Chasing the Girl

Disclaimer - See part one (ok that's getting redundant)

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Part 16

Faith drove out of the parking lot. Rose was sitting in the back, saying "BBBBB".

"What?" Buffy asked, turning around.

"Want Mista G." She said.

"Here, don't get him dirty." Buffy sighed.

"I not." She snapped, jerking the animal. "He mine."

"Of course, I know, I'm sorry, Rosie." Buffy said.

"He mine." Rose said again softly.

Faith looked at Buffy.

"Have some patience." She said, before smiling at Rosie. "You're a sleepyhead, aren't you?" She asked her.

"I sleepy." Rosie said, and yawned, laying her head on the side of her car seat.

"So?" Faith asked. "Who's the girl?"

"Mary." Buffy stated.

"And?"

"Mary. We sorta dated." She looked at Faith's questioning expression. "Ok, we sorta screwed, more than once, which to me was dating."

"Watch the mouth." Faith said, looking in the rearview at Rose. Rose smiled at her.

"Hey, Faithy." She said .


"Hi, baby." Faith said, before turning back to Buffy. "And? Why the running away?"

"Not too sure how comfortable our little encounter would have been. Me walking up with a baby and all."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But you can't run away from it, B. It's still there. Who would have been uncomfortable, you or her? Cause if it was her, I'm gonna have to say who cares. If she was bold enough to play with the 'feel good' B, and more than once, well she's not one who I care to impress anyway."

Buffy looked away hurt.

"I'm sorry, but that's true. If you were the one who's uncomfortable, well get over it, I mean we can have a dinner and talk and play with the kid, but again it's still there. You did a lot of damage, you're gonna have to face it or it won't go away."

"Don't you think I know that?" Buffy said. "I just ...tonight was nice, I mean, at least after we left Willow's. Can't I just have that? Just for one night?"

"I don't see why not."

"At least Rose's not scared of me anymore."

"Yeah, that's something. But it will still take time. The rest of them are not going to be as easy to convince that you are willing to change as a toddler is." Faith said. "I'm not sure I'm convinced myself." She finished, softly.

"I figured as much, Faith. I'm not denial girl. I know they hate me. I know you're pretty close to hating me as well. I am going to try to fix this mess, but I don't know how much more I can take."

"I think you need to look at it this way. Think about what Red and Ken and Xander think about what they have done for you. The begging, the pleading, the cleaning up your messes. Think about that. They have taken a lot more than you, and they may be a little bitter, but they're also willing to take some more. So, if Wills gets testy or Kennedy gets angry, my advice would be to shut up and listen. Most likely they're speaking the truth, but I'm guessing you already know that." She paused for a beat. " And... I don't hate you. May not like you very much, some of the time, but I don't hate you, and I don't think that they do either."

Buffy nodded, suddenly tired. She glanced in the back seat.

"Looks like our baby's out." She said softly. "I'm thinking she has the right idea."

Faith didn't answer her, glancing at Rose again, and then at the side of Buffy's head as she laid it on the seat staring at Rose.

'Our baby, fuck, why does this girl do this to me.' She thought.

Willow and Kennedy were waiting up when the girls got home. Kennedy saw the headlights pull into the drive.

"Fuck, did you know they took my car?" She asked, as they were getting out. Willow shook her head and Kennedy finished. "Here we were getting all upset about them being gone, and they took my car. What would have happened to the poor baby, if they HAD joined the circus. What do you think, Wills? He would have missed me, and they would probably just have abandoned him on the side of the road. I think those circus people travel different, you know, like on a train in Dumbo, oh no, no the poor baby. Oh, do you realize how close we came to disaster here? I'm glad I didn't know. Just keep me in the dark with things like that, okay?"

"You're real funny, Ken. A comedian. Really. I'm so glad you still have your humor." Willow said. "It's so utterly useless sometimes, but still so cute."

Faith and Buffy chose that moment to walk in. Buffy carrying a sleepy Rose. The two girls stopped giggling when they saw Rose in Buffy's arms.

"I'm going to put her to bed." Buffy said, walking out of the room.

Kennedy was too stunned to speak, so Willow went first.

"Wow, I guess they hit it off, huh? Well, that's good. I know that they should hit it off. Her being her mother and all. Mothers and daughters should get along, we all know that, right?" She didn't wait for anyone to answer. "And Buffy's Rosie's mother, so the getting along is of the good, I have to say. She should put her to bed. That's really great."

Willow continued to babble and Kennedy rolled her eyes and Faith stared. Before she could speak, Willow changed the subject.

"Did you have a run-in with the pasta monster from hell again, Faith?"

Faith looked down at her shirt. "The pasta monster from hell is a two year old that sleeps in this house. You guys really should have known that, seeing as you're a powerful Wicca and you're a Slayer. But no, she goes unnoticed, until little ole me takes her out for food. Completely unaware that she changes from the cute little button she was to a mini-volcano intent on destroying the dining outfits of everyone within a 20 foot radius of herself."

"Spaghetti?" Kennedy asked.

" 'Ghetti, want ghetti.' " Faith answered, mocking Rose.

"You are so totally a sucker, Faith." Kennedy said.

"I know." She said, holding her head down in mock embarrassment.

To be continued