Hello people of Pens!
It has been tooooooooo long since my last update. I'd like to apologize but I just can't keep all of the voices in my head silent. *shushes them*
I have absolutely no idea when the next part might appear. I'm honestly lost in so many other projects. I have to go back and read this story from the beginning to refresh my mind about so much of it.
I know that you would like to find out who the next chosen one might be. I promise you that it isn't Abbey. I think that would be lame as $#!@ and a little silly for this story. I'm expecting that it will have little impact on the family, but some on our wonderful slayer duo. Aren't they just adorable??
Anywhooo, I have blathered on for just about all I can stand. I hope that you enjoy this next part and that you'll be patient for what is still rattling around in my brain.
Here you go...............
All previous disclaimers still apply, whatever the heck they were.
Part 17
Willow and Tara sat in the molded resin chairs of the hospital waiting room. Willow picked at the plastic paper clip pinching an envelope and note card together. A messenger had delivered the package of documents to the Bennett house while the family had been at the cabin. Tara flipped the papers back and forth, astonished at what she was reading. Brenda’s handwriting was scribbled across the bottom of each page.
“Sweetie.” Tara covered Willow’s nervous fingers.
Willow looked up. “Sorry, I just can’t believe she did this.” She waved the envelope in her hand.
“I know.” Tara looked back at her lap. “The attorney is very thorough. Look, he even put in his bill for services.”
Willow snickered. “The guy’s gotta make a buck.”
The women were realizing, as they sorted through the documents, the kind of surreal moment that had found them. Their day had started with delicious courses of lovemaking, and traveled from there, to include a hospital waiting room. Could this really be their life?
As they’d prepared to bring Al and Patrick to the hospital, Tara had discovered the package on the table. She cried as she removed the contents. It was filled with pictures and cards. Brenda had returned all the artwork her child had created. Willow was speechless; the boy had made every image, and at the time it had been difficult to send them to the woman in prison. It was clear to the Rosenberg women that Brenda was closing them out.
Willow handed the envelope to her wife. “When I gave it to her, she clutched it like it would save her life. I swear, baby, I thought she would open it.”
“I guess I don’t know her, Will.” Tara put the letter into the attorney’s envelope. “The Brenda I knew… I guess she’s gone.”
Willow touched the pile of documents. “She’s let him go, for good.”
Tara was about to speak when her son’s cast turned the corner, followed by his bright smile.
Buffy was helping Abbey steer the wheelchair. “Just don’t hit the wall.” The chair veered toward the brightly painted concrete. “I said don’t hit the wall.” It scraped at the color as Abbey turned toward her mothers.
“Go faster, Abbey,” Patrick encouraged. His hands met the rubber of the tires, pushing to increase the pace.
Buffy grabbed the handles. “Just keep it slow for now. I’m not standing around for two more hours so that you can get another cast.”
Patrick thumped the white and red striped wrap of plastic resin around his leg. “I like this one better. It’s not as heavy.”
Buffy laughed. “It’s the same, just a different color.”
“Well, white and red are always lighter,” Abbey corrected her aunt. “Everyone knows that.” She winked at her brother before draping a cotton towel over him.
“Do we get to look now?” Willow interrupted. Patrick had asked his mothers if he could go into the office alone. Hesitantly they’d allowed it. Abbey and Buffy met him as they were coming back from the emergency room waiting area.
“Yes, can we see this red and white leg?” Tara smiled as Abbey raised the hospital towel to reveal his newest covering.
“Voila!” Abbey snapped the fabric as she pulled it away. “I present to you… Patrick… swimmer extraordinaire.”
The three women clapped feverously. The doctor appeared behind them.
Tara stood to greet her. “Hello, how does everything look?” She shook her hand. Willow reached across to receive the doctor’s firm grip.
They sat together in the hallway, listening. “He looks great. He sustained a few abrasions on his toes; all very superficial. His femoral repairs look great. The growth is quite amazing and his immune system is handling the graft as if it were his own tissue. We took a few x-rays and I checked the pinpoints. He’s healing beyond our expectations.”
Tara looked at Patrick’s smile. She returned her attention to the doctor. “The fall, and the river…” She hesitated, not knowing what to call the accident.
“You mean my swim?” he said with a proud tone.
Willow winced at the understatement, and tussled his hair playfully. “Yes, Patty, your swim.”
The doctor continued. “He’s been calling it that, but something tells me it wasn’t all that simple.”
