Five By Five
by Shyfox
[reviews]
Disclaimer: Joss is god, I just use em for my own sick and twisted pleasure.
This is my own version of events when Faith wakes up from her coma...I've taken great liberties in changing everything to fit my own little verse.
This is yet another story in the Sappho's spell series...anybody sick of them yet?:-) Just checking. I've lost count of how many I've written so far.:-) It's like that song...you know the one that never ends.:-) Anyhoo...This one takes place about a month after Wonderful days...glorious nights...give or take a day.:-) enjoy.:-)
Summary: So, Willow's five months pregnant, the prospective parents are busy putting the nursery together and preparing to bring a new life into the world...wouldn't this be a really bad time for an old enemy to appear? Well, like they say on the Hellmouth. You can't keep a bad seed down forever...let the games begin.
Comments, questions, criticisms are as always welcome at shyfox30@hotmail.com
Five by Five
by
Shyfox
Look into my eyes,
you will see
what you mean to me.
Search your heart,
search your soul.
And when you find me there, you'll search no more.
Don't tell me it's not worth trying for.
You can't me it's not worth dying for.
You know it's true.
Everything I do.
I do it for you.
-- Bryan Adams
"Okay...now over to the left."
"No, Xander your other left!"
"Ow." Buffy learned first hand what it was like to be caught between a rock and a hard place...or in this scenario, a wall and a really bulky peice of furniture. Buffy and Xander were in the process of getting the baby's changing table/ dresser up the stairs, while Willow directed them from below. Unfortunately, Xander was lousy with directions.
"Oops, sorry about that Buff." Xander chuckled nervously at the baleful look he recieved from the Slayer.
"Who knew babies needed this much stuff." The Slayer grumbled to herself, before she shifted her grip. "It's all right...let's just get this thing moved." She grunted, as she tried to maneuver Xander in the direction of the nursery. It wasn't especially heavy, at least not to the Slayer, but it's bulkiness made it difficult to move.
It was just another turn, before they entered the room that they had spent a good part of the last month preparing. They set the peice of furniture up against the far wall, underneath the window that peeked out at the back yard, and took a moment to survey the room...examining the work they had done. Brightly colored images of baby Mickey and Minnie mouse graced the soft yellow painted walls, a color Buffy persisted perversely in calling 'Baby chick yellow'.
In one corner of the room, a wooden rocking chair stood idle...waiting for someone to sit in it and rock a crying baby to sleep. Buffy remembered the look of love and surprise on Willow's face when she had presented the chair to her. Willow looked at her through misty eyes for a timeless moment, then put her arms around her in a heartfelt hug.
'You remembered.' She had whispered softly, the wetness of a tear dripping down her cheek.
'Of course. How could I forget?' Buffy had replied in a low tone, remembering all the stories Willow had told her after the baby had first been conceived, of how her mother used to rock her to sleep when she was an infant and how she would read to her from that very same chair before putting her to bed at night as she grew older. Buffy was well aware of Willow's dream to do those things for her own little daughter and she was all too happy to help that dream come alive.
They had stood there embracing, their heart's swelling with love and devotion for each other, smelling the fresh paint drying on the nursery walls, as every added touch to the nursery brought them that much closer to the birth of their baby. And the dream that was ever present in each of their hearts.
The baby's crib stood in the center of the room, and quickly became the center of her attention. The light colored peice of furniture was decorated with tiny images of the Disney characters, and a mobile hanging over the top of the crib went with the motif of the room, displaying the cartoon figures in a way certain to catch an infant's attention. She could easily imagine her daughter reaching up to play with the dangling and enticing objects, or falling asleep while the tune 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star' echoed tinnily in her ear.
Buffy observed Willow's mood as she watched her walk over to the crib and pick up the Tinky Winky plush doll that lay inside. She looked like Buffy felt...like she was in some kind of a daze, and that if she blinked this would all disappear like a mirage in the desert. Buffy moved behind her, circling her growing waist with her arms as she laid her head on the red head's shoulder, before putting her hands on the distended belly.
"We did good." Buffy reflected, scanning the room with shining blue eyes. "All we have to do now is wait for the baby to arrive."
"A room fit for a princess." Willow murmured, imagining what it would be like to flutter around in here, taking care of her newborn and finding that she couldn't wait to hold her baby in her arms and love her. "I can't wait to see her, Buffy."
"Me either." Buffy said softly, nuzzling her wife's cheek, and was amused to hear Xander cough uncomfortably, before he left the room. 'Yeah...I'm turning into a qualified bowl of jello here, aren't I?' She thought, rolling her eyes at herself, while trying to keep her eyes from spilling over.
She sniffled, then turned Willow to face her, keeping her hand on Willow's belly. "What do you think, little one, huh? Do you like it?" The shock on the Slayer's face was priceless as she looked into Willow's bemused eyes.
"Did you feel that?!" Buffy asked, her eyes widening as her hands roamed over the expanse of belly exicitedly.
"Oh yeah...I felt it." Willow chuckled, amused at the total thrill on her wife's face. "Couldn't miss it." She had felt the strange flutter inside that had been her daughter's movement for a short while now, but this was the first time she had felt her kick.
"Think she'll do it again?" Buffy's face was so full of awe that Willow thought her heart would burst from the sheer beauty of it.
"Probably. I've heard they do that." Willow grinned, watching her wife's eyes widen impossibly further as they felt their daughter kick again.
"Wow." The word was just above a whisper, but Willow could tell that Buffy was deeply moved by this moment.
"Buffy...Willow...you're going to be late for your appointment." Joyce called from the direction of the hallway, and the stairs beyond it.
"Mom! Get in here!" Buffy half cried, half laughed as she hugged Willow to her. "The baby just kicked me."
It seemed like the words had just left Buffy's mouth, when Xander and Joyce rushed into the room and started hovering over the elated parents. Each one wanting to take their turn feeling Willow's stomach, and waiting for the baby to move against their hand. Each wanted that tangible sign that this miracle was indeed a live presence in their consciously growing family.
*****