Here it is dear kitten... I'm so sleepy right now...
I'll have to get replies out tomorrow. Enjoy the update.
All Disclaimers Apply****************************
Tara sat up in bed. Leaning back into the pillow behind her, she watched Willow as she bent down to pick her clothes up off the floor. Tara thought about getting up and getting dressed herself, which she should have been doing already, considering the situation at the Magic Box, but the current view of her wife's rear-end was was just too good to give up. "Wow..." Tara breathed. She couldn't hold back the sentiment any longer. She smiled when Willow turned to her. She could see by the look on Willow's face that the redhead had obviously missed the point.
"I know..." Willow replied. "My mother....."
"No sweetie... I mean.. wow... You're beautiful. " Tara clarified, adding a softness to her voice that she knew Willow found irresistible. At that moment Tara wanted to forget all about going to the Magic Box. She missed Willow's warm body and desperately wanted it back.
Willow dropped the clothes she had clutched in her hand and looked at her wife. Going over to where Tara still lay in the bed Willow scooted in next to her for a few more minutes of cuddle time. "Do you think it will always be like this?" Willow asked, kissing Tara's neck as she settled in next to her lover.
In response, Tara touched her wife's lips tenderly with her own. She knew Willow already knew the answer to that question.
"We don't do this enough, Tara..." Willow pulled back, twisting the sheet around her fingers.
"What? Spend the day naked and in bed...?" Tara chuckled. running her toes across Willow's feet. She could sense a deeper meaning behind Willow's words. She knew that Willow felt guilty about the amount of time she'd been spending away from Tara and the kids. And then there was the added stress of having bought a house and not being able to move into it. They were both worried about how Buffy was going to take the news once they finally told her. It was the telling part that was getting in the way. Not talking about the house didn't seem like the healthiest decision to make, but at the time it was the easiest. But now things were different. The children were more stable, Sammy especially...and Tara was beginning to get the feeling that it would soon be time to bring up the subject of Telling Buffy they were going to move.
"No...yes. I mean, we don't spend enough time together...just us. You know?" Willow explained.
"I know...sometimes it's hard...making time." Tara's voice trailed off. There were so many things to talk about but Tara felt the need to keep things light at that moment. There would be plenty of time for discussion once they found out what was going on with Willow's mom.
"But we should... make time." Willow looked into Tara eyes.
"We will...From now on. This shall be a regular occurrence...you...me...naked...no kids..." Tara brought her lips against Willow's.
Willow moaned when she felt Tara's tongue slip between her lips to tease the inside of her mouth. She would have gotten lost in that feeling too if thoughts of her mother terrorizing her friends and children at the Magic Box hadn't popped into her mind at that exact moment, and thoroughly sabotaged all the happy feelings coursing through her. Willow groaned laying her head against Tara's shoulder " Are you sure you're ready for this?... " Willow asked, meaning the meeting with her mother.
"You mean this?" Tara asked, licking Willow's bottom lip firmly with her tongue. She pretended to be confused about Willow's meaning...Right now, she'd do anything for a couple more minutes of Willow-taste.
Willow didn't know how Tara was feeling about meeting Sheila. For the first time since they met, Tara was doing an effective job of hiding her feelings from the red head. "No..I mean, meeting my mom..." Willow became more serious. The redhead pulled back far enough to look into Tara's eyes. She didn't like not being able to read Tara's feelings.
"I'll be fine. " Tara said running the back of her hand reassuringly down the side of Willow's face.
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Xander sat down across the table from Sheila. Samantha, still in his lap had her face buried against the material of his button down shirt. Xander was more than a little uncomfortable. He wasn't really all that great with kids in the first place, and then there was the wacky bonus of having stoic Sheila piercing his eyeballs with her accusing stare. Whichever God or Goddess was responsible for coming up with that needed to seriously reevaluate their reward system...cause this so wasn't the best time he'd had in his life.
Xander glanced around shop in search of Anya, as it occurred to him that she would be the perfect replacement shirt for Samantha. Anya had everything the kid needed...and if he was correct, her shirt was a lot softer than his too... in fact It was the perfect shirt for the comforting of teary-eyed children.
Xander's hopes were dashed though, when he saw that Anya had her hands full just trying to keep Dresden away from Willow's mother. Every now and then the boy would look over, his eyes shooting daggers at the older woman. Nope, there was no hope for getting out of Sammy-watch. Besides the little girl was clinging to his shirt so tightly that he doubted he could've pulled her away even if he tried. And...it wasn't really so bad...as long as she wasn't moving or talking...
