Zigpal- Yay, my clap dosage. It spurs me on. Hehe. And yes, all is happy for the Harrises now and Anya isn't only vengeance having again- like you said Joyce is the kick. hehe. And here's your Joyce filled epi dosage- part mine, part Jane Esponson (Goddess of all that is Buffydom). Thanks for reviewage

g120-thanks for review and re the thankyness I just wanted you to know your reviews are of the appreciated. And ah, yes what is up with Buffy and Spike. Oddly enough, he's not in this one, but they are pretty all over the place aren't they? I think Buffy's the one balanced, thanks to friends network and her Mom's advice...but it's poor Spikey that's all confused? She wants sex, friendship, sex, friendship, dancing, what's a vamp to do? Well, you'll see where it's heading when he gets all cleary-focus on it.

rabidreject- thanks mucho for review and what you said. Gives me a happy when I know you like the story so much. And as for the long time writing thing- the way Joyce and Rupert keep calling out for new storylines I'll end up writing this into next year. haha. I'm already into 'No Future for You Part Two' of the Buffy: Season Eight series with the Cocorific 'verse. haha.

A/N: Okay, so this one is like partly all my story, but also part Doublemeat Palace. Coz, remember Sophie? The girl who still came to Buffy's party because she knew her at college? Well, she's gone milk carton on us.
"I've come to the conclusion that parents have a very strange power over their children. No matter what age you are, they always have this innate ability to make you regress. Take my Mom for instance. Today, her Mom called...about visiting. Apparently she'd found out about Mom being all pregnant and such. I think Buffy let the baby out of the bag. Mom is not going to be happy."

"Mom, you really don't need to come over you know," Joyce was reasoning over the phone, "Everything's fine here...yes, I know you have a right to- I know it's your grandchild, I'm the one carrying aren't I? I just...wouldn't it be more reasonable to maybe visit when you can actually see her? Wouldn't that...no, that wouldn't be better? O-okay...well, if you..."

"I can just see Mom's inner child stomping her foot and saying 'I don't wanna! You can't make me let you come!' More foot stomping 'I'm a grown-up and I can do whatever I like!'. With parents that is so not true. It's nice this whole karmic justice thing. See how she likes it"

"Fine...but Mom? How exactly did you find out...no of course I would have told you...eventually, but who- oh, I see. So when will- Tuesday?! As in the Tuesday happening in two days? Right," Joyce's voice was as strained as her smile, "okay, great. I guess I'll see you then."

Joyce hung up silently, taking a deep, calming breath before eventually shouting up the stairs:

"Buffy!"

"What?" Buffy asked innocently, as she bounded down the stairs to see what her Mother wanted.

"That was your grandmother on the phone," Joyce informed her, "Stating how she wished to see me before the baby was born. You wouldn't happen to know why she would know that would you?"

"Oops..." Buffy winced, before immediately beginning to defend herself, "I didn't mean to! She called and it just...slipped out with the slipperiness. You know what she's like! The closer she is to death the more persistent she is in the information dragging in the sense of getting it out of me"

"Buffy," Joyce reprimanded, "Don't talk about your Grandma like that"

"But..." Buffy just sighed, realizing she was fighting a losing battle, "So what's the verdict?"

"Pardon?"

"Of the phone call. What was the conclusionage?" Buffy asked.

"Oh...she's ah, coming to visit...on Tuesday" Joyce explained and Buffy's eyes widened in panic.

"What? No! Last time she came you all turned into teenagers! And with...what if the Nerd Herd decide to play a practical joke that ends up cloning Grandma?!"

Joyce really didn't like the sound of that.

"Well, we'll just have to deal won't we?"

Buffy whimpered in reply.

It had taken a while, but Buffy had finally got a rhythm in life. Sure, it had been a while ago when she had finally stopped wishing herself dead, but despite her new wish to live, she had still wandered around without aim or purpose. Recently though, everything seemed to be coming together again.

College was going great, she was even beginning to get to that stage where it felt like she'd never left. Sometimes she still got those periods of nostalgia. When she longed for the seemingly simpler times of Hemery High or even when she first arrived in Sunnydale. When it had been nothing but fresh starts ahead. Principal "Students are free to call me Bob but don't" Flutie with his clean slate ideals, just her, her Mom and Dawn- though technically it had just been her and her Mom- living together with her Mom and her parenting manuals. Things had been so bright and simple then even in their darker times. It was then that Buffy started to fall into another funk. Which was why she was so glad about college. It stopped her thinking on those memories, and just kept her focused on new ones.

