FF Guess who's coming to dinner (2/2)

["Christeen Demons" <Shyfox30@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss. I am 
merely a free spirit convorting in all that he creates. Blessed be.

As you should all know by now, this is a story containing a long abiding 
love between two women, our very own Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg.:-) 
If this twists your shorts, I feel very sorry for you.:-)



Hey all, sorry this took a while to write, but things sometimes get in the 
way.:-) Hope you all enjoy this second part. We last saw B/W getting the 
phone call from Willow's mom asking them to come over for dinner, let's see 
what happens, shall we?

Guess who's Coming to Dinner? Part two.


*****
The next afternoon, their room looked like a cyclone had hit it, as Willow 
tried on and discarded several outfits in her attempt to find something 
suitable to wear. The first outfit that had found it?s place on the floor, 
Buffy had made the mistake of saying she looked ravishing in it, and Willow 
decided that it wouldn?t do because she didn?t want her lover to be thinking 
of seducing her at the dinner table.

She went through several more in this manner, each finding themselves thrown 
off after the red head asked Buffy?s opinion of them.

Finally, Buffy threw her hands up in defeat and told her that whatever she 
decided to wear would be fine with her. Willow finally opted for one of her 
floor length skirts and a blouse. If Buffy didn?t already know what lay 
hidden beneath the clothes, she would never have been able to guess through 
the fabric.

Buffy chose a simple pair of white tight fitting cotton pants and a 
button-down purple shirt. "Are you ready?" She inquired, coming into the 
bedroom, brushing her long blonde hair.

"As I?m going to be." Willow replied, nervously brushing the wisps of red 
hair into a somewhat neater order. Buffy caught sight of the engagement ring 
on Willow?s left ring finger and raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Are you 
going to leave it on?"

Willow looked at Buffy in question, then followed the blue eyes to where 
they were resting. She brushed the ring with her thumb, thinking about the 
impact that showing up wearing the ring would have, then nodded slowly. "If 
they notice, they notice...but...I never want to take it off or deny my love 
for you in any way."

Buffy sighed, feeling satisfied for some unfathomable reason, then hugged 
Willow from behind, nuzzling the back of her neck tenderly.

They stood quietly for a few moments, just basking in their warm fuzzy 
feelings. Willow sighed finally, getting ready to break the embrace, and 
Buffy kissed her again quickly, on the top of the head, then stepped back. 
She checked her appearance again in the mirror, then looked at Willow, a 
glint appearing in her eyes. "Let?s go get ?em."

*****
The bravado lasted until they were both standing on the Rosenberg?s 
doorstep. "Well...we?re here." Buffy stated the obvious as she stared 
nervously at the front door.

"Yup, here we be." Willow replied, just as nervous. "You want to do the 
honors?"

Buffy gulped as she leaned forward to ring the bell, then rocked back on her 
heels and waited for someone to open the door. She could hear somebody 
approaching from the other side of the door, and she took a breath to steady 
her nerves.

Sheila Rosenberg opened the door, a smile on her face for her daughter. "Hi, 
Mom." Willow said, giving her mother a hug. Sheila returned the hug, then 
led her into the house, letting Buffy follow behind them.

"Willow, come on into the living room. There are a couple of your father?s 
friends that I?d like you to meet."

Willow followed beside her, feeling a bit surprised that her parents had 
invited other people to this dinner. She had assumed they would be getting 
together to talk about what had happened between them. That would be 
decidedly difficult to do with a couple of strangers in the mix.

A couple that appeared to be in their late thirties were sitting on the 
couch talking to her father. The male had a strong New York, Jewish accent, 
while the woman was harder to place, sounding more Anglo-Saxon or Wasp than 
anything else.

The male was handsome, in an older, conservative kind of way. The woman was 
fairly attractive, fresh looking, and Willow liked the spark that was in the 
woman?s deep blue eyes.

"Willow, this is Dr. Joel Fleishman and his wife Maggie." The couple rose 
from the couch to greet her, both of them shaking hands with the red headed 
Wiccan.

"Hi. It?s good to meet you." Willow murmured, politely, shaking the 
outstretched hands.

