Title: The Assistant 10/?
Author: Sweetdoggie
Email: (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: B/G
Rating: R
Summary: Merrick didn’t die. A/U
Spoilers: Up to mid-season 2
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Pretty much A/U right from the start. I don’t know how many parts this will be but I’m not going to leave you hanging. The rating is me being ultra-conservative. 99% of all the sex takes place off scene. B/A fans—it never happened

Several days before Buffy’s eighteenth birthday, a representative of the Watcher’s Council contacted Merrick. “She is your Slayer, John. Technically, she should be given the test.”

“There is absolutely no need to make her go through the Cruciamentum, Travers, and you know it. She is bonded quite firmly to Rupert and that’s as it should be.” Merrick spoke firmly.

“No, it’s not, John. She’s your Slayer and should have formed the bond with you, not Rupert Giles.” Travers sounded quite smug.

“Buffy, the Slayer, is bonded deeply and truly to a Watcher, who happens to be Rupert Giles. Just because you personally don’t care for him does not negate that fact. There is no need to test their bond. You know the purpose of the test is to bring unbonded Slayers to the realization that their Watchers care more about them than anybody else, to create a dependency in the girls with the knowledge that their Watchers will always be there for them. Buffy isn’t unbonded so the whole exercise would be nothing short of pointless torture and I simply will not allow you to perform the test.” Merrick was firm on this point.

“I could simply fire you—and Rupert as well, you know. Failure to obey a direct order from your superior and all that.” Travers gloated.

“Give it up, Quentin. You have neither the authority nor the wherewithal to fire either of us. That is why they call it a Council and not the Dictatorship of Watchers. Besides, even if you could make it stick, Buffy would quit in a heartbeat.” John felt it was his turn to gloat a bit.

“You would suborn the Slayer from her duty?” Travers gasped.

“I wouldn’t need to. If one whisper of this conversation ever reached Buffy’s ears, the Council would be lacking their Slayer very quickly indeed. As for your personal safety, Quentin, well, let’s just hope that our little Slayer never finds out you’ve threatened her men folk, shall we?” John felt extremely dangerous at the thought of this stuffy old fool attempting to endanger his darling Buffy. “Oh dear, I just had a thought.”

“What?” Demanded the thwarted Watcher.

“We’d better hope Ripper never learns what you wanted to attempt. Oh my, no. That wouldn’t be pleasant at all.” He was pleased to hear the fool on the other end of the lone gulp nervously.

“I see no reason to mention this conversation with him. After all, I was merely attempting to get your input on this, ah phase in the Slayer’s development. I’m quite satisfied that everything is just as it should be. Um, I really must ring off now, I have an important meeting to attend.” Travers hung up the phone thinking how very much he despised field Watchers. They always thought they were so bloody superior because they had a Slayer. Administration was important too but they never realized it. He sniffed and turned back to the ream of papers covering his desk.

Later that night while Buffy was out patrolling, Merrick told Giles what had occurred. As he had predicted, Ripper was out in a flash, threatening to kill Travers and use his guts as a bowstring. Merrick thought the graphic imagery was amusing and ventured to guess that it would certainly be the first time that Travers was the least use to anyone. His humorous approach calmed the younger man.

“Sorry, John, but that bastard has had it in for me since I became a Watcher. He always felt that after my exploits as Ripper that I was too contaminated to serve the Council.” Giles rubbed his face tiredly. “I think we need to tell Buffy, just in case.”

“Yes, I agree. I don’t trust Travers as far as I could throw him, and that wouldn’t be that far from what I’ve heard.” John’s smile was evil.

“What have you heard?” Giles enquired.

“Just that the little toad has gained almost sixty pounds in the last three years.”

“Travers, fat! I can hardly believe it. He was always such a flighty little ponce.” Giles laughed meanly.

“Apparently too much sucking up and no working out have made Quentin a fat old man.” They shared a good laugh at a man who specialized in being smug, pompous, and annoying when he wasn’t being outright dangerous.

When Buffy came home from patrol that evening, she was met at the door by her adoring husband. Merrick had gone off to the kitchen to do some dishes and he wandered back to the living room when he heard the front door open. “Ah, Buffy. Good. Would you mind sitting with Rupert and I for a few moments. Something came up this evening that we think you should know about.”

