Forever you - Chapter 9
Part 9
Later that night the gang was all together in the living room having some pizza and beer and a couple of soft drinks. Willow was sitting on the floor playing some kind of computer games with Ariel; she was trying her best to get close to the little girl. Oblivious to them Tara had been watching the scene the entire time. She thought it was amazing to watch the two of them together. The same gestures, the same facial expressions…frowning, biting the tip of the tongue, wrinkling their noses…“definitely mother and daughter” she thought. She was brought out of her trance by the sound of Anya’s voice
“So, how long have you two been having sex?”
“Anya!” Xander tried
“What? You’re all curious about it too”
“I thought you said you knew about them?” questioned Buffy
“I did. The brat let it slip one day at the magic box” she said point to Dawn “I just don’t know details…I want details” she finished smiling cynically
“Well, we’ve been together for two and a half years now…” Faith started totally enjoying the look on the others’ faces “I met Tara when I moved to England…I mean I have met her here, but as I was in Buffy’s body, I don’t think it really counts…”
“Not this kind of details” Anya said waving her hands “I want the juicy ones…like, when was the first time you had sex? How many orgasms you give her a night? Or…”
“SHUT UP! Please, shut up!” Xander shouted clasping his hand over her mouth
“Alright…changing the subject…how come the little on doesn’t talk like G-man over here?” he asked to a mortified Tara “she’s British, isn’t she?”
“I WON!” they saw a little girl jump at her feet and start a little happy dance “I’m 5 by 5” she sang around the room
“There’s your answer” she told Xander gesturing at her daughter “too much Faith!”
“Hey, you say it like it’s a bad thing” the slayer defended herself “I mean, look at the kid…she’s 5 by 5!” she finished smirking
“5 what by 5…you know I never got it” Tara lifted her hands in exasperation “does it even mean anything?”
“That is indeed a remarkable question” Giles removed his glasses to clean them “during all of these years I could never make any sense of this…expression” he finished tugging the glasses back on
“Come on, T. Seriously, you’d rather have your daughter talking like that?” she asked pointing at the older man with her thumb
“I beg your pardon!” he was indignant
“Hey…what do we have here? Is this a party and I wasn’t invited?”
“Kennedy” Willow said standing up and walking towards her “where have you been? I was starting to get worried”
“Around…here and there” she informed shrugging
“Have you been drinking?” Willow asked sensing the smell coming from the brunette
“A little…why?”
“You never did it before” the redhead commented in a soft voice
“Chill, Will” snapped Kennedy getting annoyed “it’s no big!” she walked away from Willow and took a look at the people in the room
“So, we have guest, huh? How are you Mr. Watcher?” she asked shaking Giles’s hand
“Huh…hello Kennedy. It’s nice to see you again…oh, allow me introduce you…this is Faith” he said pointing at the rogue slayer “I’m sure you’ve heard of her”
“Yeah, sure…I hear you’re a bad ass slayer” she said stuffing her hands in her back pockets
“Yeah, I get a reputation…what’s up?” Faith eyed her suspiciously
“I’m cool”
“Hi, I’m Ariel” said the little girl in front of her
“Hey there cutie…” she said looking down at the child “how are you?”
