Buffy slowly lowered herself into the armchair and frowned as Faith cheerfully bounced into the room and flopped gracelessly onto the sofa. At eight months pregnant Buffy was now taking any reminder of her lack of mobility, no matter how small, as a deliberate insult. The entire Gang, including her loving husband, were treading lightly avoid upsetting the hormonal Slayer. One moment she could be happily chattering about the new baby, the next she could be in tears. Everyone, even Joyce on her rare visits, could feel the stress in the house.
"Why do you have to do that?" Buffy asked grumpily.
"Do what?" Faith asked, grinning as she picked up a magazine and began flicking through it.
"You know what - being all happy, and cheerful and . . ."
Faith rolled her eyes. "B, chill. Aren't pregnant women supposed to be all serene and stuff? You're uptight than you were in high school!"
"When I was in high school all I had to worry about was the Apocalypse and the Mayor. Now I have a baby and swollen ankles - much, much more stressful."
The dark Slayer muttered something under her breath and Buffy, amazingly, decided not to pursue it. Even she could recognise that she was being a little unreasonable. When Giles went out that morning, ostensibly to buy "something" for the nursery that was already stuffed full of every baby necessity in the shops, it had occurred to her that maybe he was trying to get away from her. Faith's words simply confirmed her suspicions.
She glanced at the ring on her right middle finger, admiring again the warm yellow tones in the amber stone. It always calmed her and she wondered if Willow had added a little something to the shielding spell that the stone carried. It allowed her to leave the house and stopped the cabin fever getting too overwhelming, but nobody was taking chances anymore. Either Willow or Tara always accompanied her on trips outside to provide magical protection, and Spike or Faith acted as bodyguards both inside and outside the house. Xander had already employed his newfound construction skills to rig some early warning intruder alerts around the house. Giles was coordinating everything, creating schedules and rosters for her safety, and being as devoted as he could be. Even when she was at her worst, when she was shouting and stomping, he was patient with her and gave her whatever she needed - anything from tea to kisses and everything in between. She grimaced; today's 'shopping' trip meant more than a simple trip. It meant he needed some time away from her and she was the reason for it.
"B?" Faith asked cautiously. "What's wrong?"
Buffy shook her head. "Not much. Just reflecting on how selfish and stupid I'm being. It's not his fault that I'm pregnant . . . or at least," she amended, blushing as Faith leered, "it's not entirely his fault. And I'm acting like a spoilt child when this is the most important gift I could have. And unless we work something out we might not even get to keep our baby."
"Don't think that," Faith ordered fiercely. "We'll think of something."
"Yeah, but this is-"
Buffy was interrupted as the doorbell rang and she looked at Faith pleadingly.
"Ok, ok, I'll get it," the dark-haired girl grumbled good-naturedly. "But you owe me."
"I owe you a lot," Buffy called after her.
She heard the door open and then an unfamiliar voice said, "Ah, you're not Buffy. I presume you are . . . Faith?"
Faith's response took a moment and Buffy could imagine the look of stunned surprise on her face at the idea of a stranger knowing who she was. "Uh, yeah. Who wants to know?"
The voice that responded was female, British, but without the annoying superiority that had resonated through Miss Post's voice, and she chuckled indulgently before saying, "I'm Mary Stewart. Is Buffy here?"
"Yeah, she is. Buffy!" Faith yelled through the house. "Visitor!"
Buffy sighed as she heard the door close and steps approach along the hall. Evidently whoever this was had been deemed 'safe'.
"I think the entire street knows I have a visitor," she grumbled as Faith entered the lounge, but the other Slayer simply shrugged and gave her the 'is there a reason I should care?' look.
Buffy turned her attention instead to the visitor. The warm voice she had heard was in direct contrast to the woman standing in front of her. She had pure white hair in a chin length bob, thick and vibrant despite the colour. Her eyes were bright blue and sharp enough to be uncomfortable to look into and her face was unlined apart from crow's feet around her eyes and faint smile lines near her mouth. Buffy unconsciously found herself craning her neck to look up and realised that the woman was probably only a couple of inches shorter than Giles, who had always felt tall to her. She was slim, held her back poker-straight and her neat trouser-suit made Buffy uncomfortably aware of her own comfortable sweats and large shirt. It was practical with her expanded waistline but next to the taller woman she felt grubby, short and fat.
