******Author's note: This wraps it up folks with the possibility of an epilogue and an idea of how season 9 might go. Let me know your thoughts and if you'd like this continued. Fair warning though, I do not publish until a story has been completed...so it would take some time as it is yet unwritten and only vaguely conceptualized in my mind. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for reading and please leave me a review with your feedback.******

Chapter 15

Angel raised the large axe and brought it down with a crunch on the spiny demon's neck. Buffy ducked a punch from a second demon and landed a knee to the mid section. Faith attacked the demon from behind with a broadsword.

"How long are women usually in labor?" Xander yelled from underneath the dead body of a scaly demon as Nea finished a spell that vanished the body.

"Well, Xander, 'usual' doesn't give us an accurate frame of reference here." Nea offered Xander help getting up.

"You ain't just whistling Dixie! How many more funky demon onslaughts can we handle here?" Xander brushed the debris off his pants.

"As many as we have to." Faith smirked. "You okay, B?"

"Yup. Right as rain considering. Thanks for the swordsmanship." Buffy smiled at her sister slayer.

"Happy to help out any time, B. Especially when the big nasty gets the pointy end of the broadsword."

Nea helped Xander straighten his clothes and kissed him on the cheek. "You were very brave."

"I did kinda tackle that big scaly demon without much trouble, didn't I?" Xander's grin spread slowly. "I'm a tough guy. Look at me!"

Nea grabbed Xander's hand. "Practically Dirty Harry." She kisses him lightly on the lips.

"Hey, Dirty Harry. You and Nea want to get a room before she makes your day?" Angel loved teasing Xander.

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Giles dabbed the cloth in the herbed water. "There, dear. It'll be just fine. You're doing splendidly." Giles soothed the cloth over Tara's forehead.

"Come on, baby. You're doing so well. You're so strong. Just a little bit more." Willow's hand was beginning a dull throb from Tara's crushing grip.

Dawn stood at Tara's feet, cheering her on. "Remember you meditation. You are calm. You are light..."

Tara tried to remember the meditation that Nea taught her. "I am calm. I am light. I am...! Contraction!" It was all she could do to breathe through it this time.

"Giles, go get Nea...we're close." Willow got Tara in to a sitting position and rubbed her lower back.

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Vi and Kennedy were double-teaming a large Sorcerer of Anubis. Giles and Robin were working on an incantation in Latin.

Angel was having a hard time getting his sorcerer to stay down.

"They just keep coming!" Xander yelled.

"Keep fighting Xan – and don't die!" Faith shouted back. Faith and Buffy were getting battle weary.

The Sorcerer's repeatedly shot bolts at the protective barrier guarding the door to Willow and Tara's room. With each shot, they could see the barrier breaking down a little further.

Just then there was a sound that pierced the air. It sounded like a baby bird in a nest crying for its mother.

Dawn stuck her head out of the door. "We've got one bouncing baby boy and another baby right behind. Keep fighting guys!" She went back in.

"Yo, B! Have we given any thought to..." Faith turned and roundhouse kicked a sorcerer before stabbing it with her sword. "...what we do if the babies don't end all this?"

"Nope. Only thinking about not dying right now." Buffy swung her axe and beheaded the sorcerer Faith had stabbed.

"So long as we have a plan." Faith smirked and went to work on the next demon.

Twenty minutes later a second cry filled the air, this one stronger than the first.

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Nea placed both cleaned and swaddled babies on Tara's chest. Willow and Tara were both crying. They were tears of joy, tears of exhaustion, tears of love.

"You've got a very healthy son and daughter. Congratulations." Nea was cleaning some of the medical supplies.

"This was the most amazing thing ever. Thanks for letting me be a part of it." Dawn stood on the opposite side of Tara grinning from ear to ear.

"Thanks for helping Dawnie. We're glad you were here." Tara squeezed Dawn's hand gently.

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The sorcerers they were fighting all vanished in clouds of golden smoke after the second cry filled the air.

"I think the prophecy just happened." Buffy dropped her axe and turned to run in to the room. She hit the magical barrier and flew backwards.

"Giles, Robin, drop the barrier already!" Faith yelled running over to Buffy.

Giles ended the spell and collapsed against Robin. "That took quite a bit out of me."

Willow stuck her head out. "Come in, you guys. Meet the newest members of the Scooby gang."

They all filed in, slowly.