Buffy listened to her Watchers explain the coming of age test for unbonded Slayers with growing dismay and rage. “They remove the Slayer’s strength and abilities and lock her up with a vampire?” She shook with the force of her emotions. “And they make the Watcher do this? And the Watchers just, just do it?”

“It’s the way of the Council, Buffy. The Cruciamentum has been performed on unbonded Slayers for more than a millennium.” Merrick tried to make this horror seem commonplace, as if it weren’t a huge betrayal of trust. She wondered how many Slayers killed their Watchers when they found out about the test. “I don’t get it. What is the point?”

“The point is that the Slayer who is unbonded by the time she reaches her eighteenth birthday is in danger and the test forces the bond. She turns to her Watcher to help her find a cure for whatever is causing the loss of her abilities. From that point onward, it is his responsibility to make sure her affections are engaged.” Merrick explained. “Ultimately, it is for the benefit of the Slayer.”

Buffy was pacing back and forth. Giles had tried to go to her but she had shaken him off. She needed to think about this horror that they had placed before her. Finally, she looked up at Merrick. “If Giles and I hadn’t gotten together, would you have put me through this test?” She looked at her husband. “Would you have done this to me, Rupert?”

Both men looked at the ground, unable to meet her eyes. Merrick tried to speak. “Buffy, it’s the way of the Council. We have no choice in the matter. If your Watcher didn’t perform the test, he would be replaced and somebody who didn’t care about you at all would still give you the test. You would be much more likely not to survive in that case because the person you trusted, your true Watcher would be gone.”

“Does the Slayer ever find out?” She asked in a frighteningly calm voice.

“It’s not encouraged, but sometimes it has happened.” Merrick admitted.

“Did she kill him?” Buffy asked quietly.

“Four times that I know of.” Merrick spoke softly. “Is that what you would have done?”

She looked at the two most important men in her life and softly closed her eyes for a moment. “Yes. If you had done that to me, I would have killed you both. Then I would have gone to take a nap in the cemetery. I wouldn’t have allowed myself to live. I wouldn’t have wanted to. You are my Watchers. I trust you more than anyone in the world. I love you so much. If you betrayed me, there would be nothing to live for. Everything would have been a lie.” She walked slowly toward the stairs. “I’m sleeping in the guest room tonight. Don’t bother me, OK? I need to think about this.”

Giles sat trembling on the couch. “Did we do the right thing by telling her?”

“You know we did, Rupert. What if she had found out from the Council? Plus, she needed to know that it could be done and how. We have just removed a very significant threat to our girl and while she may not be happy with us right now, I hope that she will forgive us in time.”

Buffy lay on the bed in the guest room, shaken and trembling. That such a thing should exist! She wanted to go to the Council and burn it to the ground. She wanted to do that Roman thing they had talked about in history class, sow the ground with salt, that was it. So that nothing would ever flourish there again. Technically, she knew they weren’t all bad people. She had the examples of Merrick and Giles and knew they were fine men, good men and she loved them, but they would have given her that horrible test and that had to be considered. She rolled the information over and over in her mind. They would have betrayed her, but it wasn’t necessary. Why would such a test ever be necessary? What possible purpose could it serve? Why was it so vital that a Slayer bond with her Watcher? Buffy knew she needed more information, but she decided that it could wait until morning. She would be calmer then and that was important. She didn’t want to kill the messenger—literally.

Giles couldn’t sleep. He had grown used to having his wife in his arms and the bed felt subtly wrong when she wasn’t in it with him. He reached out and pulled her pillow into his arms, burying his face in the lingering scent. Would he have given her the test? He tried to be objective about it. Ultimately, the test would have been for her own good, he knew that. It did not, however, make it any less a betrayal. He wondered what the next day would bring to their family and prayed it would be harmony and understanding.

Merrick didn’t even attempt to sleep that night. He sat in the easy chair in his room; the lights turned off and thought about the evening’s events. He had known that telling Buffy would be hard, but she needed to know. He was confident that they had done the right thing. He didn’t know how his darling girl would react on the morrow, however. She was mercurial by nature and her temper often hit flashpoint with only minimal warning. He knew from years of study just how dangerous an enraged Slayer could be. She could easily kill Rupert and himself both without meaning to. She would be desperately sorry later, but by then it would be too late. He hoped that she would be in a better frame of mind the next day.

