Everyone has gathered for the rehearsal. Joyce wants to talk to Buffy and Giles.

This chapter is rated FRT.

A Perfect Day - Chapter Two

Giles pulled into the driveway of Ethan and Michael’s house and smiled at Buffy. She returned his smile and reached over to straighten his tie.

“You look very nice.”

His eyes drifted down the dress she was wearing, stopping at her bare knees and moving back up to her eyes. “And you look beautiful.”

She took a deep breath and dropped her hands from his tie. “Stop looking at me like that or we’ll never get inside for the rehearsal.”

Giles grinned and glanced at the front window of the house to find Evan peeking through the curtains. “The kids will come out…”

“Mm-hm.” She sighed, running her hand down the front of his shirt before pulling away and unbuckling her seatbelt. “And if there’s one thing I don’t want our children to see is what’s going through my head right now. So…we’d better go inside.”

He chuckled softly and pulled the keys out of the ignition as he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door.

Before they could step onto the walkway that led to the porch, the front door swung open and Haddie and Evan came running down to greet them. Buffy sighed softly, causing Giles to look at her as he picked Evan up.

“What’s wrong?”

Buffy shrugged as she knelt and gave her daughter a hug and a kiss before standing back up and taking Evan from Giles. “I don’t know…it wasn’t all that long ago that Braden and Lucas would’ve come out too.”

Giles grinned, lifting Haddie into his arms. “They’re boys, Buffy. Nearly ten and seven. It’s normal.”

As they resumed their way up the walk, Buffy looked up at him. “May be normal, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Giles chuckled again and looked at the dress Haddie was wearing. “Did Grandma buy that for you?”

Haddie smiled brightly as she nodded. “Like it?”

He kissed her cheek as he climbed the front stairs. “I think it’s nearly as beautiful as you are. But, not quite.”

Haddie giggled, wrapping her arms around her father’s neck and giving him a kiss. As they walked through the front door, Lucas ran over to them with a bright smile on his face.

“Guess what?”

“What?” Buffy replied, placing Evan on the floor and ruffling his hair.

“Bay and I didn’t fight at all last night!”

Giles laughed softly and lowered Haddie, smiling as she smoothed out her dress before taking off after her younger brother. “You sound as though you should be rewarded for not fighting.”

“I should.” Lucas answered, shoving his right hand into the pocket of his trousers as he looked up at his father. “Do you know how hard it was?”

Buffy and Giles both laughed, Buffy gently nudging Lucas’ shoulder. “Go on and play, your father and I will discuss rewards, okay?”

Lucas grinned and started to run off, stopping suddenly and running back to them. After giving each of his parents a hug, he smiled shyly.

“Missed you last night.”

Before either of them could reply, he was running towards the back door. When Giles looked around the room and narrowed his eyes, Joyce walked over to them and smiled.

“She’s outside with the kids.”

Giles smiled and chuckled. “I wasn’t sure if you’d bring Callie or not.”

Joyce laughed and shook her head. “I didn’t have much choice. The kids insisted and then Ethan called to make sure she was coming as well.”

Buffy grinned and slid her arm through Giles’. “I think if he had the chance, Ethan would take her off of us.”

Giles raised an eyebrow. “I dare him to try.”

Buffy and Joyce laughed brightly. Joyce gestured towards the back door with a tilt of her head.

“Everyone else is out there too. But…I wanted to talk to you first.”

Giles looked at her in concern. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, it’s just…” Joyce sighed and shook her head. “I know that you told me that Haddie can…well, she…”

“Sees spirits?” Buffy finished for her.

Joyce smiled nervously and nodded. “I wasn’t expecting for it to happen in front of me.”

“Oh.” Giles replied quietly. “Um…yes, it does tend to happen frequently. I, uh…well, are you alright?”

Joyce’s nervous smile turned warm at the concern in his voice. “I’m fine, Rupert. It doesn’t seem to bother her or the boys.”

Buffy shook her head, sliding her hand down to Giles’ and lacing their fingers. “No, it doesn’t. Ru has a basic idea of what’s going on. Lucas wonders why he doesn’t have ‘imaginary friends’. Haddie just takes it as normal, they don’t scare her or anything. And Evan…he doesn’t seem to care.”

“She seemed quite happy to see whoever it was that she saw. They played for a while. It was…interesting.”

Giles gave her a crooked smile. “Interesting. The first time I saw it, it fairly terrified me.”

Joyce grinned and shrugged a shoulder. “I wouldn’t say it terrified me. As Buffy used to say…it wigged me out for a few minutes though.”

“How were they last night?” Buffy asked as they made their way to the back door.

“Oh, they were great. Braden and Lucas played quite nicely together and Lucas read Evan a bedtime story.” She glanced at the couple as she opened the back door. “And how was your night?”

Buffy huffed in amusement as Giles blushed lightly. Joyce grinned and shook her head.

“No more needs to be said. I’m glad you had a good time.”

Stepping out onto the back porch, Giles smiled as he watched Callie chase the children. Willow gave them a wave as she talked with Anya. Xander and Oz were manning the barbeque, chatting as they watched the steaks cook. Ethan and Michael were off to the side, finishing a conversation with the celebrant.

