Five Witches And A…… Baby?
by Net Girl
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters and Charmed
characters are property of their respected owners etc. All characters
belong to them.
Spoilers: Nothing, much, almost nothing about Dawn as I said, just a
sister of Buffy's and for Charmed? I have no idea. If there are,
please tell me.
Setting: Uhm After Inner Demons.
Symbols: [] indicates a flashback. <> Indicates a thought. <<>> Is a
place or time stamp.
Warnings: Riley has never existed in my stories, so if something is
wrong with a description that is because Riley never existed.
Author's Notes: This story follows Inner Demons.
Dedication: The whole willtara list for liking the story and
supporting me, you guys keep me going :-). And a special dedication
to Vlumila, a friend of mine, who told me never to stop writing.
"You are so dead kid" Faith looked at Dawn who just stuck out her tongue. Dawn saw Faith grabbing a pillow and started running with Faith just a few steps behind. <She's fast> Faith thought, <But not as fast as me.> Faith took a sprint and caught up with Dawn, she grabbed the little girl and pinned her down to the floor. She took the pillow and started hitting her with it, but not with full strength otherwise she would injure the girl.
Dawn couldn't stop laughing while Faith was hitting her with the pillow. "What are you laughing at, you're supposed to beg for mercy, not laugh."
"I'm sorry, please stop, I'm begging."
The two girls suddenly looked up as they heard another girl laughing. Dawn looked at Faith, who was thinking the same thing. They both grabbed a pillow and threw it at Buffy, who just caught both of the pillows and threw them back. Before they knew it there was an all out pillow war between them.
The pillow wars had been happening a lot these days. The slaying was low and Dawn had her summer vacation, Buffy and Faith both had jobs but not in the weekends. Most of Dawn's friends were on vacation, things like this made her feel happy for not being able to do the same.
"I was wondering, doesn't Joyce mind it when we do this." Faith asked, "I mean, they are her pillows."
"No I don't think mom does."
"I have to agree with you on that Dawn" Buffy said, "She seems to enjoy it. Maybe you haven't noticed it Faith, but she's always looking at us when she hears the first sounds of another fight."
"And one time she actually made a photograph of us."
"Mom did that?"
"Yeah" Dawn replied, "I saw her doing that one time. You didn't see that?"
"Guess we didn't" Faith replied, "I've got a better idea."
"What?" Dawn wanted to know.
"How about you start running before I hit you with this pillow!" Dawn's eyes widened and started running, Buffy could only watch in joy when she saw Faith running after her kid sister.
"So is this a staying in bed day?" Tara just nodded in reply of her girlfriend, "Ok, but I'm hungry. And that usually means I need to get up and get something to eat." Willow said.
"I'll get it, you're staying in bed."
Willow smiled at Tara as she stood up from the bed. Seeing Tara's naked body reminded her of the previous night. Thinking of that she looked under the sheets at herself and sighed. "What's wrong?" Tara asked.
Willow got an idea and smiled at her lover, "I'm cold." She couldn't care less about breakfast anymore, she just wanted her lover next to her in bed, snuggled up against each other. Tara already saw the look on Willow's face and knew exactly what she meant.
<<San Francisco>>
"Phoebe! Hurry up!" the eldest of the charmed ones yelled.
"Coming already, hold your horses!"
Prue looked at Piper and sighed, "What is it with that girl?" The middle sister just smiled and grabbed her suitcase. Phoebe came running down the stairs with her suitcase in her hand.
"What took you so long?" Prue demanded to know.
"Nothing" Phoebe replied and hurried to the car.
"Oh no, that's a `something' nothing look. Spill!"
"Prue, it's nothing."
"Wait a minute" Piper now said getting suspicious. "You didn't bring the book did you?"
"No" Phoebe said.
"Phoebe."
"Alright, yes I did get the book, why is that so bad?"
"Because it's supposed to stay in the house!" Prue was getting angry at her little sister. Prue pointed at the house and with her head down Phoebe took out the Book Of Shadows and returned it where it belonged – in the house.
"Good" Piper said, "Now come on, your friend Tara is expecting us."
<<Willow and Tara's apartment>>
Tara was looking at Willow who fell a sleep again, she watched Willow a lot when she slept. Tara couldn't help it, she couldn't keep her eyes of Willow's body. Tara closed her eyes and tried to get some more sleep, which hadn't occurred at all the previous night. Tara suddenly sat straight up in bed waking Willow who had her arm around the blond wicca.
"Tara?" Willow said, "What's wrong?"
"Remember those friends I told you about that were coming over?"
"Yeah, why? That isn't… That's today isn't it?"
Tara just nodded and heard sigh coming from Willow, she turned to her lover and kissed her gently on the lips and moved the kisses from her check to her ear, "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you" she whispered.
"You better" Willow whispered back and gave her a kiss filled with love and passion.
"As much as I dislike it, we have to break this off, cuz we need to get dressed." Tara said as she stood up. Willow didn't feel much in getting up from the bed, she was perfectly happy on the bed.
After 10 minutes Tara was fully dressed and cleaning the room, Willow still hadn't got up from the bed and just watched Tara. She jumped up when she heard the bell, Tara went to the intercom to see who it was. "It's nothing Will, you can stay on the bed for a little while longer". Willow couldn't see her Tara's smile, when she turned around.
After a few seconds someone knocked on the door, only Tara had heard the knock and went to the door. "Hey, come in."
"Tara! What are you doing?" Willow yelled from the bedroom, "Could you have at least warned me they were here!"
The Charmed Ones looked at each other not really getting the interaction between the two women. Phoebe always was the nosiest and walked through the room looking at all the stuff. She walked to one of the doors and peeped her head in, she didn't know how fast she could get it out again. Her sisters looked at her while their sister had a blush on her face.
"Phoebe? What is it?"
"Uhm… nothing" she replied to Piper's question.
"Naked woman."
