Chapter Fourteen-Andy
Tara was finding it less difficult than she had imagined settling in to a new routine that included Willow in her life. Isobel loved having her redheaded Mommy around and pestered Tara to have her over at every opportunity. The two both acted like children when they were together. Willow would throw herself into whatever play Isobel proposed with abandon. The two of them would draw, read, dress up, act out, and play make believe until one or both were exhausted.
Watching Willow interact with Isobel made Tara smile. She was happy for her daughter and pleased that Willow genuinely loved her so easily. Watching them also made Tara's heart hurt more than a little. Without her dark magick addiction, she and Willow could have built a family. They could have done all of these things together. Now she just didn't know where any of this was headed.
For her part, Willow was grateful beyond words that she was allowed to spend time with Isobel. Her trips to the house two or three times a week were easily the highlight of her week. Her daughter was smart, funny and loved school as much as she did. Tara was always at home while she was there, but after the first few visits, she would find chores to do and leave her to enjoy the time with her daughter. Once or twice, she thought she saw Tara looking at her with an expression that could have been sadness, but she didn't want to jeopardize her visits by pushing Tara to discuss anything.
Hellmouth activity seemed to have returned to the lull of the last few years. Vampires still rose and the occasional demon rode into town with delusions of grandeur, but it was nothing the adult Scoobies couldn't handle.
The Slayer still carried the brunt of the patrolling burden, but Willow would take a night or two per week and would often accompany Buffy on other nights. At least once a week Willow and Xander would make Buffy take a night completely off and do something fun.
Buffy took the financial opportunity Willow had provided and went back to school, majoring in Criminal Justice. Dawn used her education fund to begin studying drama at UC Sunnydale and started staying at the dorms, although she was a frequent visitor to Revello drive.
In essence, life went on. But Willow kept the Khul Sphere as she had termed it, on her dining room table to remind her unanswered questions remained, and to keep her alert. She continued her computer consulting and spent time honing her Light Magick skills. She also spent time in meditation, hoping to find insight on the mystery of the sphere and demon attack, as well as any insight she could glean on the rest of her life, especially Tara.
She knew without a doubt that Tara was the only woman she would ever love. Leaving Elena in Khul, a kind, beautiful woman who loved her, proved that she was a one woman-woman. She had no interest in dating anyone else.
But she also knew that Tara would never love her as she once did. She had destroyed their relationship and hurt the blond witch deeply. From what she could gather, mostly from Dawn's gossip, Tara had never really dated. Coffee with a couple of women, but never a second meet up or real date.
Willow didn't know whether that made her sad, or secretly happy. She truly wanted Tara to find fulfillment, and eventually that meant having a lover in her life. But even thinking of Tara with another woman brought the most bitter taste into her mouth. She would sometimes close her eyes and try to imagine Tara laughing, someone else's arm around her waist, someone else's lips whispering in her ear, but the picture in her mind always ended with her own arm holding Tara close and her own lips finding purchase on the beautiful blond's delicate lobe.
Suddenly it was October, and Tara's 26th birthday was approaching. Tara was conflicted. Her birthday was an annual reminder of how much she loved her family of choice, how the Scoobies had saved her from her Father and Brother. But she wasn't in the mood for a party this year. It was just too confusing. Buffy, Dawn, Xander and even Anya seemed to be comfortable with Willow around, but she wasn't sure inviting the redhead to her birthday celebration was a good idea. She didn't want to send Willow mixed signals. Being in Isobel's life was one thing. Being in her life was something different, and she wasn't sure what that was yet.
The answer came in the form of a date. As a social worker she interacted with the police on occasion and had met a tall, nice looking brunette officer. She and Andrea, or Andy for short, had been kept waiting for several hours while arrangements were made to place an at risk child she was responsible for in a new home. While they waited, Andy had started a conversation and Tara had found herself enjoying the company. After getting the child settled in, Andy had insisted on driving Tara back to the office and walking her to her car now that it was after dark. She had asked if Tara wanted to go out to dinner on the 16th not knowing it was her birthday of course. Tara asked if she could let her know the next day and they exchanged numbers.
