Dead Prophets
by Rin
Mother Dearest
[reviews]
A/N: Sigh...my original B/W opus...and here's a new one just for you guys and gals!!
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Willow went back to work that Wednesday, and was none too happy about having to leave her wife. Buffy had to finish her tour, though, so she could get back home quicker. That didn't mean Willow had to like it.
Elita had just laid down on the couch for her nap, right as Willow was finishing up her latest report. The little girl had her portable DVD showing some Disney princess film, even though she was almost out cold. Willow decided a nap didn't sound too bad right now, so she turned off the player, laid it on her desk, and snuggled in beside her daughter.
Eve busted into the office, and noticed the two redheads asleep on the couch. Seeing Willow's content, happy smile at just cuddling with the baby almost made Eve rethink her goals. Her former lover really was happy in this new, domesticated life. Then again, the businesswoman side of her came back to the forefront, and she dismissed the idea of nixing her plan altogether. No, she would have Willow Rosenberg again. Nothing was going to stand in her way, not even the perfect picture of happiness.
"I have those press kits you wanted." Eve dropped the folders on the desk with a loud oomph, waking both redheads from their slumber. "If you're not too tired, take a look at them, and sign off if you think they're ready to go. Also, you might reconsider letting Kennedy play producer for Rogue Slayer again. Faith is starting to come in late, and the Senior Partners want to see the new album ready for an Easter release."
"Yeah...okay, I'll look into it." Willow sat up from the couch, and rubbed at her eyes. Elita just looked up before harrumphing, and going back to sleep. "Anything else?"
"Just those press kits need your approval before we send them to radio stations." Eve leaned against the desk, and watched Willow carefully extract herself from the baby. "Also, I found out something interesting over the weekend."
"The world is round?" Willow moved to sit behind her desk, to prove that she was the boss, more for herself than for Eve.
"No, Lindsay has a beautiful voice." Eve just wanted to hint at how she found that out, hoping to strike some jealousy in the redhead. When she saw none there, it almost made her nostrils flare. Willow was really hard to crack; she was going to have to do something extremely drastic.
"I know. I've offered him a contract before...that's actually how he became our lawyer." Willow smiled, remembering the night they first met at Carita's when she was visiting Lorne. "He laid down background vocals for Wolfram and Hart a couple years ago...but I thought you already knew all of this."
"True...I did do my research before I helped steal that band from your label. I just didn't know he had a good singing voice on his own." Eve smirked. That was one of her big accomplishments during her early career: bringing Wolfram and Hart over to Evil Incarnate Records. They just didn't fit with Watchers Records' goody two shoe image, so it wasn't that hard to convince them. "Also, it's been brought to my attention that we have a major name in the indie rock scene looking into our label."
"It's not a big deal. I just met her in New York during the Grammy after parties, and she mentioned she wanted to change labels but I doubt she will." Willow wasn't willing to drop names just yet. It would be a HUGE deal for the label but she didn't want to get her hopes up in case this legend changed her mind.
"Well, keep me posted because the Senior Partners will eventually catch wind of this, and want to know more." Eve knew she only had two weeks left before Buffy returned from her tour. "I'm sure you haven't been eating well, so how about I buy you and Elita dinner tonight?"
"No, thanks. I've almost got the 'cooking while watching a baby' technique down. I figure by the time Buffy gets home, I'll have it mastered." Willow smiled, as she glanced over at the grumbling sleepyhead on the couch. "Maybe lunch sometime this week or next. I'll see if Xander wants to join us, too."
"Great...we can talk business." Eve wanted to shoot somebody, literally. How was this woman not taking any of her hints, or any of her bait? She'd had affairs with married men (and women) before, even those secure in their relationship. It was always the challenge of something she couldn't have, and she always managed to get what she wanted. What was different about this time?
"It's always business with you." Willow chuckled softly at the woman.
"Not always..." Eve let that hang in the air, and she swayed her hips out the door, and sent a flirty grin over her shoulder before she exited the office.
