********
TITLE: Family Confidential
AUTHOR: Laragh
CHAPTER RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: Willow, Tara and any other characters from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise belong to Joss Whedon, FOX, ME and a whole host of other entities, none of which are me.
SUMMARY: The promised sequel to
Hacker Confidential. How are Willow, Tara, JJ and all their family getting on 4 years into the future?
SPOILERS: Perhaps minor references to the show or stealage of dialogue, but mostly just spoilers for all of
Hacker Confidential . If you haven’t read that...well, you really will have no idea what’s going on lol
FEEDBACK: Yes please
Chapter 42 ********
Willow stretched back in her office chair as she closed her eyes to give them a break from the glaring screens of the computers surrounding her. Her hands rested comfortably on top of her bump and she was just wondering how much longer she had before she could sneak away to her weekly lunch date with Tara when she was startled from thought by the shrill ring of her cell phone.
She surged forwards in her seat and started hitting the keyboard at random as if she’d been caught slacking by the boss, then realised it was just her phone. She reached across to pick it up and smiled widely when she saw “Wifey” flashing across the screen with a picture of the two of them taken at their anniversary party behind – Willow liked a daily reminder of just how sexy how her wife had looked in that tie.
She relaxed back into her seat and slid her finger across the screen to accept the call before bringing it up to her ear.
“Hello sweetie-pie, don’t worry I haven’t forgotten our lunch date.”
She listened to Tara speak on the other end and her face instantly fell.
“Aww, really? Why? We haven’t missed a Wednesday lunch date since we started. Did you get called away at work?”
She listened in confusion as Tara scrambled over her words for a few moments before finally revealing the reason she wasn’t going to be able to meet her for lunch.
“YOU’RE WHERE?!” Willow yelled, jumping up from her seat and searching frantically around her for her purse as Tara tried to alleviate her from the other end, “No I will not calm down! What the hell happened?!”
She finally located her purse and grabbed it before rushing towards the door as Tara expressed concern for the baby in her frantic state.
“I’m sure the baby’s just as upset as I am that its mother’s in the damn hospital!! I’ll be there in 15 minutes, don’t you move an inch!”
She cut the call off to the sounds of Tara pleading with her to drive safely and ran down the hallway of the open-plan office to the elevators, to the left of which were Jesse and Xander huddled over a desk, but both looked up as she rushed past them.
“Whoa, Will, where’s the fire?” Xander asked good-naturedly.
“Tara’s in hospital,” Willow replied hurriedly as she repeatedly hit the elevator button frenziedly, “Come on, come on.”
Both Xander and Jesse shot up at that, Jesse’s hand going to his gun.
“Her dad?!”
“What?” Willow asked, her head snapping back in surprise, “No. No! Why? Do you know something? Did he get out?!”
“No!” Xander reassured quickly and looked to Jesse for back-up.
“No, we’d know, we’d definitely know. Unless he’s Houdini he’s not getting out as long as I have this badge,” Jesse guaranteed, before putting his hands up apologetically, “I just thought...sorry.”
Willow took a shaky breath as that possible scenario sobered her and let it out slowly.
“She got in a car accident. Just a fender bender, she said.”
Both Xander and Jesse visibly relaxed and Xander leant back against the desk, holding onto the edge.
“Is she okay?”
Willow gave a worried shrug and jabbed the elevator button again.
“I think so. I’m going to check now.”
“Yea, yea, of course,” Jesse nodded, “Take as much time as you need.”
“Let us know she’s okay,” Xander added but didn’t get a response as they elevator doors finally opened and Willow skidded in, pressing the ‘door close’ button with the same urgency as before.
She silently cursed every single person who got on the elevator and delayed her descent to the underground car park and intently watched the numbered buttons light up from ‘20’ where she’d gotten on until it finally settled on ‘UG’ and she pushed her way from the back through the suited men and women and started to run towards her black Mercedes, hidden in the middle of the car park amongst the throngs of SUVs, though without her usual calm mind to seek it out.
She wished for a second that she hadn’t been so adamant in having the flashy one of their cars; at least the red dodge would have stood out, even if it didn’t have the same slick interior and cool features. The thought of what was primarily her wife’s car reminded her why she was in the car park at the odd hour in the first place and she scrambled for her keys, clicking the unlock button and seeing her car’s lights flash just a few feet ahead.
