"Where'd everybody go?"

Spike looked up from where he had been lying on the couch. Joey stepped down off the bottom step and walked towards him, rubbing at her eyes sleepily. "Buncha places, kitten. School, work, mall, they're all over the place. Jus' me an' you 'ere for now."

"I'm hungry."

"Straight to the point, 'ey?" He asked, smirking as he sat up. He was glad to see she had found the clothes Willow had washed folded at the end of the bed and had taken the incentive to dress herself. He really didn't want to go through the whole 'dressing a little girl' ordeal. "C'mon. I'd getcha some cereal, but it's like, lunchtime. You like Spaghetti O's?"

She nodded, trailing after him as he headed towards the kitchen.

"Good, 'cause Uncle Spikey don't feel like makin' anything more complex." He said, grabbing a can from the cupboard. Joey watched with mild interest as he fought with the can-opener. Ten minutes later, he had the can open and had deposited it's contents into a bowl and shoved it into the microwave. Hr turned and narrowed his eyes at her. "No more canned food, got it?"

She giggled.

He made an attempt to clean up the kitchen as she ate. The eight SIT's had easily dismantled the place in the brief time they had been awake. It had been concluded that doughnuts were bad, seeing as they only caused arguments over who got the jelly-filled and resulted in powdered sugar in every corner imaginable.

"S'that juice?"

Spike looked up from the sink as Joey spoke. "What's that?"

"Is that juice?" She asked again, pointing at the glass of blood Spike had sitting on the counter.

"Uh… yeah?"

"Can I have some?"

Spike made a face. "That's the last of it, pet. I'll go out and get some more later, okay?"

"Can I have some of yours?"

Spike was silent for a moment. He stared at the glass. "Actually, luv. I don't think this juice is any good. Tastes bad, see?" He took a long gulp, made a face for show, then proceeded to pour the rest down the sink.

"Oh."

"You like pop?"

"What kind?"

"The stuff in the cans." He said with a shrug. "I think there's some root beer in here somewhere…" he muttered, digging through the fridge. "Yep, see?" He popped the can open, handing it to the girl. "You done?"

She nodded, pushing her bowl towards him.

He took it and deposited it in the sink along with the rest of the morning's dirty dishes, then took up scrubbing again.

"Can we go to the park?"

He chuckled. "Sorry kiddo. Bit too bright outside for my standards. Nibblet can take you when she gets home from school though, 'right?"

"Okay."

"Why don't you go watch TV or something?"

"I don't want to."

He snorted. "You through that big fit 'bout watchin' the telly last night and now you don't wanna?"

"Nope."

He rolled his eyes. "Go play with them dolls Dawn fished out for you then."

"Will you play with me?"

He laughed. "You want me to play with a bunch of soddin' dolls?"

She nodded.

"Sorry kitten, but there's no bloody way."

-----

"That was a day from Hell." Buffy grumbled, closing the door as her and her sister walked in.

"You know, we could always just, you know, not go to school." Dawn suggested, tossing her book bag on the floor.

"Funny." Buffy said, giving her sister a smirk. She peered over her should and into the living room. "Huh. Wonder where Spike and Joey are…"

Dawn shrugged. "I dunno…"

"There was a loud giggling from upstairs. Buffy and Dawn exchanged quick smirks, then took off up the stairs.

Silently, Dawn pushed the door to her room open.

"Oh. My. God." Buffy put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

Dawn didn't have that courtesy. She cracked up.

Spike glared at them from he sit in the middle of the room. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up…"

"We're playin' Barbies!" Joey declared, hopping off the bed.

"I see that." Buffy said, an amused look on her face.

"Wanna play?" She asked, offering the Slayer a brunette doll in a frilly pink dress.

"Maybe later."

"Oh." Joey said, looking slightly disappointed.

"Oh come on, Slayer. You know you wanna play." Spike said, tossing her a naked Ken doll. She caught it and glared playfully at him.

"Please?" Joey begged, sticking her lip out as far as it would go.

"We'll play." Dawn said, grabbing her sister by the arm and dragging her into the room.

Buffy groaned. "Fine, but only until the others get back. We still have evil things to deal with." She said defeatedly, plopping down on the bed.

"Here, you can be this one." Joey said, handing the Slayer another naked Barbie.

Buffy looked down at the two dolls she now held, making a face. "Do they get clothes?"

"Nope." Spike answered. "You're sittin' in the nudist beach. They can't have clothes."

Buffy's eyes went wide. Dawn giggled. "Spike! You do not have a nudist beach when you're playing Barbies with a five year old!"

"Says who?" He asked.

"Every mother on the face of the planet!" The Slayer said, chucking her Barbie at him.

He swatted it away and grinned. "Oh, right Slayer. What's worse? Me tellin' the girl what a nude beach is or you teachin' her to throw things at people?"

"You know what? No more Barbies for you, Spike." Buffy said, grabbing him by his arm and hauling him to his feet.

"Hey!" Joey protested, stomping her foot. "We're playing!"

"Calm down, kitten." Spike said, grinning. "She's just a party pooper. We can play again later, alright? Why don't you have Dawn take you outside for a bit."

The girl continued to stand there for a minute, pouting, but finally gave in. "Okay…"

"Come on." Dawn said, leading her out into the hallway. She smirked as she looked back over her shoulder.

"I can't believe you told her that!" Buffy said, smacking him in the side of the head.

"Ow!" He whined. "Hell, Slayer. You threw a bloody Barbie at me!"

"It was a Ken doll, Spike." She said in a serious tone, her hands on her hips.

He stared at her for a minute. She stared back.

They both cracked up.

TBC…

A/N: Okay, short chapter. But it was fun. I swear this will have a plot eventually and will stop being mindless fluff. I swear. Anywho, keep reviewing. I like knowin' that I'm not the only one who finds overly cute stuff amusing.