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 5: Daddy's Little Girl
Dawn absolutely loved her job. She couldn't imagine herself doing anything else in the world. Granted, she had only been doing it for a few weeks and hadn't had time to get sick of it yet. Still, she loved waking up in the morning and going to work, even when she only got two hours of sleep because she had been patrolling the night before.
Dawn was an art therapist at Sunnydale Elementary. She had been majoring in psychology and doing art on the side when one day her psychology professor began talking about all of the different occupations that psychology could open up for a person. Dawn had never even considered art therapy until that day. She had always just assumed that she would be a child psychologist, which would have been enjoyable enough. Dawn, however, discovered a way to blend her two loves, art and psychology, into one profession. On top of it all, she was able to work with children.
As much as Dawn enjoyed her work, she still didn't mind getting off early, especially since it was a Friday, not that she had anything better to do than work. Still, she wasn't going to complain about the extra time to herself.
The slayer was about to leave the building when she realized she hadn't checked her mailbox. Damn, there was always something. She made a beeline for the office in order to do a quick check and nothing else. She had the unfortunate tendency of getting distracted and she didn't want that happening. When she reached the main office, she smiled politely at the secretary and looked into her mailbox. There were a few notices, upcoming events and such but nothing too important. She shoved the papers into her bag and was about to leave when she heard the soft sniffling of a young girl. It was a rather familiar sniffle too. Dawn didn't want to look but couldn't help herself. She turned around, looked on the other side of the mail slots where there were a few chairs and saw her niece sitting in one of them.
"Kat? Honey, what' wrong?" She asked, walking over to the girl and kneeling down in front of her.
The girl inhaled deeply and clumsily wiped her face. "I got in trouble."
"Oh did you now? What-"
"Excuse me," the secretary interrupted.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry, but her mother is coming for her and I was told not to let her talk to anyone else."
"Oh, well, her mother is my sister."
The older woman pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and nodded. "I suppose I could make an exception then."
Dawn smiled and, after turning around, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks. So Kat, what did you do exactly?"
At that moment Buffy entered the room. "She bit someone," the older slayer told her sister. "She bit one of her classmates."
Dawn stood up. "Daddy's little girl, huh?" Dawn asked with a smirk. "Hey Buffy."
"Hi there, Dawn. Give me just a second."
"Of course."
Buffy turned her attention from her younger sister to her daughter, who was sitting with a look of tremendous apprehension on her face.
"So Kaitlin, would you like to tell me what you were doing biting someone?"
Kat only shook her head and began to cry harder. "Didn't think so. Come on, let's go. I'll sign you out, and we'll talk about this more at home."
"What? Is she being suspended or something?" Dawn asked.
"Nope, just sent home for the day, so now I have to miss some of my classes."
"Bummer. I'll walk to the parking lot with you."
"Okay," Buffy said with a smile as she took her daughter's hand and began walking from the office. "But don't you still have work?"
"I got off early today."
"Cool. God, I still have to get ready for tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Oh, yeah, Giles and Susan are coming over for dinner. You're welcome to come if you like. You're welcome to help cook if you like."
"Sure, better than just cooking for myself, which actually would have been me ordering Chinese so... never mind."
Buffy choked a laugh. "Sounds good, then. Be there at five," she instructed her sister just as they reached her car.
"Right," Dawn agreed, "not a minute late."
When Buffy pulled into the driveway, she turned of the car and turned around to face her daughter who had finally stopped crying in the back seat. Though they were home, Kat did not seem to be making any move to leave the car. Usually she would be grabbing for the buckle on her booster seat.
"You think you might want to come inside, Kat?"
The girl said nothing, only shook her head.
"Well you can't just sit in the car."
"Yeah I can."
"I doubt it. Why don't you want to come inside?"
"You're gonna yell at me."
"I won't yell."
"Yuh huh! You will!"
"If I wanted to yell, I'd be doing it already."
"Then Daddy's going to yell at me, I hate when Daddy yells."
Buffy nodded in agreement. "Me too. Look, if I promise to tell Daddy not to yell, will you come inside without an argument?"
"Okay," Kat said reluctantly after a few moments of pensive consideration. Buffy smiled at her daughter and unbuckled her car seat, freeing the child from her brief captivity. They walked into the house hand-in-hand and were greeted by Spike, who was waiting on the couch downstairs.
"Well, if it isn't my little nibbler, then."
Kat ran immediately to her father and rested her palms on his knees. "Um, I gotta tell you something."
"What's that?"
"Mommy said that you can't tell at me."
Spike chuckled lightly and looked at Buffy. "She did now, eh? And what makes you so sure I was going to yell in the first place?"
"Um, 'cause sometimes you do that."
