Laragh: Good job! haha, who does love a good hickey? Good luck - now I'm curious how you're going to get dibs tomorrow - I can post it in the afternoon if it'll make a difference
Zampsa1975: Glad you liked it
Thanks so much for reading!
LonelyTara: Thanks! I like it too - we could have seen more of this on the show if Joss didn't love torturing them all! Well, Tara did dance a lot during the musical - so there might be some hidden talent there
I don't have any plans right now to go longer - but you of all people know how easily that changes
I'm still working on the continuation to my season 6 (I'm even rewatching season 7 to get ideas - see how much I care!) so I'll still be around!
vampyregurl73: Aww, well they're short and easy to catch up on! Haha, yeah - I'm sure Willow won't mind too much! Yeah, I mean she danced in the musical - so there's some hidden abilities there
Glad you like Faith!
Morrigan: Aww, well I'm glad that I'm getting it sort of right
Thanks so much!
Chapter 6 of 7Tara gasped as she felt the first painful contraction. She’d been having mild ones for hours, but nothing like that. They’d put Kyle to bed hours ago, but her gigantic baby belly made it impossible for her to sleep and she’d retreated back down to the couch so she wouldn’t disturb anyone else. Although, Willow had been unwillingly called to work in the middle of the night when the office’s servers had crashed unexpectedly and wasn’t around to be disturbed. Buffy was on patrol, and Xander had crashed early after a long day at work with the girls.
Tara tried to remember her breathing exercises, reaching out unconsciously to Willow for stability.
“Hon, are you very, very busy?” she asked, trying not to send Willow into panic.
“What’s wrong?!?” Willow asked sharply.
“I’m on my way now. You don’t move! Unless you need to go to the hospital, then go and I’ll meet you there!”
“Willow, breathe,” Tara coached her.
“I do need to go to the hospital, but they just got bad, it’s still early.”
“I’m in the car,” Willow promised.
“God, baby, I’m so sorry. I never should have left you!”
“Calm down, Will,” Tara told her, gasping back a cry.
“This was the first time you’ve left the house in a week, and I’m fine, and I need you to drive safe. Slow down!”
“You don’t even know how fast I’m going!” Willow protested.
“Drop it to forty-five, Willow Rosenberg-Maclay!” Tara prompted firmly.
“Now! If you meet me at the hospital because you get in an accident, I’m going to kick your butt!”
“Yes, ma’am,” Willow agreed sheepishly, eyeing the needle on the speedometer that was edging toward seventy.
“I’m five minutes away. Are you alone?”
“Buffy’s out. Xander and Kyle are both asleep,” Tara answered.
“I’m okay though.” Even as she said it, the front door opened, letting Buffy in.
“Buffy’s here.”
“Good. Get her to stay with you,” Willow instructed, relieved that her wife wasn’t alone.
“I’m in the neighborhood. I’ll be there in three minutes.”“Buffy,” Tara gasped, struggling to speak at all. “Willow’s on her way,” she said simply, sure that the Slayer would be able to tell what was going on.
“Oh. Oh, jeez,” Buffy gasped. “How long?”
“Just a little while. They just got really strong,” Tara answered. “Willow says she’s about three minutes away.”
“Okay, well, what can I do?” Buffy asked.
The front door slammed open behind them, and Tara leaned around Buffy to glare. “That was
not three minutes, Willow!”
“You’re mad I made it? I’m here and in one piece, who cares how fast I was going?” Willow demanded incredulously.
“I do!” Tara stated. “Willow!”
The witch joined her wife on the couch, brushing sweaty hair back from her face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” Tara agreed, giving her a strained smile. “Maybe we should go though,” she suggested.
“Buffy, help me get her in the car,” Willow pleaded. “She’s in labor.”
The Slayer nodded, swallowing thickly. “This always happens here,” she noted, freezing as they lifted Tara from the couch only to run into Kyle, the little boy rubbing sleepily at his eyes.
“Mama?” he asked, confused as he saw Tara leaning heavily on Willow and Buffy. His voice got higher, nervous suddenly. “Mama, are you okay?”
Buffy nodded. “She’s okay, little man, but the babies are on their way, so we’ve got to get Mama to the doctor,” she tried to explain, seeing his little face screw up in confusion as he struggled not to cry, not sure how else to react.
“Buffy, do you…?” Willow started to ask.
“I’ve got her,” Buffy promised. “Meet us at the car.”
Willow slipped herself reluctantly out from under Tara’s arm, kissing her briefly before kneeling in front of Kyle and scooping him into her arms. “Your mama’s okay baby, I promise!” she said, rocking him gently. “She’s going to be okay.”