She rushed ahead and threw herself into the driver’s seat, starting the engine less than a second later before catching sight of herself in the rear-view mirror and made herself stop for a second.
“Two car accidents in one day isn’t going to help anybody,” she murmured to herself with a deep breath as her knuckles tightly gripped the steering wheel. She composed herself for a moment before looking down at her stomach, “It’s okay, little bean, I’m gonna keep us safe. And Mommy’s just fine, don’t you worry.”
She let one hand fall to her stomach, holding it there as she took one final calming breath before moving it back to the wheel and reversing out of the spot, dodging between the rows of cars until she was able to flash her ID to the machine at the exit and merged onto the road.
She thankfully sailed through the streets, hitting them right before the mob of lunchtime traffic came through and managed to find a parking space right outside the entrance to the emergency room, pulling in right behind a car that was pulling out.
She leapt out of the car and shakily slipped some quarters into the parking meter before rushing into the ER. The waiting room was filled with people cradling different parts of their bodies but her focus looked past them completely as she saw the sealed doors to the actual ER slide open as a doctor walked through and she skid in, ignoring the protests she heard coming from the other side and looking around desperately until she felt someone grab her arm and looked over to see a short-ish woman in a nurses uniform trying to pull her back.
“Ma’am, you need to go back to the triage area so we can assess you properly. Please go back outside wait.”
Willow yanked her arm back.
“You do NOT want to mess with a pregnant lady!” she said with an aggressive look towards the nurse trying to stop her before hearing her name called very softly from somewhere behind her.
“Willow.”
She spun around in place before finally spotting Tara just ahead, sitting with her legs swinging off a hospital bed, looking all in one piece apart from a large white bandage taped to her forehead. She rushed over – missing the nurse’s exasperated sigh as she moved away and decided to just let Willow go – and grabbed Tara’s shoulders.
“Oh baby,” she said forlornly as she looked at the bandage.
Tara touched the side of the bandage gingerly.
“Just a cut.”
Willow started moving her hands down Tara’s body, patting her everywhere.
“Are you okay? Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
Tara let herself be checked out and sighed.
“I’m sorry about the car. Insurance will cover it.”
“I don’t give a crap about the car,” Willow replied, her hands going to Tara’s cheeks, “Baby, what happened?”
“A guy ran into me at a stoplight,” Tara responded, still looking apologetic, “Sorry I had to call you from work. The car was towed and I’m not allowed drive anyway.”
Willow shook her head in confusion and disbelief.
“Why, why are you apologising for that? Of course I’m gonna come get you.”
Tara just ducked her head but Willow didn’t have a chance to say anything else as a stocky man approached them, also in nurses’ scrubs, carrying a plastic cup of water and a small circular container with some pills in them. Willow dropped her hands as he handed them to Tara and pulled the curtain around them for privacy before eyeing Willow.
“Hi, I’m Matt, a nurse here. Who are you?”
Willow cast a sidelong glance towards Tara.
“I’m her ride, apparently.”
She saw Tara give a small smile at that which made her smile too but the moment was short as the nurse continued talking to Tara.
“Those are antibiotics and painkillers. You’ll need to take both for the next few days, you can collect them in the pharmacy on the way out, the doctor already issued them the prescription,” he said, before throwing a look in Willow’s direction, then back at Tara with a raised eyebrow, “Do you have somebody who can stay with you for the next day or so? A boyfriend, or parent?”
Tara was in the middle of swallowing the pills and had to make a concentrated effort not to choke while Willow just put a hand on her knee.
“You know something, baby, I’m getting really sick of people not realising we’re a couple,” she spoke to Tara, though was looking the nurse dead in the eye, “I mean, I think I should maybe get a tattoo on my hand with a little arrow that says ‘Tara’s ring’. Whaddya think, huh? Or maybe I could get a t-shirt with another arrow that says ‘Tara’s baby’. Or
maybe I’ll get a pair of panties that says ‘property of–”
Tara finally found her throat cleared and able to speak, so she grabbed Willow’s hand.
“I think he gets it.”
