Daddy Knows... Best?: Introductions, Part 2
by Wolfkin
Author's Note: Faith's nickname for Dawn, "Dizzy" was borrowed from the Rainbow Writer's story, "Shades of Gray". It's a very good story and a rather interesting re-write of 7th season. I recommend it, even if Kennedy is treated a little rough. It can be found on the Mystic Muse site. Email me for details if you wanna read it. As always, please read and review! My muse so loves the reviews!


Chapter 4

Buffy and Dawn stare at the little boy, their features alternating rapidly between an 'Aw, he's so cute!' face and incredulous anger that this is the first either of them has heard about this. Buffy regains her ability to speak first and looks at her father, a scowl developing. "Gee Dad, I realize we haven't really been close the last ten years or so, but don't you think this at least rated a postcard?"

Dawn scowls and addresses her sister, ignoring their father and his new family. "Aw, come on, Sis! It's been years since he's actually given a damn about us. Why would he think we'd care about knowing we had a brother?" She shakes her head and stands, glancing at Faith. "You know what? I was right. This is a mistake." She looks at her father, her eyes cold and hate-filled.

Before she can say anything, though, Buffy stands beside her gives her a Slayer-y look and she changes what she was going to say.

"I need to... I'm..." She shakes her head and walks quickly toward the restrooms.

Faith watches her for a second, then glances at Buffy. The elder Slayer nods slightly and Faith is up and after her girl like a shot.

Hank frowns a little as he watches his youngest daughter storm off, then gets a little confused about who the young woman that runs after her is. His eyes slide back to his other daughter. "Um... Buffy. Who was that? And where is Dawnie's fiance? I thought he was coming with you."

Buffy's expression goes from annoyed to apprehensive. "Oh, uh... That was Faith. Andrews. She lives with us. Well, with Dawn, to be exact."

Hank's face shows his confusion, though his wife's expression is much clearer, as well as somewhat unhappy. "What? Lives with Dawn. Are they roommates or something? Cause your house looked kinda big. Like everyone had their own room, so why would she have to share."

The Slayer mentally grimaces and looks at her family, hoping for some help. Xander looks back at her, his expression supportive, but he doesn't say anything. Willow looks much the same as Xander, though she's smiling, watching the antics of her little brother, while Kennedy appears to be watching Gloria. Glancing at her brother, she sees that her... "step-mother"([God, how weird is that to think about!] she thinks) now has little Greg in a high chair and the boy is happily playing with a couple cars.

Taking a deep breath, she turns back to her father. She forces a smile and says, "Well, yeah, I guess you could say they're roommates, in that they share a room. And you're right, they don't have to share. They want to, kinda the same way Will and Kennedy want to, or Xander and I. Cause..." She stops, realizing she's babbling. Grinning a little, she turns to Willow. "Sorry, Will. The babbling is your job!"

The redhead smiles broadly, even laughs a little. "No, that's okay, Buffy. It's cute when you do it!" She bubbles.

Kennedy gives her a heart melting smile. "Yeah, but nowhere near as cute as when you babble," she says, raising their joined hands to kiss the back of Willow's.

Xander, smiling and looking at Buffy to add something, sees a shudder run through Buffy's father, as well as a sour look. His eye narrows and a sense of foreboding flits through his mind.

"Yeah, but you're biased," Willow flirts back with her fiance.

Hank's voice cuts through the couple's playful bantering. "Buffy, I'm still waiting to know where Dawn's fiance is. Why didn't he come with you like I asked?" His expression is somewhat stern and expectant, his tone insistent and bordering on demanding.

Buffy takes a deep breath even as her eyes narrow. "Dad, I tried to tell you this earlier, but you didn't listen. There is no 'he'. Dawn is engaged to Faith. She's Dawnie's fiance." She stops and waits for her father's reaction.

