Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox,
etc... except of course the ones I make up.
Summary: The consequence for Buffy and Spike's daughter, Kat, is revealed. It was the last thing that they ever expected, and the most horrible thing that anyone could have imagined. *Sequel to "FAMILY"*
Spoilers: None. Just know that everything after "Normal Again" didn't happen.
~*~
TRADEOFF
Chapter 4: Family Night
"Baby, don't touch that!" Anya scolded her son, who was reaching for a small, expensive talisman that could liquefy dog intestines. Nicky pulled his hand back quickly as his mother picked him up and sat him on the counter next to the cash register.
"I think you might have been safer going with your daddy to the construction site," she told him offhandedly and thrust a cookie into his hands. The small child stared at but did not raise it to his lips; instead, he placed it down next to him and began to sniffle in response to his mother's harsh tone.
"I'm sorry, honey. Don't cry. Mommy's just really stressed out, I'm not mad at you. Look, I'm gonna close in ten more minutes and then we'll get ready to go to the school. Sound good?"
Nicky clumsily wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Yeah, Mama."
Anya kissed his forehead. "That's my sweet boy. Just be thankful that Willow and Tara were so nice about taking your sister."
"She's a boring, dumb baby anyway."
"Hey, watch it. You are really cranking out, aren't you? You know, I'll just close now, no one's coming at this point."
Anya had jinxed herself. As she spoke these words she heard the bell jingle and a customer entered. She rolled her eyes before putting on her game face and turned around with a big, fake smile plastered on her features. The smile faded faster than it had come when she saw who the prospective customer was.
"Oh, it's you."
David smiled. "Nice to see you, Anya."
Anya had almost forgotten that Nicky was there when he waved his hand and smiled widely. "Hi, Dave!" Anya wanted to tell her son not to be so friendly, but Nicky wouldn't understand.
"Hey, little man."
"She's not here," Anya informed David, before he even looked like he was going to ask.
"Oh... I... I wasn't... I'm out of holy water," he insisted, an obvious lie. "I just needed more, living on the Hellmouth and all."
"I'd offer you help, but you know where it is."
"Yeah, I do," David told her as he walked awkwardly to the shelf where small bottles of holy water were displayed en masse. He picked up four bottles and walked to the counter, placing them down before reaching for his wallet. Up close, Anya could see how terrible David looked. The usually well-kept and handsome young man appeared to have a five o'clock hangover and looked as though he hadn't slept in days. Anya didn't want to ask, but she couldn't seem to help herself.
"Are you all right?"
Dave looked up at her, his usually bright blue eyes seemed to have turned a dull gray. "What? Yeah. Fine," he answered evasively, then changed the subject. "So where is everyone? Usually there are still tons of people here at five."
"I'm closing early today. Nicky has 'Family Night' at his school at six- thirty."
"Gotcha," David said softly as he took his change and shoved it into his wallet. He stood in front of Anya unmoving and awkward for a few moments before speaking again.
"How is she?" He asked, his voice low and somber. "I mean, is she doing okay?"
Anya wanted to answer this as delicately as she could. "All right, I suppose, for someone who has had their heart broken into a thousand tiny pieces." Maybe not so delicate.
David got an expression on his face that made him look as though he had been stabbed. "Oh. Maybe it's better that she's not here, then." He paused for a moment. "I should go."
Anya smiled insincerely and without a word, but stopped David just as he reached the door. "Hey, David?"
He turned around. "Yeah?"
"Dawn- she's okay."
David smiled and nodded. "Thank you." He began to leave again and was once again interrupted by Anya.
"Oh, and David?"
"Yes, Anya?"
"You know that I used to be a Vengeance Demon, right?"
Dave's expression turned quickly from one of sadness to one of great fear. "Uh... yeah... why?"
Anya smiled and shrugged casually. "Just curious."
David turned and hastily left the store, leaving Anya feeling quite pleased with herself.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, baby?"
"What's a Vengeance Demon?"
