Series: Songs For Secret Lovers (Sequel to "All For Love")
Couple: Willow/Graham
Rating: T (Because some language is inappropriate for young readers)
Disclaimer: Everything B:TVS and A:TS related is owned and copyrighted to Joss Whedon and his many minions. The song belongs to Arnie Roman and is sung by Marc Anthony. I own some pretty decrepit looking sneakers and a fabulous hair accessories collection. Anyone thinking I own these characters needs to stay off the blue, crack-flavored Pixy Stix(tm), okay?
Spoilers: Season Four stuff, set after "Restless", Ped-version
Summary: They're married, everyone knows... or do they?
Note: The lyrics are courtesy of Marc Anthony's Pad,
Note 2: Yes, another W/Gr songfic from me! Besides, that's the way the series was written, as songfics. And besides, this concludes the series... nope, don't even think about it! I wanna finish a series, and this one can only go wacky from here on out!
Note 3: I decided on this song as the one for post-"Restless" because it's all about how a couple survived everything to become happy in marriage and that everything in marriage is about the love they share. An appropriate ending to a series that started about this pair of lovers meeting (and loving) in secret, non?
Note 4: Song lyrics were between the /
Note 5: As always, thoughts are within the >
Dedication: To all the people who wanted another part, but couldn't suggest a song!
Willow inhaled and stretched feeling the warm body at her back. She smiled and turned to look at her husband. Oh Goddess! I don't think I will ever get tired of calling him that! She began to lightly trace the contours of his face with her fingertips, wondering just how long it would take him to wake up.
Graham awoke a few moments later to feel a slight tickling sensation on his face. He cracked open an eye and glared at her. "What do you think you're doing, MRS. Miller?"
"Waking you up, MR. Rosenberg."
Graham rolled until he had pinned his wife to the bed, his weight pressing her into the mattress. "I thought it was traditional for the woman to take the man's name."
Willow wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly, while thrusting up into him at the same time. She smiled at his groan. "Usually it is. But since we didn't talk about the name thing, I decided to play with your head this morning, Tiger."
"Which one?" Graham kissed her again and began to move his hands up from her hips.
/Lyrics were here./
Willow climbed into the airport shuttle, glad she had only brought two bags with her. Graham's luggage is enough for three men! Goddess! And I thought Giles was bad about packing. She smirked as her husband climbed into the shuttle with her.
Graham raised an eyebrow at her. "What amuses you so much, Scarlett?" He punctuated his question with a kiss.
"You do, Tiger. You pack like Giles!"
"I'll take that as the compliment I know it to be. So when did everyone else return home?"
Willow snuggled into his embrace and was patient as the driver finished up with their luggage and swung himself into his seat. "We've only got one more pick-up. One of those conferences was in town last week, and a few of the docs are at the Luxor still."
Willow smiled at him, and replied. "That's okay. We're just heading back to classes anyway."
"University students?" The driver happened to notice the twin flashes on their left ring fingers and smiled to himself. Married on a Monday. Hope they make it.
Graham looked up from his inspection of their entwined fingers. "Yes, we are."
The driver nodded his head and began a spiel. "What college you kids go to?"
Willow and Graham grinned at each other, and Graham indicated that Willow should answer the driver. "We attend UC Sunnydale."
"That a Division I school?"
Graham fielded this question. "No, I think we're Division IA. Can't remember our conference though."
"That's a real shame. My boy goes to UNLV, swimmer. Good coach they got here, he turned down a scholarship at U of Michigan to swim at home. I personally think it was the idea of getting to live at home, while still getting a full ride. But the Missus? She thinks it's because he didn't want to leave his job as a blackjack dealer."
Willow smiled at Graham, and spoke to the driver again. "How long have you been married?"
"The Missus and I got married in 1972. Our youngest is the swimmer, and the eldest is currently at some hoity-toity school over in England. Still don't know how she managed that, she never struck me as the fog and cold type. Eh. To each his own, I guess. Here's the Luxor." He pulled into the long driveway and got out to store the luggage of the passengers.