"It?s good to meet you too, Willow." Maggie said, smiling warmly. "Right 
Fleishman." The woman said, in an aside to her husband...the smile turning 
into a slight smirk as she looked at him.

"It certainly is. We have been looking forward to meeting you." Willow 
shifted nervously, under the Doctor?s appraising stare.

Buffy watched from the door way she had stopped in, and noticed a strange 
under current she wasn?t sure she liked. She was having a hard time putting 
her finger on what it was, but it was in the way Willow had been introduced 
to these two strangers, and the way their eyes had lit up on the 
introduction, like they were looking at some prized cow at a cattle auction. 
A general uneasiness rested in her guts, but since she couldn?t get a handle 
on what was causing it, she decided to let it slide for now. After all, it 
could be the resentment she was feeling from being ditched at the door, left 
behind to make up the rear. But for Willow?s sake, she was willing to grin 
and bear it.

As Sheila announced that dinner was ready, Buffy stepped forward to claim 
possession of her lover. She laid a hand on the red head?s back and led her 
to the dinner table. She quickly pulled out a chair for her lover to sit in, 
helping her adjust to the table after she had sat, then took a seat beside 
her. Everyone else seemed oblivious to the solicitous attention Buffy 
bestowed upon Willow as they took their seats, the Fleishman?s took the 
seats directly across from Buffy and Willow while Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg 
took the chairs at the head and foot of the table.
While Ira blessed the food, Willow nervously played with her water glass, 
watching in distraction as the ring on her left hand made a dazzling display 
through the crystal.

"That?s a beautiful ring you have there." Maggie noted, with a smile, after 
the blessing had been said.

"Thanks." Willow said, blushing slightly, while Buffy gulped nervously. The 
Slayer caught the startled looks on the faces of Willow?s parents as they 
caught sight of the ring for the first time. Maggie asked if she could get a 
closer look at it, and Willow stretched her hand out across the table.

Maggie examined the ring, studying the flashing diamond from all sides. "You 
know, if I didn?t know any better, I?d think this was an engagement ring." 
The comment brought the room?s attention onto Willow, and the engaged couple 
shared an ?Uh oh? look.

Sheila laughed nervously, causing Willow to wonder what she?d have to be 
nervous about, she was the engaged one after all. "No...of course it isn?t. 
It?s just a very nice ring...right Willow? I mean she?s only eighteen, she 
isn?t ready to get married yet."

"Uh...actually..." Willow hedged, sending another worried look Buffy?s way. 
She wasn?t sure right now was the right time to be revealing their 
engagement, but it seemed as if she didn?t have a choice in the matter.

"Well, it is very beautiful." Maggie said, noticing Willow?s apparent 
discomfort, she relinquished the red head?s hand. Willow pulled her hand 
back and hid it under the table, proceeding to eat with her opposite hand. 
"Thank you." She murmured.

Ira watched his daughter, suspiciously for a moment, then decided to get the 
attention off of his red faced daughter. "So, Joel...how?s the practice 
going?" Willow was glad of the respite he gave her, she felt Buffy take her 
hand under the table and squeeze it gently, communicating with the gesture 
what she couldn?t say with words at the present moment.

"Not bad, although some of my patients still pay me with fish. I?ve 
developed quite a taste for smoked trout." Joel joked.

"Fish?" Buffy questioned, unable to believe anybody would pay for their 
physical exams with cold fish.

"I live in Alaska...Cecile to be exact, and some of the Indians there like 
to make their payments with the catch of the day." Joel explained.

"Oh." Buffy said, nonplussed. Seeing the confusion on her face, Joel went 
into more stories about the people that he knew. Ed the wannabe filmmaker 
sounded kind of neat, in a strange, bizarre way. Maurice, the retired 
astronaut sounded like an egotistical, loud mouthed idiot, although Buffy 
refrained from commenting on this out loud. Shelly sounded really cool, and 
she thought she could probably get along with her really good, they had the 
whole dating a guy who?s way too old for me thing in common. All in all, the 
place sounded almost as strange as SunnyDale, and she wondered idly if there 
were any vampires roaming around up there.

Willow tried to concentrate on the stories Doctor Fleishman were telling, 
most of them were pretty funny, especially the time this really weird 
couple, named Adam and Eve, had kidnapped him because Eve is a hypochondriac 
and she wanted her very own doctor; but, she kept having this feeling that 
she was being stared at. She would look surreptitiously around the table, 
but she never could make out who was staring at her.

