26. Parents
"What are your parents like?"
It was a simple question, but it stumped Dawn. With both her mom and her dad gone now, she didn't really have an answer to the question. Her legal guardian was a monster-killing robot, but that answer would win her a one-way ticket to the school councillor and the reject table in the caf. She had hoped that Giles would step into the father role -- he was a real grown-up, he knew what he was doing, she could trust him and feel safe with him. But instead he had withdrawn, and finally returned to England. She supposed Willow and Tara were the closest thing she had to parents now, Willow taking a detached interest in Dawn's life and the running of the house, Tara making her pancakes and keeping track of Dawn's friends and schoolwork. Xander and Anya were around a lot, but they were more like the friendly aunt and uncle. And then there was Spike. Spike, who always hung out with her when she wanted him to, who talked to her like an equal, and who was fiercely protective to the point of being obsessive. He wasn't quite a friend, was more than a favourite uncle... did that make Spike her father figure? This was confusing, and she didn't know how to answer.
"Let's just say... I have kind of an unconventional family."