Chapter 2

Traffic crawled as they made their way home. At the entrance to their neighborhood, in the years since Buffy had purchased the house other houses had been built alongside till a small neighborhood of about twenty houses sat alongside theirs, Teddy slowed down as a moving truck passed through the wrought iron gates. A man in khaki pants and a red polo shirt stood at the end of the first driveway, beckoning for the driver to come closer.

"Are those the new neighbors?" Joyce wondered.

Teddy slowed the car and waited for the truck to pull out of the street. "I think so," he said. "Maybe Buffy, Dawn and I'll stop by while you and Danielle are getting ready and say hello."

"Okay. We'll try to hurry." Joyce couldn't remember the last time a new family moved into the neighborhood. She noticed her younger sister's scooter lying on the lawn in front of their own home as they pulled up the drive.

Teddy opened the garage door, an addition he himself had added to the house after he and Dawn had gotten married. Joyce hopped out of the car as soon as it stopped and raced into the house.

Danielle glanced up from the sofa in the living room. She was watching Animal Planet on television and eating a slice of watermelon.

"Did you see the Clarks' new pet?" Joyce asked, hanging her duffle bag on the hook in the mud room.

"It's a parakeet. Not interested," Danielle said, eyes glued to the screen.

"Sweet." Joyce kicked off her shoes, not even trying to conceal her disappointment. "Mom and Dad told you to get ready, we're going out to meet Uncle Thomas and Hannah at Ray's. They and Aunt Buffy will be back in a few minutes. They went to meet the new neighbors."

"Cool. I hope they have a puppy."

Joyce, followed by Danielle, took the stairs two at a time. Pushing open the door to their bedroom, she popped her phone into the docking station on her nightstand.

Danielle was the first to take a quick shower followed by Joyce. When Joyce returned downstairs she found her parents, aunt and Danielle waiting for her.

"Guess what, Joyce?" Danielle beamed. "The new neighbors are getting a puppy. Dad gave them our number, too."

"Seriously?" Joyce paused on the bottom step, glancing at her parents for clarification.

"The Gray family, moving here from Colorado. Twins—a boy and a girl—who will be sophomores at Preston Heights. Their dog passed a few months ago and he promised them a puppy when they moved in."

"Are the twins here?" Joyce thought about Sydney Gray, a girl at skate camp who dazzled them all with her explosive jumps and amazing talent. She was from Colorado, wasn't she?

"Not yet," Teddy said. "They are driving up from Colorado with their mom. I gave them our number, thought Zak could stop by and introduce himself before school starts."

"What about me?" Danielle asked. "I want to meet the new puppy."

"Relax," Dawn said. "I'm sure they'll call if they need your pet sitting services."

"Come on, Mom." Joyce tilted her head toward the garage. "Hannah and Uncle Thomas are probably waiting."

"Did Hannah text you?" Buffy pulled her own phone from her back pocket and glanced at the screen wondering why her own daughter had not texted her.

"No." Joyce sighed. "That's why I want to get over there."

On their way out of the neighborhood, Joyce watched two of the movers carrying boxes into the new neighbor's house.

"I hope you two can stop by when the kids get here," Teddy said.

"Danielle can." Joyce gnawed on her thumbnail.

"What are you worried about?" Buffy wondered from between her nieces in the back seat. "Besides Hannah."

"Sydney Gray was one of the best skaters we saw at camp. She was from Colorado," Joyce explained. "What if that's her family? I don't want her living in my neighborhood or—"

Buffy patted Joyce's shoulder. "I doubt that's the same family."

"Gray is a pretty common name," Dawn added.

"How do you both know? Did you ask if his daughter skated?" Joyce asked her parents and aunt.

"No, we didn't," Buffy said. "And I see your point, sweetie. We don't know for sure. It could be her family. But try to see it from her perspective. Would you want to move to another state in the middle of high school?"

Joyce sighed. "No, I guess not. But in this family …" She left the sentence unfinished. They all knew that Buffy had done just that to Dawn after the battle of Sunnydale.

"Whether that's Sydney Gray and her brother or not, we need to be polite and welcome them to our neighborhood," Teddy said. "Even if you don't see each other often, you need to use your good manners."

