Title: Jumping To Conclusions

Summary: She's baaaaack. A few months after "A Little More Closure."

Spoilers: Let's just say everything, although at this point, it's really nothing.

Disclaimer: Of *course* they belong to someone else. I could never come up with characters like this. Specifically, they belong to Mutant Enemy, Fox, WB, and anyone else I forgot.

Rating: G, I think.

Distribution: Please ask. I'm not too sure anyone would really want it, though.

Feedback: Um, please, I think. I'm not really a writer. I'm just trying to sort out what the voices in my head want me to do. There are just so *many* of them, telling me all sorts of different things, and I'm not sure which ones to listen to. Feedback would probably help. So would therapy, but I can't afford that right now, so I'll just try to keep on writing.

Note: I'm considering naming the series "Take It as It Comes." Too goofy?

Reversal 15: Jumping To Conclusions

The scene was one unimaginable just a few months before. Sometimes, if he thought about it too long and too hard, he would convince himself that it was all just a dream and that everything would disappear at any moment. But every morning, he woke up to the same house and the same family that welcomed him without question. Nothing ever vanished.

He was still sure it would all end with no warning.

Nothing in his life ever went the way it was supposed to.

~~~~

"She's coming back, Xander." Willow's voice was low and sad.

And confusing to her childhood friend, attempting to not inhale the waves of noxious fumes in front of him. "Geez, you'd think that I would *remember* this and get a mask next time." Finally, he closed the diaper,

gently planting a kiss on his infant daughter's tender stomach. "What are you talking about, Will? Who? And why is this of the bad?"

Smiling at her sort-of namesake, she wished she didn't have to tell him. She wished she herself didn't have to know. Carefully, waiting for him to place the baby back in her crib so he wouldn't drop her once he heard the news, Willow said the one word she had hoped never to have to repeat. "Buffy."

He froze. Buffy. She was the reason he had gone through five years of hell, thinking that he was nothing more than a cheap fling for the person that he now considered to be his home. Who had adopted his children even when he himself didn't know they existed. What could possibly be her reason for returning? "Does Angel know?" Was that *his* voice? It sounded like someone was standing on his neck. The same someone who was using his stomach as a trampoline.

"No." She sighed. "She called Giles. He told her it would be too stressful for her to pop up unannounced, and she agreed to let him reintroduce her to the group." The fear was coming off Xander in waves. "He and I are trying to figure out how to keep her away. The story Angel used last time won't work."

He fell heavily on the chair. Angel had picked it out. Plush and overstuffed, it was selected specifically with Xander in mind years ago. Five years ago. Angel had been ever-hopeful that Xander would return, and after five years, his wish finally came true. The chair had been moved into the nursery when Xander's presence in Angel's room caused them to relocate the infants. "Does she know about you and...?"

She grinned. "Nope. I'm hoping to ambush her. Shock her into forgetting about anything else."

The image of a stunned and speechless Buffy brought a smile to his face. Then a small whimper floated out of the crib, reminding him of his responsibilities. "What about these two, Will?" His voice matched hers at the beginning of the conversation. "What if he decides that he doesn't want me anymore? What if he doesn't want *them*?"

He reminded her of a scolded puppy who couldn't understand why his people were yelling at him. Curling up on his lap, stroking and kissing his head like he was that puppy, she just replied, "He won't do that. He can't."

~~~~

The old repertory theatre was showing a John Woo double-feature. Angel had the twins, buying tickets, while Xander was waiting in a nearby bar for Auntie Willow to arrive to whisk the children away for babysitting. She arrived, kissing him on the cheek in greeting. "So, ready for an evening of gun fights and slow-motion birds? I've got the zwieback front covered."

"Yep. Thanks for this, Will. I'm not sure how much longer it will last, and I want to make the best of it."

She sighed. This again. "Xander, nothing is going to change." Doubt on his face. She wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head against his. "Sweetie, it's in his eyes. When you're not looking. You and the rugrats are his world. Hurting any of you would kill him." Pulling back to face him, she grinned. "And if he hurt you, I'd have to kill him myself."

"How sweet! I just *knew* you two would really get together one of these days." A voice filled with sincere delight. At Buffy's voice, the two former Slayerettes pulled apart in shock. "You really do make a cute couple, you know."

Struggling for words, Willow managed to stammer, "Hi, Buff. But it's not what you think."

"Right. Sure. I almost believe you." Grinning, she made herself at home at the table. "You're still cute together."

An uncomfortable silence descended. Until it was broken by a cheery male voice. "Okay, hon, I have the tickets. Time to turn the babies over to the caretaker and find the best seats. I hear there are a couple that actually have all of the springs *under* the seat cover."

Now it was Buffy's turn to stammer. "Angel. Willow. Sorry. I jumped to conclusions. I should have known that Xander and Will were just friends. Cute kids, Will." Willow and Angel, together? *Definitely* not what she had thought. But sometimes things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to. She took a closer look at the children. Wait -- whose eyes were those?

"Actually, Buffy, you just jumped to another conclusion." Angel waited for her to turn to him in confusion before he reached for Xander's hand. "Willow is our babysitter." He paused, considering his next actions.

Until he turned his gaze to Xander. He had hoped to never see that look of fear and insecurity again. The single time he saw it five years ago -- the last time he had seen Buffy -- was more than enough. It had made his stomach drop like a ball of lead. Now he thinking that was a pleasant sensation compared to this. "I was going to wait until later for this, but now seems like a better idea." Fumbling in his pocket, he pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it, revealing two wide matching platinum bands. "I hope yours fits." Xander stared at the rings in confusion.

Willow smiled, leaning to whisper to her favorite father, "Told ya so." Smiling at a speechless Xander, she turned to Angel. "He accepts."

And they all turned to see Buffy's prone body after they heard a soft "thud."

~~~~ the end ~~~~