"Thanks again, Mom", Buffy said, early on the day of the move. She had just gone to Giles' house to borrow his car, and stopped by her mother's house to make sure she was ready for this. Buffy wanted to make sure that her mother wasn't having any second thoughts about asking her and Willow to live with her.

Joyce had reassured her daughter that she was quite willing and ready to have Willow and Buffy living with her, and that she looked forward to the coming of her grandchild.

"What do you think, Buffy? I could make over the upstairs study into a nursery. I could put my desk downstairs. I'd have to paint the walls in here, or better yet put up wallpaper, and then we could put the crib over there by that wall, and the changing table near the closet...or do you think Willow will want the crib in with you two?" Joyce had said, as she fluttered around her study, a dreamy look on her face as she imagined how the room might look in a short period of time.

Buffy couldn't get over how excited her mother was, she was almost as excited as she and Willow were, and Buffy was hard pressed to say that her mother was more excited about the coming of the baby than she herself was. "I think that we should decide that later, when we're all here and Will can have some say in it", Buffy had replied, not wanting to hurt her mother's feelings, but not wanting to leave Willow out of the decision either.

Joyce had looked at her daughter, realization coming into her eyes. "Of course. We have plenty of time to decide where we'll put the baby when she comes."

Buffy had walked over to her mother, her blue eyes staring intently into her mother's. "Are you absolutely sure that you want us here?" Buffy had asked, wanting to be absolutely, positively sure she was doing the best thing for her family.

"I am absolutely, positively sure. Now, go get Willow and bring her home", Joyce had said, giving her daughter a tight hug.

"Thanks, Mom", Buffy whispered, feeling tears well up in her eyes at her mother's unwavering acceptance.

Joyce stepped back, looked her daughter in the face and nodded. Ever since Joyce had learned of Buffy's role as the Slayer, she had worried constantly about her daughter. Now, through another trick or gift of fate (depending on how you looked at it), Buffy had been graced with the one thing that Joyce was sure would make Buffy that much more determined to stay alive...a family. Buffy nodded as well, then left to bring her heart and soul home.

"Be careful with that, Xander", Buffy called after her friend, who was heading for the dormitory stairs with a couple of boxes piled high in his arms.

"Be careful with that, Xander", he muttered, sarcastically, under his breath. "I can barely see over this stuff, but don't worry about me."

Buffy stood in a dorm room full of packing boxes. They had piled their stuff in boxes, stuffing them in Giles' small car and taking it over to the house in stages. They had already cleared out most of Willow's stuff, and it was probably being put away right now in Buffy's closet by her mother. While Willow's side of the room looked mostly neat as a pin, Buffy's side was crammed with boxes, clothes, CD's and stuffed animals that hadn't been put in boxes yet.

Willow was busy taking her pictures down off of the wall, while Buffy packed the rest of her stuff into the remaining boxes. "I can't believe how much stuff I have", Buffy commented, shaking her head as she looked around the packed dorm room. She rested her hands on her hips as she surveyed the room. "I have more stuff now than when I moved in. How can that be?" Buffy asked, rhetorically, not really expecting an answer.

Willow shot her lover an amused glance, as she kept busy rolling her posters into organized bundles. "It's simple really. You love to shop. The more you buy, the more you have", Willow said, grinning impishly at her lover.

"Very funny." Buffy grinned, shaking her head at her lover. Willow was in a great mood. It surprised Buffy just how ebullient her lover really was. Buffy expected that Willow would be feeling some trepidation about living in Joyce's house, but maybe this was what the red head needed. Ever since the stink that had gone down with her parent's, Willow had missed having a parental figure around to talk to...especially a maternal parental figure.

Buffy thought it was natural that during this time Willow would want to be around somebody that had gone through the same thing before. Willow must have a lot of questions that only another mother could answer. Buffy hoped that their interaction would be meaningful, for both of them.

"You almost done over there?" Willow asked, bringing Buffy out of her thoughts, as she finished putting her posters into a duffel bag.

"Not even close", Buffy muttered, rolling exasperated eyes at the mess that was filling their dorm room.

Taking pity on her frazzled lover, Willow crawled into the closet and started to throw the myriad assortment of shoes and boots into one of the boxes.

A short while later, the sound of shoes hitting a box halted and total silence reigned from the closet Willow had been chucking shoes out of earlier. "Buffy? What is this?" Willow asked from inside the closet.

