• Title of the story: Two Little Witches
• Author name: Pavlov'sBell a.k.a. Colton
• Email:
colton625@live.com• Feedback: If anyone wants to, feel free. I don't bite
• Spoilers: Pretty much everything till the end of "The Gift"
• Rating: PG
• Pairing: W/T
• Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the series or any of the characters. They belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
• Summary: After one of their spells goes awry, Tara and Willow find themselves turned back into children. Still somewhat unsure of where to take her life, Buffy finds herself wanting to know what it's like to have children around the house and in her life. Deciding to temporally 'adopt' the two girls, she soon finds out that being a 'parent' isn't all that it's cracked up to be…
Warning: Implied/Mentions of spanking in this chapter.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 6
"But Aunt Buffy…" Willow groaned, her arms crossed over her chest and her lips morphed into a pout. "I don't like Aunt Anya…"
"I told you, Wills. No-one else isn't doing anything. Anya has to come watch you because me and Dawn are going out to dinner."
"Why can't we come, Aunt Buffy?" Tara asked, her arms swaying both herself and Willow side to side innocently. "We'd be good…"
"Because it's…
stuff. You're too young for it." Buffy answered, still trying her best to not make either Willow or Tara remember that she was the Slayer. "That's why."
"No fair…" The red-headed girl answered, her lips still retaining their pout. "We wanna come with you…"
"Nope. You're staying home. Besides, you guys will have more fun here."
"We can play lots and lots of games, Willow, I promise…" Tara added, her lips pressing against her companion's cheek in a quick peck. "We could play dress-up, if you want."
"See? Now that you're all better, you'll have a lot more fun." Buffy said, her own lips forming a smile. "Being sick isn't fun, is it?"
"Uh-uh." Shaking her head, the pout finally disappeared from Willow's lips as a small giggle escaped from them.
"Now, you guys remember what happens to little Witches who can't behave themselves, right?" The blonde Slayer asked as she knelt down in front of the two children. Squirming slightly where she stood, Willow nodded and bit her bottom lip.
"Naughty Witches get put in time out." She answered, the consequences of not listening have been 'driven' into her head within a short period of time. Buffy felt a little guilty about doing so, but if it would make the red-head feel better when she was back to her normal, adult self, she would buy her friend a dinner, along with Tara.
"Good." Buffy answered, her hand reaching out to gently ruffle up Willow's pig-tailed hair. Shaking her head as her hands flew to straighten out her now messy hair, the red-headed child let out a small whine as she did so.
"Aunt Buffy!" She said, her hands effortlessly straightening out her tresses. "You messed up my hair!"
"Yeah, I did. Watcha gonna do about it?"
"I'm gonna get you!" Willow said, her tone serious despite the joking tone that Buffy's voice had held in its words. Charging at the older girl, the red-headed child whined in frustration as the Slayer held her hand against her friend's head, effectively stopping her in her tracks.
"Nuh-uh." Grinning ear-to-ear, Buffy chuckled at the sight of her oldest friend struggling against her extended hand. "You ain't going nowhere."
"Yes I am!" Nearly growling the response, Willow tried reaching out and moving Buffy's arm only to find that her tiny arms merely slapped against the stronger woman's arm. "Let me go!"
"You're silly…" Tara said, a seemingly endless amount of giggles escaping from her body. "I like silly Willow."
"Maybe you should be silly to Tara, Wills." Eager to make sure that Willow wouldn't waste all of her energy merely trying to 'attack' her, Buffy picked the red-head up under her arms and turned her around to face her companion. "Tara likes it when you're all funny."
"I do!" Her giggles still refusing to cease, Tara held her arms out as her Willowtree came close enough for her to envelope the other child in a hug. "I love all my Willows."
"Yes you do." Buffy added, her smile only continuing to grow from a mixture of amusement and awe. Continuing to observe the slight hug-fest that was happening in front of her, the Slayer's attention was only diverted when the sound of the door-bell ringing rang out through the entire house. Their tiny heads turning towards the sound's origin, Willow and Tara both looked up at Buffy.
