CHAPTER TWO

Connor was busy taking down Ailsa when Dawn came into the exercise room She heard the walnut-tressed Slayer grunting under him, saw the fury in her blue eyes. Dawn knew her friend didn't like it when she lost to Connor. Dawn stopped at Giles' side as he watched them tussling. Giles' eyes were tracking the movements of his Slayer, his body tense even though he knew Connor wasn't a threat. Of course, if he had been a vampire, Ailsa would likely be dead just now.

Ailsa reached back and grabbed Connor between the legs. He howled, rolling off of her. She scrambled away. Dawn wrinkled her nose. "I wish she wouldn't do that."

Giles' eyes canted towards her, his lips perking up into a smile. "Your sister would say Ailsa did that a little too late."

"Or would be mad she didn't get to be the one to do it." Dawn watched Connor take Ailsa back down with a scissor leg sweep. "Still, I wish she wouldn't. I like that part of him." Realizing what she just said, Dawn turned beet red. "Did I say that out loud?"

"I'm afraid so dear." Giles looked highly amused, and for that, Dawn was relieved.

"Um, Giles, did Connor talk to you?" She tried not to look at Giles as she asked but her eyes had nowhere else to go. It wasn't easy to watch Connor getting slammed into a wall by her new friend. Still, she liked watched Connor work out. He was so incredibly sexy, and even though Dawn knew it was the hormones talking, she wanted to drag him off, throw him down and have her way with him.

Giles nodded and tapped her hand. He inclined his head toward the back door and she followed him out into the garden. She liked that part of the house. All the walkways were trimmed with herbs, some for cooking, others for magic while the rest was a riot of color. The only flowers she actually knew by name were roses and the purple balls of ornamental onions and the puffy hydrangeas but she liked to think the garden was one of the reasons Giles bought the house. It was a peaceful place to be. He went to the patio table that had been set up in the shade of the rowan and small-leaved lime trees that lined the fence wall.

"Connor did talk to you." She felt instantly nervous now that it was out there, the fact she wanted to get married. She saw the tightness in Giles' face and knew he was uncomfortable, too.

He took off his glasses and cleaned them in that familiar way of his. What had Buffy said about it? It was his way of not seeing the things they were doing, the things he didn't really want to see. "Connor and I had a long talk." He slid the glasses back on. "He's a somber young man."

"I know. He's got his reasons," she said defensively. She had heard enough crap from Buffy about Connor about how moody he could be. Connor wasn't moody with her, at least not much, no more than Angel had been with Buffy. Connor was a lot like his dad. She just had to remember not to say that in his hearing or he would get all sulky, just like Angel.

Giles held up a hand. Dawn had never realized before how rough it was, how it was beginning to wrinkle, the joints getting a little knobby. Giles wasn't allowed to get old on her. She had lost too many people already. "That wasn't a criticism, Dawn. If I understood him correctly, you want my help to get married in secret."

She bobbed her head, not quite able to find her voice. Here came the 'no,' she just knew it.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" He rested that rough hand on hers.

Dawn slung her hair back with her free hand, listening to a squirrel chatter in the limes above her. "It is. I know that everyone would try to talk me out of it."

"Connor shared that fear." Giles squeezed her hand. "I'm not sure it's the right thing either."

"Giles, it's what I want and I don't want to have to fight everyone to get it." Dawn tried not to cry. His fingers caressed her cheek. "I don't want to make myself sick worrying about this. I want to be married. Maybe it's old fashioned but I want my baby to have a traditional family. I know Buffy will tell me I'm too young. Xander's already pulled the big brother routine on me, trying to tell me what to do. Later, after they get used to the idea of Connor and I raising this baby, then we can tell them."

"I don't want you to be under any more stress than you are." Giles sat back, looking out over his garden. "And I don't think it's terribly old-fashioned either."

"Then you'll help us?" Dawn tried not to sound too eager but it felt like someone had lifted a house off her shoulders.