She was making friends too. Okay, so she'd never have friends she was as close to as the others- Willow, Xander, Anya, Tara...even Spike to some extent. After all, as much as she was reluctant to admit it a lot of the time he did know her better than most. But then again, he'd always been insightful about everyone and everything hadn't he? Nevertheless, she was making friends. Sophie had been a godsend. She wasn't overly bright or confident but she was a genuinely nice person and despite the initial horror and avoidance of Buffy after the events of her twenty-first she had continued to be a valued friend to Buffy and she couldn't be more thankful.

However upon entering room B12 Buffy found Sophie to be missing, an empty seat where she should be.

"Hey, uh, where's Sophie?" Buffy asked the others casually as she took her seat. The rest of the class saw Sophie more often than Buffy did, as while Buffy was only in the class twice a week as a catch up for her incompletes last year and her late start this year, every one else was in the class every time it was on.

"Dunno," One of the guys, Brian, replied with a shrug, "Ill I guess. She hasn't been in for the last couple of classes"

"Really?" Buffy frowned, "A-and no one's heard from her? Or tried to call her?"

There was a general consensus of shaking heads 'no'.

"Well, she lives at home with her Mom," Jasmine reasoned, "So it's not like we can go knock on at her dorm. She'll be back in soon. Probably just inhaled too many Doublemeat Palace fumes at work"

Jasmine was joking, but Buffy didn't find anything funny about it. After all she'd thought on about the workers at Doublemeat Palace being not quite right so she couldn't help thinking something was seriously iffy about Sophie's sudden disappearance.

"When are Xander and Anya gonna be back?" Dawn asked as she sat at the island in the kitchen, watching her Mom make dinner with the eagerness of a hungry wolf waiting for a meal.

"Erm...well, they left for their honeymoon on Friday...so, two weeks on Friday" Joyce said, thinking on it a moment before she answered.

"Cool. I've always wanted to go to Cyprus you know," Dawn said.

"Have you?" Joyce asked, having absolutely no recollection of Dawn ever having claimed to that fact.

"Yeah," Dawn confirmed, completely stumped by her Mom's cluelessness, "I've only ever said it every single vacation since we saw that show on it when I was like eight"

"You did?" Joyce turned to look at her daughter, completely flummoxed, "I don't remember..." She shook her head as if to clear it and a moment later the image of Dawn rambling about Cyprus the moment the show had ended, "Oh yes. You wanted to go to the ruins because you thought they might be haunted and you really wanted to see a ghost"

Dawn nodded, with something that was almost relief. Relief that her Mother did in fact remember.

"Giles! Giles!" Buffy's voice rang out through the house as the two heard her come in through the front door.

"I remember when she used to shout 'mom' when she came home," Joyce sighed before calling out, "Honey, in here"

"Is Giles home?" Buffy asked, rushing into the kitchen.

"No, not yet," Joyce told her, "But he should be back any minute...is something wrong?"

"Oh just your usual Sunnydale," Buffy replied but this was apparently not the reply her Mother wanted to hear as her brown eyes widened in panic that was quickly followed by outright denial.

"What? No, no, no. No, that is just going to have to wait Buffy. My Mother is going to be here within in...the next hour or so, you can't have a supernatural crisis. Please, Buffy, you just can't."

"You say it like I have a choice," Buffy retorted in disbelief, but the look her Mother gave her showed she believed just that. "Mom, you know I can't choose when and where the forces of Darkness attack me"

"And where are they this time?" Joyce ask impatiently, turning off the pan, before turning to look at Buffy with one hand on her hip.

"The...Doublemeat Palace..." Buffy admitted and before her Mother could argue she talked over her, "I'm just sure there's something strange going on there. I mean everyone there is really freakily out of it...and Sophie? She's gone missing. So I did a little searching- and turns out she's not the only Doublemeat Palace worker to pull a Houdini. Only without the escaping"

"I understand all that...I think," Joyce told her, "But can't you just delay it till your Grandma's out of town again? Please? I know she isn't coming at an ideal time, I mean I'm just branching out into the third trimester which in case you were wondering is even more unpleasant than the first and it means any number of things are all over the place- but I'm working through it for two days...so can't you just...I don't know...just not go the Doublemeat Palace for a couple of days?" She pleaded desperately, but Buffy thought she was being ridiculous.

