Abryxis- Hey again, thanks for review. Yeah, Giles does like the idea of Joyce being Watchery- I think it's because it's another part of his life he can share with her. And ah, well, as to Anya and Lily, you'll just have to see how Anya's storyline turns out. ;-) hehe. Glad you liked Lily though, I may try and find a way to see if I can write her back in again- she's fun. hehe

g120- thank you for the review. Lily seems to be a hit. I kinda wanted her to be fun, you know, the one sister not permenantly angsty and such. The light at the end of the tunnel deal. hehe. I know she was only in for one chapter, but I might try and write her in again at a later date. But yes, she was a way of showing Joyce that everything will be fine- doesn't stop Joyce from worrying though. Haha.

buffyangel47- Hey, thanks for the review. Glad you like the story so far

zigpal- Yay, i have my claps. haha. And yes the Summers/Giles (is that Gummers? hahaha, sorry that just really made me laugh. I think I may have had too much sugar- donuts were three for two at the corner shop today...) family is doing quite well in the future. From what we've seen anyway. We know things never go simply for them. hehe.

A/N: I know it's totally the wrong time of the year but...well, tis a Christmas chapter.
Willow was Jewish...and well, a Witch also which meant she was Wiccanly inclined of course, but Willow also loved Christmas. She loved it when Sunnydale was covered in sparkly pretty things as colored fairy lights trailed from store to store and they had all the red and gold tinsel around the frame.

Of course, the only thing missing to complete the scene was snow. But that had only happened once in Sunnydale- and that, Willow strongly suspected, had been a Powers That Be deal.

Still, Christmas was a fun time of the year and as Willow headed to the Magic Box for another of her training sessions with Giles, she heard in her head the John and Yoko song Merry Christmas, followed even by little voices chanting the backing lyrics of 'war is over, if you want it'

"It's a little choir in there," Willow grinned to herself as she pushed open the magic shop door and came face to face with - "Tara"

"W-willow," Tara looked down slightly, nervous at seeing Willow again. There were so many confusing feelings at the thought of her, that seeing her again made them all the more confusing.

"What are you doing here?" Willow asked, before immediately correcting herself, "I mean, of course you'd be here, I mean this is a magic store and you're all magically inclined and stuff what with being a witch and so obviously...you'd...be...here..."

"Yeah, I just needed some peppermint oil," Tara told her and Willow nodded knowingly.

"The only store that sells it pre-blessed by Vestal Virgins," A thought occurred to Willow, "I suddenly don't want to know who Giles trades with"

Tara smiled a little at the endearingly typical thought of her girlfriend(ex).

"W-what are you doing here?" Tara asked, suddenly suspicious. Was Willow still doing magic? If so, then there really was no hope for their relationship.

"Oh-oh, I'm not doing Magic, if that's what you...well, I am, but not in the way that you think," Willow babbled and Tara just looked confused on top of suspicious, "I mean that erm...Giles is helping me. With my addiction. He's training me from the beginning. Nothing more than circle casting for me so far. Though I think we're moving onto calling the elements for the circle now so...you know, I'm getting there. Step-by-step."

"Oh,"

"Yeah," Willow nodded, feeling a little more comfortable with Tara now as she got onto a comfortable topic, "He's teaching me to ground immediately after completely spells and everything. He said not doing that may have been what got me...well, you know."

Addicted. The word wasn't said, but it was there.

"You could come watch..." Willow suggested shyly, "I mean not in pervy way" Oh god, why couldn't she shut up sometimes? "But like just to see how I'm...or you could help Giles"

"That...would be nice," Tara smiled, wanting to help Willow in anyway possible. And if she could help in her actual recovery, then all the better.

"You'd have to check with Giles though," Willow told with a smile that couldn't help being so wide- the mere thought of talking to Tara again making her positively giddy, "He's pretty anal over who gets to be in the session. It's pretty much a close off the world deal"

"I am not," Giles said, suddenly appearing behind Willow, apparently walking out from the basement and Willow jumped. "Hello Tara"

"Hi,"

"So can she?"Willow asked Giles, feeling like a five year old asking her friend to stay over for dinner.

