Getting Ahead of Myself
by sailor80
Four
[reviews]
"You know Willow's been sick," Buffy began. She squeezed Willow's thigh gently. "It's, um, she's not really sick."
"I'm pregnant," Willow blurted out.
"Way to go, B!" Faith said with a salacious grin.
"Not now, Faith," Buffy answered tersely.
"C'mon, B, lighten up." Faith leaned back in her chair.
"By my calculations," Willow said, "The baby is growing at the rate of a month a week."
"Damn," Faith said softly as Joyce gasped.
"As far as we can tell, it has something to do with the enjoining spell we did to beat Adam," Buffy added.
"Is it human?" Faith asked.
"Of course, she's human," Willow snapped. She slid the sonogram across the table to Joyce, and Faith leaned in to see it too.
"A girl?" Giles asked.
"Yes," Buffy answered. She looked at him. "She's not something for the Council to play with," she warned.
"You know they keep an eye on you."
Buffy and Faith smirked at each other. "When we let them," Buffy said.
Joyce spoke up at last. "A granddaughter," she said softly, her finger still tracing the baby's form on the paper. She looked up. "We have a lot of work to do to get ready."
Buffy came around the table and hugged her mother. "Thank you," she said, and after a few seconds returned to Willow's side. "We thought you should know," Buffy said, as she found Willow's hand and moved their entwined fingers to the tabletop.
"I can see it now," Faith said. "What I Did On My Summer Vacation by Willow Rosenberg. My girlfriend knocked me up. Oof." She turned to Tara, oblivious by now to Buffy and Willow's dirty looks. "What's that for?"
"No more teasing," Tara said.
"Jeez," Faith whined, and sat back in her seat. "Sorry," she mumbled toward Buffy and Willow."
"Accepted," Willow answered.
"Any other business to discuss?" Giles asked, and looked at each person in turn. "Then we're finished." He pushed back his chair and stood. "Congratulations," he said to Buffy and Willow, then turned to Joyce. "Good evening," he said, and left.
Tara and Faith left the table next, and headed into the kitchen to begin dinner. Xander excused himself — "Date with Anya," he grinned — and left Joyce, Buffy, and Willow at the table.
Joyce was still looking at the sonogram, tracing the outline of the baby with her fingertip. After a few moments, she looked up to the girls. "I don't know how this happened, or why, but I'm glad it did."
Buffy said soberly, "We don't have a clue what to do next."
"Willow has to take better care of herself," Joyce began. "Did you get vitamins?" she asked Willow.
"I got a prescription, but we haven't filled it yet," Willow answered.
"You need to get it filled," Joyce scolded gently, and returned her attention to Buffy. "You need to make sure she does what the doctor says."
Willow covered her mouth with her hand so Buffy wouldn't see her smile, but it didn't work.
"I'm serious, girls," Joyce said. "Since she's growing so fast, you need to be extra careful."
"Yes, ma'am," Buffy and Willow answered together.
"If we can move Tara and Faith downstairs, we can use that room for the nursery," Joyce thought aloud.
"Mom, the basement's kinda, you know, unpleasant," Buffy said.
"We'll get if fixed up. Xander can help." Joyce was matter of fact. "What are you going to name her?"
"We haven't decided," Buffy said.
"Have you told your father?"
"No, and I'm not going to," Buffy said firmly. "He doesn't care about us."
"That's not true," Joyce said, but it was obvious she didn't believe it. "Willow, have you told your parents?"
"Which part? That I'm gay or that 'Bunny' is my girlfriend or that I'm a witch or that I'm pregnant because of a spell we did to defeat a demon construct who was raising an army to take over the world."
"Okay," Joyce said slowly.
Faith called from the kitchen, "Dinner in 15."
"Thank you," Joyce answered. She turned back to Buffy and Willow. "Get the vitamins tonight," she instructed, and went to the kitchen.
"Wow, that went way better than I expected," Buffy said.
"Uh huh," Willow agreed.
"I guess we'll take the Jeep after dinner and get those pills so Mom doesn't have a fit. You can drop me and Faith off on the way home."
"All right, as long as Tara comes, too."
"Okay, I'll let them know." Buffy leaned over to kiss Willow briefly before getting to her feet. She left Willow sitting alone in the dining room.
Willow dropped her face into her hands. Things were too weird, and she was exhausted all the time, and none too certain she wanted to have a baby now. 'I'm not finished with school,' she thought frantically. 'How are we going to support ourselves? Maybe I can sell a couple of the databases, or the OS, if I can get it done.'
Buffy's hand on her shoulder interrupted Willow's internal panic babble. "Dinner's ready, sweetheart."
After dinner, they went to the pharmacy as promised. Buffy stayed seated beside Willow on the uncomfortable furniture in the waiting area. Faith and Tara walked wandered through the store. Buffy and Willow heard them laugh frequently. Willow frowned each time. She was still leery of Faith, and didn't want anything bad to happen to Tara, like Faith had done to Xander.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing," Willow said quickly. "Faith and Tara seem awful friendly."
"Tara's a big girl," Buffy said. "And Faith loves her. Leave them be."
"How can you say that, after all that Faith's done?"
Buffy shrugged. "She changed."
"Uh huh."
"You need to lighten up about her."
"Uh huh," Willow repeated. "Oh, look, our number's up." She was glad to get away from the topic of conversation, and moved quickly to the line.
Buffy followed her, uncertain of what to say.
The car stayed quiet except for Faith's wisecracks, until they reached the cemetery. Buffy leaned over to kiss Willow. "I'll be home soon," she said quietly, and added, "I love you."
Tara moved up into the passenger seat, and locked the doors. "You excited about the baby?" She asked once Willow got the car back in gear.
""Yeah. I'm not wild about the doctors, though."
"I know a midwife," Tara offered.
"She okay with high magic content?"
"Yes." Tara paused. "She's not used to Slayers and stuff, but she's a good midwife."
"Can I meet her without having to get naked?" Willow shuddered as she carefully turned a corner.
"I'll call her when we get home."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"What's with you and Faith?" Willow asked to end the silence.
"We're good," Tara said.
"Define good," Willow asked.
Tara sighed. "What did Faith do to you?"
"Why don't you ask her?" Willow pulled into the Summers driveway and shut off the engine. She got out of the car before Tara could answer, slammed the car door, and went into the house, leaving her purse behind.
Tara picked Willow's bag, too, and made sure the car was locked before following Willow inside. The redhead was nowhere in sight, so Tara put Willow's bag on the couch and headed upstairs to read.
Willow sat on the bed and stared out the window. Without school and patrol, she wasn't sure what to do with her time. Xander always had Anya physically attached or on his mind. Willow sighed, then mentally kicked herself.
She got her laptop and set herself up on the bed. Soon she was engrossed in reading about normal pregnancy. She even found, buried in the Watchers' Council online archives, a few other cases of magical pregnancies, but none that seemed to relate to her situation. Before she knew it, Buffy was home, and the computer was set aside in favor of talk and snuggles.