Title: Family Matters
Author: Sweetdoggie (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
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.
Dating Giles turned out to be fun. Who would have guessed, Buffy thought wryly? He took her to dinner, to movies, a couple of times to a play or a symphony. Once he took her ice-skating. They built up a rapport that showed during their training sessions. Already working together like a smoothly oiled machine, they improved to the point where they could practically read each other’s mind. Their bodies moved with one thought. As Buffy told him after one particularly good work out, they kicked ass.
Dawn felt pretty good about the whole situation. The baby was cute and she had never minded babysitting, Giles was a comforting presence, and her sister seemed almost happy for a change.
The social worker that regularly checked up on Dawn, Mrs. Maria Harmon, was both pleased with her progress and dismayed that Buffy had the care of yet another child. It wasn’t that she disliked the older Summer’s girl, not at all. She was finally settling in to the role of a parent for her sister. It was simply that she believed Buffy was too young to take on the upbringing of another child, this one an infant. She told this to Buffy.
“Well, really, what choice do I have? It’s not like I can just give my brother and sister away, you know. I love them so much. My life is calming down a little and now that I don’t have to work outside the home, I’m seriously thinking of going back to college and getting my degree. Giles says I should and he would know.”
“Who’s Giles?”
“Oh, sorry. Rupert Giles. He’s my fiancé. We’ve known each other for seven years and he’s been my truest friend during that time.” Buffy smiled happily. “It’s so funny the twists life can play on you. It turns out that we were both attracted to each other for years and neither of us knew how to make the change from friends to romance. I called him when I inherited little James here and one thing led to another.”
Mrs. Harmon was intrigued about several points of this conversation. She took the first thing first. “I’m going to need to meet him. Can you make arrangements for him to be here…” she consulted her palm pilot, “next Thursday at four?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Buffy confirmed.
“I noticed you call the baby James, not Henry,” Mrs. Harmon said.
“Dawn and I talked about that. Henry is just not a baby name and Hank was our dad—that’s still pretty sensitive for us. Giles suggested we call him James and we both liked it so, James it is.”
The social worker nodded her understanding. “It must be difficult for you to take on yet another responsibility.”
“Yes and no. I grieve that my father is gone. I had so much I wanted to tell him…lost opportunities, well, you know.” At the woman’s sympathetic nod, she continued. “But I love the baby. He’s great. Look at his little feet! Aren’t they just the cutest things you’ve ever seen? He’s not much of a problem and Dawn helps me out a lot. She gets an allowance for babysitting. Dad left us enough money that those worries are behind us. That helps a lot too.”
“How does Mr. Giles feel about the baby?”
“He’s so cute you wouldn’t believe it. Calls him his “wittle man”. Actually, that kinda makes me cringe because Giles isn’t one of those guys given to baby talk, but they took to each other right away. It was neat.”
“When are you planning on getting married?”
“We have the license, but neither of us feels right about having a wedding so soon after my dad’s funeral. We realize that the baby needs two parents and really, so does Dawn. It just seems too soon to be happy, if that makes any sense.”
The social worker nodded. “I understand, but it would really be better for you to be married as soon as reasonably possible. Now, tell me about your Mr. Giles.”
Mrs. Harmon was alarmed when she first heard about the age gap between the two of them. She also didn’t care for the fact that he had been a teacher at her high school. On the plus side, he was gainfully employed and a respected member of the business community. She decided to withhold judgment till she had interviewed him.
Giles was nervous about the interview. He loved Buffy and had for years but he didn’t suppose that was the sort of thing the social worker would want to hear since it made him seem like some sort of pervert. Arriving at Buffy’s house an hour earlier than the appointed time gave him the leisure to work himself up into a mild tizzy over the whole affair. Buffy walked into the living room and immediately saw his nervousness, though to a stranger he would have appeared calm.
“Giles, just take it easy. Nothing is going to be decided today, one way or the other.”
“I know, but I wish to present a respectable front for this social worker person.”
“Her name’s Mrs. Harmon and she’s pretty nice, especially for a government worker. She cares about her cases and really works hard to make things easier for us. It will be all right.” She took his hand.
He looked deeply into her eyes as he raised her hand to his lips. “I love you, dear, so very much. I want everything to go smoothly for you.”
“I love you too, Giles. More than I ever thought possible. You’ve taken care of me since I was a kid and I’ve never been all that big on showing you just exactly how much that means to me. That’s going to change.”
“I don’t want your gratitude, Buffy. What I’ve done for you has never been about gratitude.”
