Back Before Dawn
by Annakovsky
Part 12/12
See part 1 for disclaimer, rating, etc.
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*
*********************************************
Willow: 12:02 pm, Tuesday, February 18, 2003
*********************************************
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*
I was babbling on, picking up my notes when the little kid said "Done," or something.
"Huh?" I asked him.
"Done," he said again, nodding authoritatively. Then his eyes widened. "Goddamnit!"
"Whoa, language!"
"Shut the hell up," he said.
"Does your mother know you talk like that?" I asked him. "That is just highly disturbing." He glared at me and I backed slowly away. Weird kid.
The party store had the "It's a boy!" banner, so I bought it and headed home, still a little annoyed at Buffy. But when I opened the door to our apartment, she was there, actually cleaning! It was amazing.
"Buffy!" I said. "You're... using the Chlorox! I didn't know you knew where it was!" She gave me a withering glance.
"I'm not quite that bad, am I?" I looked at her. "Okay, maybe I am. Sorry about running out on you earlier - I realized that I totally make you do most of the work around here. So I'm turning over a whole new Buffy leaf. Chore-doing, responsible Buffy, coming right up." I grinned at her.
"That's awesome. Thanks."
"Anything for my best friend," she said. "Also, hey, Giles is having a baby! He deserves to have a baby shower in a clean apartment."
"Yeah, 'cause on the Hellmouth, you never know. That mold in the back of the fridge could turn into a mold monster and attack."
"I wish," said Buffy. I looked at her. "I mean, terrible thing, that would be just plain awful. Wouldn't want to have to slay something like that, nuh uh." I grinned.
"You're such a freak."
*************
The apartment was spotless when everyone arrived, just after sunset, bearing gifts. I was so proud of us. The room looked full and cheerful with bright wrapping paper and food and decorations, crowded with people, by the time Giles and Olivia walked in, his hand at the small of her back. They are so cute together.
"Hey, the guests of honor!" Xander said, greeting them. "Olivia, always a pleasure." He kissed her cheek.
"Hello, Xander," she said. I was hugging Giles.
"Welcome to the party!" I said. "Let me take your coats - I'll throw them on Buffy's bed. She actually made her bed for the party, even though no one will be going in there! Can you believe it?"
"Should I get my books and research body-snatching?" asked Giles dryly.
"I'm beginning to wonder," I said. Buffy came up just then, having totally missed what we'd just said.
"Olivia, why don't we let you sit down?" she said. Giles and I smirked at each other behind Buffy's back.
"Thank you, that would be lovely," said Olivia, looking relieved. "I'm always afraid I'm going to overbalance and keel right over."
"We wouldn't want that," said Buffy. "We have the seat of honor for you, right here." She led her over to an armchair, and I took the coats back into the bedroom to throw them on the pile with the others.
The party really seemed to be going nicely. Buffy and I were busy serving snacks and making sure everybody was doing okay. Well, the more mature and single one of us was, anyway. I walked into the kitchen at one point to get more ice and found Buffy and Spike in a lip-lock.
"Hey Buffy, not to alarm you or anything, but I think you've got something on your face," I said. "Also, you're blocking the freezer." The two of them broke apart quickly and moved out of the way.
"It's just as well you interrupted," Buffy said. "I could use a break from onion breath over there."
"Well, Little Miss Slayer-Strength might not get so much onion if she weren't trying to stuff her tongue way down past my tonsils," he replied.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're very aggravating?" she asked him. They were totally just flirting now, and I rolled my eyes. I don't know if Buffy's constant soap opera melodrama with Angel (and, you know, him trying to kill us and everything) or her constant flirty fighting with Spike was worse, honestly. From a best friend standpoint, Riley was a much less annoying boyfriend than Spike, but on the other hand, Riley was kind of... well, bland? Nice guy, but yeah. And Spike's all right, once you get used to having him around. Buffy seems mostly happy, anyway, so I'm vicariously happy for her. I'm not vicariously into the romance of it, like I was with Angel back when the vamp-with-soul thing seemed all star-crossed and romantic instead of kind of inconvenient, but hey, that's okay. I'm more into my own romance - still getting over Tara, but dealing with it enough so that I can think that my lab partner in orgo is awfully cute and funny.
We'd gone through cake and party games when we finally decided it was time for presents. Well, actually Andrew wouldn't stop asking if we were doing presents yet, so we finally caved and brought them over.
"Me first!" said Buffy, bringing over her two packages. The first one had clothes in it - little overalls and shirts. "I got them at Baby Gap," she said. "He'll be the most stylish of all the kids at the hospital." Olivia held them all up for everyone to ooh and ahh over. The last item Giles pulled out was a onesie that said "I'm the little brother!" on it. He looked touched.
