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"Undeniable"
Author: Skylar (Nichiren2am@hotmail.com)
Disclaimer: Joss and company own everything- unfortunately
Note1: Third story in my Reasoning series.
Summary: The wackiness and fun leading up to the second ScoobyGang wedding.
Spoilers: My first series (you'd really have to read those three stories to understand these)
Rating: Probably PG-13. It's just a huge bunch of fluff and silliness.
Distribution: Want it- take it. Just let me know where it's going.
Feedback: As always, greatly appreciated.
"Are you two getting up or do I have to yank you both out by your necks?!" After ten steady minutes of knocking, Dawn was beginning to regret volunteering to wake her so-called forms of 'parental supervision' up. <Six in the morning on a Saturday...and I'm awake!> She began cursing out Xander and Anya under her breath as she began knocking again. <Why the hell did they want us all to meet here at the mansion anyways?? Don't they have better things to do??> "Buffy...Angel...come on!! Get up!! If they made me get up and come over here, you two have to get up. Guys...?! Come on- don't I deserve something for my efforts??"
Dawn jerked back as the door quickly flew open and a sleepy Angel appeared. Eyes still firmly closed, Angel stood before her, holding out a familiar pink pig to offer her, 'for her efforts'.
"Here...enjoy..." he mumbled, shoving the stuffed animal into her hands, not even waiting for her reaction as he slammed the door shut.
"Heeyyy!" Dawn could hear her sister shout from inside the bedroom. "Not Mr. Gordo!!" Buffy whined. A faint rustle of the covers could be heard as she raced over to the door, swinging it open and snatching her beloved pig from a startled and even more confused and annoyed Dawn.
"Here...have a watch instead..." Buffy giggled, shoving her husband's watch into her sister's hands.
"Buffy- that's *my* watch..." Dawn could hear her brother-in-law's protest as the door slammed in her face once more and Buffy scooted back into the bedroom.
"Just go back to sleep..." the slayer's voice could be heard, as well as the sound of her jumping back onto the bed. "Maybe she'll go away now..."
"But that's *my* watch...the one *you* bought me..." Angel reminded her.
"Oh yeah..." Once more, the bedroom door flew open and Buffy snatched the watch back out of Dawn's hands, leaving her empty handed as the door slammed a third time in her little sister's face.
For a few moments, Dawn could only stare from her empty hands back to
the shut door as she tried processing just what had gone on in the past minute. <It's like a freakin' circus around here!> Now completely pissed off, Dawn didn't hesitate in bursting into their room, intent on either beating them both up or dragging them both over to the stairs and rolling them down together.
"That's it! I've had it! You two are getting up- now! Xander and Anya are waiting downstairs, probably raiding your fridge might I add, along with everyone else. If I have to be up early on a Saturday morning, so do you two! So either you two get up, or- wait..." Dawn paused in her rant as she neared the bed. "Where's Buffy?" she asked, taking notice that only Angel's head was visible above the sheets.
"Trying to sleep!" an annoyed voice mumbled from underneath the sheets. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Dawn reached over to fully pull the sheets off of their bed, revealing Buffy completely curled up ontop of Angel's stomach.
"Can I help you?" Buffy tiredly giggled, opening an eye to see her sister eyeing her angrily.
"Unless your form of help involves placing me into a family that's actually *normal* and can get up when they're asked the *first* fifteen *million* times- then no!"
Dawn turned, storming towards the door. "If you two aren't downstairs in ten minutes, I'm sending Willow and Tara up here and they'll levitate both of your butts downstairs the *hard* way!" she called over her shoulder, slamming their door shut, still muttering to herself under her breath as she marched downstairs.
"I guess we'd better get up," Buffy mumbled into Angel's chest, placing a soft kiss to the warm skin before stretching herself out, finally rolling out of bed. "I can't believe you offered her Mr. Gordo!!" she clutched the pig to her chest, hugging it tightly as she playfully stuck her tongue out at him.
"I though you wanted to sleep?" he asks, running a hand through his hair as he sat up in bed.
"I also don't want to be hurled down the stairs by two witches. So come on..." she takes his hand and begins to lead him downstairs. "Let's see what fuss Xand and Anya are making about their wedding *this* time."
Part 2
"Six...five...four...thr- well...you two made it with two seconds to spare..." Dawn scolded them from her spot sprawled out on one of the arm chairs. "They're both down here!" she called into the kitchen where everyone was rummaging through the couple's food for an early breakfast.
"Hi guys!" an extremely perky Willow was the first to come out to the living room and greet them as she was biting into an apple. "What took you two so long? Oh- you two were probably up all night hunting for that Nero-thingy...the- the Nero Gremlin, that's it!! Oooo- did you find it? What am I saying- of course you did, cause that's what you guys do! Then you probably came back home and crawled into bed...or however you get into your bed. Maybe you bounced, or hopped, or flopped, or-"
"Honey- honey..." Tara soothed a hand alongside Willow's back, trying to calm her down. "How many mochas did you drink this morning? I thought we agreed that you can only have two."
"Well...I needed a few extras to keep me awake. It's six in the morning on a Saturday sweetie...we should be asleep! But hey- it's cool! Anything for Xand and Anya...isn't that right, Angel?"
"Mmmph...waaevveerr..." Angel mumbled his way past the hyper redhead as Buffy dragged him along behind her.
"Why can't you wake up grouchy and miserable like normal people?" Buffy grumbles to her best friend, clutching Mr. Gordo to her as she sprawls herself out ontop of Angel on the couch.
"Oh good- you're finally awake," Xander cheers as he returns from the kitchen, cramming a fourth jelly doughnut into his mouth. "We brought sugary goodness-" he walks over to the resting couple, offering either one of them a doughnut. "Ooookaaay..." he takes one look at Buffy's stare and takes a step back. "I'll just...leave you a few for later..." He places the box back on the kitchen table, returning with a bagel smothered in chunky peanut butter.
"Xander- you do realize that you've just broken one of the cardinal rules in this house," Willow informs her friend.
"I didn't think bagels required coasters, Will..." Xander managed to get out between mouthfuls.
"By now I would think that you would know better than to touch any of their double fudge cookie dough mint ice cream *or* their chunky peanut butter!! You'd think you would've learned your lesson after Buffy put you in that headlock the last time."
"I can't help it! I'm nervous! And I'm upset!" He begins pacing wildly in the great hall. "I'm nervous *and* I'm upset!! When I'm nervous or upset, I eat!!"
"And if you keep eating at this rate," Anya scolds him, "you're never going to fit into your tux!!"
"Are you saying I'm fat??" Xander rushes over to the nearest floorlength mirror to inspect his figure. "Will, do you think I'm fat??"
"I wouldn't say fat...more like you've got excessive chunks."
"Chunks?! I've got chunks?!"
"Xander!!! Do you think you can stop stuffing your face long enough to tell us what this is all about?" Dawn whines.
"Huh? Oh- right. Well since everyone's here and awake, we can...Cordelia?" he steals a glance at his former girlfriend, fast asleep on the loveseat. "Cordelia??" he paces over to her, unsuccessful in his gentle approach at waking her. "Cordelia!!"
"Don't touch my shoes!!" the brunette shouts, waking with a start.
"Excuse me?" a surprised Xander eyes her as she groggily sits up.
"Nothing...nothing. Bad flashbacks to last week...Dawn had borrowed a pair of my new satin shoes..."
"You were having a nightmare about shoes??"
"Well you would be too if you'd paid $300 for them, Mr. I-don't-care-if-I-look-like-a-slob-everyday."
"Hey! I wouldn't mind hearing about the nightmare, Cordy!" Willow happily shouts from her seat.
"Oh, for the love of..." Angel sighs from underneath Buffy. "Out! Get out!!! Everybody get off our property!!!"
"Honey..." Buffy lifts her head up to face him, "they're our guests. Let's try to be polite." Turning her head to the side, Buffy addresses her friend. "Xander, either tell us what you have to tell us, or take your doughnuts and get off our property!!"
"Okay- okay..." Xander takes a big sigh before sharing his news with them. "Guys...it's snowing in Buffalo."
"Noooo!" Angel let out a much exaggerated, sarcastic reply as he sat up a bit on the couch. "Thank god you woke us to tell us this earth-shattering news..."
"I'm sorry-" Cordy raised a hand to her forehead, letting what Xander just said totally sink in. "I must really be sleep deprived, because it sounded like you just told us that the reason you woke us all up early for the *third* weekend *in a row* was to tell us it's snowing in Buffalo. See, I know you *couldn't* have really just said that, because I'd be forced to *kill* you *myself* if that's the *only* reason you woke us all up!!"
"It is," Anya assured her.
"Buffy, do I toss him out or hang him?" Angel asks her, prepared to stand and take action until Buffy's hand pushes him back down onto the couch.
"What did I tell you the last time you wanted to hang him? He doesn't go with anything in the mansion, so just lay back down and you can toss him out later..."
"You guys! This is serious!! My Uncle Stanley lives in Buffalo. I don't think he's gonna be able to get a plane into town for the wedding Friday with all the snow they're supposed to keep getting during this week."
"So why doesn't he just take a train? Or drive?" Dawn asks.
"You're actually paying attention to this nonsense??" Cordy asks her, slumping back down on the loveseat.
"Bits and pieces..." the teenager shrugs.
"Uncle Stanley can't drive, and he has a fear of trains."
"A fear of trains??" Willow pops up in her seat. "Who's ever heard of someone with a fear of trains??"
"Probably the same people who've heard of someone with a fear of *frogs*!" Xander retaliates. "No, no- the train idea is out. I remember the last time we tried getting him on a train. He was so bad...as soon as we were all ready to hop on, he fainted, fell to the ground, and starting foaming at the mouth. He kinda looked like my grandfather when he died."
"How did your grandfather die?" Tara asks.
"He was shot."
"That's terrible!" Tara gasps.
"Who shot him?" Cordy's interest was finally flared.
"My grandmother."
"What?!" Dawn jerks fully awake. "Why'd she shoot him?"
"They never really got along that well...or so I've been told. They were always fighting. My grandfather always had a harsh way with words."
"And your grandmother apparently had a harsh way with a gun," Cordy surmises, passing a stunned smile to Anya. "Anya? You okay?"
"What the hell kind of family am I marrying into!!"
Part 3
"Oh- you're one to talk," Xander choked out between a mouthful of
bagel. "I've seen some of your demon relatives, and let me tell you, they're...well- they're...heh..." he lets out a nervous laugh. "Oh who am I kidding- they look like the freakin' Brady Bunch compared to my family...which upsets me even more...now I'm depressed. I need a cookie..." he sighs, headed towards the kitchen once again.
"Just don't touch my Double Fudge Oreos!" Buffy warns him from her nice soft spot relaxed against Angel.
"Okay...okay..." Cordy takes charge, hoping to be able to get in a few more hours of sleep. "I'll tell you what- my cousin in New York has a few connections. I'll see what I can do about getting a private plane or something for your uncle. Happy?"
"Oh that should make Xander very happy," Anya smiles. "Maybe now he won't be up pacing all night, ruining my sex life. Do you have any idea how unappealing it is to see a grown man shoving ho-hos and twinkies into his mouth when he's completely naked?? Although, there was one time when it was kinda fun. Especially with the icing-"
"Where is Spike?" Angel groans, almost whimpers as he rubs his tired eyes.
"Where did that come from?" Buffy asks.
"Why should we be the only ones made to suffer through this?" Angel lets out a desperate laugh, the frown on his face quickly fading as Xander enters the room, a bag of cookies in hand.
"Lucky Spike-" Dawn mumbles into her pillow. "Him and the others are probably enjoying a morning of peaceful sleep in LA. And they're not even going to be here until Friday morning! How unfair is that?!"
"Well...so long as they're here and ready to help you all cook, it doesn't bother me-"
"Excuse me?!" Buffy gets up off of Angel's chest as her ears picked up on Anya's latest piece of news. "You wanna run that by me one more time...the part about *us* cooking."
"Xander didn't tell you?"
"Probably too busy scarfing down *our* cookies. Care to explain, *Xand*?"
"Well...the uh, the caterers had to- had to cancel. So we figured, instead of shelling out another few hundred bucks, since we couldn't get our
deposit back from them, we could depend on our good friends to, uh...to
cook...for the...reception??" he nervously grins up at her from behind a chocolate chip cookie.
"Whoa, whoa, Xander," Dawn spoke up, "I would reconsider about having Buffy help cook. No offense sis, but you'd be more of a hiderence than a he-" Dawn was quickly silenced by her sister's pillow, hitting her right on the face.
"I have faith that you all can handle it, Dawnster," Xander smiles. Besides, Angel will be on hand to help supervise. It'll just be some chicken and pasta. Maybe a few side dishes. How could Buffy possibly ruin anything?"
"I think the better question is how could she *not*. You haven't seen some of her better moments cooking. I just hope she doesn't burn the wat-" she stopped, suddenly seeing Buffy reach for another pillow from the couch. "Err, uh...I mean, I'm sure it'll be great."
"So Xander," Angel, finally realizing that he was never going to be allowed to go back to bed that morning, sits up on the couch, leaning his chin on Buffy's shoulder. "Explain to me again why you need such a big, fancy wedding, and why you insist on having everything done *here*. More importantly...could someone please explain to me why we're *letting* you have it here?"
"Bigger is always better, man! This place is a huge party central! You know, not everyone likes having a small, boring ol' wedding like you two did."
"I think it was really beautiful and sweet," Tara defends the couple.
"I think it was really fun!" Willow adds.
"Right now you'd think dryer lint was fun," Xander reminds her.
"Oooo- it is! Some lint is really fuzzy and all different colors, and-"
"Will- head down, nap time..." Xander gently shushes his favorite witch. Dusting a few cookie crumbs off of his shirt, he walks towards Cordy.
"So Cord, do you mean it? You'd be willing to do me this huge favor and see if you can fly Uncle Stanley into town??"
"Don't sound so surprised!" Cordy gives him a light slap across the arm. "Seeing as how I'm so nice and generous-"
"Ooo, oooo..." Willow flails her arms in front of her, coming up with a new nickname for the brunette. "SaintCordy...we can call you SaintCordy!"
"Yeah right- that'll be the day!!" Xander is the first, but not only, one to object. "Cordelia's a Saint, and I can fly..."
"Well then..." Angel gently slides up from the couch, giving Tara a nod to give him a hand. "Let's put that theory to a test." He grabs hold of Xander's right arm, while Tara grabs his left.
