Baby's Coming Back
by willow
Please?
[reviews]
Chapter 3: Please?
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Joyce had managed to get through lunch with Buffy and the rest of the scoobies without mentioning Willow, hard as it was. She knew her daughter should know, but also knew that she should stick to her word.
She closed her bedroom door behind her and sat on the bed. She was thinking. Thinking about Willow and how hard everything must have been for her. Raising a child on her own, and so young. Getting over the magics, drugs and alcohol all in one go. Holding down any job she could just to make ends meet. She wished Willow had never left, even after the car incident. No one deserved to live like that, especially not Willow. Though the girl had her moments, she was still so innocent.
She also thought about Buffy. How she missed Willow everyday, how she rarely talked about anything else. She deserved to know Willow was back.
The blonde woman wiped a few stray tears away before reaching for the phone. She waited anxiously as it rung.
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"Hello?" Willow answered, she had the phone between her ear and shoulder as she tried to control a pan of spitting spaghetti. She was planning on a bit of tea before Paige went to bed, but it didn't look likely. "Oh, hey, Ms. Summers. Is everything ok?" she said, taking the pan off the hob then walking into the living room and and sitting down on the sofa next to a pyjama-clad Paige, hugging her for comfort of whatever bad news she asumed Joyce was about to deliver. The little girl was more than happy for a cuddle with her mommy.
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"Willow, I..." Joyce sighed and thought about how to approach the subject. "I need to tell Buffy. I need to tell her you're back."
Joyce paused and listened to Willow's silence for a couple of seconds.
"Look, I know it's hard, Willow, but, she should know. Do you have any idea how much she's missed you?"
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"But, I can't, I..." Willow racked her brain for a plausible excuse, but none popped up. "I'll tell her soon I promise. Just not yet."
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"Willow, please, just listen," Joyce didn't know whether or not she should tell Willow this, but took a chance anyway. "When you left, Buffy was a wreck. We had no idea where you'd gone, what had happened to you... we didn't even know if you'd chosen to leave or were taken. She completely blamed herself, for not noticing how bad the magic was getting or by telling herself she should have noticed you leave. Sometimes she'd blame herself for being so hard on you after you brought her back. For the first few weeks, she'd go into your room just to sit down and have a cry. I almost sent her to therapy at one point, but she refused to go. You're all she ever talks about and she misses you so much, even more than the rest of us have, and that's saying something. I mean we all missed you, so much. But, Buffy... she was on a different level. I just can't stand knowing that you're here and not telling her."
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A few silent, unwelcome tears slid down Willow's face as she took in what was being said. She was quiet for a couple of minutes then made her decision.
"Ok, I'll come by tomorrow. A-as long as you're there with me," she said, wiping her tears away with her free hand.
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Joyce smiled, almost as though trying to send comfort vibes to Willow on the other end of the phone.
"Thankyou, dear. I'll come pick you up if you want? Would about 10 be ok?"
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"Yeah, 10 would be fine. I'll see you in the morning," she said cuddling up properly to her daughter who was on the verge of sleep.
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"Ok, night, hon." Joyce put the phone down and went downstairs to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea before going to bed. She couldn't wipe the smile of her face. She couldn't wait to see Buffy's face when she found out Willow was back.
"Well, someone's happy," Buffy came strolling up behind Joyce into the kitchen hoping to get a cup of tea herself.
"Well, why wouldn't I be," she smiled at her daughter, "I have the best daughter's in the world."
"Ok, mom, have you taken something recently?" Buffy joked, smiling at her overly happy mother.
Joyce just smiled back. 'You'd be smiling to if you knew what tomorrow has in store,' she thought to herself.
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Willow carried her sleeping daughter upstairs and placed her in her new bed, in her new room. The little girls eyes fluttered open and she latched onto her mother again.
"It's ok, sweetheart. Sleepy time, now," she said, trying to relax Paige by stroking gently down her cheek.
"Mommy's bed!" The little girl demanded with a pout.
"Paigey, you sleep here, ok, sweetie? This is *you're* bed where *you* sleep."
"Mommy's bed!" She repeated, starting to cry, mainly from exhaustion rather than actually wanting to sleep in Willow's bed.
"Ok, shhhh," Willow picked up her daughter and rocked her from side-to-side, trying to ease her sobs. "Mommy's bed tonight, but tomorrow night, Paige's bed," she tried bargaining.
Paige sniffed and nodded her head against her mother's shoulder.
"Good girl," she kissed the top of Paige's head as she made her way to her own bed.
The girl's snuggled down into the covers, Paige never letting go of her mommy incase she somehow left. Willow rubbed down her back until she fell asleep. It only took Paige a couple of minutes, but Willow knew she'd be awake all night.
She was worried about tomorrow. She didn't think Buffy would be as accepting as Joyce, but she was hoping she was.
Either way, tomorrow was going to be interesting.
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