“I know that! I’ve always known. You care for me as Buffy and not just as the Slayer, Giles. It’s more important to me than anything. You know every stupid and bad thing I’ve ever done and you like me anyhow.”
“I love you, Buffy, not just like you.”
“I understand, Giles, but liking is important. I loved my dad, but I didn’t like him very much. I know mom loved me, but I think, sometimes, she didn’t like me at all. I’m not blaming her, but I knew.”
“Ah, I see what you are driving at. Liking involves you as a person, not merely your status as a daughter, or a Slayer.”
She nodded, pleased by his perspicacity. “Yes! That’s exactly it.”
He smiled down at her. “Do you, um, do you like me?”
“Yes, I do and that sort of surprises me. I mean, on the surface, what do we have in common? You’re Bookman and I read a book every month or so. You’re twenty years older than me with some pretty funny preferences in music. You’re smart—way smarter than me.” She held up her hand when he would have protested. “I’m not saying I’m stupid, but I have no interest in academia, not like you. I could be in school from now till the cows come home, and I couldn’t learn a foreign language. You know magic. I am magic. You have worn tweed. I wear satin. About the only similarity we share is we are the world’s worst communicators. But I like you so much, you wouldn’t believe it. Just seeing you makes me feel good, even when you’re wearing that awful baggy sweater.”
“I like that sweater!” he protested.
“I know. It’s the only reason it hasn’t mysteriously disappeared from your wardrobe like that green one did that you wore when we were at school.”
He looked outraged. “You took my green sweater? I looked for that for weeks!”
“It was hideous.”
“It was very serviceable.”
“Clothing can be serviceable and still look good.”
“Buffy…” he whipped his glasses off for a frantic cleaning.
She shrugged her shoulder casually. “It was for your own good.”
He frowned at her. “You know, I see now why you hate that expression.”
She grinned. “Not so much fun to be on the receiving end, is it?”
They shared a laugh and settled down to wait for the social worker. Giles offered to make tea and Buffy said she had to check the baby so when the doorbell rang, he was the only one downstairs to answer it.
Since it was daylight, he felt reasonably safe simply opening the door. A youngish woman stood on the step. He raised his eyebrow enquiringly.
“I’m Maria Harmon, Ms. Summer’s social worker.”
“Ah.” He stepped back and cleared a path into the house.
“You must be Rupert Giles?”
“Yes, I am.” He smiled when she stepped across the threshold with no problem. “Would you care for a cup of tea? I just finished putting the kettle on.”
“Thank you, tea sounds good. Um, where’s Buffy?”
“She’s upstairs changing the baby. She should be down shortly.” Even as he spoke, Buffy came downstairs carrying the baby who was fussing slightly.
She smiled at the social worker. “Giles, can you feel his forehead? I’m not sure, but I thought he felt sort of warm.”
Giles put his hand on the child’s forehead, frowning. “We shall have to keep a very close eye on him, love. Fever in children this young is dangerous.”
“He’s too young for teeth, right?”
“That is correct. Let me have him. You may fetch the tea in if you would.”
She smiled in relief. Giles would know what to do. It was the most stable fact in her life.
The social worker watched silently as the large man snuggled the child into his arms. She hadn’t missed Buffy’s relief at his assumption of responsibility for the baby or her instant compliance with his request to fetch the tea. She didn’t like dependency in a woman and resolved to keep a close eye on this relationship.
Buffy brought in the tea and sat down next to Giles and looked carefully at the child before pouring tea. She didn’t have to ask how Mr. Giles wanted his, Maria noted.
“Mr. Giles, Buffy tells me you own a shop downtown?”
“Yes, the Magic Box. Do you know it?”
“Isn’t that the one that sells occult supplies?”
“We sell those, amongst other things.”
She frowned. “I’m not sure that sort of thing is a good influence on children.”
“It is a perfectly legitimate business,” Giles told her carefully. “After the high school blew up and took my last job with it, I was at loose ends and needed something to occupy myself. When the ownership of the shop, er, became vacant, it seemed like a good change to me. It brings in a good income.”
She decided to say nothing more for now. The topic could always be reopened later if necessary.
“I understand you met Buffy when she was in high school?”
“Yes, that is correct. She came into my library the first day of the second semester wanting books for her classes. I was somewhat familiar with her history since Principal Flutie was a great believer in helping out students who might be having some difficulties. All her teachers were warned to keep an eye on her, that she had a history of problems.”
“He was there for me right from day one. I made my three best friends in the world that day,” Buffy smiled.