"Ooo, oooo...we're playing See How Far You Can Toss Xander??" Willow jumps up, eager to help. "Great! I was always the best at this in elementary school!! One time, I tossed him halfway across the soccer field! Another time, I threw him right off the monkey bars!! And then this one time, at *band camp*-"
"Sweetie..." Tara softly pleads with her girlfriend, "if you be quiet and help, I'll buy you another mocha."
"With extra sprinkles??"
"Sure..."
"And extra whipped cream??"
"Willow-" Angel tiredly begs, "I'll *buy* you a piece of land in *Columbia* so you can have all the coffee you want- just help us!!"
"Okay! Hey Dawnie- Cordelia! Grab a chunk and lift!!"
"Hey g-guys...guys!!" Xander begins babbling as his friends lift him towards the doors. "This is no way to treat a groom-to-be!!"
"When the groom-to-be wakes his friends up just to listen to his own stupidity, this is the *only* way to treat him," Cordy explains.
"Buffy! Buffffyyy!!" Xander helplessly begs for the slayer's help as Dawn opens the front door for the others to toss him. "Aren't you going to do anything? Come on!!"
"You're right," Buffy stands, walking over to the group. "I can't just let them throw you out like this." She snatches away the bag of cookies he held, giving Angel a sweet kiss on the cheek before he and the others hurled Xander out of the mansion.
"And don't think I didn't see you with our chunky peanut butter smeared all over that bagel!! You owe us another jar!!" Buffy informs him, munching away on one of her reclaimed cookies.
Anya, laughing in spite of herself, simply grabbed her bag as she headed for the door to retrieve her fiancee from the ground. "Sorry he woke you all up..." she muttered. "If it's any consolation, I've given serious thought to killing him myself for how annoying he's been about this whole wedding."
"Well maybe you could get his grandmother's number..." Angel sighs, heading into the kitchen to start making breakfast. "She'd be handy with a gun."
Part 4
"So...what're we having for breakfast?"
"What do you mean by 'we'?" Buffy asked her still sugar-pumped best friend. "What's with all this 'we' stuff lately? First Anya and Xand with the 'us' cooking dinner for the wedding, now you with the 'we're' eating breakfast..."
"On second thought-" Will gets up from the dining room table, eager for another caffeine boost, "I'll just have a cup of coffee..." A frustrated Buffy drops her fork, along with her head, onto the table, letting out a heavy sigh. "I should've just let you give Dawn Mr. Gordo, Angel...then maybe they would have all left!"
"Uh- Willow...?" Angel quickly gets up from his seat, following right behind the redhead. "Maybe you should just go home with the others," he smiles, grabbing her arm as he spins her around away from the kitchen.
"But what about my coffee? Oooo- that's right! You're buying me that piece of land in Columbia!! Yay!! Tara- Angel's buying me land in Columbia..."
"That's nice, sweetie..." Tara nonchalantly rolls her eyes as she grabs hold of her, leading her to the front door.
"And it's gonna be big, and sparkly, and grassy, and full of bunnies, and goats, and cows- only two cows though..." she leans over to whisper in Tara's ear, "...cows don't get along so well in large groups...and I'd have mountains and mountains of coffee- all for me! Well- unless you would want some," she smiles up at her lover. "Cause I'd share with you..."
"Actually Will, I've developed this strong dislike for coffee..."
"You're not the only one..." Buffy's muffled voice can be heard as her head still rests on the table.
"How can you hate coffee!" Willow begins to argue. "It's an essential vegetable-"
"Coffee isn't a vegetable," Tara laughs.
"It's a fruit, isn't it?" Dawn wonders aloud.
"Right now it could be a diamond for all I care!!" Buffy exhaustedly yells, lifting her head up. "Just go back to bed, Will..." she pleads with her bestfriend. "Your *own* bed- back at the house..." she specifies, just picturing how the wiccan would take it upon herself to get comfortable in their own bed.
"You should all really go back to bed- see if you can get in a few more hours of sleep," Angel suggests to the others.
"What about you two?" Dawn asks.
"We'll be fine..." Buffy assures her sister. "Since we're up, we're probably gonna start on Mrs. Rosoff's case..."
"Oh-" Cordy sits up a bit in her chair, "that woman who thinks her house is possessed by that bunch of Neerian ghosts?"
"Mmm," Angel nods to her as he takes his seat with his own plate of waffles. "Wes is supposed to be faxing us some new information this afternoon. Shouldn't be too bad."
"Good- in that case I'll be in at around 3..." Cordy announces, quickly grabbing one of his waffles off the plate as she heads for the door with her three other housemates.
"Hey!" Angel passes her another annoyed glance as she trots by him, munching away on his waffle. "Why are you going to be in so late?"
"I promised Dawn I'd take her shopping this afternoon."
"So?"
"Angel," Buffy chimes in, "this is Cordelia *and* my sister we're talking about here. If they're even *ready* to shop by 3, it'll be a miracle."
"On second thought- I'll probably be in at around 6," Cordy flashes her boss one of her brightest smiles- not an easy task at 6 in the morning but somehow Queen C could pull it off.
"If you're going to be in that late, why even bother coming in at all-" Angel had barely gotten his sentence out before Cordy had accepted his offer.
"Great! A whole day off! Thanks Angel," she leans over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before racing out the door, followed by Dawn and Tara trying to keep Willow quiet for the car ride home.
"You do realize that was her whole plan to begin with, right? Getting the entire day off?" Buffy can't help but giggle at Angel's adorable status as a push-over.
"Who cares? At least she won't be spending her day off here..." Buffy's hand swiftly stretches out to cover his mouth as her eyes widen in panic.
"Don't say another word- you'll jinx it! Just eat your waffles..."
"*Waffle* he corrects her, eyeing the lone sqaure puff left on his plate. "Where are you going?" his eyes instinctively follow her as she marches into the kitchen, eventually returning to the table with a pen and a pad of paper.
"We're keeping a running list of all the stuff our *wonderful* friends owe us," her eyes light up, her smile broadens as she mentally pats herself on the back for her latest idea. "Let's see...another jar of chunky peanut butter," she makes sure to underline the item a few times, "waffles..." she pauses, inwardly letting out an angry and tired yell. "...a few hours of sleep..."
******
The following morning, Buffy awoke to the sound of the phone ringing with a contented smile on her face. After being deprived of a late sleep-in yesterday morning and spending most of Saturday banishing a bunch of not-so-Casper-friendly ghosts from an old woman's house, she and Angel were finally able to sleep in until 12. She leaned over her lover, gently kissing his shoulder, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Rise and shine, Buffster..."
"Xander? It's...it's..." still not fully awake, her blurry eyes tried to focus on the clock.
"It's twelve noon!!" Her friend's yell leapt through the phone, slightly startling her, and in the process, waking Angel up. After he kisses Buffy good morning, he slowly crawls out of bed. "I hope I didn't wake you two, but I just wanted to see what time you want us all at the mansion for our engagement party."
"Oh Xand- I don't care. How about...wait? What do you mean 'what time you want us all at the mansion'?!" asked Buffy, now getting out of bed herself. "What engagement party?!"
"Oh come on- today's the second Sunday of May," Xander replied, a slight annoyance in his voice that the slayer had forgotten about the Scoobies tradition.
"Oh gawd, don't tell me it's that time again already," Buffy said, half-excited, half-annoyed. Every year since she had moved to Sunnydale, she and her friends had held a huge pool party/cookout to celebrate the approaching summer and end of the school-year. It was always a blast for the Scoobies to get together and just relax for a day. "Xander, do we have to do this party every year? Don't get me wrong, it is fun, but I always wind up getting tossed into the pool, or drenched by water guns, or knocked down playing football,or basketball, and whatever other suggestions for brutal activities you come up with-"
"Summers, as much as you complain, you know you love every minute of it-"
"Keep telling yourself that- I'm sure it'll make it easier to toss me in again this year. But, uh- I'm still not seeing how you guys coming over to the mansion for an engagement party fits into any of this..."
"Well in case you haven't noticed, you and not-so-dead-boy have got a giant pool in your back courtyard that puts Sea World to shame- one of the perks to living in a mansion if you ask me..."
"But what about your Aunt Megan and cousin Rachel? We always have the party at their place." Buffy became more interested in the situation. As much as she hated to admit it, she was looking forward to this year's party for the simple fact that Angel, in his first year human, would be able to join in on the festivities.
"Oh- did I forget to mention Aunt Megan and Rachel aren't speaking to me??"
"You might've left that out yesterday morning. But then again- you were so busy waking us up and pestering us like the wonderful annoyance that you are, so that's excusable."
"I knew you'd understand. Anyway- since they sorta gave me the boot, we just assumed we'd be having it at the mansion. And we figured that it wouldn't just be a pool party- it would be our engagement party! Nifty, huh?"
"There's that assuming thing again. There's a lot of that going around these days..." she sighs into the phone. "Fine, fine...give us about an hour to-"
"Great! Hey Anya...do you know where my speedo is?" Buffy winces as Xander abruptly hangs up the phone, in seach of his...
"I could've really done without that mental picture..." the slayer sighs, mumbling to herself as she walked down to the kitchen. Angel was guzzling down a glass of orange juice when he noticed his beloved flopping down at the counter, still grumbling.
"Let me guess- a tornado just struck Oklahoma and his third-cousin *Bessie* won't be able to make it to the wedding," he jokingly says, pouring a glass of juice for her. Seeing her serious face though, he regrets mentioning such a ridiculous situation arising. Knowing Xander's family, anything could be possible. "Wait- that didn't really happen, did it?"
"You might actually wish that's why he called when I tell you what he wanted." Wrapping her arms aroud his waist, she pulls him towards her. "You'll be happy to know that for the rest of the day and, with our luck, rest of the night, we will be graced by the wonderful presence of our dear, dear friends in the gang's annual pool party, which just happens to also be Xander and Anya's engagement party. It seems as though everything's already been planned out, but somehow, they just plum forgot to tell us- as usual..." she moans, leaning onto his shoulder.
"Uh-huh..." Angel's mouth hangs open for a moment or two as he lets the announcement set in.
"So...whadya think?" she sweetly smiles up at him.
"I think you should've let me hang him when I had the chance," Angel chuckles, placing a light kiss to her neck. "But it should be fun...besides- you look like a cute little seal when you're all wet," he says, kissing the tip of her nose. Buffy playfully stuck her tongue out at him before heading back upstairs to get changed into her bathing suit.
Part 5
"That is just...so...wow." Cordelia lifted her blue-tinted sunglasses to rest on her forehead as she carefully studied the sight in front of her. "I mean- I never thought I'd actually see this, but...definitely...wow..."
"There's gotta be some better word for it than just 'wow' " Dawn concludes. "I mean- *that* is sooo much better than wow..."
" 'Dazzling' comes to mind..."
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'heavenly'..."
"Uh- guys...? Hello??? Overprotective and possessive wife sitting *right here*..." Buffy reminds her sister and Cordelia as they sat beside her, literally drooling over their first glimpse of Angel in the black swimtrunks that were so perfectly clinging to his well-sculptured form. "Do you think you two could stop undressing my husband in your minds...especially you-" she nudges her little sister.
"What? You're the only one around here who's allowed to have nasty, lusty thoughts?"
"When they're about *my* Angel- yes!" she giggles.
"*Your* Angel??" Cordy teases with her. "I don't see your name anywhere on that..." her eyes begin another travel across his body as he stretches out his arms alongside the edge of the pool, "...gorgeous body of his."
"Earth to Cordy-" Dawn speaks up on behalf of her sister. "Are you telling me that you don't see that sign plastered across Angel's face saying 'Hands and eyes off! I belong to a slayer!!' "
"Mmm...no question about that," Cordy agrees, passing a cheery smile to Buffy. "The only question I have is why didn't you let us come shopping with you when he bought those shorts??" Buffy simply let out a laugh as they all saw Angel softly jogging over to them, dripping wet. "Oooo...there go those nasty, lusty thoughts again, sis..." Dawn chuckles.
"Hey- aren't any of you coming into the pool?" Angel asks, kneeling down beside Buffy, wrapping her up in his arms.
"Angel!!" the sudden coldness of the water on her skin makes Buffy let out a squeal. "That water's freezing! You want me to swim in that?!"
"It's not so bad-"
"Yeah-" a voice comes from behind him. "-especially when you're not the one getting soaked!!" Xander's quick shove caught Angel off guard, sending him flying back into the cold water. "Ha! Toss me out of your house, will ya? Don't mess with the best!"
"You should take your own advice, Xand-" Cordy warns him in a singsong voice, outstretching her leg to kick him into the pool as well. Coming up to the surface, Xander clears the water out of his eyes just in time to see Angel speedily swimming towards him for revenge. "Oh no! Come on, Angel!! Can't you take a joke, man?!" Xander manages to stay a few strokes ahead of the slayer and pulls himself over the pool's edge once he reaches the other end. Stumbling to his feet, Xander takes off in a mad dash across the courtyard, trying to outrun the ex-vampire.
"Okay- if that alone doesn't make up for having nasty, lusty thoughts about *your* Angel," Cordy rolls back in her seat with laughter, "I don't know what will!"
"Well I can promise you *that* image won't be conjuring any nasty, lusty thoughts for me-" Dawn makes a face as she watches Xander running for his life in his speedos. "Ya know- there should be a law prohibiting anyone who's got excessive chunks to keep them covered in public!"
******
"So who's bright idea was it to start holding this thing?" Angel asks from his and Buffy's seats poolside. After spending all of two minutes capturing Xander in an innertube and tossing his helpless form into the deep end, Angel was in desperate need of some down time with Buffy. The peaceful couple sat watching as a recovered Xander was cheating at Marco Polo.
"Willow's and Xander's," answered Buffy. "They love it...for some...strange reason beyond me."
"Ah, you just don't like it that Xander loves to roughhouse with you a little," Dawn says. "Man, last year was hilarious...you looked like a drowned rat," she laughed. "Uh...but, uh-" Dawn stammered, clearing her throat as she noticed her sister's sharp look, "-but a cute one."
"What happened last year?" Angel asked, anxious to hear any story about his beloved.
"You don't want to know," answered Buffy, giving him a quick kiss before heading over with Dawn to challenge some of the others to a game of basketball.
Angel leaned back against his chair, shading his eyes with the sunglasses her received from Xander for Christmas, grateful beyond words to be able to enjoy an afternoon in the sun with his wife and friends. He surpressed a laugh, intently watching Buffy and Cordy playing a little two-on-two with Dawn and Tara, and surprisingly winning. As he watched Buffy's jump shot swish through the net, Xander left Willow and Anya blindly searching for him in the pool as he stretched out on the chair next to him, anxious to talk.
