Disclaimer: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Spike, Giles, Tara, the Council, Sunnydale, and all of Sunnydale's buildings, landmarks, etc. belong to Joss Whedon. Matthew Harris belongs to the girl on my role-playing site who plays him. Morgan Harris belongs to me. My insanity is due to the bunnies.

Chapter Two

The sun had risen the rather large Los Angeles suburb almost two hours ago. A concept that was totally lost on the two people contained in Spike's crypt. Spike, being a vampire, never really cared much about the sun, but he knew Buffy did. As he opened his blue eyes, he noted that the sun had in fact come up and he knew he should share this information with Buffy.

He glanced down at the Slayer where she was peacefully sleeping under his rug. He knew better than to pick up the rug out of respect for her. He knew that she never loved him. He was just what she would do whenever things got rough. Although the scenario was not how he would have liked it to be, he still got to sleep with her on occasion so he could not complain.

"Psst," he whispered as he placed his pale hand on top of her bare left shoulder. "Buffy," he whispered softly as he began shaking her gently to awake her. When she was not responding, he began shaking more violently. "Luv, you have to wake up."

Buffy's arms stretched out in front of her, her left one hitting Spike in the nose. It was at that moment that Buffy realized where she was exactly and what she had promised Xander she would do in only a matter of minutes, she guessed. "What time is it?" she demanded.

Spike shrugged. "How the bloody hell am I supposed to know?" he asked.

Buffy groaned as she stood up and began collecting her clothes, throwing the more important ones on her petite body, such as her shirt and jeans. Having no time to loose, she just shoved her underwear and bar into her pack pocket. Considering that it was Saturday morning, Buffy doubted she would bump into anyone who would truly care about her appearance.

"Before I come back, promise me you'll get a clock," she told Spike as she rushed out of his crypt and over to her house as fast as her two human feet would carry her, hoping that Anya and Xander would be running a little late in dropping Matthew off at her house.

Much to the Slayer's disliking, the opposite was happening. At quarter to nine in the morning, Anya pulled up into Buffy's driveway. She knew for a fact that she was not the best driver under the Sunnydale sun, but she had gotten a valid driver's license after her wedding to Xander.

She quickly jumped out of the car and opened the backdoor, allowing Matthew to emerge from it. "Be right back, sweetie," she told Morgan. "Open the window if you get hot," she said gently before closing the car door and rushing up to the front door at 1630 Revello Drive.

"I rang the doorbell," Matthew announced as he peered into the window.

From behind the doors, Tara gasped noting that Anya had shown up a little early. Quickly, she ran up to the bathroom upstairs and turned the shower water on to give off the impression that Buffy was in there. "Coming," she called as she bounced down the stairs and opened the door.

"Hey Anya," she said as she opened the door, taking the necessary step back to allow Matthew to run in towards the television. "Buffy's in the shower right now, but I can watch Matt watch TV until she gets out."

Anya nodded. "That's fair," she said in a slightly distracted tone of voice. "I am a little early," she added in the same distracted tone. She sighed. "And now I'm off," she added.

Tara nodded as she saw Anya turn around abruptly and walk out to the small red impala parked in the driveway. "Good luck," she called after them, but she doubted the ex-demon could hear her.

"So Matthew," she began as she closed the door behind her. "What would you like to do today?" she asked curiously.

Matthew smiled as he turned his brunette head away from the television. "Watch these cartoons, then eat lunch so I can be strong, and then play a game," he declared proudly without hesitation.

Tara smiled as she grabbed a magazine from the pile near the door and walked into the family room, taking a seat. She then remembered about the running water upstairs and rushed to go turn it off. "Right back," she told Matthew, but she doubted the boy heard her as the cartoons were once again playing.

Buffy quietly snuck in through the backdoor. "Tara," she called in a normal tone of voice. "Tara, I still have time, right?" she asked.

"Aunt Buffy!" Matthew yelled as he ran into the kitchen where the sound of his "aunt's" voice had been heard. "Aunt Tara said you were in the shower."

Buffy smiled slightly. Obviously Anya had dropped him off early or she had gotten his drop-off time wrong. She hoped the first of the two was true. "Um, actually, I went out, um, running," she lied as she began making her way towards the stairs. She glanced into the television room, finding the cartoons on again. "But look, cartoons," she began in hopes to distract the young boy.

Matthew gasped as he ran in. "Ok! I love you, but I wanna watch these!"

