Re: 4's a family - PREVIEW

["amberbensonfan" <AmberBensonFan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> --- In buffywantswillow@y..., "Tray Wilds" <Tray.Wilds@t...> wrote:
> > Hi
> > I was wondering when your story 4's family is going to be 
available 
> to read. I eagerly await it and can't wait for it to be posted to 
the 
> group.
> > Thanx
> > Tray

Here's a preview :-) Hope you enjoy - feedback always welcome, 
especially this early in the game.

FOUR'S FAMILY
A Sequel to "Three's Company; Four's Family"
By AmberBensonFan

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own any of the characters in here 
other than Joy. Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own everyone else. No 
infringement is intended.

Distribution: Any email lists that I post this to can archive this 
without letting me know, also, Wiccan Ways, Near Her Always, and 
anyone else who has permission for `Three's Company; Four's Family' 
can take it. Anyone else just email me and let me know so I can put 
a link to you on my site and keep track of where my stories are. You 
can contact me at AmberBensonFan@xxxxxxxxxxx or through my site at 
www.megawitches.net 

Feedback: PLEASE! Any feedback you can send is most appreciated. Be 
honest, I can't make it better without honest feedback.

Pairing: W/T/B, X/A, D/Freddie

Rating: PG-13

Summary: This is a sequel to "Three's Company; Four's Family." W/T/B 
had a daughter and now the tale continues. The council is up-in-
arms. Never has a slayer lived long enough to settle down and have a 
family and they want to get their hands on Joy. They have no idea 
how powerful the daughter of a slayer could be, especially when her 
other parents are extremely powerful witches.

Timeline: We start two years after my other story so note that this 
is NOT canon. I'm following my own line and in this one W/T never 
broke up.

Spoilers: Not really since I'm in my own time line, but there are 
some vague references to different things in the series, though 
nothing blatant.

Notes: I don't have kids of my own and to be honest they kind of 
scare me so I try not to be around them more than I have to, but I 
have a two-year-old niece who is absolute precious (okay, so that's a 
biased opinion :-)) but she is the model for Joy. I don't know if 
any of Joy's actions and interactions are too advanced or too behind, 
all I know is this is what my niece does so that's what I write. It 
may appear like I'm bragging about my niece and I suppose I am, but I 
wanted Joy to be `real' so I wrote about a real girl.

Okay, now that I took up almost one whole page just for the 
disclaimers lets begin our tale.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was shining high in the sky and the temperature seemed just 
right, a cool 80 degrees. Well, cool for Californians at any rate. 
There was a gentle breeze that helped keep the group that milled 
about in the yard comfortable. Laughter and light chatter surrounded 
them, blanketing the group in its own kind of warmth.

A swing set with slides and other climbing apparatus was set up. On 
one side was a large sandbox littered with buckets, shovels, and 
little mounds that never quite made it into sandcastles. On the 
other side was a plastic kiddy pool only filled enough to wet the 
feet of a child.

A little further away from the play area stood a large round table 
that held many close friends and plates with an assorted supply of 
food ranging from hamburgers, veggie burgers, salad, and other side 
dishes. Xander and Anya sat on either side of their six-month-old 
son who was secured in a high chair. Dawn and her boyfriend, 
Freddie, were there as well enjoying the food, conversation, and 
giggling at the antics of the babies. Willow and Tara sat in similar 
positions as their friends, flanking their two-year-old daughter, 
Joy, who was also nestled in a highchair. Buffy was standing away 
from the table keeping a close eye on the grill next her as the rest 
of the food cooked.

"So I was in the Magic Box yesterday with Joy," Willow started her 
tale, "and I knocked over one of the candles. Joy turns to me and 
goes, `oh damn it, mommy.'"

The group at the table laughed at the adorable personality that 
already took firm hold of Joy. Tara tried to look stern and 
asked, "And where did she get that from?"

Everyone let the laughs die down and all eyes slowly turned until 
they landed on the only one who could have taught Joy such language 
at such an early age. Buffy took a quick gulp of her drink and 
averted her eyes, looking anywhere but at the table of accusing 
stares. "Um, I think I'll check the food," Buffy stumbled out and 
quickly turned her back to her friends.

"I can't wait for Alex to start talking," Anya chimed in taking the 
focus off Buffy for a little while.

"I bet his first word will be `money,'" Dawn quipped and though Anya 
shot the girl a look she couldn't help but chuckle while the others 
laughed heartily at her expense.

Tara finished cutting up a hotdog into tiny pieces, tested it to make 
sure the food was cool enough, and placed the meal on Joy's tray. 
Joy picked up her baby fork and took a few stabs at the round object 
before giving up completely and digging in with her hands, taking one 
piece at a time. "Juice Mama Tara," Joy asked.

"What kind do you want?" Tara asked, her voice a bit high, as people 
tend to do when talking to children.

"Orange," Joy answered.

