Spinning Around

Part 15



Part 15


Joyce was unquestionably not in the greatest of
moods the past couple months; the burden of her rift with Buffy was, as you would
expect, weighing brutally upon her mind and heart - despite the fact that it was
her own stubborn fault. Her gallery staff had taken in recent weeks to avoiding
her whenever possible, as had Dawn and under no circumstance was anyone obtuse
enough to mention Buffy's name to her. Deep down within herself she knew that
she was being utterly perverse over the entire situation, after all it was
Buffy's life and her decisions were her own. Joyce understood that her feelings
on the subject were due to her own life choices and what she considered to be
the wrong ones for all involved.


The ringing of the gallery's door-chimes
signaled the arrival of a new customer and Joyce put aside her pouting to see to
whomever it was. A jolt of astonishment and something akin to pleasure rushed
through her veins when she saw whom it was standing there in the doorway with a
look of hesitation plastered across their face. Rupert Giles and she had sort of
been involved after she and the girls had first moved to Sunnydale - after her
divorce - but they had called a halt to the budding relationship when Giles had
confessed to having feelings for his fellow teacheennyenny Calendar - whom he
had later married and left the country with.


"Hello Rupert," she whispered in amazement. He
was the last person she had ever expected to walk back through her door that day
or in fact any day to come.


Giles looked at her and the hesitation was
replaced with a smile that lit up his very British features. "Hello, Joyce. You
are looking extremely well."


Blushing at the comment, she looked away. "I
had - uh - no idea that you were back in Sunnydale."


"Didn't Buffy tell you? She and Willow helped
me to move into my office over at the college awhile back." There was a split
second silence and when she said nothing in reply, he continued, "I can barely
believe that Buffy's married now - and about to become a mother. It does seem
like only yesterday that she was trying out for the cheerleading squad."


"Um - yes," Joyce mumbled distractedly, unable
to confess her estrangement from her eldest to this man who held Buffy in such
high esteem.


Thinking that Joyce was behaving the way she
was because he was in her way, Giles nodded swiftly. "If you'll excuse me, I
have some things to attend to. I'll see you around, Joyce."


He was almost to the door before she found her
voice. "Rupert?"


"Yes?"


She cleared her throat nervously, "Maybe you
and Jenny would like to come over for dinner one night? I mean whenever it's
suitable for you to of course."


A sadness marred Giles' usually pleasant
expression. "Jenny died almost a year ago. It was cancer."


"I'm so sorry."


"You weren't to know."


Joyce's smile was sad, "Goodbye Rupert."


As Joyce turned to walk away Giles stopped her.
"Joyce? I'd be honored to be your dinner guest."


Before she had even had the chance to reply to
his statement, Giles had exited the gallery and was casually strolling across
the main street. Turning around she headed back into her office and attempted to
temper down the excitement at Rupert's acceptance of her invitation and - to her
own shame - the death of her one time rival. Sitting down at her small desk, she
tried to get on with her allotted work and put thoughts of old love's and
renegade daughter's from her mind.



"Jamie."

"What?" Buffy asked looking up from the
pregnancy book she was engrossed in.

Dawn looked at her sister from where she and
Kathy were doing their monstrous amount of homework assigned by the heinous
teacher's at Kent Academy. "As a name for the baby. Jamie McKenna sounds good,
doesn't it?'

"Yuck," Kathy interrupted. "That name is gross.
I like Zachary and Louise as names for *my* niece or nephew."

Before they could start another round of
bickering over baby names, Buffy stepped in. Thanks for the growing number of
suggestions, but remember in the end it will be Angelus and who will pick what
our child is called."

"In that case our soon-to-be niece or nephew is
doomed," Kathy told Dawn as she rolled her eyes.

Buffy looked at the two teenagers, "What does
that mean?"

"Well, would you want to be named by people
called Buffy and Angelus?" Dawn retorted impertinently.

Buffy went to reply to her little sister's
mischievous comment, but was crudely cut off by a horn blaring from outside of
the mansion. "Mom's obviously here. You'd better go before she starts accusing
me of corrupting you."

"Okay," Dawn replied reluctantly as she
gathered up her belongings. "But think about my suggestion. It's a good name
because it can work for both a boy or a girl - unlike Kathy's."

Buffy gave her sister a cursory goodbye hug,
"Fine. I'll see you later, Dawnie."

As soon as Dawn had departed, Kathy looked at
Buffy and spoke what was on her young mind. "You are not seriously going to
cder der *that* name are you?"

"No, but then again I'm also not going to
consider your suggestions either."

"But..."

Buffy shook her head, "No buts. Angel and I are
going to be the ones who choose our baby's name."

Kathy grabbed up her homework and text books
from the floor and went to leave the room. "Spoilsport," was muttered as she
walked out of the door.

Buffy merely stood there with a smirk playing
across her face as her young sister-in-law stalked away in a huff. After a few
moments - and her giggles had dwindled - Buffy wandered over to Angelus' study
and went inside without bothering to knock.

"Are you ready yet?"

Angelus looked up from the mountain of
paperwork he had spread across his desk and checked the time on the elegant gold
watch on his wrist. "Sure."


They arrived at the obstetrician's office a few
minutes before their scheduled appointment, unfortunately their chosen doctor
was running behind and they were forced to sit in the waiting room until he was
available. Luckily it was only a short wait and they did not have to spend hours
in those uncomfortable waiting room chairs.

Doctor Jacob Stein looked up at the couple as
they were shown in by his nurse. "Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. McKenna. Won't
you please sit down?"