As the door opened, Willow snuggled into Graham's arms and finally answered his earlier question. "Angel, Wes, and Lia left right after the ceremony, Angel's got that sun allergy after all. Giles, Anya, Tara, Chad, and Xander left this morning, seems our resident 'man of leisure' has a pretty good gambling system and he and Chad raked it up at the tables."
"What about the others?"
"By others I assume you mean Slutty and her boytoy, Agent Lilac?"
Graham snickered at Willow's derisive use of Riley's call sign, and Spike's favorite nickname for the Slayer. "Yeah, them. When'd they leave?"
"I've no idea when, or if they've left yet. I let Lia handle everyone's return flights. She probably did something nasty like book them on a flight that gets to Sunnydale Airport by way of Cleveland."
Graham looked down into his wife's face and smiled at the malicious grin she gave him. "I thought you forgave Buffy when you were rappelling down that elevator shaft."
"I did! I just haven't forgiven Riley yet, and it was you that invited him to our wedding, not me."
"Well, he is my best friend. I had to have someone stand up there with me, and the only other person I would have trusted up there with me, you already had bringing you to the altar."
"Giles will be happy to know that my husband thinks so highly of him." She leaned up to kiss him.
"Willow Ann Rosenberg!"
Willow closed her eyes in pain and looked over Graham's shoulder. "Hi, Mom."
/Lyrics were here./
Graham was in Hell. He could feel it in his bones. If it wasn't Hell, it was a damn good copy. Always thought that cliché about in-laws was a way to scare men. Damn! I wish it wasn't true in my case. He looked back at the table holding his wife and her parents, their silence punctuated only with blazingly angry glares. He picked up the drinks he'd ordered and moved towards the table.
Willow smiled up at him as he put a glass of tea in front of her and took a sip. She winked at him when she realized that he'd gotten it exactly as she liked, two sugars, no milk. She looked back at her parents, gathering her courage. "Okay, we're in the airport. What's so ruddy damn important that you just had to speak to us?"
"Willow Ann!" Her mother admonished, as she looked to Ira Rosenberg for support.
Ira just raised his hands in surrender and tossed a casual glance to Graham, then he looked back at his wife. "Don't look at me, Sheila. I lost any real power over Willow's life when she was thirteen, needed a woman to talk to, and I sent her to Mrs. Anders. I thought she'd be scarred for life from whatever that woman said to her about sex and the reproduction process."
Willow chuckled at the memories she recalled at her father's statement. Graham raised an eyebrow at her and she smiled and shook her head. He just pinned her with a glare in return, and she sighed and rolled her eyes. She nodded her head in agreement and looked back towards her parents. "What?"
Ira Rosenberg was grinning broadly at his daughter and her husband. My little girl got married. And if she followed the pattern she developed in High school, I'll be paying for it anyway. Good job, Willow! He turned his full attention to Graham and nearly smiled when the younger man squirmed under his gaze. I've still got it! Sheila opened her mouth to speak again, but the hand on her thigh warned her to be respectful. She just glared at her husband of twenty years. "Were you planning to tell us that you were involved with a man to the degree that marriage was an option? Whatever happened to that short guitar player?"
"MOM!"
Graham for his part had to contain his laughter at his mother-in-law's obvious diversionary tactics. She'd make a good strategist. He laid his hand on Willow's arm, effectively silencing her with a single squeeze of his hand. "Daniel Osbourne cheated on Willow and left town last fall, Mrs. Rosenberg. She and I met for the first time not long afterwards, and it took me until nearly January to convince your daughter to actually admit that our frequent, arranged meetings were, in fact, dates and that I wasn't anything like Oz."
Willow mumbled under her breath, "Well, duh! You're actually human."