******

Faith looks around for a moment, until she finally spots the hidden entrance to the restroom. [Damn good thing I don't really have to piss,] she thought acidly. [It'd already be runnin' down my leg time I found this place!] Pushing the door open, she immediately starts looking for Dawn. Not seeing her by the sinks or mirror area, she move over and starts to walk slowly by the stall doors. At the far end, she hears a familiar noise and, this close, detects the scent of her fiance. She knocks softly on the metallic door.

"This one's in use. Next one down." Dawn's terse voice floats up.

"Diz, it's me. Can I come in?" Faith says softly. After a moment, the latch slides, the door moves an inch or so and Faith pulls it open enough to slip inside. "Hey baby. You okay?"

Dawn stands with her back to the wall, her eyes focused on the other side of the stall. Absently, she wipes at a tear that slowly inches down her cheek. "Will be," she whispers. Wiping another tear away, she takes a deep breath and says, "I told you this was a bad idea."

Faith reaches out and runs the back of her fingers down Dawn's arm and gives her a little smile. "Well, yeah, you did, but so far? Not really seein' the bad." The younger woman looks up and stares at Faith sharply and the Slayer holds up her hands. "Whoa! All I'm sayin' is, so far, all that's happened is we found out your dad's married again and that you're a big sister. Where's the bad part?"

"Are you serious?" The former Key's eyes open wide in incredulity, then narrow. "Faith, did you miss that little presentation out there? I mean, if he really gave a shit about me or Buffy, wouldn't he have tried to contact us before now? Maybe just to, I don't know, tell us that we had a new brother before now? Or maybe, 'Hey girls! Did you know I married the air headed bitch I left your mother for?' Would that have been too much to ask for?"

The once rogue gives her lover a hooded look. "So, which are you pissed about? The brother, the new wife or the never telling you about any of it?"

"Yes," was the petulant reply.

Faith just laughs and pulls the younger girl into a tight hug. Pulling back a little, she kisses her fiance, softly at first, then with rising passion until then have to stop, oxygen becoming a serious issue. "Tell you what, Diz," she says, still a little breathless. "Let's go back and intro me to the old man, then we'll eat his food and get an address for him." Seeing Dawn about to protest, she adds, "So you can keep in touch with the kid. Don't wanna be like the sperm donor, right? Ignore him for the next 10 years or so, then show up and screw around with his life?"

Dawn shook her head quickly. "No, I definitely don't wanna do that. I mean, it's not Greg's fault our dad's a worthless pile of shit, right?" She smirks and tries to pass off her comment as a joke, but Faith knows her too well and can plainly see the hurt behind her words.

"No, it's not." The Slayer agrees, then holds up a hand. "But you need to remember, your dad's always been there, as far as the kid knows, so you need to be careful with what you say, right?" Dawn looks away a little and Faith sighs. "Baby, I'm not sayin' you gotta praise the man or nothin', just not talk shit about him in front of baby brother. I mean, *I* know how you feel about him and I remember everything B ever said about him years ago when we were patrollin', but to the littlest Summers there, he's Daddy and Daddy is pretty much a god." She turns her girl's face toward her and smiles. "So play nice, okay, Dizzy?"

The younger brunette tries to glare at her fiance, but, almost against her will, she slowly smiles, then pouts. "Stop that! I was in a perfectly good rotten mood and you ruined it!" Dawn complains, lightly punching Faith's shoulder before hugging her girl and laying her head on the same spot. "Okay, I know you're right. Greg is innocent and when I talk to him," she stresses the qualification. "I'll be nice and big sisterly and not saying anything bad about Dad." She looks up at her Slayer. "You do know that this means you get to hear me bitch about him, right?"

The once rogue just laughs and slips her arms around Dawn and hugs her just as tightly. "Ain't that why I'm here?" She asks flippantly. "Well, that and making you crazy and gettin' B to cut you some slack and then there's the wild sex 'til you pass out on me and..."

Dawn cuts off whatever else her lover has to say with a deep, exploring kiss, one that leaves both women breathless. She smiles at the older woman. "You were saying?"