"Can we get the door?" Tara asked, her eyes widening slightly as she did her best to give 'puppy dog eyes' to the older girl. "Pretty please?"
"Yeah, go ahead." Nodding, the older woman watched as the two Witches scrambled to the door, although Tara showed the most enthusiasm of the two. Jumping slightly in order to wrap her hand around the door-knob, the blonde-haired girl turned it and opened the door.
"Aunt Anya!" Tara said, her eyes lighting up slightly as she saw the older girl standing in front of them.
"I'm here. I was told there'd be money?" Her mind immediately focusing on what Buffy had promised her on the phone, Anya tilted her head slightly as she spoke.
"I've got it." Rolling her eyes in a slightly irritated manner, the Slayer reached into her pocket and pulled out a few bills. Counting them before handing them to the other woman, she looked up the stairs towards the second floor. "Dawn, come on, we've gotta go!"
"Aunt Buffy, I don't want you to go…" Willow said, the pout that had been present upon her expression earlier returning. "I wanna have you stay here."
"We're gonna come home later, ok? I promise." Kneeling down in front of the red-head once more, Buffy again offered a small smile. "We'll bring you and Tara something, ok?"
"Promise?" Her green irises lighting up slightly as she asked the question, Willow squirmed slightly where she stood.
"I promise."
"Ok, I'm ready." Bounding down the steps, Dawn smiled at her older sister slightly.
"That's my jacket." She said, noticing the jean jacket that the younger Summers had decided to wear out.
"So…?" Making a small face that silently said 'Does it matter?', Dawn looked down at Willow and Tara. "You guys be good, ok?"
"Ok, Aunt Dawn. We promise." Nodding, Tara smiled and wrapped an arm around the older girl's leg. Following suite, Willow closed her eyes and sighed.
"Come on guys, I can't go anywhere if you two are hugging my leg for the rest of eternity."
"Awwww…" Whining at the order, Tara and Willow nevertheless let go of Dawn's leg. Chuckling at the sound, the two Summers girl walked out the door with a final, small look back at the two children. Immediately looking up at their babysitter as soon as their 'aunts' were gone, the two children waited silently for the former Vengeance Demon to say something.
"Um…you guys know how to play board games, right? That didn't go away when you did the spell?" Anya asked, slightly confused on what she should be doing. Granted, she and Xander had babysat Dawn multiple times before, but she was a teenager and…in her own words, easier to deal with. She had no idea of what she was going to do with the two Witches as children.
"I like Monopoly." Giving a small nod as she spoke, Willow grumbled an unintelligible sentence under her breath that roughly translated to something about not liking to play games with Anya. Not hearing the grumble, the former Vengeance Demon smiled slightly.
"I like it too. Lots of money involved…even though it's not real money. That would make the game even better…"
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"What do you mean you don't know how to count the money?!" Her mouth forming an 'o' as it hung open, Anya's mind was still struggling to understand what the small child that Tara had turned into was telling her. "That's like an essential thing! It's the most important thing in the world!"
"I'm n-not good at Math…" Tara answered, her head dropping low slightly, as if she were ashamed at what she had just admitted to the former vengeance demon. Frowning at her companion's response, Willow's expression twisted into a determined and protective one.
"I'll help her! Don't make fun of her because she can't count good." The red-head said, her arms pulling the other child close to her. "Meanie!"
Rolling her eyes at the child's insult, Anya picked up the dice and rolled them across the spread-out Monopoly board. Watching the two white cubes roll flawlessly across the cardboard object, Tara laid her head against Willow's shoulder. As they finally stopped, and revealed a total of five, the former Demon growled slightly.
"That lands me in jail." She said with a roll of her eyes as she moved her piece across the board to the required space. "I should be putting men in jail, not going there myself."