"Xander...those are some...some nice...what do you call that, exactly?" Angel was more than a little surprised at Xander's choice of swimwear.
"Speedo," Xander proudly answered. "Anya really likes it..."
"I'm sure she does..." was all Angel could respond with, trying to avert his eyes from the too-small, brightly colored article of clothing.
"Hey Angel- are you sure you don't mind us having the wedding and everything here? I mean, I don't want to put you two out or anything in your own home, and I can't really promise that half my family won't wind up in jail by the end of the night while the other half are pretty much drunk, but-"
"Xander- it's okay. Really...we trust you-"
"Uh, correction," Buffy's worn-out voice could be heard, approaching with Dawn, Tara, and Cord. "*You* may trust him, but I know him, and I've seen the way his mind works. There's a few things I could tell you."
"You wouldn't dare, Summers," responded Xander, getting up from his seat to join Willow and his fiancee back in the pool. "Besides," he plants a kiss on top of her head, "I've got too much dirt on you too that I'm sure Angel would love hearing. I'll catch up with you two later."
"Hmmm. And just what were you two talking about?" Buffy asks.
"Uhhh...what a great game you all had. That was a nice shot," he acknowledges, craning his neck to reach up and capture her lips in a kiss.
"Don't encourage her, Angel," says Dawn, folding her arms in front of her. "It's bad enough her and Cordy just beat us. You know how humiliating it is to get beaten by your big sister?" she adds. Unfortunately, neither she nor Tara had noticed that while they were speaking with Angel, Buffy had snuck around behind them.
"About as humiliating as it is to get tossed into a pool by your big sister," and with that, as Dawn turns around, with one solid push, Buffy shoves her into the pool, completely soaking the young girl. As Angel and Tara don't even bother to try and contain their laughter, Cordelia follows Buffy's lead, shoving Tara in as well. Angel's laughter continues, but while he is bent down approaching the edge of the pool, Cordy and Buffy share a knowing look, and simultaneously give him a strong shove, flipping him over into the water to join the others.
The two beauties shed their shorts and tanks down to their bikinis, and jump in, cannonball-style, drenching the three with a mini tidal wave. Tara, Dawn, and Angel finally come up from their drowning, wiping the water out of their eyes and focusing on Buffy and Cordy. "You two," began Dawn, "are sooo dead."
"Oh come on," laughs Cordy. "You guys had it coming to ya."
"What about me?" asks a confused Angel. "What did I do??"
"You," begins Buffy, swimming over to him, wrapping herself around his soaked skin, "married me and made me the happiest woman in the world."
"Mmmm," he agrees, kissing her back, "but that still doesn't get you off the hook." Seeing all the action, Xander, Anya, and Willow swim over to join in for a game of volleyball. After the game, Buffy and Angel hop out to dry off a bit before eating.
"You know, you were right- this is pretty fun," admitted Buffy, especially since having gotten even with Dawn.
"So I take it you're feeling better than yesterday after our rude awakening?"
"Mmm-hmm. Much better. Today's been great, and we had a lot to occupy our time to get our minds off things."
"Well, I know another fun way of occupying our time." Buffy laughs as he trails kisses over her jawline. It felt so good to relax with Angel like this. Not having to care about or focus on anything but him.
"I love you," he whispered, tucking a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear. "You are so unbelievably gorgeous in the sun," he breathes against her tanned skin. "You shimmer...and you glow..."
"I love you too," she said softly, wrapping her arms around him and cuddling into his shoulder on their chair. Just as she totally relaxes out against him, Buffy notices a shadow approaching. "Uggh...well that peaceful moment lasted all of a great big millisecond. Xander, what is it with you? You have the absolute worst timing."
"So I've been told," he chuckles. "Sorry about that, but...I wanted to, uh...ask you something." At Angel's nod, he nervously continues. "What's it like...ya know- being married?"
"No words can describe it..." Angel warmly smiles, cuddling his beloved even closer. "It's heaven on earth..."
"But then, we are a little biased..." Buffy places a hand on Angel's cheek, drawing him in for a kiss. "We both married angels..."
"Okay- do you two ever quit it with all the big smoochies?! Oh no- wait! This is Buffy and Angel we're dealing with here," Xander waves his arms in an exaggerated manner as he continues mocking them. "The day you two can keep your hands off of each other for more than a minute is the day that...the day that..." he struggles for a second before finally coming up with the most off-the-wall, ridiculous, and inconceivable situation he could think of. "...the day that Darla's resurrected and gives birth to your son!!"
"Xander- where the hell do you come up with this stuff?" Buffy begins questioning his state of mind at his last analogy.
"I think I let him watch too much tv..." Anya answers for her fiancee as she and the others approach from behind.
"Hey- it's not my fault!" Xander defends himself. "You'd be surprised at some of the bizarre and disturbing stuff they've got on tv these days..."
Part 6
Three days later, Angel was finding it very hard to maintain his balance behind the punching bag during the couple's training session and workout. "Ugghh- Buffy...?"
"Stupid Xander!" *punch*
"Agghh- Buffy...?" Angel felt the hard impact of her right cross straight through the heavy bag.
"And his stupid clumsy hands!" *punch*
"Ahhh- Bufffffyyy...?"
"Stupid pool!" *kick*
"Buffy!!!" The slayer's last kick blasted into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"What??" Buffy ceased in her attack to wipe the sweat from her brow, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. "What's wrong??"
"I'll tell you as soon as the air returns to my lungs..." he gasped, leaning against the bag for support.
"Oh...Oh!!" Buffy's eyes widen once she notices her husband's slightly dishelved state. "I'm so sorry, Angel. Are you okay??"
"I think I should be asking you that," he sighs. "I'm fine- a little sore, but fine...that's more than I can say for the bag though..." he grins, walking along with her out of the mansion's gym room. Wiping off his face with a towel, he reaches into the fridge, grabbing two bottles of water, handing one of them to Buffy as he sits beside her on the kitchen counter.
"I guess I'm still a little angry..." Buffy shrugs, taking a cool sip.
"I think the bag would beg to differ."
"Okay, okay...so I'm still pissed off! You would be too!"
"Buffy- it was three days ago, and it was an accident," he tries calming her.
"Angel- Xander ran straight into me with a gallon of bleach and dumped the whole thing all over me!! My skin is burning and itchy and I *still* smell like I've been through a wash-and-rinse cycle!!"
"He didn't run straight into you- he was running towards you. And he didn't exactly dump the whole thing all over you...it just...slipped out of his hands as he stumbled over the hose."
"Still feeling like a bleached sock over here," she pouts. "At least he didn't get any of my hair with the stuff..."
"Well...at least you know that you're reallly, really clean," he jokes, trying to make light of the accident.
"Ha freakin' ha..."
"Well, I still think that you look *and* smell perfect," he leans in, capturing her lips in a sweet kiss.
"And I still think that you're a terrible liar..." she grumbles, leaning against his shoulder as he kisses the top of her sweat-streaked head. "I'll get Willow and Tara's *unbiased* opinions when I head over to the house later."
"Anything wrong?"
"No..." she hops off the counter, but not before stealing a quick kiss from him. "I promised them that I'd help with a project for their Group Psychology class.something about rate of reactions and interactions..."
"Oh- that reminds me...I promised Dawn I'd pick her up from school today..." Angel couldn't help but smile at all that he was now able to enjoy in his life with Buffy. Having lost Ash, first to Edge and Christian, and then by his own hands only a month ago, he looked upon Dawn with such love, hope, and devotion.
"That girl has you wrapped around her little finger," Buffy warns him, though unable to hide her own smile at seeing her little sister and her Angel have such a great relationship.
"Mmmm..." he lets his lips linger on her own in a deep kiss before finally willing himself to head out the door. "Just like her sister..."
******
"Hey Dawn!" Golden tresses of hair spun round as the slender teen turned to see the owner of the voice.
"Hi Jeff," she smile, scooting over on the marble bench in front of the school as an invitation for him to sit down.
"I really liked your presentation in class today. I never knew that you were a big history fan," he smiled up at the young beauty.
"Neither did I," she giggled. "Until I started getting a little help from my history tutor." She silently thanked Angel for all the help he had been giving her in her classes, grateful that he now had a steady and constantpresence in her life.
"Maybe I should get my own tutor...can't say I have your knack for this stuff."
"Well...maybe I could...help you out. You know...a study session or something..." she slightly blushes at her meek attempt to spend some time alone with him.
"I'd really like that," his genuine smile made her blush even more as he stood from his seat, seeing his father pull up in his jeep. "How about this weekend at my place? Saturday night- 7 sound good?"
"Great! I'll see ya then." Being so caught up in watching the tall blonde trot away, Dawn didn't hear her friends giggling from nearby.
"So what's gonna be going down between you and Jeff at his place...Saturday night at 7, was it?" Nikki asks, anxious to get some new gossip going.
"Nothing..." Dawn's voice almost hums as the smile begins radiating across her face.
"Oh, come on, Summers!" Christine eyes her questioningly. "The boy was practically drooling in your lap..."
"Speaking of drooling..." Gina points out the driver of the black Benz pulling into one of the parking spots alongside the building. The tall, dark, and extremely handsome figure steps out of the car, beginning his walk towards them. "He looks kinda older though..."
"Who cares?" Christine notes. "He's drop dead gorgeous."
"Quick- hair check?" Nikki asks Gina.
"Oh don't bother, Nik- like he's actually planning on giving you a second look." Nikki scrunches up her face at her "best" friend's remark, trying to think of a slick comeback.
"He didn't even give you a *first* look," Christine adds, subconsciously straightening out the folds of her black skirt as he was quickly approaching the front of their school.
"Uh, guys...? I wouldn't waste my time...he's already taken..." Dawn smiles, waving to the current object of her friends' affections.
"By who- you??" Nikki laughs aloud at such a ridiculous thought. Her laughter soon subsides as she and the others watch Dawn being lifted off of the ground in a more-than-friendly hug by the stranger.
"Hi!" Dawn squeals in delight as she wraps her arms around his neck, giving him a sisterly kiss on the cheek.
"Hey Dawnie...how was your day?" Angel beams, gently placing her back down on her feet.
"Awesome- I totally aced my presentation in history today- thanks to you. Mrs. Phelps loved it!" Angel places a cute kiss on her forehead. "I told you you'd do great..." Angel continues singing her praises until he notices the three other girls staring at them with shocked expressions adorning their young faces.
"Uh...hi," he tries greeting them but gets no response. "Dawn..." he leans over slightly to whisper in her ear, "...what's wrong with your friends? Why are they staring at me?"
"They think you're cute..." she whispers back up to him, a sly grin on her face.
"Oh..." Angel, still oblivious to his own appearance, brushes off the compliment. "Are you ready to go? Buffy's probably already back at the house with Willow and Tara. We're all having dinner together tonight."
"Great- let's roll..." she extends her hand for the keys in a sly attempt to catch him off guard.
"Nice try..."
"Pleeeeaaaase Angel?? Just back to the house? Please??"
"I'll tell you what...this weekend I'll take you out and let you drive around town a little. Fair enough?"
"Oooo- you're the best! Bye guys...I'll call you over the weekend," she waves to her still-staring friends as she and Angel pulled out of the parking lot.
"How can *she* be going out with *him*?" Nikki finally regains any rational thoughts her brain held.
"First Jeff, now some college guy...?" Christine laughs in despair. "Why do the weird ones get all the luck...?"
******
"Willllooooww...this is so stuuuupppiiidd..." Buffy's whine echoed throughout her former residence as she flopped back onto some pillows on the floor of the living room. "What's the point in asking whether or not I would run from a tarantula or smash it with a rock??"
"Buffy-" Willow tears out another sheet of paper from her binder as she grabs another book, "the whole point of this third test is to show what factors help determine your character and personality. Isn't that right, Tara?"
"Mmm-hmm..." Tara smiles, grabbing her drink from the table. "This stuff is actually pretty interesting. I thought you were really into Psychology, Buffy? Weren't you going to major in it?"
"God- that was a few *decades* ago..." Buffy lets out a small sigh, the memories of her college experience, culminating with her leaving to care for her mother threatening to be unleashed.
"Buffy- you should come back...to college, I mean..." Willow suggests. The idea had been running around in her mind for a while now, eager to see her friend have some sort of contrast to fighting demons and vampires. After much discussion with her lover, she decided to press the issue with her best friend.
"Will...? Did Tara let you have too many mochas again?" her gaze falls upon Tara with a bemused grin on her face.
"Buffy, why not?" Tara chimes in. "I think it's a great idea. It wouldn't take you long to catch up with credits."
"What's the point? I'm currently employed at a job that doesn't require any degree..." she beams, proud to be an employee of the prosperous Angel Investigations. "And I don't think I'm in danger of being fired anytime soon...besides, I think you two are missing the whole point of what the returning-to-college experience would be lacking...Angel," she resolutely states.
"He could sign up for classes with you..." Willow offers, immediately thinking twice about what had just fallend out of her mouth. "Okay- so maybe Angel doesn't really *need* to go to college-"
"And neither do I..." Buffy nods her head, hoping their discussion would quickly cease.
"Buffy- I think you can go without touching Angel for a few hours..." Tara tries convincing her, aware that the idea was purely laughable.
"She can barely go without touching him for a few mintues..." Willow mumbles, though Buffy and Tara picked up on it. "Oooo...did I say that out loud?"
"Afraid so," Buffy assures her. "Look Will- I really appreciate you taking an interest, but I can safely say that I'm done with school. The agency keeps us busy mostly all day and night, plus- why would I want to spend any uneccessary time away from my *husband*?" she emphasizes.
"Ugh- fine. Fine- I'll just talk with *your husband* about it..." Willow promises in her no-nonsense voice. "I'll bet he'll think it's a great idea and make you go."
"Not once I talk him out of it...and believe me, I'll get my way..." Buffy laughs, leafing through one of the wiccans' books for the next part of the experiment. "Okay- why the hell do you have to ask respondents whether or not they freak out when people go around touching things in their room? Who comes up with this stuff?"
"Oh-" Tara lifts her head at the test's mention, "that's part of the whole
determining whether you'll make a good parent or not' study. You'd be surprised at some of the different answers you get from people."
"Well, considering that most people shouldn't be allowed to reproduce..." Willow jests. Suddenly, a warm, sweet smile crosses her facial features. "Buffy- you're going to be such a good mother..." the redhead dreamily sighs. "And then Aunt Willow and Auntie Tara can spoil your kid rotten."
"Why am I 'Auntie' Tara?" Tara smiles. "I think you're more of the 'Auntie' type. Besides- I think things are already busy enough for Buffy and Angel without having to deal with a child," she informs her, taking hold of her girlfriend's hand.