The celebrant nodded at something Michael had said and walked off with her assistant. Ethan and Michael shared a smile before leaning into one another for a warm kiss. Giles’ smile grew, happy for Ethan and Michael.

Turning his eyes back to his puppy, he gave a short whistle. Callie stopped in her tracks and looked towards him. Her ears perked up and her tail wagged madly as she bolted towards him. As she bounded up the stairs, Giles knelt down to give her a pat.

As Callie wiggled excitedly, placing her front paws on Giles’ thigh so she could give him a kiss, Joyce laughed.

“I think someone’s happy to see you.”

Giles grinned and placed a kiss on the top of Callie’s head. “Hello, sweetheart.”

Buffy shook her head in amusement and looked at her mother. “I think it’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.”

“One of, yes.” Giles looked up and gave her a wink before looking back into the puppy’s eyes. “Go on, Cal. Go play.”

Callie gave Buffy a quick lick before running back down the stairs, immediately honing in on Braden. Braden laughed happily as the chase started again, his brothers and sister joining in with Maria, Jake, and Rayna.

As they walked down the steps that led to the yard, Joyce watched Rayna jump and giggle. “She’s such a beautiful little girl.”

Buffy grinned and nodded. “Yeah, she really is. And Xander is such a good father to her.”

“Anya is very attentive. You can tell how much she loves her. To be honest, when you told me that she was pregnant, I was a little worried. I remember what she was like with Braden when he was a baby.”

Giles snorted a laugh and leaned down to kiss Buffy’s lips. “I’ll leave you two to chat about motherhood. Would you like a drink or anything?”

Buffy shook her head, lightly squeezing his fingers. “No, I’m good. Go on and be all manly with our friends.”

Giles chuckled and gave her another soft kiss before he walked off towards the barbeque, stopping long enough to pick Maria up and toss her in the air playfully.

Joyce looked down at her daughter, not surprised to find her watching Giles with a warm smile on her face. “He’s really good with the kids.”

“Yeah…”

Joyce furrowed her brow at Buffy’s wistful tone. “Would you have had more?”

“Hm?” She looked up at Joyce and shook her head. “No, probably not. We always said we’d stop at four. Sometimes I wish we could have another one though. I’d love to have another girl. Haddie and I are a bit outnumbered.”

Joyce nodded and turned her eyes back to Giles and the others as they walked across the grass towards Willow and Anya. She knew of the history between Giles and Ethan. It had come out during one of the late night conversations she had with Buffy when Buffy had been dealing with issues concerning Amelia and some girl at a pub. Joyce couldn’t remember the girl’s name…and it didn’t matter.

When Ethan walked up to Giles and gave him a hug, Joyce sighed. Buffy narrowed her eyes slightly.

“What?”

“Do you ever…worry?” At Buffy’s confused look, Joyce glanced at Giles and Ethan. “About their past ever coming back around?”

“Oh, that.” Buffy shook her head, her smile returning. “Ethan is Giles’ best friend. Neither of them want more than what they have now. And…if I’m being honest…I think they both need each other. I know that Giles keeps Ethan grounded…well, as grounded as Ethan can be.”

Joyce stopped and tilted her head. “Is he still heavily into magic?”

“Oh yeah…but not the raising demon kind of magic. I made my peace with their past years ago. Before we were married, even. Giles was always honest with me…and Ethan has been completely open with Michael about it.”

“So…you don’t think they’d ever…um…”

Buffy chuckled softly. “No. I don’t even think about it anymore. Not until someone mentions it. They’re best friends…and that friendship is important to them both.” She looked up when she heard Giles and Ethan both laugh. “And it’s worth it just to hear that. It took them a long time to get to here…and I wouldn’t take it away from them for anything.”

Buffy smiled with Anya and Willow walked over, Jake rushing over to grab a bottle of water from Willow’s hand. Willow smiled down at her son as she handed the bottle to him.

“Share it with your sister.”

Jake grinned broadly and took off back to the other children, happily handing the bottle to Maria.

Willow looked at Buffy and smiled. “So how was your night?”

“Oh, it was nice.”

Anya snorted and took a drink from the cup in her hand. “Yeah, I hear that the penthouse has beautiful views of the city. But, I’d bet that you didn’t spend much time looking out the windows or being out on the balcony.”

Buffy grinned and gave Willow a wink, timing her reply just right. As soon as Anya had taken another drink, she took a step back.

“Oh, we had our time on the balcony. But, you’re right…not much time spent looking at the city.”

Anya swallowed and grinned back, shaking her head. “See, I don’t splutter my drinks anymore when you say things like that. We all know that you and Giles have sex quite often and in unusual places and positions. We even know you have a toy collection.”

Joyce coughed as she swallowed a sip of water. “And that’s something a mother should never hear.”

“What’s something a mother should never hear?” Xander asked as he walked up behind Anya and slid his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“That Buffy and Giles have a toy collection.” Anya answered with no hesitation.

Xander paled and cleared his throat. “That’s also something a Xander should never hear.”

Buffy met Giles’ eyes and smiled lovingly as the others laughed.