g120- Thanks vair much review and don't worry I'm all over with the going. hehe. And yes, Joyce's advice did go mucho crazy. haha

zigpal- Haha, you're reaction to Spuffy potential made me chuckle. But don't worry, I won't be overdoing the Spuffy angle and in fact I'll be going a slightly different way about it than they did in the show. And well, we'll see about romantic interest for Buffy...we shalt see....::taps nose knowingly::.. And you like the J/G baby potenialness? Hehehe. Well read on mon amie.

Your worshipfulness- thank you very much for review. you made me blush! hehe, but I'm glad you think this is getting better and better and that you like how it's written. Thanks. :-)

rabidreject- thanks or review and you like both plot lines? Yay. And yes, I have mega plans for seeing red. hehe. and yes, they'll be plenty angel/spike agro. haha- them two used to make me laugh so much in season 5 Angel- they were so childish! And my fic's one of the top 3/4 ones on this site? I'm on a flattery high here. Thank you very much. .::big cheesy grin::.

A/N: So I fixed my interent. Did some system32 searching, found the file that was messing everything up and...erm, well deleted it. Oh yeah, Willow eat ya heart out. haha. As for this chapter- it's pretty much just a developmental, pre-wedding thing and nothing major really happens...but the next chapter is the wedding...so ooh la la. hehe.
"So our dresses are ready to try on today?" Dawn asked her Mom eagerly, the moment she was up. She and Buffy were obviously bridesmaids and they had already tried on their dresses, but they'd had to be fitted and altered constantly, so neither of them, at least in Dawn's view, had really got the proper feel of wearing the dress. Just the feel of being a living pin cushion. But today the dresses were finally finished and it would be the final time they would try them on before the actual event.

"Yes, yes," Joyce told her as she handed Dawn her breakfast that was pancakes. "We'll be heading over there later- when Arlene arrives"

"Cool." Dawn said, taking a bite, "So will we get to see your dress? Coz we pretty much haven't yet. Just occasional glimpses of unattached pale blue material"

"You've been spying on me," Joyce commented with a slight smile of happy disbelief.

"Well what was I supposed to do at the dressmakers? Buffy was on the phone to like whoever was calling her…and you will all tied up with the dressing…so what was I supposed to do? Sit there on my lone wolf lonesome?"

"A daughter's duty I suppose," Joyce decided giving Dawn an amused-scolding look, before starting making her own breakfast. Which…considering how good Dawn's looked, she decided was also going to be pancakes.

"Hey!" Buffy greeted them cheerily, as she came in through the back door, full dressed, "Morning all"

"Morning," Joyce smiled back before frowning as she took in her daughter's workout attire, "You've already been training?"

"Well, yeah…" Buffy admitted, snatching one of Dawn's pancakes and ignoring her sister's complaints as she carried on talking, "Well, Giles was already going off to the shop like in the wee hours so decided I might as well train as soon as. So I tagged along. Took out some of my Spike-Likes-Me frustration"

There was silence at this comment, both Joyce and Dawn being quiet fans of Spike and hating the current situation for what it was. Aware of this, Buffy quickly changed the subject.

"So dressy people today?" She checked and they both nodded, "And Arlene's gonna be here…. when?"

Joyce looked at the clock on the wall behind her.

"An hour or two. Why?"

"No, no reason- just wanted to embrace personal hygiene before we set out. In a bit," She went to head out of the kitchen, but stopped when she saw how many pancakes her Mom was piling on her own plate, "Jeez, you're hungry" She commented lightly and startled by the comment Joyce looked down at the plate, seeming just as surprised as Buffy by the amount. Buffy just shook her head with a smile before heading upstairs to the bathroom for a much wanted shower.

"So, I don't get to be your best man?" Xander asked sounding insulted as he followed Giles around the Magic Box, insisting he answer the question fully.

