A/N : Thanx too all the fantabulous reviewers; spuffy4eva, vanillagigglez, Moonjava, Aisling-Siobhan, sheilamarie, demonica mills, Girl version of Chandler, Celestia Nailo, Spikesbabygirl, SlaYeRGiRLkaL, Moluvsnumber17, Brunettepet, OnlyHaveEyesForYou, Daniel Wesley Rydell, EMBER91 - you're all awesome.
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 4
Joyce had thought briefly that it might be nice looking after kids again after years of dealing with just teenagers. Of course she loved her girls dearly, but the door slamming and general yelling gave her much more of a headache than bottle feeding and diaper changing ever had. This wasn't her two girls back as babies though, this was five hyper-active first graders and a teen, although perhaps it was a little harsh to say all the kids were hyper. When asked to sit quietly and eat their breakfast, at least Willow and Tara complied and Buffy too since she found she could get a good view of Spike from her position on the stool, as he moved around the kitchen, helping Joyce out and getting his own mug of blood this morning.
Anya still refused to leave poor Xander alone, and the pair almost bowled Giles over as he came back into the house via the back door with this morning's milk delivery. Thankfully he kept his balance and his grip on the bottle.
"Careful there, old man" Spike smirked, "Might have done yourself a terrible damage then"
"May I remind you, Spike, that you have almost a century on me age-wise" Giles pointed out as he passed the milk to Dawn who liberally poured it on her cereal.
"Yeah" the vampire nodded, "but I look a lot better on my years" he smirked, drinking his blood down. Buffy was watching him so intently she reached for the milk and didn't realise Tara had too. The bottle went straight over, sending half the contents across the counter.
"Oopsie" the little Slayer announced as her mother turned and saw the mess.
"I-I, I-I d-didn't mean to" Tara said, shaking her head. Spike who was nearest too her, crouched down by the stool.
"S'alright, little luv" he assured her, "No harm done" he said as tears sprang to her eyes, "Really, pet, no use crying over...well, spilt milk as it goes" he chuckled, and Tara found a smile for him.
"There now, that's better, ain't it?" he said glancing between her and Willow who nodded an affirmative, "Much prettier when you smile y'know" Spike told her as Giles watched the little scene in apparent amazement and Buffy shot daggers from her eyes. Spike said Tara was pretty, but he hadn't said that to her!
"What's up with you, Watcher?" Spike frowned as he got to his feet once again.
"Nothing, I'm sure" Giles shook his head, though he was lying.
"Wiccas treat me most decent of anyone in your damn Scooby club" he reminded the other man, "Reckon p'rhaps it's cos they're a little 'unconventional' like me and the Slayer, but either way, no reason I know for wantin' to see 'em suffer, right?" he said quietly with his back to the room, none of what he said ought to have been heard by the mini versions of the gang.
"Rupert, do you think you could chase down Xander and Anya for me?" Joyce called across to her man, "I really want to make sure they eat something before I go"
"Er, yes, I suppose but...before you go where, Joyce?" Giles asked her as Spike looked on, terribly put off when he realised Buffy was looking at him...again!
"Well, the kids only have the clothes they were wearing when, well, whatever happened " she explained, "I need to get them some more things, we have no way to know how long they'll be like this"
"Sort of hoping it won't be long" Spike squirmed as Buffy's little eyes followed him wherever he walked, and her cereal dripped down her chin as she missed her mouth again, concentrating far too hard on something that was not her breakfast.
"I dunno, I think it's kinda cool" Dawn giggled as Xander and Anya came thundering past her once again. As they ran around the counter and towards the back door, Spike grabbed them both with ease and picked them up, one under each arm.
"Where d'ya want the brats, Joyce?" he asked her with a smirk.
Maybe Baby Buffy would drive him round the bend, but having the power to dangle the Whelp above the ground from a great height - now that was fun.
With breakfast eaten and the kitchen cleaned up, Joyce had managed to get all the kids into the living room and in front of the TV where they all seemed perfectly happy to watch cartoons for a while. Buffy only joined her friends when Spike promised he'd be right in to watch too. He didn't tell her he was sneaking down to the basement for a fag beforehand, didn't want to be bad influence after all.
"I suppose I should begin researching possible reasons for what has happened to everyone" Giles sighed, "Though I doubt bringing my books back here would do any good. Although they are quiet now I have no doubt the noise level will rise significantly when they get bored of SpongeBob RoundTrousers or whatever his name is"
"That's SquarePants" Dawn pointed out with a snigger as Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes, "And y'know whatever it is I might have made happen, I'm kinda glad" she admitted, "I get to order the kids around, cos I'm bigger than them, and for once Buffy can't be all superior on me"
"Dawnie, you know your sister only treats you the way she does because she loves you and wants to keep you safe" Joyce reminded her as she wiped her hands dry on the dish towel, "Although I am glad you like the idea of authority, since it seems you and Spike are going to be in charge today"
"What?" Dawn asked, her voice getting a little squeaky. Sure, she liked the idea of bossing her sister around and all, but actually taking care of five kids all day with only Spike for help, that wasn't so good.
"Well, honey, it'll only be for a few hours but Rupert really has to research this problem and he needs peace and quiet, and you know I have to get some more clothes for all the kids" Joyce explained.
"But Mom" Dawn whined, "How am I supposed to control five little kids?" she wanted to know.
"Sweetie, you're always telling me how grown up you are, this is your chance to prove it" her mother told her, "Beside you won't be alone, Spike will be here to help"
"Help with what?" the vampire asked warily as he appeared from the basement.