"Tara!" Willow yelled from the room Phoebe just looked in.
"Oh ok, sorry I asked" Piper said with a blush on her face, "Should we come back a little later?"
"No it's ok, t-there is a door between the rooms" Tara smirked, "Give me your stuff, I'll put them in your room."
"You got an extra room?"
"Yeah Pheebs" Tara replied, "Don't worry, it's big enough for the three of you. And if that's not enough there's a place for one of you in our uhm… `spell room'."
"Wait a second" Piper said, "And what about you, where are you supposed to sl… O, ok got it". Piper looked at Phoebe and so did Tara.
"What?" The eldest sister asked.
"Ok, slight detail I forgot to mention" Phoebe said.
"What?" Prue said again still not knowing what they were talking about.
"Tara and Willow, that's her name, are… you know…"
"I don't know. What do you… Ow, ok gotcha" Prue said also blushing just as Piper did.
"Ok now we all have had a red face" Tara said, "Anyone want a cold… uhm drink?"
<<Summers Home, Twenty Minutes Later>>
"I'll get it!" Dawn yelled to the kitchen where the other were. Dawn walked to the door and opened it, she was surprised to see nobody was there. She was about to close the door when she heard a noise and looked down.
On the floor was a basket with a baby in it, Dawn grabbed the basket and took it inside. After she put it on the couch she called out for Buffy, Faith and her mother, "Guys, you are not going to believe this."
Buffy, Faith and Joyce walked out of the kitchen and found Dawn staring at a basket on the couch. When they looked a little closer they could see a small foot stick out of it. "What's that?" Faith asked.
"It's a baby dummy" Dawn replied. Joyce gently lifted the baby out of the basket and held it. There was something familiar to the baby, but she couldn't place it.
Buffy looked closer at the little baby and also noticed something familiar, "Mom, that baby looks awfully familiar". Buffy took another look and knew for sure, "I know that face, that's Dawn."
"No it's not" Dawn said, "I'm standing right here!"
Joyce took another look at the little child, "This is you Dawn, but how?"
"So that's what Dawn looked like" Faith said, "Cute."
"I'm not cute!"
"I think we should call the others" Buffy suggested and walked to the phone and dialled Willow and Tara's number. When she heard someone pick up the phone she immediately started laughing.
"Buffy? Why are you laughing" the voice on the phone asked.
"I'm sorry Will, you have to come over here. There's something you just have to see" Buffy was trying to talk, but couldn't keep it from laughing. "Could you come as fast as you can?"
"Yeah, but we kinda have visitors."
"Bring them along, we won't tell any details."
"Ok, see you in a few."
"Ok, bye Will." After she hung up the phone Buffy started laughing even harder. The rest just stood there watching her, they couldn't understand why she was laughing so hard at this.
<<Willow and Tara's Apartment>>
"What was that about?" Tara asked her girlfriend.
"I have no idea" Willow replied, "But I guess we're about to find out. They said you can come too."
"She said that?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah, and that's the strange part, she doesn't even know who you are… yet."
"That's strange" Piper said.
"I know" Willow replied, "Come on, I have to see what was so funny."
Tara looked at the three sisters and shrugged, "Guess your meeting the rest of the gang."
<<Summers Home, Ten Minutes Later>>
"I'll get it, that's probably Willow and Tara" Buffy said as she walked to the door. "Hey Will, come in and …"
"Hi, I'm Phoebe."
"Nice to meet you."
"And these are my two sisters, Prue and Piper."
"Hi" both sisters said.
"So Buffy, what was that about on the phone?"
"I'll show you" Buffy said and took Willow's hand, "Will, meet baby Dawn."
Willow couldn't believe her eyes. Seeing the look on Willow's face made Buffy laugh again, Faith and Dawn couldn't help it and started laughing with her. The three sisters looked at each other and shrugged, they couldn't see the humour of a little baby and Willow's face.
"Ok, not really butting in or something" Phoebe said, "But what's going on?"
"You see the little blond girl next to Buffy?" Tara asked.
"Yeah… What about her?"
"Well Pheebs, that IS Dawn."
"Your kidding right?"
"I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't saw pictures of baby Dawn."
"You saw pictures of me?"
"Yes, and you were very cute."
"I'm not cute!"
"Ok, why did you just tell her that?" Buffy asked.
"You don't know who they are?" Willow replied.
"Uhm, no."
"Ever heard of the Charmed Ones?" Piper asked.
"Tara told me that they're three powerful witches that fight… That you?"
"That's them" Willow said. Buffy just looked at the three sister with a surprised look on her face, she heard about them but never thought she would meet them.
"So who does what?" Buffy asked.
"Telekinesis."
"Piper can freeze things and I have the power or burden of premonition" Phoebe said.
"Hey!" Buffy suddenly shouted, "Isn't that what Cordelia has?"
"Yeah it is Buffy" Tara said, "But with a lot more pain."
"So no pain for you?"
"Nope" Phoebe replied, "Just a little tingly."
"That was funny."
"What's funny Buffy?" Willow asked.
"The y-thing."
Everyone looked confused at Buffy, they had no idea what she was talking about. "Don't worry" Willow said, "She gets that way sometimes."
"Thanks for the warning" Piper said.
"Ok, not to stop the fun here… but what about Dawn?"
"Mom, that's not me."
"It sure looks like you, let me see if I can find a good picture."
Joyce gave the baby to Phoebe who was more then willing to take her, she ran upstairs and search through some photo albums, while the rest waited downstairs. After a few seconds she came back with a picture in her hand, "Here, see for yourself."
Dawn took the picture from her mother and looked at it, she then turned to the little baby. "O god, that is me" Dawn said surprised, "You were right."
"Right about what Dawn?" Tara asked.
"I am cute."
Joyce hugged her daughter and everyone just started laughing on the comment she made. "What? It's true, I am cute". Faith grabbed Dawn away from her mother and started tickling her, which made everyone laugh even harder.