Tara spent the evening contemplating her future. She hadn't met anyone really interesting in all the years since Willow disappeared, but then again she hadn't really tried to meet new people. Willow's ghost had always been there to haunt her. She knew how good it could be, loving someone and being loved. When Willow and she had been at their best as a couple, her beautiful redhead had made her feel like the most cherished, loved person in all the world. But as good as the love was, the betrayals were equal in pain. Tara wasn't sure if the idea of someone new scared her because she wouldn't find the depths of love she had experienced with Willow, or if she was afraid she would find new hurt.
The photo had been tucked into her nightstand drawer several years ago. It showed she and Will at the beach on a warm summer day. They looked so happy and in love. Tara would give anything to go back to that time. Part of her would always love Willow. But she didn't see any way she could ever get past what had happened, what the dark part of Willow had done to her. Could she ever have a future with Willow?
Maybe she needed to focus on someone other than the redheaded witch. Maybe it was time to find out if she could move on. She put the photo back into her nightstand, picked up her phone, called Andy back and told her yes.
The birthday date turned into a few more. Tara enjoyed spending time with Andy. They went to dinner, movies, concerts and even a club. Tara hadn't been so social, well, ever. After Willow she had found herself a pregnant college student, and then a single mother and witch who dabbled in killing creatures of the night. Not exactly a great lesbian catch. She appreciated that Andy clearly found her attractive. At her request, they were taking the physical side slow, but she knew Andy wanted to heat things up.
"That was a fabulous meal. I'm stuffed." Tara groaned as she and Andy left a new Italian restaurant whose former owners had mysteriously disappeared one night.
"Want to work it off? We could go to the Bronze, dance a little. I think a band is playing." Andy asked.
Tara didn't know what to say. Dancing sounded fine, but the Bronze brought back so many memories. She had been there a couple of times with Buffy over the last few years, but had never danced. "How about we just go back to my place, hang out." She said, surprising herself.
"Great. Whatever you want Tara." Andy was thrilled.
When they arrived, Tara gave Andy the tour and introduced her to Isobel and Buffy who was spending the night at home and babysitting. Buffy was polite and discretely took Isobel to get her tucked into bed, leaving the two women alone.
"Drink?" Tara asked. "I think we have beer, or anything nonalcoholic."
"A beer would be great." Andy indicated.
The two sat on the couch chatting for a while, until Buffy came down with a frown on her face. "Tara, I'm so sorry, but Isobel won't settle down. She keeps wanting to come down here."
"It's Ok Buffy. Tell her I'll be up in a minute, will you?"
The Slayer nodded and quickly disappeared again.
"Well, I guess that's my cue." Andy laughed. "Thanks for bringing me here, letting me meet your daughter. She's adorable."
Tara walked Andy to the door and they stepped out onto the porch together.
"Sorry about that. I had a great time tonight." Tara stopped when she realized Andy had turned directly in front of her.
"It's Ok. I had a great time too. I always do with you." Andy took Tara's hand and leaned in, brushing their lips together. "Good night Tara. I'll call you tomorrow."
Tara nodded and watched Andy drive off before heading upstairs to kiss her daughter goodnight.
Soon she was in bed thinking about the events of the night. She really did like Andy. She liked spending time with her. The kiss had been, well nice. She found her hand drifting down, touching her own breast for a moment before slipping it under the elastic of her boxers and between her legs. She tried to imagine the kiss developing into something more. Tried to imagine being caressed, touched, and brought pleasure by the owner of those lips.
Instead of the feelings she was hoping to elicit, she felt herself becoming frustrated. The kiss had been nice. But she had experienced kisses that were magnificent. She had pressed against lips that had literally shocked her to her core. Now all she could see in her mind were flashes of red hair, bright green eyes, long expanses of creamy freckled skin. Her arousal rose like a wave and crashed over her in an instant. Lying back, she let her heartbeat slow and spoke into the dark of her room, "Willow Rosenberg, you are the ruin of me." No one would ever come close to making her feel the way her first love did, and she wasn't sure what to do about that.