Giggling in response to their babysitter's statements, both Tara and Willow's expressions were now filled with nothing but wide grins. Regardless of what she thought about her 'babysitter', the red-headed child knew that an angry Anya was a funny one. She had always found it amusing that the former vengeance demon was more than likely to have a melt-down over the idea of actually ignoring someone's words or actions. Especially if it involved either losing money or rabbits. Seeing her starting to get angry over Monopoly? This just made everything seem a little better.
The dice had barely left her hand and fallen into Tara's extended palm when the tell-tale sign of a timer going off in the kitchen sounded. Her head lifting its attention from the board in front of her, Anya returned to her feet and started towards the kitchen.
"Don't cheat!" She said, casting a small glare over her shoulder at the two children sitting together. Watching their babysitter leave the room, Willow giggled slightly as got onto her feet.
"Where are you going, Willow?" Confused at where her companion was going off to, Tara was on her feet soon enough as well. Following the red-head, neither Tara nor Willow's steps made any sounds, thanks to the footed pajamas both of them had been dressed in. Moving up the stairs in a quick, but stealthy manner, the two children moved into the room they shared, and just as quietly shut the door slightly behind them.
"I wanna play a trick on Aunt Anya…" The red-head finally explained, her mind full of ideas on how to do so.
"What do you mean, Willow?" Tara asked as she curiously watched her companion pull a stuffed bunny out of the closet and placed it in the middle of the floor. "I…I like Aunt Anya…she's funny…"
"But I don't!" Willow answered, her green eyes filled to their brim with mischief. Looking down at the stuffed rabbit, she smiled at her fellow child before sitting down.
"Do you think my Magick can make it scare Aunt Anya?" She asked, looking up at Tara with a smile tugging on her lips. "I wanna make her freak out. She's funny when she's freaking out over bunnies."
"But that's kinda mean…" Tara said, a small frown appearing on her expression. "S-Should we do that? Aunt Buffy might be mad at us…I don't w-wanna go in time out…"
"But she might think its funny…" Willow countered, a pout emerging on her lips to replace her smile. "Besides, Aunt Buffy doesn't have to find out…Aunt Anya might get scared and leave…"
"But Aunt Anya would tell her…And then w-we'd be in lots of trouble…"
"But…if we scared her enough…"
"Willow…"
"Please, Tara? Pretty please?" Entwining her fingers, Willow pleaded her companion with her eyes. Looking into her companion's eyes, Tara closed her own and sighed before plopping herself down on the floor across from the red-head.
"We better not get in trouble with Aunt Buffy and Aunt Dawn…" The golden-haired child said as she looked down at the stuffed bunny.
"We won't, I promise!" The grin on her face returning within moments, Willow pointed at the stuffed animal and waited. It took a moment or two, but soon enough, a small stream of pink light shot out of her finger and wrapped itself around the fake animal. As the object disappeared from sigh, both Tara and Willow looked at the spot where it had been with slightly confused expressions.
"I don't get it…" Willow said, her brows furrowing in the process. "Where's the bunny?"
"AAAAAAAIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" As both she and Tara heard the scream echo through the rest of the house from the kitchen, the red-head's eyes grew wide at the sound that could only mean one thing. The bunny hadn't been turned into a real one…it had just been teleported in front of Anya.
"Uh-oh." She said, already on her feet in a second flat. Slamming the door shut, she jumped and tried to reach the lock on the door. Realizing what could happen if Anya found them, Tara rushed over to her companion and joined her in trying to reach the lock. Hearing the sound of their babysitter's feet rushing up the stairs and what could only be an enraged former vengeance demon, the two children were only urged on to rush and try to reach the lock.
"Tara, I can't reach!" She said, her heart racing inside her chest. "Aunt Anya's gonna find us!"
"I'm trying! I can't reach either!" Her companion answered her, the tone of desperation in her voice matching Willow's perfectly. Her green eyes scanning the room, Willow rushed over to a nearby chair and tugged on the leg with all her might until she managed to drag the piece to the door. Scurrying up onto the chair's seat, the red-head turned the lock before jumping back down and grabbing Tara's hand.
