All he had heard since they had left the centre was about how educated Riley was, how lucky he was to have been taught by a gifted yogi, Riley this and Riley that. Then the bloke had gone and given her his number and pushed her to come by and take a class with him.
She was so excited and animated that William felt like a git for wanting to take that away from her. Just because he thought Riley was probably dumber than a box of rocks and had probably managed to get his head stuck up his ass during one of his classes, and had probably never gotten it out, was no reason to rain on Buffy’s happy parade of ‘fitting in’.
Her enthusiasm had even encouraged him to accompany her to a class when he came back. Maybe even a few classes. It was all for the desire to learn yoga, really, and nothing to do with the fact that he suspected Riley had the hots for his girl.
Whoa. His girl? He shook his head as he stuffed another undershirt in his suitcase. That was ridiculous. Buffy was his sister-in-law and hopefully a friend, but she was not his girl.
Perhaps getting away for the week would actually be best.
With that thought in mind, William made his way down the stairs. He would say goodbye to Ella and Buffy and be on his way. The car was waiting for him, his things already in the car, and everything was waiting and ready for him to go.
He was about to ask one of the maids to fetch Buffy when Buffy came down the stairs quickly, Ella in her arms. His breath caught as he watched them. Home he thought, family. Watching his girls – oh sod it – come down the stairs to see him off made something shift in his chest that he had never felt before, and therefore could not place. All he knew was that he felt peace wash over him; felt warmth spread through him and knew he wanted this always. He wanted to see them first thing when he arrived back home, just like this, rushing to catch him so they would not miss his arrival first thing.
He smiled at Buffy, wanting more than ever to take her in his arms. His arms literally ached with the desire and he fought himself hard to deny that urge. “Buffy,” he breathed, his voice clogging with emotion.
She smiled brightly up at him, “Ella and I thought maybe you’d like for us to see you off.”
“I was going to call for you.”
She laughed, “Of course you were.”
He grinned sheepishly. “Thank you for coming down.”
“Well, of course we were going to come down and see you off. Huh, Ella?”
Ella looked up at her uncle and gurgled at him. William smiled, thinking he could not wait to hear Ella’s little voice say ‘Bye Uncle William’.
Leaning in, William pecked Ella’s cheek. “Goodbye sweet girl.”
“Oh come on, give her a real hug,” Buffy said and held Ella out.
Taking the little girl in his arms, Ella cuddled right into him, looking up at him with trusting, big blue eyes. William’s heart swelled and he fought the urge to cry. This was what Angel and Dru had the pleasure of. Unconditional love, trust and acceptance and this, this is what he had been missing all this time. He had gone so long without it, he never thought he needed it, always thought it was something that happened to other people and he convinced himself he did not need it. Now that sense of belonging was staring him in the face and he was loathing to leave it. Yet at the same time, he was afraid to stay, afraid of what would happen if he gave himself over to the sensations swirling inside him like a hurricane.
Giving her a kiss, William whispered good-bye once more and handed Ella over to Buffy.
“Goodbye William. Thank you for yesterday,” Buffy said and wrapped her free arm around him. “We’ll see you when you come back. Have a good week.”
William gulped and nodded, feeling the sudden need to flee before his emotions over came him.
“Say bye-bye Uncle William,” Buffy coaxed Ella and held up her little hand, making Ella wave.
Not being able to speak, William rushed out of the house after a quick wave and a shaky smile. Rushing to the car, he climbed in and the car lurched forward. Buffy had come outside with Ella, still holding up their niece’s tiny arm, making the little girl wave.
It washed over him in a rush, the sensation he had felt when he had been packing. He knew what it was that was missing, knew the reason why he had not wanted to go this time: He missed his girls and yes, they were his girls.
It was a dreary Tuesday afternoon. The sun was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds and the rain was being insistent on making itself known.
Buffy stared out Ella’s nursery window as the little one slept, and she thought, I miss William. The thought came so unbidden and without any lead up, that it caught her off guard and shook her a bit.
It was true though. She could not fight it. The sky had opened up within minutes of William disappearing out of sight on Sunday evening, and since then she had been struck with a gloominess that matched the weather.
Her cell phone vibrating in her hand jarred her from her thoughts. Rushing to the hall, she flipped it open to find a number she did not recognize right away. Her heart raced. Maybe it was William, having finally gotten a minute to check up on them.
“Hello?” she answered, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
“Buffy?” Definitely not William.
“Yeah?”
“Hello, its Riley.”
“Oh! Hi Riley, how are you?”
“Well, thanks, and yourself?”
“Um, good, thanks. What’s up?”
“I was calling to find out if you were coming to class this evening.”
“I was planning on it, why?”
“Well, it seems the remodeling for the building is starting up today, so the class is being moved post haste.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, I am calling my students to give directions. Got a pen and paper handy?”
“Oh well, I uh…” she still would not have a clue where to go, and thought she could just have a driver take her and then instantly rejected the idea. No, better yet, she, Willow and Ella were going to take a ride later so she could learn where to go. “Sure, hold on.”
She felt her spirits lift as Riley gave her the directions. Clicking the phone shut, she smiled. This was exactly what she needed—something to do. Feeling as though she were taking big first steps to settle in to her new country, Buffy sought Willow to ask her if she would mind going for a ride after Ella woke from her nap.
They were lost. Buffy had the driver drop Willow, Ella and herself in the middle of town so they could find Riley’s house on their own. As they rounded the town square for the fifth time, she was cursing the idea. She glanced at her watch she was five minutes late for the class. She was just about to admit defeat and call Riley to come and find them when her phone rang.
“Riley, hey I was just going to call you. I am lost, where do you live again?”
“It’s William,” Buffy felt the butterflies in her stomach at the sound of his voice.
“Hi William, sorry I thought you were Riley,”
“Clearly. Is Ella with you?” Buffy’s butterflies were chased away by the tone of William's voice. He did not sound happy.
“Yes, I thought a trip into town would be nice for all of us,” Why did she suddenly feel as though she was in front of the principal facing detention.
“I thought you said you were going to Riley’s house?”
“Well, I was but we are lost and…”
“Well, which is it Buffy? Were you going into town or going on a date?”
“Don’t cross examine me William,” Buffy was getting angry now. She had been looking forward to hearing from him since he had left. However, this was not the kind of conversation she had planned.
“I am not cross examining you Buffy; I just don’t appreciate you taking my niece as a chaperone for your dates.” His anger was palpable.
“We are going to a Yoga Class if you must know not that it is any of your business.”
“If it involves Ella than it is my business.”
“Well, if you are so concerned about her, then why haven’t you asked how she is?”
“Ok then, put Willow on the phone please.”
“Don’t you want to ask me how Ella is doing?”
“I would rather speak to the person who cares for her,” Buffy tried to hold back the tears as she felt as though she had been slapped as she handed the phone to Willow.
“Master William?”
Buffy did not listen in as she took in William’s words. Why was he being so cruel? She had been looking forward to hearing from him all week and now she was wishing he had never called.
Willow handed back the phone to her.
“Hello?”
“He hung up,” Willow explained. “I have to take Ella back to the house. Master William insisted.” The look on Willow’s face told her that he had done more that insisted.
“What do you mean insisted? She is my niece too. He can’t just do that.” Buffy hit redial. The busy tone rung in her ears, she hit redial again. She would not let him get away with this.