Buffy smiled again. "That's fine," she said as she ran into Tara on the steps. The older witch looked down at the Slayer.

"Buffy, you ok? Where were you?" she asked, genuinely sounding concerned. "Should there be reason for us to worry?"

The Slayer shook her head. "No, just a vampire fight," she lied. "He must have knocked me out or something."

"A vampire fight where you lost your underwear?" Tara asked as she gave a curious glance at Buffy's back pocket. "Buffy, what's going on? Giles, Willow, Xander, and I were all worried when you didn't come home last night."

"Look, I'm really fine" she lied as she continued up the stairs. "I just really need to shower," she added.

Tara gave a slightly hurt expression since Buffy did not see her good enough to know the truth. She shrugged it off, knowing that there was a lot going on in the blond's mind. She decided just to be there and if Buffy would want to tell her the truth, she would. If not, then that was fine as well.

A little after eleven that morning, Willow and Giles both returned to the Summers household, Willow home for the rest of the day while Giles would only be there on his lunch break. "Buffy home yet?" the Watcher asked with concern.

Tara nodded as she continued preparing lunch for Matthew. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, without the crust for some reason. She would not question the boy's taste but she would obey to how he preferred things. She smiled, placing a small almond chocolate bar next to the sandwich, a treat for the young boy. "Matt, what do you want to drink?" she called out into the other room. "That your parents would let you have with lunch," she added immediately after."

"Chocolate milk!" came the energetic reply from the boy.

Tara smiled as she continued making his lunch. "Yea, Buffy's home," she said as she returned her mental focus on Willow and Giles. "She's in the shower still though. Someone might want to check on her. She's been in there for nearly two hours."

Willow nodded. "I'll see what the hold-up is," she announced as she rushed over towards the stairs.

Giles turned over towards Tara and began helping her set a place at the kitchen counter for Matthew to eat. Mainly just so he would have something to do. Very rarely did he like just sitting somewhere doing nothing but talking. "Did Buffy say what was keeping her?" he asked.

Tara sighed heavily. "She said it was a vampire fight and he must have knocked her out, but I don't believe her. She's keeping something from us."

"Who's what-ing from who?" Buffy asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"Have a nice shower?" Giles asked curiously as he placed an apple in front of the boy's lunch. Just in case he should for some reason crave something healthy over the less healthy almond chocolate bar.

"Oh, what, yes," Buffy said as she sat down on one of the other stools at the counter. "Sorry, just lost track of time," she lied. She did not want to admit the real reason for taking so long, which would be to wash any remains of Spike off of her body.

"Obviously," Willow mumbled in shock. "Buff, you alright? Do you need a job?" she asked.

"What? No. Well, yes, but I'm fine, really," she assured the Scoobies gathered around in the kitchen. "Honest," she added. "I'm just a little tired," she added as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Buffy," Willow and Giles begged as they instantly followed the Slayer.

"Come on Buff," Willow began as she placed a gentle hand on Buffy's right shoulder, causing the Slayer to stop her journey up the flight of stairs leading towards her room. "We're not going to judge you, we just want to know what's going on with you."

"I'm just tired from this vampire thing," Buffy said once again. "I promise. I just need a quick nap. A cranky Slayer's a careless Slayer," she reminded her friend and Watcher once again.

Tara walked out into the hallway, not wanting to get in Buffy's way. She gave a sigh and glanced over in the other room at Matthew. "Matt?" she called out. "Matt, do you want some lunch now?" she asked curiously.

The young boy nodded. "Absolutely!" he declared as he flipped the television off and began running towards the kitchen, taking the seat at the counter which had food placed in front of it. "Yay! Peanut butter and jelly!" His smile widened even more as he noticed the chocolate bar. "Wow, we never have these at home!" He frowned slightly as he glanced up at Tara. "Are you sure I'm allowed to eat it?" he asked in the most innocent voice an eight-year-old could possibly manage.

Tara nodded. "You can have it. The only reason you can't have it at your house is because the nuts in it make your sister sick," she explained. "So never, ever give her one of these, even if you're really mad at each other. Do you promise?"

Matthew nodded. "Promise," he declared.

"Then go ahead and eat."

Matthew smiled widely up at Tara. "Thank you," he said through a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He swallowed hard. "You're the bestest aunt ever."

Anya drive as fast as the five-year-old car would allow her to go without being pulled over by the police for speeding to Xander's construction site. Although she was proud of her husband for being the head of the new building, next best thing to owning the company in her opinion, she hated how much time it took from him. Time that would not allow him to be at the apartment.

