~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Part: 41~
As time went on Giles, Xander and most of the population of the castle became increasingly leery on being anywhere around the red head. No one could keep up with what direction her mood swings would take her. The only two that did not seem affected by any of this were Andrew and Beatrice.
No matter what her mood was, they were able to take it all in stride while everyone else coward, and Willow seemed to find comfort being in their company. Beatrice-having had three children of her own, Willow considered a seasoned professional, while Andrew had been there throughout his cousin's pregnancy.
Both knew exactly what to expect from the young mother to be, and tried their best to coach everyone else on how to deal with it- but to no avail. Truth be told, she scared the hell out of them on a regular basis. Two days ago, Willow had joined them at the breakfast table and Beatrice had come to her and poured some steaming coffee into her cup.
"Willow, do you really think it wise to drink coffee?" Giles said to her. "It can't be good for the baby." He finished, but instantly regretted saying anything as Willow-very slowly-turned her head and looked at him with eyes that could shoot lightening bolts.
"Excuse me?" she said softly through clenched teeth.
"Uh, your uh, c-coffee c-consumption." Giles stammered while Xander sat wide-eyed and feeling sorry for the older man.
"You expect me to give up the only two cups of coffee a day that I drink?"
"W-uh, well I was thinking that perhaps……….."
"What are you? Some sort of sado masochist?!" she yelled, causing all the girls to stop eating and stare.
"I beg your pardon?!"
"Now now….there's no need for talk like that. Is there, Miss Willow?" said Beatrice. "And as for you, Mr. Giles. It will do no harm to the baby if Miss Willow has a couple cups of coffee." She looked down at the red head. "But if I may say so Miss? You might want to try some herbal teas. They are rather delicious, and quite relaxing."
"Really?" she asked as Beatrice nodded. "I will. I'll try it."
"Good for you, lovie." The servant patted her shoulder as Willow beamed. "I'll make you one at lunch. How's that sound?"
"That sounds wonderful! Thank you."
"Think nothing of it, Miss." And as she walked away, she threw Giles a knowing wink.
Giles had to admit that Beatrice had done a good thing in getting her off the coffee and on to the herbal tea without Willow even realizing her motives. Her moods, though still erratic, had calmed down some, allowing everyone to relax a little more-but not a lot-in her presence.
Today she seemed to be in good spirits as she sat at the table and ate her lunch, much to the relief of the two men sitting with her.
"Beatrice? Could I have a little more soup and another sandwich?"
"Of course you can, Miss. I'll be right back. Oh, how are you liking your tea, if I may ask?"
"It's really good." She exclaimed happily.
"I thought you might like it. It's apple and cinnamon." She said, and was off.
"Hey, Willster! Junior should be pretty healthy with the way you've been packing the food away lately." Said the brunette, and Willow looked to him with wide eyes and a trembling bottom lip.
"You think I'm fat." Her eyes began to glisten.
"I never said you were………."
"You think I'm fat, don't you?"
"No no no, I don't, really!" he exclaimed, hoping to defuse this before her tears fell as Andrew made his way into the room with a bowl and a small plate.
"Yes, you do!" and she began to cry as the young blonde set the food down in front of her.
"Willow? What's the matter?" And Andrew grabbed a napkin and wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks. "You can tell me."
"Xander thinks I'm f-fat." She sobbed. At hearing her words, he glared at Xander as the brunette held up his hands in surrender and shrugged.
"You are not fat. You hear me? This," he pointed to her bulging belly. "is not fat. It's life……life that is growing inside of you. Don't you worry, you're doing everything just right. Now, since this is so hard for him to watch, why don't you go to your office and I'll bring you your food. It'll be just like old times." He snickered, causing her smile at his words.
"Thanks, Andrew."
"It will be my pleasure." He helped her stand, then leaned down and spoke to her tummy. "Hey there, little fella. Your Uncle Andy is going to bring you some nummies." He looked to Willow. "May I?" and she nodded. He placed his hand on her stomach and felt as the baby did a little tumble. "It's a miracle." He smiled up at her. "Now go, and I'll be there in a minute." He finished, and she turned and walked away. Once gone, he walked over and smacked Xander on the arm.
"Ow! Hey!"
"Smart move, you jerk. Next time, watch what you say!" and he grabbed Willow's meal. "You should know that pregnant women are sensitive about their weight." And he headed to the kitchen to get a tray.
"Really, Xander. How insensitive of you. Had you of read the book….page sixty-three to be exact, you would have known this to be true." Said Giles smugly.
"She seemed fine to me a while ago." Xander mumbled to himself. "Next time I just won't say anything to her. Safer that way."
"Yes, I do believe that is a wise precaution." Giles smirked and stood and received a dirty look from the brunette. "Now, if you will excuse me? I shall see about calming Willow." And he left Xander sitting there with a room full of girls staring at him.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, and quickly the girls turned back to eating their meals.
* * * * * * *
"Come on in, Andrew." Willow said at the sound of the knock on her door.
"I'm afraid it's not Andrew, though he should be here shortly." Giles said as he entered. "I hope you don't mind?"
"No, not at all. Come on in." she gestured to a chair which he gratefully took.
"I hope you are not too terribly upset at Xander. He did not mean to imply….."
"Nah, I guess I did kinda over-react. All water under the bridge." She said with a wave of her hand.
"He'll be glad to hear that." He smiled. "How are you feeling today? A-and the baby?"
"Oh, we're great! The baby's moving around a lot more now, so it's a little harder to get comfortable for any length of time."
"Is there anything that I can do to offer you some sort of relief?"
"Nope. Not unless you want to finish off the pregnancy for me." She joked, and he couldn't help chuckling. It was nice to see her joking again. "Really, I'm fine. And honestly, I really like being pregnant. Oh sure, the back hurts and so do my feet, and I get tired faster……..but other than that it's great." She laughed.
"I'm happy to see your spirits are up." He said, but his face grew serious once again.
"Giles? What is it?"
"I feel really quite useless. I want to help in any way I can, but I don't know what to do." He said and bowed his head as Willow left her chair and went to him, kneeling down in front of him and placed a hand on his knee.
"I'm sorry, Giles. I didn't know you felt this way." She replied, sympathy in her voice. "Are you scared? It's okay to be scared."
"For the first time in my life I am to be a father." He met her eyes. "And it terrifies me. I've never allowed myself to entertain such a notion before. And at my age…….."
"Oh, hey. You'll be a great father, I know you will. And age has nothing to do with it."
"You can say that, look at how young you are." He caressed her cheek and gave her a sad smile. "Look at me, Willow. By the time our child reaches the age of twenty, I'll be seventy-two years old." He shook his head and let his hand fall to his lap. "I'll be an old man who's past the age for retirement."
"You listen to me, Rupert Giles, you will make a wonderful father, and I'd be so proud if our child grew up to be just like you."
"Really? Do you mean that?"
"Of course I do….I can't think of anyone better. And let's face facts, I'm scared too. Given what we know and what we do, I never thought of having children before either. But now that I am, I wouldn't change a thing….I'm happy."
"You don't regret our night together?"
"Not for a second. And as long as we lean on each other, everything will work out fine." She took his hand. "And you know what else?"
"What's that?"
"If we ever need a break, we have plenty of babysitters." She laughed, and he leaned forward and hugged her.
"I can think of no one who would make a better mother than you for my child." He whispered in her ear.
~Part: 42~
It had only taken three days for Wesley to fully settle in and go about making a daily routine for himself. With him, he had brought seven young girls who did not do well in the field of slayer training, but did show an aptitude for becoming a watcher.
This was good news to the other three as they were seriously short on watchers to go with the influx of slayers that they were finding. Giles had Erin and Jenna show the girls where they will be staying and to bring them up to date on how things were around here.
"It's nice to have you back with us again, Wes."
"Why thank you, Willow. I must say, I rather missed your charming company as well." He said, causing her to blush a little. "Look at you, you're positively aglow. Pregnancy works well on you." He finished as he took a seat by Willow, while Giles sat on the other side of his desk.
"Thank you."
"No need to thank me for my observation, it is the truth after all." He smiled at her before turning his attention to Giles. "Now, to the business at hand."
"None of these girls shown any sort of aptitude for slaying whatsoever?" Giles asked.
"They did not; however, there is one I'm not exactly sure of. If you look in the top folder there," he pointed to the small pile in front of Giles. "You will see that it was hard to make any real sort of assessment of her. Given her attitude, she may be somewhat difficult to handle."
"What's her name?" Willow queried.
"Oh, my apologies; her name is Sharon. She only came to us a little over a week before bringing her here-and I dare say that Buffy has had very little luck with her."
"That bad, huh?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. She is quite intelligent for she scored rather high on the test we had each of the girls do. But she is unwilling to comply with the rules and regulations that we have structured around what we need. I'm afraid that her attitude needs a serious re-adjustment. A pity; she would, I think, make an excellent watcher if she would only apply herself." He finished, slightly disheartened.
"Well, all hope is not lost. Cross your fingers, and just maybe we'll be able to do something about it."
"Your optimism is truly amazing, Willow. However, I shall endeavor to keep my spirits from getting to high." He gave a small sigh. "This is for you to go through." He handed the red head a small stack of folders. "I would like for you to read them and tell me what you think. I would also like for you to write up a report on how the current girls residing here are doing as well. Would tomorrow afternoon be alright?"
"Excuse me, Wesley. But Willow is in no condition to be hurried on such lengthy reports such as this."
"Mr. Giles, pregnancy may render Willow physically limited, but in no way does it impede her mental faculties. It will do her no harm to do as I asked."
"Uh? Uh?" said Willow as she looked at Giles, and pointed to Wesley. "You could learn a little from Wes. I'm pregnant, not an invalid." And she took the files. "Now, if you'll excuse me; I have work to do." She stood, leaned over and gave Wesley a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." Then she was gone. Giles opened his mouth to say something, but Wesley interrupted.
"Mr. Giles, you and I both know Willow rather well. She needs to feel useful; as though she may be making a difference, and given her reaction I think it is safe to assume that no one has been giving her that opportunity." He finished as Giles sat back, defeated.
"You're right, I haven't." he exhaled loudly. "I have been trying so hard to make sure that her and the baby will be alright that………….." he let the sentence trail off.
"I assure you, it is quite understandable given your current circumstances. I, myself, would probably react the same way if it were I in your situation."
"I almost hate to ask, but how did Buffy react to the news? As I have not heard from her in some time, I can only assume she did not take the news well." Giles said, almost not wanting to hear the answer.
"In all honesty, she was quite angry when first told. She said something like…..let me think," he paused, trying to remember her words. "Ah, yes. She said; `can't she make up her damn mind?'." He said, and noticed Giles pale a little. "I wouldn't worry about Miss Summers. Over time she has come to accept the idea, and is quite excited about the prospect of you being a father. She has even come up with some rather amusing anecdotes, about you chasing the little gaffer around and such."