Buffy looked inside the closet but couldn't see anything past the shapely form Willow was unwittingly displaying. She couldn't help but be captivated by the sight of her lover dressed in a blue shirt and white skirt kneeling in the closet with her backside facing the Slayer. "What's what?" Buffy asked, clueless.

"This?!" Willow said, her voice tight with anger as she held up a Playboy^tm magazine.

Buffy flushed with embarrassment, caught red handed. "Umm, would you believe it's Xander's?" Buffy tried.

Willow shot her lover a look that said, 'You expect me to believe that?' "You want to try that again?" Willow asked sweetly, past the daggers in her green eyes.

Buffy shifted uncomfortably, fighting her own embarrassment. "Okay, it's mine", Buffy finally admitted, wincing at the look of hurt that flashed over her lover's face before Willow tossed the magazine at her, then turned her back on her and continued to throw shoes into boxes, albeit with more anger than she did before.

Buffy sighed, looking at the cover for a second before she threw the magazine into the trash. She crept across the floor to the closet, wincing every time one of her shoes took a beating against the side of a box.

"Will?" Buffy called out to her lover hesitantly, placing a cautious hand on the back of her thigh. She winced as she felt her lover flinch, and pulled her hand away. "Willow...why are you so upset?!" Buffy finally asked, running a hand through her blond hair in frustration. She knew that Playboy wasn't exactly high on the best new literature list, but it wasn't as if she was the only person to ever pick up a copy.

Willow turned a tear stained face on her lover, striking directly into her heart with tearful verdant eyes. "Am I already that repulsive to you that you need to buy one of those to get your thrills?" she asked, hurt and anger in her voice.

"What?! No!" Buffy denied vehemently, shocked that her lover could think that about her or have that bad a feeling about her own attractiveness. "How could you think that?"

Willow just shrugged, refusing to look at the pleading blue eyes of her lover.

Buffy sighed, kicking herself for keeping the thing around. It wasn't as if she had even looked at it since she and Willow had been together, in fact, she had kind of forgot it was even in here. She had been so busy and so happy with her new love, that the magazine she had tucked into the bottom of her closet so that Willow would never see it, had completely slipped her mind. Now, Willow had found it, and Buffy had some tough explaining to do.

"I don't suppose you happened to notice the date on the magazine, did you?" Buffy asked quietly, her blue eyes staring intently on the cracks in the wood of the closet floor.

Willow shook her head. "Why? Is there something special about it?" Willow asked, her voice still tight from the shed tears.

"I bought that magazine four months ago, Will. I don't even know why I did it. Except you were still with Oz, and my feelings for you were threatening to escape my control every day. I wanted so much to be able to tell you how I felt. But you were so happy with Oz, that I didn't want to ruin our friendship. So, one day I was in a book store getting a book for my English lit class and I saw it in the magazine rack. I don't even know why I bought it...I guess I figured if I couldn't have you, I could at least pretend", Buffy said, her attention being completely thrown at the floor beneath her. She couldn't bear to look into Willow's green eyes and see the condemnation she was sure Willow would feel for her.

Feeling a hand on her leg, Buffy lifted her tear heavy eyes to look into Willow's unbelievably understanding ones. "Oh Will, none of those women are half as beautiful as you are to me. They couldn't even hold a candle to you." Willow pulled her into a hug, and Buffy just held onto her for countless moments, not wanting to let go of the precious gift she had been graced with.

"Hey. What's with the hug fest? Let's go", Xander said, after he had come into the room and spotted the two women hugging. "These boxes aren't going to pack themselves you know."

Buffy and Willow sent him the look of shame, and he turned his head spotting the Playboy magazine on top of the trash can. "Hey...look...Playboy. If you guys are just going to throw this out, can I have it?" Xander asked, picking up the magazine and flicking threw it.

"No...I don't want it Xander. You can have it", Buffy said, leaning her forehead against Willow's. Willow smiled lovingly at her and kissed her.

"Come on. Let's finish this up so we can get out of here and go home", Buffy suggested, nuzzling Willow's cheek one more time before she stood up and told a very distracted Xander to get back to work.

"Well, that's the last of it", Buffy said, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. Xander, Buffy and Willow stood quietly for a moment in the empty dorm room. It looked strange to Buffy's eyes. The beds barren of sheets, and the room barren of any sign of life. It was hard to believe so much had happened in this small dorm room. This was the place she and Willow had first made love. They had lain on that small twin bed together watching the sunlight move across the floor when they had learned of Willow's pregnancy. The room held a lot of memories that Buffy would cherish forever. Taking Willow's hand in hers, she gently rubbed the skin on the back of her hand with a callused thumb, feeling the connection between them. Willow squeezed her hand gently in understanding.

