Three Months Later. BPOV

“Faith, don't you dare touch that turkey,” I warn her as I walk back into the kitchen. She's standing there with the lid off the roaster and she was reaching for the bird that I've been slaving over for the last eight hours. There's no way in hell I'm about to let her have some before everyone gets here. And I still have a couple things to make. I need to drain the liquid from the bottom of the turkey pot for the gravy, and I still need to cook the rolls. Willow is bringing some pies for dessert and Dawn said she'd bring the cranberry sauce but I made some stuff just in case something goes wrong with their stuff. This is the first Thanksgiving in our new house and I want it to be perfect.

“I wasn't gonna eat any B, I was just admiring your handy work. It smells great. Can't wait to have some.” She gives me her sweetest smile because she knows I know that she's lying, and puts the lid back on and wraps her arms around me. She's been extra affectionate all week. I wonder what's up. She's probably trying to butter me up so she can try to talk me into doing something I normally wouldn't do. Sounds like her M.O. to me. I lean in and kiss her. Mmm, she's tastes like cinnamon gum. That means she's been smoking. I'll let her get away with it today but tomorrow she's going to get an ear full. I don't want her smoking anymore.

We break apart when we hear Addison start to cry. Faith leaves another little kiss on my lips before she leaves the room to take care of our baby. I still can't believe it. We have kids together. We're together, as a couple. A couple that's lasted for almost an entire decade. I mean, if I went back in time right now and sat down with myself when I first met Faith, and I told the younger me that one day she'll get together with Faith, and be madly in love and have children together she....well she would probably think that I'm a demon and try to kill me. Ok, no more talk of going to the past and meeting myself. The pronouns are too confusing. I see Faith rushing towards the bathroom with Addison in her arms and she's still crying.

“What happened to her?” I yell out as I start to make the gravy. Faith just yells out that everything is fine and not to worry. She doesn't sound desperate or anything so she's not lying. Addison probably hurt herself with a toy or something. She has this block thing and one side opens up so you can take the smaller blocks out and almost every time she closes the lid she pinches her finger. That's probably what happened.

I still haven't explained about the whole `Faith turning into a cave slayer thing'. Well, that was Jake's funny little way of initiating her into the group. Apparently he's done it to everyone and if you want to be a full fledged member of the guys you have to go through it too. Faith confronted him about it after her symptoms wore off. It was fun while it lasted but I like the normal Faith better. Much more hygienic. Although the cave-slayer Faith was pretty sweet and loving and tender. I'll have to remind Faith of that later. Tell her that a Neanderthal version of her is nice enough to get me flowers for no special reason, so it probably wouldn't hurt her to do the same.

And the gravy is finished. I put it in the very large bowl and set it on the counter. There, everything is either in a bowl or on a platter. The wine glasses are on the other counter along with three bottles of wine. Not everyone likes the same thing so we got different kinds. Everything is ready to go. Now all my family has to do is show up and we can eat. Crap, I forgot the rolls. Everyone is showing up this year. Dawn and Kyle, Giles, Willow, Xander, Katie and their daughter Miranda. Oh, the doorbell rang.

“Matthew, get the door!” I hear him drop whatever he was holding, hopefully one of his toys, and he answers the door. I try to listen in on the conversation but I have to pay attention to the oven or else I'll burn them. I do that a lot, not the burning of food, well that does happen a lot with me but that's not what I was talking about. The whole not paying attention to what I'm doing. I've cut myself with many kitchen knives that way. Faith said I would be better off just letting her do all the cooking. Yeah, she didn't get any that night. She's tried teaching me but she got frustrated because I'm a kinda slow learner when it comes to the housewife stuff.

“Mom, there's a stranger at the door and he says he knows you!” Great, I wonder who it is? I hope it isn't a vampire, or demon. The last thing I need right now is an attack. I pull the rolls out of the oven since the timer just went off. I'm wiping my hands with the dishrag when I hear the person outside the door say `mom?' The little hairs on the back of my neck stick up, but in a good way.

I know that voice. I haven't heard that voice in almost eight years. The last time I heard it was a couple days before Matthew was conceived. I remember because Faith left for New York the day after he came into town and she was pissed because she thought he was going to try to get me back or something insane like that. I toss the dishrag down and rush towards the front door. Matthew is blocking the entrance like he's a bouncer or something.

“Riley?” I ask and smile really wide. Yep, it's Riley Finn. Was he always that tall? He looks at me and smiles, but I can tell he's a little...confused and curious about Matthew. I haven't talked to Riley in years so he doesn't know about Matthew or Addison. He never really believed that me and Faith would last. The two of them don't get along at all. Riley doesn't like Faith because he knows that my heart was never really his because it was Faith's. And Faith doesn't like Riley...wait, I said that wrong...Faith hates Riley because he's my ex.

“Hi Buffy,” he says as I move Matthew out of the way and give Riley a big hug. It's nice to see him again. Seriously though, was he always this frickin tall? We pull apart and he casually checks me out. “You look amazing. I swear the cut off point in the aging process for slayers is twenty-three.” We share a laugh and then he looks down to my left and then back up at me. “So, who's this?” I smile and look down at my boy. I put my arms around his shoulders and he leans into me a little bit.

