The next morning, as usual, Cordelia packed Buffy up and set off for the day care center with her. This time, however, instead of returning home alone, Cordelia brought Buffy right back with her. Angel, who was trying to sleep in the morning as he preferred to do, only found out about this turn of events after Cordelia hammered on his door to wake him up.

"Angel! Downstairs, two minutes!"

Hearing the determined tone of her voice, he didn't even consider disobeying. Two minutes later, Angel was dressed and downstairs. One of the first things that caught his eye was Buffy's presence. She was sitting in a corner, scowling.

"They wouldn't take Buffy at the day care center," Cordelia announced.

"What? Why?"

"You're supposed to call them if you have any questions."

Angel accepted the phone number Cordelia handed him and dialed it. Soon he was speaking to Kristen Mayhew, the woman who had phoned him the previous evening.

"Mr. Angel," she addressed him, "I tried to discuss matters with you last night and you hung up on me."

"I had an emergency," he covered up. "What's this I hear about Buffy not being allowed in your center anymore?"

"Some children do not respond well to the environment of day care. I'm afraid that Buffy is one of them."

"What exactly does that mean?" Angel demanded. "Buffy isn't good enough for you?"

"It means she has hit several other children and taken their toys away, and refused to be quiet when requested. Not to mention that she upsets the other children with disturbing stories of horrible monsters she claims come to her home nearly every day. Creatures with discolored, misshapen faces. It's very upsetting to some of the others. Finally, we're also concerned about the fact that Buffy insists her last name is Summers, yet she is registered under the name of Buffy Angel. And every time we've attempted to discuss any of our concerns with you or the young woman who brings Buffy in every day, we've been brushed off. We have no choice but to stop allowing her to come in."

"Fine, have it your way." Angel hung up, not wanting to argue because he had no good cover story to explain away the fact that Buffy had been attending the center under an assumed name.

Cordelia looked at him. "No luck, obviously."

"We'll take her to another center. She'll do better." Angel was determined. After talking with that woman, he was sure any problems came from her end. Anyone who was that bitchy and critical of a small child over the telephone had to be evil. It was best that he found out now so Buffy was out of their clutches before they could do any serious harm to her. He got up and went over to Buffy's chair in the corner. "Don't worry, we'll take you to a much nicer place the next time," he promised, "with more children to play with and adults who really know what they're doing."

"No!" Buffy protested. "I don't wanna go."

"Don't you like day care?" Angel coaxed.

"No, I wanna stay here. They're mean there."

"They aren't mean everywhere. They have nicer people in other places. We'll find one, I promise."

Buffy's lower lip quivered, a sure sign that she was about to throw a tantrum. "Nooooo!" she wailed, throwing her arms around Angel's neck and burying her face against his shoulder.

"All right! We won't do it!" Angel immediately backed down, thereby breaking all the rules in the parenting books he'd been reading. He couldn't help it; when it came to something Buffy wanted, he caved in almost every time.

At least he'd averted a tantrum. Buffy sniffled, smiled at him, and then went off to play with her Furby for probably about the usual five minutes a day she spent with it.

Angel looked at Cordelia, who was gazing at him knowingly from the nearest desk. "Angel, you're too soft hearted for your own good," she informed him. "But then, Buffy always could wrap you around her little finger. Obviously nothing's changed there."

"I can't take her back to day care," he protested. "She was miserable there. That must be why she would never talk about what she did all day."

"So you want to go back to trying to watch her here every second? Like that worked so well the first time."

"I don't, but do you have any other ideas? Some sort of compromise" Angel looked pleadingly at Cordelia, who turned thoughtful.

"How do you like the idea of hiring a nanny?" she suggested. "You could try for someone who can live in for the few weeks Buffy will be here. That might be ideal."

"Sounds good," Angel agreed.

"All right, so I'll call around and try to get some recommendations. After all, we'll need someone who knows about the existence of demons and doesn't mind working around them. In the meantime, I suggest you set up a TV in the lobby to help keep Buffy entertained."

Angel liked that idea, so when Gunn turned up soon afterwards they worked together to set up a TV in a convenient position. Once it was ready, Buffy quickly became engrossed in a program called "Rugrats," leaving the others free to go about their business.

