Reaping the Rewards
Summary: The results of Mom Summers meeting Wesley Wyndham Pryce.
*****
On Monday morning, Buffy waddled in the library with several bags in each hand.
As Xander and Oz were arguing which snack yielded more energy, Cheesy Chips versus Cheese Puffs, Willow looked up from the book she was reading. Her eyes widened as she saw the Slayer struggle into the library.
"Hey, Buffy! Was there a sale in school that I didn't know about?" Willow joked as she headed over to her friend. Buffy shot her a look.
"No, but there was a baking fest at home," Buffy said as she handed a couple of bags to Willow. "Is Giles in?"
"Right here," Giles said as he came from his office. He sniffed the air. "What smells good? Anything wrong?"
Buffy placed all the bags on the library table, then turned to face him as Xander and Oz rapidly abandoned their argument and headed straight for the bags. "Yeah, there's something wrong. You have to talk to Mom, Giles. Mom's on a Baking Homemaker frenzy."
"Oh, dear. That's terrible," Giles clucked as he dove into a large bag. "What has she cooked or baked now? Oh, my! Tea cakes! Currant Scones! And she made crumpets!"
Xander pulled out plate. "Oh, wow! An apple cobbler!"
"I got a plate of chocolate chip cookies!" Willow squealed as she peeled off some foil over a plate. "What did you get, Oz?"
"I got brownies, and I smell a peach pie in here somewhere," Oz said as he took a deep breath. Buffy stared at her friends. Then at Giles.
"Guys! This is serious! Mom's on a serious frenzy here!" Buffy cried. "Giles! Put that plate of lady fingers down! Mom's in a serious worry mode! She was baking since Saturday night!"
"Oh? What happened on Saturday night to make her so upset? Oh, she made a jelly loaf and cheese croissants!" Giles sighed in contentment. He caught Buffy's annoyed look. "She really was in a-a baking frenzy. So what happened?"
"Mom wrangled me to go do food shopping with her Saturday night. Said that I have to know how to cook," Buffy said, her arms crossed. Oz nodded wisely.
"Always a good thing to know," Oz said sagely, then he smiled as he sniffed homemade banana bread.
"When we were leaving the store, I heard something in the alley, and headed to do my duty." Buffy continued. Giles nodded as he pulled out a plate of oatmeal cookies. Then he pulled out a loaf of bread." And that's where the trouble started."
Giles pulled out another loaf of bread. Then another. And another. And another. When he pulled out seven loaves of bread, he looked at Buffy a bit worriedly. He saw Buffy's knowing look on her face. The significance of the loaves of bread on the library table was not lost on the Slayerettes. Willow's eyes were round as she stared at them.
"Wow, Buff! Your mom really was in a pounding mood! Who'd she want to pound on when she made this many loaves?" Xander whistled.
Buffy crossed her arms. "Now, you see that I have a problem? Giles, you have to call Mom and calm her down. If she continues this way, we're going to have to open a bakery to get rid of all this stuff!"
Giles scratched his ear. He wasn't so sure that he wanted to confront Joyce if she was in, what Xander called, a pounding mood. He had already faced her when she was once like that. In the beginning of the summer. And after he had performed the Council's test on Buffy. "Well...I'm not sure...that she would listen to me...I mean, shouldn't you send Wesley when she's in this mood? I mean, he is your Watcher now."
Buffy winced." That would not be a good idea."
"Buffy? What happened on Saturday that made you mom bake?" Willow asked. Buffy sighed.
"Well, as I was slaying vamps, Mom came in swinging with a broken broom handle when one knocked me down. When the dust cleared, so to speak, we headed out of the alley," Buffy said. "And that's when the trouble started."
Xander glanced at Giles, then at Buffy. "What trouble? Vamps in alley dusted, you and Mom Summers alive."
Buffy rolled her eyes at him. "As we came out of the alley, we saw Wussley standing in the alley."
"So, your mother finally met Wuss-, I mean, Wesley," Giles commented as he took that in. "Did the meeting go well? I hope."
"At first," Buffy conceded. "I mean, he grabbed her hand and everything and started kissing it. He gushed over her hand as if she was Queen of England the way he acted."
"He...gushed over your mother?" Giles asked delicately as his eyebrow rose. A faint urge to do violence to Wussley rose as well. "How did she take it? Did she like him?"
"She kinda liked it at first. Then was a bit confused when he wouldn't give back her hand," Buffy said.
Giles's faint urge to do violence to the new Watcher was growing. "I nearly had to wrench it away from him."