"That is a relief."
"I, too, was taken aback at the news when I was first told. But you and Willow seem happy, and that is all that matters."
"Thank you, Wesley."
"You are more than welcome. And if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to let me know."
"I will, and again, thank you."
"Well, I'm afraid I have much work to do." And Wes stood and headed towards the door. "If you will excuse me?" and was gone a moment later, leaving Giles with his thoughts on Buffy.
* * * * * * *
Giles made his way down the hall to Willow's office, knowing full well that she would still be there studiously going through the files Wesley had given her. Giles knew the younger watcher was right; Willow needed to do what she loved the most-working and contributing to make their vision of N.O.W into a reality. He sucked in a deep breath and allowed his hand to hit the door.
"Come in."
"Willow? It is time for dinner." He said upon opening the door.
"It is? Wow!" she looked at her watch. "Boy did the time ever get away from me."
"Well, it is a rather large task that Wesley gave you."
"And it's nothing I can't handle, Giles."
"I realize that….now." he replied and held out a hand. "Come along. Mustn't let the baby go hungry." He finished and smiled at her as she stood and took his hand. He placed his other hand on her belly and smiled at the movement beneath. "I never tire of feeling that."
"Me either." She laughed as he led her out of the room and down the hall. "Giles? This isn't the way to the dining hall."
"No, it is not." He replied as they reached the staircase and led her up the stairs and to his room. "I hope you don't mind, but Andrew helped me in the set up." He said as he opened his bedroom door.
"What set up?" she asked, until her eyes fell upon the candles scattered around the room. A small table was set with white roses in the centre and lit candles on either side, the flames dancing and reflecting off the silver covers sitting on the dinner plates. "Giles?" she asked as he shut the door, and then led her to a seat.
"I took the liberty of placing a special order for you." And he took the covers off to reveal the evenings dinner, as a wide grin spread across her face at the sight.
"It's Poutine!" she exclaimed as he set the covers on the stand behind him.
"Since your cravings lately consisted of fried chicken and Poutine, I was hard pressed to decide-so Andrew made the decision for me." He said sheepishly.
"This is so sweet of you! I can't believe you did all this for me." She said in awe as she looked around the room.
"I-I must confess that I do have an ulterior motive."
"Ulterior motive? You make it sound so `secret agency-ish'."
"Secret……..no. Although, I suppose from your point of view it would appear that way."
"Giles?"
"Yes?"
"Uh, I'm dying of curiosity here. Care to help me out?"
"Oh, oh yes. Willow," he slowly came over to stand beside her, and knelt down on one knee. "I would be ever so happy if you would consider becoming my wife." He said as he watched her eyes go as wide as saucers, and held up the ring.
"Y-you w-w-want…….but…….."
"I know how you feel about me, Willow. I know that you do not love me," he took her right hand and placed the ring on her finger. "but please think it over? I will do everything in my power to take care of you and our child." He kissed her hand. "I'm not asking for a decision right away, and I will understand if the answer is no." he looked at the ring on her finger. "But if your answer is yes, then I will remove the ring and place it on the proper finger."
"Giles, I don't know what to say."
"Then say nothing. But do give it some serious consideration? That is all I can ask." He finished, and both jumped as they heard a scream echoing in the hall. Giles helped Willow to stand, and then quickly made his way out of the room, the red head following much slower behind him.
By the time Willow reached the top of the staircase, Giles was already at the bottom, and both watched as Andrew swung Jenna around in a circle. Everyone ran in from the dining room, heads turning in every direction to see what the danger was.
"She said yes! She said yes!" Andrew shouted happily as Jenna stood blushing in his arms. "Me and Jenna, we're getting married!" and he swung her around once more as everyone whooped and congratulated the couple on the announcement. "Mr. Giles!" said the young man as he waded through the crowd, practically dragging Jenna with him. "Jenna has a question for you."
"Yes, Jenna? Might I offer you my congratulations on this happy announcement? And how may be of service?"
"Mr. Giles?" she said a little breathlessly. "I was wondering…..would you be the one to give me away?" she asked, and Giles smiled proudly at her.
"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, my dear. I would be honored to do so." He said, and Jenna jumped into his chest and hugged him tightly.
Unnoticed by the rest, Beatrice walked over to Willow and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I know of Master Giles' plans, mum." The red head turned to look at the older lady next to her. "If I may say so, you could do a lot worse." But Willow remained silent. "Willow, that man down there loves you, I see it in his face when he looks at you, when he talks to you-you have his total devotion."
"I know. He just proposed to me." A tear slid down her cheek. "Beatrice? I don't know what to do. I do love him, but not the way a wife should love her husband."
"Now now, dearie. Sometimes love just takes it's time is all. It will eventually catch up with ya when you least expect it." she smiled. "He wants to be there for you and the little one, but you must remember one thing about him."
"What?"
"Master and I were raised old school, and therefore we have slightly old fashioned values. He believes, as I do, that children and marriage go together. Yes, it's an antiquated notion, but it is how we were raised. Although, knowing Mr. Giles, he would probably be happy just to be apart of you lives without marriage." She said. "I know that you were in another relationship, and that it has ended."
"Yes." She replied sadly.
"You don't need to be alone. The master, he's a good soul and you would do no wrong in being with him." She looked at Willow seriously. "It isn't cheating, not if you aren't with the other anymore."
"Excuse me, Beatrice." Willow said, and went down the stairs, leaving the older woman to stare after her. The red head walked over to Giles and looked into his beaming face, then held up her hand and removed the ring. "Giles?" and she watched the happiness fade from his features. "I think you're old enough to know which hand this belongs on." She said, and held up her left hand for him.
"Do you mean it? Is that a `yes'?" he asked, as hope filled him to the bursting point.
"The answer is yes, Giles." She nodded in agreement as he took the ring she offered. "I want to marry you; I want to be your wife." She said, and waited. "You know, it's not actually official until you put the ring on my finger." And she wiggled her fingers at him. Giles, with a shaky hand, placed the ring on her finger and pulled her into a hug.
"You said yes." He said into her hair, and then gently held her out away from him. "She said yes! Willow and I are to be married!" he bellowed for all to hear. At first there was stunned silence, but as soon as the news sank in, hollers and yells of excitement floated through the room.
"Good for you, old chum!" Wesley said as he clapped Giles on the back. "The highest congratulations are in order. My, this has been an exciting day."
"Wes?"
"Yes, dear Willow? What can I do for you?"
"For starters, could you give me away?"
"Me?" she nodded. "Well, I-I would be honored to do so for you." He said. No one noticed the older lady standing at the top of the stairs, hands clasped under her chin as tears streamed down her face.
~Part: 43~
It had been a busy couple of weeks for all concerned, as the girls insisted on making the decorations and helping with the preparations for the double ceremony. It took a little convincing on the part of Jenna and Andrew to have Giles and Willow to agree to get married on the same day.
Willow was afraid of taking away the `special-ness' from Andrew and Jenna, but both assured her that was not the case and that they'd be proud to share it with them. Needless to say, excitement filled the castle as the day approached, and the two women had been out and picked the dresses-although Willow's required more in the way of alterations than Jenna's did.
And as it turned out, they had nothing to worry about with Sharon after all. Willow had decided to take a walk to the defense class and peak in to see how she was progressing, and was totally surprised. Sharon had tried to throw her attitude out for the world to see as she pushed Erin to the mat, but only received laughter in return. This, in turn, infuriated her as Erin stood up and dodged a punch being sent her way.
"That all you got for me?" Erin said with a cocky grin on her face. "You're not even a decent work-out." Without warning, Erin did a roundhouse on her and sent Sharon flying through the air to land on her back. "I'll tell you little something that I hope you will do your best to remember. You really think you're something special? Hmm? Well, you're not." And she walked until she stood over the girl. "Every girl in this room has the same strength you do, but we've been trained on how to use it."
"That's right." Said Emma. "And as far as your attitude goes? We've had to deal with someone a lot worse than you ever thought of being. So if I were you I'd knock it off before we knock it outta you cause, quite frankly, we aren't going to put up with any of your bullshit."
Willow was glad the door was shut as she tried to smother her laughter with a hand over her mouth. She left and immediately told Giles and Wesley what she saw, and that she didn't think Sharon was going to be much of a problem for them at all.
As far as she was concerned, everything seemed to be going fine…… and that thought alone was enough to scare her. Every time it seemed like things were good, something bad always found a way to ruin it. `Stop that!' she reprimanded herself, and went back to inspecting the work the girls did with the decorations.
"Willow?" she heard Giles voice and went to the lobby.
"Giles! Did you get it?"
"Yes, dearest, I did." He said as he struggled and backed in through the doorway, his arms hefting one end, while Xander carried the other.
"Geez, Willow. What size baby are you planning on having? This cradle is huge!"
"Well, the baby will need plenty of room to move around." She said defensively.
"Okay, okay." He said, giving in. "Now, where do you want us to put it?"
"In Giles' room please." And she stepped aside to allow them to pass. Both men baby-stepped to the stairs, panting and sweating all the way, but only made it a few steps up when they had to stop.
"Willster. <pant, pant> Any chance on you working your mojo? I don't think I can make it."
"I will not! Magic drains energy from the body." But Xander just stared blankly at her. "Hello, baby here." She pointed to her belly. "Drains my energy as it is, and I need all I can get."
"Oh." Xander said dejectedly. "Well, could you at least get us something cold to drink while we do this?"
"Yup, that I can do." And she was off.
"Giles, you know the voodoo. Can't you do something about this?" Xander whispered to the older man.
"I will not! And it just so happens that you are much younger than I. If I can do this, than so can you." Giles finished and the younger man grumbled as he continued to pull it up the stairs as Giles pushed.
After a lot of grunting and groaning on both parts, managed to get it to the top of the landing, and stood for a moment to catch their breath before taking it to it's final destination. Once inside the room, they put it at the end of the bed, then both men bounced as they fell onto the bed in exhaustion.
"Sooooo," said Xander. "You and Willow, huh? I gotta admit big guy, that that was quite the surprise."
"For me as well, I assure you." And the young man turned his head to look at him.
"You didn't expect her to say yes, did you?"
"I had hoped, but wasn't pinning them on any expectations."
"How long have you been in love with my Wills?"
"She is not `your' Wills. And in truth, I have loved her for quite some time." He paused. "I-I had asked her once before to be with me, but she had turned down my offer."
"Wow!" Xander exclaimed. "Is she marrying you because of the baby?"
"That may be part of it. I do know she cares for me a great deal."
"But she doesn't love you?"
"She does…..but not in the customary `man and wife' way." He said wistfully. "Though I wish it was more than that, it is something I can live with, so long as she and the child are with me."
