Daddy Knows... Best?: More Family, More Explanations
by Wolfkin
Chapter 5

Buffy looks at Dawn, unsure. "Dawn, what the hell are you talking about? And who's that on the porch?"

Dawn just shakes her head and stands aside, letting her sister get a clear look for herself. Buffy's jaw drops as she gasps, "Gina?! Mikey?! What are you... How did you find... What's going on?"

The tall brunette walking out to meet the group stops and smirks at the oldest Slayer. She appears to be about Dawn's age, though she carries herself with a lot of self assurance. She looks at Buffy and sarcastically says, "Nice to see you, too, Cuz!"

Buffy's incredulous expression is swiftly replaced with glee. She's always liked these cousins, mostly because they've always been so much more fun than the couple they have on their dad's side of the family. She smiles brightly and pulls the girl into a tight hug, then quickly hugs her brother. Behind her, both Faith and Xander relax, watching their girls.

Gina steps up to Dawn and grins. "Come on, Daybreak, admit it. You're happy to see me, right?"

Dawn just stares at the other girl, her expression still faintly hostile. She fights the smile that threatens at Gina's use of her old nickname, but finally gives in, mostly because she really is glad to see her favorite cousins. She glances back at her girl and sees that Faith both heard and made note of the nickname and is smiling wickedly. The former Key rolls her eyes and turns back to her cousin.

"Yeah, I'm glad to see you. And on any other day, I'd probably be jumping around and planning all kinds of trouble we could get into." She doesn't lose the smile, but it dims and she sighs.

Gina looks at Dawn confused. "Why not this day?"

Dawn sighs heavily. "'Cause this day, I just left from seeing my dad," she says simply.

Brother and sister both make a face. "Ouch," Gina says. "Yeah, I can see where that'd turn a day from good to a pisser." Behind Dawn, Faith grins at the girl's words and Gina's eyes flick toward her. She grins back, then refocuses on her cousins. "So, what was he here for? Guilt finally get the best of him after... what? Eight? Ten years?"

"Just under ten," Dawn confirms. "As for why the visit, he introduced us to our shiny new baby brother. He and the bimbette he married have spawned-" At Buffy's cough and glare, Dawn rolls her eyes, but modifies what she said. "I mean, they've had a kid. Actually, he's a cute kid. About three and I think I wanna keep in touch with him. That way, when Dad runs out on him, we can compare notes."

Gina laughs appreciatively at her words, while Buffy growls softly and rolls her eyes. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan." The young woman notices the ring on Dawn's left hand and her eyes widen slightly. "So, is that the only reason he was in town?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Not the only reason." Dawn smiles as thoughts of her father are replaced by ones of her Slayer, then it dims and the scowl makes a partial comeback as she remembers the real reason for her father's visit. "No, the real reason he showed up was Granma Summers told him I'm engaged and he decided he wants to be in my wedding."

Gina smiles broadly, as does Michael. "Well, that explains the big blue rock on your finger, cause I was wondering," he says. He looks at his sister, then his younger cousin. "Something tells me Uncle Hank didn't think much about your choice of marriage partners!"

Buffy coughs and Dawn looks murderous as Faith mutters, "Got that right!"

Gina looks again at the dark haired girl standing with a equally dark haired man behind her cousins. The woman, for some reason, reminds her of Buffy somewhat, which is crazy, since both being female is all they apparently have in common. "So, Daybreak. These your friends? Not ashamed to admit you know me, are you?"

Dawn smiles and laughs lightly. "Yeah, usually," she teases. She turns slightly so that she can see everyone. "Gina and Michael Roberts, this is Buffy's boyfriend, Xander Harris."

The siblings both smile and nod politely, though Gina's brows contract a bit. "You went to school with Buffy, didn't you?"

Xander smiles. "Yeah. Me and Willow, who's not here right now. You can meet her later. And before you ask, we've only been dating a little over a year, although I first asked her out at the end of our sophomore year."

The brunette feigns astonishment. "You tried for nearly seven years to get her on a date?! Now that's what I call persistence!" She smiles brightly for a second before it changes into a flirtatious smile and she bats her eyes at him. "I kinda like that in a man," she purrs.

"Get your own," Buffy growls, stepping up beside Xander, her territorial streak coming out.

