Zigpal- thanks very much for review, and as usual also the claps. haha. And well, you'll just have to see how everything goes for the wedding. And well, there is some potential non-Spike interest for Buffy here but won't go more into it until the wedding party. Which isn't in this chapter...hehe.

rabidreject- thanks and well, hope you like this chapter too.

"Okay we have Giles and all guys on official lockdown at Xander's till tomorrow," Buffy said to all the women bustling about in her now-seemingly-too-small home. It was the night before the wedding and the women of the family were organizing last minute details of the wedding party that would be at the house, rather than surprising her Mom with a hen party as they had originally planned.

Buffy had talked to Joyce about it, thus ruining the surprise, but also safely checking whether she really wanted one considering recent discoveries. She was into the third week and although she did get bouts of sickness, which was pretty natural for the first trimester, she wasn't as bad as she was in the first. However, they didn't want to risk it and tempt fate by doing the party thing. Buffy had made up some flimsy excuse for the others as to why there was to be no partying. Anya had been the hardest to convince of course, but with Arlene also in on it all, she and Dawn had swayed everyone else easily.

"Do we think we need more lights for the night?" Grace asked everyone as she took in all the pretty fairy lights she, Willow and Tara had hung everywhere. They drifted from corner to corner of the ceiling, but also draped casually over the fireplace, entwined themselves round shelves and occasionally glistened on the window ledge or traced along walls. When they were all lit they would look fantastic.

"No, it's perfect," Dawn said enthusiastically and Buffy agreed, "Mom's gonna love it."

"I can't wait till she sees it all," Willow said eagerly, getting caught up in the atmosphere of the entire thing.

At that point Anya and Jacqueline trailed in from the dining room, which had also been decked out in fairy lights.

"Well, we've rearranged everything in there and cleared the table," Jac told them all, "We thought the cake would go directly in the center with everyone else sort of haloed around it a way"

"We went for the most obvious of choices in other words," Anya, explained simply, "Now can we try on the fairy lights?"

"Sure, why not?" Arlene shrugged, "Gotta check they'll all working great anyway"

"Right, some are switched there, then there and others there and there," Buffy pointed out and they each headed to a switch, "One, two, three,"

In unison they all flicked on their light switched and the colored lights glistened around the house beautifully.

For five seconds.

Then it blew the electricity.

"Crap," Buffy said simply and was just thankful both her Mom and Karla (who was presently sleeping in Dawn's room) were too asleep to be awoken by the sudden change in electricity as in the sudden lack of it. Her Mom because she didn't want her worried and Karla simply because she could make a right racket.

"Don't worry- I can fix it," Willow assured her before chanting, "Lux lucis sursum"

On her final word all the light glowed back on as though they had never been broken.

"Very cool," Buffy commented.

"My wedding gift," Willow told her, "Not just the fairy lights. I mean I'm gonna make sure nothing goes wrong tomorrow- not one thing."

"Erm…" Arlene sounded and looked very confused. "How did you do that?"

"Did you just chant Latin?" Grace asked, just as perplexed.

"Variation of the clap-on," Jac immediately replied and Buffy and Willow immediately sent her a grateful look. For a Watcher she could be pretty okay. Buffy also sent a grateful look heavenward for the fact her relatives fell for that excuse. Looked like denial and repression were a genetic thing and not just specific to her Mom.

"Absolutely nothing," Willow repeated, very aware that something had almost gone horribly wrong just then.

Joyce was in a deep, deep sleep when she felt the warm morning sunlight sneak through the slither of a gap in her curtains and rest on her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open to see her Mom sat on the end of her bed. Which threw her a bit.

She hadn't woken to see her Mom in her room since she'd been a teenager.

"Mom…what…" She began to ask and then morning grogginess started to slip away and all memories of what was happening came back. And she felt a mixture of happy and a sickness in her stomach that had nothing to do with the baby. They were called nerves.

"Morning, honey,"

"What time is it?" Joyce asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

"Just gone nine o clock. You've got plenty of time"

Joyce was about to reply when suddenly her bedroom door burst open and Dawn ran in. All though she wasn't the first person. Karla was- and Dawn was apparently chasing her.

"No, we can't go in there just…" Dawn trailed off as she realized they were already in the room and Joyce was up anyway, "...Yet. Hey Mom"

"Hi,"

"Aunty Joyce- are yah excited?" Karla asked eagerly bouncing on the bed, "Coz I'm thinking a wedding is like Christmas only…without Santa"

"Interesting analogy," Joyce commented with a laugh, "But yes- I am. Very excited."

And now she was feeling a sickness that was related to the baby and nothing at all to do with nerves. It wasn't too bad though. Could probably be solved with the pregnancy-friendly tablets she had hidden in the bathroom cabinet. Hand on her stomach and another cautiously hovering near her mouth she excused herself and headed towards the en-suite bathroom.

