North and South...and West
by Rin
The End is the Beginning...
[reviews]
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Making this decision wasn't as easy as she'd originally thought. There was more to think about, and she'd been waiting on Buffy's answer all week. Instead, her wife just seemed to ignore the issue, and acted like nothing was wrong. It was starting to pull them apart a little...just a little. Maybe she never should've asked. Maybe she should've just accepted Sam's position, and said to hell with it.
Willow knew better, though. There was way too much at risk.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed her paperwork aside, and prepared to call it a night. Buffy was already in bed, and that meant Samuel was being rocked to sleep right now. Deciding that Sam's speech could wait another day, the redhead stood, and decided to tuck her son into bed, maybe coerce her wife into a little 'play' time.
Making her way upstairs, she peeked in the room to see Buffy rocking, humming a lullaby to Samuel. It was the sweetest thing. The way she looked at their baby; it was hard not to fall even more in love with this woman every day. The things she endured just to be with her.
"Oh...I didn't see ya there." Buffy startled Willow from her reverie.
"Don't stop. I've never heard you sing before...your voice is very pretty." Willow walked into the room, and shut the door behind her, loosening her tie. "I'm afraid I sound like a drowned rat when I sing, even in a girly voice."
"Thanks...I don't really like to do it much. It just soothes Samuel to sleep here lately. I think he misses his 'daddy' rockin' him to sleep." Buffy stood, and placed the baby in his crib, tucking him in soundly. "You're finished early."
"Decided that it could wait. I missed you." Willow wrapped her arms tightly around Buffy in a hug that enveloped her entire body. She nuzzled her neck a little, and placed a few light kisses along the soft, sensitive spots behind her wife's ear.
"What're ya doin'?" Buffy wasn't sure this was a good idea. She felt the familiar seduction, and it was working too well. There was just too much hanging over their heads right now.
"What do ya think I'm doin'?" Willow mocked the Southern drawl, as she moved her kisses further along her wife's neck.
"Dawn." Buffy pushed the redhead away slightly. "I need to check on Dawn."
"Okay..." Willow tried not to look hurt and confused. Buffy had never pushed her away before, and definitely never during kisses. Was she asking too much? She didn't have time to ask before Buffy walked out the door.
Sighing, Willow just sat down in the rocking chair, and completely removed her tie and vest, and undid the top buttons on her shirt. Looking over at Samuel, she just watched her son sleep peacefully in his crib. He was starting to get big. Too big for the crib pretty soon.
Dammit! She really wanted to go to law school. Why was Buffy having such a hard time with that? Did she not like Boston? It wasn't directly in Boston; it was more on the outskirts.
Was it Ms. Calendar? Jenny's family all lived in Romania still, so she had planned on asking the older lady to join them. They could do without a butler and/or maid for a few years. Willow didn't mind doing housework. They always did it at SunnyDale. Was that it? Did Buffy not want to move again?
"Sorry. I just wanted to check on Dawn and RJ. Make sure they were okay." Buffy crept into the room, and saw the redhead lost in thought. "Deep thoughts?"
"The deepest." Willow sighed before turning sad, confused eyes towards her wife. "I can find a school here, if that's the problem. It's just that Harvard..."
"Do we have to talk about this right now?" Buffy walked over, and pulled Willow from the chair.
"Well, we need to talk about it, or else it'll fester. I don't want it to fester. I want to be fester free." Willow was being pulled towards the bed. "I don't like feeling like you're mad at me."
"I'm not mad at you." Buffy lifted Willow's hands, and kissed them. "I just...maybe it's more of a frustrated. We have a good life here, and we're happy...but now you say you're wantin' more. I guess I kinda interpret that as you sayin' this isn't enough. We're not enough."
"Oh, Buffy. Never! I would never think that!" Willow pulled her wife into a tight hug. "You're way more than enough. I'm afraid every day you'll wake up, and realize that I could never give you everything you deserve, and you'll leave me. Never in a million years did I think was possible, and here we are...living the life, and...oh, baby. Never. I would give up everything, and become a florist on the street if that's what you wanted."
"Now you're bein' silly." Buffy took a deep breath, and released her hold on Willow.
"I'm being uber serious. If you asked me to be a barrow boy, and have us move down in a shack, I would do it. I would do anything for you. All that I do, it's all for you. I want to give you as good a life as I can, and I... that isn't possible here anymore." Willow swallowed hard. "...but if you really want to stay, then I could never refuse you anything. I just want us to be together. I don't want to be stationed somewhere that I can't take you with me. If I go to law school, I can get a job with a firm, or start my own. We can go wherever we want. You decide."
"What if I wanted to go back to Charleston? To be closer to Mother and the others?" Buffy was on the verge of tears. She had avoided this conversation, hoping it would just go away.
