Disclaimer: Joss owns them, I play.

Thanks to all the people who are still reading and reviewing.
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Chapter 15: Difficult Questions

Armed with Ariel’s modified school records and birth certificate (which Ariel had had stashed away in the bag she had brought with her), and a reluctant 12 year old decked out in what Dawn said was the coolest outfit, Buffy entered the local junior high school.

Buffy infinitely wished she could have passed this job onto someone else, Principals gave her the willies.

Buffy and Ariel were introduced to Ariel’s grade 7 teacher before the bell rang. She seemed nice enough, but Buffy had a strange feeling about her.

“We are currently working on a science unit on sound, and in math we just started geometry.”

Buffy looked down at Ariel, who looked infinitely bored.

“Sounds very educational,” said Buffy trying to sound like the informed parent she very clearly wasn’t. “Right, I’m sure you don’t want the parental to be hanging around. Someone will come and get you after school.”

“You don’t know who?” asked the teacher concerned.

“Well, we have seven adults living in our house and only one car, who ever has it at 3:30 will come and get her.”

“Mrs Graves, I don’t mean to sound sceptical, but the school becomes concerned when children are picked up by people we are unfamiliar with,” said the teacher.

“First of all, if you want a list of all the people who could pick her up, I’ll be more than glad to provide the school with one, secondly I’m not Mrs Graves. I’m not married. Ms Summers will be fine.”

“Oh, forgive me, I assumed... Her father lives with you though? I wasn’t mistaken about that?”

“Oh no, he’s a permanent fixture, just not married.”
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What the teacher said bothered her. She had kids and she wasn’t married. She had never thought it would have been such a big deal, especially in this day and age. But it mattered to her. Never once in her life had she ever imagined being an unwed mother, and now here she was, unwed and motherish.

Buffy returned home sans Ariel, to find Spike and Cat curled up on the couch, the curtains drawn, watching sesame street. She wished she had a camera. One more thing to put on the shopping list. Today’s list of things to do was growing quite long.

“Where’s Giles?” Buffy asked.

“Out with that Gable prick, again. Gotten quite chummy.”

“I guess that’s what happens when you chain someone up in a bathtub,” she said planting a kiss on Spike’s bleached head. “How’s mommy’s baby?” Buffy asked the two year old.

“She had another headache, when you were gone with Ariel,”

“What did you do to make it stop?”

“Let her bite me, not just slayer’s blood that heals her up nice.”

“You’re all medicine-y too. I really wish we could find out if something is wrong with her.”

“Well we can’t send her to daycare if she keeps having these headaches, they’ll send her to the hospital, and I shudder to think what the doctors will say about her fangs.”

Both the Vampire and the Slayer cocked their heads as they heard noises coming from the kitchen.

“Good morning Oz!” called Buffy.

Oz stumbled into the dinning room with a bowl of cereal and a glass of OJ. He nodded in the family’s direction and sat down at the recently purchased table.

Buffy turned her attention to the Vampire on the other side of Cat. “You can go get some sleep if you want,” she offered.

She knew that Spike hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep last night, he had lay awake, listening for anything wrong with Cat. After the first night and the scream of pain that he thought was part of his dreams, Spike wasn’t willing to fall asleep and not be there for his Kitty Cat.

“Don’t mind if I do pet.” Spike gave kiss to the toddler and rose from the couch. Spike passed in front of Buffy to exit the room, but held back, back tracked and yanked Buffy off the couch and into a passionate embrace. Buffy sighed as sank into his kiss.

Buffy giggled, returning the kiss. “Spike, not in front of Cat! or Oz!”

“Oh don’t mind me,” came Oz’s voice from the dining room.

“Mummy! Potty!” shouted Cat, hands in inappropriate places.

“Up you go then,” said Spike, indicating the stairs.

“Gotta go, bad.”

Buffy groaned and picked up the kid, and hustled up the stairs, depositing her into the bathroom.

“Next time, a little more warning ok? Mommy likes smoochies from your daddy.”

Cat just giggled.
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Giles returned from yet another meeting with Gable to find Buffy and Cat playing dolls in the living room, listening to the sounds of Oz practicing his guitar in the basement. Spike was sleeping in the master bedroom, complete with ear plugs, (cause it’s your own fault that you have to sleep in the afternoon.) Cat had slept for an hour after lunch, but now, at 2:30, it was play time, and daddy was still asleep.

“Gampa Giz!” clapped Cat.

“Hello Catherine.”

“We’re playing dolls,” said Buffy with a huge smile on her face.

“Excellent, good for you, Buffy. I was wondering if you would like me to do a trace spell on the spell on the children? To be sure that they were in fact sent here by yourself?”

“Do you really think that’s necessary Giles? I mean it’s not like I’m in any danger from Cat and Ariel, they are just kids.”

“You were in danger from the anointed one and he was a child.”

“He was a child with an e Giles.”

“Yes, ha, very amusing. The fact remains, Buffy, that it is possible that someone with a dark purpose has sent these children to you. They may in fact be genuine, but the purpose behind them...”

