Chapter 12 Redux
"Hello? Anybody here? I'm home." Joyce called to her silent house, fear curling in the pit of her stomach. There were supposed to be five toddlers in her house, there was no way it should be this quiet! Or this clean for that matter, she thought gazing around the freshly vacuumed living room. What if someone had come and kidnapped Buffy, her daughter was the slayer and she was also three years old at the moment it would be the perfect opportunity for some enterprising demon to take her out.
Just then there came a thudding noise from upstairs that made her heart leap into her throat. Picking up the baseball bat someone had left leaning against the wall she quietly made her way to the stairs and crept up them as silently as she could, swearing lightly under her breath when she forgot and trod in the middle of the fifth stair that squeaked horribly loud in the quiet house.
Holding her breath and freezing in mid step she stared anxiously up at the ceiling but when no footsteps came her way she slowly exhaled and continued to mount the stairs. At the top she glanced carefully around, still no intruders. Cautiously stepping into the hallway she advanced toward the bathroom where she could her noises. Raising the bat over her head with one hand, she flung the door open with the other, smack into Rupert Giles' behind, sending him stumbling forward.
"Giles!" She exclaimed, eyes going wide with shock.
"What the devil?" He spun around, wads of toilet paper falling out of his hands. "Oh, Joyce. So sorry about that." He apologized.
Joyce grinned wryly. "I can assure you Mr. Giles, I've heard much worse." She replied. "Besides I should be the one apologizing to you." She added, leaning the bat against the wall by the sink and retrieving the wastebasket while she was there. Offering the receptacle to him to throw the remaining wads of tissue paper in she shook her head. "I'd forgotten how much Buffy liked to do this when she was young. I'd come home to find the baby sitter in tears and Buffy covered in mounds of toilet paper, it got so that I only bought one roll and ran out to get more anytime we needed a new one." She told him, scooping up a few of the now dried pasty blobs and dumping them in. "But from the looks of it she got Willow and Xander into the action as well!"
"Angel and Spike, actually." Giles corrected with an almost grin.
"Really? I wouldn't have thought they had toilet paper in Angel or Spike's human days."
"What can I say? Buffy's a gifted teacher." Giles replied dryly, using the baseball bat to prod a few of the wads of toilet paper off the roof.
"Speaking of Angel and Spike, Giles, I've been meaning to talk to you about something..."
"Leaving them as they are, letting them grow up human you mean." Giles guessed, scooping up the flaking bits of toilet paper from the ground and into the wastebasket.
"It would be like a second chance for them. They don't even seem to remember their old selves!"
"And who would raise them? Or would we put them up for adoption?" Giles asked reasonably, still cleaning.
"I...I honestly hadn't thought that far ahead." Joyce confessed, shoulders drooping.
"I agree with you, it would be wonderful to leave them as they are and let them grow up as normal little boys but it really isn't our decision Joyce and this isn't the sort of thing that can be made by outsiders and Angel and Spike aren't exactly mentally developed enough to make this choice."
"I know." She replied dejectedly. She'd known all along that it wasn't a possibility but William and Liam's innocent gazes still haunted her, tugging at her heart strings knowing how unhappy each was at their correct age.
"In any case, the spell doesn't work that way. Everyone involved has to be restored or nobody goes back." Giles added gently, squeezing her shoulder lightly.
"And we can't keep them all three." Joyce whispered sadly. Willow hadn't intended the spell but she'd had such neglectful parents growing up. She knew Sheila and Ira Rosenberg barely spent any time with the girl, which had contributed greatly to her shyness, a shell she was only just beginning to break out of. Xander's parents were awful and she suspected his father was at least verbally abusive if he didn't hit Xander as well. And Buffy, her own beautiful Buffy -- who was The Slayer and destined to die young. The spell seemed like a cosmic gift, allowing these five a second chance at a normal life with loving parents and no demons. Giles was right though, it wasn't her decision to make, the spell would be undone and life would go back to normal. As normal as it got, in any case.
The front door slammed and the stampede of little feet into the house could be heard even from the second story. "Mom! I'm home!" Dawn called.
"Giles?" came Cordelia's shout as the two wandered into the living room while Doyle herded the kids to the downstairs bathroom to wash their hands.
"We better..." Joyce gestured to the door.
"Yes." Giles concurred wiping his glasses on the tail of his shirt. "After you." He motioned to the door and Joyce shot him a strained smile before setting down the basket and brushing her hands off on her pants.
