TITLE: Baby Makes Three
AUTHOR: Finey_McFine
RATING: PG13
DISCLAIMER: Willow, Tara and any other BtVS characters, as well as some random dialog, belong to Mutant Enemy. ALL other original characters belong to me! Mention of any ‘real’ people in this fic is brief and pure fantasy.
SUMMARY: Totally AU! Willow Rosenberg is a senior at Sunnydale High. She and her friends are bullied relentlessly until Willow stumbles upon a huge secret and decides to take matters into her own hands. There is no Hellmouth, just lot’s of teen angst, self discovery and of course Willow/Tara goodness...eventually.
Thoughts are in italics FEEDBACK: Yes! Any glaring issues…please send me a PM!
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hi Everyone! I hope you enjoy the early update:) My young one is spending Sunday on an outing with our neighbors, so the wifey and I are taking FULL ADVANTAGE of the alone time.
Actually, we’re going to see a movie and then watch the Superbowl.
All of which translates into an early update! Oh and GO RAVENS!! As always…if you see anything that needs fixing, PM me. Enjoy:) ********************************************
Chapter 22
Willow checked her watch for the about the hundredth time in the last ten minutes as she nervously paced at the foot of her driveway. Checking the time once more she sighed deeply, turned and marched back up the driveway and into the house.
“Mom!” Willow called out loudly.
Sheila emerged from the kitchen in her pajamas and a bathrobe with a cup of coffee in her hands. “Willow, what are you still doing here?”
“Can you give me a ride to school?”
“He’s a no show?” Sheila’s face contorted as if she’d just sucked on a lime. “I can’t say that I’m surprised.”
“Mom please, just let it go. I’m sure he has a good reason.”
“Um hmm, I guess he forgot how to dial a phone as well.” Sheila mumbled as she moved past Willow and up the stairs.
Willow rolled her eyes, her Mother’s disdain for her oldest friend was legendary. “Can you drop me or am I gonna have to walk?”
“Willow, give me a minute to get changed, geez.”
“You don’t need to change, it’s not like you’re getting out of the car. I can’t be tardy. I can get in trouble for excessive tardies you know!” Willow yelled up the stairs after her mother.
Sheila ignored Willow’s dramatic outburst, knowing full well that her daughter did not have
any tardies, let alone any
excessive ones and would sooner have her hair catch on fire than to be late for school. “Settle down Willow. I’m not going in my pajamas and without a bra. The last time I did, Mr. Caruthers decided it would be a good time to stop me in the driveway and discuss world economics.”
Willow snorted with laughter; their elderly neighbor, Mr. Caruthers, was somewhat of a geriatric flirt and couldn’t care less about
world economics.“I heard that!”
A few minutes later both Rosenberg women were in the Mercedes and on their way to Sunnydale High. “So, how are things? You’re so busy these days that we never get a chance to talk anymore.” Sheila said.
“Oh, sorry. Everything’s fine, you know…busy.” Willow answered, having been caught without a ready-made answer.
“Willow, that was lame,” The older redhead chuckled. “I know it’s none of my business, but I don’t why do you continually rely on that Harris boy when he always seems to disappoint you.” Throughout the years Sheila Rosenberg had grown weary of Xander Harris’ antics, especially where Willow was concerned. She was well aware of her daughters’ unrequited crush on the boy, even though Willow assumed she was clueless. She watched as Willow pined for the boy, going out of her way for him; only to be let down time and time again. Willow may be on the verge of adulthood, but she was still Sheila’s little girl and the elder redhead was tired of seeing Willow’s heart continuously broken.
“You and Tara seem to be getting pretty close, why not just ask her for a ride?”
“What!? W-What do you mean close!?” Willow semi-shouted.
Sheila looked at her daughter questioningly, “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not coming down with something are you?”
Oh, I’m coming down with something alright. “No, why do you ask?”
This drive cannot end soon enough.“Oh, no reason…” Sheila smirked in Willow’s direction.
Willow instantly grew flush with embarrassment, “Sorry, I-I didn’t mean to yell.”
Sheila chuckled at her daughter’s theatrics. “Well, I for one am very glad you two hit it off and reconnected after all these years. Tara seems to have grown into a lovely young woman.”
“Yeah…” Willow smiled dreamily.
Lovely doesn’t even begin to cover it. “It’s nice having a girl best friend.”
Sheila grinned widely; it truly was music to her ears. “So, why not ask your best friend for a ride?”
Willow thought for a moment.
Why don’t I ride to school with Tara? Oh yeah, the Cordette thing. “I guess I just don’t want to hurt Xander’s feelings. We don’t get to see each other much anymore.”