Spike laughed aloud this time and Buffy smiled while biting her lip. "C'mon, Kitten, why don't you sit down next to your old dad."
Kat nodded and hopped up on the couch beside him. Buffy knelt down in front of her daughter and took her tiny hands.
"Okay, so no yelling, but Daddy and I have to talk to you. Promise you'll listen?" Kat nodded. "Good. Right, so basically, biting people is bad, and wrong. When you do that, you can really hurt someone, and you don't want to hurt anyone do you?" Kat shook her head profusely. "I didn't think so. Now, why did you bite Danny, anyway?"
"We were playing monsters and I wanted to be a witch but Lily said I couldn't be because she was so I had to be a slime monster even though I didn't wanna. Jackson was being a vampire and he said vampires hypotize you and I said he was playing it wrong. He didn't know how you be a vampire and he was doing it all wrong."
Buffy was white. "So you showed him how?"
"Yeah. He couldn't play it right so I teached him that vampires bite people, not hypotize. He was doing it all wrong."
Buffy was at a loss for words so Spike took over. "Sweetheart, I know your intentions were good, but even if it's just a game, biting or hitting or anything like that is not okay. It really does hurt people, even... even if you don't mean to sometimes you can hurt people. Do you understand that?"
The small child's eyes filled with tears. "Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him!"
Buffy pulled her little girl close to her and mumbled, "I know, baby, we never do."
~*~
Dishes were nearly empty and stomachs were more than full nearly an after hour the odd bunch had sat down to eat dinner. The adults were currently sipping their wine and discussing matters of the Council. That was often the topic of conversation amongst the group now that Giles was in charge and had been for quite some time.
After the Council's sponsors had learned of its attempt to kidnap the slayer's only child, they were disgusted, more so than by the fact that the daughter's father was also a vampire. All but one organization pulled funding, took away books and ancient prophecies, and offered it all to Buffy, asking her what she would like for them to do with it all. Buffy, of course, didn't have to think twice. She knew the best way to use these sources and supplies was to create a new Watcher's Council that would actually work with the slayers, and not against them. She called Giles immediately, told him of her idea to start a new Council in Sunnydale, and explained to him that nothing would make her happier than to have him be the head of the organization. Giles accepted, and less than a week later, production had begun.
It was a few months before the Council really got on it's own two feet. Not only did it have to create headquarters, but it had to recruit capable watchers and watchers-in-training. They allowed some of the less corrupt watchers from England and other parts of the world join their fight against the forces of darkness. With the help of Lorne, Angel's friend and very own empath demon, they were able to weed out all of the bad eggs amongst the group of potential watchers.
It was through the Watcher's Council that Giles met Susan two years ago, a watcher in her late thirties who was born in Korea and raised for most of her life in the suburbs of New York City. They connected instantly but didn't know it. Buffy saw it before anyone, but said nothing for fear that Giles might actually act upon his desires. Eventually, however, they found each other and had been dating for the past eighteen months. As nice and intelligent and perfect as Susan was for Giles, something about her rubbed Buffy the wrong way, and she would find herself becoming cold in her presence.
Tonight was no different. Though Susan was being as pleasant and likeable as ever, Buffy continued to get more and more annoyed as the evening went on. She tried to focus on Kat, who she was sitting next to, making sure that her daughter had enough juice in her favorite baby blue sippy cup and what not.
Dawn adored Susan, and made sure to sit next to her. Sometimes Buffy wondered if her affection for her was more than Giles's, though she knew that was silly. Even though Susan had no children she had a very motherly way about her, without being overbearing. Dawn was the type of person who always needed a sort of mother figure and looked for that in various places after their own mom died. Buffy took no offense to this, she understood that she was never like Dawn's mom, only her sister who took care of her, and that was okay.
Out of nowhere, Giles called the attention of everyone at the table. His smile was wide and strangely bashful, for Giles anyway. Susan looked at him and had a knowing grin on her lips. They gazed at each other, madly in love, and Buffy wanted to puke.
"We," Giles began, taking Susan's dainty hand in his own, "have something to tell you all."
"Are you getting married?" Dawn asked excitedly.
Susan giggled. "No, Dawn. Not quite yet."
"We're moving in together!" Giles announced. Buffy felt her heart sink. It had been a year and a half since they had started seeing each other and she should have seen this coming, but still, somehow, it was a shock.
"That's great!" Dawn squealed excitedly and hugged Susan who reciprocated with equal enthusiasm.
"Good for you," Spike smiled genuinely at the pair. "It's about time, innit, Rupert?"
Susan laughed. "That's what I've been saying."
"Congratulations. I'm sure you'll be very happy together," Buffy told them with all the false enthusiasm that she could muster. "I'm going to make coffee."