Graham ignored her and continued telling her parents some of the facts of their life. "We kept our relationship a secret from nearly everyone in our lives until late April. The only person who knew we were seeing each other as regularly as we were is my friend, Chad Kent."
Willow interrupted Graham, before her parents could. "In case you're wondering, it was my idea to keep our relationship a secret for so long. Graham was pushing for going public since we..." she paused for a moment and smirked at her thoughts. "Well, honestly since we started having sex in February, also my decision. But due to circumstances beyond our control, we stayed silent. Then it got to us both, and we let everyone in our lives know, except you two and his parents, about us. There, the whole sordid affair. Happy now?"
"No. Who is Chad Kent?"
Willow rolled her eyes at her father's question. "He's my lab partner in Physics. He's also a friend of Graham's. He was our chief alibi provider between February and April. Poor guy, hope he forgives us."
"Didn't you hear him talking last night, Scarlett?"
"No, what about? I mean besides saying that it wasn't fair that because we were married now, his chance of stealing me away from you was nearly gone." Willow punctuated her statement with a sweet kiss to Graham, not caring that they were in a public restaurant at the Las Vegas airport or that her parents were sitting at the table with them.
"He thinks fondly of his time as our, and I'm quoting him, 'Love facilitator'."
"Oh Goddess! You mean William wasn't kidding about that conversation he overheard the other day?"
"Between Kent and Random Friend #6?" Graham teased her lightly.
"Yeah, that one. William said that it was a real shocker to hear Chad talk about you and me with respect and longing. You did notice the way he was checking out Tara, right?"
Graham rolled his eyes at Willow's matchmaking attempt. "It won't work, Scarlett."
"Why in the name of all Christendom, won't it?" Willow noticed her mother sit straighter in her chair and her father just smirk at her choice of words.
"Because I've got this feeling that Sp... er, William and Tara will be hooking up any day now."
"Providing Buffy, or Angel, doesn't kill him first."
"There is that," Graham ended their discussion with a kiss.
/Lyrics were here./
A fairly long hour later, Willow and Graham accompanied her parents through the airport to their plane. Willow and Sheila were walking ahead of the men, having the longest conversation of their lives including the infamous "patriarchal bias of the Mister Rogers Show" chat. Graham nearly smirked when Willow corrected her mother on some obscure Psychology matter.
"So how did you meet my little girl, Graham?"
"Sir?" Graham turned worried eyes to his father-in-law.
"I know she's not telling me something, so I thought I'd ask you."
Graham straightened his shoulders and looked down at his father-in-law. "Willow doesn't reveal everything she's thinking. Xander thinks it's one of the signs of the apocalypse if she does. I tend to agree with him. And I'm pretty sure if she did, the skies would turn blood red, and the Earth would begin rotating backwards." Graham nearly smirked at Ira's sudden discomfort at the way he was being spoken to. Serves you right, you think that suddenly showing interest in her after she's gotten married and become her own woman that you'll somehow win me over? Don't think so, pal.
Ira Rosenberg stopped and pegged the younger man with a glare. "Who do you think you are, to speak to me in a manner?"
"My full name is Graham Phillipe Miller, and I am an Officer in the United States Marine Corps. I was lucky enough to be sent to Sunnydale last year, where I was fortunate to meet your daughter. After rescuing her one night, when her depression over that Guitar player your wife barely remembers caused her to stop paying attention to her surroundings, she and I became friends. Eventually we became more, and two days ago your daughter agreed to marry me. Yesterday we were wed with all of our friends in attendance, and the wedding was better planned in that one day than some of the weddings I've attended the last few years of my High School buddies have been, and those were planned for months."
"I'll be paying for this wedding, won't I?"
"Yes, Sir, you will. Willow's friend Lia Chase planned everything and charged it all to you. Apparently she and Willow went shopping crazy at some point in High school, and you paid the bill without blinking. So she knew the numbers from that experience."