"You know, I don't really understand the circumstances that went on, I always thought her and Angel were together. Next thing I know, she's having your baby. What happened? And please, don't go into detail on how the baby came to be?"
"With Buffy and Kennedy's involvement in Carol's death, it hit us both fairly hard that night. As you well know, both Willow and I were quite fond of her, but in trying to be strong for Willow I pushed my emotions back, for I could not allow my feelings to get in the way."
"Okay, I get it….you both were hurting. That still doesn't explain to me how….."
"Willow was an emotional mess and shut herself down, but on the day of the funeral she had received a rather upsetting phone call from Angel. I will not go into detail on the conversation, that is not for me to do."
"It was that bad?"
"Yes Xander, it was. That night while trying to break through her emotional barrier, mine cracked as well and we sought comfort with each other."
"Oh Ick!" he said loudly as he remembered the conversation at the breakfast table all those months back. "ARGH! Now I understand her humor that morning. Damn! And your jumpiness too!"
"Yes, quite." Replied Giles, as he felt the bed jiggle from Xander's shudders. "At any rate, I had asked Willow that day to be with me, but she turned me down."
"What changed her mind?"
"I think that deep down she doesn't really want to be alone."
"But she's not alone….she has all of us."
"Not that kind of alone, Xander. It is not the same thing as being with someone. Willow and I are compatible, which will be of great aid in helping the marriage to work."
"Maybe, but can you live with having a `compatible' marriage?"
"I love her, Xander. I would gladly have `compatible' if that meant I could share my life with her." Finished the older man, but Xander was rendered speechless. "Xander? I have something I would like to ask of you."
"What?"
"Would you be willing to be my best man at the wedding? I know it is somewhat short notice, but…….?"
"Nothing would make me happier. I uh….I went out and rented a tux just in case." He said sheepishly, and chuckled.
"Thank you."
"I'm happy for you, Giles. I really am."
"You are?"
"Yes, I am. You're getting yourself a wonderful woman there."
"Indeed." He smiled, and then sobered as he turned his head. "Xander, have I ever told you just how proud of you I am?"
"Not in so many words, but I know." He nodded. "Not to change the subject here but……Buffy will be arriving tonight. Is Will gonna be okay with that?"
"Willow, though she may not care for the idea of her company, will be fine. She understands. The four of us have been through too much together, and to deny Buffy the opportunity to be here for our wedding would be distressing to her-no matter the problems they may have."
"She's quite a woman."
"She is that."
"Drinks are here." Said Willow as she entered the room. "Iced tea for you," she handed it to Giles. "and a soda for you, Xander."
"Thanks, Willster!" the young man took it gratefully and gulped.
"So what were you guy's talking about?"
"We were talking about how wonderful you are, and Xander is in full agreement with me on that particular issue."
"You got that right." Said Xander as he stood. "And now I'm going to leave you two alone. Wills? You mind if I borrow your back massager?"
"Be my guest. It's right there." She pointed to the top of the dresser and Xander made a quick grab.
"Thanks, see ya!" and the young man was off.
"Come, sit with me." And Willow took his offered hand and sat on the bed beside him. "Have I told you today how happy you make me?"
"Yup. Today while Crenshaw was having my stuff moved to your room, and right before you and Xander left to get the cradle." She giggled.
"In that case, let me say again that you have made me the happiest man in the world." He caressed the side of her face with the back of his fingers.
"Giles? I kinda have an important question for you. W-where will you be sleeping tonight?"
"I can sleep on the couch if that would make you more comfortable?" he said, but she took the glass from his hand and placed it on the nightstand beside the bed.
"You know, we're going to be man and wife tomorrow." She took his glasses off and placed them on the stand beside the glass, then looked into his eyes. "There's no reason I can think of for you not to sleep in the bed with me."
"Are you sure? I did not wish to rush you." At his response, Willow leaned in and placed her lips softly upon his and put her arms around him. A moan escaped from him and he gently pushed her away and looked into her eyes.
"Are you sure?" he asked again, cupping her face. A small smile came to her lips as she nodded, placed her hand on the back of his head and pulled him closer.
"I'm sure." She said huskily as she claimed his mouth once more.
~Part: 44~
The two women stood before the full length mirror to gaze upon themselves, adjusting the dresses trying to fight off the fit of nervous energy they were feeling. Willow had decided on putting her hair in a bun, but Jenna tried to talk her into leaving it down telling her that her hair was too beautiful and long not to show off.
Much to Jenna's delight, she won the argument and immediately reached for the curling iron and curled the red head's hair. Once finished, they both stood and admired how it had turned out. It looked much like Jenna's, though the young woman's was naturally curled that way and required almost no work-much to the chagrin of Willow.
Willow reached for the wreath of white roses and baby's breath, carefully set it atop Jenna's head and fastened it to her light brown hair with four bobby-pins. She stood back and inspected her work, making sure it was even, and then allowed Jenna to do the same for her.
"I'm so glad you talked me into the floral crown instead of the Vail, Miss Rosenberg."
"Jenna? You may as well start calling me Willow. Besides, in a little while I won't be `Miss Rosenberg' anymore." And both giggled.
"Can you believe it? We're going to be married! I'm going to be Mrs. Jenna Wells. Oh Miss-I mean Willow. I'm so excited!"
"So am I. I don't know about you, but I'm as nervous as a school girl on her first day."
"Me too." But the conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Are you two decent?"
"Come on in, Xander. We're dressed." Replied Willow, and both girls watched the door open and Xander stare, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Xander?"
"Wow. Willow look at you!" he shook his head. "Sorry, you too, Jenna. You both look fantastic."
"Thank you, Mr. Harris." Jenna blushed.
"Uh, anyway. The minister told me to let you know that he's ready, and Giles and Wesley are waiting too."
"Thanks, Xand. You can tell the minister we're ready anytime." Replied Willow. Xander nodded and left, and the two girls gathered up all their courage with huge hopes that neither would throw up during the ceremony.
Within moments the music was cued and a knock was heard at the door. Jenna opened the door to see Giles standing there smiling at her and looked back to Willow-who was trying to stay out of the man's sight.
"Well, this is it. See you out on the floor." And she was out the door. At their departure, Wesley came in and took in the sight before him.
"You look absolutely radiant, my dear." And he held out his arm for her to take. "Shall we?"
"We shall."
She looped her hand through his arm, and both walked down along the hall and entered the room in time to see Giles kiss Jenna on her cheek, shake Andrew's hand and then stand beside Xander to await her arrival.
She watched first as shock hit him at the sight of her, then the proud smile took over his features as she neared him. Wesley leaned down and kissed her cheek as he took her hand and placed it in Giles, then moved off to take a seat.
"We are gathered here today on this joyous occasion to join these two couples in holy matrimony. If there is anyone in this room who does not believe in the two joining's, please, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Everyone waited with bated breath, and Xander was secretly praying that Buffy would say nothing; but as the minister began to speak again, Xander knew his prayers had been answered.
"And who, may I ask, gives these two women away?"
"I do." Said Giles and Wesley in unison, and the minister nodded. As he continued with the ceremony, Giles was totally oblivious to the flashes going off all around him. Nothing was on his mind except for Willow as she smiled while keeping her eyes upon him.
"And do you, Andrew Wells, take Jenna to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
"And do you, Jenna Anne Carpenter, take Andrew to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"
"I do." She replied, and the minister turned to Giles and Willow.
"And do you, Rupert Giles, take Willow to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"
"I do." He replied and caressed her cheek.
"And do you, Willow Danielle Rosenberg, take Rupert to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
"Now who is the holder of the rings?" asked the balding man.
"Oh." And Giles reached into his pocket and handed the ring to Andrew, while Xander handed the one he held to Giles.
"Please place them on the bible." Both men did as requested and the minister placed his hand upon the rings sitting on the pages. "I hereby declare for all in the congregation to hear, that the rings you see are a holy symbol of the love and commitment that these couples have willingly entered into." He looked between the two men. "If you will please take the rings and place them on the fingers, then repeat after me."
Both men took the golden circles, and carefully set them on the girl's fingers.
"With this ring, I thee wed." said the minister, and both men repeated the words in unison. "I now pronounce you man and wife. Gentlemen, you may kiss your brides."
"I love you." Giles whispered, then leaned in and placed a soft kiss upon her lips.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Rupert Giles, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wells." And the whoops and hollers began after that statement was made. Giles brought Willow's hand to his lips and placed a kiss on it, and Andrew seeing this, did the same with Jenna.
Flash bulbs went off all around, and rice was flung from every direction making it difficult for the couples to see as they quickly made their way back down the isle and into the living area.
"Let the festivities begin!" shouted Xander as he scooped up Buffy into a hug and signaled the DJ to begin the music.
"No regrets?" Giles asked her.
"Not a single one." She said and kissed him.
"Well then, shall we, Mrs. Giles?"
"We shall, Mr. Giles." Willow laughed as she took Giles hand and was led out to the dance floor, quickly joined by Jenna and Andrew. Both couples slowly swayed to the music as the lights were turned down low, when suddenly Giles heard a familiar voice.
"Smile for the birdie." The voice sing-songed.
"You? What the bloody hell are you doing here? I demand you leave these premises at once."
"Sorry mate, can't do that. You see, I was hired by the pretty little red head in your arms there." Said the photographer, and Giles looked to Willow for an explanation.
"He did a nice job on your portrait." She shrugged. "So I asked him to do the wedding photos as well."
"You? You?" he shook his head and turned to the man. "No matter, not even `you' can ruin this day for me." He turned back and placed his forehead on Willow's, and within seconds a flash went off. The song ended all too soon for Giles' liking, but it was time for his dance with Jenna as Wesley came to take Willow.
"Might I humbly offer you my congratulations, my dear?"
"Thank you, Wes. And thanks for giving me away, that really meant a lot to me."
"It was an honor to do so, Mrs. Giles." He smiled down at her.
"Mrs. Giles." She said to herself, the corners of her mouth lifting. "I hear it, but it's still so hard to believe."
"Not to worry, in time you will become so accustomed to hearing it that you won't think anything about it…..it will be as natural to hear it as well as say it." he looked to Giles. "That there, is a very happy man if I do say so myself." He said as Willow's eyes moved to her husband. He looked very much like the proud father dancing with his daughter.
"You're right, he does look happy."
"And it is all because of you, dear Willow." He said, and both remained quiet till the end of the song, then cleared the dance floor. Giles took Willow's hand and guided her to the punch bowl.
"Congratulations, Will." She heard, and turned to see Buffy standing there behind her. "You look wonderful. I'm really happy for you-for both of you."
"Thank you, Buffy." Was Willow's emotionless reply. "And thank you for coming, it really means a lot to Rupert that you could make it."
"Willow is quite correct. It wouldn't be the same without you." Said Giles as he hugged the blonde slayer.
