Twenty-sixth. No rule but love
Marriage is a fierce battle
before which the two partners
ask heaven for its blessing,
because loving each other is the
most audacious of enterprises;
the battle is not slow to start,
and victory, that is to say freedom,
goes to the cleverest.
Honoré De Balzac, The Physiology of Marriage
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange, one for the other given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven.
Sir Philip Sidney, Song from Arcadia
Yeah. Look, let me take you away from all this.
Aaah, a marriage made in heaven.
A frog and a pig.
We can have bouncing baby figs.
Kermit to Miss Piggy, The Muppet Show, 1976
When it comes to the marriage,
one man is as good as the next.
And even the least accommodating
is less trouble than a mother.
Marquise de Merteuil, Dangerous Liaisons, 1988
Chains do not hold a marriage together.
It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads
which sew people together through the years.
Simone Signoret
A man's wife has more power over him than the state has.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals
Between a man and his wife nothing ought to rule but love.
William Penn
Joyce looked up in surprise when her attorney put the papers down between them. “You realize what you’ve signed, right?”
“Given my daughter some hope for a future and . . . . what?”
“Joyce, I’ve been your attorney for years, since your divorce from Hank, now tell me what this is really about.”
She sighed heavily, her eyes on the paperwork in front of her. “I don’t want her to rely on any man. They aren’t trustworthy or worth the aggravation.”
Lilah Morgan watched the anger flicker across Joyce’s face, her own features impassioned. “Have you heard from your daughter at all?”
With a shake of her head, Joyce grabbed the settlement document laying on the table between them. “She’s hiding at Rosenberg’s. Her little friend says otherwise, but I know she’s lying.”
“There’s one stipulation you should know about.” Lilah paused while Joyce signed all the documents. “The Finns insisted on it, and they weren’t willing to budge. I thought the general was a hardass, but his wife. . . . “ Lilah’s voice trailed off, then she gathered herself. “Apparently Maggie Finn insisted on this. Neither you nor Buffy can access the funds without co-signing the checks.”
“What?” Joyce looked flustered, then a flash of anger flared in her eyes. “What is that? What does that mean?”
“It means, Joyce, that neither you nor Buffy can touch the money without the other one knowing about it, until Buffy reaches twenty-one and then the money becomes hers and you’ll have no control over it at all.”
Joyce sat there stunned, her mind trying to grasp this new information. “That’s . . . that’s. . . .”
The flight was too short to be anything but uneventful. By the time he realized he’d forgotten to call his uncle about the dogs, they were about half an hour into the flight to Las Vegas. Will fumbled for his phone, his attention focused on getting at least a message through to Rupert, asking him to watch the dogs until Sunday.
He hadn’t said anything to Rupert all week about Buffy’s return. It was one thing for him to tell Drusilla or Buffy to tell Willow, neither one of them held the power Rupert Giles did. Technically any admission of impropriety on Will’s part could get him into trouble, only the fact of the blood-ties between the two men seemed to be working in his favor.
So far, Giles had held his tongue, kept Will’s secret. That didn’t mean, though, Will was just going to start confiding his every thought. If anything, Rupert’s knowledge of his feelings for Buffy made him more closed-mouthed. Can’t have both of us in hot water. Least this way one of us can escape.
Managing to leave a voice-mail on Rupert’s cell phone, Will breathed a little easier. His eyes settled on Buffy, who was taking advantage of their enforced stillness by sleeping. The pounds she’d lost, ones she really shouldn’t have, were slowly coming back, little bit by little bit. Between his encouragement and concern, she’d called her doctor, asking for advice and requesting a check-up appointment, since she’d missed her last one. They were going to see the doctor on Thursday, and hopefully, they’d be able to convince her to eat more. Her head fell against his shoulder, and Will shifted, easing her forward, then lifted the arm rest. She started to wake up as he moved them around but his murmured “go back to sleep”, was enough for her.
Buffy was now laying across his lap, her head cradled in the crook of his elbow, her face against his chest. Will leaned in to kiss the end of her nose just as the flight attendant walked by. Glancing down at them, she smiled a bit. “Long week?”
Will grinned, sparing her a quick glance before focusing on Buffy again. “Been a really rough month.”
“Well the good news is it’s almost over.” She paused for a second, then opened the hatch over their heads. “Shouldn’t really do this, since we only have about an hour more flying time, but she looks exhausted.”
Unfolding the blanket, she spread it over them, a smile playing about her lips.