Buffy excused herself without looking back. "Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream," was her mantra as she took out the coffeemaker and beans. She put on the pot and was startled when Giles came up behind her and taped her on shoulder. She let out a short gasp and whipped around.
"Jeez, Giles, who does that."
Her watched smiled. "Sorry, I though you knew I was there."
"It's okay. What's up?"
"Precisely what I was about to ask you. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, fine. Never better."
"I've found in the past that the more you defend your well-being the more you are not okay."
Buffy laughed. "Really, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
Giles shrugged. "You've seemed a bit down the entire evening. Something on your mind? Is it... are you upset about Susan's moving in with me?"
Buffy shook her head. "No... I just... the whole biting incident today has sorta been bugging me. It's not you," Buffy told him the half truth.
"If you say so. But Buffy, if you're not okay with this, I really would want you to tell me. No point in not being blunt now."
"Giles, I'm okay, really. I just want you to be happy, and if this is what will make you happy I'm okay with it even if I'm not. Did that make any kind of sense."
"I think so."
"Good because I know I do that thing sometimes where I talk out of my ass so..."
"That really was not necessary, Buffy, thank you."
"Anytime. So, when is Susan moving in?"
"Not sure, really. Next few weeks I suppose. I mean, I only asked her last weekend."
"Last... I... I see."
It became quiet for a few eternal moments. It had been a long time since silence had been awkward between the slayer and her watcher. Buffy could not even think of a time that she and Giles had shared a moment of awkward silence. She hated Susan for this, for the strain she caused on her and Giles' relationship. It was difficult, however, because Buffy was always very thankful for the happiness that Susan brought to Giles' life. Besides, Buffy couldn't be all that angry, she knew that nothing could ever really come between their relationship. Nothing ever had before.
Buffy stepped forward, uncrossed her arms, and wrapped them around her watcher. Giles put his own arms around Buffy's shoulders and held her close to him. Times like these made Buffy feel small, like a child being cradled by her father.
"I'm just glad that you're happy."
Giles kissed the top of her head. "That I am."
"I mean, you've never done anything but support my decisions," Buffy had to restrain herself from saying even when he didn't agree with them. "I want to do the same for you."
Giles and Buffy finally released one another and suddenly the slayer felt like things always did when she was with Giles.
"I thank you for that."
"Anytime. Now come on, help me carry the coffees."
"Of course."
Almost an hour after Giles and Susan had left, Buffy completed the bedtime routine with Kat. She was now slowly cleaning up in the kitchen. She felt sluggish, as though some hugely physically draining event had just taken place. But there was nothing she could think of besides Giles's big news that made her feel so weary.
After reading a bedtime story his little one, Spike walked through the kitchen door and stopped just after stepping over the threshold, picking up immediately on Buffy's lack of energy.
"You all right, pet?"
Buffy smiled. "People are always asking me that." With her hand resting on the counter clutching a dish towel, she stopped her work. "Why do people always feel the need to ask me that? I'm fine."
"And usually fine comes with such a lengthy defense."
"It's wasn't a defense," Buffy informed her paramour forcefully, shaking her head, "it was more of an argument. It's like people assume I'm walking around with this big stormy rain cloud over my head."
"I don't remember ever mentioning rain of any sort," Spike told her as he slowly walked farther into the kitchen.
"Not the point, Spike. You know what I mean. I'm just... fine." Buffy went back to wiping the counter.
"And you really think I believe that?" Spike asked with the hint of a smile.
Buffy stopped her work again, clenched her fist and threw down the towel into the sink. "God damn it! Why can't you just accept my answer and back the hell off? Why do you always insist on picking and picking and picking?"
Spike furrowed his brow and was taking aback by Buffy's sudden angry outburst. "Did... did I do something?"
Upon seeing the hurt puppy dog look on Spike's face, Buffy felt immediate pangs of guilt. "No," she sighed, "I just-"
Spike interrupted Buffy. "Then do not act like it is. Do not take whatever problem you have out on me. I'm here to listen to you, you know that, but you can't treat me like your verbal punching bag. We tried that once, didn't end well. If you decide that you want to tell me what's the matter then great, I'm here for that, but not for you to beat up on me about whatever issues you're having with Giles."
"Sweetie, I'm sorry. I... wait, how do you know I have a problem with Giles. I mean, who says I'm having problems with Giles? I never said that."
"Doesn't take a genius, love."
Buffy smiled. "Or maybe you just know me too well."
"That could be it," Spike said grinning. "Now, do you want to talk?"