"Dawn. You know I'm not supposed to come over unless Tara knows. I don't want to get in trouble."
"Willow, you have to come over. Now. David is the cutest guy I have met on campus and he wants to meet me at the Bronze, tonight! Tara won't mind, you are over here all the time, right? I'll be back in two hours. I'll probably beat her home and she'll never know. Come on Will, please?"
"Oh, alright. I could never deny you anything Dawnie. And more Isobel time, well yay! I'll be right over."
"Thanks Will, you are the best. Gotta go, I have to find something to wear!"
Andy had taken Tara to a party with a few friends from the police force. Unfortunately, one of the cops showed up drunk and spent the twenty minutes until they had left trying to convince Tara he could enthusiastically participate in and improve upon any number of sexual practices with the two women. After escaping the horrid situation, Tara asked if she could just cook Andy something simple at the house. They arrived and headed to the kitchen.
After getting some pasta on to boil, Tara called up the stairs. "Dawn, are you and Isobel up?"
She heard some rustling, followed by a very sheepish looking Willow coming into the hallway holding Isobel in her arms. They had on matching pajamas with little hearts and kisses all over, and Tara recognized them as a set Dawn had bought for herself and Isobel last Christmas. The pants were too long for Willow and flopped down on her feet.
"Tara, I'm so sorry. Dawn begged me to come over and babysit so she could go on a date with a really cute guy. Isobel wanted to have a pajama party, so I figured Dawn wouldn't mind if I borrowed these to wear." Willow looked down at Isobel in her arms. "She just started to get sleepy."
Tara crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't think the adorable child will protect you Rosenberg." She wanted to be angry, but seeing the two of them in the matching pj's was just so cute.
Both of them heard the other woman moving around in the kitchen and Willow scrunched her face up. "Your date?" She asked, trying to hide the sick feeling in her stomach.
"Yes. I'm making a late dinner." Tara replied.
"I can just take Isobel back into her room. We'll be quiet as mice, I promise. That way you don't have to worry about Is. I know I should have asked if I could come over, I don't want to mess up your evening Tare."
Tara wasn't sure what she wanted. Now that she thought about it, the situation should have made her feel awkward, but she was actually relieved. She could have a quick meal and make her excuses.
"That sounds good. I'll come up when we're done and say goodnight Will."
Willow put the sleeping child back into bed and curled up next to her with a book to read. She was trying to think about anything other than Tara with her date downstairs. She had started to drift off herself when the front door crashed open.
"Tara, are you home?" Buffy called out loudly.
Willow ran from Isobel's room as Tara came from the kitchen, Andy behind her.
"What happened?" Tara asked.
Buffy was holding Dawn up around the waist. Willow could see from the top of the stairs the blood on her neck and the dust on her clothes.
"She got bitten by a Vampire. By a cute, hot, college student member of the undead." Buffy snarled.
Tara rushed forward to examine Dawn's neck just as Willow got to the bottom of the stairs with the same idea.
"I'm Ok." Dawn said to both of the witches now fawning over her. "Buffy staked him just as he bit down. It hurts, but I didn't lose much blood."
"I'll get the first aid kit," Tara stated as she ran to the kitchen.
By the time she got back, Buffy had maneuvered Dawn to the couch. "Let me see," Tara said as she wiped the area with antiseptic.
"Ow. That stings." Dawn exclaimed.
"It doesn't look too bad. I'll just bandage this up." As Tara was getting the supplies ready, Isobel appeared at the bottom of the stairs rubbing her eyes.
"Mommy?" Willow held out her arms and Isobel crawled up onto her. "Is Aunt Dawn hurt?" she asked in a sleepy voice.
"Just a tiny bit, baby girl. Don't worry. Your Mama is going to fix her up." Willow answered.
