*****************Part 20. **************
"Hey Buffy," Willow said quietly, coming down the stairs.
"Hey Willow. Sleep well last night?" Buffy asked.
"No."
"Why not?" Buffy asked, furrowing her brows.
"Oz came over and we had another fight," Willow answered. Buffy's eyes widened and she nearly choked on the bagel she had stuffed into her mouth.
"Oz came over?" Buffy asked. Willow nodded her head, and proceeded to heat up a couple of biscuits. "What did he want?"
"I don't think he would admit it, but I think he came over here to yell at me some more. That way maybe he could feel better about what I did to him."
"What did you say?"
"Well after we calmed down, I told him to leave. He left, and I felt worse," Willow replied.
"That's it?"
"There is more, but I prefer not to talk about it," Willow said, sitting down in a chair across from Buffy. Buffy stood up to pour herself another cup of coffee.
"Well good. Now we can talk some more about how much I hate Jesse," Buffy said, with a chirpy voice.
"How much do you hate Jesse?" Willow asked, grinning.
"I'm about this close to killing him," Buffy said, showing about an inch of space between her thumb and index finger for emphasis.
"What did he do to you in the first place?" Willow asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Well there was this big old 'I hate Jesse' going around the day after I got back from camping with Oz, so I kind of figured he must have done something to piss you off. What did he do?"
"He ripped my dress, insulted my shoes, and took me to Lover's Lane," Buffy said glaring at thin air.
"So? That gives you a reason to hate him?" Willow asked confused.
"Well...he took me up to Lover's Lane, and we didn't do anything. We kissed, and that was it. I mean honestly....what kind of guy takes you to Lover's Lane, and doesn't do anything other than kiss?" Buffy asked in a frenzy.
"Oh I don't know...a gentlemen?" Willow asked, rolling her eyes.
"Well I don't like gentlemen. I don't like nice guys. They remind me to much of Angel," Buffy said quietly.
"So? What's so wrong with that?"
"Willow. You don't understand. After he said that, I didn't see Jesse anymore. I saw Angel. I could fall in love with Jesse, but I wouldn't know if it was because he was like Angel or if it was because he was himself. You know what I mean? I don't want to be unfair to him."
"I can't believe this is coming from the same person that told me to grow up. Buffy...listen to me. It's been seven years since you and Angel broke up. It's been five years since Oz and I truly broke up. Oz is still alive, but I'm going to move on. Angel's dead. He's been dead ever since Dru killed him. You should have moved on a long time ago. You don't have anything to hold you back now. I do, but he's not going to come around anytime soon, so I'm going to take my chances and learn to live again. Oz may have been my soul mate, but so far, loving him has only made me miserable. It's made Kevin misarable too. I'm not going to let him do that to me anymore. I'm going to move on, and make Kevin happy. Maybe Oz will come around some day, but for the time being, I've got to take care of myself and Kevin before I start to worry about Oz. You don't have to worry about Angel anymore. He's in peace. You've got to move on," Willow said, reaching across the table to rub Buffy's hand.
"Easier said than done," Buffy said, smiling slightly.
"You should call Jesse," Willow advised.
"You should call Oz," Buffy replied.
"Not going to happen anytime soon," Willow replied.
"Ditto."
*******************Oz's house in LA******************
*Damnit Oz. Open the god damn door.* Jesse thought to himself, after knocking for the third time. Just when he was about ready to leave, the door went wide open, to show an incredibly pissed off Oz Larkin.
"What do you want Jesse?" Oz asked, tiredly.
"Man where were you last night?"
"I was fighting with Willow. You?" Oz asked, nodding his head so that Jesse could come in.
"I was looking for you. Look, Oz. I'm sorry about what I said. Maybe you're right. Maybe I was just hearing things," Jesse said, sitting on the couch.
"No it wasn't you. You were right. I'm still incredibly pissed off at Willow, and I was taking it out on my music," Oz said, swallowing two extra strength tylenol.