Faith grins at her. "I was sayin', we go back out, we eat a little dinner, then I suddenly remember I forgot to tell Rona and Vi they needed to cover patrollin' and we need to leave. We're outta here in forty-five minutes, an hour tops. That work?"

"Can it be a little quicker?" Dawn asks, wistfully.

"All depends on how fast they cook the food, babe."

The former Key takes a deep breath and slowly nods. "Okay." Another deep breath. "Okay, I can do this. I can be polite for an hour." She spits her lover with an intense stare. "I'm expecting a reward for all this, you know, so you better start thinking something up!"

Faith just smiles wickedly and leans in to whisper something in Dawn's ear. Pulling back a little, she playfully kisses her girl's nose. "That reward enough, or do I need to think of something else?" She laughs at Dawn's lost, lustful expression.

Shaking her head and grinning from ear to ear, the younger woman kisses her fiance soundly, then pulls away, grabbing her hand. "Come on, let's get this over with, cause now we need to get home fast!!"

The Slayer just laughs and allows herself to be dragged from the room.

******

Hank sits there, staring at Buffy for nearly a full minute, his face plainly showing that he's trying to process this information. Finally, he finds his voice. "Let me get this straight, Buffy. You're telling me my little girl thinks she's going to get married to another woman? Do you hear how crazy that is?"

The blonde's expression slams shut and, even without Willow's telepathy, she can hear the indignant thoughts coming from Kennedy and the hurts ones from her best friend. Suddenly hard eyes lock on her father. "No, Dad, it's not crazy! And Dawn doesn't think she's marrying another woman, she is. No one can help who they fall in love with and Dawn fell for Faith. If you spent any time with them, you'd see that they're good together, that they give each other what they each need, like any great couple should. They both have my complete blessing and I can't wait for their wedding!"

The eldest Summers shakes his head, unable to believe Buffy has deluded herself this much, unable to believe she would let Dawn choose this kind of life. He now intensely regrets not contacting his daughters after their mother died, not bringing Dawn into his home to finish raising her. Obviously, Buffy has allowed someone, probably her redheaded friend and her "fiance", to fill Dawn's head with nonsense.

Well, maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe he could still talk sense into one or both of his girls, Make them see how perverted and wrong the idea of two women "marrying" was. Not to mention, illegal in this country. Surely Buffy wouldn't advocate her little sister breaking the law!

A memory of when Buffy was growing up surfaces and he nods to himself. Buffy always did like to follow the trends and Dawn was showing signs that she was going to be the same way when he and Joyce had separated. Right now, if the news was correct, it was "trendy" to declare yourself "gay" and take a same sex lover. He also knew that most of those people discovered how wrong they were and regretted it immensely. Well, he wasn't about to let his baby girl throw her life away for the sake of being trendy!

Hank looks at Buffy, intending to start his goal of "saving" his girls, but, before he can say a word, the waiter comes by to take drinks orders. He sits back, silently watching his eldest and her friends, allowing Gloria to order him a drink. The first thing he notices is, except for Dawn, and maybe the Kennedy girl, all of them are old enough to order alcoholic beverages, but they all stick to soft drinks. He's not terribly surprised when Buffy orders for Dawn, but is a little bit when she also orders for the other girl... Faith, was it? She's the only one who gets anything even faintly 'adult' to drink, as Buffy orders her a beer.

The waiter finally leaves and again, he's cut off from what he was going to say by Dawn and her... "friend" coming back. Even in his own mind, the man can't make himself apply the term fiance to the slightly older girl with his daughter. Shaking his head, he finally notices Buffy is speaking, though not to him.

"... for you and a beer for Faith. Is that okay?"

Dawn catches Faith's nod and she smiles reassuringly at her sister. "Yeah, thanks Buffy." Taking a deep breath, she turns and faces her father. "Sorry about that, Dad, but..." she trails off for a second, then forces a smile, one that turns genuine when she looks at her lover. "Dad, I'd like you to meet Faith Andrews, my fiance. Faith, this is Hank Summers, my father." After the formal introduction, Dawn waits for Hank's reaction.