“Really?” he asked, face buried in the redhead’s neck.
Willow nodded, trying to slow her pounding heart. “Yes,” she said firmly. “I would
never let anything happen to your mama.” She leaned back to look him in the face. “But baby, I need to go to the hospital with her. Your Aunt Buffy will sit with you until you fall back asleep, okay?”
Kyle shook his head, jumping at her and wrapping his arms around her neck. “I want to go with you!”
“You will, baby. You’ll come with us. It’s just going to be a lot of sitting around until the babies come though, so I need you to stay here with Buffy and she’ll bring you to us at the hospital in a little bit, okay?” Kyle shook his head against her again, whimpering. “Kyle,” Willow sighed, trying to restrain herself, impatience to get to Tara beating in her chest.
“Honey, talk to him. He’s scared,” Tara reminded her gently, and Willow tried to calm down.
“Kyle, look at me,” Willow directed. “Can you be a strong boy for me right now?” she asked as he looked up at her, nodding firmly. “That’s my boy,” she said, smiling encouragingly. “I have to go with Mama to the doctor, but I need you to take care of everybody here while we’re gone, okay?”
“What do you need, Mommy?” he asked, wiping his nose with the back of one hand.
“Can you sit with Aunt BB until we call her? She’s going to be nervous, so I need you to sit with her and give her lots of hugs, okay?” Willow requested. “And Unk’s going to be running around a lot, so just make sure he sits down.” Kyle nodded his understanding and Willow brushed his hair back, kissing his forehead. “And I’ll call Aunt FeFe to come over and help you, okay?”
The little boy nodded again seriously, hugging her again. “I love you, Kyle,” Willow breathed into his hair, hearing Tara echo it in her head. “So does Mama. We love you so much.”
“Love you, Mommy,” he whispered, sniffling again. “Can I tell Mama too before she goes to the doctor?” he asked.
“Of course you can, baby,” Willow assured him and he took off, bolting across the room and out the door, leaving Willow to follow him.
Buffy had lifted him into Tara’s lap by the time the caught up and she could see her wife’s tears on her face as she hugged their son. Buffy lifted him back out a few minutes later, the boy crying now and he curled himself into his aunt’s arms, his face pressing tight into her shirt. Willow pointed across the street and Buffy nodded, understanding. She debating running inside and using the phone, but decided it would be easier to walk. She waited until the witches were on their way, jogging across the street with Kyle still safely in her arms.
She kicked the base of the door rather than knock and Faith answered with a stake in her hand. Her expression softened when she saw Kyle and then hardened again as she realized he was crying. “What did this?” she demanded, pushing his hair back to check for blood. “It’s dead!”
“Faith, no, he’s okay,” Buffy started, stopping as Kyle jumped from her to Faith, clinging to her. “Tara’s in labor,” she explained as her counterpart did her best to comfort the little boy. “He saw her on the way to the car and got scared.”
Faith dropped her stake, both arms wrapping around Kyle. “Aww, little man, it’s okay. Your mama’s strong, okay? She’s going to be just fine. Will, your mom would never let anything happen to her.” She leaned back to look him in the eyes. “And hey, tomorrow we’ll have new little kids to play with!” she reminded him.
He tried to stifle his sniffling, nodding. “I’m their big brother,” he said shakily.
“That’s right, my man, you are!” Faith agreed, smiling to him. He leaned against her and she let out a deep breath, meeting Buffy’s eyes as he settled down against her chest. “Anybody else know?”
Buffy shrugged, glancing across the street at her own house. “Dawn just started sleeping at her new place, but I’m sure Xander had to have heard us,” she commented. “I should call Dawnie.”
“You know where the phone is,” Faith agreed, stepping out of the doorway with Kyle still in her arms. “Or should we go over there?”
Buffy nodded back to her own house. “Will’s going to call there,” she decided. “You got him?” Faith nodded. “Should we get Giles?”
Faith nodded, stomping her foot twice. “G-man! Wake up! Twins are coming! We’re going across the street!” she yelled to the ceiling, grinning at Buffy. “He’ll come over once he figures out he’s not having a heart attack,” she said, grinning wickedly.
Buffy shook her head, one hand stroking through Kyle’s hair. “It’s a miracle he doesn’t kill you in your sleep.”
Faith shrugged, nodding. “Yeah, probably,” she agreed cheerfully as they crossed the street. Kyle was sacked out by the time they got inside, and Faith stopped Buffy from turning too many lights on as she carried him to the couch.