"Yup. The end of an era", Xander intoned melodramatically. Buffy and Willow exchanged amused glances and each took one of Xander's arms, leading him from the room.

When they reached the house, Joyce welcomed them both with a hug. "Hey...I bet you're both hungry. Why don't you let me fix you something to eat, while you finish up upstairs", Joyce suggested, seeing how tired they both looked.

"That sounds great, Mom. Thanks", Buffy said, smiling at her mother gratefully.

"Yeah, thanks Mrs. Summers", Willow said, just as Xander came in with the last two boxes.

"Okay, where do you want 'em?" Xander grunted, feeling like his back was about to break under the strain.

Buffy and Willow exchanged quick, amused glances. "Uh, We'll take them from here Xander, thanks. Why don't you relax?" Buffy and Willow each took a box from their tired friend, and watched in amusement as he sank into the recliner.

"Oh my god. I never knew how many stairs there were in that place", Xander grumbled, feeling completely exhausted.

"You know. You could have taken the elevator", Willow pointed out, absentmindedly, watching as Xander's mouth dropped open and he kicked himself in realization.

"You mean...I could have been...taking the elevator...all those trips?" Xander threw his head back against the back of the recliner in frustration. "Great. Why didn't you two tell me?"

Buffy smirked at her friend's tired face. "I would have thought you'd have noticed the little box that goes up and down, Xander."

Xander groaned, covering his face with his hands. "I'll bring you some iced tea, Xander", Joyce said, taking pity on him. "Thanks", he croaked, waving at her. Joyce smiled, shaking her head at the two silently chuckling women, and went back into the kitchen.

"You stay right here and rest, Xander", Willow said, gently patting him on the shoulder as she hefted her box and followed Buffy up the stairs.

The two women entered Buffy's room and stopped short at the sight of boxes scattered around the room.

"Didn't we just do this?" Buffy asked, looking at the room in shock.

"That was packing", Willow corrected her lover. "This is unpacking. Looks like we have our work cut out for us." She sighed, looking at the cluttered room. They could see where Joyce had started unpacking. Clothes lay in bunches on Buffy's bed, scattered clothes hangers laying next to them.

Buffy blew out an exhausted breath, and gave her lover a wry look. "Who knew moving would be this much work?" she asked, taking in the mess that sort of resembled her room.

Willow gave her lover an encouraging smile. "Come on. The sooner we get started, the sooner we'll be finished."

The two of them started in on emptying boxes and finding places to put all of their stuff.

Finally, they got most of the room in order, and Willow could finally see Buffy's bed, it having been cleared of the piles of clothes that were covering it before. Glancing a look at her lover, Willow could see how worn out and tired she was and it gave her an idea of what she'd like to do for the next few minutes. "Look at what I see", Willow said, her voice light and chipper as she slid onto Buffy's Queen size bed.

"What?" Buffy inquired, looking over at Willow, an amused look starting to fill her eyes as she noticed just how Willow was lying. Willow was laying on her side, her head resting comfortably on one hand, as her green eyes sent a 'come hither' look to her lover.

"It's a Buffy bed. A big, bouncy, beautiful, bountiful Buffy bed." Willow delivered her a quirky grin, and Buffy was captured in her spider web spell. Powerless to resist the charm of her lover, Buffy moved enchanted over to the side of the bed, feeling her exhaustion magically disappear as she noticed the look of absolute love and devotion in Willow's sea green eyes. She crawled onto the bed beside her, mimicking her position as she lay down beside her.

"It certainly is bigger than the beds in the dorm room", Buffy agreed, running a finger up and down Willow's shoulder. She watched in delight as Willow shivered at the sensation, a smile lighting up her face.

"Yeah", Willow agreed, pausing as if in thought. "You think we should take advantage of all this space?" Willow asked huskily as she let her eyes devour the sight that was beside her. A warm grin lit up Buffy's face and it was all the answer Willow needed as she moved closer and delivered a quick, fleeting kiss to her lover's lips. "Well?" Willow asked, quirking a red eyebrow.

"You teasing me?" Buffy asked, thinking that the kiss Willow gave her was way too quick.