His mothers shook their heads.
“I removed the cast and replaced it with this plastic resin. The material is lighter and he’ll be able to move around with more independence. We’ll get him up on crutches in a few weeks and if all goes well he’ll be putting weight on that leg by the end of next month.”
Tara smiled. It was miraculous, the way his body was rejuvenating. “What should we do for now?”
The doctor looked at the tightening circle of family. “Keep doing what you’ve been doing. It seems to be working quite well.” Her words focused on Patrick. “No more swimming for you, little guy. Stay out of the water until this candy cane comes off.”
He raised his small hand. “I promise.”
“Good. Now that we’ve settled that, I have to ask about the gentleman that came in with you. Do you have a next of kin relative that we can contact?”
Buffy’s shoulders tightened, and she asked herself why they would request such a thing. “I suppose we’re his next of kin. Al really doesn’t have anyone of blood relation.”
Patrick looked up at Buffy. His hand grabbed hers and he looked at his doctor. “You don’t have to be blood to be a family.”
The group was speechless. They averted their eyes, each digesting the magnitude of his innocent words. Willow stood to wrap her arm around Buffy’s shoulder. “We’re here for him. Is something wrong?”
“I’m sorry, but legally I can only discuss this with his family.” She stood to walk back to the emergency room. “He’ll be ready in a few minutes. We’ve sent him for some blood work.” The doctor disappeared around the corner.
“Blood work?” Willow looked at Buffy. “Can they do blood work?”
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve had it done. I don’t think anything will come up that’s unusual. It’s not like they’re doing DNA tests or anything.”
“DNA testing? What’s that for?” Al leaned against the corner of the wall. “You checking for something?” His joke met with sour expressions.
“It’s not funny.” Buffy punched his shoulder lightly. “We’re just wondering what the blood draw was for.”
“They just wanted to do a thorough exam. Make sure they get every dime they can from my insurance.” He pulled the cotton wad from the bend of his arm. “That guy stuck me three times. I think they need to spend a little of that money to retrain him. Look at this.” He displayed the needle sticks and discoloration.
“You and Buffy have matching pricks.”
“What?!” Al, Buffy and Tara responded in unison.
Flustered, Willow explained, “Their arms.” Her hand flapped back and forth pointing at Buffy’s shoulder and Al’s needle marks. “They both have the poking spots, and the redness with the bleeding and the things getting stuck in their skin and the bleeding, and the medical attention, and did I mention the bleeding?”
Tara placed her hand over Willow’s babbling lips. “Yes, honey, you mentioned the bleeding.”
Abbey looked at the adults. “Can we go now?”
“Yeah, I want to go home.” Patrick hurried the pace by rolling his palms across the tires of his wheelchair. Buffy and Al followed the children out the door. Willow reached for her wife’s hand.
Tara shook her head. “Matching pricks, Will?”
Willow smiled, shamefaced. “I mentally smacked myself. I just don’t know, sometimes, what is going to come out of my mouth.”
“We really need to give that some attention.” Tara squeezed her wife’s hand.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
The Rosenberg family found comfort being back at the ranch. Abbey moved herself into Patrick’s room and the children discovered the safety of being on the same floor with the adults. Al learned the ritual involved with tent building and the family had never experienced one quite like his.
Patrick’s room was fluffy with billowing bed sheets, ballooned by window fans. He climbed into the tall cowboy’s lap and huddled close. There was a new bond between them, one without words, without conscious understanding, but it was true and unconditional. The child looked up and saw someone to trust.
Al couldn’t fully understand the meaning of the child in his lap, or the young one’s ability to find peaceful slumber there. The cowboy rested his back against the wall, letting the current of air toss the child’s hair. He was grateful. He was filled with more emotions than he’d felt in years and he let the moment move around him, like the swirling breeze from the ticking fan.
Abbey smacked her hand against the pile of cards, stealing them away from her aunt.
Buffy hated playing with Abbey. They’d decided on a friendly game of slap jack and Buffy was no match for the child. She was sharp but the young girl had a perfect eye and special technique. “You lose again, Aunt Buffy.”
“I’m getting used to it, Abbey.” She smiled. “One more?”
“I’m kinda tired.”
Buffy nodded. “Are you going to stay in here for good?”
“I like the fort. I think I want to sleep in here with them.” She pointed at Al and Patrick. The two were snuggled against the wall, lost in their soft snoring.
