Chapter 36

"Dawn, move your butt." Buffy yelled, knocking on Dawn's bedroom door as she hurried by. The HR woman from Inmobiliaria Colonial was due any minute and she hadn't eaten anything. She felt exhausted already, and she'd barely been up for an hour.

"Ah, good morning, Buffy." Giles greeted her as she entered the kitchen, looking up from his laptop. "Just taking another pass through the Council's database records on the Jentil."

"Great," she muttered, grabbing a coffee mug from the rack on the counter and filling it. "At least one of us has been able to start studying for Saturday." Buffy dug around in the refrigerator, emerging with some cheese and two hard boiled eggs, and dropping them on the table before heading for the breadbox.

Giles blinked at her. "Oh, I thought you and William were eager to get started on that?"

Buffy sighed. "We were, but then Will wanted to read Dad's letter. Which led to us shuffling through the envelope of other letters." She set the cutting board with the last of yesterday's bread on the table near his elbow and took another sip of coffee, fighting down the choking feeling of frustrated tears. She was not going to cry over her father again. "I couldn't read any more after the first one, but it sure kept me up for a while."

A slamming door down the hallway interrupted them just before Dawn appeared, her wet hair braided down her back, shoes and socks in her hands. "Oh, good, there's coffee." She dropped her footwear on the floor and headed for the mugs.

"Yes, Thomas made it and took his out on the patio." Giles informed them, patting Buffy's hand. "I made tea."

"I hope you saved Will a cup." Dawn said. "Because I'm about to kill this."

"No violence before breakfast, Bit." Spike said, trying to roll the chair into the kitchen, but unable to move forward once a wheel caught on Dawn's shoe. "Damnit!"

"Shit, sorry." Dawn ran over and got her stuff out of the way, nearly knocking her mug off the counter in her haste. Just then the doorbell rang, and Dawn ran off to open it.

"I think I heard something about tea?" Spike asked.

"Yes, there should be plenty." Giles offered, gesturing to the pot on the counter.

Buffy grabbed a mug off the rack and handed it to him. "Ta, luv." He poured the milk and tea, then wheeled over and took one of Buffy's eggs. "Morning, Rupert."

Giles was responding when Dana and Dawn appeared in the doorway. "Ah, good morning." He nodded at the newcomers.

"Buenos dias!" Dana smiled. "Miss Dawn tells me we are still having breakfast, yes?"

Buffy swallowed her bite of bread and cheese. "Good morning, Dana. We'll be fast, promise. Thanks again for taking us to see Esme today." William nodded, his mouth full of egg. "This is my boyfriend, William, who you haven't met."

Dana nodded hesitantly, realizing who he was. "Is no trouble, of course." Dana responded. "Did you have the chance to look at the photo albums at all?"

"Yes, we went through them some last night." Buffy answered. "I appreciate you putting that together."

Dana shrugged. "The facility takes pictures of the children, all I did was to add photos of Esme to the book her mother had begun. Now she is not missing anything from her childhood, si?"

"We appreciate it, though." Dawn answered, heading for her abandoned coffee and drinking it like a shot. William raised an eyebrow at her as he sipped his tea. "At least now we know what she looks like." Dawn snagged a slice of bread and sat.

"Hello!" Tommy called, stepping inside from the patio. "Apologies, I wanted to speak with my fiancée before we left."

"No trouble, señor." Dana greeted him with a smile. "I wanted to discuss the orphanage with all of you before we go…"

"Let's have this conversation in the car." Buffy suggested, wiping her hands on a napkin. "No reason for us to take up your whole day because we're running late."

Tom pulled Dana aside for a question, while Buffy helped Will out to the car, and Dawn took advantage of the suddenly less hectic kitchen to sit and put her shoes on. In a matter of moments, they were all in Tom's rental van headed for the facility.

"So," Dana said as they pulled onto the main road, "I'm sure by now you must have realized that such a special child couldn't have been sent to a facility where they were unaware of what she is. There will be many other young demons there when we arrive. I assume this will not be a problem for anyone?"

"Of course not." Giles responded. "We are very aware of such places, they exist all over the world. The Council has never acted against them."

"No one there is dangerous to Esme, right?" Dawn asked. "Where we grew up, some of the demons didn't mix well with others."

"She is safe. And, quite popular with the other children, from what I understand." Ms. Garcia reassured her.

"Have you spoken to her grandparents since we've been here, or just the Jentil elders?" Buffy asked. "I'd like to meet them, to hear about…Sarabe." Buffy pronounced the unfamiliar name hesitantly. "I'm sure they'll want to contact Esme, and tell us what they want her to know about their people, and her mother."

Dana nodded. "I spoke to them last night. I would give you their phone number, but they don't speak English, and only passable Spanish. They mainly speak Basque." She tapped her briefcase, thinking. "I can ask them to see you Saturday, either before or after the meeting with the Council, and so I can act as translator."

"Apreciaríamos eso. We would appreciate that." William responded.

"Ah, you speak Spanish, Señor…"

"Spencer." He nodded. "I've been in the States so long my usage is more Latin American than Castilian, but I can understand and make myself understood. Did okay last time I was in Catalonia, though that's been a while, now."