"Not to spoil everyone mood here, but what do we do with this cute thing I have in my hands?"
Everyone looked at Phoebe who was still holding baby Dawn. "We can ask Giles" Buffy suggested.
"I'll call him" Faith said and walked to the phone, "Uhm what should I say?"
"Just ask him to come here" Buffy replied, "Don't tell him anything, I want to see his face when he sees her." Everyone imagined how Giles would look and started laughing again.
<<Ten minutes later>>
"I'll get it!" Dawn yelled as she came running downstairs. "Hey Giles, come in."
Giles walked in and saw Faith holding a baby in her hands, "Is that your child?"
"Are you nuts?" Faith said as she looked at Giles.
"Where's Buffy?" Giles asked.
"Coming!" Buffy replied as she came walking out of the kitchen. "Dawn, why don't you tell him who the baby is."
"Ok" Dawn replied, "Giles meet me."
"Sorry, what did you just say?"
"Meet me."
"Did you said what I think you just said?"
"Giles, meet baby Dawn" Buffy said.
Giles was handed the picture they had earlier and looked at the picture and the real thing. "Wow, this is…"
"Yeah we know" Willow said.
Giles looked at baby Dawn and then he noticed that there were more people standing in the room. People he had never met before and looked at the three dark haired girls. "Who are you?"
"Nice to meet you too!" Phoebe said a little offended by the comment.
"I'm sorry" Giles said, "But still, who are you?"
"Giles, be nice" Willow said smiling, "Have you ever heard of the Charmed Ones?"
"Yeah, why do you… bloody hell!"
"Don't know about that" Prue said trying not to laugh, "Yeah we are, I'm Prue. That's Piper and the one who's constantly looking at the baby is Phoebe."
"Am not."
"Yes you are."
Phoebe looked at the rest and they just nodded and agreed with Prue. "Ok I am, so what?"
"Nothing" Tara said as she put a hand on Phoebe's shoulder, "It's cute."
"Hey I was the cute one here!"
"Yes Dawn!" Buffy said a little annoyed with her sister.
"Not that I don't like being here" Phoebe began, "but it's pretty late and I'm getting hungry." Prue and Piper rolled their eyes and looked at their sister.
"It's ok Phoebe" Buffy said, "We need to figure out something with baby Dawn here anyway" Buffy looked at her sister who was ready to kill her, "Not you Dawn, the baby."
"Oh… sorry."
"Besides, you and your sisters probably have a lot to talk about with Tara."
"Yes we do, it's been a while" Phoebe said.
"Cool, then I'm having dinner here at the Summers home" Willow said smiling.
"No your not!" Phoebe said.
"I'm not?"
Phoebe looked at Willow and smiled, "Nope, I want to know who's got the head of Tara spinning like it is." Willow looked at Tara and saw she was blushing, "Anyone need a tomato?"
"Phoebe!" Piper said. The others couldn't help it but to laugh, especially Prue. She was usually the one who would get upset with Phoebe if she'd say things like that.
Prue, Willow, Tara and Piper got their coat and put it on. They were a hard time getting Phoebe away from the baby, "You want to take her with you?" Joyce asked. Prue, Willow, Tara and Piper all tried to talk Joyce out of it but it was too late, Phoebe had already said yes.
"Ok, that's great" Piper said.
"That means we have to go to the mall and get something for the baby, she needs to eat too." Willow said.
"Yes, but Phoebe's paying for it" Prue hasty said.
"Yeah I will, don't worry" Phoebe replied, "Can we go now? I'm hungry" Prue and Piper sighed and shook hands with the rest and said their nice to meet you's.
At the car, Prue and Piper were lecturing Phoebe on her lack of respect towards other people. Willow and Tara just stood there watching the three sisters bicker about it. "You know what… I'm going to sit with Willow and Tara."
Willow and Tara looked at each other and sighed, Tara had told Willow about how many times the three sisters had arguments about almost anything and that Tara would just sit in between and had to listen to all of it. "Ok, just follow us" Willow said.
"Why?" Piper asked, "Oh… the baby… oops." Phoebe gave her sister a quick look and sat in the car.
<<At the mall>>
"Have you noticed anything weird about that baby?" Prue whispered to Piper.
"What?" Piper whispered back and turned her head towards her sister.
"She's bigger."
"Are you nuts?" Piper said a little harder. The others turned around and looked at them, she reassured that it was nothing and they turned back. "What do you mean?" She whispered to Prue.
"I mean she has grown a little bigger and… older."
"You are being paranoid Prue."
"Yeah, probably."
"Where are you three going?" Piper said as she saw the other girls turning the corner, "Baby department is the other way as it said on the sign."
"We'll be right back!" Phoebe said as she turned the corner following Tara and Willow. Phoebe still had the baby in her hands.
"So what's for dinner?" Tara asked.
"I have no idea, choose something" Willow replied.
"Could someone take baby Dawn for a sec?" Phoebe said, "It feels like she's getting heavier by the minute."
"Sure I'll take her" Willow said as she took the baby from Phoebe, "Now you mentioned it, she does look a little bigger then before."
"I think we should find out why this all happened fast." Tara said, "Who knows what will happen next and why this all happened."
"Yeah, but she's so cute."
"That she is Phoebe" Willow replied, "Tara you chosen anything yet?"
"Yeah, come on let's get some food for the little one and find Phoebe's sisters." They walked to the baby food and saw Piper and Prue bickering about what to take for baby Dawn. If there were two people who were opposed to it the most it was them and now they fought over the food for baby Dawn. Looking at them made Tara, Willow and Phoebe laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Piper said.
"Nothing sis, nothing."
"Could you two just hurry up, because now I'm getting hungry" Willow said and started walking to the exit. Tara followed her and paid for the food, the stopped at the doors and turned around to see Piper and Prue still bickering and now Phoebe was joining them. Willow and Tara looked at each other and started laughing. "Tara honey, I think I'm going to choose for them."
