FF: Five by Five Part One

["Christeen Demons" <Shyfox30@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Five by Five
by
Shyfox

Disclaimer: Joss is god, I just use em for my own sick and twisted 
pleasure.

This is my own version of events when Faith wakes up from her coma...I?ve 
taken great liberties in changing everything to fit my own little verse.

This is yet another story in the Sappho?s spell series...anybody sick of 
them yet?:-) Just checking. I?ve lost count of how many I?ve written so 
far.:-) It?s like that song...you know the one that never ends.:-) 
Anyhoo...This one takes place about a month after Wonderful days...glorious 
nights...give or take a day.:-) enjoy.:-)

Summary: So, Willow?s five months pregnant, the prospective parents are 
busy putting the nursery together and preparing to bring a new life into the 
world...wouldn?t this be a really bad time for an old enemy to appear? 
Well, like they say on the Hellmouth. You can?t keep a bad seed down 
forever...let the games begin.

Look into my eyes,
you will see
what you mean to me.

Search your heart,
search your soul.
And when you find me there, you?ll search no more.

Don?t tell me it?s not worth trying for.
You can?t me it?s not worth dying for.
You know it?s true.
Everything I do.
I do it for you.
Bryan Adams


?Okay...now over to the left.?

?No, Xander your other left!?

?Ow.? Buffy learned first hand what it was like to be caught between a rock 
and a hard place...or in this scenario, a wall and a really bulky peice of 
furniture. Buffy and Xander were in the process of getting the baby?s 
changing table/dresser up the stairs, while Willow directed them from below. 
Unfortunately, Xander was lousy with directions.

?Oops, sorry about that Buff.? Xander chuckled nervously at the baleful 
look he recieved from the Slayer.

?Who knew babies needed this much stuff.? The Slayer grumbled to herself, 
before she shifted her grip. ?It?s all right...let?s just get this thing 
moved.? She grunted, as she tried to maneuver Xander in the direction of 
the nursery. It wasn?t especially heavy, at least not
to the Slayer, but it?s bulkiness made it difficult to move.

It was just another turn, before they entered the room that they had spent a 
good part of the last month preparing. They set the peice of furniture up 
against the far wall, underneath the window that peeked out at the back 
yard, and took a moment to survey the room...examining the work they had 
done. Brightly colored images of baby Mickey and
Minnie mouse graced the soft yellow painted walls, a color Buffy persisted 
perversely in calling ?Baby chick yellow?.

In one corner of the room, a wooden rocking chair stood idle...waiting for 
someone to sit in it and rock a crying baby to sleep. Buffy remembered the 
look of love and surprise on Willow?s face when she had presented the chair 
to her. Willow looked at her through misty eyes for a timeless moment, then 
put her arms around her in a heartfelt hug.

?You remembered.? She had whispered softly, the wetness of a tear dripping 
down her cheek.

?Of course. How could I forget?? Buffy had replied in a low tone, 
remembering all the stories Willow had told her after the baby had first 
been conceived, of how her mother used to rock her to sleep when she was an 
infant and how she would read to her from that very same chair before 
putting her to bed at night as she grew older. Buffy was well aware of 
Willow?s dream to do those things for her own little daughter and she was 
all too happy to help that dream come alive.

They had stood there embracing, their heart?s swelling with love and 
devotion for each other, smelling the fresh paint drying on the nursery 
walls, as every added touch to the nursery brought them that much closer to 
the birth of their baby. And the dream that was ever present in each of 
their hearts.

The baby?s crib stood in the center of the room, and quickly became the 
center of her attention. The light colored peice of furniture was decorated 
with tiny images of the Disney characters, and a mobile hanging over the top 
of the crib went with the motif of the room, displaying the cartoon figures 
in a way certain to catch an infant?s attention. She could easily imagine 
her daughter reaching up to play with the dangling and enticing objects, or 
falling asleep while the tune ?Twinkle, twinkle, little star? echoed tinnily 
in her ear.

Buffy observed Willow?s mood as she watched her walk over to the crib and 
pick up the Tinky Winky plush doll that lay inside. She looked like Buffy 
felt...like she was in some kind of a daze, and that if she blinked this 
would all disappear like a mirage in the desert. Buffy moved behind her, 
circling her growing waist with her arms as she laid her head on the red 
head?s shoulder, before putting her hands on the distended belly.

?We did good.? Buffy reflected, scanning the room with shining blue eyes. 
?All we have to do now is wait for the baby to arrive.?

?A room fit for a princess.? Willow murmured, imagining what it would be 
like to flutter around in here, taking care of her newborn and finding that 
she couldn?t wait to hold her baby in her arms and love her. ?I can?t wait 
to see her, Buffy.?

?Me either.? Buffy said softly, nuzzling her wife?s cheek, and was amused 
to hear Xander cough uncomfortably, before he left the room. ?Yeah...I?m 
turning into a qualified bowl of jello here, aren?t I?? She thought, 
rolling her eyes at herself, while trying to keep her
eyes from spilling over.