Finally, dinner was over and as her mother started dishing up dessert, 
Willow noticed Maggie looking at her. She raised a perplexed eyebrow at her, 
which seemed to propel the woman to speak. "Willow, I just want to say that 
it?s really nice to finally meet you. Your parents have told us alot about 
you, and Fleishman and I have been looking forward to this day. I hope 
you?ve noticed how good an environment your baby will grow up in, and know 
that you don?t have to worry, we?re going to take very good care of it, and 
give all the love and support in our hearts."

Willow could feel herself growing faint during this impromptu speech, sure 
that she was going to pass out at any second. She could feel her eyes 
bugging out of her head, and was sure that she resembled a big green 
bullfrog at the moment. It was only the aching tightness in Buffy?s 
increasingly strong grip that kept her in the chair as an almost unearthly 
silence settled over the table. "Wh...wh..." Willow stuttered, unable to get 
a word out, as all the breath from her chest had been stolen.

"What?!" An almost feral growl erupted beside her, saying the word she had 
been trying to get out, and she turned a grateful look to her lover, whose 
ears had grown red and the color seemed to be spreading across her face.

Maggie realized her mistake at the shocked and angered expressions on the 
two girls faces, while the Rosenberg?s had incredibly guilty ones. "I?m 
sorry. I thought you knew. When Sheila called me and told me that her 
daughter was looking for someone to adopt her baby...well, we jumped at the 
chance. Fleishman and I really want to raise a baby, and since I can?t have 
one myself...well..." She looked to her husband for help.

"We realize Alaska is a long way away, but it might be better this way. You 
wouldn?t have to be constantly reminded that you gave up your child..." 
Whatever Doctor Fleishman was going to say was cut off by an infuriated 
Slayer, who had heard enough.

"How?" She growled, turning searing blue eyes on Willow?s mother, and 
pinning her with her glare. "How could you do this to her? To them?" She 
jerked her head at the witless couple that had been left gaping at her as 
she had turned on Willow?s parents.

"I...I don?t know what you?re talking about." Sheila tried to backpedal, to 
save face, but Buffy wasn?t about to let her.

"Oh yes you do. You called up these nice people and told them that Willow 
wanted to give up her baby, when you know damn well that she doesn?t. And 
you let them fly all the way down here, on a wild goose chase. Then you 
invited Willow over to meet them, letting her think that you wanted to see 
her. What I want to know is, why?" The Slayer was unrelenting as she stared 
the woman down.

Sheila knew the cat was out of the bag, there wasn?t any way she could hide 
the truth. "Willow isn?t ready to be a mother...and I would have made her 
realize that giving the baby to Joel and Maggie is the best solution for 
everybody."

Buffy couldn?t believe the woman could sound so proud of what she had done. 
She shook her head in stunned disbelief. The woman really didn?t know Willow 
at all, did she? "You think sending your grandchild ?North to Alaska? is the 
best thing for everybody?" Buffy asked, sarcastically.
Willow could see her lover was heading for an outburst and it was up to her 
to stop her. "Buffy..." She put a hand on the Slayer?s back, feeling the 
coiled tension beneath the rock hard muscles.

"No, Will. I want to know how your parents, our baby?s grandparents, could 
think that sending our baby to Alaska to live with a couple of strangers 
could possibly be the best thing for everyone." The words poured forth from 
the Slayers lips, without her thinking about what she was really saying. 
Only Willow picked up on what she had revealed, turning the wiccan?s face 
whiter than it had been already.

"I really don?t think this is any of your business." Ira said, jumping in to 
defend his wife.

"You wouldn?t." Buffy snarled, then turned her eyes on the Fleishman?s 
trying to calm down enough so that she could apologize to them. "Look. I?m 
sorry you came all the way down here for nothing. I?m sure it?s very 
upsetting to know the child you were hoping for is staying right here. But 
there?s no way in Hell that I?m letting my daughter grow up in Nome, Alaska 
where I wouldn?t ever be able to see her."

What Buffy had been saying finally registered on Willow?s parents. "Your 
daughter?!" They echoed together, both looking at her with stunned 
disbelief.