Gina laughs merrily and holds up her hands, taking a step back. "Down, girl! I don't steal boyfriends, especially from family, so throttle back, okay?" She stares at the blonde Slayer for another few seconds to make sure Buffy believes her, then looks back to Dawn. "So, who's your other friend here? I know she's not Willow, 'cause Buff said she was a redhead."

Dawn smiles back at her girl and holds out her hand. Faith comes forward a bit and takes it, drawing up even with Dawn. "No, you'll meet Willow later, cause she and her fiance stopped for ice cream on the way home." She looks lovingly at Faith, then back at her cousins. "This is Faith Andrews, my fiance. Faith, my cousins Gina and Mike."

Faith starts to say hello, but stops and narrows her eyes as she takes in the shocked expressions on their faces. She growls softly, her earlier anger at Hank Summers returning and intensifying at this fresh display of incredulity.

"Y-you're marrying a girl?!" Gina squeaks, her eyes locked onto the dark Slayer. Her brother echoes her surprise.

Faith rolls her eyes and throws up her hands, while Dawn actually growls. "Yes! Yes, the love of my life is a woman and we're getting married! Why is this such a big problem for everyone related to me?! First Buffy gets all forbiddy, then Dad won't say more ten words to her and turns his damned nose up at her all night, now you guys act like this!" She looks at Buffy, her eyes flashing with anger. "See?! This is why I never bother to talk to any of our relatives!"

She turns back to her cousins, her eyes narrowed and a sarcastic smile on her face. "Great seeing you guys! Drop by again in a few years, IF you can manage to get over the fact that I'll have a wife. Later!" She turns and starts toward the house.

Gina shakes her head, grimacing at Dawn's tirade, and steps forward, laying a hand on her cousin's shoulder to stop her. "Hey, Dawn! Wait." Dawn shrugs her hand off and keeps walking. "C'mon, Daybreak! I'm sorry! Cut me some slack here, please?"

Dawn stopped and glanced back over her shoulder. "Why? You're being just like my dad! He wants to talk to me tomorrow and I just know it's to try to talk me out of marrying Faith, not that it'll do him any good!"

Gina looked back and forth between Dawn and Faith, judging what she could of the interaction between the two women. No quite sure yet, she asks, "Is that what you want to do? Marry your girlfriend here, I mean?"

Dawn turns back to face her cousin, a scowl on her face. "Of course I do! Haven't you been paying attention? I love her and nothing you say will change my mind!" The former Key almost shakes with her anger. All she can think of is all the confidences she and Gina used to share and how this seems to be betraying them. [Okay, we didn't really, cause I didn't really exist, but still! She's my favorite cousin and this is what I get?] Her thoughts continue to seethe as her scowl darkens and she decides to just leave the other brunette standing there and go inside and to hell with her.

Faith, on the other hand, has been looking at Gina a little more objectively. Sure, the comments and attitude from her girl's dad really pissed her off and the cousin here's reaction restarted that anger. She can't help but notice, though, that the other girl's subsequent actions and words were more like she was trying to apologize, not keep up the negative, snide comments like dear old dad.

Putting a hand on Dawn's shoulder, Faith stills her lover's move toward the front door. "Hang on D. I'm thinkin' things just ain't the way you're thinkin' they are." She looks at Gina and addresses her next words to her. "I'm gettin' this vibe that you don't really have a problem with D doin' the marriage thing with me, no matter how you reacted a minute ago. Am I right?"

"God no!" Michael answers her instead. "If you two really love each other, Gina and I are totally happy for you!" He smiles broadly and, at least it looks to Faith, genuinely.

Gina nods her head. "Mikey's right, Daybreak. If she's good enough for you, then serious congrats and I better get an invite to the wedding!" She smiles brightly and winks, causing Dawn to roll her eyes.

"If you weren't wigging out because of the girl thing, what's the problem then? I don't understand." Dawn asks, her face clearly showing her confusion.

Gina smiles and shakes her head. "I was 'wigging' because in all the summers we spent together since we both started noticing boys weren't quite so icky, you never mentioned liking girls! So, I think I'm entitled to a minor freak-out when you up and tell me you're marrying one, don't you?" The dark haired girl laughs a little at Dawn's expression, although she doesn't quite understand the sad part of it. She just figures it's embarrassment and let's it go at that.

