Willow could hear the door to her office open behind her, but she didn't turn away from her computer, waving one hand over her shoulder, still typing with her other hand. "Just leave it on the desk and I'll look at it," she said distractedly.

"Willow, it's me."

Tara's voice had her turning in quick surprise. "Honey, what are you doing here? Is Kyle okay? Buffy? Xander?" She rose quickly from her chair, moving swiftly to Tara. "Are you okay?" Tara was pale and had apparently been biting her lips quite a lot, leaving them red and swollen.

The blonde nodded, one hand reaching for Willow's shoulder while the other covered her stomach unconsciously. "I need to talk to you," she said hoarsely. "Kyle's okay," she promised quickly, seeing the anxious question rising in her wife's eyes. "Buffy and Dawn are at home with him. Xander's at work."

Willow nodded, partially relieved. "And you? Are you okay?"

Tara's hand slipped over her shoulder to her neck, nails grazing under Willow's short hair. "Can we sit?" she requested, gesturing to the couch in Willow's office.

Willow's eyes were wide but she managed to nod, Tara pulling her on numb legs to sit stiffly on the sofa. "What is it?" she breathed, countless horrific answers to her question already flying through her mind. "What's wrong?"

Tara blinked, shaking her head. "No, it's not… I d-don't really know how to s-say this…"

"Oh God, what happened?" Willow asked, heart pounding in her chest. "Did someone hurt you? They're dead…"

"No!" Tara protested, hushing her with a hand over her mouth and smiling for the first time since she'd arrived in Willow's office. "Honey, no. No one hurt me. I'm fine. I promise you." She bit her lip again, taking a deep breath. "I'm actually a little better than fine."

Willow frowned behind her hand, not sure what that meant. "Better than fine?" she questioned as Tara lowered her hand. "How can you be better than….oh." Her voice trailed off as she realized exactly what that meant, heart pounding again, the pulse beating in her head. "Oh! Tara, really?" she asked, covering Tara's hand on her stomach. "A baby? You're pregnant?"

Tara nodded, smiling hopefully. "You know I've been getting sick the last few nights…"

"Yeah, but Buffy cooked," Willow protested, grinning like a maniac suddenly. "It wasn't food poisoning?" she asked, laughing helplessly.

Tara shook her head. "I went to the doctor today to make sure," she offered softly, trying to judge Willow's reaction as her wife's face went slack, Willow's jaw hanging. The redhead didn't say anything, but was staring down at their hands on Tara's stomach. "Willow, say something? Please?" she pleaded.

Willow jumped, eyes shooting up to her face. "Tara…" she gasped, eyes swimming with tears. "I love you."

"I love you too," Tara breathed in relief. "You're not mad?"

Willow gaped, shaking her head quickly. "No, no way! Tara, it's our baby. Another perfect kid with the woman I love more than anything. Why would I be mad?" she asked breathlessly.

Tara shrugged, blushing. "I didn't really think you would be, it's just…we never really talked about having more kids, and this is kind of sudden…"

"I don't care how sudden it is, Tara. All I care about is that it's our kid," Willow interjected emphatically. "Have you told Kyle?"

Tara shook her head, smiling. "No, I came straight here from the doctor's office. I thought we should tell him together."

Willow nodded quickly. "Yeah, you're right. Of course. Should we tell him today?" she asked, glancing around her office nervously, fighting an urge to fidget. "Oh my God," she breathed breathlessly. "Tara…"

The blonde smiled in relief, oddly comforted by Willow's spastic behavior. "Willow, just calm down. We don't have to do anything today. Just…" She paused, brushing one hand over Willow's cheek. "Could you hug me, or give me a kiss, or something?" she requested, laughing shakily.

Willow nodded, surprised to realize that she hadn't done either of those things yet. "I think I could handle that," she agreed, voice quiet and soft. She moved slowly, leaning in to capture Tara's lips thoroughly and dragging the kiss out. Tara's hand tightened in her hair, pulling her closer. They were both breathing hard as they separated, and Willow smirked proudly at Tara's dazed expression. "That was okay?"

Tara nodded breathlessly, shifting on the couch to rest her head against Willow's shoulder, curling her legs beside her. "Well, now what are we going to do?" she asked, relaxing into Willow's side.

The redhead shrugged, squeezing her gently. "Anything you want," she offered.

"Could you cut out early and come home with me now?" Tara asked. "I feel like some family time."

Willow nodded, mentally rearranging her schedule. "Just let me make one call and move an appointment and I'll take you home," she said, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she slipped reluctantly to her feet. She took one step toward her desk before spinning back to Tara and dropping to her knees in front of the sofa. One of Tara's hands was still covering her stomach, and Willow shifted it gently, leaning over to press a kiss to the fabric over Tara's stomach.

Their eyes met and Tara combed Willow's hair back, smiling softly. Willow pushed herself back to her feet, stepping backwards blindly until she stumbled into the desk. "Be right back," she promised, grinning sheepishly as she stabilized herself. Tara laughed, watching her quietly. Willow efficiently packed up what she needed, dialing the phone with the other hand. After a minute she was hanging up and slinging her laptop case over her shoulder.

"I'm all yours," she announced cheerfully, arms wide to either side.

Tara smiled, unfolding herself from the couch and sliding herself under Willow's arm. "I know that already," she replied primly.

