Willow felt the last vestiges of sleep leave her body and lazily swung an arm over to the other side of the bed, expecting it to come in contact with the warm body that normally lay alongside her but was instead met by the springy mattress.
Her eyes opened and she pouted when she saw the empty space beside her, slowly sitting up in the bed and rubbing her eyes.
"Morning, birthday girl."
Willow looked up at the sound of Tara's voice coming into the bedroom and saw her carrying a rectangular breakfast tray towards her, placing it over her legs. Willow looked down at the tray; a plate of pancakes, a small jug of maple syrup and a small bowl of strawberries sitting on it. She smiled down at the display before scowling at Tara.
"What, you don't want breakfast?" Tara asked with a small grin, "What're you frowning about?"
Willow brought her pout out full-force.
"You weren't here for morning cuddles. A day can't start properly without Tara-snuggles."
"Oh, well my deepest apologies," Tara giggled, slipping back under the covers, sitting up, despite the fact that she was fully dressed already and wrapping her arm around Willow's waist, "That better?"
"Much," Willow replied, nuzzling into Tara's shoulder for a few moments, "Morning."
"Good morning," Tara whispered, kissing the top of the smaller girl's head, "And Happy Birthday."
Willow turned her head and placed a kiss on her wife's neck before gesturing a hand over the food in front of her.
"Mmhh, thank you. Breakfast smells good."
Tara picked up the fork on the tray and handed it over to the redhead with a smile.
"Well eat up then!"
Willow poured some of the maple syrup over her pancakes and cut a piece off, popping it into her mouth with the fork.
"Delicious," she said with a smile, before offering Tara some as well, and finishing off the plate.
When the pancakes were gone she took one of the strawberries and started eating it, then grabbed another, dipped it in the maple syrup and turned to Tara, holding it up to her.
The blonde closed her mouth around the fruit and a small trickle of syrup and juice started running down the side of her mouth. Willow leant forward and kissed it away, moaning in appreciation.
"You taste yummy."
She quickly picked up the tray and put it on the floor beside the bed before dragging them both into a lying position under the covers and latching herself onto Tara's mouth, pulling at the blouse she was wearing. Tara, not having anticipated the move, was completely shocked and didn't snap to attention until she felt two hands cover her bare breasts and glanced down to see her shirt had been unbuttoned and the front clasp of her bra undone in what had been only a matter of seconds.
"Mmhh...oh..." she moaned into the kiss, before pulling back by turning her head to side, "Sweetie, we can't."
"Why?" Willow asked breathlessly, squeezing the blonde's breasts and starting to trail kisses down her neck, "It's my birthday. And I want you."
Tara moaned again at the contact, moving back to capture her wife's lips passionately before pulling away again and holding Willow's head away from her.
"We can't. No time."
"Wha...?" Willow asked, dizzy from the kiss, "Tara!"
"I'm sorry," Tara replied, closing her eyes to try and control her raging body, "I just can't be late for work. My boss was so good while you were recovering, letting me take long lunches and leave early. I can't abuse that kindness by showing up late."
Willow dropped her head into the pillow and groaned loudly before looking up again with a loud exhalation.
"Okay. Alright. But you better make it up to me later."
Tara opened her eyes and got a small grin on her face as she thought of her plans for them that night.
"I promise I will definitely make it up to you later."
Willow nodded definitively.
"Good."
Tara cleared her throat and glanced downwards, where Willow still had a hold on her breasts.
"I don't even get a free squeeze on my birthday?" Willow asked incredulously when she noticed the look.
"You've been feeling me up for the past five minutes, I think that qualifies as a 'free squeeze'," Tara replied with a smile, glancing at the clock beside the bed, "Get up and dressed and I'll make some coffee before we have to leave."
"Okay," Willow agreed, somewhat reluctantly, leaning down for another but much more tame kiss, squeezing her wife's flesh one last time, "Will you make mine a mocha?"
Tara slipped out from underneath the redhead and nodded, fixing her bra and shirt, still flustered from their embrace.
"Of course," she replied, avoiding looking at the redhead since she thought she might lose her resolve and jump straight back into bed if she saw those gleaming green eyes, "Mocha it is. See you downstairs."
She fastened the last button on her shirt before going down the stairs and into the kitchen, pouring and downing a glass of water all in one go. She exhaled slowly, feeling more in control of herself and started making the coffees. She was just pouring the dark liquid into mugs when Willow appeared in the doorway, dressed and smiling.
"I smell delicious chocolaty caffeine," she said in a sing-song voice, walking over to where Tara was standing.
"Mocha for my lady," Tara replied, handing Willow one of the mugs.
"Thanks, Tare-bear."
Willow took the mug and gratefully took a long sip just as Tara reached into one of the drawers a produced a long box, wrapped in shiny blue paper.