Xander adjusted his head so that he could see Samantha's face. The girl looked devastated and his heart suddenly melted into a million pieces. Mean old Sheila scaring his poor little Sammy-lammy....what could he do? Then Xander was hit with an Idea. He looked around for something that could serve as a prop. Xander was astounded at the good fortune he was having when he discovered a little rubber finger puppet laying on the table amidst the books and scattered papers. He grabbed it up and examined it. It was a little rubber monster. <
Yes, this'll due> he thought to himself. Slipping it on his finger he motioned for Samantha to pay attention. When he had her attention he bent his finger with the puppet on it and made it bounce through the air. "Grrr arghh" he said, doing what he was certain amounted to a fairly bad impersonation of a pirate. It was apparent that he would never win an Oscar for his role as growling monster but he was rewarded enough when Samantha brightened a little, looking up at him with a small smile. Maybe he was better with children than he thought. Xander smiled back, happy that the look of doom and gloom was partially removed from the little girl's expression.
The bell above the door jingled. Xander was relieved to see Willow and Tara entering at last. He stood up and made his way across the room to where Willow and Tara were. Samantha was still clinging to him as tightly as before but let go when she saw her parents..
The little girl let go of Xander as her mother took her into her arms. "Hi baby... " Willow said, rubbing the four year old's back.
Tara was right behind her wife as they entered the shop. She saw immediately that Samantha was very upset."What's the matter baby girl?" Her motherly instinct only slightly tempered by the fact that Willow's mom, whom she'd never met before was sitting no more than thirty feet away from them. Tara and Sheila Rosenberg made eye-contact. Tara smiled at the woman, but Sheila seemed a little tense and made no move to return the favor. Tara placed her hand on the little girls back. She hoped to infuse a calming energy into her daughter. There was something very distraught in the little girl's essence and Tara wondered silently what had happened to upset the girl into such a state.
"She got kind of a scare when Willow's mom came in..." Xander explained. Seeing the look of concern on Tara's face.
They made eye contact, as Tara nodded her head in understanding. She smiled reassuringly at Xander. It seemed to her that he'd had his hands full, dealing with the fallout of the whole situation. And by the looks of it, there had indeed been a fall-out.
"Oh..." Tara let out a breath. She placed her hand over Willow's on the little girl's back. She wondered if her daughter had reached full melt-down mode. She prayed that it hadn't come to that. Samantha had made such strides in the last few months Tara would hate for there to be a set back now, when she'd been doing so well.
Samantha let a little whimper escape. She held her arms out to Tara. Willow passed their daughter to Tara. The child immediately wrapped her legs around Tara's waist and buried her face in the skin of Tara's neck.
Willow slipped her hand into Tara's, and the three of them made their way down the few steps that led into the lower level of the shop. Tara examined the woman... She noticed Sheila was sitting rather stiffly with her purse clutched tightly in her lap. It looked as though Samantha hadn't been the only was that had a little scare. Sheila looked positively stricken.Sheila didn't move from where she sat until they had crossed the room and were standing in front of her.
Samantha was clinging for dear life to Tara's neck so tightly that she had to hoist the child up higher in her arms just so that the air would be able to get into her lungs. Tara did the best she could to soothe the little girl, but nothing she did seemed to help ease the tension in her daughter's body.
Tara made sure to stand a little ways back, not wanting to interrupt the moment between Willow and Sheila.
"Mom..." Willow put her hands onto her mother's shoulders and was drawn in for the customary hug.
"Mom?...Hey you guys." Seeing his parents, Dresden abandoned the books he'd been working on. He eyed Sheila suspiciously as he made is way to where his parents stood. Willow put her hand on his shoulder, and drew him in next to her.
"Tara...This is my mother..." Willow held onto Tara's hand as she introduced her wife to her mother for the very fist time. There was a hitch in her chest as she waited for what would come next. She wondered if her mother would say anything derogatory or hurtful...Willow didn't want to think about what would happen if her mother said anything out of line to Tara. For now, she would put that thought out of her head and wait to see what would happen.
Tara spoke up first. "It's so nice to finally meet you. I d-don't mean finally like you should have come sooner. I know you're very b-busy... I just m-mean that i-its good to m-meet y-you." Tara stammered. She felt embarrassed.