The dark-haired Slayer took a seat beside him on the couch, blinking down in surprise as Kyle moved closer to her in his sleep, his head coming to rest on her thigh. Xander joined them from his room, pulling a t-shirt over his head as he took a seat across from her.
“He’s alright?” he asked quietly, smiling as Faith stroked the little boy’s hair unconsciously.
“Yeah,” she answered, voice rough. “He’s a tough guy, just got a little freaked out, that’s all.” Xander didn’t say anything else, just leaned back in his chair, smiling in the dim light. “What?” she demanded when she noticed, feeling self conscious for some reason she didn’t feel like examining.
The carpenter shrugged, rubbing his hands over the tops of his legs. “Nothing, Faith,” he said.
The Slayer shook her head, pointing at him firmly. “Spit it out, Harris,” she ordered.
He shrugged again, biting his lip as Kyle let out a soft sigh, his fingers twitching as he slept. “It’s just…nice, how you are with him,” he said quietly. “The kinder, gentler Faith is not something I thought I’d ever see,” he confessed.
She sighed, looking down at the little boy. “Me neither,” she said, not looking at him. “Not to say that I couldn’t kick your ass any day of the week,” she declared, glancing up briefly with a smirk.
“Of course,” he agreed, laughing quietly.
“Who’d have thought it would be Red’s son that would bring it out?” Faith mused.
“We all love him, Faith,” Xander agreed. “But whatever you feel for him, whatever it is about him that ‘brings it out’ of you, he feels the same way about you.”
“You think?” she asked, some form of fragile hope in her voice, a tone he’d never heard from her.
“Yeah,” he said, swallowing thickly. “He adores you, Faith. Even if he does still call you FeFe.”
“Which I, personally, hope he never grows out of,” Buffy chimed in with a grin, hanging up the phone as she rounded to couch to sit by Kyle’s feet. “What are we talking about?”
“How Faith
loves Kyle,” Xander teased.
Buffy grinned, shrugging. “We all love Kyle, Xand,” she reminded him. “Hey, did either of you guys manage to get baby names out of them?” she asked, changing the subject for Faith’s benefit.
“No!” Xander said, huffing. “I’ve been begging Will for weeks!”
Faith laughed, leaning back against the couch cushions. “No luck on the sci-fi names or whatever?” she asked.
“No!” he repeated, obviously exasperated. “They’re giving me nothing on Luke and Leia!” Willow and Tara had found out that they were having a boy and girl, and they had already picked out names, but they were keeping the names to themselves.
Both Slayers laughed, calming down as Kyle moved in his sleep. Their effort was wasted as Dawn bolted in, the front door slamming open. Kyle jumped awake, looking around in surprised confusion at the adults. “Mama?” he asked, lip shaking as he looked between Buffy and Faith.
“She’s fine, little man,” Faith promised. “Come here,” she prompted, opening her arms and letting him curl into her lap, leaning back against her chest. “That’s my guy,” she said quietly. “Just chill, relax.” She rested one of her hands on his chest, his breathing shaky as he struggled to keep from crying.
Buffy gave him a smile as he squared his jaw, taking deep breaths and blinking furiously to keep tears back. “We’re so proud of you, Kyle. You’re being so strong,” she encouraged him.
Faith nodded, leaning her head against his hair. He took another shuddery breath, but looked to be calming down.
“Sorry,” Dawn apologized in a whisper, smiling at him as Giles came in.
“You guys, there’s coffee in the kitchen,” Buffy said. “It should be ready. I started it when I was on the phone with Dawn,” she said, grinning at Faith and Xander’s surprised looks.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Giles said in relief, moving straight toward the kitchen. “Thank you, Buffy.”
The Slayer grinned, leaning back into the couch. Giles brought them each a cup of coffee, sitting against the base of the couch. Kyle shifted in Faith’s arms behind him, blinking tiredly around the room at their family, the little boy trying stubbornly to stay awake.
It was two hours before they heard anything from the witches, two tense hours of sitting and waiting while they tried to keep Kyle settled. He dozed sporadically, but never stayed asleep long. He jumped when the phone rang, sitting up straight in Faith’s lap while Buffy answered the phone.
“Hey, Will,” Buffy asked, tilting the phone as Kyle scrambled across the couch to listen to the phone as Buffy talked to his mother.
“Buffy,” Willow answered breathlessly. “How’s Kyle?”
The Slayer could hear babies screaming in the background, and she smiled excitedly. “He’s a good little man. He’s right here.”
“Mommy!” Kyle yelped, pulling the phone out of Buffy’s hands. “Mommy, Mama?”
“Your Mama’s fine, baby. I promise,” Willow told him. “How are you?”