"Time to face the conquering hordes." Joyce joked as she pulled the door shut behind them.
"Hmm?" The watcher's distracted gaze focused on her face.
"Five toddlers at dinnertime after an afternoon at the park. Not a pretty sight." She promised with a slight smile.
"I imagine so." Giles replied as they began to descend the stairs.
"Oh that is so gross. I'll never be able to wear these again! Trust Xander to ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes." Cordelia groused, spraying the sandals she held gingerly by the ankle straps with water from the hose. She'd left Doyle and Dawn to watch over the little terrors, padding outside barefoot to rinse out the vomit covered shoes, grumbling the whole time.
"How goes the great shoe cleaning?" asked Doyle dryly from the backstairs, interrupting Cordelia's muttered ranting.
Cordelia looked up, an evil glint in her eyes as she flicked the knob on the nozzle to turn the spray from one thin stream to a wide arcing spray and then aimed it at Doyle, soaking him in seconds.
"Hey!" He sputtered, batting ineffectually at the spray as he made his way down the porch steps and over to her, trying to wrench the nozzle out of her hands.
Slippery with the water and only one handed Cordelia's grip was easily pried off the hose, shrieking and struggling the two fought for dominance, giggling and slipping around on the wet grass. Cordy dropped the vomit covered sandals and grabbed onto the nozzle with both hands, turning the spray back at Doyle. Doyle gasped and grabbed for the hose, turning it back on her.
Finally Cordy slipped in the wet grass, and skidded into Doyle who in turn slipped and landed the two of them in an awkward embrace on the ground. Cordy smiled wryly at the seer,
"Comfortable? Can I get you a pillow?" She asked, laying still beneath him.
"Very." He teased, tucking a long wet lock of dark chestnut hair behind her ear.
She rolled her eyes and pushed ineffectually at his chest.
"Come on get off." She ordered and he reluctantly complied, rolling off her onto the grass.
They lay in companionable silence together, just staring at the sunset colours painting the clouds above their heads.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Okay folks, I need your help I can't think of anything cute for the babies to do! So I need you to tell me what you'd like to see! Email me with your suggestions me@jodie.tv and maybe you'll see it in the next chapter which I hope to have out by the middle of December.
"Hello? Anybody here? I'm home." Joyce called to her silent house, fear curling in the pit of her stomach. There were supposed to be five toddlers in her house, there was no way it should be this quiet! Or this clean for that matter, she thought gazing around the freshly vacuumed living room. What if someone had come and kidnapped Buffy, her daughter was the slayer and she was also three years old at the moment it would be the perfect opportunity for some enterprising demon to take her out.
Just then there came a thudding noise from upstairs that made her heart leap into her throat. Picking up the baseball bat someone had left leaning against the wall she quietly made her way to the stairs and crept up them as silently as she could, swearing lightly under her breath when she forgot and trod in the middle of the fifth stair that squeaked horribly loud in the quiet house.
Holding her breath and freezing in mid step she stared anxiously up at the ceiling but when no footsteps came her way she slowly exhaled and continued to mount the stairs. At the top she glanced carefully around, still no intruders. Cautiously stepping into the hallway she advanced toward the bathroom where she could her noises. Raising the bat over her head with one hand, she flung the door open with the other, smack into Rupert Giles' behind, sending him stumbling forward.
"Giles!" She exclaimed, eyes going wide with shock.
"What the devil?" He spun around, wads of toilet paper falling out of his hands. "Oh, Joyce. So sorry about that." He apologized.
Joyce grinned wryly. "I can assure you Mr. Giles, I've heard much worse." She replied. "Besides I should be the one apologizing to you." She added, leaning the bat against the wall by the sink and retrieving the wastebasket while she was there. Offering the receptacle to him to throw the remaining wads of tissue paper in she shook her head. "I'd forgotten how much Buffy liked to do this when she was young. I'd come home to find the baby sitter in tears and Buffy covered in mounds of toilet paper, it got so that I only bought one roll and ran out to get more anytime we needed a new one." She told him, scooping up a few of the now dried pasty blobs and dumping them in. "But from the looks of it she got Willow and Xander into the action as well!"
"Angel and Spike, actually." Giles corrected with an almost grin.
"Really? I wouldn't have thought they had toilet paper in Angel or Spike's human days."
"What can I say? Buffy's a gifted teacher." Giles replied dryly, using the baseball bat to prod a few of the wads of toilet paper off the roof.