Giles thought about this for a moment, wondering whether Tara's presence would be a negative or positive influence on Willow's progress. He finally decided that Tara could only ever be a positive influence for anyone, and, it was Tara's attitude towards magic that Giles was aiming for Willow to reach, after all.

"Yes, I, uh, I don't see why not," He finally said, "Tara could be of some help if she wishes"

"Oh she wishes," Willow assured him confidently, before turning to Tara, "You do wish right?"

"... and your hormone levels are just fine," Doctor Steadman informed the couple as he looked down at a clipboard of results.

"Oh thank god," Joyce breathed as she rested her back, closing her eyes in pure relief as she and Rupert finished listening to the doctor list off all the (thankfully, good) results.

"Well, everything's perfectly fine," The Doctor smiled, "Now let's have a closer look shall we?"

"Uh..." Joyce always wondered why Doctors always asked questions as though the patient had a choice, when they obviously didn't. And why they always use a collective pronoun. 'And how are we today'. Remember Doctor, we are not a schizophrenic. Joyce inwardly sighed as she realized she was just getting tetchy due to the fact she knew that the doctor was going to slather on that highly unlikable, cold gel.

"Now this may be a little cold," The Doctor told her. "Right now let's see..." He murmured as he started the ultrasound and an image flickered up on the screen. As Doctor Steadman looked over the images on the screen, Joyce instinctively reached for Rupert's hand. "There we go," The doctor finally said, "There, see just there?"

The couple, leaned forward, squinting until they found the tiny peanut shaped being that would one day be the 20 year old Lily they had met just over a week ago.

"She's so tiny," Rupert said simply, finding himself unable to say anything else and Doctor Steadman chuckled.

"Well, they usually are at this stage. You think it's going to be a girl then?"

"Pardon?" Giles asked, confused.

"You referred to the baby as a 'she'," Steadman pointed out, "So you think it might be a girl then?"

"Yes," Both Joyce and Rupert said firmly in synchronization, their eyes still on the screen.

"Okay...I can see you're both confident in that fact..." The Doctor said warily, "But remember there's a 50/50 chance. Could easily be a boy"

"No it couldn't" The two spoke yet again in synchronization, before realizing they were confusing the poor doctor with their overly confident statements that their baby was going to be a girl.

"Parental instincts," Joyce 'explained', "I don't like to doubt them"

Steadman just smiled patiently at them and both Rupert and Joyce were sure they had merely assured the Doctor that they were obsessive nutcases.

"Would, you, uh, would you like a picture?" Steadman asked, gesturing at the ultrasound screen, "Most parents do you see"

"Decking the halls is fun," Xander said as he helped Buffy, Dawn (and by extension also Willow- she just kept widening her religious horizons everyday didn't she- and Anya) put up Christmas decorations at 1630 Revello Drive, "It's so much funner than halls at my folks'"

"We decorated our place though," Anya informed them, "Though after we did the tree, Xander told me there was second meaning to the phrase 'trim the tree'-"

"Could we not go further with this story?" Buffy asked desperately, attempting to cover Dawn's ears, before returning to hanging a glass ornament on one of the tree branches.

"We're back," Joyce announced as she and Rupert stepped in through the front door, looking around at the wonderland the gang had made the house, "My- It's very Christmassy in here,"

"So, we got a little carried away" Xander smiled, wafting the concern aside.

"The sparkly objects just asked to be used," Anya informed her as she gestured at the tree where indeed every sparkly tree ornament had been hung.

"So how'd it go?" Buffy asked, referring to the ultrasound.

"Fine," Giles told them, "That is until we so adamantly assured the doctor it was a girl he became highly concerned for our sanity"

"But other than that fine," Joyce added as she took off her coat and hung it up. "But I've been thinking"

"Thinking?" Buffy asked only sounding slightly worried. Joyce thinking usually led to some plan that yet again proved how naïve she could still be at times.

"About Christmas" Joyce explained as she and Rupert walked into the living room where the others were, "I assume you're all coming for Christmas dinner again?"