"Ah yes, that would have been shortly after Willow's eighteenth birthday. I remember those bills well. I never told Sheila about them. I thought Willow deserved financial if not emotional support from her parents."
"She would have rather had the emotional support, Sir."
"That I know, Miller. But my job does not allow me the luxury of being able to see my daughter as often as I would like. In fact, I think this is the first time I have seen her for any length of time since we all celebrated the High Holidays together her Freshman year of High school. Before Jesse Anders died, before Willow became interested in and interesting to boys, and well before she rejected my religion." Graham gasped at the statement the man walking next to him spoke, and Ira grinned at him. "She doesn't think I know, does she?"
"No, Sir, she doesn't. Scarlett was concerned that you wouldn't like me because I'm Catholic."
"Nothing wrong with worshipping the One God, even if you're not totally of the faith. But Willow's total rejection of everything we brought her up to believe, that hurt when I found out. But I understand, I can remember shocking my parents back in college by announcing that I was going to be a Hare Krishna."
Graham chuckled at the mental image of his father-in-law with a shaved head passing out flowers at an airport somewhere. "Doesn't look like that plan worked out, Sir."
"No, it doesn't. I met Sheila soon afterwards, and things snowballed from there. Much as I imagine has happened between you and my daughter." Ira Rosenberg made sure his daughter wasn't listening in on the conversation he was having and looked at Graham. "What are your plans?"
"Right now we're going back to Sunnydale and the last two weeks of classes then finals. After that, we'll see where I'm to be re-stationed. Willow has already told me that no matter where I am stationed, she'll be transferring to UCLA in the fall."
"UCLA? Why would she want to do that to herself?"
"Because she feels that no matter where I'm transferred, they've got to have a flight to the greater Los Angeles area there. Plus she needs to get out of Sunnydale, and she already has a support system in LA."
"And do you support this move of hers?"
"Yes, Sir, I do. All of her credits transfer, and the tuition is about the same. Housing costs will be less because her friend Lia has already offered her the spare room in her apartment. I don't want Willow alone and having her live with Lia and be under the watchful eye of Wesley, Lia and Angel will ease my mind if I'm not in California."
"The two of you already have this planned out, didn't you?"
"As much as we can, Sir."
Ira pinned Graham with a look and spoke coldly. "If you ever do anything to hurt my little girl, Marine or not, I'll throw you to the demons Willow doesn't think I know about." With that parting shot, Ira Rosenberg walked away from his son-in-law and turned in his boarding pass to the woman at his gate.
Graham just blinked after his father-in-law. He knows about Demons? DAMN! He was still standing there in shock when Willow rejoined him a few minutes later, having seen both her parents to their plane. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a funny look. Graham finally looked into her concerned face. "What?"
"What were you and my father talking about so intensely?"
"Nothing important. Although, I think you'll find that the wedding will be paid for in full."
"I'd expect nothing less of my father. He was always the more attentive of my parents. I honestly think that if his job hadn't made him travel so much the last seven years, he'd have known exactly what was happening in my life, the moment it happened. I'm surprised at the stuff he knows in our weekly e-mails to each other. I think he's got spies somewhere."
"Yeah, they're called your teachers and neighbors." Graham grinned at his wife and steered her towards their gate. "So what did your mom have to say?"
"She likes that I'll be going to UCLA in the fall, even if you're not stationed anywhere in California. But she thinks we should have waited a little while to get married, and was greatly relieved to hear we got married so quickly because of your upcoming transfer, not an impending pregnancy. She's not ready to be a grandmother yet! Which is of the good, I'm not ready to be a mother yet."
"Speaking of, how many children would you like, Scarlett?"
"Four," she answered without hesitation. "Two is tough because of the older child/younger child aspect. Three is evil because then you've got middle child syndrome. And let's not even mention what I think of having an only child."
"So, four children is a good number for you?"
"Yup. Why?"
"Well, have I mentioned that identical twins run in my family?"
"Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"
Graham nodded his head at a group of people disembarking nearby. "Because you're about to meet my sisters, and their entire cheerleading team."
"WHAT?"
Willow's shriek of surprise was soon drowned out by a pair of female voices screeching, "CRACKER BOY!"
Graham managed to get Willow out of the way, moments before he was hit by twin bundles of energy. He grinned at the way his sisters began talking over each other.
"What are you doing here?" "Yeah, Mom and Dad said you were all busy with that stupid assignment that kept you away for Christmas." "Speaking of, what kind of a present is, a year's subscription to 'Running Magazine', anyway, Cracker Boy? Are you trying to tell me I'm fat?" "If the shoe fits, wear it Kitty-Kat." "Shut up, Jingle head." "Why don't you make me?" "I don't make monkeys, I just train them." "Bite me, Little sis!" "No thanks, I don't think you're Kosher."
Willow snorted at that last comment and blushed when all three Miller siblings turned to face her. "What? It's an honest reaction from someone raised Jewish!"
Graham pulled Willow to his side and held her, while smiling at the confused looks on his sister's faces. "That it is, Scarlett, that it is."
"Her name's Scarlett, that is so cool!"
"You just think so because you're a Windy, Isabelle."
"So? At least I actually read the novels assigned to us in English. Unlike someone else I could mention."
"Let's not bring, Graham into this conversation, okay?"
"Katherine Janelle Miller! That is quite enough out of you!" The girl that had just been yelled at cringed at the tone in her brother's voice. Her sister smirked, then flinched when her brother turned his angry gaze on her. "And that goes for you too, Isabelle Jennifer Miller! What kind of impression are you making on Willow, do you think?"
Willow silenced Graham and calmed him down, just by placing her index finger over his lips. "Hush, Tiger. Your sisters were just reacting as siblings are wont to. Now, don't you think you should make introductions, as I'm sure the Barbarians are at the gate? Or in our case, our airplane."
"You're right, or course." He turned Willow to face his sisters and they kept quiet marveling at this woman who could silence their brother with a simple gesture and some softly spoken words. "Willow, these are my sisters. The one with the ponytail is Isabelle, and the other one is Katherine. Brats, this is my wife, Willow Rosenberg-Miller."
"You're married!" Isabelle yelled, drawing nearly everyone in the terminal's attention
"Mom's gonna shoot you!" Katherine sing-songed.
"Is that why you're in Las Vegas? God! Dad's gonna an have aneurysm, I can tell."
"Don't forget that Granny will probably boil him in some really hot oil."
"Ooh! And Uncle Marc will definitely tease him about marrying a Jewish Girl."
"At least he didn't marry an Asian! Grandpop would have definitely not talked to him for a while because of that!"
A piercing whistle broke through the twins' discussion of what their family would do to Graham when they found out he was married. Both girls turned surprised looks at Willow, who was lowering her fingers from her mouth. "What? It's a handy skill to have growing up with two best friends who are boys. Besides, Graham and I really need to get to our gate. We were only in this part of the airport because my parents had a plane to catch to London."
Both of Graham's sisters turned angry glares at him. But it was Katherine who spoke first. "Ooh- I see how it is! Her family was allowed to come to your wedding, but us? Not even a phone call to let Mom and Dad know you were dating someone for long enough that marriage was in the cards."
"Shut up, Kat! I proposed Sunday and we got married yesterday. Willow's parents were in the same airport shuttle as us, so we had lunch with them here at the airport. The only people at the wedding were our mutual friends, and Willow's mentor, who gave her away."
Willow dragged her husband behind her as she made a concentrated effort to get to their gate. She left him with his still arguing sisters as she checked them in. She smiled when the gate attendant congratulated her on her recent marriage and she went back to the still arguing Miller siblings.