“This is my son, Matthew. Matthew, this is my friend Riley.” He holds out his hand for Riley to shake, which he does. I step out of the way and open the door a little more. Where are my manners? “Would you like to come in?” He smiles and nods his head a little and steps inside and I close the door.

“I can only stay for a couple minutes. I'm just passing through. Sam's parents live in Boulder City and we're having Thanksgiving there. I talked to Giles last week and he told me you moved here so I thought I'd stop by.” Riley has been talking to Giles? Why was Riley talking to Giles? And he's still with Sam? Ok, calm down Buffy. Riley's the ex, you're with Faith now. No need to get jealous. Besides, I am so much prettier then Sam.

“So you're still with Sam?” I ask as we sit down on the living room couch. Matthew sits down next to me so I'm in the middle. Luckily this couch is big enough for five people or else I'd be a little too close to Riley. He nods his head yes. “That's great. Um, not to sound intrusive or anything but why were you talking to Giles?” Why didn't he call me? He could've called me if it was demon related. I bet that's what it was. He needed help with a demon. Ok, well it's better that he called Giles then because I've been way to busy to fly out to some jungle to help kill a demon.

“Well, ah....” He seems a little nervous, I wonder why. “The town I was in had a heavy concentration of...bad things.” He casts a glance over to Matthew. Oh, I get it. It's demon related and he isn't sure whether or not he sound say it in front of Matthew. I hold back a smile. Riley's always been the gentlemen type. And not the kind that cut out your heart, I mean a real gentleman.

“It's ok, Riley, he knows about slayers and demons and all that other stuff.” He relaxes and sits back against the couch. He sure has aged well, I'll admit that. Only to you because if Faith finds out I thought that she'd probably have a heart attack.

“Well, the town we were in had a high concentration of demons so I called Giles and asked to send a slayer since it was too overwhelming for my men.” So he's still in the army demon fighting business. And he said `his men' or he's like a colonel or something. Well, hopefully he's out of the field because I don't want him getting hurt. He's not a slayer and he isn't as young as he used to be. And now he's all serious. Great, I was hoping he wouldn't be curious about this. “So, uh, things didn't work out with Faith?” He looks over at Matthew again and then at me. I sigh and run a hand through my hair.

“Things have worked out great for me and Faith, Riley. We're still together.” I better keep talking before he asks something that'll piss me off. “Matthew is Faith's, and mine.” I can't really go into the details of it. When Matthew asked me and Faith how he was made since there is no `daddy' we just told him he's a miracle created by magic. We didn't tell him the whole `a novice witch did a spell she couldn't handle' thing. And hopefully Riley won't ask for details. “Magic. A spell actually. I can't really go into the details right now.” And now he looks a little...grim.

“So you're still with Faith.” That was a statement, not a question. He sits up a little straighter and looks over at the entertainment center. On top of it are a bunch of framed pictures, ones of me and Faith, and Faith and the kids and me and the kids...just pictures of all of us. “And she treats you right?” Why would he even ask that? I guess he's just concerned about me. He was too busy hating Faith to really see how much she's changed.

“Of course she does. Riley, Faith is a completely different person then you remember. She's been better for a really long time. I wish you could believe that.” And now he has that `is it my fault I care?' look on his face. Great, and here we go.

“I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you're being treated like you should. It's not just her, I would have asked the same question even if you were with someone else.” Good answer, very good answer. “So, where is Faith? Since she's a new person maybe we should be reintroduced.” And now with the sarcasm. And winning the `best timing of the year award' Faith walks out of the hallway, holding Addison above her head and talking baby talk to her.

“I'm gonna get your belly. I'm gonna get it.” And she lowers Addison's stomach down to her mouth and blows kinda hard so it'll tickle. And Addison cracks up laughing and kicks her feet. Then Faith pulls Addison away from her face and rests her on her hip and smiles at her. She still hasn't looked over here yet. I know it's not gonna happen but I just wish she'd not notice Riley because I know this isn't going to end well. “B who was at the-” she looks up and sees Riley sitting on the couch, staring at her. I can't see his face because he's turned around but I'm pretty sure he's stunned.

FPOV

“I didn't know you invited Beef Stick.” They stand up at the same time, and Matthew gets up and stands next to B. Was Riley always that fuckin tall? I hold my baby a little closer to me and tighten my grip just a little, maternal instinct I guess. I can't believe she invited this dick. I fuckin hate him and she knows it. And yet here he is, standing in our living room. This is just like her. I wonder if all her ex boyfriends are invited. Maybe I should call up some of my old flames, see if they can drop by.

“She didn't. I was passing through, thought I'd stop by and say hello.” Yeah right. He probably thought he'd stop by and try to steal her away. What a fuckin asshole. “I better get going.” Yeah, you better fuckin leave before I throw your ass out. He looks over at B and I can tell he wants to reach out to her but he's not for whatever reasons. Probably thinks I'll rip is arms off if he touches her, and he's right.

“It was nice seeing you again Buffy.” He looks down at my boy and gives a little nod as he talks. “It was nice meeting you, Matthew.” Then he looks over at me and all he says is: “Faith.” And he gives me this little fuckin glare that B can't see `cause his back is facing her. If I weren't holding Addy I punch him upside is big head, and knock him the fuck out. Buffy walks him to the door. He leaves and when she comes back into the living room she's glaring at me.