Grace watched her carefully, scrutinizing every movement. She looked over to Dawn with a smile.

"The way she's acting anyone would think she was pregnant," She laughed, "Nerves did always make her act odd though."

"Yeah! Haha! Pregnancy! Pfft!" Dawn scoffed, throwing her Grandmother urgently off the scent, while also wondering that don't nerves make everyone act odd.

"Is it just me or is he losing his accent?" Xander asked everyone in reference to Giles. Ever since they had got up in the morning, Giles had been sounding more and more working class in the accent department. However when Xander asked this question, no one replied. He was the only American beside the very silent Peter and none of his own group was there since, he realized he was the only boy in the dynamic. Good in sometimes, bad in others.

"I need more male friends," He said simply as though the others would understand his pain. Rather than wait for any of them to not reply he headed into his bedroom where he had placed the rings on Anya's bedside. He had only put them down a few minutes ago, but he was terrified of messing up and losing them so he kept checking at five-minute intervals.

"We need more bathrooms," Dawn commented as she flopped into a seat beside her sister in the kitchen. Buffy just looked up from her notepad of a check list in surprise and Dawn realized how random the statement must have seemed, "No…well Mom's doing the bubble bath scene and such…but I kinda really need to go…"

Buffy had to laugh.

"Well, tough. You're gonna have to wait, but I'll give you first dibs on bathroom after" Buffy told her and then pushed the notepad towards her to show what had been ticked off, "Now help me with check listing. I'm kinda swamped. I mean I've got Aunt Arlene sorting out guests that arrived, Grandma's on the catering front- me, checklisty and Jac's…well, actually I don't know what job to give her. Right now, she's just helping Arlene…it's just we don't really know her…and she's Giles' family and…a Watcher so it all equals a lot of awkwardness"

"I know…it's weird isn't it?" Dawn said in agreement, "But she's better than most Watchers isn't she? I mean…she's more like Giles than she is her Dad…so could be worse"

"I guess…" Buffy reasoned, "But still…it makes me all edgy"

"So what's Willow's task?" Dawn asked, changing the subject, "And Tara?"

"Well, Willow is fulfilling her wedding gift promise and hovering around making sure nothing goes wrong," Buffy told her, "And Tara is hovering around Willow just in case she needs to fix any awry spells Willow may have the urge to cast in her capacity as erm…fixy-everything-person…"

"We have more guests," Arlene announced as she came in the room with two people, "Well, actually it's just…Carole, is it?" Carole nodded, "It's just Carole and her husband, Todd"

"Tony," Tony corrected.

"Right," Arlene nodded, "Sorry, I'm just all over the place this morning. Everything's all…."

"Hectic," Dawn and Buffy filled in, in synchronization.

"Argh!" From all the way in the kitchen they heard their Mom scream upstairs.

"See?" Buffy said, gesturing in the direction of the room above her, before pushing past Carole along with Arlene to see what was the matter. Buffy hoped it wasn't slayer-related.

"What? What is it?" Arlene asked, as she and Buffy reached the top of the stairs.

"Hot water," Joyce said simply, peering out from behind the bathroom door as she was just wearing a towel. "All gone."

"What?" Buffy asked, "But how can-"

"I don't know. But it equals not being able to wash my hair," Joyce told her, "And I had big plans for my hair to be clean"

"I'm all over it," Willow announced, having heard the entire conversation from where she had been stood on the landing. "Stand aside people"

"Arlene, I think s-someone wants you downstairs…" Tara said quietly, not wishing Willow to almost give them away again through her over-eagerness with Magick. She had tried to convince Willow not to do all this, but had failed and had been unable to continue arguing the point when her girlfriend had done that sweet, little, innocent smile when she has nothing but naïve good intentions at heart. So, instead, Tara had opted to go along with and just do damage control.

Once Willow was sure Arlene was gone and out of earshot, she began to chant again.

"Unda ebullio quod exsisto tepidus iterum" She smiled at Joyce, "Go check the water now"

The door closed as she did so and the sound of water running from the showerhead could be heard before Joyce returned the door with a smile.

"Very nice," She told the redhead with a smile, panic over now, "Thank you Willow"

"Just doin' my part," Willow told her, putting on a bad Texas accent for some reason that made Tara laugh. "Erm…I mean…erm you're welcome"

Once the bathroom door was closed again Willow turned to the rest with a smug smile on a face, the smile of a woman who knows she was right all along.

"See, everything's gonna go great," She told them and Buffy gave her an even stare.

"You realize if anything does go wrong now it's your fault for saying that?"

