Giles looked at Buffy, sitting alone on the sofa with a slightly forlorn expression, and thanked every deity he knew that Willow and her friend had been able to work their spell. Buffy's freshly scrubbed face was devoid of make-up, her hair was still damp from the shower and the bump on her pregnant abdomen showed through the long shirt she wore, but he could not have loved her more. His Buffy was back where she belonged, in her own body, and he would not trade it for the world. And strangely, he knew it was not because he could not love her if she was not blonde, or tiny, or any of the other things he loved about her - it was because she was happy again. He knew he loved her no matter what she looked like, or where she was, but seeing her miserable had been more than he could cope with.
As she turned to face him, and her face lit up, he released the tension he had not even been aware of holding and smiled back at her. Crossing the room in several long strides, he handed her the glass of juice he had been carrying and sat down next to her.
"Feeling better?" he asked, sitting back.
Buffy immediately snuggled up against his side and took a long drink.
"Much," she replied when she had drained her glass. "I missed this."
Giles raised an eyebrow curiously and Buffy reached up to brush her lips gently against his before elaborating.
"I missed snuggling with you. I missed you keeping me warm. And I missed our baby. I never realised before how much I'd miss having someone kick me in the kidneys every five minutes. Thank you."
"For what?"
"Not hating me when you looked at me in her body."
"But I-"
"I wouldn't have blamed you if I had - Faith isn't exactly my favourite person right now." Buffy picked up one of his hands and began idly tracing patterns on the back of it. "I thought she might stay but..."
"Ssh, love. It's not your fault she didn't."
Buffy shrugged and forced the frown off her face.
"And there's another thing I have to thank your for."
"Oh?"
She put his hand gently on her swelling abdomen. "This. Thank you."
"I think it was a two person job," he told her, grinning.
"Yeah, but it couldn't have been done without two people - one of whom is you."
He gaped at her and she looked up, giggling as she saw his expression.
"What?" she asked, puzzled.
"Y-you said 'whom'. Are you feeling all right, love?" he asked, still slightly wide-eyed and looking at her as if, at any moment, he expected her to grow horns or fly.
Buffy groaned theatrically. "You've infected me. I've spent way too much time with you. All those years, honing my vocabulary so you'd be able to glare at me and I go and blow it all with one misplaced 'whom'. How am I ever going to live it down?"
He chuckled. "You're going to try to convince me that you've been able to speak understandable English all the time I've known you? Love, even you aren't that good an actress."
She frowned and swatted him on the shoulder. He winced and, immediately contrite, Buffy stroked the spot.
"Are you ok? I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't know my own strength. I'm a mffuggh-"
She was cut off as Giles took the chance to begin tickling her and wrestled her down onto the sofa. Giggling, she tried vainly to push him off but it was no good - his agile fingers knew exactly where to move and she couldn't draw breath long enough to do more than squeak occasionally. Buffy tried to wriggle away and Giles simply captured her hands above her head and continued tickling her with one hand. The joy and laughter on her face was more than enough reward for his efforts. He knew that, had she wanted to, she could easily toss him across the room so he smiled devilishly and continued. Somehow, as she squirmed to avoid his fingers, her shirt rode up to expose an expanse of creamy stomach. Immediately, Giles took advantage of that to tickle her more effectively and Buffy began squirming and wriggling more violently than before, although still without pulling her hands out of his hold.
"C-can't...breath," she eventually panted.
Giles stopped his onslaught, watching with concern as the Slayer tried to catch her breath. Then she looked up at him, and the twinkle of mischief in her eye was the only warning he had before he found himself turned on his back, with a vengeful Slayer straddling him.
"Now, what can I do?" she asked thoughtfully.
Nimble fingers found every ticklish spot on him, and some he had been unaware of before, in a couple of minutes. Now it was his turn to squirm and he was very glad that Xander and Willow had found excuses to leave the house for a few hours; he would never live it down if they found out how ticklish he was. Even as her hands were busy torturing him, Buffy leaned down and gently nipped him on the neck and he was unsurprised to feel a wave of desire shoot through him despite her distractions.
"Do you surrender?" she asked, grinning.
"Never," he vowed.
"Guess I'll just have to..."