Dawn herself is thinking about how all the conversations Gina remembers are implanted memories, all but one. Only her and Buffy's last visit to Gina and Michael's house really happened, the summer while Willow was in England recovering from her magic overdose. That summer had been pretty much like everyone remembered all the others, except Aunt Arlene had commented how much more vibrant Dawn had become now that she was in high school. Dawn had blushed and said thank you, not really knowing how to tell her mother's sister that the difference wasn't due to her being nearly seventeen, but because the memories being made were actives ones, rather than implanted.

The younger Summers forces a smile to appear as she nods, though the relief that her favorite cousins seem to approve is very real. "As long as you get over it quickly, then feel free to freak away!"

"Why thank you!" Gina's smile gets a little bigger and turns mischievous. "Besides, if I was to kick up a fuss about both of you being girls, Brian would just never forgive me!" She grins back at her brother. "Would he Mikey?" The young man shakes his head ruefully.

"Who's Brian? Is he your boyfriend or something?" Dawn asks, curious.

"No," Michael replies, a wondrous smile on his face. "He's mine."

Suddenly, it's Dawn and Buffy's turn to look incredulous as they try to process this new information. Dawn quickly smiles. "Hey, congratulations! Will I ever get to meet him? Oh, and how'd your mom take the news? Buffy kinda freaked when I told her Faith had asked me out, then *really* freaked the night we got engaged!"

Michael chuckles quietly and Gina laughs out loud at her statement. "Knowing Buff, I'd say 'freaking out' is probably an understatement!" She turns laughing eyes onto the blonde Slayer. "Sorry, cuz! Love ya and everything, but God! You can be such a drama queen sometimes!"

Faith mutters, "What do ya mean, 'sometimes'?" just loud enough for everyone to hear and Dawn and the cousin's laughter redoubles while Buffy yelps a startled "Hey!"

Everyone laughs at the irate Slayer's reaction as she makes a grumpy face and crosses her arms over her chest. Xander chuckles as he loops an arm around Buffy's shoulders and hugs her to him a little. She looks up at him, her face still showing how miffed she is, but she slowly starts to smile a little, her boyfriend's good mood infecting her as usual.

Michael smiles at his older cousin's reaction to his sister's teasing. Looking back at Dawn, he smiles and answers her earlier question. "Yeah, Dawnie, you probably will get to meet Brian, since he and I are thinking about going to Marshall University. It's in West Virginia and just a few hours from here, so visits will not be too hard to arrange."

"Very cool!" the brunette declares with a broad smile. She turns to Gina. "What about you? Any boyfriends, girlfriends, both? What?"

Gina blushes ever so slightly, but grins. "I'll leave the girlfriends to you, but I have a boyfriend." A sad look crosses her face. "Well, had. We broke up about a week ago."

Dawn instantly makes a little sympathetic noise in her throat and enfolds her cousin in a hug. "I'm so sorry, TM. He's an idiot, if he let you go."

Gina hugs her back, then pulls away a little. "He is an idiot, so don't waste the sorries, 'k?"

Dawn releases her and takes a step back. "What happened?"

The brunette shrugs and tries to downplay it, but Dawn can see the residual pain in her cousin's eyes. "He couldn't deal with Mikey and Brian. He made one particularly bad comment and I told him to fuck off and tossed him out the door."

Dawn starts to respond, but Buffy speaks up first. "Gina, I'm sorry to hear about what happened, but why don't we take this inside, okay?"

Gina smiles a little. "I was getting ready to ask. Mikey and I have been driving all day and I kinda want to sit somewhere that's not moving for a while before we hunt up a hotel or something."

At the mention of a hotel, Dawn looks at Buffy and sees a matching look on her sister's face. She turns back to the slightly taller brunette in front of her and holds out a hand. "Keys," she says, imperiously. At Gina's blank look, she elaborates a little. "Car keys. So we can get your bags? Give'em."

"No, that's okay," Gina says, waving a hand. "We planned this, so don't worry about it."