"Dammit. She always does that." Willow took a deep breath. That wasn't as hard as she thought, playing dumb to Eve's charades and come-ons. Truth was, she was satisfied with her life with Buffy, and wouldn't touch Eve with a ten-foot pole. The woman just didn't understand 'no' this time actually meant 'no,' and not one of their twisted games they used to play. No, Willow was tempted no more. She'd switched to strawberries, and given up apples long ago.
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Willow sat Elita on the kitchen island, telling her to sit still. The baby obeyed, as her mommy banged around in the cabinets, pulling out food and pans. The two went about mixing up a batch of pancakes and kosher bacon. Elita seemed to love bacon but Willow still had a problem touching anything porky, so she always bought kosher meat, porkless. Growing up Jewish did have a little impact on her.
After they ate, Willow piled Elita into the car, and they proceeded to head to the supermarket. The refrigerator definitely showed that Buffy hadn't been home in weeks. The girls wanted to surprise the blonde by doing the grocery shopping before she returned Tuesday.
As they strolled down each aisle, Willow would read all the nutritional contents on the back of each box or can she picked up before deciding if it was good enough. It had been awhile since she'd done the grocery shopping. Elita just sighed from her seat, and giggled when her mother would make funny faces at the food. The redhead's cell phone rang, and she was surprised to see it was Buffy. She was supposed to be getting ready for a late night interview show.
"Hey, sweetie...what's up? Aren't you supposed to be in makeup or something?" Willow pushed the cart away from the spaghetti aisle. They'd had a lot of pasta this month, since it was quick and easy.
"I'm done. Just wanted to call and let you know I missed you, and I can't wait until Tuesday." Buffy sounded tense. "How is Elita doing?"
"We're grocery shopping. She's doing great, other than the occasional 'what's my mommy up to' glare." Willow smiled down at the baby, and smoothed back the red locks from her forehead. "I think we might need to schedule her a haircut soon."
"You're grocery shopping? Without me? How long has it been since you've done that?" Buffy chuckled on the other end.
"A few years at least." Willow smiled, as she pushed her way down the frozen vegetable aisle. Picking out a bag of brussle sprouts, she began to read the nutrition content.
"You're not doing that thing where you read everything on the package, are you? Elita may not understand why it's taken so long to shop for food. She gets kinda restless in the cart as it is." Buffy chuckled because she heard Willow's silence for what it was. She knew her wife way too much. Then again, she always made grocery shopping an interesting adventure. "When I get back on Tuesday, I plan on having a big meal. I have some great news but I wanna tell you in person, and not over the phone."
"Now you're gonna make me wonder what it is all weekend!" Willow scoffed, as she threw a couple more bags of frozen veggies in the cart.
"Nothing to worry about; it's good news." Buffy took a deep breath, and a woman's voice could be heard through the muffled receiver. "That's my cue, baby. I'll call later before Elita's bedtime, okay?"
"Okay...have fun. I'll watch for you tonight." Willow pushed the cart on down, and toyed with the idea of getting some ice cream but decided against it. That would be unhealthy for the baby. The cart was full of milk, 100% juices (none with preservatives), vegetables, meat, breads, and cheeses. There wasn't a single bit of junk food in there. It was a first for the redhead.
"Okay, love you, bye." Buffy hung up the phone, and Willow proceeded to the check out counter before she was tempted by the ice cream aisle again. Elita just looked up at her mommy with a sigh. She looked like she was going to start screaming any minute now but she stayed quiet and calm.
Getting the groceries in the house, and watching Elita proved to be a tricky situation. At first, Willow would take in a few bags at a time, while keeping the baby in her other arm. Faith drove up just in time to chuckle at the redhead's antics before taking the remaining groceries inside with her. The two friends went about unloading the groceries, while Elita played on the floor with her kitchen toys.
"The Jolly Green Giant's got nothin' on you, Wills." Faith put the frozen vegetables in their allotted slot, and shook her head in amusement. "You coulda let the kid play, while you dragged the groceries in; woulda made it a helluva...heck of a lot easier."
