Fiction- AtHwA09- Nana Jo

Title: All That Heaven Will Allow

Chapter Title: Chapter Eight- Nana Jo

Author: Restive Nature

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to BtVS. They belong to Whedon & Mutant Enemy. I also do not own the rights to Charmed. They belong to the WB. No infringement is intended and this fiction is for private enjoyment only.

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Crossover

Type: Angst, Action, Humor

Pairing: canon pairings in both shows

Summary: Slayer dreams and Whitelighter-Witch hybrid powers collide when the veil between worlds come close to collapsing. Can baby Wyatt survive life on the Hellmouth?

Spoilers/ Time line: Season 4 (after “Harsh Light Of Day”) of Buffy and Season 6 (after “Forget Me... Not”) Of Charmed.

Feedback: Always welcome!

Distribution: Ask first please.

A/N: This was one of my contributions started for NaNoWriMo 2012. The story was by no means completed in that month and I am looking forward to continuing it.

A/N2: There is a definite time difference between these two worlds and the seasons that I am using. This will hopefully, be explained within the fiction itself.

All that Heaven Will Allow

Chapter Eight

Nana Jo

The moment that he and Leo were fully formed within the attic at the manor, there was a moment of shocked silence from the sister witches, before there was a mad dash to catch the men. Chris was already buckling at the knees as he tried to support Leo's weight. The disorientation that he had from coming up out of the Underworld had shifted their positions, though he felt he was pretty lucky at getting them to the right location. He was feeling unpleasantly dizzy and couldn't understand why.

“Oh my God, Leo!” Piper groaned as she reached for her husband. Leo was still unconscious though he twitched at each touch of anything, whether living or inanimate at his being. Piper knelt on the floor beside his prone body and realized at an instant that her touch might be hurting him. She pulled her hands back to cover her mouth as she rapidly blinked back tears.

“God, Chris,” Paige breathed out harshly as she nudged at his shoulder, trying to make room between the pair of them so they could be attended to. The young man, recently clear headed enough to orb himself and Leo back, was rapidly losing his lucidity, the pain in his face and head growing. He was barely conscious enough to see Paige reaching for him, while Phoebe was cringing back, swallowing, almost dry heaving, holding her head between her hands.

“Get it out,” the middle sister was moaning. Chris' head lolled, trying to attract Paige or Piper's attention to their sister. But they were singularly focused on those whose hurts were obvious. Paige, not oblivious, but figuring that Phoebe could handle herself, reached to steady Chris' face and received a zap originating from his slight injuries for her troubles.

“Ouch!” she yelped. “What the hell is this?”

“Infected,” Chris managed to mumble before he finally lost the battle for consciousness.

'What the hell is going on?” Piper demanded, of her sister's in general. It was a question she knew would go unanswered by those present, but sometime's you just had to ask before you went insane.

“So dark!” Phoebe hissed, on her knees, doubled over, rocking as she buried her head in her arms. “It's too dark!”

“Phoebe!” Piper barked out. “Come on now! We need help!” she shouted, obviously trying to snap her sister out of it. The call for help didn't work on her, but it did bring the necessary attention. Paige, wringing her hand where she had been zapped started wincing as well.

“Piper,” she called and the eldest sister whirled around to see that finally, at last, another Elder had gotten off his ass to finally do something.

“Don't touch them!” Odin warned them quickly, holding up his hands warningly. They hadn't even noticed his arrival. His eyes were darting, when suddenly he grabbed Paige's head between his hands. Piper, pulling her hands up again to her mouth as she trembled, feeling ill herself, watched in morbid fascination as the Elder seemed to leech a singular darkness out of her sister. Paige collapsed in relief a few moments later and then recovered enough to scoot back.

“What about them?” she gasped out, indicating Chris and Leo. Odin shook his head, standing at his full height and pushing his hands out perpendicular to the supine males.

“We'll need the full power of the entire host,” he grunted and they began to disappear. Piper scrambled to her feet.

“Now wait just one damn second!” she shrieked. “You tell me what the hell is going on here. And where's my son!”