"So did you two work things out?"
"Nope. We just ended up screaming at eachother, and eventually I ended up feeling worse because in the end it all seems to be my fault. She left me because her parents didn't like the fact that she was dating me. She didn't tell me because she was afraid of what I would do," Oz replied.
"That still doesn't make it your fault. Yes, she should have told you. It isn't your fault though," Jesse said, sipping some of the hot coffee Oz had just poured him.
"It may not be my fault, but I still feel like shit now that I know the truth. I thought that maybe if she left me because of a life or death situation, things would be better. Unfortunately it wasn't a life or death situation," Oz said, rolling his eyes.
"Would this have anything to do as to why you are so grouchy this morning?" Jesse asked.
"Actually....I had way too much to drink last night because I was so pissed off, and you just happened to wake me up. I just have a hang over. I'm sure it will go away," Oz replied.
"You going to talk to her again?" Jesse asked.
"I should imagine so. Now that I know I have a kid, I'm actually half responsible. Plus, I'm sure she wants him to know who his father is, so I'll probably have to spend some time with him."
"Do you want to spend time with your son?"
"I hardly know him. I'm sure it's going to be hard at first, but I could get used to it." Oz said. Jesse looked at him worriedly. Oz looked at Jesse, his eyes questioning. "What?"
"You don't sound very enthused about spending time with him," Jesse analyzed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Oz asked. Jesse shook his head, and stood up.
"You're upset because Willow had a son, and she didn't tell you. Now that you know, you're reluctant to have anything to do with them. Why is that?" Jesse asked.
"I'm not reluctant to be around Kevin. I just think it's going to be akward because I don't know him. I'm mad at Willow because she's the reason I don't know him," Oz answered.
"I don't think so," Jesse said shaking his head. "You're not mad at her. You're scared. If Willow never had a son, you two would still be together, but because Willow did have a son, you don't know what to do anymore, and your angry because she put you in that position. Something tells me you would have been the same way if she did manage to tell you 5 years ago. You aren't angry because she had a son. You're angry because she left you and she never told you why. Now that you know why, your only excuse to be angry with her is because she lied to you. You're angry because you know the truth. You're right though. She had no right to keep that from you. But to be honest...if you were anything like this, I wouldn't have told you either. Now that everything is out in the open, you two can move on with your lives. You're just more comfortable with your old life right now. You don't want the kid. You want Willow. You want to be ignorant, and I can't blame you. Ignorance is bliss, but you can't live in the dark for ever," Jesse said. Oz's features had gone from angry and depressed to a yellow stagnant color.
"I know. I've been saying that all along. You just happened to restate it," Oz said, wrinkling his brow as to how that came out.
"No, that's not what I'm saying. You're not angry at Willow. You're angry at the kid, because now that you know he exists..now that Willow has finally told you the truth, you don't want to know him anymore."
"How can I be angry at the kid when I don't even know him?" Oz asked, confused.
"Let me put it to you this way. If you had a choice, who would you get rid of right now? Not in the future, where you can potentially know the kid, but right now. If you could go into the past and change one thing, who would you get rid of? The kid, or Willow?" Jesse asked.
"The kid," Oz replied understanding.
"My point exactly," Jesse said heading for the door. "Give her a call, and talk to her. Trust me, once you get everything out in the open, and you can come to some common ground or understanding, you won't be angry with her anymore."
"She's not going to want to talk to me," Oz replied.
"You'd be surprised. Buffy said something completely different."
"You finally talked to Buffy?" Oz asked amazed.
"Yep. She still likes me," Jesse said, offering one of his silly grins. There was a moment of silence. "I should go now. Thanks for the coffee...are you going to call Willow?" Jesse asked concerned. Oz closed his eyes and nodded his head.
"Yes, I'm going to call Willow. Regardless of what you say, I'm still angry with her. But I'm going to call her," Oz assured.
"Good."