“Good, Mommy. Can I talk to Mama? When can I come see you?” he asked, holding the phone tight in both hands.
Willow smiled across the room at Tara. “You can come right now, okay? Just let me talk to Aunt Buffy.”
“Okay, Mommy!” he said, already shoving the phone back at her.
“I love you!” Willow called loudly, hoping he would hear her. “Buffy?”
“He heard you,” Buffy promised, huffing as Kyle shoved against her stomach to push himself off the couch. “He’s on his way upstairs to get dressed. Faith?”
“Yeah, I’m on it,” she agreed, dragging herself wearily up from the couch.
“Can you guys bring him here?” Willow requested.
“Sure, of course,” Buffy promised. “Do you want me to just bring him?”
Willow laughed shakily. “No, of course not. We’ve got babies who need to meet their family. We’ll just bring him in first, okay? So he can see Tara and see what they’re like.”
“Yeah,” Buffy agreed. “How are they? How’s Tara?”
“They’re perfect!” Willow breathed. “Buffy, they’re so perfect.”
The Slayer grinned, letting out a deep breath, signaling the others to start getting ready to go. “I can’t wait to meet them, Will. We were expecting it to be a longer wait.”
“Yeah, we ended up having to do a c-section,” Willow said, voice shaky and tense.
“Will, she’s okay, right?” Buffy asked.
The witch let herself taking a deep breath, her eyes closing. “Yeah, she’s fine. She’s just going to have to stay in recovery for a few extra days.”
Buffy let out a breath of relief. “Okay, well, that’s not so bad,” she reminded her friend. She heard Kyle coming down the stairs, followed quickly by Faith. “Hey, Will, Kyle’s ready, so we’re on our way to you.”
“Okay, thanks, Buffy,” Willow said, letting out a breath of relief herself. “We’ll be in room 405. We’re moving there now.”
“Cool. We’ll be there in ten minutes,” Buffy promised. She clicked the phone off as Kyle jumped into her lap.
“Can we go see Mommy now?” he asked, wrapping his legs around her as she stood up, her hands supporting him.
“Of course we can. We’re going right now and you can meet your new baby brother and sister, okay?” she assured him.
He nodded happily, jumping down and bolting to the car. He was already buckled in when the adults joined him, bouncing eagerly in his seat even as he yawned in exhaustion. Buffy took the wheel, the predawn traffic thin and easily maneuvered. They reached the hospital within the promised ten minutes, the group piling out of the car in the parking lot. Kyle knew the rules about parking lots very well, but was still pulling on Faith’s hand, trying to drag her toward the building.
“Slow up, little man,” she prompted. “You’re gonna pull my arm out!” He looked back at her, stomping one little foot on the concrete. “Your moms aren’t going anywhere.”
“I want to see them!” he whined.
Buffy and Faith exchanged looks, and the dark-haired Slayer shrugged. “You want to run him up there?” Faith asked, knowing that the other Slayer was eager to get to her friend.
Buffy nodded, crouching. “Climb on, buddy,” she prompted, the little boy already scrambling onto her back. She bolted across the parking lot, slowing to a brisk walk once they were inside so they wouldn’t freak out the nurses and other patients. They rode the elevator with two other pairs, both of them stopping on different floors, making their ride longer.
When they finally opened on the fourth floor Buffy got out, Kyle still clinging to her back. They were greeted by Chloe, the nurse grinning. “Hey Buffy, Willow said you were on your way.”
“I’m here too!” Kyle yelped, jumping against Buffy’s hands under his legs so Chloe could see him. “Where’s my Mama?”
Chloe blinked, pointing slowly. “Um, Mommy’s in there, big guy.”
“Put me down!” Kyle said, kicking his heels against Buffy’s arms. She let him go, the little boy running across the waiting room and leaving the adults behind.
“Chlo, where’s Tara?” Buffy asked, frowning and turning to keep an eye on Kyle.
“She’s still in recovery.”
“Willow said she was okay,” Buffy said, arms crossing over her chest.
Chloe nodded reassuringly. “She is. She’s just weak still, so they want to keep her in observation.”
“Has she seen the kids?”
“Yeah, they both insisted,” Chloe said, grinning. “Willow’s very determined, you know,” she commented.
The Slayer laughed, nodding. “I’ve noticed that about her. And never more than when it concerns Tara.”
“Well, they should be moving her down anytime now,” Chloe said.
“Thanks,” Buffy said. “I’m sure Willow will be more compliant once Tara’s around to calm her down.”
“I’ve noticed that too,” Chloe agree with a laugh.
by Laragh » Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:29 am 
Thanks for the support y'all!
