Part 2 – Meeting Faith
A baby always brings joy and happiness to a house filled just with adults, and little Ariel was responsible for the smile that had finally returned to Tara's face; 15 months ago Tara had left Sunnydale with her heart shattered into million pieces, she felt depressed and lonely and couldn't find a reason to continue living after Willow's betrayal. However, after she found out about her pregnancy, she gathered all her willpower and survived once again. Now, she was slowly beginning to see the colors of life through the eyes of her 6 month old baby
"no…you have to open your mouth" she struggled to keep her little girl in place "come on sweetie" the baby sucked the spoon and made a happy funny face causing Tara to giggle "you're the cutest thing of mama's" she smile and kissed the baby's toes "can you say 'mama'?" she played with the little blonde who was happily fidgeting in her high chair; a noise coming from the front door called both blondes attention
"Who's that?" Tara asked to her oblivious child "is that grandpa?" Ariel was happily playing with her cup when Giles entered the kitchen and smiled seeing the small blonde raising her arms for him to pick her up and producing some high pitch sounds for emphasis
"Hi there" he said complying to the baby's request
"Hey, Giles…where have you been? I haven't seen you all day" Tara asked cleaning up the mess Ariel had caused with the food
"Yes…I…uh…had a meeting at the watcher's council"
"Why?" she asked surprised
"Do you remember Faith?" he asked placing Ariel down in her play yard
"The psycho slayer?" she lifted an eyebrow
"That's the one" he nodded "well, we received a communication that's she's been released under probation" he went to the fridge pouring himself a glass of juice "the problem is that she's too dangerous to be left under the care of a regular parole officer"
"And what's got to do with you?" she questioned curiously
"Well…they asked me to be her 'informal' watcher" he informed finishing his drink
"Oh my God…what did you say?"
"They made it pretty interesting…the money and the facilities are quite attractive" he said tentatively "but there's a small problem though"
"What is it?" she asked sensing his hesitation
"In order to keep an eye on her, we would have to live under the same roof"
"She's gonna live here?" she asked widen her eyes
"I haven't agreed yet…I said I need some time to think" he said putting his glass in the sink and pulling a chair for Tara to sit at the table "but the truth is…I wanted to clear it with you first" he said sitting next to the blonde
"Giles, this is your house…" she started to argue but he cut her
"Tara, you and Ariel are my family…this house is as much yours as it is mine" he said reclining back on the chair "if you don't feel comfortable or if you think her presence here would be in any way a threat to Ariel's safety" he said pointing to the little one playing next to them
"No" Tara shook her head "I mean you should give her a chance…maybe all this time she spent in jail did her some good"
"Well…I haven't spoken to her yet, but she's been released due to her good behavior" he removed and cleaned his glasses
"There you go" she waved a hand at him "let's have some Faith then" he rolled his eyes and chuckled at the blonde's bad joke
Two weeks later Giles and Tara had prepared everything for the brunette slayer's arrival, a spare room had been set and they had planned all the details to make this new living arrangement work. The front door opened and Giles walked in carrying a bag followed by the rogue slayer carrying a shoulder bag
"okay…uh…this is your new home" he said placing her bag near the wall "your room is the third door to the left" she nodded and observed a brunette woman enter the living room carrying a blonde baby; the slayer looked at them and then turned to the watcher with a raised brow
"Oh…yes, of course" he said moving closer to the woman "uh…Faith, this is Ariel, the little princess of the house"
"Gee Giles…I didn't know you were a daddy" she said based on the goofy smile plastered on his face
"oh…no, no…she's not mine" he shook his head a little embarrassed; the front door opened again and this time a blonde walked in
"Uh, Faith…this is Tara" he introduced "have you met each other?"
"Yes" / "No" they replied at the same time and Faith turned to look at the blonde
"Have we met?" she asked furrowing her brows as if trying to remember
"Yes…I mean, you were not really yourself" she said cryptically and received another raised brow "you were in Buffy's body at the time"
"Oh…" realization downed her
"Yeah…we met at the Bronze…I was with Willow"
"Oh…the girlfriend, I remember now" Faith nodded recalling their meeting "you used to stutter"
"Yeah, I do that when I'm nervous" she nodded and moved to pick up a squirming baby who was requesting some attention "hi sweetie" she cradled the child and the baby made some sounds of happiness "did you miss mama?"
"Is she yours?" Faith asked surprised and received a nod from the blonde "but I thought…" she pointed confused to the brunette standing next to the witch
"Oh…this is Simone…she's Ariel's nanny" Tara said smiling at the sweet woman "she's from the witch coven"
"Hum…a nanny witch?" Faith smirked "nice to meet you, Mary Poppins" the nanny just snorted and rolled her eyes "so, what am I supposed to do?" the slayer asked clasping her hands
"Yes, well…uh…you'll develop some activities at the council" Giles informed moving to the couch "and of course you'll still have your slayer's responsibilities with patrol and everything"
"Good" she nodded "I can do that…so I'm free to come and go as long as I report to you, fulfill my duties and stay out of trouble, right?"
"Yes…basically yes" he nodded at her
"Cool…so I'm outta here" she informed and moved to the door
"Where are you going?" he asked surprised
"Well…it's night so I'll patrol and then…" she looked at them and smirked "I'll get laid…it's been a long dry" she enjoyed the look of shock on his face "I'll see you guys tomorrow"
"Oh boy" he said after she closed the door behind her "I'm beginning to wonder if that was really a good idea" he said locking eyes with Tara