“Yes,” Matt replied, one hand nervously scratching his head, “Sorry. I just meant someone needed to stay with her because of the concussion, but obviously, you will be.”
Willow lost all sense of self-righteousness she had been planning on unleashing on the nurse and turned back to Tara, putting her hands on her wife’s neck.
“You have a concussion? Baby, [i]what happened[i]?”
Tara looked unforthcoming, but eventually answered.
“He rear-ended me and I knocked my head against the windshield.”
Willow visibly seethed and dropped her hands as they balled into fists by her sides.
“Is he here?” she asked, then spun around to the nurse, “Is he here?!”
Matt, rightly, looked terrified and just about managed to shake his head
“Ma’am, I can’t discuss any other patients with you.”
Willow was about to launch into an angry tangent but kept her mouth closed as she felt Tara take her hand and fold out her fist before putting it over her heart, the steady thumping having the desired effect of calming redhead down.
“Please, Willow. Please.”
Willow’s other hand flattened against her side and she brought the one on Tara’s chest up to her hair, stroking it softly before glancing over at the nurse.
“What do I need to do?”
Matt nodded to himself, thankful a full-blown scene hadn’t spun out of control and started to disclose the list of instructions.
“She needs to be monitored for at least the next 24 hours, if there’s any change in her behaviour, speech, if she seems confused, if there’s any blurred vision or excessive vomiting, come back right away. If she falls asleep and you can’t wake her, call 911. Try and rouse her periodically just to make sure you can. I have a sheet here you can look to for guidance. If you feel anything’s wrong at all, come back or call an ambulance.”
“Got it,” Willow nodded as she took the folded sheet the man produced from his breast pocket, “You’re gonna be fine, honeybunch.”
“I know,” Tara replied with a small smile, before looking towards the nurse, “I need to come back, right?”
“Come back in 3 or 4 days to be checked again,” Matt responded, “You don’t need an appointment, but don’t leave it any longer than 5.”
“Okay, we will,” Willow nodded, “Is there anything else? Anything I can do?”
Matt shook his head.
“Just keep her hydrated and relaxed. No aspirin. No alcohol. It was a very mild concussion so any symptoms should be completely gone in a week to 10 days.”
“Well she’ll be taken care of,” Willow replied, speaking more to Tara though she was addressing the nurse, “Can I take her home now?”
“Yes, her discharge papers have been signed, you just need to collect her prescription,” Matt responded before looking to Tara, “You’re still feeling alright, ma’am? No change from when the doctor last assessed you?”
Tara nodded weekly.
“Just tired.”
“The pills can cause that, along with everything else,” Matt replied sympathetically, “Take it easy and rest up. Rest is the number one treatment for a concussion.”
“I’ll make sure of it,” Willow responded with an affectionate squeeze to the side of Tara’s head and a grateful smile to the nurse, “Thank you.”
Matt just gave a warm nod and disappeared around the curtain while Willow held out her hand in offering.
“Come on, lady, let me get you home.”
Tara took Willow’s hand and slid off the end of the bed. She felt Willow drop her hand once her feet were firmly on the floor, then wrap it around her waist.
“Could you grab my purse? It’s on the floor somewhere.”
Willow found Tara’s purse on the floor behind them and swung it over her shoulder before pulling the curtain back from around them.
They walked at an easy pace out of the ER and down a hallway that directed them to the pharmacy where they collected the bag of medication waiting for them before Willow guided them to where she’d parked the car and opened the passenger side door for her wife, dropping Tara’s purse and the bag of medication to the floor at her feet.
Tara wasn’t sure if it was the painkillers or the relief and warmth she felt now that Willow was there, but as soon as she sat into the car, she couldn’t keep her eyes open, as much she tried. Willow noticed the moment she sat in the driver’s seat.
“Do you wanna nap, honey? Wait, if you’re gonna sleep, put the seat back so you don’t get a sore neck too.”
She shifted in the seat so she could reach over and turn the dial on the side of Tara’s seat that made it go down. When Tara was in a semi-reclining position, she secured the integrated seat belt across the blonde’s chest, then felt fingertips lightly caressing her upper arm and heard her wife speak.
“Thank you.”