"Do any others of you speak Spanish?" Dana asked.

"I'm somewhat like Will, I speak Latin American Spanish. I can communicate, but I'll probably offend someone horribly in a business situation by being too informal." Tom said.

Buffy shrugged. "Just the tourist stuff. You know; hola, adios, gracias, de nada, baño. I didn't think I could learn languages until we moved to Italy and I learned a bunch by immersion, so I guess I'll pick more up while we're here."

"Mi español está muy fuera de practica. Mi lectura es mejor. My Spanish is very out of practice. My reading is better." Giles tried gamely.

Dana smiled. "Not too out of practice, señor. And you, my dear?"

Dawn shrugged. "I was doing okay with Spanish until we moved to Italy, now when I can't remember the word, sometimes I end up with the Italian one. I'm hoping the longer I'm here the more will come back to me."

"Well, Esme only speaks Spanish, so hopefully everyone can make themselves understood." Ms. Garcia shook her head. "The Jentil will want to know she can get her needs met if she goes with you."

"There's a Venezuelan family who work with me and Tom's fiancée, and likely Buffy once she moves to LA." William offered. "They have three young children, so there would be other Spanish speaking children for her to play with. She wouldn't just be stranded in a strange country with only a couple of people who could understand her."

"This is good for us to tell them, however another family won't be there to help you when she wakes in the middle of the night, will they?" Dana didn't want to be discouraging, but she wanted them to understand the difficulties involved in what they wanted to do.

Buffy frowned as she realized there were challenges to deal with she hadn't thought of. Taking the notebook she'd started carrying from her pocket, she began a list of things she'd have to find out or study. Spike leaned over her shoulder, murmuring occasional suggestions.

Dawn engaged Dana in a Spanish language conversation about food and culture, frequently interrupted by either Giles or Tom correcting Dawn's vocabulary stolen from other languages. Dana was most amused when she couldn't remember the Spanish word for bathhouse and ended up with the Latin.

When they pulled up in front of the orphanage, Buffy and Dawn were both somewhat subdued, thinking about all the work they'd have to do to prepare well for having their sister live with them. Even the idea that she would end up in LA with them was a big assumption, Buffy realized. She'd automatically thought that living with blood family would be the best for the little girl. The more she thought about it, though, she could see how an isolated people would object to them moving the girl to a different country, to immerse her in a different language and culture.

"Dana, do you know if the children sleep in dormitories here?" William asked the woman, realizing Buffy was too deep in thought to start working through her list of research questions.

"They do, although not in large wards. You can see her bedroom, it holds eight girls." Ms Garcia led Buffy, Dawn and Giles up the stairs, while William took the ramp and Tom followed in case he needed an assist. "Why do you ask, Mr. Spencer?"

"If we have her in LA with us, we're moving into a three bedroom apartment." He responded. "She'd be around other children at school, and to play, but she'd be sleeping alone. I was wondering if she's used to that."

"Is she big enough to sleep in a real bed, yet?" Buffy frowned. "I have no idea, aren't there littler beds for young kids? Do we have to scrap all the furniture we'd planned for that room and get her little kid furniture?"

"I rather think the two of you are getting ahead of yourselves." Giles cut in. "Why don't you focus on making yourselves understood and if you can see her getting along in your home, before you start worrying about bedtime and furniture."

Dana led the group inside, and conversation died down as they looked around while she went into the office. They found themselves in an institutional lobby, though the space was brightened by posters for upcoming events and displays of children's artwork. Buffy was especially amused by William's translation of a poster for a 'safe grappling' training for staff members, which was supposed to teach them how to 'safely indulge a young demon's need for rigorous physical challenges'.

When Dana emerged several minutes later, she was followed by a shorter woman whose hair was pulled back into a severe white bun, exposing her droopy purple ears. "Ms. Summers'," Dana called, gesturing the girls forward, "This is Sra. Fernandez, she's Esmerelda's case worker. She'll guide us around the facility and introduce you to Esme."

Buffy reached out to shake the woman's hand, smiling. "Señora Fernandez, buenos dias, gracias por…Er, your help…"

"Gracias por su ayuda con todo. Nos alegra saber que Esmeralda estuvo bien atendida. Thank you for your help with everything. We are glad to know Esmeralda was well cared for." William moved to her side and took the woman's hand once Buffy relinquished it.

"Si, Sra. Fernandez, muchas gracias. Yo soy Dawn. Estos son Buffy y William."

The woman's ears perked slightly as she was approached by the three of them almost simultaneously. "Yes, er, welcome. Pleasure to meet you." She bobbed her head and shook Dawn's hand. "Please, come. Esme is in art class."

She led the group to a staircase which wrapped around an elevator in its center. "Please." She motioned William to proceed into the elevator, and Giles looked askance at the staircase and followed. "Tercer piso," she told them, and William nodded and pressed the button for the third floor. She motioned the rest of the group to the staircase.

"We are so excited to meet the famous Demonio Asesino, Buffy Summers." Sra. Fernandez smiled nervously as she led them up. "We did wonder if Esme was related to you, although of course Inmobiliaria Colonial would not give us any confirmation until they had received your permission, for her safety."

