DevJannz2- Thank you for the review, it really meant a lot to me what you said and I'm very glad you're enjoying the stories so much. And as for the Spuffy sitch, you're right- it is a tool for character development- but, if all goes to plan, it will be handled very differently in this story. So thanks, and I hope you like these little pre-'Gone' chapter story-arcs and everything else that comes after

Zigpal-Yay, the clapping of the hands. Mundo appreciation. And yes everything is all woo and hoo on the baby front, but it's gonna get wicked complicated in a wee while. As for Rack- well, he's gonna be coming in more than he did on TV, but not always in a conventional way...well, you'll see.;-) hehe. Thanks for the review.

Rabidreject- Thanks a lot for the review, and yes Giles will be training Will- which starts in this chapter atch, hehe- but obviously, won't be as simple as all that. I've actually got a few plans for the training sessions with Will, one of which is gonna be wicked fun to write. hehe.

A/N: Argh- Wedding this weekend. Argh. So updates will probably be sometime in the middle of next week, maybe earlier if I can find some time to myself. :-)
It was a sound he was growing accustomed to waking up to. Though the sound, or the event causing the sound, didn't just occur in the morning. It was more of a random intervals throughout the day sort of thing.

The sound of Joyce's very close relationship with morning sickness. Which despite it's name, did not stick to just the morning. Xander's sandwich inventions had been banned from the house and also Joyce's presence for the sake of everybody's welfare. Every time she came within six feet of them she was already retching. Then again, considering what Xander put on his sandwiches, perhaps it wasn't a pregnancy symptom at all.

The sound of vomiting stopped just in time for Giles to fully wake up. He then registered that the throwing up had been replaced by the sound of something else. Something banging against a wall...or something. Listening closely, he realized that sound, like the previous one, was also coming from the bathroom.

He got up and saw Joyce knelt on her knees on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet and she was banging her head in frustration repeatedly against the sink basin- the source of the curious noise.

"Joyce, what are you doing?" He asked, walking over and gently turning her away from the offending sink.

"Getting fed up," She grumbled in response, "I know I've been through all this before...but I still believe there should be a point when you stop. And I mean before the second trimester," She added.

He knelt beside her, putting his arm around and she rested her cheek on his hand, embracing the comfort it brought.

"I want everything to be okay," She told him quietly. He didn't have to ask her what she was referring to, because he had the exact same thoughts, the exact same worries, "So much could go wrong Rupert," She carried on, "So much...how can...I want so much to make sure it doesn't...but I can't." She wasn't even forming coherent sentences anymore as she could barely gave voice to the worries she carrying around with her. The same worries Giles was also holding onto. There were the normal worries of an expecting parent- miscarriages, the health of the baby, bringing it to term, was it going to be healthy when it was born...but then there were the other worries. The worries few other parents had to think about. Vampire attacks, demon attacks,things like Glory happening again. It was all too much for any parent to handle.

Willow was so nervous, it was unbelievable. Today was the day of her first session of training with Giles. Being trained in the majiks from the beginning. God, it sounded boring and tedious to her. The 'beginning'? She zoomed right past that in her junior year at high school. But then, that was exactly the problem wasn't it? Too much zooming and not enough time to stop and smell the conjuring. She knew deep down he was right, but she didn't want him to be right. Him being right meant she had a lot of long, tedious months ahead of her spent in that training room at the back of the magic shop. Learning about the elements, and casting circles and grounding herself. As if she didn't know that already.

As she reached the store she sighed. She had to stop thinking like this. She just had to bite the bullet and deal. She couldn't deny that she needed help...and well, this was what was on offer. Plus, Buffy never complained when Giles was training her Slayer wise...so Willow wouldn't complain when he was training her Wicca wise. It was all good. Hell, maybe she'd even like it. Well, that was a stretch...but still. Plus, hadn't Giles originally gotten fired for unconventional training methods? That could spice things up a bit. Maybe she wouldn't just be casting non-existent circles.