“I’m 5 by 5” she answered with a big grin getting a big laugh from Faith
“Oh God!” Tara shook her head
“And…you must be the famous Tara Maclay”
“Famous?” Tara asked with one raised eyebrow
“yes…I’ve heard so much about you that I even considered asking for your autograph” ignoring the disapproving look on Willow’s face she continued “no, serious, it was always Tara this, and Tara that…you have a fan club here, do you know that?” fishing for the blonde’s reaction
“A FAN CLUB! Mama, are you a star?” the girl asked bemused
“MAMA?” Kennedy repeated stunned “WOW…I mean… you have a daughter? That’s a shock!” she said getting closer to Tara making Faith and Buffy jump into alert mode “Did you know about that?” she asked turning to the Redhead
“Kennedy!” Willow said barely above a whisper
“I bet you didn’t…now tell me Will, how is it to know that your angelic girlfriend isn’t so angelic after all?” she asked sneering at the witch
“Kennedy, that’s enough!” Buffy said firmly
“Come on, Buffy…I’m just asking an honest question”
“Kennedy, I think you’ve had too much to drink” said Xander trying to reason the brunette
“What’s wrong with you guys, huh? I’m just stating the obvious…”she declared opening her arms “the little saint you all painted those years isn’t really a saint…”
“Kennedy, you don’t know what you’re talking about, please go upstairs…you’re making everyone uncomfortable” Willow pleaded
“Uncomfortable? What? Are you all blind?” Kennedy was angry at their blindness; couldn’t they see what was in front of their eyes? “She has a kid for Christ’s sake…how do you think she conceived the child, huh? She screwed somebody Willow…”the redhead flinched at the comment “she had sex…with a man…how did you like it, huh?” she asked turning to a very disconcerted Tara “was it good? Was it better than fucking her?” she asked pointing to a flustered redhead
“You’d better back off, lady” Faith jumped in front of Kennedy narrowing her eyes “or I’ll show you first hand how I got my bad ass reputation” she hissed through clenched teeth
“Fine, I’ll go upstairs” Kennedy finally gave in and retreated to her room
“Tara, I’m so sorry” Willow was dying of embarrassment “I’m...”
“What’s her problem?” Faith practically shouted pissed
“She’s Willow’s girlfriend” Dawn informed simply. Faith snorted at the information
“And you thought I was bad for Tara?”
“Faith…” Tara cautioned while picking up Ariel who had been grasping Tara’s leg during the whole episode
“Fine…”Faith raised both arms “none of my business!”
“It’s getting late…” Tara stated sighing “we better get going”
“Go? Wait, go where?” asked an agitated Willow
“Ah, yes…we have hotel reservations” explained Giles
“Hotel? Na-uh, hotel Summers is the best in town” Buffy declare solemnly
“Buffy, we don’t wanna be a bother…”
“Yeah, B. No sweat!” said Faith backing Tara up “besides, how are you going to accommodate all of us?”
“Well, we have a perfect and very comfortable bed in the basement” started the blonde slayer “if Giles doesn’t mind…” they looked at him who just shrugged and nodded “ I can crush with Dawn and give you guys the master suite…the bed is big enough for the three of you.” She finished hopefully
“The master suite? Isn’t it…”
“Buffy and I switched rooms years ago…” Willow explained hurriedly knowing what Tara was thinking “an…and she’s right. It’s a big room…you three would be fine in there” she continued softly “please!” Tara could never resist Willow’s puppy dog’s eyes. She looked at Faith for confirmation and received a positive nod
“Ok” she sighed
“Great!” Buffy sounded pleased
“Ok, then…since everything is settled Anya and I are better get going” said Xander putting his coat on “we’ll see you guys tomorrow”
“Yes, let’s go have sex…and multiple orgasms” everybody just chuckled and shook their heads
“Bye, drive safely”
“Ok, it’s time for bed for you too, missy” Faith declared taking Ariel away from Tara’s arms “ go give grandpa a goodnight kiss and let’s go change” the little blonde flew into the older man’s arms and gave him a wet kiss
“Bye grandpa…good night”
“Good night Angel…have sweet and very pleasant dreams.” He said putting her down. The little girl walked past the others and hugged Willow, who recovered quickly from the surprise, and returned the gesture by hugging her daughter back
“Good night Willow, thanks for playing with me” she kissed the witch’s cheek and whispered softly “I know you let me win” she stepped back and winked at the redhead “you’re cool, I like you!”
“I like you too sweetie” she swallowed the lump on her throat “you’re the smartest and sweetest little girl…and we can play anytime you want, ok?”
“You’re glowing” said the girl grinning
“Excuse me?”
“You’re glowing…your aura is shining” Willow's eyes bulged
“You can see my aura?” the little girl nodded enthusiastically. Willow looked speechless at Tara
“Ariel, what did I tell you about reading people’s aura?” Tara used a motherly scolding tone
“To ask first…”the girl replied lowering her head
“Well, and did you?”
“No, but mama…it was so bright”
“come on, baby…let her off the hook” Faith jumped in defending the girl “here lamb…hop in and let’s go find your PJs and brusher in these bags” she said carrying the girl on her back and lifting two of their bags “come on teen…lead the way” she told dawn.
“Faith, you do realize that I’m 20, don’t you?”