“No time,” Odin shook his head. “If we don't act, we'll lose them both. I can't help them here. It's in too deep.”

He said no more and then all three were gone and they had no answers. But at least there was a momentary relief. Until Paige realized that whatever had happened, at least she still had the memory of it. And whatever the hell had been going on with Phoebe, there was something. Crawling over to her sister who was slowly beginning to recover, Paige wrapped a concerned arm around her middle.

“Phoebe?” she asked quietly. The riot that had been burning her mind, as if from the inside out, had to have been worse for the empathic witch. True, she didn't take a direct hit of that evil, vile power, but she'd been feeling the emotional backlash from Leo and Chris and then from Paige as well. Add that to her own worries, plus everyone else's, Paige was honestly surprised that Phoebe was in control enough of herself to lift her head wearily enough to lay it on Paige's shoulder. And never did Paige yearn so hard to be able to heal body and soul as other Whitelighter's could.

“What, I say again, is going on around here?” Piper demanded helplessly. Not immune to her sister's pains, but hers kind of trumped theirs at the moment. They were recovering. Her arms were still empty.

“That's a good question,” Paige grouched, staring listlessly at her eldest sister's knees. “This thing...” she shuddered at the thought of it. “Even the Source,” she muttered.

“It was the Source?” Piper seized upon the only words she was hearing and set Paige to shaking her head in the negative.

“No,” Paige spoke sharply. “It wasn't. It was... worse.”

Piper was silent for a moment, though her jaw was working furiously, every muscle she could consciously control, tensing and flexing. “Well,” she finally announced, her face set and her eyes flat. “Then that just means we're going to have to find more serious fire power. Let's get cracking.”

“Piper,” Phoebe protested quietly, her voice, her entire body strained. Piper, already stomping her way over to the Book of Shadows, whirled about.

“Don't Phoebe!” she warned in a dangerous tone of voice. “Just... don't. This... this thing, this horrible, evil thing is not going to keep me from getting my son back. You know that. So either get on board or get out!”

Paige and Phoebe stared at the woman that was pure determination, both knowing that trying to put the reins on her, making her see reason was going to be a difficult, if not impossible task.

AtHwA~AtHwA

“You want me to what?” Joyce demanded, her face draining of color slightly as she sank, with some shock, into the seat directly behind her. She shook her head, as if clearing cobwebs from her mind and then peered up at her daughter, standing before her, gently bouncing on the balls of her feet.

When Joyce had been moving around the living room, doing a little tidying before retiring for the evening, she had caught sight of her daughter moving up the street. She had felt a rush of pleasure that her daughter seemed intent on visiting, but had reconsidered that when she saw Rupert and Xander hurrying to catch up with her daughter's determined stride. When she had realized the Buffy had her arms wrapped around a large bulge in her middle, Joyce had supposed that her tender hearted daughter had come across a hurt and stray animal during her patrol.

Hurrying to open the door, she had been mentally cataloging what she might have to help towards that end, while frantically praying that it wasn't another zombie cat. What she had been presented with was infinitely worse. Her daughter's smiling face over a smaller face peering up at her questioningly. Her wide eyes must have amused the little baby, since it giggled.

“Hey Wyatt, meet Nana Joyce,” Buffy had announced as she stepped inside her former home. Still her home, but not a current full time resident of. Joyce supposed it was a miracle that she didn't faint in that moment. It was quite a lot more understandable when they had explained what had happened, because that was what their lives had become, since Buffy had been called as a Slayer and Joyce had finally accepted the truth that had been slapping her in the face. Because magical babies popping up in the Hellmouth were a more real alternative than her daughter deciding to babysit someone's child.

Bringing herself back to the present, Joyce shook her head again, this time a little more determined. “Goodness Buffy,” she exclaimed, “do you even realize how long it's been since I even held a baby?”

“Uh, about eighteen years, give or take?” Xander quipped and Joyce threw him a terse frown.

“It's been a little more recent than that,” Joyce snarked. “While Buffy was my baby, a lot of my friends had children as well, you understand?”