Buffy and Angelus sat down on the luxurious
material covered chairs - a far cry from the appalling plastic ones from before
- simply glad just to be out of that repressive waiting room. If doctor Stein
had not been the best - or at least the best that could put up with Angelus'
perpetual questions and irritability - obstetricians in California, they would
not have even bothered to wait. They sat there for another five minutes or so
before the doctor decided to speak to them.

"After a quick review of your file, I can see
that there has been no complications so far. However is there any questions that
you may have before we begin the examination?"

Angelus smirked, "When do you suggest that *we*
stop our - uh - intimate relations?"

Buffy turned an intense red color from the
mortification and hid her face in her hands, unable to look the kind doctor in
the eye. It was not the first time Angelus had asked that particular question
and every time he did he go the same answer, she was beginning to realize that
he simply liked to embarrass her with it.

"As I have told you before, around the eighth
month - which is not long away for you now," Doctor Stein replied in an even
tone. "And then - of course - there is the six week period after the birth
before you can resume and then only if medically cleared. Do you have any other
questions?" When his question was met with nothing but silence, he suggested,
"Mrs. McKenna, why don't you go inte exe examination room and put on one of
those highly popular hospital gowns. Call us when you are ready dear."

It was only a couple of minutes later that
Buffy announced that she was ready and both Angelus and the doctor entered the
minuscule room adjoining the doctor's office. She was laid down upon the
examination table and could feel the coolness of the metal inch its way through
the paper-thin gown. Unfortunately it was nothing compared to the iciness of the
gel-like substance that the doctor applied to her enlarged abdomen through the
circled opening in the front of the gown.

A moment later the doctor grabbed a wand-like
object and passed it across the gel causing a picture to appear upon the monitor
of the ultrasound machine. Staring at the image of her unborn child, Buffy was
almost overcome with emotion. She could hardly believe that in less than a few
months she would be able to hold the child in her arms.

"I know I've asked you this and you have always
said no, but would you like to know what sex your child is?" Doctor Stein's
asked them.

Buffy and Angelus exchanged a look and then
suddenly Angelus nodded his consent to the idea. "I think we'd like to know this
time," she eventually answered after making her decision.

Doctor Stein smiled at them, "It's a girl."

Buffy felt lightheaded at the news and sneaking
a quick look over at her dashing husband she saw him covertly wipe a tear from
the corner of his eye. Jovial and comforted that Angelus seemed to be ecstatic
over the news that they were having a daughter, Buffy felt the anticipation
build - tinged with sadness over her mother - of telling both Dawn and Kathy
they were going to have a niece.


Dawn was in a tremendously good mood as she set
the dinner table that night in preparation for their guest. Buffy had called
only an hour or so earlier and told her that she was having a girl. Since then
her mind had been whirling with all the things that she planned to do and teach
her niece - of course that was all a long way off, but she could afford to look
forward to them.

The doorbell rang just as she laid the last
piece of silverware in place and before her mother could even get the words out,
Dawn volunteered to answer the door. Rushing into the front hall, she flung open
the door anvitevited Giles inside and took his tweed coat to hang up in the
closet. After showing him into the living room, she pounced.

"Have you heard about Buffy's baby?"

Giles looked at the teenager standing in front
of him. "Is Buffy and the baby all right?" he asked in genuine concern.

"Oh yeah, both Buffy and the baby are fine,"
Dawn replied. "I meant did you hear that it's a girl?"

"No, I hadn't heard," Giles answered happy for
Buffy and the man she had married. A moment later when Joyce entered the room
all dressed up, he addressed her immediately, "Congratulations, Joyce."

"On what?" Joyce asked him, confused by the
conversation.

Giles looked at her closely, "On the fact that
you are to have a granddaughter."

Joyce paled at the unexpected news, "Buffy's
having a girl?"

"Yeah," Dawn saidomfoomfortably. "She called a
little while ago and told me."

Suddenly all the pieces fell into place for
Giles, why Joyce had not known he was back in town and why she seemed shocked to
hear that she was going to have a granddaughter. "You and Buffy aren't speaking
to one another, are you?"

Before Joyce could answer, Dawn opened her
mouth. "She and Buffy had a fight because Buffy not only married a guy, but
dared to start her own family. Onet wat was out of mom's control."

"Dawn! Go to your room right now."

"Sorry mom, but you know it's true," Dawn told
her as she exited the room.

After the young girl was safely cocooned in her
room, Giles stepped forward and placed a hand on Joyce's shoulder. "I do know
that this is none of my business, but Buffy and Dawn have always been like
daughter's to me. The only outcome of this situation you have all gotten into is
only going to hurt you in the long run."

Joyce sighed and sat herself down on the floral
covered couch, "I only wanted to protect her from making the same mistakes I
made in my youth."

"She's not you, Joyce. Buffy is an extremely
unique individual and when everything is said and done it is her life and her
decisions to make. As her mother all you can do is support her and help her
through whatever the consequences are," Giles told her as he took a seat next to
her and gently stroked her hand.

"I know, but I just don't trust Angelus. I
don't think that he really loves her."

"Angelus McKenna?" Giles questioned.

"Yeah, that's whom she married."

Giles surprised Joyce by bursting into
laughter, "You need not worry, Joyce. That poor boy has been mooning over your
daughter since his junior year at Sunnydale high."

"What? How?"

"If I remember correctly," Giles began his
story. "Buffy told him off over something in the cafeteria one day and for some
unknown reason he like her and her spunky spirit. Unfortunately back then, Buffy
did not return his feelings and Angelus spent the rest of his time at high
school brooding around the corridors of the school."

Joyce looked at Giles in shock, "That's
unbelievable."

t;Not;No, that's true love."


TBC...