Epilogue - Still In Love
"I could definitely get used to
this," Willow sighed as she settled back onto her lounger.
"The view or the lounging?"
Elizabeth asked from her own lounger that was sited next to Willow's.
"Both," the redhead replied
with a grin.
It was a hot day in early September,
just over a year since Elizabeth and William's wedding. A lot had happened during that time. They’d had their up's and down's, their tears
and laughter and they'd worked hard at extinguishing their insecurities, amazingly
finding themselves even more in love with each other than they'd ever thought
possible.
A few months after their union,
Willow and Oz had married in a quiet registry office ceremony. Dawn and Connor had also recently married,
although they'd had a far larger do than either Elizabeth or Willow.
Giles and his 'friend', Jenny, had
finally moved in together after much discussion, leaving William and Elizabeth
with the option of purchasing his house which they'd jumped at the chance to
do.
And now, in the large garden of said
home, the women were lazing around on sunlounger's protected from the sun by a
large green umbrella as they watched their respective shirtless spouses trying
to fix the lawnmower.
Elizabeth smiled, enjoying the sight
of male flesh on show as much as her friend.
"Maybe we should get a new mower," she said absently, her eyes
locked on the play of her husband's muscles as he worked to pry yet another
broken blade loose.
Willow stared at her own husband's
compact, muscular form as he held the mower steady for William then looked over
at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth caught her gaze then,
grinning unabashedly at each other they both chorused, "Nah," before
bursting into laughter.
The men paused in their work to
glance over at the women before looking at each other and shaking their heads then letting out joint long suffering
sigh's as they continued on with their task.
Still chuckling, Elizabeth sipped her
orange juice then put the glass down on the ground next to her. Straightening up, she suddenly drew in a
sharp breath and froze.
"Elizabeth?" Willow queried
in concern as she saw her friend go deathly still. "Is everything okay?"
When she remained silent, Willow sat up and reached over to touch her
arm. "Elizabeth," she said, a
little louder this time.
Hearing the worried tone of Willow's
voice, William immediately looked over and noted with trepidation, the shocked
expression on his wife's face. Dropping
the wrench he held, William rose to his feet and quickly strode over to the
women with Oz following closely behind.
"What's wrong?" he asked
worriedly as he looked from Elizabeth to Willow and back again before dropping
to his knees next to his wife's lounger.
"I don't know," Willow
replied, grasping her husband's hand as he come to sit down next to her. "One minute we were laughing and the
next she just froze."
Gently cupping Elizabeth's face,
William turned her to face him and felt his stomach drop at the sight of tears
swimming in the green depths of her eyes.
"Love?" he queried softly.
"What's the matter?"
Slowly, Elizabeth blinked and then a
tremulous smile bloomed on her face moments before she threw her arms around
William's neck and clutched him tightly to her. "Oh my God, she kicked, William, she actually kicked!"
Elizabeth managed to get out between a mixture of laughter and tears. "I can't believe it!"
Abruptly, William pulled back to look
questioningly into her watery eyes then, at her nod of confirmation, he let his
gaze drop to her softly rounded stomach and felt his own eyes begin to
tear. Reverently, he reached out and
gently laid his hand against her belly.
"Where?" he choked out.
Elizabeth grasped his hand and moved
it slightly to the right. "Just
here," she replied, holding his palm flat against her firm skin. Seconds later, she felt the fluttering
sensation again and gapsed as their baby moved strongly against the walls of
her womb.
"I felt her," William
whispered, his face reflecting his awe.
Locking eyes with Elizabeth, his whole expression changed as the reality
of feeling their child move sank in. “I
felt her,” he repeated in a louder voice, then
suddenly let out a shout of joyful laughter and leaned in to give
Elizabeth an exuberant kiss that left her breathless.
Elizabeth laughed along with him then
turned to Willow and Oz who were watching them both with delighted faces. This was her world and she’d never felt so
at peace or more comfortable with herself in her entire life.
Looking back at William, she saw the
same expression mirrored in his loving gaze and felt whole. They’d come so far from that fateful night
so long ago when their bodies and hearts had overruled their heads. Now they were married and getting ready to
have a family of their own…something she’d once despaired of ever happening to
her.
Not for the first time, Elizabeth
sent up a silent prayer of thanks for whoever deigned that she should be lucky
enough to meet the wonderful man that was her husband.
“I love you, William,” she said
softly.
“I love you, too, Buffy,” he replied.
Smiling happily, they moved into each
other’s embrace and shared a lingering lover’s kiss secure in the knowledge
that they were loved and that they were finally home.
THE END
A/N – Well, there you have it, it’s
finally finished – feeling kind of sad about that actually L. My sincere thanks to everyone
who took the time and effort to review, I really, really appreciate it J
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