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Here We Go!
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“What?” Willow’s face drained of all color.
“I raised the dead”, the priestess said again matter of factly, then noticing the redhead’s sudden pallor, continued to explain. “No fear child, for I know of what you’ve done. You’ve paid your penance with the guilt you feel. My punishment was unique for I… I deliberately defied the Goddess. You could say that I spat in her face, in a manner of speaking.”
“Why?” Tara asked, her interest now truly peaked.
“When I was eighteen, I was sent from Avalon to live in the world of man. I had never ventured past the mists before. I was born in the fairy realm and then raised on Avalon to become a priestess. Once I had completed my training and had been given the mark of the Goddess”, Ghaena brushed her fingers over the crescent tattoo on her forehead, “Vivienne sent me out, saying it would be good for me to see how the world of man and the realm of magic work together in maintaining the balance of nature. So I went.”
“Wait, so, you’re a fairy?” queried Willow. “You were born in the fairy land?”
“Realm”, the brunette gently corrected. “And no. I’m not a fairy. I am of the fairy folk, but I was mortal. My mother was an elfin princess, my father a man. At any rate”, She continued, “I left Avalon and came across a small village where I met a young girl my age, with hair of spun copper and eyes as blue as the sea. I fell in love. Because I was a priestess of the Goddess, the match was blessed, her father didn’t object and we married. We lived happily for two years. But one day, she fell ill. Cancer of the belly. It ate at her like an animal and I was powerless to stop it. She died in my arms.”
“And you brought her back”, Tara concluded.
Ghaena nodded. “As I began the spell, Vivienne appeared to me as a messenger and warned me to stop. She said that the Goddess herself forbade me from what I sought to do and to defy her would bring horrible punishment. In my grief I did not care. All I wanted was for my wife to be returned to me, so I disobeyed the Goddess and continued with my spell and it worked. She awoke in my arms as if from a light sleep. Then the thunder and lightning.” Ghaena chuckled at the imagery herself before moving on. “The Goddess herself then came to me, speaking through Vivienne, and I knew that wasn’t a good sign. She punished me with eternal life, saying that I would remain forever young as I watched my wife grow old and bitter and die again.”
“That’s not very nice”, Willow muttered.
“I learned a valuable lesson that day”, Ghaena explained, “Don’t piss off the Goddess. She gave me a right spank that day. But she gave me the opportunity to redeem myself by sending me on a quest. She dropped a scroll at my feet, the outside of which was unmarked, forbade me from opening it, but told me that once I delivered it to its rightful owner, I could lay my head down and rest at last.”
“So, I guess… you failed.” Tara stated, “You’re still alive.”
“No, I succeeded”, the priestess clarified, “I found the true owner of the scroll. A bardic warrior from the east, a fascinating woman, only I found her thirty years too late. Did I mention that the Goddess also has a sense of humor? I spent a good three hundred years not knowing exactly who I was looking for, and when I find her… it’s too late for the message to be any good, for when she opens the scroll, it’s blank. The parchment was magic, of course. Well, I had grown quite fond of this woman, and I came to realize what the message, though missing, was for. I felt awful. By this time I had become accustomed to my immortal state and didn’t want to die, but I still chose to offer my immortality as a sacrifice if I could travel back and set things right. Which I did. So, Vivienne again comes to me, the Goddess speaking through her, and she says, ‘Now, Ghaena of the Mists, you have completed the task that I set forth for you.’ Well, I knew she had something up her Goddess sleeve because she was speaking with the pomp and circumstance.”
Willow and Tara both laughed at Ghaena’s description. The brunette continued, “So she says to me that I can choose to lay my head down, or I can accept another quest, this one being that I was to protect the child who would be the savior of Avalon. Being quite proud of myself and feeling I could handle babysitting a small child as well as thinking that the babe was already born, or at the very least about to be so, I figured, ‘What’s another fifty years or so, I’ll do it.’ This was a good eight hundred years before King Arthur was even a glint in the milkman’s eye, and here I am two thousand years later. Right stand up comedienne she is, the Goddess.”
“So what happens now”, asked Tara, “with Emily?”
“Not much”, Ghaena answered, “I would like to spend some time with her. Earn her trust. Start to teach her the ways of magic… of nature. With your help, of course. It is vital that you both be a part of this, a part of her education. The more she learns and understands before she returns to the mists for her formal training, the better. I would rather that it was something she was looking forward to than dreading.”
“Once she… goes back with you”, Willow posed, “how long will she have to stay?”