"No way are we gonna miss out on that delicious turkey deal," Xander assured her.

"Though I may have to cut back on the nog this year," Willow added, thinking back to how ishy she had felt afterwards last year.

"Well, it occurred to me that none of you ever spend Christmas with your own families" Joyce continued and no one there could deny it was true. Anya of course didn't have a family, and Tara, even though she wasn't there presently, had a family that was understandably avoided by her, but both Willow and Xander, while having families in Sunnydale seemed to spend more time at Revello Drive than with their own parents. "And I was wondering," Joyce carried on, "If perhaps we should invite them also. For Christmas dinner I mean"

"My family are Jewish," Willow immediately pointed out in an innocently confused voice.

"Yeah," Xander nodded in eager agreement, "And my family are...crazy"

Neither Xander or Willow were at all keen on the idea of their parents spending Christmas with them. The two weren't exactly from the sanest or even nicest parental dynamics.

"I'm sure they're not that bad," Joyce smiled, assuming Xander was exaggerating, "It's probably just how you remember things from when you're a teenager. Things always look bad with your parents then"

"Don't I know it..." Dawn murmured but when Joyce immediately looked at her with a questioning expression, she cleared her throat before giving her Mother an entirely innocent look, "Coughing...not talking" She told her.

"Look, I'm sure it will be fine," Joyce said, returning her attention to Willow and Xander- the two in question couldn't help noticing that Buffy, Giles, Anya and Dawn were all firmly staying out of this suggestion, "It'll be nice to actually see your parents during the holiday season"

Willow and Xander shared a look that could very easily be read as 'Joyce is in naïve denial mode again'.

"Uh, I don't think my parents, particularly Dad would be at all keen on the idea of a Christmas Day dinner," Willow tried again, telling Joyce the honest truth. After all, Willow didn't go to Xander's to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas for no reason.

Joyce seemed to consider this argument and for a small moment Willow thought she had won and she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well," Joyce began, "I'll just tell them it isn't necessarily a Christmas dinner...but...a meal in the holiday season for them to share with their only daughter"

This stopped Willow cold. That sounded like just the kind of argument that would win her parents over, particularly her Mother. So, it was this that urged Willow to try to discourage Joyce one last time.

"But- are you sure? I mean Mom and Dad are pretty much the uber scholarly type. They're not much for interaction with other people"

"Nonsense," Joyce told her, "When I met your Mother I got on quite well with her"

"Well...you were both possessed," Willow pointed out weakly.

"Joyce, I really don't think you want to invite my parents over," Xander said, "Seriously. They are completely and utterly...unlikable. Anthony and Jessica Harris are not people you want to have round for a family meal. It'll end in badness"

"Xander," Joyce said simply in a slight warning tone and Xander stopped talking.

"What?" He asked.

"I'm asking them" She stated in a way that left no room for arguments. She then returned attention to Willow again, "Now there was something else I've been thinking about"

"You wanna invite more relatives?" Willow asked with a resigned sigh, but Joyce shook her head.

"Actually...I was wondering about...Tara," As she said the name, Joyce looked at Willow in concern, aware of how this could be a very sensitive topic for Willow.

"Tara?" Willow asked, voice shaking slightly.

"I know we're all very close to her and I would like to invite her..." Joyce told her, "But if you feel it would be too much for you...or for both of you...then I understand"

"No," Willow said, "No...I, uh, yeah. You should. I-invite her. You know, it's Christmas for her too. And she might be you know all alone and such. And I mean it's not like we haven't seen each other since we...had some space. I mean she came to my last magic session with Giles. You know- helped. Did spells. So it could be..without being you know"

"Erm..." Joyce looked around at everyone, looking slightly confused, before she looked back at Willow, "So that was a 'yes'?"

"There's a downside to Christmas," Anya said to everyone as The First Noel played quietly in the background at Buffy's house. Everyone had arrive except The Parents of Xander and Willow, and also Tara had yet to arrive.

"There is?" Dawn asked with a frown as she laid out the plates on the dining room table.