"Uh…" Giles feigned thinking about it for a second before telling Xander in no uncertain terms, "No"

"Why not?" Xander immediately asked, "Just coz this Daniel guy's coming here. Pfft, you see me more than him,"

"A fact that fills me absolute fear I assure you," Giles told him and Xander's mouth dropped open in shock for a moment.

"Oh no, I see what you're doing," Xander told him, "You're trying to insult me and get me mad so I won't want to be your best man- well, nice try, but it ain't workin',"

"Xander, as much as you have…uh, matured over the years and have on more than one occasion proven what a great friend you can be and not just to Buffy…no. I am not having a 20 year old boy whose speech will no doubt include numerous inappropriate jokes, as my best man"

"There wouldn't be jokes!" Xander protested but Giles just gave him a glare and Xander finished with, "Much…"

"Xander-"

"Just let me be your second," Xander interrupted and Giles frowned.

"Pardon?"

"Let me be your stand-in-best-man…man," Xander asked, "Like if this Dan guy can't make it, I stand in his place"

Giles seemed to debate this possibility but Xander could see he was leaning towards the negative so he leaped in to defend himself.

"Oh come on, what harm is there in that? He's probably gonna make it anyway…."

Giles rolled his eyes in resignation.

"Fine, fine, you can be 'stand-in-man'," Giles told him and Xander immediately let out a mini woo, "Now can you please let me carry on with what I'm doing?" He asked as he sat down at the round table, pen and paper in hand.

"What is it you're doing?" Xander asked, not moving away, but rather taking a seat across from him instead.

"Things that you should leave me alone for," Giles retorted and Xander feigned being offended before asking again.

"No, seriously, what are you doing?"

Giles sighed a sigh that revealed his patience was wearing thin.

"I'm writing my vows," He told him, before adding, "Or at least trying to"

"Wait, you've left them this late?" Xander asked in disbelief, "No way"

"Yes, I know," Giles knew what he was getting at, "I'm leaving it so very much to the last minute, but Joyce isn't to know. She's already written hers and I have claimed to have done the same"

"You know, this pad looks just as empty as it did three weeks ago," Dawn commented, picking up the pad of lined paper her Mom had begun to draft her vows on several weeks ago. It had settled into a home in the newspaper rack ever since her Mom's first attempt.

"Really?" Joyce asked innocently, snatching the note pad away, "How odd"

She walked off into the kitchen taking the pad with her away from her meddling daughter.

"You do know like this whole wedding deal is next week right?" Dawn checked, following her to the kitchen, "And this is the kinda deadline you don't really wanna be late for"

"I know…." Joyce admitted, inwardly cringing at her own slacking off, "It's just everything's been all over the place lately…and I really don't know what to write yet. It's just Rupert said he'd finished his so I said I had too…. so you can't tell him. At all. I will just…. finish them up tonight. Or today. Or something," Dawn looked unconvinced so Joyce added, "Soon. I'll finish them soon"

"For them to be finished," Dawns said as she took a seat at the island, "I think you have to start first."

"Hey! Door was open!" Arlene called when she arrived at her sister's house. She peered into the living room and saw no one there, or anyone anywhere in fact and so she headed in the direction of the kitchen.

Walking in she found her sister and her youngest niece sat at the island together talking. Dawn looked as she always did- the sweet, little fourteen year old, but in Arlene's opinion there was something different about Joyce. She looked different. Maybe it was the fact the wedding for so close but she looked…. more colorful. No, that wasn't the word. Lively, that was the word in a way. Not that she wasn't lively before and not that she was bouncing around the kitchen now, quite the opposite in fact, but there was just something…. different…that was making everything about her seem even more alive. The excitement of the wedding, Arlene surmised.

"Hey, Arlene," Joyce smiled in greeting when she saw her sister, "Great timing. Buffy should be ready in a few so…we'll erm get going then"

"Kay," Arlene nodded, before heading over to her niece with a smile, "Hey Dawn- how's it goin'?"

"Pretty much the same as usual," Dawn told her, "'Cept we get to try on our dresses today- which you know is way better than not"

"I hear ya," Arlene smiled, just as Buffy came into kitchen.