Buffy rolled out a blanket on the floor and patted the spot for her niece. “Here you go.” She tapped Al on the foot. “Al.”
His eyes opened. “Mm hmm.” He grumbled
“You going to stay in here with them, or are you coming up with me?”
“I like the fort, Aunt Buffy. Can I sleep in here?” He fought back a smile.
She pinched the bottom of his foot. “You can stay but they both snore.” Buffy crawled out of the fort. “Goodnight.”
The tall cowboy followed her out. “You’re just going to leave me in there?” He wrapped himself around her, resting his hands across her chest.
“I gave you a choice. You want the snoring kids, they’re all yours.” She reached up to hold his hands in place.
He tried to pull away. He wanted to touch her more then anything but he was unsure. For all his joking he was still inexperienced and he didn’t want to disappoint Buffy.
Her hands squeezed around his. “Don’t.”
His shoulders tightened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
She looked up, craning her neck toward his face. “That’s not what I meant.” She reached a hand up to his neck. Her fingers slid into the thick stubble of his hair. “Don’t be afraid to hold me. I like to have your arms around me.”
They stepped together, moving to the living room. The house was quiet and the rumble of the day had transformed into peace-filled darkness. Buffy turned and led them to the couch.
“It’s really been a day, hasn’t it?”
“Day?” Al fell back into the crumpled sofa. “Try weeks, Buffy. The last few weeks have been a little strange.”
“I guess I’m used to it. I’ve been doing strange for years.”
He tugged her sleeve. “Sit with me.”
Buffy took the space of the couch beside him. “Being a slayer makes normal seem abnormal. The bizarre is really comforting.”
“I don’t want to feel that way.” He reached to take her hand. “What’s going to happen now, Buffy?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.” She watched his hand wrap around her own. It was strong and coarse and it felt right against her calloused palm.
“I don’t know the rules of being a Vampire Slayer. I don’t know what has happened to me and now to some other.” His fingers tightened as he shifted into the corner of the couch. “Tell me what happens now.”
“Now.” She smiled at him. It was a powerful moment. Buffy knew that part of this man had been a woman, but for her that was only science. She felt connected to Al, all that he was and all that he’d become; she could see herself in him and she liked how it made her feel. “I don’t know. I’m the oldest surviving slayer. I’m still learning about it myself.”
“But you’ve been through this…” he hesitated before adding, “twice.”
“There’s something you should know about the second time.” She looked up as the sound of feet on the stairs broke the moment.
“I’m sorry, are we interrupting?” Willow stopped at the bottom of the staircase.
Buffy shook her head. “Your timing is perfect. I could use some help.”
“Help?” Tara sat in the chair, directly across from Buffy and Al. “You look so serious, what’s going on?” Willow sat on the floor in front of her lover, tucking herself between Tara’s legs.
Buffy leaned forward. “I was going to tell Al about Glory and the porthole. I think you can fill in some of the blanks that followed.”
“The kids are asleep?” Willow stretched to look toward Patrick’s room. The story was sad and full of personal moments that she didn’t think her children would understand.
“Yeah, they’re out cold.” Al let go of Buffy’s hand and moved it around her shoulder. He could sense the tension between the women. “Something tells me this isn’t going to be very pleasant.”
Tara looked at Buffy, who shrugged her shoulders and looked to Willow to rescue her from the storytelling.
“It was like a tidal wave. Those days before Buffy…” Willow couldn’t say the word. “Glory was this hell god bitch and Dawnie was her one way ticket home.” Willow looked up at her lover. “There’s so much to this story. What do you want me to share?”
Tara hugged her wife. “Whatever it takes. It’s the past, sweetie. We can’t change any of it now.”
“I guess you could say that Glory took a big part of each of us. She smashed us again and again until we had nothing.” Willow felt the tears roll down her cheeks. “We did things. I did things. I still can’t believe that I was that person, that I am that person.” Her head lay against Tara’s thigh. She squeezed hard, trying to forget the frantic moments.
“You found me, Willow, that’s all that matters.” Tara ran her fingers across her wife’s face and through the tangles of red hair.
Al looked at Buffy. The moment between Tara and Willow seemed private and he felt uncomfortable witnessing such vulnerability. Buffy reached to touch Willow’s hand. “You found us all, Will. You brought us back as a family. You protected Dawn when I couldn’t and made her feel loved when I was gone.”