Willow walked back in the store and went to the three sisters, they looked surprised at her when she just grabbed a few jars and went to pay for it. The sisters looked and each other and silently followed her.
<<Summers Home>>
"How are we supposed to find out how this happened?" Joyce asked.
"I'll search through some books on bringing things from the past to the future" Giles replied.
"You think that happened?"
"It's the only thing I can think of Faith. Would you care to join me?"
"Uhm, me and B got some slaying to do" Faith said and pulled Buffy out of the house. If there was one thing she hated it was doing research.
"Dawn, would you help me?" Giles asked.
"Sure, it's not like I have anything else to do."
"Dawn…"
"Yes mom" Dawn said and rolled her eyes, "Sorry Giles, what can I do?"
<<Willow and Tara's apartment>>
"Dinner's ready."
"Coming Will" Phoebe shouted back. Phoebe had been playing with baby Dawn the whole time, she couldn't keep her eyes of the child.
"Our little sis thinks that baby's are the sweetest and cutest things that exist on this planet." Piper said.
"They are" Tara replied, "But I haven't seen anyone this `obsessed' by them."
"She'll get over it" Prue said, "as soon as the baby is gone again she'll be over it. Or if it grows as fast as it is doing now, then she'll be over it sooner then you think."
"So you noticed that too?" Willow said.
"Yeah, she's growing bigger by the hour" Prue replied, "If it goes on like this will have a toddler running around the next morning."
"Can we eat already, I'm starving" Phoebe said as she came walking in with baby Dawn. There was no child seat so Phoebe tried to feed the baby on her lap while trying to eat herself.
Baby Dawn was getting a little over exited and grabbed the spoon from Phoebe's hand. She started hitting the table with it, the food that was on the spoon hit Phoebe in her face. The others looked at Phoebe struggling to clean her face and at the same time getting the spoon from baby Dawn.
The other sat back on their chairs and looked at Phoebe and baby Dawn, laughing harder every time Phoebe got another spoon with food on her body, face or in her hair. Baby Dawn looked at Phoebe and started hitting the plate where her food was in with both hands.
At this point Phoebe had food all over her, she looked defeated towards the others and pleaded if they could take baby Dawn over from her. They all shook their heads and pointed towards the bathroom, Phoebe took baby Dawn and headed for the bathroom. As soon as the door closed the others just laughed even harder, if it wasn't for the mess on the table they would have kept laughing.
"Ok, let's clean this up then" Tara said and started putting the plates in the dishwasher. "But I have to say, wasn't that the funniest thing you've ever seen?"
They all nodded and helped Tara with the cleaning. When they heard Phoebe screaming and pleading if baby Dawn would stop they started laughing again. After they cleaned up the room, Willow, Tara, Prue and Piper moved to the couch and turned on the television.
After a fifteen minutes they saw the bathroom door opening and Phoebe's head, "Uhm, could someone please give me my pyjama?"
"I'll get it" Piper said and grabbed a pyjama and threw it to Phoebe.
"Phoebe, you can take one of the t-shirts in the closet for baby Dawn."
"Thanks Tara."
After a few minutes Phoebe came walking out of the bathroom and asked Willow and Tara where baby Dawn was going to sleep. Phoebe looked at their faces and already knew the answer, it was going to be with her. "Fine I'll take the baby."
A few seconds later she returned to the room and walked towards the big couch were Willow and Tara were sitting on. She turned her back to the couch and let herself fall on it. "Finally, peace and quite."
"Not so fun after all, isn't it?"
"Shut up Prue."
"Ok, it's been a busy day for all of us, why don't we all go to sleep" Willow said and pulled Tara off the couch, "So that some of us won't be so cranky."
Phoebe grabbed a pillow and threw it towards Willow, she was too late. Willow and Tara were already in their room.
Piper could barely hold her laugh, "I think she's right Pheebs."
"I know."
"Good morning" Tara said as she kissed Willow on her forehead.
"Hey."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah I did" Willow replied and snuggled up to her lover, "I slept great."
"Good to hear" Tara said and gave Willow a passionate kiss, Willow wanted more and deepened the kiss. Their kiss was suddenly interrupted by Phoebe.
"Oh my god!" Phoebe screamed, "Guys, come here."
Piper and Prue came running from their room to Phoebe's and saw why she was so upset. "What's wrong?" Tara yelled from her and Willow's room.
"You have to see it to believe it" Piper said. When she saw them coming Piper moved aside and let the two see what was all the fuzz was about. Next to Phoebe wasn't a baby anymore, there was a toddler with an attitude.
They all looked very surprised at the little toddler, not sure of what to do. "Dawn?" Willow finally said. The little toddler looked up at Willow and smiled, "Ok, so it's still Dawn."
"How are we going to explain this to Buffy?" Piper asked.
"I'll uhm… talk to her" Tara said knowing Buffy wouldn't like this at all. Not to mention Joyce or Giles, "Let's hope it won't cause a stroke."
"Should we come with you?"
"Will, are you nuts. I'm not going over there" Tara said with fear in her eyes, "I'll call them. I know her pretty well and she's not going to take the news very well and I don't wanna be near her when she… you know… explodes."
"O come on, Buffy wouldn't do that."
"I'm not taking the chance Will" Tara replied, "I'll call her". Tara walked to the phone knowing it was still early, but this couldn't wait. She picked up the phone and dialled the number, after a few seconds someone picked up.
"Hi Joyce, is Buffy awake?"
"Hi Tara, hold on a sec. I'll get her for you." After a few seconds Tara heard another voice on the line, this time it was Buffy.
"Hi Tara."
"Hey Buffy, are you sitting down?"
"No… Why, what happened?"
"I think you'd better sit down."
"Ok, I'm sitting. What happened?"
"It's about baby Dawn, to be simple, she's not a baby anymore."