All his usual pleasantries stick in his throat. After all, he can't say 'it's nice to meet you', cause it's not. Just as he's not pleased to meet her either. Finally, he realizes he's waited a beat too long to respond. "Yes, Buffy was telling me about... my mistake," he responds with, forcing a tight smile. "So, this is the... um, person you're... engaged to? Yes, um, hello, Faith, was it?"

Faith forces a smile and nods tightly, but flicks a glance at Dawn. The younger brunette shrugs helplessly and turns a hard stare of her father

He starts to say something about Dawn rethinking this choice, but Greg bangs his car on the tray of the high chair he's in, drawing his attention and he decides that this might not be the best place or time for that kind of talk. From what little Buffy has already said and they way they've reacted, the entire group believes this "gay" thing is okay. [And maybe it is,] he thinks. [For the redhead and her "friend", but I can't let one of my daughters ruin her life like this. But I don't want to fight with them, not here and not in front of Gregory.]

Forcing a jovial smile, Hank looks over the entire group. "Well, I think that's enough wedding talk for now. Buffy, Dawn, we can always get together later and discuss that." The sisters look at each other at his words, Buffy worried and Dawn angry. Hank didn't even let Faith respond to his greeting! "Oh, and you too, of course, uh, Faith. For now, why don't you tell me about yourselves and what you've been doing here. Buffy, where do you work?"

The oldest Slayer turns a 'deer in the headlights' look at her father as what she'd been preparing to say is neatly sidetracked. She stumbles for a moment to answer him. "Me? Oh, uh, well, you see, uh..." She grinds a halt, pauses to collect her thoughts, then tries again. "Actually, I have, well, two jobs. An old boss of mine got me a job at one of the local high schools as a kind of counselor, which is what I did just before we left Sunnydale.

"I also work part time, in the evenings as a self defense instructor for girls. Well," she corrects herself with a smile at her fellow Slayers. "Faith, Kennedy and I own the place. They do most of the work, with Will and Dawn helping with the office type work." She looks back at her father. "You might say it's a family business," she says, in a deliberate, very satisfied tone. She also very pointedly includes only the Scoobies in her description of 'family'.

"I see," Hank replies, looking thoughtful. "And you help with this... 'school', Dawn?"

Dawn pastes a sickly sweet smile on her face. "Yeah, I help out, mostly so I can spend more time with my fiance. I'm also taking classes toward business and history degrees."

The elder Summers looks at his younger daughter proudly. "A double major? How are your grades? Really good, I'll bet! You always did love school and I'm sure that hasn't changed."

Once more, he ignores the whole concept of Faith and Dawn being engaged and again, Dawn notices and gets even angrier. She opens her mouth to say something, but Buffy cuts her off. "Sorry, Dawnie, but does anyone mind if we go ahead and order? I didn't get any lunch and I'm just really hungry now!" She smiles brightly, but all the Scoobies can tell it's false. That she's just trying to stop an argument before it can start.

Buffy looks at Willow and thinks, {Will, can you hear me?]

[Yeah. What's up? Oh, and sorry, but I don't think I like your dad.] The witch looks apologetic.

Buffy actually smiles at Willow's thoughts and expression. [Hey, I don't like him! Why should you be different?] She gives her head a little shake. [Listen, can you tell Dawnie to calm down and not start an argument now, please? Tell her let's just eat and get out of here, okay?]

Willow nods and looks toward Dawn, who jerks a little and looks at Willow, then hotly at Buffy. The elder Slayer smiles her 'Please? For me?' smile and her sister rolls her eyes, but nods minutely. "Thank you," Buffy whispers. [Thanks, Will,] she sends as well. The redhead smiles and bows her head a little.

