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Title: Lizzie
Author: Willow_ph (aka Chris)
Disclaimer: Not mine. They belong to Joss, the WB, UPN, and the Grr
Arg guy. I do own the kids, Teresa and anybody else you don't recognize
Rating: Same as the show
Feedback: yes please if you want me to keep writing. send feedback to 044891m@acadiau.caSpoilers: Let's say everything to the end of seasons 5/2 just to be safe.
Summary: Future fic, Buffy discovers a secret that Angel has been keeping from her for over a decade... their daughter.
A/N: this is another IWRY story. I made a few changes to the general story line. Angel knew about the shanshu prophesy before March 2000. By September Angel investigations had already moved into the Hyperion. Gunn is already hired in March of 2000. Joyce still died but Angel couldn't make it to the funeral.
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Prologue
March 2000
Buffy couldn't believe that she was pregnant, she knew how it happened or at least she thought she did. Ever since she'd come back from seeing Angel at Thanksgiving she had been having these dreams. Dreams of a day when Angel was human, and then he turned back time so that she wouldn't be killed. At first she thought they were just dreams but now she realized that they were memories of that forgotten day. She had only told two people who the father was, Giles and Willow.
She had already decided to give the baby up for adoption, she couldn't handle raising a kid at 19, going to college and being the slayer. But she didn't have the heart to have an abortion. Now all she had to do was call Giles and have him make the arrangements. Giles, after getting over the initial shock, had been great, her mother, on the other hand, had stopped talking to her and Riley had broken up with her.
Buffy picked up the phone and dialled Giles' number. Ring ring
"Hello?" Giles answered the phone.
"Giles, it's me." Buffy said, "I've decided what to do. I'm going to give it up for adoption."
"Buffy are you sure about that?" Giles asked, "The rest of us could help out."
"I'm sure, I can't handle school, being the slayer AND a baby."
"Ok, you're going to have to get Angel's permission though, to legally give a child up they need the consent of both parents."
"I can't call him. He'll try to talk me out of it and I probably won't be able to resist him. Can you call him for me?"
"Alright, then, I'll call him" Giles agreed reluctantly.
"Thank you. Giles, you don't know how much it means to me that you're doing this and not freaking out like my Mom."
"You're welcome, Buffy. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye Giles"
"Good bye, Buffy"
Click, Giles hung up the phone. He now had the difficult task of telling Angel that he was having a child and that Buffy wanted to give it up. He sighed heavily and dialled the number of Angel Investigations.Ring, ring, ring
"Angel Investigation, we help the hopeless." Cordelia's voice said cheerfully.
"Cordelia, it's me, Giles. Can I speak to Angel please?" Giles was dreading speaking to the ensouled vampire. He would not be happy about this.
"Just a sec" Cordy said, "I'll put you through." Giles heard a click and then Angel picked up the phone.
"Hello, Giles. Why are you calling? Is there something wrong with Buffy?" Angel sounded very worried and it was clear that he still cared very deeply for Buffy.
"Buffy's fine. But she is the reason I called." Giles dreaded what he had to say next. "You see, um, Buffy's, well, she pregnant and it's yours."
"Giles you know that's impossible." Angel sounded hurt.
"No it's not. She remembers the lost day and that's when the child was, uh, conceived."
"But the day was turned back, that's, that's impossible."
"Well it happened. Angel, she wants to put the baby up for adoption and she needs your consent." Giles let out a breath, he had said now he had to survive Angel's reaction.
"WHAT! We finally get our dream and she wants to give it up. No way, I'm not giving my consent for her to give up our child."
"Angel, she says that she can't handle school, slaying and being mother and frankly I can see where she's coming from."
"Ok, fine if she can't handle it then she doesn't have to. Tell her I'll take the baby."
"She won't let you, you know she won't."
"Then tell her that I gave my consent and that you found a good family for the child and then bring it to me. She doesn't have to know I have it. If she asks I'll tell her the truth but I'm not going to volunteer the information."
"Angel are you sure? You're a vampire and you're running your own business, are you going to be able to give this child a normal life. He or she deserves to be taken into the sun and be sheltered from the reality of the cruel world. It deserves a normal family."
