The Callie Chronicles

Author notes: Faith and Buffy are lovers, and Callie is Buffy and Faith's daughter; she was created almost a year ago in my story series "The ABC's of Christmas." Here is the link if you'd like to read:

She was also in the story "A Little Role Reversal." These stories all in some way center around Callie's existence in Buffy and Faith's lives. The first story takes place after the story "U is for Unexpected" where Faith tells Buffy she is pregnant and they realize together that it must have something to do with Willow.

Story one: Blessing

"WILLOW!"

As the name burst forth from both girls' lips simultaneously, the probable explanation for recently realized events dawning, they immediately sprang into action. Faith was off the couch and on her feet in a millisecond, almost flying to the door, and Buffy was right behind her. She didn't say anything to calm or slow the brunette Slayer down; Buffy knew better than to attempt to stop her lover when she had the set, furious look on her face that Faith did now. Buffy wasn't sure she would have tried even if she could have right now, though. She was pretty upset too.

If Willow had really done what she thought she had… how could she? How could she have done that to Faith, messed with both their lives like that, without so much as asking?

A baby…somehow, Faith was going to have a baby. She was pregnant… somehow Willow must have done some magical thing to make her pregnant. Buffy believed Faith when she swore she hadn't had sex with a man…so that was the only possibility left. But why would Willow do that? A joke- some kind of vengeance against Faith's constant teasing and pranks? Or did she really think they would have wanted a baby? Had she been trying to help? But why wouldn't she have ASKED- and surely she would at least know that FAITH wouldn't want to be pregnant!

Buffy had barely had time to open the door to the passenger side of Faith's car before the younger Slayer was screeching out of the driveway, almost killing a squirrel and backing up into another car in the process. Buffy quickly buckled her seatbelt but didn't dare suggest that Faith put on hers. Her white knuckles on the steering wheel, steadily darkening expression, and heavily furrowed eyebrows told her assuredly that any attempts to correct Faith's driving or anything of the like would not be well received in her current state.

Upon pulling into the driveway of Willow's house, Faith had hardly put the car into park before she flung the door open, almost aggressively enough to rip it off its hinges, and stalked up to Willow's porch. There was no sign of her earlier tears in her nearly homicidal expression or overbearing movements, and as Buffy hastened to catch up to her, Faith roughly tried to open the door. When she saw that it was locked she gave the door a strong kick, causing it to swing open hurriedly, its doorknob breaking off. Buffy started to call her name, knowing that by this point Faith /really/ needed to calm down, but Faith stormed past her practically in a blur. Buffy actually had to run to catch up to her.

When Buffy came into the living room behind Faith, she saw Willow had been sitting on her couch, her laptop computer on her lap. She didn't see Kennedy; maybe the other Slayer was training, or else not home. Faith had grabbed hold of the redhead's shoulders roughly, oblivious to the computer balanced delicately between them, and she was shaking her slightly but intently, her face pressed close as she yelled at her.

"What the hell did you do to me?! What the hell is WRONG with you?!"

Willow's eyes were very round with shock, alarmed, and she shrank back against the couch, simultaneously trying to shield her computer from being knocked to the floor and to loosen Faith's grip on her.

"What?" she almost gasped, her voice as bewildered as her expression. "Faith, I…I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Don't fuckin' lie to me!" Faith screeched, giving her another harsh shake, her dark eyes flashing dangerously. Even as enraged as she looked, her dark hair bouncing off her shoulders, her expression wild, almost savage, her movements strong and barely controlled, Buffy could see the embarrassment in her eyes as well. No doubt it killed Faith to think that Willow had got one over on her.

"You think this is funny, Willow- you think it's a fuckin' joke?" Faith snarled, her hands digging into Willow's shoulders so that the girl gasped. "It's not fuckin' funny! You-"

"Faith- Faith, calm down," Buffy interjected quickly, and she moved to take Faith's arm, gently but firmly prying it away from Willow even as she tensed, knowing Faith would not placidly accept this. "You need to calm down so we can talk to her-"

"No! No, Buffy, I don't need to fuckin' calm down, she-" Faith cried out indignantly, ripping her arm from the blonde's grasp- but also in the process letting go of Willow.

Willow let out a slightly shuddering sigh of relief as she moved over on the couch slightly, inching away from Faith and setting her computer beside her on the couch, more out of harm's way. Buffy grabbed Faith's upper arm in one hand, more firmly this time, and held her face with the other, forcing her to turn her face to look at her as she stroked her thumb on Faith's jaw.

