Chapter 26
“Did you ask Santa for this?”
Sarah shook her head before responding with a quiet, “No, mommy, but I love it.”
“I like it too. That Santa, he has pretty good taste,” Buffy remarked as she broke the seal on Sarah’s new gift. It was a plastic purse that was filled with colorful nail polish and matching lip-gloss. “What should we paint first, your fingers or your toes?”
“My toes.”
“Buffy, usually polish is only handled on the carpet, away from the furniture.”
From her spot on the couch, Buffy looked down at William. He was sitting on the floor amongst Jamie, a mountain of toys and a larger mountain of discarded plastic and cardboard toy-wrappers. After coming downstairs, they found the kids fed, bathed, and already dressed for bed. Before Buffy had a chance to thank Tara, she was walking off to take Joy through the same routine.
“What are you saying, William? Are you calling me a rule-breaker?”
“Just consider this your warning, Summers.”
Buffy acknowledged his comment with a lighthearted eye roll before giving her attention back to Sarah, who was sitting patiently with her feet in Buffy’s lap. “What color do you want today, Miss Sarah? You have just about every color in the rainbow to choose from.”
“Pink, please, mommy.”
“That’s a good choice. Pink is definitely your color.”
“It’s my favorite color.”
“I like green and red!” Jamie chimed in. Although he was concentrating on pushing his new dump truck up and down the length of the sofa, he was aware of every word that was said around him. “I—um, I mix green and red all the time! I like it ‘cause it looks like Jo’s poop!”
“Jamie.”
“What? Poop! Poop!” He repeated the word and seemed delighted every time Sarah giggled. “Poop’s a funny word, dad! Poop! Poop! Poop-pa!”
“I’m sure it is, but let’s not scream it, mate.”
“Buffaloes are the color of poop and they smell like it too!”
“That’s why you like them so much, isn’t it?”
William caught Buffy’s eye and they snickered together once Jamie responded with a proud, “Yeah!”
“Sarah, honey, let’s paint your fingers now. You probably know this, but you should avoid sticking your thumb in your mouth once it’s painted. You might chip off some of your pretty pink sparkles.”
“Only babies suck thumbs! Sarah’s a baaaby!”
Buffy watched Sarah’s face scrunch up into a deep frown. As William got after Jamie, Buffy smiled at her daughter. “It’s okay,” she said soothingly as she blew on Sarah’s wet fingernails. “Just ignore your brother.”
“He said I’m a baby! I’m not a baby!”
“Of course you’re not a baby. What color should we put on your lips? I’ve been eyeing this blue one. I bet it’ll smell like blueberries. Do you want to put it on yourself?”
Sarah’s frown vanished and she beamed as she smeared light blue lip-gloss all over her face. “Yummy!”
“Very chic,” Buffy mumbled while wiping off the excess make-up from her cheeks. “Try not to lick it all off though. The color will go away.”
“What ‘bout me?!”
“You want pretty lips too?”
“Yeah!”
“Pick a color. Any color.” Buffy showed Jamie the brightly colored tubes and brushed a purple glittering shine on his mouth. “I love the pucker, Jamie. It’s too cute.”
“This tastes like a—like a popsicle! Can I have some more?” He paused for only a second and then went back to swirling his tongue over his lips. “I want red stuff now! Gimme red lips!”
“Now you’ve done it. Now he’ll be eating that shit like it’s candy.”
“Language, William,” Buffy sang. “Jamie, you’ll have to ask your sister. It’s her make-up. I don’t know how far you’ll get since you called her a baby. You might want to think twice before you do that again.”
“Can I use more of your lippy stuff? Please, please, Sarah? I’m sorry! You’re not a baby!”
Sarah looked at Buffy for approval before smiling and letting out a loud, “No!”
“But she thanks you for asking and she does accept your apology, doesn’t she?” When Sarah nodded twice matter-of-factly, Buffy laughed and pulled her close for a hug. “Your nails are dry now. Let’s put your slippers back on.”
“You handled that with a surprising amount of grace.”
“What’s so surprising about painting some toenails and introducing our son to make-up?” Buffy watched as William stood. His hands were full of trash. He took two trips to the garage before joining her on the sofa. “I’m guessing you don’t want Jamie to follow in his father’s footsteps?”
“Bite your tongue. I was working, Buffy. Do I tease you about every time you’ve dyed your hair for the job? Do I bring up the trashy clothes you wore?”
“You could, and I wouldn’t mind. But I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tease you.”