She took a deep breath and pushed the front door open to see Xander and Buffy were at the table, clearly still researching on this mysterious, unidentified, frost monster, Anya was at the counter serving a customer and Giles was sat at the far back,seeing to a not-so-well-looking Joyce.

When the telltale sound of the bell ringing above the door reached their ears, they all looked up to see Willow had walked in. She felt incredibly scrutinized.

"Willow," Giles said calmly in greeting, double checking Joyce was okay, before standing up and gesturing for Willow to head straight on to the training room. She gulped- though thankfully, silently,- before walking on to the designated destination.

Willow sat on the bench in the training room, her legs tightly together, her hands clasped in her lap with her head hung, looking very much like a child about to be punished by the Principal for slipping a mouse in the gumball jar.

"Willow," Giles said as he closed the door behind, cutting away the others in the store, "Do you know what magic is?"

Willow truly thought this was a trick question.

"What?"

"Do you know what magic is?" He repeated the question calmly, leaning against the wall that was opposite to where Willow was sat, waiting casually for her to answer.

"Yeah, of course I know Giles..." Willow replied, "That's why we're here, right?"

"Then what is it?" He asked and again Willow frowned, "What is magic?"

"Spells...Wicca...witchy stuff?" Willow struggled to verbalize what she knew magic to be.

"Rational people know how to define magic," Giles said, choosing to ignore Willow's answer for now, "Magic is an illusion. A slight of hand. Nothing more."

Willow frowned even more if that were possible. Giles was clearly in calm lecture mode, but she had yet to understand what he was lecturing toward.

"Another interpretation states that magic is mere fantasy," Giles continued, "Wishful thinking, the substance of which fairy tales are made, mythology- all of it frivolous tales for young children and the uneducated in science and realism. Very little value to anyone, it is of no consequence and the only truth to it is metaphoric. There is of course a third definition," Giles still held that casual tone and Willow knew, through this, that he had not yet hit the point he wanted to drive home, but still she listened attentively, "A malevolent description I'll have you, but a description nonetheless. That magic is the tool of evil sorcerers and magicians to control the innocent and gullible masses. But even the strongest of believers will sometimes claim that to be deep rooted superstition. Ah, and then we have the psychologists," Giles smiled at that as though he found the concept of people in that particular profession trying to define the truth of magic or the reasoning behind it, absolutely ridiculous, "That magic is all self-hypnosis or self-fulfilling prophecies. If you believe something will happen strongly enough that you will subconsciously try everything to make it happen. They're wrong," Giles suddenly lost his casual tone and his voice and words gained purpose and focus. Willow was rapt with attention, "All of those definitions are right in their own way I suppose you could reason, but the real truth...about magic...is nothing of what I've said. Not even your own definition was correct Willow"

Willow was confused, but not wishing to break the flow he had obviously developed, she chose not to interrupt.

"True magick practitioners would, although admitting there are vestiges of truth in each and every one of those definitions, initially reject them. They are not slight of hand, nor fantasy or practitioners of self-hypnosis, and they are not 'spells, Wicca and witchy stuff'" The way Giles repeated the phrase, made Willow inexplicably embarrassed at her own words and hazarded definition, "They consider themselves guardians, preservers of the Earth's sometimes forgotten power, truths and traditions" He walked over to her and took a seat beside Willow as he continued to talk, "Magic, at it's most basic, is the science of the Earth's hidden power. True practitioners know this and use it. For them there is nothing supernatural about magic at all...natural is just a lot more complex and powerful than it initially appears. Now Willow," Giles looked at her directly, not allowing her to avoid his gaze, "What is magic?"

Willow was suddenly less inclined to describe these sessions as 'tedious'.

"Are you okay Mom?" Buffy asked in the shop, looking over at her Mother in concern. Joyce should have been at the gallery right now, but had felt too ill to continue her work with focus and so had decided to take the rest of the day off. However, since Dawn was at school and everyone else was gathered at the Magic Box, Joyce, in desperate need of some comforting company, had gone there instead of home.