“Oh, I’m sorry O adult one!” Faith joked winking at a giggling Ariel
“Ass!” Dawn shot passing them and carrying the rest of their luggage upstairs
“Language…” Faith shot back climbing up the stairs.
“I…I better go upstairs and… help” Tara said “you have no idea how messy those two can get” referring to the commotion coming from upstairs “good night”
“Night” “Good night” “night, Tara”
“What about you, Buffy?” Giles asked “no patrol tonight?”
“Nah…I think I’ll just go to bed and relax” she said “I wanna get up early tomorrow…I’m all curious about this mystery you are all mysterious about” she raised her brows in a funny way
“Mystery? What mystery? What’s going on?” asked Willow all alarmed
“Don’t worry Willow…there’s no mystery I assure you” said Giles lifting his bag and starting to retreat “we can talk about that in the morning”
“See, mysterious!” Buffy teased
“Good night Buffy” he said disappearing into the basement direction
“You sure everything is all right?” Willow asked a little concerned
“Yeah…it’s probably nothing serious” said Buffy collecting the empty bottles of bear and soda cans spread around the living room. Willow turned and picked the pizza boxes and dirty dishes
“Let’s put these in the kitchen before going to bed”
“You don’t have to Will…we can do it tomorrow” said the slayer following the redhead into the kitchen
“No…it’s ok” she said “anything to postpone entering that room” the blond furrowed her brows
“You think she’s still up…I mean, she was pretty wasted” Buffy said looking at the bedrooms direction “I bet she’s sleeping already”
“I’m pretty sure she’s awake…I never saw her like this, Buffy”
“Give her a break, Will…she’s jealous” Buffy said touching her best friend’s arm “how are you holding up?”
“Still processing” she said and sat on a stool nearby “too much information…a lot to digest”
“I know” the slayer said trying to support her friend. She heard a noise and turned to see Tara. The blond witch was barefoot, her hair was loose and she was wearing a salmon silk nightgown
“Oh, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to interrupt” she apologized
“Nonsense” Buffy waved her off “I was just saying good night”
“Night, Buff”
“Night guys” she left leaving the witches alone
“Just came for a glass of water” she smile and reached to the cupboard “two actually” Willow smiled and nodded
“She’s sleeping already?” she asked timidly
“Who? Ariel?” Tara asked from the fridge receiving a positive nod from the redhead “almost…Faith is tucking her in” Willow nodded feeling a little pang of jealousy, she wishes she were the one putting the girl to bed, but decided to push it down for now
“So, she can read auras?”
“Yeah” Tara answered closing the refrigerator and walking in Willow’s direction
“What else can she do?” Tara put the two glasses on the table and took a seat on the other stool
“Well, she dreams” at the confused look on Willow’s face she explained “I mean she has dreams that… come true sometimes”
“Premonitory dreams?” Willow asked amazed and very proud of her little girl
“Yeah, kinda…” Tara bit the inside of her cheek and continued “I remember one night last year, she woke up screaming and crying …” she gave a small chuckle “scared the life out of me…anyway, I ran to her room and hold her tight trying to calm her…she was sobbing, when she finally calmed down, I asked what was wrong…she told me that the big, ugly monster had hurt Faith…” Willow was fidgeting on her seat
“What happen?” she asked genuinely curious
“Faith had gone patrolling and hasn’t come back yet…so I tried to sooth the girl, but…” she took a deep breath trying to gain strength
“But?”
“But the phone rang…it was Giles telling me that Faith had been badly hurt during a fight…she was pretty damaged, luckily she has slayer healing”
“Wow” Willow was impressed “and Ariel dreamed that?”
“Uh huh” Tara nodded “oh, and levitation…” she said suddenly
“Come again?”
“Levitation…she’s good at that too”
“Really?” Willow asked smiling
“Yes…one day, I walked into her room and all her toys were flying up in the air” Willow’s eyes were opened wide “yeah, the punch line is…she was ten months old” Tara finished with a huge grin on her face
“I’m telling you will…she’s pretty unique.” She said rising from her seat. She took the two glasses from the table and went to door. She turned her head and looked at her ex girlfriend
“Good night, Will”
“Good night, Tara” Willow said to an empty kitchen. Sighing, she stood up turned off the lights and went upstairs to room she shares with Kennedy.
TBC...