“Thanks, pet. ‘M sure she’ll appreciate it.” Will settled back, closing his own eyes.
With a soft, “you’re welcome,” the flight attendant left them alone.
Her first glimpse of the Las Vegas strip was a blur of lights and noise and people out walking around everywhere. So very different from sleepy old Sunnydale. Buffy wasn’t sure if it was because she’d just woken up or because she was very much out of her element, but she wasn’t exactly comfortable.
It was sensory overload.
The blinking flashing neon was giving her a headache and doing nothing for the nausea currently making her feel sea-sick. “Will? Can you pull over?”
“What’s wrong?” Checking the road, Will eased over to the curb, his eyes, for once, not on his girlfriend.
The second the car stopped, Buffy was out, her head between her knees, fighting against the urge to vomit. Her head was swimming, bile rising up in her throat, threatening to make an appearance at any moment. Strong hands wrapped around her and she collapsed into them.
“I’ve got you kitten, relax.”
“I don’t feel so good.” Her face nuzzled against his chest, their arms instinctively wrapping around each other. They both remained silent, while she tried to get her belly to agree to moving again. A deep sigh broke through her.
Will kissed the top of her head, running his fingers through her hair. “Think you can go now?”
“Yeah.”
“Right then, back in you go.” Will waited while she sat in the rental, closing the door behind her.
“Thanks Will.” Her tiny hand reached out to him as he sat down behind the wheel. He took hold of it, raising it to his mouth.
Not letting go after he placed a tender kiss on the back, Will smiled and drove toward their hotel.
He could’ve booked a whole big thing in the Bellagio; an entire hugely expensive over-the-top wedding package, including huge cake and all the other stuff. They’d talked about it, just a little bit, and Buffy had said she didn’t want any of that, she just wanted something small without anyone else being around. Which is why he didn’t book the expensive package.
Will had gotten them the smaller of the two chapels, had gotten the smallest of the wedding packages, then paid for an up-grade so that Buffy could have a spa treatment in the morning, with pictures and dinner for the two of them. They weren’t having any guests, the only people on earth other than the two of them who knew where they were going to be and more importantly, what they were doing, were Willow and Drusilla.
Buffy had been utterly adorable when she was on the phone with Willow Thursday night and despite her earlier promise and decision she wasn’t going to tell her best friend about their plans for the weekend, she’d been unable to hold back. The mutual squeals of excitement had been hard to miss and even though he knew the potential existed for them to be caught, he couldn’t in all good conscience give her a hard time about confiding in Willow. He was glad she’d started opening up to her, because Buffy needed to know he wasn’t the only one that loved her – she needed the support of her best friend if she was going to make it through the next couple of months with her sanity intact.
When he’d told Dru, after she’d yelled at him for a bit, she’d merely asked “which hotel?”
His response had gotten her approval and he then told her about the other surprise he was planning for spring break, which was around Valentine’s day. Her delight had been infectious, and Will was basking in the glow of her approval when she lowered the boom on him and asked about Buffy’s mother. That had been enough to sour his whole mood and Will had almost hung up on her; but she’d managed to calm him down and get him to open up about that also.
Buffy was standing behind him, her jacket around her as she stared around at the lobby of the hotel. He could tell by her stiff posture she was a bit uncomfortable and he guessed too, she was still feeling a bit off from nausea. The morning sickness struck at the oddest times and Will sometimes wondered if stress also played a part in her continued inability to eat. Check-in was progressing smoothly though and he figured they’d be up in their suite shortly.
“Will? How much longer?” Her voice sounded next to him and he looked down at her to find tears pooling in her sad looking eyes.
“What’s wrong, kitten?” The concierge helping them took one look at the couple, attention caught by the concern in the man’s voice and prepared to step in if they needed her assistance.
She sniffled a bit, then leaned closer to him, pitching her voice low. “My belly’s all wonky and I wanna lie down.”
He turned away from the concierge, his attention fully on her. “You gonna get sick again?”
She shook her head, making a face. “Don’t think so.”
“Mr. Stevenson? Is everything okay?” The concierge interrupted, pulling his attention away for a moment. “If necessary we can have someone escort your fiance upstairs and you can check in while she’s resting.”
All it took for him to agree was a look back down at Buffy and he was agreeing with the concierge’s suggestion. “Go on up, kitten, I’ll be up shortly.”