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
"When we woke up this morning we heard Phoebe and she asked us to come to her."
"Yes…"
"And basically, baby Dawn isn't baby Dawn anymore, because she is now toddler Dawn." Tara quickly held the phone a little away from her ear expecting Buffy to yell. When she didn't hear anything on the other side Tara looked surprised at Willow and the three sisters.
"Uhm Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"Ok, that went good" Tara sighed.
"What do you mean?"
"We were kinda afraid you were going to yell or something like that."
"I never yell, unless I have a reason to it. This isn't one of those reasons is it, cuz I will yell if it is, believe me."
"No! I-I mean… no you don't have a reason to yell."
"Don't worry about it, we will find how, what and why this has happened."
Tara and Buffy said goodbye and hung up the phone. "Ok, she took it extremely well" Tara said to the rest. Tara looked at toddler Dawn and started laughing, the little girl busy trying to get the shoelaces out of Willow's sneakers and it wasn't going to well.
The little hands weren't anywhere near loosening the laces and toddler Dawn was getting angry about it. She picked up the shoe and threw it against the wall, which made Tara laugh even harder, the others couldn't see what was so funny about a kid throwing a shoe.
"What are you laughing at?" Phoebe asked.
"Toddler Dawn, she is so cute. Getting angry and all, have you seen that face?"
"Yes honey, we did." Willow replied, "But what is so funny about that?"
"Ok I'm getting it now" Prue said, "Remember Phoebe being all `o that's so cute'? Now it's her turn to do that."
"I'm sorry" Tara said, "I just can't help it, she's so cute."
"Don't let Dawn hear that" Piper said.
<<Summers Home>>
"Mom, I'm going to Giles."
"This early?" Joyce replied, "Is he even awake?"
"Yeah he probably is, he's always early."
"Ok, will you be back for dinner?"
"Yeah I will."
"Buffy one more thing, take your sister with you."
"Mom!"
"Buffy…"
"Alright… Dawn! Come on let's go."
"Coming already!"
<<Ten minutes later, Giles' House>>
"So basically she grew from baby Dawn to toddler Dawn overnight" Buffy said finishing telling what Tara told her.
"I'm a toddler?"
Apparently you are Dawn" Giles replied, "Have you seen her Buffy?"
"No I haven't, but hearing Tara's voice she wasn't kidding about it."
"How do you think they're handling it?" Giles asked.
Buffy looked at Dawn and remembered how she was when she was a toddler, "If the other Dawn is exactly like this Dawn… Then they'll have their hands full."
"What do you mean?" Dawn said trying not to get upset.
"What I mean… Well to sum it up, you were a pain."
"Was not!"
"Still are!"
"Girls! Could you do the sisterly arguments somewhere else. We have more important things to think about." They both looked at Giles and apologised. "We have to figure this out somehow, because I don't think your mom would like to have another child with her, especially one that grows THAT fast."
"I'm glad she's good with children."
"Why Willow?" Phoebe asked.
"Because I don't think we would have survived so far if she wasn't" Willow replied and she was right. Neither of them were really good with kids, the last time Phoebe, Prue and Piper had encountered little kids, they turned out to be demons. Even if they were older than toddler Dawn, they weren't good with kids at all.
"Tara honey, are you ok?" Willow asked her girlfriend. Tara had been keeping toddler Dawn busy all morning and was now lying on the couch, obviously very tired.
"Yeah, I'm ok… Just a little tired, that's all." It was the last thing Tara said before she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Willow and Phoebe looked at each other and smiled, they were pretty tired too. They had been cleaning up after Tara and Dawn all morning, Tara had finally put Dawn to bed for a little nap. And now they all could rest before she woke up again filled with energy.
Prue and Piper had fled the apartment before that and said they were going to shop and get some clothes for the kid. She couldn't be in the t-shirt all the time and it was a good opportunity for them to get to know Sunnydale.
<<Three hours later>>
"We're back!" Piper shouted and entered the apartment. Since they were going to stay for little over a week, Tara and Willow had given them a key so they could easily get in and out without having Willow or Tara at home all the time.
Piper looked around and saw Phoebe, Willow and Tara sleeping on the couch. Willow and Tara laid snuggled up to each other and Phoebe had the other couch completely to herself and made good use of it. "Prue look at this" Piper whispered to her sister.
"O god, that is so cute" Prue whispered back.
"Tell me you didn't forget the camera."
Prue walked to their room and grabbed a small bag. She returned to the room with a big smile on her face and showed it to Piper. "Good" Piper said as she saw the camera.
Prue got the camera out of the bag and first made a picture of Willow and Tara, both of them blinked with their eyes when the flash came, but didn't woke up. Now it was Phoebe's turn, Prue faces Phoebe and was about to click, "Try it and die!"
Prue and Piper looked at each other and sighed, "Damn, almost had her."
"Almost… but that's closest you'll ever get."
Willow opened her eyes and saw Prue standing with a camera in her hand, "She was awake already?"
"Willow… she DID took a picture of you and Tara" Phoebe said.
"No she didn't… did you?". Willow knew from the look on Prue's face that she did and sighed, "Fine, but you're giving me all of it."
"Sorry, too cute, can't do it" Prue said and put her camera away. Piper took out a bag with two new outfits for toddler Dawn. They hadn't bought a lot, if she would grow again over the next night then they wouldn't have to have so many clothes. If Dawn indeed grew bigger the next night then she could already wear clothes from the real Dawn.
"Honey wake up" Willow said trying to wake up Tara. There wasn't coming much of a reply back, just a soft moan complaining that Willow was waking her up. "Tara wake up."
"Yeah" Tara replied, "I'm awake" Tara looked around and saw four people looking at her, "What am I doing here?"
"Don't you remember?" Phoebe asked, "You had been playing with toddler Dawn all morning and it wore you out and you fell asleep on the couch."
"O god, It wasn't a dream?"