She shook her head and ran her fingers through Nicky's hair. "Nothing you need to worry about. Come on, let's get out of here."
~*~
Buffy was running late as it was, and Kat's fussing in the shopping cart wasn't helping matters. She was supposed to bring juice to the school and it was after five already. She didn't know how she had let herself procrastinate so long, it was only juice. The slayer just had so much on her mind that she had almost forgotten until she was reminded by Spike. And of course, when she really needed Kat to stay at home and be agreeable, she refused, insisting that she go to the store with Mommy. After a fifteen minute argument, neither Spike nor Buffy could take any more so they relented, allowed her to go to the store where, much to Buffy's dismay, she continued to fuss.
"Mommy!"
"Kat, stop it."
"But I'm hungry!"
"Well, if you had stayed at home with your dad, he would have been able to fix you something and you wouldn't be hungry now."
"But we're in a food store, Mommy. I want animal crackers!"
"No. This is your own fault."
"Mommy!"
"I said no."
On went the water works. "But Mommy!"
Buffy had had it. "Kaitlin, shut up!"
Buffy had been so wrapped up in scolding her daughter that she didn't see the other shopping cart as she went around the corner. They collided with a loud crash that rung in Buffy's ears and she felt like crying. She was tired, and stressed out, and had a screaming child in the middle of the supermarket and when she looked up she saw that she had crashed into one of the last people she wanted to see.
"Hello, Buffy," the older woman said kindly.
"Hi, Maryann."
"How are you?"
"All right, screaming child aside. And yourself?"
"Same old, same old." There was a moment of awkward silence before Maryann spoke again. "Oh, isn't this ridiculous? Tell me, how's Dawnie doing?"
"Fine, now. We had a bit of a scare the other day. She told me she thought she might be pregnant."
"By David?" Buffy looked insulted by this inquiry. "I'm sorry, that's a stupid question. I just mean... she's not, is she?"
Buffy shook her head. "No. It was a false alarm. Probably just stress."
"God, I can't even imagine. But she's all right?"
"She's hanging in there. Always a trooper."
"You don't have to tell me," the woman said, smiling warmly. "Buffy, I want to make something very clear now. I don't want you or Dawn to think that her and David's breakup has changed how I feel. I have come to love that girl more than I can say and I want her to know that still, if she needs anything, she need just ask. And you too."
"That's very kind of you."
"Oh nonsense. I... well I thought I was this close to being her mother-in- law, a role I truly would have been honored to have and well, I just don't know what's come over David. I've never seen him so happy as when he's with Dawn. She, forgive me for saying this but really, she completes him. And I can't even... the way that David has been acting since they broke up."
"It doesn't make sense to me either but-"
"Mommy I wanna go!"
"Kat, quiet, Mommy's talking. We'll go soon, I promise." Buffy looked up at Maryann. "Sorry."
"Oh I understand completely. I remember how hard it was to have a little one. They grow up fast, Buffy. They grow up and they grow crazy."
"Oh good, crazy is a hell of a lot better than now."
Maryann laughed. "Yes, well, I best let you get on your way. But really, Buffy, remember what I said. If you or Dawn need anything..."
"Thank you, that really does mean a lot. You've meant a lot to Dawn."
"That's good to hear."
Maryann squeezed Buffy's shoulder reassuringly before continuing on her way through the aisles. Buffy looked at Kat who was sitting with a most unpleasant grimace on her tiny features. But suddenly, Buffy didn't seem to mind so much.
"Mama?"
"Yes, love?"
"Can we go now?"
Buffy looked at her daughter for a few long moments. Before she saw Dave's mother, she felt like Kat couldn't grow up fast enough and now it seemed like only yesterday she gave birth to her daughter. She regretted being so irritable with her before and grabbed a bag of animal crackers off the shelf, tossing them into the cart.
"Yeah, baby, we can go."
