For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Chapter 26: Viva Las Vegas!
(Giles's POV)

This may not be the way I envisioned the day in which I was to get married but somehow it is oddly fitting... come to think of it I never really saw myself as getting married, period. Even after my 'return to the fold' after the whole mess with Eyghon I promised myself that I'd never get married. I saw what my father's duty did to my family and I refused to become breeding stock for the next generation of watchers... and yet against all odds here I am, in a small chapel in Las Vegas getting married to my slayer's mother, with my other slayer standing by and a couple of their friends acting as our witnesses. The whole thing feels both incredibly wrong and incredibly right at the same time... and I can't help but smirk at the thought of what some of the most honorable members of the Council would say if they could see us now.

The thing is that while I'm not breaking any oaths, I am breaking about a dozen unwritten rules by marrying Joyce and I will break even more by legally adopting Faith without the Council's knowledge or their blessing.

Right now both Buffy and Faith are looking incredibly pleased with themselves, and even their friends are trying to give the moment as much respect as they can, though I'm well aware of what a strange lot we must seem, with a group of teenagers as our only 'guests'. Oz and Cordelia, being the only two of them who are over eighteen, are acting as our witnesses... well, at least we didn't have to resort to the 'professional witnesses' the chapel keeps on standby for unplanned weddings, so I guess it could have been worse.

The truth is that it had to be this way, there really was no choice. We are trying to keep everything as quiet as we can, hoping that word of this wedding won't get back to the Council before all the paperwork concerning Faith's adoption is signed, sealed and delivered. We drove here yesterday in Oz's van as soon as school let out and, since today is Saturday, that means that Willow, Oz, Xander and Cordelia will be back in Sunnydale by Monday. In addition to that we also made sure we notified Snyder of a family emergency that would cause both Buffy and Faith to miss most --if not all-- of next week.

The thing is that both Joyce and I know we don't have much time, but we do have a plan... even if the girls still don't know anything about it.

Tomorrow morning we are going to be flying off to Boston for our 'honeymoon' with both slayers in tow. In fact that was one of the main reasons why most of us ended up piling up into Oz's van in the first place, even if it meant that we were making a fairly good impersonation of sardines... and yes, I know I sound bitter about that but I'm both too tall and too old to be riding a van with a damn loft in it.

Sure, Xander and Cordelia drove here in Cordelia's car and the two of them were very comfortable, but the fact was that having a third car would have ended up being a major problem after we got here simply because half of us won't be driving back to Sunnydale. Unfortunately that gave us very few options, seeing how my car isn't much better than Cordelia's when it comes to accommodating more than two people and Joyce's car --which would have been ideal under the circumstances-- is still in the shop.

The fact is that we are here and things are about to get set in motion... finally.

We already have an appointment with an attorney Hank recommended. Luckily Joyce's ex came through for us this time around and he managed to put us in touch with a friend of his, even though he was more than a little curious about why we were so eager to get married and adopt Faith in such short notice. It took some effort for Joyce to avoid his questions without saying anything about Buffy's experiences this past summer but in the end she did it.

The thing is that Hank's friend agreed to meet with us first thing Monday morning and we are hoping to be able to talk to Cristina tomorrow so that she'll be able to join us then. If all goes according to plan --and seeing how we already have most of the papers we are likely to need to get things moving ready-- he says that maybe it would even be possible for him to file the adoption papers with all the required signatures by Monday afternoon and then, if all goes well, the whole process should be finalized in less than a month. The truth is that that is much sooner than I would have dared to hope for and that also leaves us with a three month margin for any unexpected delays, which is definitely an advantage..

Luckily it seems that, if Cristina and Faith agree, the whole thing will be basically a rubber-stamp adoption that is not likely to be questioned or challenged and that will speed things up significantly. Once the adoption decree is issued the process will be complete. The papers we are hoping Cristina will sign are written in such terms that they will make it absolutely impossible for her to change her mind later on no matter what... and that is a reassurance I am most definitely looking forward to.

The thing is that we never really told the girls what we are up to, what's behind our decision to get married in such short notice. I have to say, however, that their faces when we told them we were getting married over the weekend were absolutely priceless. They were clearly not expecting that but they did take it in stride, even if their first reaction was to check for signs of possession and to make sure we were not under some sort of spell.... it was a natural response, one that leads me to believe that we've really been living on top of a hellmouth for far too long.

Once they were reassured of the fact that it was indeed our decision they were quite happy with the development and I'm confident that Faith won't object to the idea of being adopted, though I'm less certain of how she's going to react once she learns we are going to Boston, or when she realizes that she's going to have no choice but to confront her mother.

I'm hoping the whole experience will bring her some sort of closure but I'm not willing to bet on it. I may know the basic facts of Faith's past but I also know the information I have is terribly sketchy when it comes to the details... I know it was bad, but I have no clue as to how bad it really was.

Whatever she went through though, I know it was enough to cause her to think of the streets as a safe haven and to get her to stay there for two whole years... and if she perceived that as being preferable to the alternative, well, let's just say that I don't really want to know what she felt her other choice --home, the one that should have been safe-- was like.

What I do know is that in the time I've known her I've only heard Faith mention her mother twice in the passing and both times it was in less than favorable terms. In other words, I'm fairly certain that seeing Cristina again is not something she's looking forward to, but hopefully she will understand why it has to be done. I know it's going to be quite painful for her to be confronted with her past like that, and that was one of the main reasons why we decided not to tell her about the adoption prior to the wedding. We wanted her to be able to relax and enjoy herself today as much as possible under the circumstances and we knew she wouldn't have been able to do it if she had been worrying about what tomorrow will bring.

I know it's not going to be easy for her, I know that a part of her will be hurt by the realization that that door to her past is going to be closed forever but I am confident that in the end she will realize that, in the long run, the benefits will far outweigh the pain. I just hope she'll see this as an opportunity for things to get better for her, and not just as a slayer.

I am not kidding myself, I know the adjustment won't be easy for her, but if nothing else I know how strong she is, though I also know there are several things that will have to change. I know she has developed a really close friendship with Buffy and I'm fairly certain that that's going to help her make the adjustment, but on the other hand I'm still not sure how Faith sees either Joyce or me... or rather I'm not sure how she thinks we see her.

That's something I've never given much thought to, but the fact is that when Joyce brought Faith into her home she tossed her into a set of circumstances she was in no way equipped to handle... and if her request concerning the whole 'sex under Joyce's roof' rule is anything to go by, then the adjustment was far more difficult than either one of us realized. In a way I am more troubled by the fact that we didn't even notice she was struggling than by her request itself... and I'm also troubled by the fact that I've been so distracted thinking about both my slayers, who are now really my daughters, that I almost missed the minister's cue for my "I do".

-o-o-o-

Author's note: Yes, I know I'm oversimplifying the adoption process... sorry about that.