This time her nimble fingers didn't attempt to tickle him to death; they pulled his shirt out and began torturing him in other ways while she kissed him passionately. With the little capacity for thought he had left, Giles sent up a fervent prayer of thanks that no one was going to interrupt them because he was sure he couldn't have stood up at that moment.
From the vague direction of the door he heard someone clear their throat and both Watcher and Slayer froze. Slowly, Buffy raised her head and groaned.
"Faith," she said flatly, and he carefully refused to smile at her disappointed expression.
"Am I interrupting anything?" the dark Slayer asked, amusement tingeing her voice.
"Oh, no, of course not," Buffy replied, annoyance tingeing hers.
"Huh. From where I'm standing it looked like you two were about to go at it like bunnies, but I could be wrong."
Giles felt heat flood his face and was unsurprised to look up and see Buffy blushing just as violently. This really was the most awkward situation he could think of.
"Look, you two were obviously about to get down and dirty so I'll just...uh...leave," Faith trailed off uncertainly.
"No," Buffy protested quickly. "We...uh, you don't have to leave."
She sat up, pulling her shirt back into order, and ran a hand through her mussed hair. "I was hoping you wouldn't leave."
"You were?" Giles heard the hope in Faith's voice and pushed down his irritation at her interruption.
Now that Buffy was no longer sprawled across him, he could sit up and readjust his partially opened shirt. Admittedly, he felt...uncomfortable that someone had walked in on such a personal moment but he knew deep down that they could resume their activities any time they chose. Helping Faith, though, was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"We were," he said, hoping the dark Slayer did not notice the rasp in his voice. "If you want it, there's a place for you here."
"I hoped, but..."
"We want you here," Buffy cut in. "If you want help, and you're willing to accept our help, then we want you here."
Giles could see Faith take several deep breaths, and her eyes looked slightly watery, but she kept her composure. "Thank you."
Buffy nodded and looked to Giles, her violent blushes now faded away. She raised an eyebrow and he nodded imperceptibly. Sometimes, they did not even have to speak to communicate. A side effect of our relationship, Giles reflected, and then paused as a few memories assailed him from the Library days. Or possibly not. Could it be that we always knew how suited we were?
"Come on," Buffy said. "I'll show you to your room."
As his wife planted a quick kiss on his lips and left the room, Rupert Giles reflected that he was indeed a very lucky man.
***
Faith followed Buffy through the house and upstairs. Instead of showing her to one of the rooms upstairs the blonde Slayer opened a door that she had not noticed before, next to the linen closet, and disappeared through it. Curious, Faith followed and found herself in a narrow stairway. It took a sharp turn a couple of steps up and the stairs were steep, creaky affairs but nothing a Slayer could not handle, even an emotionally exhausted Slayer.
The stairs ended in the middle of a large room with a low, sloping ceiling. It took the younger Slayer a moment realise that she was standing in the middle of the attic and she looked around with interest. The ceiling was a few of inches above her head in the middle of the room, but it sloped down and at the walls was barely a foot from the floor. Skylights in the ceiling made the large room feel light and airy despite the dust covering the floor and mismatched furniture. Twin beds were position at one end of the room, with a nightstand between them, and a sofa, chairs and throw pillows were grouped at the other end.
"It's not much, I know, but it's yours if you want it," Buffy said, looking at Faith hopefully.
The older girl seemed to have recovered from her earlier embarrassment, Faith noted, and now perched on the bare mattress on one of the beds.
"We've got extra bed stuff downstairs, you're more than welcome to it, and I'm sure we can do something about the décor. We kinda intended to fix this up as a spare room but never got round to it. You can do whatever you want to it - well, anything without destroying it - and I know the gang will help you. What do you think?"
For the first time in her life, Faith thought she knew what all the cheesy writers meant by 'having a lump in your throat'.
"I think..." she began and then trailed off to clear her throat, cursing herself for turning into a sap at the first sign of someone helping her. "I think it's great. Thank you."
Buffy beamed and, strangely, Faith found that she wanted to return that smile. Now you're gonna get all sappy about this? This is meant to be a 'save the kid, save Buffy, get outta Dodge' kind of deal
"Great," the blonde Slayer said happily. "Now, do you want to get yourself moved in or can I give you the grand tour? Without the tying you up part this time."