Buffy suddenly felt like a heel as she finally realized what she had just 
blurted out in her anger. She sent an apologetic look to her lover, seeing 
her wince in understanding. They communicated silently with their eyes, as 
they recognized now was as good a time as any to come clean. Steeling up her 
courage, Buffy turned her attention back on the group. "Yes, Willow is 
carrying my daughter."

"That?s not physically possible." Doctor Fleishman blurted out, getting a 
swift kick from his wife under the table for his trouble.

"Honey...I think it?s time we should be going, don?t you?" Maggie said, 
rising from the table. Joel rubbed his sore leg, then stood not wanting to 
make his wife any more mad at him. "Thanks for inviting us. Dinner was 
wonderful." Maggie said, as she made her way to the closet door, to get 
their coats. They hurriedly put their coats on, then slipped out the door. 
"We?ll be in touch." This was said, just before the door closed, then they 
were gone, and the four remaining people were left staring at each other.

"Well...you certainly know how to ruin a dinner party." Sheila commented, 
caustically.

Buffy let the comment wash over her, too irate to respond to the snide 
remark. The truth, if she wanted to state it, was that Willow?s parents had 
brought the embarrassment down on themselves.

"What you said before. How could that possibly be true?" Ira said, glaring 
at the young woman sitting beside his daughter.

"It?s hard to explain...but it is true." Buffy briefly went on to explain 
how the miracle had happened, seeing the looks of skepticism increase on the 
older couple?s faces.

"How come Willow didn?t tell us this sooner?" Sheila asked, not quite ready 
to believe everything the Slayer was saying.

"Well...we didn?t really think you?d believe her...and we wanted to 
avoid...this...from happening." Buffy said, referring to the disaster the 
dinner had become.

"You?re right about one thing. I don?t believe a word you?re saying." Ira 
Rosenberg said, standing up from his seat. "My daughter knows better than to 
play around with witchcraft. It is against our religion. I don?t know how 
you?ve managed to corrupt her thinking, but I don?t want you anywhere near 
her. She?ll move back in with us until she has her baby, and then we?ll find 
someone to adopt the baby without your interference."

It took all of Buffy?s self control not to jump up and strangle the man, but 
she couldn?t just choke Willow?s father to death, so she tried to remain 
calm as she spoke. "You have two choices and only two, because there is no 
way in Hell I?m going to let you come between me and Willow. You can either 
accept us, accept our baby, and have a place in our life...or you can leave 
us alone. Either way is fine with me, but I?m marrying your daughter. You?re 
welcome to attend, of course." Buffy let a light smirk cover her face as she 
stared him down.

"Get out. Get out of my house." Ira commanded, pointing the way out.

Buffy smiled at him as if he hadn?t just yelled in her face. "Have it your 
way. Come on, Wills." She helped her shaken fiancée to her feet, then led 
her in the direction of the door. While Buffy was getting their coats, 
Willow looked back toward her parents. She couldn?t get over the way they 
had reacted. She opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of 
it and closed her mouth, shaking her head in sorrow.

They walked out the door in silence, and remained that way for the first 
five minutes of their walk home. Buffy felt bad for losing it the way she 
had, and kicked herself for being the cause of Willow?s split from her 
parents. She knew she could have handled that a lot better. "I?m sorry I 
lost my temper in there, Wills."

"I don?t blame you for that, Buffy. You said what I couldn?t. I feel sick 
that they would do that to me. How could they think that I?d just go along 
with it?" Willow looked so perplexed and so lost, that Buffy couldn?t resist 
stopping and taking her in her arms.

"They don?t know you like I do, Wills. They remember the little girl you 
used to be. They don?t know the grown woman who?s taken her place."
"I guess they don?t. What are we going to do?" Willow sighed, starting to 
walk again.

"We?re going to get married." Buffy said, decisively, receiving a grateful 
hug from her partner. "Is next month too soon?" She asked, smiling into the 
lovely face.

"Sounds perfect to me." Willow replied, walking beside Buffy, feeling safe 
inside the Slayer?s arms.