Silently, Sheila did a happy dance in her mind. “Oh well…that’s a shame.”
“Gosh Mom, you could at least
try to sound convincing.”
Sheila simply shrugged her shoulders. She certainly did not have any qualms about voicing her opinion where ‘
that Harris boy’ was concerned. “So, would you like for me to pick you up as well? You can go to the store with me, I need to shop for tonight.”
Willow grinned widely, “Sure!” In her haste to get to school, she’d almost forgotten that Tara and her family were coming over for dinner. Her day suddenly brightened.
As Sheila pulled to a stop in front of the school, Willow thanked her for the ride and bounced happily out of the car. Without another single thought of Xander Harris.
*********************************************
Willow waited anxiously outside the classroom door, playing with the straps of her backpack when the bell finally rang and the students began to file out. A wide grin stretched across her face when she spotted Tara; rushing up behind the blonde and tapping her on the shoulder.
“Tara!”
“Hey!” Tara replied, thrilled to see her friend.
“Look at you. All coming out of class and everything.”
“I do that sometimes. Usually at the end part of the class.”
Willow grinned again and poked her tongue out between her teeth; her hands once again going to the straps of her backpack.
“So, is this becoming a regular thing? You and me after class…” When she didn’t get a response, Tara leaned towards Willow, “Hey, I was just kidding around. What’s wrong? You seem kinda nervous or something.”
“Oh sorry,” Willow said, ducking her head shyly. “I was um, trying to keep my hands occupied with something…else, besides…you know, yours,” She whispered.
Tara smiled and nodded in return; she knew all too well how hard it was keeping her hands to herself. She had what amounted to a death grip on her book bag, desperately trying not to reach out and run her fingers down those adorable freckled cheeks.
This is going to be harder than I thought.“So, I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me and the gang today?” Willow asked.
Tara scrunched her forehead, “Oh, I-I didn’t bring anything-”
“I did,” Willow said quickly, “I mean, I brought extra…just in case.”
“You did?” Willow nodded and smiled proudly. “That’s so sweet, of course I will.” Tara said, playfully bumping shoulders as they walked towards the quad.
“I looked for you this morning, but I didn’t see your car in the lot. Were you late?” Willow asked.
“Almost, I kinda overslept and barely made it into my seat in first period before the bell rang.”
“A little night owl keeping you up?” Willow asked knowingly as she opened the doors that lead out to the quad.
“Yeah…twice, so I just put her in my bed again, got comfy and overslept. I’m starting to wonder why I wasted money on a crib,” Tara chuckled.
“Hey guys!” Willow said as they approached the group that was already sitting in a semi-circle and just starting to break open their lunches.
“Hey Willow and…Tara?” Jesse said.
Tara waved shyly, “Hi, everyone.”
“Tara’s going to eat with us today,” Willow announced to the group.
“Cool,” Jesse grinned, jumping up and offering Tara a seat next to him on the bench.
Willow’s eyes narrowed at her friend, knowing full well what his intentions were. “No! She’s sitting with me!” She suddenly shouted a little louder than expected; grabbing a hold of Tara’s arm possessively and pulling her backwards. Willow began to fidget as all eyes looked at her strangely. “I mean, we’re um, sharing a lunch so we kinda need to sit together…thanks though.”
Tara glanced at Willow and smiled at the adorable jealous outburst, before plopping down on the ground; pulling Willow down with her. The others went back to idle chatter as Willow dug through her backpack looking for her lunch bag.
“So, what’d you bring for us?” Tara asked curiously as Willow pulled out a large bag of food.
“Oh um, let’s see…peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, pudding cups, bananas, raisins, cheese, some Cheetos, a brownie and juice boxes!” She exclaimed triumphantly.
Tara giggled, “All my favorites.”
Willow leaned in towards Tara and whispered, “I know.”
As the girls dug into their lunch, Willow noticed that she hadn’t heard a peep from Xander and could feel his eyes boring into her. She looked up, briefly and just as their eyes met, he immediately looked away.
“Why are you here?” Anya blurted, out of the blue.
“What?” Willow asked, looking up to see Anya staring at Tara; whose expression was one of bewilderment.
Anya whipped her head towards Willow. “Why is she here?”
“To eat lunch with me?” Willow replied.
Anya jerked her head back towards Tara. “You can’t have him!”
“Who?” Tara asked, completely confused.
“Xander, that’s who. He’s mine!”
“Oookay…” Tara answered and looked to Willow for an explanation and received a pair of shrugging shoulders instead.