"Yes," Anya told her confidently, "It's just you unwrap the presents in the morning- and this is all very exciting- but then there's none left. And everything's unwrapped and it's like 'oh'. A big fizzle of 'oh'."

"Ah yes, of course. The fizzle," Buffy said semi-knowingly as she placed cutlery on the table to accompany the plates Dawn had laid out.

A knock at the door drew them all to silent attention, each of them trying to guess who could be on the other side of the door. The Harrises or the Rosenburgs. Buffy, being the Slayer, felt it was her duty to be the one to open the door.

"Tara," She smiled when she saw it wasn't a fearful presence stood on the doorstep, but Tara instead. "Hi"

"Merry Christmas," Tara said in greeting and Buffy frowned a moment as though actually forgetting it was that time of the year.

"What? Oh yeah, Merry Christmas. Erm- come on in" Buffy stepped aside to let her in and Tara looked around for where the rest of the gang were and saw them in the dining room. But as she headed forward, the person she saw most of all was Willow.

"Willow- hi"

"Hi. Tara." Willow smiled. "This is- Happy Christmas and tidings and other joy-filled things..."

As awkward silence fell on the room, Dawn headed into the kitchen to tell her Mom and Giles that Tara had arrived.

"Hey," Dawn smiled, but realized her Mom was alone in the kitchen and she was tugging awkwardly at her light blue top- the one Buffy had suggested she wear since it had sparkles around the bottom, claiming this made it Christmassy. "Okay two questions- one, where's Giles? And two- what's wrong with your top?"

"Oh erm, he's just taking out the trash- glamorous job I know," Joyce added with a smile.

"And the top...?" Dawn prompted.

"The top?"

"Yeah, you were tugging at it and stuff," Dawn explained, "It looks fine you know. Buffy's usually pretty right about these things"

"Oh no it's not..." Joyce sighed, "It's just- like most things in my wardrobe lately- it's getting a little..." She searched around for an appropriate word, "Snug"

"Snug?" Dawn repeated.

"Well, not tight but tighter." Joyce explained, "It just keeps riding up because of it. I keep having to tug it down" She sighed with a slight smile, "Another wonderful part of pregnancy"

"Well it's all good in my book," Dawn told her, giving her a hug, "But..should you like be doing all this?"

"I'm fine" Joyce told her, "It's not like I'm eight months. But you're very sweet," Mid-hug, something occurred to Joyce, "What'd you do?"

"What?" Dawn asked, expression very innocent.

"You're in lets-take-care-of-mom mode and that usually means you're up to something"

"I'm not. Nothing is up. Everything is planted firmly on the ground," Dawn told her, "Just want to make sure you're okay and also...to tell you and Giles that Tara just got here"

"Did she?" Joyce asked, wiping her hands on a nearby towel before heading out of the room to greet Tara.

After she left, Dawn was left with her own thoughts. Okay she hadn't been telling the entire truth when she told her Mom nothing was up. Well, it wasn't that she was up to something, but she figured not everything was on the A side of OK. The same thought had been preying on the teenagers mind pretty much non stop, even before Lily had Michael J Foxed her way into their lives last week. The thought that technically Lily was her Mom's second daughter not her third. That Buffy and Lily were the two that were truly sisters, no matter how much they may include Dawn as one of them. On some level Dawn knew she was being ridiculous. Her Mom had said so many times that no matter how Dawn had come into their lives, she was theirs, she was part of their family no matter what.

Her thoughts were broken as Giles came in through the back door.

"Dawn." He smiled, but it turned to a frown when he realized his wife wasn't where he left her, "Where's your Mother?"

"In there," Dawn told him, pointing in the direction of the dining room, "Tara just arrived"

"Ah right," Giles nodded, closing the back door, "Shall we then?" He asked gesturing in the direction Dawn had just pointed out and the two of them headed back to where the rest of the group were.

"Well, I wanted to invite Spike and so did Dawn," Joyce said a little while later as everyone was helping out in the kitchen for once. Actually the helping out consisted of Giles cooking, Joyce also cooking (when she wasn't enjoying a break and talking to the others), Anya peering and seeing what was cooking, Xander joking, Buffy semi-helping, Dawn talking, Willow talking and Tara being the only one truly helping.

