A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing I love to hear what you guys have to say, and to answer the question I get asked the most, yes eventually Faith will age but for the moment I'm enjoying writing her as a baby.

"Honey we're home," Buffy called as she came in the front door. The blonde Slayer had a hold of Faith's hands and was helping the infant walk as she had protested at being carried when Buffy had lifted her from the car.

"Hey guys," Willow said coming in from the living room, "How was your trip?"

"Heavy but good, we got a lot of stuff sorted," Buffy said dumping the bag that hung from her shoulder onto the floor. Faith took the opportunity of a free hand to pull herself forward and out of Buffy's grip taking two shaky steps before falling to the floor.

"Aren't you clever," Willow smiled down at the baby who was no busying herself playing with the zipper of the bag Buffy had dropped, "So was he surprised when he saw her?" she asked turning her attention back to her blonde friend.

"More like awed by her, I swear I've never seen him be as gentle as he was when he held her and he showed her to all his work friends, I swear Will he was like a proud father, it was kind of nice," she finished her eyes glazing, "For Faith I mean, nice for Faith to have a proud Father figure, not any other reason"

"You were totally imagining happy families weren't you," Willow said knowingly.

"What, no Will that's so far off I would never, we could, that would never work," Buffy said her face flushing.

"It's okay for you to think about that sort of stuff Buffy, no one is going to hold it against you for wanting a little bit of normalcy, plus you know, it's Angel," Willow smiled softly at her friend as the blonde's shoulders slumped.

"I know but it can never happen, not with Angel anyway. It just sucks you know I always get in this funk every time that I see him," Buffy sighed.

"It'll happen, and in the meantime we will all be prepared to deal with Buffy in a funk," Willow said throwing her arm around Buffy's shoulders, "Why don't you go take a shower, Tara is making us dinner which should be ready by the time you are done."

"Okay, thanks Wills and I'm sorry if I am grumpy Buffy tonight," Buffy said scooping Faith up off the ground.

"Lucky for you I know exactly how to deal with a grumpy Buffy," Willow smirked, "Cookies and cream ice cream is on the menu for dessert."

"You are too good to me," Buffy smiled heading up the stairs.

"Don't you forget it missy," Willow called up after the blonde Slayer.

"This is unbelievable, you guys did such an amazing job," Buffy said looking at Faith's new room in wonder. The walls had been painted a light lime green and the carpet striped back to reveal the dark wooden floors below. Xander had varnished the floors so they shone and three circle rugs one white, one aqua and one a dark pink were complimented the dark floors. The crib, change table, dresser, shelving unit, bookcase and arm chair were all the same dark wood as the floor with the cushions on the arm chair matching the pink and white spots of the bedding. On the wall next to the crib was a mural of a tree whose branches swirled at the end and was adorned with pink, white and brown birds and flowers. Over the crib Faith's name was spelt out in dark wooden letters and an assortment of toys and books lined the shelves and bookcase.

"Anya, Willow and I painted the walls, Tara did the mural and Xander put all the furniture together and did the floors," Dawn said excitedly.

"It's amazing," Buffy said running her fingers over the edge of the crib.

"Cool huh, only Xander said Faith probably shouldn't stay in it for a night or two because of all the paint and varnish fumes," Dawn said shrugging her shoulders.

"You did good," Buffy said putting her arms around Dawn's shoulders and kissing the side of her head, "I'm really proud of how well you're handling everything that's been going on. I want you to know that I appreciate all that you've given up for Faith and, well you know I love you right?"

"I know and I love you too," Dawn said leaning into her sister, "And the whole baby in the house thing, it's kind of weird but it feels kind of normal to have her here."

"I know what you mean," Buffy nodded.

"And I'm proud of you too, for taking this all on," Dawn said. The two of them stood side by side in silence for awhile looking around the baby's room, "You know, we're going to have to teach Faith to call you Mom."

"What, why?" Buffy asked.

"Because it's going to make everything so much easier to explain to other people, and you are kind of her Mom now aren't you?" Dawn tried to explain.

"I dunno, I guess, but it's weird, I never thought I'd be anyone's Mom," Buffy said.

"Well life never really turns out how you expected it too," Dawn said.

"When did you get so deep?"

"Around the same time you became a Mom," Dawn shrugged.

"Weird, sounds so weird," Buffy said, "You must promise if I ever turn up in Mom jeans and a Mom haircut you will slay me," she said looking at her sister very seriously.

"Believe me I will be more than happy to do that," Dawn said.

Things had been pretty quiet on the demon front over the past couple of weeks and for that Buffy was grateful. It had given them an opportunity to fully getting into the swing of having a baby in the household and Buffy had to admit she couldn't imagine life without the infant. Things were going far too well so it didn't surprise the blonde Slayer when she was shaken from a particularly horribly dream and opened her eyes to find Dawn's worried blue ones staring back at her.

"What's the matter?" Buffy asked her sister wiping at sweat soaked tendrils of hair that stuck to her forehead.

"You were screaming," Dawn said a worried frown crossing her features, "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine, just dreaming about a dimension where shoe shopping was considered illegal," Buffy said forcing a smile.

Dawn looked unconvinced and hovered by the side of her sister's bed and only with Buffy's insistence that she was fine did she head back to bed. When she was gone Buffy gingerly lifted the bottom of the top she was wearing and pressed her fingers to the unmarred skin of her abdomen. She could have sworn she felt the cold steel of the blade breaking the skin and the hot pain that soon followed, but there was nothing there but smooth tanned skin, not a mark on it.

The dream had been horrifying. She had been running, although she was distinctly aware that she was simply seeing through someone else's eyes. The faces that looked up at her from the sides of the street were motionless, their cold dead eyes taunting her as she fled from some unseen foe. She had stumbled over a stray arm that lay strewn across the road and muffled a scream when she landed in amongst a pile of bodies struggling in a panic to free herself from their tangled limbs. Whomever was chasing her then pulled her roughly to her feet and although she could not see her foe the terror that chilled her to her very core made tears stream down her face as she tried to escape. Why she could not see her attacker she was not sure but she could see the blade as it slid into her stomach which offered no resistance to the sharpened steel. As she dropped to the floor her hands grasped at her stomach trying to staunch the flowing blood that spread out around her. She felt weaker by the second and not just because of the massive blood loss, this was different, as if something from the very core of her being was leaking out as well as the crimson blood that stained her hands and clothes. That was when she had been awakened, the lingering dread still making her shudder.

She had been a Slayer long enough now to know the difference between a nightmare and a Slayer dream, and this one reeked of an apocalypse. Body counts and the unseen monsters tended to make her lean more towards impending doom. It was too early to call Giles so she grabbed a notepad from beside her bed and scribbled down everything she could remember, knowing her Watcher would want and need every last detail if he were to decipher the dream correctly. She knew there would be no way she would be getting anymore sleep that night, the cold tendrils of fear leftover from the dream still lingered and their presence would stop her from ever reaching relaxation. Throwing the covers off her legs she relished the cool night air that met her hot skin and after checking on Dawn who was again fast asleep she then crept into Faith's room, closing the door silently behind her.

Faith was sleeping soundly, Mr. Gordo clutched firmly in one hand and Buffy ran a tender hand over the infant's head. Careful so as not to wake the baby she lifted her from the crib and carried her over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room. The infant's warm weight on her chest soothed her instantly and she felt the fear drifting away. She dared not close her eyes as the images of those dead faces staring back at her seemed permanently etched behind her eye lids, instead she chose to rock slowly in the chair focusing on the feeling of Faith resting against her instead of the weight of the world that she knew she would be bearing once again in the weeks to come.