"My thoughts exactly," Buffy agrees. "Maybe someday, when we're both done having a life, but right now I think a child would be a little too much to deal with..." she trails off, though still in delightful anticipation of the day she and Angel would have children. "So..." she quickly changes the subject before any of Angel's warnings that they still may not be able to have children could enter her mind, "let's see- Angel freaks out whenever Xander goes around touching some of his artwork...and then I freak out cause he freaks out...does that count?"
******
"Icccckk..." Dawn moans in protest of Angel's choice of music during the ride home. "Can we at least listen to something from this *century*??" She leans forward, ejecting the classical cd and turning on the radio. "Much better...you know...you're gonna be the talk of the school next week."
"Why is that?" Angel glances at her out of the corner of his eye.
"I think my friends thought you were my boyfriend," she laughs, somewhat pleased at giving the three the wrong impression about Angel. Seeing him give her an incredulous look, somewhere between shock and concern, she goes on the defense. "Well hey- they could've thought you were my father or something..."
"Dawn- I may actually be old enough to be your great-grandfather, but I really don't think that I look it..." he chuckles, turning in his seat to face her as they slow down at a redlight.
"No...you don't look like a great-grandfather...maybe a grandfather..." she kids with him as he nudges her shoulder with his palm. "Angel- you're drop dead gorgeous," she announces in no uncertain terms. "How can you not know this? I would think that Buffy telling you at least a million times a day would drill it into that thick head of yours."
"Mmmm..." came Angel's simple reply. A minute or two passed in silence before Dawn offered him another compliment. "You're going to make a great father..." Immediately, she saw him shift and tense at the other offensive f-word he constantly avoided. "You and Buffy are going to be such cool parents...I mean, you- you two are gonna have kids...aren't ya?"
"Yeah..." Angel's unsure and waivering voice finally answered her. "We, uh- we will..."
Part 7
"Uggh! You two are impossible! I don't even know why we're discussing this!" Angel could hear his beloved's voice from outside as he followed Dawn into the house.
"Discussing what?" he calls into the kitchen, tossing his jacket off.
"Hey you..." Buffy eagerly greets him, ducking out from helping with dinner into his arms and a long, drawn out kiss. "I missed you..."
"Mmmm..." Angel sighs into the kiss. "I missed you too." He takes her hand as she leads him into the kitchen.
"What about me? Nobody missed me?" Dawn was feeling quite neglected asthe couple, too caught up in each other, barely passed her a glance, leaving her behind in the dining room. "You see me less than you see him, but he's the one who gets the big 'welcome home- I really missed you'??" she sighs, following after them.
"Oh shut up and gimme a hug, brat," Buffy reaches behind her, pulling her little sister into a warm embrace.
"We missed you, Dawnie," Tara reassures her. "How was school?"
"Great! How did your experiment go? Did you two have to do any electro-shock therapy on her?" she asks with a sincere hope in her voice.
"That's for next time-" Willow grins. "It actually went pretty well...in fact..." as she begins to set the table, she casually slips in one of the day's discussions, hoping she would gain both Angel and Dawn on her side. "We were talking about Buffy maybe re-enrolling in the fall-"
"No- *you two* were talking about Buffy re-enrolling in the fall..." the slayer reminds her friends. "Buffy was explaining how she doesn't need to head back to college because Buffy's got a great job with a secure agency and would miss her wonderful husband like crazy, and...and why am I speaking in the third person??" she suddenly realizes, only slightly embarrassed.
"My point exactly- she's lost the fundamentals of grammar, Angel..." Willow pleads her case. "She should be in school. Though I think they frown upon speaking about yourself in the third person in college."
"Yeah-" Dawn speaks up. "Maybe you'd be better off taking some basic skills classes at Sunnydale High with Nikki, Gina, and Christine."
"Please! I spent four long years waiting to get out of that place! You think I want to go back for any reason? Why do you think Angel picks you up when Cordy can't?"
"Oh yeah- Angel..." Tara quickly remembers the phone call they'd received earlier from the brunette. "Cordelia called from LA. She said she was staying to help with that Dynomoniques company case and she'll just come back with everyone on Friday for the wedding."
"Did she say anything about what they've got so far?" Angel inquired, anxious to know how his LA gang was handling things.
"Yeah. They've been able to recover the missing files that Wolfram & Hart swiped, but other than that-"
"That's a good start though..." Angel began plotting things out in his mind, thankful that they were on the right track.
"Yeah, at least they've found the files-"
"Could we please return to the issue at hand and stop getting all side-tracked?!" Willow cut off the conversation between her lover and friend. "Everyone in LA is fine- it's Buffy who needs-"
"To be left alone," the petite blonde finishes for her friend. "Angel...tell them to drop it..."
"I think it's a good idea..." Buffy's head snapped around, nearly causing her to drop one of the dishes she was carrying as she heard her love's voice turn traitorous.
"Aww geez- don't *you* start too..." she instantly places a hand over her forehead as they all sit down at the dining room table to eat.
"Buffy- at least think about it. I mean- don't you want that degree hanging next to your diploma? And didn't you enjoy Psychology? You were really interested in it- and you were great at it..." he adds for emphasis.
"Even *if* I did wind up going back, I don't think I can ever deal with Psychology again.too many bad memories of that annoying TA."
"Oooo- Riley??" Willow shares a bemused smile with her friend as she begins to think back to the pestering fool known as Riley Finn who was incessant in trying to get Buffy to look his way.
"Ugh- don't remind me..." Buffy sighs.
"Who's Riley?" a curious Angel asks, not remembering her mentioning anything to him about the issue and already somewhat jealous of the mention of any guy who might've tried getting close to his soul mate.
"Someone barely worth mentioning," Buffy mutters, turning to face him. "He was the teaching assistant in our intro to Psych class. Tall.greasy blonde hair...huge ego...your typical, all-around dope."
"And man, did he have the hots for you..." Willow adds, receiving a 'shut-up' look from Buffy for her efforts.
"Really?" Angel's voice now held a tinge of anger mixed in with the jealously from the boy's first mention.
"He was so annoying..." Buffy reaches out to grab Angel's hand as she elaborates. "Every morning before class he would come up to me and ask me out. You'd think after I said 'no' the first hundred times he'd take the hint that I was unavailable." As she looked up, she saw the glimmer of confusion set in Angel's features at her last remark. "Angel...just because you told me to move on and find someone else to have a normal life with didn't mean that I was going to- that I ever could. I told you- I knew that one day we'd be together again so with every guy that ever asked me out, I always told him the truth- that I was taken and belonged to someone else..."
Angel's eyes began to well up with unshed tears as he thought back on
the foolsih decision he had made to leave, wishing only for her to have a normal life. Though at the time he'd wished for her to move on and forget all about him, he'd known the task was an impossible one, for both of them. "I love you..." he whispered and then kissed her, eliciting a small whimper from Buffy.
"Well, at least he was more decent than Parker..." Willow reminded her friend.
"Parker?" Angel questioned, breaking away from their kiss. "Who's Parker??"
"Ugghh...another reason *not* to go back to UC Sunnydale. He was this big campus playboy who had a mission to drag me off to his sordid lair..." she sighs, but immediately picks up on Angel's disapproving look. "It never happened-" she assured him, "all he got for his troubles was a few good punches and a swift kick to his total-lack-of manhood..." she giggled, thinking back fondly on the afternoon she sent Parker reeling to the ground inpain.
"Ooo- I remember!" Willow cheers. "He fell down...he fell down *hard*!!"
"Okay, okay...if we can drop the topic of all the losers who harrassed me on campus, I'll *think* about enrolling next year-"
"Great!" Willow's excitement burst across the table as she slid some vegatables down towards a disapproving Dawn. "You can come tomorrow for Spring Day on campus!! We'll have fun, and you can get back into the joys of college life! And Angel can come too..."
"Sounds nice..." Angel tries his best to encourage Buffy to give the idea at least some thought.
"Yeah...nice n' torturous..." Buffy mumbles. Seeing no other option but to go along with her family's plans, she gave in, venting her frustrations out on the only other person she hadn't minced words with yet. "Dawn- just eat some damn peas, will you?"
******
"Well that was a big ball of fun..." Buffy flops her head onto a pillow as she and Angel return to the mansion. For the entire ride home, the entire walk through the mansion, up the stairs, and into their bedroom, Buffy was non-stop in expressing her displeasure in everyone's insistence that she consider going back to classes. "Leave it to Will to bring up the most interesting conversation topics..."
"Or Dawn..."
"Dawn?" Buffy lifted her head at his comment. "What do you mean.?"
"On the ride home from school..." Angel moved to sit down next to her laying form. "Dawn was talking about how you and I are going to make great parents...when we have children..." he trailed off on a somber note.
"Ya know, I think that's the smartest thing she's ever said..." Buffy smirks, sitting up and wrapping her arms around his waist as she places an ear to his back, listening to his steady heartbeat.
"Buffy..." his head tips up to stare at the ceiling as he takes a heavy breath before continuing. "We don't even know if it can happen. I mean- yeah, I'm human now, but...for 250 years my body was just some dead host, and-"
"And now it's alive and kicking, and we *will* have children, Angel," she says matter-of-factly. Angel shifted slightly so that he was now completely in her embrace. Buffy waited until he had adjusted and looked deeply into his eyes. "I want *our* baby. Something you and I made together. I want to go through that whole miracle of birth, and as I'm sure you're well aware, I *always* get what I want..." she pulls him to her, relaxing back onto the sheets, arched within his grasp. "I love you," she whispers, softly reaching up to give him a gentle kiss. Angel begins working down her neck, interspersing his kisses with soft murmers until he hears the untimely doorbell chime.
"Now what?" Angel groans in frustration.
Troubled by the fact that whoever was at the door had so abruptly cut off their moment of passion, Buffy sits up grumpily, moving a wisp of hair lying on her face. "Who could that be? It's almost 2 in the morning." Watching as Angel speedily begins his departure downstairs, Buffy follows after him, catching up with him just as he hastily pulls open the door.
"Hi there!" Xander happily greets the couple as he brushes past them with a even sillier grin on his face than usual.
"Xander- what are you doing here...at 2 in the morning..." Buffy finally takes notice of what he held in his hands, "...with what looks to be...luggage??"
"I'm afraid to ask..." Angel whimpers, slamming the door shut, leaning his head against it.
"Can't a guy pay his dear friends a visit once and awhile?"
"Xander..." Buffy warns him, not buying into any of his nervous excuses.
"You know- I never noticed how big this place is. Nice fireplace..."
"Xander..." Angel sighs, finally lifting his head from the door, joining them in the great hall.
"Huge kitchen...a lot of extra rooms?" he says as more of a lingering question, passing his longtime friend a hopeful glance.
"What happened?" Buffy lets out a defeated sigh, just knowing where this was going to be leading.
"Anya threw me out!!" he begins whining. "She was angry because of some of the things my parents said to her over the phone when they called us tonight!"
"So she threw *you* out?" Buffy asks, taking a slight interest in her friend's lovelife.
"Yeah- just because I wouldn't talk back to my mother and defend her. She said something about needing time to cool off tonight. So she pushed me out the door and tossed me a bag. So.do you two think I could.stay here tonight?"
"Uh...well...I mean..." Buffy tries sorting out just what she planned on telling him, thinking she should really talk things over with Angel first.
"Do you mind if I get a drink?" Xander asks, getting up from the couch.
"Sure Xand- help yourself." Once he was out of listening distance, Buffy turned to face Angel. "Angel-"
"He's not staying..." he answers her forthcoming question. "I know exactly how this is going to turn out- he'll stay the night, won't be able to get things straightened out with Anya, and then *we'll* wind up paying for it, as usual, because he'll wind up staying here for weeks upon weeks."
"You don't know that's going to happ- well...you're probably right," Buffy sits down on his lap, realizing the situation that he foresaw was a very likely one. "But still..."
"Why can't he stay with Willow and Tara...?" Angel pleads.
"They'd probably stick up for Anya and take her side..."
"Either that or he already asked and was levitated off the porch..."
"Angel..." Buffy whispers, hopeful that he would change his mind, though she was having her own doubts about letting her foolish friend reside with them.
"Buffy...he cannot stay here. There is no way he is going to take up root here...no way..."
An hour later...
"...and here's a picture of me and Anya at the zoo. She really likes the zoo, ya know. Oh- and here's all of us at the Christmas party at the Bronze...wasn't that fun guys?"
"Wonderful..." Angel sighs, passing Buffy an annoyed glance.
"Speaking of wonderful..." Xander hops up out of Buffy and Angel's bed, heading over to his duffel bag to retrieve another photo album. "I've got a lot of wondeful pictures of Anya and me at the beach..." As he begins rooting through his bag, Buffy snuggles further into her husband's embrace, hoping that he wasn't still too angry with her. "Look at it this way...as long as he doesn't have any pictures of his and Anya's x-rated happenings in their bedroom, we should be okay..."
"Define 'okay'..." A defeated Angel throws his head back against the headboard, dreading what the rest of the evening and week would bring.
Part 8
"Do you have a chessboard, Angel?"
"Xander..." an exhausted Angel sighed. "...it's 8 in the morning, your wedding is *supposed* to be tomorrow night, your fiancee threw you out, and all you can think about is playing chess??"
After having to spend most of the night listening to Xander's incessant whining and moping over Anya, both Angel and Buffy had already had enough of their houseguest. If it hadn't been for Buffy keeping him occupied in the shower upon waking up, Angel was sure that he would've seen if he could've broken his own record at tossing Xander out on his ass again.
"You're right...what's for breakfast?"
"Xander- you're 21 years old-" Buffy reminds him from her spot at the counter.
"You're making Angel breakfast..." he argues.
"Well, considering that he's made breakfast for the past three days..." she flashes back a smile. "But *you* can make your own breakfast."
"Not in *our* kitchen..." Angel puts a halt to her suggestion. "With everything that we have to do today, I don't think a trip to the emergency room is going to fit in."
"Is that how you all see me? As a klutz?? Some accident-prone kl-" Xander was leaning back in his chair, pleading his defense when he suddenly tipped over onto the kitchen floor.
"Oh no, of course not..." Angel tries his best to contain his laughter. "You don't want to know how I *really* see you."
"Haha- very funny..." Xander grumbles, pulling himself back to his seat. "I can't help it!" he snaps, grabbing the entire plate of pancakes that Buffy placed on the table. "I'm nervous again!"
"Well that would explain why you're eating so much..." Angel mumbles, sitting up to grab a bagel as his breakfast now that Xander was quickly devouring his pancakes.