Willow heard the distress in her love's voice and quickly tried to soothe Tara's fears. "Its okay Tare..." Willow said, smiling warmly into her wifes eyes.
"It's lovely to meet you Tara. I'd like to say my daughter has told me so much about you, but it's no secret that Willow and I hardly talk."
"What are you doing here mom? I thought you and daddy were in Europe." Willow spoke quickly.
"We were...I just thought it was a good time for a visit. Actually, your father had to stay and take care of a few loose ends, but he was able to get a flight out, scheduled for tomorrow ... I told him I'd be staying with you."
"Staying with me?" Willow let a nervous laugh escape. Where had she been when all this was goin' down? One minute she was comfy at home with her wife and no kids to bang down the door and interrupt their Mommy time together, and then the next thing she knew she was standing in the Magic Box listening to how her mother was going to spend an undisclosed amount of time with her...at her house...in and around her personal space.
"That is alright.. isn't it?" Sheila was picking up on something. "Because...we sold the house and... "
"No!. I mean...of course that's fine. " As taken-aback as she was by the swiftness of everything she didn't want to hurt her mother's feelings.
"It's more than fine..." Tara offered.
"I came by the house earlier... I knocked on the door but nobody answered...I guess you were out?" Sheila questioned.
Tara blushed because she knew exactly why the knock at the door had been unheard.
Both Willow and Tara nodded in unison. It was better to let Willow's mother believe that they had been out as opposed to the alternative of telling her that they had been at home the whole time making mad, passionate love and that's the reason they hadn't heard the knock on the door.
**********************************************
"I don't see why she has to stay with us." Dresden pouted in the backseat.
It had been apparent the whole ride home that he had a strong dislike toward Sheila. And his comments were starting to wear on Tara's nerves.
"Dresden!" Tara turned around in the passengers seat to shoot the boy a warning glance. "I don't want to hear anything else that even closely resembles that remark come out of your mouth again. Do you understand me? " Tara felt immediately guilty when she saw the stricken look on her son's face.She hadn't meant to speak so harshly, after-all she was sure Dresden had had just as hard a day as the rest of them. Tara's expression softened. "Look Dres... I know that you were worried about Sam today. I understand. I do. But it is not okay for you to be disrespectful to Willow's mother."
Dresden turned his face to look out the side window.
Tara turned back around in her seat turning slightly she faced the redhead. Willow hadn't been paying attention to what had just transpired between her and Dresden. Tara doubted that Willow had even heard what the boy had said. There was a preoccupied worry line creasing her brow. Wanting to ease some of the stress her wife must be feeling, Tara stretched across the space and placed her hand on Willow's thigh. Resting it there, she too turned her face to look out the window at the passing trees and houses lit up by the setting sun.
*******************************
Tara arranged for Sheila to sleep in the children's room for the night. Tomorrow when Willow's father arrived they'd have to make other arrangements as there was only two twin-sized beds in the room. She doubted that either Sheila or Ira would be too keen on sleeping apart.
All this planning however still ended with Dresden and Samantha sleeping with Willow and herself. The children didn't seem to mind at all, in fact there seemed to be a festive mood between the two of them. After their little talk in the car, Dresden even managed to shape up a bit, only slipping once when he told Sheila that he was breeding a species of poisonous spiders in his bedroom.
After assuring Sheila that there were no poisonous spiders any where near the house Tara took the children upstairs to get started on the task of brushing their teeth. She left them to do it unsupervised this evening. Dresden didn't need supervision, but Samantha had a tendency to run the toothbrush under the water, and put it back into the holder without a single bristle ever actually making contact with any of her pearly whites.
Leaving the children,Tara went in search of her wife, who, had disappeared upstairs over half an hour ago. Tara felt so tired and was finding it hard to concentrate. So many things had happened today and she was finding herself in a state of complete exhaustion. If she felt exhausted though, she couldn't even begin to fathom how tired Willow must've been. Tara's suspicion was confirmed when she came into the bedroom to find willow already asleep and snoring softly.
Tara began to take off her clothes, shedding the outer layer of todays events along with the material as it fell to the floor. She picked up the brush on the nightstand. Brushing her hair, she waited for Dresden and Samantha to make their way from the bathroom to the bedroom.
