FIC: These Roads We Travel (4/?)

[Kimber <kacoe@xxxxxxx>]

TITLE: These Roads We Travel (4/?)
AUTHOR: Kimber (kacoe@xxxxxxx)
DISCLAIMER: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
SUMMARY: The long awaited next story in "The Road Series".
SPOILERS: Everything is fair game.
DISTRIBUTION: The usual suspects. Anyone else, e-mail me please.
AUTHOR?S NOTES: This comes because I've had so many great responses to the series and
many people begging for another. Be careful what you wish for.

{{Indicates flashbacks}}
-----------

Buffy closed and locked the door behind her. It was a rough day and she felt every minute
of it right down to her bones. They say loss gets easier with time. Buffy Summers would
have liked to have a word or two with who ever 'they' were and find out what 'they' would
say when a motherless sixteen year old looks at you imploringly and asks one simple
question. 'Why?' Those big green questioning eyes were enough to frazzle the nerves of
even the Immortal Slayer. Well, not so immortal now. Now she would die just like
everyone else, or, just like every other Slayer before her.

She played with the gold band on her finger absentmindedly and smiled. It seemed like
only yesterday that they exchanged the rings and vowed to love each other forever. In
reality it was almost seventeen years ago, right after Willow discovered she was pregnant.

They discussed starting a family at least a thousand times but never really followed
through with the plans. It seemed like nothing would make either of them happy. Willow
wasn't too fond of the idea of adoption because she wanted the baby to at least be a part
of her or Buffy. Then when the subject of artificial insemination came up Buffy totally
nixed the idea because she didn't like the fact that she wouldn't know anything about the
father. She also didn't like that there was a possibility of the father showing up on
their doorstep. Precautions were often taken, but nothing was fail-safe. Add that in
with living on the hellmouth and Willow came around to Buffy's way of thinking on the
matter of 'frozen fathers'.

It all seemed so cut and dry now, but when the discussion was happening, it was anything
but. Buffy grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and opened the sliding door to the
patio. The view still amazed her every time she saw it. She and Willow decided to go
house hunting on a whim. They thought it was a good way to pass the time and would enjoy
looking at the many different styles and structures of the houses in Sunnydale. This was
the first and last house they looked at and two weeks later they bought it thanks to the
money from Willow's computer programming hobby.

The house was set on a cliff near the outskirts of Sunnydale. It was as if this
particular cliff was made just so a house could be nestled into it nicely among the trees
and other greenery. When you stepped out onto the porch you were assaulted by the sweet
smell of flowers and there was a lake and a forest about twenty feet below. The house was
close enough so they wouldn't have to worry about leaving their friends or family, but it
was far enough away so that if anyone wanted to see them, they'd have to drive. Well,
except for Xander. He could 'beam' in and out of anywhere in the blink of an eye. The
setting for the house and the house itself was perfect and private and romantic. And now
Buffy Summers was occupying it alone with Willow's daughter.

Buffy sat down in her favorite lounge chair and took a deep breath of the warm night air.
She could remember a night just like this. Being out here with Willow and without a care
in the world.

{{"Buffy! You're incorrigible. You know that?" Willow swatted her lover's arm
playfully. She was sitting in the Slayer's lap, straddling her legs and from the grip
Buffy had around her waist, Willow wasn't going anywhere.

"I know, but you have to admit you've thought about it, Will. Come on." She drank down
the last of her iced tea then looked up at Willow with great big puppy dog eyes.

Willow attempted to reprimand the errant Slayer, but her tone of voice came out as
amused. "Don't you turn those eyes on me, missy."

Buffy smiled. "You *have* thought about it. I'll bet it crossed your mind the first time
we stepped out on this deck together when we came to view the house."

"Did not." Willow crossed her arms and pouted, but only for a moment. A smile began to
creep across her features. "Well, maybe I did. Just once. . .or twice."

Buffy reached up behind Willow's neck and gently pulled her down for a kiss. She pulled
away after a few moments, much to Willows dislike. "You vixen, you. If you had told me
sooner then I could have made your wish come true."

Willow smiled. Talking wasn't first and foremost on her mind, but she actually got her
brain somewhat in gear to give Buffy and answer. "I didn't think you'd want to." She
said softly and somewhat embarrassed.

"Not want to make love to you under the stars? There are still so many things you have
yet to learn about me Miss Rosenberg." Buffy smiled.

"But what if we get caught?"

"Don't you have some sort of protection spell in your little bag of witchy tricks?
Something to make us, you know, invisible but not."