Willow looked like she wanted to argue for a second before realizing that there was no defense she wanted to present, and she shrugged. They left her office and Willow fished a file folder out of her bag, handing it to the girl at the desk and waving as they passed.

Xander was home from work when they got back to the house and Faith was stretched out on the couch. Kyle had been trying to evade Buffy, the little boy covered in what looked like grape jelly, but the Slayer caught him just as Willow and Tara entered the front door.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Buffy promised preemptively. "I've got this under control."

"Mommy!" Kyle yelped from his aunt's arms. "Me an' Aunt BB made lunch today!" he announced proudly, still squirming to get away from the Slayer, his face and hands sticky with jam.

Buffy slung him over a shoulder, waving to the amused mothers. "Bath time, little man!" she said, swatting his butt lightly. "Tell your moms we'll see them soon."

"Bye bye, Mommy," Kyle called as he and Buffy disappeared up the stairs.

Willow and Tara exchanged glances, shrugging. If Buffy wanted to try and handle bath time, that was her decision. Faith leaned back to look at them upside down, taking a beer from Xander as he came into the living room. "Is Red playing hooky from work?" she asked, grinning. "Were you guys hoping to do something naughty, because I hate to tell you, but it's kind of a full house. We could turn the TV up though," she suggested with a smirk and waving the remote in demonstration.

Just as she finished, Giles joined them, pulling up just inside the front door and giving them a way out of responding to Faith's teasing. "Oh, Willow, Tara, you're home. Excellent."

Willow frowned at him. "What's up?" she asked warily.

"I wouldn't advise going in the kitchen," he suggested, patting her on the shoulder as he moved into the living room.

Tara peeked helplessly into the kitchen, gaping at the mess. Willow laughed, pulling her away. "Packed house is actually what we were looking for," she said, dropping to sit on the opposite couch and putting her feet up on the coffee table. Tara curled in beside her, one leg curling itself over Willow's thigh, one hand resting lightly on her wife's stomach.

"You are playing hooky though, aren't you?" Xander asked, laughing. "You're never home this early."

Willow shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, I guess. Tara stopped by the office though, and I decided to come home with her."

They all heard a loud splash upstairs and everyone looked up at the ceiling with grins on their faces. Tara started to move, wanting to help, but was stopped by Willow's hand on her thigh. "She's the Slayer. He's a three year old. She'll be fine." Willow reminded her. "Maybe," she added as they heard another splash and a thump.

It was only a bit longer before they could hear Kyle clattering down the stairs, his wet hair flopping around his ears in curls and his favorite footed pajamas sliding on the floor as he rounded the couch at a run. He jumped onto the couch with his parents, knees hitting Tara's hip and stomach and sending her breath huffing out in a rush.

"Kyle! What's the rule about running in the house?" Willow spoke up sharply, pinning him with a look while Tara drew in a deep breath. "You could have hurt Mama!"

"Willow, it's okay. He doesn't know," Tara reminded her. "Go easy on him."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, he mostly got my hip. I'm fine," Tara promised.

Kyle looked properly rebuked and he glanced at Tara through his eyelashes, the same look that Willow used with great effectiveness to the same purpose. "Mama, did I hurt you?" he asked, lip trembling.

"No, little man, but you know you're not supposed to be running in the house," Tara said.

"Okay," he agreed, voice pouty.

Tara leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his wet hair, one arm curling across his chest. "Want to sit up here with me and Mommy and you can tell us about what you and Aunt Buffy did today?" she offered, shifting her leg to give him room to slide in between herself and Willow. He slid back into the space with a nod, smiling hopefully up at her, relieved that she wasn't angry about his unintentional rule break.

The others listened to his stories, Buffy herself joining them to corroborate his tales. By the time he finished it was his bedtime and the witches took him upstairs to go to bed. He insisted on a story before bed, but was asleep before Willow finished it, his little body sprawled haphazardly through the sheets. Willow covered him up carefully, pressing a kiss to his hair as she stood and watched him sleep.

"When do you want to tell him?" Tara asked softly, taking her hand.

Willow shrugged, thinking. "How about we give it a while? Let's get a few check ups under our belts before we tell him," she suggested. "Of course, not because I think anything is going to go wrong or anything, but if we tell him now and he can't tell you're pregnant, he might not understand what it means. It might be easier for him to get it if he can see…"

Tara's quiet laugh interrupted her ramble and Willow blushed in the dim glow of Kyle's nightlight. "And until then everyone can just think I've let myself go," Tara teased.

Willow rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "Yeah right! No one would ever believe that!" she protested. "They know how well exercised we keep each other. 'Let yourself go,'" she snorted, shaking her head. "Please!" She gestured at Tara. "I mean, honestly! Have you looked at yourself? You're a hot mama, Tara!" She hooked her free hand through Tara's belt, pulling her around to face her. "And being pregnant just makes you look better. I'm not going to be able to let you go out alone. Everyone who sees you is just going to try and take you away from me."

Tara rolled her eyes, shaking her head at her wife's exaggerated praise. "Willow…"

"I'm serious!" the redhead protested with a laugh. "Kelly better watch herself!" She paused in her tirade as Tara's lips met the skin under her ear. "Oh…uh…"

Tara's hands found Willow's butt, pulling her closer as she stepped them backwards toward their room. "Shut up, Willow," she breathed just before she kissed her.

"Yes, ma'am," Willow agreed breathlessly against her lips.