"Faith…calm down. She won't be able to explain if you scare her like that," Buffy told her in a reasonable though edgy tone, and Faith glared, but didn't try to break away this time.

"Oh, she better be scared, and she better explain too!"

"Explain what?" Willow asked in total confusion, her forehead creased, eyebrows knitting as her eyes darted between Buffy and Faith, searching out their expressions for answers. "What is it that I'm supposed to be explaining? You guys have totally lost me…and as for the being scared part, yep, I'm just about there."

"You better get lost if you know what's good for you-" Faith vowed, but Buffy maintained a tight hold on her as she stroked Faith's cheek again, addressing her gently.

"Come on, Faith…keep cool," she told her, though she felt stirrings of her own anger as she spoke, more under her control. "Let her explain."

She turned to stare at Willow pointedly. "So. Willow…anything you want to tell us?"

Willow shook her head, almost flabbergasted, spreading out her hands as though at a loss.

"No! I have no idea what you want me to say or what it is you think I did…I have no idea why you came bursting in here screaming at me like, like some crazy maniac- and NO I am not making fun of you, or, or your past, or anything else!" she added hurriedly as Faith's eyes bulged and she made as if to start towards her again, stopped only by Buffy's strong hold of her.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO ME?!" Faith shrieked, her voice rising up way more shrilly than Buffy was accustomed to. "YOU MADE ME FUCKIN' PREGNANT, WILLOW!"

After that rather volatile screech, the room went silent for several moments; the only thing Buffy could hear was Faith's slightly heightened breathing and the pounding of both their hearts. When Willow finally replied her voice was slow but sure; she addressed them both as if she thought both Faith and Buffy were either insane or very small children.

"Um…no, Faith, I didn't…see, we've never actually had sex together…and I'm not actually a man."

"Don't be a smartass, you know what you did, you know how you did it!" Faith bellowed, her eyes sparking even more furiously, and Buffy had to quickly wrap her arms around her in a bear hug to keep her from decking the Wiccan in the face. "You made me pregnant!!!"

"No…no, actually, I didn't," Willow repeated slowly, and her eyes slid to Faith's still flat stomach, eyeing it as though trying to see for herself what she was talking about. "Why would you-"

"Oh yeah, so the kid just MAGICALLY showed up inside me without the help of any dick sticking in me, without one single guy anywhere near me butt-ass naked? Just MAGICALLY it shows up?! Are you hearing the key word here, MAGIC?! Who the hell else could do that other then Little Miss Spellcaster?" Faith hollered, her face flushing crimson with anger. She was straining against Buffy's arms, her body rigid, and Buffy tightened them a little more, feeling Faith's heart knocking against her arm. If Willow didn't start talking soon, she didn't know for how much longer she would be able to keep her from smashing the witch girls' face in.

"But I didn't DO anything!" Willow protested, shaking her head again, her eyes wide and earnest. "I didn't do anything to make you pregnant! You don't even LOOK pregnant! I didn't do anything! Except-"

Her face flushed suddenly, and a strange light came over her eyes as she fell suddenly and suspiciously silent. Both Faith and Buffy turned on her rapidly, their voices rising in unision.

"WHAT? Except WHAT?!"

"Well…this can't be it. I mean, that just couldn't be right…it wasn't even a spell, it was more like a blessing," Willow began to babble nervously, seeing the high emotion, namely wrath, in both their eyes and feeling none too safe because of it. "It wasn't supposed to-"

"What. Did. You. Do," Faith asked, each word deliberately and chillingly pronounced, and Willow swallowed. The tone Faith had just used was even scarier than her screaming.

"I…it was just a small ritual, a blessing spell…it was more like a prayer than anything, it shouldn't have done something like THAT! I just…all I did, I was thinking of you two, how, how you're together, and I wanted you to be happy… you know, in your relationship. So, I did a, a little binding spell… not even a spell really, it was just a blessing! I just said, all I did was request that the two of you have a strong and healthy bond with each other that would be unable to be broken… but I guess…if that's why this happened…then it kinda makes sense. I didn't mean to make you pregnant, believe me… but maybe I wasn't specific enough. These things, they don't always turn out like you expect…and hey, I guess a baby would form a pretty strong, unbreakable bond… if that's what happened…"

She narrowed her eyes, shaking her head again as she looked at Faith's stomach closely. "Faith, are you SURE you're pregnant?"

Buffy didn't know if she wanted to cry, scream, punch Willow out, or start laughing hysterically. From the look on Faith's face, she felt the same way…all except for the last option, of course.