"As to liking him, that ended as soon as he opened his mouth and started upsetting her," Buffy continued. "That's where the whole problem with Mom baking started. He opened his mouth."
Giles stared a her. "Oh dear. Wesley upset your mother?"
"In capital letters," Buffy confirmed. "I'm telling you, Giles, I won't have him upsetting her."
Xander scowled. "You mean that Wussley upset your mom enough to have her bake seven loaves? What the *hell* did he say to her?"
"What I want to know is how upset did he make her?" Oz asked. "I mean, is it mite, tad, mondo or 'run for the hills' upset? Need to know more than the amount of loaves she's cranking out, like is she still?"
"If she didn't have to go to the gallery today, she'd still be baking," Buffy said flatly as she noted the reactions around her. Xander let out a strangled sound while Oz raised his eyebrow. Giles winced as Willow cringed.
Buffy looked at Oz. "Remember how upset she was after Hansel and Gretel nearly made her burn me at the stake?”
The Slayerettes nodded. Buffy continued. "Remember how upset she was after you did that stupid test on me, Giles?"
Still feeling his ears ringing from the memory, Giles winced. "Yes. She was that upset?"
Buffy looked at him. "Try putting those two upsets together and then you'll get what I was dealing with since Saturday night."
Giles blanched. "I see...then it would be a 'run to the hills as fast as you can' upset then."
"What did Wussy say to her to make her so upset?" Xander demanded at her.
Wincing, Buffy looked at him. "Well, the conversation went sort of like, badly."
*****
Joyce looked at her daughter's new Watcher after Buffy made the introductions. He was a tad young. Younger than Mr. Giles. And obviously very earnest in his...calling as a Watcher. "So...you're Buffy's new Watcher?"
"Yes, I am. Perhaps Buffy had spoken about me, Wesley Wyndham Pryce, her new Watcher," he said proudly.
Joyce merely nodded as she looked at her daughter with a lifted eyebrow. Her daughter merely shrugged at her mother.
"She said that she was getting a new Watcher to replace Mr.Giles, yes. She never said that you had arrived," Joyce commented diplomatically. Feeling slightly generous, and wanting to know about the new Watcher in her daughter’s life, Joyce smiled brightly at him. "So, as her Watcher, would you like to come over for dinner?"
*****
"Your *mother* invited him over for dinner?" Giles demanded. "She never invited me over for dinner! Ever! In fact-"
"Giles," Buffy said as she looked at him. Giles caught the look on her face, then the looks of the other Slayerettes.
Giles gave them a sheepish look. "Ah, yes. Well, I'll take that up with your mother later. So, ah, go on...your mother invited the prat to dinner..."
*****
"Oh, that'd be lovely, but against the rules, you see," Wesley said apologetically to her.
Joyce stared at the man. "It's against the rules to have dinner?"
"Not dinner, my lady. Dinner with the Slayer and her family. If she should have one. There is to be no fraternization between the Watcher and the Slayer, save for the routine business of slaying vampires, demons, and that sort of thing," Wesley corrected. "The Watcher merely guides the Slayer in what she must do, trains her, then sends her off to do her duty and battle."
Buffy looked from her mother to Wesley, then to her mother again. She winced when she recognized the dangerous light in her eyes, and tried to stop the conversation. "Ah, Mom? The ice cream is melting, and I think I hear the, uh, car-"
"In a minute, Buffy. I'm finding, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce's views of a Watcher/Slayer relationship fascinating," said Joyce as she gave the man a strained smile. "And while the Slayer is doing this, the Watcher is doing what?"
Enthused, Wesley warmed to the topic. "The Watcher waits for the Slayer to complete her assigned task. And makes sure that she is prepared for it."
"So then the appointed Watcher doesn't go with her in battle very often," Joyce commented. Wesley shook his head.
"Oh, no. Not often at all, if ever. It is highly recommended that the Watcher allow the Slayer to fight the battle while the Watcher provides the tactics. She is, after all, the Chosen One," Wesley agreed as he looked at Buffy. "It is encouraged that the Slayer go into battle alone."
He missed Joyce tightening her lips as he blindly continued. "In fact, Buffy as the Slayer is in a very unusual situation because she has so much help in slaying, you see. And the fact that she had a Watcher that held her with great affection. In fact, it was speculated in the Council on the odds of her survival had she not have the support group she has now."
Buffy buried her face in her hands as Joyce froze then stared at the man who was supposed to watch over her daughter. "Excuse, me? Are you saying that the Council had calculated the odds on Buffy's survival?"