“I don’t
belong to you Anh. I’m not a piece of property.” It was the first words Xander had spoken and judging from his tone, he was clearly annoyed with the girl. She attempted to take his hand, but he quickly pulled it away.
“I’m just saying that…oh forget it!” Anya semi shouted as she rose and stormed off.
Willow eyed Xander suspiciously when he didn’t immediately run after Anya. It had been a specific pattern, a game they liked to play. Anya would get mad and storm off, then Xander would give chase and grovel. Except this time, he never budged. In fact, he didn’t even look up to see where she’d gone.
“Aren’t you going to see if she’s okay?” Willow finally asked.
“Nope,” Xander responded in a flat tone as he took a bite of his sandwich.
“Where were you?” Willow asked.
“When?” Xander looked completely perplexed by Willow’s random question.
“This morning, where were you? I waited like, forever. You were supposed to pick me up for school. Remember?”
Xander looked down at the ground. “Oh…yeah I…” Then he suddenly sat up straighter and looked Willow straight in the eyes with all the confidence he could muster. “I had plans…
other.” He said snidely, using Willow’s own words against her.
“You could have called, I was almost late!” Willow exclaimed.
“Yeah, sorry…” Xander’s words trailed off as something in the distance caught his eye. He nodded and began to furiously shove everything into his backpack. “Anyway, I gotta run, see you later!” He said as he jumped up and darted across the quad.
“Hey! Xander, wait! What about…tomorrow....” Willow’s words fell on deaf ears as Xander quickly disappeared behind the stairs.
Jesse and Willow simply looked at each other with stunned expressions on their faces while Tara continued to remain silent; glancing between the two friends.
“Well,” Jesse said, “This has been a real slice of heaven and as much as I would
love to stick around…”
“I know, I know…see you around Jesse.”
“Bye Will, bye Tara!”
“Bye.” The girls said in unison. Willow propped her elbows on her knees and leaned forward with her hands under her chin. It was all Tara could do not rub a comforting hand across her back and pull her close.
“Will?”
“Hmm?” Willow lifted her hear towards Tara.
“I um, I’d love to give you a ride to school…everyday.” Tara looked deeply into emerald green eyes and they brightened almost immediately.
“Really?”
Tara nodded, “I’ve wanted to ask you for awhile, but I didn’t want to impose on your time w-with Xander.” Willow didn’t answer, just gazed dreamily into Tara’s eyes. “And I promise never to leave you stranded. Sooo, is that a yes?”
“Definitely, I was hoping you’d ask…” Willow lost her train of thought, staring helplessly at Tara’s plump and inviting lips. “God Tara, it’s all I can do not to kiss you right now.”
Tara trembled as the now familiar tingly sensation began to spread throughout her body. “I know,” She breathed, as she began to unconsciously lean towards Willow “I’ve wanted to kiss you from the second I saw you in the hall.”
“You did?” Willow replied, also starting to lean forward.
Tara nodded almost desperately, “Umm hmm.”
Just a few more inches and…“Come on,” Willow said, quickly gathering up the trash and jumping to her feet.
“Where are we going?” Tara asked as she stood and was pulled towards the stairs by her shirtsleeve.
“Someplace private.” Willow said breathily as she dragged Tara up the concrete stairs and towards the school’s bell tower.
“I thought the tower door was locked?” Whispered Tara as they passed several other students on the stairs.
“It is, but I know the combination.”
Tara wasn’t sure how or why the redhead knew the combination and at the moment, she didn’t really care. All she wanted to do was kiss the girl senseless.
Once they arrived at the tower, they waited for a few other kids to pass before Willow quickly dialed the combo into the sophisticated electronic door handle. The light turned green and she turned the knob slowly; cautiously peering around to make sure the coast was clear. Once satisfied, she pushed the door open, pulled Tara inside and smashed their lips together.
“Mmmhhh,” Tara moaned, dropping her bag to the floor and wrapping her arms around Willow’s neck.
Willow did the same with her backpack, freeing her hands to roam across Tara’s back. As the kiss deepened, she pulled Tara tighter against her, until there was no space between them and their bodies were snug against one another.
The kiss lasted several minutes as tongues dueled and hands wandered. “I just can’t seem to get enough of you…” Willow breathed when they finally came up for air.
“Ditto,” Tara said before cupping Willow’s cheeks and pulling their lips back together. Punctuating her words with a kiss. “Mmmhh Willow, I…could…kiss…you…all…day…”
“Okay…” It was the last word that was uttered for more than ten minutes until the first bell rang; forcing the girls back to reality.