Buffy shrugged. "I'm not really sure what to say. The obvious thing is that I'm upset about Giles and Susan moving in together... but I'm not. I really am happy for him," Buffy insisted before adding quietly, "I just think it would have been nice if he had told me first, alone, personally, that's all."
Spike smiled knowingly at Buffy, unnerving her a great deal. "What? What's that look?"
"I hate to say it, Buffy, but you have DLGS."
"DLGS?"
Chuckling softly, Spike explained. "Daddy's Little Girl Syndrome."
Buffy was incredulous. "I do not!"
The vampire said nothing; he only raised his brow at the slayer and allowed what he was saying to sink in. He knew that it did when he saw Buffy cringe emphatically.
"Oh my God, I do."
"It's unfortunate, but not all that surprising. It's obvious what's happening here. You've always been Giles's number one girl and now-"
"Now I'm number two."
Spike shook his head. "No, you're not. The problem is that you think you are. That's why you don't like Susan."
"Does that make me a horrible person?"
Spike walked to Buffy and threaded his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his body. "Far from it. You think you're the first person in the world to be jealous of a step parent?"
"No. But I mean, Giles isn't even my father."
"Oh come on. He might as well be."
"I guess that's true. It's just that... I'm less than two years away from being thirty and I can't deal with Giles' having a girlfriend? I should be above that, more mature."
"It's not a matter of maturity, Buffy. You see him being affectionate with a woman who isn't you or Dawn or Willow and so on, and you, I don't know, feel threatened I guess."
"I've seen him have affection for other women before and it never bothered me in this way. I mean, Jenny, Olivia, hell, even my mother. I've never felt this... threatened."
"Now there's one aspect I can't explain."
"That's okay, you've done enough for one night. As a matter of fact, you might as well take the rest of the week off."
Spike grinned. "And if I decline this offer?"
Shrugging, Buffy said, "I don't know. Maybe you'll just have to be punished."
"And if I want to be punished?"
"Well," Buffy cooed flirtatiously, running her fingers over spike face and outlining his chiseled cheekbones with her fingertips "let's find out."
The last of Buffy's words had barely escaped her lip's before Spike mouth was planted on hers. Their lips met in a fiery kiss that drew their bodies so closely together, they felt as though they were one entity. Buffy wrapped her arms around Spike's neck and pulled him in closer to her though she did not think it was possible. Spike grabbed his lover's thighs and propped her up on the kitchen counter. Buffy's legs wrapped around Spike's waist with burning intensity.
As she reached for Spike's belt, the lovers were interrupted by a loud: "GUY-ZAH!"
The stopped abruptly, and were so startled that Buffy's head flew back and banged loudly against the cabinet.
"Ow! Dam-arn it! Darn it!" Buffy exclaimed loudly, trying to cover up the unutterable word that she nearly uttered in front of her daughter.
"You all right, pet?" Spike asked.
Buffy found herself on the verge of laughing after hearing this question. "Isn't that how all of this started?"
Spike smiled. "Oh, yeah." He turned to Kat, who was dragging along her little blankey as her footies padded lightly on the floor. Once she was in front of him, Spike asked, "Now what on earth had gotten my little princess out of bed?"
She sighed emphatically and threw her arms up in the air. "Do you have to be so LOUD? I'm tryin'a' sleep!"
"You could-ah-" Buffy was stammering, "did you hear the conversation that Mommy and Daddy were having?"
Kat shook her head. "I just heard mumble-grumbles of words and some noises," the little girl informed her parents in her overly dramatic, five- year-old manner. Buffy was mortified.
"Well..." Spike began, looking to Buffy, who could do nothing more than shrug, "you need to get yourself back on up to bed. It's much too late for little girls like yourself to be up. Plus, your mother and I need to get back to the very important... uh... conversation that we were having."
Kat once again tossed her arms up in Spike's direction. "Take me. I need another story 'cause now I'm all waked up."
Spike suppressed a groan and lifted his daughter up into his arms. She rested her head gently on his shoulder and snuggled into his body. "One story. One very quick story. You see what I do for you, pet?"
Kat's head popped up and planted a kiss on her father's cheek. "I love you, Daddy."
"Love you, too, my little demon child."
Kat giggled and put her head back down. Buffy hopped off of the counter, the back of her head still throbbing slightly. "I'll keep the bed warm for you," She told Spike, and kissed her daughter goodnight.
~*~
TBC...
~*~
A/n: Hey all. I'd like to apologize for taking so frickin' long to update. It's torturing me... really! It's just between my AP classes and college searches and SAT prep... writing has to sorta take a second seat. I just wanted to letcha know so you don't think I'm just slacking off ;-p. Anyway, please keep on reviewing and I'll work hard to fit in writing when I can for ya! Thanks a million! ~RaB~
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 5: Daddy's Little Girl
Dawn absolutely loved her job. She couldn't imagine herself doing anything else in the world. Granted, she had only been doing it for a few weeks and hadn't had time to get sick of it yet. Still, she loved waking up in the morning and going to work, even when she only got two hours of sleep because she had been patrolling the night before.
