Title: Merry Christmas, Buffy Summers (Part 7:1 of the 'Coming Home' Series)
Author: DivaDelilah (divadelilah@aol.com)
Description: Set after Buffy's return, now a series. Spoilers Season 6.
Also, an answer to Licious's Xmas Challenge:
Must Have:
Buffy over her Denial Thing ™ and in a relationship with Spike. Having
a homemaker-ish Xmas with Xmas Eve spent together, and presents in the morning.
A trip to with mall for Buffy and Spike to buy presents
A group viewing of "It's a Charlie Brown Christmas"
A gag gift for one of the Scoobies
A very special gift for Buffy
Spike wearing a Santa hat
A Grinch reference
Optional:
A visit from Giles
Scooby caroling
Spike and Dawn wrapping presents
Xander asking Spike advice about a present for Anya
Disclaimer: In short, not mine. Joss/Fox/SandDollar/Mutant Enemy/UPN own all.
Distribution: Fanfiction.net, Death Marked Love (http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/spikefic/coming.html
), Willow's Ripper, anything else I okay, including award sites and various
lists. Hell, just tell me where it's going.
Feedback: Mmmmmmmm…feedback. @dr00l@
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Buffy stretched up on her tippy toes, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as
she concentrated on reaching the top branch. The spun glass angel in her hands
had been her grandmother's and was one of her mother's most treasured heirlooms.
Stretching even further, she relied on her Slayer balance to keep her from toppling
into the tree and destroying a whole afternoon's work. Cold hands stole the
angel from hers, and after looking at it disdainfully, placed it on the top
branch with ease. She whirled around, her hands on her hips, and snapped, "I
had it covered. I would have had it on in a second."
Spike smirked at her, loving her bursts of righteous indignation. "I was
only trying to help, luv. Was that Joyce's?" His eyes grew soft when he
spoke of Buffy's mother, having grieved for her death as much as anyone living
in the house had. She had been his first true friend, liking him despite who
and what he was. He liked to think she could see him and the Slayer in Heaven,
and hoped she was pleased. Well at least, I hope she sees how happy we are.
Wouldn't do to have Buffy's mum see us shagging or anything, he thought,
chuckling to himself.
"Earth to Spike, anyone home in there?" Buffy teased. Buffy's heart
melted every time he talked about her mother, because she could see how much
he missed her. Every once in awhile, he and Dawn would get out the hot chocolate
and marshmallows and sit at the counter reliving memories together. It was sweet,
really. The Big Bad reduced to having 'tea' parties with a pre-teen who was
eventually going to win the 'nail painting' argument.
Spike grinned at her. "Yeah, yeah. You didn't answer my question. Was
it your mum's?"
Buffy nodded, swallowing hard and turning away sharply to blink back tears.
His arms encircled her waist, hugging her back to his front and pressing a kiss
to her ear. "Then I'm honored to have helped with it, luv. Joyce was a
choice lady."
Dawn came down the stairs and joined her hug, her eyes drifting to the angel
on the tree. "I'd like to think of that as a reminder that Mom's watching
us from above. And since she scolded Buffy about you when she was dead, I'd
say she's happy with what she sees," she said, winking at Buffy, who smacked
her head and groaned.
"Dawn, I didn't want-"
A snort cut her off, and she looked up at her boyfriend, who was chuckling.
"Your mum scolded you about me in Heaven?"
Buffy scowled. "It was more about me than you. Somehow you got dragged
into it," she muttered.
Dawn smiled impishly at Spike and he gave her a thumbs-up. "So does this
mean I can paint your nails for Christmas dinner tomorrow?" she pleaded.
"You promised if I got her to tell you, I could!"
Spike grimaced. He was trapped. He'd never thought the Nibblet could drag anything
out of Buffy that she wanted kept secret. "Well, I- uh, y'see…"
"Oh, no, Spike. If you promised my sister something, you'd better not
break it! That's what you get for betting on me," Buffy said, laughing.
"She gets to paint your nails however she wants, just like you agreed."
"But Baby-"
"No way, peroxide boy! You promised her; you lose." Chuckling to
herself, she headed for the kitchen. "Now while I finish the food for the
party, you two clean up this mess and get out your outfits for tomorrow."
Spike grumbled, snatching up tissue paper and wrapping paper while Dawn gathered
up the ornament wrap to shove into the tree box. He looked at the plastic monstrosity
disdainfully. When he'd gotten up and saw Buffy decorating a tree, he'd been
confused by it's lack of scent. He'd begged her to let him buy her a real one,
but she wanted to put up her mother's tree and decorations, so he let it go.
Buffy stuck her head back around the corner and peeked out. "Oh, and Spike?