"Mom! I can't just be all ignory- when I ignore things like this, people can die"

"Buffy," Joyce sighed just as there was a knock at the door. She carried on the conversation with her daughter as she walked through the dining room to the front door, "I'm just asking you this one favor. I do appreciate that your slaying is important but I'm just asking for one br- Mom" Despite the fact she knew her Mother was coming, Joyce still seemed surprised that her Mom was the one at the door. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming, coming till eight?" She turned back to Buffy, "It is only six o clock​?" Buffy nodded in confirmation and Joyce returned her attention back to her Mother, "So you're early. Two hours early"

"Anyone would think you weren't glad to see me Joyce," Grace said, stepping past her daughter and over the threshold so only Buffy saw Joyce's look in silent reply to that question, "My,look at you," Grace said, looking Joyce up and down, "You're glowing you know that?" She placed her hands on her daughter's abdomen, the only person able to do so without getting her head and hands ripped off, "Twenty six weeks aren't you?"

"Wh- y-yes, around-"

"Not all around the front, not overly big- just like with Dawn and Buffy. Another girl I suppose then?"

"Yes, actually-" Joyce barely got two words out, before her Mother started talking again.

"Well, as exciting as this is I have to- oh hello Buffy- I have to say Joyce, are you completely insane?"

"What?" Joyce was completely thrown by this unpredicted question, "Am I...what?"

"I thought you and Richard-"

"Rupert," Joyce corrected patiently, yet at the same time testily.

"-weren't going to have any children. It's what you adamantly stated last year just before the wedding when his Father questioned you about it. I mean you're forty four at the end of this March, Joyce, you don't think you're being a tad ridiculous adding to the family now?"

"W-well, we didn't plan it-it just happen-"

"You mean this child's a mistake? You don't want her?"

"What? No," Joyce immediately protested "Of course not. Just because she wasn't planned doesn't mean she isn't wanted-"

"I mean your Father said how he knew it wouldn't be a planned child. Just like Buffy-" Grace carried on, seemingly oblivious to the fact Joyce was speaking.

"Wait- I wasn't planned?" Buffy cut in.

"Of course you were," Joyce told her, "Just not at the exact time I got pregnant. But that's beside the point. Mom if-"

"I mean, it'd be more understandable if you were in your late thirties Joyce, but your bordering on for mid-forties-"

"But I was wanted right?" Buffy checked, "Wait, that wasn't why Dad eventually left is it coz-"

"No, of course not Buffy. Mom- please, just stop talking."

"Stop talking? I'm just-"

The overlapping conversation was interrupted by Giles walking in through the front door, blissfully oblivious to what he was walking into. When he caught sight of Grace though, his eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Oh, hello," He said simply, for lack of anything else to say.

"Rupert," Grace's voice was tense, and revealed that although she was accepting of Rupert, like most Mothers she disliked her son-in-law for reasons unfathomable to the rest of the family.

"Grace- I uh, thought you weren't arriving for a few hours yet," Giles said, "If I'd have known I would have arrived sooner"

"I'm sure," Grace agreed, sounding entirely unconvinced, "Now, if you don't mind I would really like to talk to my daughter about this addition to be brought to the family. Though I suppose since you're here now you might as well contribute"

"Right," Giles nodded in what-other-choice-do-I-have agreement while Joyce just threw him a helpless look before the two of them were directed into the living room by Grace as though they were naughty children caught playing on the other side of the street.

"Actually," Buffy broke in, "Giles I kinda need to-" She broke off when she saw her Mom throwing her a pleading look and she sighed, "talk to you later. But I can deal for now" Her Mother mouthed her a silent thanks, but before Buffy left to pursue the Doublemeat Palace lead herself with Willow and Tara, she added one more thing, "By the way- you guys should probably remember that Dawn's still in the kitchen"

"These are the type of Scooby field trips we need to do more often," Willow said as she, Tara and Buffy pulled up outside the Doublemeat Palace, "Saving the world and nutrition"

"We're not here to eat Willow" Buffy told him, all-business, "We're to find out what happened to Sophie and the others"

"And since when has that ever stopped Xander eating- so why should it stop us?" Willow countered, "I remember we couldn't have a research party at high school without a good donut run"

"Will" Tara smiled, before heading after Buffy into the fast food restaurant.