"What are we gonna do?" Tara asked, her heart racing inside her chest. Her green eyes rapidly looking around the room for a place to hide, the red-head finally settled on the open closet and rushed over to it with her companion in tow. Closing the doors quietly behind them, the two children huddled into a single corner of their hiding place as Willow reached into the pocket of her pajamas for the cell-phone Buffy had given her earlier, in case anything happened.
"Who are you gonna call, Willow?" Tara asked as she continued to hug her companion tightly in an attempt to feel safe.
"Aunt Buffy!" The red-head answered as she struggled to find the Slayer's number in her contact list. Finally finding the name at last, she immediately pressed down hard on the call button and pressed the phone to her ear.
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"Oh my God, this food is amazing!" Her eyes practically rolling into the back of her head, Dawn immediately stabbed her fork back into the food on her plate. Watching with an amused look adorning her face, Buffy couldn't help but grin slightly at the sight of her sister virtually stuffing her face to its brim with food.
"I'm sure it's just loving how full your stomach is getting." She was glad that her new job was finally giving them enough money that they could afford to come somewhere fancy like this, rather than living on Doublemeat Palace every night. "Definitely beats burgers."
"Ain't that the truth!" Taking another large bite of her food, Dawn's brows furrowed as she heard the tell-tale sound of her sister's ring-tone. Her own expression lined with confusion, Buffy pulled the phone from her pocket and upon seeing the familiar number across the screen, she flipped it open.
"Willow? What's wrong?" She asked as she pressed the phone to her ear.
"Aunt Buffy?" Willow answered, the sound of her tone sending alarms sounding through the Slayer's head.
"Willow, what's wrong?"
"We made Aunt Anya mad…" The child answered, guilt lacing her tone with its sound.
"What do you mean you made Aunt Anya mad?" Her brows continuing to furrow in confusion, Buffy looked at Dawn with questioning eyes. "What did you and Tara do?"
"We kinda...sorta...made a bunny appear close to her.."
"You guys used
Magick?!" The confusion giving way to anger, the Slayer rose from the table and signaled to their waiter for a check. "Willow, what did I tell you?!"
She spoke used a hushed tone, not wanting anyone around her to over-hear the conversation and become curious.
"We just wanted to make her act funny!" The red-headed answered, the sound of her tiny hand covering the speaker for a moment as she said something unintelligibly to Tara. "Just come home, please!"
"We're coming home, Willow." Buffy replied, grabbing her jacket from its place adorning the back of her chair. "And I'm not happy."
"I'm sorry!" Willow half-cried, half-pleaded. "Don't be mad!"
"We'll talk when I get home." Flipping her phone shut, the Slayer walked towards the door with Dawn, the younger Summers sister also looking not so amused.
"I wasn't done yet!" She said, her voice laced with anger and frustration. "Willow and Tara are so gonna get it when we get home."
"If Anya doesn't kill them first..."
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"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR YOU DEMONS!" Her clenched fists continuing to slam repeatedly against the locked door, Anya's rage at what had been placed on her continued to stream through her. She always had suspected, and knew, that Willow enjoyed seeing her angry and frustrated, but actually putting a bunny near her? That was going too far.
"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU TWO DID!""Anya?" Buffy said as she came to the former Demon's side. "Where's Willow and Tara?"
"Behind this damn door!" Growling the answer in an almost non-human manner, Anya slammed her fist against the door one final time. Finally stepping away from the object of her frustration, the blonde-haired woman shook her head. "Little monsters thought it would be funny to scare me with a stuffed bunny."
"They what?" Dawn said, the giggle in her tone letting everyone know that she wasn't taking the situation seriously at all at that moment.
"They Magicked a bunny onto my back thinking it would be funny. Typical. 'Oh, let's scare Anya, she's afraid of bunnies, so it's fun to make her jump."