Tara poured some orange juice into a sip-cup, screwed the top on 
tightly, and handed it over to Joy who took it happily. "What do you 
say, Joy?" Willow asked.

Joy looked up at Willow, her eyes almost saying, `you can't expect me 
to say `thank you' for every little thing, do you?' but at Willow's 
firm look Joy relented. "Thank you, Mama Tara."

"You're welcome, sweetie," Tara responded and ruffled the girl's hair 
lightly.

Joy went about alternating between sips of juice and stuffing pieces 
of hotdog in her mouth.

The remaining bits of food were finished being cooked and Buffy 
brought them over on a tray before taking a seat next to 
Tara. "Figure out what college you're going to yet, Dawn?" Buffy 
asked.

"Well, I was thinking about just staying here and going to UCS," Dawn 
answered.

"Dawn, you can go to better schools than UCS," Buffy started to 
complain and couldn't help the corner of her mouth curling into a 
small smirk as she remembered having a very similar conversation with 
Willow only a few years ago.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm not sure I really want to leave all this. I 
mean all of you guys, Joy, Alex, I'd miss everyone too much."

"What about you Freddie?" Willow asked always willing to lend a hand 
to Dawn's defense, especially since she too remembered the 
conversation with Buffy about choosing to remain in Sunnydale. She 
hoped Buffy would get sidetracked and forget about harping on Dawn.

"I actually can only go to UCS," the young man replied somewhat sadly.

There were knowing nods around the table and Willow mentally smacked 
herself for being so careless. She just wanted to take the heat off 
Dawn and forgot that Freddie didn't have much help financially. 
Though the boy lived with them and didn't have to worry about paying 
rent thanks to Willow's high-paying job, he still had various other 
expenses that he needed to handle. His parents `disappeared' and 
Buffy knew all too well what had happened. He and Dawn had only just 
begun to get to know each other and Buffy offered her home to the 
boy. She felt guilty that she, the slayer, was unable to prevent 
their death, and thought the least she could do was give him a home. 
Over time he and Dawn started dating and it wasn't long after that 
when he finally broached the subject of Buffy's odd behavior, 
especially at night. The gang explained to him their unique 
situation and since then he and Dawn have been serious and enjoyed 
living a close life with the Scoobies.

Tara took her chances and decided to sway the conversation into 
something very neutral. She leaned down to Joy's ear and whispered 
something. Joy shouted out, "How do you make a tissue dance," though 
she stopped in between to get coached by Tara, her mind not being 
able to remember the whole question at once yet.

"How?" Everyone asked at the same time.

"Put a lil' boogie in it," joy answered proudly and giggled.

It was a very old joke, one the gang has probably heard a million 
times in their lifetimes, but they still roared with laughter hearing 
it come from this little girl who was way too smart for her age.

"Down please," Joy requested. She was antsy and wanted to play, but 
the adults just got settled with their own food and wanted to enjoy 
it before they had to run around the yard making sure Joy kept out of 
trouble and was safe while she played. 

Tara took a bite of her veggie burger and then pulled out a little 
book. She pointed to one of the colors and asked, "What color is 
that?"

"Purple," Joy answered without hesitation. This seemed to distract 
their daughter long enough for them to finish eating. In between 
bites of food either Willow or Tara would quiz Joy on various colors 
and Joy nailed each one. As they finished their food they moved on 
to numbers and by the time they reached 11 Joy got stuck and 
frustrated and wanted down again. Tara wiped her hands and then 
Joy's hands and pulled her daughter out of the high chair. She 
followed Joy around the yard keeping the girl entertained while the 
others chatted.

"She's really coming along with those colors," Xander stated the 
obvious.

"Yeah, she knows them all. I'm working on shades now," Willow 
laughed, joking. "Actually, I got all freaked out that she didn't 
know her colors so everything we saw I kept asking, `what's that 
color, what's this color.' Then I got a newsletter in my email about 
children her age and found out that by the time she's three she 
should know two colors, so it turns out we're way ahead of the game."

That got some more laughs, especially considering the bookworm Willow 
is. "Aww, poor Joy. Here she is working her butt off and she's got 
at least one more year to slack off." Dawn joked, her own enjoyment 
of school dwindled drastically over the years and felt a little sorry 
for her niece.

As night fell and the evening became too cool and unsafe to remain 
outside, the gang moved their get-together inside. Tara laid Joy 
down to bed and Anya settled Alex in a small, rocking, chair as he 
dozed.

Fresh cups of coffee filled everyone's hands and the conversation 
became a little more subdued, punctuated by the occasional muted 
laugh as everyone was mindful of the sleeping babies. "Ha ha I 
remember that Joan. What were you thinking?" Dawn chuckled, making 
fun of her sister.

"Oh yeah, but you failed to mention the little bit about you, Umad," 
Buffy shot back.