"Okay, okay."

The neon sign for Ray's pizza and burgers came into view. Teddy turned into the parking lot. Hannah stood under the blue-and-white-striped awning outside the front door.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Joyce clutched her phone and hopped out of the car followed by Buffy.

Hannah jogged toward her cousin and mother. "Mom, Joyce, you'll never guess what happened."

Joyce swallowed hard and took a few tentative steps toward her cousin. "Why didn't you answer my texts?"

"Dad said I had to tell you both, Aunt Dawn and Uncle Teddy in person. Brenda MacPherson called today. She wants to coach me. We're moving to California. Can you believe it?"

"What?" Buffy shouted. She marched inside the restaurant followed by Joyce, Hannah, Dawn, Dannielle and Teddy. She marched straight over to the table her ex-husband was sitting at. "Thomas?"

"Sit down, Buffy," Thomas said. "Hello Dawn, Teddy."

"What is this about pulling Hannah from the rink and moving her clear across country to train with someone else?" Buffy asked as they all sat down.

"Buffy, I didn't think it was even a remote possibility," Thomas said. "Then Brenda saw Hannah skate at camp last week and spoke to me after one of the break-out sessions. One thing led to another and here we are."

"And you decided not to mention this to me because?" Buffy asked.

"Buffy," Thomas said with a sigh. "We all know you are a target. I want to get Hannah away from here. I want to keep our daughter safe."

"You mean, you want to keep her away from me," Buffy said. "You're afraid she will want to help her mother fight vampires and demons, you mean. How many times have I told you I am retired. I haven't patrolled since the Battle of Sunnydale. So, what do you intend to do about school?"

"I'm going to homeschool her," Thomas said. "I feel that's the best option, given the demands of training for the Olympics full time."

"Thomas, you can't be serious," Dawn said.

An awkward silence blanketed the table.

Thomas pressed his lips into a thin line and twisted his water glass in a circle. "I most certainly am, Dawn. You know the Olympics have always been mine and Buffy's goal for Hannah."

"I applaud your efforts to seize the day and do what's best for Hannah, but this is going to take some getting used to." Teddy patted Buffy's arm. "For all of us."

"And when will Hannah have time to see us, to see Aunt Buffy?" Joyce glanced from Hannah to her parents to Buffy and finally back to Hannah. She could never imagine leaving her family behind, not even for skating.

"Holidays, occasional weekends … we'll figure it out," Thomas said as he glanced at Buffy.

"This brings us back to why didn't you tell me, she even approached you," Buffy said. "You may have full custody but I am her mother, I do have some rights."

"Buffy, this decision was not made lightly," Thomas said. "I would love for you to continue to train Hannah. But this opportunity is too good to pass up. Think back on what you did for Dawn. Is it not the same now?"

Buffy sighed as she glanced at her sister. She had moved clear across the country not only to start a new life away from the Slayer but to give Dawn a life away from it as well. Then when Tina offered to train Dawn, she consented mostly because she could not do it herself. "Yes. But …"

"It's not forever, Buffy," Thomas said. "I believe Hannah learning from someone else would add to her repertoire. Then maybe next year, Hannah can move back if she wants to. I want Hannah to have the choice, an informed choice. A choice she doesn't have now."

Buffy had enough as she stood up and walked out of the restaurant.

"Mom!" called Hannah as she rushed after Buffy.

Buffy spun and looked at her daughter, tears in her eyes. "Honey, is this really what you want?"

"I love you, Mom," Hannah said as she wrapped her arms around Buffy. "That will never change. But Dad is right on one thing. This is why you and Aunt Dawn sent me and Joyce to camp. To learn from others. What better way to learn then to have someone else coach me for a while. Then when I return home, we can use what I learned and improve on it. And I do intend to return,

Mom. Dad is giving me the choice. One year, if at the end of that year I want to come home, he said he would give you full custody."

Buffy blinked. She would never have expected that. "He actually said that?"

"I did."

Buffy and Hannah turned to face Thomas, Teddy, Dawn, Joyce and Danielle.

"Buffy, despite the fact I would like to get Hannah away, and you can't deny that while you are retired, that demons don't still seek you out. I want what's best for Hannah. And that could very well be her being here with you."