I know, I'm mean. I've made you wait way too long for this chapter...But I did bring you it! I am not abandoning this story...it will get done, I promise!

So what should I name Sam and Jules' baby? Should it be a boy or a girl? Let me know what you think! If I use your suggestion, I'll give you a shout-out.

Now you obviously didn't come here to listen to me ramble. So, enjoy this next chapter! I think we both know I don't own anything. Reviews make me happy!

"Michelangelo?" his Mom asked hesitantly. Spike gave her a mental handshake for breaking the very awkward silence that had ensued.

"Uh, Mom, Pops, this is Cassidy. A friend from work."

His Mom gazed at him. She glanced back at Cassidy, and then broke into a huge smile. Spike inwardly sighed. He knew that smile. That was the "You're young, pretty, and female, and you're spending time with my son, so when can I plan for the wedding?" smile. In his mother's mind, seeing him with a nice, pretty girl carried as much weight as an engagement ring. He would never hear the end about the girl from work. Which was either annoying, or totally convenient. It could go either way.

"Cassidy, I am so happy to meet you. Michelangelo, you should have told me you were bringing a friend!" She shook her finger in his direction.

There was that smile again.

"I'm Lucia, but you call me Mama." She shook Cassidy's hand gently. Then she turned and motioned Spike's father in, who looked just about as surprised at his Mom as Cassidy did. Spike shot her a small smirk.

"Told you so." he mouthed. She just bit back a small smile threatening to sneak out.

"Dominic, come and meet Spike's friend." His Mom's voice was firm. Spike had to hide another smirk as his Mom grasped his Pop's forearm and firmly led him over to where Cassidy was now standing.

"Nice to meet you sir." Cassidy said as his Pop held his hand out. Ah, there it was. Some of the confidence, that kick-butt attitude that she'd had when he first met her, was returning. Cassidy stood up straight and shook Dominic's hand firmly.

"You work with Michelangelo?" he asked. Spike could mentally see his father sizing her up, trying to figure out who she was and what she was doing with his son.

"Yep. Team One."

The funny thing was that as his Pop was sizing her up, Spike could see Cassidy sizing him up right back. That was a new one. The last girl he'd brought home, Lindsey, had kind of shrank down from his Pop. Not that he had blamed her. When he wanted to be, Pops was downright scary. Spike wondered if Italians were just naturally intimidating, or if it was something you had to practice to get right. If it was the latter, he figured his Pop must have spent a lot of time practicing.

But he was starting to get the feeling that not much scared Cassidy. Which would make it so much easier to bring her back to his place again.

Spike caught and mentally slapped himself. He was as bad as his mother. She wasn't interested in him, and he wasn't interested in her. Ok, maybe he was just a little bit interested, but that was beside the point. The point was that she'd had a crap day, and he had brought her back to his place because he was being a good friend. That was all he was, and all he would be. He had no plans to pull a Braddock-Callaghan move and start dating a co-worker. The idea had no appeal, whatsoever.

He made a mental note to never be the one to lie to a gunman.

He caught his Pop's gaze, and smiled the best he could, hoping for some kind of approval or something. His Pop just raised his eyebrows and sighed. With that, he gave a small grunt and walked out of the room. Spike heard conversation coming from the living room and realized that his Pop had turned on the TV.

"And that's the closest thing you'll get to approval." sighed Spike.

"Michelangelo..." his Mom said warningly. Spike gave a goofy shrug in her direction, and then glanced at the clock.

"Shi-" His Mom's glare cut the word short. "Shoot."

Cassidy glanced over at the clock and laughed at what she saw. "2 AM on a work night."

"Aren't we dedicated employees?" Spike laughed. "Guess I need to get you home."

Cassidy nodded and grabbed her coat off the rack by the door. "The dinner was amazing, Mrs. Scarlatti." she said to his Mom.

She smiled and grabbed Cassidy's hand. "It's Mama, my dear. And you are welcome any time. In fact-"

She glanced over at Spike and gave him that smile again. Wow, was he screwed.

"You should come on Friday. Michelangelo can bring you. I will make my special lasagna, and you can have dinner with all of us."

To Spike's surprise, Cassidy smiled broadly. "I'd absolutely love that, um...Mama."

Spike had a feeling that if he and Cassidy weren't standing there, his Mom would be breaking out into a happy dance. "Then I will see you on Friday, my dear."

Spike raised his eyebrows at his Mom as he let Cassidy out the door. She shooed her hands at him, and nodded after Cassidy with a smile.

His Mom liked her. He just couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He climbed into his side of the car, and saw her grinning at him.

What could he do? He grinned back. "That went better than I thought."

She started laughing. "I thought we were screwed when they walked in there...You weren't kidding about your Dad."

Spike sighed and started the car. "You weren't intimidated by him, though."

She gave an unladylike snort, which Spike found really cute. Again, not something he'd ever admit. "Yeah right."

He took his eyes off the road for a second. "You didn't look intimidated."

"Dude, you're SRU. You know that you don't show fear until the situation's under control. Then you can freak out."

"Are you comparing meeting my family to an SRU call?"

"Maybe." She smirked at him.

Within a couple minutes, they reached her house. She sighed and smiled at him. "Thanks for the great night, Spike. It was a lot of fun."

He leaned back and studied her face, softened by the light of the nearby street lamp. "You'll be okay?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'll be good."

He glanced at her driveway. "Your truck still in the shop?"

"Yeah, why?"

He grinned. "I'll pick you up before 6:30?"

She laughed. "Should I have coffee on?"

"Considering the hours we're pulling, yeah. Coffee would probably be good."

She shook her head and opened the passenger door. "If I'm falling asleep at the range tomorrow, I blame you completely Scarlatti."

As he was driving home, he couldn't figure out why he was so freaking proud of that.

Sorry it's moving so slow at this point...It's going to start moving along now, though, so don't worry. And please don't make me beg for reviews!