Michael gives his sister a dirty look. "Ignore her, Dawnie. Her 'great plan' was for us to sleep in the car at a rest area somewhere between here and home." He smiles at his cousins and their friends. "Speaking for myself, I'll take a warm bed and a bathroom I don't have to worry about being robbed or worse in, so thanks!"

Dawn smiles back at him while Buffy laughs. She then turns a stern look on Gina. Sighing, but with a hint of a smile, the tall brunette fishes out her keys and moves passed the Scoobies. "Come on then."

Dawn smiles at having gotten her way and Faith just shakes her head, following her lover to the cousin's car. When Gina opens the trunk, the dark Slayer reaches is and grabs both overnight bags, then looks at her fiance. "Lead the way, Diz."

Gina looks at the younger Summers with a raised eyebrow, clearly wondering about the nickname. "Later," mumbles Dawn and her cousin nods and follows her and Faith into the house.

Buffy stops in the foyer and waits for the others as Xander continues into the house, muttering something about drinks and snacks. Once the other four catch up, she looks speculatively at her cousins, then Dawn. "I was thinking a dorm room would probably be the easiest answer, don't you think, Dawn?" She smiles at Gina and Michael. "That is, if you guys don't mind sharing a room for the night."

Gina shrugs and glances at her brother. "We would've had to if we'd have gotten a hotel room, so sure."

The eldest Slayer nods and looks at Faith. "Could you run their stuff up to one of the dorm rooms for me, please, Faith? Thank you," she says at the dark Slayer's nod. As Faith bounds up the stairs, she calls after her, "We'll be in the game room!"

Faith waves a hand and Buffy looks back at her sister and cousins. "Well, come on. Unless you'd rather go on to bed?"

Gina looks back at her brother for a second, then back at her blonde cousin. "Maybe in a little while. Like I said, I kinda want to sit somewhere that's not vibrating or moving." She pauses until the group arrives in what the inhabitants of the house call simply, the game room.

A widescreen tv decorates one corner, flanked by racks of movies and a state of the art sound system. It's ringed by several comfortable looking chairs and two sofas. Along one wall are 3 computers with several generic tables running parallel to them toward the center of the room. Two pool tables are also present, as is a foos ball table and two dart boards on a wall.

Gina glances around the room for a moment, trying hard to not be impressed by what she sees. "Besides, we wanna hear the real reason why you guys left California." She looks at Buffy and grins sardonically. "I mean, we know the 'official' story, earthquake, sinkhole and all that, but what really happened?"

Buffy looks at Dawn and raises an eyebrow, silently asking if she wants to "explain" or if she herself should do it. Dawn nods slightly and sits, saying, "Well, the official story is correct." She waits until the others have found seats, then continues. "The founders of Sunnydale didn't know anything about tectonics, of course, so they couldn't know that the ground was even more unstable than the rest of southern California. No one knows what set it off when it did, but whatever happened, the whole town and a little of the surrounding countryside fell in and now we live here. A family friend suggested it, said we'd feel at home here." She ignores a snort of derisive laughter from Xander as he enters the room with a tray of drinks.

"Uh huh." Gina looks frankly skeptical, but a glance at each of the Scoobies faces tells her that's the story she's gonna hear from any of them, so, after a glance at her brother, she decides to drop it. "All right, then why didn't we get a call from you guys saying you were alive? Mom was worried sick, so I finally looked at the database California set up with the lists of survivors and found your names." Her eyes flick around the room. "I also found this address, but we weren't sure if it was right, so Mikey and I decided to stop by on the way back home from his tour of the Marshall campus."

"And here we were!" Dawn chirps brightly, though everyone can tell her cheer is forced. As fast as her chipper smile appears, it's gone again. "We're sorry, TM. You're right, we should've called way before now and neither Buffy or I thought about it." She pauses, trying to think of the best way to say what she's thinking. "I guess... both of us have gotten used to thinking of everyone who lives here as our only family, so we just didn't think about you guys worrying or anything."

Buffy sees the hurt looks that flash across the sibling's faces and hastens to add, "Please, don't take it like that! Dawn and I are both really happy to see you guys and I promise, I'll call Aunt Arlene tomorrow and make sure she has the phone numbers and address for here." She stops for a second, then continues. "Dawn's right about the way we all tend to think around here, though."