"If that's what you wanted..." Willow placed her palms against Buffy's cheeks, and felt the warmth there. "I love you. I want to give you the world."
"You already do. Can't you see that?" Buffy's tears started to fall.
"Are you afraid everything will change? Are you...are you scared that I'll change?" Willow used her thumbs to wipe away the falling tears.
"How can I not? The only lawyers I've ever known were...evil. My dad, his friends. I don't want you to be like them." Buffy couldn't hold back her sobs anymore.
"I won't become evil, Buffy. I promise you that." Willow pulled the blonde tight to her again. "I want you to be happy. Being evil could never make you happy. Now, what sense would that make if I became evil?"
"I just... He always ignored my mom, and never had time for us. He was always workin', and hated the plantation. He hated everything about it, includin' us." Buffy gripped her husband's body tighter.
"I could never be like that, Buffy. You're my world: you and Samuel. You're everything to me, and work could never come first. I couldn't ignore you if I tried, and I have no intention of ever trying." Willow pulled Buffy's face to look at her. "I love you, Buffy Summers."
"Buffy Rosenberg." The blonde's eyes lit up a little, and a small smile showed behind the falling tears.
"Of course." Willow took a deep breath. "You're not just my wife. You're my life."
"You're a charmer, General Rosenberg." Buffy smiled more, as her tears started to dry.
"Just Will." The redhead leaned in, and placed a deep kiss against the blonde's mouth. Sweet, sensual, calming. "YOUR Will."
"I like that." Buffy took a deep breath. "Okay."
"Good." Willow was relieved, as she turned around, and removed her boots and socks. Buffy crawled across the bed, and wrapped her arms around the redhead's chest from behind, helping her unbutton the rest of her shirt while kissing her neck. "Oh..."
"I was thinkin'..." Buffy used her best sensual tone.
"Yeah?" Willow just bent her neck further to the side, as she pulled off her dress shirt, and undid her belt.
"I think we'll be okay." Buffy ran her hands up Willow's chest, and breasts through the undershirt. "I'll bet Boston's pretty, and if that's what you want, then we'll follow."
"Are you serious?" Willow forgot about the seduction, and turned around to look her wife in the eyes. Buffy bit her bottom lip, and just nodded. "Oh, Buffy! Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"I could never deny you anything, either." Buffy let Willow tackle her to the bed, and she pulled the redhead down onto her body. "You have to promise we'll visit the plantation more often, though. I miss everyone so much."
"I know, baby...and...and I promise. Anything you want. Everything you want." Willow looked down at Buffy, and pushed the blonde curls back onto the pillow. She just stared down at her, relishing in contact and emotions echoed in her hazel eyes. "Do you have any idea how much I adore you?"
"I have an inklin'...but you could always show me." Buffy gripped Willow's shoulders, as the redhead started her kisses along her neck. "I'm sorry I pushed you away earlier."
"It's already forgotten." Willow just moved her kisses further up until their lips were locked together in a fierce passion. It was amazing Samuel stayed asleep, as Buffy was loud for the first time since he was born.
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The next day at breakfast, Buffy and Willow had such wide grins on their faces as they brought Samuel to join Dawn and RJ at the table. Dawn just rolled her eyes in amusement.
"How did you stay asleep last night with all that noise?" Dawn tickled baby Samuel, and smirked at the two lovebirds. "I know that we had trouble, didn't we baby RJ?" Dawn tickled her own baby, and continued to feed him.
"Well...um..." Willow was blood red by then.
"Sorry but it was just that good." Buffy was only a little red, as she teased her sister. "I can't help it sometimes. I honestly don't know how anybody could stay quiet when my husband..."
"Buffy! Geesh." Willow was even redder, if that were possible. "I think she gets it."
"Well, you're a great lover. I can't help but brag about that, even if it isn't ladylike." Buffy poured Willow a cup of coffee, as the redhead buttered her wife some toast. "Other than the noise, how was everything last night?"
"We did okay. I'm gettin' to the point that I don't know what I'd do if little RJ wasn't there." Dawn smiled at her baby, as he just sat in his chair.
"That's good, Dawnie." Buffy was in such a good mood that she jumped up, and hugged her sister. "We were really worried."
"No need to be. I just got the sadness, that's all. All better now." Dawn couldn't help but enjoy the hug, and take some of the happiness exuded from her family.
"Well, that's a relief. You'll need to be in good terms if you're to make the move to Boston with us." Buffy bit into her toast, as she kept an eye on her sister.
"You...really?" Dawn's eyes became wide, and she couldn't hide her shock. "That's great! I mean...that's great!"
"We seem to think so." Buffy reached across the table, and gripped Willow's hand above the table. Willow just smiled through her coffee mug.