Title: Let that be a Lesson to you…part 7/11
Author: Sweetdoggie
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.
The alarm went off at seven a.m. the next morning. Buffy grumbled as she rolled slowly out of Giles’ arms. He pulled a pillow over his face.
“Why does that thing have to be so bloody annoying?”
She grinned down at him. “Because if it was soothing it wouldn’t make us get out of bed.”
“Why are you so, so horribly perky this morning?” he groused.
“Because sleeping next to you makes me feel all warm and yummy and safe. I got more sleep last night than I have since I turned fifteen. Why wouldn’t I feel great?”
He glared at her and a terrible suspicion came into his mind. “Um, Buffy?”
“Yeah?”
“Before you were Called to be the Slayer, were you, by any chance, a, a Morning Person?” Just the way he said it, you could tell the words were capitalized.
Buffy tipped her head to one side. “Gosh, it’s been a long time, but I used to love the morning. The sunlight looks different and the birds all singing and chirpy. It can be so beautiful. It’s like each day is a new promise. Now, the only time I get to see sunrise is when I’ve been up killing things all night. It kinda takes the gloss off.”
He rolled over with a groan at her revelation. She could hear him muttering into his pillow.
“What’s that, Rupert?”
“I can’t believe you’re a Morning Person.”
“You don’t need to sound like that’s something normally found under a rock!” she teased him.
“It’s just not right,” he continued mock-sadly, “a Slayer who is a Morning Person.” He groaned again as she whipped the blankets off him and slapped him on the butt.
“Hey! I tried to convince everybody for years that the Powers had gotten the wrong girl, but oh, no, I had to be the Chosen One because I bore the mark.”
He looked up at her, a bit perplexed. “You know, I never really noticed before, but actually, you don’t bear the mark.”
“Cosmetic surgery, Giles. I wasn’t going around with that big old mole on my chest. Gross. Why couldn’t the Slayer’s mark be something cool like never having bad hair or having extra-white teeth? Trust the PTB to make it a big, ugly mole.”
He grinned and grabbed her pulling her down on top of him as he rolled to the center of the bed. “You hardly ever have a ‘bad-hair’ day and your teeth are beautiful. I think you probably already had those traits and the PTB just assumed anything else would be gilding the lily.”
She straddled his hips and grabbed his hands, pinning them to the bed. Bending down, she dropped teasing kisses all over his face, carefully avoiding his lips.
He growled and flipped her so that it was she who was pinned to the mattress. Taking his turn, he nipped her chin and then proceeded to slide his mouth down the column of her slender neck. He came to the marks of the vampires who had managed to bite her, the Master, Angel, and Dracula. He wished he could wipe the memory from her mind and the scars from her beautiful skin. His tongue shot out and licked the worst of the terrible wounds. “I would have taken these for you, love, if I had been able.”
“It would have killed you, Rupert. If that had happened, well, let’s just say that it wouldn’t be a good thing for the world. A Slayer without her beloved Watcher would be…bad.”
“Dearest, you mustn’t feel like that. If something happened to me, I would want you to go on.”
“Giles, if anything happened to you, that would be it for me. I would go on a monster-killing spree that would leave every creature in Sunnydale dust or work at it till I died myself.” She pulled him against her tightly. “Don’t ever let anything happen to you.”
He didn’t want to let it drop there, but he loved her so very much he couldn’t continue to insist in the face of her resolve. “Only if you make a similar promise, beloved. Nothing must ever happen to you.”
She kissed him deeply. “I think we have a deal. We’ll both live.” She grinned suddenly trying to dissipate the dark mood that had crept up on them. “Hey, we have children we have to get up. Do you want to take the first shower?”
He groaned softly. “No, I’ll get up and start breakfast. You shower and get ready for school. I don’t have to be at the shop till ten.”
She leaped up and raced to the bathroom before the babies woke and needed her attention. Giles made his way downstairs and decided scrambled eggs and toast would be a good breakfast for the children. He made tea for Buffy and himself and poured Buffy an additional glass of orange juice smiling as he did so. She didn’t eat enough and now that she was so very close to really being his, he intended to take shameful advantage of her and force her to eat decent and nutritious food for a change. If she didn’t want to, he would play on her sympathies till she complied. He was very rapidly learning that Buffy could be coaxed but not driven.
The shower shut off and then he heard her entering the children’s room. He imagined that she had gotten their little outfits set out in preparation for the first ordeal of the day, getting the children dressed. Soon, he heard girlish giggles and turned around to see Anya and Tara watching him from the kitchen doorway.