Sunrise found all three occupants of the house awake and staring at the ceilings of their various rooms. Buffy was the first to rise. She put on her sweats from the night before so she wouldn’t have to go into the bedroom she shared with Rupert. Slogging slowly downstairs, she made her way to the kitchen.

Buffy started the kettle to make tea. Tea was good, she thought. Tea was a comfort thing for all three of them and she knew that they would need all the comfort they could get. She started assembling the ingredients for breakfast. She decided that she would make a frittata. She chopped up a piece of green pepper, a chunk of onion, and some mushrooms and sautéed them in melted butter until they were cooked. She beat up nine eggs and slowly poured them over the vegetables before putting the bread on to toast. She heard her men on the stairs just as the eggs finished cooking so she dished up three plates worth of food and set their tea out for them.

Giles and Merrick were both deeply apprehensive about how Buffy would be feeling this morning and entered the kitchen with some trepidation. The comforting scent of breakfast was reassuring for them. Giles rather tentatively came up to Buffy as she stood looking at them with her head tilted slightly sideways, arms crossed over her chest. “H, how are you, this morning, my love?” He asked her softly.

She leaned over and kissed him deeply on the mouth. He took her into his arms and rocked her back and forth. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch last night. It just, well, it shook my foundations, you know?”

Merrick came up next to them and enveloped them both in his arms. Their grasp on each other was broken long enough to pull him into the embrace. Buffy rested her head on his chest. “I love you guys more than anything in this world and to find out that you could do such a thing…that the Council would hurt their Slayers like this…” She shook her head. “Then I started thinking about it. I know damn well you wouldn’t hurt me like that without there being a pretty significant reason. I thought I might give you guys a chance to explain things to me this morning.” She smiled softly.

“Buffy, thank you, dear.” Merrick said. They all moved to the table and sat down to eat the breakfast she had prepared. “You’re quite right when you say that we would have to have a pretty significant reason to put a Slayer through that ordeal.” He sighed. “This is a long and complicated story, dear girl. As you know, Watchers and Slayers have had a close association for millennia. The Slayers lived a bit longer with Watchers to guide them, but they still died too rapidly. Some girls were barely trained before they were killed. The forces of Light were losing ground. The Watcher’s Council examined the problem. The Slayers who lived longest were those who forged the Bond with their Watchers, who had a physical relationship with them, that was obvious. It was often difficult for the pair to make the proper connection, however. Sometimes the chemistry simply wasn’t there between the pair; sometimes the Slayer could not bring herself to a romantic love for her Watcher. Most of the girls were raised by these men after all and it probably felt very incestuous. Sometimes the Watchers were simply not the right man. The Council finally petitioned the Powers that Be for aid. The Powers gave them the Cruciamentum. The test is given to any Slayer who has reached her eighteenth year without bonding with her Watcher. It is a last-ditch effort to save her life and to create the bond. The test is given with the Slayer all unknowing, the horror of it essentially drives her to depend deeply on her Watcher. It is his duty at this time to, er, interest the girl in him in a romantic way. If she does form the Bond, she will almost certainly live a longer, happier, more productive life. Slayers who take lovers other than their Watchers generally suffer terrible relationships with their significant others. They can have no true connection with anyone but their Watcher and they endure great pain if they try.”

Buffy ate a bite of her eggs and mulled over what he had said. It made sense, in a twisted, manipulative sort of way. “So, why did that guy want to make me go through it? I’m bonded to Giles.”

Merrick looked down at his plate. “Technically, I am still your Watcher and you are not bonded to me.”

“Technicality.” Buffy said with a wave of her fork. “I am bonded to a Watcher and that should be good enough.”

“That is basically what I told Travers.” Merrick said with a smile.

Buffy looked at him seriously and then got up from her place at the table to go to him. She pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly. “I love you Merrick. We may not be bonded, but I want you to know that if Rupert had never come into our lives, I would have been OK with you. You brought him to me, though, and that was magic for me. You gave me Rupert and nothing I can ever say could ever express how very grateful I am to have him.”

“Thank you, Buffy, it means rather a great deal to hear that. It was a hard decision to make. I knew what I would be giving up, but it wasn’t fair to tie you to a man forty years older than you, who was ill in the bargain. The fact you and Rupert formed such a close bond shows that he was the true one for you.” He patted her back.