Dawn was an art therapist at Sunnydale Elementary. She had been majoring in psychology and doing art on the side when one day her psychology professor began talking about all of the different occupations that psychology could open up for a person. Dawn had never even considered art therapy until that day. She had always just assumed that she would be a child psychologist, which would have been enjoyable enough. Dawn, however, discovered a way to blend her two loves, art and psychology, into one profession. On top of it all, she was able to work with children.
As much as Dawn enjoyed her work, she still didn't mind getting off early, especially since it was a Friday, not that she had anything better to do than work. Still, she wasn't going to complain about the extra time to herself.
The slayer was about to leave the building when she realized she hadn't checked her mailbox. Damn, there was always something. She made a beeline for the office in order to do a quick check and nothing else. She had the unfortunate tendency of getting distracted and she didn't want that happening. When she reached the main office, she smiled politely at the secretary and looked into her mailbox. There were a few notices, upcoming events and such but nothing too important. She shoved the papers into her bag and was about to leave when she heard the soft sniffling of a young girl. It was a rather familiar sniffle too. Dawn didn't want to look but couldn't help herself. She turned around, looked on the other side of the mail slots where there were a few chairs and saw her niece sitting in one of them.
"Kat? Honey, what' wrong?" She asked, walking over to the girl and kneeling down in front of her.
The girl inhaled deeply and clumsily wiped her face. "I got in trouble."
"Oh did you now? What-"
"Excuse me," the secretary interrupted.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry, but her mother is coming for her and I was told not to let her talk to anyone else."
"Oh, well, her mother is my sister."
The older woman pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and nodded. "I suppose I could make an exception then."
Dawn smiled and, after turning around, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks. So Kat, what did you do exactly?"
At that moment Buffy entered the room. "She bit someone," the older slayer told her sister. "She bit one of her classmates."
Dawn stood up. "Daddy's little girl, huh?" Dawn asked with a smirk. "Hey Buffy."
"Hi there, Dawn. Give me just a second."
"Of course."
Buffy turned her attention from her younger sister to her daughter, who was sitting with a look of tremendous apprehension on her face.
"So Kaitlin, would you like to tell me what you were doing biting someone?"
Kat only shook her head and began to cry harder. "Didn't think so. Come on, let's go. I'll sign you out, and we'll talk about this more at home."
"What? Is she being suspended or something?" Dawn asked.
"Nope, just sent home for the day, so now I have to miss some of my classes."
"Bummer. I'll walk to the parking lot with you."
"Okay," Buffy said with a smile as she took her daughter's hand and began walking from the office. "But don't you still have work?"
"I got off early today."
"Cool. God, I still have to get ready for tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Oh, yeah, Giles and Susan are coming over for dinner. You're welcome to come if you like. You're welcome to help cook if you like."
"Sure, better than just cooking for myself, which actually would have been me ordering Chinese so... never mind."
Buffy choked a laugh. "Sounds good, then. Be there at five," she instructed her sister just as they reached her car.
"Right," Dawn agreed, "not a minute late."
When Buffy pulled into the driveway, she turned of the car and turned around to face her daughter who had finally stopped crying in the back seat. Though they were home, Kat did not seem to be making any move to leave the car. Usually she would be grabbing for the buckle on her booster seat.
"You think you might want to come inside, Kat?"
The girl said nothing, only shook her head.
"Well you can't just sit in the car."
"Yeah I can."
"I doubt it. Why don't you want to come inside?"
"You're gonna yell at me."
"I won't yell."
"Yuh huh! You will!"
"If I wanted to yell, I'd be doing it already."
"Then Daddy's going to yell at me, I hate when Daddy yells."
Buffy nodded in agreement. "Me too. Look, if I promise to tell Daddy not to yell, will you come inside without an argument?"
"Okay," Kat said reluctantly after a few moments of pensive consideration. Buffy smiled at her daughter and unbuckled her car seat, freeing the child from her brief captivity. They walked into the house hand-in-hand and were greeted by Spike, who was waiting on the couch downstairs.
"Well, if it isn't my little nibbler, then."
Kat ran immediately to her father and rested her palms on his knees. "Um, I gotta tell you something."
"What's that?"
"Mommy said that you can't tell at me."
Spike chuckled lightly and looked at Buffy. "She did now, eh? And what makes you so sure I was going to yell in the first place?"
"Um, 'cause sometimes you do that."