"I knew you guys would understand. That's why I came here...you two would never turn me away..."
"Us? Turn you away?!" Buffy sarcastically laughs. "We'd never do that, Xand-"
"Rather throw him out," Angel mutters under his breath, though Buffy smiled when she heard him, reaching over to give him a quick kiss.
"So...what're we doing today??" Xander asks between mouthfuls. "Ooo- isn't that Spring Day thing gonna be on campus today? Are we going?"
"Actaully Xander, we're not gonna stay for very long- just hang out with Will and Tara for a little..." Buffy nervously tries to carve out some Xander-free time for herself and Angel. "You can stay here if you want..."
"Or we could drop you off back home and you can work things out with Anya," Angel offers, seizing a perfect opportunity to reunite the couple as well as export Xander from the mansion.
"Not until she apologizes to me! This is all her fault anyway! Just because my mother had some constructive criticism about how she'd like Anya to take care of her only son, Anya snaps at *me* and tosses *me* out?! Dammit- I've got feelings too! I don't have to take that! I'm a man! Oooo...do you guys have Coco Puffs? Or how 'bout some Fruity Pebbles?" he asks, noticing Buffy looking through the cuboards for some cereal. "Mind if I snag a few? They go great with pancakes!"
"So does a good shot to the head..." Angel walks over to where Buffy was pouring her friend a bowl of cereal and begins looking through the overhead cabinets.
"What're you looking for, sweetie?"
"Pain killers...aspirin, codeine, anything. If we have to spend all afternoon with Xander, I'm going to need all the drugs I can get to keep me from tying him up and handing him over to Spike as an early Christmas present to play with."
******
UC Sunnydale was bursting alive with the spirit of Spring. The campus' annual Spring Day was overflowing with students and their families. Unfortunately, one potential returning student was having a hard time ditching a member of her "family".
"Do you think they have any chessboards in the library here?"
"God Xand- what is with your obsession with chess today?"
"Anya and I loved to play," he explained to her. "Well, except for that one time she shoved her King up my nose," he pouts. "It's kinda hard to talk about..."
"It's even harder to listen to," Angel quips, tightening his grip around Buffy's waist.
"You know what Xand- I think the library actually does have a few chessboards if you really want to play-"
"Great!" he cheers, preparing to dash off towards the massive stone structure. "But...you two sure you'll be okay by yourselves?"
"We'll manage," Angel assures him, letting out a huge sigh as he watches him race iff in the opposite direction. "Thank god..." he murmurs against Buffy's neck.
"My thoughts exactly...I was about ready to see if I could have a removal spell cast on him by- Willow!" the slayer drags Angel along with her as she notices her best friend mingling with Tara and a few other students.
"Buffy, Angel- you guys came!" Wilow beams, waving her arms in the air excitedly. "So Angel- how are you enjoying your first college experience?"
"It's actually really nice- now that we've gotten rid of Xander for awhile."
"What happened to Xander?" Tara asks.
"He's off in the library playing chess," Buffy explains, leaning further back into Angel's embrace.
"Chess?" a surprised Willow asks. "Xander doesn't play chess- he can barely make it through a round of checkers."
"Something having to do with his moping over Anya," Buffy sighs, a dreamy look across her face as Angel's hand finds its way underneath the hem of her shirt.
"Anya was calling us all night complaining about Xander being a big insensitive jerk," Tara informed them, though she was sure the couple was too busy with each other to pay attention to her.
"Why hasn't Xander tried calling her to work things out?" Willow demands. "Guys??"
"Hmmm...?" The soft sigh was Buffy's only response as she was thoroughly enjoying the feel of Angel's hands soothingly rubbing her stomach.
"Guys?!"
"What?!" Buffy laces her hands with Angel's, preventing him from distracting her for a moment.
"You two are worse than rabbits on speed...I asked you why hasn't Xander called Anya to apologize."
"He thinks she should call *him* to apologize," Angel answers the redhead. "Though I'm willing to call Anya myself and pay her to take him back! Because if she doesn't, Xander's just going to wind up staying with us and we'll have to stay up every night looking at old photos, listening to his nerve-wracking stories-"
"Honey..." Buffy takes his hand, trying to keep him calm, "I'm sure they'll straighten things out before the wedding tomorrow- at least they'd *better* straighten things out since we're the ones cooking for this thing! Now come on- let's grab something to eat."
The four friends were sitting around at a table under a nice, shady tree, eating their lunches when they were suddenly and rudely interrupted by a familiar face.
"Buffy? Is that really you?" Riley's lame voice called as he approached their table.
Part 9
"Riley- ummm...hi..." Buffy greets him in a halfhearted friendly tone. Nodding his acknowledgement to Willow and Tara, Riley continues. "What are you doing here?"
"Just enjoying Spring Day..."
"Yeah, it's pretty neat, isn't it?" he surmises, folding his arms in front of him in a proud manner.
" 'Neat'?" Xander's voice can be heard as he jogs over to the table. "Even *I* don't say 'neat', Fishboy. Very lame..." he chuckles, swiping some of Willow's fries. Trying his best to ignore him, Riley turns his attentions back to Buffy. "Are you thinking about re-enrolling in the fall? he hopefully asks.
"I'm not sure yet," she returns her gaze to Angel, playfully reaching up to run her fingers through the short spikes of his hair. She silently prayed that the pesky, annoying blonde would take the hint and leave.
"It'd be great if you'd come back next year, Buffy. I know I for one have really missed seeing you everyday in Pschology," he tried mustering up a sly smile that came out more awkward than artful.
"Well, if these two have anything to say about it," Buffy nods her head towards the two smiling wiccans, "'ll be back to the books in no time. Plus..." she leans her head into the crook of Angel's neck, placing a gentle kiss to the underside of his jaw, "...husbands can be very convincing too..."
"Uh...husband?" Riley asks, an immediate frown forming on his face.
"Oh- that's right. You haven't met Angel yet. Honey, this is Riley," she pulls slightly out of Angel's embrace as she happily introduces them. "Riley- this is my husband, Angel."
"Husband? As in married?" Riley's voice cracks as he watches Angel stand up to approach him. The ex-vampire towered over him as he extended his hand in a friendly manner. "Hey..."
"H-hey..." the greasy blonde stammered, cautiously shaking his hand. "Husband...?"
"You're not getting by that concept anytime soon, are ya Finn?" Willow mocked him, getting a huge kick out of the boy's humiliation.
"Huh? No- well, yeah...I mean-" Riley took a deep sigh as his gaze fell back upon Buffy, watching as she wrapped her arms around Angel's waist once he sat back down, snuggling into his embrace. "Buffy.can I...can we, uh..." he motioned to have a word with her alone, grateful when she stood up, but not before giving Angel another kiss for emphasis, and walked with him over to a nearby tree.
"You never said you were married!" he almost shouted, shocked and upset at his recent discovery.
"You never asked..." she joked, leaning back against the tree. "Riley- we just got married on Valentine's Day. But- do you remember how everytime you asked me out, I always told you I was taken and belonged to someone else? Well- that's him. That's my Angel."
"Angel," he spat out in a mocking tone, beginning to laugh.
"And just what's so funny about Angel, *Riley*?" Buffy goes on defense, ready to give Riley the same treatment she gave Parker a year ago.
"Nothing...it's just that when Willow had mentioned that you had taken the rest of the year off, I thought it was to help take care of your sick mother, not go shack up with some cradle-robbing, goth-rock wannabe pretty boy who- *arrgghh*!" The young man's pain was evident as he fell to the ground, his jaw following after him as he continued yelping in pain at the blunt strike of Buffy's knee.
"Riley- why don't you go find your buddy Parker. Maybe he can loan you a good ice pack..." she laughs, almost skipping back over to her table where the others were watching in extreme amusement. A huge smile plastered across his face, Angel pulls her back onto his lap, welcoming her with a passionate kiss. Xander was the first to congratulate Buffy in his typical manner.
"Now that my friends is gonna leave a mark!!"
******
After Angel and Buffy picked her up from school, Dawn was beginning to wish they'd just forgotten her. The ride home listening to Xander was bad enough, but spending dinner putting up with him was all that she and Angel could take. Buffy, Willow, and Tara seemed immune to his annoying, mind-numbing tendencies. "Probably from putting up with him for so long," Dawn whispered to Angel as they were cleaning up. "And Tara's so calm she's a regular Ghandi- I don't think a million Xanders could get her upset."
Trying to keep himself busy so he wouldn't be tempted to break a few plates over Xander's head, Angel was startled when he heard the front door slam shut. "Who's here now?" he called to the others.
"No one," Buffy answered, coming into the kitchen. "The mail's finally here- Cordy sent us a video with footage from some fight between Gunn and some demon. She thought we'd want to see it- study some of the demon's moves. Oh, and Xander just left to go talk to Anya."
"Really?? You convinced him to go apologize to Anya?" Angel was practically jumping at the news that Xander was gone. "You're wonderful!!" he grinned, gathering her into his arms.
"Well, I'd like to think my skill at getting rid of Xander isn't the only reason you think I'm wonderful," Buffy smiles.
"No...but right now it's a huge part of it," he replies, setting her back down on the floor before kissing her passionately. They had waited all day for this moment- to finally be rid of their troublesome houseguest. They might still have their friends in the other room, but no more Xander! Just getting any time together not involving demons or vampires was always the best part of their day.
Seeing the two trying to take advantage of the "Xander-free" time everyone was being granted, Dawn quickly finishes the few remaining dishes and excuses herself. "I'm gonna see if Will and Tara can help me with my homework..." she tells them, sneaking her way around them and into the living room.
"Where's Buffy and Angel?" Will asks, scooting over on the couch as Dawn slumps down with her books.
"In the kitchen...I wouldn't bother them though. They're a little, uh- busy..." she quickly adds giggling.
"Uh...guys?" Willow nervously calls into the kitchen. "Guys?? I hope you two realize that if you want everything to be ready by tomorrow, you two should have started cooking everything about an hour ago..."
"What??" they ask suddenly, being jerked back to reality.
"Mmm-hmm..." Willow assures them. "We'd stick around and help, but...we've been through enough having to deal with Xander. Good luck guys!!" With that, Will, Tara, and Dawn headed back to the house, leaving the couple to begin cooking for the impending wedding tomorrow night.
Part 10
"Why are we even bothering to cook for this thing?" Buffy hastily tosses another chicken into the oven as she and Angel approach their third hour of cooking. "We have no idea whether or not there's even going to be a wedding now."
"I have no clue..." Angel shrugs, sympathizing with his wife, but still grateful that they were spending time alone.
"Well.at least Xander's still not back..."
"Life sucks!!!"
"Apparently Xander thinks his name is now 'Come and go as I damn well please...' " Buffy jokes, trying to lighten what she knew would be her husband's soon-to-be dampered spirits.
"You had to say something, didn't you..." Angel sighed, grabbing the nearest and heaviest pan to take along with him to greet the returning Xander.
"Not yet-" Buffy snatches it away from him, offering him her hand instead as they walk into the great hall. "Xand- what happened?" Buffy fearfully asks him.
"Shouldn't you be at home resting for your wedding?" Angel still tries clinging to some hope of keeping their friend from making the mansion his permanent residence.
"There's not going to be a wedding!!!"
"The hell there isn't!!" Buffy yells, finally nearing her own breaking point. "After all the cooking we've been doing!!"
"Anya told me that if I ever came back she'd have one of her relatives turn me into something so disgusting she hasn't even thought of it yet!"
"We're going to be eating chicken for the rest of our lives..." Angel sighs, slumping down onto the couch trying to think of how they were going to get rid of all the roasters they had spent the past few hours cooking.
"I can't believe her!" Xander begins pacing around wildly, not holding back his panic and anger. "I mean- I went over there as nice as could be, and what does she do? She almost bites my head off yelling at me!! Well no more!! I'm not taking any more of this from her!!"
"Xander look-" Angel slides over on the couch to sit beside him, desperately trying to think of what he could say to him to make him go back and straighten things out. "At least she got it out of her system before you two were married...so just be thankful, and...go back over there and agpologize."
"Apologize?! For what?! For wanting a little respect?!"
"That might be a good place to start..." Angel nervously grins, hoping his efforts would pay off. As he was thinking of any other possible explanations he could offer Xander, his train of thoughts was broken by the jarring ring of the phone.
"Hello? Anya-" Buffy springs to her feet as she hears Anya's voice over the line. "Hi! Yeah, he's here with us..."
"Tell her I think she's the scum of the earth!!" Xander intructs his friend.
"He says that you're the scum of the earth," Buffy absent-mindedly tells Anya. "But uh...he said it in a good way," she adds as an afterthought. "With a lot of love." Holding the phone to her shoulder, Buffy begins relaying messages between the two. "Anya says she's sorry."
"You see that-" Angel pats him on the back. "She said she's sorry. So I guess we'll just see the two of you in the morning, and-"
"Are you out of your mind?! I don't believe her!"
"Xander-" Angel raised his voice, ready to race into the kitchen for the metal pan Buffy had taken from him before. "The least you can do is talk to her..." Following his lead, Buffy hands the phone over to Xander, praying the two would work things out.
"Hello? Uh-huh...Uh-huh...Uh-huh...Uh-huh. Okay- bye." Slamming down the receiver, Xander turned to face the two slayers with a smile on his face.
"You khow, sometimes when you really talk things out like that you can solve almost any problem..." Buffy quips, hoping everything was now straightened out between the two.
"Anya's coming over and we're going to work things out *here*," Xander gives his friends a goofy grin, anxious to talk to the ex-demon he hoped was still his fiancee. "Isn't that great!!"
Feeling his wife slump her head down onto his shoulder, mumbling something about the friends she had, Angel lifted his weary head, speaking aloud to whatever Powers That Be were listening. "What is this- sarcasm?? You grant me my humanity but then you make me suffer through this?!"
******
"When do you think Willow and Tara will be over?"
"Not soon enough- come on, Gunn. You should've blocked that one..."
"When do you think Anya will get here?"
"Xander- I don't know. I'm trying to study this tape of that pack of Balzac demons they're fighting in LA, ok? She'll be here, don't worry." Leaving Angel to study his tape, Xander headed into one of the guest rooms to wait for Anya.
"Honey- you okay?" Buffy calls into him from the kitchen, trying to finish baking some more of the desserts. "What're you doing?"
"Trying to study this tape," he sighs, rewinding back through some of the parts he missed because of Xander. "These Balzac demons that Wolfram & Hart hired aren't your everyday assassins. I want to keep a close study on them if they should manage to attack Sunnydale." He begins watching the fight again, only to be interrupted by the doorbell. "Angel- can you get that? I've got my hands full."
