"You nervous?"
"Not really." Buffy tapped her heeled foot against the chair leg.
"What about you?"
"Not a bit" Spike gnawed on the cap of his pen. "I need a bloody smoke."
"Forget it." She'd taken away all of his cigarettes on the way over. "And whatever you do, please do not say bloody or sodding or any other colorful British language in front of this person."
"Wouldn't dream of it." A woman walked out of the office and they both sat up a little straighter. Buffy reached over and pulled the pen from Spike's lips, sticking it into her purse.
"Hello, you must be Buffy and William. My name is Claire Stevens and I'll be conducting a piece of the interviews today. Mr. Thompson, if you could come with me. Mrs. Thompson there are some magazines on the coffee table. Please help yourself to them. I'll be back out in a little while to take you in for your turn."
Spike leaned over and gave Buffy a peck on the lips. "We're going to do fine. Bloody fantastic" he whispered into her ear.
She smiled up at him. "Watch your mouth."
"Mr. Thompson if you're ready."
"Of course. I apologize. Just point the way."
"Please, have a seat." Spike quickly plopped down into the chair Claire had pointed to, but remembering where he was, pulled himself up into a more appropriate upright position. "I'll be recording the interview if you consent, for observation later on."
"Quite alright." She pushed down the first button in a row of them of the tape player on her desk.
"So I hear that you and your wife tied the knot a couple of days ago. Congratulations."
"Thank you, I'm a lucky man. She has the copy of the marriage license in her bag, if you need to see it."
"We'll look into that a little later. I'm sorry that we have to go through this entire process, but we only have Dawn's best interests in mind."
"As do I and her sister."
"That's all that we want to look into. How long have you known Buffy for?"
"We met back about four years ago, she was only in high school then."
"So you're older than she is?"
"Yes, I was already out of school by the time we met."
"So you've known Dawn for this long as well, four years?"
"I met her mother very soon after Buffy, but I didn't meet Dawn until two years ago. Buffy and I weren't on the best terms in the beginning you see."
"How so?"
"We fought about a lot of things, but we came around. Called a truce when her boyfriend took my girlfriend."
"How long ago was that?"
"Also around four years. It just kind of happened. We were both blaming ourselves and I can't really explain it. From the first time I saw her, I knew that she'd change my life. Never expected that it would have wound up to be this way."
"What about the time period in between you making this truce with Buffy and meeting Dawn? Why was there such a gap?"
"I was in Brazil. We decided it was best if we took some time to work things out. When I came back to stay, I met Niblet."
"Niblet?"
"I like pet names. I also call her Lil Bit sometimes."
"Do you have any names for Buffy?"
"None she'll probably tell you about, but I call her Slayer."
"Alright, what side of the bed does Buffy sleep on?"
"The right, she likes being close to the alarm clock."
"Does she shower in the morning or at night?"
"Usually both. Sometimes more. She likes baths more though, if she has the time."
"What's her favorite food?"
"She really likes Oreo cookies, but only with milk. Won't eat them otherwise."
"What about you?"
"A flowering onion, no doubt."
"Who does the cooking in the house?"
"I've started to do most of it. Dawn used to cook some things, or Willow, a friend of Buffy's took care of it. She was staying at the house at the time. Now she lives with her girlfriend."
"Buffy didn't or doesn't cook?"
"She'd try, but she's awful at it. A lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and cans of Campbell's on the menu. So we decided I'd cook, and she'd handle laundry which is not my forte."
"Does Dawn have any chores that she needs to take care of at home?"
"She cleans her room, vacuums, regular teenage chores. Sometimes she needs more a push than others."
"Who are some of Dawn's friends?"
"She shares a lot of friends with her sister, Willow, Xander, Tara. Like having a lot of older siblings watching out for her. But there's this girl Janice her own age that she hangs around with. Does the sleepovers and movies and all that. There's a whole bunch of other girls that I've seen hanging around, but they're not close."
"Does she have a boyfriend?"
"Bloody well better not, excuse my language."
"Why do you feel this way?"