Faith lifted one shoulder casually. "This is me moved in. I travel light."
"Oh." Buffy seemed to deflate slightly. "You could, maybe, borrow some stuff? And I could take you shopping after classes tomorrow."
"You'd do that?"
"Well, duh. Of course I would. Will. Be taking you shopping. It's gonna be a little tricky for you to live here without owning anything."
Turning her back, Faith began minutely examining the glass in one of the skylights. "You don't have to. I mean, I can work something out."
"I do have to. This time I'm going to do things differently, starting with this. You are now a part of this, admittedly weird, family so you're going to be treated like one."
"Do I have to?"
For a moment Buffy paused, praying she had heard wrong. Then Faith turned and she saw the grin on the other Slayer's face.
"Too serious?" she asked.
"B, you gotta learn to lighten up. You're so intense and serious all the time and you never get to enjoy life. Well, I know you enjoy some aspects of life - you and the G-man looked like you were enjoying yourselves earlier - but..."
"Faith, do you remember what happened the last time I lightened up? Somebody died and you turned..."
"Evil." The dark Slayer nodded. "I know what happened. I was there. I'm not saying you have to turn into me but do you have to act like the Apocalypse is on it's way all the time?"
"It usually is," Buffy retorted.
"See? There's that negative thinking again."
"What do you suggest?"
"Take a moment every day to say to yourself 'life is fun'. Once you've got enough practice you can try the next stage."
"Which is?"
"Do something fun. Just for a few minutes. And let yourself laugh out loud. Pretty soon you'll find yourself not even having to think about it."
Buffy stood and stretched. "You have been watching too much TV. Oprah is a really bad influence."
Faith smirked but said nothing.
"Look, I have to go help with supper. I thought you'd, maybe, like some time to rest. Supper will be in an hour and you could sleep. Or make this place a little homier. Or something."
"Maybe."
The blonde Slayer walked across the room to the stairs but paused before she went down. "If you ever need to talk about stuff...I know I did this all wrong last time...Rupert...Giles...when he was younger something happened and I think you might have something in common. Would you at least consider it?"
Faith nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'll...I'll keep it in mind."
***
Buffy bounced into the kitchen and Giles handed her a knife.
"How did it go?" he asked as he went back to stirring a steaming pot on the stove.
"Strangely well. I think she might actually be serious about this whole 'changing' thing. She isn't going to come out and say it but I really think she wants to make a go of things. Uh, what am I meant to be chopping?"
"Salad," Giles replied, pointing to a pile of lettuce and tomato. "Are you sure about putting her in the attic? It's not very..."
"I know. That's why we're going shopping on Saturday."
"We are?"
"Uh huh. The attic needs decorating and the nursery needs creating."
"May I ask where we'll put the nursery? This house is getting a little overcrowded right now."
"I'll ask whether Amy can shift back into Willow's room. Not ideal, but we need that room." Buffy sighed. "To think, when we first bought this place it looked too big."
"We have expanded somewhat since then," Giles said with an affection smile.
"I've expanded. Everyone else has just multiplied," Buffy said grumpily.
***
Faith lay on her back on one of the twin beds staring up at the ceiling. It was hard not to stare at a ceiling that was twelve inches from her nose but that was not the reason for it. The reason she was staring at the ceiling rather than trying to turn the attic into something vaguely liveable was that she was trying to sort out what had happened.
All right, she knew what had happened. She just had no idea why. This morning there had been nothing she wanted more than to leave this house, and the people in it, and never return. Actually, killing the lot of them might have helped, but mostly she just wanted to leave and run as far and as fast as she knew how. Now she had a place to stay, a family that apparently wanted to adopt her and a conscience that had told her to stay and protect them all. No, not all. Mostly that damn baby. I'm here because I actually feel something for that baby and I want to protect it. And the idea that it could hate me if it found out what I'm like, what the person who carried it for twenty-four hours is like, makes something inside me hurt.
