Part 14
Daylight came and found Faith and Tara cuddling in bed together. The slayer was the first one to wake up, but she chose not to get up, instead she just lay there quietly stroking the blonde's hair and enjoying the sensation of the witch snuggling against her body with her head resting on her shoulder
"Hey, baby" she called gently causing the blonde to stir "can Barney fly?"
"What?" Tara asked sleepily keeping her eyes closed
"Barney…purple dinosaur" she clarified "can he fly?"
"Not that I'm aware of" the blonde answered giggling
"Then I guess your daughter is awake" Tara's head jerked and Faith nodded to the ceiling. Tara looked up and saw a Barney doll floating over them
"Oh my goddess" she chuckled when she saw Ariel standing on her crib and laughing.
Faith sat up when Tara rolled out of bed
"She's getting stronger" the slayer pointed out and caught the falling toy
"Yes, she is" Tara said picking her toddler from the crib and kissing her good morning
"Kiddo is gonna be the highlight of kindergarten" she said chuckling
"I don't even want to think about that yet" Tara said rolling her eyes "here…change her" she said handing the child and a clean diaper to the slayer "I'll prepare her bottle"
"Fa…fy" the little girl smiled happily
"Okay, let's try to master this…" she said laying the baby down and unbuttoning her pants "it's… 'Faith'" she pronounced it clearly while unfastening the grip
"Fa…fy" the blonde repeated enjoying the game
"Nice…you can float toys but you can't say 'Faith'" she giggled and fastened the clean diaper on
"Hey Tara…" Dawn entered the room but froze when she saw Faith sitting on the bed "oh…you"
"Yeah…me" the slayer retorted and finished buttoning Ariel's pants back on
"Do you sleep her?" the teenager asked in an unsatisfied tone
"Part of girlfriend's privilege" Faith answered with sarcasm but decided to back off and be the grown up "if you're looking for Tara, she's in the kitchen" she informed and the girl turned to leave "hey, kid…wait"
"I'm not a kid" she snapped
"Okay…teen" Dawn rolled her eyes and turned again to leave "wait…wait…" the slayer tried again "hear me out for a second…please" she pled and the girl crossed her arms impatiently "look…let's clear something up" Faith started "you don't like me and I'm not crazy about you…but Tara love's you…and I love Tara" she declared "and for her it's important that we get along well, so I'm willing to try"
"You love Tara?" she asked suspiciously
"I do…I really do" she replied honestly "look…you have every reason to hate me…I did terrible things to your sister…and to your friends, but I've reformed…and my feelings for Tara are real" she said trying to make the girl lower her guard "hey…we don't have to like each other…we just have to try to be civilized" she explained "so what do you say, can we call a truce?" she asked hopefully and saw the girl starting to give in "for Tara's sake?"
"Okay…" Dawn sighed and agreed with the peace offer "for Tara's sake"
"For Tara…" the slayer nodded and sighed in relief
"Mama" Ariel bounced on the bed and clapped happily
"Yeah…mama…for mama" Faith lifted the little girl and kissed her tummy making her laugh
"What does she call you?" Dawn asked joining them in bed
"Oh…I'm 'fafy', Giles is 'papa' and Simone is 'nanny'…" she informed "she's in the two syllable stage" she joked
"Hey…can you say 'Dawn'?" she tried and Ariel giggled jumping on the slayer's lap.
Faith lifted her head and saw Tara standing at the door holding Ariel's bottle; the blonde had a big grin plastered on her face.
The slayer smiled back and nodded when she saw the witch mouthing the words 'thank you' to her
A couple of days later harmony was once again set in motion; Faith and Dawn were making their arrangement work and the white flag was hanging around successfully
"Come on honey…don't be picky" Tara was trying to make Ariel have a vegetable soup "it's tasteful…try it" the little blonde shook her head stubbornly and fidgeted in her highchair with her lips pursed
"No mama" she whined "no wanna"
"Fine" Tara sighed defeated "we'll try again tomorrow"
"Here" Simone handed her a bottle and smirked with a 'told you so' look on her face
"Thanks" Tara narrowed her eyes at the nanny daring her to say a word
"So…" she wisely decided to changed the subject "how are things between you and the slayer?"
"Fine…" Tara answered dumping the soup in the sink "we're ok"
"Alright…I'm curious" she said handing the dish towel to the blonde "does she live to her reputation?"