"I was also going to get you a mug that said 'Best Dad Ever'," Buffy said. "But I think that'll have to wait for Father's Day." Giles looked slightly overwhelmed.
"Buffy... thank you. That's...." But Buffy interrupted him.
"Now open the next one!" Giles smiled at her so that his eyes crinkled, and began to remove the paper. It was a toy airplane. Giles looked at Buffy, a little confused.
"I thought he might want to be a fighter pilot when he grows up," she explained. "Or a grocer. I would've gotten something for that too, but it turns out grocery stores are really expensive." Giles chuckled.
"This is... well." He looked at her affectionately. "Thank you."
"Aww, give me a hug, British guy," she said, stepping over. She hugged Olivia after, bending down to the chair and embracing her lightly.
Jonathan and Andrew's present was next. Olivia opened it to find a boxed set of the complete works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
"Um... thank you," she said, looking a little bewildered.
"Bed-time stories!" said Andrew excitedly.
"Of course," said Olivia politely. "What a... unique idea. Thank you." Jonathan and Andrew looked very pleased with themselves.
Anya had gotten the baby stock, since you're never too young to start working on your investment portfolio, and Spike's present was a bottle of scotch. Giles had looked at it strangely. "Oh, it's not for the baby, it's for you, Rupes," Spike had said. "I suspect you'll be needing it." Giles had given him a Look, but thanked him anyway.
Xander and I had saved our presents for last, because we were awfully proud of them.
"Okay, you guys are up," said Buffy. We looked at each other and grinned, then went back into my room, where we were keeping the big gift.
We rolled the crib Xander had made out with great ceremony.
"Oh, it's beautiful," Olivia said. It really was, too. Xander had carved it out of this dark cherry wood, and it was just perfect. The side went up and down and everything.
"And you guys haven't even seen the best part yet!" Xander said. He rolled it so they could see the end of it, where my contribution was. I had gotten the idea from Harry Potter. Xander had carved what looked like a clock face on the end of the crib, with a moving clock hand. All around the edges we had written different words that the hand could point to.
"See, Willow magicked it!" Xander said. "When the baby's crying, you just have to look here to see why. See?" He started reading the words around the perimeter. "'Hungry', 'wet', 'cold', 'lonely', 'tired', 'bemused'..."
"Bemused?" said Buffy, almost snickering.
"C'mon," I said. "You don't think Giles's son will get bemused?"
"The more you say it, the more it doesn't sound like a real word," she said.
"Anyway," I said, pointedly ignoring her. "Once the baby's born I'll have to get one of his hairs to lock the spell in on him, but otherwise it's all set up!"
"That's amazing, Willow," said Olivia. "What a brilliant idea."
"Oh, and we got accessories, too," said Xander, handing them a few packages. They opened the first one, which was a blanket. "We couldn't find anything in tweed," Xander said. "So this'll have to do instead." He got a Look from Giles too. The second present was a mobile that we'd found and knew that we HAD to get.
"It's the Count, from Sesame Street!" I said. "Get him used to the vampires early, and also, this way maybe he'll like math." Everyone looked at me. "Because of the counting!" They were still looking at me, though, so I guess they had already gotten it. I shrugged.
Giles was giving us his happiest, most Giles-y smile, and we both hugged him and Olivia.
"I am beginning to suspect," he said, looking around at everybody, "that I am the luckiest man alive."
"Not too shabby for living on a Hellmouth, huh?" said Xander.
"Not at all."
I looked around at my friends, all there together. We really were lucky. I mean, sure, we'd had our hard times - I knew that as well as anyone, missing Tara. But we had each other, and that was always enough.
We had been passing Xander's digital camera around all through the party, getting candid shots of everyone. Xander and Buffy and I were standing by the crib and talking when Jonathan came up to us holding it.
"I think we need a picture of the three musketeers!" he said, pointing it at us. We turned to face him, Buffy in the middle, and put our arms around each other. "Okay, say cheese!" Jonathan said.
"Cheese!" we all said dutifully. The camera flashed on us grinning as big as we could.
*******
END
And they all lived happily ever after...
I figured I might as well let the subtext become text with the "cheese" at the end there: because, wow, yeah - CHEESE. Apologies for the way over-the-top happiness.
Thanks for reading – it's been fun! And thanks again to the marvelous Erin, for brainstorming, proofreading, moral support and overall greatness. As always, feedback is very appreciated: send to annakovsky@hotmail.com
by Annakovsky
Part 12/12
See part 1 for disclaimer, rating, etc.