Willow's eyes went wide. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought if it before. She
wiggled around on Buffy's lap and tried to get comfortable then mumbled a few choice words
under her breath. She lifted her arms in the air and made a sweeping motion.

Buffy watched with keen interest as Willow cast a spell over them. She saw a thin mist
begin to bear down on the entire house then just as it looked like it was going to billow
over them them, it disappeared.

"So mote it be." Willow whispered. She opened her eyes and leaned down close to Buffy's
ear. "Now. Where were we?" She whispered. "Here?" She trailed light kisses down the
Slayer's neck and up to her chin. "Or here?" She took Buffy's head in her hands and
turned her face. She proceeded to kiss her cheek, her forehead, and down her other
cheek. "Or maybe we left off here." Finally Willow pressed her lips to the blondes.

Buffy felt as if her blood was set on fire. It was very rare when Willow took the upper
hand, but when she did. . .look out. All other thoughts fell away from the Slayer's mind
when Willow increased the pressure of the kiss. Buffy parted her lips slightly to grant
the redhead access and the rest of the night was. . .}}

<Amazing.> Buffy smiled at the memory. They'd had such great times together in this
house right from the moment they moved in. That night, that wonderful, passionate,
amazing night ? was the night Willow got pregnant. Biologically it was impossible. But
magically. . .well, if anyone knew about magic it was Willow and if there was a way for
her to get pregnant with a child that was part of her and Buffy, then Willow was just the
one to find that way and make it work.

"Now that's what I like to see."

Buffy jumped at the sound of the voice behind her and was instantly on the defensive. She
dropped her stance when she saw who it was. "Xander! One of these days you're gonna
sneak up on me and I'm gonna take your head off. I'm sure the PTB wouldn't be happy about
a headless Shadowman running around."

He walked over and sat down in one of the chairs. "I wouldn't worry about that, Buff. I
can regenerate."

She sat back down in the lounge chair and gave him a questioning look. "I'm almost afraid
to ask how you know this."

He smiled. "Well, The first time it happened I was careless. I was helping Anya make
dinner and I was chopping onions. She dropped a plate, it startled me and I chopped off
my finger."

"Can I just say, eww?"

Xander chuckled. "You might want to save that 'eww' for after I tell you it was one night
that you and Will came over for dinner."

"Xander!"

"Easy there, Buff. None of my, um, 'parts' were in the stew. Trust me. I don't bleed
and anything I loose regenerates in about five minutes but it takes longer if it's a
bigger part." He smiled. "So I've lost a finger here and there when I'm working. No
big." He shrugged. "The biggest problem is getting rid of them though. You start to run
out of places to hide the pieces so I've started to bury them in limbo. Although I did
get kinda freaked when I saw a Gremcheu walking around with my hand." He shuddered.

"A who?"

"Gremcheu. It's kind of like a dog but not. It's hard to explain. The pets here have
*nothing* on the pets we have in limbo."

"I'll bet." She made a face. "So what brings you back here anyway?"

"I forgot my bag. I was just gonna slip in and out, but then I saw you out here. It's
nice to see you smiling again."

"I was just thinking about Willow." Her voice became a little sad. "About the night she
got pregnant."

Xander nodded in understanding and smiled. "You know, I think I still have marks from
when you jumped me." He rubbed his chin.

Buffy genuinely smiled. "I am sorry about that, Xand. I just couldn't believe it. I
thought it was impossible until Willow explained it to me."

"Yeah, after Faith and Giles restrained you so you wouldn?t try to kill me." He laughed.
"Although I can understand you thinking the worst."

"It was about four months after Willow's birthday/graduation party. We were only in the
house a week and you two kept disappearing. What was I supposed to think?" Buffy glared
at him playfully.

"That's my Slayer. Punch first, ask why later."

"And what made it even worse was the fact that everyone was there! Even Angel and
Cordelia. I walked onto the patio and immediately had a bad flashback to that time in the
library when you guys found out Angel was back. I thought you were gonna pull some crazy
intervention thing on me again."

{{Buffy dropped her duffle bag near the door and yawned. The yawn wasn't so much from
slaying as it was from boredom. The demons and vampires were scarce lately. Giles had
checked into it several times in the past few weeks but nothing seemed out of place.
There was no big evil coming up, no prophesies, no doom and gloom. Nothing. It was as if
the forces of evil finally got a clue and decided to let the Slayer have a semi-normal
life for once.

She walked into the kitchen then onto the patio where she knew Willow would be waiting for
her. The minute she opened the door she knew something was wrong. Her mom, Giles, Angel,
Cordelia, Faith, Anya and Xander were all there. They were sitting in a semi-circle and
Willow was in the lounge chair facing them. What made it even worse was that they all
stopped talking when they noticed she arrived.

