North and South...and West
by Rin
Life
[reviews]
A/N: I want to see if anybody picks up the slight crossover hint I gave. That's what this story originally intended to be but changed my mind, and decided to focus more on just our gang instead.
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Xander came down the stairs to see his best friend already doing chores for the day. He only smiled at Willow's constant need for something to keep her busy. Anya was doing a good job of that, it appeared. The store wouldn't open for another hour, and the redhead already had the week's stock on the shelves.
"I hate that you'll be hiding." Xander limped into the room, leaning more on his cane than usual. "I understand but I hate it."
"I know. I hate it, too...but we can't risk me running into somebody we know. You'll start to get busy soon, so I'll just make myself useful in the kitchen, and making sure Tara is comfortable. Buffy can't do that by herself." Willow wiped the counter down before taking a seat on one of the stools.
"I have something for you." Xander moved behind the counter, and bent over to pull out a package. "I wanted to wait until the baby was born but I figure now is as good a time."
"You're already doing enough." Willow was curious, and scared at the same time. The package was square in shape, wrapped in thick brown paper similar to the pistol Sam had given her before the trip. Carefully extracting the package from the paper, she found a plain wooden box, much like a large jewelry box. "It's beautiful, Xan...but what if it's a boy?"
"You didn't open it. It's for you and Buffy." Xander had this evil grin on his face. Suddenly, Willow became very scared. "Go ahead; it won't bite. I learned my lesson the year I gave you a frog for your birthday."
"And I've been forever scarred since." Willow smirked at the memory. Growing up with Xander was always an adventure, and it still hadn't stopped. Taking a breath for bravery, she peeked inside the box, only to snap it shut really fast, and blush deeper than she'd ever blushed. "Alexander LaVelle Harris!!!"
"Anya has this friend that runs a brothel a couple towns over. She special makes them for the girls there...and even some of the men, if you can believe it." Xander shook his head from that mental image. "Anyways, when Anya found out about you, she immediately called Halfrek, and asked for her to make one. It's made of leather, and I took a look at it. Fine craftsmanship. I made the box because I knew you'd be too embarrassed to leave it in the open."
"I can't...Xander...you're in so much trouble." Willow's eyes couldn't stop staring at the box. What would Buffy think?
"You have to forgive Anya. When she found out, her first reaction was that Buffy would never know the joys of the penis." Xander reached under for another package. "Besides, you haven't opened up the harness."
"Xander!" Willow said it louder than she intended, as Anya came into the room from the back.
"Oh, did he give you the gift I had made for you and Buffy?" Anya talked as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "If you get confused, I can show you how to put it on. Halfrek showed me one time."
"Some things I don't wanna hear." Willow walked away from the counter, ready to hide in the back. At the last minute, she grabbed the two packages from the counter, and rushed up the stairs to hide the boxes. No need to alarm the public that there was a disembodied, leather penis in -a -box on the counter.
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The week went by fast, and Buffy could only gush about the beauty of the California mountainsides. Willow would only pout more that she couldn't show her own wife around town. Everybody was in bed when it happened. Tara screamed for water. Willow made her way to the room to pour the woman a glass, only to find Tara in a fit, struggling against the sheets, sweat consuming her, and gown soaked. Her water had broken. This was it. A week early. Rushing to get Anya, the storekeeper immediately went to work. Buffy woke up, and held one of Tara's hands, as the woman went through her contractions. Willow stood over the woman, holding her other hand, and wiping her brow with a wet cloth. Xander was passed out in the corner, and Anya was busy between Tara's legs.
In the early morning hours, a new baby was born, its first cries resounding in the room, as Anya went about cleaning the baby, and Willow cut the umbilical cord. Tara was resting a moment before the rest of the fluids and afterbirth came out. Anya handed the baby to Buffy to hold, who just fell in love immediately. There was nothing like a newborn baby. She remembered being outside the door when Dawn was born. This was so much more magickal. Willow came over, and wrapped one arm around her wife, as she ran the other one through the soft baby hairs at the top of the little boy's head. Looking over at Tara, they both just mouthed 'thank you' with tears in their eyes. The woman was worn, as the afterbirth procedure started.
Several hours later, five adults hovered around a sleeping newborn, all amazed at the feat they had just accomplished. Xander had finally woken up from the floor, and joined the others in the room by Tara's bedside, thanking her for the miracle that had just occurred. After feeding the baby, Tara handed him back to Willow, and couldn't help the sad smile that crossed her face at the picture. She had this dream several times; Willow holding their baby, Tara just smiling up at the redhead holding it in his arms. Taking a deep breath, she decided a little more rest was in order.
Buffy and Willow took the baby into their room, while Tara rested for the rest of the morning. They just sat up, staring at the sleeping bundle in one of the crib's Xander sold in the shop downstairs. They were parents. This was real. Something impossible had just happened, and it scared them both completely. They just held onto each other, staring at the baby, neither able to get back to sleep. At least they'd have an extra week and a half to let Tara recover from the birth before they headed towards South Carolina to visit SunnyDale, and the Summers family.
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The week went by way too fast, as Tara was up and moving the past few days before their new trip. What surprised everybody most was that Tara would only feed the child, and hold him a few minutes afterwards. They all figured the blonde would take the time to emotionally bond with the baby but she was truly keeping to her word, and he was Willow and Buffy's responsibility now. They heard her soft cries through the walls those first few nights, and it tore at their hearts. The cries died down as the week passed, and now Tara acted only as a nanny would, albeit full of breast milk.
