Joyce Summers calmly put the bowl back down and turned around, giving her daughter a patient look. “Buffy, we’re eating in the dining room tonight, just like we always do when we have guests coming over. Everything is prepared.”
“Oh.” Relaxing a little, Buffy nodded in understanding. “That’s good, then. Good thinking!” She let out a sigh of relief. The date last night had been absolutely perfect, and she wanted nothing more than to keep things that way.
Smiling to herself, Joyce turned back to the stove in time to take a saucepan off of the hotplate. “Just relax, honey. I can’t remember ever seeing you this worked up before.” She paused. “Sweetie, I realize this dinner is important to you and I have every intention to make it perfect.” Another pause. “Now, as for your father…”
“Dad!” Buffy’s eyes darted around the kitchen, as if she expected her father to magically appear next to the dish stand. “He’s not here yet? He can’t be late! I talked to him this morning, and…”
“And I also called him this afternoon to remind him.” Joyce sighed. “Buffy, he said he’d be here. I’m sure he’ll show up.” She kept her eyes on the food, not wanting her daughter to see the doubtful look on her face. Then she put on a strained smile and turned around again. “What were you looking for when you came rushing in here?”
Buffy’s eyes widened as she remembered. “My new pair of ear rings. I can’t find them, they’re gone! Oh God…”
“Have you looked under your bed?” Joyce grabbed a pair of oven mitts and went to open the oven.
Frowning, Buffy shook her head. “No. But I don’t think…” The sudden sound of the doorbell interrupted her, and she let out a gasp. “Oh my God, Spike’s already here! I can’t believe he shows up on time and I’m not ready! And Dad’s not even here yet! This is so gonna be a disaster, I just knew…”
“Buffy…” Joyce closed the oven, carefully, and took off the oven mitts. “I’ll get the door, you go look for your ear rings again. And if you can’t find them, I have a pair almost exactly the same you can borrow. They’re in the jewel box at my night stand. And sweetie?” This time she didn’t bother to hide her amusement.
Buffy took a deep breath, trying to keep from hyperventilating. “Yes, Mom?”
“Relax! Everything will be just fine.” Joyce patted her daughter’s arm and left the kitchen. Buffy stared after her for a moment, then snapped out of it and rushed past her mother, disappearing up the stairs before the older woman would open the door.
Spike was standing at the front porch outside the door, reminding himself over and over again that he had nothing to be nervous about. He was just here to meet Buffy’s parents; it was no big deal. Of course, deep down he knew that wasn’t exactly true. It was obviously a big deal for Buffy, and maybe even more so for him. He knew Buffy was hoping for them all to get along, and he was determined to do his very best not to disappoint her. But still, he had never done anything like this before. In fact, never in his wildest dreams had he imagined ever being in a situation like this, and he had no idea what to expect, nor how to act around her parents.
Of course, Buffy already knew that. She had told him that everything would be just fine and that he just had to be himself. Right! He almost snorted at that. Suddenly he could imagine, all too well, himself sitting on the edge of the couch while Buffy’s mother was questioning him about his family, a look of disapproval on her face, and her father glaring at him, sternly, as he wanted to know all about Spike’s intentions regarding his little girl. Cringing at the thought, Spike suddenly wondered if this was really such a good idea after all.
That was when the door swung open, and a blonde woman who had to be Buffy’s mother was standing in front of him. “Hello! You must be Spike. Please, come on in.” She took a step back to allow him to enter.
Taking a deep breath, Spike realized that there was no turning back, and stepped through the door. Putting on a polite smile, he shook the woman’s outstretched hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Summers. Thanks for inviting me over.”
The woman smiled, warmly. “Please, call me Joyce. And the pleasure is all mine. It’s so nice to finally meet you, Spike. In fact, my daughter has…”
“God, please don’t finish that sentence!” Buffy came rushing down the stairs, having heard the last part and was eager to interrupt her mother before she would say anything that would surely embarrass her. But Joyce – knowing exactly what her daughter was thinking – just rolled her eyes before winking at Spike, as if to indicate that they would finish that conversation later.
Spike couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the horrified expression on Buffy’s face, realizing that she seemed to be almost as nervous as he was. Forcing himself to relax – Joyce didn’t seem to be so bad after all – he looked around the room, searching for something to say. “Um, you have a lovely home, Joyce.”
“Oh, thank you!” Joyce gave him a bright smile and then glanced at Buffy, clearly impressed by his politeness.
Buffy rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help feeling both relieved and pleased at the fact that her mother already seemed to like Spike so far. Walking over to her boyfriend, she slipped her hand into his and smiled when he leaned over to give her a soft peck on the cheek. Then, when he mumbled into her ear that she looked absolutely beautiful, Buffy’s smile turned into a silly grin and she could feel her knees go weak. Then she forced herself to snap out of it and glanced at her mother, blushing slightly. “So, Mom, do you need any more help in the kitchen, or…?”
Joyce had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Buffy hadn’t even sat her foot in the kitchen that night until she came rushing in, looking for her pair of ear rings. In fact, her daughter had spent the last two hours in the bathroom, making herself ready while her mother had done all the cooking, but Joyce was kind enough not to mention that. Instead she just shook her head. “No thanks, sweetie. Why don’t you and Spike…” She was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing, and sighed. “Do you mind getting that? It’s probably your father.”
Buffy got a worried look on her face, but nodded and hurried towards the phone. Spike frowned at her reaction, but didn’t say anything. So, Mr. Summers wasn’t home after all. He recalled Buffy mentioning something about how he spent more time with his secretary than with his family. As Buffy picked up the cordless phone and said ‘hello’, he turned to Joyce, not wanting to listen in on Buffy’s conversation. “Um, is there anything I can do to help?”
Joyce – who had been glancing towards her daughter with a concerned look on her face – gave him another warm smile. “That is very sweet of you to ask, but everything is already…” Her voice trailed off as she could hear Buffy raise her voice at the other side of the room, and she gave Spike an apologetic look. “Would you excuse me for a moment?” He nodded and Joyce quickly stepped over to her daughter. “Sweetie, is it your father? Let me talk to him…”
Ignoring her mother, Buffy forced herself to lower her voice as she continued speaking into the phone. “But Dad, you promised you’d be here! I…” She became quiet for a moment, listening to what her father was saying. Then she let out a shaky breath. “Please, Dad, I wanted you to meet...” Another pause. “I understand, but can’t you just…? Okay.” She swallowed, desperately trying to keep the tears from falling.
“Give me that.” Joyce had obviously heard enough, and grabbed the phone from her daughter. “Hank, you’ll get your ass over here, now!” She listened for a moment before she went on, furiously; “Don’t give me that crap! I stopped expecting you to care about me a long time ago, but you promised your daughter you’d be here tonight. I swear to God, Hank, if you don’t…”
“Mom!” Buffy wiped at her eyes and stared at her mother in horror before glancing at Spike, unable to figure out what he could possibly be thinking. This is not happening, she thought, miserably. But as Joyce kept yelling at her husband over the phone, Buffy realized that the night she had wanted so much to be perfect was turning into disaster, just as she had feared.
TBC