Boris Yeltsin – Glad you liked :)
CurlyAkemy – So cool you met Aly! Amber was so amazing! Glad you're still enjoying my fic :)
gecoma – Haha, I did ogle, a lot :P Thanks for the congrats :)
Juggler - Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! Omg meeting Amber was so amazing. She's so damn awesome. Couldn't love her more! :D
Short one guys, I'm sorry, but I only got home yesterday and had to churn this out last night! Next week will be longer and we are getting very, very close to the big reveal :D Sorry it's late I was having internet issues!
Tara uncrossed her legs as she lay sprawled across the sofa, using the armrest to help her kick her shoes off, hearing them fall to the floor individually as she admired the range of dresses splashed out on the pages of the magazine she was holding over her chest.
She was enjoying the silence and solitude of some quiet reading in the late morning of that particular Saturday; being able to relax having spent the morning gardening and content knowing both her son and wife were playing on their respective laptops, though in different areas of the house; JJ lying on his bed when last she checked and Willow in the dining room.
She had just flipped the page onto a display of purses when she felt a sudden weight flop down on top of her and raised her magazine up to see Willow lying on top of her, head turned to the side and resting on her breasts.
"You don't have to stop reading," Willow piped up when she saw her wife starting to drop the magazine, "I just wanted a cuddle."
Tara moved the magazine back in front of her and held it with one hand while the other moved to stroke Willow's hair.
"Were you working?"
"Nope," Willow replied, "I was just browsing a Mommy-To-Be forum."
"You're a Momma-To-Be. A Momma-To-Be-Again," Tara joked, "Find anything interesting?"
Willow sighed.
"Nah. Nothing I didn't already know, anyway. A lot of the women seemed like they were first-time pregnancies too so it was all 'oh my god, I have swollen ankles too!' and not much 'hey, here's what I did to get rid of them when I was pregnant'."
Tara lifted the magazine and looked down.
"I thought those leg massages I learnt how to do were helping."
Willow raised her head with a sweet smile.
"They are. Muchly. I was just using an example."
Tara seemed satisfied at that and shot a smile downwards before lowering her reading material as Willow settled her head comfortably again. They lay at ease with each other in silence for a few minutes before Tara piped up.
"Well once we tell everyone next weekend, I'm sure you can hound Anya and Alice for some advice."
Willow inhaled deeply.
"Maybe Alice," she replied after a moment.
"Anya went through it, too," Tara reasoned, "Don't be so dismissive."
Willow scoffed.
"Yea, well I don't need advice on the best sex positions with a baby bump."
Tara let out a chuckle and grinned behind the magazine.
"You might in a few months."
Willow scowled.
"I'm sure we can figure it out on our own."
"Of course we can," Tara replied, squeezing the back of Willow's head affectionately as she stroked her hair, before closing the magazine and reached over to slide it onto the coffee table, then moved her foot to play with Willow's toes from where both their feet were hanging over the armrest, "Hey, lift your shirt up."
Willow looked over her shoulder at the door, then back up at Tara.
"JJ's just upstairs, but if you wanna bow-chik-a-wow-wow later when he's in bed, then I am here for your pleasure."
She waggled her eyebrows suggestively but they stopped mid-shake when she saw Tara bring a hand up to her face to cover the snort of laughter coming from her mouth.
"I, uh, just wanted to feel your belly against mine," Tara explained before reaching down to grab a hold of Willow's hips, "But we can definitely bow-chik-a-wow-wow later."
Willow blushed and averted her gaze, which just made Tara burst into laughter again.
"Bow-chik-a-wow-wow?" she asked, giggling as she pulled Willows hips down and pushed her own up to meet them, "Bow. Chik-a. Wow. Wow."
"Yea, alright," Willow rolled her eyes, embarrassed, and tried to change the subject, "Did you want to feel my stomach or not?"
Tara pursed her lips to stop the laugher from coming out and nodded.
"Yes. Please."