"Nope" Phoebe said and smiled.
"I changed my mind" Tara said, "Toddlers aren't cute and cuddly, they're monsters."
Willow laughed and gave her a kiss, "Don't worry, if she grows like this then it won't be long before she is Dawn… I mean… the real Dawn. Ok I don't know what I mean… anyone… help?"
"We know what you mean Willow" Piper said and smiled. Her smile was gone as quickly as it came on when she heard noises coming from the room where Dawn was sleeping, "She's awake."
Tara's face immediately turned pale when she heard the noises, "Guessing by that face someone else is on toddler Dawn duty?" Willow said. Tara just nodded and let a little smile come on her face.
Phoebe, Tara and Willow looked at Prue and Piper who slowly backed up to the door. They had seen how busy the little girl was and wouldn't want to take any chances. Willow jumped up and hurried to the door, she was in time to stop the two sisters from getting out.
"Till dinner, you have toddler Dawn duty."
The two sisters sighed and walked to the room where the little girl was. When they opened the door, toddler Dawn was already making a mess of everything. Jumping on the beds, taking everything out of the closets, luckily Willow and Tara had already put everything that could be a danger to the girl out of the room.
Prue and Piper looked at each other and sighed, one thing was sure; this was going to be a very long afternoon…
"No! Dawn please don't…" Piper looked at toddler Dawn but it was too late, "…pour that milk in my shoes" Prue looked at her sister and started laughing, "Your laughing now, wait `til you see what she did to YOUR shoes!"
"She didn't" Prue looked at her sister who was pointing at her shoes, "She did." Prue's shoes were completely covered with milk and chocolate. They had given toddler Dawn chocolate and milk to keep her busy and apparently she had been very busy… with Prue's shoes.
"I'm never going to forgive them," Prue said.
"Forgive them about what?" Piper asked her sister.
"About this, making us have Dawn duty while they are going to shop."
"Come on Prue, it's not THAT bad" Piper looked at little Dawn and saw her crawling towards another pair of her shoes, "O no you don't" Piper said and picked up the little girl before she actually reached the shoes.
"What were you saying sis?"
<<Sunnydale Mall>>
"You think they're doing ok?"
"I wouldn't worry about it Willow. Knowing my sisters, they would only kill us twice… after they tortured us."
"Ok, that's a big relief" Tara said in replied of Phoebe's answer, "I thought they would at least kill us five time."
"So are you liking Sunnydale so far?" Willow asked Phoebe.
"It's nice, I can actually see myself living here."
"That's great… I mean if you want to live on a Hellmouth…" Willow replied.
"What's a Hellmouth?"
"You don't know?" Willow said looking at Phoebe and then Tara.
"Sorry, forgot to mention that."
"So what's a Hellmouth?"
"We'll take you to the exact place" Willow said as she grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the mall.
<Ok, so my girlfriend is going to show Phoebe the actual Hellmouth, no biggie> Tara thought and followed the other two out of the mall.
<<Giles' Home>>
"So how do you think this all happened?" Buffy asked Giles.
"I really don't know" Giles replied, "But I have been doing some research."
"And?" Dawn asked.
"And a few hundred years ago there was witch who would be able to create a duplicate of a person" Giles began telling what he had found out, "And the witch wasn't actually that old at the time, she was only twenty years old."
"Why would she do such a thing?" Buffy asked.
"Re-live her childhood?"
"Don't be such a fool Dawn" Buffy said to her sister.
"Buffy, I think she's got point" Giles said to her, "But what I don't understand is why she would do such a thing."
"As Cordy would say all the time `childhood trauma'?"
"Could be Buffy, I'll try and find more about her."
"Ok, we're going back home. Promised mom I would be back before dinner and I'm really missing someone right now." Buffy said smiling. She grabbed Dawn's hand and pulled her towards the door. "Call me if you find anything."
"Ok, see you later Buffy."
"Bye Giles."
"Bye Dawn."
The two sisters walked out of Giles' house and headed home. Their mother and Faith were probably going to be very curious when they get back. Buffy only told her mother that they were going to Giles', she hadn't told her anything about toddler Dawn.
<<Ten minutes later, Summers home>>
"Could you drive any faster?" Dawn asked her sister sarcastically.
"Buffy what did I ask you about driving when your sister is in the car?"
"Sorry mom, won't happen again."
"That's what you always say."
"Dawn! But out" Buffy said angry to her sister.
"Buffy!" Joyce now said, getting angry with her eldest daughter.
"Sorry mom."
Dawn stuck her tongue out to her sister; now Joyce was getting angry with her youngest daughter and told her to get upstairs.
"Where's Faith?" Buffy asked her mom.
"She took a shower and when she came downstairs she wasn't looking that well so I sent her back upstairs and get some rest."
"Ok, I'll go check on her" Buffy said worried about her lover.
"Call me if you need anything" Joyce said, "Dinner's in thirty minutes."
"We'll be downstairs by then" Buffy said smiling and walked upstairs to find Faith.
When she entered her room, she couldn't find Faith with one look. She walked further in and saw Faith sitting on the floor, her knees brought up to face height and resting her head on them and her arms wrapped around her legs.
When Buffy looked a little closer she saw a tear rolling down her girlfriend's cheek and wondered what she was crying about, "Faith?" The dark haired slayer got startled a little, she hadn't noticed Buffy had come in their room.
"What? No, it's nothing."
Buffy knew she wasn't telling the truth, she could see it in her eyes, "Faith. What's wrong?". Faith said again it was nothing, Buffy wouldn't believe her, but respected her Faith's decision not to tell anything.
She sat next to Faith, both back's against the bed. Buffy gently stroke through Faith's hair and waited, hoping Faith would tell her what was wrong. Faith looked at her girlfriend, the tears she was holding back a few seconds before now freely ran down her cheeks.