“Three?”
“Yes. I met Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg that day as well. The four of us got to be close.”
Mrs. Harmon looked disturbed. “I have to ask this question and I hope you won’t be offended. Were you and Mr. Giles involved when you were still in high school?”
“Not like you mean,” Buffy told her. “We were friends and Giles helped me through lots of traumatic teen stuff, but romance? I would have keeled over in a dead faint if somebody had even pointed out that my dear friend was a man.”
Giles looked rueful. “That is certainly true.” He turned to the social worker. “I was involved with a co-worker the first two years I knew Buffy.” His eyes looked haunted for a moment.
“What happened?” Mrs. Harmon knew the question wasn’t strictly in line with the information she required, but she was deeply curious.
“She was murdered and her body was brought to my apartment and placed in my bed. I found her when I got home that evening.”
The woman caught her breath at the horror he had just revealed. “Oh my God! Did they ever find out who had done it?”
“I found out—he had drawn a picture of her and left it for me to find.” Giles shuddered and looked blankly at the child in his arms.
Buffy came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. She took up the story when he couldn’t go on. “Giles tried to fight him but he got knocked out. I got there just in time to pull his unconscious body out of the burning building.”
“Who was the murderer?” Her voice was rapt.
Buffy looked at her shoes. “His name was Angel. He had been my boyfriend before he lost his…mind.”
“What happened?”
“He paid and is still paying for his crimes,” Buffy told her. “He will pay for the rest of his life…and that is going to be a very long time.”
Just then, they heard the front door slam. “Buffy? I’m home.” Dawn came into the living room and saw the tableau before her. “What’s going on? Is something wrong with James?”
Giles looked up. “He has a slight fever. Don’t worry, Dawn. We were just telling Mrs. Harmon some of our problems when Buffy was in high school.”
The younger girl nodded. “Oh. Bad times.”
“You know about this, Dawn?” The social worker was shocked.
“Of course. I remember Buffy coming home crying so many times. Giles always knew how to make her feel better though.”
“What do you think of this romance?”
“I think it’s absolutely the best thing that could happen to my sister and Giles. I love them both and they are sad people who have lived very hard lives. It’s great that they have each other. I just wish it could have happened even sooner.”
“And how do you feel about having the baby?”
“That’s good too. Buffy is really learning a lot and Giles helps out so much. We’re a family again and I like it.”
“Mr. Giles is considerably older than your sister.”
“Yeah. So what?”
Giles reached up with one hand and gently touched her shoulder. “Don’t be disrespectful, Dawn.”
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, Giles, but everybody talks about the age difference between you guys like it was important and its just so…not.”
He smiled at her. “Thank you, Dawn. Now, unless Mrs. Harmon has more questions for you, would you mind taking your brother upstairs for a short while?”
“I don’t mind.” She bent over and took the baby from him, cooing baby talk the entire time.
Mrs. Harmon simply waved her out of the room. “You seem to have a very good relationship with Dawn.”
“I’ve known her since she was just a child herself.”
“Giles is more a father to Dawn than our own dad has been since we moved to Sunnydale.”
“Are you sure you don’t think of him as a father-figure to yourself as well?”
Buffy laughed. “Sorry, but you don’t realize how funny that is. I’ve never thought of Giles in a parental way, though people keep trying to put him there. We’ve been friends and comrades and now we’re going to be married and I love him so much that sometimes I just feel all melty when I look at him.”
Giles took her hand. “I love Buffy, as well, and I have never thought of her as my child. She was on the cusp of adulthood when I first met her and while she could behave sometimes in a childish fashion, she grew up very quickly due to circumstances beyond her control.”
“It seems that you two have quite a bit of history between you.”
Buffy nodded and Giles agreed. “Yes, we do.”
“Have you given any thought to children of your own?” Mrs. Harmon wondered with caution.
“We talked about it and decided that we’d raise the kids we already have before we ventured out into making our own,” Buffy told her with a shrug. “At the rate people keep leaving us kids, we won’t need to reproduce for years.” She turned to Giles. “You don’t have any relatives that are going to die and make you the guardian of their children, do you?”
“To the best of my knowledge, my relatives are all healthy,” he told her with a tiny smile.
Mrs. Harmon stood up and shook hands with both of them. “I’ll need to make a couple more visits—unscheduled ones. After that, if things are still going well for you, I don’t see why I can’t close Dawn’s case. It’s clear to me that you really are forming a family and I can’t begin to tell you how happy that makes me.”
They walked her to the door and told her to stop by any time.