"Door again!" Buffy called down, when she heard the knock later on. She would have gone down to answer the door herself, but was as halfway through getting dressed as her Mom and Dawn were so wasn't really appropriately dressed for opening the door to guests. Everyone else was pretty much ready except for them three, but Buffy figured that was the way things were meant to go.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Tara called up kindly, before heading to the front door and pulling it open.

On the doorstep was stood a woman about her own age, with dark, highlighted hair that had been cut into a stylish bob. Beside her were two guys, one of which was in a wheelchair, though by the fact he had some form of a cane across his lap, Tara guessed he could walk for short periods of time- she wondered what had happened for him to be injured so badly, and made a mental bet with herself that these people were in the same line of work as Buffy.

"Hi," The woman smiled winningly at Tara, "We're here for the wedding thingy. I'm Cordelia and this is Wesley and Gunn…well, Charles really, but he's really more of a Gunn than a Charles."

"Mm-hmm," Tara smiled in acknowledgement, "Come in," She stepped aside so Cordelia could walk in and Gunn could wheel Wesley up over the front step. "I'm Tara," She told them as she closed the door and Willow came walking in from the dining room.

"Hey baby, who's here?" She asked, fully dressed in her mint green dress for the wedding, taking Tara's hand.

"'Hey baby'?" Cordy questioned, raising an eyebrow at the handholding and Willow first caught sight of her.

"Oh hi- Cordelia! It's been so long!"

"Yeah, it has…" Cordelia agreed, smiling wistfully, but still sounding less enthused by their meeting than Willow was. Nevertheless the two hugged and it was during this that she caught sight of Wesley.

"Oh my god! Wesley!" Willow exclaimed, pulling apart from Cordelia, "Why-you're-I mean that- what happened?"

"It's a long story," Cordy told her.

"Got shot," Wesley explained simply and Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Or incredibly short if you tell it like that"

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Willow asked and Wesley nodded.

"I should be perfectly fine soon. It's just…a little hard to walk at the moment"

"Yeah, stitches break, blood seeps through- it's not pretty," Gunn told her and as though only just realizing he was stood there, Willow frowned at him.

"My, Angel you've changed," She joked.

"Angel can't make it till later- daylight issues," Gunn told and both Willow and Tara sensed he was tense talking about the vampire, just as the other two tensed slightly as well. Willow silently decided not to ask why, "He'll be here for the party later though, but I'm-" Gunn trailed off as he caught sight of a woman coming down the stairs. No more than twenty, her long blonde hair was waved and fell prettily over her deep aqua-blue, knee-length bustier dress and the entire ensemble gave the look of a glamorous girl of the 1950s.

"You're…?" Willow prompted, as he hadn't finished his sentence and she looked in the direction his gaze was fixed to see Buffy coming down the stairs in her bridesmaid dress.

"Hey," Buffy greeted them all, "Cordelia."

"Buffy." Cordelia replied in the same tone and the two smiled at each other, but didn't go for the same hug-and-greet as her and Willow.

"And Wesley," Buffy smiled, "You look different. You've got a wheelchair and everything. Demon?"

"Gun," Wesley corrected her.

"Ah." Buffy nodded in understanding- in her opinion guns were never useful and she didn't doubt that it had been someone outside the supernatural world who had been holding the weapon at the time Wes was shot, "You do realize Xander's going to use you as a rolling target of jokes right now?" She asked him, "Most of them revolving around X-Men"

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Wesley replied, with a smile. As much as he had many bad experiences here, he couldn't help feeling that both he and Cordelia were just that little bit happy to be back in Sunnydale.

"And you are…?" Buffy prompted, looking at Gunn.

"Charles Gunn. But just Gunn really." He told her with a smile that automatically made her smile back.

"Yeah, you don't have a Charles face," She grinned, "maybe a Charlie…. but no" She joked before looking at her watch, "Right- an hour before the wedding. We have to get Mom there, all of us, and then Dawn and I have to do the whole meet-and-greet with the guests. Dawn's nearly-" Dawn came down the stairs, in a dress that matched Buffy's, except her dress had straps- her Mom absolutely refusing to let her have strapless, "well, is, ready. So now we just have to wait for Mom." She looked at her watch again as though she expected the time to have changed in the past twenty seconds, "Actually, I better go check on her"

"Well, maybe some of us here should set off now," Grace, suggested as she came into the room with her husband.

"Yeah, us two could get goin'," Carole said, referring to herself and her husband, "And anyone who needs a ride can join us in our car."

"Ooh, could we?" Willow asked, pointing to herself and Tara, "We're kinda car-free"

"Sure," Carole nodded.

"You mean we just wheeled him in here to leave straight away?" Cordelia asked, referring to Wesley, as though the whole thing had greatly inconvenienced her. "We could have just gone straight to the ceremony. Oh no, wait we couldn't," She said, looking pointedly at Buffy and Willow with a glare, "Because no one told us where it was. It didn't even say on the invite. It just said here."

