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Despite her earlier certainty that everything would go smoothly with William's mother, as Buffy stood in the parlor waiting for the woman, she felt that confidence slipping. What if his mother did hate her after all? What if she'd only been calm about the whole panties-in-the-sheets incident because she didn't want to make William angry with her and had decided that the best way to break them up would be by going for Buffy? She could be one of those mothers that retained her shine in her son's eyes by tearing the girlfriend down below his radar…

Buffy took a deep breath, telling herself that was just her old paranoia rearing its less than attractive head and that she really did have nothing to worry about. William's mother would like her.

She smiled when she felt William reach out and squeeze her hand. She looked up and he grinned at her, making Buffy suddenly feel much calmer. William leaned down and kissed the top of her head, whispering a soft, "I love you."

Buffy caressed his hand with her thumb. "I love you, too."

William looked up a few moments later, seeing his mother enter the parlor. He cleared his throat, bringing Buffy over to the other woman. "Mother, allow me to introduce to you Miss Buffy Summers."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Summers," William's mother said, taking her hand as William let it go. "I've heard such lovely things about you."

"It's a pleasure meeting you, too, Mrs.…" Buffy stopped, her eyes widening as she realized she didn't actually know William's last name. How could she never have bothered to find out the last name of the man she loved?

"Oh, you can call me Anne, dear," his mother replied. "I don't believe there's any real need for us to be so formal." She gave Buffy a warm smile.

Buffy found her nervousness had disappeared almost completely. William's mother was nothing like she had imagined. She was younger than Buffy had thought she would be, with blonde hair worn up in a French twist. Her eyes were blue like her son's, and just as bright and alive as his, too. Not at all the old, frail woman she'd expected from how William had spoken about her. "And you can call me Buffy," Buffy replied, returning the smile.

"Well, Buffy, dinner won't be much longer, but it isn't ready yet," Anne said. "Why don't we sit down for a bit, take the opportunity to get to know each other a little better?"

"Okay," Buffy replied, following Anne over to where there were a few chairs and a small sofa. Anne sat on one of the chairs while Buffy and William sat on the sofa across from her.

"The two of you do make such a lovely couple," Anne said, looking over the pair of teens.

"Thank you, Mother," William replied. "Although I believe that Buffy is the lovely part."

Anne rolled her eyes. "He's so modest. Just like his father. That man was absolutely gorgeous, but he never would admit to it." William blushed slightly, and Buffy put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"Tell me a little about yourself, Buffy," Anne requested. "You grew up in California?"

"Yes. Los Angeles. My father runs a business there," Buffy replied. "But I don't think I'll be going back to stay. I'm much happier here in England." Buffy gave a small glance towards William, the gesture highlighting what the main factor in that newfound happiness was.

"I'm very glad to hear that," Anne said. "And I'm also glad that you've taken so well to our country."

"It really is lovely here," Buffy replied. "It's very different from L.A., but it's been a good kind of different."

"Do your parents know you've decided to stay here?" Anne asked.

"Not yet. I haven't spoken to them since I made the decision. I don't think they'd care, though, to be honest. And Mr. Giles told me I could consider his home my own for as long as I want, regardless of what my parents have to say about it."

A small, almost imperceptible smile crossed Anne's lips. "Rupert is a very kind man."

"He is," Buffy agreed. "It's been nice to have a parental figure in my life that acts like an actual parent."

Anne gave Buffy a sympathetic look. "Trouble at home, dear?"

Buffy shifted, wondering if maybe she was saying too much to someone who—despite what she'd done with the woman's son—was a virtual stranger. Would William's mother look down on her if she knew all the problems with her family? Buffy looked away as she answered, "I don't think it's really home anymore."

"No, I guess it isn't," Anne said. "Well, I'm glad you've found a new home here. You seem like such a nice young woman. William and Rupert both speak so highly of you."

Buffy blushed slightly under the praise. "They may both be a little bias," she said softly.

"You seem darling to me as well," Anne told her, giving Buffy another warm smile.

William looked between his mother and his girlfriend, relieved that everything seemed to be going smoothly. He knew his mother well enough to know that she found Buffy to be utterly charming. He felt slightly foolish for worrying about this meeting, though he did have to admit that he hadn't expected Buffy to act so, well, demure.

The maid stepped in to announce dinner and William stood, helping both women to their feet before escorting them into the dining room.

*** *** ***

It wasn't until after dinner that William discovered the downside to your mother and girlfriend getting along. They returned to the parlor, only this time with Anne and Buffy on the sofa and William in the chair. The two women were chatting animatedly and William found his mind wandering.

Until something his mother said pulled him right back to reality.

"You know, when William was a small boy, he hated to take baths."

William's eyes bugged. His mother couldn't possibly be about to…

"It was such an ordeal to get him into the tub—especially when he'd manage to escape. There was this one time…"

William swallowed. She was! "Mother, I'm sure Buffy doesn't want to hear about that."

"Yes I do," Buffy said quickly. "Please, do go on." She turned to William for a moment, giving him a look that let him know she was fully aware of what she was doing to him.

Evil chit…

Anne cleared her throat. "I had the water drawn, everything ready for the bath, and there's two-year-old William refusing to get into the tub. He stood there at the side, arms crossed, and the most stubborn expression on his little face. Well, I was determined to get him to take his bath, so I went to grab him, only to have William wriggle out of my arms and take off at a mad sprint. He ran right down the stairs and out the front door, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Now, it wouldn't have been quite so bad, had it not been for the fact that I'd already gotten his clothes off. I think it was the first time anyone in this neighborhood saw a woman chasing a naked, screaming toddler down the road. Mrs. Collins up the street to this day refers to William as 'the streaker.'"