“Long enough to complete her training and raise Avalon from the mists. After that, she is free to stay or go, but she will always be a Priestess of the Goddess and her duties will remain in tact, to protect the balance of nature and act as a messenger of the Goddess.”
“Will she be immortal?” Tara inquired.
“No.”
Willow and Tara both breathed a sigh of relief at the news. It didn’t sound as horrible as they both thought it might have been. Their daughter would still be able to do what she wanted with her life once this task was completed, and this is what mattered to them most. Willow casually glanced at her watch and then jumped at the time.
“Oh, gosh, Tara”, she said quickly, “we’re late.”
“Emily’s off school”, stated the blonde, rising, “I’m sorry Ghaena. We hate to rush off. Thank you so much for everything you are doing. Come by on Saturday and you can chat with Emily. We can make it a thing.”
“Sounds wonderful, I’ll be there”, Ghaena responded, once again showing them to the door.
The three women made quick goodbyes and Willow and Tara rushed off to Sunnydale Elementary School where they found their daughter waiting patiently on one of the outside benches.
“Hey, baby-girl”, Willow smiled, approaching her, “Sorry we’re late. Mommy and I got a little hung up.”
“It’s okay, Mama”, Emily replied, taking her hand and hopping off the bench. “I didn’t have to wait too long, and besides the birdie was keeping me company.”
“Birdie?” Tara questioned, joining them.
“The one in the tree up there”, Emily answered, pointing in the direction of said bird.
All three of them looked up to see a raven looking down on them, almost curiously.
“Oh, well, that was very nice of the birdie”, Willow commented. “Thank you, Birdie for keeping Emily company”, she added for show. Willow started to lead her daughter down the street, but Tara lingered a moment, her eyes on the dark bird, her brow furrowed. Finally she turned and moved away to join her family, not able to shake the strange feeling that something about that bird was not right.
*****
The next couple of months passed without incident. Giles had returned to England, promising that he would do his best to return in time for the birth of Tara and Willow’s next child. Now twenty weeks along, Willow’s belly was finally beginning to pronounce itself enough that the two women felt it was time to let Emily in on the good news. The redhead was still struggling with the day-to-day dealings of being pregnant, but thanks to Ghaena’s guidance and Tara’s ever present support, she had calmed considerably. Her morning sickness had finally, and thankfully, abated and strange food cravings had taken its place. Tara had already made it very clear that she would never let Willow live down the day that she had come home to find her wife in the kitchen eating vanilla ice cream topped with asparagus. She even got a picture.
It was the first weekend after the start of summer vacation and everyone was starting to settle into a tentative routine of who would be where and when during the week. Emily would spend Mondays and Tuesdays with Joseph at his home, then Wednesdays and Thursdays, they’d reverse, Fridays were Magic Box days and the weekends stayed the same. Saturdays Ghaena would visit and spend time with Emily, while quietly checking up on Willow and continuing to teach Tara the art of midwifery as the blonde had shown definite interest and skill. Sundays were a day of rest and it was this particular Sunday that the small family came together in the living room to share with Emily her impending sisterhood.
“Why aren’t we eating lunch in the kitchen, Mommy”, Emily asked as she followed Tara into the living room and watched her set out a small tray with sandwiches on the coffee table.
“Because I thought it would be nice to eat in here”, Tara explained as she moved back to the kitchen to get a pitcher of lemonade and some glasses.
“But you said that I wasn’t allowed to eat in the living room ever since I spilled my juice when I was a little kid”, the young girl stated, referring an incident that had occurred two years before.
“Well, you’re bigger now and I trust you”, her mother answered, smiling at her. “Now go get your Mama from the office and tell her lunch is ready.”
Emily nodded and moved exactly two feet in the direction of the office before hollering, “MAMA! LUNCH!”
Tara cringed. “Emily…”
“Yes, Mommy?”
“When I ask you to get your Mama from the office, I expect you to go to the office and get her. I do not appreciate you yelling in the house.”
“Sorry, Mommy”, Emily apologized slightly drooping.
“Somebody yell, ‘lunch’?” Willow asked as she entered from the hall.
“I did!” Emily cheerfully announced, before catching her mommy’s eye. “Not.” she added, her voice small.
“Okay, everybody dig in”, Tara laughed, sitting down.
They munched in silence for a few minutes, enjoying their sandwiches, before Tara finally decided to speak up.
“Hey, Emily”, she said playfully, “Guess what?”
“What?” the little girl played along.
“Your Mama and I have something we want to tell you.” Tara continued.
“Is it bad?” Emily asked, momentarily worried.