"Everyone, this is Evelyn Joyce Lehane and her brother Alexander Harris Giles." Willow smiled and took the baby boy from Dawn.

She walked over to Xander who was choking up. As Willow placed the tiny, red wrinkled baby in his arms, his tears spilled out. "I-I-I don't know what to say. I'm your Uncle Xander little guy and I'll teach you how to play football and baseball. Ok, maybe I'll just teach you to appreciate watching them on a big screen TV, but still." The baby grabbed his finger.

Giles removed his glasses and dabbed his eyes as well. "I'm overwhelmed. That was the sweetest gesture. I love you all more than you'll know." He touched the small, warm head of the baby and stroked the auburn fuzz there.

Willow took the baby girl from Tara. She walked over to Buffy and Faith. "Who wants to hold her first?"

"Ah, babies and me don't mix, Red." Faith backed up until she was literally against the wall. "Give her to Buffy to hold. Please."

"Ok, but eventually you will hold this baby. We gave her your last name you know." Willow turned to Buffy.

"Oh, uhm...yeah. Sure. How do I hold her?" Buffy held out her arms.

Willow showed her how and passed the little bundle to Buffy. "This is your Aunt Buffy. She saved the world a lot, too."

Evelyn began to wail. "Oh. Oh no. Shhhhh. It's ok little baby. Somebody do something!" She rocked the baby as best she could.

"You're doing great, Buffy." Tara said. "She's just hungry. Bring her over."

Buffy brought the crying infant to it's mother and watched in awe as nature took over for both mother and child.

Giles turned and announced, "We should give them some privacy. No doubt we could all use a little sustenance and rest ourselves. We've all had quite a day."

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The champagne had been flowing pretty much all evening. Xander and Nea had their arms around each other and were toasting the new babies. Willow and Kennedy were talking amicably and catching up on each other's lives. Tara was with the twins next door resting. Giles and Robin were talking as men do about watchery-type things in between toasts to how well the new slayers fought against the various demons. Dawn was chit chatting with some of the potentials she had gotten to know in Sunnydale before they headed to Cleveland. Angel, as per usual, had congratulated everyone and slipped out in to the darkness.

Buffy sat alone on the balcony deep in thought.

"Penny for your thoughts, B." Faith handed her a flute of champagne. "We were wondering where you got to. You feeling ok?"

"Yeah. Just a lot to take in. I mean, we did it. Bye, bye evil. Those two babies are adorable. Why am I not jumping for joy?" Buffy took the flute and took a sip.

"You're not jumping for joy because you're retired at twenty-two. Fighting evil is all you and I have ever done. Our future is ours now." Faith sipped from her own glass. "But you made the right decision, just like I knew you would. Bringing Tara back helped save the whole world...again...because of you."

"It took all four of us to end evil. Remember? Besides, when did you become such a philosopher?" Buffy questioned.

"Guess that's what motherhood has done for me." Faith shrugged.

"I wonder what it's going to be like. What's being an ordinary girl going to be like?" Buffy asked.

"Damned if I know, B. And for my money, you'll never be an ordinary girl. And I think woman is more like it. You're an extraordinary woman." Faith walked over and sat next to her sister slayer.

"We weren't even supposed to live this long. Now we're talking about babies and the future." Buffy took a long sip. "I mean 'future' was such a foreign concept. When you're fighting for your life every night, you tend not to make long term plans."

"I hear ya, B. " She waited a moment. "We're parents. We're both Moms now. That's just wild." She put her arm around Buffy.

"I think the twins like you better already." She playfully poked Faith in the side. "All Evelyn did when I held her was cry."

"I think that's what babies do. At least she didn't barf on you like Alex did on Giles." Both slayers laughed.

Buffy felt comfortable sitting outside with Faith. They were having a great conversation and almost cuddling. Wait. Cuddling? Why am I cuddling with Faith? Better yet, why does it feel comfortable? Buffy decided it didn't matter.

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"Hey sweeties." Willow walked over to Tara who was burping Alex and kissed them both on the head.

"Hi Will. This guy is ready to be rocked to sleep. You up for it?" She handed the infant to Willow with her trademark smile.

"Better believe it." She took the baby and held him against her, rocking him gently. She kissed his soft head and inhaled deeply. "That's the best smell ever."

"Motherhood suits you. You look so natural rocking him." Tara reached up and touched Willow's hair.