“No, no you shouldn’t.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. She pouted on his behalf and leaned over to give him a kiss.
“You taste like strawberries.”
“Sarah let me try some of her lippy stuff. Shhh, don’t tell Jamie.”
Looking down, he winked at Sarah, who was still sitting snuggly in Buffy’s lap. “You ready for bed, kitten?”
“Can my new toys sleep with me?”
“The soft ones can, how’s that sound?”
“I wanna sleep with my truck!” Jamie announced. When he felt he wasn’t getting the attention he needed, he placed a little hand on each of Buffy’s knees as he wiggled and danced. “Mommy! Mommy! Are you gonna read me a story?”
“Of course I’ll read you a story. Do you have a particular one in mind? You did get some new books for Christmas, I can read you one of those.”
“Um, um, what about my farmer book?”
“What about it?” Buffy asked with a slight grimace. “Can’t the farmer book take a break today?”
“Nooo!”
“Why not?” she asked, lowering Sarah from her lap and taking a hold of her hand. She headed for the staircase and Jamie followed, pleading his case for his favorite book.
“You aren’t going to join us?” Buffy asked. She picked up Jamie once she noticed him struggling to go up the stairs and looked back at William.
“I might make an appearance a bit later,” he answered. “I was thinking about getting our dinner together.”
“Oh, alright.” She blew him a kiss and laughed when the twins did the same. “I shouldn’t be long, just half an hour or maybe forty-five minutes.”
“Take your time. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy them, Buffy.”
***
One bedtime story later (about a farmer, of course), the twins were sleeping and Buffy was checking on Joy before heading downstairs when she caught a glimpse of Tara. Down the dark hallway, Buffy just barely made out the nanny’s outline before Tara disappeared into the master bedroom.
Without making a sound, Buffy peeked through the door that was left open only a crack and watched as Tara slipped something inside a pillowcase that was on Buffy’s side of the bed.
“Hey, whatcha doing?” Buffy spoke softly, but the sound of her voice made Tara jump. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Why are you sneaking around in the dark?”
“I-I wasn’t sneaking.”
“You’re just tiptoeing with your hands hidden behind your back?” Buffy stepped further into the room and turned on the lights. “What did you do to my pillow?”
“I, uh, changed the pillowcase—no, I mean, I just cleaned it. Something was spilled on it.”
“Um, okay. No offense, but you’re really terrible at lying. What were you really up to?” Buffy asked. “What’s that in your hand?”
“Just a-a pouch.”
“A pouch? It looks like a satin teabag.” It was a fragrant white square that was small enough to fit in Tara’s palm. “Is it full of potpourri?”
“Sure, you can call it that.”
“What do you call it?”
“A collection of herbs and a few oils,” Tara answered. “Everything’s natural and nothing can hurt you or your new baby. In fact, it should open your mind a little bit. You might have a few dreams. You might have some flashes. It’ll feel like déjà vu.”
“This teabag will do…what now?” Buffy asked, making no attempt to hide her uncertainty. She frowned at the little pouch before picking it up carefully and closing her hand around it. “This actually smells pretty. If it’s so safe and natural, why were you sneaking around with it?”
“You’ve always been skeptical.”
“Skeptical of what? Alternative medicine?”
“Well, it is alternative,” Tara replied with a smile. “Just keep the pouch close to you while you sleep tonight. Once you’re remembering more, we’ll increase the dose.”
“And that’s it? I’ll get my memories back?”
“Have you remembered anything since lunchtime?”
“I have actually. I’ve remembered completely random things, like that Joy’s favorite toy fell out of her crib.”
“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear. That means it’s working.”
“But you just gave me this thing…I guess I’m not following?”
“Sweetie, I slipped some extra herbs into your food at lunch.”
Buffy took a moment to let Tara’s words sink in. “You…you tampered with my food?”
“It was a very little amount. Buffy, I was only trying to--.”
“William! Honey, I need you!”
“Buffy--.”
“William!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming! Are we trying to wake the entire house? Buffy, what the hell are you squawking about?” William walked into the room with a smile on his face but it quickly faded away. “Hey now, is there a problem here?”
“William, I need you.”
“I gathered that much. What’s wrong?”
Buffy kept an eye on Tara as she edged over to her husband’s side. “You need to tell me what to do. She messed with my food. She said she put some kinda herbal medicine into my lunch. It’s supposed to help me get my memories back, but shouldn’t she have told us first? I caught her sneaking around in our room too. William, tell me how I should react to this because it doesn’t feel right.”