"You and me are going all Babysitters Club cos Mom and Giles have to go out" Dawn explained over dramatically folding her arms over her chest.
"Oh joy" Spike rolled his eyes, "Never saw myself as much as a father-figure, Mum" he told Joyce, "Sure you don't fancy stayin' home after all"
"You'll do just fine, Spike, I'm sure of it" she smiled, patting his arm reassuringly as she passed by him.
The four walked through to the living room where the kids were still watching TV, Willow, Tara and Anya all squashed on the couch with Xander and Buffy lying on their stomachs on the floor.
"Now kids, Giles and I have things to do, so Dawn and Spike are going to take care of you for a while, okay?" Joyce said, getting their attention as she put on her coat and picked up her purse.
Little shouts of 'okay' and 'whatever' were called as Giles also grabbed his coat and followed Joyce to the door.
A moment later they were gone, and the credits rolled on the TV, signalling the end of the cartoon. Buffy was immediately on her feet and running at Spike.
"Spikey, you were gone so long I missed you and..." she stopped talking suddenly, wrinkling her little noise, "You smell bad" she said suddenly and Spike would've been quite offended if he weren't so relieved to see her scamper away again. Dawn laughed at her sister's behaviour and leaned a little closer to Spike to see what her issue was.
"I guess even little Buffy knows smoking is of the bad" she explained.
"Only make me get through more bloody fags if it keeps her away from me" Spike smirked, "Seriously Bit, soddin' weird havin' your woman reduced to miniature size like that and still have her all over you"
"I would say I can imagine" Dawn frowned, "but I really don't think I wanna go down that road" she admitted as she went over to the couch and made sure Tara was okay after the upset of earlier. She was fine now it seemed, but Anya was not.
"I'm bored" she announced, "These animated people are not as amusing as the spongey man in the strangely-shaped pants!" she said, grabbing up the remote and changing channels.
"Hey!" Buffy yelled, scrambling to her feet and storming over to the other blonde, "This is my house, and my TV, and my remote!" she told her far more loudly than was necessary, "And I'm the Slayer so you have to give it!" she yelled as she tried to prise the remote from Anya's hands.
"Hey, stop it!" the little ex-demon shrieked as she put up a fight for several moments before toppling from the couch and landing on top of Buffy. The two rolled across the floor, still fighting for the prize of the TV remote, and accidentally changing the channel many times in the process.
Spike and Dawn shared a looked before both diving in and attempting to pull the kids apart without harming them as Xander sat cross legged in front of the TV screen trying to keep up with the constant changes in picture, from Star Trek to Days Of Our Lives to the Cookery Channel and so on with each blink of his little eyes.
"That is enough!" Spike said firmly as he hauled little Buffy off Anya who was swiftly pulled back by Dawn.
"That was so cool!" Xander announced, gesturing at the TV screen that had now stopped flashing but was for some unknown reason showing a talk show dubbed into Spanish.
"Huh" Dawn commented as she held the struggling Anya and stopped her getting away, "Oprah is still Oprah in Spanish"
"Well, what did you think it'd be, Bit" Spike smirked as Buffy gave up the fight against his grasp. It seemed her natural Slayer fighting instinct had taken over so much she had not realised at first who was holding her and now she had noticed she didn't mind so much.
"Now, we let go of you two you behave, right?" he told her and Anya.
The little ex-demon squeaked with annoyance.
"She started it!" she pointed out, still wriggling.
"She has a point" Dawn shrugged, looking aver at Spike who sighed.
"Right you are, should only punish the guilty party I s'pose" he smirked, looking down at Buffy who suddenly looked very wary of him, "Think it's time someone took a time out" he said, trying not to laugh as Dawn let Anya go and practically bounced up and down with joy.
"Oh, oh, let me do it Spike" she urged him, getting down to Buffy's height with a suddenly stern look on her face, "Buffy, go stand in the corner until you've calmed down and can behave properly" she said firmly and though the little blonde opened her mouth to protest, she changed her mind when she turned and saw the severe look on Spike's face.
With a resigned sigh she went over to the corner and stood facing the wall. Anya watched her go and when no-one was looking the two stuck their tongues out at each other in true six year old style.
"She's very violent" Anya muttered to Willow who didn't answer. She didn't like fighting or arguing of any kind. She was certain she and Tara never fell out over anything, they were such good friends. She turned back to her special friend when she tugged on her sleeve and motioned for her to come closer so she could whisper in her ear.
With conspiratal smile on both their faces, Willow slipped her hand in Tara's own and they both looked towards the table a few feet away where a glass of juice had been placed for each of them. Spike turned from Buffy to the little witches just in time to see their beakers rise from the table and float across the space to their owners, landing perfectly safely in their outstretched hands without a drop spilt.
"Well, would you look at that" he smirked, "Guess that must've been what all the whispering was about, Bit, your little Wiccans here didn't lose any of their magicks when they got down-sized"
"Cool" Dawn laughed as she realised what had happened and then observed Xander who seemed suddenly eager to take a hold of Anya's hand. He concentrated hard on his own cup of juice but of course it didn't move an inch. When he'd quite given up on that idea, he found Anya had not given up on her own plan and flatly refused to let go of his fingers now she had hold of them.
Spike aimed the remote at the TV, pushing all the buttons but it seemed every show on every channel was now on a Spanishaudio setting.
"Bloody fantastic" he cursed, "That puts paid to me watching Passions then" he sighed, "Today just gets soddin' better and better"
To Be Continued...