Amazingly enough, she was asleep when he got upstairs, the remains of their complimentary basket on the table in their living room. Deciding against disturbing her, Will looked around for his luggage, realizing she’d hung up his suit and unpacked for both of them, and managed to fall asleep in the time it took for him to finalize all the arrangements for the morning. Buffy had an appointment for ten at the spa, he had a meeting with the officiant at eleven and the ceremony was taking place at two.
At loose ends, Will decided against going downstairs to gamble or shop and opted instead to settle himself in front of the television. We can always order room service or hit one of the restaurants later if either one of us is hungry.
With that thought in mind, Will stripped out of his jeans and, with all the lights out, slid into bed beside Buffy.
The phone ringing their wake-up call was the first thing either of them heard the next morning. Will had requested a nine o’clock wake-up call, and as he opened his blurry eyes, he realized they’d slept through the night. Must’ve been exhausted, don’t remember much beyond settling in to watch television.
Buffy stirred beside him as he was hanging up the phone, a sleepy, “what time is it? emerging from her.
“Just nine.” He laid back flat on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Scheduled a surprise for you at ten.”
Her barely opened eyes stared at him. “What kind of surprise?”
“Good kind, sweets. Girly stuff, spa . . . Make-up and fun stuff.” She squealed a little bit, sounding very squeaky. “For me?”
“Yeah. So you’ll be all primped for this afternoon.” He rolled over onto his side, his eyes on her. “Not that I don’t already think you’re perfect, sweetness, but you deserve the spoiling.”
Surprising him a little, she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him soundly. “And you wonder why I love you. You’re the best, Will.”
He moved to slide her into his arms, his lips seeking hers. Again, she surprised him by holding him off, her hands pushing him away. “No way buddy. Next time you kiss me. . . . “
Took him a minute to realize what she was talking about and once he did, a gleam entered his eyes and a leer played about his lips. “Right then. . . . “
“All right, sweetheart, we’ll play by your rules.” He brushed a quick kiss on her forehead and rolled from the bed. “Time to get movin’, princess.”
Buffy got up, listening as Will called the concierge to find out if someone could come up to get her dress and everything else she would need for the afternoon. Ducking into her bathroom, she got into the shower, determined to be out quickly.
Today is important.
The day passed in heartbeats.
One minute she was just getting out of bed, the next she was being pampered, leg and under-arm waxing, a light massage, pedi- and manicure, and the next . . . .
Buffy stared at herself in the full length mirror, her eyes sweeping up and down. Wow. . . I look pretty good. . . .
The dress was simple, thin spaghetti straps held up the soft vee-neck, flowing down to a straight white dress, a three-quarter length tissue hem over a floor length skirt. The neckline and the hemline had delicate beadwork forming trellis leaves and the matching wrap was of the same chiffon material. Her pretty pink toes barely peeked out from under the hem, while the wrap felt good against her shoulders. She smiled wistfully at her reflection, hardly able to believe she was actually, here, now, about to marry Will Stevenson. Her school-girl crush was long gone, replaced with a deep and consuming love between them. He loved her, proving it every day, giving her everything she needed.
Her hair was pulled back, baby wisps framing her face, making her eyes appear very luminous. Inhaling deeply, Buffy stepped away from the mirror, searching for her bouquet. Will’s thought of everything. . . .
There was a small disturbance at the door and the concierge who was assisting her opened the door. A soft feminine voice sounded and Buffy heard the unmistakable sound of little girl giggles. “Hush now. Mustn’t make noise. . . we’re a surprise, my beauties.”
Buffy turned to stare at the dark-haired woman, brushing past the startled girl. “Hello sunshine. . . surprised?”
“Drusilla?”
She swept further into the room, two little girls trailing behind her, both dressed in beautiful, frilly little party dresses. “The one and only, darling.”
“Oh. Oh my god!” Buffy couldn’t believe they’d managed to come. . . and she was so very glad they had. “Oh!”
A little voice perked up then, asking, “are you gonna be our auntie now?” And the second voice whispered loudly, “she’s pretty Mommy.”
Drusilla cupped their shoulders, presenting her daughters. “This is Kathleen and Darla.”
Buffy was still in a state of shock. “Hello girls.” Addressing her next words to their mother, she said, “we never expected you.”
“I know dearie, but I managed to convince my Angel we needed to be here.”
“Angel?”
Her infectious laughter filled the small chamber. “He’s not really an angel, far from it. I just call him that. Liam’s outside, hiding from our Will.”