He smiled at them. “Come on, girls. Let’s get you ready for breakfast.” He tied a bib around each little neck. Since they were going out today, he wanted them to stay as clean as possible.
There was a shriek from upstairs and soon a naked, laughing Xander raced through the house, chased by Buffy. She caught him in the kitchen and proceeded to tickle him mercilessly. He laughed so hard he peed on the floor. “Uh oh,” Buffy said. “Remind me not to tickle a baby who hasn’t used the potty yet.”
Giles shooed her out of the kitchen as he mopped the puddle up with paper towels. He made a note to mop the floor very thoroughly before he went to work. After washing his hands, he put the toast on and started the eggs. Buffy returned in five minutes with a dressed but still laughing Xander.
“Do you think we’ll make any progress on research today?” She waved her fork at the kids. “I love these little guys, but I really miss my friends.”
“Surprisingly, I find I miss them too. I have definite hopes of finding something. There are several promising leads I wish to follow up.” He looked at her now empty plate. “Would you like something else to eat?”
“No. It was great though. I’d better get a move on.” She stood, looked at the kids then back at Giles. “If I take your car, how will you get to work?”
“Buffy, it’s only a six-block walk. I hardly think I shall faint from the exertion.”
She grinned. “I hope not because I’d like to plan on something that takes a whole lot more effort than that!”
He looked shocked. “Not around the children!”
“Hey, they won’t be babies forever.” Mentally, she crossed her fingers.
Buffy got all the kids in the car and everybody waved goodbye to Giles as he watched them from the porch. She was extra-careful driving today, not only because it was Giles’ car, but also because she didn’t want the kids bounced around too much. Carsick babies weren’t something she thought she could cope with just now.
The daycare center was towards the center of campus. She pulled the kids from the car one at a time and made Tara, the most responsible, watch Xander while she pulled Willow out last. They were all excited and bounced into the daycare on happy little feet. Buffy met the girl at the front desk and explained that her cousin’s husband from England had a family emergency and they had to fly back to London immediately. They had begged Buffy to take the kids, but she had too many obligations just to drop everything, so she was hoping to get the babies into daycare while she waited for her cousin to come home.
The receptionist eyed the excited children. “How long will the placement be for?” she asked.
“I’d like to leave them several hours a day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while I’m at class.”
“I meant how long do you expect to have the children in your care?”
“Oh, hopefully not too much longer. I love them to pieces and everything, but I’m not really equipped to become an instant mom.” She smiled to share the joke.
The other woman looked at her without humor. “I see. Well, you are in luck. We happen to have a short-term opening. She pulled a stack of paperwork from her desk. “Fill out these forms—don’t skip anything. Sign it and bring it back.”
Buffy groaned at the stack of paperwork. She began filling things out while the children played with some sort of wire and bead contraption in the corner. She finally got everything completed, making a great deal of it up out of whole cloth. The woman looked over the application carefully and finally signed off on it. “That will be two hundred dollars in advance for the first week.”
“Two hundred dollars a week!” Buffy gasped outraged. “If I don’t have to leave them here that long, will I get a refund?”
“Your money entitles you to leave the children here for no more than six hours per day, three days per week. If you leave them longer, you will, of course, be charged more. The initial fee is non-refundable and does include lunches and snacks as well as diapers for the baby.”
Buffy grumbled and reluctantly pulled out her credit card. Willow was going to owe them both a ton of money when she got back to normal. She skipped off to class feeling free for the first time in several days. The kids were great but she realized that being a mom wasn’t all just hugs and kisses. She hadn’t realized how labor-intensive kids really were. They had to be watched, amused, washed, fed, changed, and kept from accidentally killing themselves 24/7. She missed adult conversation, or at least, what passed for it with her friends. She wanted Willow’s funny, quirky sense of humor back. She wanted Xander making dumb jokes and Anya alternating vengeance stories with remarks about Xander’s sexual prowess. She missed Tara’s quiet background comfort and her kind, thoughtful ways.
After her classes ended for the day, Buffy made her way around campus talking to Willow and Tara’s professors explaining that the girls were out with some undiagnosed illness. “We don’t know what it is yet. They were going to see a doctor today,” she lied without a qualm.
Without exception, she was given their homework and reading assignments for the next two weeks. After thanking the teachers, she piled all the stuff into her backpack. Several of them warned her that if Willow or Tara was gone longer than that, they would have to have Doctor’s excuses to get back into their classes. “Not a problem.” Buffy said cheerfully. “I’ll let them know when they’re feeling better.”