"I'm fine," Joyce told her, "The room is meant to be spinning, right?"

Buffy immediately looked at her in panic and Joyce hurried to calm her down.

"Buffy, I'm kidding," She told her, "I just feel like the little headache I had before brought some friends along with. She thought for a moment, "and like I want to throw up the nothing I had to eat...but that's all normal- which is all good in my opinion"

The comment was said in flow with the rest, but Buffy immediately picked up on it.

"What do you mean?"

"About what?" Joyce asked and Buffy didn't know whether she truly was naïve to what she had just said, or she was just playing it.

"That oh-so-pointed-yet-smooth comment about normal equaling goodness?" Buffy prompted. Joyce saw Buffy's hurt expression as she said this and realized how her daughter had interpreted it.

"Oh honey, I don't mean that," Joyce told her, going over her to give her a quick reassuring hug, "I don't mean that at all. What I meant was...if things are going normally...then it means everything's okay and there's less chance of...of something..." She trailed off, leaving Buffy (and the others who had listened in anyway) looking at her questioningly. "...going horribly wrong" Joyce finished with a sigh.

"...like last time...?" Buffy guessed kindly and Joyce nodded, before laughing a small nervous laugh.

"Silly isn't it?" She smiled a slightly embarrassed smile that was very familiar to Buffy- it was one her Mom always used when she was covering something up, usually her feelings- now that she thought on it, Buffy realized she'd used it numerous times in front of Giles before the two had started seeing one another... "Glory isn't here anymore...but I'm still-" Joyce cut off abruptly as she suddenly became aware that there were other people in the room, not just her and Buffy.

"Mom?" Buffy prompted, quietly and kindly, using the voice she reserved for when she was being the nice sister to Dawn. It was an odd experience using it on her Mother, "You're still what?"

Joyce bit her lip,clearly debating whether to tell Buffy, and by extension the others, or not.

"Scared," She finally said, and before she could regret the admittance, she quickly elaborated, "There's what happened...last time...of course, but there's other things as well. I mean the mid-life parenting thing is pretty daunting on it's own, and it's not like we even plan it, but it keeps happening and I can't help wondering, with everything you and Rupert and everyone are involved in, whether it's been forced- no, no, not forced- given to us for a reason, but then I think maybe something else is going to try and take it away again for that same reason...and I'm just...I don't know what to do"

Joyce smiled any concern away immediately after that admittance before asking Anya how far she had gotten with the wedding plans and Anya, as expected, jumped right in with showering out details.

Buffy wasn't so easily sidetracked though. For a moment there, when Joyce admitted her fears, the Mom Facade had fallen. It was the 'guess-what-Mom's-not-perfect' complex and Buffy knew, that when the Mom Facade did fall, it was cause for concern.

A little later on when the gang, although ceased in their research, were still at the Magic Box chatting (or rather listening) to Anya about the wedding, Buffy went over to her Mom who was sat on her own, sipping a glass of water.

"I'm sorry you're so worried," Buffy apologized and Joyce smiled at her.

"It's not your fault...just the practice of being a Mother," She told her just as Giles came out of the training room behind Willow, who for her part did not look as though she had been 'bored-to-death' by learning the basics.

"I know..." Buffy agreed reluctantly, "I just think it would be great if there was like a way for you guys to be told 'yeah it's gonna be okay'...or at least not the uber bad...you know...like an uber scan," Buffy smiled at her own description and Joyce couldn't help but smile back, Giles however just looked deep in thought. "Giles you have thinking-face," Buffy told him, "What's up?"

"I keep in contact with Wesley in L.A" Giles told them and both wife and stepdaughter/slayer frowned in confusion.

"That's...nice..." Buffy told him in puzzlement, "But why the share mode?"

"He's told me of a bar there, Caritas," Giles explained, "A demon bar mostly, but a benevolent one ran by an equally benevolent demon host. This demon is able to read one's destiny when one sings to him. The bar is karaoke..making the entire situation slightly more reasonable and less embarrassing"

"Read destinies?" Buffy asked, "Like tell you your future?"

