"Mmhh, I love Wednesdays," Willow said as she dipped her finger in the sauce her wife was currently stirring, "More than half the work week over with and I'm pretty much guaranteed to get lucky since Law and Order:SVU is on and my wife has a little thing for Mariska Hargitay."
Tara blushed but turned and quirked an eyebrow at the redhead.
"You've only been working for two weeks, you don't get to complain about how long the work week is, and you're pretty much guaranteed to get lucky on any given night because you're the sexiest woman on the planet and the thought of having my wicked way with you turns me on more than you can even imagine."
Willow dipped her finger in the sauce again, but wiped some on the corner of the blonde's mouth this time before licking it off.
"Good," she replied with a sultry grin, "But we're not missing the show, right?"
"Not a chance in hell," Tara smirked, "Can you set the table?"
Willow sauntered off to grab cutlery and glasses and went to set the table, silently pondering how happy she was at the moment.
They'd been living in Buffalo for three weeks, working for the past two and a half of them and both had settled remarkably in their jobs. Tara had started working her own cases, still under Michelle's guidance, but more unofficially than not, and mostly just because Tara respected her aunt's opinion and experience more than anything.
That relationship had blossomed in the few weeks they'd known about each other, both bonding over their shared lost relative and the communal family bond they shared. They ate lunch together most days and Michelle had even brought Tara to the cafe that she'd brought her too as a child.
Willow was ecstatic Tara had found a long-lost relative and was getting to know Michelle as well. Tara had filled her in on the reasons why they'd lost contact and Willow thought it was going to do both her wife and her new aunt-in-law a lot of good to get to know each other again.
She too was excelling at work – her skills were put to use every day and she'd already helped close some cases that had been open for a long time, able to gather information more speedily than anyone in the department had ever seen before. Her working relationship with Xander and Jesse was excellent, they were thrilled with the help she was able to give them and they'd all gone out for drinks, along with Buffy and Tara on a few occasions, a couple of nights after work, where they found out they were quite good at being buddies as well as colleagues.
As well as that, Hanukah was only two days away and Christmas was around the corner. And they were organising a big New Years Eve/Birthday party, since Tara's birthday was January 1st.
Yep. My social circle is getting bigger and bigger and so is my family.
That thought made her think of something else and she went back into the kitchen, leaning against the counter.
"Hey, baby, we never had that talk about the car. Remember we were going to but then Michelle turned up and we kinda forgot? Well, I didn't really forget completely. I looked up some dealers online and drew up a little spreadsheet. We can get a really decent used car for $6000 and we could totally pay that off over the next two years or so without too much strain. I mean, we won't be able to afford caviar and champagne, but we've lived on a lot less for a long time."
Tara smirked as she stirred the pasta in the pot in front of her.
"You planning on sticking around that long?"
Willow grinned and moved to wrap her arms around the blonde's waist from behind and rested her head on her shoulder.
"Maybe. If you're good to me."
Tara chuckled and put her hand over the hands on her stomach, sighing for a moment.
"It would be nice not to have to rely on the bus service here so much...shopping's been a bit of a bitch."
"Exactly," Willow agreed, squeezing her wife's mid-section, "And I mean, we'd be spending 75 bucks each a month on ticket fares, so gas would practically pay for itself. We'd totally be saving money in the long run. I know we're in super-saver mode from having lived on so little but...we have my income now too, baby. And we can afford it."
Tara spun around in the redhead's arms, smiling.
"I'm free Saturday."
Willow's eyes lit up.
"You mean...?"
"I mean you wanna go car shopping?"
Willow stuck her tongue out between her teeth excitedly.
"Really?"
Tara nodded with a small shrug.
"Sure. It's not like we're going into this blind. You mind if I look over that spreadsheet though?"
"Of course," Willow smiled, "It's on my laptop. I'll show you after dinner."
They met in a sweet, happy kiss for a moment.
"Speaking of dinner," Tara smiled back when they parted, "It's just about done. Hope you're hungry."
Willow nodded.
"Ooh, yummy, I'll just-"
Willow was cut off as the sound of their doorbell rand throughout the house and both girls looked at the kitchen door, confused.
"Are you expecting anyone?" Tara asked.
Willow shook her head.
"No. Are you? Oh god I hope Buffy didn't have a fight with Angel or something. She's been saying he's been extra broody ever since he got the cast put on and it's starting to piss her off."
Tara gave another shrug
"Maybe it's one of the neighbours?"
While the couple hadn't quite joined the ranks of being close friends with the neighbourhood women, they'd certainly been friendly with them and it wouldn't be completely out of the ordinary for one of them to call. Both were disrupted from their musings as the doorbell rang again, more insistent this time.
"I'll get it," Willow said, pushing herself off her wife and walking out of the kitchen and over to the front door, swinging it open, her face lighting up when she saw who was on the other side, "Dad!"
Willow pulled her father into a tight hug, practically jumping up and down in excitement.
"Come in, come in. What're you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, I'm so happy; I just didn't know you were coming. You're really making a habit of these surprise visits, aren't ya?"