~*~
Spike was excited about this. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone, even Buffy. She could tell, however, by the small smile he was suppressing as he drove, and by the way he sat in his seat, that he was excited about this night. It was the everyday things that they would do that always made him the happiest. His appreciation for the mundane and ordinary made Buffy love him even more, if that were possible.
As they walked to the school from their car, they saw the Harris family by the front door.
"Xander!" Buffy called out for his attention. He turned around and a smile, the same smile that he had since high school, spread across his face.
"Hey, Buffy, what's doing?"
The slayer walked to her best friend and hugged him. "Not much. Long time no see since yesterday. Anything new with you."
"Not since yesterday, nope."
Buffy choked a laugh. "That's good. Hey Anya."
"Oh hi Buffy. I was starting to think I was invisible." Anya smiled at her to let her know that she was kidding. The woman had finally gotten a grip on sarcasm.
"Yeah, yeah. How are you?"
"Great. Jesse is finally sleeping at night."
"That's good to hear," Spike said, joining in the conversation. "Kat still won't sleep at night."
"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "She gets it from you."
"Oh Buffy, guess who came to the Magic Box today."
"Who?"
"David did!" Nicky informed her before his mother could answer. Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw the muscles in Spike's jaw twitch upon Dave's mention.
"Oh he did? That must have been awkward."
Kat tugged on her mother's sleeve. "Mama, what's awkward?"
"Uncomfortable."
Nicky shook his head. "I don't think Dave's uncomfortable. I think he's nice."
"All right, then," Spike said in an overly cheery tone, "how about we go inside?"
Agreement to this suggestion was unanimous as they all became desperate to not get into a discussion about Dave. It was so strange because they all like, or had liked, Dave. He was a great guy, and always wonderful to Dawn. He had become a staple in the Scooby Gang. Picking up a few skills over the years, David would sometimes even help out with patrols; oftentimes, he helped out with Dawn's. And now he was simply out of the picture, leaving a hole in their tight little circle.
Forty-five minutes after entering, formalities, the kind of thing that Buffy hated but put up with, ensued as the teachers gave a brief presentation concerning what the year's goals were. Then all the parents were sent to their children's classrooms where more personal activities would take place, and the snacks that the parents had been assigned to bring would be eaten. After a few minutes of introductions, all of which Spike and Xander talked through despite the constant shushing of their significant others, the children were asked to talk briefly about their families. Buffy had been informed of this just over a week ago through a note home from Kat's teacher and worried about what her loud-mouthed daughter might reveal during her time to speak. The slayer had to sit the child down and explain to her in lengthy detail about what she could and absolutely could not discuss. The words vampire, demon, and slayer were not to peeped. Kat said she understood, but Buffy still couldn't help feeling nervous.
Spike on the other hand couldn't see what Buffy was worrying so much about. Kat was young, but she wasn't stupid, and usually did what was told. She also had a certain intuitiveness to her and could tell the difference between the seriousness of "it's time for bed" and "don't talk about vampires."
As Nicky finished his bit and all the parents clapped for him, Xander leaned to Spike and whispered, "chairs so small were not meant for real men like you and I."
Spike shifted uncomfortably in his own tiny seat and nodded in agreement. "This is what their spending our tax dollars on?"
"That's what I'm saying. I-" Xander stopped talking when he was slapped on the arm by his wife.
"What?"
"Would you shut it. Your son is up!"
"One: he just finished! And two: ow! Take it easy woman."
"Don't talk to me like that, Alexander Harris."
"Like what, Anya Christina Emmanuela Jenkins-Harris?"
"What are you-" Anya put her hands up to her face in embarrassment. "I can't believe you brought that up," she said, trying to suppress her laughs.
Xander wrapped his arm around her and kissed her. "Like I could forget."
At that moment, Nicky ran up to his mother and jumped into her arms. "Did you see?"
"We saw, Honey, you were superb."
Xander kissed his son's forehead. "Excellent, kiddo. Now why don't you sit back down with your class so your teacher will stop giving us the evil eye?"