“You didn't have to be so rude to him, Faith. He was just dropping by to see how I'm doing. Why do you hate him so much?” I've never told her the real reason why. She thinks it's just some jealous thing because he had her when I didn't, or some shit like that. And I let her believe it because she thinks he's a good guy and who am I to try and convince her otherwise? I mean, I'm just a...how did he put it?...`a disgusting whore, who hurts everyone and causes nothing but pain and destruction'. Can you believe that shit? That motherfucker told me to leave Buffy before I hurt her. Even threatened me, said if I ever hurt her and he found out that he'd hunt me down and make me pay.

“Whatever, B.” I don't know if she does or not but I need an excuse to leave without B buggin me about it. “Addy needs to be changed.” I walk out of the room and into the nursery. I can't believe him. He better not come back here. To show up at my house like that and act like everything is peachy keen? I fuckin hate him. I lay Addy down on the changing table and she starts to whine. She hates having her diaper changed. “What was I supposed to do? Welcome him with open arms?” I reach down and grab the box of wipes and a new diaper. “The guy's a prick, like I'm gonna just sit back and keep my mouth shut after what he said.” She starts to cry as I change her diaper. She hates this about as much as I hate the Clean Marine.

I hear the doorbell and I sigh. Great, now I have to act like I'm not pissed which is only gonna cause tension between me and B and everyone is gonna pick up on it. Why did we have to have Thanksgiving dinner here? If we had gone to Xander's none of this shit would be happening. Well, there's nothin I can do about it now so I'll just put on a smile and try to be pleasant. I'll just forget about that asshole. He was just stopping by. The boy was madly in love with B, he probably isn't a hundred percent over her, but she's with me. So I got nothin to worry about. There, I found perspective, now I'm ready to join the rest of `em.

“Ok, Addy, you ready to go?” she gives me a little pout. She already has it down pat. I roll my eyes a little. This kid is like B alright. She pouts over everything. But she's a little girl, I guess a lot of `em are like that. At least she's not completely spoiled like the Barbie's kid. That little girl screams if she doesn't get her way, and her parents don't hesitate to get her what she's crying for. “Come here, baby.” She holds up her arms and I pick her up and she rests her head on my shoulder. I give her forehead a little kiss and I walk out to the living room. I don't see anyone, except for Mattie. He's sitting on the couch watching T.V. “Who was at the door?”

“Uncle Xander and aunt Katie and Miranda. Mom's showin them the backyard.” He's quiet for a few seconds and I can tell by the look on his face that he's trying to remember something. “Oh, and she wants you to bring out the little table and chairs so me and Addy and Miranda have a place to sit.” Alright, I'll go ahead and do that now. The little table is in Addy's room. It's really cool. The top is a blackboard and we have different colored chalk and we'll draw and stuff. Well, she scribbles little lines and stuff `cause she's only one but I let out my artistic side. And it has a cover so it can be used as a regular table. So after I get that set up the doorbell rings again so I answer it.

“Hey Brat, how ya doin?” I ask and give her a hug. What? I can be affectionate when I wanna be. She tries to hug me back but she has three...no...four bags in her hands so she can't. “What's with the bags?” She walks in the house and in walks Kyle, carrying more bags. Oh, B's gonna love this. That was sarcastic.

“I got some presents for the kids and for you and Buffy.” Well that's new. She's always spoiled Mattie, and she's working on Addy now, but she usually doesn't get me and B anything. Not that I'm complaining or anything, it's just unusual. They put the bags down and take off their coats and hang them on the coat rack. I pick up some of the bags. “So, where's my little niece and nephew?” She sounds really excited. She hasn't seen them in a long time. Addy's gotten bigger since the last time she was here. I walk into the living room and they follow me. “You know, Faith, I never thought I'd say this `cause Buffy's decorating skills are pretty sucky, but I really like what you guys have done with this place.”

“Uh, thanks.” I think. That was a compliment, right? “We still need to repaint some of the rooms, but other then that everything is how we want it. Well, at least in the house. We haven't even started on the backyard yet.” We have some patio furniture but that's it. We want to build a pool, B's gonna plant a garden and build a fence around it to keep Tucker out, and towards the back of the property we're going to build a training room. Well, I'm going to build a training room. Buffy says she's going to help but you know how women help right? They stand out of the way and `offer helpful suggestions'. A.k.a. they tell you how to do something and they don't even know what the fuck they're talking about.

“Aunt Dawn!” Mattie yells and jumps off the couch. Brat puts the bags down and kneels down and wraps him up in a big bear hug. She pulls back and gives him a kiss on the forehead and laughs a little when she sees the lipstick print. She wipes it off and stands up. “Did you buy us presents?” I roll my eyes. I told you gets him something almost every time she sees him. Even when we lived in Shasta Lake and she saw him at least six times a month she'd still buy him something, usually clothes.

“Yep. I got some stuff for your sister too. Where is she?” I look around the living room. Ok, where is she? She was right here when I left to answer the door. Ok Faith, just stay calm. She probably crawled into her room and dumped out her toy box again. She does that when she gets bored. So I look in her room, but she's not there. I look in the bathroom, Mattie's room, my bedroom and the hallway closet but nowhere.