“Tara, is this true? I thought we had an understanding. You gave us your word--.”
“I had to do it. She won’t remember anything without my help. She—she’s under a spell.”
“Excuse me?” Buffy blurted out. “Did you say spell?”
“She wasn’t supposed to lose her memory,” Tara continued on briskly. “She was supposed to realize that her family is more important than revenge. She was putting herself, her baby and your marriage in danger.”
William rolled his eyes while he mumbled a handful of curses. “Buffy, do you want to tell her, or should I? I know everything, Tara. I knew about everything.”
Tara’s face became a shade paler. “W-what about Angel? I thought…”
“Everything you thought you knew couldn’t be farther from the truth—damn it, pet! Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Oh my goodness,” Tara whispered. “This is my fault. I called Willow after I overheard that phone call. I was upset. I let her talk me into gathering the ingredients. She wrote the spell, but I actually performed it. I…William, I thought I was helping.”
He just looked away. His jaw was set and Buffy knew he was struggling to keep his temper. She reached for his arm and wove their fingers together. “Look at me,” she said quietly. “Tell me, what is going on? Willow’s a witch? I’m under a spell? Honey, this is crazy.”
“It is crazy, but it’s true. I thought with Red out of the picture… How could this happen again?”
“Buffy, please listen to me. Willow and I practice witchcraft in very different ways. I use it with my medical training. I-I try to heal people, where Willow, she--.”
“She manipulates,” William spat. “She gets into everyone else’s business and she fucks our lives up royally.”
“What happened before?” When William didn’t respond, Buffy looked to Tara. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. Sarah wasn’t sleeping at night--.”
“Like most babies do,” William interrupted. “But Willow just had to help. After she was done with her, our girl couldn’t wake up. We had to put her in the hospital to keep her hydrated until Willow got her shit together. She had to break the fucking spell.”
“Willow put a spell on my daughter? My best friend took my memories away? I thought…God, I actually thought something was wrong with me. My mom died because of a brain tumor, I thought…”
“We had to dread the worst,” William said, speaking to Buffy gently. “We didn’t know.”
“Buffy… William, I feel terrible about this.”
“What does she have to do? Drink a potion? Do you need to light candles and chant over her? Whatever it takes, I want her memories reinstated now. If you can’t do it, I want Willow on the next plane to the States.”
“I have everything under control. I’m monitoring her closely. Buffy will be good as new in no time.”
“Right. She’d better be,” William grumbled. “And if you or your girlfriend ever--.” He stopped and his nostrils flared slightly. “Tara, you’ve worked a full-day. I think it’s time you went home. You know the way out.”
“Should I… Can I come back tomorrow? I’ll understand if you don’t want me around the kids, but…you guys are like family to me.”
William said nothing. He avoided looking Tara in the eye.
“Let me, um, I’ll walk her to the door.”
“You don’t have to--.”
“It’s alright.” Buffy smiled at her husband and kissed his cheek. “I can handle her. If she tries to turn me into a frog or something, I’ll just tackle her and you can arrest her.”
“How about you scream, and I’ll do both the tackling and the arresting?”
Buffy looked up to find Tara staring at them and she laughed, feeling only slightly embarrassed to be overheard. “Deal.”
“I won’t turn you into a frog,” Tara said once they were walking down the stairs.
“But can you? Just how much of a witch are you?”
“I’ve never tried to turn anyone into an animal.”
“But Willow has?”
“A friend of ours became a rat once, but I don’t think now’s the best time to talk about that.”
“No, probably not.”
“Buffy, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m sorry too.” Buffy put her hands in the pockets of her jeans and pulled them back out before stepping forward to give Tara an awkward hug. “Just so you know, I’ll talk to him. I’m as upset as William is, but I will talk to him about letting you off the hook.”
“Oh, thank you,” Tara said, breathing a tiny sigh of relief.
“I’ll probably do it for selfish reasons,” Buffy admitted. “Once we have four kids in this house… You’ll have to make a lot more promises before we trust you again. And if you place any kind of spell on my family again, I will find a way to arrest you. Witchcraft may not be a crime, but I’ll find a way to keep you and Willow away from the people I love, and trust me, it will not be pretty.”
“I-I have no doubts about that.”
Forcing a smile, Buffy opened the front door and watched as Tara stepped outside. “Good, then we understand each other. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’ll have a full report on your magical pouch-thing and I hope, for your sake, that it works.”
***
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