As Dawn chattered about the many things she had done during the day, Buffy couldn’t help but feel thankful that her sister didn’t seem all that mad at her anymore. She eagerly listened as Dawn talked about what she had for homework, a boy Justin, her friend Janice, and an annoying teacher that apparently had told Dawn stop talking during class. Dawn claimed that all she had done was tell another boy to stop kicking her chair.
Buffy found the conversations, and her sister’s chipper mood, not only enjoyable, but contagious. For a moment she wondered why she wasn’t this animated in the old Sunnydale, but then quickly remembered the fact that her sister was mostly ignored there.
Buffy and her friends ignored her by any means necessary, so much that they barely even knew Dawn was in the same room unless it was obvious. In her world, Dawn seemed to whine more than anything; complain about being the key, or complain that Buffy didn’t have time for her. Here, the only thing Dawn complained about was Buffy getting grounded and risking her social life.
Spike was ignored, almost just as much as Dawnie was. A room could be filled with people, but the only ones that were ever recognized were, Giles, Xander, Willow and her, of course. Spike would normally lean against the wall, trying to blend in, or at least that was what she took it as. He probably was just embarrassed that no one ever acknowledged him. The original Scooby Gang had always run the show. That didn’t seem fair, but it was reality, at least in her world.
Buffy smiled at Dawn as she entered the house, the smell of lasagna filling her senses. Her mouth watered instantly not only from the smell, but from the memory of the last time she had eaten lasagna.
She shook her head and grinned, as the memory came to her: Spike had insisted on buying her something for dinner one night, because he had caused her to miss it, what with the amazing sex he gave her. She blushed as she thought of how she accepted the meal, and waited for him to return back to the crypt with lasagna from the supermarket.
He had seemed so shy when he apologized to the fact that he didn’t have an oven to cook a homemade meal, but promised her that when her house was empty he would cook a proper meal with garlic bread.
However, the fact that there was no garlic bread for that meal, made her mouth water all the more at the memory of her mom’s garlic bread. The closer Buffy got to the kitchen, the more excited she became. She laughed as she felt Dawn rush past her, almost bouncing, then stood in front of Joyce.
“When will it be ready?” Dawn impatiently asked, tugging on the older woman’s shirt.
Joyce laughed, “Be patient, I only just put it in. It needs 30 more minutes so you have plenty of time to get some homework done.”
Dawn nodded before racing into the living room to throw herself on the couch, plop her feet on the table, then opened her books to start her homework. After giving her mom a greeting, Buffy followed her sister into the living room and sat next to her on the couch.
Dawn leaned toward Buffy, speaking quietly, “If you do your homework, and get everything done, and be on your best behavior then we might only have a day or two grounding instead of all weekend,” she grinned. “Mom’s sometimes nice like that.”
Buffy winked at her sister as she opened her own books in an attempt to do her homework.
Joyce entered the room saying, “Dinner’s ready!”
Buffy stretched, having spent forty minutes on her homework, but having gotten only one out of the two subjects done. The reading part was easy; it was the math part that was difficult. She hadn’t taken the level of math she was taking now before, so she had to attempt to teach herself, which was proving to be a great feat. She could always ask Tara or Willow for help.
After the family sat down at the table; Buffy next to Dawn and Hank and Joyce next to each other, Buffy started to devour her food. It had been so long since she was able to enjoy her Mother’s cooking, she couldn’t remember tasting anything as good as what was in front of her.
She decided then, that if she were ever to go back to the old Sunnydale, she would stop working at the Doublemeat Palace because she was so tired of working at a fast food joint. She’d have to think of finding something different or perhaps take Spike up on his loan offer.
The thought of Spike caused her to frown, and she could tell by the look Dawn was throwing her, that she knew something was wrong with her. She longed to confide in Dawn, but knew she wouldn’t understand or believe her.
Joyce decided to discuss the household chores, planned for tomorrow, while everyone was together and eating. Since it was Saturday it was always chore day apparently at the Summers house. Buffy vaguely remembered this fact from her past with her mom but somehow had managed to put it in the part of her brain where she chose not to think about it.
“So, in the morning Buffy you get to do the dishes, putting them away and Dawn it’s your turn to vacuum the living room and hallway as well as the stairs, “ the older woman used her fork to point to the children individually. “Buffy you will get to sweep and mop the kitchen; I’ll handle the bathroom. Then you girls can spend your day doing homework since you both are grounded.” Dawn eyed Buffy, but said nothing.
The look caused Buffy to feel for a second, that the look was a secret message that she was supposed to get, but didn’t. Buffy wanted to know what the look meant, so she focused on finishing her meal. The sooner she finished her meal-the sooner she talked to Dawn.
Joyce immediately turned her conversation to Hank about the yard work that needed to be done. This gave the girls time to finish their meal.
The two sisters quickly ate their lasagna and garlic bread, then raced up the stairs to work on their homework. They both went into Dawn’s room; Dawn sat at the desk and Buffy sat in front of the bed. The first twenty minutes was actually spent with Buffy reading history and English assignment, but then Buffy grew bored and it appeared Dawn was finished.
