Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

Of course, while old enough to play with a teddy bear, Lily did not yet have the attention span needed to sit through a 90-minute movie, and, since it was close to her nap time anyway, fell asleep within the first half hour. Unfortunately, this meant that Willow lost her distraction from her older child's absence, and soon began to cry. This was the scene that Faith walked in on after returning from a long walk with Echo. The Dark Slayer slapped her forehead, as this was exactly the type of situation she had been hoping to avoid when she had set out on said walk. Sophie starting school was taking a greater emotional toll on her than she would have liked to admit, and she knew that if she saw one of the witches cry, it just might push her over the edge too. She considered heading straight back out the door, but Echo was having none of that, gently nudging his owner towards Willow.

"Uh, hey" Faith greeted, trying to ignore the growing lump in her throat. God, she thought, if I'm actin' like this now how am I gonna be when it's my own kid?. "How'd Little Red go at school?"

"O-okay. She was s-so brave!" Willow sobbed. It didn't surprise Faith at all that Willow had been the one to break. As she'd said before, Tara was a lot stronger than any of them gave her credit for. Herself on the other hand, not so strong. The Dark Slayer quickly wiped away the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes and looked around for something to distract her, her gaze soon resting on the baby in her friend's lap who was beginning to grizzle as she woke, seemingly unimpressed with her mother's tears dropping onto her head.

"You're uh, cryin' on the baby there Red."

"Oh!" Willow wiped her eyes, then dried the damp patch of Lily's hair that her tears had caused. "Sorry sweetie."

"Ga goo ga" Lily giggled. Thankfully for Willow, her daughter was not yet old enough to stay annoyed with her for more than a few seconds.

"Tara told me to go play with Lily to help get my mind off of Sophie" Willow explained, sighing. "I guess watching Sophie's favourite movie wasn't the best move."

"Damn right it wasn't!" said Faith, sitting down beside Willow. "Besides the fact that that would make it nearly impossible not to think about Little Red, what 6 month-old could sit through a whole freakin' movie? You have to do something that she likes!" The Dark Slayer paused for a moment. "What do 6 month-olds like?"

"Well, she does like her bear" said Willow. "And there's one other thing.."

--

Not too much later, Lily sat on her rug on the floor, propped up by pillows.

"Where's Lily?" asked Willow in a childlike tone, while she, Faith and Echo knelt on the floor, hiding under a blanket. "Can you see her Auntie Faith?"

"Nope, no sign of her Red" Faith replied. "Can you see her Echo?" The dog barked in reply. Lily clapped and giggled, just as Buffy came through the front door, arms laden with shopping bags, with Xander and Anya in tow.

"We officially have groceries" the Slayer declared, "And look who I found out.." she paused, noticing a familiar pair of boots poking out from under the blanket, and the familiar black tail wagging beside them. She looked over to Tara, who had been standing in the kitchen doorway grinning at the scene since before she had arrived, then back to the pair of boots. "Faith, what are you doing?"

"Playin' with the baby, what does it look like I'm doin'?" said Faith, as she and Willow poked their heads out from under the blanket. "It's really good for takin' your mind off problems, B. You should try it sometime."

"Maybe I will" Buffy smiled.