Alright, panic, I'm starting to panic. Where would she go? She can't get out to the garage `cause she's not tall enough to open the door and I locked it when I came back in. Maybe she's in the kitchen. Nope, not in here either. Wait....thank God! Buffy took her outside. I walk out there and I'm greeted with smiles and a big hug from Xander.

“Hey, how ya been?” I ask and he says he's been great. I give a big hug to Miranda. God this kid has gotten so big. And her hair has gotten so long. I look over at B. Great, she's still pissed at me. I try as hard as I can not to roll my eyes. I walk up to her and give Addy a little kiss on the head. “Dawn's here, she wants to see Addy.” She doesn't say a fuckin word as she walks back in the house. Whatta bitch. Why is she acting like this? Oh well, I'm not gonna let her ruin today. It's supposed to be joyous and all that shit `cause we're seeing all of our family again.

“Jeez, what was that all about?” Xander asks and picks Miranda up when she starts to whine. He pampers the hell outta her and she's such a little daddy's girl.

“Riley dropped by this morning. I guess his in-laws live close to here so he decided to pay B a little visit.” I don't have to say any more then that. Xander knows how much I hate Riley. He doesn't know why, at least not the whole story. He knows that there were words and a little violence but I haven't told him exactly what happened. And I don't plan on it. I get where Riley was comin from, he just wants to make sure B's in good hands, but he didn't have to say those things about me. He didn't have to remind me about my past.....fuck him. I'm not gonna let him ruin today for me. No more thinking about Riley. It ends right now.

“Come back inside guys, everyone is starting to show up.” I hear Buffy yell through the kitchen window. We walk into the house and I see a smiling Giles standing next to the counter, holding a bottle of wine. He looks over at me and his smile gets a little...I don't know...warmer? I give him a big hug that he returns. Yep, through the years Giles has become like a dad to me. I can't help but think that maybe if we had been like this in Sunnydale then things would've been different.

“I love what you've done with the place,” he says as we break apart I nod a little thank you and help get the kids sat down in their spots around the little table and I make up their plates. After their all sitting down and eating I take my place at the table. I'm at the head of the table starting from my right is Katie, Xander and Willow. Buffy is at the other end. Starting from my left is Kyle, Dawn and Giles. We let Giles carve the turkey and everyone starts talking and wine is poured and the atmosphere is pretty nice. It's calmin me down a little.

I catch B's eyes and I give her a small smile, a little sheepish one, and she knows what I mean. I'm sayin sorry for how I acted `cause it was over dramatic. Buffy wants me, I shouldn't worry about Riley. He's just a footnote in history. She was never really into the relationship in the first place. He left because she didn't love him, she was always reserved. I think she just liked the idea of having a `normal' boyfriend and Riley was there to play the part. Besides he left her like...eleven years ago. I got nothin to worry about.

Addy starts to whine, and cry a little. She's been good for the last hour or so, which is the longest it's taken her to eat anything. I think she's been too busy talking to Miranda in their little baby language. I start to stand up but Buffy's a little quicker. She tells me to sit and that she'll handle it but she's walkin down the hall. Where the hell is she going? She comes back out carrying the stroller and the diaper bag. Oh, so that's what she's doin.

“She's just getting tired. I'll take her for a little walk, she falls asleep faster,” she explains to the table. She picks up our girl and puts her in the stroller and carefully fastens the straps so she doesn't pinch her skin. She walks over to me and gives me a little kiss on the lips. “I won't be long. I love you.” I smile and tell her I love her and she walks out the door. We discovered only two days ago that all it takes is a little stroll and Addy is out like a light. I found it out when I was carrying her and we walked to the end of the block to check the mail. I take another bite of turkey and listen to Dawn go on and on about her new promotion. Ok, so I'm pretending to listen. I just can't shake this weird feeling that I'm starting to get, and I really want Buffy to come back.

Chapter 22: Mysterious Appearances (part 2)

Sunnydale 2000. BPOV

We did it, I still can’t believe we actually defeated Adam. And I’m so glad we did. Things were getting to be too stressed around here. So we took a break from monster fighting and enjoyed some serious down time. We’ve been hanging out a lot more then we had been. Willow properly introduced us to Tara, not just as her friend but as her girlfriend. It took me and Xander a little while to get used to the idea of the two of them together but now we’re happy for them.

But the little vacation is over. At least for me anyways. I told the guys to take some extra time off because they deserve it and I need to start patrolling again before something really bad happens. So here I am walking through the park. I already hit a couple of cemeteries and after this I’m going to scope out two more before I go home. Normally I would be home by now or at Riley’s working off some post-slaying tension but there’s just something about tonight that feels off. I can’t really explain it, it’s like…I know something bit is going to happen I just don’t know what. And it’s driving me a little crazy.

Thank God there’s a vampire up ahead. All this negative energy is starting to get to me. I pass his little hiding place in the bushes and wait for him to jump me. And in five…four…three…two…one. I pivot around and punch him in the face. He yells out in pain and staggers backward.

“It’s not nice sneaking up on someone smaller then you.” Ok, that was pretty bad I know. But I had to say something. He lunges at me and I use his momentum to flip him on his back. God, this is great. My adrenaline is pumping, my heart’s beating a million miles a minute and every time I hit the vamp it sends little tingles all over my body. I’ll never admit it to anyone but Faith was right, slaying does get me pumped up.