"And if I am?" Willow inquired, challenge in her tone. The tone ignited Buffy in ways she couldn't possibly understand. She loved it when Willow got all challenging with her. It fired the sparks between them, heating them to the point of combustion.

"Do you know what the penalty is for teasing a Vampire Slayer?" Buffy inquired, arching an eyebrow back at her lover.

Green fire hit her directly in the gut as Willow answered. "Are you going to tell me or show me?"

Rising to the challenge, Buffy moved so that she was hovering over her lover. She met Willow's lips in a fierce kiss, tasting the sweetness of them as she heard Willow moan beneath her and lost herself in the sensations. Tightening her hold on her lover, they sank back on the bed, both moaning into the kiss. Willow threw a leg over Buffy's pinning it to the bed as she rolled them over, winding up on top. She proceeded to cover Buffy's face with kisses, before she moved back to her mouth, hearing Buffy's renewed moan echo inside her mouth.

Buffy ran her fingers through Willow's hair, relishing the soft silky feeling of the strands running through her hands. Willow shifted above her, getting more comfortable as they settled into the pleasant haze they created between them. Buffy ran her hands down the length of Willow's back, stopping at the tip of her spine. She could feel Willow nibbling on her bottom lip, and then the redhead's tongue was inside her mouth teasing her tongue to come out and play with gentle flickerings as they explored each other's mouths.

Buffy felt the growl rising up from the pit of her soul seconds before it emerged from her mouth. "God...I want you", she gasped, loosening Willow's shirt from her skirt and lifting it up over her head. Her blue eyes seared over the newly revealed skin, as she looked her lover up and down reacquainting herself with the soft skin of her lover. She brought her head up to nuzzle the softness of her stomach, teasing the area with her mouth and tongue as Willow arched into the touch, lifting up so Buffy could have better access.

"Buffy." Willow whispered, breathlessly. Buffy lifted her eyes to meet the wiccan's, not stopping her ministrations for a moment, and Willow gasped at the intensity in the vibrant blue eyes. Willow loved the look that filled her lover's eyes when they were close like this. It made her feel special, powerful, respected and loved. Like she was the center of the universe and everything revolved around her.

Buffy moved her hands around Willow's waist, stopping to tickle the ribs on her sides, before moving together up her stomach to lightly cup Willow's breasts. Willow gasped at the touch, staring unflinchingly into the deep blue as Buffy made tender, passionate love to her.

Xander sat staring at the movie that was blaring on the television in Joyce's living room. He was sipping his iced tea and eating the popcorn Joyce had graciously made for him, before starting her dinner preparations. He could smell chicken baking in the oven and the aroma made his stomach growl even more. He would sometimes think of Buffy and Willow slaving away upstairs putting their stuff away and wondered if he should help them, but then something funny would happen on the movie he was watching and he decided he'd probably just be in the way up there anyway.

Joyce came out of the kitchen once in a while to watch some of the movie with him, and they would begin awkward conversations that mothers usually had with their daughter's friends. But then, Xander would sigh in relief when Joyce had to go back into the kitchen to check on supper.

"Hey. What's happening, now?" Joyce said, coming out of the kitchen with an oven mitt still on her right hand.

"Uh...the girl's mother just caught her daughter in bed with the...uh...never mind", Xander said, delivering a goofy smile to Buffy's mother. The all too possible thought of Joyce catching Buffy and Willow in bed together flittered through his mind before Xander chased it away with a really big mental hammer.

"Oh", Joyce said, and sat down on the end of the couch with a sigh. "Xander... do I make you nervous by any chance?" Joyce asked, watching Xander squirm as he tried to figure out what to say to that.

"You? Make me...nervous?" Xander chuckled, nervously. "Whatever gave you that idea? No...no...absolutely not. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Uh huh." Joyce blinked at Xander's defensive answer. "Well, good. I wouldn't want to make you nervous", Joyce said, standing and heading back for the kitchen.

Xander brushed the sweat off of his forehead. "Parents", he muttered under his breath, and turned his attention back to the movie.

"Whoa!" Buffy exhaled, feeling like her whole body had just done a very strenuous work out and now she was trying to catch her breath. She felt the sweat covering her body, her heart beating rapidly inside her chest as her quick breath tried to regulate it all.

"Likewise", Willow panted, her equally sweaty body lying limply on top of the slayers. They both had big, satisfied grins on their faces.

"Satisfied?" Buffy asked, referring to the initial challenge. Her hands moved idly over Willow's sweaty back, as Buffy tried to find some ground from the heights she had risen to just moments before.

