Disclaimers, etc, see part one.

Author's Note: This is a short chapter. I had difficulty dividing the story up. I've tried to limit it to two times per chapter.

Domestic Secrets.

* * * * *

Never being able to describe any of Faith's 'wild' escapades meant Angie was always on the look out for evidence of it. Finding Faith and Andrew on one side of the kitchen table and me and Robin arguing over school books on the other side really gave a sense of domestic comfort to all of us.

Angie deposited the groceries in front of the pantry and Lizzie on the kitchen bench. Sarah immediately went and found Nikki in the lounge room.

"You've been on the road a while now?" Angie said.

She put the kettle on again to make herself some coffee.

"Yeah. Nikki's still got two years before she should start junior high. I just have this 'thing' about high schools," Faith explained.

"Yeah, Xander's like that," Angie said.

"And he finished."

"Hey," I said, as seriously as I could, "You don't understand the fabulous buoyed feeling you get when you know you've survived graduation."

And then I remembered that it was Faith's then boss who had wanted to eat us all after his dreadful speech. Faith had been in a Buffy-stabbing-induced-coma at the time.

"I just felt angry when I woke up," Faith said.

"Sorry 'bout that," I said.

"Hey, you had to. I get that."

Nikki arrived, no doubt roused by the sound of her name, Sarah at her side. She smiled at Angie, but not at Lizzie, who had been relegated to the 'little brother' category with Andrew.

"I don't want to go to school," she said.

"I still don't see why we have to send her," Faith said to Robin. She was obviously teasing him. "I mean, your mom never finished school. And my mom never even noticed when I stopped going."

"You had Margaret looking out for you then, Faith," Robin said.

Nikki had obviously heard the story before. She pulled Sarah away from the boring adults. Sarah no doubt dragged her upstairs to her magazine collection. Somewhere along the line Orlando Bloom had gotten old and Christian Wong was now 'the guy.'

I was intrigued, and fascinated, and all those things; I had never heard Faith talk about her childhood. Margaret had to be her Watcher. Angie, who still knew none of Faith's story latched onto the information as gently as possible.

"When did you leave school?" Angie asked.

People tell Angie things they thought they wouldn't tell anybody. Her charm worked on Faith, too, although she must have been willing to let us know. We got the edited, or 'euphemised' version of Faith's life. It still made for a colourful telling. Something about Angie let people tell her things they may not have meant to. Faith finally convinced Angie that she had been wild. It explained a lot of how Faith got to where she was. But it no doubt raised some of the questions Angie had this week.

Angie offered them dinner as the discussion and tales continued.

Nikki and Sarah appeared in the kitchen at about six thirty to ask about food. They'd caught up on everything they needed to in the four years since they'd seen each other. Andrew had fallen asleep on Faith's lap. I suppose her Slayer strength gave her the endurance required.

"It'll be just like New York," Angie said. "Except with more children. And we'll all be eating the same food."

"Bethy, do you want to help with dinner?" she called out.

"You alright, Nikki?" Robin asked.

Nikki sighed and said yes. She was playing bored teenager to his overconscientious father. Then he asked Andrew the same thing and received a sleepy nod in return. I realised that it was code. We didn't know what was what with the world, and they weren't to let anything slip.