Willow took Tara’s hand from her arm and brought it up to her mouth to kiss her knuckles before cradling it between both of her hands.
“Everything’s okay.”
“I know,” Tara replied as she took her hand back and rested it under her head as she let her eyes flutter closed, “You’re here.”
Willow watched as Tara slipped into slumber within seconds before tentatively turning the engine on and smiled to herself when it didn’t wake her wife up again.
She drove the slowest she ever had, ignoring the annoyed beeps and numerous visions of a certain finger cast in her direction, making certain one hand held Tara’s head lightly against the seat over each speed bump until she finally pulled into their driveway and turned the engine off with a relieved sigh. She turned the engine off and held the keys in one hand while reaching across to stroke Tara’s face with the other.
“Baby, we’re home.”
She continued to try and ease her wife from sleep but when she stayed firmly asleep after a few seconds, she panicked and grabbed the blonde’s shoulder, shaking it.
“Tara!”
Tara instantly jolted awake and Willow held a hand up against her own heart in relief.
“Sorry, baby. You weren’t waking up. We’re home,” she repeated and saw Tara start to try and sit up, “Gently...”
She helped get the seat back up to its normal position, then rushed out of the car and around to the passenger side as Tara started to get out.
“I’m okay, sweetie,” Tara assured as she stood by herself and picked up her purse and prescription bag, but let the redhead help her into the house nonetheless.
“Um, you can go up to bed,” Willow said as she closed the front door, then turned to face Tara, her hands clasped in front of her, “But maybe you should stay awake. Just for 10 minutes. So I know you’re okay.”
Tara gave a tired nod as she let her purse fall to the ground and put the bag of medications on the little table by the door.
“Sure.”
Willow saw her wife’s tired features and gestured to the stairs.
“You can go right up if you’re really tired, I’ll just wake you in a little bit.”
Tara shook her head with a small smile.
“No, it’s okay. That cat nap did me wonders. I feel a lot better. Not as fuzzy.”
“Excellent,” Willow replied and dropped a kiss on Tara’s cheek, “Why don’t you go relax in the living room. I’ll bring you in some juice.”
Tara slowly made her way into the living room as Willow scurried off to the kitchen, and sat down on the sofa, closing her eyes to appreciate the silence and comfort of her own home after what had been a horrible morning in a loud and uncomfortable ER.
She stayed almost perfectly still until she heard footsteps nearing her and quickly opened her eyes again to see Willow walking into the room.
“Just resting,” Tara reassured, “All okay.”
Willow just smiled and nodded, then handed Tara the glass.
“Cranberry. I don’t know how it is for concussions but it works a treat for urinary tract infections so it can’t hurt.”
Tara gave a small, silent laugh and patted the sofa beside her.
“Sit with me.”
Willow took the spot offered and smiled as Tara adjusted herself so she was lying horizontally with her head in her wife’s lap, letting her eyes flutter closed again. Willow started to stroke Tara’s hair on the side opposite the bandage so as not to disturb it and they were quiet for a few minutes before curiosity got the better of her.
“Where were you going?”
Tara was enjoying the comforting touch too much to understand the question.
“Hmm?”
“Where were you going?” Willow repeated, before clarifying, “When you got in the accident?”
“To work,” Tara replied as if it was obvious, taking a long sip of her juice before reaching out to put the glass back on the coffee table.
Willow’s eyes widened in surprise and her hand stopped.
“This happened this morning? You were in the hospital all morning? Why didn’t you call me?”
Tara sighed and tried to nuzzle her head against Willow’s hand to get her to start up the actions again.
“I didn’t want to worry you with the CT and everything until I knew it was clear.”
Willow’s mouth hung open in shock.
“You had a CT scan?! God, Tara!”
Tara opened her eyes at her wife’s shocked and concerned tone and saw Willow looking at her intently.
“Tara, I’m your wife, that is the exact kind of thing you need to worry me about.”
Tara brought a hand up and placed her palm flat against Willow’s stomach.
“The baby.”
“I’m not gonna let anything happen to the baby. I am perfectly capable of taking care of you both, and JJ,” Willow replied, shaking her head for a moment before looking back down at Tara, “What would you do, if say, I thought I was going into pre-term labour but I didn’t tell you until after I’d gone to hospital and gone through it all by myself?”