"Buffster! Have I told you yet how hot you look?" said Xander, and Buffy laughed. "Come, dance with me and make me look good!" and he grabbed her hand, practically dragging her to the floor.
"Hi, Miss Summers."
"Erin! Hey, you're looking really nice. I've never seen you wear a dress before."
"Never really had a reason to before." She said shyly. "I-I was wondering…..could I steal Mr. Harris for a dance?"
"I don't have a problem with it." she turned to the brunette. "Xander?"
"Nah, I'm cool with it." he smiled at Erin, and then looked to Buffy. "Being one of the very few guys here, I'm bound to be popular tonight." He joked. "Where was all this popularity when I was in school, huh?" Buffy smacked him on the shoulder and moved out of the way for Erin to cut in, when she noticed the butler talking to someone at the door.
* * * * * * * * *
"Sir? Can I help you?" asked Crenshaw.
"Yes you can. I'm looking for Willow Rosenberg. Can I see her please?"
"I'm sorry sir, but with the festivities I'm sure she won't want to be disturbed."
"Yeah, I can see that there's a party going on with my own eyes." His eyes moved around to see what it was about. "What's the party for anyway?"
"Wedding, sir."
"Oh, well I hate to interrupt, but I really need to speak to Willow."
"I will inform Mrs. Giles at once."
"I don't want Mrs………did you say Mrs. Giles? Is this Giles' wedding?"
"Indeed."
"Well, I'll have to offer him my congratulations when I see him. But first I need to speak with Willow."
"I will get Mrs. Giles for you."
"Are you daft? I don't want Mrs. Giles, I want Willow!"
"Wait here please." Said Crenshaw with a roll of his eyes, and he turned and walked away. But the man wouldn't wait by the door as told and followed the butler in as the old man weaved in and around the people gathered. Buffy saw who it was as they drew closer, and moved in hoping to stop him.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Buffy. Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to speak to Willow."
"This really isn't the best time…………."
"I will offer Giles my apologies later. Now where is Willow? Oh, there's the old man." He said, and took off after Crenshaw once more. He made it to the butler's side just as Giles turned around, all color draining from his face as his eyes came to rest on the unexpected guest.
"Giles, I want to offer you my congrats. So tell me, who is the lucky woman?" Giles turned to see Willow's back stiffen at the sound of the voice behind her. With Willow's back to the guest, her conversation with Patty abruptly ended as when she heard the familiar voice.
"Mrs. Giles? You okay?" Patty asked in concern as Crenshaw stepped in beside her.
"Excuse me for my rudeness, Mrs. Giles, but someone insists on speaking with you."
"Thank you, Crenshaw." She replied stiffly, and turned around.
Angel just stared unbelievingly as the woman he loved turned to face him. There she stood before him, large with child and green eyes filled with horror at his presence. He was speechless as looked from Willow to Giles and back again.
"Angel?" she squeaked out as Giles took her hand in his to steady her.
"You're Mrs. Giles?" he looked down at her stomach. "Is that his child you're carrying?"
~Part: 45~
The three of them stood in shocked silence, staring at one another as Buffy made her way to them. Xander's eyes followed the blonde slayer to her destination and saw the dark haired vampire. He also saw what looked like Willow about ready to faint if it weren't for Giles' arm around her. He apologized to Erin then excused himself and quickly ran to be at Willow's side.
"I tried to stop him, Giles."
"It's quite alright, Buffy." Was Giles monotone response, and tightened his hold on Willow as she shook slightly in his arm.
"Angel, just what the hell are you doing here?" Said Xander, voice slightly raised to be heard over the music as he came up behind him.
"Xander, this is neither the time nor the place for this." Giles said and turned his attention to Crenshaw. "Crenshaw, would you please show our guest to the library?"
"Of course, sir." He turned to Angel. "If you will follow me?" But as he turned on his heel, Andrew and Jenna came over to speak.
"You're Angel?" Jenna asked.
"I am." Was the curt response, and he received a hard punch on the arm from Andrew.
"You did it! You broke her heart!"
"Excuse me?" Angel asked confused as he looked to see Giles guiding Willow away.
"I don't know exactly what you did to her," said Andrew heatedly. "but I do know that you hurt her! And I'll tell you something right now mister; see my beautiful bride here? She's a slayer! And the only thing keeping her from staking your ass right now is that it would upset Willow." And Xander smiled as Andrew said those words.
"Hey, I'm not the one who just…………" but Xander cut the vampire off in mid-sentence.
"Angel, I think it would be best if you just shut up and went to the library like you were told." He said with a smirk. "Right now you are standing in a room full of slayers who love Willow…..and would do anything to make sure she was happy." His smirk disappeared as he glared at Angel. "And so would I."
"Angel, come on." Buffy interjected. "Let's go where we can all talk. Okay?" and she took him by the arm and led him away. Andrew and Jenna were about to follow when Xander stopped them and said;
"Look, guys. This is a party, enjoy yourselves. After all, you two just got married and you don't need this kind of drama to bring you down too."
"But we want to be there for Willow." Jenna said, almost pleading.
"I know you do, but right now this is something her and Giles need to work out. Don't worry," he rubbed her shoulder. "I'll be there to make sure nothing happens to her.
"Well, if you need any help you just yell and we'll be there in a flash."
"Thanks, Andy. I knew I could count on you. Now go on, dance with your wife." He chuckled, and watched as the two did as were told and then headed off to the library for the final confrontation.
He entered the room, and met nothing but silence as he walked over to stand by Willow and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Now that we have a little more privacy I'm gonna ask you one last time. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Frankly, Xander, it's really none of your business." Angel replied defensively.
"Uh, excuse me? Founding member and best friend here." He pointed to himself. "If anything affects this council or any of its members in any way, then it damn well is my business!"
"Xander, do calm down."
"You expect me to calm down? Sorry, Giles, but I can't just calm down when one of the reasons for everything that's happened is sitting right there ready to accuse everyone but himself for what's going on!"
"I have a right to……….."
"No you don't, Angel! You just don't get it, do you? You have no rights about anything here!" Xander moved to stand in front of him. "Do you know that I listened to Willow for five months, telling me how worried she was about you? She was scared every single day that something might have happened while you were on this `secret'" he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers. "mission." He shook his head. "Not a single word from you in all that time. And you know what? To me, I could sort of understand cause you were supposed to be undercover and all that, and I stuck up for you."
"Xander?" said Willow, but the young man ignored her.
"Unbelievable, isn't it? I've never made it a secret about how much I hated you, but for Wills' sake I accepted her relationship with you. That's right, and I stuck up for you only to find out yesterday that you called her eight months ago. Now I don't know what the call was about…..I'm not even sure I want to know, but I do know that it upset her! After all the crap she went through, and you decide to call and drop some kind of a bomb on her on the day of her slayer's funeral!"
"Her slayers f………..?" Angel looked to Willow. "Oh god." He said, sounding sick. "Willow, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean………"
"A little late for apologies there, dead-boy."
"So it's because of me that you….." he couldn't finish the sentence.
"Because of you?" Willow laughed, feeling her resolve come to her. "Oh please! This isn't about you! This is about me, and my feelings and my actions!" she threw her arms in the air.
"Were you trying to get back at me for sleeping with someone else?"
"Y-you…." But Xander didn't finish his statement as he lunged at the sitting vampire, knocking his chair to the floor. The young man straddled him and began unleashing his anger on Angel, throwing punch after punch as Buffy and Giles ran, grabbed him by the arms and pulled him off.
"I'll kill you, you bastard!" he struggled against the hands holding him in place. "Let go of me!"
"Xander, stop!" Willow moved in front of him and yelled, and the young man ceased his actions as Willow turned to Angel. "You have absolutely no right to be here." She said as Angel stood, grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood away from his nose.
"But we…." But she cut him off.
"But `we' nothing! There is no `we' anymore. Remember?"
"So you go to the first person you see and-and…" he spread his hand wide and indicated her swollen stomach, not able to say the words.
"For one thing, this is none of your business. Number two, you have no right to come here and accuse me of anything. Number three, at least I wasn't in a relationship when it happened." Angel visibly flinched at what she said. "And let me tell you something else, Angel. I don't have to justify a single thing to you or anyone else! I've done nothing to feel guilty about! Do you hear me? And another thing, how dare you to just show up here out of the blue!" She shouted, and Giles left Xander to put a comforting arm around her and turned her face to him.
"Willow, luv." He kissed her softly. "This isn't good for the baby. Please, let me handle it
"Giles? Let me talk to him." Buffy said, and took the vampire's arm at Giles' nod, and led him to her guest room.
"Willow? Let us go to our room where you can lay down."
"Giles is right, Wills."
"No, Giles. I want to go back and celebrate."
"Luv, after all that has happened, I think it best to….." but she placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him softly.
"Giles….Rupert. I want to go back to the party." She hugged him close. "I want to pretend-just for tonight that none of this has happened. Tonight, I want to dance with my husband." She looked up at him, her green eyes pleading.
"Oh, Willow." He sighed. "Your strength is truly amazing. How can I deny you anything?" and keeping an arm around her, he led her back to the party.
"Willster? I-I'm sorry about the way I acted up there just now."
"Xander, its okay-I understand." She took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I wouldn't have you any other way."
"Giles is right, you are an amazing lady." He said in relief at being forgiven, then kissed her forehead and ran to the middle of the dance floor. "The Xan-man is here! Let's party!"
* * * * * * * * *
"Angel, you really shouldn't have come. What on earth were you thinking?"
"I was thinking of trying to win Willow back." He laughed wryly.
"Aren't we all?" Buffy said to herself.
"Guess I'm a little late for that now, aren't I?"
"Well, a little. Look, I don't know the in's and out's of what's been going on between them, but I do know that Giles is happy and so is Willow. And right now that's all that matters to me."
"Buffy, just what the hell is happening?"
"Angel, Willow's been through a lot of stuff lately what with her slayer getting killed, and then there's the thing with Kennedy and……..well, I'm not proud of it, but I haven't exactly been `friend of the year' ya know."
"Xander said her slayer died."
"Mm hmm, about eight months ago."
"That much I know. What happened?"
"For starters, Kennedy didn't like Willow's attention going on Carol-being her first slayer and all. The night before Willow took her out on her first patrol, Kennedy broke Carol's ribs."
"No."
"She didn't even have a fighting chance."
"I thought Kennedy was in Arizona?"
"She was, until I called her." She looked at her feet in shame.
"Why the hell would…….?"
"None of that matters now, it's over; but because of it Willow and I aren't…….we're not really the best of friends anymore." She looked up at him. "I have to prove to her that she can trust me again, and I will. I'll try for the rest of my life if I have to until she forgives me again."
"I drove her to him."
"No, we both did."