"Oh Buffy knows it's true. She and Giles used to argue over the jellies," She smiled, "Now what exactly are we looking for here?" She asked as the stepped into the busy place, "I'm thinking we can't exactly go up to the front counter and ask them if they're pro-soylent green you know"

Buffy didn't answer but merely strode through the restaurant, while miraculously remaining unnoticed by everyone there but Willow and Tara. She stopped when she came to a red box on the wall that said 'pull in case of fire'. She pulled and the fire alarm rang out loudly.

"Th-that works too," Willow admitted, slightly nervously as the sprinklers turned on and everyone ran out past them in a hurry, none of the workers even checking to see if there was a fire- therefore confirming that working in fast food does make you brain dead.

Once everyone had left the building except for those three, Buffy immediately headed behind the counter.

"Now this is Sunnydale," She said, "Where fireman are too busy not turning up to be here. Now when Sunnydale High blew up it took them half an hour to get there- and that was for a confirmed explosion- so for something as meager as this I'd say we've got an hour, maybe more, to find what we're looking for"

"Who died and made you George Cloony?" Willow asked with a grin, but Buffy didn't bother to answer, Tara, however, did.

"But...we're raiding a burger bar n-not a casino"

"I still say we're gonna need seven other guys to pull this off"

"Oh my god," Buffy suddenly said from behind the counter in disgust, the sprinkler rain pouring down on them forgotten by the three now. Buffy turned to face her friends and in her hand she was holding, "A finger"

Joyce had fallen asleep. Which meant Giles was on his own facing Grace. For the past few days, Joyce's month-long burst of energy had seemed to be slowly burning out, regardless of the fact that she still needed to do a hundred-and-one things at work, home, in general and so, obviously, she'd been getting more and more tired and with her coming into the third trimester the tiredness had been powered to the nth term. So, really, it should have been no surprise that while Grace had talked for a long breakless period of time about babies, children, raising children (all spoken about as though she'd forgotten Joyce had been there twice before) and also the impact their 'mature parenthood' as she phrased it would have, that Joyce had drifted off for small moments, before eventually falling asleep on Rupert's chest, now blissfully ignorant of Grace's talk-come-lecture.

"Look," Grace was saying, "It's not like I don't like you Ronald,"

"Rupert," Giles corrected for the fifth time in fifteen minutes, briefly wondering if Grace would be as understanding if he mistakenly called her Endora.

"Rupert, right. It's not that I don't like you- you're a very nice man. Polite, friendly, good person with a good job- it's just I can't help noticing that well...you have a tendency to lead Joyce down a rather reckless path"

"I do?"

"Mm-hmm," Grace nodded, "Of course I heard the beginnings of it from Arlene- after all I didn't know about you till a fortnight before the wedding," She laughed it off but Giles could tell she was obviously still sore about this, "But Arlene told me of how the two of you had a tendency to drop everything at the drop of a hat, and go off and do something spontaneous or whatever. The wedding in fact seemed rather out of the blue- I got the impression from the others that you actually proposed by accident!" Again with the fake laughter, "But this isn't some reckless decision that you can drop a moment later. I hope you understand that"

"Grace, I fully appreciate your concern, but might I remind you that I am in fact an adult and know perfectly well all that it entails as does Joyce. We are not, as you seem to be dealing with the situation here, two eighteen year olds suffering the consequences of a ridiculously drunk night on the town"

"I sometimes wonder," Grace said disapprovingly, but there was a touch of a smile at her mouth and Giles was reminded of a conversation with her when they first met, and he couldn't help wondering whether some of the 'talk' stemmed from an envy to have this 'reckless' attitude. If only she knew what caused impromptu and spontaneous decisions. Life or death situations prompted those sorts of things.

"Well, we are sometimes teenagers..." Joyce said dozily as she yawned awake and while Grace looked confused, shocked and concerned by this not quite-coherent admittance, Giles looked at his wife with a wide-eyed pointed expression that clearly said 'be careful what you say here'. "What?" Joyce asked in tired confusion, wondering what she was getting the looks for. She yawned again, "Oh- did I fall asleep?"

"Somewhat," Giles smiled in warm confirmation.