She began the laborious process of standing up but the woman gestured her back into her chair and smiled reassuringly, the expression warming her piercing blue eyes.
"No, stay," she said, her voice filled with warmth. "You must be Miss Summers. Or, if I may, Mrs Giles?"
Buffy nodded, surprised that a complete stranger knew about her married name when, eight months on, most of Sunnydale still appeared to have trouble remembering. "I am. Uh, and you are?"
"As I told your young guard dog," she nodded at Faith who bristled, "I am Mary Stuart. Rupert's aunt."
Buffy blinked. Twice.
"You are?" she asked, knowing that she probably looked ridiculously clueless.
The woman nodded.
"Oh."
"Rupert didn't tell you about me, did he?"
Buffy shook her head. "I . . . uh . . . he's . . . uh, no."
"That boy," the older woman muttered, exasperated.
The blonde Slayer gaped to hear her husband referred to as a 'boy'.
"Child, when you reach my age everyone seems younger," Mary said, a grin lighting up her face and making her look much, much younger than she probably was. "I watched Rupert grow up - I changed his nappies - and to me he'll always be the four year old with skinned knees, frowning because I wouldn't understand why climbing trees was more important than school."
"My Rupert?" Buffy asked incredulously, trying to imagine a grubby, four year old Giles. The task was too much for her brain and it gave up, fixing instead on another thought. "My Giles didn't want to go to school? Are you sure you're his aunt? I always imagined him getting all huffy because schools actually had holidays."
Mary Stuart indicated one of the armchairs, the one Giles always sat in, and Buffy nodded for her to take a seat. Although the resemblance was not immediate, after a few minutes she was starting to see Giles in the other woman. Their eyes were different colours, but otherwise they were the same and his expressions flitted across her face. It was actually very disconcerting. They even had the same smile; one corner of her mouth tilted up shyly as though testing the water before the rest of the smile appeared.
"I remember when Rupert was younger," she began, "he could argue quite seriously for hours about why he didn't need to go to school. After all, he could already read and add up so what else was there to learn? I think his best argument was that he could read books just as well in his tree as he could in a schoolroom. In his tree he would not get disturbed by the other children so he was sure he could learn more up there."
"So when did he get so serious?" Buffy asked curiously. "I know about his Ripper time, but somehow . . ."
"He's always been too serious," Mary said sadly. "But he's also always been shy, so school was actually sheer torture for him. And when his father told him about his destiny - yes, I know all about Watchers - he just got worse. I think he felt that there was no point in letting anyone get close to him in case they got hurt. And when you know about all the bad things that happen in the world, particularly at such a young age, it makes you older."
She looked closely at first Buffy and then Faith, even though the darker girl tried to hide her eyes.
"Yes, you both know about that." Mary's eyes darkened almost to black. "For a while, when he ran away, I thought everything might work out. But then that went wrong and he had to go back to the Council. They took every bit of passion out of him and turned him into one of their good little Watchers, for a while anyway. But I think now he's finally left that behind for good, hasn't he?"
Buffy blushed. "He hasn't been one of the Council's Watchers since . . . probably since the night the Master killed me."
"Really?" Mary arched an eyebrow. "Do tell. I get letters but that doesn't really tell me what I want to know."
"What do you want to know?" Buffy asked curiously. "You've known him much longer than I have - you must know much more than I do."
"Not at all," she contradicted. "I think you probably know him, the real Rupert, far better than I do."
***
Buffy had just finished recounting their adventures with the Bandy Candy, much to Mary's evident amusement, when she heard the front door open and close. Her sharp hearing easily picked up and identified Giles' footsteps as he came down the hall. His eyes immediately searched her out when he entered the lounge so he failed so see Mary waiting.
"Hello Buffy," he said, crouching down next to her chair. "How are you? I'm sorry I went out without explaining. I-"
"Needed to get away from your cranky wife for a few hours?" Buffy asked, smiling to let him know she did not mind. His bashful grin was all the answer she needed. "It's ok - I understand. I'm not exactly easy to live with right now."
"Well, I, uh . . . it's understandable. You're under a lot of stress," he said.
"Rupert, I'm apologising. Be gracious and accept my apology," she ordered.