That was a thought that was never getting out. She might be able to tell Buffy all sorts of things but there was no way in hell that she was ever going to admit that she wanted something to not hate her. To even be proud of her. The 'screw you' attitude she had been carrying around for so long apparently got lost somewhere on the way to the bus station, as evidenced by the moment of happiness she had felt when Buffy smiled approvingly. Not so evil now, huh?
At that moment Faith felt something drop onto her stomach. Holding in a blood-curdling yell (just) she tensed and looked down. To find a pair of large green eyes staring straight back at her. It had tabby ears three sizes too large for its face and a little pink tongue sneaked out to lick its nose.
B has a cat?
The little creature nodded.
B's cat can mind-read?
The cat crawled further up her chest and licked her nose.
B's cat can't mind-read or it would realise how much I want to kill it right now.
Gizmo nuzzled her head against Faith's cheek and then curled up on her chest. After a moment she began to purr.
Nah, don't need to sleep thanks. Not at all. I'm one...wide-awake...Slayer. No need...of...
***
"Do you think Faith is ok?" Buffy asked, looking up as though she could see the other Slayer through the layers of ceilings. "It's awfully quiet up there."
"She looked done-in when she got here so I would guess she's asleep." Giles put the lid on his saucepan and left it to simmer. "I think she needs it."
Buffy neatly sliced a tomato into several pieces. "I think you're right."
The former Watcher crossed the kitchen to stand behind Buffy, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a kiss on top of her head. "You did a good thing today."
"Yeah, I guess I did."
The front door banged open and they heard the chatter of the rest of the Gang entering the house.
"Do you want to tell them or shall I?" she asked.
***
Telling them about Faith turned out not to be the bad part. The bad part was sitting through supper while everyone tried not to pretend that they were desperately uncomfortable about the whole thing. Add in several glares from Spike as he went out into the night and Amy acting strangely and they were all feeling a little on edge when they retired to the lounge after clearing up.
Buffy and Giles took one sofa, the Slayer reclining while her husband gently rubbed her feet, while Xander and Willow took the other. Amy nervously sat down in an armchair and Faith sprawled in hers with her legs over one arm. Shifting again, Amy glanced around the room.
"Uh, guys?" she began.
"What's up?" Willow asked.
"Uh, you know my father?" Amy did not give them time to reply. "Well, he's moving to Boston with his work and he wants me to go with him. I said I would. So I'll be leaving next week. Uh, is that ok?"
There was silence in the room and then Faith spoke. "This isn't about me moving in, is it? Because if you really hate the idea that much I can always leave again."
"No, it's got nothing to do with that. It's just timing. Dad asked me today and...he's all the family I've got so..."
"We understand," Willow said gently. "We can't replace your dad so you should go with him."
"Really?"
"Really."
"You won't be mad? Even after all the stuff you went through to make me human again?"
"Yup, even after that."
Amy's face split into a large grin. "You guys are the coolest! Promise you'll all write me?"
"We promise," Willow told her, glaring at Xander, Giles and Buffy. "We'll all write to you. Give us your address and we'll even email you."
Nodding happily, the blond witch said, "Great. If it weren't for Dad you'd be the best family I could ever have."
"We'll take that as the compliment it was obviously supposed to be," Giles said, straight-faced.
Somewhere deep in her mind, Amy could feel something. There was something she had been trying to remember...something important...something she had to tell them all. But try as she might it would not surface and then Willow was tugging her upstairs to discuss new wardrobes and spell-books.
***
Xander left for Anya's not long afterwards and, after five enormous yawns in a row, Faith admitted that she needed to go to bed. Although she denied it emphatically, Buffy knew she had napped before supper and she had just barely resisted the impulse to let her know that she had seen the dark Slayer asleep with Gizmo. Barely.
With Faith gone, Buffy scooted over to Giles and rested her head against his chest. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer so that she was half-sprawled across his legs.
"Tired, love?" he asked.
"No," she told him, stifling a yawn.
"Of course."
She peaked up at him. "Are you making fun of me?"
"Me? Never."
"Now I know you're lying." She snuggled closer. "I'm glad she didn't leave."
"So I gathered."
"You are ok with her staying, aren't you?"
"Faith needs our help and, if she's really serious about changing, I don't think we can send her away." He sighed sadly. "We all made mistakes last time and I think it's time we rectified them."