"Buffy." Willow got up to greet her and they exchanged a quick kiss. "You're back
early."

Buffy thought Willow almost sounded disappointed about that. "Evil lurks. . .somewhere
else I guess. Patrol was a bust." She looked around at all her friends. "Not to sound
un-hostessy but, why are you all here?"

Giles cleared his throat and stood up. "Buffy, you may want to sit down for this."

"Yes, honey. Come take a seat." Joyce gestured to the empty chair next to her.

"Alright, you guys have managed to wig me in record time." Buffy turned to Willow.
"What's going on, Will?"

Willow took her hand and led her to the chair. She sat down in her own chair and looked
at everyone gathered for support. Finally, she turned to Buffy and took her hand in her
own. "It's nothing bad." She smiled. "But it is a surprise. A good surprise! I mean I
wasn't expecting it and we talked about it a lot and I should have told you what I planned
on doing before actually doing it but I think you're gonna be happy about it, at least I
hope so and?"

"Will!" Buffy pleaded. This wasn't the best time for babble mode.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly. "I, um. . .got some news today."

"And. . ." Buffy coaxed.

"And," Willow smiled and her eyes suddenly became wet with tears. "and I'm pregnant."
She choked out.

Buffy audibly gasped and her eyes went wide. "You're, you're. . ."

"Pregnant." Willow knelt down in front of Buffy and cupped her face with her hands. "I'm
pregnant, Buffy."

"How? What? How?"

"Three very good questions, Buffy." Giles smiled at the Slayer. "We've been waiting for
you to arrive so Willow could explain it to us."

"You all knew before I did?" Buffy turned and looked at the group.

"No, Buffy, no." Willow squeezed her hand. "I called everybody so I could tell you in
front of them. Giles was the first to arrive and he kind of guessed but I didn't confirm
it until just now."

Buffy nodded in understanding. Nodding was really all she was capable of right now.
Nodding and crying and a little smiling too.

"I guess you're wondering how it happened." Willow finally said.

Buffy nodded.

"Well, you know how we've been talking about it. We just couldn't seem to agree on how to
do it. The logical thing we both agreed on was that I would be the one to get pregnant
because we didn't know what would happen if a Slayer got pregnant because it's never
happened before. I was really keen on the donor thing till we research it. I just
couldn't stand it if some strange guys showed up on our doorstep demanding to see his
child."

"Frozen pops. Literally." Xander quipped. He saw the look Buffy shot him and looked
sheepishly down at his hands. "Sorry, Buff."

"So as I was saying." Willow continued. "I did some research on mystical births. It's
amazing how many there have been actually. There was this one in India where?"

"Will." Buffy pleaded again. "Tangents not such a good thing right now. I'm gonna
explode if you don't get to the point soon." She smiled at the redhead.

Willow smiled apologetically and rushed on in the explanation. "Okay, so I figured why
beat them if you can join them? I talked to Xander about the stuff I found and he did a
little research on his own. Once we put everything we found together, it was easy. I
can't believe how easy it was. Well, except it was a little awkward at first. .
.especially for Xander. But we did it!"

Buffy scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "You did it?"

"Yes! Isn't that great!"

Angel noticed the look in the Slayer's eyes first. It was that look she always got just
before she was about to seriously maim or even kill something. "Uh oh." He didn't get a
chance to take one step before Buffy was out of her seat and on top of Xander pummeling
him. "Faith!" Angel yelled and the two of them ran over to Buffy and Xander.

It took Faith and Angel a good amount of time to get her off of Xander. She was screaming
enough profanities at him to even make the vampire blush. Once Angel got a hold of her
arms, Faith grabbed her legs. Between the two of them she wasn't going anywhere.

Giles attempted to defuse the situation. "Buffy, I don't think Willow explained the
situation entirely." He looked over to Willow who was standing there in shock. "I hope."

Cordelia walked over to Willow and placed her hand on the redheads shoulder. "Hey, Red?"

Willow looked up at Cordelia as if she was seeing her for the first time. She blinked
once or twice and tried to get her bearings. This wasn't going exactly as she'd planned
it. She made rolled her eyes then turned to the restrained Slayer. "Buffy, do you
honestly think I'd do "it" with Xander?" She walked over to where Angel and Faith were
holding her and put on her best 'annoyed' face. "Never mind the fact that he's Immortal
and who knows the ramifications of him fathering a child. . .it's Xander!"

"Gee thanks, Will." Xander dryly commented from his position on the floor of the deck.

