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TITLE: Lessons In Love
AUTHOR: Laragh
CHAPTER RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Joss, UPN, FOX, ME and anyone else associated with the television show Buffy The Vampire Slayer own the characters of Willow and Tara and anyone else who may appear, I am simply a lowly viewer, trying to write some happier situations for, who I consider, the greatest TV couple ever.
SUMMARY: Highschool fic! You guys know I'm bad at summaries, so I’m gonna go with my standard 'happy, light reading’
SPOILERS: Completely AU, so I doubt any. At most, the odd reference or piece of dialogue. Not supernatural, no way am I smart enough to write a magic fic
FEEDBACK: I love it.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this is the end. Horribly cheesy and sappy. I had a blast writing, thanks to everyone who read and feedbacked. I'm hoping to start something new soon!
SPECIAL THANKS: Zampsa1975 ,
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Anlorew for taking the time to leave feedback, whether it was a once-off or loyally after every post, I thoroughly appreciate you doing so, it makes writing so much easier!
Epilogue ********
Five Years Later
“There you are,” Tara said, walking out onto the balcony and wrapping her arms around the petite redhead standing out there, “I missed you.”
“Mmhh,” Willow replied, leaning into the embrace, “Sorry, love. Leaving you alone in bed after the first time making love wasn’t my best decision.”
“First time?” Tara asked in disbelief, “I think you’re about six years too late with that sentence.”
“I meant the first time since you finally made an honest woman outta me,” Willow chuckled and held out her hand in front of the two of them, watching her newly-put-on wedding ring glint in the moonlight.
“Finally? Most people would think twenty three is still pretty young to get married.”
“Most people didn’t meet the love of their life when they were seventeen.”
“You were sixteen.”
“That’s very true. Cradle robber.”
“Besides,” Tara smirked and put her hands over her wife’s five-months-pregnant swollen belly, “I had to marry you. I knocked you up.”
Willow grinned broadly and put her own hands over Tara’s, thinking about how they’d decided to have a baby, wanting to do it young so they could spend the most time with the life they created. Willow had gotten pregnant their first time trying with the insemination and both had cried as they watched the little blue line appear on the pregnancy test. They had fallen into each others arms and made love for hours, until exhaustion took over and they settled into just lying together, holding each other.
After a few minutes of holding onto the redhead and tracing circles on her stomach, Tara had reached over to the bedside locker on her side of the bed and opened the drawer, pulling out a small box and opening it between them, asking the redhead to marry her. Willow had, of course, said yes straight away and Tara had told her how she’d had the ring in her possession for six months but had been completely stumped on how to ask.
The next day, Willow came home from work with a ring of her own, proposing to the brunette as well, who giddily accepted. They had spend the next five months planning the wedding as Willow’s stomach grew and had finally made it down the aisle earlier that day, surrounded by Buffy, her boyfriend of two years, Thomas, whom everyone loved; Xander and Anya, who were currently off-again in what had been a tumultuous relationship since Anya started college and Xander joined the workforce, but were close to another reconciliation; all their families and few friends that had been made through college and work.
“That you did, babe. That you did.”
“How’s our boy doing?” Tara asked, kissing her wife on the ear.
Willow turned in the brunette’s arms and walked them over to the sun lounger they had set up on the balcony of the apartment they had been living in for the past two years.
Both girls fell in love with it as soon as they saw it and had moved out of their college dorm room to rent it, Willow doing some programming for a big company on the side to pay. Both had also received scholarships to the University of Sunnydale after high school, and both had knuckled down, with the support of each other. Tara, who had double-majored in English and Education, and Willow, who had majored in Computer Science, got their respective degrees in three years.
The programming Willow had done on the side during college had gotten her a full-time job straight away and Tara was currently teaching English to the students of Sunnydale Middle School. The owner of their apartment had decided to sell at around the same time they were both starting their jobs, and with a little help from Ira and Jen, had managed to make a down payment so they could keep the apartment they loved so much. It was a large place, with three bedrooms, so even when the baby came, which they’d found out only two weeks ago was going to be a boy, they would still had enough room.
“Matthew James,” Willow said, lying down in the lounger and pulling Tara down too so they were facing each other, “Is asleep. Big day for all of us.”