"My thoughts exactly."
They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the rare peace and quiet. Looking up, Buffy watched her husband. He was staring into space and his expression was almost grim; it certainly was not the look of a happy man. She admitted to herself that Giles was at heart a serious man, at times too serious, and that was part of the reason she loved him. It made the times he was playful and silly that much more precious. Like this afternoon, she mused with a small smile. If I had known he could be like that before...we probably would both have been arrested.
But over the past couple of months those serious moments, when she could see him fretting and worrying, had become more pronounced and more frequent. It was not hard to work out why. Peeking up at him again, Buffy resolved to get rid of that pensive worry-face, at least for one night.
She reached up and kissed him on the throat. Just barely brushing her lips on his skin, but it was enough to remind him of where he was.
"Love?" he asked, smiling gently.
Pulling herself up into a kneeling position Buffy kissed him, using every ounce of knowledge she had acquired over the past six months of loving him to drive him wild. His response was immediate and gratifying - he tightened his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. Hands tangled in hair, lips brushed over every expanse of exposed skin and Buffy smiled triumphantly at the passionate response she had provoked.
Her plan was going very well indeed until she yawned. It was a jaw-splitting, fist in mouth size yawn and as soon as she could close her mouth another one followed on its heels. When she could at last open her eyes and look at her husband, his breathing was under control again and he was looking at her lovingly.
"Love, whatever you're planning you're too tired for it. We can wait."
"No, I-"
He put a finger over her mouth. "It's been a busy day, you've been through two major spells in less that two days and you're pregnant. You may be the Slayer but you aren't indestructible and my child certainly isn't."
Buffy pouted and Giles leaned down to delicately nip the protruding lip before speaking again. "Rest now, love tomorrow."
Another yawn settled the matter and Giles picked her up as though she was made of nothing more substantial than sunlight. Carefully, hoping no one had decided to put anything on the stairs that he could trip on, he carried his love upstairs and into the bathroom where he gently set her down. Seeing her questioning look, he wordlessly began filling their big old bath with warm water. Buffy sat down on the stool to watch as he selected relaxing scents to pour into the steaming water and unbutton his shirt.
"Watcher-mine, I think this a great idea," she said, eyeing his bared chest appreciatively.
"Slayer-mine, there will be no funny business," he told her, pushing off his jeans.
"Nothing funny here, that's for sure," she replied, enjoying the show.
Sighing theatrically he turned off the taps when he deduced there was enough water in the tub and turned to her, trying to look stern but failing miserably because it was difficult to look stern when only clad in boxers.
"Are you going to undress or do I have to do it?"
Smirking, Buffy held out her arms. "I think I'll need a little help.
Why did you think this was a good idea? he asked himself as he undressed his wife. She certainly won't be trying to rest. You should have just...too late now. Bloody hell.
He helped her into the deliciously warm water and climbed in behind her. Buffy leaned back against his chest as she felt the water soothing away all the tenseness and stress she had been under for the past couple of days. There was no way she was turning down this ideal opportunity to test out the bathtub fantasy she had always had, but she would just rest her head on this warm, solid chest behind her for a moment.
After a few minutes silence Giles looked down to see Buffy's sweetly sleeping face. He tightened wrapped his arms around her waist and let her sleep for a while until he judged that they needed to get out or end up shrivelled like prunes.
Buffy's sleeping mind took a while to work out what was happening and then she woke up to find Giles slowly wiping a sponge over her chest.
"Mmmphgg," she managed intelligently.
"Awake, love?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
She found herself being scooted forwards slightly so he could get out of the bath and then he helped her out. A few minutes of entertaining towel drying later (and a silent promise to Willow clean up first thing tomorrow) and Buffy was wrapped in a fluffy robe and being carried into her bedroom. Giles somehow managed to pull the covers back and slide her in without dropping her and then he slid in next to her.
"I'm not tired," she warned.
"Of course you aren't."
She put her head on his shoulder and rested a hand across his stomach, pleased when she felt his arms pull her closer and wrap around her.
"I love you," he said, kissing the top of her head.
"Love...you...tooooo..." she said, drifting off to sleep.
*finis*