~Part: 46~
Xander had instructed the DJ a short time after arriving back to the party, to play as many slow songs as possible. And he was rewarded with the contented looks on the faces of the two people who went through an emotional hell not so long before. Though he knew that they were still hurting, he made sure to keep the smiles on their faces by dancing silly any time a song with an upbeat tempo was played.
Xander knew; though all of them tried to hide it, that the earlier events still sat in the back of their minds, and he did his best to clown around and make everyone laugh as much as possible. He'd even managed to coax Willow into dancing with him, and was happy at seeing her laugh while trying her best to dance. Her condition did not make for an easy time of it, but she looked like she was having fun nonetheless; and for that, he was grateful.
As the night neared its end however, Jenna went to Willow and asked to go somewhere to talk privately. Curiosity got the best of her, and she took the girl to her room, and both sat on the bed.
"Jenna, what's the matter?"
"Miss-I mean, Willow." She cast her eyes down. "I'm a little scared." She said quietly.
"Scared? Of what?"
"Of what happens when the party is over."
"I'm afraid I don't….." then it dawned on her. "Oooooh. I see." Willow took her hand. "Jenna, I'm taking for granted by that statement that you never…uh…." And the young girl nodded her head.
"I wanted to save myself for marriage. But now that I am married……."
"Oh, sweetie! It's okay to be scared the first time. It is, really. We all go through it."
"Really?"
"Of course we do, and it's a totally natural feeling."
"What if I'm not very good and I disappoint him? I'm sure he's had lots more experience than me and……what if I'm really bad?"
"For one thing, Andrew will understand, and I bet he'll be just as nervous as you are."
"You think so?"
"Honey, I know so. D-do you know h-how it all works?"
"Yup, I do. You don't need to explain that part to me." Said Jenna, and she watched with a smile as the relief flooded the red head beside her. "I guess I just needed to get it off my chest. Ya know?"
"Does Andrew know that you're a-a…"
"Virgin? Uh huh."
"Well that's good. When a man finds out that you're a….when it's you're first time, they're usually really sweet and gentle about it."
"Thank you-for talking to me about it that is. It made me feel a lot better." She said shyly.
"You're welcome, and I'm glad I could help. You ready to go back to the party?"
"Uh, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
"I-I don't want to be a slayer anymore." She looked to Willow. "Now that I'm married, I don't want Andrew to live with that kind of fear….not after what happened to Carol."
"Honey, Carol was a different set of circumstances."
"The point is, I don't want Andrew to worry himself over me every time I go out. I know I'm being selfish, but that's how I feel."
"I understand that, I do."
"I'm so glad."
"Well, if you don't want to be a slayer anymore, what do you want to do?"
"I'd like to teach others to be, if I could. I've been thinking about it since Andrew proposed to me. I could start off as a teacher's assistant for Ms. Anderson, and eventually take over the position for myself."
"I'm glad to hear that you've thought it all out before jumping into action on this. I'll talk to Rupert tomorrow about it. How's that sound?" Willow asked.
"That sounds great! Thank you so much for your help." She hugged the red head.
"It was my pleasure. Come on now. Our husbands are going to wonder what happened to us." the girl nodded, and the two made their way back to the party and joined their husbands.
"I wondered where you wandered off too." Giles said as he took her hand.
"Girl talk." She smiled. "Jenna had a question about the wedding night." At that statement, Giles' eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Don't worry, I'm not going into detail." She snickered as she watched him relax. "I do have something to talk to you about concerning her though. She wants a change of vocation, but it will wait till tomorrow."
"Time to throw the bouquets!" yelled Xander. "C'mon all you single gals, get over here and get yourself ready for the big bouquet brouhaha!"
All the single girls gathered at one end of the dance floor- Xander making sure Buffy was in there as well, and then he hustled the two brides to the other end. Once he was sure everyone was in place, he signaled the DJ to do a drum roll.
Willow and Jenna laughed as they launched the flowers into the air, and turned around to see the outcome of the toss. One landed in Sharon's hand, but she quickly tossed it to Patty as the other landed in Buffy's, and everyone burst into laughter and clapped.
"You know, that woulda been really interesting if there was some jello pudding involved." But upon receiving groans from the comment; "Okay, okay." He held his hands up." And now for the infamous garter toss!" Xander exclaimed as he placed two stools on the floor for the brides to sit on. "Okay girls, time for the single men to gather around on the floor while the G-man and Andrew take the garters off with their teeth!" and the young women left the stage.
"Xander, I do wish you would stop calling me that." Said Giles half heartedly as a wide grin spread across his face, causing everyone to erupt into laughter. The grooms lifted the women's skirts and draped it over their heads-careful not to show off the ladies' wares, and began the exciting task of removing the garters without using their hands.
The room was full of chuckles and guffaws as they struggled for quite some time trying to remove them.
"You're only supposed to remove the garters there, guys….nothing else!" shouted Xander and once again the room was filled with laughter and whoohoo's. Finally the men emerged victorious, fabric hanging from their mouths and looking at each other quite proudly.
They stretched them out like a rubber band, and then on the count of three they let them go. Sailing through the air, one smacked Xander in the face causing him to say; "Hey! That was my blind spot!" but laughed as the other was caught by Wesley.
"Oh my! I dare say!" he chuckled somewhat embarrassed as he placed it in his pocket.
"Okay everyone; this is the last slow dance of the night for the happy couples before they leave us for the festivities to follow. And please," he held up his hand in front of him. "No one say anything? I really don't want the visual." And he gestured for the couples to move to the dance floor.
They swayed to the music as it played until the song ended, then each one hugged the other and congratulated them before waving to the crowd and leaving for their rooms. Giles and Willow entered their room and practically collapsed on the bed in exhaustion.
"How are you feeling, dearest?"
"Tired. But I'm a `content' kind of tired." She turned her head to the side to look at him. "You?"
"Young." He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "I feel young-younger than I have in a very long time. And I have you to thank for that." Willow turned onto her side, as did he so they could face each other.
"Good, because I plan on making you feel that way for a very long time, Rupert Giles."
"I love hearing you call me by my given name." He caressed her cheek with his hand, and then let it slide down her neck and her arm until it came to rest on her tummy. "One month to go."
"Mm hmm. Nervous?"
"Scared to death." He looked into her eyes. "So long as you are with me, I know that everything will be fine." He propped himself up on one arm and rest his head on his fist as a serious look took over his features. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier-about Angel……" but she covered his lips with a finger.
"Shhh, that's business talk for tomorrow. This is our night, just the two of us." She brought her face in closer until he could feel her breath on his face. "Take me away, Rupert." She whispered. "Take me to another universe, where the only life existing is you and me." She finished, and their lips met in a tender kiss.
~Part: 47~
Willow felt as though the world had melted away, and with it all the problems that it encompassed. She felt happy and serene as she allowed herself to drift in the nothingness that surrounded her.
Birds…..she could hear the sound of birds chirping somewhere off in the distance, though she refused to open her eyes and acknowledge it. She was quite content with staying right where she was.
"Willow?" came a soft feminine voice, but she tried her best to ignore it. "Willow?" it said again, and she knew there was no point in putting off the inevitable, and slowly opened her eyes and sat up. "It's about time." And laughter could be heard from behind, sounding almost like tinkling bells as the red head turned around.
"Carol!" Willow exclaimed happily.
"Hello sleepyhead. Long time no see." She said as Willow slowly stood and came to her. "I told you I'd see you again."
"Oh, Carol, I've missed you. It's been so long." And Willow hugged her quickly before pulling back to look at the girl once more.
"I know, and I've missed you too. Oh Willow, you look so beautiful. Pregnancy agrees with you." She said as Willow placed a hand to her stomach, and then looked down in confusion.
"Where did this come from?" she indicated the long white gown she was wearing.
"From me." Carol said, and then laughed. "I thought you would appreciate wearing it since you weren't wearing anything at all when I brought you here." And Willow blushed remembering why she wasn't wearing any clothing. "Don't be embarrassed about it, it's all a part of life." And Willow nodded.
"Oh, Carol! So much has happened since the last time I saw you."
"I know, isn't it exciting? Wow, I always knew Andrew and Jenna would get married."
"Poor Jenna. She was so nervous about the….well, you know."
"Sex?" Carol said, and Willow just stared in shock. "What?"
"You can say that in heaven?"
"Of course, silly. It's a fact of life, and is a sacred part of giving life. Why shouldn't we be able to say it?"
"Oh, uh. Well I guess when you put it that way, I don't know."
"You and Mr. Giles are married."
"Wow, this time you cut right to the chase. Last time you were all secret-y and everything."
"Well, that's because this time we're talking about things that you already know about. I don't have to do the `you'll figure it out' kinda stuff." She snickered and took Willow's hand and pulled her to the ground until they were both sitting. "I'm glad you decided to be with Mr. Giles."
"You knew about the baby didn't you?"
"Of course I did."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Willow asked.
"Because it wasn't my place to say anything about it. It was something for you to discover on your own. I can't interfere."
"Well, it wouldn't have really been interfering…..more like a kind of `fortune telling'."
"Willow." Carol admonished. "You know as well as I do, that things have to progress at their own pace. Everything happens for a reason, and if I had told you anything, it could have changed the outcome of things drastically and irreparably. I couldn't risk that."
"I guess." She bowed her head.
"You're upset because of Angel." Willow said nothing. "I understand, I really do, but this is the wrong time for him." She met Carol's gaze. "You know you have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about."
"I know I don't have anything to feel guilty about and I keep telling myself that. But I do anyway."
"I know you do, that's just part of who you are. But you and Mr. Giles are fulfilling something in each other that no one else can do."
"Fulfilling? I'm not following you."
"For you, a child. That is something Angel could not have provided you with."
"Oh, yeah. And Giles?" Willow asked curiously.
"Mr. Giles is getting something he's desperately wanted, but never thought was attainable…..a family. Have no fear….he loves you, Willow, and he loves the baby as well."
"I know he does. I see it in his face every time he looks at me."
"You made the right choice." She said, ending that part of the conversation. "I have another surprise for you." Carol giggled.
"How long do I have to wait this time to find out?" she asked, with a hint of playful sarcasm.
"You don't, I can tell you about it now." She stood and helped Willow up. "Actually, why tell you when it's something I can show you?" Carol finished, and closed her eyes as the red head tried to figure out what it could be. Beside Carol, a cloudy white form began to appear, but the longer Willow watched, the clearer it became.
"Anya?"
"Hi, Willow. Look at me, I'm in heaven." She smiled as the red head just stared in amazement. "Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"
"I-I'm sorry. I just can't believe I get to see you." And Willow hugged her. "I've missed you, Anya." She pulled away.
"I've missed you too." Her smile faded. "How's Xander? They wouldn't let me see him after I got here."