Nicky giggled uncontrollably and nodded before running back to the rug where his classmates were seated. Sitting, of course, next to Kat, he whispered something in her ear and she smiled. Buffy and Anya gave each other a look that just said: "awww!"
"That was lovely, Nicky," the children's teacher, Mrs. Matus, said in a sugar-sweet voice. "Okay, so why don't we have Kat come up next, hmm?"
Kat turned around and looked at her mother who nodded reassuringly. She got up and walked to the front of the room. Before saying anything aloud, she leaned over to her teacher and whispered something in her ear. Releasing short laugh, Mrs. Matus smiled pleasantly and said something quietly that sounded like, "that's okay," but Buffy wasn't sure. Kat nodded and turned toward the class. Buffy braced herself.
"Um... I live with my mommy and my daddy and Tigger. He's my cat, but not a cat like me. My mom teaches karate, and I take a class from her sometimes with other peoples who are five like me. Nicky is in my class. And my mommy and daddy have a job sometimes at night together, too, and then my Aunt Dawn will watch me, or maybe Giles. Aunt Dawn is my mommy's sister, but she still likes my dad. I have Uncle Dave, too, but I'm not supposed to talk about him or call him uncle anymore because Mommy says Aunt Dawn got dumped."
Kat paused for a moment as a few of the other parents laughed quietly. Buffy could feel her face getting hot as Kat went on.
"Giles is um... my um... godfather. I don't know what that is, but I love him, and he takes my for ice cream with Susan. That's his girlfriend. I have my grandpa Hank, too. I don't see him a lot, but he's nice. I have an Aunt Willow, too. Mommy says I don't have to call her aunt, but I just like to anyway. Tara lives with Willow, I think they may be husband and wife, but it confuses me sometimes."
Buffy was dying in her chair. She felt the other parents stealing glances in her direction. Spike was undaunted and enjoying the humor of this little over-share with Xander. This annoyed Buffy greatly; Spike didn't have to see or deal with the other parents. He wouldn't have to face them or their reactions to the things that their daughter might say. Not that she really expected them to say much of anything at all. But it wasn't fair, he would never understand.
"Aunt Willow, and Mommy, and Xander are best friends. Xander is Nicky's daddy and Nicky is my best friend. Mommy says that Xander and Aunt Willow are like her brother and sister, and sometimes I think that Nicky is like my brother. I see him a lot, and go to the Magic Box with him and Anya. I like it there. They have pretty things, but Anya tells me I'm not supposed to touch. I try, and sometimes I forget. But she doesn't yell at me anyways." Kat paused for a long moment. Buffy, thinking she was done, felt a great relief flow through her body. But of course, there was one last thing.
"I almost forgetted about Clem. He's my daddy's best friend. They play kitten poker and I like to play with his skin." Spike chuckled as Buffy sunk as low as she could into her chair. Kat looked up at her teacher.
"I'm done now."
Mrs. Matus, whose smile had grown three times its size over the course of that description, replied kindly by saying, "That was wonderful, Kat. It sounds to me like you have a very nice, loving family."
Kat smiled, nodded, and ran from the front to where her mother and father were sitting. "Did you see me?"
Spike picked up his girl and pulled her to his chest. "Yes, my love, that was brilliant."
Buffy's face was beet red as she said. "Very detailed, baby, to say the least."
"So," Xander began, "I'm like your brother, huh?"
Buffy smirked and reached over Spike to grab Xander's hand. "As if you didn't all ready know."
"Well, I'll say this. Anything I didn't know about your family, I surely do now."
Buffy laughed, partly at herself for being so embarrassed, as Kat ran back to the carpet and sat beside Nicky like before. The two immediately began to gabber and giggle and have to be shushed by their teacher. As she watched her daughter and pseudo-nephew, it dawned on Buffy, not for the first time, how wonderful of a family she did have. Though it did not span outside of Sunnydale, ad most of them were not actually related to her, family is family. That was something Buffy would never take for granted.