Tara frowned and nervously played with her fingers in her lap.
“I’d be upset.”
“You’d be furious. Rightly so,” Willow replied, then put one hand over Tara’s and gave them a squeeze, “We’re not a team for nothing.”
“I’m sorry,” Tara replied, reaching up to stroke Willow’s cheek before dropping it down meekly to her side, “I was really scared.”
“Oh Tara,” Willow replied sympathetically and gently pulled her wife up into a hug, “It’s all okay now.”
Tara hugged back as best she could in the position and felt Willow kiss her neck with a final tight squeeze before slipping out from under her and guiding her back into a lying position as she knelt beside her on the floor.
“Have a rest. Can I get you anything?” Willow asked and Tara just shook her head ‘no’, “Okay, well, I’m just going to call and see if someone can get JJ. I guess Michelle and Alice already know about the accident if you didn’t show up to work. I’m surprised one of them didn’t call me even if you didn’t.”
Tara shook her head.
“I just called my boss and told her but asked her not to say anything. She probably told them I needed a personal day for a baby scan with you or something.”
Willow put her elbow on the armrest and rested her head on her palm with a pointed look up.
“Called your boss and not your wife. Don’t ever do that again.”
Tara nodded assuredly.
“Promise,” she said and leant down to softly brush her lips against Willow’s before settling back down, “Sealed with a kiss.”
Willow smiled and dropped a kiss on her wife’s nose before standing.
“Okay, I’m gonna call Buffy. She’s only working half days this week because of departmental reviews, I’ll call and see if she can take care of JJ this evening,” she said and cut off Tara with a look when she saw her wife was about to protest, “Just for tonight. You need a quiet house and to be able to rest. ”
Tara conceded the point and nodded.
“Okay. Ask her to swing by with him on their way back from school. He’ll be worried otherwise.”
“I will,” Willow promised and put two fingers against her lips, then pressed them against Tara’s lips, “Love you.”
“Love you too,” Tara replied sleepily as a fresh wave of exhaustion washed over her.
She watched Willow leave and grabbed one of the cushions to put under her head. She closed her eyes as she heard the muffled sound of her wife’s voice on the phone from the other room, but soon drifted off into unconsciousness again.
The next time she awoke was more pleasant than the time before as she responded more quickly to Willow stroking her cheek and didn’t need to be jolted awake.
“Still not in a coma, that’s what I like to see,” Willow joked as she watched Tara’s eyes blink repeatedly before finally focusing on her, “Hi, sleepyhead. Buffy should be dropping by with JJ soon, I thought you’d want to be awake to reassure him you’re okay.”
Tara smacked her lips together to get some moisture back in her mouth and started to sit up.
“Yes, definitely,” she nodded and stretched her arms in front of her, “Was I out long?”
“Couple of hours,” Willow replied as she sat next to Tara on the sofa and started to give her shoulders a gentle rub, “My trusty sheet said it fine to leave you that long. And I was looking it up on the internet and it all said I didn’t need to bug you every 10 minutes or anything. How are you feeling?”
“Headache,” Tara admitted with a soft sigh, “But I’ve had worse. Nowhere near as bad as when I had migraines.”
Willow moved her hands down to Tara’s upper arms and gave them a squeeze as she rested her head on her wife’s shoulder.
“You can take more painkillers in about half an hour,” she said and placed a gentle kiss against Tara’s ear before both of their attention was drawn to the windows as they saw the metallic blue car that Buffy had had to buy for herself when Angel refused to ever let her drive his car, “You stay resting.”
Tara complied and sat back into the sofa as Willow left the room and went to the front door, opening it in time to see Buffy opening the car door for JJ and him flying down the pathway towards the house, throwing himself around his mother’s leg.
“Aunt Buffy said Mommy had an accident.”
Willow bent down on her knees and hugged her son tight.
“She did, but she’s just fine. I bet she’d love a hug from her special little guy,” she said as she pulled back and stroked his hair, “Mommy hurt her head so you have to be quiet and gentle, okay?”
JJ nodded solemnly and Willow ruffled his hair.
“She’s in the living room.”