"Mom, you didn't did you?" Buffy asked, eyes suddenly wide with panic

"No," Joyce shook her head as she took a sip of her drink. It was the same fancy non-alcoholic drink Dawn was having and for a split moment Joyce couldn't help feeling a little envious of the people around her drinking white or red wine, "Rupert said it was a ridiculous idea and 'not in a million years was I to invite a vampire to a Christmas celebration'."

Buffy nodded in relief before walking over to Giles and half-whispering to him:

"She really wanted to invite Spike?"

"Yes," He half-whispered back, "The only reason I can give behind it is well-"

"Her crazy pregnant woman hormones?" Buffy filled in with a smile and he nodded.

"Yes, she seems to have an unconditional love for everyone this week," He explained and Buffy had to laugh a little.

There was the sound of knocking at the front door and everyone simultaneously froze.

"Parents," Willow and Xander said, looking at each other, wondering whose dreaded folks had arrived first.

Joyce and Giles, technically being the ones who were head of the household headed out of the kitchen first and the rest followed on, each filled with a mixture of anxiety and curiosity.

When the front door opened Anthony and Jessica Harris were met by not one or two faces, but a whole sea of them. However, initially they seemed unaware of their presence as presently Jessica was looking at Anthony in annoyance, the reasoning behind that possibly lay in the fact that Tony already looked like he'd had a few.

"You must be Anthony and Jessica- Xander's parents," Joyce greeted them with a smile, which Jess returned but Tony didn't.

"Yes, hi," Jessica smiled at them, shaking Joyce's hand before shaking Rupert's.

"I'm Joyce and this is Rupert," Joyce introduced and Jessica nodded, taking this information but then she paused in confusion as she looked at Giles.

"Weren't...once I saw you when- didn't you work at the old high school?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded, "Joyce married the librarian Mom," He merely grinned when both Joyce and Rupert gave him a look for his bluntness.

"Oh," Jessica said in comprehension, "So you're ah 'Giles' then. Xander used to talk about you a lot. It's ah, I suppose it's good to have familiar role models outside the family...I guess"

Now it was Giles' turn to grin as he saw Xander's face fall as his Mother revealed this tidbit of information.

"Yes, well why don't you come in?" Joyce said, stepping aside so the couple could get actually get in without meeting a barrier of people.

"It was lovely of you to invite us," Jessica told her, while her husband looked less than impressed by the entire affair.

"I don't see what the big deal is," He grumbled, "Might as well despise each other in the comfort of our own home"

Jessica looked visibly uncomfortable and embarrassed at that remark, but quickly smoothed it over as she smiled at her son.

"Xander, I haven't seen you in such a long while," She told him as though he didn't know this, before giving him a hug that Xander did not look the most comfortable with.

"You must be Anna," Anthony said, looking at Anya, who, when he got her name wrong, frowned in disapproval.

"Anya," She corrected him.

"Anya then," He nodded, "Xander's getting married to you and we haven't even met you till now. My son's got taste though, can see that"

Anya chose to take this as a compliment and smiled.

"But what I don't get is what you, a pretty woman who according to what Jessica has heard, owns a shop-"

"Half owns," Giles automatically corrected, before he could stop himself. As regards to the shop he could be as bad as Anya sometimes.

"-could possibly see in my son," Tony continued, not even acknowledging what Giles had said.

At this comment Jessica looked ashamed and Xander was, despite how much he felt he already knew how terrible his Father could be, deeply hurt. But, Anya came through and proved again to Xander why he loved her so much, as she became the first person ever to stun Anthony Harris into silence.

"Oh it's his sexual prowess," She informed him with a polite smile, "He's a complete animal in bed. And he isn't afraid to use handcuffs"

Ant was taken aback and looked at Anya in silence for a moment before turning to Joyce and asking:

"Where're the drinks?" He looked around and spotted a bottle of wine set on the table, "Never mind. I've got it," He told her before heading off to retrieve the red wine.