She groaned, finding almost no parking spaces available that were close towards the site. She groaned as she knew she could get a ticket for double-parking. She shrugged it off as she climbed out of the car and quickly ran to the other side and picked up her tired daughter from her booster seat, holding her tightly in her arms before venturing across the site in search of Xander.

"Anya Harris," came the greeting from Xander's construction friend and second in command Tony. "Not caring about breaking the law I see," he added as he began walking next to her.

"I need to talk to Xander," Anya said firmly as she came towards the desk with the blueprints of the building laid out on top of it. She stopped, putting Morgan down for a second and kneeling down next to her. "I'm just going to talk to Daddy for a little bit. You stay here with Daddy's friend, Mr. Walker," she said gently as she handed Morgan another throat drop.

"Wilson," Tony corrected.

"What?" Anya asked in confusion as she began walking across the site once again.

"My name's Tony Wilson, not Walker."

Anya groaned slightly in spite of herself. She knew she had made a promise to Xander to try and be more polite around his friends, whether they were from work or were really close to him like Willow and Buffy. "I'm sure it is," she said hastily as she continued walking. "But I have to talk to my husband right now."

"What's the rush?" Tony asked. "He can't exactly take off to have sex with you right now."

Anya rolled her eyes. "You pervert. That's not what I'm here for. I have Morgan, who you are supposed to be watching."

"I'm no one's babysitter," Tony argued. "Besides Vince is over there looking after her," he continued with a glance back over at the table were Anya had left Morgan. "And what again is the big rush?"

Anya rolled her eyes. "The big rush is that I'm due back across town at her doctor's in," Anya glanced down at her watch, "in eight minutes but before I can go there I have to talk to Xander." Anya's voice was escalating in annoyance as she picked her pace up a little so she could get over towards Xander. "To talk about what we're going to do with her," Anya added in annoyance before rushing over into the concerned arms of her husband.

"Ahn, what is it?" Xander asked as he removed his hat from his head. "What'd they say?" he asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder and used his other hand to pick up her head.

"Tonsillitis," Anya began as she gave a sympathetic glance back at her daughter who was still standing in front of that table playing one of her hand clapping games she had learned at school with Vince.

Xander nodded. "What are our options?"

Anya sighed heavily before answering. "Either we schedule a tonsillectomy where they'll just remove her tonsils, which the doctor said would be a more effective in the long run but would cause her some discomfort for as long as week and half after they do it. It'll prevent it from ever returning, but it'll cost more."

"Second option?" Xander asked.

"We put her on a series of antibiotics which will lessen the pain and make the swelling go down and just hope it'll go away."

"That it?" Xander asked as he weighed the options.

Anya nodded. "Unless we just want to keep seeing her suffer like this. And either way, I'm supposed to let them know before four what we're going to do." She glanced down at her watch once again. "It's quarter of," she added a moment later.

"What'll you think?" Xander asked curiously as the two of them began walking back over to Morgan and Vince.

Anya swallowed hard. "Well, if we could afford it, I'd prefer the surgery since this is her third time coming down with it this winter." She frowned for a moment as she once again thought of the money part of both options. "I could ask Giles for a raise again," she offered.

Xander nodded. "That would probably be best for her." The two of them quickly ran the short remaining distance over towards Morgan and within seconds the six-year-old was back in her mother's comforting arms.

"Thanks for watching her Vince," Xander thanked his co-worker as he looked at the blue print and compared it to how far they had come so far.

Vince shrugged. "Not a problem, Xander. You'd probably do the same if Veronica ever actually came down here with little Vicky," he added, referring to his own daughter close to Morgan's age.

Morgan's eyes lit up at the mention of Victoria Keys. "I wanna play with Vicky," she rasped.

Anya nodded as she patted her daughter's back. "I know. And you will. Soon," she promised.

"After I'm all better?" the little girl asked softly.

Anya nodded once again. "Yea, after you're all better," she said as she glanced over at Xander.

Xander walked over, kissing Morgan lightly on the forehead and Anya on the lips with the same amount of tenderness. "See you two ladies at home," he promised as Anya began heading out to the car before stopping and turning back to face Xander.

"Buffy's!" Anya called after her husband.

Xander turned back and looked over at Anya. "What?"