Willow eyed Tara momentarily to make sure the sniggering had stopped, and though she could still the blonde's eyes shining with amusement, she could also see her wife holding back to save her embarrassment. She offered a small smile and reached down to pull her shirt up to just below her bra and pushed the fabric of Tara's blouse too so her slightly-swelled stomach rested on her wife's flat one.
"Hey, this is nice," she said in surprise as she felt a kind of warm energy pass between them, "Womb-to-womb."
Tara glanced down between their bodies and had to nod in agreement but her attention was pulled up as Willow continued.
"Mine which bears the...fruit of your loins and yours which..."
Tara looked on at her wife, curious as to how she was going to describe that decidedly empty part of her and watched the redhead squint in thought for a few moments before beaming as she decided on the right words.
"The surrounding area thereof is where our child began its creation."
Tara didn't dare laugh again but allowed herself to smile and brought a hand up to brush the back of her fingers against Willow's cheek.
"I love how you mind works."
"It's been working like a hormonal recipe of moodiness and forgetfulness lately," Willow replied with a sigh before her statement suddenly triggered a memory and her eyes widened as her hand moved up to cover her mouth, "Oh! Crap!"
Tara snatched her hand back in alarm and grabbed Willow's shoulders.
"What? What's wrong? Is it the baby?"
"No, no, baby's okay. Baby's okay," Willow reassured as she looked guilty, "I forgot to tell you something."
Tara moved her hands down to cover her face and visibly exhaled into them before dropping them again, moving one hand under her head to rest on it.
"Okay honey, that's okay. Don't give me a heart attack next time. What's up?"
Willow opened and closed her mouth a few times as she pondered how to phrase what she needed to, and had meant to the night before, without causing her wife alarm again. After a moment, she shrugged one shoulder and tried to sound nonchalant.
"The landlord called me the other day."
"He did?" Tara asked, her brow creasing, "Was there a problem with our rent this month? I didn't check but there should be more than enough money in our checking account. A lot more. Did one of our salaries not go through?"
Willow just shook her head.
"No, I check all of our accounts at the end of the week. Rent went out just fine."
Tara looked at her wife expectantly but when Willow just bit the side of her lip, she tried to offer up her own explanation, possible realisation crossing her face after a moment.
"Oh, our lease is up at the end of the month. He must need us to sign the renewal."
"That...is what he called about," Willow confirmed cautiously, "Um, kinda."
Tara gestured with the hand not resting behind her head.
"Willow, just spit it out."
Willow puffed out a breath.
"He's selling the house."
Tara's mouth instantly dropped in shock and her body shot up straight, inadvertently pushing Willow off of her as her hands moved around waved around her in stunned surprise.
"What?" she eventually managed, in as close to a yell as she'd ever let out, "What? How could you not tell me this? And don't you dare blame baby brain, Willow, you can't just 'be fuzzy' when it comes to losing our house!"
"Hey, you don't know what it's like," Willow defended, crossing her arms over her chest, "And I was going to tell you last night after I put JJ to bed so we could talk but then you jumped me outside his room!"
"You weren't complaining last night," Tara shot back before hanging her head in her hands.
"I'm not complaining now," Willow hissed before holding her hands up in surrender, "This is ridiculous, why are we turning this into a fight?"
Tara sat back against the sofa and rubbed her temples.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled through her hands before dropping them and looking at her wife, "I'm sorry."
She saw Willow offer a small smile and gave as much as one as she could back before her hand moved up to her face in anxiety again.
"This couldn't possibly come at a worse time. We'll have to move JJ in the middle of the school year, and we're going to need to find somewhere in the district because it's not fair on him to have to start a whole new school. And your Dad and Michelle, the house reason they bought that house was to be close to us. And you're pregnant, god you're pregnant, we have a son and a baby on the way..." she trailed off, her eyes narrowed in obvious worry before they flashed with annoyance when she saw Willow was grinning, "And I'm trying not to turn this into a fight but what the hell is so amusing?"
Willow made no effort to lose her grin and shuffled closer to the blonde.