Cordelia made several phone calls, finally uttering an "Aha!" of triumph as she hung up following the last conversation. "I've found someone who seems perfect. Her name is Mrs. Grey and she's half demon but human in appearance. She also has references. She's going to come in this afternoon at 2 and be interviewed."

Angel nodded. "Great, if she's as good as she sounds then she has the job."

"Angel, it isn't as easy as all that," Cordelia warned. "She could always say no. She's doing us a favor by even showing up. If she doesn't like something about the situation, she could just leave and we'd be right back where we started."

He hadn't thought of that possibility. "So, we make sure to impress her. Then she'll take the job and problem's solved."

Cordelia looked dubious but didn't say anything. Again, she and Angel resumed work, with Gunn and Wesley coming and going on various errands, and Buffy still watching cartoons. Everyone was present when the phone rang at a little after noon and Cordelia answered. After a brief conversation, she hung up and yelled, "Wesley! Gunn! Pack up. We have to go out."

Angel looked up from his work. "What's going on?"

"Duty calls! Emergency demon slaying mission. We have to leave. I doubt we'll be back before the interview, so good luck."

Even if he didn't have to watch Buffy, Angel couldn't have gone along because it was still daylight. He was forced to watch as Wesley, Gunn, and Cordelia grabbed supplies and hurried out the door on their assignment. It looked like he would have to handle the interview on his own. But how difficult could that be? All he had to do ahead of time was to straighten up a little since the place was a bit of a mess. Plenty of time for that, though. Mrs. Grey wasn't due to arrive for more than an hour yet. In the meantime, he'd just get a little more research done.

A while later, Angel's research session was interrupted by the sounds of a car pulling up outside the hotel and a door opening. "Oh, shit!" Angel swore. He'd really wanted to make a good impression, but he'd totally lost track of time and he was sure the newcomer was Mrs. Grey. He looked around. The lobby remained a minor disaster area, with the toys he'd meant to put away instead strewn everywhere.

Even worse, Buffy had learned a new word. "Shit, shit, shit!" she chorused from her place in front of the TV set.

"No, Buffy, don't say that," Angel scolded as he dashed about clearing off a couple of chairs. "It's a very bad word."

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "YOU said it."

"It was bad of me. Forget all about it, OK?" Angel pinned a smile on his face and went to greet the woman who had just entered the building. "Mrs. Grey?"

"Yes, and you are-?" She hesitated.

"Angel," he filled in. He assessed the woman's appearance. She seemed normal enough, not noticeably demonic, about medium height, with short, curly brown hair. Probably about 40 years old, he estimated, though being part demon might have affected her aging. No warning bells were going off in his head, so she might work out. "Please, sit down," he invited. He and Mrs. Grey took the nearest two seats, and Angel began his speech. "I think this will be great for all of us. We really need someone to look after Buffy, and our other options didn't work out so well."

"Yes, I understand all that," she interrupted. "Can I see the child?"

"Sure. She's right over there." Angel indicated Buffy, who remained glued to the TV.

"I meant I want to talk to her," Mrs. Grey clarified.

"Oh. Buffy, come over here for a minute!" Angel called.

She ignored him.

"Buffy!"

"I'm watching Bugs Bunny!" she protested in a voice that couldn't be classified as anything other than a whine.

"Buffy..." Angel repeated in a warning tone while fixing a plastic smile to his face for Mrs. Grey's benefit.

Reluctantly, Buffy stood and came over to him, eyes down. She did not look at all happy.

"Hello, Buffy, it's nice to meet you," Mrs. Grey greeted her.

Buffy was silent. "Well, what do you say?" Angel prompted.

Buffy opened her mouth and out came, "Shit!" The single word resounded throughout the room.

TBC
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Addressing a few comments left in feedback:
Kyoki: No, Riley won't appear much at all. If he played a significant factor in this story, it would just take away from where the focus needs to be. I might not even give him any dialogue.

Truth: My response to your charming invitation to join an anti-Buffy/Spike mailing list is, screw you and the keyboard you typed it on. (Keeping my reaction to a PG-13 rating here.) Wherever you got the idea I might be receptive, forget it.

Shahid: The ending will probably be B/A in tone. Of course, by then Buffy will be back to her "normal" age.