Buffy giggled, glancing over at William, who was now bright red. "Did you ever get him in the tub?" she asked.

"Yes. And by that point, he really did need it. There had been quite a heavy rain that day, and poor William slipped in a puddle, landing right in the mud. Gave me enough time to catch him, though."

"I bet William was adorable as a little boy," Buffy said, giving him a quick smile.

"Oh, he was," Anne replied. "Just precious." She reached out, patting her son's leg, making the blush on his face darken. "I have pictures up in my sitting room if you'd like to see them."

"I'd love to," Buffy said.

"Mum, please… Not the baby pictures," William begged.

"Buffy wants to see them, honey," Anne said as she stood. "It's right this way, Buffy, dear."

William sighed and followed them, deciding he should be there to know just what his mother was showing Buffy—even if the whole experience would most likely border on traumatic.

Anne pulled out the photo albums before settling down on the sitting room couch with Buffy, an album spread out over both their laps. William sat in a chair a little bit away, shifting uncomfortably as he watched them flipping through the pages.

Buffy pointed down to one. "Is that a dinosaur suit?"

William groaned. Hadn't the harrowing tale of his foiled bath time escape been enough humiliation for one night?

"Oh yes," Anne replied, ignoring her son. "William simply adored that suit. We had gone to see a museum exhibition on dinosaurs, and after that, he thought they were just the greatest thing. He wanted to wear that suit everywhere. He even cried when we told him he couldn't wear it to his aunt's wedding. Oh, and sometimes people would mistake him for a dragon, and his face would scrunch up in the most adorable angry expression and he'd stomp his foot and, 'Not dragon! Dinosaur!'"

William whimpered. Why hadn't he stuck with the plan where he kept the two of them apart?

Buffy and Anne had been flipping through the album for a while when the grandfather clock in the hall began to chime. Anne looked up. "Goodness, is it really that late? And both of you with class in the morning. I hate to send you home, Buffy, but you really should be getting some rest. You will come back and visit with me some more, won't you? Perhaps without him, seeing as he tends to be so stuffy." She nodded towards William.

"I would love to," Buffy replied.

"Can I veto that?" William asked.

"No," the two women replied in unison prompting a heavy sigh from William.

"Dear, do walk Buffy home, make sure she gets there safely," Anne said, smiling at her son.

"Of course," William said, taking Buffy's hand and helping her up from the couch.

"I had a very nice evening," Buffy said to Anne as she stood. "Thank you for allowing me to join you for dinner."

"It was my pleasure," Anne replied. She clasped Buffy's hand. "I'm very glad to have met you. I can certainly see why my son is so fond of you."

"And I can see why your son is the fine gentleman that he is," Buffy said.

"Oh, keep her," Anne said, turning to William. "She's good."

Buffy and William both chuckled at that. "Glad you approve, Mum."

"I do, William," Anne replied. "I really, really do."

*** *** ***

"I like your mom," Buffy said as she and William walked hand and hand over to Buffy's house. "She's really nice."

"She liked you, too."

"I'm glad. I wanted her to so badly, and I wanted it to all go smoothly. You mean so much to me, and if your mother hated me…"

"I know." William gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "But she doesn't. Even if I may have to now live out the rest of my life in complete and total shame."

"Those stories were cute."

"But do you still want to sleep with me now that you know of my wild past as a streaker with a penchant for dinosaur suits?"

Buffy laughed. "Yes." She tugged on his hand, getting him to stop with her. "As a matter of fact, I was thinking maybe I'd be joining you later this evening."

William's eyebrow arched. "Oh, really?"

"Yup. Would you be opposed to me climbing through your window in about an hour?"

"Not at all, pet," William replied with a slow grin.

"Good." Buffy gave him a quick kiss. "Because I don't want to have to sleep without you."

"Me either, kitten." William leaned down, meeting Buffy's lips again. She sighed against him, their arms going around each other as they embraced there on her front lawn.

*** *** ***

Buffy stopped short as she crept towards William's window, hearing a noise from behind her. Slowly, she turned around, gasping when she saw Giles. Her initial response was a spark of panic, afraid that Giles had caught her sneaking out and had come to yell at her, but then she saw the look on his face and realized he was just as surprised to see her as she was him.

"Were you sneaking in?" she asked, pointing towards the house.

Giles sighed. "I wasn't exactly sneaking," he replied. "I was merely…quietly entering through the backdoor."

"Uh huh," Buffy said with a small grin, things clicking into place.

"And I suppose you were using the window?" Giles asked, gesturing to the window in question.

"That was the plan," Buffy admitted. "You're not going to yell at me about it, are you?"

"Would be a bit hypocritical of me."

"Yeah, it really would be."

Buffy and Giles stood facing each other for a moment, an awkward silence between them until Giles spoke. "So, um…backdoor."

"Window," Buffy replied.

"Right."

With a nod from both, they parted ways.

*** *** ***

Well, this story that was supposed to be a quick little smutfest has now officially become my longest story. Didn't see that one coming… It is, however, drawing to an end, with one more chapter and an epilogue following this one. I hope you'll continue to enjoy it as it comes to a close.

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