“Just die already, slayer.” He jumps up and lunges at me again. But I’m ready for him. I kick him in the stomach but he’s barley fazed. Before I can back away from him he backhands me in the face and knees me in the gut. Before I can recover or fight back he kicks me in the face and I fall backwards. Dammit, I dropped my stake! I can get it. It’s only a couple feet away. I crawl towards it and the vamp stomps on my back, making me scream in pain. That’s gonna take a couple days to heal.

“Looks like I win,” he says as he rolls me over onto my back and pins me down. He’s already vamped out and I’m struggling against him but every move I make sends electric shocks of pain to my back. I look into his bright yellow eyes and he smiles a cold smirk. “I wonder if you’ll taste as sweet as you smell.” Gross, I hate it when they say stuff like that. I keep trying to get him off me but he’s a lot stronger then me and my back hurts so bad.

I can feel his unneeded breath on my neck. I shiver when I feel him lick my skin. Fucking gross! He laughs a little and I yelp in pain when he sinks his teeth into me. He takes a big gulp and I feel him shudder. I can feel him taking unneeded breaths as he drinks more of my blood. I can feel his erection against me as his whole body begins to move around. I’m trying to fight back up I’m getting a little light headed.

I can hear something. Like…a buzzing sound, like when there’s a lot of electricity in the air after a lightening storm. I see a bright light appear about thirty feet away from me, over to my right by the park bench. It’s getting bigger and it’s taking the shape of a door. There’s a loud clap, like thunder and something falls out of the door, or portal or whatever it is. The vampire pulls his fangs out of me and looks over at the sight before us. I ignore the pain in my back as I bring my legs up and kick him off me with all my strength. He flies a few feet back and lands on his ass. I jump up and grab my stake and drive it through his heart before he can even get up.

I put my stake in my jacket pocket and slowly walk towards the big, bright light. I can’t tell what’s sitting in front of it. The light is so bright that all I can see is an outline. And I can hear a noise. A high-pitched sound and I think it’s coming from the thing the light spit out. Then there’s another loud clap and the light disappears. It takes my eyes a couple minutes to adjust to the darkness and for the little annoying spots to go away. Now that the portalmajig is gone I can clearly hear the noise. It sounds like crying.

I rush over to it and I see a baby. Not a little infant, it looks about a year old, maybe, I’m not too sure. And it’s sitting in a stroller, one of those umbrella strollers. And now that my eyes are fully adjusted I can tell the baby is a girl. Unless the parents like dressing their boy up in a lot of pink. I kneel down next to her and take a closer look. She doesn’t look hurt, at least I can’t see any wounds. Maybe on her back? I unhook the straps and carefully pull her forward by her arms. I run my hand up and down her back but I don’t feel anything out of the ordinary.

Ok, I need to go see Giles. I’m pretty sure a baby popping out of a bright portally thing is not an everyday occurrence. Unless childbirth is just a story parents made up to scare their children into not having sex. Getting back to the matter at hand. She’s still crying, not as loud as before but she hasn’t stopped. We need to get out of here before every vampire in Sunnydale decides they want a late night snack. I sit her back and re-hook the straps and walk around behind the stroller. There’s a diaper bag, the strap is wrapped tightly around the handles of the stroller. So was this planned? Did someone or something magically abandon their baby? Well, I won’t know until I find out where she came from, and I won’t know that until I get the scoobies on the case.

I finally get to Giles’ house. I stopped along the way to try and calm the baby down. She was crying so hard that she was starting to cough. I thought she was going to fight against me. I mean, I thought most babies this age have a fear of strangers especially when their parents aren’t around, that’s what we learned in home ec. But she came right to me and wrapped her little arms around my neck and cried herself to sleep on my shoulder. And she has a very strong grip. If I weren’t the slayer she’d probably be choking me to death right now. Anyway, I start pounding on the door a little louder then I normally would. I forgot that everyone else in Sunnydale is asleep. I see some lights turn on and hear a very annoyed Giles.

“Yes? What? What possibly couldn’t wait until morning? You inconsiderate-” he stops when he opens the door and sees me standing here. Shock, confusion, surprise, he is all these things. I’m going to kill Xander for talking like that little green guy from Star Wars and getting it stuck in my head. Ok, I’ve gotten side tracked. Fine out where baby came from now, kill Xander later. “Uh, come in,” he says and moves out of the way. I walk into his house and park the stroller off to the side so it’s out of the way. “Did a vampire or demon, ah, kill whoever was watching her?” I probably should explain now.

“No, at least I don’t think so,” I whisper but loud enough for him to hear me. “I was fighting a vampire and then this crackling sound, like electricity, came and then there was, like, a clap of thunder or something and this portally lookin thing came outta nowhere and the stroller rolled out of it. I staked the vamp and after a minute or two the portal disappeared.” I sit down on the couch and gently rub the girl’s back when she starts to whine a little in her sleep.

“What did the portal look like?” he asks as he walks over to a bookshelf and starts pulling some off and piling them up on a table.