"It's City Hall Cordelia." Buffy explained patiently, "In the hall"

"The grand hall you mean," Wes corrected her and Buffy shrugged.

"Well yeah, but I thought it sounded like way over the top so I left the 'grand' part out,"

Michael and Grace, Arlene, Peter and Karla, Carole and Tony, Edward, Jac, Harvey and Ted and Brian were already seated when Buffy, Dawn and Giles were still greeting guests and Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn finally drove up, having, despite following the cars in front, gotten lost.

Buffy and Dawn had arrived with their Mother ten minutes ago and right now Joyce was in the back room with Tara and Willow helping her with her hair, which had gone a little haywire out of it's clips.

Before the L.A three could reach the building though, some of Joyce's friends made it there first. There were six of them all arriving pretty much in unison, but in separate cars. There were two couples and then two single guys. One of the guys definitely caught Buffy's attention and she rushed to see to him first, wearing her most dazzling smile.

"Hi, I'm Buffy," She introduced herself immediately.

"Cal," He smiled back, "Cal Johnson." She frowned, not recognizing the name, "I'm from your Mom's work." He explained, "I do the tour guiding thing for the school kids?"

"Oh!" Buffy said, nodding with an acknowledging smile, "Good job. I mean, I don't mean that in a patronizing way. I just mean, nice good job working with kids and showing them round and…." Buffy trailed off as she realized she was babbling, "would you like me to show you where to sit? It's a little confusing."

He nodded and followed her as Dawn and Giles were left greeting the rest. Most of them Giles knew and had met on previous occasions. The first couple to reach them were Francesca and Léo- both of which were Italian, but had lived in America since their early twenties and were now in their fifties. Joyce knew them through her Mother as they'd lived next door to her for years. They had been close neighbors and Joyce had always liked them, particularly Francesca's flamboyant personality and Léo's sense of humor (and great cooking), but they had visited the gallery often also and so Joyce had felt she couldn't not invite them.

After that were Karen and Mark, followed closely by Brian. Both Karen and Brian worked at the gallery, while Mark was a computer technician and also Karen's husband. Giles fully liked Karen and Mark, but, although he had no obvious reason to, Giles disliked Brian. He didn't directly work in the gallery like Karen did. He worked in a publishing house, but his employer had him keeping a business contact with Joyce's gallery for certain art publications, so Brian had been at the gallery quite a lot lately. He was a perfectly nice guy and got on with Joyce great and was always friendly with Giles…. but Giles just didn't like him.

Then came along Cordelia and Gunn with Wesley wheeling along. Buffy had told him about this, but it was still a shock to see the ex-Watcher wheelchair bound. Also, Giles took a moment to enjoy the irony of how Wes was the one now no longer employed by the Watchers' Council.

"Giles, check you all tuxed out," Cordelia nodded, taking in Giles' outfit with Pure Cordy Approval, "Looks good"

She, of course, was wearing nothing but the best for this event, as though trying to reassert her top status in Sunnydale. A lilac halter neck, with a paneled knee-length skirt so it flowed when she moved, was complimented by petite lilac and pink high-heeled shoes.

"Thank you," Giles smiled, surprised at how very happy he was to see Cordelia, never having realized how much he did miss her day-to-day and her attitude she would bring to the most recent of supernatural situations.

"Can't believe you're like getting married," She told him and the way she spoke seemed to show how much she had matured since High School, her attitude more similar to Buffy now, although as she carried on talking Giles realized she would never ever stop being Cordelia with a capitalized everything, "I mean to think it was only like nearly three years ago when the two of you just turned into the most embarrassing pair of teenagers that thought they were real badasses when really…well, really it was just kinda sad what with how you thought robbing that store and everything was cool and then hello? Grossness on the car hood. But you know it's kinda sweet how it's come this far and so you won't die like a lonely single librarian watcher guy like we all know you were afraid of,"

"Thank you Cordelia," He said in a patient tone.

"It's nice to know that you haven't stopped cramming complex issues into a nutshell Cordy," Buffy added and Cordelia smiled, obviously taking the comment as a compliment.

"Yeah, but I didn't even get to get onto how once they're all married and everything Giles will be like your Stepdad,"

Buffy just looked at her silently for a moment.

"Go find a seat Cordy"

Clara, the woman who was going to be performing the ceremony, had just finished checking Xander had the rings and the reading, and had already checked some final details with Giles when he saw Joyce walk into the room, just in time for the wedding ceremony to begin.

She wasn't walking down an aisle, wasn't walking to any music- as she herself had said she felt the entire thing all too cliché now and really didn't want it- but Giles was stunned into complete utter silence at the sight of her anyway.