*****
Ira Rosenberg stared pensively at the black phone that sat ominously on his 
desk. He had sworn to himself and his god that he?d never again do what he 
was thinking. Some connections were better left in the past, but sometimes 
desperate times led to desperate measures. With a trembling hand, he reached 
out and picked up the phone...dialing a number he thought he had long 
forgotten.

*****
Buffy entered their room carrying two bowls of ice cream, a peace offering 
for the mess their New Year?s Eve had become, and found her lover laying on 
their bed looking at a calendar.
"Rocky Road?"

"Is that a question or a statement?" Willow asked, looking up, a small smile 
playing around the corners of her mouth.

"Both...actually." Buffy said, with a rueful smile, as she sat down next to 
her on the bed. Willow put down the calendar she had been looking at to take 
her bowl. "I?m sorry tonight was such a disaster."

"I?ve had better New Year?s Eve celebrations...but the night isn?t 
over...It?s not even midnight yet. Dick Clark?s rocking eve celebration is 
just starting, I have Rocky Road ice cream, and the person I love most in 
the world is sitting beside me. What more could I ask for, I tell you." 
Willow said, determined to get the guilty look off of Buffy?s face. "Mmm, I 
love Rocky road..." Willow hummed as she sucked the choclatey goodness off 
of her spoon. "...but I thought you didn?t want me having chocolate."

Buffy raised an eyebrow in thought, then smiled a little at her partner. 
"Well...I figure a little bit on special occasions can?t hurt...and I 
thought it might help you feel better." She admitted, leaning back against 
her pillows and the head board as she watched the latest rock band rocking 
it up on the stage. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Willow had 
turned her attention back to the calendar, studying it in apt concentration 
as she ate her ice cream.

"So, what are you looking at?" Buffy asked, finally, her curiosity getting 
the better of her.

"Do you want to know what I?ve always thought was the most romantic day to 
get married?" Willow asked, noticing the way Buffy brightened at the 
question.

"No. What?" The Slayer couldn?t help but grin as she thought about marrying 
Willow...actually marrying the woman she loved more than life itself. 
Yesterday was not soon enough as far as she was concerned, but she didn?t 
want to rush her beautiful lover either. She wanted their day to be perfect.

"Valentine?s Day." Willow beamed, her smile lighting up the room, brighter 
than any light in the darkness. "And it just so happens that Valentine?s Day 
occurs in February...which is next month." Buffy nodded, noticing how cute 
Willow looked when she was really excited about something.

"Let me guess...you want to get married on Valentine?s Day." Buffy stated, 
trying not to smile, though Willow could hear the teasing in her voice.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Willow said, raising an eyebrow coyly. 
"What do you think?" She asked, suddenly wondering if Buffy didn?t like the 
idea.

"Well, I?d never forget our anniversary...Oomph." Buffy grunted after being 
hit by her perturbed lover, grinning ruefully as she rubbed her stomach. 
"Just kidding...down girl." The Slayer said, catching the red head?s arm and 
pulling her into her embrace, careful not to clang the bowls of ice cream 
together as she did so. "You want Valentine?s Day then Valentine?s Day it 
is. It sounds perfect to me actually." Buffy admitted, and kissed Willow?s 
neck as she snuggled into the embrace, almost forgetting about the ice cream 
she held in one hand.

"Better eat that before it melts." Willow reminded her, already shoveling 
the melting concoction into her mouth.

They spent the next few minutes eating the ice cream, then Buffy put the 
empty bowls aside, and they lay back against the pillows to watch the New 
Year come in with Dick Clark.

At the stroke of midnight, Buffy and Willow started kissing, expressing 
their great love for each other as they rang the new year in. Joyce came 
barreling in through the door wishing them a Happy New Year, and they 
stopped grinning cheerfully as they wished her a happy one back, and it was 
then, in that moment as time slowed and Willow took stock of the sparkling, 
warm, cheerful faces that surrounded her, that she decided that this was all 
the family she really needed.

The end(for now)

Minor Disclaimer: As you can probably tell, I stole(No bad word) borrowed 
the characters from Northern Exposure, a show that first appeared on CBS, 
and is now being run on A and E. I unfortunately do not know who the creator 
of this bizarre, but strangely intriguing show is, but if anybody knows, I?d 
be delighted if you?d tell me. thanks.:-) Shy
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com