"Sure..." he sighs, pausing his tape. "Will, Tara...come on in..." he invites the two witches in, anxious to return to his tape.
"You two done cooking yet?" Will asks.
"Oh hey, Will, Tara," Buffy comes bouncing into the living room. As the three friends begin talking, tyring to come up with any ideas to help Anya and Xander, Angel finds it increasingly difficult to study his tape. Letting out a huge sigh, which he was sure all three of them heard, he rewinds his tape again, only to be interrupted by the doorbell once more. "Does the world not want me to see this tape?" he wonders aloud as he heads over to the front door.
"Where's Xander??" a clearly still-angry Anya greets Angel, brushing right past him into the mansion.
"First guest room on the right..." he points her down the great hall, silently praying the whole horrendous experience would soon be over. <It's as if I own a hotel or something for our friends...except for that whole thing of me already owning a hotel. Funny- I don't charge rent on either of them...> he can't help chuckling to himself as he attempts to sit back down to view his tape, only to find Xander sitting in his spot, holding the now-broken tape in his hands.
"Sorry man..." Xander hands over the marred video, trying his best to get out an honest apology and explanation. "I just wanted to see what you were watching, so I tried ejecting it, only I didn't realize you had it on pause, she the machine kinda ate it...sorry." Before he could wait for a reaction from Angel, Anya grabbed Xander by the arm, dragging him back into the first guest room.
"Honey- isn't that the tape Cordy sent you? The one with the Balzac assassins?"
"It *was*..." Angel wimpers, taking the tape into the kitchen to throw away. "I think I managed to see all of thirty seconds of the fight..."
"Well the fight isn't over yet-" Willow races back into the living room after checking up on the hopefully soon-to-be-married couple trying to work things out. "The main event is going on in the bedroom..." Following the redhead, Angel, Buffy, and Tara race into the guest room to see Anya trying to choke Xander against the wall.
"Anya!" Tara shouts, as she and Buffy race over to pull her from her attack. "What're you doing? I thought you two were trying to work things out?"
"We are...this is my version of working things out with my so-called fiancee!"
"You two can't work things out by fighting!" Buffy pleads with her.
"The hell they can't!!" Angel, finally losing the grip he had on his frustrations, pulls Buffy back from in between the two as she tried separating them. "It's because of these two that I haven't slept in two days, been able to enjoy a meal, had to listen to a bunch of insane stories, and be annoyed in every other form imaginable. To top it all off, neither one of them respects us or our home, and because of them, I didn't get to see my fight on the tape all night, so I'm *going* to see a fight tonight!"
Part 11
"You're sure it's okay that we're all staying here, Buffy?" After Angel's outburst, Xander had kept his distance once he and Anya had finally straightened things out after an hour's worth of counseling from Will and Tara.
"Yeah, it's okay Xand. You guys too..." she places a hand on Willow's shoulder, welcoming her and Tara to stay as well. "Afterall, you two are the heroes." Without the resolving spell the wiccans had used to help settle things between Xander and Anya, Buffy doubted whether she'd have been cleaning up more dishes or wiping up her friends' blood.
"What about Dawnie?" Tara hesitates. "We told her we'd be back."
"Angel already left to pick her up. He knows you're all staying so he's bringing her back here. So, everybody get a good night's sleep and we'll get a nice fresh start in the morning..." <I hope> Buffy silently prays, following the others upstairs as they each find a guest room on the second floor. Slipping into some comfy shorts and a t-shirt, the slayer crawls into bed, waiting for Angel to return.
Buffy had just started dozing off when she heard him quietly slip under the covers next to her. "Angel? Is Dawn-"
"She's fine. She's in a room with Willow and Tara. Everyone else is asleep..." he whispers against her neck, gathering her into his arms as he leans his still-throbbing head back onto the pillows.
"We've got a little problem..." Buffy nervously announces. Angel lets out a heavy sigh, sitting up to receive the latest source of his seemingly never-ending problems.
"If you tell me that Xander and Anya finally killed one another, and *I* missed it-"
"No, no...they're fine," she whispers, cuddling closer to him. "I think there's something wrong with the heater..."
"Is that all?" Angel lets out a small laugh, the problem of their heater being on the fritz microscopic compared to his recent forms of torture. "That's nothing, we can fix it tomorrow morning...we've got the fireplace going in here- we're fine..." he captures her lips in a lingering kiss, thankful that tomorrow was Friday and Xander and Anya would finally be married, off on their honeymoon, and out of his hair in a mere 24 hours.
The sudden extra warmth that he felt against his back took Angel by surprise. Breaking out of their kiss, he cranes his neck to see just what else was in bed with them. "Dawn? What are you doing?"
"Trying to sleep..." the young girl tells him matter-or-factly.
"In *our* bed," Angel points out.
"You two are the only ones with a fireplace on your bedroom and it's freezing in all the other rooms...can I stay in here tonight?" Even through the darkness of the room, Angel could just picture her giving him the trademark puppy-eyes she had picked up from her big sister. Never being able to resist either Summers girl, he gently nodded, pulling Buffy against his chest as Dawn curled up next to him, and the three tried settling down to sleep.
The knock at the bedroom door was all it took to bring their attempt to a screeching halt. "Dawnie? What are you doing up? It's almost one in the- hey! A fireplace..." Willow observes. "Warmth..." she beams, dragging Tara along with her as they hurry over to the bed. "Would you two mind if we crash in here tonight? It's freezing in our room...it's so cold there's an icicle forming on the nose of my bunny slippers."
"Why do you think I left?" Dawn lifts an eye open, lifting up the covers to them before Angel or Buffy could protest. "Willow- get your bunny's nose off of my butt..." she whines, curling closer to Angel to avoid coming into more contact with the cold noses of the slippers. She was sure she heard Angel mumble something about suffering, but she brushed it off and snuggled back into the pillows.
"Everybody just go to sleep, okay?" Buffy pleads. Silence once again falls upon the master bedroom until the final two houseguests emerge. "So here's where you all went..." Xander observes, marching into the room with Anya right on his heels. "Do you guys know there's something wrong with your heater? All the other rooms are ice cold...except for this one...Hey! Room for two more? So long as you two don't start with the big smoochies-" he nods to a moaning Buffy and Angel. "You guys too," he warns Willow and Tara.
"So long as you two wild bunnies take your own advice," Will snaps back, slinging an arm over Tara's stomach.
Without saying a word, Angel grabs his pillow and crawls out from underneath Buffy. Hurrying over to their closet, he grabs a blanket from one of the shelves, and heads towards the door.
"Angel? Honey- where are you going?"
"I'm sleeping outside!! I can't take this!!"
"Oh no- you're not leaving me here to deal with all of them by myself, mister!" Buffy tries stopping him, hopping out of bed and grabbing his arm, yanking him back into bed. You guys do know that there's a nice, big, cozy fireplace *downstairs* that you all could use, don't you?"
"Yeah- but then there's that whole fighting about who gets the couch and the chairs and who sleeps on the floor thing," Xander explains for the group. "Since you guys have a killer King size bed, it's just easier for all of us to crash in here, dontcha think?" he grins, as he and Anya hop into bed along with the others.
"Everybody.just be quiet and sleep, okay?" Angel begs, seeking comfort from Buffy as she places her head back onto his chest. The seven friends layed peacefully, and actually comfortably ontop of the massive mattress, for a few moments until Anya announced her complaint.
"I'm not going to be able to sleep- I'm on the wrong side of the bed!"
"Well I usually sleep on the left side-" Dawn chimes in. "And I want to be on the left side."
"What the hell is everyone so particular about?!" Angel rolls over towards them. "Just go to sleep!!"
The silence that followed Angel's desperate order was quickly shattered by Xander.
"Oh man- I forgot something."
"Go in your pajamas-" Willow snaps back, not wanting to upset Angel anymore than what he'd already been subjected to.
"No- I forgot to say my prayers..."
"Xander- it's one in the morning," Tara sighs. "I really don't think God would mind if you missed one night."
"If he doesn't shut up, I'm going to give him a reason to say his
prayers..." Buffy groans, now just about as fed up of Xander's weird ways as Angel was. Ignoring their protests, Xander crawls out of bed, kneeling down on the floor and folding his hands together. "Hey Big Guy. It's me- Xander Harris. I hope I didn't wake you?"
"Oh God..." Angel wimpers, almost on the verge of tears as he continues trying to put up with the menace known as Xander Harris.
"One at a time, Angel." Xander promises him, smiling as he goes back to his praying. "I'll be done in a minute, then you can talk to the Big Guy."
"You don't want to know what I'll pray for..."
******
"Angel? Sweetie, are you down here?" About ten minutes after Xander finished his praying and everyone finally fell asleep, Buffy noticed her husband's absence in bed. Suspecting that he'd actually gone to sleep outside, she first checked out back in the courtyard. Seeing that he preferred the coldness of the mansion instead of the coldness of outdoors, she finally found him in the kitchen, sitting on a stool over a steaming mug and a piece of paper, a study pen in his hand as he drew.
"What're you doing?" she asks, pulling up a stool alongside him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"They say having a hobby helps prevent insanity..." he informs her, showing her his latest drawing of her.
"It's beautiful..." she whispers, still amazed by his talents. "What're you doing up?"
"Avoiding the pain of being asleep with our five guests," he chuckles.
"I know, I know." Soothingly rubbing a hand across his bare back, Buffy places a gentle kiss on his shoulder blade. "I've been meaning to thank you- for putting up with everything. I know Xander's not the easiest person to tolerate..."
"It's okay..." he finally answers her, releasing a deep sigh. "It's just for tonight. Tomorrow it'll be all over and-"
"And what-"
"Shh." he places a hand up to silence her. "Do you hear that?"
"Yeah..." her ears follow the sound of the footsteps approaching the kitchen. "What is that? You don't think those Balzac demons have migrated here, do you?"
"I don't know. Come on." Angel takes her hand, leading her into the great hall on the defense. "Be careful.I didn't really get a chance to study that tape, so- Buffy!" Angel quickly spins around upon hearing the blunt strike against his wife's head. Reaching for her startled form, he comes face to face with.
"Xander!!!!" both slayers scream. "What the hell are you doing?!" Buffy demands, holding the back of her head from the blow of the wooden stake he hit her with.
"I heard noise coming drom downstairs so I came down to see what was going on. I didn't know it was you two."
"Unfreakin' believable!" Buffy shouts. "I've managed to live longer than any other slayer..."
"I've managed to live almost 250 years...I've survived the plague, two world wars..."
"...demons, vampires, *and* an ascention, not to mention a hellgod...one night we'll make a creak in the floor *of our own home* and stable-mable here will knock our heads off!!" Buffy tosses her arms into the air, finally having enough of her friend. "That's it!" Buffy grabs him under the arms while Angel lifts him by his legs, and the two slayers carry him over to the front door.
"Guys! Wait! I'm sorry- I didn't know!! I was trying to protect everyone..."
"It's usually not a good place to start protecting everyone by knocking out a more capable slayer..." Buffy informs him. With a quick toss, Xander is back outside on the ground.
"Don't I get a pillow or something? Maybe a blan-" Xander's complaints are silenced as a pillow and two blankets were tossed at him and the front doors were slammed shut.
"This is no way to treat a groom-to-be!!" A smile appears on his face as the door opens once more, a second pillow being tossed at him.
"Wait- I can't do this..." Buffy realizes, opening the door to retrieve the two pillows. "Use a couple of rocks- then maybe you'll know how my head feels!!"
"Are you okay?" Angel worries, checking the back of her head for any serious damage.
"Oh I'm fine- I've had worse." she assures him, pulling him over to the fireplace in the great hall. "I just wanted the extra pillows for us tonight."
"We're sleeping down here...?" Angel asks her.
"Well...maybe we'll get *some* sleeping done..." she suggests in a playful whisper, licking her bottom lip as she pulls him down before he can respond. "First you've gotta make my head feel better..."
Part 12
"I am *not* wearing this..."
"Same goes for me- you can get yourself two other bridesmaids..." The group's collective temperment wasn't much better come 10 o'clock the next morning. Anya currently found herself in an argument with Buffy and Willow over their dresses for the wedding.
"What do you mean you're not wearing them? You have to!? Anya marched over
to her two friends, her emotions running rampant. "Are you trying to ruin the happiest day of my life??"
"Hmmm...twelve hours ago she was ready to choke Xander, and now it's the
happiest day of her life...?"
"What was that, Angel?" the ex-demon turned to face the mumbling slayer.
"Nothing...nothing...just trying to quietly drink my juice- that's all..."
"Anya-" Buffy called her attention. "We look like we should be cocktail waitresses in The Little Mermaid?and I hate green. I cannot wear this!?
"Me either...?"Willow agreed, beginning to further support their argument when the chimes of the doorbell began echoing throughout the mansion.
"Hello?" Rise and shine my little wedding elves..." Cordy's cheerful voice was a welcome change as she and the others from LA came waltzing inside. "We've got a busy, busy day ahead of us..."
"Out of the way you twit!!" A smoking blanket bolted straight past the brunette as Spike hurled himself away from the sun's dangerous rays. "I'm gettin? too old for this crap!!"
"Finally...sane people..." Angel sighed, relief in his voice as he wrapped his arms around his childe in a giant hug.
"Umphf!" To say Angel's gesture took Spike by surprise would be a huge understatement. "It's uh- nice to see you too, Angel..." Seeing that the ex-vampire wasn't letting go anytime soon, Spike helplessly looked towards Buffy for help. "Ummm...what's Peaches doing hugging me like I was you?"
"Angel.."? Buffy lets out a small laugh, rushing over to them. "Angel- honey..." she manages to pull him off of the blonde vamp. "You're hugging Spike..." Finally realizing what he was doing, he pulled back a few steps, shaking his head a bit.
" really, *really* have to spend some time away from Xander..." he sighs, patting Spike on the shoulder as he brushes past him, greeting the others.
"Angel? You okay, man?" Gunn is the first to notice his boss' disheveled state. "You look a little...fryed. Everything okay?"
"Gunn's right..." Giles agrees, taking in Angel's weary state. "You look exhausted..."
"This wedding can't come soon enough..." he answers them, reaching out to return the warm hug Fred was offering.
"It's really nice of you and Buffy to have the wedding here," Fred praises him.
"Just keep telling me that, will you?"
"Hey- I suggested we just give them ten bucks each and let them elope in Vegas," Cordy reminds him, "but no one listened. And now you're paying for it," she grinned, receiving a sort of warning kiss on the forehead from Angel, as he passed her a glare that just screamed "don't start".