A faint sense of unease rippled through Wesley as he looked at the Mother of the Slayer. "Uh, well...yes. Only for a study, you see. To see if there should be a-a small support group for other future Slayers."
Alarmed, Buffy looked at Wesley, then shot a desperate look at her mother. "Uh, Mom? I think we really should get going. It's my turn to patrol and I have to still learn how to, ah, cook?"
"Not just yet, Buffy. I want to hear more about this Watcher's views on the expendability of Slayers," Joyce said as she took another step forward. "So...your Council doesn't believe in sending Watchers to face vampires and demons, but they're willing to send young girls to do battle with them. Is that right?"
*****
As he crushed an urge to laugh, Giles groaned as he rubbed his temples. "Oh, dear. He *really* upset your mother."
Buffy nodded. "And that wasn't the worst of it..."
"There's more?" Xander demanded. "Oh, man...what happened?"
Buffy was about to speak when the library doors opened. Wesley Wyndham-Pryce entered the library, his head down.
"Hey, Wes! How was your weekend? Heard that you met Buffy's mother," Xander called out. "How was the meeting?"
Pryce lifted his head and glared at the young boy, then glared at Buffy. He headed towards Giles's office. "I don't want to talk about it. Mr. Giles, if I may see you, please?"
Willow swung her head at Buffy. "Was that a black eye?"
Buffy nodded slowly. "Wes's face met with the left fist of fury of the Slayer's Mother. The same one he was kissing. Had to soak it in water after we got home."
"Is she all right? Her hand wasn't hurt too badly, was it?" Giles demanded. He noted all the strange looks. "Buffy's mother is extremely gentle. She's not used to violence."
"Save that beating she gave you at the beginning of the summer and that nasty kick in the groin, right, G-man?" Xander quipped. Giles glared at the boy. He *really* shouldn’t remember things that were not good or him to remember.
"Mom's hand is fine. After soaking it in cold water, she immediately went into the Foods made from Scratch mode," Buffy grimaced. "And now it's the Summers restaurant and bakery in the kitchen. Featuring Buffy on clean-up duty."
Oz whistled lowly. "And so, the baked goodness of mother's fury still continues."
Buffy looked at Giles. "Tonight she's making from scratch tomato linguine and clam sauce. Meat and cheese ravioli. Baked potatoes with four toppings. And we're having crepes with ice cream and flan for dessert. Giles, what am I going to do?"
"I don't know about Giles, but I'm heading over your place for dinner tonight," Xander commented. "Anyone else with me?"
Oz and Willow waved their hands. Buffy rolled her eyes. "Fine. You all can help me eat and do the dishes, but in the meantime, what do I do about this thing between Mom and Wussley?"
"Nothing but reap the rewards of her baking and cooking, Buffy. It is obvious that her, ah, activities help calm her, so let her continue. That's all that you can do, except divide all this baked goods between all of you," Giles advised as he headed towards his office with the plates of cookies, lady fingers, scones, crumpets, and tea biscuits in his arms." And leave me some of the other things as well."
As Giles walked into his office, he relished the image of Joyce flattening Wesley. He smiled as he muttered to himself. "As I intend to reap these little rewards and rub it in the little prat's nose. Kissing Joyce's hand! Really!"
He nodded at the other Watcher nonchalantly as he placed his treasures in his small cabinet.
Wesley scowled at him, then studied the baked goods in Giles's arms. "Oh, I say! Currant Scones! Crumpets! Tea biscuits! I say, there a bake sale around here? Or a bakery?"
Giles shook his head. "No. Not at all."
"Then where did you get the baked goods?" Wesley demanded as he eyed the crumpets.
Giles smiled at the other man smugly as he wrapped them in plastic and put the crumpets away. "Joyce."
"Joyce?" Wesley blinked. "Who is Joyce?"
Giles shot the man an innocent smile." Joyce is Buffy's mother. She just baked these for me this weekend. I'm also going over to Buffy's house for some home cooked dinner tonight, since I was invited. She is the most wonderful chef. Just one of the few rewards I manage to reap, just by being on a talking basis with her. You should try it some time. By the by, what happened to your eye?"
Wesley sniffed as he turned away." Answered a question wrongly in an alley."
Giles nodded sagely. "These things do happen in Sunnydale. The wrong answer can actually cause pain and suffering, like black eyes. The right one allows you to reap untold rewards...like crumpets. I wonder if I can convince her to make me some steak and kidney pie?"
~Fin.