Title: Let that be a Lesson to you…part 6/11
Author: Sweetdoggie
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
Patrol was mostly uneventful, one fledgling vamp and some sort of semi-hellhound kind of thing. She dusted the vamp and ripped the head off the bad dog and went home. She had a houseful of kids and a very interesting man waiting for her.
Giles was sitting on the couch, a stack of books propped up around him when she returned. He looked up and smiled at her. “How was patrol?”
“Pretty uneventful.” She explained about the vamp and the hellhound.
He looked intrigued. “I think that must have been a Gorgash,” he said. “Very similar to Hellhounds.”
He had prepared a plate of sandwiches for her and settled down to a nice cup of tea while she rebuilt her strength.
“How were the kids?”
“Slept the entire time you were gone,” he said happily. “I thought Willow might have cried once, but when I went to check on her, she was sleeping so I didn’t bother her.”
“Good plan,” she complimented him.
He washed the plate she had used and his tea things and they returned to the living room.
“Did you find anything about the rock of baby-making?”
He fought a grin that worked its way to the surface. “I have several promising leads. I thought you might want to help.”
“You bet. Hand me a book.”
They read for another two hours before Buffy yawned. “You know, I have to be up early for the kids. I think I’ll tuck it in for the night.”
“I’ll come too. The rest of the books I want to consult are at the store and I don’t fancy a trip tonight.”
“You want the first shower? I want to lock the house up,” Buffy told him.
“All right.” He waited till she had gone off to make sure the kitchen was locked up and raced up the stairs. While it might not have been the fastest shower on record, it was close. He also found time to shave. By the time he stepped out of the bathroom, she had turned down their bed and gathered up her nightclothes. He wanted to go out in just his towel but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. Settling on his flannel pajama pants he threw the jacket over his shoulder in a manner that he hoped was casual and walked out of the room.
She smiled at him and admired his naked chest. “I’ll be about fifteen minutes,” she told him.
He nodded and lay down very gingerly. He wondered if he should say something about not wearing the pajama jacket. It was too warm, he thought. That was a good excuse.
Buffy came back into the bedroom and his breath caught in his throat. Her nightgown swept around her legs in sensuous waves. She was backlit for a moment against the bathroom and he could see her silhouette outlined under the translucent fabric. He wondered if it were too early in their relationship to make love to her.
She came out of the bathroom feeling nervous. She fully intended to get in some serious smoochies with Giles but felt nervous and unsure of herself. He was sitting there looking like he might spring off the bed at any moment. She could see that he was clutching his pajama top like a lifeline, wringing it in his hands till it was crumpled and sweaty.
“Ah, I was rather warm last night so I thought, that is, if you have no objection, that I would dispense with my jacket tonight, um, unless you would prefer that I do not.”
She smiled, hoping she looked confident and calm. “Sure, no problem. I want you to be comfortable.”
He gulped and lay down, pulling the blankets up to his waist. She passed in front of him and crawled into the bed. He turned out the light. They lay there, each terrified to make the first move.
Finally, Buffy rolled over towards him just as he turned on his side facing her. They practically collided in the bed. She giggled. “Isn’t this silly? We’ve known each other for years and years and we’re still shy around each other. My Gosh, you’ve seen me without clothes while you tended my wounds before. Why is this so awkward?”
He smiled at her bright laughter. “Because when you were naked before, I tended you in the line of duty. It would have been unconscionable to look at you lasciviously when you were injured. Now, after, as you say, all these years, we are moving our relationship to untried ground, it makes sense that we would be nervous.”
She sighed and rolled into his arms. “Giles…Rupert, I love you no matter what. I loved you when I was just a girl and you were my knight rescuing me from dragons, and I love you now when you show me what a wonderful father you would make, how good you are with the children, and how very, very lucky I am to have you in my life.” She tentatively put out her hand and touched his bare chest.
His breath caught in his throat. “Buffy, I’m yours, love. However you want me, I belong completely to you.”
“God, you make my tummy do wobbly things,” she whispered to him.
He smiled into her hair. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Oh, it’s good, but I think it could be better.” She tentatively kissed his chest. She could feel the pounding of his heart under her lips.