She turned to her husband. “The thought occurs to me that I don’t know nearly enough about Slayer stuff. I think you should teach me more, Rupert. I mean, look at how much of this has been a really big surprise to me. First of all, are there any more tests for the Slayer that I should know about?”

“Nothing, I swear it.” Rupert said sincerity ringing in his voice.

She nodded. “Good. Because I really, really can’t emphasize how much I don’t want to be surprised again.” She slipped an arm over his shoulders and kissed his ear softly before setting back down to her breakfast.

She expected her father to call her on her birthday. Their tradition of a fancy dinner and an Ice show was something that she loved and looked forward to. At noon, she was paged to the principal’s office to receive a phone call. It was her father wanting to explain why he couldn’t make their date that evening. She had been going to use the time to explain her marriage to the still unknowing man, but his fumbled excuses about too much work to take the time off fell on her enraged ears like gasoline on a fire.

“Oh, gee, dad, I’m really sorry to hear you won’t be coming down to see me turn eighteen. I wanted you to meet the men in my life too.” She said sweetly. Had Giles or Merrick heard her tone of voice they would have been diving for cover.

“What? What men? What are you talking about, Buffy?” Her father questioned her.

“Well, there’s John. He’s fifty-nine and really sweet. I think you’d like him. He’s really handsome. I met him when I still lived in LA. He moved all the way to Sunnydale to be with me. Then there’s Rupert. Oooo. He is just too cute, dad. He’s thirty-eight and even though we’ve only been lovers for a few months, it seems like longer. He’s so experienced. I’m living with them now. Mom didn’t like it at first, but she’s come around. I was hoping you’d get to meet them, but if you’re busy, it can wait.” She told him fondly.

“Lovers! What in God’s name are you talking about, Buffy? You’re only a child, you can’t be having lovers!” He was outraged.

“Well, sure I can, dad. I’ve waited longer than lots of girls. You’ll like Rupert.” She giggled. “You know, it’s sort of funny. He’s only a couple of years younger than you are, dad. There’s just something about older men…” She let her voice trail of dreamily. She was well aware of her father’s predilection for girls almost as young as his daughter. It was sort of fun twisting the knife, so to speak. “Well, I don’t want to keep you from your business, so I’ll talk to you soon, dad. Bye.” She hung up and quickly dialed her mother’s number.

“Mom, it’s Buffy. I did something incredibly stupid…” She explained to her mother what occured.

“Buffy Anne Summers! I’m ashamed of you! You know your father is going to hot-foot it down here to save your honor and do something stupid and macho. You had better tell Rupert and Merrick what you’ve done.” Joyce was secretly laughing at the picture of Hank finding out about Buffy’s life. He had isolated himself deliberately from them both and now thought he could come down here and stomp around, throwing fits and radiating the authority of an outraged father.

“I know it was wrong, mom, but it just hurt so much. I hardly ever get to see him and for him to cancel out on my birthday…” Buffy told her.

“Oh, honey, I understand. Your father, well, he’s feeling insecure about his age. He thought having a wife and a teen-age daughter made him old, that he was missing something exciting by being a family man.” Joyce thought about it for a moment. “I’ll tell you what, I’m sure he’ll be here tonight. Why don’t you bring your men and come over for dinner tonight? This won’t be pretty, but it may be the wake-up call your father needs in his life.”

“OK, mom. I love you. If dad calls, don’t tell him anything but what I’ve already said, all right?” Buffy told her.

“OK, sweetie. I love you too. Now go tell the guys what happened.” She hung up the phone.

Buffy wasn’t looking forward to the next fifteen minutes. If the truth were told, she wasn’t looking forward to the rest of the day all that much either. She walked to the library. Her husband looked up with a smile on his face as she stepped through the double-doors. He saw her expression and immediately came over to her.

“What’s wrong, Buffy?” He asked her in concern.

“Well, uh, I did a really stupid thing and all of us are going to end up paying for it.” She told him about the conversation with her father and the things she had implied about their relationship. “I’m really sorry, Rupert. He’s going to come down here and make a big scene. It’s going to be really nasty. I’m sorry.” She repeated.