“Not to mention my cousins and stuff,” Buffy chimed in. She turned her head to quickly wipe at some drool this baby Wyatt was producing as he leaned his head against her shoulder. “And both my aunts said you were the best mom,” she wheedled.

“With those that were biologically related to me,” Joyce retorted dryly. She chuckled then, feeling as if she should be grateful somehow, but was more bewildered than anything. “Oh my. I have to admit, I thought this might happen someday. But in my mind, it might have been a teen pregnancy or... or further down the road, you know?”

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence on my responsibility there?” Buffy complained, wrinkling her nose up.

“I think Buffy,' Giles finally contributed a little something more, “that that concern is one all parents of teenagers share, regardless of level of responsibility. After all, no contraception is perfect and accidents have happened.”

“Yeah,” Xander bobbed his head up and down in agreement, “just look at what happened with Angel.”

“Let's not,” Buffy frowned, tensing slightly. It still irked some that Xander would never let those little things go, especially as they pertained to Angel. And it was not like Angel had been capable of giving a child to Buffy no matter how uncareful they could be. That just wasn't in the cards.

“Back to the subject at hand,” Joyce interrupted before their snarking at one another could get out of hand. “Buffy, precisely what do you intend for me to do here? I can't abandon work to watch a baby full time. And you can't abandon school. Not after you fought so hard to be able to go.”

“I know,” Buffy nodded, shifting the baby, Wyatt, she had called him to her front so that she could take a seat on the sofa. “And we'll have to work that out. I think what I need Mom, is a place for him at night. We'll need to compare schedules, but I think you see that we can't just drop him off with foster care. Who knows what would happen to him?”

“And putting him in a babysitter's care would likely net similar results,” Giles pointed out, from his position in the doorway of the glass doors that closed the living room off from the foyer. “I'll be able to take him to watch during the day, to a degree. My apartment isn't infant friendly.”

“We can get a baby gate for the stairs Giles,” Buffy offered as she arranged Wyatt on her lap. “And probably one for here too.”

“All right Buffy,” Joyce sighed, resigned to the plain and simple fact that she was going to be roped into this, whether she liked it or not. “We'll also need some sort of bed. Which is why you're coming home, isn't it?”

“Yup,” her daughter nodded. “Pretty sure they frown on babies in the dorms. It was hard enough for Willow to convince the resident advisor to let her have Amy in her rat cage.”

“Do you imagine it will take long to find his parent's?” Joyce directed her next question to Rupert. Removing his glass to clean as he was obviously mulling over his answer, Giles sighed heavily.

“I can't give you a specific time line Joyce,” he answered honestly. “From what I understand of Buffy's dreams, Wyatt may have been sent here to keep him safe. There is... some likelihood that we may not be able to return him from where he came.”

“Well...” she paused before she asked because it was an important question. “What would you intend to do then?”

“I'd given it some thought,” Giles nodded, showing that he understood her concerns. “Whilst we research Wyatt's situation, I shall make some discreet inquiries, outside of the Council, to try and find placement for him with parents that would be able to deal with his uniqueness.”

“A magical family?” Xander clarified, having taken a seat beside Buffy and was trying unsuccessfully, to get Wyatt to play with his finger. The boy was uninterested, instead watching Joyce and sizing her up almost.

“Yes, precisely,” Giles acceded. “At the moment we just hope that his parent's or whomever sent him, will know how to retrieve him.” He didn't make the addendum, if there was anyone left to do so, because they didn't know the circumstances through which Wyatt came to them. There was silence for a moment as the weight of the decision seemed to settle on them all. Finally Buffy rose from her seat with the boy and stepped around the coffee table.

“All right Wyatt,” she cooed. “Here's Nana Joyce now. Be a good boy.” With no warning, she settled the boy on her mother's lap and Joyce's hands came up automatically to catch him so he couldn't squirm away. Almost like it was preprogrammed into her psyche, Joyce leaned over to sniff at his head.