“Gone?” Al interrupted.
“Well, it’s more complicated.” Buffy’s lip stretched nervously.
“You said that, too.” The hesitation between the three women elevated his anxiety. “What happened?”
Tara began. “Glory was looking for the key to her hell gate and that was Dawn. For some reason Glory thought I was the key… and she came after me, instead.”
Willow continued. “That bitch took Tara, touched her. Did things.”
Al’s eyes widened. “She attacked you?”
“What she did was take my Tara and left behind an empty shell of the woman I knew. She killed her, only she left her heart beating and her body starving for her own soul. Every time I looked into her beautiful eyes, she didn’t even know who I was.” Willow let her tears fall.
“Will, sweetie, I was always in here.” Tara wrapped around her, resting her hand over Willow’s heart.
“What does this have to do with Buffy?” Al was confused and lost in the drama of the story.
“After Tara’s attack, we ran. We got the hell out of dodge.” Buffy waited for Willow to compose herself. She knew the story would become more intense as she continued and her best friend would have to explain the missing months. “Glory found us and took Dawn. I couldn’t lose her. Not so soon after losing my mom.”
“I’m sorry.” Al watched the exchange of looks between them. It was a difficult story to share but he wanted to know what had happened to Buffy.
“Don’t be. There are reasons for everything.” Tara encouraged Willow to continue.
“After Dawn was taken, we all kinda shifted into automatic. Buffy was hell bent on saving her sister and I was going to do anything and everything in my power to bring Tara back. So we did. Buffy and I fought Glory. I took Tara and Buffy took Dawnie.”
“Somehow I sense that I’m getting the watered down version of this story. Am I right?”
“We’re not even close to near beer on this one.” They shared a smile to break the tension. Willow continued. “By the time we got to Dawn, the porthole was already opening. The only way to close it was for Dawn to die.”
“I couldn’t let her.” Buffy interrupted. “So I went in her place.”
“You went how?”
Buffy stood. She crossed the room and stared out into the night sky. The ranch was dark, the only light coming from the quarter crescent moon in the sky. “Dawn was tied up like a sacrifice. I told her that she should have a chance to live.” Buffy’s breath frosted the glass of the window. “I was so tired of fighting. I wanted to stop.” She drew a line through the fog. “I was the sacrifice. I jumped and I passed through to someplace so beautiful.” Her hand flattened and wiped the glass clean. She turned around. The expressions that met hers were a mingling of emotion.
Willow’s face was stained with tears, matched by her wife’s. Al was horrified. He’d wondered about Buffy’s second experience with death, but this wasn’t what he’d considered. He cleared his throat, hoping his words would come with strength, not the hollow pitch that rested like a stone. “How did you survive?” He watched as his girlfriend wrapped her arms around her body. He could see a chill move through her.
“We brought her back.” Tara spoke just above a whisper. There was shame and regret in the words. “We brought her back with magic.”
Willow squeezed Tara’s leg. “No, baby, I brought her back. I used some very dark magic that I took from some very dark places.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” Al pulled Buffy into his arms. “How long did it take?”
“It took a few months. I had to collect the elements for the spell and some of them were very obscure.” Willow was nervous and could sense the rising emotion in the tall cowboy.
“She was dead for months and you… you… I don’t even know what you did.”
Buffy turned in Al’s arms. She placed her hand over his heart. “Shh, it’s alright.” Buffy’s jaw was stiff. She still felt the loss of such peace. It was a feeling, an experience that she’d never fully overcome. “I was in a beautiful place.”
“I’m sorry, Buffy.” Willow’s voice was hesitant as she wiped her tears on the drape of her sleeve. “I know I stole you from…”
“No.” Buffy dropped down to the floor in front of Willow. “You were afraid.” She placed her hands on Willow’s knees, shaking them until she looked into her eyes. “What you did, you did out of love.” Buffy’s eyes were wet with tears. “I understand that now, and we all lost something when you did that spell.” Buffy looked up at Tara, whose eyes glazed with unshed tears.
“I don’t understand any of this.” Al sat back on the couch. The information he’d heard was unreal and the continuation fueled his mixed emotions.
“After Buffy died, we tried to fill the empty space.” Tara looked at Buffy. “We tried so hard to do what you do.” She looked up at Al. “Buffy’s very special.” Tara put her hand on Buffy’s shoulder. “You came back so sad but we needed you so desperately.”