Spike laughed aloud this time and Buffy smiled while biting her lip. "C'mon, Kitten, why don't you sit down next to your old dad."
Kat nodded and hopped up on the couch beside him. Buffy knelt down in front of her daughter and took her tiny hands.
"Okay, so no yelling, but Daddy and I have to talk to you. Promise you'll listen?" Kat nodded. "Good. Right, so basically, biting people is bad, and wrong. When you do that, you can really hurt someone, and you don't want to hurt anyone do you?" Kat shook her head profusely. "I didn't think so. Now, why did you bite Danny, anyway?"
"We were playing monsters and I wanted to be a witch but Lily said I couldn't be because she was so I had to be a slime monster even though I didn't wanna. Jackson was being a vampire and he said vampires hypotize you and I said he was playing it wrong. He didn't know how you be a vampire and he was doing it all wrong."
Buffy was white. "So you showed him how?"
"Yeah. He couldn't play it right so I teached him that vampires bite people, not hypotize. He was doing it all wrong."
Buffy was at a loss for words so Spike took over. "Sweetheart, I know your intentions were good, but even if it's just a game, biting or hitting or anything like that is not okay. It really does hurt people, even... even if you don't mean to sometimes you can hurt people. Do you understand that?"
The small child's eyes filled with tears. "Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt him!"
Buffy pulled her little girl close to her and mumbled, "I know, baby, we never do."
~*~
Dishes were nearly empty and stomachs were more than full nearly an after hour the odd bunch had sat down to eat dinner. The adults were currently sipping their wine and discussing matters of the Council. That was often the topic of conversation amongst the group now that Giles was in charge and had been for quite some time.
After the Council's sponsors had learned of its attempt to kidnap the slayer's only child, they were disgusted, more so than by the fact that the daughter's father was also a vampire. All but one organization pulled funding, took away books and ancient prophecies, and offered it all to Buffy, asking her what she would like for them to do with it all. Buffy, of course, didn't have to think twice. She knew the best way to use these sources and supplies was to create a new Watcher's Council that would actually work with the slayers, and not against them. She called Giles immediately, told him of her idea to start a new Council in Sunnydale, and explained to him that nothing would make her happier than to have him be the head of the organization. Giles accepted, and less than a week later, production had begun.
It was a few months before the Council really got on it's own two feet. Not only did it have to create headquarters, but it had to recruit capable watchers and watchers-in-training. They allowed some of the less corrupt watchers from England and other parts of the world join their fight against the forces of darkness. With the help of Lorne, Angel's friend and very own empath demon, they were able to weed out all of the bad eggs amongst the group of potential watchers.
It was through the Watcher's Council that Giles met Susan two years ago, a watcher in her late thirties who was born in Korea and raised for most of her life in the suburbs of New York City. They connected instantly but didn't know it. Buffy saw it before anyone, but said nothing for fear that Giles might actually act upon his desires. Eventually, however, they found each other and had been dating for the past eighteen months. As nice and intelligent and perfect as Susan was for Giles, something about her rubbed Buffy the wrong way, and she would find herself becoming cold in her presence.
Tonight was no different. Though Susan was being as pleasant and likeable as ever, Buffy continued to get more and more annoyed as the evening went on. She tried to focus on Kat, who she was sitting next to, making sure that her daughter had enough juice in her favorite baby blue sippy cup and what not.
Dawn adored Susan, and made sure to sit next to her. Sometimes Buffy wondered if her affection for her was more than Giles's, though she knew that was silly. Even though Susan had no children she had a very motherly way about her, without being overbearing. Dawn was the type of person who always needed a sort of mother figure and looked for that in various places after their own mom died. Buffy took no offense to this, she understood that she was never like Dawn's mom, only her sister who took care of her, and that was okay.
Out of nowhere, Giles called the attention of everyone at the table. His smile was wide and strangely bashful, for Giles anyway. Susan looked at him and had a knowing grin on her lips. They gazed at each other, madly in love, and Buffy wanted to puke.
"We," Giles began, taking Susan's dainty hand in his own, "have something to tell you all."
"Are you getting married?" Dawn asked excitedly.
Susan giggled. "No, Dawn. Not quite yet."
"We're moving in together!" Giles announced. Buffy felt her heart sink. It had been a year and a half since they had started seeing each other and she should have seen this coming, but still, somehow, it was a shock.
"That's great!" Dawn squealed excitedly and hugged Susan who reciprocated with equal enthusiasm.
"Good for you," Spike smiled genuinely at the pair. "It's about time, innit, Rupert?"
Susan laughed. "That's what I've been saying."
"Congratulations. I'm sure you'll be very happy together," Buffy told them with all the false enthusiasm that she could muster. "I'm going to make coffee."