She smiles up at her boyfriend. "Xander's parents have never paid much attention to him. I think the last time they really took notice of him was at his not-wedding day. Faith doesn't have any family except us and Angel and Willow's parents travel most of the year. Besides, they pretty much disowned her when she told them she was marrying Kennedy, so again, we're it. Kenn's dad doesn't approve of her lifestyle or that she's marrying another woman, so she only talks to him when she absolutely has to. She and her sister get along really well, but she's not eighteen yet, so their dad limits how much they see each other."

"So, as you can see," Dawn says, taking up the explanation again, "It's kinda 'Us against the world' around here. Or, at least, that's the way it seems a lot of the time. So see," she smiles brightly at her cousins. "It's not that we don't still love you guys, we just weren't thinking." She gives them both a contrite look. "Forgive us?"

Gina looks at her brother, trying to maintain a stern appearance, though it's hard. Seeing Michael's nod, she faces the Scoobs. "Well..." she drawls, "On one condition." She pauses, taking in her cousin's expectant looks, then she smiles. "Can I be there when you tell Uncle Hank to go screw himself?"

There's a bark of laughter from near the door and everyone turns that way to see Faith returning in time to hear the last part of the conversation, and she smiles broadly at Gina's qualifier.

Dawn glances at her girl, smiling as she chirps, "Sure!" in answer to Gina's question.

At the same time, Buffy rolls her eyes and gives a more conservative, "We'll see."

Dawn scowls at her sister, but doesn't rise to the bait. Scooting over a little to make room for Faith, she looks at Michael. "So, tell us about Marshall," she requests with a smile.

Michael smiles as well and starts to tell the group about the college he and his boyfriend are considering and his tour of the campus earlier that day. He continues the description of the university campus, speaking excitedly, for over half an hour between the sound of the front door opening distracts the Slayers in the room.

Buffy and Faith both look toward the doorway of the room and Faith appears to take a deep breath before smiling slightly. "Red 'n K are home," she announces to the room.

Gina frowns slightly and looks at Buffy, one eyebrow raised. "And she knows this how?"

Buffy grins and shakes her head. "Long story." She turns her head and looks at the door, just as Willow and Kennedy come into the room, laughing quietly about something. Both women stop as they notice the extra bodies. Buffy smiles. "Willow, I know you remember me talking about my cousins Gina and Michael, my Aunt Arlene's kids. Well, this is them." She grins at Gina, then looks back at her best friend. "They were in the area and stopped by to make sure we weren't dead. Gina, Mikey, this is Willow Rosenberg and her fiance Kennedy Perez."

Gina smiles. "So, I finally get to meet the infamous Willow!" She teases Buffy for a second before looking at Willow and Kennedy. "It's nice to meet both of you and congratulations! When's the wedding?"

Willow blushes a little, but smiles as well, glancing at her fiance. "It'll be a handfasting, but we're still working on the when." She gives the younger Summers a pointed look. "We're kinda waiting on *some*one to make up their mind, since we don't wanna overlap or anything."

Gina rolls her eyes and scoffs playfully. "You may be waiting a while then. I'm not sure Daybreak over there has decided whether water is wet yet, let alone important things!"

"Hey!" Dawn growls, flipping her dark haired cousin the finger. "I can too decide things! Besides, we do have a date. We were just waiting for a good time to tell you guys, that's all!" She stops and her eyes widen as she realizes what she's said. She grimaces and turns to her fiance. "Sorry, baby," the brunette Summers says sheepishly.

Faith tries to glare at her girl, but just can't hold it. With a sardonic grin and a shrug, she says, "Guess this is a 'good time', huh Diz?" She makes a 'go ahead' gesture to her lover.

Dawn gives Faith one more apologetic look before turning excited eyes to the group. "Everyone needs to have their passports ready before August tenth, 'cause by the fourteenth, we're all gonna be in Toronto!"

A look passes around the room, one of mixed excitement that they know when the first of the household's weddings will be, and relief that they finally have a confirmed date. The only confused expression is from Gina. "Why would you want to go all the way to Toronto just to get married? There's no where good around here?" She wonders aloud.

Though she's looking at Dawn for an answer, it comes from her brother. "Same sex marriage is legal there, not here. What?" He asks at her speculative look. "No, Brian and I aren't talking marriage, but hey, maybe some day, so I keep up with these things. That's all."