"Hey Aunt Arlene- does this mean we're ready to roll?"

"Yes, honey, we are," Her Mom told her, grabbing her car keys off the side. Dawn however snatched them out of her hand and handed them to Arlene, "Hey! What are you doing?"

In answer Dawn handed her Mother the blank pad and a pen.

"Aunt Arlene drives," She told her, "You start writing your vows"

"Joyce, I take you to be my-"

"No, no, no," Xander cut off Giles' first attempts at his vows, "Boring start. Too traditional. If you're going to write your own vows you want it to be personal to you two. Bring in the Band Candy sitch if you want." Xander paused, "In fact. I strongly advise it."

The phone began ringing, but rather than get up himself, he trusted Anya to answer it.

"You can't seriously think I would talk about that during-" Giles was cut off my Anya calling him.

"Giles, some really weird sounding guy on the phone. Dan-yul. Or something"

Immediately realizing who it was on the other end of the phone, Giles abruptly cut off his conversation with Xander by getting up and heading over to the receiver Anya was holding out to him.

"Hello, Daniel?" Giles said into the phone and Daniel greeted him from the other end, "Yes, it's fine. Anya. Yes, she does have a nice phone voice. No, she's, no she's taken Dan."

Hearing this, Anya smiled widely, looking very pleased with herself about the one-minute impression she had made on Giles' friend. She looked over at her boyfriend though to see he was scowling.

"Yes, they used to keep me very busy too." Giles was saying, "No I don't supposing helping Joyce and I would have helped you much ei- what? What do you mean they aren't letting you go? It's only for two blasted days. Well, they're being darn unreasonable, damn- fine. Yes, thank you. Yes, fine. Fine. I know you have to- right, bye."

He hung up, looking very unimpressed by the conversation that had just transpired. He looked over in the direction of the table he had been sat at to see Xander sat there with a very smug smile on his face.

Looked like he was going to be Best Man after all. Bugger. Then again, things could be worse.

"How could things possibly be worse Arlene?" Joyce asked incredulously as they arrived at the dressmaker's. She had just got off the phone with the woman who had been hired to design and make the wedding cake. Only to find there was no such record of their hiring her, "My cake's gone AWOL"

"True…" Her sister admitted, "But they've put you down on the list now…ahead of everyone else on the list as well"

"Yeah, but now she's only got a week to do it, instead of the original month of planning we gave her." She sighed in frustration, "How could we have disappeared off the list?"

"Calm, Mom, calm," Buffy urged, "One thing at a time right?"

"Right," Joyce agreed, smiling weakly before they stepped into the store together, "Right"

They had barely been stood inside the small front of the store, before a woman came out of the back heading over to them with a large smile. She was small- five foot- and very animated. Red hair and the dithery sort- but in more of an endearing way than annoying. Her name was Kath and she owned the entire store and had been working with Joyce and her daughters individually over the past months over their dresses.

"Joyce, here for the final check on the dresses?" She asked and smiled when Joyce nodded,. "Buffy…Dawn…" Her eyes fell on Arlene, "But I don't believe I-"

"Arlene," Joyce's sister filled in holding out her hand for Kath to shake, "I'm Joyce's sister"

"Oh, I'm Kath." After shaking Arlene's hand she looked to Joyce again, "Well would you like to come through?" She asked and led them through the little door into the large fitting and changing area- a room covered by too many mirrors to be complimentary to the beholder.

"I love this room," Dawn commented eagerly, spinning around and laughing as she saw each and every one of her reflections do the exact same thing.

"I love when your maturity shines through like this," Buffy said to her sarcastically and her sister stopped spinning to scowl at her.

"Now it's Joyce G isn't it?" Kath checked, "I'm sorry it's just we have two Joyces at the moment. Odd really, it's not a common name"

"G?" Buffy questioned and Kath nodded eagerly with a smile.

"Yes, for 'Giles' right?"