"Speaking of Angel and Spike, Giles, I've been meaning to talk to you about something..."
"Leaving them as they are, letting them grow up human you mean." Giles guessed, scooping up the flaking bits of toilet paper from the ground and into the wastebasket.
"It would be like a second chance for them. They don't even seem to remember their old selves!"
"And who would raise them? Or would we put them up for adoption?" Giles asked reasonably, still cleaning.
"I...I honestly hadn't thought that far ahead." Joyce confessed, shoulders drooping.
"I agree with you, it would be wonderful to leave them as they are and let them grow up as normal little boys but it really isn't our decision Joyce and this isn't the sort of thing that can be made by outsiders and Angel and Spike aren't exactly mentally developed enough to make this choice."
"I know." She replied dejectedly. She'd known all along that it wasn't a possibility but William and Liam's innocent gazes still haunted her, tugging at her heart strings knowing how unhappy each was at their correct age.
"In any case, the spell doesn't work that way. Everyone involved has to be restored or nobody goes back." Giles added gently, squeezing her shoulder lightly.
"And we can't keep them all three." Joyce whispered sadly. Willow hadn't intended the spell but she'd had such neglectful parents growing up. She knew Sheila and Ira Rosenberg barely spent any time with the girl, which had contributed greatly to her shyness, a shell she was only just beginning to break out of. Xander's parents were awful and she suspected his father was at least verbally abusive if he didn't hit Xander as well. And Buffy, her own beautiful Buffy -- who was The Slayer and destined to die young. The spell seemed like a cosmic gift, allowing these five a second chance at a normal life with loving parents and no demons. Giles was right though, it wasn't her decision to make, the spell would be undone and life would go back to normal. As normal as it got, in any case.
The front door slammed and the stampede of little feet into the house could be heard even from the second story. "Mom! I'm home!" Dawn called.
"Giles?" came Cordelia's shout as the two wandered into the living room while Doyle herded the kids to the downstairs bathroom to wash their hands.
"We better..." Joyce gestured to the door.
"Yes." Giles concurred wiping his glasses on the tail of his shirt. "After you." He motioned to the door and Joyce shot him a strained smile before setting down the basket and brushing her hands off on her pants.
"Time to face the conquering hordes." Joyce joked as she pulled the door shut behind them.
"Hmm?" The watcher's distracted gaze focused on her face.
"Five toddlers at dinnertime after an afternoon at the park. Not a pretty sight." She promised with a slight smile.
"I imagine so." Giles replied as they began to descend the stairs.
"Oh that is so gross. I'll never be able to wear these again! Trust Xander to ruin a perfectly good pair of shoes." Cordelia groused, spraying the sandals she held gingerly by the ankle straps with water from the hose. She'd left Doyle and Dawn to watch over the little terrors, padding outside barefoot to rinse out the vomit covered shoes, grumbling the whole time.
"How goes the great shoe cleaning?" asked Doyle dryly from the backstairs, interrupting Cordelia's muttered ranting.
Cordelia looked up, an evil glint in her eyes as she flicked the knob on the nozzle to turn the spray from one thin stream to a wide arcing spray and then aimed it at Doyle, soaking him in seconds.
"Hey!" He sputtered, batting ineffectually at the spray as he made his way down the porch steps and over to her, trying to wrench the nozzle out of her hands.
Slippery with the water and only one handed Cordelia's grip was easily pried off the hose, shrieking and struggling the two fought for dominance, giggling and slipping around on the wet grass. Cordy dropped the vomit covered sandals and grabbed onto the nozzle with both hands, turning the spray back at Doyle. Doyle gasped and grabbed for the hose, turning it back on her.
Finally Cordy slipped in the wet grass, and skidded into Doyle who in turn slipped and landed the two of them in an awkward embrace on the ground. Cordy smiled wryly at the seer,
"Comfortable? Can I get you a pillow?" She asked, laying still beneath him.
"Very." He teased, tucking a long wet lock of dark chestnut hair behind her ear.
She rolled her eyes and pushed ineffectually at his chest.
"Come on get off." She ordered and he reluctantly complied, rolling off her onto the grass.
They lay in companionable silence together, just staring at the sunset colours painting the clouds above their heads.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Okay folks, I need your help I can't think of anything cute for the babies to do! So I need you to tell me what you'd like to see! Email me with your suggestions me@jodie.tv and maybe you'll see it in the next chapter which I hope to have out by the middle of December.