Ira walked inside and shut the door, his face apologetic.
"I'm sorry I didn't call in advance. I hope I'm not intruding?"
Willow waved her hand dismissively.
"No, no, it's fine. Are you hungry? We were just about to have dinner."
Ira again looked apologetic.
"Oh I am intruding."
Willow rolled her eyes and gave her father an exasperated sigh as she walked them into the kitchen.
"You're not," she reassured as she opened the kitchen door, "Baby, look who's here."
Tara turned and her face brightened as well as she saw their visitor and quickly wiped her hands on a dishcloth before going over and embracing her father-in-law warmly as well.
"Ira, it's so good to see you. I didn't know you were coming down."
"Quite a surprise visit all around," Ira said with a smile, "I've actually got some news and I wanted to tell you both in person."
"It must be pretty big if you flew all the way out from California," Willow said, a small frown appearing on her face, "It's not bad, is it?"
"No, no certainly not. Well at least I hope you don't think so," Ira replied with a joking smile, before glancing over at the oven, "Um, I think your sauce is burning."
"Hmm?" Tara asked before following Ira's eyeline, "Crap."
She rushed back over and quickly took the saucepan off the ring, stirring it gently.
"Salvageable," she said after a minute, "You're staying for dinner, right, Ira?"
"If that's okay," Ira replied politely and got a smile in return from his daughter-in-law.
"Of course," Willow answered, before noticing something, "Dad, where are your bags? You can't have travelled all the way from California with nothing. You're not staying in some hotel, right? You know we have plenty of room here."
Ira smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I can see that. Quite a lovely home, might I add. The pictures you sent me didn't do it justice, Willow. But I'm not staying in a hotel. That's actually part of what I need to tell you."
"Dinner's ready," Tara said as she got out some bowls from the cupboard, "You two go sit and I'll bring it in and you can tell us then."
"That sounds wonderful," Ira replied, "Thank you, Tara."
Willow showed her father into the dining room before going back into the kitchen to grab the extra cutlery and help Tara carry in the food.
"Tara, what if he was lying?" Willow asked, fumbling with the cutlery and seeking out the blonde's gaze, "What if it is bad? What if he has cancer or something? I just got him back; I couldn't bear if I lost him again."
"Honey, he said it wasn't bad," Tara replied, trying to comfort her wife with her eyes since her hands were currently loaded down with bowls of pasta, "Come on, we'll go in there and he'll tell us and I'll hold your hand no matter what, okay?"
Willow nodded weakly and walked back into the dining room, putting on a brave face. Tara followed and put the food on the table before taking a seat beside her wife and discreetly taking her hand under the table. Willow squeezed it in thanks.
"This smells wonderful. Thank you very much," Ira said as he looked down at the food, then back at the couple, "Again, I'm so sorry for just barging in on you."
"You're always welcome here, Ira," Tara said with a smile.
Ira got a secretive and pleased grin on his face.
"Well thank you. I hope that's true, because I think we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."
Tara and Willow exchanged confused looks and Ira leant forward in his seat, his eyes twinkling.
"You obviously know I've filed for divorce..."
Tara moved to clasp Willow's hand between both of hers, knowing her wife knew the divorce was the best thing for her Dad but was still struggling with it.
"Well the papers have been drawn up and I'm not really contesting any of your mother's wishes," Ira continued, "I never cared about most of the art and things, and the house was always more hers than anything else. A show house really, tailored to impress. Anyway, in light of everything that's happened in the past couple of months, I know I not only want to know my family, I want to be near you as well. So I asked the company for a transfer and well, as of tomorrow officially, I am the new regional sales director of the Buffalo division."
"Wait, wait," Willow said, her brain working overload, "Are you saying you're moving here?"
"I already have," Ira replied and both girl's eyebrows shot up, "Like I said, I didn't want much of what was in the house so all I needed were my clothes and the pictures of you growing up. I actually got here yesterday but I wanted to make sure everything was up and running before I sprung this on you. It was all a rather quick affair, but I know it's right. I've got an apartment in the city and I must admit, I'm quite enjoying my little bachelor pad."
Willow looked between her father and her wife in a state of disbelief before bursting out laughing and leaping off her seat and almost crashing her father to the ground with the hug she gave him.
"God, you scared the crap outta me! Oh, Dad, this is so good. I was just thinking how my family was all coming together and now you go and move out here."
Ira's smile was beaming and just got wider as he saw Tara grinning madly across the table, seemingly as happy as Willow was about his news. He was jolted when his daughter pulled back, her eyes flashing with hope.
"Will you come over for Hanukkah on Friday? We normally don't do the whole blessings thing, but we could, if you wanted. And I'm making Bubbe's latkes!"
"I'd be honoured," Ira replied, holding his hand to his heart, "And I will fall in with whatever traditions you hold in this house. I'm privileged to be allowed into this home and be a part of your family."
Willow moved back to sit in her seat, her smile impossibly wide as she re-took Tara's hand.
"Well now I really can't wait for Hanukkah!"