It was the first time he had ever seen her dress, though he remembered her talking about how Dawn and Buffy, particularly Dawn, had convinced her to go at least slightly traditional wedding dress wise rather than the casual-formal she had originally gone for. But what she had on now suited her down to the last pearl bead.

With the look of a bustier, save for the two incredibly thin straps, the pale, pale blue dress hugged her shape until it reached the hips, where it then flowed out to a neat floor-length hemline, the paneling in the design making the simply designed bottom of the dress move graciously. There was intricately woven beading placed at seemingly random points on the dress, in pearly white and blue beads, which were sewn in small delicate flower designs. At the bustier part of the dress, the beading was more intense and covered the entire part and the light reflected off the white and blue colors.

Attached to the top was a pale blue, translucent, delicate bolero jacket with full-length sleeves that had the same small amount of white beading on it as the dress. The collar of the bolero was bordered by a simple floral design that gave the part of the jacket that fell on her collarbone a waved-edge design.

The curls of her hair had been tamed to perfection so the parts that weren't clipped back with a pearl clip, fell gracefully onto her shoulders and two rebellious curls softly framed her face rather than staying in the clip at the back with the rest.

In short, Giles thought she looked stunning. And he couldn't help but tell her when she reached him.

"Thank you," She smiled at him, blushing slightly, perhaps self-conscious of the fact she was in a wedding dress, "You shape up pretty nicely yourself," She smiled again and he returned it.

"Right, shall we begin?" Clara asked as Joyce passed her simple yet elegant bouquet to Buffy who stood behind her along with Dawn.

"I can't believe how far everything's come," Willow whispered to Tara and her girlfriend nodded and smiled in agreement. Willow's smile faded however when she caught sight of Joyce's parents arguing quietly with each other. It was most likely about Joyce or the wedding in general and it had the potential to escalate…but not on Willow's watch.

"Diluo is argumiente , permissum is licentia is cella ut vos s-satus iterum" She whispered, faltering over the word for 'start' as her tongue struggled to get a grasp of the foreign words.

The argument between Grace and Michael faded. For a moment.

And then every couple in the room save for herself and Tara, and Joyce and Giles began to argue. Really loudly.

"Willow," Tara turned to her lover with wide-eyes, "What did you do?" She asked as she worriedly looked around at all the couples that were now arguing, Xander and Anya included.

"I only meant to calm that couple down," Willow defended herself, pointing out Grace and Michael who were now practically at each other's throats.

"What…is…going…on?" Joyce asked in disbelief, looking around at all the guests that were now verbally attacking one another. Even the ones who were single were now taking part in the arguments of couples they knew.

"I-I don't know," Giles replied looking around to see Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn looked as puzzled as them by the entire thing. He also saw Buffy, Tara and Willow talking urgently to one another with Willow very clearly wearing a guilty expression, "But I could wager a guess," Apparently a normal wedding didn't exist in Sunnydale.

Joyce looked around at all the previously happy couples that were now fighting. A moment ago they had all been happily stood with one another, smiling, enjoying each other's company and soaking up the feel-good atmosphere that is attached to most weddings. Now, they argued angrily with each other, some hitting, calling each other names, and insulting the way they live their lives. All that happiness destroyed in a second. She looked over at her sister and brother-in-law who were looking at each other with pure hate as they argued. In one split second it had all changed.

It had seemed like a split-second when things had changed with Hank, but she knew deep down it had been gradual. Even deeper down she had a feeling it has started from the moment they got married. It was like so much commitment just gave them time to see each other's flaws and for all the reasons they should be together, they suddenly saw the reasons they shouldn't. Joyce looked at Giles who was looking presently very confused by the entire situation. His expression of befuddlement made him look so cute that it instantly brought a smile to Joyce's face. She didn't want to lose that and looking around she got a feeling that maybe that's what getting married would do to them. That they'd end up like the angry couples around them.

Subconsciously, she put her hand to her stomach as thought of the recent addition to the entire relationship equation. Would her child benefit more from parents who were married and slowly learnt to hate one another…or parents who were together, happy, yet unmarried?

"Please just stop!" Buffy cried out in the middle of the room, "Just quiet for a minute!!"

The room fell silent as they all turned to Buffy.

"Can you people just compose yourselves for a minute?" Buffy asked formally and they all seemed to think about it before shaking their heads.

"No- not with him constantly…"

"And her…"

"I can't stand the sight of you. Haven't for years!"

"I regret ever saying I do!"

"You never ever have time for me Xander!"

"If I paid any more attention to you Anya I'd be brain dead!"

The arguments escalated again and Buffy sighed in defeat. The lines of every argument stood out to Joyce and she realized she never wanted to be like that. She didn't want what happened between her and Hank to happen between her and Giles. Suddenly, as one fight became violent a person smashed into a chair and that was the final straw.