*
*
*********************************************
Willow: 12:02 pm, Tuesday, February 18, 2003
*********************************************
*
*
I was babbling on, picking up my notes when the little kid said "Done," or something.
"Huh?" I asked him.
"Done," he said again, nodding authoritatively. Then his eyes widened. "Goddamnit!"
"Whoa, language!"
"Shut the hell up," he said.
"Does your mother know you talk like that?" I asked him. "That is just highly disturbing." He glared at me and I backed slowly away. Weird kid.
The party store had the "It's a boy!" banner, so I bought it and headed home, still a little annoyed at Buffy. But when I opened the door to our apartment, she was there, actually cleaning! It was amazing.
"Buffy!" I said. "You're... using the Chlorox! I didn't know you knew where it was!" She gave me a withering glance.
"I'm not quite that bad, am I?" I looked at her. "Okay, maybe I am. Sorry about running out on you earlier - I realized that I totally make you do most of the work around here. So I'm turning over a whole new Buffy leaf. Chore-doing, responsible Buffy, coming right up." I grinned at her.
"That's awesome. Thanks."
"Anything for my best friend," she said. "Also, hey, Giles is having a baby! He deserves to have a baby shower in a clean apartment."
"Yeah, 'cause on the Hellmouth, you never know. That mold in the back of the fridge could turn into a mold monster and attack."
"I wish," said Buffy. I looked at her. "I mean, terrible thing, that would be just plain awful. Wouldn't want to have to slay something like that, nuh uh." I grinned.
"You're such a freak."
*************
The apartment was spotless when everyone arrived, just after sunset, bearing gifts. I was so proud of us. The room looked full and cheerful with bright wrapping paper and food and decorations, crowded with people, by the time Giles and Olivia walked in, his hand at the small of her back. They are so cute together.
"Hey, the guests of honor!" Xander said, greeting them. "Olivia, always a pleasure." He kissed her cheek.
"Hello, Xander," she said. I was hugging Giles.
"Welcome to the party!" I said. "Let me take your coats - I'll throw them on Buffy's bed. She actually made her bed for the party, even though no one will be going in there! Can you believe it?"
"Should I get my books and research body-snatching?" asked Giles dryly.
"I'm beginning to wonder," I said. Buffy came up just then, having totally missed what we'd just said.
"Olivia, why don't we let you sit down?" she said. Giles and I smirked at each other behind Buffy's back.
"Thank you, that would be lovely," said Olivia, looking relieved. "I'm always afraid I'm going to overbalance and keel right over."
"We wouldn't want that," said Buffy. "We have the seat of honor for you, right here." She led her over to an armchair, and I took the coats back into the bedroom to throw them on the pile with the others.
The party really seemed to be going nicely. Buffy and I were busy serving snacks and making sure everybody was doing okay. Well, the more mature and single one of us was, anyway. I walked into the kitchen at one point to get more ice and found Buffy and Spike in a lip-lock.
"Hey Buffy, not to alarm you or anything, but I think you've got something on your face," I said. "Also, you're blocking the freezer." The two of them broke apart quickly and moved out of the way.
"It's just as well you interrupted," Buffy said. "I could use a break from onion breath over there."
"Well, Little Miss Slayer-Strength might not get so much onion if she weren't trying to stuff her tongue way down past my tonsils," he replied.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're very aggravating?" she asked him. They were totally just flirting now, and I rolled my eyes. I don't know if Buffy's constant soap opera melodrama with Angel (and, you know, him trying to kill us and everything) or her constant flirty fighting with Spike was worse, honestly. From a best friend standpoint, Riley was a much less annoying boyfriend than Spike, but on the other hand, Riley was kind of... well, bland? Nice guy, but yeah. And Spike's all right, once you get used to having him around. Buffy seems mostly happy, anyway, so I'm vicariously happy for her. I'm not vicariously into the romance of it, like I was with Angel back when the vamp-with-soul thing seemed all star-crossed and romantic instead of kind of inconvenient, but hey, that's okay. I'm more into my own romance - still getting over Tara, but dealing with it enough so that I can think that my lab partner in orgo is awfully cute and funny.
We'd gone through cake and party games when we finally decided it was time for presents. Well, actually Andrew wouldn't stop asking if we were doing presents yet, so we finally caved and brought them over.
"Me first!" said Buffy, bringing over her two packages. The first one had clothes in it - little overalls and shirts. "I got them at Baby Gap," she said. "He'll be the most stylish of all the kids at the hospital." Olivia held them all up for everyone to ooh and ahh over. The last item Giles pulled out was a onesie that said "I'm the little brother!" on it. He looked touched.