"That you're freaking out and not seeing the obvious solution, and that I'mthe cool, collected and rational one for once," she replied, moving one hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her wife's ear.
Tara couldn't help but feel comforted as Willow's fingers grazed her cheek, but shock and concern were still the overwhelming emotions rising in her.
"Well, Willow, feel free to inform me of this wonderful, obvioussolution."
Willow dropped her hand and took Tara's in her lap.
"Well, Tara," she started before her grin got more excited and she leant towards her wife as if she was revealing a huge secret, "We can buy the house."
Tara's head snapped back in place in surprise at the suggestion and her eyelids blinked numerous times as she tried to process.
"Oh," she replied after several moments of silence before it appeared as if the whole idea apparently dawned on her and she grabbed Willow's hand in her lap excitedly, "Oh!"
"Yes, oh! The landlord said we've been model tenants, so he said he'd give us first refusal if we met his asking price," Willow responded, her grin stretching from ear-to-ear, "Whaddya say, wifey, wanna buy a house with me?"
"Of course I want to buy a house with you," Tara replied, holding their conjoined hands against her heart before biting her lip in contemplation, "Are we ready for that?"
Willow visibly did a double-take and shot her wife a look of disbelief.
"Oh I'm sorry, I mistook the marriage and children as signs of commitment."
Tara looked at Willow as if to say 'did you really think I meant that?' and shook her head.
"I meant financially. What's the asking price?"
"Affordable," Willow answered.
Tara still looked concerned.
"We're going to have a newborn in six months."
"A newborn who needs a nursery. In a house," Willow replied, "Securing a deposit would put quite a dent in our savings. But no more than if we hadn't managed to get pregnant first time 'round and had to go through more IVF cycles. Point is, we canafford it. That's why I waited a couple of days to tell you, so I could work out the financials before worrying you."
The side of Tara's lips quirked up at that.
"I'm supposed to be making yourlife less stressful."
"You do," Willow replied, bringing Tara's hand up to her mouth and kissing her knuckles, "Besides, you know me and spreadsheets. It was fun."
Tara smiled affectionately.
"Okay, well, we'll have to go to the bank and..." she trailed off as she recognised the look of faux-innocence on her wife's face, "You've already been, haven't you?"
"Just to see what our options were," Willow explained quickly, "If we could even... And we can. I got some advice from accounting people at work and figured out the best possible mortgage for us. Repayments would basically be the same as what we pay for rent now. But you know, we'd actually own the house. And I talked to the bank manager and he said they would have no issue lending to us."
Tara looked slightly amused.
"Do you even need me at all to buy this house with you?"
"Well I'll need your signature," Willow replied deadpan, before grinning and pulling Tara into an embrace so the blonde was lying between her legs, "Of course I need you. Without you, this would just be bricks and mortar. With you, it's our home."
Tara smiled softly.
"It's always been our home."
"It has," Willow agreed, moving to rest her chin on her wife's shoulder, "And now it will be the home we have total control over. That we can...paint whatever color we like. That we can convert the attic into a bedroom for JJ if we decide to have more kids. That we could...hey, that we could build an en-suite on for ourselves!"
Tara turned her head towards Willow, her eyes lit up.
"Ooh, I like that idea."
"That's definitely happening when we cushion up the savings again," Willow replied as she stroked her hand down Tara's arm and started to play with her fingers, her tone becoming wistful, "That we can watch our children grow up in."
Tara inhaled deeply and smiled.
"Celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary."
Willow nuzzled her cheek against Tara's.
"Celebrate every day together between now and then."
Tara turned her hand in Willow's so their fingers entwined.
"Grow old together."
Willow murmured a sound of agreement and leant down to press a kiss into her wife's neck. She felt Tara turn towards her and lifted her head so their lips met. They kissed, smiling against each other for several moments until Willow pulled away, her tongue sticking out between her teeth excitedly.
"We're buying a house."
Tara laughed and nodded.
"I know."
Willow's smile beamed and she squeezed Tara's midsection tightly.
"This is gonna be our home. Forever."