Getting Ahead of Myself
by sailor80
Thirty-two
[reviews]
"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Angel suggested. He turned to Faith. "Kitchen's that way," he said, pointing. "Gunn went to the market after you called, so there's plenty to eat."
"Thanks," Faith said. She picked up the diaper bag with the bottles and took Tara's hand, and they went in the direction Angel indicated. Dawn began to squirm, and Willow took her from Buffy and followed Tara and Faith.
While Buffy talked with Angel, Faith fixed sandwiches for she and Buffy. Tara heated a bottle for Dawn, who was awake and stopped fussing once she got a clean diaper, and went back to sleep in the middle of her bottle.
Willow and Dawn returned to the lobby. Buffy put her arm around Willow as soon as she sat beside her. Angel was nowhere to be seen. "He'll be right back. He went to make a phone call," Buffy said.
"What's going on?"
"He has this friend, Lorne, who can see the future. He's gonna get him to come over."
"Does he have any ideas about where to go?"
"He thinks we should talk to Lorne first."
"All right." Willow yawned. "I know we're never going to have a normal life, but this is ridiculous."
"Uh huh," Buffy agreed. "We should get a picture of those freaks for Dawn's baby book. And these are the crazy knights who tried to kill you."
"Not funny."
"Not supposed to be."
Angel reappeared. "Lorne will be here in a little while. Willow, congratulations, you guys should have told me you had a daughter."
"Thanks, Angel. Want to hold her?"
He looked uncomfortable. "No, thanks."
Buffy laughed at the expression on his face and kissed Willow's cheek. "That was priceless." Willow smiled for the first time that night and rested her head on Buffy's shoulder. Buffy kissed her head and asked, "You want me to get the car seat?"
"Would you?"
"I'll get it," Angel volunteered. Although he had known for months that Buffy and Willow were together, and knew they should be, he still was uncomfortable seeing them together. He was surprised, too, to find himself jealous of Willow, who had with Buffy the things he never could.
By the time Angel got back, Faith and Tara had returned to the lobby. Willow put Dawn in the car seat and covered her with a blanket, then placed it on a nearby chair before returning to Buffy's side. Buffy handed her part of a sandwich, and Willow ate it slowly.
Angel was cautious of Faith, although Buffy assured him she had changed, and curious about Tara, who observed everything silently, although her eyes widened when Lorne came through the door.
"Ooo, you didn't tell me you have a full house, Angelcakes," he said.
"Hey, Lorne, this is Willow, and Buffy, and Faith, and Tara."
"And the little one?"
"Willow and Buffy's daughter."
"Dawn," Buffy supplied.
"Angelcakes told you the drill, right?"
"No," Buffy answered slowly.
Lorne looked reprovingly at Angel, who said, "You have to sing."
Willow made a face. "Trust me, you don't want to hear that. Cats run away."
"Doesn't matter. Who's first?"
"I'll go," Tara volunteered.
"Sing whatever you want, sweetcakes," Lorne instructed.
Tara sang the first verse of "You Are My Sunshine," smiling slightly at the memory of her mother singing it to her when she was younger.
When she finished, Lorne cocked his head and looked at her. "My, my, my, you're something, aren't you? You've got your hands full, but you'll be all right. It will be really dark for a while, but keep the faith. Next."
Tara elbowed Faith, who grunted, but sang a few lines of Aerosmith's "Dream On." Lorne looked at her thoughtfully. "You made the right choice. It's hard, but keep at it. And don't let her," he gestured toward Tara, "get away." He looked at Buffy, "You're up."
Buffy sighed, and squeezed Willow's hand before starting "My Girl." She looked at Willow and sang to her softly. Willow blushed, but held eye contact, and when Buffy finished, she kissed her gently. Buffy smiled.
"You're going to be fine. It'll be scary and crazy and things will look impossible, but everything will be fine."
"Where should we go?" Buffy asked.
"Home," Lorne said firmly. "Everything you need is there."
All eyes turned to Willow. "You really don't want to hear me sing," she protested.
"It'll be all right, sweetheart," Buffy said quietly.
Willow acquiesced after a few seconds, and repeated the first few lines of "My Girl" before trailing off.
Lorne looked at her without saying anything for several seconds. "Oh my."
"What?" Buffy and Willow asked together.
After a few seconds, Lorne said to Willow, "You are never alone. Don't forget that."
"What's that mean?"
"That's all I can tell you," he said. "Go home, take care of each other, keep the little one safe. She's special."
"Can't you be specific?" Willow asked.