"I was also going to get you a mug that said 'Best Dad Ever'," Buffy said. "But I think that'll have to wait for Father's Day." Giles looked slightly overwhelmed.
"Buffy... thank you. That's...." But Buffy interrupted him.
"Now open the next one!" Giles smiled at her so that his eyes crinkled, and began to remove the paper. It was a toy airplane. Giles looked at Buffy, a little confused.
"I thought he might want to be a fighter pilot when he grows up," she explained. "Or a grocer. I would've gotten something for that too, but it turns out grocery stores are really expensive." Giles chuckled.
"This is... well." He looked at her affectionately. "Thank you."
"Aww, give me a hug, British guy," she said, stepping over. She hugged Olivia after, bending down to the chair and embracing her lightly.
Jonathan and Andrew's present was next. Olivia opened it to find a boxed set of the complete works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
"Um... thank you," she said, looking a little bewildered.
"Bed-time stories!" said Andrew excitedly.
"Of course," said Olivia politely. "What a... unique idea. Thank you." Jonathan and Andrew looked very pleased with themselves.
Anya had gotten the baby stock, since you're never too young to start working on your investment portfolio, and Spike's present was a bottle of scotch. Giles had looked at it strangely. "Oh, it's not for the baby, it's for you, Rupes," Spike had said. "I suspect you'll be needing it." Giles had given him a Look, but thanked him anyway.
Xander and I had saved our presents for last, because we were awfully proud of them.
"Okay, you guys are up," said Buffy. We looked at each other and grinned, then went back into my room, where we were keeping the big gift.
We rolled the crib Xander had made out with great ceremony.
"Oh, it's beautiful," Olivia said. It really was, too. Xander had carved it out of this dark cherry wood, and it was just perfect. The side went up and down and everything.
"And you guys haven't even seen the best part yet!" Xander said. He rolled it so they could see the end of it, where my contribution was. I had gotten the idea from Harry Potter. Xander had carved what looked like a clock face on the end of the crib, with a moving clock hand. All around the edges we had written different words that the hand could point to.
"See, Willow magicked it!" Xander said. "When the baby's crying, you just have to look here to see why. See?" He started reading the words around the perimeter. "'Hungry', 'wet', 'cold', 'lonely', 'tired', 'bemused'..."
"Bemused?" said Buffy, almost snickering.
"C'mon," I said. "You don't think Giles's son will get bemused?"
"The more you say it, the more it doesn't sound like a real word," she said.
"Anyway," I said, pointedly ignoring her. "Once the baby's born I'll have to get one of his hairs to lock the spell in on him, but otherwise it's all set up!"
"That's amazing, Willow," said Olivia. "What a brilliant idea."
"Oh, and we got accessories, too," said Xander, handing them a few packages. They opened the first one, which was a blanket. "We couldn't find anything in tweed," Xander said. "So this'll have to do instead." He got a Look from Giles too. The second present was a mobile that we'd found and knew that we HAD to get.
"It's the Count, from Sesame Street!" I said. "Get him used to the vampires early, and also, this way maybe he'll like math." Everyone looked at me. "Because of the counting!" They were still looking at me, though, so I guess they had already gotten it. I shrugged.
Giles was giving us his happiest, most Giles-y smile, and we both hugged him and Olivia.
"I am beginning to suspect," he said, looking around at everybody, "that I am the luckiest man alive."
"Not too shabby for living on a Hellmouth, huh?" said Xander.
"Not at all."
I looked around at my friends, all there together. We really were lucky. I mean, sure, we'd had our hard times - I knew that as well as anyone, missing Tara. But we had each other, and that was always enough.
We had been passing Xander's digital camera around all through the party, getting candid shots of everyone. Xander and Buffy and I were standing by the crib and talking when Jonathan came up to us holding it.
"I think we need a picture of the three musketeers!" he said, pointing it at us. We turned to face him, Buffy in the middle, and put our arms around each other. "Okay, say cheese!" Jonathan said.
"Cheese!" we all said dutifully. The camera flashed on us grinning as big as we could.
*******
END
And they all lived happily ever after...
I figured I might as well let the subtext become text with the "cheese" at the end there: because, wow, yeah - CHEESE. Apologies for the way over-the-top happiness.
Thanks for reading – it's been fun! And thanks again to the marvelous Erin, for brainstorming, proofreading, moral support and overall greatness. As always, feedback is very appreciated: send to annakovsky@hotmail.com