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Author's Chapter Notes:
Make sure you've read Chapter 19 first! I've updated both 19 and 20 today.
Chapter 20

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?” he asked her as he stood outside the door to her house.

“Yeah. I think this is something I have to do alone, you know? Tell Oz and Jesse I said hi, ok?”

“Alright, luv. I’ll see you soon, ok?” Buffy nodded and she leaned in to kiss Spike gently.

“Bye.” She watched him walk out to his car, get in, and pull off down the street. Within moments, another car was pulling up in the spot Spike’s had just been parked in. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, counted to five, and prepared herself to meet the one person she wasn’t sure she would ever be truly ready to meet. But this was happening, and there was no way around it.

Hank held the hand of a little girl with waist length brown hair. Her eyes—Buffy could see the child’s eyes from fifteen feet away—sparkled blue. They were blue, but they were Summers’ eyes. She watched the child chew nervously on her bottom lip and look shyly at the ground as she followed Hank up the steps. Buffy realized in that moment that she was chewing her bottom lip too.

“Dawn,” Hank said softly, in a voice Buffy hadn’t heard since she was that age, a voice that promised happiness and protection from all the bad things in the world. “Dawn, this is Buffy.” Hank looked up at Buffy. “She’s your sister. Can you tell her hi for me?” Dawn continued looking down at the ground, shuffling her feet that were stuffed into shiny, black Mary Janes. “She’s a little shy.” Buffy smiled a little, and she realized that she was gripping the door frame. She took a deep breath and slowly knelt down.

“Hi, Dawn.” The little girl slowly looked up, and she saw Buffy giving her a tentative smile, and she smiled back a little and then looked down.

“Hi.” Her voice was so soft, but those eyes carried a hint of mischief behind them. Good God, this really was her sister.

“Would you like to come in? I have cookies and milk in the kitchen.” Dawn looked up at her father, and he gave her a little nod.

“Ok,” Dawn said with a little shrug. Buffy stood up, releasing a breath she’d been holding, and she stepped out of the way so Dawn and Hank could come in.

“The kitchen’s all the way in the back. You can help yourself.”

“Thanks, Buffy.” Dawn gave her a two-missing-front-teeth grin and hurried into the kitchen. Hank placed his hand on his eldest daughter’s shoulder.

“Thank you for doing this, Buffy.”

“Well, we’re gonna be living together, so I guess I better get to know her, huh?”

“I know this isn’t the idea situation, but…I’m grateful that you’re willing to try to make it work.” Buffy nodded.

“There’s a lot to get through, but we’re each other’s family, right?” Buffy asked. Hank cocked his head to the side.

“Of course we are, Buffy. I’m sorry I ever made you question that. You’re my daughter, and nothing’s ever going to change that. What happened between your mother and me…and with Dawn’s mom…that was never about you. It was never about hurting you.” Buffy nodded.

“Yeah. Is she ok in there? I mean, can she reach over the counter? I should go help her.” Buffy ducked her head a little and moved around her father. When she reached the kitchen, Dawn was sitting on one of the counter stools and already had chocolate smeared on her cheek. Buffy couldn’t help but smile. This kid had no idea about what her existence meant in Buffy’s life, but she was just a kid. It wasn’t her fault she’d been born into this…this mess of a situation.

“Is the milk still cold? I poured it a few minutes ago.”

“Uh huh. It’s good. Do you have chocolate syrup?”

“Oh. Yeah, um, I think so. Let me check.” Buffy opened up the fridge and pulled the brown bottle from the door shelf. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

“I liked chocolate milk when I was little too.” She slowly sat down next to her. She could see Hank lingering in the front hall. She knew he was giving them time.

“Buffy?” Dawn asked after she finished her first cookie.

“Huh?”

“If you’re really my sister,” she began, those big, blue eyes looking up at Buffy, wide with curiosity, “why didn’t we live in the same house?”

“Oh,” Buffy stammered, “your…I mean, Dad didn’t explain that to you?”

“He used some big words.”

“Oh,” Buffy smiled. “Um, well it’s kinda compli…hard to understand. See, I was born a long time before you. Before Dad met your mom.”

“Oh,” Dawn said with a slow nod. “Daddy told me that your mommy died.” Buffy flinched at that.

“Yeah, she did.”

“Do you miss her?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“I miss my mommy too. She didn’t die though. She just moved away.”