“Ok, I get it, someone is trying to take me out with my children from the future. God, is nothing just a happy day for you? You aren’t having a good time unless ‘evil is afoot,’ are you? Go ahead, do your spell, Cat and I have to dress up Barbie for her wedding to Ken.”
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Being the gentleman of tact as he was, Giles waited until Ariel and Cat were safely tucked into their beds before starting his tracer spell on the children. Buffy sat on the stairs watching the watcher in the living room prepare.

She had done this spell herself before, but it was a different matter watching someone do it.

When Giles rose from his spot on the living room floor, Buffy jumped out of the way. She knew he would have to look at Ariel and Cat. Giles stopped directly in front of his slayer for a moment, not saying a word.

Buffy waited quizzically for Giles to continue up the stairs, when he did, she was following close behind.

At the top of the stairs, blocking the way to the children’s bedrooms, Spike stood on guard. Buffy could see the conflict on his face as he paused before allowing the watcher to pass by him and into Ariel’s room.

Giles pushed open the door of the twelve year old’s room and stood for moment then turned and walked across the hallway to Cat’s room.

As Giles walked back down the stairs to the living room, Dawn joined them. Buffy shut the French door to the living room and sat down on the couch next to her watcher.

“Well?” she finally asked.

“The number of spells subjected to this family is quite astonishing. The spell on all of us regarding Dawn remains still very powerful. What I saw around Ariel and Catherine, the spell was performed or controlled by an older woman, I should say an elderly woman. I have no idea as to her identity. Further research into the identity of this woman would give us a better clue as to the purpose of the children in this time. Spike it seems still bears the imprint of the amulet on this chest, I should like to research that as well, this all will keep me very busy for a considerable amount of time.”

Buffy fidgeted in her seat. “I believe the note Giles. When you think about it who would you trust with the lives of your own children but yourself? If you want to confront Ariel about who ever put the spell on them, go ahead, but I won’t do it, Giles.”
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Buffy watched Ariel pick at her fruit loops. She had a sense that Ariel already knew what Giles was going to ask her. Buffy had begged him not to bother her about it before school. She didn’t need an angry and bitter preteen getting called to the principal’s office, because her surrogate grandfather upset her.

“I was awake when Grandpa Giles came into my room last night,” Ariel mumbled. “And I heard what you said to him after wards. Thanks for believing us.” Ariel tried to smile.

“Giles looks for demons when there is none. Sometimes he can’t see past the end of his nose.”

“Mary Poppins.”

“Huh?”

“Disney movie, with that Sound of music chick in it? Mary Poppins, that’s a line from the movie.”

“Oh.”

“Oh ya, versed in the classics. I remember the screaming match between you and Da when he said I should read the book first, instead of watching the movie. I think I was five.”

“Who won?”

“You did, as usual. Da read me bits of it as my bed time story for a month. Until he couldn’t stand me singing ‘Supercalafragilisticexpyaladocious’ anymore.” Ariel smiled at the memory. “Grace wanted to strangle me.”

“You don’t have to answer Giles’ questions if you don’t want to.”

“Ya I do,”

At that moment Giles walked into the kitchen via the basement stairs. Ariel stared at her grandfather for a moment before returning her attention to her Fruit Loops.

“Ariel...” began Giles.

“Her name is Rowan, she’s a witch.”

“How long have you known her?”

“All my life.”

“How long have your parents known her?”

“All her life.”

“What spell did she use?”

“I don’t know...I’m twelve.”

“Giles...” warned Buffy.

“Let him ask his questions Mum, so I can get on with the rest of my life.”

“I’d like to know more about this Rowan person, how was she trained? Who were her teachers? In witchcraft,” asked Giles, getting out a note pad.

Ariel rolled her eyes.

“Rowan was trained by the most powerful witch that Mum and Da know. She studied at the coven in Bath, you know the one.”

Giles waited for more info, while Ariel finished off her OJ.

“Can you provide me with names?” Giles asked after Ariel failed to continue.

“Rowan is my sister. Rowan Tara Summers- Graves, trained by Willow Rosenburg and Rupert Giles. Happy now?”

Ariel stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room.

“I seem to have stepped in it haven’t I?” stated Giles.

“Yep, in a big pile of crap,” agreed Buffy.
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Anya was sitting in her history class, diligently taking notes, trying desperately to pay attention to the professor, and not the girl in the row in front of her who had been dumped the night before.

“I just wish...” the girl started, “I wish that he would get penis fungus, is there even such a thing?” the girl giggled.

“There is now,” said Anya still typing, “Wish granted.”

It was a few moments before Anya even realised what she had done. She had typed the whole conversation between that girl and her friend, including Anya’s own contribution.

Anya shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sure penis fungus can be cured.”
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Ariel and Dawn were at school, Cat was napping, all her children accounted for, Buffy slipped into her room to write her in diary.

Buffy silently pulled the secret book from between the mattress and the box spring, while her Vampire lover slept on. Buffy padded back down stairs and sat on the couch for some privacy. Buffy opened the book only to pull a piece of paper out of it. Buffy unfolded the paper and read the contents:

Ariel Dawn
Catherine Drusilla
Grace
Vicky

Buffy took a pen and wrote another name down.

Rowan Tara

It had become an obsession. She wanted to know all about her children, they hadn’t been born yet, but deep down she had to know. The fact that Ariel knew so much about her children, more so than Buffy herself, it irked her. Shouldn’t a mother know?
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tbc...