“It was wrong for us to take you. I know that now.” Willow’s voice cracked through her whisper. “You make it all so easy.”
“So let me get this straight.” Al interrupted. “She was dead for months. I’m guessing after all her work fighting evil, she found an eternal place in heaven. And you took her from there?”
Tara looked at Al. “We didn’t know.” Her words were sharp and defensive. “Glory was a hell god and we didn’t know what dimension Buffy fell into.”
“Stop!” Buffy interrupted. “Al, honey. It’s alright. It was hard, but I’m alright.” She placed her palm on Al’s knee. “What Will did… what Xander and Anya and Tara helped her do, it was the right thing. I’m so happy to be here, to be back with them.” She pulled herself up on the couch. “I would have missed Abbey’s birth. I would have missed Patrick.” She closed her eyes. “I would have missed you.” Her hand rested on his thigh.
“I’m glad we didn’t miss each other.” He put his arm around her shoulder.
Willow dried her eyes. “I took chances with our lives. It was stupid and dark and I could have really messed things up.” She squeezed between Tara’s legs. Tara bundled around her.
“You almost lost the love of your life, Will.”
“What do you mean?” Al looked at Tara. He knew Tara well and could never imagine her with any person other then Willow.
“Magic.” Willow arched up. “It took some serious power to bring Buffy back.” She turned away from her wife, directing her words to no one in particular. “I’m sure you feel your new power.” She looked directly at Al. “Your Slayer strength.”
He nodded.
Willow continued. “When it came to you, it was a rush, the way it tore you to the ground.”
“Yeah, it was very powerful.”
Buffy shook her head. “It was like my entire body got a triple double espresso.”
Willow looked at Buffy. “Sure, like that.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Her struggle to control the darkness inside her was a subject she hated to remember. “I called upon some pretty dark magics. Magics I had no business being near.”
Tara watched her lover pace the room. Willow was her rock, her safe place. They’d conquered so much in their time together that the darkness in Willow seemed like just a memory, rarely had she thought of the months they’d spent apart.
“So I’m guessing the magic gave you the same triple double that Buffy and I got?” Al squeezed Buffy closer to his side.
“Throw in the malevolence channeled through a Hell god and the backwash of some wicked herbs, and you’ll be about halfway to the power that I was channeling.”
“Sounds pretty intense.” Buffy was hearing the specific details for the first time. She knew that Willow had struggled with magic and that resurrecting had changed her power, but she had no idea how it had affected her physically.
“Triple double intense,” Willow added with a forced smile. “Now, imagine coming into your powers as a slayer, and not telling anyone. Sure, I was doing spells of protection and transfiguring and wiping out ten vamps at a time, but every time I used light magic darkness seeped into it, seeped into me.” She paced nervously. “Before I realized it, I was using spells of darkness that I researched with Giles.” She avoided direct eye contact. Her next confession was a hard one to make. “I liked the power. It made me feel like I was special.”
“You are special, Will.” Tara’s eyes followed her wife as she paced the room. There was a time when she’d been afraid of the darkness inside her and now she remembered that Willow had felt the same way.
“I forgot what was important…who was important.” She looked at Al. “With great power comes great responsibility. Someone reminded me of that.”
Al and Buffy looked at Tara. She covered her face, hiding the blush of her cheeks. “Something you’d like to share?” Buffy asked.
Tara smiled. “Not really.” She waited for Willow to look at her. “We reminded each other, sweetie.”
“I understand magic now. I suppose I understand exactly what I have and I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that.”
Al watched Buffy. He noticed the way she looked at Tara. How she studied the way that Tara could love her wife without word or touch. There was an understanding between the three of them, an understanding that went beyond the pain of past mistakes. As he watched them he wondered, and asked, “You said Willow almost lost Tara, do you mind if I ask what happened?”
“I forced Tara to leave me. I broke rules and most of all I broke her heart.” Willow leaned against the trim surrounding the doorway.
“You made mistakes.” Tara looked into Willow’s eyes. Buffy and Al disappeared and all she could see was her lover’s regret. “I made mistakes too, Will.” She walked across the room. Her body ached as the distance between them filled with past doubts and misunderstandings. “We’ve both used magic to hide from truth.”
Willow couldn’t help defending Tara. “You never meant to hurt me.” She stared at her wife. “You were afraid.”
“Fear can push us to do terrible things.” Tara touched her wife’s chin.