Dawn closed her books, and then exclaimed, “If we finish our chores early and do the bathroom as well, she might let you off grounding. Then maybe on Sunday we can do something.”
Buffy looked at Dawn with a hopeful smile, which she returned. Buffy’s smile turned into a grin as she wondered if she could convince her mom and dad to let her go see William or Tara for help with her math, but figured if she went to the Bronze she might run into one of them anyway.
Dawn flipped on her CD player and Buffy stood up announcing, “I’m going to go do my art in my room. I have to find something to draw and have to concentrate so it looks good.”
Dawn nodded, putting on her headphones.
As Buffy hurried out of Dawn’s room, she could still hear the loud music blasting through Dawn’s headphones, causing her to roll her eyes and smile.
Buffy was waken up the next day from Dawn hopping on her bed.
“C‘mon. It’s 5 am and I want to get the chores done to surprise mom before she wakes up,“ she gasped, “So we have until 7. I also want to make her and dad breakfast in bed, so maybe they’ll agree to take us to the zoo or on a picnic tomorrow!”
Buffy groaned as she rolled out of bed, thankful she had put on her Princess pajamas last night, not her usual t-shirt and undies. Dawn appeared to be dressed and ready to go.
“I’ll wait and do the vacuuming last so we don’t wake her up. You can go ahead and do the kitchen chores. I’ll work on dusting and the bathroom,” the younger sister gasped in air before continuing, “Then you can flip the pancakes since I can’t use the oven after I almost burned the kitchen done while baking cookies last month. Meanwhile I'll vacuum so when they get up, they will smell the breakfast food. Hopefully if we do all that, they’ll let us off grounding.”
Buffy shook her head, but agreed because of Dawn’s obvious excitement. She found herself hoping that the plan worked out.
After her sister bounced out of the room, Buffy changed into a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt with a tiny kitten on it wearing a crown. The shirt read, “I’m too cute for words” across Buffy's stomach. She couldn't imagine wearing it out of the house so it was the perfect shirt for cleaning. Immediately Buffy went to work.
She scrubbed and cleaned every dish that was in the sink, and random ones scattered around the house, then put them away after she dried them. She wiped off the counter tops and the stove. After the counters were cleaned, she brought out four plates, glasses, and silverware, on the table for breakfast. Buffy set aside a pan and bowl for the pancake batter, then topped it all off with a spatula.
She stifled a yawn at she started sweeping the floor, but quickly recovered. After she swept, she proceeded to mop. Finished, she brought her broom and mop, down the hall, to assist her sister in the bathroom.
Dawn had finished scrubbing the tub, toilet and sink out. She was almost finished cleaning the windows and mirror.
Buffy flicked water at Dawn as she said, “Go start the batter, and I’ll be there in a minute to finish up, after I finish in here with the mopping.“
Buffy laughed and smiled as Dawn scampered out of the bathroom trying not to get too wet.
Dawn went to the fridge to pull out milk and eggs, adding it to the batter. She turned on the mixer while singing a tune, and that was how Buffy found her a few minutes later.
The volume on her headphones was so loud that Buffy could still hear it. She recognized the song, so she lifted one side of the headphones and squeezed her head between her sister’s and the speaker, singing along to the music with her younger sister. The two shared a moment of singing and dancing until the song ended. They both laughed and giggled before continuing on with breakfast.
Buffy put away the broom and mop, then took the large bowl filled with batter to start cooking the pancakes. Just as she finished her first one, she heard the vacuum start and knew Dawn was at her final step of the plan; finish chores, wake mom up with vacuum, have breakfast ready, then get released from grounding.
Buffy glanced at the clock to see that it was almost 7:30. It had taken her two hours to do all of her chores, and now she was tired already. She secretly hoped that she could get a nap in soon as she was completely tired from her morning.
She heard the vacuum turn off, right around the time she made pancake number five.
Dawn waltzed in asking, “Can I decorate them?”
Buffy shrugged, having no idea what she meant, but watched as Dawn pulled whipped cream, strawberries and butter from the fridge, as well as syrup. Dawn carefully made two whipped cream eyes, a butter nose and a strawberry smiling mouth.
The sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the hall, causing the younger sister to grin and turn around.
With a whip-cream covered hand, Dawn happily shouted, “Mommy, Daddy, we made pancakes for you and got our chores done already!”
Joyce put a hand to her chest in shock, then breathed out, “Oh my.” Hank grinned as he ruffled Dawn's hair in a playful manner. Joyce then leaned over Dawn to survey the damage she had caused from decorating the pancakes.
Joyce let the mess slide, because she had noticed how nice the rooms looked as she was walking to the kitchen. She was very proud of her girls.
Buffy finished up the last of the pancakes, and brought them over to the table. Dawn decorated the last pancake, making sure it matched all the others. Then the three of them sat down to enjoy their breakfast.