"Is that for me?" Willow asked as she put her mug on the countertop.
Tara shook her head.
"No, I just like to wrap up boxes to decorate the house with."
"You're getting awfully sarcastic," Willow replied with a playful smirk, "You're spending too much time with Buffy."
Tara laughed and pushed the box towards the redhead.
"Open it. I'm pretty sure you're gonna like it."
Willow let out a small squeal and tore open the paper, showing a shoe box. She took off the lid and pushed back the white tissue paper, her eyes widening when she saw what was inside.
"These...I was looking at these online!" she pulled out the knee-high red leather boots that were lying in the box and grinned, "How did you know?"
"You left the page open on your laptop a few weeks ago," Tara replied with a smile, "I thought you were hinting."
"I wasn't, but I'm so glad you thought I was. I love them. I love you," Willow responded, pulling a boot onto each leg, before a thought crossed her mind and her head shot up to the blonde, "Hey, I tried to bid for these but lost them at the last second! You're ILW0203!"
Tara held up her hands in defeat and nodded.
"You got me."
"I can't believe you sniped me!" Willow said, incredulous but with a smile on her face, "And what kinda screen name is ILW0203 anyway?"
"ILW stands for I love Willow," Tara explained, somewhat sheepishly, "And 0203 is-"
"The date we met," Willow replied softly, remembering the significance, before she realised something else and blushed, "So I guess this means you were the one who got that message I sent after the auction ended?"
Tara grinned.
"Oh you mean the one saying I was the rudest fellow auctioneer you'd ever met and that stealing at item from someone right when it's about to end is like waving a lollipop in front of a child, then snatching it away?"
Willow blushed even harder and ducked her head.
"Well I didn't know it was you. Hey, did you know you were bidding against me?"
Tara snorted and nodded her head.
"Did I suspect that 'ilovetaraslovin' was you? Kinda."
Willow blushed even harder again, which she didn't think was possible and Tara smiled at her.
"Your face is gonna match your boots if you keep that up. Let me see them on you."
Willow gleefully stood and did a little turn, having put her new boots on over her jeans.
"Mmhh, you look so sexy," Tara said in admiration as she walked over and grabbed the redhead by the waist.
"Hey, did you buy these for me to wear or you to look at?" Willow asked with a grin.
"Both," Tara grinned back, moving her hands behind to cup the redhead's butt through her jeans and bringing her in for a kiss, her tongue pushing its way into her wife's mouth.
Willow instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around Tara's neck and brought their mouths as close together as possible for a few moments before pulling back with a smirk.
"No time."
She freed her herself from their embrace and downed the rest of her coffee, before moving to walk out of the kitchen.
"Tease!" Tara shouted after her breathlessly.
"Yea," Willow's mirth-filled voice came from the foyer, "Now you know how I felt earlier."
"My round!"
Willow giddily jumped up from her seat and walked over to the bar, ordering a round of drinks for everyone. The gang had been in Rico's for the past couple of hours, celebrating the redhead's birthday. They were all sitting around a large table, chatting amongst one another and generally having a good time.
"Hey, Tara," Buffy said, moving her seat next to the other blonde's, "Did you get that thing sorted?"
"Oh yea," Tara grinned, nodding her head, "It got installed during my lunch hour. Thanks for finding the phone number for me."
Buffy just smiled.
"Debbie was the one who recommended it, she said they're the most efficient and safe in Buffalo."
Tara's grin got wider.
"Good. Oh and thanks for convincing Will to come straight here after work. If she went home to get changed or something it would've ruined the surprise."
Buffy patted Tara on the back and shook her head.
"No problem. Oh and hey, I'm, ah, organising something similar myself for tomorrow night. So..."
"Make sure nothing gets said to Angel," Tara replied with a wink, "Of course."
"We're gonna blow their minds," Buffy giggled.
"That's the whole point," Tara laughed back before glancing down at her watch, "I have to go check on something."
Buffy smiled and nodded as Tara disappeared to somewhere else in the bar, just as Willow came back carrying a tray.
"Damn, this is heavy," she said, putting it in the middle of table and taking her own drink off it, sitting down in the seat Tara had just vacated, "Hey, where's my wife?"
"Bathroom or something," Buffy shrugged, since she didn't know exactly where Tara had gone, "You having a good birthday?"
"The best," Willow grinned, "And thanks so much for my jacket. I love it."
Willow popped the collar of the red leather jacket – which happened to match her new boots as well – that Buffy had given her as a birthday present, smiling.
"You look hot in leather, Will," Buffy grinned, "Tara's not gonna be able to resist you tonight."
Willow laughed, her eyes twinkling.
"Good, I don't want her too."