Buffy excused herself without looking back. "Don't scream, don't scream, don't scream," was her mantra as she took out the coffeemaker and beans. She put on the pot and was startled when Giles came up behind her and taped her on shoulder. She let out a short gasp and whipped around.
"Jeez, Giles, who does that."
Her watched smiled. "Sorry, I though you knew I was there."
"It's okay. What's up?"
"Precisely what I was about to ask you. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, fine. Never better."
"I've found in the past that the more you defend your well-being the more you are not okay."
Buffy laughed. "Really, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
Giles shrugged. "You've seemed a bit down the entire evening. Something on your mind? Is it... are you upset about Susan's moving in with me?"
Buffy shook her head. "No... I just... the whole biting incident today has sorta been bugging me. It's not you," Buffy told him the half truth.
"If you say so. But Buffy, if you're not okay with this, I really would want you to tell me. No point in not being blunt now."
"Giles, I'm okay, really. I just want you to be happy, and if this is what will make you happy I'm okay with it even if I'm not. Did that make any kind of sense."
"I think so."
"Good because I know I do that thing sometimes where I talk out of my ass so..."
"That really was not necessary, Buffy, thank you."
"Anytime. So, when is Susan moving in?"
"Not sure, really. Next few weeks I suppose. I mean, I only asked her last weekend."
"Last... I... I see."
It became quiet for a few eternal moments. It had been a long time since silence had been awkward between the slayer and her watcher. Buffy could not even think of a time that she and Giles had shared a moment of awkward silence. She hated Susan for this, for the strain she caused on her and Giles' relationship. It was difficult, however, because Buffy was always very thankful for the happiness that Susan brought to Giles' life. Besides, Buffy couldn't be all that angry, she knew that nothing could ever really come between their relationship. Nothing ever had before.
Buffy stepped forward, uncrossed her arms, and wrapped them around her watcher. Giles put his own arms around Buffy's shoulders and held her close to him. Times like these made Buffy feel small, like a child being cradled by her father.
"I'm just glad that you're happy."
Giles kissed the top of her head. "That I am."
"I mean, you've never done anything but support my decisions," Buffy had to restrain herself from saying even when he didn't agree with them. "I want to do the same for you."
Giles and Buffy finally released one another and suddenly the slayer felt like things always did when she was with Giles.
"I thank you for that."
"Anytime. Now come on, help me carry the coffees."
"Of course."
Almost an hour after Giles and Susan had left, Buffy completed the bedtime routine with Kat. She was now slowly cleaning up in the kitchen. She felt sluggish, as though some hugely physically draining event had just taken place. But there was nothing she could think of besides Giles's big news that made her feel so weary.
After reading a bedtime story his little one, Spike walked through the kitchen door and stopped just after stepping over the threshold, picking up immediately on Buffy's lack of energy.
"You all right, pet?"
Buffy smiled. "People are always asking me that." With her hand resting on the counter clutching a dish towel, she stopped her work. "Why do people always feel the need to ask me that? I'm fine."
"And usually fine comes with such a lengthy defense."
"It's wasn't a defense," Buffy informed her paramour forcefully, shaking her head, "it was more of an argument. It's like people assume I'm walking around with this big stormy rain cloud over my head."
"I don't remember ever mentioning rain of any sort," Spike told her as he slowly walked farther into the kitchen.
"Not the point, Spike. You know what I mean. I'm just... fine." Buffy went back to wiping the counter.
"And you really think I believe that?" Spike asked with the hint of a smile.
Buffy stopped her work again, clenched her fist and threw down the towel into the sink. "God damn it! Why can't you just accept my answer and back the hell off? Why do you always insist on picking and picking and picking?"
Spike furrowed his brow and was taking aback by Buffy's sudden angry outburst. "Did... did I do something?"
Upon seeing the hurt puppy dog look on Spike's face, Buffy felt immediate pangs of guilt. "No," she sighed, "I just-"
Spike interrupted Buffy. "Then do not act like it is. Do not take whatever problem you have out on me. I'm here to listen to you, you know that, but you can't treat me like your verbal punching bag. We tried that once, didn't end well. If you decide that you want to tell me what's the matter then great, I'm here for that, but not for you to beat up on me about whatever issues you're having with Giles."
"Sweetie, I'm sorry. I... wait, how do you know I have a problem with Giles. I mean, who says I'm having problems with Giles? I never said that."
"Doesn't take a genius, love."
Buffy smiled. "Or maybe you just know me too well."
"That could be it," Spike said grinning. "Now, do you want to talk?"