Gina seems to consider his words for a moment, then shrugs. "Yeah, that makes sense." Suddenly, she yawns hugely, covering her mouth at the last second. Looking sheepishly at the others, she offers a embarrassed, hesitant smile. "Sorry. It's not the company, I swear. Mikey and I have been awake for going on twenty hours and driving for most of that. At the risk of being rude, is it okay if I go to bed now? I promise, we'll talk more in the morning, Dawn." She smiles tiredly. "I want all the details. How you guys met, how long you dated, who proposed and how. All that kinda stuff, okay?"

Dawn smiles brightly. "You bet! Tell you what, we'll all go out to breakfast or lunch and I'll fill you in, then we can talk about Buffy, 'k?"

"Hey! Still in the room, you know!" The eldest Slayer protests, ignoring the muffled laughter from the others.

"That's what makes it funny, cuz," Gina replies, grinning happily. Drinking the rest of her drink in one smooth swallow, she stands and looks toward Dawn. "So, where's this room? Unless you wanna get handsome over there to have to carry me upstairs. Although, that's not such a bad idea, now that I think of it." She gives Xander her very best seductive, come hither pout.

The man quickly grabs Buffy's arm, ignoring both her growl and his body's instinctive reaction. "Actually, it is. I mean, you're almost as gorgeous as Buffy, but her beating us both to a bloody pulp would kinda take the fun of anything, so..." He trails off, shrugging and smiling one of his trademark goofy smiles.

Dawn quickly stands and grabs Gina's arm, tugging her toward the door. "Come on, TM. I'll show you where your room is before Buffy breaks something you're gonna need later."

The others watch as the former Key half leads, half drags her cousin from the room, then Faith looks at Michael as he stands to follow the two girls. Smirking at the young man, Faith says, "Lemme guess. TM stands for TroubleMaker, right?" At his nod of long suffering, she breaks up laughing. "Knew that had to be it," she gasps out. Getting her chuckles under control, she looks up at her girl's cousin. "Tell D I put your stuff in three west, okay?"

He smiles and nods, then looks at Buffy apologetically. "Sorry, Buff. You know how she gets, sometimes. She didn't mean it." At her dubious look, he grins and ducks his head. "Well, okay, she wasn't *serious*, then!" He laughs at her sour expression, knowing she'll accept that. "Where's this three west?" He asks, looking toward Faith.

"Top of the stairs, go left, third door on the left."

He smiles. "Thanks! Night everyone!" He calls as he quickly leaves.

Willow and Kennedy stands next, agreeing with their guests that it's bedtime and they head for their room, Faith following them to find Dawn. Once they're alone, Xander pulls Buffy against him and lightly kisses the top of her head. "Hey, you know she was just joking, right? And that I don't want any other woman but you? You know that, right?"

Buffy gives a big sigh, then nods. "Yeah, I know she was just trying to get a rise out me." She turns her head and smiles gently at her boyfriend. "And yeah, I know the only way you'd touch another girl is if we split up. I trust you completely." Leaning up, she kisses his lips softly, then snuggles back into his chest.

He chuckles and gives her a little squeeze. "If you trust me so much, why are you always acting so jealous whenever another girl talks to me?"

She shrugs a little. "You and our family, I trust. The rest of the planet? Not so much."

It starts slowly, but Xander's serious expression quickly becomes one of humor, then outright laughter as he just shakes his head at Buffy logic. Gathering her up, he kisses her passionately and repeatedly. After a few pleasurable moments like this, he smiles at his girl. "Come on, Buff. Let's go to bed, too."

She shrugs, carefully hiding a teasing smile. "Not sleepy."

"Did I say anything about sleep?" He growls softly, standing with the petite blonde in his arms.


Author's Note: Finally! I was starting to worry I wouldn't find a good place to stop this chapter. Okay, believe it or not, this story is closing on done. The talk with Hank is next. Will Dawn talk to him? And will he accept her and Faith? I'll try to let you see soon!

Much thanks goes to my friend Willowfan for proofing and beta reading all my stuff. Thank her a lot, folks. I prolly would've lost interest in writing if not for her. Thanks B. It's still fun! :)

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