~*~
TBC...
~*~
Summary: The consequence for Buffy and Spike's daughter, Kat, is revealed. It was the last thing that they ever expected, and the most horrible thing that anyone could have imagined. *Sequel to "FAMILY"*
Spoilers: None. Just know that everything after "Normal Again" didn't happen.
~*~
TRADEOFF
Chapter 4: Family Night
"Baby, don't touch that!" Anya scolded her son, who was reaching for a small, expensive talisman that could liquefy dog intestines. Nicky pulled his hand back quickly as his mother picked him up and sat him on the counter next to the cash register.
"I think you might have been safer going with your daddy to the construction site," she told him offhandedly and thrust a cookie into his hands. The small child stared at but did not raise it to his lips; instead, he placed it down next to him and began to sniffle in response to his mother's harsh tone.
"I'm sorry, honey. Don't cry. Mommy's just really stressed out, I'm not mad at you. Look, I'm gonna close in ten more minutes and then we'll get ready to go to the school. Sound good?"
Nicky clumsily wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Yeah, Mama."
Anya kissed his forehead. "That's my sweet boy. Just be thankful that Willow and Tara were so nice about taking your sister."
"She's a boring, dumb baby anyway."
"Hey, watch it. You are really cranking out, aren't you? You know, I'll just close now, no one's coming at this point."
Anya had jinxed herself. As she spoke these words she heard the bell jingle and a customer entered. She rolled her eyes before putting on her game face and turned around with a big, fake smile plastered on her features. The smile faded faster than it had come when she saw who the prospective customer was.
"Oh, it's you."
David smiled. "Nice to see you, Anya."
Anya had almost forgotten that Nicky was there when he waved his hand and smiled widely. "Hi, Dave!" Anya wanted to tell her son not to be so friendly, but Nicky wouldn't understand.
"Hey, little man."
"She's not here," Anya informed David, before he even looked like he was going to ask.
"Oh... I... I wasn't... I'm out of holy water," he insisted, an obvious lie. "I just needed more, living on the Hellmouth and all."
"I'd offer you help, but you know where it is."
"Yeah, I do," David told her as he walked awkwardly to the shelf where small bottles of holy water were displayed en masse. He picked up four bottles and walked to the counter, placing them down before reaching for his wallet. Up close, Anya could see how terrible David looked. The usually well-kept and handsome young man appeared to have a five o'clock hangover and looked as though he hadn't slept in days. Anya didn't want to ask, but she couldn't seem to help herself.
"Are you all right?"
Dave looked up at her, his usually bright blue eyes seemed to have turned a dull gray. "What? Yeah. Fine," he answered evasively, then changed the subject. "So where is everyone? Usually there are still tons of people here at five."
"I'm closing early today. Nicky has 'Family Night' at his school at six- thirty."
"Gotcha," David said softly as he took his change and shoved it into his wallet. He stood in front of Anya unmoving and awkward for a few moments before speaking again.
"How is she?" He asked, his voice low and somber. "I mean, is she doing okay?"
Anya wanted to answer this as delicately as she could. "All right, I suppose, for someone who has had their heart broken into a thousand tiny pieces." Maybe not so delicate.
David got an expression on his face that made him look as though he had been stabbed. "Oh. Maybe it's better that she's not here, then." He paused for a moment. "I should go."
Anya smiled insincerely and without a word, but stopped David just as he reached the door. "Hey, David?"
He turned around. "Yeah?"
"Dawn- she's okay."
David smiled and nodded. "Thank you." He began to leave again and was once again interrupted by Anya.
"Oh, and David?"
"Yes, Anya?"
"You know that I used to be a Vengeance Demon, right?"
Dave's expression turned quickly from one of sadness to one of great fear. "Uh... yeah... why?"
Anya smiled and shrugged casually. "Just curious."
David turned and hastily left the store, leaving Anya feeling quite pleased with herself.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, baby?"
"What's a Vengeance Demon?"