"I could help with some of the plans," Jess said to Anya a little while later as they sat in the living room, "I know how much help is needed when you're planning a wedding. Sometimes there just isn't enough"

"No, it's fine," Anya told her, "I've got everything under control. Xander contributes and of course Buffy and Willow also help. And then Joyce helps too- I mean she's been through it twice so I figured she'd have some tips. So thanks, but no thanks" Anya smiled and Jessica's own smile faltered.

"Okay..." She accepted, "You and Xander spend a lot of time with uh...with Joyce? And Rupert of course? You own a store with Rupert correct?"

"Yes," Anya nodded, unaware that her future mother-in-law was feeling slightly threatened by the motherly presence Joyce obviously had in Xander's life. "Yeah, Giles is okay store-wise, but personally I think I'm the brains of the operation. Without my help he would have been bankrupt years ago. And Xander did all the shelving and layout. So yes, without us, Giles would be a wreck. Except for Joyce. I think she'd still be there. Probably. I mean, if he was bankrupt maybe she wouldn't have seen anything in him anymore? Then again, a guy who will have sex with you on a shop floor and on the hood of police cars must have some redeeming qualities past money and sarcasm," Anya said thoughtfully, unaware that she had said too much to the now very startled Jessica.

"And of course Xander's always going to Joyce when it's my birthday or it's Christmas or our dating anniversary or whatever coz, between you and me, Xander isn't the best at picking presents"

"She helps him pick out gifts for you...?" Jessica asked slowly, feeling more and more like she was being replaced. After all wasn't that sort of task up to a Mother?

"Well, she used to" Anya told her, "Now he's getting into the swing of things on his own. He got me this for Christmas this year," She held out her right wrist on which was a simple silver bangle with diamonds zig-zaged across the top half.

A knock on the door prevented Jessica from thinking too much on how her own husband never bought her things like that, never bought her much at all in fact.

"Hey, that was fast," Buffy commented as her Mother reached the front door, "I was just about to come get you in the kitchen"

"She's not in the kitchen," Giles told her as he did come out of the kitchen, Tara and Willow behind him. "Your Mother came to the realization that Lily isn't particularly fond of Joyce being in smelling distance of roasting turkey"

"Oooh," Buffy nodded, before grimacing as the visual set in, "Eww"

Joyce opened the door to Ira and Sheila Rosenberg who looked a lot happier to be there than Xander's parents had.

"Sheila, hi," Joyce smiled,"I'm so glad you could come"

"Hi, Joyce," Sheila smiled back, already stepping into the house and looking around, "Well, the family atmosphere is so very obviously felt- know wonder Willow likes coming here for Christmas- despite being Jewish- since it obviously creates a very warm comfort zone for her in this confusing time of her college life"

"Well you know me and my zones," Willow smiled weakly.

"Well, since I hardly see my daughter nowadays, I realized this was my only chance and I took it," Ira said, also looking around at the house, "I see you don't go for the religious side then- you know, no crosses anyway"

"Well erm, no," Joyce told him, "We're celebrating Christmas, not Easter"

It was when dinner was finally served that they realized how truly cramped the dining room table was. For a table that seats eight it was now fitting twelve so people were placed directly side to side, which Buffy realized that although most had no complaints about that Jessica and Anthony looked a little less than happy about being forced to sit so close to each other. Buffy suspected that it was something to do with the fact that Tony was officially on the verge of drunk.

"So you two got married last year," Sheila commented to Joyce and Giles and the couple nodded.

"Yes," Joyce replied, "But we erm, we'd been seeing each other since the kids were in their senior year"

"Well, I be-" Sheila began to say something that Willow feared would be a very psychoanalyst-y comment in reply, but Jessica spoke over her.

"Are you happy together?" She asked, with something of a wistful look in her eyes,"Or have you gotten past the newly wed stage?"

"Well, uh, I would say we're past the newly wed stage," Giles replied, looking at Joyce warmly, "But yes, we're still very happy"

"Most of the time," Joyce added with a smile.