Buffy smiled a secretive smile, knowing exactly what Tara had planned for that evening before the sound of Tara's voice could be heard throughout the bar.
Everyone at the table looked up and over to the stage – the same one that Tara and Angel had sang on at the open mic night before – where the blonde was standing at the microphone and a man was sitting behind a piano. Willow met her wife's eye, questioning what she was doing but Tara just smiled at her.
"Um, good evening everyone," Tara said into the microphone, keeping her gaze locked with Willow's, "It's my very beautiful wife's birthday today and I know she loves it when I sing. So, Happy Birthday, sweetheart."
Willow's face lit up as she realised what was happening and watched Tara nod at the man behind the piano, before the opening bars of Elvis Costello's 'She' started to play and Tara began to sing.
She...
May be the face I can't forget,
The trace of pleasure or regret,
May be my treasure or the price I have to pay.
She may be the song that summer sings,
May be the chill that autumn brings,
May be a hundred different things,
Within the measure of a day.
Willow smiled bashfully but didn't let her gaze on Tara falter as the blonde continued to sing to her, the melodious tune and sweet words being passed between them.
She...
May be the beauty or the beast,
May be the famine or the feast,
May turn each day into a heaven or a hell.
She may be the mirror of my dreams,
The smile reflected in a stream.
She may not be what she may seem...
Inside her shell.
Willow watched as Tara started to sway slightly during the interlude but their eyes stayed locked together, lost in their own little world, until the redhead noticed her wife's lips moving and realised she'd started singing again.
She...
Who always seems so happy in a crowd.
Whose eyes can be so private and so proud.
No one's allowed to see them when they cry.
Tara held her hand over her heart as she sang and cast a cheeky wink in her wife's direction which Willow responded with an answering wink and blowing a kiss towards the stage.
She...
May be the love that cannot hope to last,
May come to me from shadows of the past,
That I'll remember till the day I die.
Willow could feel her heart pounding in her chest and wanted more than anything to jump up and kiss her wife, to show everyone how lucky she was and how the beautiful blonde was all hers, but was too captivated by her singing.
She...
May be the reason I survive,
The why and wherefore I'm alive,
The one I'll care for through the rough in ready years.
Me, I'll take her laughter and her tears,
And make them all my souvenirs.
For where she goes I've got to be...
Willow blinked away a tear as Tara smiled sweetly and held her hand over her heart, singing the last line with all the emotion she had.
The meaning of my life is she...
She...
Oh, oh...
She.
Willow snapped her herself to attention and jumped up from her seat as soon as the song was finished, rushing to the stage and wrapping her arms around Tara's neck, kissing her soundly to the sounds of cheers from some of the other male patrons in the bar until she pulled back, looking deeply into the blonde's eyes.
"I'm taking you home."
"We can't just leave your party," Tara said breathlessly, licking her lips in response to the kiss.
Willow just grinned.
"Sure we can. It's my party."
Willow walked – though it was almost a run she was so eager to get Tara home – her wife back to the table and smiled at her friends.
"We're leaving. Thanks for a great birthday, guys! It was wonderful!"
The redhead didn't give anyone a chance to answer as she dragged Tara out of the bar, to the sounds of chuckles coming from all of their friends, and into a cab.
Neither were drunk but they'd had a couple of drinks each and weren't going to drive home with alcohol in their system.
Willow gave the driver their address before climbing onto Tara's lap and grabbing the blonde's hands, putting them on her ass as her lips latched onto the taller girl's neck, not caring that they were probably giving the driver a show.
"That was so beautiful," she whispered as Tara squeezed her ass through the fabric of her jeans, "And so sexy."
Willow kissed up her wife's throat, then captured her lips passionately, letting their tongues duel until the sound of a throat being cleared could be heard, followed by a quiet voice.
"Um, ma'am, it a requirement by law that you wear your seatbelt."
Willow pulled away from the kiss and sighed dejectedly before moving into the seat beside Tara and fastening the belt over her waist. She then moved slightly and reached a hand over to hold onto the blonde's far hip as her head turned back into Tara's neck, not willing to just sit still for the car ride home.
"I loved my surprise," she whispered as she put her mouth over her wife's pulsepoint and felt it beat on her lips.
"Huh?" Tara asked, closing her eyes and tilting her head to give the redhead more room.
"A couple of days ago..." Willow continued in a low and throaty tone, licking Tara from the base of her neck up to her ear, "Buffy called. You said she was helping you organise a surprise for my birthday. The singing, right? I loved it."
Tara bit back a moan and shook her head slightly.
"That was a surprise. But it wasn't the surprise."
Willow pulled back at that, curiosity shining in her eyes.
"What is it then?"
Tara grinned as she saw they were driving onto their street.
"I'll show you as soon as we get inside."