"He's fine now. He did take your going pretty hard, and for a while I was worried about him. But now he's a member of the new counsel, a-and he's even got a glass eye." She paused. "He still misses you though; he doesn't say anything, but he does. He loves you."
"I still love him too. I guess I was a little hard on him after the `not getting married, and leaving me at the alter' thing." She said, still sounding a little bitter.
"No, he deserved it. I just….I always thought that you two would get back together."
"Honestly, so did I." She forced a smile to her lips. "But we will be again, just not the way I would've liked."
"I know, but it could be a long wait." Willow replied.
"Only a month-that's not so bad."
"Huh? What do you mean `only a month'?" asked the red head.
"That's why Carol brought you here; to tell you that I get to be reborn…in you." She said and Willow let out a shocked gasp.
"You're going to be my baby?" and Anya nodded.
"Neat huh? I was told that I was going to be born again and then they showed me a bunch of couples as possible parents. But when I saw you and Giles………." She let the sentence trail off.
"Wow." Willow said in awe.
"Yup. I couldn't pass up the chance to be with all of you again, so I chose you and Giles. Besides, I know you two will make good parents, just as long as you remember one word; allowance. The bigger the better." And Willow beamed at the idea.
"You do realize that when Xander finds this out, he'll spoil you rotten?"
"Of course. Just as it should be." She smiled as Willow laughed at her comment. "Can I touch your stomach? I've never felt a baby move before." Anya asked, and Willow took her hand and placed it on her belly. Anya felt a movement under her hand and smiled as she looked to red head. "I'm moving, I can feel me moving. That's incredible! Hi me." She waved at Willow's bulge. With a deep sigh, she said; "It's time for me to go."
"Already? But you've only been here for a minute."
"Don't worry, we'll be together soon enough." She looked to her left at nothing. "I have to go, I'm being called. Good bye, Willow. See you in a month." And Anya disappeared before her eyes.
"I can't believe it….I'm going to be her mother." She said to herself.
"Does that make you happy?" Carol asked her, and Willow nodded.
"Very happy."
"I'm so glad. I thought you'd like to know about Anya, so I asked and was given permission to tell you……..and show you."
"Thank you, Carol. That really means a lot to me." Willow said with sincerity and received a smile in return.
"I hate to say this, but I've got to leave now, too."
"I know duty calls-stuff to do." She said sadly.
"Don't be sad, Willow, your day of joy will soon be here. And I'll be right there with you through it all. After all, I'm going to be her guardian angel." Willow's eyes widened in surprise. "Now, time for you to go back, close your eyes." And she waved a hand in front of Willow's face, and the red head closed her eyes.
She awoke to the sensation of a strong arm around her, and turned her head to see Giles spooned behind her, snoring softly. She was back in her room once more, cuddled next to the man who loved her more than anything in the world.
She shifted her position to face him, and the movement caused him to roll onto his back, and she couldn't help the giggle that escaped as she studied him. He was really quite handsome, even with sleep-tousled hair. She tapped his arm lightly.
"Hmmm?"
"Rupert?"
"Umm hmm?"
"Rupert, wake up." She said, and suddenly he sat bolt upright and looked to her.
"Willow, what's wrong? Are you in pain?"
"No, I'm fine." She said, and he looked confusedly at her.
"Then what's the matter?"
"I'm kinda hungry. Could you go down and get me some cold fried chicken?" she asked, and Giles looked to the clock.
"It's four thirty in the morning." He said in disbelief.
"I know, but I'm hungry." She smiled sweetly, and slowly the older man got out of bed and put his robe on.
"I shant be more than a couple minutes." He said and left the room. He headed down the stairs and through the lower part of the castle until he came to the lighted kitchen filled with servants still bustling about. "What on earth are all of you still doing up?"
"Sir, the celebrations ended only an hour ago. We are still cleaning."
"Oh, well." He cleared his throat. "Just worry about putting the food away, the rest can wait until tomorrow when we can all give you a hand."
"There's no need for that, sir."
"It's quite alright, Crenshaw. All of you need to sleep as well, and it was a rather long night."
"Thank you, sir. And if I may ask, is there a reason you are down here?"
"Oh yes, quite right. I'm here to get some fried chicken."
"Ahhh, the Mrs. is craving?"
"Yes. A late night craving, as it were." Said Giles as the butler grabbed a small plate, put some chicken on it and handed it to Giles. "Thank you, and good night."
"Good night, sir.' Replied the butler as Giles left.
Giles made his way back through the castle once more and up the stairs to his room. He quietly closed the door behind him and sat on the edge of the bed, holding the plate out.
"Willow, luv. Here's your meal." He said, but received no answer. "Willow?" he asked, but this time he heard her soft even breathing, indicating that she was asleep. Giles shook his head totally defeated, picked up a small drumstick and began to eat.
~Part: 48~
Given how late into the night the festivities were, everyone had arisen late in the morning and slowly crept their way down to the living area. The room was a complete mess as everyone eyed it warily.
All eyes settled on Giles as he held a garbage bag in one hand, and scooping up paper cups with the other in an attempt to clean. Some turned quietly to head back to the rooms in the hopes of not being seen, but stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of his voice.
"Ahhh, good morning. There is a box of bags right over there for you." He pointed to the table containing the box he mentioned, as well as dirty paper plates and cups. Groans and grumbles floated through the room ignored by the older man as he went about his task.
"I thought this is what we had servants for?" questioned Sharon as she looked around her.
"Quite right." Said Giles. "But they are not the ones responsible for this mess, and I can see no reason as to why we can not help them clean." he looked directly at the young woman. "Can you?" but received a shake of her head in response. "Well then, best you get started." He finished.
It took less than two hours to collect all the trash, and set the furniture back to where it should be before the servants shooed them out of the room. Giles protested some saying that they could help with the dusting, but to the relief of everyone else he was turned down with the statement of; "Sir, it is kind of you to offer, but you have done more than enough already. Besides, you would be paying us for doing nothing."
Lunch was served much later than usual, and Willow finally made an appearance, as did Xander shortly afterwards. Both took their seats at the table, but Willow's smile faded a little as she noticed the ice pack on Xander's right hand.
"Hey, it's nothing." He said with a goofy grin. "Doesn't really hurt that much….just a little tender, that's all."
"I'm sorry, Xander."
"It's no big, really. Ya know it's funny, I didn't even notice it at all last night, not till this morning."
"Delayed reaction due to shock. I assure you that it is actually quite common." Said Giles as he spooned some soup.
"Got him good, did ya? Way to go!" said Andrew to Xander.
"Yay me!" the brunette replied happily, until he saw Willow's face and cleared his throat.
"I'm taking for granted that you enjoyed yourself last night, given that the party did not end until about three thirty this morning."
"Yeah, I did. Hey Giles, how'd you know what time it finished?"
"Because I was down about an hour later to fetch Willow a snack."
"Ooops, sorry." She said sheepishly.
"It's quite alright, my dear." He patted her hand. "As it turned out, I was somewhat hungry myself."
"I gathered that when I saw a plate full of chicken bones." She laughed.
"I'm happy to say that you seem rather chipper this morning."
"I am, Rupert. I really am."
"Hey, does that ever sound weird hearing you call him Rupert after calling him Giles for so long." Said Xander as he slurped some soup off his spoon, while Giles scowled at him.
"I saw Carol again last night." She said softly so that only Giles and Xander could hear. "And not just Carol….I got to see someone else too."
"Oh? And who else did you see?" Giles asked skeptically.
"Anya." She said, and looked to Xander at the sound of his spoon hitting the table, splashing soup.
"Willow, that's not funny." Said the young man.
"Xander, I would never joke about something like that. You know, despite what everyone thinks, Anya and I were friends. She was the first person to give me a chance when I got back from England after my…….problem. I would never EVER make her out to be the butt of a joke." She said as tears filled her eyes. Xander jumped out of his seat and went to her as Giles brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
"I'm sorry, Wills. I guess it's still a little hard for me to talk about. I didn't mean to accuse you or anything." He hugged her. "So, you got to see her huh? How's she look? What did she say?"
"I didn't tell you before because I knew it would have been hard for you to hear, but the last time I saw Carol she told me Anya was in heaven."
"Heaven? She's in heaven?" he said in surprise as he pulled back.
"Yup. And when I saw her last night…..Oh Xander, she looked so beautiful!" Willow exclaimed excitedly. "You'll never guess what she told me. Guess! You'll never guess."
"I'm sitting on pins and needles here, Willster. What did she tell you?"
"She was offered the chance to be born again. She was shown a bunch of couples as possible parents, and guess who she chose?"
"My minds a blank." Said the young man.
"So you finally believe me." Said Giles with a chuckle.
"Rupert!" Willow admonished, and then turned her attention back to Xander. "Me, she chose me to be her mother! Isn't that exciting?"
"What?" said the two men in unison.
"It's true, that's what she said. She has a second chance to be with us again." She beamed as she watched the two soak in the information.
"So, is this to mean that our child will be a girl?"
"I don't know, and I didn't ask. As long as the baby's healthy, then I don't care what the sex is. Oh, hey. Did you know you can say the word `sex' in heaven?" she finished and felt as Xander placed a hand on her belly. "She said she misses you too." And she leaned over and kissed his forehead.
"I can't believe it." he said in awe.
"You better believe it, Uncle Xander." She said with a smile.
"Believe what?" asked Buffy as she entered the dining hall.
"It appears as though Willow will be giving birth to Anya." Said Giles with a slight shudder.
"Umm………HUH?"
"It's a long story." Said the older man with a wave of his hand. "One I would rather not get into at the moment."
"Okaaaaay." She replied. "Anyway, I didn't want to bring this up, but I thought you should know that Angel will be leaving tonight." Said the blonde, and Xander quickly stood and went back to his seat.
"Not soon enough for my liking." He mumbled, and then looked to Giles. "I can't believe you let him stay."
"Xander, now is not the time." Said Giles sternly and stood as Willow got up from her seat. "Willow, where are you going?"
"To talk to Angel."
"What? Wills, you are not going anywhere near him."
"Xander, I can't just leave things the way they are. I have to talk to him."
"Everything that needed to be said was said last night; you don't need to do this."
"Yes, I do."
"Well, if you're so hell bent on doing this, then I'm coming with you. I don't want you going anywhere near him alone." And Xander stood.
"Oh for Pete's sake, sit down. I am a big girl and I know how to talk all by myself." She said, and Xander opened his mouth to say something, but she pointed a finger at him. "Zip it mister! I don't want to hear another word about it." she turned to Giles and placed a hand on the side of his face.
"I love you." He whispered as he moved her hand and kissed her palm.
"I know." She whispered back with a smile, then left.
"I don't understand you, Giles." Xander said as the older man sat back down. "How could you just let her go off like that without a fight?"
"Because, Xander." He looked towards the doorway she left through. "I trust her."