"She's like my own Lil Sis and I don't want to see some sodding bloke breaking her heart."
"That's sweet. Do you have any siblings of your own, or other relatives?"
"I had a sister when I was younger, who unfortunately passed away with my mum. My father had left home and I don't really actually remember him. There's a group of people though that was like my family for a long time. We've grown apart due to different desires in life."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"What can you do? Buffy and Dawn are going to be my family from now on."
"That's the way we hope it can be. One last thing, I would like you to tell me why you think that you and Buffy would be good guardians for Dawn, if you could."
"I love Buffy, I've loved her for a long time. Probably before I even knew that I did. This past year I've really gotten to know Dawn, to love her too. I know how she likes her eggs cooked and that she is more scared of ET than any horror flick you can throw at her.
"We bonded over stupid things, really. But we'd hang out and ask me to tell her stories, or play cards and we'd eat burned microwave popcorn and watch soap operas. She trusted me, and even though I loved Buffy, Dawn became more important to me. I worried more about her. I wanted to give her all the things that I wished someone had taken the time to give to me. All that advice, and insight and guidance that everyone seemed too busy to provide.
"Not that Buffy doesn't try, I know that she does, but it's hard. For both of them. Buffy wasn't ready to be a mom, and she knows she's not nearly as good at it as Joyce was and she doesn't want to hurt Dawn anymore than she's already been hurt. And this is the time that Dawn needs a mom, even though they're all going to say at that age that they don't. But it's gotten better. And I think Buffy can be a good mom."
"What about you William?"
"I'm not really sure what dads are supposed to be, I know for sure what they're not though. I'll be there to listen to her and be proud of her and probably to tell stupid jokes, which I've noticed is a trait all fathers must have. But really, the reason I think we'd be good for Dawn. We love her, we know her, and we want her to be happy. And if you give us a chance, we can do that."
"Well thank you very much for your time. If you don't mind, I'll bring Buffy in now, and after I speak to her, we can have a meeting together."
"That sounds fine. Thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us."
"Just doing my job."
"Hello Buffy, I just had a very interesting talk with your husband William, congratulations on the wedding."
"Thank you very much. Please tell me Spike didn't say anything too.racy."
"Spike?"
"Oh, an old nickname, there's really no one that calls him William. He usually doesn't even introduce himself as William, and I'm sure this isn't sounding too good in our favor."
"No, it's quite alright Mrs. Thompson, just relax. He told me all about how nicknames are important to him."
"Oh yes, everyone has their little pseudonyms, sometimes more than one."
"For example?"
"He calls Dawn Niblet or Lil Bit. My friend Xander is the whelp, Willow's Red, Tara's Glenda, Angel's Peaches and I'm Slayer or Goldilocks. It's more personal in a way, once you get used to it."
"Speaking of personal, we're going to get into that a little bit now, where do you sleep in the bed?"
"By the alarm clock, Spike's not a morning person at all, so it's usually me getting up first, but he makes the breakfast. And pretty much everything else."
"So you don't cook?"
"Fire extinguishers should be on hand if I'm the person handling the stove. So even though he doesn't really eat many things, he's really good at making lots of different dishes."
"Is he a picky eater?"
"He just has an unusual diet that he likes to stick to. Flowering onions, Wheatabix, British beer. Although he's stopped drinking since he moved into the house. Not that he was a heavy drinker before, or that he ever drank around Dawn."
"Mrs. Thompson, it's ok if he drinks in moderation. He's an adult and legally can partake in alcohol. It won't have a part in the case. Don't worry about that."
"Thank you."
"Who takes care of the other things in the house? You? Dawn?"
"We try to split it up as equally as we can. I'll wash clothes and Dawn will vacuums while he makes dinner and things like that."
"What would you say is Dawn's favorite thing to do on a Saturday night?"
"Depends on her mood, who's around. She's been Bronzing it with her friend Janice and some other kids from school, but there are other times that she just wants to sit at home and watch video rentals. Spike bought a Playstation a few weeks ago, and sometimes they play that for what seems like hours."
"So they get along?"