"I could heal her." Isobel responded.
"You don't need to Is, I'm fine, really. Just feel a little stupid. God, how could I have not noticed he was a vamp. He's in my night class for heaven's sake!" Dawn said as she slumped further into the couch.
"Luckily I was patrolling the alley next to the Bronze, which despite living in Sunnydale for umpteen years my sister decided was a good place for a make out session." Buffy said a little shakily.
"Ok, hang on just a minute!" Andy suddenly yelled. The four women jumped. They had all forgotten Andy was standing in the dining room watching and hearing everything during the emergency. "What are you all talking about? If that girl has been attacked she needs to go to the hospital. We need to call the police! That guy needs to go to jail. And what do you mean by 'staked him?'"
Tara had finished applying gauze and tape to the small round wounds on Dawn's neck when Andy finished her outburst. "Buffy, why don't you take Dawn to her room and get her settled down for the night."
Buffy looked from Tara to Andy and just nodded. "Let's go Dawnie." She said as the two sisters headed for Dawn's room in the remodeled basement.
"Andy, come sit down." Tara pleaded.
Andy walked into the living room, but stayed standing. "I'm not an idiot Tara. I've heard of Buffy Summers. Did you know I grew up in Sunnydale? I know strange things happen here. I was supposed to graduate from Sunnydale High, but the school blew up the year before."
Andy turned to look at the other woman standing in the living room holding Tara's child, wearing matching pajamas, and looking exactly like each other. "You are Willow Rosenberg, aren't you?"
Willow looked at Tara and then back at Andy and nodded.
"You probably don't remember me, but I remember you. My Dad went crazy with that mob that tried to burn you at the stake. I was a Junior that year. He said you were an evil witch and hung out with freaks. After the school was destroyed we moved away and I finished high school in Barstow. I came back after college and joined the police force."
"Andy, I don't know what to say. Maybe you should talk to Tara. I'm going to take Isobel back to bed." Willow said quietly and left the room.
Tara patted the couch next to her and this time Andy sat down. "How much do you really want to know?" Tara asked the brown haired officer. "It will probably make your life more difficult, but I'll answer any question you ask."
Andy thought about that for a second. "I thought Isobel was your child."
"She is." Tara responded.
"Tara, I have eyes. She looks exactly like a little Willow Rosenberg, and Isobel called her Mommy, so what's up with that?"
Tara sighed, "It's complicated."
"You know what, you're probably right, I don't want to know." Andy laughed as she stood up. "In one night I'm supposed to believe that vampires are running around biting people at night in Sunnydale, that Buffy Summers stakes them and they what, turn to dust? Oh, and that you have a daughter who thinks she can heal people and looks exactly like another woman who is allegedly a witch. Oh. My. God. Is she your ex? "
Tara blushed bright red before she tried to answer, "L-l-like I said, it's complicated."
Andy took Tara's hands and pulled her up from the couch, "Tara, you are a great woman. You're beautiful and charming. But I'm a cop. I can't deal with this. It's too much, you know?"
"I probably shouldn't tell you anymore." Tara breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I understand it being too much, it is for me sometimes. Let me walk you out."
Once again the two women found themselves on the front porch, but this time saying goodbye.
"Take care of yourself Tara. Be careful. I don't know how much of what I've heard tonight is real, but if even a little is, you are messed up in some crazy shit."
'Don't I know it,' Tara thought as she watched her brief attempt at a 'normal' life drive away.
She pondered whether she was upset about the events of the evening as she came inside and went upstairs, stopping in the doorway of her daughter's room. Willow was curled around Isobel with a protective arm holding her around the middle. Two sets of matching red hair splayed out on a single pillow. Matching pajamas with hearts and kisses tucked together. Two sets of eyes closed to slumber, with two matching smiles.
'Nope. I'm not upset at all. In fact, I'm the opposite of upset. What is that again? Oh yeah, happy.' She thought as she turned off the light and went to her own bed, smiling.