"So when are all the guests arriving?" Wes asked once everyone had sat down
to breakfast.
"Around 3..." Buffy responds. "All the food's ready, so all we have to do is finish decorating-"
"Which is where *I* come in," Cordelia boasts. "I have a knack for these things. I'll give this wedding the Chase-Charm in no time..."
"Chase-Charm?" Dawn raises an eyebrow at her. "Sounds like a new cereal..."
she laughs.
"Another one who doesn't appreciate my sense of humor. You're just like Xander- he could never.. wait speaking of the groom-to-be, where is he?"
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Xander all morning..." Tara realizes. "He wasn't in bed when we woke up..."
"Whoa!!" Gunn almost chokes on his eggs as he hears the wiccan's last remark. "What were you doing in bed with Xander? And who's ?we??"
"Long story..." Angel says, hoping that he wouldn't have to go into the painful details. "You mean he never came in last night...?" he asks Anya.
"Came in. Where would he be coming in from?"
"Oh- we sorta...threw him out..." Buffy meekly says, averting her eyes to the ceiling.
"You threw my fiancee out?! Why the hell did you do that?!" Anya demanded.
"Your bold and daring fiancee almost knocked my wife's head off last night trying to play hero..." Angel informs her as he stands to head over to the front doors. "We gave him some blankets and a pillow and let him sleep outside..." he calls out, opening the front door, expecting to see Xander asleep, but finding nothing. "Wait- didn't you guys notice him outside when you came?" he asks his LA crew.
"Do you honestly think my eyes wouldn't pick up on some gawky guy laying
around in his jammies?" Cordy speaks for the group. "We didn't even see any
blankets..."
"No worries..." Spike announces, returning from looking out into the back courtyard. "I found your missing fool...would've brought him in myself, but I'm not about to turn myself into a crispy critter just to drag his ass inside..."
The others gathered around, staring out at Xander's still-sleeping form in the back courtyard. Curled up with a blanket, his head resting peacefully on the grass, he almost looked cute.
"That's adorable..." Fred declares.
"I wouldn't call a grown man sucking his thumb adorable, Fred," Cordy gags,
turning on her heel to return to the kitchen and attempt to finish her breakfast with that wonderful image.
******
"Stop fidgeting...how do you expect me to get this tie straight?" Buffy scolds herfriend, trying for a third time to fix Xander's tie.
"Didn't Angel say he was going to do this? I mean, he's still..." Xander pauses for a moment, holding his breath, "...he's still my best man...right?"
"Sure- it's just that right now, I think if Angel were to be around you he would lose what little sense you've all left him from this past week and wouldn?t be able to fullfill his more important duties as best man..." Buffy trails off with a laugh, counting down the minutes until the whole ordeal would be over.
"He's really not that mad...is he?"
"Not mad- more like ready to delve into a deep depression that may require a
straight jacket."
"Buff- I know we haven't been the easiest to put up with...okay- *I* haven't been the easiest to put up with," he corrects himself once she passes him that familiar stare. "But I really appreciate-"
"It's okay Xand...we all know how you get and...and...well, we love you anyway. There-" she pulls back to admire her work. "You look great..."
"You don't look too bad yourself, missy..." he grins, admiring the simple sky-blue dress the slayer had finally convinced Anya to let her wear. "Buffy...in case I haven't said it enough over the years...I just wanted to...I wanted to say..."
"I know..." she smiles. "Just make sure you tell Angel before the day's over- Oh! I completely forgot..." she slaps a hand to her forehead as she races towards the bedroom door to head downstairs. "I left Angel and Dawn to deal with all the guests arriving!"
"What's wrong with that?" Xander calls after her.
"Xand- Angel dealing with friends is torturous enough on him...but dealing with friends? families?? Especially your's and Anya's?? You really want him to be committed to the local asylum by the end of the day, don't you??" Without waiting for a response, she bounces down the stairway in search of her sure-to-be overwhelmed husband.
******
"Are you going to give us a hand, or what?"
"Hey!" Spike leaned back in his seat in the den to peer out into the hall. "I helped set up chairs! I've done my share of the work!"
"Spike..." Angel calls after him again, growing more frustrated by the minute.
"I'm watching Passions! And I warn you- if you mess with my show, I'll make Xander's lil' antics seem like a walk in the park compared to how I'll annoy the hell out of you!" Angel flailed his arms in defeat as he and Dawn were left to deal with the bride's and groom's families.
"Dawn...? Was that a member of Xander's family or Anya's?"
"Well...I'm sure I smelled alcohol, so I'm leaning towards Xander's..."
"But she looks like she has scales..."
"And again I say- I'm leaning towards Xander's..." Dawn nudges him, passing him a smile as they continue to welcome all the guests into the mansion.
"What about that one-" Angel stretches out an arm to point towards one of the taller guests to sit down in the great hall.
"Definitely Anya's-"
"How can you tell? She looks so...I wouldn't say normal, but...not so...demonic."
"Didn't you see what she did to Xander's cousin Rachel?"
"No- what did...?" Angel followed the young girl into the hall as she pointed out Xander's cousin, now comletely unrecognizable as a small speckled lizard perched atop the tall demon's shoulder. "Okay...that settles it- after this wedding, the mansion is off-limits to everyone for a whole week..." he sighs, wincing his eyes as he watches the demon zap another member of Xander's family, rendering poor Aunt Ethel into a turtle, slowly trotting it's way into the kitchen.
"Angel? Angel!" Buffy leaps into his open arms as she comes bouncing down the steps, glad that he seemed to be in good spirits despite the chaos surrounding him. "Are you okay? How's everything going down here with the guests?"
"Lizards...turtles..." he lightly chuckles, "what next- a goat?"
"I really think you *have* been around Xander too much this week," Buffy giggles, pulling out of their embrace to pass him a confused look.
"Anya's relatives are firing their powers at will. So far they've turned two of Xander's relatives into animals..."
"Uh...guys...?" Willow races over to the staircase with her news. "Make that three..."
"What do you mean?" Buffy asks the redhead.
"You know Uncle Stanley?"
"He's here? That's great!" Buffy cheers.
"Yeah- but I don't remember him bearing a strikig resemblance to a parrot the last time I saw him..." In between laughs, Buffy started up the stairs to talk with Anya about taming some of her more outgoing family members before they could turn the mansion into a basic pet store.
"Hey Peaches..." Spike comes strolling over to him and the others, still shaking his head at what he thinks he just saw. "Do you realize you've got a pig and a bunch of rabbits in your library??" Quickly brushing past him, Angel, Dawn, and Willow race down the hall, gathering up whatever other animals they passed along the way.
"Who needs Passions?" Spike chuckles to himself. "You can't get much freakier than this place..."
Part 13
About an hour and twelve animals later, smiles were beaming throughout the mansion, as Angel and Dawn were the first to come down the red-carpeted aisle, taking their place by Xander. The pride was evident in Dawn's face, while Angel's eyes averted to his watch, anticipating each passing minute to the end of the event. The next to come down were Wesley and Spike, the latter of which kept mumbling to himself about hating weddings with each stride. Cordelia, Buffy, and Willow followed after them, each in their own choice of dress, sharing a silent prayer of thanks among them that they wouldn't have to be sentenced to ultimate humiliation in Anya's chosen dresses for the three. After what seemed like forever, Anya started her promenade down the aisle escorted by Giles. She beamed as she finally reached the end, almost jumping out of her dress as she and Xander gleefully joined hands.
The same preist Giles called upon for Angel and Buffy's wedding, by now quite familiar with the uniqueness of the Scoobies, happily began the long-awaited ceremony.
"...do you, Alexander, take thee, Anya, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forth, for as long as you both shall live?" Xander, a brilliant smile radiating across his face, tried to contain his excitement as he replied "I do..."
"Do you Anya, take thee, Alexander, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forth, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Anya stated with a glimmer of tears welling up in her eyes. After exchanging the rings, the priest addressed the audience. "And now Anya and Alexander would like to exchange vows they have written themselves."
"Here it comes..." Dawn pouted from her spot beside Angel, receiving a light nudge from the best man, as well as a small laugh.
"Please- I'll strap myself to a chair and plunge in the stake...just don't make me listen to this-" Spike's plea is quickly silenced by Buffy's elbow, sticking him straight in the ribs.
"Xander- my little Xandie-pooh bear..." Anya's sacchrin-filled voice fell on deaf ears as the crowd slowly tuned her out, being more preoccupied in their own arguments.
"You lousy freak! Skin-condition my ass!"
"You want to try me you whining hick?!"
"Would you all just pipe down! My son is getting married!" Mrs. Harris tried gaining control of the angry mob forming.
"Yeah-" Mr. Harris agreed. "Of course, it doesn't help that he's marrying some tempermental, flaky jezebel, but..."
"That's it!" one of Anya's former mentor-demons, Sorel, bolted up from his chair, prepared to fight. "Sigmien-" he turned to the orange creature sitting beside him, "hold my tail! I'm not about to let that insult slide!"
As Anya continued her ode to Xander, the rest of the wedding party were placing bets on how long Mr. Harris could last in his fight with the tailed demon. "I give him another two minutes..." Cordy leans over Angel's shoulder to get a closer look. "Should we stop them?"
"And prolong this wedding any further?!" Buffy snaps back. "Forget it! Just let them fight it out...maybe they'll all leave sooner..."
"...you are the man I never thought I'd meet- let alone actually love and copulate with..." Anya, oblivious to the fighting guests, finally finished her speech. "And I love you."
"Uh..." the priest, still watching the separate fights unfold, hesitated for a moment before addressing Xander. "Xander...? Would you like to...recite your vow?"
"Ummm..." hard as it was to turn his eyes away from watching his father take a hard right jab, Xander finally remembered his own special words for his bride. "Oh yeah...I love you," he goofily smiled.
"That's it?" Anya gasped back. "That's it?! 'I love you?!' "
"And...thank you?" he offered her, not really knowing how else he could express his love and appreciation for the ex-demon.
"That's better..." Anya nodded her head, turning back to the priest. "We're ready now..."
"Yes, of course...umm...sh-should there be anyone here today who...has reason why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, let them speak now...or forever hold their peace...." Fairly sure that the boxing match that had now encompassed the great hall was not listening, the priest chuckled to himself as he concluded the small ceremony, "Then, by the power vested in me and the city of Sunnydale, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
As Xander reached for his wife, Angel pulled him out of the way, just in time to save his head from the flying chair's fury. "Are you alright?" he checked.
"Just another fun-filled get together...yay!" he responds, wrapping an arm around Anya's waist, pulling her out of harm's reach.
"How do you propose we deal with the family feud?" Dawn asks the group
"Without any more violence," Wes quickly adds, noting the devious look creep onto Spike's face.
******
"Awww...thanks Uncle Stanley..." Xander hops up from his seat at the head table to wrap his arms around his favorite uncle, finally returned to human form.
"You do know how to use one of these, don't you?"
"Of course..." he replies, appreciatively eyeing the new bow and arrow set he received as a wedding present.
"What kind of present is that?" Fred asks Willow from their table.
"Uncle Stanley is really into hunting..." the smiling wiccan explains.
"Yet he's afraid of riding a train?" Buffy questions. "He's all gung-ho when it comes to killing an animal, but a simple train gives him the willies??"
"This is *Xander's* uncle we're talking about..." Cordy reminds her, rolling her eyes as she sees one of Anya's relatives hand the couple an erratically shaking box with airholes.
"Be very careful..." the small gray demon warns the timid pair. "Dyersons are known to charge at random..." handing the box over to Anya, he leans down to whisper in her ear. "They're very moody..."
"Then it's a perfect pet for Anya..." Spike murmurs, though a few of the others picked up on it.
"Sigmien!" Sorel once again turned to his fellow demon as he prepared to challenge Spike.
"I know, I know...'hold my tail'..." The orange speckled demon grabs hold as Sorel approaches the bleach-blonde loudmouth.
"Oh this oughta be good..." Spike laughs, standing from his seat. "Come on, spotty...you want to go a few rounds with the big bad?"
"Hold it!" Cordelia rushes over to stand between them, somehow managing to keep them at arm's length away from each other. "If any of you are going to be doing any more fighting, do it somewhere else! The last time I checked, this wasn't some wrestling arena! Besides...you're going to ruin my wonderful decorations," she pouts. "Now stop acting like a bunch of brats, sit down, shut up, and try to enjoy what should be a happy occasion...of course, it never is for us," she stops, taking a minute to reevaluate what she had just said. "Something always goes wrong for all of us...either some big monster-"
"Cordy?" Buffy tries quieting her.
"...or someone turning all evil-"
"Cordy??"
"...or the world's coming to an end-"
"Cordy!!" Buffy's shout finally pulls the brunette off of her tangent. "I think you've made your point..."
"Sorry Buffy...I guess I got a little sidetracked there...now where was I? Oh yeah- everyone sit down and enjoy!" Cordelia was amazed at the effect her little speech had on the crowd. The rowdy bunch was now all sitting at their respective tables, hushed looks across all their faces.
"I guess on that note," Angel speaks up, reaching over to hand Xander an envelope. "Here's our gift for the two of you." Xander quickly rips through the paper to reveal Buffy and Angel's wedding gift for the happy couple.
"Alright!! Hawaii!! This is so cool...but...we can't accept this..." Xander solemnly replies.
"The hell we can't!" Anya corrects him, reaching to snatch the tickets.
"Honey- they didn't even get to enjoy all of their time in Hawaii...it wouldn't really be fair if we got away for a week when they had to cut their own honeymoon short. Besides, this is too much..."
"Xander-" Angel reaches over to place an arm around his shoulders. "Trust me when I say, we'll really enjoy having you and Anya accept this. So- enjoy it! You've both earned this!" he tries convincing him.
"Angel, this is really awesome of you guys. Thanks alot," he pulls his friend into a hug, already thinking about what to go home and pack for their trip.
"You've both got this coming to you..." Angel smiles, happy to see his friends take him up on the offer. "So- are you two going to have you're first dance together, or what?" he suggests, heading back to his table to grab his own beloved and pull her out to the floor for their own dance to the touching song they'd both chosen for their newly married friends.
I don't understand how the sun keeps shining
And I don't understand why the seasons change
And I don't have a clue what makes the rivers flow
Loving you is all I know
"I thought we were giving them a new set of dishes?" Buffy lifts her head from Angel's shoulder, still clueless as to why he had opted to grant Xander and Anya an all-expenses paid trip to beautiful Hawaii.