I laid your clothes on the bed next to mine. Do me favor and iron them all,
will you?" She ducked back into the kitchen and Dawn cracked up.
"So," she asked, her eyes full of merriment, "ever use an iron
for anything other than a weapon?"
Spike growled something unintelligible, stalking up the stairs muttering about
'bloody Slayers'.
**********************************************************************
Angel stared at his son in frustration. "You know, understanding Drusilla
was much easier than dealing with you. Now I know how Spike felt for all those
years," he muttered. "Cordelia!" he bellowed.
"Yes, your Grinchy-ness?" she asked, poking her head into the nursery.
He sighed. Cordelia was still pissed that he wouldn't let her and Fred put
up a tree in the lobby. He'd tried to explain to her he'd read in one of the
baby books that Christmas plants were some of the most dangerous things you
can have around the house, but she'd simply arched one of her sculpted brows
at the weapons closet and stalked away. She makes sense, but it's not we
don't need our weapons to fight off demons! I hate when she gets all
huffy with me.
"Is there something you wanted, Scrooge?" she asked, tapping her
foot in impatience. "Wesley and Gunn are almost done packing the van for
the trip, and I promised to go get takeout Chinese for dinner."
"I just… well, Connor…I can't," he fumbled.
"Oh, for Heaven's sakes," she said, clucking her tongue. She picked
the baby, settled in the rocking chair and sang to him softly while rocking
steadily. Within a few minutes, the baby was sound asleep in her arms. She stood
carefully, then placed the sleeping baby in the crib, and winked at Angel.
"Wha? How? Cordy…."
"Magic touch," she replied. "Now get your undead butt in gear
and get packed. I'll handle Connor's stuff after dinner. You want to share chicken
and rice noodles again?"
Angel smiled brightly. Cordelia had been distinctly cold to him since finding
out about the whole Darla situation from the previous spring, and he'd missed
their training sessions. Hell, he'd missed all the little things they had done
together, of which sharing Chinese after training was one. "Only if you
share my Peking duck."
"Angelllll," she whined, "it has so much fat!"
He smirked, running his eyes over her body. "You could use it too. You're
getting too skinny. Doesn't Dennis make you eat like I did?"
Her face softened for a moment, then grew hard. "He knows when not to
over step his boundaries," she replied, her heels clicking on the parquet
floor as she stalked off.
"Dammit," Angel whispered to himself.
"You know, you could just apologize to her and get it over with,"
Fred said from the doorway. "She'd hurting just as much as you. She just
won't let you see it."
"Fred-" he warned.
"No. I just can't let you two sit and push each other away like this.
I don't know what went on before with this…Fluffy…or with Darla…but
I know Cordelia likes you. A lot. And you more than return it, Angel. Do something
about it, or you'll regret it. And you have enough to regret already, it seems
to me," she whispered the last part. "Connor deserves to have a family."
Angel's mouth opened, but nothing came out. He ducked his head and asked shyly,
"You think Cordy wants to be…be part of our family?"
"I don't think. I know." Fred smiled her little half smile, and walked
away silently, leaving the stunned vampire staring at the spot where she'd been
contemplatively.
*******************************************************************
Spike was busy cursing at the iron. He'd just about scorched his hand to dust
several times, and by now, he was very frustrated. It didn't help that Dawn
was sitting on the couch with popcorn laughing like she was watching a movie
on the comedy channel. "Bloody fucking hell!" he howled, the iron
hitting his finger as he held the pleats taut on Buffy's tiny blouse. Dawn laughed
again, and he snarled.
She looked at him wryly, and three a piece of popcorn at him, hitting him right
in the nose. "Calm down, Spike. I'll help." She got up and headed
over the ironing board, scooting Spike aside to show him what to do.
Spike chewed on a fingernail as he watched Dawn move the iron masterfully,
ironing all the stubborn wrinkles he'd flambé-d himself trying to smooth
out. When she just missed her finger, he sucked in a breath, and she smiled
at him.
"It's all about timing. I know you're pretty quick, cuz you know, vampire…duh.
But you have to coordinate your hands and the fabric. You can do it. I've seen
you with a deck of cards, so I know you're dexterous enough to iron Buffy's
dumb clothes."
"Thanks, Bit. Want me to teach you a few nifty sleight of hand tricks
when I got a second? Comes in handy when you're nicking- I mean when you do
magic shows at school," he covered, wary of Buffy's exceptional hearing.
Dawn giggled. "Sure. And I won't tell Buffy. Just like I didn't tell her
you let me stay up late, eat junk food, and watch R rated movies while she was
dead. Deal?"
Suddenly, a very ticked off Buffy came storming out of the kitchen. "What
did you let my sister do?"