Unaware of their silent conversation, Hank responds to Buffy's request by calling over the waiter. "Sure, Buffy, we can order. And you shouldn't skip meals! You're just too skinny now!" He tries to make his smile seem concerned and fatherly, but, along with the comment, it just makes Buffy angry again.

Biting back a retort, the blonde Slayer takes a deep breath and forces herself to calm down once more, taking her own advise. Sensing motion, she looks up and almost smiles in relief as their waiter approaches and everyone busies themselves with ordering dinner.

After the waiter is finished and leaves, Buffy searches for a topic of discussion that won't tick someone at the table off, but can't think of anything. She starts to panic, then is startled into a confused, "Huh? Um, what did you say, Dad?"

He smiles a little. This is the Buffy he remembers, easily distracted. "I asked, how do you meet Xander? And have you been dating long?"

"Oh! Uh, we, uh, we met my first day at Sunnydale High. Just before I met Willow, in fact." Thinking back to the first time she met either of her best friends, Buffy smiles gently at both of them, amazed at how far they've all come. She gives her head a little shake, returning her mind to the present. "Oh, and we've been dating about a year." She looks at Xander, her eyebrows drawn down, like she's unsure of her facts. "Is that right, Xan? About a year?"

He smiles indulgently. "Just over, Buff. Will and Kennedy have us all beat, with their third year mark coming up, then Faith and Dawnie, with just over two years, then us." She looks at his family and his smile gets bigger and much warmer. "All still deliriously happy, too, right guys?" He flicks his eye toward Hank, letting Buffy know he's caught all the tricks and slights and that this is his way of fighting back. Subtlety.

The other two couples smile at each other and Kennedy kisses Willow's hand as Faith does the same with Dawn's. Xander also kisses the back of Buffy's hand, but watches Hank and Gloria's reactions at the same time. Not giving any sign, he frowns internally and thanks God that Buffy stayed with her mother after the divorce. Not just because the world would've been destroyed several times over if she hadn't been in Sunnydale, but because he just can't imagine his wonderful, understanding, supportive Slayer being raised by the man sitting across the table from them.

"So this is the same boy you used to tell me about when I would pick you guys up for a weekend? I thought you said then that you were just friends." Mr Summers asks, looking for clarification. Once more, he ignores the mention of the other couples. He does flick a glance at Willow. "And are you the same Willow that Buffy was always telling me about? The last time we talked, she said you were dating a boy in some garage band. Whatever happened to him?" He stresses the word 'boy' ever so gently.

Buffy gives her father a harsh stare and signals Willow to not rise to the bait. "Yes, Dad, they're the same two people I used to tell you about. As for the last time I told you anything about them, well, that was almost eight years ago. A lot of things can change in that amount of time. People can grow up and change. And besides," she looks around at her friends, taking in Kennedy, Dawn and Faith's pissed off looks, Willow's drawn expression and Xander's flush. "Everything worked out the way it was supposed to and definitely for the better!"

The blonde Slayer takes a deep breath, calming herself and forcing a more even tone into her voice. "Now, would you answer a few questions for me?" She asks her father. He nods, looking a little chagrined for upsetting Buffy so badly. "I seem to have a little brother I know nothing about. Wanna fix that?"

Hank smiles, relieved and begins to tell the Scoobies about Matthew Gregory Summers, complete with little anecdotes of things the little boy has done that his doting parents consider cute and noteworthy. The stories continue right up until the food arrives and sporadically during the meal.

As the meal winds down, the dessert cart is wheeled over and Hank notices, not too surprisingly, Dawn, Xander and the redhead, Willow, all select a small cake or pastry. The others are what truly startle him, since all three women are slender and, between the three of them, you couldn't squeeze more than two pounds of fat. He watches, his disbelief mounting as Buffy chooses a truly monstrous confection and Faith and Kennedy both select two desserts, both choices on the large side.

"My God!" Gloria exclaims as she too watches the three women dig into their treats. "How can you eat that many calories and look like you don't care in the slightest? I know you're all young, but you just have to be worried about your figures!"