"The first year of marriage," Anthony said into his drink, "That's when things start to go. Hmm. The wife's waistline for example- our Jess here used to be a size four- closer to fourteen now eh?" He said with a smirk, looking at Jessica as she tried to cover the hurt that comment caused. Anthony pointed at Joyce with his glass unaware that everyone had become silent as he started talking, "You've started putting it on as well I see," He pointed out, "Just a bit round the middle now but...well, there's time"

This comment so threw both Rupert and Joyce that they actually didn't have anything to say in reply, so it was actually Xander who spoke up, albeit with his head hung low in shame.

"Dad...she's pregnant. She supposed to put on weight..."

"That's not what your Father thinks," Jessica replied, "He was horrified when I began putting on weight when I was pregnant with you."

"No," Anthony protested, "It was just you I was horrified at. It's why I need so much alcohol honey- so I can distort your features."

"Now, let's uh, let's not throw meaningless insults and jibes that we can't take back," Sheila intervened, "This is supposed to be a nice familial meal"

"You're Jewish," Anthony retorted, "So what do you know about it?"

"Now just a minute here," Ira spoke up just as Jessica was trying to calm Anthony down, "You have no right to speak to my wife in that way. I-"

"I don't need you to defend me," Sheila told him, "I can do perfectly fine by myself"

"Anthony- could you please...maybe if you didn't have so much to drink," Jessica pleaded.

"I can drink as much as I like," Anthony retorted and the argument amongst the Rosenbergs and the Harrises escalated until the noise of it had taken over the entire dining room.

Joyce could only watch, distraught, as the entire meal officially went down the drain. It was just too much- why couldn't everything just go fine for once?

As the arguments got worse, Giles looked worriedly at Joyce. She'd been incredibly emotional this week, bursting into tears at infomercials and the like, and as the arguments escalated he saw the telltale signs that she was about to cry about the whole thing.

"I just wanted everything to be nice," She told him in a voice that had yet more warning signs that Joyce was precariously close to crying.

"And it will be nice. This is just a slight hiccup," Rupert told her, "But please...everything's fine...there's no need to- please don't-" It was too late. They weren't loud cancer-of-the-puppy sobs, but it was still crying. As Rupert held her, hoping to calm her cries he looked over at Buffy who simply put, looked at her wit's end. After all, Anthony and Jessica were arguing, Anthony was drunk, he was also arguing with Ira, Sheila was arguing with Ira for defending her when she could defend herself, Joyce was crying- everything was out of control.

"OKAY SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Anya exclaimed suddenly, standing up to slam her hands down on the table loudly and everyone fell into silence so the only sound to be heard was Joyce's little sobs (that for one moment sounded more like a hiccup) and Rupert's occasional soothing 'shh'. "Now, you are all going to sit down quietly and you are going to eat and you are going to enjoy what you are eating. You may occasionally talk about non provocative topics such as the Christmas rush and the fact that the traffic is bad this year and that profits are up 30 per cent. Occasionally you may toast"

After Anya's little outburst, things did quieten down at least to the extent that Sheila and Ira stopped arguing and well, Jessica just chose to ignore most of Anthony's comments. And now, the entire party had settled down in the living room as Nat King Cole sang about chestnuts, fires and Jack Frost.

Ira and Sheila were sat together on the large armchair, looking quite sweet together but not particularly personal, Willow and Tara sat against the wall on the floor in the corner, not quite next to each other, but talking to one another as neither one was sure anymore about where they were on the relationship train. Anya and Xander were sharing the smaller chair together just like Willow's parents were, but they looked a lot more snugglesome than the Rosenbergs and regularly kept indulging in random kissage. The only other kissage indulging couple in the room was Rupert and Joyce who were curled up on end of the sofa together. Rupert had his arm around her while Joyce lay her head on his chest, occasionally looking up at him as the two kissed. Rupert was enjoying the moment immensely, particularly since she had stopped crying about the dinner disaster. Jessica sat up straight on the far end of the sofa, sitting directly opposite to her husband, neither looking happy with the other.

