Author: Spellbound
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I own nothing except 2 insane cats, fuzzy socks and and a twisted imagination.The songs used in this fic all belong to whoever wrote them and Im just borrowing them, you could sue me but it'd be pointless as I have nothing at all... the only thing of any worth I have is my girlfriend and there aint no way in Hades you're having her!!! Grr Argh!

Rain beat down hard against the window, its rhythmic drumming pulling Tara from her dream. Staring blearily at the window, she sighed deeply.

Looking down at the sleeping redhead, Tara's muscles complained as she realised that they had slept in the exact same position all night, with Willow curled between her legs, her head resting heavily on her chest. At some point during the night, Willow had shifted slightly and her hip bone was digging painfully into Tara's groin. "Baby?" she said, shaking the redhead gently. "Baby, you gotta move if you ever wanna have sex with me again!" she wiggled under her sleeping weight and Willow opened one eye cautiously. "Mmm, morning sexy!" Willow mumbled through her sleep.

"Mornin'. Move!" the dull ache that Tara had first noticed when she had awoken was rapidly developing into a full blown pain and, although she loved Willow dearly, she wanted nothing more than for her to move.

Willow slid from Tara's lap and the blonde instantly began rubbing her groin. "Need a hand with that?" Willow purred seductively, her eyebrows waggling playfully as she saw the relief that spread over Tara's face. "It's not that, your hip was digging into my groin and it hurts!" Tara pouted, her bottom lip proving too much of a temptation for Willow who nipped gently at the protruding lip. "Happy Christmas." she said as she pulled back.

"Y'know, I think it will be." Tara replied, leaning in and kissing Willow tenderly.

After a slow and leisurely breakfast of cereal and kisses, both women contemplated the day ahead. Tara was looking forward to it immensely, Julie had been there for her through everything and spending the holidays with her and her family was one of the high points of her year.

Willow on the other hand was more than a little nervous. She liked kids, sure, but spending an entire day with two that she had never met before at such a chaotic time of year filled her with a dread much like that she felt during any sort of public speaking.

"Penny for them?" Tara broke into Willow's thoughts, her soft tones caressing her ears and setting her mind at ease.

"I'm just thinking about today." Willow told her, "A little nervous if I'm honest!"

Tara turned from the sink and frowned slightly as she crossed to Willow's side, suds from the washing up dripping off her hands and fizzling quietly when they hit the floor. Wiping one soapy hand quickly on her jeans, Tara brushed a lock of red hair back behind Willow's ear and drawing her gaze up to meet her own. "It'll be fine baby, I promise." she told her, placing a delicate kiss on the redheads forehead.

Losing herself in the perfect blue eyes with tiny grey flecks, Willow smiled. "I love you, Tara." she told her sincerely.

Tara leant in and found the soft, sweet lips that trembled slightly with emotion. "I love you too." she said as she pulled back, pressing her forehead gently against Willow's.

"We should really start getting sorted for Julie's, she'll want a hand and the kids will be screaming to open their presents." Tara said as she pulled out of an impromptu hug. Glancing up at the clock, Willow wondered where the morning had gone. They had eventually gotten up a little after 9am and an hour and a half has passed quickly. "Who knew showering and eating breakfast could take so long?" Willow giggled as she got up and headed to the bedroom to find her hairbrush.

Flicking at her ass with a towel, Tara grinned. "We probably shoulda gotten up earlier!" she purred.

"Well, since I hurt your groin, its only right that I kissed it better!" Willow told her before disappearing from view.

With arms full of presents, Willow and Tara made their way up to Julie's apartment. Emily and Jack answered the front door, their faces lit with both excitement and frustration. "Mommy, its auntie Tara!" Emily cheered, before turning back into the apartment and racing for the gifts under the tree. "Hi!" Jack smiled, the frustration that had hung in his eyes vanished immediately as he pulled the door open to allow the women access.

"Hi guys!" Julie grinned as she emerged from the kitchen. "Emily, just wait a few more minutes!" she told the tiny child who grudgingly put down the present she had been just about to open. Pouting, she crossed her arms forcefully and huffed but did as she was told.

After exchanging hugs and cards, Willow popped into the small bathroom and placed the case of beers in the bath before returning to find Julie sat with the children on the floor and she cuddled up with Tara on the sofa. "Emily, will you be Santa this year?" Julie grinned.

Every year, one member of the family had the duty of handing out gifts to the others, it was a tradition that her father had insisted on when she was small and, after his death, Jack had insisted that they carry it on.

Slowly Emily began lifting gifts from under the tree, her small features wrinkling as she tried to sound out the words on the tags. It was a painfully slow process even with Julie helping but everyone managed to hold their patience as Emily's grin grew every time she got a name right. With all the presents handed out, the adults watched the children rip through the carefully wrapped gifts, paper and tags going in all directions in their hurry to get inside.