She shook her head and ran her fingers through Nicky's hair. "Nothing you need to worry about. Come on, let's get out of here."
~*~
Buffy was running late as it was, and Kat's fussing in the shopping cart wasn't helping matters. She was supposed to bring juice to the school and it was after five already. She didn't know how she had let herself procrastinate so long, it was only juice. The slayer just had so much on her mind that she had almost forgotten until she was reminded by Spike. And of course, when she really needed Kat to stay at home and be agreeable, she refused, insisting that she go to the store with Mommy. After a fifteen minute argument, neither Spike nor Buffy could take any more so they relented, allowed her to go to the store where, much to Buffy's dismay, she continued to fuss.
"Mommy!"
"Kat, stop it."
"But I'm hungry!"
"Well, if you had stayed at home with your dad, he would have been able to fix you something and you wouldn't be hungry now."
"But we're in a food store, Mommy. I want animal crackers!"
"No. This is your own fault."
"Mommy!"
"I said no."
On went the water works. "But Mommy!"
Buffy had had it. "Kaitlin, shut up!"
Buffy had been so wrapped up in scolding her daughter that she didn't see the other shopping cart as she went around the corner. They collided with a loud crash that rung in Buffy's ears and she felt like crying. She was tired, and stressed out, and had a screaming child in the middle of the supermarket and when she looked up she saw that she had crashed into one of the last people she wanted to see.
"Hello, Buffy," the older woman said kindly.
"Hi, Maryann."
"How are you?"
"All right, screaming child aside. And yourself?"
"Same old, same old." There was a moment of awkward silence before Maryann spoke again. "Oh, isn't this ridiculous? Tell me, how's Dawnie doing?"
"Fine, now. We had a bit of a scare the other day. She told me she thought she might be pregnant."
"By David?" Buffy looked insulted by this inquiry. "I'm sorry, that's a stupid question. I just mean... she's not, is she?"
Buffy shook her head. "No. It was a false alarm. Probably just stress."
"God, I can't even imagine. But she's all right?"
"She's hanging in there. Always a trooper."
"You don't have to tell me," the woman said, smiling warmly. "Buffy, I want to make something very clear now. I don't want you or Dawn to think that her and David's breakup has changed how I feel. I have come to love that girl more than I can say and I want her to know that still, if she needs anything, she need just ask. And you too."
"That's very kind of you."
"Oh nonsense. I... well I thought I was this close to being her mother-in- law, a role I truly would have been honored to have and well, I just don't know what's come over David. I've never seen him so happy as when he's with Dawn. She, forgive me for saying this but really, she completes him. And I can't even... the way that David has been acting since they broke up."
"It doesn't make sense to me either but-"
"Mommy I wanna go!"
"Kat, quiet, Mommy's talking. We'll go soon, I promise." Buffy looked up at Maryann. "Sorry."
"Oh I understand completely. I remember how hard it was to have a little one. They grow up fast, Buffy. They grow up and they grow crazy."
"Oh good, crazy is a hell of a lot better than now."
Maryann laughed. "Yes, well, I best let you get on your way. But really, Buffy, remember what I said. If you or Dawn need anything..."
"Thank you, that really does mean a lot. You've meant a lot to Dawn."
"That's good to hear."
Maryann squeezed Buffy's shoulder reassuringly before continuing on her way through the aisles. Buffy looked at Kat who was sitting with a most unpleasant grimace on her tiny features. But suddenly, Buffy didn't seem to mind so much.
"Mama?"
"Yes, love?"
"Can we go now?"
Buffy looked at her daughter for a few long moments. Before she saw Dave's mother, she felt like Kat couldn't grow up fast enough and now it seemed like only yesterday she gave birth to her daughter. She regretted being so irritable with her before and grabbed a bag of animal crackers off the shelf, tossing them into the cart.
"Yeah, baby, we can go."