Willow closed her eyes. She remembered that night. The moment the front door closed at Buffy’s house. The moment her future seemed wrecked forever.
Tara’s hand moved across the redhead’s cheek. “Look at me, Will.”
“Tara, please.” Her tears forced their way through tightly closed eyelids. “Please.”
Tara insisted. “Willow Rosenberg, don’t you dare hide from me.” She waited, knowing that her lover would always come to her.
Willow looked up. The eyes that met hers were forgiving, true, filled with love so unconditional that the energy released split her soul. “I’ll never forget what I did to you.”
Tara opened her arms. “I love you, Will. I know you’ll never forget, but I’ll always forgive.” Her hands fell along each of Willow’s cheeks. She rested her forehead against her lover’s.
Buffy and Al watched the exchange. It was raw and honest. Buffy could remember a time when she wished to have everything that Willow and Tara shared, a love so unguarded and pure. She’d never fully understood how the two had struggled to rebuild their relationship after so much had happened. Al watched it all with limited understanding. He’d only just discovered the supernatural side of being and to hear what his friends had done, what they’d survived, was shocking.
Willow felt her wife’s thumbs wipe away her tears. “I’m so sorry. If I’d thought about Glory and what she did to you, how she left you so empty… I was so selfish.”
“I was equally as selfish when I cast that spell in the magic box, when those demons almost killed all of you.” Tara pulled Willow into her shoulder. “I was so afraid I’d lose you. I would have done anything.”
“That’s different.” Willow pulled away. They stood face to face. “You didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“And neither did you.”
“Umm.” Al cleared his throat. “It seems like you two could go round about on this subject.” He shook his head. “I think I get the point.”
Buffy slapped his shoulder.
“What?” He nudged her side. “I was just pointing out that…”
“I’m sorry, Al.” Willow looked at her friends. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s not that.” He leaned forward, resting his arms across his knees. “I just wondered how Buffy came back. I didn’t realize it would bring up so many sad memories.”
Tara led Willow back to the chair. She sat down and pulled her lover into her lap. “We could keep you awake for days with the bad times. We’ve certainly had our fair share.”
“Unfortunately, I can relate.” He rubbed the bruises on his arm. The superficial marks were fading but the experience was still very fresh in his head.
“Will you move into the house and stay with us?” Tara looked at Al.
Buffy smiled and nudged the man. “Yes, please.”
“I’d like to, but I’m not sure that it would be right.” His palms fell to his knees. He rubbed them across his thighs nervously. “With the kids and all it might be inappropriate.”
Buffy grabbed one of his hands. “You can stay across the hall from me.”
Al shook his head. “You could come and stay with me?”
“I can’t,” she said. “If Patty needs anything…”
“We’ll come and get you.” Tara held her wife closer. “You’re across the yard, Buffy.”
“He won’t understand. He’ll freak out if I’m not here.”
“He’ll be fine. If something happens, I’ll stay with him and Willow can go and get you.”
The room was heavy with emotions. Willow was exhausted from the day and Tara wanted to take her wife to bed. She knew that when they met behind closed doors the pain of past mistakes would be shed. They would hold each other until it was right again. It was how they worked, it was their truth. The past had shaped them, molded them into something so strong. Tara knew that Willow was holding it together, but more than anything she needed to let it all go.
“I don’t know.” Buffy looked at Al. “You sure you can’t stay here in the main house?”
“Not yet.” He stood. “I think the kids need some time to adjust to things and I think I do too.”
Buffy looked up at him, her eyes wide and innocent. She didn’t understand what Al was saying. “Are you upset? Is it me?”
He held his hand to her.
Buffy reached up and felt his fingers fold around her own.
“I assure you, that I am not freaked.” He smiled at her. “I am very eager to be in this house, with this family. You are all very important to me.”
“You promise?”
Al walked toward the back door. “Will you come with me?”
Buffy followed him as Willow and Tara climbed the stairs. She heard the bedroom door close behind them.
Willow heard the back door close. She waited for footsteps on the stairs. She heard nothing and in that moment she knew where the slayers would spend the night. It made her smile. It was right for them to be together. It was right for each member of their family to be in the safety that they would find as the light of the quarter crescent moon faded behind the thick midnight clouds.
TBC..................
Questions? Comments? Thanks for reading!
_________________ Urn of Osiris"A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person's brow." C. Brower
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