“Yeah, I know,” Buffy said quietly. “Um…so…you’re…five, right?”

“Uh-huh. I’m in kindergarten. My teacher’s name is Miss Calendar. She’s really nice and really pretty.”

“You like school?”

“Uh huh. I like to color. I drew a pony last week, and daddy put it on the fridge. He says we’re moving here. Can I put my pony picture on your fridge, Buffy?” The little girl took another bite of cookie, and Buffy felt a tug in her chest.

“Yeah. This…this’ll be your house too, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Okay. Well, I’m gonna go talk to Dad for a minute. Will you be ok by yourself?”

“I’m not a baby. I’m five.” The little girl held up her hand with all five fingers stretched out.

“Sorry. I haven’t been five for a long time.”

“It’s ok. Daddy still treats me like I’m still a baby. I’m used to it.” Buffy couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Ok. Um, I’ll be back.”

“’Kay.” Buffy turned and headed back out into the hall. Hank turned to her.

“Did you girls have a good talk?”

“She’s…wow. She reminds me of me.”

“Yeah, she has your eyes. They’re blue, but they’re yours.”

“She really does.” Buffy couldn’t help but feel the tears prickling up again.

“Buffy? If you’re not ok with this, we can make other arrangements. I can…I can move closer, I can make the payments on the house…”

“No, she’s…she’s just a kid, Dad. She needs a family, you know?”

“You don’t have to do this, Buffy. I know you just lost your mom, and…this can’t be easy for you.”

“You’re right. It’s not, but I don’t want her to have to grow up not knowing who her family is. She doesn’t deserve that.”

Hank nodded, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Ok then. So…we’ll start packing, and we’ll move in next weekend, ok?”

“Yeah. That’s…that’s good. Spike’ll stay with me until then.”

“Buffy…”

“Dad, don’t lecture me. I’m already pregnant. What else is gonna happen, really?” Hank frowned a little. “What?”

“You’re just so…cavalier about the whole thing.”

“Sorry,” Buffy muttered. “I guess I’ve had a little longer to think about it than you have. Believe me, I’m not…cavalier about it at all. I’m still pretty freaked. But whatever happens, happens because it’s supposed to. Right?”

“Right,” Hank nodded. “Alright. Um, I’ll get Dawn, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

“It’s ok, Dad. You…you could hang out for a little while, if you want. I’ve still got some of the movies I watched when I was a kid. Dawn might like them.” Hank looked up at his daughter in surprise.

“You’re sure?”

Buffy took a moment to ponder this, and she shrugged a little.

“Yeah. Why not?”

***

“Is the party still on?” Oz asked, taking a sip of water as the band took a break from practice. Spike wiped the sweat from his own brown and leaned back against the wall.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“I just thought that maybe…well, after everything…it’s coming up soon, and everybody’s kind of wondering if she’d feel up to it.”

“She’s up to it,” Spike said with a nod. “I think it’s important for her to have this party. I mean, everybody’s walking on eggshells around her. She’s starting back to school on Monday, and I don’t think she wants people to treat her like she’s…like she’s gonna break or something.”

“Noted,” Oz said with a nod. “So, I guess we’ll keep making plans for the big extravaganza.”

“Good,” Spike said with a nod. He glanced over at the tables that were scattered throughout The Bronze. Most of the chairs were still up on the table, but one table near the door was cleared off, and a man sat there jotting something down in a folder. “Who’s he?”

“Who?”

“That bloke, back there near the exit.”

Oz peered across the room and then shook his head.

“Oh, that guy. Some talent scout. Comes in here once a month, watches the bands practice, writes down some notes and leaves.”

“Talent scout?”

“Yeah. I don’t remember his name, but he’s made a few people pretty famous. Actually offered Devon a contract, but his parents wouldn’t let him sign.”

“Why not?”

“They want Devon to have an education. He wouldn’t have much time for that if he made it big in Hollywood.”

“Yeah, but he’d have money,” Spike said with a shrug.

“I guess it doesn’t matter to his parents. They think he needs a…a respectable career or something.”

“They must not have to worry about money then,” Spike muttered.

“Hey, don’t worry about that, man. We’re bound to make some good cash playing tonight.”

“Right,” Spike said with a sober nod. “Guess we better get back to practicing then, yeah?” Oz nodded, and they both stood and headed back to the stage.


Chapter End Notes:
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