on the forehead before wrapping his arms around her own body. She laid her head on his chest and pulled Regan closer to them. Fred had missed this.
"Sore," Regan said, answering her dad's question. She then looked at her mom. "But good. And the toast burned because mom and I were talking and not paying attention."
"And we need a toaster," Fred said, laughing a little. She leaned up and gave Wesley a soft kiss. "I'm good. It's nice to be back with you two."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and before Fred could say anything, Regan was running to answer it. A few seconds later, she walked back in with Evelyn, who was carrying a pan.
"Breakfast casserole," she said, sitting it down on the counter. She then looked at the burnt toast in the garbage can. "And, not a moment too soon." She laughed a little and shook her head. "I'll bring the toaster over for you lot. Rupert doesn't like using it."
"Thank you," Fred said. "It might be a good idea to bring it over if you don't want us to burn the house down."
Evelyn laughed and nodded her head. "I have to get to work. Rupert wants to speak to the three of you when you've finished eating. He'll be in the training room for most of the day," she said before letting herself out.
Fred looked at Wesley and Regan before smiling. "I say we should eat," she said, eyeing the food.
Wesley winced a bit when their daughter said she was sore. He knew that the spell had taken quite a bit out of him; he hated to think what Regan had gone through. Of course, knowing her, just like him, she undoubtedly believed that anything was worth it because they had got Fred back.
"Well, I'll make sure that we get a toaster, wherever we decide to go from here," he told both of them. He wasn't sure if Fred and Regan would want to go back to New Haven or Texas or move somewhere new. They'd have to discuss that once they were ready to move on. He wanted them to take their time, though. After all that had happened, he felt they deserved that much. "And it's nice to have you back."
He found himself chuckling when Regan took off to answer the door - for being sore, she still moved rather quickly. And the smell of the breakfast casserole that Evelyn brought in was quite welcome. Rupert had definitely found himself a keeper. It had been a long time since he had remembered his friend being so happy.
"Thank you for everything, Evie. If you see Rupert, tell him we'll be over soon."
Once she was gone, Wesley turned to his girls, seeing the way his wife was eyeing what Evelyn had brought over. "I think that's a very good idea. I know how you two can get," he said with a chuckle. Picking up the plates that were sitting out on the counter, Wesley found a knife and serving spoon and began putting the casserole onto the plates. "Who gets the first serving."
"Mom should have it," Regan said before looking in the refrigerator. "Hey, there's orange juice in here."
Fred grinned at her daughter and hugged her tight. "I love you," she said before she started to cut the casserole with a spatula. She placed some on a plate for herself before placing some on a plate for Regan and more on another plate for Wesley. "Why don't you bring the orange juice out with you."
Regan nodded and did as her mother said, and took the orange juice out to the dining area. Fred carried two plates in with her, figuring Wesley would carry the third one. When she stepped into the dining room, she blinked. The sun was filtering through the windows and it'd been so long since she'd seen it.
"It's a little bright in here," she said, with a smile. "It's been a while since I've seen the sun and it's really nice." She stood there for a moment and allowed the warmth to fall on her face.
After a few moments, she sat down and poured everyone a glass of orange juice. She then took a bite of the casserole and nodded. "This is really good," she said. "I might have to get the recipe and try to make it." She then took another but before a drink of the juice. "Is there anything you two want to do today?"
While Fred and Regan took the other plates and orange juice out to the table, Wesley picked up the last one and headed up behind them. When they reached the dining room, he stopped for a moment, watching the way Fred reacted to the sun. He understood the feeling - it felt like it had been forever since any of them had been warmed by it.
Walking into the room, he set his plate on the table and took the glass of juice his wife handed him before beginning to eat. The casserole was very good. Although he rather feared the three of them in the kitchen. Maybe he really would talk to Rupert about those lessons. It wouldn't hurt, and it might actually be a good thing for the three of them to do together.
"Maybe we can go for a walk later," he suggested when Fred asked if there was anything they wanted to do that day. "When Rupert and I checked the forecast yesterday, it said it was supposed to be beautiful here until the end of the week. Since this is England, land of rain, we should probably take advantage of that."
"Uncle Rupert says there are lots of neat places around here," Regan said. "Places on the hills were you can see for miles."
"Sounds lovely." He looked at Fred and reached over to cover her hand with his. "What do you say, love? Would be good to get out, I think."
Squirming out of his arms, Fred decided to go check on Regan. It was a rarity for her to be up before Wesley, which meant he had to be tired. She knew the spell he'd cast the night before had to have taken a lot out of him. Once she was out of the bed, she slipped into the bathroom and washed up before pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She stared at herself for a few moments in the mirror, amazed that all of this was finally over with and she was back with her family.