He rolled her over onto her back and swept her into his arms. Their legs tangled in the covers and he began raining kisses down on her upturned face. His large hands stroked her body and one of them daringly slipped under the edge of her nightgown and roamed up her thigh.
Buffy moaned. He felt so good. His hands worshiped her body and she gloried in his touch. Things were progressing nicely, she thought. Her hands slid under the waistband of his pajama pants and she stroked his firm buttocks. He bucked against her.
“Oh, Buffy!”
“Momma!” screamed a shrill voice. “Momma! Momma! Momma!”
Buffy sat up and groaned at the loss of Giles’ touch. “Crap! If this is what having kids does for your love life, count me out!”
She got up and ran to her bedroom. All three children were huddled in the center of the bed, crying. Giles followed her into the room, turning on the light.
He sat on the bed and the two sobbing girls hurled themselves at him. Xander was shaking and shivering so Buffy pulled him into her arms. “Here now, what’s the matter, baby?”
“Bad dream,” he sobbed piteously. “Bad dream.”
She rocked him against her slowly. “Shhh. It’s OK, baby. Momma and Daddy are here now. We’ll make those bad dreams go away. Shhh.”
Gradually, his sobs subsided to gulps and spasmodic gasping as he cried himself out. She rubbed his back softly. He clung to her like a tiny monkey.
The girls had only been frightened because Xander had woken them with his cries. They settled down in Giles’ arms, comforted by his large frame as Buffy herself had been many times before. She looked over at him with a soft smile. “You know, they’ve definitely got the right idea. Having your arms around me is the best feeling in the world.”
He returned her smile softly. “Oh, I don’t know. Given a few more minutes, I believe I could have made you feel quite a bit better.”
She sighed. “Oh, that sounds good.” She looked down at the toddler in her arms. “Are you ready for night-night, Xander?”
“No!” He clung to her more tightly.
She rocked him some more and finally was able to lay him down when his little body grew limp with sleep. Looking over at Giles, she could see the girls were already out of it. They tucked the kids back into bed and quietly left the room.
Giles wrapped his arm over her shoulders and they went back to their own room. Suddenly, Buffy stopped and gaped at Giles, a stricken look on her face.
“Buffy? What’s wrong?”
“Birth control! I don’t have anything.”
He looked dismayed. “N, nothing?”
“I haven’t needed it for almost two years, Rupert. It’s not something I just keep on hand anymore. How about you?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t needed anything since you started college. Oh dear.”
“What are we going to do?”
He sighed deeply. “Nothing, apparently. It’s too late to go out and get anything tonight.”
“Well, damn.”
“Yes, I feel much the same way myself, still, perhaps it is for the best. We are moving rather fast.”
“Giles, we’ve known and loved each other for over six years. Any slower and we’d be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest amount of foreplay.”
Giles grinned down at her and swung her into his arms. Holding her tight against him he growled and kissed her neck. “Tomorrow, my love. I’ll stop off at the drug store on my way home from the store. In fact, I might swing by on my lunch hour.”
“Say, what are you going to do about lunch? Normally, Anya gives you a break, but given the circumstances, I’d say that’s pretty unlikely.”
“Yes, well, I shall just close the shop for an hour. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
She frowned. “My last class ends at twelve-thirty. Why don’t I stop on my way home and grab some food? I can swing by here and we can eat before I get the kids?”
He thought about it. “That sounds like it might work. Have you thought about which daycare facility you’d like to use?”
“Actually, there’s one on campus for student moms. It’s cheap and there’s plenty of help. The kids are watched carefully.”
He nodded. “We’ll give them a try.” He slipped his arm over her shoulder and they walked quietly back to the bedroom. He swept his pajama jacket up from where it had fallen on the floor, sighing. “I suppose I should put this on.”
“Yeah. I guess so.” Buffy looked unhappy. “We already have four kids, if you aren’t wearing a shirt, I can pretty much guarantee we’ll be working on number five tonight. I love touching you.”
“That’s a happy coincidence, you know. I happen to love being touched by you.”
“We make a perfect pair.”
They turned back into their bedroom and got unselfconsciously into bed. He turned off the light and she rolled into his arms. They drifted into sleep wrapped around each other.