"It goes under what you're going to have as your married name Buffy," Joyce explained

"Joyce Giles?" Buffy scrunched up her nose in distaste, "You're gonna be 'Mrs Giles'?"

"Well it's not like I was going to keep Summers was it Buffy?" Joyce said and Buffy frowned so Joyce hurried to explain, "What I mean is…it doesn't well, set the right tone for a marriage if you're keep your ex-husband's name does it? Now if it was my maiden name it'd be a different thing entirely"

"But doesn't this mean…we won't have the same last names?" Dawn asked, not liking the sound of this at all.

"Well you could always change your second name as well…" Joyce suggested with a smile and was surprised to see Dawn actually seriously contemplating this. Buffy on the other hand had the predicted response- utter shock and distaste.

"Buffy Giles? I really don't think so." Buffy told her, "I'll stick to 'Summers' thanks"

"Thought so," Joyce laughed as Kath came back with only two dresses in her hands. And neither of them was her own.

"We seem to have a little problem," Kath told her, laughing nervously.

"Problem?" Joyce asked nervously, almost treading over Kath's words, "What problem?"

"Well, you know like I just said about there being two Joyces?" Kath prompted and Joyce felt she already unfortunately knew what happened, "well…it seems Joyce H has erm…been given the wrong dress"

"WHAT?!" And yet, despite knowing before it was said, Joyce still shrieked in shocked anger.

"It'll be sorted very soon, don't worry," Kath assured her, "Because well…she's not going to want the wrong dress is she? It should be here tomorrow, because we only gave it her earlier this morning" She saw Joyce looked very upset still, and understandably so, and so hurried to make the customer happy, "But I can call her family now, they've left a number…double check they can bring it back as soon as possible." She looked to the others, "They're out of towners you see." And with that she left to head for the phone at the front reception.

"This is too much, how can so much go wrong all at once?" Joyce asked them all, once Kath was gone, "It's just one thing after another and then another thing on top of that"

"Joyce, it's okay…" Her sister tried to calm her down, "Everything will be fine."

"I'm sorry- it's just everything's all over the place now and everything just seems to be coming down around me," Joyce's voice bordered on hysterical as she carried on talking, but never quite reached that level, "It's just the wedding's only one week away and so much needs to be done still and I need to write my vows and then the ceremony has to be confirmed and rehearsed and my dress could be in Chicago now for all we know and I think I might be pregnant and now my cake's gone AWOL and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Buffy interrupted, picking up in all the babble one shocking piece of information, "Stop world, I wanna get off. What was that you just said?"

"My cake's gone AWOL," Joyce repeated, apparently completely oblivious to what she had just confessed to.

"No the other bit…" Buffy prompted, "The bit where you think you're pregnant?"

Her Mother didn't say anything, but merely stood there silently.

"Joyce…?" Arlene prompted kindly, "Is this true?"

"Well…I've…erm…I've missed a period-"

"But since we were teens you've never done that," Arlene interrupted, "You're like freakin' clockwork"

"Thank you…" Joyce said slowly, not sure how to take the comment, "But that's exactly why the pregnancy scare. I mean last week, Rupert and I kinda…" She glanced at Buffy and Dawn briefly before looking back at Arlene, "We kinda you know without you know…."

"Oh…I know." Arlene nodded, showing she understood Joyce's 'code'.

"And so…hence my whole 'argh I might be pregnant thing'"

"But why 'scare' or 'argh'?" Dawn asked, "Shouldn't it be pregnancy happy and 'yay'?"

"Dawn…" Joyce smiled at her naïve daughter lovingly, "It wasn't actually ever a plan of mine to be a mid-life mommy…"

"But just because of…a one time slip-up…" Buffy reasoned, "doesn't mean you're automatically gonna get pregnant. I mean you've 'slipped up' before…you know on the car hood…"

"What?" Arlene asked, startled.

"It's a long story," Joyce said simply, before turning back to Buffy, "I know…I know it's not…but it's not impossible you know?"