After slipping out of the room, she padded over to the room Regan was staying in and opened the door. She blinked in surprise since Regan was rarely up before either of them. A small wave of fear gripped her body until she heard her daughter's voice filtering up the stairs. It sounded like she was talking to herself and Fred smiled. Regan was definitely their daughter since Wesley and her had a habit of talking to themselves when they were working on something.
Going down the steps, she followed Regan's voice and stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. She couldn't believe how much taller her daughter was. And, she couldn't believe that she was cooking. A lot of things had changed it seemed, and it broke Fred's heart knowing they had changed because she hadn't been there. But Fred also knew there was nothing that could change that and she needed to be happy because she was with her family again.
"Why are you putting bread on a cookie sheet?" she asked as she stepped into the kitchen. "Is this something your dad taught you? Because the last time he tried to cook for me, he almost burnt down the Hyperion Hotel."
Smiling, Fred stepped into the kitchen and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "How's my girl doing?" she asked before planting a kiss on the top of her head.
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Just as she finished her explanation, she found herself being pulled into a tight embrace. Taking a deep shuddering breath, Regan wrapped her arms around her mother and closed her eyes. Part of her was still amazed - it was her, and she was there. Her mother was back.
"Glad you're home," she whispered. "It wasn't the same without you, but you're back now."
Looking up her mom, she frowned slightly she noticed a faded streak of blue in her hair. It was almost impossible to see it, but the sunlight seemed to hit it just right. Reaching up, Regan ran her fingers through her ponytail, wondering if that would always be there or if it was because she had just been returned.
She had so much she wanted to ask her but didn't know if she should. Her mom had said she knew what had happened, but where had she been? Had it been a good place? Had she been okay? She didn't want to think that her mom had been in pain the entire time.
"The other soul guardian said that we couldn't find you because it hadn't been the right time. But you were...you were okay, weren't you? While you were gone? She protected you?"
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When Regan started to fire questions at her, Fred shook her head. She was definitely her daughter. "I was fine. I little lonely but it all worked out in the end," she said. She then leaned down and softly kissed Regan's cheek before the oven beeped. Pulling away, she stepped closer to it.
"Even though you've killed a demon, I'm still a little frightened to allow you to use a hot over," Fred said as she opened the door and slid the bread in. Once the door was closed, she smiled at her daughter before going over to the fridge. Inside was some eggs so she took the carton out before getting a bowl down.
"We can make some eggs, with shredded cheese, too," she said as she went back to the fridge and took out a block of cheese. "Now just to find a shredder." Fred started to look through the drawers. "So tell me what you've been up to. Any little boyfriends? Or has your dad been keeping them away with his guns?"
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She then joined her mom, watching as she looked for the cheese shredder. She had been lucky enough to find the sheet to put the bread on, so she wasn't sure where anything else was. Except for the plates. She had found the plates, and she could help by getting those down.
Although she was very glad she wasn't holding any when her mom asked her question.
"Mom," she said, rolling her eyes. "No...no boyfriends. I...well...Dad continued to home-school me when we were leaving in New Haven, so..." She shrugged. "Although I'm not sure what Dad did with the last babysitter."
She looked over as she got the plates out and set them on the counter, blushing a little bit. "I...Dad wasn't happy with her when I snuck out. She didn't even know I was gone. Dad was really protective of me while you were gone."
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"He does it because he loves you, sweetie," she said before she cracked the eggs and put them in a bowl. "After you were taken from us, he was the same way with me. Right before Connor returned, the hotel was overran by these slugs that would infect you and suck all the water out of your body."
She started to stir the eggs and shrugged. Talking with Regan about demons didn't bother her because she knew her daughter had grown up on another dimension.
"Your dad had left to get something to kill them and Angel told me to stay in the office and research. I ended up getting infected by one. Your dad was really mad at Angel when he returned and found me," she said. She looked over at Regan. "When your dad loves someone, he really loves them, no matter what."
Taking a deep breath, she poured the eggs into a pan before looking over at her daughter again. She had changed so much over the year. Her little girl would soon be a teenager and then an adult.
"I'm sorry. If I could've came back sooner, I would've." She blinked her eyes as tears began to sting her eyes. "I know I should've tried harder and I wanted to. You have to believe me when I say I wanted to come home to you and your dad. I missed the both of you so much."
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"I bet he was," she said softly, knowing very well how her dad could get, like he had when Illyria had tried to trick them. "And I know he does."
She was about to tell her mom how she had worried about her dad too when she turned to her, tears in her eyes. Regan felt her throat tighten, and tears started to form in her own eyes too. "I know, Mom," she said, putting her arms around her and hugging her tightly. "I know you would have. And if we had know, we would have got you back before, but they kept us from finding the book, so we couldn't."
Taking a deep breath, she looked up at her. "We're going to protect each other now, right?" Suddenly, she smelled a slightly strange smell and looked at the oven. "Mom, the toast!"