"Dawn loves Spike, I think a lot of the time she cares more about him than me. She talks to him about a lot of things. We never really talked not even when we were little. The age gap between us isn't too large, but it's still kind of hard. When I was in high school, she was still in elementary, and there weren't many things we had in common. It's easier now that it was."
"Did your mother ever meet Spike?"
"Yes, she did. Not long after I did in fact. She always had a soft spot for him. I think she saw that he still needed a mom sometimes. She gave him hot chocolate after his girlfriend broke up with him and wasn't too weird to see him in the kitchen talking to her. I think she probably liked him better than all the other guys I went out with, which is funny, because I didn't really like him at all while she was still alive. More of a toleration than anything else. But, people change."
"Last question, why do you think that you'd be a good guardian for Dawn?"
"I love her. Simple as that. My mom used to say that there's no instruction book when you become a parent, it's just thrust upon you and you have to figure it out for yourself. And so we're doing that. Learning the boundaries and things like that.
"I know what it's like to be a teenager and confused and not know where you belong. I know it's easier if there are people around to help you with that, especially if you already trust them."
"Thank you very much Buffy. How about we bring your husband in?"
"Sure."
"Well you both did a very nice job with the interview process. There are still more steps that we need to take care of. We'd like to have Dawn come in, so that we can talk to her about her feelings on this and we'd like to set-up some scheduled visits to come and see you at home. There will also be unprepared visits thrown in at various times between appointments."
"So you'll just be showing up at random?" Spike asked.
"In a word, yes. We want to make sure that the house is in good working order on a regular basis and that it's not just for appearances sake."
"We understand. I don't think you'll find any problems." Buffy was happy to hear that they had done well and wanted to get out of there before things started to go downhill. "Can we make the appointments with the secretary?"
"Of course. I understand that I'm probably keeping you away from other things. Have a nice night."
"Thank you, you too." Spike shook her hand, and Buffy followed. He put his arm around Buffy's waist, and went to leave the office. "Well I think that went much better than we expected."
"Let's just hope it did."
"Not really." Buffy tapped her heeled foot against the chair leg.
"What about you?"
"Not a bit" Spike gnawed on the cap of his pen. "I need a bloody smoke."
"Forget it." She'd taken away all of his cigarettes on the way over. "And whatever you do, please do not say bloody or sodding or any other colorful British language in front of this person."
"Wouldn't dream of it." A woman walked out of the office and they both sat up a little straighter. Buffy reached over and pulled the pen from Spike's lips, sticking it into her purse.
"Hello, you must be Buffy and William. My name is Claire Stevens and I'll be conducting a piece of the interviews today. Mr. Thompson, if you could come with me. Mrs. Thompson there are some magazines on the coffee table. Please help yourself to them. I'll be back out in a little while to take you in for your turn."
Spike leaned over and gave Buffy a peck on the lips. "We're going to do fine. Bloody fantastic" he whispered into her ear.
She smiled up at him. "Watch your mouth."
"Mr. Thompson if you're ready."
"Of course. I apologize. Just point the way."
"Please, have a seat." Spike quickly plopped down into the chair Claire had pointed to, but remembering where he was, pulled himself up into a more appropriate upright position. "I'll be recording the interview if you consent, for observation later on."
"Quite alright." She pushed down the first button in a row of them of the tape player on her desk.
"So I hear that you and your wife tied the knot a couple of days ago. Congratulations."
"Thank you, I'm a lucky man. She has the copy of the marriage license in her bag, if you need to see it."
"We'll look into that a little later. I'm sorry that we have to go through this entire process, but we only have Dawn's best interests in mind."
"As do I and her sister."
"That's all that we want to look into. How long have you known Buffy for?"
"We met back about four years ago, she was only in high school then."
"So you're older than she is?"
"Yes, I was already out of school by the time we met."
"So you've known Dawn for this long as well, four years?"
"I met her mother very soon after Buffy, but I didn't meet Dawn until two years ago. Buffy and I weren't on the best terms in the beginning you see."
"How so?"
