So here's the thing.
There was more to this. But my computer glorped it. Honest. It got eatten.
And...I'm kinda posting this without permission from Jessie. So...if she kills me, I'm really sorry.
Um...if I'm able to recover the glorped portions, I'll just edit them in. I'll let you know if I do it. But... they weren't that important, I don't think.
*Sigh* Damned virus.
-Kerry.
*****************
There was a knock on her door that startled Willow slightly. She was dressed simply in a pair of boxers and a tank top. “Come in,” she called, running her fingers through her still wet hair.
Tara poked her head around the corner. “Hi.” She paused at the top of the steps, looking around. Her eyes rested on a photo atop the dresser: Willow and herself at the park under ‘their’ tree picnicking. The photo had been a surprise from Buffy, having caught the candid shot.
“Hi,” Willow replied, smiling slightly. Her mind had been going constantly, trying to process the words of wisdom from Dawn. “Did you have fun at Xanders?”
Tara nodded. “Anya’s pregnant.”
“Oooh,” Willow cooed. “A baby Harris. That’s just an adorable thought.”
Tara’s hair was piled loosely on the top of her head, held there with a mere pencil. As she nodded in agreement, several tendrils danced free, framing Tara’s face. “They’re pretty excited. Anya’s planning the first of many baby showers. What about you? Did you have a good date?”
Willow shrugged again. “She’s a sweet girl.”
“Oh.”
“Dawn was here waiting for me when I came home,” Willow said, walking over to the small microwave that was at the far end of the attic apartment. She pulled a kettle of water from the unit, the steam visibly rising from the spout. “She said you had a rough evening.”
Tara felt her cheeks blush slightly.
“A cup of tea might help? Its herbal. All good with the leaves and stuff,” Willow said, smiling as she poured two mugs then picked one up and offered it to Tara.
“What kind?”
“The headache relieving kind,” Willow said with a grin, grabbing a bottle of Tylenol from the counter and handing it to Tara as well.
Tara smirked and popped two of the pills. “Is it really that obvious?”
“Nope,” Willow admitted. She smiled and changed the subject as they sat on the throw rug and leaned against the foot of Willow’s bed. “Has Hannah always been the night-owl kind of girl? I just tucked her in for the third time.”
Tara nodded, sipping her tea. She took a moment before speaking to savor the taste of Willow’s homegrown peppermint licorice tea. “It’s normal. She’s usually up and about several times during the night.”
“That must be a pain for you. Being up all that time, I mean.”
The blond shrugged. “I guess I’m used to it. I usually get about four hours of sleep a night, if I’m lucky. I work all day when she’s at school and then I do some more work from my office at home. It’s not too bad, I guess.”
“I wish you didn’t have to do it alone.”
“I was pretty lucky, Will. The hardest years were her infancy and Dawn was there to help with that. Now it’s just a matter of getting in naps whenever I can,” Tara said with a chuckle.
“I know…I just…honestly, Tara, I wish I was there. I know it’s completely my fault that I wasn’t there and that you left but…I wanted kids, too, damnit and now it’s too late because you’ve already got a kid. She’s your kid, she’s an awesome kid, but she’s yours not ours and I wanted a kid that would be ours. And,” Willow stopped, realizing she had completely gone into angry babble-mode. “Shutting up now.”
A million responses ran through Tara’s head but there wasn’t one that was appropriate. She grimaced as a knot settled near her temples.
Willow watched the reaction out of the corner of her eye. She knew that face very well; Tara-headaches weren’t uncommon. “Here,” she said quietly, taking the mug of tea from Tara’s ands and then using a gentle pressure to guide Tara’s shoulders into her lap. Willow warmed her fingers around her mug before settling them onto Tara’s temples and rubbing ever so softly.
“Mmm.” Tara cooed, her body relaxing into Willow’s touch.
“Good Mmm?” Willow whispered.
“Very good Mmm,” Tara replied, her eyes closed. She reached up and briefly covered one of Willow’s hands with her own. “I had forgotten how good your hands feel.”
Willow smirked. “Better watch it, Ms. Mclay. If over-complimented, these hands have quite the tendency to wander.”
Tara smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind for the next massage I’m getting.“ She opened one eye cautiously looking up at Willow. “That is if Shay will let me borrow you for that every now and then.”
“Shay doesn’t get to tell me who to give my affections to,” Willow replied without missing a beat.
“Girlfriends usually have that privilege.”
Willow felt sassy; “Too bad she’s not my girlfriend.”
“The date went that badly?” Tara asked.
“The date was casual, Tara,” Willow said. “And if you want to know if I’m dating her, you can just ask.”
“I can?”
“I wish you would,” the redhead said, running her fingers
through Tara’s locks, massaging the woman’s scalp.
Tara moaned lightly at the touch. “I wish I had known that. I would have asked you sooner.”
Willow closed her eyes, too, reveling in the quiet closeness of their bodies. “You used to ask me anything.”
“That was a long time ago. Things are different now.”
“Only because you want them to be,” Willow said.
“They are different, Will. You know that. I can’t play games. If it were just me, I may have pinned you to the wall and ravished you by now,” she said, both women chuckling at the mental picture of ‘possessive Tara.’ “But now I’ve got Hannah to think about and I just can’t risk-“
“I’m not playing a game,” Willow said quickly, interrupting Tara. “I don’t do that, Tara. And I wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt you. Or Hannah.”
“Not on purpose but.-“
“Not ever.”
Tara nodded, rocking slightly into Willow’s touch. “Every time you walk into a room it’s like I’m seeing you all over again for the first time,” she whispered, not sure what made her admit that.
Willow nodded. “My heart does this funny thing where it decides to skip a beat. And…any time I smell you in the room, weird things happen to the rest of my body, too,” she said, blushing as she spoke.
Tara smiled, her body almost vibrating with contentment when Willow’s talented fingers moved to the knot at the base of her neck. “Headache’s gone. You’re a miracle worker.”
Willow smiled. “The bed downstairs is probably lumpy. We haven’t flipped the mattress in years.”
“I’d sleep with Hannah, but she’s a pain to share a bed with,” Tara said with a chuckle, rolling onto her side and gazing up at Willow; a million thoughts swimming in her mind.
“Why don’t you just rest here for a while?” Willow offered, tugging at the quilts on the bed behind her. “The bed’s really comfortable and…I’ve got some work to do so I’ll go use my laptop and you can sleep.”
“You don’t have to go,” Tara offered, yawning.
“I do,” Willow admitted shyly. “Because if I stay, we’ll either fight or cuddle and right now I just kinda want you to relax. I think you need it.”
Tara nodded, sliding off of Willow’s lap and into the plush bed. She curled into the comforters and pillows, breathing deeply the smell of her once-lover and re-acclimating that scent to her soul.
“Get some sleep.” She ran her hands quietly over the covers, tucking Tara in. She blew out the small candle that was on her nightstand and headed silently downstairs to the living room.
Seriously, though, it was wonderful. I can't wait for more! 
Willow has to go see her...
I don't get it. 
at: 7/4/02 2:08:46 pm