"Very", Willow groaned, sated. All of her limbs felt like rubber and she didn't think she could move a single inch.

"Good", Buffy exhaled, pulling the covers from around their ankles up around them. They had hit the foot of the bed because they were in the way, but now Buffy felt the need for them around their rapidly cooling bodies. "Cause I don't think I can move."

Willow giggled, tiredly, at that and kissed Buffy's shoulder. Buffy wrapped her arms around her lover's body and sighed, content to rest in her lover's arms.

They were so content that they never heard the footsteps coming up over the stairs, nor the footsteps that came down the hall stopping at their door. There was a brief rap on the door before it swung open and Joyce came into the room. "Dinner's ready", she announced, before she noticed the two women in bed.

Willow squeaked and buried her head in Buffy's shoulder trying to escape Joyce's eyesight by burrowing under the covers.

Buffy gave her mother a sheepish, wry look. "Oops", Buffy muttered, turning red. "Forgot to lock the door", she said, in explanation.

Joyce hadn't even thought when she went up the stairs to get Buffy and Willow. She thought that they were hard at work putting their new room in order. That they might be spending time to get better acquainted never crossed her mind. Joyce blushed profusely. "I'm sorry, Buffy...Willow...I shouldn't have barged in here like that. I forgot..." Joyce stumbled all over herself trying to get out of the embarrassing situation she found herself in. "Umm...you two come to dinner when you're ready...I'll just be...downstairs", Joyce said, backing out of the room.

"Oh...god..." Buffy groaned, slapping a hand over her eyes as she thought she'd die from the humiliation. Willow just refused to take her face off of Buffy's shoulder. "Will...you still breathing?" Buffy asked, when Willow hadn't moved for a couple of minutes. Willow just groaned into Buffy's shoulder. "Will?" Buffy inquired, running a gentle hand over her lover's shoulder.

Willow turned her head so that she could see Buffy's face, her own beet red. "I don't know how I'm going to go down there and face her, Buffy. I'm so mortified."

"Will...I'm sure she knew we'd be making love here. I mean, I had no intention to stop making love to you. Did you?" Buffy asked, praying the answer was no.

Willow shook her head. "No, but to actually see us...like this...I'm sure she wasn't counting on that."

Buffy nodded, wryly, in agreement. "I'm sure. Well, we'll just have to remember to lock the door next time."

"I still don't know how I'm going to face her", Willow moaned, burying her head in Buffy's shoulder again.

"Come on, Will. I'll be right there with you. Besides...we have to eat some time", Buffy said, feeling her stomach grumble as she said it.

Willow looked at her, unsure. "O-Okay. Just as long as you're there."

Buffy winked at her lover reassuringly and got out of the bed, moving over to her dresser to get dressed.

Joyce and Xander were already sitting at the table when Buffy and Willow came downstairs, hand in hand. They walked into the dining room, noticing right away that they'd have to sit across from each other. Buffy gave Willow's hand a reassuring squeeze, then went to sit at her place as Xander cut up the chicken. Willow sat down at her place and immediately busied herself by piling the stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, peas, and chicken onto her plate and diving into the food, keeping her mouth busy.

Buffy sat down at her place and noticed right away that Joyce seemed more embarrassed and uncomfortable than anything else. Buffy met her mother's eyes and smiled slightly at her to gage her reaction. Joyce smiled in relief and her shoulders loosened their tension. Then she shrugged slightly and started eating her supper.

Xander had noticed the unnatural silence, which seemed very strange to him, so he attempted to fill it by telling jokes, half of which Willow and Buffy had already heard before, but to which they all laughed at out of a sense of gratitude to him for making a tense situation a little less tense.

Willow unfortunately had missed the earlier silent communication between Buffy and her mother, so she still secretly felt embarrassed. Buffy noticed the tension that still lit her lover's green eyes and resolved to do something about it.

After she was finished eating, Buffy cleared her throat. "Xand, help me do the dishes", Buffy commanded the scoob, flickering a glance at her mother and Willow before her eyes settled on Xander's deep brown ones and she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Oh. Right...dishes...gotcha", Xander said, rising from the table and starting to collect the dinnerware.

Willow threw a pleading, 'Don't leave me here alone with your mother', look at Buffy. Buffy just smiled reassuringly at her, then joined Xander on his way to the kitchen.

"Well..." Joyce started, clearing her throat. "That was rather...smooth", she commented on Buffy's and Xander's quick departure.