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When the smell of smoke filled the air, Fred quickly pulled back and picked up an oven mitt. She pulled the toast out of the oven and placed the sheet on the stovetop. "Hmmm," she said as she picked up a piece of toast and looked at it. She then started to giggle and looked at Regan. "Do you think your dad will notice if we put a lot of jelly on it?"
Just then, the eggs started to burn too and all Fred could do was laugh some more and shake her head. "Maybe we should just make your dad some tea and get some food from the main house. I don't think we're made for cooking," she said as she threw the burnt food away.
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And of course quite vividly remembered making love to his wife last night.
There was still that strange odor, though. Getting up, he found his dressing gown and pulled it on before heading downstairs, following the smell. It lead him to the kitchen, where he found Fred and Regan, standing over the trash bin. It was then that he realized what he had been smelling.
"All of us might need to take lessons from Rupert, the way we cook," he said, walking in and kissing Regan on the forehead before wrapping his arms around Fred. It felt so good to be able to hold her like this again. "The smell upstairs woke me up."
"You must've been tired," Regan said, snuggling up to both of them. "You've never slept this late."
"I think last night took more out of me than I realized," he said, just enjoying standing there with his two favorite girls in the world. "How about you two? How are you doing this morning? Besides burning toast?"
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"Sore," Regan said, answering her dad's question. She then looked at her mom. "But good. And the toast burned because mom and I were talking and not paying attention."
"And we need a toaster," Fred said, laughing a little. She leaned up and gave Wesley a soft kiss. "I'm good. It's nice to be back with you two."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and before Fred could say anything, Regan was running to answer it. A few seconds later, she walked back in with Evelyn, who was carrying a pan.
"Breakfast casserole," she said, sitting it down on the counter. She then looked at the burnt toast in the garbage can. "And, not a moment too soon." She laughed a little and shook her head. "I'll bring the toaster over for you lot. Rupert doesn't like using it."
"Thank you," Fred said. "It might be a good idea to bring it over if you don't want us to burn the house down."
Evelyn laughed and nodded her head. "I have to get to work. Rupert wants to speak to the three of you when you've finished eating. He'll be in the training room for most of the day," she said before letting herself out.
Fred looked at Wesley and Regan before smiling. "I say we should eat," she said, eyeing the food.
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"Well, I'll make sure that we get a toaster, wherever we decide to go from here," he told both of them. He wasn't sure if Fred and Regan would want to go back to New Haven or Texas or move somewhere new. They'd have to discuss that once they were ready to move on. He wanted them to take their time, though. After all that had happened, he felt they deserved that much. "And it's nice to have you back."
He found himself chuckling when Regan took off to answer the door - for being sore, she still moved rather quickly. And the smell of the breakfast casserole that Evelyn brought in was quite welcome. Rupert had definitely found himself a keeper. It had been a long time since he had remembered his friend being so happy.
"Thank you for everything, Evie. If you see Rupert, tell him we'll be over soon."
Once she was gone, Wesley turned to his girls, seeing the way his wife was eyeing what Evelyn had brought over. "I think that's a very good idea. I know how you two can get," he said with a chuckle. Picking up the plates that were sitting out on the counter, Wesley found a knife and serving spoon and began putting the casserole onto the plates. "Who gets the first serving."
"Mom should have it," Regan said before looking in the refrigerator. "Hey, there's orange juice in here."
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Regan nodded and did as her mother said, and took the orange juice out to the dining area. Fred carried two plates in with her, figuring Wesley would carry the third one. When she stepped into the dining room, she blinked. The sun was filtering through the windows and it'd been so long since she'd seen it.
"It's a little bright in here," she said, with a smile. "It's been a while since I've seen the sun and it's really nice." She stood there for a moment and allowed the warmth to fall on her face.
After a few moments, she sat down and poured everyone a glass of orange juice. She then took a bite of the casserole and nodded. "This is really good," she said. "I might have to get the recipe and try to make it." She then took another but before a drink of the juice. "Is there anything you two want to do today?"
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Walking into the room, he set his plate on the table and took the glass of juice his wife handed him before beginning to eat. The casserole was very good. Although he rather feared the three of them in the kitchen. Maybe he really would talk to Rupert about those lessons. It wouldn't hurt, and it might actually be a good thing for the three of them to do together.
"Maybe we can go for a walk later," he suggested when Fred asked if there was anything they wanted to do that day. "When Rupert and I checked the forecast yesterday, it said it was supposed to be beautiful here until the end of the week. Since this is England, land of rain, we should probably take advantage of that."
"Uncle Rupert says there are lots of neat places around here," Regan said. "Places on the hills were you can see for miles."
"Sounds lovely." He looked at Fred and reached over to cover her hand with his. "What do you say, love? Would be good to get out, I think."
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