Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)
Buffy made her way back into the kitchen, smiling when she saw Faith holding baby Lily. Any other day, she would probably have light heartedly reprimanded her girlfriend for muscling in on her favourite niece, but not today. After all, this party was about Faith just as much as Anya, and while the Dark slayer was content to let her ex-demon friend share the spotlight, Buffy was determined to let her girlfriend know just how much she deserved to be celebrated.
"Keep this up and that bad ass rep of yours is gonna go right out the window" she smiled, walking over to her.
"There are worse things to lose" Faith shrugged. "Besides, as long as all the demons around here know I can still kick their butt, It doesn't matter if my family thinks I'm a big ol' softie."
"Your family?" asked Buffy, smile widening. Hearing Faith call Tara her sister was now a regular occurence, but this was the first time Buffy had heard her girlfriend refer to the whole Scooby Gang as her family.
"Um, yeah" said Faith, cheeks flushing a little as she realised what she had just said. "Is that a problem?"
"Not at all" Buffy grinned, leaning in to kiss her while also trying to avoid squishing Lily. "You are amazing, you know that?"
"Well, hearin' you say it is a nice ego boost" said Faith, gently bouncing the baby. "But why?"
"You could have used your wish on something for yourself, you could have had anything, even the pudding mansion if you'd really wanted it. But you used it on Anya."
"Figured her and Xander deserved another shot" said Faith, shrugging again. "They probably would have got back together eventually anyway if she hadn't died. And I didn't really need to use the wish on myself" she grinned. "I've already got everythin' I want."
"Do you now?" Buffy asked, grinning back.
"Yup" Faith replied, leaning in for another kiss from her girlfriend. The kiss quickly deepened, at which point Willow marched over and snatched her baby girl away from the Dark slayer.
"Honestly guys!" she shouted, annoyed. "Could you at least try not to tarnish the fragile innocence of my three-month old? She could be traumatised for all we know!" Then Lily giggled, and Faith raised an eyebrow.
"She doesn't look too traumatised to me."
--
"Okay, Lily's down for her nap" said Tara a little later, walking up behind Willow and wrapping her arms around her waist. "You know, I think you may have overreacted a little over the Faith and Buffy kissing thing.
"Maybe" Willow admitted. "Was Sophie okay with Illyria?"
"She's fine" Tara laughed. "You're really going all Miss Protective today aren't you?"
"I'm allowed to be" said Willow. "It's my parental right for giving them half of their DNA! And I just think we need to watch her, 'cause Illyria's never really treated friendship as anything important before, so we need to be careful."
"I've thought that too" said Tara, resting her chin on Willow's shoulder. "But then I thought something else."
"Like what?"
"Well, have you ever considered the possibility that maybe the reason Illyria has never treated friendship as important is that she's never had a friend?"
"That's actually a pretty good point" said Willow after a pause. "But we should still keep an eye on them."
--
The party continued late into the night, although by then, the gang weren't so much partying as sitting around reminiscing about their past adventures. Xander would have been happy to stay over, but he had to work the next day, and all his equipment was back at his apartment. He gently shook Anya, who had fallen asleep sitting in his lap.
"Ahn. Anya. Anya, wake up."
"Wha?" said Anya sleepily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "What is it?"
"I have to go home Ahn, I have work tomorrow" said Xander. "You can come with me if you want, but it's okay if you're not ready.." Anya cut him off with a kiss.
"I'll come" she smiled.
--
"Well, here we are" said Xander when they arrived back at his apartment. He was carrying one small box containing Anya's pyjamas and a few sets of clothes, planning to pick up the rest of her belongings after work the following day. "I showed you around when you were here for Willow and Tara's wedding, but in case you don't remember, the bathroom's that way, there's my bedroom, and that's the spare room" he said, pointing. "We can turn it into a nursery later, but you can sleep in there for now if you don't want to.."
"I want to" said Anya.
"Um, okay then" said Xander, becoming a little flustered. "I know this place isn't much but it'll do for now, and eventually we'll save up enough to buy a proper house.."
"Xander" Anya cut him off, stepping in front of him.
"Mhmm?" Xander mumbled, a little nervous.
"I have been dead for nearly five years. As fun as it is to talk about nice expensive houses, I want to be doing things that are a lot more fun." Then, for the second time that day she pounced on Xander and kissed him, causing her box of clothes to fall to the floor with a thud.
AN: The next chapter will feature the Scoobies going on a trip to the zoo, and taking Illyria a long for the ride. I want to do one more nice light chapter before things start getting a little darker.