Buffy shook her head, and tried to contain the desire to glare at Dana. It seemed to her the company, and specifically the way-too-involved HR lady, had gone overboard with protecting Esme. "I wish I knew Esme was here sooner, though I guess there was reason not to notify me before my move to Europe. It wouldn't have been safe for her to live with me when I was involved in the day-to-day slaying."

"Ah, and you do not fight every day now?" Sra. Fernandez asked.

"No, my role now is mainly problem-solving. I also train non-warriors in self-defense, and I'm a peer counselor. I've been thinking about going to school to become a therapist." Buffy shrugged. "You probably understand how difficult it can be to find a therapist who knows about the supernatural and demons."

The woman nodded, relaxing by degrees as they talked. By the time they met Spike and Giles on the third floor, they were smiling and chatting away.

"Ah, so, here we are." The older woman said, leading them down a hallway and waving toward a door labeled 'Estudio 3'. "I will ask that only the sisters enter the room with me, to begin. We do not wish to overwhelm the children."

Buffy and Dawn followed Sra. Fernandez into the room, which was populated by fifteen children, and two adults. One of the adults was working with a young Bracken demon in a mechanical wheelchair, while the other was kneeling between two human-looking children, evidently mediating an argument.

Esme was easy to pick out of the chaos, and not because she was the hairiest kid in the room, or because she was taller than half of them. She was laughing loudly at something a blue-skinned child had said, shaking her head and waving a paintbrush, which was dripping pink paint down her arm. Even if they hadn't gotten the photo album from Dana to review the day before, Buffy felt like she would have known her. It wasn't that she resembled her or Dawn, so much as Buffy felt drawn to her, she sparkled with life and energy. She glanced at Dawn, and met her eyes with a smile, sensing that Dawn felt something similar.

As children noticed the new adults, a ripple of small questioning looks filtered through the room as they stared, or glanced up and then looked away. Some smiled, others withdrew as if shy. When Esme noticed them, she turned and smiled, brushing hair from her face with her paintbrush hand and streaking pink paint across her forehead. Buffy's heart seized, full of a sudden overwhelming rush of emotion. Dawn gave a small wave, grinning hugely.

The case worker went straight to Esme, greeting several of the other children as she passed. When she reached Esme's side, she knelt next to her chair and pulled a tissue from her pocket. "Esme, estas damas están aquí para conocerte. ¿Puedes decir hola? Esme, these ladies are here to meet you. Can you say hello?" Sra. Fernandez wiped Esme's hand and arm as she spoke to her, then wiped at her forehead with her fingers when the tissue was dirty.

"Hola!" Esme chirped, seeming completely unfazed by strangers showing up to meet her, or by being cleaned up and fussed over.

"Hola, Esme." Buffy responded, not really knowing what else to say. She turned to Dawn, who was evidently waiting for her cue. When she saw Buffy's glance, she nodded.

"Hola, Esme. Yo soy Dawn. Esta es mi hermana, Buffy. Estamos muy contentos de conocerte. Hi, Esme. My name is Dawn. This is my sister, Buffy. We are very pleased to meet you."

Esme giggled. "Hablas gracioso. You talk funny."

Sra. Fernandez gasped. "Esmeralda, eso no es algo agradable de decir. Esmeralda, that's not a nice thing to say."

"It's okay." Dawn reassured the woman. "I'm aware my Spanish accent isn't great." Dawn turned back to the little girl. "Sueno extraña porque soy de Estados Unidos. I sound strange because I'm from the United States."

"Como mi Papa. Like my Papa." Esme's enthusiasm was subdued at this realization, and Buffy and Dawn shared a frown, wondering why that was.

"Yes, si." Buffy responded quietly.

"¿Conocías a mi papá? Did you know my Papa?" Esme looked up at them wonderingly, and Buffy was nearly overcome with the urge to cry. She wasn't exactly sure what the little girl was asking, but she hated the yearning in her voice, asking about her father.

"Sí, Buffy y Dawn conocían a tu papá." Sra. Fernandez looked up at them. "She asked if you knew her father, I said yes."

Dawn knelt next to Sra. Fernandez. "Somos hermanas. Esme, somos tus hermanas. ¿Lo entiendes? We are sisters. Esme, we are your sisters. Do you understand?"

Esme frowned at Dawn, considering her for a moment, before she looked up at Buffy. "Si." She stared at Buffy some more. "¿Por qué no habla? Why doesn't she talk?"

"Yo nos hablamos pas espanol." Buffy tried, making Esme giggle and Sra. Fernandez frown at her.

"Buffy no habla español." Dawn cut in. "Ella lo intenta, pero no es buena en eso. She tries, but she's not good at it."

Esme reached out to Buffy hesitantly, relaxing when Buffy took the smaller, furrier hand in hers. "Yo puedo enseñarte español, si quieres. I can teach you Spanish, if you want."

Buffy took a deep breath and squeezed her sister's hand as Dawn whispered a translation in her ear. "Si. I'd like that." She watched Dawn mouth the words at her, then responded. "Me gustaria eso."