“Don’t be sorry, love. If he were any kind of a father at all, he would have known you were looking forward to spending your birthday with him. I think you could have broken the news to him more gently, but I suspect his attitude would have remained the same. Don’t worry about this. I promise not to kill him if he swings at me. Merrick wouldn’t like it if we have to wash blood out of the carpets.” He said, trying to cheer her up.

She laughed soggily through the tears that had started to flow down her cheeks. He comforted her gently. “Why don’t we go home from school early today? We can say you don’t feel well and I’ll drive you. How would that be? Merrick will need to know about this and we can explain when we get home.”

They slipped off campus quietly and drove home. Buffy rested her head against his shoulder the entire length of the trip. She looked up into his face, loving the look of it. His strong jaw, now slightly shadowed by whiskers seemed like the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She sighed.

He looked down at the blond head resting on his shoulder. “Problem, love?”

She smiled at him. “Not a problem, Rupert. I was just thinking what a good man you are and how very lucky I am to have you in my life.”

He slid his hand over hers. “Not half as glad as I am to be here, Buffy.”

She giggled suddenly. “God, we are so sappy. The sweetness level in this car will probably make us diabetic.”

He snorted and laughed at her words. They were still giggling as they pulled into the driveway. Merrick met them at the door. “Is there a problem?”

They explained Buffy’s rather rash phone conversation with her father. Merrick sighed and stroked his mustache. “Oh, this is going to be fun.” He said with deep sarcasm. “Still, I understand why you did it. Your father must be a complete idiot, Buffy. I’m sorry to say it, but what else can I think? Only an imbecile would let you and Joyce out of his life voluntarily. He deserves to believe something so ridiculous.”

Buffy nodded. “I know it was wrong, but he made me so mad! I’m his only kid and he can’t take a few hours off once a year to see me? I know we can’t tell him about me being the Slayer, so I guess I can slip into my bimbo role for him. I can do ‘dumb blonde’ really well. Are we going to let him assume that I’m sleeping with Merrick too? ‘Cause I did sorta imply that.” She blushed.

“We can play it by ear, love.” Giles told her with a grin. “As long as his not knowing doesn’t hurt you, I really couldn’t give a damn about what he believes.”

Merrick nodded. “Nor I, though he might try to cause some trouble for Rupert with Immigration.”

“But Giles is married to an American citizen, me. Could they deport him?” Buffy sounded suddenly worried.

“Don’t forget, Buffy, we are legally married with permission from your mother since you were under age.” Rupert told her.

“OK, lets get this over with.” Buffy said straightening her shoulders. They drove to Joyce’s house and talked about possible ramifications with her. She sighed to think Hank was so unknowing of his daughter’s life, but realistically believed he was very much better off not knowing. She frequently wished she could return to a state of blissful ignorance herself.

They settled down to wait. At twenty minutes till five, they heard a car screech into her driveway. Joyce looked over at her daughter. “I’d say your dad’s here.”

“Looks like it.” Buffy nodded. She sat on the couch cocooned between her Watchers. It was her favorite position; having their strong arms wrapped around her made her feel safe. The scent of them comforted her like nothing else on Earth. They smelled of books, leather, tea, their combined aftershaves, and warm male bodies. It was her idea of what heaven must smell like because she knew there was nothing better.

The angry knocking at the front door snapped her out of her daydreaming. Joyce went to answer it. The door was no sooner opened than Hank Summers stormed into the house. He saw Buffy sitting between two men and almost ran up to her. Grabbing her arm, he tried to pull her away from their grasp. All three of them resisted his insistent yanking on her arm and finally he turned to Joyce.

“Are you just going to sit there while the men sexually molesting your daughter are right in front of you?” His face was red and angry.

“Nobody’s being sexually molested, Hank. Why don’t you sit down and quit making an ass of yourself for a minute.” Joyce tried to push him into a chair but he shook her off.

“Do you know what your daughter told me today? She said she and her lovers, LOVERS!, lived together. My God! She’s just a child and you let her have lovers.” He went on in this vein for about twenty minutes. He only stopped when he noticed Rupert lean over Buffy and whisper something in her ear. The intimacy of the gesture struck him forcefully.

