And so we mend [cw]

He nodded at her words, but he hoped that that part of her would never change. After all it was what had brought them together. He watched her as she looked at the shape and though he had just thought that it looked like something peculiar, she seemed to see something completely different. He tilted his head a little at her words and noted her distant her eyes seemed to be. He chuckled at her mumble and shook his head, "Have you seen something?" he asked, mostly because it seemed like she had gone somewhere in her mind.

Buffy blinked a few times at his question, frowning as she looked down. "I don't really know ... It was more like a feeling," she confessed, trying to find heads and tails in all of this. Shaking her head a little, she looked back at him. "It's probably nothing ... I just had a feeling of it being true," she said, closing her eyes and trying to remember the boy's face, but everything felt blurry trying to recall it. Maybe she had just been imagining things. "Is it possible to have your hormones go crazy after birth?" she asked, feeling a little lost. Maybe it was silly, but she had just felt that feeling in her chest. She looked at him, leaning up to kiss him gently. "I'm rambling now ... How about we make our own tradition? Hot cocoa for me and some licorice tea for you?" she asked softly.

Sending him a reassuring smile she didn't like thinking of the artifact inside her. It was just something she needed to live with, and on some point she knew she had to be grateful for Baal and Alyssa saving her life. However she didn't know how to feel about this strange thing in her chest. "I'd like to not think about that," she confessed in a soft voice. She still had her nightmares of dying, being stuck in that dreaded void, unable to scream for help. Changing the subject she smiled as he seemed to agree. "There's a small vendor a bit down, I'm sure he'd be able to fix us something," she said with a warm smile. She didn't want to go home yet, she wanted to stay out and look at the lights a little longer. Taking his arm, she started walking. She was silent for a while, just looking at the lights above, like stars in a vast galaxy. "I've been thinking about what you said about my father ... And I want you to be there as well," she finally said.

Buffy knew he felt like he might intrude on something, but she didn't see it that way. "Belial, you are her father, and he'll just have to accept who I've chosen to spend my life with," she said in a firm voice. It was clearly her stubbornness speaking, but she meant every word. "I love you, and I'm tired of pretending in front of my family," she sighed. She knew Leona didn't approve of her choice, but she respected her enough to know that the heart wanted what it wanted. "No one ever promised us it would be easy," she said.

Buffy knew that she should feel sad if her father didn't approve in the slightest, but as Baal spoke about her belonging her eyes softened. A warm smile spread on her cheeks. "My love, I'll never have to worry about belonging anymore," she said in a loving tone. "I have you, I have Saoirse, I have found where I belong and it is with you and the family we've created," she said.

Buffy smiled, looking at him as he told her he loved her. "I love you too," she said, perhaps a bit more vulnerable than she had intended. But she meant every word of it. At the vendor, Buffy couldn't help but blush a little at the mention of them being a couple. It was the first time someone had actually acknowledged the fact that they were together in public. It felt good. "A hot cocoa for me, and a liquorice tea for the handsome one," she said in a soft voice, finding the money to pay for it. Baal had arranged all of this, the least she could do was pay for a small treat.

He let her handle the ordering, smiling a little as he looked at her with soft eyes. But it was like no matter how many times she insisted to pay, he felt like he had to object, though he didnt. It was just him being as old fashioned as he sometimes was. The lady nodded with a smile and took her money before she told them it would be a little while. She turned around and began brewing the tea while preparing the chocolate. "Are you from town or simply visiting?" she asked quite curiously, clearly a chatty lady.

Buffy was understanding, nodding at the lady as she started to fix up their drinks. "I was born and raised in the Eastern District, but I have family in the Nothern District as well ... We've just settled in to a small house in the Western District this year," Buffy said. It was clear she was proud of that fact. Living with Baal was like a dream, and though it came with some trial and error, they seemed to work well together. Buffy looked up at Baal. Perhaps she would never leave the honeymoon phase, where everything about him was amazing. "Our relationship has moved fast, but sometimes it's as if it's not moving fast enough," she chuckled. She probably sounded like a crazy lady.