"It's ok, cry" Buffy said trying to comfort her girlfriend. She moved a little and now faced Faith's side, Faith buried her head in Buffy's shoulder and just cried.
"So this is a Hellmouth?"
"Yup, this is it. And trust me we've had a lot of Hellmouthy things around here" Willow replied, "And we faced the end of the world twice."
"The end of the world?"
"Yup, end of the world" Willow replied, "Once in high school and the second time when we were in college."
"I only know of one" Tara said, "But Willow told me about the other in a little too much detail at one point."
"Should we be getting back by now?" Phoebe asked, "Cuz it will get dark soon and it's almost dinner time, besides, I want to see my sisters… actually I want to see them all tired like Tara was."
Willow looked at Phoebe and smiled, "Let's go then, can't wait for that can we."
<<Summers Home>>
"Dawn, could you get that?" Joyce yelled from upstairs to her youngest daughter when she heard the phone ringing. Dawn stood up from the couch and answered the phone.
"Hello Dawn, Giles here" the other voice said, "Is Buffy there? I think I found something on that witch."
"I'll see, she and Faith have been upstairs for a while now, they hadn't even come down for dinner."
"O, what's wrong."
"Don't know. Mom saw them all snuggled up, but there was something with Faith" Dawn replied, "But I'll see if she'll come" Dawn held the phone away from her ear and yelled upstairs. She didn't get a reply and tried again. After a few seconds Joyce came downstairs and told Dawn they needed some privacy.
"Sorry Giles, mom said it's a no go" Dawn said, "They need privacy or something."
"Ok, then I'll call Willow and the others. They haven't heard of this yet."
"What about me?" Dawn almost pleaded.
"Yes you can come too. I'll ask them if they can pick you up, it's shorter from your house to mine if they do that."
"Cool, thanks Giles. See you later then?"
"Yes. See you later" Both hung up the phone, Dawn went back to the kitchen where her mother just went in and said she was going to Giles when Willow and Tara would pick her up.
<<Willow and Tara's apartment>>
"That was Giles. He asked us all to come over, it's about baby… I mean toddler Dawn" Willow said as she hung up the phone, "But we're going to Buffy's first, we need to pick up Dawn."
"And Buffy?" Phoebe asked.
"Don't know, he said she and Faith needed some time alone" Willow replied, "Alone time at this time, usually isn't good."
"I'm sure they'll be fine honey" Tara said to her girlfriend as she pulled her in for a kiss.
"So which one of you is going to take toddler Dawn?" Piper asked, "We've just spend the whole afternoon with this kid and let me tell you it hasn't been easy at all."
"She ruined my favorite shoes!" Prue said in a childish voice.
Tara, Phoebe, Prue and Piper all stepped back and the only one left was Willow, "Fine I'll take the little devil". Willow lifted toddler Dawn up from the floor, the little kid immediately turned in to a peaceful child resting her head comfortably on Willow's shoulders.
"How did she…?" Phoebe asked surprised. Everyone just looked at Willow with their mouths open, except for Tara, she just smiled proudly <That's my Willow> she thought.
"Ok let's go to Mr Giles then" Prue said and grabbed her coat.
<<Giles' place, twenty minutes later>>
"So you're saying that some witch is out for vengeance?" Willow asked surprised.
"Not good" Phoebe said, "A witch with a vengeance is so not good."
"We know" Willow added, "We had the same problem with a vengeance demon called Anyanka."
"You've met Anyanka?" Leo said as he orbed in. Everyone but the three sisters looked surprised at the new `person' when he orbed in the room.
"Who are you?" Giles was the first to speak.
"I'm Leo, nice to meet you."
"This is my husband" Piper said.
"And our white lighter" Prue added, "This is Giles, the redhead is Willow, the blonde Tara and the little kid Dawn."
"I know" Leo said and kissed Piper.
"What?" Phoebe asked.
"They told me" Leo said as he pointed above him, "They sent me to help."
"Good!" Willow said and handed toddler Dawn, "I need someone to hold her, my arm is getting a little tired."
"No… I…" Leo tried to get out of it, but Willow had already handed him the toddler.
"Looks good on you Leo, how have you been and why did you never told me you two were married?" Tara said and looked at Leo and Piper.
"We had a lot of trouble from the guys upstairs" Piper replied.
"What guys upstairs, I don't have any guys up… never mind, I'm stupid" Giles said and sat down on his couch, "So why did they sent you to help us?"
"I can get you the witch that did this" Leo said. He suddenly felt something dripping on his shoulder and looked at the little kid. Everyone saw what was going on and started laughing. Toddler Dawn was drooling on his shoulder in her sleep, "Could someone…?"
"Yeah, give her to me." Willow said and took toddler Dawn from Leo, "Giles can I put her in your bed?"
"No! I don't want that kid drooling all over my bed, just put her on the couch."
"Hey! Be nice to me" teenager Dawn said.
"So this is the real thing" Leo said and looked at Dawn.
"Yes I am, and how were you planning on fixing this?"
"Already told you, by giving you the witch that did this."
"How?" Tara asked him.
"It's easy really, hold on" Leo orbed out and left everyone again standing with their mouth's open except for the Charmed Ones.
"Could you all stop doing that?" Piper said, "I can see the things you ate two days ago."
"So sorry" Giles said as he closed his mouth, "So what is he doing again?"
"If I know Leo, he will be back in a few seconds with that witch" Phoebe said and moved sat on the couch.
"He can do that?" Dawn asked surprised.
"Yeah, they asked him so he has to" Piper replied.
"Can he do something for me?"
"Like what Dawn?" Prue asked.
"I got this very irritating girl at school who will be in my class next year, so I…"
"Dawn!" Giles said.
"What?" Dawn asked him, "So can he?"
"No" Piper replied, "And even if he could, he wouldn't."
After a half hour Leo orbed back in with a second person with him, as he began to take form, so did the person with him. They all looked at the person, but couldn't figure out who it was, only Willow saw the shapes of the female person with him and recognised her immediately.