“No it’s not bad”, Willow assured her, “In fact it’s very good. Mommy and I are both very excited and we hope you will be too.”
“Are we going to Disneyland?” Emily squeaked, barely able to contain her excitement.
“Um… no”, Tara answered trying to figure out how her daughter had arrived at such a conclusion. “It’s better than Disneyland.”
“Better than Disneyland?” Emily was in awe. Such an idea was beyond her ability of thinking.
“You see, Emily, you’re going to be…” Willow was interrupted by a frantic knocking at the front door, she looked over to her wife, alarmed. “Who could that be?”
“I don’t know”, Tara replied, rising, she glanced out the window, “It’s Dawn.” The blonde swiftly moved to the front door opening it to find the tall brunette nervously looking back at her. “Dawn with suitcases”, she announced, confused.
“Oh Tara”, Dawn sobbed, throwing herself forward into the other girl’s arms. “It’s over. Rob left me.”
“Oh boy”, Tara muttered, soothingly running her hands up and down the young girl’s back. “Come inside Dawnie, sit down”, she said, leading her inside and setting her in the seat she had just vacated. “Willow, could you get her a glass of water?”
“Sure”, Willow responded, going quickly to the kitchen.
“Dawn, what happened?” Tara asked, trying to get the girl to calm down.
“Rob has discovered that he prefers racquet ball to me”, Dawn bitterly explained.
“Um, well… he is an avid player”, the blonde replied, even more lost, “I mean, I remember when I met him he was talking about how much he and his friend Dave… oh, the OTHER kind of racquet ball.” She realized.
“Ya-huh”, the brunette cried, losing herself in another fit of tears. Tara offered her one of the napkins from the sandwich tray; Dawn took it and blew her nose.
Emily had followed Willow into the kitchen. “Mama, why is Aunt Dawn crying?”
“I don’t know, baby-girl”, Willow answered honestly, “I think she and Rob had a fight.”
The redhead re-entered the living room, glass of water in hand, Emily in tow.
“Here you go, sweetie”, Willow said, handing Dawn the water, before sitting down.
“Thanks, Willow”, Dawn sniffled, still caught up in her peril.
“Well, Dawn, you can’t really blame him for this”, Tara soothed, “I mean, at least Rob figured it out before you two got married.”
“Figured out what?” Willow asked.
“That he’s a fan of Judy Garland”, Tara explained.
“Ooooh”, Willow responded, sinking back into the couch. “Sorry, Dawnie.”
The brunette only blew her nose in reply.
“Dawn, sweetie”, Tara continued gently, “Not to um… sound… what are you doing here?”
“What do you mean?” the young woman countered, obviously piffled, “Rob kicked me out.”
“Yes, but…” Tara began again, then stopped.
“I think what Tara is asking Dawnie”, Willow tried, “Is why are you
here with the suitcases and not at
your house?”
“You mean I can’t stay here?” Dawn was shocked. Could it be her surrogate parents were actually putting her out?
“Dawn, this is a very small house”, Tara explained, “and the fact is it’s about to get even more crowded and I know that Buffy would love to have you home. She misses you a lot…”
“What do you mean ‘more crowded’?” Dawn asked, looking to Willow who still sat reclining on the couch.
“Funny you should ask that”, Willow replied, “as we were just in the process of explaining to Emily…”
“Oh, my God, you’re pregnant!” Dawn shrieked, finally noticing the gentle protrusion of the redhead’s belly. The brunette jumped up from her seat in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, you kind of have been in your own world these past months, Dawn”, Tara answered.
“Mommy?” Emily softly queried, tugging at Tara’s skirt, “What’s peg-ant mean?”
The blonde turned her attention immediately to her daughter, her eyes sparkling. “Pregnant, Emily”, she tenderly corrected. “It means that your Mama is going to have a baby. You’re going to be a big sister.”
“I am?” Emily’s eyes went wide as saucers.
“You are”, Willow confirmed, smiling. “Come sit next to me, you can feel your little sister.”
Emily cautiously approached her Mama, sidling up next to her on the couch. Willow took her daughter’s hand in her own and placed in on the side of her belly. Emily wasn’t sure what to expect, but suddenly she felt a tiny “thump” to her palm, and she jumped a mile. A gigantic grin over took her small face.
“You’re right, Mommy”, she beamed, “It
is better than Disneyland!”
*****
TBC...
Edited by: DarkWiccan at: 6/17/02 9:00:50 pm
by Puff » Sun Jun 16, 2002 2:32 pm 