When they had finally finished yelling, screaming and hugging everyone in excitement, they managed to settle back down and looked, slightly confused at everyone who still had small piles of gifts in front of them. Crawling on her hands and knees, Emily sat in front of Willow, looking up at her with huge innocent eyes. "Don't you like Christmas?" she asked solemnly.

Willow opened her arms and Emily hopped up onto her lap. "I love Christmas!" Willow told her, "Do you think I don't?"

Emily shook her head before answering. "You didn't open your presents yet!" she said, as though that explained everything.

With a giggle, Willow leant down carefully and picked up her gifts. "You can help me." she told the small child as, together, they opened a gift from Julie.

As the paper came off, Willow grinned. The small box informed her that it contained an Enchantica dragon, one of the many small green dragons that had various poses and forms, and easily the sweetest things she had seen and had therefore begun collecting. This one was called 'belly button' and, on pulling the cute dragon from the box, Willow found that he was holding a huge button that covered most of its stomach. "Aw, Julie thank you!" Willow said, sliding Emily onto the couch so she could get up and hug the other woman. "He's perfect!"

Julie returned the hug, a huge smile on her face. "I'm glad you like it." she said, "The kids picked it out and I noticed you already had some. If you already have that one then you can change it!" she said apologetically.

Willow shook her head and then hugged each of the children in turn. Returning her attention to her gifts, Willow picked up the only other one there, a large rectangular box. Opening the small heart shaped tag, it read; "Love T."

Frowning quizzically at her lover, Willow carefully opened the box, her face glowing as she saw its contents. "Oh Tara, it's perfect, but you can't..." Her words were cut off as Tara placed a delicate kiss on her lips.

"You're worth ever last penny!" Tara told her breathlessly. Taking the long gold chain from the box, Tara placed it carefully around Willow's neck and fastened the clasp securely. Sitting back, she grinned. "It looks beautiful!"

Julie shifted noisily on the floor, secretly she loved Christmas as much as the kids and was dying to get stuck into her presents and while the exchange before her was touching, she just wanted to open her gifts.

Tara noticed her friends fidgeting and giggled. "Ok Julie, your turn!" she grinned and Julie started ripping through paper. After hugging the kids for the present she had purchased for herself and labelled from the children she turned to the gift that Tara had given. Tearing the paper carefully, she stopped in her tracks as she realised what it was that Tara had done for her. "Oh my god, Tara!" Tears sparkled in her eyes and she rushed across the floor, tripping over Emily who was burying herself in paper and landing in a semi-hug in Tara's lap. "You're the best, thank you so much!!" she whispered before pulling back to hug Willow just as fiercely.

"Right. Now it's your turn!" Willow told Tara eagerly. Nodding, the blonde opened the gift labelled 'love Julie and the monsters' in Emily's still shaky handwriting. It contained a collection of cds varying from Jeff Buckley to Mozart. "Thank you guys!" she grinned. Everyone, except Willow had to be careful with their dollars so any gift was much appreciated. Julie nodded but hung her head. She couldn't help but feel as though she'd made little effort in choosing Tara's gift. Tara had obviously gone to great lengths to find, design and have made a special suit and all she'd managed to come up with were some lame cds.

Seeing the embarrassment on her friends face, Tara knelt on the ground before her. "They're exactly what I wanted!" she told her, hugging her tightly.

Behind them, Willow got to her feet. "Just one more." she said as Tara stood. "Uh?" she mumbled in confusion. "You already got me a gift!" she told the redhead who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Taking Tara's hand, she led her to the large painting that was covered in brown paper next to the tree. "Merry Christmas!" she whispered as Tara looked from her to the painting and then back to her, the surprise growing on her face with each movement. Carefully pulling the paper from the image, Tara's mouth fell open as she revealed its full glory.

With tears stinging her eyes and her hands covering her mouth, she stood and stared at the painting for the longest time, not speaking or moving.

Finally she turned back to Willow and threw herself into her arms, knocking all the air from Willow's lungs as she did so. Covering the redhead in millions of kisses, her mind raced to find the words to thank her for the amazing gift but she kept coming up with nothing that was anywhere near suitable. "Willow, you are amazing!!!" she breathed as a tear escaped her eye and she let it drop onto Willow shoulder, darkening the fabric.

Pulling back from the embrace, Willow smiled lovingly and wiped Tara's eyes softly. "I love you baby." She whispered, their foreheads resting against one another's.

Searching the perfect green eyes of the woman she loved, Tara knew in that second that she had found her soul mate, the one person in all the world she was meant to be with. Behind them, Emily was playing with the remote control for the television and had finally picked a film.

Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight
Someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight

Somewhere out there someone's saying a prayer
That we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there

And even though I know how very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star

And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky

Somewhere out there if love can see us through
Then we'll be together somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true

And even though I know how very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star

And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky

Somewhere out there if love can see us through
Then we'll be together somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true

In Willow's loving embrace, Tara smiled and laid her head to rest on her shoulder. Never in all her life had she been so sure of something as she was for her relationship with Willow. As the song washed over them, she closed her eyes and welcomed the beginning of forever.