"Sorry," Lorne shrugged. "Doesn't work that way." He turned to Angel. "Unless you need something else, I need to get back to work."
Angel stood up and offered his hand. "Thanks, Lorne. I owe you."
"And I'm keeping track, believe me." Lorne turned toward the women and bowed. "Ladies, it was a pleasure. Next time you're in town, stop by the club. First round's on me."
Angel walked Lorne to the door. "You sure they're going to be all right?" he asked softly. "Whatever they're up against has got to be bad. I've never known them to run."
"It's bad," Lorne agreed. "But they're going to be fine. See you later, Angelcakes."
Angel returned to the lobby. "You must be exhausted. Go on upstairs and rest for a while. I'm sure Cordelia will want to visit with you."
"Thanks, Angel," Buffy said.
"204 and 206 are probably cleanest," he said, and watched them file upstairs. Buffy carried Dawn and rested the other hand at Willow's waist. Faith and Tara held hands. Within half an hour, he knew they were all asleep.
Buffy woke after three hours. She used the bathroom, then kissed Willow and told her, "We'll be downstairs." Buffy picked up Dawn, still in her carrier, and they went downstairs.
Cordelia was sitting at the desk, and jumped up when she saw Buffy on the stairs. "Buffy!"
"Hi, Cordy."
"Who's that?" Cordelia asked, eyes focused on the carrier.
"My daughter, Dawn."
"Hellmouth thing?"
"Totally."
"Do I want to know who her father is?"
"I guess I am."
"Huh?"
"Willow had her."
"You and Willow?"
Buffy smiled. "Yeah, me and Willow."
"It's about time."
Dawn stretched and made a noise, and Buffy looked at her, then back at Cordelia. "I need to take care of her before she starts screaming."
"Can I help?"
"Sure. The more the merrier."
"Yeah, that's what I always say," Faith said. She stood on the bottom step and stretched. "Damn, girl, you still look good."
"Of course I do. Are you still evil?" Cordelia answered.
"Not lately. Unless you don't have any coffee. Then all bets are off."
"There's coffee in the kitchen."
"Thanks. Hey, B."
"Morning, Faith."
"Munchkin awake yet?"
"She's getting there."
"There's bottles in the fridge, and I put some cereal in the bag."
Cordelia stared at Faith. "You take care of babies?"
"Just the one." Faith stretched again and headed for the kitchen. Buffy followed her, Cordelia trailing behind.
Faith put a bottle in the microwave before fixing coffee for she and Buffy while Buffy changed Dawn's diaper, cleaned her up, and put her in a clean outfit. When the microwave beeped, Faith removed the bottle and added cereal. She put the lid and nipple on before shaking it well and handing it to Buffy.
"Can I?" Cordelia asked.
"Sure." Buffy put the bottle down and gave Dawn to Cordelia. "This is Cordelia," she told Dawn, and handed Cordelia the bottle.
The Slayers drank coffee while Cordelia fed Dawn. After a few minutes of silence, Buffy asked, "Any chance Angel's still up?"
"Probably. His office is behind the desk."
"Thanks." Buffy got up and took her coffee. She went to the lobby and found Angel's office. She knocked on the door, and opened it after Angel told her to come in. Buffy closed the door and looked around. The room looked like it belonged to Angel, dark wood and fabrics and overflowing bookcases.
"So, Buffy, you want to tell me what's going on?"
"Yeah." Buffy moved to one of the chairs and made herself comfortable. "Remember those knights I called you about?"
"The Knights of Byzantium."
"Yeah. They came to the house last night demanding their key, which happens to be Dawn."
"Key to what?"
"Um, Key to All Worlds, I think is what Giles said."
"Do they know Dawn's the key?"
"I don't think so. They just know I have it."
"So you came here?"
"Will's really spooked. Something else is looking for Dawn, too. Something called the Beast."
"The Beast is looking for Dawn?" Angel looked worried.
"What do you know?" Buffy demanded.
"Nothing specific. But I'll see if I can find anything."
"Good luck," Buffy sighed. "Willow keeps running into dead ends. And I hate not knowing what I'm up against. Besides the stupid knights."
"Don't underestimate them, Buffy."
"Is Lorne right?" Buffy changed the subject.
"He's always been right so far."
"So we should head back to Sunnydale," she sighed.
"Yes. But if you need help, call. We can be there in a couple hours."
"I might do that." Buffy stood up. "Thank you for everything."
"Any time. I'll call Giles if I find anything."
"Thanks."