"Okay, that's it," Joyce said, loud enough for all those not fighting to hear clearly, "I've had enough," Giles turned to her in confused surprise and Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Tara and the three who were visiting from L.A along with the very few others who weren't arguing looked over at her startled and a few of the couples stopped fighting to look as well as her voice rose slightly, "The wedding is off" and with that she walked out of the room. Giles and the other four immediately ran after her into the outside corridor.

"Did she just say what I think she just said?" Cordy asked, looking to Gunn and Wesley for confirmation.

"I think so…" Wesley told her, looking in the direction of the departed bride and crew, and sounding very thoughtful.

"Think it has something to do with this?" Gunn asked gesturing to the room of arguing couples, "What the hell happened here?"

"Willow," Cordelia and Wesley said in synchronization.

"What?" Gunn asked, confused.

"The red head?" Cordelia prompted, "Welcome to Sunnydale where Little Miss Wicca thinks she can do everything…and then messes up"

"So I'm thinking we help them…" Gunn proposed, "I mean it's what we do…I mean sure it's not vamps but-"

"No," Cordelia said simply and Wesley silently agreed. "Her mess. Her clean-up" She patted him comfortingly and a little patronizingly on the shoulder, as though feeling sorry for him that he didn't know the ins and outs of Sunnydale "Trust me. It's for the best,"

"Joyce," Giles called as he ran after her and she stopped to turn around and look at him, "W-what, how-"

"It's just the last straw," She sighed.

"I didn't know there was a first straw," he told her honestly.

"It happened a long time ago, before I met you," she said sadly.

"Mom you can't just leave," Buffy told her, her choice of words and tone of voice implying the other, hidden reasons for her not being able to leave but Joyce looked doubtful.

"Can't I? You saw what's going on in there. Even Xander and Anya can't stand the sight of one another anymore"

"But it was just a backfired spell!" Willow assured her, "I can fix that" Buffy and Tara threw her a look, "Or Tara…can…"

"No it's not the spell Willow," Joyce smiled at her wistfully, "It's just everything it represents…it reminds me of. I don't wanna end up like that…like I did with Hank," She looked to Giles, "I don't want us to end up like that"

"Joyce, I'm not Hank"

"I know," She agreed putting a hand on his, "But it's still marriage. I'm sorry Rupert…but…but I just can't" She pulled her hand away from his and walked off down the corridor and out of their sight, leaving the group stood there in stunned silence.

"Why'd Mom run away?" Dawn asked in confusion "D-Doesn't she like Giles anymore?"

"Course she does honey," Buffy assured her, "It's just…grown-up stuff"

"We have to fix this," Tara stated, looking very concerned for Giles' welfare, as he seemed to be stood there in stunned silence.

"And we will," Willow said with more confidence than she felt, "Just as soon as we fix that," She pointed in the direction of the room they had just left.

"Giles are you okay?" Buffy asked in concern and he just looked at her silently, "It's going to be okay you know?"

"Y-yes, quite right," Giles said, failing to cover up his insecurities.

"It will be, we'll sort everything out," Buffy assured him.

"Yes, you can fix the spell, but what if this did point something out to Joyce?" He asked, "What if she actually doesn't want to go through with it?"

"Don't be ridiculous Giles," Buffy told him, not believing he would suggest such a thing, "This- what's happened- is just a regular Sunnydale hitch. We'll sort it, but I know my Mom really does want to go through with this. She loves you. I see it every time she lays eyes on you. She becomes the walking romance cliché with her eyes lighting up and her smile becoming just that little bit wider." She looked closely at Giles as though to make sure he was getting her point, "No one has ever made her as happy as you do. Not even Dad"

"Really?" Giles asked with a slight smile, knowing this was potentially Buffy's ultimate approval of his relationship with her Mother.

"Really," Buffy confirmed.

"You and Joyce are like the model relationship in our group," Willow told him with a smile.

"Model relationship?" Giles questioned.

"Yeah," Willow nodded, "You're like the one constant, we know if we're even as half as happy as you two always seem to be…then we're doing something right." Willow gave a sly sidewards smile to Tara as she said this and Tara smiled in return, "Which is why we will fix this,"

"Starting with the spell," Tara added just as Anya and Xander came storming out of the room mid-argument.

"Xander Harris I-" Suddenly both of them glowed slightly and they stopped arguing.

"Huh…anger…has faded…." Xander commented with a puzzled expression.

"Huh," Willow viewed the entire scenario with interest, "Guess we know how to break the spell"

"Get them out of the room it was cast in?" Buffy suggested and Willow and Tara both nodded as Xander and Anya ran over.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Well you see..." Willow began shamefully, "I cast a little spell…"

"No, not that," Xander told her, "Plenty of time for spell apologies later, but did I hear right? Joyce called off the wedding?"