"Would you believe me if I said I couldn't part with the dishes we picked out? I just liked them too much to give them away," he smiled, knowing that she wasn't buying into his story.
"You did something, didn't you?" Buffy eyed him suspiciously as she laid her head back onto his shoulder.
"You'll find out soon enough..."
I can't tell you why stars come out in the evening
And I can't tell you where they go when they're gone
And I don't have a clue what makes a flower grow
Loving you is all I know
I don't know how the world keeps on spinning 'round
I don't know why the sky don't come falling down
I just know that I would die without your touch
I don't know why the tide needs to reach the shore
I just know that I need you for forevermore
Knowing that I get inside our love
"How soon do you think we can get everybody out of here?" The virtuous look that Angel was trying to give her was anything but, and Buffy was absolutely powerless against him.
"Why...? You've got someplace you have to be?" Buffy whispers, becoming lost in his touch, feeling him stroking her back, squeezing ever so softly as they swayed from side to side.
"Mmmm...as a matter of fact...I've closed down the hotel services we seem to have been running here lately. I was thinking for the next week you and I could spend some uninterrupted time together. Just you...me...our nice warm guest-free bed..." he smiled against her neck, ever so gently brushing a kiss across her scar.
I don't understand how the sun keeps shining
I don't understand why the seasons change
And change and change
I don't have a clue what makes the rivers flow
Loving you is all I know
Loving you is all I know
"You...and me...no one else allowed into the mansion for a whole seven days?" she managed to get out between kisses.
"Tresspassers will be thrown off the premises..." he chuckled.
"Yeah- but they always come back," she frowned, passing a glance towards Xander, not-so-gracefully sweeping Anya off her feet while dancing.
"We won't answer the door or phone," he promises. "Just the two of us...and maybe some of those desserts you made...the ones with all the icing," he suggests, immediately noticing the huge smile break out across her lips.
"When does our week start?"
"Anytime you want. Since their flight leaves tomorrow, I guess Xander and Anya will be headed home soon to pack, so-"
"Out!! Everybody out!!" Buffy pulls herself away after already shouting her orders into her husband's ear. Moving from guest to guest, she hastily rushes all of them out of the mansion, finally turning to her friends. "Well? What are you all still doing here? Shouldn't you be doing homework or something?" she asks her sister.
"It's a Friday night..." Dawn reminds her.
"And you two- don't you have some packing to do?" she asks Anya.
"We thought you'd want us to help clean up?" Gunn speaks up for the group.
"Well, considering how well you all helped clean up the place after our own wedding..." Buffy again tries urging them all out the front doors.
"But...we *didn't* help you clean up after your wedding," Dawn reminds them.
"Well- you're all forgiven, so you don't have to stick around to help clean up now!" Buffy explains, while Angel can't help but laugh at his love's attempts to clear out their home.
"Come on, bit..." Spike wraps an arm around Dawn's shoulders, escorting her and the others out, having a pretty good idea of the reasoning behind Buffy's insistence that they all depart as soon as possible. "Take advantage of getting out of cleaning duty. You feel like a movie? We can take in a double creature-feature. You two..." he sticks his head back into the doorway, giving the slayers a knowing grin. "Enjoy..."
"Trust me, we will now," Buffy promises, slamming the door in his face before leaping into Angel's arms.
Part 14
By 10am Saturday morning, the Scoobies were all enjoying their
much-needed time apart. Anya and Xander would soon be arriving in Hawaii.
Dawn, Cordy, Will, and Tara had returned to the Hyperion with the LA gang to
do some quality-time bonding and shopping, while Buffy and Angel were still
basking in the midst of their family-free, weeklong peace.
"Look what you did!"
"Me?" Angel nearly choked on his chocolate cream puff as he passed his wife
a surprised look.
"Yes you!- you're the one who's been eating all the chocolate ones, so I'd
like to know who else could've gotten all of this messy cream all over Mr.
Gordo!" she giggled, trying to rid her beloved pink pig of the icing that
covered his plush exterior.
"I'm sure he'll forgive me..." Angel murmurs into her ear before dipping
closer to her for another hungry kiss. They kissed like that for a minute
until Buffy moved to bury her face against his chest, seeking the
overpowering warmth and love from the only truly safe haven she ever knew.
"So when do I get my demonstration?" Angel slowly stroked the left side of
her face with his palm, a dreamy satisfied
smile on his face.
"Oh yeah- I did promise you a special display of my talents, didn't I?" A
full, *uninterrupted* fifteen hours since Buffy had cleared out the mansion,
beginning their week alone had been blissfully spent. "Now you have to
promise you won't laugh..." Buffy warned him as she began to maneuver her
way around him on the bed.
Lounging lazily back onto their bed, idly playing with his claddagh
wedding ring, Angel awaited the promised entertainment by his beloved. Her
small manicured right hand extended toward the remaining pieces of fruit,
selecting a plump ripe red Macintosh apple. Gracefully, the piece of fruit
was placed upon the tip of her slender nose, as if it were being offered to
somebody above. After taking a soft readying breath, the petite blonde
began prancing around the room on her toes.
Trying his best to control his chuckles, he drank in this beauty before
him, thinking back to the first time he saw her. She was everything foreign to him during his time spent in squalor on the streets of New York- innocent, and trusting. He knew that he could possibly be permitted to admire her physical loveliness from afar, but she was completely out of his league and would more than likely want nothing to do with a bum like him. He had never known such goodness existed in a single individual.
Buffy stopped singing long enough to remark, "I can hear you laughing, Angel, and that is completely unfair, you know that?! After six years of grace, charm, and etiquette classes, this was my greatest accomplishment, and you should at least have the common courtesy of appreciating it!" She chomped on her bottom lip, so the vibration of her laughter would not knock the object off its pedestal. "Sorta like a trained seal in the circus, huh?" she giggled, laughing at her own ridiculousness.
"Well, I wouldn't say a seal. Maybe a flamingo though. An incredibly beautiful flamingo who's still got some chocolate icing on her chin." Finally, a rumble of laughter erupted from Angel's laying form as he leaned up to appreciatively lick the sugary substance from her equally sweet skin.
Buffy smiled in spite of herself. Just to be able to hear Angel laugh- his laugh was so genuine. It could and would always be able to melt her heart. "A flamingo? That's not so bad. Dawn always wanted me to stick some pink flamingos in the front yard. I never thought mom would've liked it though..." she trailed off, and Angel immediately noticed the glimmer of sadness in her eyes. "It's still...hard to believe..."
A brief moment later, he sought her hand, capturing it and leading her to the space right next to him on the bed. "She's proud of you..." he assures her. "She's proud of both of you..." Buffy looked deeply into the intense set of eyes directly across from her. Eyes just as set on his, she whispered back, stroking his neck, "Are you sure?"
"How could she not be?" was Angel's earnest reply. She returned his broad smile, caressing his cheek. "I love you..."
"I love you," he replied, this time gently pushing against her as they kissed, gently lowering back onto the sheets. His lips brushed tenderly against Buffy's upper lip and jaw, heightening her senses as she casually moved her hands from his shoulders to the back of his neck. But as she pulled him closer, the sudden knocking at the door broke their moment of peace. "Angel..." she sighed, beginning to pout as he pushed himself off of her to answer the door. "What happened to no interruptions this week?"
"I'm keeping my promise," he assured her. "I told you all tresspassers will be thrown off the grounds," he flashed her his trademark half-smile. "I'll go deal with our guest- you try to clean all of the chocolate cream off of Mr. Gordo," he sealed their deal with a kiss before jetting downstairs.
He hastily flung the front door open, prepared to grab whoever was behind it and start hurling, but was taken aback when there was no one there. He craned his neck a bit, searching down either side of the street to see anyone, still somewhat surprised. Turning around, shutting the doors behind him, his steadily beating heart almost stopped once he saw the annoying, badly dressed, smart-ass, oddly-grinning familiar figure standing behind him. "Whistler? What are you doing here?"
"Ya know, usually, the traditional way of greeting a guest is to say hello and take their coat and hat," he grinned, brushing right past him and into their kitchen. "But since I don't trust anybody with my clothes but me, I'll let it slide this time. So my man..." he paused to take a sip from the drink he had poured himself, "tell me- how are you enjoying your humanity? Things going well with the missus?"
"Wonderful," he shot back, annoyed to no end that not only did he have friends and family constantly barging into his home, but also a meddling little imp who came and went as he saw fit. "In fact, you're interrupting us, so if you don't mind..."
"Hey- by all means, don't let me come between you two, a bed, and a whole lotta smoochies," he replies, Angel glaring at him even more upon hearing his voice, laced with sarcasm. "Easy there, buddy. That's kinda the reason I'm here."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talkin' about a new side mission the Powers sent me here to tell you two about."
"What more are we supposed to do?" Angel scoffed. "I mean- what more *can* we do?"
"A child..." Whistler watched the slayer's face shift as he finally registered what he had just been told. Sitting down across from him, Angel finally found his words again. "Child?"
"Yeah I know- scary isn't it? I mean- the two of you with a kid? How freaky is this poor thing gonna be?" Whistler, cleared his throat nervously as Angel shot him an angry, but still-confused stare. "Anyway, don't go getting all wigged-out on me. I'm not saying that come tomorrow morning you're gonna be pushing around some rugrat in a stroller, but it's gonna happen. The Powers are just waiting for the right moment to put things into action-"
"Okay- explain this all to me, with a little more detail and a little less attitude," Angel demands.
Taking an exhausted sigh, Whistler places his cup onto the side table and leans over to begin explaining things a little more clearly. "There's never been a male slayer- that is, until you came along and got in the good graces of the Powers. The two of you together...you're the strongest weapons we've got in all this whole big 'fighting evil' gig. So the Powers have already decided...the two of you are going to have the first child born to any slayer.
Kid's supposed to be the best parts of both of you- and that ain't sayin' much if you ask me- and it's gonna be another warrior to work for the Powers- consider the kid your's and blondie's retirement plan. Once you two are in some Slayer retirement home boring people to death with stories about your 'glory days', the Powers will have this slayer to rely on. Awww...now don't you feel all special?" he smiled, secretly looking forward to seeing his two favorite people as parents.
"But...we...I mean- why...how..."
"Come on- you're missing one more..." Whistler urged, chuckling at Angel's inability to comprehend. "Aw- you forgot 'what'...but then, I think you've got a pretty good idea as to 'what' a child actually is, so I'll let you two get back to whatever you were doing," he brushes a hand in the air towards the stairway, ready to leave the Powers' chosen warriors to enjoy some peace and quiet.
"Before you take off again..." Whistler turns upon hearing Angel's voice. "Would you explain one more thing to me?"
"Well...I suppose you've been a good boy...what do you want to know?"
"If the Powers think I'm such a great warrior...why did they grant me my humanity only to have it plagued by Xander?" he lets out a small laugh, still reeling from the news he had just received.
"That one's a mystery for the ages, my man. I think the better question is why did the Powers grant Xander *his* humanity...but I'm sure you already know the answer to that," he smiles, and not just one of his creepy snickering smiles, but an honest-to-goodness, genuine, warm and heartfelt smile.
"Yeah...I do..." Angel smiled, knowing just how important Xander really was to everyone. <At least, that's what Buffy keeps reminding me whenever I have the urge to strangle him.> Watching the demon leave, he almost didn't hear Buffy calling down to him.
"Angel?? What are you doing down there? Who was at the door anyway? Angel??"
"Yeah..." he breathed out once he reached their room. "It was...some kid selling...something."
"A kid? Wait- you didn't actually toss a kid out, did you?"
"No- of course not. I just...wanted to make sure that you had enough time to clean up Mr. Gordo," he smiled, joining his wife and her stuffed pink pig under the covers. Angel began to gingerly nibble on her pouty bottom lip, almost apprehensively, but Buffy's right leg began to slowly creep up his left one, tipping him more in her direction, as his muscular upper body came sinking down upon her shoulders. His mouth hungrily captured her's, but she anxiously welcomed him, moaning her consent. Her tongue teased Angel this time, and he clutched her closer to him, trying to keep his self-control in check.
As their breathing became one, Buffy felt herself being drawn deep within him, as Angel slowly began to inhale her comforting scent. She equaled his intensity and desire, reaching for more of him with every simultaneous breath. She was not aware of exactly where his hands were at that very moment because she felt him everywhere. Her hands followed suit by wandering down the back of him, the world fading farther away from them, as they pressed closer and closer towards one another, fitting together perfectly. Just as Buffy thought that her heart could not thump any louder in her chest, she groaned in protest as the ringing of the phone jarred them back to reality.
"We're taking all the phones off the hook....once we finally decide to get out of bed that is..." she giggles playfully, pulling him back down to her. "Just let the machine get it..." As they returned to the first full day of their week long, family-free vacation, they couldn't help but listen as the message came over their machine.
"Hey guys- it's Xander! I know you're probably in bed right now doing god knows what, but we just arrived in Hawaii and had to call and thank you both again! This place is so awesome! The weather's beautiful, and there's coconuts, and sand, and volcanos, and..."
"And two very annoying people..." Buffy adds her own commentary against Angel's lips, reaching over to shut the machine off.
"Wait-" Angel pulls out of their kiss, grabbing her hand before she can reach the side table. "You're going to want to hear this..." he smiles down at her.
"...and it's just so amazing! We really can't thank you enough for such a great wedding present!"
"Uh, Xander? Did you happen to read over our tickets really good by any chance?" Anya's nervous voice can be heard in the background.
"What do you mean?" There's a moment of silence over the line until Xander's shout comes blaring over the speaker. "One-way!! He booked us both one-way tickets!!! Angel- I'm gonna kill you!!" he shouts to their machine.
"That's considering he manages to get home..." Buffy begins laughing hysterically, in ultimate disbelief at what her calm and sensitive Angel had done to their friend. "So that's why you didn't give them the new dishes?" she playfully slapped him across the chest. "How're they going to get home?"
"I'll make some calls sometime this week- straighten things out and get them two tickets home...just thought I'd scare Xander a little."
"One-way!!!" Xander's hysterical shouts can be heard once again over the answering machine. "I can't afford two tickets back to Sunnydale!! I can barely afford this phone call!! Angel- if I'm still alive by the time I get back, you *won't* be! And I'll tell you another thing, I- Anya? What are you doing?! What's this!" Again, there is a brief pause over the line until Xander's shouts turn to cries.
" 'A hundred dollars or best offer'?? How are you just going to put a sign around your *husband's* neck that says 'A hundred dollars of best offer'?? "
"Cause I don't think anyone will be willing to pay more," Anya snaps back. "Now get off that phone and come over here. Stand still and *try* to look cute..."
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