* * * * * * * *
The red head stood in front of his door and stared, unable to make herself knock on the hard wood as she contemplated the idea that maybe this was a mistake after all. A slight gasp her escaped as the door unexpectedly opened, revealing the dark haired vampire.
"Willow." Was all he said.
"Angel. Am I disturbing you?"
"No. Please, come in." he said, and stepped aside to allow her entrance.
"Buffy said you were leaving tonight." She said as she passed by him.
"It's not like I have anything to stay for." He replied as he shut the door, and she wheeled around at his statement. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It's just that, well last night was a hell of a way to find out, you know."
"I know."
"Here, sit." He indicated a chair. "You shouldn't be standing for long periods." He said as she sat. "You-you look good." He sat at the end of the bed. "Pregnancy agrees with you."
"So everyone keeps telling me." She gave a half hearted smile.
"It's true, you look beautiful." She blushed a little. "Your hair is much longer too."
"It grows really fast now."
"I heard that happens." He sighed. "Willow, please tell me you didn't marry him because……."
"Because of what? You? The baby?"
"I don't know." He said in frustration.
"Angel, he loves me."
"I love you too. That hasn't changed."
"Yes, I know you do, and I'm not trying to argue or dispute that point with you."
"Then what point are you trying to make because frankly, I don't understand."
"Angel, where were you when we opened the first counsel hall? Where were you when I was going through some pretty major problems with Buffy….and when Kennedy came back? Where were you for the move to England; and when Carol died?"
"You know where I was. Just what exactly are you getting at?"
"The point, Angel? The point is that when I was going through all of that, when I needed you the most; you weren't here." She shook her head and stood. "You don't know what it was like- everything I went through." She began to pace. "Rupert was there to guide me, to help me. He was my shoulder when I needed to cry, my rock when I needed strength and he was there when I needed to talk to someone. He was everything I needed when I needed it."
"I couldn't help it….you know what my job is like." He said, and she stopped and stood in front of him.
"I do, Angel, and I'm not blaming you. But how can we be a couple when we can't even be in the same country? Our jobs don't exactly afford us the luxury of being together." she sighed, and then sat again.
"It could have….we could have found a way."
"How, Angel? You can't leave what you do any more than I could- what we do is too important. If we stopped doing what we do, so could the world….. and our future. Look, when Carol died I allowed myself to shut down my feelings, but when I took your call and heard your voice I was willing to allow myself to feel again. Hearing your voice gave me back some hope."
"And what I told you……" he let the sentence trail off as she nodded. "And it was Giles who was there."
"Yes, he was-and he still is." She said, and he looked to her belly.
"He gave you something else I couldn't." his eyes looked into hers. "Do you love him?"
"No, not the way that I should-and in all honesty, I wish I did. But he understands and accepts."
"Are you happy? With him?"
"I am." She said, and he nodded his acceptance.
"He's a good man, Willow, but I have to know-do you love me?"
"Truthfully, I do. But I won't leave him, Angel…I can't do that to him."
"I know." He said. "I understand." He gave a sad smile. "After all, I do have eternity-I think I can wait a little longer."
"Y-you'll still…..after all that's happened?" she asked in shock as he raised a hand and ran it down her long tresses.
"I like your hair long."
* * * * * * * * *
Giles and Xander sat in the leather chairs in front of the fire, and watched as the flames danced to its own rhythm and cast an orange glow in the darkened library. Neither said a word as the time slowly ticked by-both lost in their own thoughts, and neither heard as the door opened and closed.
"Rupert?" said a voice to his right, and he jerked his head in the direction. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Darling, you didn't interrupt anything. Xander and I were just sitting here enjoying the warmth of the fire." He said as Willow walked to him, sat on his lap and snuggled in as she rest her head on his shoulder.
"Mind if I join you then?" she giggled as he wrapped his arm around her.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." He said and looked to the younger man, who wore a wide grin as he stood up and left the two alone.
~Part: 49~
There was so much chatter coming from the room ahead of him, he couldn't distinguish one voice from the next, and the closer to it he got to it the worse it was. As he entered the room, he could see what was causing all the excitement from the young girls.
Xander and Andrew stood a few feet away and watched the flurry of movement in front of them as ornament after ornament seemed to place themselves on the tree as if under their own power.
"I think we did good this year, Andy." Xander said as he clapped the other man on the back.
"So do I. With the higher ceilings I thought it was a good idea to go with the taller tree. Do you want to put the star on top again?"
"Nah. You can have the honors this time around." He said, but suddenly the girls movements stopped and the two men looked at them in confusion. The girl's heads slowly turned to look at a point behind them, and Andrew and Xander looked to each other, and then turned around to see what had captured their attention away from decorating the tree.
"Haven't you left yet?" said an exasperated Xander.
"Don't worry; I just needed to talk to Giles before I left, then I'll be out of your way."
"Well then, you'd best hurry up-the sooner you talk, the sooner you'll be gone."
"Yeah, and thank you so much for the hospitality." Said Angel, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Hey, just think of me as the unwelcome wagon of Cardiff Castle. Now, do your talking and get the hell out of here." He turned around and faced the girls. "Okay, let's get this tree finished. It won't decorate itself ya know." And the girls went back to their task, but silently this time as Angel left the room and made his way to Giles' office.
"Are you sure I can't stake him for you?" asked Jenna as she came to stand by Andrew.
"No, but I will definitely keep you in mind for the job." Xander chuckled.
* * * * * * * * *
"Come in." said Giles at the sound of a knock on his door, never taking his eyes from the papers on his desk.
"I'm not interrupting you, am I?" at the sound of Angel's voice, Giles' head quickly turned as irritation appeared on his features.
"No, you are not. Please, come in." and he indicated a chair in front of his desk.
"I wanted to apologize for bursting in during the celebrations last night." He took a seat. "And to thank you for letting me stay the night."
"No need." He replied, holding up a hand. "It is quite understandable."
"If I'd known sooner………"
"Had you have known sooner, Angel, you would have been here sooner. And given your reaction during last night's festivities, it would have been, no doubt, to talk Willow out of this marriage."
"Giles………."
"Angel, please. I know of your feelings for Willow, and hers for you. I also know that you've had eight months to come here and make things right with her-and didn't." the vampire said nothing. "I was there the night your call came-in her office."
"So you knew what happened." It was a statement.
"Yes, I did know. And quite frankly, I find the way that you treated her to be utterly deplorable."
"It couldn't be helped, Giles. I was on a case and needed to be convincing."
"Do you honestly think the fact that you had slept with someone else is what drove her to me? If that is the case, then you are not as smart as I've always given you credit for." Giles shook his head in disbelief.
"What are you talking about?"
"We both know Willow, and though she may not have cared for the idea of you being intimate with someone else, nevertheless, she would have understood that it was necessary." Giles took his glasses off and carefully laid them on the desk. "You allowed her to worry over your well being for months, without so much as a thought of what it might be doing to her. And why? Because you were ashamed of what you had done."
"It was a stupid mistake, and I know I should have called sooner."
"You're damn right you should have!" Giles stood and leaned forward, hands on his desk. "Willow was going through quite the emotional turmoil only to discover that part of it was for nothing!"
"Buffy told me a bit of what's been happening. I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" Giles threw his hands in the air. "For the second time in her life she shut herself down, and I was the one to bring her back." He said through gritted teeth. "And where the hell were you while she was going through this? Tucked away in your little office, alone with your bloody brooding!" he sat back down trying to calm himself.
"If I had known what was happening, I could've helped."
"If you had known? And how on earth would you have found out? To everyone here you were away on a mission and were unable to be contacted. There was no way of informing you of anything…..or so we thought."
"You're right." Angel hung his head. "I let my guilt get in the way."
"Just as you always do."
"That's not fair, Giles." Angel shot back.
"Oh? I think it to be quite a fair estimation of your character. And I do believe Xander is correct in calling you `the king of brood'. You let your emotions and guilt get in the way of everything, as always, and give no thoughts to others until someone pats you on the back and tells you that you are, indeed, redeeming yourself. You allow your actions and emotions of the past to interfere with the present, to the point of hurting those around you."
"I don't expect a `pat on the back' from anyone, Giles. I do my job because it's the right thing to do."
"And your redemption to the higher powers doesn't enter into the equation?" But Angel said nothing. "I thought as much." The older man sighed. "I don't want you to return here ever again. Your presence will add nothing but confusion for Willow."
"Are you saying you don't trust her to be around me, Giles?"
"Quite the contrary, I trust my wife implicitly. It is you whom I do not trust."
"You have nothing to worry about from me; I would never come between a marriage."
"Somehow I find little comfort in your words."
"Look, Giles. Willow and I talked this afternoon, and you don't have to worry-she won't leave you."
"This I already know."
"She told you then?"
"No, she did not tell me anything of the conversation, and she doesn't need to. I know Willow; I know how she thinks and how she feels. If you loved her as much as you proclaim to, then you would know as well without her having to tell you." Giles put his glasses back on and leaned back in his chair.
"I envy you, Giles. I can see how much you love her, and I know that you'll take good care of her."
"As I have always done."
"What can I say-the better man won." Angel stood.
"This was never a game, Angel. There are no winners nor losers." He replied as he stood. "I want Willow to know nothing of this conversation. With the child due in a month, she has enough stress to deal with as it is. There is no need to add to it." and Angel nodded in agreement.
"Congratulations on the child." He said, extending a hand. "You're a lucky man."
"Thank you." And after a slight hesitation, Giles shook his hand and walked him to the door.
* * * * * * * *
Upon hearing that the conversation was at an end, Willow backed away from the door and made her way down the hall as quickly as her body allowed. If Giles thought it best that she knew nothing of what was said between them, then she could pretend for his sake.
Present Day
"So you knew all along?" Angel was aghast.
"Of course I did." She giggled.
"Why did you never say anything?"
"Why should I have?"
"You're not upset about any of it?"
"Of course not. Giles was looking out for me then as he did since the day we met. I could never be mad at him for it. Now, I'm getting near the end of this entry. Are you going to let me finish it?"
"I'm listening."
~Part: 50~
The last two weeks had been busy as everyone scrambled to do the Christmas shopping-but worse was trying to find a place to wrap the gifts without the intended owners seeing what they would be getting. And now that the day was finally here, all their cares were thrown out the window as they gathered around the tree in excitement.
It had been a fun-filled morning as squeals of delight filled the air-as did the wrapping paper as it was flung from each gift. Though everyone did have to look twice once it was realized that a couple of those squeals came from Andrew as he unwrapped a figurine of Mr. Spock and a replica of the original Enterprise.
When all was said and done, the girls had taken Willow by the hand and placed a cushion on the floor for her to sit on, and practically buried her in gifts. Ooh's and ahh's could be heard around the room as Willow opened each gift to find little baby items in greens and yellows. Not knowing the sex of the child, they all thought it safer to stick with neutral colors that could go either way.