"It's understandable though," Grace added, "You're not doing too much are you?" She asked before turning on Giles, "I hope you aren't having her on her feet too much, it isn't-"

"Mom," Joyce cut in, "I'm fine, you don't have to...this isn't my first time remember? I know what I'm doing and you don't have to worry about Rupert. He's uh, he's been wonderful"

"Well, you do seem to be doing just fine so far," Grace admitted, "No problems? Hiccups?" Joyce shook her head, "Well, good, I'm sorry I'm going on so much- it's just I guess I was a little hurt that you didn't even tell me you were pregnant Joyce. I had to hear it from Buffy, and I don't think even she meant to tell me" She sighed, "I just don't understand why you have to be so secretive about things all the time"

"Argh!" Willow yelped as she put her hand on something on the counter, "Scalp!" She pulled her hand away in disgust but Tara immediately calmed her down.

"No, honey, it's just a wig," She held up the fake blue-gray curls.

"Who wears a wig like that?" Buffy grimaced.

"Well, I've got to use something to cover this," An old woman's voice spoke up and they turned to see an old woman looking like a perfectly normal OAP except for the fact she had a huge tube of gray lamprey-headness coming out from where her scalp should be. It opened it's mouth wide and sprayed out liquid, the majority of it landed on Tara's face who scrunched her face up in disgust, trying to shake it all off. She tried to follow Willow and Buffy to move out of the way of the demon wig lady, but her legs would barely step forward, they remained where they were glued to the floor, feeling as though she were gradually turning to stone.

"Don't try to move dear," The Wig Lady told her, "You really can't, much"

Immediately, forgetting about killing Wig demon Buffy and Willow set about helping Tara out of the way of the demon, and out of the store to safety. "The paralysis spreads upwards," Wig Lady explained as they struggled, "You may want to flail your arms while you still can. I mean, you're not my favorite. Not Doublemeat Palace workers you see, but well...you drove them all away didn't you dear"

"Willow go!" Buffy ordered, "I'll get Tara" And as Willow reluctantly ran to open the front door, Buffy stopped trying to tug Tara along and instead picked the paralyzed witch up before running towards the door too, the three of them reaching the street just as the sound of fire engines started. They were close. Buffy took a moment to look back in the fast food restaurant and saw Wig Lady wasn't there anymore, which meant she had probably left to escape the firemen too- or the more likely reason was that she had left to come after them. Which meant they didn't have much time to get Tara to safety. "Come on, let's get her back to my place"

"Well, it doesn't matter I suppose," Grace said after Rupert and Joyce tried to convince her that they weren't secretive, "Not that what you do is really any of my business-" Joyce and Rupert shared an incredulous look at that comment, "and at least I'll be there for the birth"

"Y-wait, what? You will?" Joyce asked in panic and now it was Grace's turn to be confused.

"Of course, why on earth wouldn't I be?"

"Well, uh-"

"Oh for goodness sakes Joyce," Grace was completely exasperated, "What on earth is going on around here? You detest me visiting, I can tell, and you all act as though there's some big conspiracy you're all trying to cover up, hide from me. And now you seem completely fully of nerves when I say I want to be there for the birth of my grandchild. What the hell is going on?"

"Mom- nothing is-"

Joyce was cut off as Buffy and Willow burst through the front door carrying an apparently paralyzed Tara.

"Giles, we have a big problem," Buffy said as way of greeting as they brought Tara into the living room and that's when she remembered her Grandmother was still there. She didn't even have the time to come up with an excuse or cover-up because a moment later the wig lady's lamprey head burst through the living room window, shattering glass everywhere. "Watch out!" Buffy yelled, placing Tara down carefully near the hall, "It can paralyze you!"

"What?" Grace frowned in confusion, not having a clue what her granddaughter was talking about or what was going on.

"Just get down!" Buffy ordered her in such a leader-like slayer-mode way that Grace found herself obeying without question as she ducked behind the sofa, next to wear Tara had been lay. She looked at her with concern as she saw the girl was completely unable to move, but her eyes betrayed her fear.

The Wig Lady's lamprey head turned in the direction of Buffy, opening it's mouth wide to spray it's paralyzing venom and Giles grabbed Joyce out of the way just in time,as Buffy rolled out of the spray's range. However, the couple slightly overbalanced as the sudden momentum took over and the two of them fell to the floor, though fortunately remaining sat upright, Joyce landed on Giles and the two groaned in pain at the impact.