"Of a sorts, yes," Giles nodded and getting the same idea the two of them looked at Joyce in interest. Joyce, for the moment, remained oblivious to what was going on in their heads. That is until she saw their calculating expressions.

"What?" She yelped, "Me? No, no, no," She was laughing nervously as she repeated the word, "No, I don't sing. I don't ever sing. No." They continued to look at her, "Why can't Rupert sing?" She asked, "He's the Father and well...he can actually sing!"

"Well, I could..." Giles reasoned, "But then the demon will be reading my destiny with very little about the baby. However, if he was reading you then he would also be able to read the child's as she or he is a literal part of you right now"

Joyce knew he was making sense, and it would help them if they knew what to expect with the baby and whether everything was going to be okay, but...singing? Joyce sighed.

"L.A?" She asked weakly, clearly resigned to her fate.

"So this guy...this demon guy...you sing to him and he's all fortune cookie?" Xander asked as Giles and Joyce packed the car for their very short stay in Los Angeles. They were leaving for the city today and for some reason the entire Scooby Gang felt the need to see them off at the house.

Buffy looked a little lost, knowing that the two of them were going to see Angel, if not intentionally, while she was still here in Sunnydale. Dawn just looked put out that she couldn't come along. And the rest? Well, they were just as nosy as usual, wanting more and more details on this karaoke future reading demon guy.

"Essentially...in theory, yes," Giles agreed as he slammed the car trunk closed. It must have looked an amusing scene to the neighbors- seven people gathered together in the driveway, five of which watching the other two with anticipation as they completed the simple act of packing the car.

"Cool," Xander grinned but his fiancée wasn't as enthusiastic.

"Not really," She told him, "Well yes...but only if he sees good things in your future. If he sees death and destruction- or worse nothing at all in which case you're going to die very soon...then it's not so good, no"

"No...erm guess not..." Xander agreed, seriously deflated from his moments ago fortune-cookie analogy high.

"This is all very well and good," Joyce commented, gesturing at the car and the contents that had been piled into it's trunk, "But when we get to L.A where exactly are you proposing we stay?"

"Well, I spoke with, ah, Wesley over the phone and-"

"You and Watcher Junior having an actual conversation?" Xander asked in disbelief, "Like as in no verbal sparring?"

"Ooh, I bet there was some," Willow grinned enthusiastically and Buffy nodded in agreement.

"With lots of 'bloody hells' and 'buggers'"

"Yes, very amusing," Giles said, clearly not really agreeing, but choosing not to delve further into the matter, "Now as I was saying, Wesley said that ah the business they run, Angel Investigations, I believe is now based in the..." Giles obviously couldn't remember them and he frowned as he tried to bring the name back, "Ah yes," He said smiling as the memory came back to him, "The Hyperion Hotel and we are, apparently, welcome to stay there for the duration"

"The Hyperion??" Buffy, Joyce and Dawn asked in sync, disgust etched on their faces.

"What?" Giles asked, not having a clue what the problem was. Looking around he saw the other three were just as clueless.

"The Hyperion is like wicked defunct Giles," Buffy told him, "It's not been used since 1950-whenever. Lice, mites and creepy crawly ridden dangerous dust filled hotel from L.A leftover hell"

"Well, as much as your alliterated listing must be complimented upon, I'm afraid I must say you're moving away from factual opinions and onto hyperbole," Giles told her and Buffy just looked flummoxed, "That is, you're exaggerating"

"She's not," Dawn and Joyce told him.

"Rupert, the Hyperion, although undoubtedly grand in it's day...hasn't been used or looked after in half a century," Joyce explained, "It's not a place you can class as...as, well a place"

"Well, since Wesley stated that Cordelia is quite happy working there, not to the mention the fact that Angel's own room is in the Hotel, we can wager that the Hyperion has since been improved"

"Angel stays there as well?" Joyce asked, obviously not keen on the idea. She knew that Angel had saved Buffy and the others' lives many times over the years, but he was still a vampire who made her daughter's high school life a living hell, whether Buffy thought that or not. Only Xander and Rupert hated Angel more, she believed.