"Willow? Tara?" Buffy called out, knocking at the door lightly to show that it was her. "Unlock the door."
Hearing only a small click from the other side of the door, the Slayer slowly pushed it open, not wanting to scare either of the two children hiding inside. Her eyes being confronted only with an seemingly empty room, she looked around and noticed the closet door opening slowly.
"AUNT BUFFY!" Yelling out the Slayer's name at the same time, Willow and Tara's voices both contained nothing more than relief and happiness. Upon hearing the children's voices, the younger Summers girl took a few angry and concerned steps towards the locked closet door.
"Come on guys, come out." The slight annoyance in her voice gaining a small amount of strength, Dawn watched as both Tara and Willow emerged from their hiding place, their heads hung low in the process. Crossing her arms over her chest as she watched them emerge, Buffy sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"Why did you make Aunt Anya mad?"
"It was supposed to be funny..." Their heads still held to the floor, Willow shook her head. "Not so much anymore..."
"About as funny as me ripping someone's eyes out…" Anya grumbled, her eyes refusing to even look at either child. Even the thought of seeing that stuffed…demon in front of her made her shiver. Evil little things...
"SO not funny!" Rolling her eyes, Dawn paced back and forth in an effort not to let the anger she felt overtake her again. "We were having the most amazing food ever!"
"We're sorry…" Tara said, her head held low and her golden hair covering her face.
"Anya, you can go home now." Turning towards the former vengeance demon, the Slayer noticed the way that she left the room without so much as a single word. They must have really upset her if she isn't even complaining…
"Oh, you guys are gonna get it…" Dawn said, her tone slightly playful even though she meant the words seriously.
"NO!" Their heads snapping up in an instant, both Willow and Tara's eyes flooded with shock as they realized what Dawn might be implying. "Aunt Buffy, no, we're sorry! We'll be good now, we promise!"
"You said that before we left though, and then you were bad for Anya…" Buffy said, her crossed arms refusing to untangle themselves. "Am I right?"
"Yes, but we mean it this time! We thought it would be funny to make Aunt Anya mad, but now it's a bad idea, and we don't wanna be in trouble, because it means you'll put us in time out and then spank us…" The red-headed child babbled, the tone of her voice frantic and filled with a child-like version of fear. Remaining entirely silent, Tara nevertheless held onto Willow tighter than she had in the closet.
"Willow, whose idea was it to scare Aunt Anya with the bunny rabbit?"
"Mine." The red-head answered, her head instantly dropping her gaze to the floor beneath her padded feet.
"No, it was mine!" Stepping in front of Willow in a defensive gesture, Tara's expression hardened slightly as she shook her head. "She's lying!"
"Willow, is this true?" Perking up her eyebrow at Tara's 'confession', Buffy watched as the red-headed girl shook her head.
"It was just me, Aunt Buffy. Tara did nothing wrong. She didn't wanna scare Aunt Anya, but I made her do it." As she said her answer, Willow felt Tara pulling her closer to her in the hug. "Don't spank her."
"Alright. Dawn, why don't you give Tara a bath and send her to bed? It's late, we should get her ready for bed. I need to talk with Willow, so I'll be downstairs." Taking a small step forward, Buffy bent down in order to pick up the sullen red-head. Holding out her own hand so that Tara could grab it, Dawn watched as the child hesitated in relinquishing her grip on her companion.
"No, she's coming with me!" Holding onto the red-head's hand, Tara refused to leave the spot that she had cemented herself to, even as Willow was taken into Buffy's arms.
"Tara, I'll be ok." Turning around, the red-head pressed her lips against the other girl's cheek before Buffy returned to her full height. "I promise, ok?"
"I said I would protect you!" The golden-haired girl nearly shouted, her arm struggling against Dawn's hand as the youngest Summers girl tried to pick her up.