"That's enough! All of you!" The three tall brunettes all turned to the diminutive red head and all flinched at the look on her face. "By the Goddess! You three are all over sixteen, act like it! Graham, apologize to your sisters for that last remark. Isabelle, apologize to Graham for the derogatory remark. And Katherine?" Willow waited for the youngest Miller to look her way. "Bite me! I'm a Wiccan by choice, but a Jew by upbringing. And the only reason so many of our friends were able to attend the wedding your brother wanted, is because my friend Lia is a planning phenom."
Graham's mouthed twitched in a near grin, but he turned to his eldest sister. "I'm sorry for what I said, Bella. Forgive me?"
"Only if you forgive me, Cracker boy."
Graham hugged his sister and felt her relax into his body. "Done." He looked at his other sister, still staring in awe at his wife. "What about you, Kit Kat?"
"You let me know the details in a long, money expensive phone call, and all will be forgiven. You'll get bonus points if I get it while I'm still in Las Vegas."
Graham engulfed his other sister in a hug. "I think I can arrange that. Which hotel?"
Kat looked at her sister. "Circus Circus, Jingle head?"
"Yes, Kitty Kat, we're staying there. I'd rather be at the Sands or the MGM but I was out voted."
"Cost is always an issue when you take a cheer squad across the country, you know that Bella."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it, Gippy. Now, call us before we go home. Do we have to stay silent until you tell the parental units?"
"I'd appreciate it. Although, you can tell Mom and Dad that you saw me here in the airport, and I was with a stunning red head."
"Graham!" Willow swatted his chest.
"Willow!" Graham kissed her as his sisters cheered them on.
They broke the kiss as the heard the boarding call for their flight. Willow blushed at the looks his sisters gave her. "Remind me to kill you later, okay?"
"As you wish."
Willow rolled her eyes at his antics and smiled at her sisters-in-law. "It was a pleasure to meet you both. Excuse me, but it's back unto the breach once more." She walked away, getting into the boarding line.
Graham smiled after his wife and turned to look at his sisters. "Well?"
"She seems nice, but I'm sure she's right for you, Gippy. But I need to speak to her again, she got e-mail?"
"Willow's one of the foremost hackers this side of the Atlantic, Kit Kat. I should hope so!"
"You coming home after this assignment is over?"
"I honestly don't know, Jingle head. Which is one of the reasons I proposed to Willow, that uncertainty in my life. But I'll let you guys know where I'm going, or at least how to reach Willow if it's classified."
Both Miller girls kissed their brother's cheeks and hugged him. "Stay safe, Gippy. You've got a wife to think about now! Whoa! My brother, the married guy. Wacky!"
"What Kat said, Cracker Boy. And remember to always watch your six, okay?"
Graham kissed both his sisters and said, "I will. And you two, knock those stupid West Coasters on their prissy butts, okay?" He smiled at their nods and ran to join his wife in line.
Kat and Bella Miller watched until their brother's plane left forty-five minutes later. Then they went to get their luggage, and receive the lecture they knew was coming from their coaches and chaperones for running off without telling anyone where they were going. But both decided for getting a chance to see their brother and meet his new wife, it was worth any lecture they would receive.
/Lyrics were here./
Willow simply moaned as Graham picked her up from her airplane seat. The flight attendant was kind enough to carry their carry-on luggage out of the airplane for them. First class is the only way to travel. Well, unless you're on a long flight with a VIP and you've got a staff sergeant from the "airdales" taking care of you.
"Graham!"
Graham turned to look for the person that called his name and smiled to see Chad Kent walk towards them. He passed off Willow to his friend and had to fight his smile when Chad nearly fell down in shock at the hand off. He turned to the flight attendant. "Thank you for helping me, Tucker. Not many people would be so considerate."
Tucker handed over the luggage he was carrying and smiled at the attractive Married, Sigh man. "All part of the service, Sir. Many blessings to you and your wife on this happy occasion." They're going to need it in a city like Sunnydale. With that, Tucker went back into the plane to help his fellow flight attendants disembark the other passengers.