"I know. It's not the most ideal of circumstances," Giles agreed, proving Joyce's thoughts right, "But, it's only for a day or so...and well, there's no other choice"

"Great," Joyce said sarcastically, "We've not even left Sunnydale yet and it's already 'tough, there you go'."

Wesley wasn't a fan of sitting around and doing nothing. Not normally anyway. But as he relaxed on a sofa in the reasonably quiet foyer at the Hyperion Hotel, he couldn't help but enjoy the nothing he was doing. That and the fact, he couldn't hear Connor crying anymore. One of the girls, Gunn, Angel or even Lorne must have found a way to keep him happy. Possibly Angel's game face had done the trick again. Wesley knew he should have been up there helping, but there was only so much crying he could take before he felt his ears were damaged beyond repair and his head was minutes away from imploding.

He heard the door to Angel's room open upstairs and knew, now that the baby was happy, the group were leaving the battle ground that was that room. Wesley only hoped they had left Connor up there to sleep. The way Angel was about him though, Wesley doubted it.

The sound of another door opening also caught his attention more as this was the sound of the front door- which generally meant potential customers. He sat up from his comfortable position of being lay down to see who the strangers were only to see they weren't strangers at all and in fact, they were expected; Giles and Joyce.

"Hello," Wesley greeted them with a smile, standing up, "It's nice to see you two again. Last time we saw one another was I believe..."

"The wedding," Giles filled in as he and Joyce walked from the entranceway and into the foyer.

"Yes, yes it was," Wes nodded in agreement.

"And you've lost the wheelchair," Joyce commented and Wes smiled.

"Yes, I'm fully recovered now," He told her.

"Well, that's good to know"

At this point Angel, with Connor in his arms, came downstairs with Fred, Cordy and Gunn.

"Giles," Cordelia said in surprise, "Mrs Sum- erm, Mrs Giles"

"Joyce," Joyce corrected out of habit.

"Joyce. Right. What are you guys doing here?" Cordelia always got a weird feeling when she saw people from Sunnydale. It gave her a feeling of nostalgia- reminding her of the old days at Sunnydale High- and also, comfortable familiarity as these were people that she knew. However, she also got the feeling of surprise and dread. Surprise that they actually ventured out of the small Hellmouth town and dread, because when they did venture out- it usually meant something bad was going to come along with.

"They are staying for a night or so," Wesley explained.

"And no one thought to tell us?" Angel asked, slightly frustrated and it was this question that drew Joyce and Giles' attention and they finally saw the baby in his arms.

"Oh my, who's this?" Joyce asked, smiling at the pink bundle of cuteness that the baby obviously was.

"This...this is Connor," Angel smiled, proud of his son, yet because of who Joyce was the mother of, felt quite uncomfortable admitting to her that he was in fact his son.

"Connor," Joyce repeated as she reached the two of them and cooed at the sleepy, yet awake baby, "He's gorgeous"

"I know," Angel couldn't help but beam.

"I'm afraid I should have called you sooner," Wesley suddenly said, causing Joyce and Giles to look at him questioningly.

"About what?" Giles asked.

"Ah, well you see...Caritas was destroyed...just a couple of days ago actually," Wes told them.

"What? Huh?" Cordy asked, even more confused than a moment ago, "That's what they're here for? Lorne? What? Why?"

"Well because..." Wes began to answer, but then faltered, "Actually they never said," He admitted, before looking at the couple, "Why did you need to see Lorne?"

"Well, we are, we need some future insight, quite desperately actually," Giles explained, "Because...well, ah, Joyce is pregnant"

"What?" Angel, Cordy and Wes all asked at the same while Gunn just raised his eyebrows in silent surprise.

"I probably would say what too..." Fred told them, "'cept I don't you are..."