"No offense, Xand." She put her hand out and helped him up. She noticed there wasn't a
scratch on him and he didn't even moan in pain, but she'd have to save that discussion for
another time. Right now she had a very pissed off Slayer on her hands. "Think you can
behave while I explain the rest."

Buffy sighed and nodded her head. She grinned a little at Angel and Faith when they let
her go and she had a feeling she was going to be making this up to both Willow and Xander
for a long time.

Willow looked over at Xander. "I think you might want to try and explain it this time. I
think I left a few things out."

"Gee, Ya think?" He sat down a safe distance away from Buffy and turned to the group.
"In my line of work, you get to go some interesting places. If there was a way for me to
bring a camera with me I would, cause if I tried to explain it, you guys would think I've
lost my marbles. One of the places I go is a parallel world to this one. A lot of it is
the same with two very important exceptions. One; time moves much faster in that plane.
A minute here would be about two hours to them and two; gender roles are reversed."

"Interesting." Giles nodded his head. "I've always had a suspicion that there were
parallel universes out there."

Xander nodded. "I thought it was pretty interesting myself. This particular place is a
mirror of good old Sunnydale, complete with it's own wacky hellmouth and all the goodies
that come with it. Once I figured out which universe was the one I was supposed to be in,
the rest was easy."

"The rest of what, Xander? I swear, it would take you six hours what any normal person
could say in six minutes." Cordelia remarked.

"I'll spare you the details but basically, I took some of the essence of the active Slayer
in that world and brought it back to Willow. She had to time it correctly, otherwise we
never would have gotten that opportunity again. It's a whole mess with the temporal folds
and the alignment of the stars and planets and. . ." He shrugged. "Like I said, I'm
sparing the details."

"I still don't get it. Why couldn't you take B's Slayer essence for what ever little brew
Will was gonna cook up?" Faith asked.

"Everyone has a doppelganger, an exact clone in a parallel universe. Buffy's clone, the
active Slayer there, is male." Giles deducted. "By taking the essence of the male Slayer
and giving it to Willow for a fertility spell, it is ensured that the child will be a part
of both of them."

"Exactly." Willow nodded at Giles.

Buffy walked quickly over to Willow. "I'm so sorry, Will. I just. . .I thought the worst
and. . ."

"I'm sorry too. I should have explained it better." She hugged the Slayer.

Buffy froze under Willows touch and looked at her with realization in her eyes. "Oh God,
we're gonna have a baby!!"

Willow smiled. "That's pretty much what I've been trying to tell you."

"When? I mean, when did you find out. How pregnant are you? Shouldn't you be sitting
down?"

Willow smiled at her concern. "I snuck out to a doctors appointment late yesterday while
you were on patrol. I'm about six weeks pregnant and I'm fine, really." She touched her
stomach. "We both are."

Buffy thought about the time frame for a moment then it dawned on her. "You little devil,
you! Six weeks ago was the night you did the protection spell on the deck and we
mrummph!" Buffy found herself silenced by Willow's hand over her mouth.

"I don't think our family needs the exact time and location of conception, do you?"
Willow blushed.

"Sorry." Buffy hugged her. "You know, I thought that iced tea tasted a little funny."
Willow giggled at that. Buffy pulled away to look at her, then over at Xander who was
sprawled out on the lounge chair. She suddenly got a mischievous look in her eye. "I'll
tell you one thing. We're never getting rid of that lounge chair. It's part of the
family now."

Xander looked up and realized what Buffy was saying. He shot out of the chair with a yelp
and looked around, panicked. "You mean you?. . .there?. . .where I was sitting? Oh,
gross! As much as I can appreciate the mental imagery, I could have done without the
props."

Anya whacked him for that comment.

Willow buried her face in Buffy's shoulder out of embarrassment. "I can't believe you did
that."

Buffy squeezed her tighter and smiled. "Oh, but it was so much fun."}}

Buffy was trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard. She's missed this. Missed
laughing and smiling and remembering the good times. She looked up at Xander who had a
smirk on his face. "Oh, come on Xand, your reaction was classic. And so worth it might I
add."

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead, mock me. You'll notice I never sat on that lounge chair again."
He snerked and put his chin up in the air as if he were annoyed.

"God, what happened Xander? How did we get so far away from where we started?"

Buffy's words were sobering to him and he got out of his chair and knelt in front of her.
"It's that big old wheel of life, Buff. It just keeps turnin', turnin', turnin'. . .no
matter what we do we can't stop it." She fell into his arms then, sobbing. He rubbed her
back in comfort and sighed. "I wish I could change it Buff. I'd give up everything I
have, if only I could go back to that day. . .and so would Giles."