"Yeah", Willow murmured quietly, not taking her eyes off of the tablecloth.

Joyce sighed as she looked at the young woman who sat in the chair beside her. She could tell that Willow was extremely embarrassed by what had happened earlier, and Joyce didn't want her to have to be uneasy in her new home. So she swallowed her own embarrassment, determined to help Willow feel more at ease around her. "Look, Willow, I am very sorry I walked into Buffy's room without waiting for an answer from either of you. That was completely irresponsible of me. And I'm sorry it embarrassed you...that it embarrassed both of us. I'd like us to be able to be comfortable around each other."

"I...uh...I'm really sorry...um..." Willow trailed off, not really sure what she was apologizing for. A long slender finger traced the etching on the tablecloth as misty green eyes shied away from older wiser ones.

"Willow...you have nothing to apologize for. I never want you to feel like you have to apologize for loving my daughter." Willow's eyes lifted to meet Joyce's eyes at that, staring quizzically into gentle understanding. "You make her more happy than I've ever seen her Willow. And that's all that really matters to me." Joyce finished, letting her eyes speak all the truth she couldn't say with her mouth.

"Thank you", Willow croaked, unshed tears filling her eyes. "Thank you for understanding...I love her more than anything or anyone I've ever known. I'd never do anything to hurt her...I just want to love her."

Joyce saw the open love and confusion on Willow's face and cursed silently at Willow's parents for not taking this lovely girl in and showing her the love that she needed right now. Buffy had told her how Willow's parents had reacted to the news, although she did say that Willow hadn't revealed who the real parentage was, it infuriated her to know that Willow's parents were willing to give up their own grandchild like that. She wasn't about to let them give away her grandchild. Not if she had anything to say about it.

"Would you mind if I...hugged you?" Joyce asked, uncertain whether the young woman would welcome that at this moment. Green eyes blinked out the tears Willow had been holding as the redhead leaned forward uncertainly. Joyce enveloped her, feeling her mothering instincts kick in as she felt her daughter's lover shuddering in her arms. "Everything's going to be all right", Joyce said, referring to Willow's pregnancy and everything that went along with it.

Willow thought Joyce was referring to the living situation and the tension in her shoulders eased as she instinctively felt Joyce's acceptance. "Thank you", Willow managed to whisper after a while, and pulled back to witness the gentle understanding in her lover's Mother's eyes.

"Anytime", Joyce said, smiling gently. Both women were wiping away their tears when Buffy and Xander chose that moment to reenter the room.

"Everything Okay in here?" Buffy asked cautiously, as she entered the room.

"Everything's fine, Buffy", Joyce told her daughter. She saw the way Willow looked at Buffy when she had entered the room, the love that had flared in her eyes when she had seen her lover and she knew the depths of the feelings that Willow held for her daughter. "Just fine", she reassured herself and Willow.

"Great," Buffy said, glancing back and forth between her mother and her lover to reassure that she'd done the right thing in leaving the two of them alone. Seeing the more relaxed state they both were in, Buffy decided she had and sighed an unconscious breath of relief. "Why don't we all go see a movie to celebrate?" Buffy suggested, not wanting the necessary bonding time to end.

"Sounds good. I'll grab my coat", Joyce said, moving to the closet under the stairs and grabbing the light weight jackets they had stored there. Buffy helped Willow put her coat on, kissing the side of the red head's neck as she moved the red hair from beneath Willow's collar. She felt Willow freeze for a moment before she relaxed into the touch.

"I love you", Buffy whispered into her ear, determined to let the redhead know that she wasn't about to hide her feelings for her lover.

"I love you too, Buffy", Willow murmured back to her, feeling the gentle squeeze that Buffy gave her shoulders.

Joyce and Xander had already moved out the door before they noticed that Buffy and Willow weren't following them. Xander turned to look and noticed that Buffy's lips hadn't moved off of the Wiccan's neck. "Hey, are you two coming or are you going to stand there necking all night?" Xander flinched when blue eyes lifted to glare at him, then relaxed when they softened to twinkle at him.

"We're coming Xander", Willow answered him, starting to follow when she heard the muttered words that Buffy said after her. Her face flushed red as she registered what Buffy had said, then swatted her lover playfully as they headed for her mother's SUV. "I'll get you for that", Willow whispered into Buffy's ear as they headed across the grass to the driveway.

"I'm counting on that", Buffy said, smiling, into her lover's ear.