"Thanks guys, this is so sweet of you." Willow beamed.
"You'll get some more things later….we kinda wanted to wait till the baby was born so we could pick out some pink or blue stuff." Replied Erin happily.
"I, too, have a gift for you as well." Said Giles, as he pointed to a huge gift with Christmas paper wrapped loosely around it.
"What on earth is it?" she questioned.
"Open it and find out." He finished as Willow drew her brows together and looked around. "Willow?"
"Rupert, I'm on the floor and I can't get up." She said in frustration. Giles and Xander each took her hands and pulled her up off the floor and steadied her, then walked with her to the large unopened gift, chuckling all the way. "It's not funny. How would you like to be physically impaired?"
"Uh, Will? One eye, remember?" Xander pointed to his glass eye.
"Oh yeah? Well I don't see it hindering your movements any. And I bet that if you looked down, you could probably see your feet." She sighed. "I don't even remember what mine look like anymore." She said softly to herself.
"Come, Willow. Open your gift." Giles cut in, hoping to stem off the inevitable tears he was sure would follow. The red head gripped the festive paper and pulled until the paper fell away, and stared in awe at the dark stained wooden rocking chair with hand carved ivy running along the head rest.
"Rupert!" she exclaimed, never taking her eyes from it. "It's beautiful." And she ran a hand along the top of the chair and down the side.
"Do you really like it?"
"I love it."
"I thought you might like to rock the child to sleep in it." he said, looking a little guilty. "I-I wasn't sure what else to get."
"Rupert." She looked into his eyes. "It's perfect."
"I'm so relieved." He said as he let out the breath he was holding. "There is another one in our room. I had Crenshaw put it there while you were down here, t-to use for when the baby wakes up through the night." He finished and Willow broke down into tears. "Willow? I thought you liked it?"
"I do!" she sobbed. "This is just (sniff) the sweetest thing ever." He handed her a handkerchief to dry her eyes and blow her nose. "Thank you."
"And that's not all." Xander broke in, then ran and reached under the couch only to pull a long package out. "This is from me." He carried it over to her with both hands and stopped in front of her. "Go on, open it."
She pulled the wrapping from it while the young man held it up, and she couldn't help smiling at him. The shreds of paper hit the floor to reveal two cushions; one large and one smaller one.
Both were light green with a slightly darker green frilly edging around them, and all over them were pictures of storks carrying babies in little bundles hanging from the beaks. Xander placed the smaller one on the seat, and the larger one to lean against the back- making sure to fasten them to the chair with the ties.
"Sit, try it out. I put the same thing on the one in your room too. Giles and I…." He blushed a little. "We kinda went shopping together for your presents."
"Thank you so much." She said, giving him a hug before sitting in the rocking chair. She slowly eased herself down and slowly began to rock back and forth, while humming a softy and running her hands along the arms. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, and allowed herself a moment to relax.
"That is such a lovely tune. I do not believe that I have ever heard it before. Whoever is the composer?"
"My mother, Rupert." Willow replied softly, keeping her eyes closed. "It's the only thing she ever did that resembled being motherly. She used to hum it whenever I had a nightmare, and it would calm me down and help me sleep."
"It is truly a beautiful piece."
"I thought it would make a nice lullaby."
"It would indeed, dearest."
"Uh, Will?" came a slightly timid female voice. "Could I talk to you for a second?"
"What is it, Buffy." Asked the red head as she opened her eyes and looked to the blonde.
"Come along, Xander. I think we should see to getting this mess cleaned up." Giles took Xander by the arm and led him away to afford the two women some privacy.
"I have something for you….two things actually." Buffy held out the first package for her to take. "It's for the baby, although you probably already guessed that cause that's what everyone did." She smiled nervously as Willow took it and unwrapped it. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as Willow removed it from the box and held it up.
"It's cute."
"I-it's a mobile, for the cradle." She said as Willow studied the unicorn and the other animals hanging from it. "I wanted to make sure it saw cutsie type stuff, you know; unicorns and puppies and birds-things like that."
"Thank you, Buffy. I'll put it on the cradle when I go upstairs." And she put it back in the box as the blonde held out another package.
"I hope you like it." she said as Willow took it. "I made them myself…..with help. I'm not very good in the domestics department, but the girls I teach gave me hand with them." She finished and studied Willow's reaction with hope in her eyes as the red head held up a patchwork quilt.
"It's lovely, I mean it. You made it?" she looked to the blonde who was smiling back enthusiastically.
"Uh huh! That's for the baby to sleep with, and the other one is the receiving blanket…for bringing the baby home from the hospital. I, uh, couldn't put a date on it cause……" she let the sentence trail off. "So I put the year on it instead. See?" she pointed to it as Willow unfolded it and held it up. "Two thousand and six."
"Buffy, I can't believe you did this."
"Does that mean you'll bring the baby home in it?"
"I will. I'll have Rupert pack it in my overnight bag so I don't forget it in the rush." She tore her eyes away from the blanket and looked to the blonde. "Thank you. This means a lot to me."
"I'm so glad." She bowed her head. "I-I miss you, Will, and I miss our friendship. I miss the talks we used to have and the sleepovers and the `Anywhere But Here' we used to play." She looked back up. "I miss the old days."
"Buffy, the old days are gone-we aren't kids anymore. I'm sorry that it bothers you, I really am, but for the next while your feelings are the least of my concerns. My entire life is about to change within the next week or two…..more than it already has and I just don't have the time or the energy to worry about it."
"I know, and I understand. I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you if you ever need to talk." She swallowed. "I'm trying to show you that you can trust me, Will….but I don't know what else to do."
"Buffy, there is nothing you can do. I can't forgive you right now; I just don't have that in me, and I'll never be able to forget what happened because of it."
"Please, let me…."
"Let me finish." She said, raising a hand to silence the blonde. "Now, I can totally understand why you were upset over the relationship with me and Angel….after all, he was your first love. But you two were long over by the time he and I fell in love with each other."
"I know. I was being selfish, but I just always assumed he would still be in love with me no matter what." Buffy cast her eyes to the floor. "It never entered my mind he could love anyone else-let alone my best friend."
"See, I totally get that. But what I don't understand is the accusations of me `steeling your watcher' thing. Rupert and I were friends at the time, nothing more." She rolled her eyes. "Okay, he loved me, but he never showed it to anyone."
"You're right, but you two had something that Giles and I have never had."
"What?" Willow asked, curious.
"Comrad-iness." She said simply.
"Do you mean, camaraderie?"
"Yeah. I mean that. You and Giles have always gotten along- better than anyone else has with him. And he's always treated you different than he did with us. When we were in high school, Giles treated you like an adult…..but me and Xander, we were still kids."
"I-I never really noticed." Said Willow as she tried to think back to the old days.
"Of course you didn't; but Xander and I did. And as the years came, the closer you two got. It really did sorta bother me because I was the slayer and he was my watcher, ya know?"
"But why did you never say anything about it before?"
"And say what? `Hey you two, I'm the slayer-give me the attention! Or `Hey, you two can't research together on that demon cause I'm jealous!'. I don't think so. I mean, I can see why he treated you different. You're both smart, and you can totally understand `Giles-speak' where the rest of us couldn't. With you, he didn't have to `dumb it down' like he did with the rest of us. You had a connection with him that none us of had…and still do."
"I guess I can see your point."
"It seems kinda petty and unimportant now that I hear myself saying it."
"You're right, it does. But if it's any consolation, they are valid points."
"You've even got his respect."
"He respects you, Buffy."
"Not like he does you. Even Xander gets more of his respect than me."
"You've never really given him a reason too. Let's face it, Xander and I didn't have super powers when we first met, but we were out there doing everything we could to help. We've worked hard-damn hard to get where we are. You? Up until the thing with the first evil, you shluffed off."
"Are you forgetting all the patrolling I did?" said Buffy defensively.
"Nope, I'm not. But how many of those nights did you spend sneaking out with Angel instead? Or sleeping with Spike? How many times were we all asked to research something and you would find an excuse to get out of it? Especially when Faith came around….before she went to the mayor's side that is. Xander and I even took over your job when you left town after having to kill Angel, and whenever you went on vacation to see your dad. You were the slayer-not us, but we still did the best we could."
"I-I guess I can see your point."
"You're not the only one at fault for that here. We allowed it to happen. Rupert saw a child who needed a life; we all did, and tried our best to let you have one. After all, you were the one who carried the weight of the world, and so on and so forth. Problem was, you got carried away with it, and now look at the outcome of it all. I'm sorry, Buffy, I'm doing my best here, but I can only be toyed with for so long before I can't do it anymore."
"Willow, I've never `toyed' with you."
"Really? As soon as you and Faith became all `buddy buddy' all those years ago, you dropped me like a hot potato. You couldn't be bothered with me until Faith turned on you, and then I was a convenient ear and shoulder for you."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not just that. It was almost the same with you and Angel, and you and Riley….then that thing with you and Spike. You made me feel like you never needed me unless you `needed' me."
"I never realized." Buffy said, guilt filling her.
"I know you didn't. But you'll have to understand when I say, I've worried about you for enough years and now it's my turn to worry about me." She exhaled loudly. "I'm trying to lay my cards out on the table here, without being hurtful."
"I can take it, Will."
"Except for Xander, no one ever needed me before, not until you and Rupert came along. The problem was, the more you needed that insecure little girl, the more she `needed' you to need her. Sure, I learned magic for the cause-but mostly it was for you. But looking back on it all it seemed that the more I gave the more you took, and then dropped me when my presence was inconvenient. I mean, why do you think it was so easy for me to take you on when I went through that little evil spree? Or why Xander-with no powers-was the only one who could stop me?"
"I never thought about it before." Buffy said, not really sure she wanted to hear the answer.
"Because he couldn't stop the end of the world if that was what I was going to do; and he knew that. It was three simple little words that he said to me…..I love you."
"We all love you, Willow."
"Enough to just stand there and die with me?" Buffy remained silent. "Xander did-and does. He knew he was risking his life, but still chose to be there by my side if the end was to come. He wasn't thinking of himself; he was thinking only of me, and that's when I realized that I couldn't do it…not to him. He deserved better than that. Buffy, I've given you the kind of friendship that you wanted since the time we met, and when you wanted a `working' relationship only-I gave that to you too. Now it's time for you to accept the relationship I want with you. Be happy, I'm only giving you what you asked for."
"Will there ever be a chance for us?"
"You asking me a question that I don't know the answer to. I can't predict the future, but I won't rule out that maybe one day there will be."
"Okay." Buffy nodded sadly. "Thank you for allowing me to be here for Christmas, a-and for the birth of the baby."
"Honestly, Buffy? It's Rupert you need to thank." Said the red head as she awkwardly got up from the chair and made her way to her husband's side.