Buffy self-consciously stops eating, then reconsiders when Faith and Kennedy just shrug and take a slightly bigger bite of what they're eating. She gives Gloria a somewhat condescending smile. "Well, our self defense classes and workout schedules are pretty energy intensive, so the only problem with calories is usually that there's not enough of them." She takes another bite and smiles at the now envious woman. "Means we can pretty much eat whatever we want." She sighs as she takes another bite of the delicious, sugary treat.

The older blonde graces all three Slayers with a fake smile that does nothing to hide her jealousy. "You're all so lucky, then! Maybe I should copy you and start the same exercise program."

Buffy freezes for a second, but Kennedy immediately asks, "Do you work out now? Regularly, I mean?"

"No, nothing regular," she admits. Smiling at Greg, she adds, "With a two year old, I don't really have time for visits to the gym."

Kennedy smiles regretfully. "Then you couldn't do this one. It's designed for people who work out regularly and really intensely. To be honest, you'd hurt yourself before the first hour was up." She looks at Buffy and winks where neither Gloria nor Hank can see. "Wouldn't you agree, Buffy?"

She nods and turns a sincere look onto her step mother. "Kennedy's absolutely right. Exercise is good and you should if you want, but our program is really for experts only." She does a little double take, like she's just noticed something. Rotating her arm up so she can look more fully at her watch, Buffy asks, "Is it that late?"

Automatically, Hank looks at his own watch and frowns. It's not quite nine thirty. That's not very late.

"Sorry to eat and run, Dad, but I have to be up to get ready for work at six in the morning and I think Dawnie has an early class. Right, Sis?" Dawn nods. "See? And, when you add the forty minute drive, well, we're kinda pushing things, So, again, sorry, but we should be going now." At her words, all the Scoobies finish what they're eating and stand.

Hank watches helplessly. True, the evening hasn't gone exactly like he'd planned, but it's still the first real time he's spent with his girls in years and he isn't ready for it to end. Still, work is important and maybe he should've scheduled this dinner a little earlier. With a sigh, he admits defeat and smiles at Buffy. "I understand, sweetheart. It's really good that you have such a great sense of responsibility, so thank you for indulging me with dinner tonight." He looks over the group. "It was... good... to meet you all."

Everyone nods or smiles tightly as they start to move away from the table. Buffy smiles. "Thanks for dinner. Oh, and if you would, pass along our compliments to the chef, okay? Everything was so good!" She smiles again, then walks over to Greg's high chair. Squatting down, she smiles and reaches out to lightly ruffle sandy blonde hair. "Bye, little brother. You be good, okay?"

The little boy giggles at the caress, but shyly doesn't speak. Straightening, the Slayer looks at her father and her smile dims ever so slightly. "Bye, Dad." She turns to leave.

"Buffy, wait!"

She turns back, an eyebrow cocked in polite inquiry.

Hank waits a second for her to say something, but, when it's apparent she isn't gonna say anything, he asks, "Would it be all right if I came by your place tomorrow afternoon? We never really got a chance to talk about this marriage of Dawn's and I'd still like to."

Buffy sighs and seriously considers telling him no. She starts to, then decides it's Dawn's decision. If she wants to take to their father, wants him to attend, or even participate in her wedding, then that's her choice. Hers and Faith's and she has no say in it. Sighing again, she turns the same glare she uses on vamps on her father. "If you want, but if Dawnie says she doesn't want to talk to you about it, and she might, then that's that. It's her wedding and her decision is final about it. Agreed?"

Hank hesitates, the slowly nods. He can't talk sense to Dawn if he can't talk to her, so his choice seems obvious. "I can live with that. What would be a good time?"

"About four," Buffy responds, not really thinking about it. "We'll see you then." Without another word, she turns and leaves. Catching up with the others in the lobby, she takes in Dawn's frown and grimaces. a little.

"So, what did he want? I heard him call you back," she softly snarls.