“Well, at first it was a bright ball of light. White light, with occasional sparks of blue. And then it turned into a doorway or something and then the baby came out.” I carefully lay her down on the cushion next to me and cover her up with the blanket that was on the back of the couch. She must’ve lived in a warm place or something because all she’s wearing is a thin, light pink dress that reaches her knees. It has little yellow flowers on it and spaghetti straps. Her shoes are pink with red sandals that have a Velcro strap so they won’t fall off her feet. Her dark brown hair is put back in a ponytail with a light pink hair tie. The stroller is also a light pink, along with the diaper bag. Ok, whoever the parents are they really need to learn some new colors.

“And when did all of this happen?” I look over at the clock on the wall. It’s two-thirty in the morning already. Damn, I thought it was earlier then that.

“I’m not sure. Half an hour ago, maybe a little longer. I would’ve been here sooner but I had to stop and calm her down. She was starting to choke she was crying so hard.” There’s something different about her that I can’t put my finger on. Whenever I touch her I get these little tingles on the back of my neck. Almost like I did with Faith, only these are stronger. There’s no way she can be a slayer though. For one thing I’m still alive and Angel would have called me if Faith died. For another thing, only teenage girls are called so it’s completely impossible that this little baby is a slayer.

“And where did all of this take place?” If Giles could be anymore British he’d still be wearing tweed. I sigh and fight back a yawn. Now that my adrenaline is calming down I can feel the full effects of that last fight, and it hurts.

“At the park, by one of the benches. I can take you there. I didn’t stick around very long. I needed to get her someplace safe before the vampires heard her.” I’m not sure why but I have this weird impulse to run the back of my fingers over her chubby little cheek. I also have this strong desire to protect her. And not just protect her from like I would any other innocent, but from everything that could hurt her. I have this feeling like I have to keep her safe, and not only that but I want to.

“Not tonight, but in the morning I’ll have Willow and Tara take a look. Although I think our first priority should be figuring out what she is.” For some reason I have the urge to hit him for saying that but I fight it. And I really don’t like what he said or the way he said it or the way he looked at her when he said it. Almost like he suspects her of doing something really bad.

“What do you mean ‘figure out what she is’? She’s a baby, Giles. An innocent. We have to find out where she came from. Maybe her parents are witches and they sent her here to stop a demon from killing her.” I don’t know hwy I’m getting so mad. I’m probably just really tired only I haven’t realized it yet. He puts down the book he was flipping through and sits down in the chair across from me.

“That’s a possibility. However, she could be a demon sent here from a demon dimension to be found and raised by humans and when she’s old enough she’ll try to destroy the world.” I want to protest but he keeps talking. “I’m not saying you’re wrong and I’m right. She could very well be a human child, but we need to stay open minded to all possibilities until we find out for sure.” He does have a point. Even though he’s completely wrong. “Do you have a place for her to sleep tonight?” He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes.

“Oh yeah. I’ll just go home and pull out the extra crib we keep in the basement for all of the babies that come here through portals.” He gives me this look like ‘it’s too early for your sarcasm’. Or however Giles would say it. “No I don’t. I have no idea what to do. There’s a diaper bag on the stroller but I haven’t gone through it yet. So I don’t know if she has any milk or diapers or extra clothes or anything.” I really hope this baby wasn’t being breastfed before she came here. A bottle and milk I can buy at the store but breast milk? I really don’t think the supermarket is going to have a very wide selection.

I get up and take the diaper bag off the stroller and sit back down on the couch. I unzip it and start to pull everything out. Ok, we got some pacifiers, a bottle, a container of formula, six diapers, a box of wipes, a stuffed dog that looks like it’s seen better days. A little yellow dress with light purples flowers, and a baby book. Well, not a baby book. ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ by Dr. Seuss. I open it up and on the inside of the cover the manufacturer put ‘This book belongs to:’ and in red ink someone wrote ‘Addison’. And that handwriting looks vaguely familiar. I put everything back and zip the diaper bag up.

“I’ll take her home. I’ll get all of the extra pillows and make a barricade or something so she won’t roll off my bed. I’ll just sleep on the floor or something. I’ll bring her back tomorrow, around nine, I guess. Mom will know what to do. She raised me and I turned out just fine.” He smiles a little and I’m too tired to care whether or not I should be offended by his lack of words. I pick the baby up and carefully put her in the stroller and hook the straps together. I have no idea how to tie the diaper bag around the handles like it was before so I’ll just carry that over my shoulder. I open the front door and I’m about to leave when I hear Giles speak.

“Buffy, do be careful. She may look innocent and helpless but until we determine whether or not she’s dangerous you should treat her as if she is.” I don’t say anything as I walk out onto the porch and shut the door. She isn’t dangerous. She is innocent and helpless and for some reason I feel like she’s mine.

(The next morning)

So after I got home we had a couple of problems. Most of them involved her diaper that had so much pee in it, it felt like it weighed five pounds. It took me almost twenty minutes to figure out how to put the new diaper on her. I swear they should come with instructions like ‘Changing a Baby’s Diaper for Dummies’ or something. After I got her diaper changed I made up my bed for her but when I laid down on the floor she started whining. I didn’t want her to wake up my mom so I laid down in the bed at least a foot away from her. I’m not sure what the rules are about sleeping in the same bed with a baby you don’t know. But she crawled over to me and press her body against mine and went back to sleep. I had a little trouble falling asleep because I was afraid of rolling over and squishing her but exhaustion eventually won out.