"Amy?"
Everyone looked surprised at Willow for knowing whom it was. Prue was the first to speak, "Who's Amy?"
"Amy is also a witch" Willow replied, "We met in high school."
"Uhm honey, aren't you forgetting that Amy was a rat?"
"She was a rat?" Phoebe replied to Tara statement.
"Yeah I was" Amy spoke for the first time she and Leo had entered the room.
"How did you… you know de-ratted?" Willow wanted to know.
"That's a long story."
"We've got time," Giles said on a more serious note, waiting for this `mystery' solve.
"Alright" Amy said, "let's begin then."
[And I didn't have the guts to do a spell on Veruca, and my "I Will It So" spell went nowhere. The only real witch here is fuzzy little Amy" Willow said with more pain in her heart than before.
"I think you're being too hard on yourself" Buffy replied.
"She's got access to powers I can't even invoke. I mean, first – she's a perfectly normal girl" Buffy and Willow don't notice that behind her on the bed Amy turns in to a human again, naked, but a human again. Amy is more then exited and tries to speak.
"Then poof – she's a rat." Willow finished her sentence. Amy looks scared and turns in to a rat once again. After Buffy leaves when she heard Spike has escaped so does Willow and goes to Xander.
Amy the rat is still on the bed and a little confused, running circles on the bed. After a few seconds she doesn't seem confused anymore and starts running again in circles, but this time on the floor where Willow's feet were.
After a few seconds a blue/green light starts coming up and surrounding Amy. She starts growing and taking her human form once again. "Finally, thank you very much Willow."]
"But how did you perform a spell if you couldn't even speak?" Piper asked.
"She thought of it" Tara said surprising both the others as well as Amy, "If a witch is powerful enough she can perform spell just by thinking them."
"I just needed the energy from Willow."
"She's stronger than me" Willow said, "I need a spell to get my will done and she just thought of it."
"That's not true honey, you are powerful."
"Wow, wait a sec" Amy suddenly said.
"What?" Willow asked.
"Did she just call you honey?"
"Yes she did" Prue said answering for Willow, "Can we get this done already?"
"Uhm at this time… I don't think you need to piss her off" Phoebe said.
"Don't worry" Leo said, leaving the others surprised, "She can't hurt anyone. The only thing she can do now is reverse the spell she did on Dawn."
"Yes do that! Very quickly, I'm getting scared seeing myself like that."
Toddler Dawn was crawling all over the couch and the floor. She tried to pull everything of the table, including a vase and some books. The real Dawn had been catching things the whole time the others were talking.
"But how?"
"I paid a visit to the guys upstairs before coming here" Leo said, "They took her powers away, just leaving a little bit for the spell to be reversed."
"Look, I should have never done this. It was wrong I'm sorry."
"Amy look at me" Willow said, "Why did you do this?"
"Revenge" Amy began, "Revenge for you not being able to turn me back human. I wanted to make an evil duplicate of the youngest person and that happened to be Dawn. I was going to keep her until she reached the same age as Dawn, she wasn't supposed to end up on Buffy's doorstep."
"That was my doing."
Everyone looked surprised at Leo, even Piper looked surprised and a little angry, "Why didn't you tell me!"
"Because they wouldn't let me" Leo said, "In the beginning it was supposed to be a trip to Sunnydale to meet up with Tara, but then I heard about this and I put the baby where Dawn found it. And so I was hoping you would find a solution, then they called me again and said that I should get the one who did this and so here we are."
"Ok, thanks for this wonderful week then" Prue said and sat on the couch.
"Look I'm sorry ok."
"She'll get over it" Piper said to her husband, "She just really doesn't like toddlers and this was, sorry Dawn, one of the worst we ever met."
"Hey!"
"She said she was sorry Dawn" Tara said and gave her a stern look.
"I'm sorry, but just get the it over with. Don't want have another me around."
"By the way, Giles… You were way off when you thought of that other witch" Amy said. Willow gave her a look and knew she was going to be in more trouble if she didn't solve this problem, "Fine. Dawn, take toddler Dawn's hand."
Dawn did what here was told and took the little one by her hand. Amy just waved her hand like Prue would do as she used her power. Toddler Dawn just disappeared and left the others surprised.
"I wish I was that powerful."
"She's not anymore, remember Will" Tara said trying to soothe her girlfriend.
"Come on Amy" Leo said and grabbed her hand.
"Wait!" Piper said, "Where are you going?"
"She will be brought to justice."
"For this little thing?" Willow asked surprised.
"This isn't the only thing."
"O, will she be back?"
"That's up to the judges" Leo said and orbed out with Amy.
"So who's up for ice cream?" Phoebe said and grabbed her coat.
"Me!" Dawn said and immediately went after her. Phoebe looked at the rest and wondered why they were still standing there.
"Why aren't you coming? We're still staying here for another day, might as well make the best of it."
"Yeah, come on" Dawn said.
"You see, even the little kid wants ice cream."
"She always wants ice cream" Giles said, "But yeah, sure. I still want to know more about the Charmed Ones."
"Ok, come on then" Phoebe said and walked out. The rest followed slowly, Tara suddenly stopped at the car.
"Shouldn't we get Buffy and Faith?"
"No" Willow said, "I think they need some time on their own, don't ask me how, but I know."
"Ok" Tara said. Then stepped closer to Willow and kissed her then moved her mouth to her ear, "I trust your instincts" Tara whispered and then pulled Willow to the car.
"Don't you all think it went a little too fast with Amy?" Phoebe asked.
"No, not really" Willow said, "I mean I love Dawn, but I couldn't see Joyce taking care of two of them. And I don't think Buffy would have liked it much either."
"So… are we going to make the ice – cream shop unsafe or what?" Tara wanted to know.
"Yes we are!" Phoebe said and closed the door of the car.
...continued in Problems in Paradise...