"Didn't you get Willow's message? She wants us all to meet at their place," Anya informed Xander as she opened the door and placed Morgan back in her booster seat, helping the skinny six-year-old get bucked up for the ride.

"See you there then!" Xander called as he walked back over to the building to supervise.

Buffy walked down the stairs after a long overdue nap in the comforts of her own home. "Tara?" she called out softly as she walked into the kitchen, getting the witch to look up from where she was hand washing the few dishes left over from lunch, a task she had not been able to do yet due to the fact that Matthew wanted everyone who was awake to play a long game of Monopoly with him.

"What is it Buffy?" Tara asked curiously.

"Where's everyone else?" the Slayer asked. "That's not what I need to talk to you about, but I need to know the answer before continuing," she began to explain.

Tara looked at Buffy in confusion. "Giles went back to the Magic Box hours ago and Willow's teaching Matt how to play chess." She moved over towards the other side of the counter, pulling two stools up, one for her and the other for Buffy. "What's up?" she asked a moment later.

"You were right...You were all right. There is something going on, but I don't want anyone to know about it. Especially them. Can you keep it secret?" she asked.

Tara frowned as she began growing nervous. "In our thirteen years of being together, I've never kept anything from Willow," she began. "Except for that one time with the being a demon, but never again...I don't know Buffy."

"Can you at least keep it a secret for a day or two while I figure out what I'm going to do?" Buffy asked curiously.

Tara nodded. "I could do that, I suppose," she began. "What's on your mind?"

Buffy sighed. "Um, it's Spike," she began honestly.

"What about him? You have a crush on him?" Tara asked as she lowered her voice to make sure Willow could not possibly hear anything going on.

Buffy shook her head. "Nothing like that," she assured Tara. "It's just...I don't know if you noticed, but whenever things get tough around here, I would just slip out or run out to be more correct"

Tara nodded. "We all noticed that," she pointed out.

"Well, all of those times I've been going over to Spike'sÉusing him there" Buffy whispered softly. "It's not like I want for it to happen...It just always does 'cause he's convenient...Like Riley used to be...Oh god," she mumbled. "Tara, I'm this horrible person. I've only truly loved one man and I know I can't date him."

Tara continued nodding sympathetically as she began rubbing Buffy's back soothingly. "Shh, Buffy, it's ok...All you need is a boyfriend or something. You'll find one, I promise."

"Of the human variety, preferable," Buffy pointed out.

Tara nodded. "See, that's a start," she said encouragingly. "You can do this. You can be strong."

Buffy nodded slightly, mostly as a way of assuring herself that Tara was speaking the truth. "I can do this," she repeated as she walked over to answer the knocking door. "I can be strong."

Tara smiled before walking into the family room where Willow had given up on teaching Matthew how to play chess and was instead occupying her time by playing checkers against the boy.

Matthew looked up as Buffy closed the door behind her. "Yay!" he yelled as he ran over to his parents, hugging Xander first since his arms were free. "Hi Daddy! Hi Mommy!" he yelled before Xander put a finger above his mouth as to signal for Matthew to be a little more quiet.

"We're all here, no need to yell," Xander said as the four Harrises began walking into the family room.

"Oh," Matthew said. "But guess what! I'm this close to beating Aunt Willow in checkers!" he said as he held his thumb and forefinger of his left hand close together.

"So, what's up Will?" Xander asked. "Anya said something about all of us meeting here."

Willow nodded slightly as she motioned for Buffy, Xander, Anya, and Tara to come in closer.

"What is this?" Anya asked. "I'm getting a little claustrophobic just standing here in this tight circle."

Willow rolled her hazel eyes slightly as she walked over behind the television and grabbed a small bag of party bought hats and things.

"What's this?" Tara asked. "Buffy's birthday was last month"

"True," Willow began. "But Giles' sixtieth is coming up in a weekÉA week during which he'll be gone for some Watcher retreat again. I've decided that we're celebrating," she said as she began handing out hats to everyone. A blue one for her, green for Buffy and Anya, red for Tara, Xander and Morgan, and another blue one for Matthew. "Now everyone hide and when Giles comes in yell surprise," she commanded.

"Which is when?" Xander asked.

"Any minute now," Willow answered as she flipped the lights off. "So be hush!" she added as she took a hiding spot behind the love seat with Tara,

As promised, a few moments later Giles opened the door to the Summers household. "Hello?" he called into the seemingly empty house. "Buffy? Willow?" he called up the stairs as he turned the family room lights on.

"Surprise!"