Buffy, however, kept her forward roll going until she reached her weapons chest in the corner of the living room. She sprung to her feet, lifted up the wooden lid to pull out a wicked looking curved throwing knife.

"Hey Wig Lady!" She called for the demon's attention and just as the head turned to face her, she flung the blade like a Frisbee and it sliced through the demon's neck, killing it instantly. "Head's up" Buffy couldn't help grinning with self-satisfaction as she looked at the decapitated demon.

"Are you okay?" Joyce asked Rupert with concern, though she made no efforts to get up off of him.

"I'm fine," He assured her, "I'm more concerned about you actually"

"Me?" Joyce sounded genuinely surprised, "You're the one who just had a pregnant woman land on you- which I'm told is not a blissful experience"

"I've had worse," He told her, but his voice was strained so she gave him a kiss for his troubles, which he gladly received.

"Ow..." Tara complained as the feeling started to come back to her, the death of the demon putting an end to the effects of the paralyzing venom and Willow rushed over to her to see if she was okay.

"Okay..." Grace said, breathing slowly. Something terrifying and unexplainable had just happened and all this group had done was treat it was like an everyday occurrence. Willow and the girl who'd been paralyzed were now smiling and joking, seemingly having as little concern for what had happened as her daughter and son-in-law, who presently were sat on the floor together, Joyce on Rupert's lap, sharing a, thankfully not over-the-top, kiss. And her granddaughter? She had taken up a weapon and held it like it was an extension of herself and she seemed to revel in the gore of the strange creature being decapitated. "Would someone like to tell me what is going on?"

It was only at this question that the group lost their care-free attitude to the situation.

"Well, I don't think my Mother will ever be returning to Sunnydale," Joyce concluded the next day to her family after waving her Mom off. "She said something about Sunnydale being too 'active' for her tastes and mumbled something about clashing dates for the estimated day of the birth...so she doesn't think she'll be coming to that"

"Well, at least she knows the truth now," Buffy reasoned, "And we don't have to keep lying to her anymore"

"Mmm..." Joyce didn't sound convinced, "I'm not so sure she does know the truth. On some level I think she still believes it was all an elaborate act for a piece of an obscure play. And no doubt that's what she'll relay to Dad"

"Well, denial is the gift of us," Buffy acknowledged, "I still say this," She gestured to her Mom's pregnant state, "is immaculate conception."

Joyce couldn't help but smile at that as she took a seat in the living room beside her husband and opposite her daughters.

"I feel like I need to sleep for a week," She confessed, trying to stop a yawn but failing miserably.

"Really?" Giles asked, sounding concerned, "You've been very tired lately..."

"Welcome to the third trimester," She grinned sleepily, "First- dizziness, sickness, the works, the second- glorious mainly nothing and energy, third- I'm not going to be awake for the first half." She explained as she tucked her legs under her childishly and curled up to him, resting her head on his chest as she used him as a handy human pillow. "It's all your fault you know," She told him slightly sleepily, "You put her here so you've only yourself to blame"

Giles evidently had no idea in the world of how to respond to that comment as he just looked completely flummoxed.

"Mom..." Dawn said in a voice that revealed she wanted something, and she seemed to be taking Joyce's sleepiness as an opportunity to get a thoughtless 'yes', "Some people from school are going to The Bronze tonight and-"

"No," Joyce told her simply even though her eyes were closed giving the impression of sleep, not even letting Dawn finish her question.

"Why not?" Dawn immediately pouted.

"Because," Joyce said, sitting up and opening her eyes, "It's a school night and you're only fifteen. You are not staying out all night at The Bronze"

"That is so not fair," The teenager protested, "You let me go a couple of months ago"

"That was my laid back period," Joyce informed, "Welcome back to Mom town. You're not going and that's the end of it"

"But-"

"End of discussion Dawn,"

Buffy knew that in a few weeks, days even, Joyce being over-Momish again was going to come back to bite her in the ass, but after all the mood swing sometimes-teenageryness of the past month or so with Joyce, she couldn't help feeling relaxed and glad at her Mom being, well, Mom again. Even if that did mean Dawn sulking for a few hours over not being allowed out.

The fact that she'd probably mither Buffy in turn was a small price to pay wasn't it? Right?

Right?