Chad looked from the face of the sleeping woman in his arms to her very tired looking husband, and couldn't resist the jibe. "Willow keeping you up at night, Miller?"
"I'm not the one asleep, Kent. Why don't you make the call?"
"Right, logic. I hate it when you do that." The two men walked through the airport, neither caring about the strange looks they were getting because of the sleeping Willow.
Willow nuzzled into Chad's chest and he shuddered slightly. When her eyelids fluttered open she smiled dreamily up at him. "Was it good for you too?"
Graham started laughing as his friend's eyes widened and his wife grinned evilly. "That was bad of you, Scarlett."
Willow tossed her hair over her shoulder and looked at Graham. "Would you expect anything less, Tiger?"
"Of course not. But tormenting the person who's here to pick us up from our mini-honeymoon is rather impolite."
"Mmmm, so it is. Can I make it up to you, Chad?" She purred at the man still cradling her to his chest.
Chad swallowed nervously and then smiled at his friend, and Physics lab partner. "That depends..."
"On?" She kept her voice low and throaty, knowing the effect it had on both men listening to her.
"On whether or not your friend Lia is still single."
"Unless she hooked up with someone in the last twelve hours, which would be something of a record, even for Lia, she is."
"Can I get her phone number from you?"
"I don't see why not. But she's got a couple of male roomies who are very protective of her. I mean, Dennis wouldn't even let Graham into the apartment when he came to pick me up after Spring Break." She cuddled back into Chad's shoulder and closed her eyes. "Sleepy now. Wake me up when we get back to my parents' house."
Graham shook his head in wonder at Willow's antics and nodded his head towards the exit. "I'll get the bags, you go get the car and pull it around front."
"What's this about her parents' house?"
"Her Mom and Dad told us we could use it until everything settles down, so we could be together at night and not have to worry about anything like that."
"When'd you talk to them?"
"In Las Vegas. Seems Willow's Mom was in Vegas for a convention and her Dad was there with her. Something of a rarity I understand. We met up and talked before their flight left. Then as we were walking to our gate, my sisters and their cheer squad arrived in Vegas."
"So, except for your parents, all the in-laws know about the wedding now?"
"Pretty much. Now get! Willow is really tired, hence the snoring I now hear coming from her, and I'm pretty beat as well."
"Okay, okay, I'm going. Word of warning though, Finn is pissed as hell. Seems he and Buffy are stuck in Washington without a return flight home."
"Poor guy. I bet the Slayer has no idea why that would have happened to her, huh?"
"Probably not. Well, now that your wife is drooling on my new shirt, I'm off to put her in the car and bring it around to the front. See you in a few Miller!"
/Lyrics were here./
The shrill ringing of a phone under her cheek woke Willow up. She looked around her childhood room bleary-eyed, trying to figure out where the ringing was coming from. She noticed that Graham was out for the count, so she picked up his cell phone and answered it, "Hello?"
"The lion quacks at the silvery dawn."
"Yeah, and the grizzly bear has really groovy sneakers."
Willow gets ready to hang up the phone, Sicko , when she hears a computerized voice say, "Correct password sequence. Please hold for secure connection."
Oh Shit! She shook her husband awake and thrust the phone at him when he looked at her. "Secure connection happening. Somehow I guessed the password correctly."
Graham sat up and put the phone to his ear, waiting for the connection to finish. He looked at Willow and smiled. "What was the phrase?"
"It said that, 'The lion quacks at the silvery dawn.' And well, you can probably guess what my response was."
"Yeah, I can. Stay with me?"
Willow cuddled into his chest and let his breath lull her into total relaxation. "Until our threads are cut and the wheel of Fate spins us again, my love."
"So basically, that's a 'forever' kind of a statement?"
"Yes, it is. I really need to get you taught in the Wiccan myths, don't I?"