"Buffy's Watcher...Buffy's Mom," Cordelia murmured in her ear in explanation, before looking at everyone else in exasperation, "Okay, what's going on here? We get rid of one pregnant lady and then another turns up? Not fair,"

"Pardon?" Giles asked, wondering who Cordelia was referring to, but she was prevented from saying anything in reply as Joyce asked;

"Could one of you tell me, quickly, where the...the bathroom is?"

"There's a small ground floor one over there-" Wesley had barely pointed out the direction, before Joyce had gone. Wes looked at Giles, silently asking him what the problem was.

"It seems morning sickness does not restrict itself to merely the morning," Giles explained with a grimace, "If you'll excuse me," And he left to make sure Joyce was okay.

"Could we not mention the Connor thing to people who see Buffy on a regular basis please Cordelia?" Angel asked in frustrated exasperation.

"Right so that's Buffy's Watcher- like what Wesley used to be- and the woman is Buffy's Mom..." Fred said, trying to clear up the facts, "And they're together? And she's all pregnant?"

"Yeah," Cordy nodded before pausing in thought, "I thought she was pregnant last year...at the wedding?"

"Yes," Wes nodded in agreement, "Yes she was...surely they wouldn't be having another so...oh"

"Oh, what?" Cordy asked, seeing Wesley's saddened expression, but not understanding why.

"Cord...if she's pregnant now even though she was pregnant then..." Gunn explained uncomfortably and it all sank in for her.

"Oh god...they lost the baby?" Cordy asked in horror, looking in the direction the couple had headed, "That's terrible..." She remembered the vision she'd had on the night of the wedding and wondered whether the teenager she saw was now long dead...or, that the teen had been the child Joyce was now carrying. She hoped it was the latter

"What's terrible doll face?" Lorne asked as he walked down the stairs into the foyer, wearing one of his trademark colorful suits.

"Uh, nothing that prompts discussion," Wesley told him immediately, feeling it wasn't their place to talk about Giles and Joyce's private affairs without their permission. "We do however, have a couple here who may interest you"

"A couple? Interest me? How?" Lorne was conflicted between feeling confused and feeling intrigued.

"People from Sunnydale," Cordy explained, "Old friends...sorta. They kinda need a reading. You know? With the sing song?"

"Well I always welcome newbies...just wish my club was back to being the up and running jive it was..." He said pointedly to them all,giving them the closest thing Lorne ever got to a glare. It was mainly aimed at Angel. His gaze brightened however when he saw Joyce and Giles returning from the bathroom, Joyce looking a little worse for wear and Giles had his arm around her just in case. "Aww innthat sweet?" Lorne smiled, "You two wouldn't happen to be the ones that want to get ballad-y are you?"

"Yes, ah singing would be the intention," Giles told him, "But I pray there will be no ventures into ballads. The Host, I presume?" He held out his hand for Lorne to shake and Lorne took it with a grin.

"Lorne, actually. Nice to meet ya and your name...?"

"Rupert Giles..and uh, this is my wife,ah, Joyce"

Lorne stopped shaking hands with Giles to take Joyce's. He shook it a lot more gently than he had with Giles, and only did so a few times.

"Always nice to meet a lovely lady," Lorne smiled, "I'm guessing you're the one who wants to sing"

"Want isn't a word I'd use..." Joyce murmured before frowning at Lorne, "How did you know-"

"Because you've got the look, sweetcheeks," Lorne explained.

"The look?" Joyce asked weakly.

"The look of 'I can't believe I'm going to do this and all I want is to run,'"

Joyce smiled in spite of her obvious terror at the thought of singing to someone.

"Actually," Giles said, "It's not particularly Joyce we want you to read...when she sings..."

"It's...not...?" Lorne asked slowly, extremely confused.

"I'm pregnant you see," Joyce explained, "And we were kinda hoping you'd-"

"Read the baby as well?" Lorne guessed and the couple nodded. Lorne rubbed his hands together excitedly, "A double reading? Interesting...not done one of those in a while. Well, I'll tell you one thing," He grinned at them, "I'll give it a shot"