Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, baby Jesse, and Echo :)
It was an ordinary afternoon in the Scooby household. Connor was on the phone to Angel, Dawn leaning against his shoulder. Willow and Tara were proudly looking over Sophie's first set of school photos, deciding where to put them. Sophie was running around upstairs. Echo and Miss Kitty the 2nd curled together on the sofa, a perfect picture of feline-canine harmony. Buffy was sitting beside them, wittling stakes. Faith was supposed to be helping her, but she'd gone AWOL a while ago. So, frustrated, she headed off to search for her wife.
Buffy's search, aided by her Slayer connection to Faith, led her upstairs, to the bathroom. Since she couldn't see her sister Slayer anywhere, she was confused, until she spotted a rather bumpy pile of towels in the bath tub, and, feeling the familiar tingle of their bond, chuckled, pulling them back.
"B!" Faith whispered, annoyed, while Lily, clutched against her chest, giggled. "We're hidin' from Little Red, put those back!"
"You really think Sophie's going to fall for that?" asked Buffy.
"She has before" Faith shrugged. Footsteps padded down the hallway. "She's coming! Quick, cover us up!" Buffy laughed, but did so, then busied herself pretending to wash her hands, playing along with her wife's game. A few seconds later, Sophie came in and looked around, eyes settling on the pile of towels. Buffy waited for her to look under them, but was surprised when her niece turned to her instead.
"Auntie Buffy" she asked, "Have you seen Lily and Auntie Faith anywhere?"
"No" said Buffy, trying to keep the surprise from her voice. Under the towels, Lily giggled, and Faith shushed her. Sophie glanced at them again, then turned back to Buffy.
"Okay" she said, skipping from the room. Buffy frowned. Sophie was a smart kid, she couldn't possibly be that bad at Hide-and-Seek. Something was up. Buffy followed her out
"Sophie" she began, opening her mouth, but, as if knowing what she was going to say, Sophie took her aunt's hand and led her further down the hall, out of range of Faith's Slayer hearing.
"I know where they are."
"Why didn't you find them then?" asked Buffy, confused.
"Well, I knows Auntie Faith never really played hide and seek when she was little, 'cause she didn't have any brothers and sisters, or friends to play it with" Sophie explained. "So sometimes, when I plays it with her, I let her stay hiding longer even when I know where she is, to let her think she's good at it."
"Yep, you've done it again" Buffy chuckled, sweeping her niece into her arms and hugging her tight. "My heart just melted a little."
"Is that bad?" Sophie frowned.
"No" Buffy smiled, putting her down. "You better go 'find' your Auntie Faith now. We don't want her getting a big head, do we?"
"No" Sophie giggled, running back tothe bathroom. Moments later, she re-emerged, followed by Faith, with Lily toddling along behind.
"Did you rat us out, B?" Faith frowned.
"No" said Buffy, trying to keep a straight face. Faith smirked, then shrugged.
"Eh, I'm gonna chase you anyway." She charged at Buffy, who squealed and bolted.
"Auntie Buffy and Auntie Faith are silly sometimes" Sophie giggled. "But we love them."
"Uv B, uv Fai'!" said Lily with a smile. Sophie smiled back, then took her sister's hand to lead her downstairs.
"I think it's lunchtime. Let's go see if Mama Tara will make us something."
"Tawa!"
Willow and Tara, having heard the crashing and banging of the Slayers running around, met their daughters at the bottom of the stairs.
"What happened?" cried Willow, scooping Lily into her arms. "Is something attacking?"
"Ih-oh!" Lily giggled, oblivious to her Mother's distress.
"No" Sophie replied. "Auntie Buffy and Auntie Faith just decided to play Chasey."
"Why?" asked Willow, confused.
"Do you really want to know?" said Tara, raising an eyebrow.
"Well," said Willow, "Knowing those two, no, I'm not sure I do.." At that moment, the two Slayers appeared at the top of the stairs, Faith catching Buffy's arm just in time to keep her from tumbling down them, then, with a wicked grin, pulled her back for a kiss. A very passionate kiss, with hands beginning to travel to places hands shouldn't go when people are watching.
"Guys!" snapped Willow, annoyed. "Children right here you know!"
"Sorry, Will" said Buffy sheepishly.
"Hey" said Dawn, approaching with Connor, who was just saying goodbye to Angel, "Is there a party on the staircase we didn't know about?"
"No.. Well, maybe. I'm not really sure what's going on" said Willow.
"Okay" said Connor, clicking off the phone, "Since we're all together, it seems like a good time to ask.. Who's up for a trip to L.A this Summer?"
AN: And there you go! The next few snapshots after this will be set in L.A, with this universe's surviving fang gang.