Freddie looked on, his eyebrows raised in confusion over the new 
names Buffy and Dawn shared with each other, not really getting the 
inside jokes. Dawn looked over and noticed his lost expression and 
felt sorry for him. She leaned in and whispered, "I'll explain 
later." He nodded and she pat his knee before turning her attention 
back to the group and their tales of times long ago. Times that she 
was now apart of.

Eventually the lovely day between friends ended. Xander and Anya 
took Alex home; Dawn and Freddie helped clean up and then went 
upstairs to get ready for bed; Tara and Willow went up to get ready 
for bed while Buffy finished straightening. After moving all the 
coffee cups into the sink, deciding to worry about cleaning them in 
the morning, she climbed the stairs.

Buffy leaned against the doorframe and enjoyed the sight before her. 
Willow was in the rocking chair holding Joy and humming softly. Tara 
was kneeling beside her with a hand lovely draped over the redhead's 
knee, a smile unconsciously playing on her lips. Tara was the first 
to look up and see the slayer at the door and she whispered, "Joy was 
finicky," and after two years with the young girl now in Willow's 
arms, Buffy knew well enough what that meant. Sometimes their 
daughter would suffer from night terrors and would only calm when one 
of them rocked her back to sleep. 

Buffy nodded slowly and though she gave Tara a smile her thoughts 
were brought to a distant place. It broke her heart that at only two-
years-old her daughter was already being affected by life on the 
hellmouth. Once she was born Buffy and the Scoobies made a solid 
effort to keep the life of slaying far away from Joy, yet it didn't 
seem to matter. Their daughter was still plagued by visions of 
horrors at night and though she held an impressive vocabulary, Joy 
was unable to tell them what tormented her dreams. The doctors had 
said it was actually common for children of this age to experience 
such things, but Buffy knew that wasn't the whole truth.

She was brought from her thoughts when a soft hand brushed stray 
strands of hair from her face and she looked up to see blue eyes 
staring back at her. Tara's eyes held concern and understanding 
while Willow, who had her arms wrapped loosely around the blonde 
witch's waist, looked on knowingly. They all held the same fears and 
troubles and they knew Buffy was most affected by the thoughts that 
ran rampant in her mind.

"Ready for bed?" Buffy finally spoke in hushed tones as she took a 
final glance at her daughter who was now sleeping peacefully in 
her `big girl bed.'

The witches nodded and walked down the hall with Buffy leading. As 
they readied for bed, Buffy turned and watched Willow once again. 
The redhead looked so natural holding Joy and she wondered if her 
lovers would want another child someday and if Willow would be 
interested in carrying this time. She entertained the thought of 
eventually being the one to have a child, but the thought passed 
almost as soon as it came. As a slayer she could never have 
children. For nine months she would have to be extra careful about 
any blows she took and that just wasn't likely to happen as she 
fought the monsters of the night. So, instead, she was content to 
play the `father' in this unorthodox family and keep the family safe.

Willow and Tara had crawled into bed and watched their lover 
carefully. They knew Buffy was prone to getting lost in thought; 
they knew she held the weight of the world on her shoulders and in 
her mind and there was little they could do to ease the lines of 
worry that seemed to be a permanent fixture on Buffy's young 
face. "Care to share?" Willow broached, hoping that as long as Buffy 
spoke her mind occasionally, she would feel a little better.

Buffy turned to finish what she was doing and crawled into bed taking 
the middle so that Willow and Tara would flank her. She normally 
liked to stay on the outside to allow the witches room to cuddle with 
each other and to give her easier access if she needed to get out of 
bed suddenly, but at times she needed to feel them both. Needed to 
feel their bodies pressed up against her sides and know that she was 
loved, completely and utterly. The witches draped arms and legs over 
Buffy and nestled their heads into her shoulders and Buffy began to 
idly stroke the smooth skin she found beneath her fingertips.

"Ever think about having another kid?" Buffy asked after a long 
silent period. 

"What's on your mind, sweetie?" Tara asked as her hand began a gentle 
stroke of the taut stomach next to her. She always marveled at the 
raw power that she could feel as muscles rippled under her soft touch.

Buffy gave her a soft kiss on the forehead and repeated the gesture 
with Willow. "I don't know. I mean, I was just thinking, you know 
that maybe it'd be nice to have another rug-rat running around here. 
I'm sure Joy would love to have a sister."

There was a moment of silence and then Willow spoke. "Were you 
thinking about you having the baby?"

"I can't," Buffy's voice was defeated, but after a moment she 
brightened a bit, "but you could."

Willow nodded slowly as she began to get what Buffy was edging 
towards. Tara couldn't help the smile that creased her lips as she 
looked to Willow and then she turned and began to lay gentle kisses 
along Buffy's neck hoping the ease the tension there or at least 
create a new and better kind of tension for the slayer.

Willow broke out into a smile. She'd thought about this before, but 
never gave it any serious consideration. She just always assumed 
she'd be the one to bring home the money, Tara would care for Joy, 
and Buffy would keep them all safe. It was a nice arrangement that 
everyone fell into, but perhaps it was time for a change.