JJ started to rush off but quickly hastened his speed and slowly walked towards the living room. He walked into the doorway but didn’t go any further.
“Hi, honey,” Tara said as she saw the boy appear and brought a hand up to her bandage when she saw him just stare at it, “It doesn’t hurt too bad.”
When JJ didn’t make any move to come any further in, she just held out her arms and found them filled in seconds; JJ burying his face into her chest.
“I’m okay, sweetie,” she reassured and gently stroked his back but he remained completely silent, “Did Momma say to be quiet?”
JJ nodded and Tara looked at him lovingly.
“You can talk just not too loud.”
JJ seemed to consider this, not sure if he could go against what Willow had told him, before deciding he hadn’t been told he had to be completely quiet and had been given permission anyway, so wrapped his arms around Tara as best he could.
“I love you, Mommy,” he whispered.
Tara felt a lump of emotion rise in her throat but quashed it down and tightly hugged her boy.
“I love you too, Jakey.”
Outside, Willow was handing Buffy an overnight bag with the things he’d need for the evening and the next day at school.
“Thank you so much for doing this,” she said as she looked through to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.
“No problem, he’s my favourite dude under 30,” Buffy replied, accepting the bag and throwing it over her shoulder, “How’s the patient?”
“She’s okay,” Willow responded with a sigh, “She just needs to take it easy.”
Buffy nodded.
“What happened?”
Willow set her jaw in annoyance and folded her arms across her chest.
“Some jackass slammed into her at a stoplight.”
Buffy whistled disapprovingly and shook her head.
“Wow somebody in the city who drives worse than me.”
Willow cracked a smile at that but didn’t have a chance to say anything as JJ appeared at her leg again. Buffy held out her hand for him.
“Ready, buddy?”
JJ nodded and took Buffy’s hand.
“Will Uncle Angel play video games with me?”
Buffy nodded and smiled.
“For sure.”
Willow clasped her hands in front of her and squeezed her own palms.
“Nothing violent, I hope?”
Buffy shook her head.
“Nah, he’s old school. Mario and Sonic are his lifetime pals. Sometimes Crash Bandicoot joins the party.”
“Okay, well, have fun,” Willow replied with a smile, “I would say no junk food but I’m pretty sure you don’t consume anything else.”
Buffy scoffed indignantly.
“What are you talking about? Didn't you hear the government declared pizza a vegetable? That makes me the healthiest girl in Buffalo.”
“Mmhhmm,” Willow replied, unconvinced, “Just don’t let him gorge or you’ll be dealing with some nasty after effects.”
“Got it,” Buffy said with a thumbs up sign before starting to walk back towards her car, JJ by her side, “Alright, come on, dude. Hey, you wanna start learning how to drive?”
Buffy looked back right in time to see the horror on Willow’s face and burst out laughing.
“Just kidding,” she called back in the redhead’s direction before throwing a wink at JJ who smiled for the first time since Buffy has collected him.
Willow stayed at the door and waved the car off, mostly just to check that JJ was strapped securely into the [i]back[i] seat until it turned the corner at the top of the street and she closed it. She made her way back towards the living room but quickly ran into the room in alarm when she saw tears streaming down her wife’s cheeks.
“What is it, what's wrong? Do I need to call an ambulance? Baby, talk to me.”
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Tara reassured, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, a wide smile on her face, “We have an amazing son.”
Willow sank onto the sofa and closed her eyes as a relieved exhalation left her lips before opening them with a soft smile.
“Yea, we do.”
“He didn’t see my cry, don’t worry,” Tara said, waving her hands in her lap in indication, “He wouldn’t say anything because you told him to be quiet but I told him it was okay and he just hugged me and said he loves me.”
“He’s a special one,” Willow agreed and reached out to cup Tara’s cheek, “You’re feeling okay?”
Tara nodded gently, making Willow smile a little wider.
“Good. Well, let me have a look at this cut.”
Tara’s eyes widened and she was about to voice a protest, but Willow had already peeled back the surgical tape and bandage and caught sight of her wound. Willow had to bite her tongue to stop the shriek of alarm that almost left her mouth and tried to speak calmly.