I just woke up a couple minutes ago. I haven’t moved or anything yet because she’s awake too and she’s quietly jabbering to herself and running her fingers along the palm of my hand. Everything about her is so…tiny. She probably weighs less then fifteen pounds. And she’s so adorable, like a little angel or something. I kinda want to know what her parents look like. To see if she looks more like her mom or dad. I don’t know why, I just wanna know. She rolls over and looks up at me and smiles when she sees I’m awake. I can’t help but smile back.

“Good morning little girl. Did you sleep alright?” I don’t expect her to reply or anything. In home ec we learned that you’re supposed to talk to them like they can understand you, that later on it’ll help with language development. She yawns really wide and I can see that she has almost all of her teeth. She still needs three or four more before she has a full set. “That was a big ol’ yawn. Maybe you need some more sleep.” She snuggles up to me and I think I’m gonna die. This is the best feeling in the entire world. Why am I feeling this way? I hear a knock on my bedroom door.

“Buffy, Willow and Tara are downstairs. Willow said Mr. Giles called them and said you needed to see them. And breakfast is almost ready.” I look over at the clock. It’s almost eight-thirty. I guess I’ll be a little late showing up at Giles’.

“I’ll be down in a minute, Mom.” I hear her walk away. I sigh a little. I really don’t want to get up. “Well, Addison are you hungry?” She looks up at me and I smile a little. She’s just too cute. “I guess that’s your name after all.” I wasn’t too sure, and I’m still not. She could have an older sister named Addison and the book could be a hand-me-down. I sit up and stretch out my arms. My back still hurts a little but nothing like it would if I actually slept on the floor.

I change her diaper just in case she peed again. Although I don’t see how she could. I didn’t give her anything to drink and I’m sure her bladder is empty judging by the weight of the one last night. It only takes me ten minutes to change her diaper this time, which is a big improvement. It would have been less but she wouldn’t hold still. I take out the hair tie and brush her hair with a little difficulty because she wants to do it herself. I take her out of the pink dress and put her in the yellow one. I’ll have to do some laundry in case it takes longer then a day to figure out where she came from and who or what her parents are. I’ll have to go to the store and get some more diapers. There’s only four left. After she’s ready I get dressed and brush my hair. I pick her up and rest her on my hip. Alright, here does nothin.

I walk downstairs and into the foyer. I hear Willow talking to my mom. I guess Giles told them about the baby because Willow is retelling it to my mom. I was kind of hoping to explain it first but I know I’ll have to go over all the details anyway. I take a deep breath (why am I so nervous?) and I walk into the kitchen. I see my mom on one side of the breakfast bar, Willow and Tara on the other. Mom looks over at me and smiles, which causes Willow to stop talking and she turns around in her seat. Tara does too a couple seconds later. Why are they just staring at me?

“Oh my God!” Willow squeals and jumps up from her seat. She rushes over to me and starts fussing over the baby. Would a ‘good morning, Buffy’ kill her? “She’s just the cutest little thing ever. Yes you are. I could just eat you up. Yes I could.” The baby hides her face in my neck and Willow looks like she’s about to panic. “Oh no. I didn’t scare her, did I? ‘Cause sometimes I come on too strong.” I smile and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“She’s still a little tired. Give her a while and I’m sure she’ll be glowing from all the compliments she’s going to get.” She smiles a little ‘thank you’ smile and sits back down on the stool and holds Tara’s hand. Those two are just so damn cute together, I don’t know why I even freaked out in the first place. Ok so maybe it was the little voice in the back of my mind saying ‘Willow’s gay and she’s seen you naked before she was probably checking you out’ but I just reminded myself that this is Willow, she wouldn’t do something like that.

“So, Buffy, where did you find her?” Mom asks as she opens the fridge and pulls out the carton of eggs. I thought she said ‘breakfast is almost ready’ not ‘I’m almost ready to make breakfast’? Don’t you hate it when parents lure their children out of bed with the promise of food only there to be none at all? Me too. “Do you girls want something to eat?” she asks Willow and Tara. Willow says a very enthused ‘yes please’ and Tara says a very shy ‘only if you don’t mind’. “I don’t mind at all dear. I might as well make an extra large amount. Xander and Anya are on their way over and that boy never says no to my cooking.” We all smile and Willow perks up because she has something to say.

“Yeah, he can eat almost as much as Buffy.” Hey! Is she saying I eat like a pig or some other animals with bad eating habits? I glare at her a little and she gets a little sheepish. “So, Buffy, you were saying where you found the baby.” I sit down across from her and sit the baby in my lap.

“Actually I wasn’t but your change of subject is very wise.” I sound a little threatening but I’m smiling so she knows I’m just teasing. I hear the crackling of eggs being poured into the hot skillet.

“Now, Buffy, leave Willow alone. It’s not her fault you eat almost as much as your whole body weight in one day.” And now my own mother is picking on me! I can’t believe this. I look over at Willow and she’s trying not to smile and failing horribly. I glare at her a little.

“Well, it’s a g-good thing you don’t w-weigh very much or you’d eat your m-mother out of h-house and h-home,” Tara says and then blushes and hides her face behind her hair. Ya know, I can see why Willow fell for Tara. She’s pretty, nice, has killer blue eyes, and she says you’re not fat.