"What reputation?" the witch asked lifting a curious eyebrow
"Well, you know" she said making a gesture with her hands "people say that she's…'skilled'" she raised both brows funnily "if you know what I mean…"
"Oh…" Tara blushed realizing what she was talking about "well…I can't really answer that"
"I'm sorry, Tara" Simone apologized embarrassedly "I didn't mean to intrude…"
"No…no…it's not that" the witch explained hurriedly "it's just that we haven't…you know"
"No???" the nanny asked surprised
"Not yet" the blonde shook her head mortified
"How long have you guys been together?"
"About a month" Tara answered turning all shades of red "more or less"
"Wow…" Simone leaned against the counter "and you still haven't…?"
"Well…we have done…stuff" Tara said completely abashed "but we haven't gone all the way yet"
"It's nice" the nanny offered trying to put the blonde at ease "you're waiting for the right moment…" she nodded and grinned "it's romantic"
"I guess…" Tara shrugged and smiled self-consciously "but…where have you heard those…comments?"
"Oh…you know…people talk" she said evasively turning her back to the witch
"What people?" Tara raised a suspicious eyebrow sensing that there was something the older woman wasn't telling
"People…just people" she closed her eyes and cursed silently
"Simone, elaborate…" Tara demanded with her arms folded across her chest
"I'm sorry, Tara" the nanny started and turned to look at the blonde "I don't mean to gossip and I certainly don't want to cause any problems between you guys" she sighed "I love you two together" she offered honestly
"You're stalling" the blonde said seriously
"Okay" she sighed dramatically "there is this…rumor…that Faith had got…intimate with a girl from the council" she explained "and let say that this… girl…is not very reserved about that, on the contrary, she loves to brag about this and doesn't waste an opportunity to tell how…'skilled' the slayer is…"
"A girl from the council?" Tara frowned and felt a burning sensation in the pity of her stomach when she saw the nanny nodding positively "who is she?"
"I don't know" Simone shook her head regretting she'd started this conversation "look, Tara…forget about that, okay?" she tried to coax the witch "Faith is crazy about you…even a blind person can see that"
"What's her name?" she insisted causing the nanny to sigh deeply
"I don't know" she lied and received a hard look from the blonde "Aysha…her name's Aysha…something" she informed
Tara suddenly felt very possessive. She didn't like the idea of Faith with someone else, and for the first time in their relationship she experienced the bitter taste of jealousy
"Hey…there you are" Giles said entering the kitchen followed by Dawn. He walked straight to Ariel ignoring the heavy atmosphere in the room
"Papa…milk?" Ariel offered him her bottle
"Oh…no, thank you darling" he chuckled and picked the toddler up
"Hey, Dawn…want a sandwich?" Simone offered trying to give Tara some space to cool off
"Oh, yeah…I'm starving" she answered oblivious to the blonde's turmoil
"Uh, Giles?" Tara called in an upset tone "do you know a woman named Aysha at the council?"
"Huh?" he was so distracted playing with his granddaughter that he didn't notice the blonde's annoyance "oh, yes…very beautiful young lady" he said innocently and received a piece of lettuce Simone threw at him "what?"
"What else do you know about her?" Tara could feel her blood beginning to boil and she was determined to find out everything about this woman
"Uh…not much" he answered cautiously trying to understand what was going on "you should ask Faith, though…they work most of the time together" he informed and saw Simone shaking her head in exasperation
"Is she a potential?" Tara asked sternly
"Uh…no, she works on the stock department" he said alternating his looks between the witches
"Stock?" the blonde felt her guts turn
"Yeah…everything that goes in or out of the council must come through her" he explained
"Hum" Tara lifted an intrigued eyebrow "So, you say…if someone were to sneak something out of there, something like…a book for example…she would know, right?" Tara asked maturing a pretty disturbing idea
"Of course…nothing gets pass her control" he said "she's very organized"
Tara could feel her breath becoming elaborate and her heartbeat accelerating as she remembered the day the slayer gifted her with the special book, right before their first kiss
"How did you do it? Didn't anybody notice?"
"As matter of fact only one person did…but she won't say a word"
"How can you be so sure?"
"Well, let's say that I…ahem…talked to her"
Tara felt her head spinning. She didn't know why she felt so possessive, so angry about something that happened in the past, but the truth is she couldn't stand the idea of her girlfriend hooking up with another woman…she was jealous
"Why all these questions, dear?" Giles asked breaking her reverie
"Uh…nothing" she shook her head dismissively "do you mind watching Ariel for a second?" she asked grabbing her coat and scarf
"Of course not" he furrowed his brows in confusion
"Where are you going?" Simone asked with her eyes popping wide open
"Field research" she answered and left with a resolved look on her face
"Oh bugger" the nanny sighed and shook her head knowing that things were going to get ugly