Sneaky, Sneaky
By Sauscony
E-mail: sauscony@forty-two.co.nz
Rating: G
Pairings: Buffy/Giles and others
Summary: Reply to a 2000 Christmas Challenge
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are copyrighted ©20th Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN and the WB, and are used without permission. No copyright infringment is intended.
Dawn was sneaking out of the room, trying not to be noticed, when she bumped into Tara, who was clearly doing exactly the same thing. They managed to shoulder their way through the door and stumble to a halt in the hallway without being too obvious about it, and both burst into a fit of the giggles once they were safely out of earshot.
"Are you doing what I'm doing?" Dawn asked with a final chuckle.
For a second, Tara flushed red, then her colour settled and she nodded. "I'm going to get a present for Willow. It wasn't something I could put under the tree, so Buffy let me hide it in the basement."
"I'm getting Miri's present for Susan," Dawn admitted. "We finished putting it together yesterday and it's hidden in the attic."
Tara smiled. "Great minds, huh, Dawnie?"
Dawn nodded and tipped her head in the direction of the room they had just left. "See you back inside."
They parted ways at the stairs, Tara heading down to retrieve whatever she had secreted in the basement, Dawn going up to collect the contraption Miri had insisted was "perfect for Mommy".
She switched on the attic light and stared at Miri's gift with a certain degree of disbelief. Too big for a single sheet of paper, it was wrapped in a patchwork collection of Christmas paper and coloured advertising leaflets (because Miri insisted they were pretty and Auntie Dawn should use them, too). She might have been able to sneak out of the gift opening, but there was absolutely no way she was going to be able to sneak back in again carrying that. Still, most of the presents were unwrapped now and the children were already playing with their new toys, so she probably wouldn't cause too much of a disturbance.
She could barely see where she was going coming down the stairs, and was greatly relieved when she reached the safety of the downstairs hallway again. She juggled the parcel slightly, improving her grip, then shouldered the door open and - since she couldn't be stealthy about it - made sure she made a grand entrance.
It was Miri, of course, who saw her first. Mostly because she had been waiting in breathless anticipation ever since she realised Dawn had left the room. Now she jumped to her feet, grabbed Dawn's elbow (the only part of her currently available and reachable to a four-year old) and dragged her great-aunt over to her mother.
"It's your present, Mommy," she declared. "Auntie Dawn helped me."
Dawn lowered the monstrosity to the ground and went back to her chair, acknowledging Susan's quick smile with a nod. The present was from Miri - Dawn had delivered it and now her part was done. A quick glance around showed her Tara wasn't back yet, but Willow was too busy watching Susan and Miri to notice that her partner had gone AWOL.
Susan unwrapped the gift with care, making sure she told Miriam how pretty the paper was, wondering all the time what she was going to find inside. The last piece of paper finally fell away and she found herself staring at a painted . . . something.
"It's beautiful, love," she told Miri, hoping she'd get some clue about what it was.
"It's a windmill," Miri said happily, completely missing the look of slight desperation in her mother's eyes. Wesley had seen it, and he was trying desperately not to laugh. Dawn glared at him, daring him to make a sound, which only seemed to make things worse.
"A windmill, Kitten?" he managed to ask at last.
Miri nodded. "For Mommy's garden. It's a dragon."
To Dawn, who had seen the wooden pieces of the kit before Miri had started painting them, it was a dragon. It was designed to stand or hang in a garden, and various portions of it spun, swung and flapped in the wind. Dawn had checked with Buffy, then taken over the attic, laid down paint cloths for safety and handed the kit pieces over to Miri to do with as she liked. Since the creature now had a purple head with a green body, pink spots on its tail and striped wings of red, black and lurid yellow, Dawn couldn't really blame Susan for failing to discern its identity.
Oh, and now that she looked, she noticed Miri had forgotten to give it any eyes. Maybe she could fix that with a spot of white paint when no-one was looking...
Comprehension filled Susan's eyes. "Oh, Miri love, it is so a dragon." She pulled her daughter into her arms, careful not to knock over her gift, and hugged the little girl. "And you remembered I like dragons. Aren't you clever?"
Miri nodded contentedly.
"I've got a surprise, too," a new voice added, and Dawn saw that Tara was back, awkwardly hiding something behind her back.
Turning to look at Willow, she was surprised to see the other woman getting up. She joined Tara at the door and together they marched across the room - towards Dawn.
She gave them a suspicious look. "What's going on?"
"I lied," Tara admitted. "What I was getting is for you."
"Me?" Dawn repeated, knowing she sounded like an idiot, but not able to help herself. "You already gave me the yarn to knit those booties for Jeremy."
"Well," Willow began with a wicked glint in her eyes, "The yarn isn't really for Jeremy. In fact, it isn't even for knitting."
"It's for this little lady," Tara finished, carefully producing a box from behind her back. It was covered in Christmas wrapping paper, but strangely, had no top. She laid it carefully on Dawn's lap, and Dawn immediately saw why.
Curled up inside, sleeping the sleep of the adorably cute, was a little ginger kitten. Tara muttered something under her breath and the cat opened sleepy green eyes, looked up at Dawn and yawned, showing sharp little teeth and a pink tongue. Dawn, of course, had no choice but to fall instantly in love.
"I cheated," Tara said. "Just a little. I made her sleep so she didn't give herself away as I brought her in. She's fine now."
Dawn tickled the kitten under the chin, making the little animal purr happily, and gave her friends an accusing look. "Sneaky."
"You can't talk," Tara said firmly. "I met you on the stairs, remember?"
"Every house needs a cat," Willow told Dawn. "And since you haven't got one at the moment and you just moved, you need a brand new cat."
Dawn looked down at her new pet again and sighed. "She's gorgeous," she admitted. "Thank you."
"So what are you going to call her?" Buffy asked her sister. Having been in on the secret all along, she didn't have the same kind of surprised expression on her face that a lot of the other people in the room did.
Dawn looked at Tara and Willow again. "Witchy-Poo, I think," she said wickedly.
