~*-*~
"Ow!"
Buffy pulled the brush out of her drying hair with a tug, clearly pulling a lot of pretty blonde hair with it. She sighed and picked up the hair bottle on the counter, staring at what was now her fuller face with disappointment.
"I really have to stop falling for those stupid shampoo ads! No More Tangles my ass..."
It was cold outside, even for October, if it was in fact October. Days had faded into months and to be honest, Miss Summers could hardly tell whether it was day or night, let alone which month it was. Sitting alone in the kitchen, and snacking on whatever she could find, Buffy sighed. It wasn't long however before Willow appeared in the doorway.
"Morning!"
Buffy would reply, however she was too busy giving Willow a quizzical look. She looked her up and down, noting the origin of the dress Willow wore. The ruffles, the layers, the ribbons and the bows. And of course the corset, which definitely accentuated Willow's figure. It was that same dress that she had worn years ago, its aim was to impress Angel and it ended up regressing her two hundred years. Willow returned Buffy's questioning glare.
"It was in the attic and it's pretty. Also, a certain Mr Rayne isn't exactly in operation chaos wise, so I assumed it was safe. How are you?"
"Same as usual."
Willow twirled a few times and smiled before fiddling with whatever she could get her hands on around the kitchen. Buffy sighed, practically ignoring her friend.
"I miss Amy."
Willow had to frown and glanced over.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well I feel like a rat!"
She motioned to the numerous amounts of cheese slice wrappings that littered the ground like snow.
"Even after all those, I still want more cheese."
Willow smiled. She put down King James and took Buffy's hand.
"Okay, so you're addicted to cheese. No big! Loads of pregnant women have weird eating habits."
Buffy groaned and stood up. She headed towards the refrigerator and took out yet more cheese to eat.
"Yeah, I know. Blame the kid."
She munched on another slice of reconstituted cheese, allowing the wrapper to float towards the ground. Buffy rubbed her rather large second-trimester stomach. Willow just smiled at her, almost in awe of how the pregnancy made her glow, as she pulled two mugs of blood out of the microwave.
"I still can't believe you're having Spike's baby!"
"Nor can I. And babies don't forget. I cannot be this huge already with just one person in here."
"Speaking of people, where's Dawn?"
Buffy finished another slice.
"Xander took her to school. He's working there now, and she's 'learning to become someone'."
Willow dunked a biscuit in her blood, allowing the red tint to soak its way up the snack before devouring it whole.
"Is she reacting any better to Pregnant Buffy?"
"No. She's not happy. Convinced I'm giving birth to demon spawn."
Willow tried to stroke Buffy's back to assure her, but her index finger only left a lightning streak of blood on her naked back.
"Let's put it this way. She's the worst of everyone."
"I know. Giles is still excited."
They giggled together, something they hadn't done in years. Willow and Buffy were clearly growing together again.
"Those kids will be spoilt rotten."
"Tell me about it. Giles is convinced they're boys and he's already bought them all little white suits and miniature cricket bats. Spike doesn't have the heart to tell him that our boys will not play cricket."
"What does he want them to play?"
"Well he's got them kitted out in soccer clothes. To quote him, they'll be like the Nevilles only better."
Buffy wrinkled her nose at her own rather bad imitation. Willow sipped her blood some more as Tara wandered in.
"Evening baby."
Tara tried to slip her a kiss, but she wasn't exactly bendy. The black leather catsuit with red lace trim lacked room for movement. Willow noticed and got up from the table to kiss her instead.
"Aww... I know it's strange, but you'll get used to it. I wore that costume once."
Buffy looked up from the magazine article and licked some remaining Stilton off her fingers.
"Hey Tara, feeling better?"
Tara rubbed her head.
"A little. Still a bit dizzy. Hungry though."
"Oh! I'd offer you cheese, because you need it. But I seem to have finished it all."
Tara glanced down as Buffy pointed at the ones still on the table.
"Those are for me."
Tara smiled and turned to her girlfriend.
"It's the pregnancy right?"
Willow just nodded. Then she remembered.
"Oh! I almost forgot. Here's your blood sweetie."
She handed Tara the second mug.
"I heated it too early I guess."
"It's okay. I like the cold."
Tara took a sip of what was now the congealing blood and then took her girl in the arms for a kiss. Buffy watched with tears in her eyes.
"You two are so right for each other! I miss Spike so much right now."
The two witches, one in leather, one in period dress, pulled apart and took the pregnant slayer in supportive hug. They would have remained like that for a while since in that hug was peace, warmth and security, except the back door of the kitchen had been rapped upon.
"I'll answer that."
Buffy moved to the door and opened it to a bald man sporting large black-rimmed glasses. He was wearing a tweed suit and held a plate with cheese on it. Except this was strange to Buffy since the cheese was in its original form. It was not sliced, but in a short cylindrical shape. It was a beauty to her. The man smiled politely before addressing her.
"Hello madam, here is your new delivery. Sorry about the shape, we had no choice."
He took out a pen.
"Sign here."
Buffy's eyes snapped open. She was slightly shaken by the experience. After all, it was just a dream. No prophecy, not a Slayer dream. Just a dream. What it meant she had no idea, but providing there was no apocalypse, she was probably safe. Hey, even if it was an apocalypse then she would be likely to stop it anyway. Buffy was rationalising all she could, but inside she knew the truth.
I dreamt about the man with the cheese. No good can come of this.
~*-*~
Author's Note: *sigh* It's all over! Oh, I can't believe that it's finished! Well, that's a lie since I started the sequel yesterday morning. But this episode is over!
Oh, I have so many people to thank for making me soooo happy! *starts crying* First I'd like to thank the academy... [somebody whispers to J] What? This *isn't* the Oscars? Oh... bugger.
Okay, first of the bat, I love all you guys. Every review has made me bounce up and down in maniacal glee, really. You wouldn't believe how just a few words can make somebody so happy. This has been a total labour of love, and since this is my first Jossverse fic, you have no idea how many times I just wanted to give up and leave the writing to the figurative professionals. You made it all worth it! And now I'm going to keep trying. Obviously. Since I promised a sequel and a sequel you'll get. But, you know, not *immediately*. Remember the whole "only started it yesterday" thing?
Special thanks to Liz, natch. Some brilliant beta work my darling!
Daywalker: "Why the name Opium?". Okay, I'll be honest, I don't even remember. The original version of this story spent *a lot* more time under the ocean and there was a complete adventure down there involving demon drug-dealing and such, but I scrapped it quite early on and yet still loved the name. It's true. The story you're reading could have been *much* longer... but probably not as interesting.
Chelsea, x & aeryn: Things *are* much cooler in Los Angeles aren't they? But unfortunately Spike is convinced that he's in love with Buffy (strange vampire...) and where Buffy be, Spike be. Oh, but I love Angel, Wesley and Connor *sniff* (those three especially, and heck I love the Fred/Spike dynamic) to not let them show up eventually! So the answer is I don't know. We'll see.
reviewer 131:(who was coincedentally reviewer 123...) Which ship? S/B? S/A? Bugger if I know. I'm an S/A girl at heart and S/B really does it for me, and I appreciate the B/A love... *sigh* If Spike and Buffy head down to LA, there'll just have a threesome and everyone's happy.
And concluding what is probably the longest author's note I've ever done (apart from one that I did a while ago when drunk. Cause that was funny.) thanks to every single reader again and see you soon!