Buffy tries a soft little smile. "I was just saying goodbye to Greg, so he wouldn't think both of his sisters are jerks." The blonde lightly touches Dawn's arm at the younger girl's guilty look. "But, you're right. Dad did ask for something. He wanted to come by tomorrow to talk about your wedding. I told him okay, he'll be there about four."

The former Key's guilty look is swiftly replaced by an angry frown. "What?! No!!" She shakes off Faith's hands and moves to stand nose to nose with Buffy. "I was here tonight, I was even nice. Mostly," she adds at her sister's raised eyebrow. "That doesn't matter. You go back in there and tell that worthless pile of shit he can't 'come by'!" Dawn snarls. her voice slowly getting louder. Faith comes up behind her and starts rubbing at her shoulders, trying to calm her down a little.

Buffy's temper flares as she hisses back. "That 'worthless pile of shit' is your father and mine and I'll thank you to remember that and not speak like that again!"

Dawn shakes her head violently. "He isn't anything to me, remember? It doesn't matter what the memories say, this was only the second time I've ever met him, so why should I care what he wants?!" She shakes her head again, scrunching her eyes closed for a second and taking a deep breath. "Buffy, even if we go with our memories, why should I talk to him again? He's been gone more than half my life." She smiles back over her shoulder, then looks back at her sister. "As Faith put it, he's my sperm donor and that's pretty much it. I won't talk to him again."

Buffy looks away, up at Xander, who has moved beside her and takes a deep breath. Looking back at Dawn, she smiles sadly. "If you hadn't gone off like that, I'd have finished telling you that I said he could come by, but that it was your choice to talk to him and that he shouldn't get his hopes up." Her expression softens and she reaches up to lightly caress Dawn's cheek. "Dawnie, talk to him tomorrow if you want, or don't. That choice is yours, like it should be. Why don't you and Faith talk it over tonight, okay? Just let me know what to tell Dad before four tomorrow, please.

Dawn holds her stare for another second, then drops her eyes, nodding. Buffy smiles gently. "Thank you. Now, can we all go home? My shoes may be stylish, but they hurt!"

Dawn snorts once as a laugh tries to escape, then grins against her will. "Serves you right for choosing style over comfort."

The blonde laughs as well as she steers the group out the door and toward the valets. "Faith is such a bad influence on you! You used to have style, but not everything is just 'comfortable'!" She teases.

"I prefer to think of it as she opened my eyes and got me to stop being a slave to fashion trends!"

Buffy pouts, the laughs as the friends wait for the valets to bring their cars forward. When they both get there, Willow steps up beside Buffy and gives her a small smile. "Buffy, Kennedy and I are gonna take one of the cars and go get some ice cream. We'll be home later, okay?"

The elder Slayer looks at her friend incredulous. "Will, she just had two desserts and you had the huge puffy thing! You guys can't still be hungry!"

"Well, no, not really," She admits, looking pained. "The truth is, that just wasn't all that fun and not we wanna go have a little before we go home. Fun, that is." She smiles guiltily. "Sorry, Buffy, but neither of us liked your dad, but if it helps, I don't think he liked us, either, so we're all even, right?"

Buffy smiles gently. "It's okay, Will. I noticed all the looks and rather pointed ignorings of your guys and Faith. Like I said earlier, I don't like him, why should you have to? Go on. I'll see you tomorrow."

The witch flashes a genuine smile at the Slayer, then grabs her Slayer by the hand and literally drags her to a waiting car. Xander laughs as he watches Willow and Kennedy's eagerness to escape, then looks around him. "Come on ladies, let's head for home," he says as he opens Buffy's door for her. They all pile into the remaining car and Xander points it toward home.

An uneventful, mostly quiet half hour later, they pull up to their house, though Dawn notices a strange car. As they get out and turn toward the front porch, two people stand and start toward them from there. They get closer and step into enough light for Dawn to see their faces and she growls softly and rolls her eyes. "God, what is this?! Long lost relatives week?!" She laments to the heavens.


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