“Thank you Tara. It’s nice to see someone is keep my fragile ego in mind instead of bruising it.” I lance over at Willow and she rolls her eyes. I fidget around a little because my butt’s starting to fall asleep. Did we have to buy wooden stools? “Anyway, I was in the park, got jumped by a vampire and we were fighting to the death when there’s this, like, sizzling sound. Like the sound in the air right after a big lightening storm?” They nod their heads. Good, they know what I’m talking about. “Then there’s this loud noise, like a clap of thunder or something, and this white ball of light came outta nowhere and it got bigger and bigger and then turned into the shape of a door. Then the stroller rolled out of it. I staked the vamp, and then there was another clap of thunder and the light went away.” They nod their heads when I finish talking.

“Do you know what the baby’s name is?” Mom asks as she pours the scrabbled eggs into a big bowl and starts to make more. I look down at the baby and see that she’s looking over at Tara. I look up at Tara and she’s making goofy faces at the baby and then the baby hides her face in my neck and sits there for a few seconds before looking at Tara again. Aw, they’re playing peek-a-boo. Tara notices me watching and blushes at being caught.

“Um, no, not for sure. I found a book in the diaper bag that has the name ‘Addison’ in it but I’m not sure if that’s her name or not. She could have an older sister or something.” My mom pours the second batch of eggs into the bowl and then puts them in the microwave to keep them warm. Then she gets some bacon out of the fridge and puts it in the broiler.

“Well, we’ll just have to test it out,” she says and stands next to me. She looks at the little girl, who has a handful of my hair and is staring at it like it’s the most interesting thing in the world, and she smiles. “Addison,” she says in a sing-song voice and the baby looks up at her.”

“Addison,” Willow says and she whips her head around to look at Willow. Well it’s good that we know her name. Calling her ‘the baby’ was getting a little demeaning. She’s a person too ya know. “Buffy, when Giles called he said he found a spell that would tell us what she is.” Not this again. She’s an innocent, perfectly harmless and in need of protecting.

“What do you mean, Willow?” Mom asks.” She looks like a normal baby girl.” At least someone is on my side. Willow gets that serious look on her face like she always does right before she explains something.

“Yeah, she does but if what Buffy says is true and she really did come out of some type of portal then she could’ve come from anywhere, including one of the thousands of demon dimensions out there. She could even be, like, a human demon hybrid or something.” Ok, she’s really starting to make me mad. “The spell that Giles found is pretty simple. It won’t take long.” She and Tara exchange a worried glance.

“But?” I ask and shift around in my seat. I can tell by the looks on their faces that I’m probably not going to like this.

“But it requires a couple drops of the subject’s blood.” They were right, I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all.

“Subject, meaning her?” I point to Addison. She grabs my finger and starts to suck on it. Willow nods her head yes and makes an ‘ew’ face because I haven’t pulled my finger away yet. Not that I’m not trying but she has a very strong grip and I don’t want to hurt my finger pulling it out of her mouth. “As long as it’s only a couple. I mean, a little prick to the finger with a needle can’t hurt too bad. Can it?”

(Later that afternoon)

“Willow, hold her arm still!” Giles yells over the loud screaming. Everything we need for the spell is all ready. The only thing we still have to get is Addison’s blood. She was fine, holding still, laughing at the goofy look on Xander’s face, but as soon as Giles poked her little fingertip with the needle she started freaking out. Willow is trying to get a hold of her arm but Addison is a lot stronger then she looks.

“I’m trying, I’m trying. This kid has super-strength or something. Buffy help me.” I refused to take any part of the spell. I wasn’t going to help them hurt a little baby and watching her scream and cry like this is more then I can take. I walk over to her and she holds her arms out for me to pick her up. I do and when she’s crying into my neck I hold onto her little wrist and hold her hand over the mortar and Willow gently squeezes out three or four drops. She lets go and I take Addison into Giles’ bathroom. I close the toilet lid and sit her down on top of it. She’s still crying really hard.

“I know, baby, I know. I won’t let them do that again, I promise.” And I’m not going to. If the spell doesn’t work that’s just too bad because I’m not going to let them hurt an innocent baby again. She’ll probably be traumatized after this or something. I get a tiny band-aid out of the medicine cabinet and kneel down in front of her. She’s not crying as loud as before but she’s still sobbing. I hold onto her hand to look at the hurt finger and...the puncture is already starting to heal. Ok, so maybe she’s not the text book definition of ‘normal’ after all. I put the band-aid on her and take her back into the living room. She’s clinging onto me like her life depends on it and if the spell gives us a bad answer it might.

“Did it work?” I ask as I walk closer to them. Xander and Anya are standing a few feet away from the other three. Willow is hovering over the mortar so Tara and Giles can’t get a good look. Ok, what’s so interesting? Please don’t be a demon. You’re too cute to be evil.

“This isn’t right. It-it can’t be right. Giles, tell me this isn’t right,” Willow says, she sounds very desperate for the answer. “We’ll just do it again. Something must’ve messed up. Buffy, bring her back over here, I’ll get a new needle.” Before I can tell her ‘no fucking way’ the front door slams open. It startles us all and we jump a little and turn to see who it is. Shock, denial, anger, surprise, hatred and a cold shiver run through me all at the same time. I’m lost for words, luckily Willow and Xander know exactly what I’m thinking.

“Faith?!”

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