The lady nodded as Buffy explained, clearly listening as she was preparing the fenix's hot chocolate. "I see," she said with a small smile on her lips. Baal looked at Buffy with a bright smile, his hand over hers gently caressing her skin. "I'm sure everyone feels that way, so it doesnt make you weird," the lady argued as she poured in the hot tea into a disposable cup. She then placed a lid over it and turned back to the hot chocolate, pouring it into a cup before preparing the cream. "It's just nice to see a couple that's not strictly the same species for once," she then remarked as she placed their cups for them to take. "It did come with it's hardships," Baal said but he didnt sound regretful. He thanked the lady for the tea and chocolate before he looked at Buffy. "Where to now? We havent seen all the lights yet," he asked.

Looking at her daemon, she knew she had made the right choice to be with him. He truly was the love of her life, perhaps greater than all of those she would've experienced in her former lives. Looking at Baal, she felt like she knew nothing and yet everything about their future together. It was almost refreshing in that way. Buffy thanked for the kindness as well as the drinks, warming her hand on her cup. Humming at his question she looked around. The sky above was dark, but the lights made it look illuminated by fireflies. "I'm not too cold yet, we could just walk around - maybe we should get a small stuffed toy for Saoirse?" She suggested. There were still a few stalls around from the festival. She loved this time of the year, and she loved even more that she could spend it with Baal.

He nodded and smiled a little at the mention of finding something for their daughter. It would be nice to bring a plushie to their little toddler and see her light up with joy. Saoirse were by any means their little bundle of joy and Baal was definitely happy that they had fought to keep her in their life. He took a small sip of his hot tea and smiled a little at the taste - Thankfully the lady hadnt put any weird stuff in it like milk or sugar, so the taste was actually somewhat pleasant. He stopped as they reached the huge pond and lifted his eyebrows as there were small lanterns floating around in the water. "Wow," he said under his breath in astonishment. "Do you want to place a lantern  in the water with your names on? It's supposed to bring luck and happiness to the relationship," a man by a booth asked them.

Walking under the lights, a hot chocolate in her one hand and her other resting on Baal's arm, everything felt so perfect. Sure they had the artifact's effects to deal with, but other than that, she felt quite safe and secure. As they went down towards the pond, Buffy could already see some of the lanterns that had drifted further out. It was like a sea of love, and as the man in the booth asked them, Buffy looked towards her daemon. "We could always use some good fortune," she said to him softly as she played for a lantern, borrowing a pen to write their names with. She only put their first names on it, giving back the pen with a small thank you. She took hold of one side of the small lantern, letting Baal handle lighting it.

As the lantern floated out to the pond she looked at it a little in amazement. Feeling his arms wrap around her was almost too much for her to handle. This was real. They had a life together and she felt a single tear run down her cheek from pure joy. "It's surreal ... But it feels so right," she whispered softly, wiping away her tear turning to look at him with a warm smile. She had her place of belonging, and it had all been because of the daemon close to her. "I know we have a lot to worry about, Saoirse safe upbringing and these new things happening to us because of the artifact," she said, placing her hands on his arms, pulling him closer. "And I know the gods are not done with testing our love ... However as long as I get moments like these, I know it will have all been worth it," she said in a sincere voice, looking at him. She turned in his arms, wrapping her own around his torso. "I want a summer wedding ... Warm and nice, not worrying about whether I'm cold or not," she chuckled. Leaning in to kiss him, she knew they had only spoken about marriage as a thing that could happen if everything fell in to place. However that was how it felt right now, the puzzle slowly coming together to form an image of their lives together. "I know you haven't proposed yet, and it's fine ... you always want everything to be perfect, but what we have is perfect with its imperfections, " she said, pulling him down in a soft kiss.