"We fought about a lot of things, but we came around. Called a truce when her boyfriend took my girlfriend."
"How long ago was that?"
"Also around four years. It just kind of happened. We were both blaming ourselves and I can't really explain it. From the first time I saw her, I knew that she'd change my life. Never expected that it would have wound up to be this way."
"What about the time period in between you making this truce with Buffy and meeting Dawn? Why was there such a gap?"
"I was in Brazil. We decided it was best if we took some time to work things out. When I came back to stay, I met Niblet."
"Niblet?"
"I like pet names. I also call her Lil Bit sometimes."
"Do you have any names for Buffy?"
"None she'll probably tell you about, but I call her Slayer."
"Alright, what side of the bed does Buffy sleep on?"
"The right, she likes being close to the alarm clock."
"Does she shower in the morning or at night?"
"Usually both. Sometimes more. She likes baths more though, if she has the time."
"What's her favorite food?"
"She really likes Oreo cookies, but only with milk. Won't eat them otherwise."
"What about you?"
"A flowering onion, no doubt."
"Who does the cooking in the house?"
"I've started to do most of it. Dawn used to cook some things, or Willow, a friend of Buffy's took care of it. She was staying at the house at the time. Now she lives with her girlfriend."
"Buffy didn't or doesn't cook?"
"She'd try, but she's awful at it. A lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and cans of Campbell's on the menu. So we decided I'd cook, and she'd handle laundry which is not my forte."
"Does Dawn have any chores that she needs to take care of at home?"
"She cleans her room, vacuums, regular teenage chores. Sometimes she needs more a push than others."
"Who are some of Dawn's friends?"
"She shares a lot of friends with her sister, Willow, Xander, Tara. Like having a lot of older siblings watching out for her. But there's this girl Janice her own age that she hangs around with. Does the sleepovers and movies and all that. There's a whole bunch of other girls that I've seen hanging around, but they're not close."
"Does she have a boyfriend?"
"Bloody well better not, excuse my language."
"Why do you feel this way?"
"She's like my own Lil Sis and I don't want to see some sodding bloke breaking her heart."
"That's sweet. Do you have any siblings of your own, or other relatives?"
"I had a sister when I was younger, who unfortunately passed away with my mum. My father had left home and I don't really actually remember him. There's a group of people though that was like my family for a long time. We've grown apart due to different desires in life."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"What can you do? Buffy and Dawn are going to be my family from now on."
"That's the way we hope it can be. One last thing, I would like you to tell me why you think that you and Buffy would be good guardians for Dawn, if you could."
"I love Buffy, I've loved her for a long time. Probably before I even knew that I did. This past year I've really gotten to know Dawn, to love her too. I know how she likes her eggs cooked and that she is more scared of ET than any horror flick you can throw at her.
"We bonded over stupid things, really. But we'd hang out and ask me to tell her stories, or play cards and we'd eat burned microwave popcorn and watch soap operas. She trusted me, and even though I loved Buffy, Dawn became more important to me. I worried more about her. I wanted to give her all the things that I wished someone had taken the time to give to me. All that advice, and insight and guidance that everyone seemed too busy to provide.
"Not that Buffy doesn't try, I know that she does, but it's hard. For both of them. Buffy wasn't ready to be a mom, and she knows she's not nearly as good at it as Joyce was and she doesn't want to hurt Dawn anymore than she's already been hurt. And this is the time that Dawn needs a mom, even though they're all going to say at that age that they don't. But it's gotten better. And I think Buffy can be a good mom."
"What about you William?"
"I'm not really sure what dads are supposed to be, I know for sure what they're not though. I'll be there to listen to her and be proud of her and probably to tell stupid jokes, which I've noticed is a trait all fathers must have. But really, the reason I think we'd be good for Dawn. We love her, we know her, and we want her to be happy. And if you give us a chance, we can do that."
"Well thank you very much for your time. If you don't mind, I'll bring Buffy in now, and after I speak to her, we can have a meeting together."
"That sounds fine. Thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us."
"Just doing my job."