Tara smiled as she heard the name. When they’d gone in for their ultrasound, having already decided to find out the sex, they had decided on a boys name, but were stumped for a girl, so as soon as the technician had said ‘it’s a boy’, Matthew had been officially named and the middle name of James had been decided upon a few days later when Willow suggested it in honour of how they met. Tara didn’t understand straight away, but once the redhead had explained that James = Jim = Gym, she had agreed immediately, thinking it not only marked how they had indeed met, but it was just another perfect example of Willow’s quirky sense of humour that she loved so much.
“Very big day,” Tara agreed, putting a hand on Willow’s belly, “Your parents are married now, bub. How does it feel to be legitimate?”
“It feels wonderful, Mama,” Willow said in a baby voice, “And Mommy likes it too. I can tell, ‘cause her insides are all warm and fuzzy.”
“I don’t know how the hell I got so lucky. I mean, how many people get to marry the first person they fell in love with?”
“I know exactly what you mean… It’s funny, Buffy asked me today while I was getting ready whether I found it weird that I was getting ready to spend my life with the only person I’ve ever been with.”
“Oh. Um, what did you say?”
“That if it was weird knowing I have everything I could ever want or need then call me peculiar ‘cause I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
“No way,” Tara replied, leaning over to kiss her wife, “The luckiest girl in the world is me.”
“I guess dreams can come true,” Willow responded, smiling, “I think I just quoted song lyrics.”
“I think you did,” Tara said, looking contemplative, before standing up and slipping into their living room, looking around their stereo, “In fact…if I remember correctly…”
Tara turned as the opening bars of Gabrielle’s
‘Dreams’ started to play.
“Dance with me?”
“You know I always will,” Willow replied, getting up and wrapping her arms around her wife’s neck, as they started to move to the beat, “Even when you get me in trouble for it.”
“One of these days I’m gonna admit that you actually enjoyed defying a teacher for once.”
“You haven’t gotten it out of me in five years, even with all those promises of sexual favours and when you load me up with alcohol. I stand by my stance that we shouldn’t have disobeyed an authority figure at our Junior Prom-”
“Only Prom. We were banned our senior year, remember?”
“I remember how all our friends refused to go as well and we partied on the beach. But anyway, what makes you think you’re gonna get it out of me now?”
“’Cause I have something much stronger than sex and alcohol,” Tara replied and leaned down to whisper in the redhead’s ear, “I’m your wife…and the mother of your child.”
She pulled back and looked into Willow’s eyes, who looked back adoringly.
“I loved every second of it,” the redhead said quietly, “I love every second of everything we do together.”
Tara’s smile beamed and she twirled the smaller girl around a couple of times, eliciting a giggle and soft kiss from Willow when they were facing each other again.
“So what were you thinking about when you came out here?” Tara asked as the song ended and they both went back to reclaim their positions on the lounger.
“Hmm?”
“Well, I mean you don’t normally get up and come out here when I’m asleep. Do you? Or was it bub?”
“Oh, right. No, normally I’m much too happy in your arms to leave. Not that I wasn’t tonight, I was very happy there… And Matthew was fine too. I was thinking about a lot of things.”
“Good things?”
“Great things. About us and our son. How much I love the both of you… Will you do me a favour?”
“Of course,” Tara replied, moving to get up, “Drink? Food? Is it indigestion?”
“No, no,” Willow chuckled, pulling the brunette back down, “Will you say your vows for me again?”
“Definitely,” Tara responded and cupped one of Willow’s cheeks, “Willow. My beautiful Willow. I never thought that I’d be blessed enough to find the person I wanted to spend my life with when I still in high school. But I did. You taught me the most important things I ever learnt in school, you gave me lessons in love… I got to watch you grow from the girl I fell in love with to the woman I love now… and every step of the way has been magical. You’re my everything, sweetheart. And I promise to spend the rest of my life showing you.”
Willow leaned in for a tender kiss and started to sit up.
“I think it’s about time we got back to bed. I’m suddenly in the mood for that ‘showing’ you promised. Might even have to demonstrate a little myself.”
Tara smiled a sultry half-smile and started to sit as well, getting lost at looking at the moon for a second. Willow saw her staring off and playfully bumped her shoulder.
“What is it?”
“Hmm? Oh it’s just…”
She trailed off and wrapped her arms around her wife’s mid-section.
“The moon is gleaming…I’ve got my woman…and we’ve got the rest of our lives ahead of us. It just doesn’t get any better than this.”
The End