“He doesn’t know you’re here?”
“No dearie. The pixies whispered to me, told me we should come, and,” she giggled and shrugged, “here we are.”
The concierge piped up, “it’s time Miss Summers.”
Clapping her hands, Drusilla got everyone’s attention. “All right girls, come with Mummy now.”
Buffy stopped her, sudden inspiration striking her. “Girls? Would you like to be in my wedding?”
“Can we Mummy?”
“Please Mummy?”
“Are you certain dearie?” Drusilla had a gleam in her eyes though, and Buffy couldn’t resist the joy she saw there.
“Positive.”
Will was standing next to the minister, a short, round fireplug of a woman, who smiled up at him, a twinkle in her eyes. She looked like a real-life version of Mrs. Claus, only slightly miniaturized. Charlotte Walters had set him at ease, and Will had found himself confessing everything to her during their short meeting. She hadn’t judged him, hadn’t said he was wrong for loving Buffy, she’d only shaken her head with a smile, saying, “love’s a gift. We have to learn to accept it no matter when it appears. God doesn’t work on our timelines. . . He’s got his own agenda.”
Coming back to the moment, Will got the surprise of his life when Drusilla and Liam slipped in the chapel doors, taking the first set of seats in front of them. Drusilla’s whole face was brightened by her brilliant and knowing smile and despite the surprise, Will found himself grinning back. That smile just widened even more when first Darla and then Kathleen walked down the short aisle toward him. The smiles broke into outright laughter when Darla exclaimed, “Unca Will, you look pretty!”
When Kathleen piped up, “shush silly, boys can’t be pretty,” Will nearly lost it.
Buffy, who was hiding just behind the doorway, heard the entire exchange and fought her own giggles. Listening to everyone’s happy laughter, she quickly addressed a plea toward the sanctuary – let this be how it’s gonna be for the rest of our lives, please?
With that thought, Buffy stepped out from behind the doorway.
He’d never expected Drusilla to act on her knowledge – or move so fast to get her, Liam and the girls here. Still shaking his head, Will barely had time to register their presence when their two little sprites were coming down the aisle toward him.
Their little faces were lit with excitement and Darla’s artless exclamation, coupled with Kathy’s admonishment had him, and everyone else, laughing.
Until Buffy stepped into his line of sight.
The laughter drained from his face, exchanged with a look of absolute awe.
She’s beautiful . . . . an’ all yours, mate.
Her smile never faltered.
His never wavered.
Suddenly she was at his side, her small hand sliding into his, her touch warming him from inside.
The minister’s words washed over him, her clipped tones softening as she watched the couple in front of her. Will heard every word, none of them truly registering until, “do you take this woman, Buffy, as your lawfully wedded wife?”
Will stared down into her eyes, a smile on his lips. “I do. For always.”
Buffy smiled back at him, a tiny smile playing about her lips. The same question was posed to her and her answer, “I do. For five or six hundred years,” made him smile widely.
His laughter faded the moment his eyes locked with hers, but Buffy didn’t care, because the awe and love was clearly written on his face.
Those butterflies started beating their wings, fluttering wildly in her belly. Hello there. . .
Buffy felt the blush cross her cheeks, accompanied by the increased pounding of her heart.
The walk toward him took forever, and for long heartbeats she thought she was never going to reach his side.
He had a wide grin on his face, one she couldn’t hid her response to.
His hand reached for hers as she stood next to him and when their fingers meshed, Buffy breathed a sigh of relief.
The words of the ceremony binding them together filled her head and the enormity of what they were doing scared her, but only for a moment, because in the next, Will was intoning, “I do, for always.”
She couldn’t stop the smile from blooming on her face, nor the crazy thoughts in her head. . . “Do you, Buffy, take Will to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do. For five or six hundred years.” She couldn’t help the words of their private joke from surfacing.
The minute the words were passed her lips, his grin widened and he softly growled, “mine.”
“By the powers vested in me, by God and the State of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now. . . . “
The minister’s voice stopped before the sentence was finished because Will had jumped the gun, his arms around Buffy and his mouth on hers.
They broke apart when the girls started making kissing noises and giggling.
Will rested his forehead against hers. Buffy held onto him, her fingers lightly brushing his nape.
Her soft breath whispered “I love you, Will.”
His lips brushed over hers again. “Love you too, kitten. So damn much.”
They stayed locked in an embrace until Darla’s voice piped up again, “Mummy? Are they marrieded yet?”