The evening air was a little cool, but as the sun was setting slowly, she could do nothing but enjoy it, even if she felt a little chilly. People around them were heading home, some clearly new flings others older couples that clearly had done this for many years now. Buffy found comfort in that fact, that some people could be together for a long time and still find time for simple things like this. Simple things that bore meaning, at least in her eyes.
As she was now facing him, her eyes looked in to his, and she felt contempt with the world around them. The silent movement of the water as well as the distant chatter of some people, it was all creating a rather lovely atmosphere. Their kiss had been sweet, a simple token of how they cared for one another, but she couldn't help but let herself think back to when they had started seeing each other as more than friends. How paranoid both of them had been when they were out and about, how even a simple thing as buying condoms made them look over their shoulders as to see if they were being watched. Perhaps someone saw this as an abomination, but Buffy knew that she had found her true love in Baal. There was just no doubt about it. Despite everything, he had come back to her, and while they still had things to work on, it felt like they had reached a nice place right now. He promised her not to wait too long for the proposal, but as always she felt an itch to just blurt out the question. She had never been one to follow traditions or even customs, so all she wanted was to ask him already. Baal was the one she wanted to be with, to have more children with. "I feel like I can barely wait any longer," she confessed. Maybe she just had the patience of a child on the night before their birthday, but she wanted to be with him and he wanted to be with her. It was simple in her eyes, so why complicate it?
Looking down for a while, she just seemed to stand there in his arms, feeling his warmth spread through her system. Even before their bonding, she had felt a drawn towards him, it was what had led her back to that coffee shop. It was what had made her fall so deeply in love with him, but holding back because she didn't want to create trouble for him. "Every day, when I wake up, I get to open my eyes to my best friend and my lover all in one ... But for those five minutes while my body is still waking up, I'm dreaming of you as my husband; Is it really unrealistic that I want my dreams to become reality as fast as possible?" she chuckled, leaning her forehead against his chest. It was a little silly, wasn't it? That despite them literally being bound together by their souls, she wanted a ring on her finger that showed who she belonged to? Who her true family was. Every time she saw Saoirse, she thanked the Elders for their blessing of the small child that was growing ever so fast, and she dreamt of many more of those prayers. "Tell me one good reason as to why we don't hurry off to the temples right now and find a clergy to wed us?" she chuckled, but she was being serious. What was holding them back? His promise of a proposal? His need for everything to play out just right? Buffy was worried that if he got it his way, he would wait months if not years just planning what he would convince himself was the only right way to propose to her.

