The more Angel thought about it, the better Cordelia's suggestion of sending Buffy to day care sounded. Buffy would be surrounded by playmates of her own age, not to mention being around adults who actually knew how to handle small children. Plus she wouldn't be at the hotel all day requiring nearly constant supervision. Everyone would be happy.

The next morning, Angel phoned and registered a spot for Buffy at the Kids Corner Day Care Center, using the name "Buffy Angel" to help hide her real identity. Then, since the center was only a handful of blocks away, Cordelia walked Buffy over for her first day. Angel relaxed and went about the remainder of the morning and afternoon almost exactly as he would have done before the four year old Buffy was left on his doorstep. Every so often, though, he found himself glancing around for her until he recalled that she wasn't there.

That evening, not long before the center's closing time, Cordelia departed to pick up Buffy. Angel watched as Wesley went about setting up Buffy's things in preparation for a tea party. Wesley had promised to play that particular game with Buffy every night for a whole week to make up for yelling at her. He hadn't known what he was letting himself in for. When playing tea party, Buffy insisted that each participant handle one of her dolls or stuffed animals and adopt its persona. The previous night, Buffy had used the Barbie doll, while Wesley had to handle her stuffed lamb and provide its high pitched voice, which he'd practiced over and over and over until Buffy was satisfied it was just right.

Angel had just finished with a phone call when Cordelia came through the door, releasing Buffy's hand only when they were safely inside. Angel looked over at Buffy, glad to see that she seemed OK. "Buffy, how did your day go? What did you do?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing." She turned and trotted over to Wesley to begin playing.

Angel looked at Cordelia. "Everything go all right?"

"The worker said Buffy acted up a little. Honestly, I think she was glad to get rid of her. But I didn't have time to stand around talking about it so I just left."

Angel shrugged. "She'll settle down. They're professionals there and they know what they're doing."

"If you say so."

Cordelia and Angel each went back to work, with the sounds of Buffy and Wesley playing tea party in the background.

For a week, things went on pretty much like this. Cordelia dropped Buffy off at day care in the morning and picked her up late in the day. Then Buffy played tea party with Wesley and sometimes Angel, when he couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to escape. It wasn't that he minded spending time with Buffy, but tea party was her favorite and worst game. If Buffy gave him the stuffed dog to handle, it wasn't too bad. He mainly just had to bark once in a while and pretend to make the dog drink from the tea cup. If Buffy handed him the unicorn, though, he had to provide the exact right unicorn voice as determined by Buffy, who was very picky.

On the fifth night, when Cordelia brought Buffy home, Angel asked his usual question, "What did you do today?", and Buffy replied like she always did with a brief "Nothing."

Tonight, Angel finally pressed the issue. "How can you do nothing every single day? I think that's impossible. You had to do SOMETHING. Now, what was it?"

"Nothing," Buffy repeated.

Angel looked at her pursed lips and stubborn expression and backed off, realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere with her. "Fine, you go to day care for hours at a time, day after day, yet nothing happens. I'm glad I'm getting my money's worth." Buffy missed the sarcasm in his voice and went off to play with Wesley.

"You know, at some point, every kid uses that line about nothing happening," Cordelia informed Angel.

"I still don't like it. Well, maybe she'll start opening up as she becomes more secure."

Cordelia returned to her filing and Angel picked up the "Guide to Being a Good Parent" book, which he had been plowing through during spare moments. He had barely opened it when the phone rang. He pushed the book aside and answered, "Hello, Angel Investigations."

"Mr. Angel?"

"Yes?"

"This is Kristen Mayhew of the Kids Corner Day Care Center, and I'm calling about Buffy."

Angel glanced across the lobby. Buffy was happily tormenting Wesley. "What about her?"

"We have a bit of a problem. Buffy has been - "

At that point Angel tuned the woman out, because the front door had opened and a trio of blue skinned Dynash demons entered, pushing dark hoods down from their heads to reveal the little horns dotting their faces.

"... hitting the other children and we're concerned that ... "

The first demon stared at Buffy, stuck out its black tongue, and hissed. Buffy looked up from her game and pointed at the demon. "His face looks funny."

"Don't point. It's rude," Wesley warned.

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"It just is," Wesley informed her.

Buffy opened her mouth to protest. Angel interrupted Miss Mayhew's speech, which he'd barely heard anyway. "I'm sorry, I have to go." He dropped the phone into its cradle and strode across the lobby to distract Buffy. They hadn't had many paying clients recently and the last thing he needed was for Buffy to insult the only potential ones they'd seen in days. He recognized the Dynash demons as being a peaceful species that might provide them with some income.

"Buffy," Angel called. "Do you want me to play tea party with you?"

"Yes!" Buffy squealed, losing interest in the bizarre strangers in the lobby.

While Buffy was setting a place at the table for his animal, Angel sent Cordelia a look begging her to find out what the demons wanted. She took the hint and ushered them over to the reception desk.

"Angel!" Buffy chirped. "Play!"

His heart sank. She was handing him the stuffed unicorn. But he couldn't disappoint her by refusing to participate. Reluctantly, Angel accepted the unicorn and sat it in position at the nearest chair.

Buffy held her Barbie doll at the head of the small table. A tiny cup sat in each place setting, and a pitcher, utensils, and other odds and ends lay scattered around. Angel quietly poured his unicorn a cup of tea (actually colored water) and hoped he'd get off lightly.

It wasn't to be. "Do the voice!" Buffy commanded.

Angel cleared his throat and then whispered in a very deep voice, "Please pass the sugar."

"Louder!" Buffy ordered.

Angel raised his voice a fraction. "Please pass - "

"Louder!" Buffy cried, causing the demons and Cordelia to look over at them to see what the problem was.

Angel gave up on trying to be discreet and spoke at a normal volume, if not in a normal voice. "Please pass the sugar, Barbie."

"Here you are, Mr. Unicorn." She handed the little sugar container to him. "Mr. Lamb, do you want anything?"

It was small consolation to Angel, but Wesley had it worse than him. He had to affect a squeaky voice to portray the lamb when he asked Buffy to hand him a spoon.

They struggled through more than 10 minutes of the tea party before Cordelia finished with the demons and they exited. While Buffy was digging through her mound of toys in search of a missing fork, Cordelia came over to Angel.

"Don't tell me, they thought we were insane and walked out," he guessed.

"No. The opposite! They were so impressed with how you and Wesley handled Buffy that they gave us their business. Partial payment in advance. It should be an easy job, too. Dust a few vampires and collect the money." Cordelia looked even happier than Angel felt about having some income again.

It was only later, after Buffy had gone to sleep, that Angel remembered the phone call from earlier that night. Had the woman from the day care center been trying to tell him something about Buffy being a bully?

No, Angel decided, he must have misheard her.





Notes
-No, I haven't posted this story anywhere else. If it seems familiar to anyone plotwise then you've probably read someone else's response to the same challenge I'm answering.
-About the timeline, this story is set in October of 2000 (S5/S2). So Joyce and Riley were still around, but I didn't want them to be involved much. Chapter 1 contains an explanation of Joyce's absence. Riley's absence will be explained in a future chapter.