*************Back in Sunny Dale************
The house was in chaos. The clothes dryerr was broken, Kevin was on a sugar high, which was never good, and the dishwasher had several soap suds bubbling out through the sides.
"Kevin!!!!" Willow yelled in frustration. "I mean it Mr. I want you to go upstairs and take a bath right now! I don't have time to argue with you. Either do it yourself, or I'm going to call Buffy and ask her to do it. And I know how much you hate it when she scrubs behind your ears."
"No! No, don't call aunt Buffy," Kevin whined.
"Then get upstairs and bathe," Willow said, pointing her long index finger towards the upstairs bathroom. Kevin stood there, unsure as to what to do. "Now," Willow growled. Kevin stiffened, and walked up the stairs sulking the entire time.
"I don't understand why I have to take a bath. What's the point when I'm just going to get dirty again?" Kevin asked innocently.
"I don't understand why you're being so spoiled. You always do what you are told. Why wait until now to give me a hard time?" Willow asked her son.
"Grandma never made me take a bath," Kevin replied from inside the bathroom. His voice came out muffled though, because he said it while he was taking his shirt off and the door was closed. Willow still managed to hear it though.
"Well Grandma is in the hospital right now. Next time we are down in Mexico, you can do what you want," Willow said frustrated. *I can't believe this. My own son. My sweet beautiful five year old son, is already beginning to rebel. I didn't start doing that until I was 14!!* Willow thought tiredly.
"When are we going to see Grandma again?" Kevin asked, starting the bath.
"When she gets better sweety. Right now, she isn't feeling so well and right now the best way to make her better is to leave her alone for a little while," Willow replied in a more motherly voice. The bath ran for another 5 minutes, then the water shut off. "Kevin? Do you think you're going to be alright in there for a little while? I need to go outside and put up some of these clothes," Willow said, hefting up a heavy basket of wet cloths.
"Yes Mommy, I'll be fine," Kevin said splashing around in the tub.
"Okay, holler if you need anything," Willow said in the distance.
"Kay!!!" Kevin hollered. Kevin started singing to himself, while he threw around the rubber ducky.
"Follow the yellow brick road,
follow the yellow brick road,
folow the, follow the, follow the yellow brick road
we're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz!!!"
Kevin continued to sing the lines that he knew, and when he came to a line where he didn't remember the song, he'd sing the melody until he came to a part where he remembered the words. About 10 minutes had passed, and his mommy still wasn't back to make sure he got out of the tub safely.
"I'm a big boy. I can get out of it myself," Kevin said to himself. He didn't understand why his Mommy was being so mean today. Usually she was nicer. *I hope Mommy isn't sick.* Kevin thought to himself, wanting to cry at the thought. He decided he would be extra nice to her from now on until she felt better. Standing up, he edged his way over the tub, his wet feet occasionally slipping on the hard tile floor. He made it to the door, where there was a dry towel to dry off with. He dried off carefully, then looked around for his clothes. They were over next to the tub. Walking back over towards the tub, his soft dry feet slipped on the wet soapy tile floor, causing him to fall back hard on his right shoulder. An ear piercing scream could be heard from the bathroom as Willow was walking up the stairs. At the sound of Kevin's obvious cry of pain, Willow dropped the basket of freshly dried clothes and ran up the stairs. Opening the door, Willow nearly cried out at the sight of her son, laying on the ground on his right shoulder, and blood coming out of his ear. Willow covered her mouth because she was at the brink of screaming. Kneeling next to Kevin, she stroked his hair as Kevin continued to sob.
"Mommy!!!" Kevin sobbed. "Mommy, I hu..urt. Mo...mmy!!!!" Kevin sobbed uncontrollably. The pain was just to much to handle for a five year old. Willow stood up immediately, running out the door for the nearest phone. She dialed 911. The ambulance arrived after five minutes, to find an unconscious boy, lieing down on the floor, his mother sitting next to him, sobbing quietly.