"I'll be ok." Repeating the phrase, Willow watched as Dawn picked up her companion and left the room. Starting to kick and scream, Tara fought against the older girl's grip as she headed out of the room and into the bathroom. Watching helplessly, the red-headed girl frowned as Buffy walked out of the room and headed downstairs to the living room.
"Come on, Willow, let's get this over with."
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As she kicked and hit the mattress beneath her multiple times with her small hands and feet, Tara could hear Dawn sigh and attempt once more to pick her up.
"Tara, stop. Willow will be alright. Buffy's just giving her a bath before she brings her to bed. Ok? I promise you nothing happened to h-"
"Aunt Buffy spanked her! I couldn't protect her! I promised!
I PROMISED!" Turning herself over onto her stomach as she screamed into the pillow beneath her head, the golden-haired child ignored the tears streaming down her face as she continued to throw her temper-tantrum.
"I WANT WILLOW!""Tara?" Lifting her head from the pillow that she had just moments before buried her features into, the blonde child saw a red-headed girl looking at her from across the room from her perch in Buffy's arms. "I'm h-here..."
"Willow!" Her expression lighting as she saw the other child, Tara watched eagerly as Buffy crossed the room with the other child held in her hands. Finally reaching the bed, the Slayer gently set the recently bathed girl down onto the mattress, where she was protectively taken into the waiting arms of the child who had just seconds before been screaming for her.
"I'm a-alright, Tara." Sniffling slightly, Willow wrapped her arms around the other child's back as her companion hugged her. "I'm o-ok, just like I p-promised."
"Willow, I'm gonna call Aunt Anya tomorrow, and you're gonna apologize, ok?" Her hands shoved into her pockets, the blonde Slayer saw her sister look at her once before refocusing her gaze on the two children lying on the bed in front of her. "We're not mad anymore, ok? What you did was bad, and you know that now, right?"
"I know. I'm sorry." Sniffling again, the red-headed child looked at the older girl. "I was bad."
"It's ok, Willow." Smiling back at the child, Dawn nodded. "We might have over-reacted a little bit…even though our food was really good."
"Ok, time for you two to go to bed." As she said the words, Buffy watched as the two children were almost immediatly underneath the comforter of the bed. Readjusting the blanket that lay atop the comforter, Dawn handed Willow a tissue. Silently accepting it, the red-headed child wiped her eyes before handing the soiled object back to Dawn. Bidding their good-nights to the two Witches, the two Summers sister left the room, with the Dawn making sure to leave the door open so that light was able to sink into the room and illuminate part of the darkness.
"Are you ok, Willow?" Turning herself onto her side so that she could look at her constant companion, Tara could feel the slightly dried tears on Willow's cheek as she laid her hand against it. "I tried to protect you and I couldn't do it. I couldn't get away from Aunt Dawn…"
"I'm ok. My butt hurts though." Her arms still wrapped around the other child's chest, Willow rested her head onto the warm and inviting pillow beneath her hair. "Aunt Buffy didn't make me stand in the corner though."
"Why not?"
"She made me take a bath after. I could hear you while she was doing that. Were you mad at her?"
"I tried to come help you, but Aunt Dawn wouldn't let me. I'm sorry."
"It's ok." Smiling despite her teary expression, Willow leaned in and gave the other girl a small kiss on the cheek. "You tried."
"But you got spanked, I couldn't stop Aunt Buffy…"
"I'm ok though, I'm safe with you here, okie dokie?" Smiling, the red-head saw the other child smile back and nod.
"I'm sleepy…" Blinking a few times, Tara gave a yawn, which only added to the effect.
"Me too. It's dark outside." Looking at the light that spread out across the floor from the outside hall, Willow closed her eyes. "I found you. Just like always."
"Yep." Pulling the other girl to her in a hug, the blonde child closed her blue eyes and sighed. "Nighty night, Willow."
"Night, Tara." Giving the other child just one more kiss, Willow smiled as she tried to fall asleep.