She sighed at his words, because she knew he was right. They had all of the time in the world, and yet she felt like it was just a matter of time before their happiness was once again ripped from their hands. Buffy had the soul of a fenix, a typically short life and she had never wanted to waste any of that time waiting around. However for Baal, she knew she could do almost anything, even withholding her desire to just get it done. He cupped her face, pulling her in for another sweet kiss, and she could feel how he smiled, making her smile also. She opened her eyes slowly after the kiss, just looking at him as she let her mind run wild. A real wedding. She had never seen herself as someone hungry for attention, and part of her feared that her family wouldn't show up to the occasion because of whom she had chosen to marry. As he looked at his watch, she knew what he was about to say before he said it, and she breathed out, nodding in agreement. She still wanted to get some light shopping done before returning to their small home.
"Let's get going then - but how about we take a taxi home once we've shopped?" she suggested, mostly because she didn't want to carry the bags on such a walk home. Sure it didn't take long if you were just walking, but that didn't mean that it would be less hard with heavy bags of groceries. She grabbed his arm as they started walking, leaning her head against his shoulder. Buffy liked this. Him being able to show her off in a way they hadn't been able to before. But with Simeon gone, things were changing. She had seen some other summoners walking around, some even chatting up some women not of their race. Truth be told, she just wanted them to have happiness in their lives, just as she had when she was with Baal. The silence wasn't bad between them, it was more of a soothing. Before it had felt like they needed to blurt out everything at ones in fear of something being left unsaid, but now they had reached a calm point. A comforting silence between them that spoke louder than words.
Reaching the shops didn't take long, and while they were in the Northern District, she felt like they might as well go to one of the big supermarkets. Walking in she grabbed a trolley, knowing it must've looked at little wild for just the two of them, but she also knew that their little girl had a great appetite. And with Baal joining in dinners and whatnot, their food expenses had risen a bit. "I hope they have the cherry jam ... Saoirse has been going crazy about it, and I think if she had it her way, she would eat it with every meal," Buffy chuckled, shaking her head a little. As they walked down the aisles, she stopped once in a while to check on a few necessity items. She knew that Baal perhaps didn't like looking at sanitary pads, but she had needed them after her pregnancy. It still felt a little weird to actually menstruate again, but then again it also felt like a nice flushing out of the system. Moving on she looked for a bit at the pregnancy tests, just because she could remember the struggle that Aiden had went through to get her one of these. She placed one in the trolley, knowing that Baal would look at her, but she shrugged. "It's only for emergencies," she reminded him, pushing the trolley forward. Children she wanted plenty of with Baal, but now was not the most perfect time. However she knew that their family would grow at some point.
Finishing up their shopping, she looked at Baal shortly. "Did you like that tea?" she asked softly. Mostly because she had spotted the brandname when the vendor had poured it up. If he liked it, she would go grab him a packet, and then she saw that they had finished up everything. Along with the groceries, she also made sure to buy a couple of packets with condoms, mostly because it would put Baal's mind at ease. And they wouldn't have to be as reckless as they had that morning. Though she did like the thrill of it, how it felt to have him closer to her like they had been when she was pregnant. "If you pay, I'll pack," she suggested, kissing Baal's cheek before hurrying off down to the end to start packing. Buffy was very neat about how she packed everything, making sure that each bag had the same amount of weight as well as had an easy shape to carry. "Could you get some paracetamol?" she asked Baal with a smile. Not that she had a headache, but Saoirse was teething, and crushing up a pill and feeding it to their child helped with the pain the child felt. At least it made the young girl sleep easily.

Baal payed and grabbed one of the heavier bags, making her smile thankfully to him. It was nice to have a daemon who could just carry stuff without exhausting himself, but she was way too stubborn to not at least carry one of the bags. Outside, it felt nice to see that they didn't have to wait long for a taxi, and she got in as Baal opened the door for her. On the ride home, she was leaning against him, just being close to him, while looking at the world passing by the windows of the car. As it stopped at their address, Buffy smiled as she got out, holding a bag in one hand as she figged in to her small bag with the other, finding the key to unlock their little home. His question made her frown, not because it was stupid, more because she hadn't thought much about it. "Perhaps because when Churchill was first founded, it was just a small village and then it slowly expanded ... People have a tendency to just go with what they've always called something, so I think it wouldn't complicate things to simply call them by districts," she said in a thoughtful voice as she unlocked the door. Kicking off her shoes she turned on the lights before moving to the kitchen, placing her bag on the counter where she started sorting things out. "I guess the same question could go to why we are called what we are; Why am I called a fenix when you are called a daemon? Why do we have names and not just serial numbers?" she chuckled, shaking her head a little. Perhaps she was being silly.
Once everything was stored away, she turned to look at Baal, smiling at him as she moved closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Do you want to finish our game? Or do you have other thoughts?" she asked, smiling rather innocently at him. It was hard for her to deny the feelings he brought forward in her, making her long for him the more she just stood there. However she could understand if he wanted to perhaps watch a movie or even just go to bed. It was late, but Buffy felt strangely awake. All of the fresh air had done her good, and she felt more relaxed now than before they left. Closing her eyes, she listened to the empty house, and it felt a little sad. Was a mother always supposed to miss their children this way? Not that she wasn't happy about Baal's choice for a weekend for themselves, but the house felt so big and empty now. "We won't have our second child before we are married," she said softly, but it felt once more like something she was being told to say rather than her herself deciding it. She opened her eyes, looking at Baal, smiling softly at him. Maybe she really was tired. "I'm acting strange today," she said with a sigh, leaning her forehead against his chest just to feel a little bit of comfort.