Buffy stiffened at the mention of her ex-Watchers name. "Xander." She warned.

He sighed. He knew it was useless and there was no point in arguing with her. "He is
sorry, Buffy."

"He's not sorry enough. I should have made him sorry when I had the chance. It's all his
fault and no one is gonna make me think otherwise."

"I know. I just. . .I wish you'd reconsider. Laurel loves him so much."

Buffy stood up and began to pace. "You think I don't know, Xander? You think I don't
know Faith sneaks her over there after patrol and that's where they are now? I'm not
stupid."

"I didn't say you were." He held up his hands in defeat. "I just. I wish you could see
what I saw. Then maybe. . ."

"No. I already told you, you're not taking me anywhere near it again. Hearing how it
happened is bad enough. . .I don't need to see it." She stopped pacing and grabbed the
railing for support. "See her get flung around like a rag doll, screaming, practically
torn to shreds, calling my name. . ." She trailed off and sobs began to wrack her body.
"Oh God, Xander. . .I felt her, heard her in my mind but I couldn't get there until it was
too late. Why wasn't I there?"

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Because that's the way Will
wanted it. You know that Buffy." He whispered. "The resolve face comes out and we all
run for cover. There was no use in arguing with her, she would have done it anyway
because it was for you and Laurel. I just wish I had found out about what she and Giles
were planning sooner. Then maybe. . ."

Buffy shook her head. "No, then maybe you would have been on the receiving end of one of
her tantrums." She smiled despite her present mood. "Complete with lightening and all
the fireworks that go with it. I think?"

"I think you two are really pathetic."

Xander and Buffy both turned around to see Laurel standing at the entrance of the patio.

"Laurel. How long have you been there?" Buffy asked. She was surprised that Laurel was
able to slip in without being noticed.

"Somewhere around you saying that Papa wasn't sorry enough for what happened to mom." She
bit out angrily.

"Laurel, you weren't there. You don't know everything." Xander warned.

She ignored him and stomped over to Buffy. "No, I wasn't. But you know what I do know?
I love my Papa and I miss mom. And he misses her too. You don't know how sorry he is for
what happened because you haven't seen him or spoken to him since."

"Laurel, this is a lot more complicated than you think." Buffy tried to speak in soothing
tones although the shakiness in her voice betrayed her. "Giles and I. . .well, who knows
what will happen, but right now I can't see him. I won't."

Laurel sighed and walked the one step it took to put her arms around Buffy's waist. "I
just miss my family, mamma. I miss Papa coming here and us having dinner together and mom
laughing at Uncle Xander's lame jokes and Anya and Faith trying to do the dishes without
strangling each other?"

Buffy chuckled at the last comment. "I know, Laurel, I miss it too."

She pulled away from Buffy and looked up at her with sad eyes. "Can Papa come next time
we go visit mom? Please? You don't even have to talk to him or anything I just, I want
him there. It's important to me."

Buffy looked from Laurel to Xander. He gave her one of his 'it's not up to me' looks and
put his hands in the air. She looked back down at Laurel who had shifted from sad eyes to
'resolve face' in record time. Buffy was about to protest her daughter's little trick
when she realized there wasn't any use in arguing. This was Willow's daughter too after
all. She just wished that Laurel had inherited something other than the 'resolve face'
from her mother. If it would make her happy, then. . ."Fine. But not another word about
it. Straight to bed with you."

She smiled and hugged Buffy. "Okay. Not another word. I love you, Buff." She ran off
to the house, took a pit stop to kiss Xander goodnight and ran inside.

Buffy looked over at Xander feeling like she just got suckered big time. The innocent
look on Xander's face confirmed it.

"Don't give me the Slayer eyes, Buff. She's your daughter."

"The mamma thing works every time. As soon as she gets her way it's back to 'Buff'." She
couldn't help but smile. "I just got played by my daughter and her uncle. That'll teach
me to cave into the puppy eyes."

"Yeah, well, the puppy eyes came from you, remember. And that resolve face gets us both
every time."

Buffy nodded. "I think I should turn in. Tomorrow is going to be interesting to say the
least."

"I'm goin. But just remember. No fighting with the G-man. He's not as young as he used
to be."

Buffy scoffed. "That old coot still has some fight left in him. Trust me, Xand. Don't
buy into the weak old man routine."

Xander chuckled. "If you say so." He walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead.
"Night, Buff." And with that he simply disappeared.

"I hate it when he does that." Buffy mumbled as she walked inside, locking the patio
door behind her.




--
Your humble bard,
~~Kimber

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E x q u i s i t e + C o a l e s c e n c e
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