~*~
Spike was excited about this. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone, even Buffy. She could tell, however, by the small smile he was suppressing as he drove, and by the way he sat in his seat, that he was excited about this night. It was the everyday things that they would do that always made him the happiest. His appreciation for the mundane and ordinary made Buffy love him even more, if that were possible.
As they walked to the school from their car, they saw the Harris family by the front door.
"Xander!" Buffy called out for his attention. He turned around and a smile, the same smile that he had since high school, spread across his face.
"Hey, Buffy, what's doing?"
The slayer walked to her best friend and hugged him. "Not much. Long time no see since yesterday. Anything new with you."
"Not since yesterday, nope."
Buffy choked a laugh. "That's good. Hey Anya."
"Oh hi Buffy. I was starting to think I was invisible." Anya smiled at her to let her know that she was kidding. The woman had finally gotten a grip on sarcasm.
"Yeah, yeah. How are you?"
"Great. Jesse is finally sleeping at night."
"That's good to hear," Spike said, joining in the conversation. "Kat still won't sleep at night."
"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "She gets it from you."
"Oh Buffy, guess who came to the Magic Box today."
"Who?"
"David did!" Nicky informed her before his mother could answer. Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw the muscles in Spike's jaw twitch upon Dave's mention.
"Oh he did? That must have been awkward."
Kat tugged on her mother's sleeve. "Mama, what's awkward?"
"Uncomfortable."
Nicky shook his head. "I don't think Dave's uncomfortable. I think he's nice."
"All right, then," Spike said in an overly cheery tone, "how about we go inside?"
Agreement to this suggestion was unanimous as they all became desperate to not get into a discussion about Dave. It was so strange because they all like, or had liked, Dave. He was a great guy, and always wonderful to Dawn. He had become a staple in the Scooby Gang. Picking up a few skills over the years, David would sometimes even help out with patrols; oftentimes, he helped out with Dawn's. And now he was simply out of the picture, leaving a hole in their tight little circle.
Forty-five minutes after entering, formalities, the kind of thing that Buffy hated but put up with, ensued as the teachers gave a brief presentation concerning what the year's goals were. Then all the parents were sent to their children's classrooms where more personal activities would take place, and the snacks that the parents had been assigned to bring would be eaten. After a few minutes of introductions, all of which Spike and Xander talked through despite the constant shushing of their significant others, the children were asked to talk briefly about their families. Buffy had been informed of this just over a week ago through a note home from Kat's teacher and worried about what her loud-mouthed daughter might reveal during her time to speak. The slayer had to sit the child down and explain to her in lengthy detail about what she could and absolutely could not discuss. The words vampire, demon, and slayer were not to peeped. Kat said she understood, but Buffy still couldn't help feeling nervous.
Spike on the other hand couldn't see what Buffy was worrying so much about. Kat was young, but she wasn't stupid, and usually did what was told. She also had a certain intuitiveness to her and could tell the difference between the seriousness of "it's time for bed" and "don't talk about vampires."
As Nicky finished his bit and all the parents clapped for him, Xander leaned to Spike and whispered, "chairs so small were not meant for real men like you and I."
Spike shifted uncomfortably in his own tiny seat and nodded in agreement. "This is what their spending our tax dollars on?"
"That's what I'm saying. I-" Xander stopped talking when he was slapped on the arm by his wife.
"What?"
"Would you shut it. Your son is up!"
"One: he just finished! And two: ow! Take it easy woman."
"Don't talk to me like that, Alexander Harris."
"Like what, Anya Christina Emmanuela Jenkins-Harris?"
"What are you-" Anya put her hands up to her face in embarrassment. "I can't believe you brought that up," she said, trying to suppress her laughs.
Xander wrapped his arm around her and kissed her. "Like I could forget."
At that moment, Nicky ran up to his mother and jumped into her arms. "Did you see?"
"We saw, Honey, you were superb."
Xander kissed his son's forehead. "Excellent, kiddo. Now why don't you sit back down with your class so your teacher will stop giving us the evil eye?"