"Thanks." Willow was glad Faith caught the slip. "What's up? Not that you're not allowed to come over anytime. It's just that it's a Friday night. Isn't that date night for you?"
"Not anymore. Kenn and I broke up." Faith took a deep breath, as she loaded the milk and juice in the fridge.
"I'm sorry. Was she really that mad about me taking her off the production?" Willow unloaded the groceries, and put them in piles according to where they went, as Faith loaded them. They hadn't done this in a long time, not since they lived together years ago.
"Naw. I don't really blame ya, either. She was always makin' me late, kinda pissed me off. No, this has been comin' for some time now. We're just too alike, ya know?" Faith finished putting the last food parcel in the freezer before gathering the bags.
"Isn't that normally a good thing?" Willow put the plastic bags in the holder beneath the sink, and locked the sink back.
"Not with us, not with stuff we had alike." Faith saw that the redhead understood completely what she meant. "I was actually wonderin' if maybe...I could produce the rest of the album myself?"
"Wow...I mean, sure. That's not a problem. I don't have a problem with that idea. It would save us time finding a new producer, though it wouldn't have been that hard." Willow was shocked at the request. She didn't think Faith had any interest beyond the actual music aspect. "If you really want to, then I think that's great."
"I don't know. I guess I just want more control, ya know? I'm tired of people tellin' me what I can and can't do on an album. I've passed up a lot of songs because others didn't like them. I guess I just want to make this album about MY music for once." Faith cleared her throat. "I mean, our music. Did that sound cocky?"
"No, not a bit...and I get it, wanting to have more control." Willow smiled down at Elita, who was currently puzzled why the square block would not fit into the circle hole.
"That first album was great, the one you did. Ever since then, these other albums have just lacked something. I wanna take it back to that first album." Faith cleared her throat again. "Which I don't think I ever thanked you for, by the way."
"You've thanked me plenty of times." Willow took Faith's hands in hers. "Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich, or Elita and I can whip up another batch of pancakes for you. She's quite the little chef."
"I'm sure." Faith smiled down at the little tot, who had a look of accomplishment and pride in her face at finally putting all the blocks in the ball. "She's a smart kid, takes after her mommy that way."
"I'll be sure to tell Buffy you think so." Willow chuckled.
"No need to make another mess. I'll just pick up a Doublemeat on the way home, or somethin'. No biggie." Faith was surprised to feel a tug at her leg.
"Doublemeat Medley!" Elita looked up at Faith with a hopeful expression on her face.
"What're you feedin' this kid?" Faith chuckled, as she bent over to pick up Elita, and place her on the island counter.
"I only took her once this week...and I plan on making up for it now, as you can tell." Willow pointed to the fridge, and tried to make her blush disappear. "Besides, I'd rather make you a sandwich than you going there, too. We all eat too much fast food."
"Tell ya what, Willow. I'll make the sandwich, and eat it really fast, and we can take Elita in the living room, and watch a princess movie." Faith tickled the little baby, as Willow was already pulling out the sandwich stuff from the fridge. "Surprise me, Grandmaster Chef Willow."
"Don't tempt me. Otherwise, I'll take a page from Dawn's book, and make you a fried peanut butter quesadilla." Willow chuckled at Elita's 'gross' face. The poor child had been privy to Auntie Dawn's cooking one night when she babysat.
"How is the happy couple?" Faith let Elita give her a series of hand slaps and giggles.
"Dawn sounds happy, which is good, and Andrew says he has some new material, so I may just have you produce the Nerds new album, too." Willow bumped Faith's shoulder, as she slathered mayonnaise on the wheat bread.
"Don't go overboard now." Faith chuckled, as Elita tried to stand on the counter. The brunette picked the giggling girl up before tossing her over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, and patting the girl's tiny butt like bongos. Willow traded Faith for the sandwich, as she took Elita upstairs for her bath, while the brunette ate her dinner. The redhead even handed her some baby carrots and a glass of milk. She really was getting good at this mother thing.