Giles rolled his eyes. "Very well. You're forgiven."
"Good."
He reached up and kissed her gently, but Buffy pulled away. Immediately his eyes were filled with hurt so she kissed him lightly on his lips and grinned.
"Rupert, we have a guest," she whispered.
"We do?" Giles turned and finally spotted Mary.
For a moment he paused and then his expression broke into a wide grin as he rose and swiftly crossed the room. "Aunt Mary!"
The older woman stood and allowed her nephew to pull her into a hug, holding him tightly and smiling. For just one brief moment Buffy had panicked, worrying that she and Faith had been wrong in their instinctive trust of the stranger, but Giles' reaction told her that she had been completely right. She could see some of the tension rolling off him as he held his aunt and she wondered, a tiny bit resentfully, why he had never told her about someone who meant so much to him.
Mary pulled back and examined Giles' face carefully before nodding. "Yes, I was right."
"Pardon?" he asked, curiously.
Buffy hid a smile as Mary gently patted Giles on the cheek, ignoring completely the fact that he was now a grown man, and smiled indulgently. "You've finally found your way. I couldn't be more pleased."
He glanced at Buffy and she grinned and waved. He rolled his eyes and winced.
"What, exactly, has she been telling you?" he asked his aunt.
"Now Rupert, you aught to know better," Mary chided, sitting down again. "A woman can never divulge her gossip to a man."
"She's right, you know," Buffy said cheerfully. "We've been talking . . . exchanging tales . . . yup, I've got the ammo to last me for years. Let's just call it payback for not telling me about Mary."
He winced and immediately returned to her side. "I'm sorry, love. It never came up and then I suppose I forgot that I hadn't told you. I somehow thought you knew."
Buffy pouted and glared at him. "Rupert, this isn't forgetting to take the garbage out. You forgot to tell me about an entire person; the only relation you seem to have. Is there anyone else you've forgotten about? Brothers, sisters, parents, more aunts . . . sometimes I feel as though I don't know you at all."
"I assure you, this all the family I have. You know everything about me that's important and I truly thought that I had told you about Aunt Mary." He put his hand on hers and she reluctantly let him lift and kiss it. "Love, you know that you can always ask me anything. And if it will make you feel any better I'll tell you my entire life story later in every excruciating detail."
"I'll hold you to it," Buffy said, frowning at him. "Who knows how many things you've 'forgotten' to tell me."
"Hopefully nothing," he muttered.
"We'll see," she said dubiously.
Giles turned to Mary and raised an eyebrow. "Is there a reason you're here? Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but it's a long way from England and you hate flying."
Mary sighed and her eyes darkened again. Buffy absently noted that the expression was identical to the one Giles always wore when something terrible had happened.
"Well, I wanted to meet the famous Buffy," she began slowly, "and find out if she's good enough for my favourite nephew."
"Aunt, I'm you're only nephew and you're changing the subject," Giles said.
"Did I pass?" Buffy asked with a cheeky grin.
"I think you'll be fine," Mary said with a smile.
Buffy returned her smile and lightly squeezed Giles' fingers. "I like her."
He shook his head. "You would. Aunt, could you answer my question?"
"Very well. I have some information you should hear. But I think it will go down better if we all have a cup of tea and something to eat first. Rupert, I trust you can still remember how to make proper tea?" Mary asked, cocking her head. "Honestly, I don't know how you survive in this heathen country."
"Hey, this is my heathen country you're talking about," Buffy objected. "And I don't think Rupert is even capable of forgetting how to make tea."
Mary frowned. "Child, I think you're the one in danger of becoming too serious now. Life should be lived and enjoyed. Once you stop doing that life becomes pointless."
"See?" Faith burst in. "That's what I've been trying to tell B for months. She needs to chill, relax, have fun. She's got her boytoy; strikes me it's wrong not to enjoy it."
Buffy winced and a quick glance showed that Giles was blushing heavily. "Thank you Faith. I'm sure Mary needed that particular bit of information."
Faith grinned unrepentantly and Mary turned to her with an answering grin that made her blue eyes twinkle. "I think you and I are going to get on very well."
"You do?" Faith asked.
"We'll discuss it later," she replied with a significant glance towards Buffy and Giles.