"Yes…but we're on it," Willow told him.

"You're on it?" Xander raised one eyebrow in question.

"Right, Willow, Tara? You work on breaking the spell- get everyone out of the room if you have to," Buffy chose not to answer Xander's unvoiced question and began issuing orders instead, "Giles? You work on keeping the room as long as possible- the wedding will go ahead"

"Right you are,"

"I'm gonna find Mom and talk to her. Xander, will you keep an eye on Dawn?" For once, due to the situation, Dawn didn't make an argument about being babysat.

"No, I'm coming with you," Xander argued, "Anya can look after Dawn"

"What?" Both Anya and Dawn exclaimed.

"You?" Buffy "You wanna come along to have a heart-to-heart with my Mother?"

Xander shrugged with slight embarrassment.

"Not to brag, but I'm good at that sort of thing,"

"Fine…" Buffy agreed slowly, "You and me are Mom bound. The rest of you know what you have to do"

They all nodded and headed in the direction of their respective tasks.

They found Joyce on just outside the foyer, at the front of the building, on the cushioned bench. She looked incredibly out of place sat there in her wedding dress. Buffy was extremely thankful she hadn't gone far- she didn't believe they had to time to run around the city looking for an AWOL bride.

"Mom?" She called and Joyce looked up as Buffy and Xander headed over to her. Buffy could see her face was slightly tear-stained as though she had tried very hard not to cry but hadn't completely accomplished the task.

"Hi you two," She smiled weakly as they reached her, "I'm sorry about…about…. about well, how everything's gone"

"Nothing to be sorry for," Xander told her, "Things like this happen. It's natural. The important thing is not to let them win. I mean look how far you and Giles have come, you can't stop now"

"I don't think we're going to make it all the way though," Joyce said sadly.

"Why not?" Buffy questioned, "What's stopping you? Everything's all ready and waiting…"

"Everything is what's stopping me. Myself included," Joyce admitted, "I only have to think back on how badly my marriage to your Father went to get even a glimpse of where Rupert and I might end up"

"Not a chance," Xander told her, "You two are made for one another. Course it took you three years and a box of chocolate to realize it but now…you wouldn't go back on it would you?" She shook her head, "You are the couple. Anya's always going on about how the two of you are, comparing me to Giles. Do you realize what that does to my ego?" Joyce let out a little laugh, which had been Xander's intention, "The point is, you're one another's other half. It isn't possible for you two not to be together and be happy. And not even a scary step like marriage would change that" Joyce looked at Xander; taking in everything he was saying. She bit her lip as though contemplating what to say or do in response and both Xander and Buffy sat there, looking at her, hopeful.

"I think…. I think I just need to think some things over…" She told the two of them looking at them both apologetically, "…Alone." She got up and walked away leaving Xander and Buffy behind.

"I thought you said you were good at that sort of thing," Buffy said accusingly with a touch of melancholy in her voice as though she felt the matter was lost and Xander carried on watching Joyce walk away into another area of the building as he answered Buffy.

"I am."

In the 'grand hall', Willow and Tara had successfully broken the spell and everyone was back to their calm amiable selves although that had had to lead everyone out of the room before leading them back in to do so. They were now all waiting for the wedding to begin, which they couldn't really do without Joyce…who still hadn't come back.

Buffy and Xander kept looking uncomfortably at one another, wondering if their words with her had changed Joyce's mind at all. And with the recent discovery that her Mom was pregnant, Buffy certainly hoped she would change her mind as she headed over to stand next to Dawn, the two of them looking even more like sisters in their matching bridesmaid dresses. Giles walked over to them.

"She's not coming is she?" He asked sadly and Buffy didn't know what to say in answer, because she really didn't know. She couldn't understand how her Mother couldn't come; yet time was getting on and she still hadn't arrived.

"Maybe we should have said more…" Xander said about him and Buffy to Willow, "Or maybe we should have brought her here to think rather than letting her wander her off and being all milk carton on her wedding day"

"I thought you had full confidence in what you said to her?" Willow challenged.

"I did," Xander agreed, "Until she was this late. Then I get worried."

Clara who was officiating the wedding, walked over to Giles with a look of patient concern on her face.

"We really need to begin now if we're going to at all," She told him, "I'm sorry, but we have other couples waiting."

Giles was just about to tell Clara that it seemed as no wedding was going to happen when the door to the room opened and Joyce walked inside, closing the door behind her as she headed forward towards Giles.

"So are we ready?" She asked casually as though nothing had happened at all. Giles looked down at her.

"Uh, we are…ah, are you?" He asked carefully and she nodded with a smile.