"I wouldn't say no." He leans down to kiss her, and is stopped by Willow's finger over his lips.
"You like to end discussions by occupying my mouth with yours, don't you?" She smiled as she pulled her finger away from his mouth.
He leaned down again and just before his lips brushed hers, he said, "You complaining, Mrs. Miller?"
"I wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Miller," she replied as she closed the small space between them and kissed her husband for all she was worth.
They were separated when a voice growled over the phone, "Private Miller?"
Graham broke the kiss and spoke into the phone. "Yes Sir?"
"You are hereby put on paid leave by order of the Joints Chiefs and the Congressional Oversight Committee. You are ordered to appear at the main gate of Quantico Marine Base in Virginia in sixty days, by nine AM, Eastern Daylight Time. Do you understand these orders as I have given them to you?"
"Yes sir!"
"Very well, Private. Enjoy your honeymoon." The call disconnected and Graham soon heard the secure transmission end.
Graham shut his phone off and stared at Willow in disbelief. "What happened, Tiger?"
"I'm on leave for sixty days. I have to report to the main gate of Quantico at the end of it."
"That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it." He tossed his phone onto her nightstand and smiled down at his wife. "You complaining about having me for the next two months?"
"By the Goddess no! But that's in August, and classes don't start up until late September. What am I gonna do for two months?"
"Well, you could always come play the beautiful Marine wife until they start."
"Don't you mean, dutiful wife?"
"Nope, you're too stubborn to be dutiful. Loyal, honorable, and charitable, sure, but never dutiful."
"You're a pig, Graham!"
"Oink, oink." Graham rolled until he was pinning Willow to the bed. "Now, I think we're both wearing too many clothes, don't you?"
"Of course."
/Lyrics were here./
The next day, Graham and Willow ere walking across campus, blissfully unaware of what was waiting for them at Lowell House. They walked through the doors, and that's when it happened.
"You Bitch!" Buffy slapped Willow across the face, and the force of her blow knocked Willow and Graham to the floor.
Willow jumped to her feet and glared at the Slayer. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here, Slayer."
"Oh, now I'm just Slayer. I think hanging out with Spike has warped your sense of reality, Witch."
Willow's eyes turned pure white and the air began to crackle with her power. "Watch thy tongue, Slayer. I'm more powerful than you could ever imagine."
Graham groaned when he recognized the cadence of Willow's words. He got to his feet and grabbed Buffy, restraining her with no effort. "I wouldn't Buffy. That's not my wife you'd be facing."
"Then who would it be?"
"Her Goddess. I've only met Willow's Dark Lady once, but that's who is visiting us now. You piss her off, and say goodbye Sunnydale."
"She deserves whatever I do to her!"
"Why? Because you and Riley got misdirected by Cordelia Chase? You've got to realize that Angel's Secretary and Willow's friend would likely not be as forgiving as my wife. And if you even think about striking her again, I'll personally re-arrange your internal organs."
"Threats?"
"A promise. Go back to your boytoy, Slayer. My wife and I are sick of your attitude towards us, and we'll be leaving Sunnydale after finals anyway."
"You're stealing her away from me?"
"Hardly. You're pushing her away, Buffy. Striking her across the face, days after a reconciliation is probably not the way to go about staying her friend, anyway."
Buffy broke out of his hold and turned to glare at him. "I hope any children you have, have Autism."
With that parting shot, Buffy ran from the house and Graham grabbed Willow before she could hit the floor. He carried her up to his room and laid her on the bed. She came around a few minutes later. "Hey."
"Hey yourself. You gonna make it a habit to be possessed by your Goddess?"
"Only when attacked by crazed super powerful beings."
"Okay, so basically only on Alternate Thursdays then, right?"
"Yup. You gonna kiss me soon?"
"We still need to talk about what'll happen after finals, Scarlett."
Willow wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at him. "Later. Kiss me now."
"With pleasure, Madame."
End Series