She sniffled, then turned Willow to face her, keeping her hand on Willow?s 
belly. ?What do you think, little one, huh? Do you like it?? The shock on 
the Slayer?s face was priceless as she looked into Willow?s bemused eyes.

?Did you feel that?!? Buffy asked, her eyes widening as her hands roamed 
over the expanse of belly exicitedly.

?Oh yeah...I felt it.? Willow chuckled, amused at the total thrill on her 
wife?s face. ?Couldn?t miss it.? She had felt the strange flutter inside 
that had been her daughter?s movement for a short while now, but this was 
the first time she had felt her kick.

?Think she?ll do it again?? Buffy?s face was so full of awe that Willow 
thought her heart would burst from the sheer beauty of it.

?Probably. I?ve heard they do that.? Willow grinned, watching her wife?s 
eyes widen impossibly further as they felt their daughter kick again.

?Wow.? The word was just above a whisper, but Willow could tell that Buffy 
was deeply moved by this moment.

?Buffy...Willow...you?re going to be late for your appointment.? Joyce 
called from the direction of the hallway, and the stairs beyond it.

?Mom! Get in here!? Buffy half cried, half laughed as she hugged Willow to 
her. ?The baby just kicked me.?

It seemed like the words had just left Buffy?s mouth, when Xander and Joyce 
rushed into the room and started hovering over the elated parents. Each one 
wanting to take their turn feeling Willow?s stomach, and waiting for the 
baby to move against their hand. Each wanted that tangible sign that this 
miracle was indeed a live presence in their consciously growing family.

*****

The first time Buffy had accompanied Willow to Dr. Wiseberg?s office, she 
had been forced to wait in the waiting room. Nurse Brackett had been nice 
and all, letting her borrow her Soap Opera Digest, but waiting nervously for 
what seemed like forever for Willow to emerge had almost been her undoing. 
After that initial visit she had insisted on
being present during the examination.

It hadn?t taken Dr. Wiseberg long to realize that the two women were a 
couple. Buffy?s excited chattering and questioning every move they should 
make to care for a healthy baby had given him large clues...not to mention 
Willow?s blushing when Buffy had reached for her hand during an examination. 
He hadn?t been raised so old school that he didn?t know
true love when he saw it...so he wasn?t too surprised when they announced 
their relationship to him, and their pending marriage.

Now he treated Buffy like he would any future father...with kid gloves.

He had witnessed many fathers express excitement over the growing 
realization of their child...but he found he was quite amused as he listened 
to Buffy relate the story of how she felt her baby kick for the first time 
in vivid and extremely detailed clarity. He watched
with even more amusement, Willow?s slack jawed wonder of her babbling wife.

?Hey, Dr. Wiseberg...maybe you could give Buffy an examination after you 
finish with me.? Willow interrupted the narrative, grinning quirkily.

?Hey!? Buffy protested. ?There is absolutely nothing wrong with me!? She 
defended, and then had to laugh at herself. ?Okay...so maybe I am just a 
little bit excited.?

?A little?? Willow teased, laughing when Buffy stuck her tongue out at her.

Dr. Wiseberg was enjoying the banter when his intercom buzzed. ?Yes, Nora.?

?The lab room is ready, Doctor.? Nurse Brackett answered him.

?Thank you.? He replied before looking up at the two women. ?I know you?ve 
had a lot of excitement this morning...are you up for a little more??

Both women looked at him questioningly. ?Want to see your baby? Maybe we 
can even see if she?s the girl you both seem to think she is.?

*****

?The wonders of modern technology.? Buffy thought, as she stared curiously 
at the big monitor where the image of her baby would be shown. Dr. Wiseberg 
was busily rubbing Petroleum Jelly onto Willow?s stomach in preparation for 
the procedure.

When he was finished, he turned toward the screen, taking the transducer 
into one hand. He ran the instrument over Willow?s belly, then waited for 
the image to appear on the screen.

Buffy and Willow stared in wide eyed wonder as a living, breathing image of 
a baby appeared in front of their very eyes. They caught their breath as 
they distinctively made out the form of their baby...lying head down in 
Willow?s womb, curled in a fetal ball. The dimensions were easily seen, 
from the curve of the baby?s head, all the way down her
back, and the curve of her butt along the uterine wall. Her knees appeared 
to be pulled up to her chest, and the doctor pointed out the toes on one 
foot. The baby?s eyes were shut as if she were sleeping, and she appeared 
to be sucking on her thumb as she slept.

The noticable absence of a sexual organ, or rather one they could see at 
this point, confirmed what they had already known in their hearts...and 
through the genology section of their biology class...that they were indeed 
having a little girl.

The sight of the baby brought tears to both women?s eyes as they saw how 
beautiful and full of life she was...but it was the sound of their baby?s 
heartbeat that sent those tears down their cheeks. Buffy realized with a 
great deal of self awarness that she?d been
hearing that sound for months while she and Willow lay quietly in their bed 
at night, but it had never occured to her to question what that sound was. 
And now, besides the sound of her wife?s heart beating...it was the most 
beautiful sound on Earth. She would willingly die to ensure that sound 
never ended.

To be continued...

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