"Come on," She turned to Clara with a grin, "What are we waiting for?" She was acutely aware of the silence that had fallen on all the guests who had assumed Joyce had ran out and wasn't coming back. She turned to look at them all, "Don't act so surprised" She told them all, as though daring them to admit they didn't think she would come back.

"Right, well," Clara smiled, "Places everyone."

As the wedding ceremony started, Buffy paid less attention to the words and more to the way her Mom and Giles stood and looked, facing each other, with huge grins on their faces that they couldn't seem to keep at bay, both of them clearly in love with each other. It was hard to believe that there was ever any doubt that the wedding would happen.

Buffy briefly thought back to the first time she had caught them kissing nearly three years ago and how crazy the circumstances had been and shocked she had been to witness it. Her 17-year-old self could have had no clue what it would lead to or how right she herself would come to view the whole thing.

"And now, before we begin the vows," Clara said after finishing the introductory lines, "I believe we have the wedding reading from Daniel-"

"Xander," Giles corrected and hoped he wouldn't regret the decision as Xander got up to say the reading he had chose personally.

"Okay," Clara nodded, "We have the wedding reading from, uh, Xander"

As Xander was stood up he unfolded a slip of paper he had taken out of his pocket. Clearing his throat, he was clearly nervous but as he glanced over the extract he had chosen, he realized it seemed to apply more now than it did originally.

"Ultimately there comes a moment when a decision must be made. Ultimately two people who love each other must ask themselves how much they hope for as their love grows and deepens, and how much risk they are willing to take…It is indeed a fearful gamble…" As Xander said these words Joyce glanced away from him for a moment to look at Giles and found he was doing the same and she smiled. It was a fearful gamble, especially for one who'd been there before, but sometimes risks were worth taking and this was one she intended to be a success that she would enjoy to the full, "Because it is the nature of love to create, a marriage itself is something which has to be created, so that, together we become a new creature. To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take…If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation…It takes a lifetime to learn another person…When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling."

With that, his piece done, Xander sat down, aware of the tone it had set for the entire wedding, but from the smiles both Giles and Joyce were giving him, he knew it was the right one. Anya held his hand supportively and lovingly as, with the rest of the guests, they watched and listened as the couple read their vows.

"Joyce, I knew from the first moment I saw you that I loved you and I would grow to love you with each passing moment. And although it took several bars of chocolate to make those feelings known," There were a few quiet titters from the inner circle while the rest of the party looked comically confused. Joyce laughed quietly, her eyes lighting up briefly at the memory, "as your husband I promise to make them known every day. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. From this day forward I give you all that I am- my hand, my heart and my love."

"I don't do teary eyed, I don't do teary eyed at weddings," Willow repeatedly whispered to Tara and Tara smirked.

"It was sweet what he said wasn't it?" Tara said and Willow nodded. She was pretty sure it was the most emotion Giles had ever expressed in a brief moment. Possibly ever now she thought further on it. For those few minutes Willow thought she actually saw the hard, British stiff-upper-lip outer shell fade away. Temporarily at least.

Now Clara asked for Joyce to say her vows.

"Rupert, we've been through so much, faced a lot of struggles, sometimes apart but we always seemed to come together in the end- sometimes with outside help," She briefly glanced over at Dawn, Buffy and the rest of the slayerettes, "After everything we've been through, I sometimes find it hard to believe we made it this far and yet here we are surrounded by the very people who made it possible and it makes me feel happy…and complete. I take you to be my friend, my lover and my husband, loving what I know of you and trusting what I don't. I look forward to growing old together, getting to know more of the wonderful man you are and who you will become and falling in love a little more each day. I promise to love you and stay beside you through whatever life may bring us"

"Right, right," Clara said, clearly as moved by the vows as everyone else, "Now for the exchange of the rings.

"Oh I have them!" Xander exclaimed, heading over and Giles rolled his eyes. In all the scenarios he had envisioned of this day, Xander having such a vital role in the ceremony had not been a part in any of them. Xander finally found the rings safe and sound and handed them over.

"This ring I give to you as a token of my love and devotion to you," Giles said as he picked up a ring in one hand and held Joyce's in the other, "I pledge to you all that I am and all that I ever will be as your husband" He slipped the ring gently onto her wedding finger, "With this ring I gladly marry you and join my life to yours"

After Joyce repeated this, placing the ring on Giles' finger, Clara began the declaration of marriage.

"By the power vested in me by the State of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife"

Giles and Joyce smiled widely at each other, Clara's simple statement telling them it was complete and that they had made it all the way- they were officially married. Clara leaned toward them slightly.

"This is the part where you kiss," she reminded them in a whisper as they had been stood smiling at each other for a good half a minute.

Buffy and Dawn watched with matching grins as their Mom and Giles wrapped their arms around one another and shared a romantic kiss.