FIC: Those Were the Best Days of Their Lives - G - (5/?)

["Shannon" <willows_gal_15@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Author: Shannon
Rating: G - PG. I'm not going anywhere perverted with little kids!!
Disclaimer: Joss is a lucky, lucky man.
Summary: AU Buffy & Co. They're in 1st grade. I'm gonna make with the 
couples, but the couples *I* want. Buffy/Willow, Xander/Anya, 
Tara/Spike, Giles/Joyce.

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

That afternoon when Joyce came to pick Buffy up, they actually left 
school before 4:30. As they walked out of school together, Buffy 
thought she should ask her mom if she could go to Willow's the next 
day. "Mommy," she began, "Can I please go to my friends house 
tomorrow?" Joyce considered this. "You want to go to William's 
house?" Buffy shook her head. "No, Willow's." Joyce was relieved. It 
wasn't as if she was worried about what they would do, they were only 
five years old for goodness' sakes. But in preschool Buffy had only 
had little boys for friends; it was good to see her make friends with 
a little girl. "Of course, sweetie. What time does her mommy want you 
there?" Buffy shrugged. "I dunno. She hasn't asked her mom yet. She's 
gonna tell me tomorrow. Then you can take me there after school." She 
skipped ahead towards the car, and Joyce sighed. "I'm a human cab," 
she told the awaking baby in her arms. "You better not want me to 
drive you anywhere tomorrow." Dawn looked at her mother, and 
yawned. "Didn't think so."

On the drive home, Buffy chose to sit in the back of her mohter's 
jeep with Dawn, who had fully awoken and was very playful. "Mommy, 
when will Dawnie be able to walk?" Joyce smiled. Buffy couldn't wait 
for those days, and they were getting nearer. "Most babies start to 
walk when they are around 5 or 6 months old, and Dawnie is 3 months. 
Just a few more months." Buffy squinched her eyebrows up in 
thought. "How long is a month?" Joyce thought for a moment on how to 
explain what a months was. "Well, Buffy, it's September now. By the 
time Dawn can walk, you'll be 6." Buffy sighed. That was aaaaages 
away. She decided to play a game with her sister. She started 
wiggling Dawn's toes, and recited a familiar poem. "This little piggy 
went to market, this little piggy stayed at home. This little piggy 
had roast beef, and this little piggy had none. But this little piggy 
went "Wee, wee, wee" all the way home!" On the final verse, she ran 
her fingers over her little sister's stomach, tickling her. Dawn 
squealed happily and kicked her feet.

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

Willow woke up bright and early the next morning, as usual. Her mom 
went to work at 6am, and her dad went to temple at 6:30. She'd asked 
her mom the night before if Buffy could come over after school, and 
she'd said yes. Willow had grinned, then run up to her room to 
arrange her teddies so that the best ones were the ones that could be 
seen the most. She'd fallen asleep cleaning her room around 8:30, and 
now it was 7am, and she was wide awake. She got dressed into her pink 
overalls, and ran down the stairs to make some breakfast for herself. 
She pulled her special stool over to the counter that the toaster was 
on, and put a piece of toast in, pulled the lever down and began 
making her lunch while she waited for it to finish. 

She had everything finished by 7:30, so she ran back upstairs to get 
her necklace with the pretty star inside the circle on it. She heard 
the phone ring, and ran to answer it the way her daddy had taught 
her. "Hello, Rosenberg residence, Willow speaking!" The voice on the 
other end made her grin.

"Hello sweetie! Are you all ready for school?" 

"Yes, daddy. Is temple fun?"

"Of course. You have a good day, now."

"Okay. Bye daddy. I love you!"

"I love you too, sweetheart."

He never called for long, but he called every morning to make sure 
she was okay. It was nice to know that somebody loved her, even if 
they were only family. She though she had better get moving for 
school; it was 7:45. She picked up the key from the kitchen counter, 
took her bag and walked out the door. She stood on her tippy-toes to 
reach the lock, then began her walk to school.