Spike smirked, and Dawn laughed. "I knew you were eavesdropping! You'd
better keep your nose out of other people's conversations, pet. You might not
like what you hear," he advised, grinning.
Buffy tapped her foot. "And that excuses you letting Dawn watch all that
sex and violence?"
"You're the one who lets her hang out with Anya, pet."
Buffy stomped her foot in exasperation, and strode back into the kitchen. When
she was gone, Dawn whispered, "Do you think she knows you let me help you
destroy that vamp nest near her grave?"
"I heard that!!!"
**********************************************************************
"That is the last time I ever order carry out! Do you know that they didn't
even offer to help me bring this home?"
Gunn looked up and shook his head. Wesley said something muffled from inside
the over packed van, and he translated. "Wes says that carry out means
exactly that, Cordy."
Rolling her eyes, she stalked inside, the door slamming behind her, not a word
spoken.
"What in the hell's been up her butt lately?" Gunn muttered.
"That's a good question," Wesley replied, "but not one we're
likely to get the answer to. She's been very morose since this whole…well
since Darla showed up, I suppose."
"So Darla's gone. What's her problem now?"
"I don't know. Maybe it still has to do with Darla," Wesley said,
getting out of the van and shutting the door.
"Whatever it is, I hope Angel can get her to at least talk to him. He's
usually the only one who can get anything out of her," Gunn remarked.
Fred met them at the door, a mysterious smile on her face. "Cordy put
the food out on the counter. Connor's in bed, so we're all gonna eat in the
lobby if that's okay."
Suddenly, they heard Cordy screaming, and dashed inside. She was writhing on
the floor, her face and knuckles chalk white. Her hands were clutched to her
head as the vision wracked through her party. Everyone kneeled by her, ready
to help her up when the pain subsided.
Angel came running from the nursery, jumping the rail and bounding to the floor
from the upper floor. "Cordy? Cordy, are you okay?"
Wesley and Gunn looked at the vampire, marveling at his obvious level of distress.
Keeping silent, they watched as Angel lifted the now prone Cordy onto the settee
and brushed her hair off her face gently. When Cordy's eyes fluttered open,
his sigh of relief was audible. They exchanged a look when Cordy grasped Angel's
hand like a vise, and Angel gripped it back. It was obvious what was going on
now.
Cordy struggled to catch her breath. "Sunnydale…there's something…coming.
I don't know what, but I could feel…it hates so much. It's after Buffy
and Spike. And it's so evil…I could hardly stand to see it, it was so full
of bitterness. We have… have to go now," she blurted.
"But we weren't going to leave until tomorrow. You haven't packed Connor's
stuff yet," Wesley said softly.
Fred tapped his shoulder. "I'll go do it. Get some food into her, and
some water. Angel, you get fed and pack your little cooler. Wes, you go ahead
and eat, because I think you should drive first."
Gunn looked at the quiet in surprise and she smiled that mysterious smile again.
Some people never quit surprising you, he thought. "What should
I do, Fred?"
"Go out and see if you can clear out room for Cordy, Angel, and the car
seat in the back. You can ride up front with Wesley and I. Okay?"
"Yes, ma'am." He saluted her, and jogged off to rig the back as requested.
Angel watched as Fred went upstairs to pack the baby essentials, and Wesley
headed over to put some of the Chinese on a plate. Angel headed over to pack
his cooler, and Cordy raised her hand weakly.
"Wait!"
Angel turned back immediately. "Yes?"
"Don't eat without me. Eat in the van…with me."
There was something indefinable in her eyes, so he nodded, heading to the mini
fridge behind the counter. Popping open his cooler, he tossed in a few blood
packets for the road, just in case, and pulled his mug out to feed before they
left.
"I thought you were going to wait," Cordelia said hoarsely.
"I am… I mean, you didn't mean… this. Did you?" he asked
in puzzlement.
"Is it eating? Don't you usually pour in your…and then eat?"
she replied.
"Yeah but that's only when you and I- I don't usually let people watch
me…you know. Feed." A dark look crossed his face, and his demon flickered
for a moment.
"Oh. Well, can you… do you mind just waiting for me? Would it bother
you?"
Angel looked at her strangely, but nodded, amazed that she wanted him to eat
in her presence. Walking back over to the settee, he crouched down in front
of it, watching her closely. "Are-are you okay now?"
She smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm getting there. These things just get worse
and worse lately. But I'm a survivor."
Gunn walked in and raised his eyebrow at Angel. "You guys ready to roll?"
Fred waved from the landing, diaper bag on one arm and Connor in the other.
"We're ready if you everyone else is."
Angel smiled at his friends, and nodded. "Let me get my food while you
settle Cordy and the baby. Cordy and I are going to eat on the way."
***********************************************************************