"Hello Buffy, I just had a very interesting talk with your husband William, congratulations on the wedding."
"Thank you very much. Please tell me Spike didn't say anything too.racy."
"Spike?"
"Oh, an old nickname, there's really no one that calls him William. He usually doesn't even introduce himself as William, and I'm sure this isn't sounding too good in our favor."
"No, it's quite alright Mrs. Thompson, just relax. He told me all about how nicknames are important to him."
"Oh yes, everyone has their little pseudonyms, sometimes more than one."
"For example?"
"He calls Dawn Niblet or Lil Bit. My friend Xander is the whelp, Willow's Red, Tara's Glenda, Angel's Peaches and I'm Slayer or Goldilocks. It's more personal in a way, once you get used to it."
"Speaking of personal, we're going to get into that a little bit now, where do you sleep in the bed?"
"By the alarm clock, Spike's not a morning person at all, so it's usually me getting up first, but he makes the breakfast. And pretty much everything else."
"So you don't cook?"
"Fire extinguishers should be on hand if I'm the person handling the stove. So even though he doesn't really eat many things, he's really good at making lots of different dishes."
"Is he a picky eater?"
"He just has an unusual diet that he likes to stick to. Flowering onions, Wheatabix, British beer. Although he's stopped drinking since he moved into the house. Not that he was a heavy drinker before, or that he ever drank around Dawn."
"Mrs. Thompson, it's ok if he drinks in moderation. He's an adult and legally can partake in alcohol. It won't have a part in the case. Don't worry about that."
"Thank you."
"Who takes care of the other things in the house? You? Dawn?"
"We try to split it up as equally as we can. I'll wash clothes and Dawn will vacuums while he makes dinner and things like that."
"What would you say is Dawn's favorite thing to do on a Saturday night?"
"Depends on her mood, who's around. She's been Bronzing it with her friend Janice and some other kids from school, but there are other times that she just wants to sit at home and watch video rentals. Spike bought a Playstation a few weeks ago, and sometimes they play that for what seems like hours."
"So they get along?"
"Dawn loves Spike, I think a lot of the time she cares more about him than me. She talks to him about a lot of things. We never really talked not even when we were little. The age gap between us isn't too large, but it's still kind of hard. When I was in high school, she was still in elementary, and there weren't many things we had in common. It's easier now that it was."
"Did your mother ever meet Spike?"
"Yes, she did. Not long after I did in fact. She always had a soft spot for him. I think she saw that he still needed a mom sometimes. She gave him hot chocolate after his girlfriend broke up with him and wasn't too weird to see him in the kitchen talking to her. I think she probably liked him better than all the other guys I went out with, which is funny, because I didn't really like him at all while she was still alive. More of a toleration than anything else. But, people change."
"Last question, why do you think that you'd be a good guardian for Dawn?"
"I love her. Simple as that. My mom used to say that there's no instruction book when you become a parent, it's just thrust upon you and you have to figure it out for yourself. And so we're doing that. Learning the boundaries and things like that.
"I know what it's like to be a teenager and confused and not know where you belong. I know it's easier if there are people around to help you with that, especially if you already trust them."
"Thank you very much Buffy. How about we bring your husband in?"
"Sure."
"Well you both did a very nice job with the interview process. There are still more steps that we need to take care of. We'd like to have Dawn come in, so that we can talk to her about her feelings on this and we'd like to set-up some scheduled visits to come and see you at home. There will also be unprepared visits thrown in at various times between appointments."
"So you'll just be showing up at random?" Spike asked.
"In a word, yes. We want to make sure that the house is in good working order on a regular basis and that it's not just for appearances sake."
"We understand. I don't think you'll find any problems." Buffy was happy to hear that they had done well and wanted to get out of there before things started to go downhill. "Can we make the appointments with the secretary?"
"Of course. I understand that I'm probably keeping you away from other things. Have a nice night."
"Thank you, you too." Spike shook her hand, and Buffy followed. He put his arm around Buffy's waist, and went to leave the office. "Well I think that went much better than we expected."
"Let's just hope it did."