When Drusilla laughingly answered, “yes.” Darla shrieked in happiness, exclaiming, “Unca Will! Auntie Buffy! You’re marrieded!”
Even the minister had to laugh.
“I know sweetness. Are you happy?”
“So cited! I wanna be married!” Darla was practically bouncing.
“Not for a long time, princess, not for a very long time.” Liam’s wry tone cut through the mirth and Buffy stared at the taciturn man as he approached them. “Congratulations, Will. Never thought you’d do this.”
The two men shook hands, while the girls circled around Buffy.
“Can we call you Auntie?”
“You’re pretty like a princess. Are you a princess?”
“Do you love Unca Will?”
“Are you gonna gets a baby like Mummy?”
Helpless against the barrage of questions, Buffy just let them ramble, but when Kathy’s innocent query rang through the chapel, Buffy froze.
Will’s attention was caught by the question also, though he chose to ignore the first part. “Like Mummy, pet?”
His raised eyebrow spoke volumes about Dru keeping secrets, Will smiled down at the girls, “well, poppets, the truth is Buffy is going to have a baby.”
“Yeah! Now we both can have one to play with!”
Grabbing Buffy’s hand, Will kissed the back of it. Darla pulled on his pants leg. “Unca Will? I don’t has to be your bestest girl anymores. Auntie Buffy’s new baby can be, okay?”
“Oh poppet. . . “ Will didn’t know what to say to that.
Buffy bent down to talk to the concerned four year old. “Sweetie, I think your Uncle Will has enough room in his heart for a couple of best girls. You can be his best four year old.”
“Darla sniffled a little, then nodded, “I love you Auntie Buffy. You’re nice.”
“Love you too, sweetie.”
Will reached for her hand, the other one sweeping Darla up into the crook of his arm. “C’mon Mrs. Stevenson, we need to clear out of here.”
They went upstairs to change, and on a whim, Will picked up Buffy as they were exiting the elevator, carrying her slight form down the hallway to their suite, the giggling misses trailing behind them. He’d dubbed the two girls the giggling misses on their way out of the chapel, since every time he kissed Buffy they thought it was funny, pointing and laughing at the newly married couple.
Will and Buffy were in the bedroom, the girls in the living room, curiously searching around when Buffy motioned Will to the door, her head tilted so she could listen at the opening.
One of them sighed, then whispered not so softly to the other. “I wanted to grown up and marry Unca Will.”
“Can’t do that silly. He’s old. Older than Mummy even.”
“He’s not older than Daddy.”
“No one’s older than Daddy.”
“Do you fink Mummy’s new baby will love us?”
“Ahuh. That’s a stupid question. He’s gonna be our brother. He has to love us.”
“Not stupid.”
“Yes you are. You wanted to marry Unca Will.”
“Amn’t stupid.” There was absolute quiet, then, “take it back or I’ll tell Mummy on you.”
More quiet. Buffy shared a look with Will, her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.
“Sorry Kaffy. Not stupid.” Darla paused, then asked her sister, “is Unca Will’s new baby gonna love us?”
“Prolly. You’re opposed to love people that loves you.”
“So we love Unca Will’s new baby?”
“I love it. You should too. It’s better than Mummy’s new baby. It’s a girl.”
“Girls are better than boys.”
“Unless they’re Daddy. Or Unca Will.”
“Boys are yucky.”
“Kaffy? Don’t be mean to Auntie Buffy caused she married Unca Will, kay?”
There was a very long pause, while Kathleen obviously thought this one over. Finally, her voice sounding very small, she answered. “Okay.”
Buffy was hard pressed to stifle her laughter and Will was shaking his head. “Those two are gonna be a handful when they’re older.”
“They’re very smart little girls.”
“Daddy sayed Unca Will should be caryful, cos of the old man. Who’s old man?”
“Dunno. Are we gonna get ice cream?”
The two adults shared a look, knowing which old man Kathy was talking about. “Dru must’ve told him.”
“Is he. . . would he say something?” Buffy grabbed Will’s forearm, sudden fear clutching at her.
Will shrugged. “If he was, he wouldn’t have come. Peaches isn’t smart enough to be that subtle.”
A sigh of relief broke from her and Will gathered her into his arms. “We’re okay now, sweets. We’re together and no one can break us apart.”
My thanks to all of you who've stuck with me through this -- but no, this is not the end, so please, be kind and leave a nice review.