"I know," Buffy said, forcing herself to push away her own wiggins to comfort her Mom, "Well have you taken a test?"

"No…" Joyce admitted, dropping into a chair and putting her head into her hands, "I've been kinda afraid to…" She admitted before lifting her head out of her hands to look at them all again, "I mean I haven't even told Rupert…and I don't want to. Not yet anyway. Not till…well not till whatever. So please, don't say anything? To anyone? At least…not yet"

At a dorm in UC Sunnydale, Buffy and her friends were at a very much-needed party. Buffy had felt, with Glory and everything, she definitely needed some down-time before she collapsed. But with her Mom's little confession earlier on at the dressmaker's she felt she needed it even more.

Sure her Mom had admitted she didn't know for sure but….still, the entire thought of the potential of it had been plaguing Buffy's mind ever since. What if she really was pregnant? That would mean in nine months there would be a tiny little baby just like when Dawn had been brought home.

But there'd been no demons then. Now- would a baby ever be safe? And the responsibilities of it. Sure, they'd all chip in, but still, in their lives there were extra keep-it-safe responsibilities.

And would it be a brother or a sister? And what he/she be like? Would it take more after her Mom or Giles? Art geek or book geek? Would it use Americanisms or Britishisms more?

And that was the other weird thing- Giles would be his/her Father. A mini Giles. It was all too wigsome if she thought on it too much.

Giles didn't know anything yet and her Mom wanted to keep it that way for a while, but Buffy really needed to talk to someone about it. Anybody. Xander and Willow? Xander could definitely keep a secret….but Buffy also really wanted to tell Willow, but her little hyperactive best friend had a tendency to accidentally spill the beans.

"Am I really that boring a dancer?" Xander asked looking down at Buffy as they danced together.

"What?"

"You not even dancing with me anymore. Just kinda stood there, occasionally swaying," He commented, "What's up?"

"Nothing's up, I promise," Buffy smiled at him, "I am just full of having dance fun."

"Nice try," Xander told her, "Though I can't deny my dance skills are phenomenal enough to ensure you have a fantabulous time I can tell something's bugging you. Spill"

Buffy squirmed, not knowing whether she should say anything at all or not.

"Well it's not really a bug…it's just, well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone really…" She rolled her eyes after that, "God, could have I sounded any more like a fourth grader?"

"Well possibly you could have added a rendition of the song I Know Something You Don't Know," Xander offered and he got the reaction he was aiming for- Buffy smiled.

"Xander- if I tell you something do you promise you'd keep it your up most secret, secret, secret? Like as in tell no one, including Anya"

"Yeah, sure," Xander told her sincerely, his face becoming serious as he looked at her, wondering what it was she was going to tell him, "Of course. What is it?"

"It's Mom…"

"What about her? She's okay right?"

"Yeah, she's fine," She assured him, "Or as fine as she can be right now. It's just…"

"Just what?" Xander prompted as Buffy trailed off nervously.

"She thinks…" Buffy leaned in as they danced so she could tell Xander directly and make sure no one else could possibly overhear, not that they would anyway, "She thinks she might be pregnant…. with Giles' baby," She added the extra information as though it wasn't already blindingly obvious.

As she said this Xander stopped dancing and pulled away from Buffy to look at her with an expression of complete shock on his face.

"What?!" His voice was quiet, but the tone was a shout.

"Well, she's really not sure yet," Buffy told him immediately not wishing for him to go all crazy suddenly, "She hasn't even told Giles anything. And she doesn't want to, not yet anyway. Which is why you have really gotta keep this quiet"

"Right, right," Xander repeated to himself like a mantra, before looking at Buffy again, his expression wide-eyed and sincere, "but if it is Buffy…. you realize…this is huge?"