Buffy shrugged. "I'm not really sure what to say. The obvious thing is that I'm upset about Giles and Susan moving in together... but I'm not. I really am happy for him," Buffy insisted before adding quietly, "I just think it would have been nice if he had told me first, alone, personally, that's all."
Spike smiled knowingly at Buffy, unnerving her a great deal. "What? What's that look?"
"I hate to say it, Buffy, but you have DLGS."
"DLGS?"
Chuckling softly, Spike explained. "Daddy's Little Girl Syndrome."
Buffy was incredulous. "I do not!"
The vampire said nothing; he only raised his brow at the slayer and allowed what he was saying to sink in. He knew that it did when he saw Buffy cringe emphatically.
"Oh my God, I do."
"It's unfortunate, but not all that surprising. It's obvious what's happening here. You've always been Giles's number one girl and now-"
"Now I'm number two."
Spike shook his head. "No, you're not. The problem is that you think you are. That's why you don't like Susan."
"Does that make me a horrible person?"
Spike walked to Buffy and threaded his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his body. "Far from it. You think you're the first person in the world to be jealous of a step parent?"
"No. But I mean, Giles isn't even my father."
"Oh come on. He might as well be."
"I guess that's true. It's just that... I'm less than two years away from being thirty and I can't deal with Giles' having a girlfriend? I should be above that, more mature."
"It's not a matter of maturity, Buffy. You see him being affectionate with a woman who isn't you or Dawn or Willow and so on, and you, I don't know, feel threatened I guess."
"I've seen him have affection for other women before and it never bothered me in this way. I mean, Jenny, Olivia, hell, even my mother. I've never felt this... threatened."
"Now there's one aspect I can't explain."
"That's okay, you've done enough for one night. As a matter of fact, you might as well take the rest of the week off."
Spike grinned. "And if I decline this offer?"
Shrugging, Buffy said, "I don't know. Maybe you'll just have to be punished."
"And if I want to be punished?"
"Well," Buffy cooed flirtatiously, running her fingers over spike face and outlining his chiseled cheekbones with her fingertips "let's find out."
The last of Buffy's words had barely escaped her lip's before Spike mouth was planted on hers. Their lips met in a fiery kiss that drew their bodies so closely together, they felt as though they were one entity. Buffy wrapped her arms around Spike's neck and pulled him in closer to her though she did not think it was possible. Spike grabbed his lover's thighs and propped her up on the kitchen counter. Buffy's legs wrapped around Spike's waist with burning intensity.
As she reached for Spike's belt, the lovers were interrupted by a loud: "GUY-ZAH!"
The stopped abruptly, and were so startled that Buffy's head flew back and banged loudly against the cabinet.
"Ow! Dam-arn it! Darn it!" Buffy exclaimed loudly, trying to cover up the unutterable word that she nearly uttered in front of her daughter.
"You all right, pet?" Spike asked.
Buffy found herself on the verge of laughing after hearing this question. "Isn't that how all of this started?"
Spike smiled. "Oh, yeah." He turned to Kat, who was dragging along her little blankey as her footies padded lightly on the floor. Once she was in front of him, Spike asked, "Now what on earth had gotten my little princess out of bed?"
She sighed emphatically and threw her arms up in the air. "Do you have to be so LOUD? I'm tryin'a' sleep!"
"You could-ah-" Buffy was stammering, "did you hear the conversation that Mommy and Daddy were having?"
Kat shook her head. "I just heard mumble-grumbles of words and some noises," the little girl informed her parents in her overly dramatic, five- year-old manner. Buffy was mortified.
"Well..." Spike began, looking to Buffy, who could do nothing more than shrug, "you need to get yourself back on up to bed. It's much too late for little girls like yourself to be up. Plus, your mother and I need to get back to the very important... uh... conversation that we were having."
Kat once again tossed her arms up in Spike's direction. "Take me. I need another story 'cause now I'm all waked up."
Spike suppressed a groan and lifted his daughter up into his arms. She rested her head gently on his shoulder and snuggled into his body. "One story. One very quick story. You see what I do for you, pet?"
Kat's head popped up and planted a kiss on her father's cheek. "I love you, Daddy."
"Love you, too, my little demon child."
Kat giggled and put her head back down. Buffy hopped off of the counter, the back of her head still throbbing slightly. "I'll keep the bed warm for you," She told Spike, and kissed her daughter goodnight.
~*~
TBC...
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A/n: Hey all. I'd like to apologize for taking so frickin' long to update. It's torturing me... really! It's just between my AP classes and college searches and SAT prep... writing has to sorta take a second seat. I just wanted to letcha know so you don't think I'm just slacking off ;-p. Anyway, please keep on reviewing and I'll work hard to fit in writing when I can for ya! Thanks a million! ~RaB~