“Get away from my daughter, you pervert!” He screeched. He grabbed Rupert by the shirt and the librarian allowed himself to be hauled upwards. Hank pulled back his fist and prepared to strike but suddenly his daughter was there holding his arm back. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t shake free. Giles disengaged his shirt from the irate father’s hand and slipped his arm around Buffy’s waist. Merrick used the opportunity to come up on Hank’s far side and push him sharply back into a chair. The move was so slick, it could have been choreographed.

Hank looked up from his seat at the four seriously peeved people looking down at him. He started to speak, but Buffy held up her hand and pointed at him. “Shut up. You had your chance. Now it’s my turn. You dumped us, dad. You dumped me and mom like we were yesterday’s garbage. You have barely contacted me for nearly two years. You’ve called three times and visited twice. Now, you think you have rights over me and my life. Well, wake up, dad, ‘cause you gave those up. You were actually going to skip my birthday entirely and blame it on business. Which bimbo was it this time dad?”

His guilty look confirmed her suspicions. “So, you were going to stand me up because you had a date?”

“Buffy, you’re not a child anymore. You need to learn that sometimes other things have priorities.” Hank weakly protested.

“No, I’m not a child. But I am your child. I thought I meant something to you but I can see that if I’m not as important as the girl of the week, that I really mean nothing to you. You know what? I was going to explain things to you, but now, I pretty much feel that you can just get fu…” Buffy stopped her speech because Merrick had put his hand over her mouth.

“No vulgarities, Buffy.” The older man said sternly. “Remember, you are a lady and ladies do not use that sort of speech.”

Buffy blushed. “I’m sorry Merrick, but he just makes me so angry!”

“He’s a fool, dear girl.” He looked at Joyce. “Uhm, why don’t you two ladies go upstairs for a little while? Rupert and I would like to take a few moments to…speak with Mr. Summers.”

Buffy looked at her men, then quietly turned and taking her mother’s hand marched upstairs. They entered Joyce’s room and turned on the radio. It wasn’t enough to muffle the occasional raised voice or the series of thumps and banging they heard coming from downstairs, but it did blot out the details. About half an hour later, Rupert came upstairs to get them. He had a cut on his lip and his hair was standing on end. Buffy and Joyce exchanged worried glances but followed him back down.

Her father was sitting in his chair while Merrick stood resting one hand on his shoulder. She noticed that Hank seemed to be breathing very shallowly and carefully. Sighing, she hoped they hadn’t broken too many of his ribs.

When she entered the room, her father looked up at her. “I owe you an apology, Buffy. You too, Joyce. I’ve been a bad husband and a worse father. Rupert and John have explained, uh, things to my satisfaction and I want you to know that you have my blessings. Uh, I have to go back to LA now. I’ll call you this weekend. I promise.”

Buffy nodded and watched Merrick more or less haul the younger man from the chair. Rupert escorted him to the car while Merrick supervised from the steps. They couldn’t hear what the younger Watcher said to the man, but whatever it was had him nodding emphatically. He got in the car and they noticed that the first thing he did was lock the door. He waved at Buffy and Joyce and peeled out of the driveway like he was on fire.

Rupert smiled. He had wanted to introduce Hank Summers to Ripper for quite a while. He was glad they’d had this little opportunity to talk. He walked up to the front steps and pulled his wife into his arms. Their kiss was deep and passionate. It was the kiss a woman gave to her hero, a lady to her knight, but also the kiss of a conqueror claiming his spoils. It thrilled them both down to their toes.

Merrick looked at Joyce who had looked away from the happy couple. “May I beg the indulgence of your spare room tonight, Joyce?”

“Of course, John.” She looked at the kissing couple. “Uh, why don’t you two run along home. We’ll be fine here.” She was getting embarrassed just watching them. Rupert swung Buffy into his arms and walked to the Citroen. He opened the driver’s side door and slid in with Buffy on his lap. He started the car without breaking their kiss.

“Do you think he can drive like that?” Joyce asked the older man worriedly.

Merrick watched the display with amusement. “As long as she keeps her hands on his shoulders, they should be fine.”

“Every time I see them together, I’m struck by how right they are for each other.” Joyce commented. “Uh, are they always that affectionate?”

“Sometimes is worse.” Merrick confided. “The cuteness of it can be excessively trying. They bickered like children when they first met but Rupert was snared before he even knew it. Be glad you have never seen them feed each other.” He shuddered. “It involves baby-talk.”

They laughed heartily as they went back into the house.

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