“Oh, baby smell,” she sighed. “It's been a while. So precious,” she smiled down at the boy who returned her grin. When she looked up at her daughter, they were all only slightly surprised to see tears gathering in her eyes. “Nana Jo,” she murmured and her lips were trembling. “That's what we used to call my grandmother.”

“The one that passed away before I was born?” Buffy recalled of her family history and her mother nodded. She lowered herself beside her mother and placed her hand on Joyce's knee and sighed. “I'm sorry mom. I meant Nana, more like nanny, I guess.”

“Oh no honey,” Joyce protested. “I have so many wonderful memories of my Nana. I don't mind. I'm just worried some people might think I really am his Nana.”

“Perhaps Aunt Joyce might work better,” Giles suggested, a hint of a smile playing on his face as he relaxed. The worst of this phase of their hastily thrown together plan was over now. “It would be good to have a cover story in case someone asks.”

“We could always say that Lolly and her husband went on vacation and we agreed to watch him,” Joyce suggested to her daughter. Her younger sister had children younger than Buffy, so it was reasonable. “That would give us a two week or more window.”

“That works,” Buffy agreed as she tickled at Wyatt's tummy. “Oh, we should probably get a list together. We're gonna need diapers, formula. Geez, I hope he'll take a bottle.”

“I hope so too,” Joyce sighed heavily. There would be very unhappy people, most especially a little boy if he didn't get fed. “Perhaps just the basic essentials for tonight,” she murmured. “And tomorrow I can leave work early to pick up the rest. Would that work for you Buffy?”

“Yeah,” the blond girl nodded. “If we can figure out something for him to sleep in tonight. Not like he came with a goodie bag of supplies.”

“And that will give me a chance to explain to the girls at work that Lolly's caregiver had to unexpectedly back out, so we agreed... hmm, maybe one of those portable cribs like they have at hotels...” Joyce began to muse on excuses and necessities.

“Well then, shall we Xander?” Giles interrupted as he straightened up. “If you'll tell me what kind of formula and bottles, well, all of the information really, we can run out and pick up those things.”

“Why do we have to?” Xander asked, innocently enough.

“Because they haven't a car seat to transport the boy safely,” Giles pointed out. “I'm not sure the mall is still open. We might have to do that first thing in the morning.”

“Oh, if you could, I'd really appreciate it,” Joyce nodded. “Buffy, get my purse.” The Slayer rose, obedient to her mother whenever it was feasible or convenient to be so. With one hand, like all the old instincts of child care she had learned and knew were coming back, like riding a bicycle, Joyce steadied Wyatt and reached into the purse with her free hand. She came back with some cash and the keys to her Jeep. “Take my car, so you don't have to go home. I assume you walked the whole way from the school? Or did you have your car there?”

“We did,” Giles nodded. “Thank you, that will be much swifter.”

“Now,” Buffy grinned as she returned to tickling at Wyatt. “Let's see what size diapies you wear.” She carefully peeled back his pants and then the edge of his diaper and her confusion was quickly noted. Joyce chuckled at her daughter's consternation. “There's no size there. How do you...?”

“They go by weight honey, not a size chart,” Joyce explained and then hefted the boy into the air. She grinned at his giggles as he feet waggled in the air. “I'd say he's in the lower twenty pound range.”

Buffy seemed to consider that, seeing's how she'd been the one packing him around. And then chimed in with her agreement. “yeah, about twenty, twenty-two pounds.”

“All right,” Giles nodded. “And formula?”

Joyce listed a popular brand, then added, “and make sure that it's iron fortified. If he's going to have to switch from mother's milk, he'll need that.”

“Certainly,” Giles nodded. “Anything else aside from bottles to add to the list?”

“Some diaper wipes and ointment,” Joyce decided with an indelicate sniff. “He doesn't seem to have been changed in some time. Perhaps we can distract him with a bath while we wait for you to return.”

“All right,” Buffy nodded as she pushed up from the floor once more. “Let's go. Got a baby to take care of!”

Like they were just waiting for that directive, the males scattered and the women got on with the business of taking care of the little details that definitely mattered.

Chapter Nine- Bath Time And Explanations