The Roads Series - These Roads We Travel (2/?)

[Kimber <kacoe@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE: Book Five: The Roads Series - These Roads We Travel (2/?)

AUTHORr: Kimber (kacoe@xxxxxxxxxxx)

DISCLAIMER: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant
Enemy. Grrr, argh.

SPOILERS: Everything is fair game.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: The more feedback I get the more I'll post..nuff
said. flashbacks are enclosed in { } Thoughts enclosed in < >



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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 nineteen 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 twenty 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, 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 researched it.
I just couldn't stand it if some strange guy 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 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
mamma." 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.



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