***
It was actually a couple of hours before Mary finally told them the reason she was visiting. Giles made tea and by the time that was ready Willow was home, accompanied as always by Tara, and they had to explain who Mary was. The entire process had to be repeated when Xander and Anya arrived a few minutes later. By that time everyone was hungry and Willow offered to cook dinner. Tara quickly added her support and Mary refused to let them work alone, so she helped despite their protests. When it was ready, dinner was a boisterous affair with old tales and reminiscences being exchanged at high speed.
Buffy watched them all, and most importantly Mary, with interest. Although the woman looked to be in her sixties she was chattering as easily with the Gang as if there was no age difference at all. It probably helped that she had lots of dirt on Giles and they were determined to extract every last morsel, but she truly did seem to be making friends with them. Mary did not seem in the least bit shy and, if it had not been for the similarities of expressions, Buffy would not have believed that she was related to her more reserved husband.
When the dishes were cleared away Giles made tea and coffee and everyone took cups of their preferred beverage. As though they had one thought, everyone turned to regard Mary curiously.
"So, what gives?" Buffy asked. "I can't imagine you came all this way just for the family reunion, fun though it is. You'd have been here months ago if you had."
"Maybe we should discuss this in private," Mary demurred with a glance to Giles.
Buffy shook her head. "No. We're family. If this is big enough that you're here then it's something we should all know about."
"I really think-"
"Aunt Mary," Giles cut in, "they know everything that's important. We can save some time if you just explain to all of us. I'd tell them anyway, so there is no reason you can't tell everyone now."
"If you're sure . . ."
"I am."
Mary sighed and stared at her hands, appearing surprised to find that she was twisting her napkin between her fingers. She put it down and smoothed out the wrinkles before looking up again. "Very well. I have some information you need."
Seven pairs of eyes watched unblinkingly.
"I assume you've found out the problems with the children of Slayers," she began, raising an eyebrow in a gesture identical to Giles'.
"We know that there's no record of a Slayer ever surviving the pregnancy," Giles said tersely. "And no record of the child either."
"True," Mary said slowly. "There are no records."
"But?" he prodded.
"Yeah, the suspense is killing us," Xander added, receiving a quelling glare from Giles.
"But . . . there have been children," Mary said slowly.
"There have?" Buffy asked.
"Where?" Willow added. "I mean, not that I'm doubting you. No siree. But we've searched the diaries and records pretty thoroughly. There's nothing there."
"That's because there aren't any records," Mary said. "I heard what the Council tried to do to you; it shouldn't surprise you to discover that that isn't the first time they've attempted it."
There were several nods around the table.
"I think . . . I know some of those mysterious disappearances were because a Watcher hid his Slayer. From the Council, the demons, everyone. You must have noticed that there are several occasions when the new Slayer wasn't called until months after the disappearance. The Council rarely loses a Slayer." Mary paused, looked at Buffy and smiled. "I said rarely. I don't believe in coincidence. Could it be coincidence that the new Slayer was out of Council control each time one of the pregnant Slayers disappeared? And that the death of the supposed new Slayer and calling of the next occurred after the pregnant Slayer would have given birth, had she lived? No, I know that couldn't have happened. In fact, I think that at least some of those missing Slayers did not exist in the first place. I think that some of the pregnant Slayers were hidden and successfully gave birth."
"But why didn't they just reappear when they'd had the baby?" Buffy asked. "The Council wouldn't have killed a child. They could have protected the Slayer and the baby."
Mary shook her head. "For a Slayer to have a baby indicates that they have lost control of the Slayer. Watchers prefer their Slayers docile, malleable. I'm sorry Rupert, but you know it's true."
Giles nodded sadly. "I do. There were entire sections of my training devoted to teaching me that."
"Didn't work, huh?" Buffy asked with a grin.
He shrugged. "Some parts of my training were more important than others."
Anya, though, was frowning. "This isn't anything we haven't already thought of. Where's your proof?"
"Much as I hate to agree," Giles said reluctantly, "but Anya's right. Do you have any proof that there are surviving children?"
"Oh, yes," Mary said emphatically. "I know one of them."
Giles leaned forward intently. "Really? Who?"
Mary took a deep breath. "You, Rupert."
*finis*