The Sitter

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters here. ‘cept Chris.

Here is the link to the actual story: http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-11773/pezgirl+Sudden+Changes.htm

Date: 2003- The Sitter

It was surprising who you could meet when going about your daily routine, she’d just been looking for a loaf of bread in the supermarket and out of the blue came an old friend.

Willow gripped the bar of the shopping cart loosely and looked in surprised happiness at the flabby, grinning Clem who was clutching a magazine in his left hand; “Clem, I didn’t know you were in Cleveland.”

The benevolent demon’s ears wriggled a little as he said, “I wanted to get away from Sunnydale, it was getting too rough for me and this seemed like a nice place.”

The redhead nodded knowingly, “Sh’yeah, I know what you mean.” It was exact same reason why she’d moved away from the Hellmouth.

“Sooo,” started the demon anxiously. “Well, the last time I saw you, you were looking kinda, um…” he gulped and looked away. “Evil?”

She looked down guiltily, “Yeah, evil-me…but, I-I-I’m not evil anymore. R-really, cuttin’ back an’ all…” she trailed off uncomfortably.

Clem smiled toothily, “Oh, good. ‘cause I don’t want any trouble.”

Willow’s eyes widened and she said, “Oh, oh, well, I’m trouble-free. Trouble-free-Willow…n-not looking for any trouble here.”

Her mini-babble ceased and her gaze snapped away from Clem as a small cry erupted from the small baby boy that lay in the plastic baby-seat that was fitted into the cart right behind the large, single bar; “Mmm, hungry?” she wondered as little Chris moved his arms in front of him, clenching and unclenching his fingers- his little thumbs left unmoving.

“Blimey,” exclaimed Clem surprised. “Wow, I really have missed a lot; who’d ya marry? And who’s this?”

Willow blushed and was speechless for a moment, “Uhh, w-well, I kinda didn’t get married- I was in a bad way after T-Tara died…”

Clem blinked and looked nonplussed for a few moments before he said, “Oh! So….oh…”

She smiled self-depreciatingly, “Yup; this is Chris.”

Clem smiled at the baby, “Hi, Chris.”

A slightly uncomfortable silence followed this, “Who’s the father?” he asked after a few moments.

Willow sighed inaudibly, good question. “Don’t know; I’m still looking. But I’m not holding my breath.” She’d still keep looking for Chris’s sake, but she didn’t think she’d find the guy. “Besides, the guy probably wouldn’t even be a good dad.” He could be a drunk for all she knew.

The demon waggled one of his flabby fingers slightly in the baby’s face and then lightly poked his nose; he grinned as Chris giggled cutely and gripped his finger, “Well, aren’t you a cutie.”

The redhead bit the inside of her cheek as she smiled, “He likes you.” Usually he didn’t like demons; maybe he thought Clem was harmless, if he did Chris really was more intuitive than normal babies.

“Say, I wouldn’t mind looking after him sometimes,” offered Clem eagerly. “Y’know…if your friends ever needed you back in Sunnydale.” Then he blinked. “Uh, they still live in Sunnydale, right?”

Willow nodded, “Yep, usually I help them over the internet. But it would be a huge help if you’d baby-sit Chris sometimes; I’d be able to help them out more.” She always felt rather bad leaving her friends back there to fight demons; but she really didn’t want her son to get hurt…and neither did they. Which was the other reason why she was in Cleveland.

“I’d love to look after him,” chimed Clem brightly.

Chris blinked up them contentedly and stuffed his tiny fist into his mouth; he sucked on his knuckles while his large blue eyes drooped sleepily.

Willow snorted and Clem grinned; she really wished she had brought a camera with her. This was a moment that she wanted to keep on photo so she wouldn’t ever forget, “Wish I had a camera,” she muttered as she looked at him.

“I’d better get back home,” she stated as Chris’s breathing slowed and fell steady. “There’s two-days-worth of dishes that need to be cleaned; and this witch is on the straight and narrow. So, no magic to make things easier.” Though in the long run it would just make things harder; not that she’d ever go back to that- she’d learnt her lesson quite thoroughly.

“Okay,” replied Clem, as he nodded his ears flapped a little, which amused her greatly. “You and Chris can come over to mine anytime you like; I live in Esterson Street, about five minutes from here.”

Willow thought for a moment, did she know where that was? It sounded familiar. “Oh, right. It’s practically next to the park that I take Chris to on weekends!”

A grin stretched his face, “Great, so I’ll see you the next time an apocalypse or a demon comes along?”

Willow nodded, “Absolutely.” She smirked as she realized how much she was used to apocalypses; the meaning of apocalypse for her was akin to the meaning of getting sacked by your boss for a normal person.

Clem started walking away, “I guess I’ll be seeing you a few times this year.”

A few demonic-encounters and apocalypses a year? Yup, pretty much summed up 2003 for her and her friends, “It’s inevitable, Clem!”

He nodded agreeing and then walked out of the automatic doors, and then he was gone.

Willow smiled and turned to her son, “That was your uncle Clem, he plays kitten-poker but not baby-poker…so that’s all fine and dandy.”

With that said, she pushed the half-full cart of shopping over to the counter and wondered how long it would be until her friends/family phoned up with more news on the demon world.

~*~

A/N: The next ficlet will be posted on sunday