Nicky giggled uncontrollably and nodded before running back to the rug where his classmates were seated. Sitting, of course, next to Kat, he whispered something in her ear and she smiled. Buffy and Anya gave each other a look that just said: "awww!"
"That was lovely, Nicky," the children's teacher, Mrs. Matus, said in a sugar-sweet voice. "Okay, so why don't we have Kat come up next, hmm?"
Kat turned around and looked at her mother who nodded reassuringly. She got up and walked to the front of the room. Before saying anything aloud, she leaned over to her teacher and whispered something in her ear. Releasing short laugh, Mrs. Matus smiled pleasantly and said something quietly that sounded like, "that's okay," but Buffy wasn't sure. Kat nodded and turned toward the class. Buffy braced herself.
"Um... I live with my mommy and my daddy and Tigger. He's my cat, but not a cat like me. My mom teaches karate, and I take a class from her sometimes with other peoples who are five like me. Nicky is in my class. And my mommy and daddy have a job sometimes at night together, too, and then my Aunt Dawn will watch me, or maybe Giles. Aunt Dawn is my mommy's sister, but she still likes my dad. I have Uncle Dave, too, but I'm not supposed to talk about him or call him uncle anymore because Mommy says Aunt Dawn got dumped."
Kat paused for a moment as a few of the other parents laughed quietly. Buffy could feel her face getting hot as Kat went on.
"Giles is um... my um... godfather. I don't know what that is, but I love him, and he takes my for ice cream with Susan. That's his girlfriend. I have my grandpa Hank, too. I don't see him a lot, but he's nice. I have an Aunt Willow, too. Mommy says I don't have to call her aunt, but I just like to anyway. Tara lives with Willow, I think they may be husband and wife, but it confuses me sometimes."
Buffy was dying in her chair. She felt the other parents stealing glances in her direction. Spike was undaunted and enjoying the humor of this little over-share with Xander. This annoyed Buffy greatly; Spike didn't have to see or deal with the other parents. He wouldn't have to face them or their reactions to the things that their daughter might say. Not that she really expected them to say much of anything at all. But it wasn't fair, he would never understand.
"Aunt Willow, and Mommy, and Xander are best friends. Xander is Nicky's daddy and Nicky is my best friend. Mommy says that Xander and Aunt Willow are like her brother and sister, and sometimes I think that Nicky is like my brother. I see him a lot, and go to the Magic Box with him and Anya. I like it there. They have pretty things, but Anya tells me I'm not supposed to touch. I try, and sometimes I forget. But she doesn't yell at me anyways." Kat paused for a long moment. Buffy, thinking she was done, felt a great relief flow through her body. But of course, there was one last thing.
"I almost forgetted about Clem. He's my daddy's best friend. They play kitten poker and I like to play with his skin." Spike chuckled as Buffy sunk as low as she could into her chair. Kat looked up at her teacher.
"I'm done now."
Mrs. Matus, whose smile had grown three times its size over the course of that description, replied kindly by saying, "That was wonderful, Kat. It sounds to me like you have a very nice, loving family."
Kat smiled, nodded, and ran from the front to where her mother and father were sitting. "Did you see me?"
Spike picked up his girl and pulled her to his chest. "Yes, my love, that was brilliant."
Buffy's face was beet red as she said. "Very detailed, baby, to say the least."
"So," Xander began, "I'm like your brother, huh?"
Buffy smirked and reached over Spike to grab Xander's hand. "As if you didn't all ready know."
"Well, I'll say this. Anything I didn't know about your family, I surely do now."
Buffy laughed, partly at herself for being so embarrassed, as Kat ran back to the carpet and sat beside Nicky like before. The two immediately began to gabber and giggle and have to be shushed by their teacher. As she watched her daughter and pseudo-nephew, it dawned on Buffy, not for the first time, how wonderful of a family she did have. Though it did not span outside of Sunnydale, ad most of them were not actually related to her, family is family. That was something Buffy would never take for granted.
~*~
TBC...
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