Giles smiled. "I'll help."

She leaned over the table and kissed his lined cheek. "Thank you so much, Giles but you can't tell any of them, please. Promise me."

His blue eyes clouded. Dawn knew he didn't like that request. "I think you're not giving Buffy enough credit. You don't have to keep this a secret."

"I know my sister," Dawn argued. "Please Giles, promise me, you'll never tell anyone unless I or Connor tell you it's okay."

His lips pinched. "Against my better judgement, I promise."

Dawn kept from drumming her feet. "Thank you. We weren't sure what to do. I mean, I'm not old enough to get married without permission but you're my guardian and I'm not even sure if American citizens can get married here. And what about Connor? I guess Wolfram and Hart forged him paperwork so he could get the passport to come to England but I don't know anything about it."

His smile returned, reflecting in his eyes. "I'll handle that aspect of it, Dawn. I'll get everything ready for the registry office."

Dawn sucked on her bottom lip, wondering if she were going crazy but suddenly the idea of a shoddy ten minute ceremony in some dinghy office wasn't the wedding she wanted. "Giles, is that like going to the justice of the peace? I mean, isn't there something better?"

A hint of humor flickered in his eyes. "You don't want anyone to know about the wedding but you want a ceremony, too?"

She blushed. "I just don't want to feel cheap." She couldn't look at him. "I feel cheap enough as it is, getting married because I have to."

Giles pushed away from the table, getting up. He put his hand on her shoulder. Dawn recognized the parental love in his eyes as he looked at her. She got up, throwing her arms around him, pressing her cheek against the soft cotton of his shirt. The last months had brought her closer to him as a father figure than ever before, even after Buffy had died. Then he had been in too much shock, planning his retreat to England. Willow and Tara had taken over the parental roles. But Tara was gone and Willow was somewhere with Kennedy, having no real interest in being mommy again. Dawn had gone to Giles with all her fears and worries to the point he moved her and Connor to his home in St. John's Wood. He was the buffer between her and her sister on the rare times Buffy returned to England to roost.

He rubbed her back. "You are not cheap, Dawn. You're just a young lady who's found herself in a bad situation and you're trying to make the best of it."

"Thanks," she mumbled into his chest.

"And I think I can help you. The Watchers Council does have a few religious men among the surviving members. There's a reverend with the COE here in London and I'm friends with a Catholic priest in Ireland. I'm sure either of them would be willing to perform a ceremony on short notice if I asked them to."

Dawn stepped out of his embrace, wiping her eyes. "Really?"

"Really."

She slumped back down at the table and Giles sat as well. "We were never really religious. I wouldn't know one priest from the other." Really she was rather afraid of them, given monks had tried to kill her after creating her. "I'm not sure about Connor."

"I believe Holtz gave him a good grounding in the Bible. Catholic would probably appeal to him more," Giles said after a moment's thought.

Dawn scowled. "Would a Catholic marry us? I mean, I'm not Catholic and I'm pregnant."

"Father Savage won't care about that. You'll like him. He's quite a character," Giles said. "I'm assuming you'd like me to call him now."

"Now would be good. Willow and Kennedy are out on a mission. Faith's with Xander, Andrew, Spike and Angel back in L.A. and Buffy's...where is Buffy anyhow?"

"Tombstone, Arizona." Giles smiled. "There's an ugly something rearing its head in the Bird Cage theatre and scaring the tourists."

Dawn nodded. "There's no one here. It's the perfect time for this if I want to keep it secret."

"You'll need another witness. I can be one of the two," Giles said.

Dawn thought for a moment. "I can ask Ailsa. We've become pretty close."

Giles patted her hand. "Why don't we go in and make sure Ailsa has left something of Connor for you to marry and I'll give Savage a call. You can talk it over with Connor where you'd like the wedding to take place."

Dawn got up and kissed his cheek again. "Giles, I know we never say it enough to you but thank you."

He beamed at her as proud as any father. "You're more than welcome, dear."