When five minutes had passed and there was still no sign of the children, Tara peeked her head around the opened door. "Come on you two...stop messing around in there." She called out. As tired and cranky as she was Tara couldn't hold back a smile when she heard Samantha let out a giggle. They had definitely been up to something in there, but Tara was too tired to really care what, at the moment.
Tara slipped into bed next to her wife. She kissed the top of Willow's head. The red-head let out a slightly louder snore before turning onto her side. Tara bit her bottom lip and examined her wife's sleeping form. She would never get tired of looking at Willow. She'd never get tired of being with Willow. Tara loved the life they had together and was thankful everyday for the love they shared. Not to mention the fact that she had been blessed twice with two wonderful children. It didn't matter to her that Dresden wasn't her child biologically, he was still her son and part of the whole. They were a unit, the four of them... five of them. Tara corrected herself, remembering the slayer. Buffy made up her own very special part of their unit.
Tara was pulled out of thought by the pouncing legs of her two children. They were really getting too big for this. "shhhh" Tara put her finger to her lips, warning the children to tread lightly. She didn't want Willow to wake up, she needed all the sleep she could get. Tara had the feeling that Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.
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Willow awoke, clinging to the edge of the bed. her leg had fallen out and that had been the rude awakening she'd received this morning. How'd this happen? she wandered. Last night when she'd gotten in bed...it had been just her....and now, her bed looked like Jones town, the morning after. Willow tried to get out of bed, but she was all tangled up in something. She looked down to see Samantha's hands wrapped tightly in her pajama top and the little girl's leg was thrown over Willow's left leg effectively pinning the appendage to the bed.
Dresden was between Samantha and Tara. He was laying on his stomach With the blankets bunched up around him and his head underneath his pillow instead of the traditional 'on top of the pillow' placement. Willow took note of the similar position Tara had on the edge of the other side of the bed. There was a reason they stopped letting the children sleep with them...and she thought it had something to do with there not being enough room in the bed for Tara and herself after Sam and Dresden were in it. Willow racked her brain for an explanation that would explain their presence there this morning, instead of being in their own very functional beds.
Then Willow remembered. She covered her own head with the pillow and groaned into it. When the first very warm foot had touched the very cold floor this morning and she'd been shaken out of the sound sleep she'd been in, Willow'd had the wonderful thought that last night had just been a very bad dream, but in the light of morning it occurred to her that her mother actually being there was indeed a reality and not a side effect of the exhaustion.
"Morning Mommy..."
Willow was taken from her thinking by Samantha's soft voice. It tinkled through the air and Willow knew that her daughter was trying to be quite.
"Morning baby...." Willow whispered, smiling at Samantha. "You ready to get up?" Willow asked. Turning her head to the side, she regarded her daughter lovingly. It was hard to stay cranky when she had such clear blue eyes looking so honestly into her own.
Samantha nodded.
"Let's try to be really quiet and let Mama and brother sleep in okay?"
"Okay Mommy. Can we make breakfast?" Samantha's eyes lit up at her suggestion. She started bouncing lightly at the excitement of the possibility.
"Now you're thinkin' " Willow smiled brightly as she stood up. Samantha jumped softly from the bed into her arms. The girl really was getting much too big to carry around, but Willow wasn't quite ready to give up the last tangible aspect of the little girls baby-hood. So for now it would do.
They headed downstairs, fully prepared to make a huge mess. Willow looked at her daughter, and decided right then and there that no matter what happened...today would be a good day.
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Edited...because I can't use periods and commas correctly.
Edited by: MissKittys Ball O Yarn at: 3/9/05 8:31 am
didn't you? 
What is the world coming to? I'ts quiet ironic that the Simple Manners crew were so unruly... Oh well... *picks stray piece of hay out of your hair* You're here safely and that's all that matters. 
)
Thanks 
sessions. I reaaly been looking foward to this and I know that is is goning to be good. (As long as nothing tragic happens. Is there tragic?)
So cute. 
too.
I think Xander is better with kids than he gives himself credit for, otherwise Sammy wouldn't have sought his shirt for the comfort she so desperately needed.
Tara just watching her wife instead of getting up. I 
Jeanne... I feel the same way about the many stories of yours that I've read. There's one in particular...but I think you know which one. 
at: 3/11/05 9:13 am
just teasing y. Take as much time as you want. I always will be here to read it.
I just wanted to report that I have the next update nearly finished... I haven't had that much time on the computer these last couple days...cause...you know...with real life stuff sometimes it's hard to find time to write... But I'm sure you all understand. 