“You didn’t tell me you needed stitches. When you said just a cut, I thought you meant a scratch, I mean, a bad scratch obviously but not...” she trailed off as Tara just looked at her apologetically and she tried to give a reassuring smile but still looked worried, “I, I don’t know how to treat these, I didn’t know, I didn’t ask.”
“There’s antibiotic ointment in with the painkillers,” Tara replied quietly, “Clean and apply twice daily and avoid getting wet. They’ll come out when I go back for them to check me over in a few days.”
Willow stared at the two-inch long laceration going diagonally down her wife’s forehead and counted each individual stitch until Tara’s voice piped up, obviously trying to relieve the tension.
“I’ll have a little scar.”
Willow tore her gaze away from the abrasion to meet her wife’s gaze.
“Well I have one of those, too,” she replied, sharing a soft smile with her wife for a moment before sighing as she folded the bandage back over the cut and secured the tape, “Is there anything else? I’m not gonna see a back brace when you get changed into pyjamas, am I?”
Tara shook her head before reaching down to pull her shirt up, revealing a nasty-looking bruise, dark purple in colour and rectangular in shape just under her right breast.
“Just a bruise from the seatbelt. That’s it.”
Willow’s eyes flashed with anger as she saw the bruise.
“What was that guy doing that he didn’t see you at a damn stoplight? And why didn’t the airbags activate?”
“He told the police officer that showed up he was looking for a piece of paper with directions that had fallen onto the floor on the passenger side and lost his footing,” Tara explained before adding meekly, “And the car mustn’t have been going fast enough for the airbags or something.”
“Fast enough for you knock your head against the windscreen,” Willow retorted, her jaw set in annoyance, “Were you even wearing your seatbelt?”
Tara looked down quietly.
“Of course I was.”
Willow’s features softened as she registered her wife’s tired and almost timid tone and she took the blonde’s hand, bringing it up to her mouth to kiss her palm.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to grill you. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
Tara shook her head.
“Willow, the only good thing about that accident is that you weren’t there. And that the car wasn’t too banged up.”
“I’ll look after all that, don’t worry,” Willow replied as she kept a hold of Tara’s hand but moved it down into her lap, “The insurance and stuff. I already called and reported it. And I called the repair shop. I presumed you would’ve called the same one we always take the cars to for services. The mechanic said they took photographs and everything if we need them for insurance and that there wasn’t too much damage, just the windshield and the bumper. He said we could have the car back by the end of the week.”
“I got the other driver’s details,” Tara replied, before adding, “He was very apologetic.”
“So he should be,” Willow responded, obvious disdain in her voice, “He should have been paying attention and you wouldn’t be hurt.”
“It’s wasn’t that bad,” Tara tried to say convincingly, “Someone called an ambulance and they treated me on site but brought me to the hospital when they saw I needed stitches and couldn’t remember the accident. My memory all came back before we even got there but the doctor wanted to do the scan just in case. Then they just stitched me up and I was good to go.”
Willow began to rub her temple as Tara conveyed what had happened and could only shake her head as her wife finished.
“I’m still mad at you for not calling. I can’t believe you were dealing with all of that and I didn’t even know.”
“I was just worried about the baby,” Tara replied, her voice breaking as her eyes filled with tears.
Willow’s face fell as she saw she’d upset her wife and pulled their bodies together, gently cradling Tara’s head against her chest.
“I know you were. I know you were,” she said insistently, dropping repeated kisses against the mess of blonde hair, “I love you for it.”
She felt Tara relax in her embrace and cuddled her quietly for a minute or two before pulling away, taking her wife’s hand and giving her a warm smile.
“But there’s no situation or circumstance that I don’t want to be there to hold your hand.”
Tara nodded in understanding, feeling silly for her slight overreaction, but it had been a long and emotional day, and it was only the afternoon. She rested her head on Willow’s shoulder and gave a small smile.
“I don’t plan on needing an emergency trip to a hospital again anytime soon.”
“Good. I hate hospitals. I hate them,” Willow replied emphatically, pausing for a moment before the next words fell out of her mouth before she realised they were being said. “I don’t want the baby to be born in one.”
Tara pulled away, looking surprised, bewildered and alarmed all at once.
“Excuse me?”