Dawn and Buffy were sat together, also on the floor like Willow and Tara, but Buffy, reluctantly, was agreeing to a thumb war with her sister.

"Dawn, you know this isn't going to work," Buffy told her as she gave into Dawn's pleas.

"Why not?" Dawn asked as she and Buffy linked hands, "It's simple- you twiddle your thumbs"

"Hello? Slayer strength," Buffy whispered.

"It's just your thumb," Dawn countered and Buffy sighed before explaining.

"Yeah, a slayer thumb which means it kicks ass as much as the rest of me,"

Nevertheless Dawn went ahead and declared the thumb war.

Buffy won in three seconds.

"I like this," Anya suddenly said to everyone, as she looked around from where she was sat on Xander's knee, her arm around his neck, "This is exactly how Christmas-"

The Rosenbergs gave Anya a pointed stare and she rolled her eyes as, for once, she took the hint as she actually realized what they were getting at.

"Fine. How the Holiday Season is supposed to be." She smiled, "Doesn't toasting come into it now?" She looked at Xander for confirmation and he nodded with a warm smile.

"Yes, yes it does," He told her, pulling his fiancée closer to him and she smiled happily at the close contact.

"Yes a toast," Anthony agreed with a slight slur to his voice. As he picked up his glass he looked around at all the couples, before his eyes finally settled on his wife, giving her a glare as he held up his glass of wine and said, "To all you suckers" He looked around at who he was talking about, including Tara and Willow in the mix, "To all you suckers who still believe in Love"

Oddly enough, no couple there chose to be offended by this comment but rather it seemed to prompt them to smile at one another and indulge more in the random kissage.

Later on after everybody had left, Joyce found Buffy sat outside on the back porch, seemingly lost in her own deep thoughts.

"Buffy?" She called and when Buffy didn't reply, Joyce took a seat next to her on the porch step, "Buffy?"

"Mm?" Buffy asked, finally turning to look at her Mom.

"Is something wrong?" Joyce asked, her expression filled with concern and Buffy turned away again to look directly ahead at their garden. "Buffy?"

"I've been sleeping with Spike," Buffy eventually said, still not taking her eyes off the garden.

"What?" Joyce asked in disbelief, almost positive that she had misheard her daughter.

"Spike," Buffy repeated the vampire's name, "I've been sleeping with him"

"Oh God...Buffy...why?"

Buffy shrugged.

"To feel...to feel something. I've felt..I feel so numb in this world that when I'm with Spike is the only time I feel alive again"

"Oh Buffy..." Joyce said sadly and sympathetically as she pulled her daughter into a hug.

"Why do I let him?" Buffy asked as she began to cry, "Why do I let him touch me like that? Why?"

"Oh honey..." Joyce stroked her daughter's hair soothingly as Buffy cries became more distraught.

"I don't want to want him," Buffy cried, "I don't want to"

"Buffy. Has he ever hurt- has he done anything to...?"

"No," Buffy shook her head, "Not really. Not by Spike standards, No," Buffy cried even more.

"Buffy...I am not, not in away condoning this, this uh type of relationship with Spike but perhaps...maybe you should consider that Spike might be what you need right now"

"What?" Buffy asking, sitting up straight out of her Mother's arms as she looked at Joyce in confusion.

"I don't think-" Joyce faltered over her words. She took a deep sigh as she looked down at her hands, summoning up the courage to say what she was about to, "I don't think sleeping with Spike is the right thing to do...but with Spike having been through a similar experience to you- when you-" No, she couldn't say it. She couldn't say 'dug your way out of your grave' or 'woke up buried alive' she couldn't say any of it. It was still too much to face, the worst being 'when your friends tore you out of the one safe place you could be happy', "Well, when you...you know. Maybe because of this...this uh shared experience perhaps Spike is what you need right now. As a friend. Maybe you need Spike as a friend. I can't tell you what decision to make over whether you want more than friendship with him, though I wish I could tell you, but I think you do need Spike as a friend at least."

Buffy cried even more and Joyce once again took her into her arms. But later on, when she lay wide awake in bed, Buffy gave serious thought to what her Mother had said to her.