"I hate that we have to leave so soon." Willow wrapped Xander in another bear hug.
"I know...but we'll visit soon. Once the transcontinental is finished, visiting will be so much easier. Only a few more years..." Xander wrapped his large upper arms around Willow, and didn't care at the onlookers. "I'll drive you to catch the Nevada train. We have an order for one of my wagons around the area anyways. I expect family pictures as soon as you return."
"Of course." Buffy extracted her husband from Xander, hard to do with one arm, as the other was holding a baby. "We should get going. You'll stay at the inn in Nevada with us. We refuse to let you ride your horse back at night."
"Of course." Xander wrapped his wife in a hug. "I'll be back in a few days. You won't miss me."
"I'll miss the sex." Anya took her turn hugging the three other women. Finishing with Buffy, she leaned in conspiratorially. "And Will has a special treat for you when you have sex again."
"O...kay." Buffy just blushed, and nodded to get the woman to let her go. Willow's eyes were bulging, and her cheeks were blood red again. It was embarrassing enough that Xander stood over her, making sure that she put the two packages in the bottom of her luggage.
They made their way out into the sunrise, and were in Nevada by sunset. It was Xander that would stop to pee this time.
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Well rested, and happier than normal, the three boarded the first train to Chicago, just smiling at the new addition to their party. For almost a month, they didn't have to deceive anybody. Now, the real test was coming, as the tracks took them closer and closer to South Carolina.
"What will you name him? You haven't said yet." Tara took the baby, and hid it to allow him to feed without prying eyes.
"I knew this guy growing up. Well, okay, I didn't know him personally, he was from a neighboring plantation but I liked his name." Buffy watched in awe, as the baby would clutch at Tara's breast as it fed. It was hard not to stare, as they had a clear view of the procedure. Willow chose to blush, and avert her eyes when it happened. "Anyways, I always liked his name."
"What was his name?" Willow swallowed hard, and did her best not to stare at Tara's exposed breast. It'd been so long since she'd seen a naked breast, and the one she wanted to see was attached to the arm that was attached to her own.
"Ory Main. He lived on Mont Royal. It was such a beautiful plantation. I wish you could've seen it before it burned. We would always go to parties there growing up. Last I heard, they'd built a schoolhouse on the property, and Ory's wife was keeping it." Buffy sighed, deep in the memories of her childhood in South Carolina. Life was much simpler then...but she wouldn't trade her life now for the world.
"It's a fine name, Buffy but I know it from somewhere. I've heard that name before." Willow sat in thought for a moment but couldn't remember where. "It's a Jewish tradition to name the firstborn after a deceased relative but I'm not really that religious anymore."
"No, it's good. It's part of him. You're part of him, and that means he's part Jewish." Buffy was already adapting to this baby being theirs. It wasn't as hard as they thought, this deception.
"We could name him after my grandfather, Shmuel." Willow smirked a bit at the look on Buffy's face, and Tara's giggle. "It means 'God has heard.' Also...we can just call him Samuel."
"Then Grant will think we named him after him." Buffy took the baby from Tara, as she patted his back to burp.
"Grant? Oh, Sam! No, his name isn't actually Sam. It's Hiram." Willow smiled. "He changed his name before he went to West Point because he didn't want the soldiers teasing him about his initials."
"Huh?" Tara was confused. She'd never heard that.
"Oh, yeah. It's true. Hiram Ulysses Grant. Simpson was his mother's maiden name. It just stuck with him. Long story." Willow heard the tiny burp from the baby, and her smile grew wider.
"HUG?" Tara finally realized the reason for the name change. "I understand completely."
" 'God has heard.' That is more than true, and Samuel is a beautiful name, especially since it's...somewhat...a family name. We'll name him Samuel but only if I can give him a middle name." Buffy smirked, as she noticed Willow's face get red. "I remember one Hebrew word I've heard you say over and over, and it sounds beautiful. Chai."
"Life?" Willow was surprised Buffy understood what she meant when she spoke in Hebrew. "Chai means life. Samuel Chai Rosenberg? It's a very Jewish name."
"Yes, well, you're my very Jewish husband. Just because you're not the most religious doesn't mean that we can't give our baby a strong name based on your upbringing. I think we need to incorporate your past into his life, as well. Besides, I love that name, the way it rolls off the tongue. It's very romantic. He'll be a real heartthrob, just like his father."
"Then, it's settled. The baby now has a name." Tara rested further back in her seat. "Before we move trains in Chicago, we can get out the birth papers. I'm still amazed you were able to do that."
"It's a gift, not one I like to admit to having." Willow shrugged, as they relaxed as best they could on a rickety train. "We'll be at Buffy's home in a few days. You'll get to see where we met."
"Yes, Buffy told me the entire story...several times." Tara just smirked at the slight blush on the other blonde's cheeks. She still wasn't wearing her corset to give off the 'just gave birth' look. Tara would be wearing hers when they got to SunnyDale to give off the opposite look.
"Well, I was bored...and there was nothing to do cooped up in that room for a month." Buffy blushed, as she ducked, and held the baby tightly in her arms.
The rest of the trip to Chicago was made in companionable silence, rests in between, cries here and there. At the inn that night, the baby was made an official member of the Rosenberg/Summers lineage.