Willow brought a hand up to her own cheek and dragged it down to her neck in thought before shaking her head.
“I’m sorry, this isn’t a good time for that kind of conversation,” Willow replied apologetically and started to stand, “Let me get your painkillers, you’re due your next dose.”
“No, Willow, you can’t say something like that and then drop it,” Tara replied quickly, grabbing Willow’s arm and pulling her back down. “I’m concussed, not incapable of discussion.”
Willow sat back down in her spot and took both of Tara’s hands in hers, fixing her with a steady gaze.
“I’ve never been happy with the idea of giving birth in a hospital. It made me really uncomfortable whenever the doctor mentioned it but I shrugged it off as nothing. But it’s really not what I want. I don’t want 30 different people seeing my lady area and I don’t want the baby being born into machines and chaos and I don’t want that experience to be somewhere I hate so much.”
Tara was speechless; her wife’s dislike of hospitals was something she was quite aware of, but this idea was coming out of left-field and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. However, her initial response was to err on the side of what she considered to be the safest route.
“Look at the chaos JJ was born into in his first day of life. God only knows where he was actually born, he was left in a hectic ER, but we had him home within a day and he’s perfect. He couldn’t be more perfect. We could have the baby home in the same amount of time.”
Tara could see her argument wasn’t swaying her wife in the slightest, confirmed by Willow a moment later.
“We couldn’t control that. We can control this.”
Tara shook her head; certain Willow was just having an irrational response to her accident.
“This is just a reaction to what happened.”
“No,” Willow shook her head as well, “You know how much I hate hospitals. I don’t want to give birth in one. I want to do it at home.”
Tara internally tried to process everything and though the thought of not having as many medical professionals around as they needed when the time came, she certainly couldn’t deny Willow the right to choose the circumstances.
“Okay. Okay, you can give birth however you want, of course,” she replied before looking at her wife intently, “But only if we find the best midwife in whole state. And only if we can get Dr. Well’s okay on it.”
Willow gave an easy smile and nodded.
“We can talk to her at our appointment next week. I’m sorry to spring that on you today of all days. It just came out.”
“It’s okay,” Tara reassured before cracking a crooked smile, “But next time I have a head injury, try not to tell me something that will give me a heart attack.”
Willow smiled too but it didn’t quite stretch as far as it could as she looked at Tara warily.
“Are you really not comfortable with this idea?”
Tara took a deep breath and answered honestly.
“I will be once we know more and talk to the doctor about it.”
Willow’s full smile broke out on her face and she nodded.
“That sounds fair. But don’t worry about it ‘til then, okay? This isn’t a decision I get to make by myself, it’s our baby.”
Tara gestured downwards.
“It’s your body.”
Willow squeezed Tara’s hand reassuringly.
“I’m still not going to doing anything you’re not totally comfortable with.”
Tara smiled gratefully.
“Let’s just talk to the doctor.”
Willow nodded and moved a hand to the opposite side of her wife’s head and pulled her in to place a lingering kiss on her other cheek.
“Rest now. And sorry again. No more sudden declarations,” she said, before adding with a loving look, “Except to say I love you.”
“I love you too,” Tara replied and threw her legs up onto the sofa, folding them behind her as her head went to Willow’s stomach, “And I love you too, little bean. No matter how you enter the world.”
PLEASE have Michelle share some stories about baby Tara and about her mother's pregnancy. I'm all little kid yearn-y because I really want you to write that for me! Also, this is a natural time for these memories to surface AND I bet you've already planned to do that. 
But I had to ask and be sure you know I want them.
Also loved Angel asking the question and Buffy's "trifecta" of man-hitting comment. Pretty damn funny!
I forgot to feedback on your last post! I feel like a bad kitten as I totally meant too and some how forgot!
on Tara's outfit.
Brain broken. Fire Bad. Tree Pretty 
I really enjoyed it and was so happy that Michelle had preserved those memories for Tara. Her father was such a shit. Burning all the pictures? Jerk! I can totally relate to Willow getting so excited, I have only seen a handful of pics of my wife when she was a child and only have maybe 2. Her Mom not only won't give them up, but won't copy them either. It's such a bummer, so I'm happy for Willow to get to see some of Tara.
Glad she's ok .