"I know…" Buffy admitted, Xander's words causing the full force of it all to sink in, "I mean it's gonna be like a baby…like one of those pink small crying things that we used zombie eggs to symbolize in home ec in High School." Suddenly, at that thought she became panicked, "Oh my god. And that went horribly wrong. It could go that wrong with the real thing. Demons, vampires, they're everywhere. Also crashing my house and if a baby was there…oh god, they might crash the baby"

"Okay, calm, calm, let's be calm Buffy okay?" He asked her, miming slow breathing and she copied, "See my shock thoughts were more leaning towards 'The baby would be Giles'…. and Giles would be a Dad…with your Mom being the Mom…again'. Ya see?"

"Yeah that too." Buffy agreed, "But that part I can't handle right now which is why I'm panicking about other things."

"Like zombie eggs and-"

"Do you know Warren?" Xander was interrupted by a pleasant-looking brunette questioning him with a bright smile.

"And you're certain she was a robot?" Giles checked the next morning at the magic store. They were all talking about the events that had happened at the dorm party the night before and Joyce was trying very hard to focus on what was going on, but she felt like she was going to throw up. Again. She was beginning to suspect that a pregnancy test wasn't needed. Still, she wasn't ready to share.

If only Xander would move his goddamn sandwich away from her.

"Willow's already checked the Sunnydale enrolment," Buffy was saying.

"And got nothing," Willow added, "I found one Warren but he moved out of the country a year ago. I'm checking nearby schools"

"Are you okay, Joyce?" Giles asked, looking to her with concern. She looked very unwell in his opinion and she kept throwing looks of disgust in the direction of Xander's sandwich.

"Yeah, I'm fine…just feel a little off…" She told him, just as Xander's sandwich swung precariously close to her as he leant in to see what Willow had found- that being nothing. It was too much. Joyce jumped up and ran off in the direction of the toilets. It was only then that Xander registered the connection between his sandwich and what Buffy had told him last night. Then he felt extremely guilty.

"Joyce!" Giles called, but Buffy stopped him going after her.

"Food…poisoning…" She told him, "Must have been that…well whatever you had for dinner last night. She'll be fine in a few minutes. In fact, you keep researching and I'll go check on her"

Before he could even attempt to argue, she was gone.

"Mom?" Buffy called as she walked into the bathroom and winced when she heard her Mom retching unceremoniously in one of the bathroom stalls. "Mom?"

She found where her Mom was and found she had, thankfully, stopped throwing up for now.

"Hi, Buffy," She greeted her weakly, managing a faint smile and Buffy smiled back sympathetically.

"Guess it's no longer a not-so-sure,"

"Guess not…unless it really is food poisoning," Joyce attempted to joke, but when she saw it didn't wash she sighed in resignation and seemed, in Buffy's opinion, completely at a loss, "This isn't…I've been a Mother Buffy. For twenty years and I've still got years of looking after Dawn…and now to start all over again?" She sighed once more before looking Buffy in the eyes, "What am I going to do?"

"Tell Giles?" Buffy suggested but her Mom shook her head.

"No, no, not yet. I need to sort out my own head first…before I mess up his…and the wedding. Maybe we should…oh god, the wedding. And…my family…oh god- his family," Now she looked panicked, "They're gonna want it to be a Watcher aren't they? I don't want her to be though. Or he. Or…I just don't want that"

Buffy sensed pregnant woman hysteria coming along and she hurried to intercept it.

"Okay, remember what I said yesterday? One thing at a time," She told her slowly and Joyce visibly seemed to calm, "Let's just focus on the wedding okay. Let's work through that, then we'll work on telling Giles, then we'll work on what to do after that okay?"

"Okay…" Her Mom's voice was a whisper but it was an agreement and that would do for Buffy. She flushed the chain on the toilet, before helping her Mom up.

"Come on, we've got a robot to…de-robotize…or whatever you do to robots," Buffy said but Joyce paused for a moment.

"Can you do me two favors though?" She asked.

"Anything," Buffy told her earnestly.

"Get Xander to throw away his sandwich and…let go of my arm because I can't stand your perfume."

Buffy let go, but looked hurt. She sniffed herself.

"But it's DKNY"