"Look who's talking! It's not so bad. I mean there's a whole team of us. What could go wrong? I can't believe I just said that out loud." Willow smirked.

"I think we've just been living with the whole 'waiting for the next shoe to drop' mentality. This is really it. These two little cutie pies are it. Evil lives no more. Quoth the prophecy." Tara stood and fixed Evelyn's swaddle and touched her head.

"I guess so." Willow smiled at her.

Tara walked from Evelyn's bassinet over to Willow and kissed her lightly on the lips. "It's all going to be ok now."

Willow continued rocking Alex gently until he fell fast asleep. She gently swaddled him and put him in his bassinet. "Let's see who's still out there." Willow grabbed Tara's hand.

Willow walked out on to the balcony and saw Buffy and Faith with arms around each other leaning in to one another. "Hey."

"Hi Will. How are the kids? Both asleep, no problems?" Buffy asked.

"Sound asleep. The party's still roaring inside. Xander's going on and on about his little namesake. I asked where you guys were."

"Needed some air. Just taking it all in, Red. Xan's pretty charged, that's for sure. It's awfully sweet of you two giving 'em our names and all. Everybody's represented but you." Faith added.

"Yeah, well, it's ok. If you look closely enough, I think Eve has got my eyes and Alex has red hair." Willow smiled lightly. "I'm in them, too...just not name-wise."

Faith unwrapped her arm from around Buffy, grabbed the empty champagne flutes and stood up. "I'm gonna head in to the party...mingle a little. You need me, just yell." Faith went back inside.

"Are you and Tara both ok? I mean childbirth, Will...you and Tara and me and Faith...we made lives. It's huge." Buffy went over to Willow.

"Yeah, we're both good. Tara's tired and obviously sore but things went really, really well. You'd have been so proud of Dawnie. She only got faint once." Willow smiled recalling how proud the teen was that she was asked to help with the birth.

"Good. It's just...we've really done it this time. I really think we defeated evil. My slayer senses haven't tingled even a tiny bit." Buffy sounded almost sad.

Xander walked out on the balcony carrying a bag. "Hey." He walked over to the two women, set the bag down and put his arms around them. "Big day, huh?"

"The biggest." Willow put her hand over Xander's.

Xander pulled out two wrapped gifts and handed one to each of his best friends.

"What's this?" Buffy looked at the paper and shook the present a little.

"Well, see, it's a present. You'll notice I wrapped it. Traditionally, you unwrap it to find out specifically what is inside." He smiled.

Buffy unwrapped her gift. Staring back at her were the faces of three kids, younger versions of the three people on this balcony now. "Oh my God...how?"

Willow had unwrapped her present as well and was fingering the frame gently. She looked at the picture. She didn't speak.

"My Uncle Rory wanted a picture of me way back when. I didn't have many pictures of myself so I sent him this one. I know we all lost our...well...our everything when Sunnydale was swallowed up and I have been thinking of this picture lately..."

Xander continued speaking but Buffy drifted away in her thoughts...

God, how young we were. Had Xander even begun dating Cordelia? Willow had yet to cast her first spell. Had she even kissed Angel yet?

She looked harder at the picture. The sun shone brightly on the three close friends. They sat on the steps of Sunnydale High, Buffy on the bottom step, Xander behind her and Willow leaning on Xander's shoulders. It had been a good day and they looked so happy.

So much was to come for all of them. So much pain and heartbreak was to follow for them largely because of her. She wanted to cry out to her younger self. Do this! Don't do that! She felt tears well up in her eyes.

Willow's voice brought her back. "It's perfect, Xander. I love it. Thank you." She hugged him.

Buffy looked at them. She suddenly felt guilty. The kids in that photo were robbed of a normal life...because of her.

Xander read her expression. "Hey." He wiped her cheeks with the back of his hand. "We are the sum of our experiences, a wise man once said. I wouldn't trade a single one of them. Not if it meant that I wouldn't be right here, right now with both of you."

Willow hugged her friends and spoke. "You helped make us who we are, Buffy. The ridiculous spaz in this photo saved the world...and for that matter so has Xander and so have you a thousand times over. I wouldn't trade that or our friendship for anything."

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Months later...

Giles picked up the phone. "Well, hello Duncan, old chap, been far too...another what? Prophecy?" He removed his glasses and began cleaning them furiously. "Dear Lord."

The End