"The baby will be a child of the slayer. For all we know he or she could inherit some of Buffy's strength, or acute senses. A normal family wouldn't be able to handle that. And I'd rather have my child know about the dangers of the real world than have him or her ignorant of what's out there. As for sunlight I found a prophecy earlier this year that I will receive my humanity after the end of days battle. I believe that battle will be within the next few years. The Mohra demon Buffy defeated during the lost day said something about the end of days and others coming. And until that happens I do have three human friends and employees."
"You're not going to give up on this are you?"
"No, I'm not. I'm not going to let strangers raise my child, my miracle."
"Ok, Angel. I'll do as you suggest. But if Buffy asks me point blank I will tell her that you are taking to baby."
"I understand Giles, it's hard for me to lie to her too." Angel sounded sad, "Thank you"
"I'll keep you up dated on her condition. Good bye Angel""Good bye Giles."
Angel couldn't believe it. He was going to be a father. He could understand why Buffy didn't want the baby but at least it would have one of its parents.
5 months later, September 6th, 2000
A long scream pierced the air in the hospital room."It's a girl" the doctor exclaimed. " Would you like to hold your daughter, Miss Summers?"
"No, take her away." Buffy said. She knew if she looked at her daughter she wouldn't be able to give her up. "When she's ready, Mr Giles will take her to her parents."A few days later Giles carried the infant out of the hospital and put her in her car seat for the two hour drive to LA.
Angel was nervous. Giles had called when his daughter was born and he had spent the last couple of days stocking up on baby stuff. Cordelia had helped him put a nursery together and it had been ready for nearly a month. Giles had called a little over two hours ago to tell them that he and the infant were on their way.Angel paced nervously, "where are they?" he thought, "They should be here by now."
Just then Angel heard a car pull up outside. He ran to the front doors of the hotel and out into the dark street. Giles was just getting the child seat out of the back seat of his little red sports car.
"Angel, Hi." Giles greeted the vampire, "I'd like you to meet you daughter."
"What's her name?" Angel asked wondering what Buffy had called her.
"She doesn't have one, Buffy wanted the adoptive parents to decide." Giles said as the walked into the hotel.
"Then her name will be Elisabeth Rose, after my sister and Buffy's grandmother." Angel said, "I thought about calling her Katherine but that would bring back to many bad memories. Kathy was the one you invited me in," There was obvious sadness in his voice.
"I know" Giles said sympathetically, "But lets not think about that now. You have a daughter, this is a time to look to the future not brood about the past."
"You're right," Angel said smiling at his daughter. "Can I hold her?"
"Of course you can, you're her father after all," Giles said with a grin.
"Will you be staying the night?" Angel asked.
"I wouldn't want to imposed"
"You wouldn't be imposing, we have plenty of empty rooms and you look exhausted."
"I am rather tired now that you mention it," Giles said with a yawn.
"Just let me put Elisabeth in my room and I'll show you where you can spend the night."
"Thank you." Giles said gratefully.Angel put his daughter, still in her car seat, in his room and quietly shut the door. He showed Giles to one of the other room that they had cleaned up. He then returned to his room and stared at his sleeping daughter until he fell asleep.
July 2005
The End of Days battle was over. Angel had received his shanshu and he couldn't wait for Buffy to know. He picked up the phone to call her, and then he remembered what Giles had said last time they had spoken. Buffy had a fiancé and was living a normal life. He didn't want to ruin that for her, he called Giles instead.
"Giles it's Angel, I've gotten my shanshu, I'm human. I want to tell Buffy but I don't want to intrude on her life if she's happy. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether to tell her or not. I couldn't stand it if I stopped her from having a normal life. If you do tell though you should tell her about Lizzie too. Bye Giles."Angel hung up before Giles could say anything. He went to tell his daughter the good news. Lizzie had known about vampires and the other things that went bump in the night for her entire life, it was sort of hard to keep it hidden since her father was a vampire. Angel walked into his daughter's bedroom.
"Lizzie, Lizzie, wake up princess." Angel gentle shook his daughter awake.
"Daddy?" Lizzie said tiredly, "what time is it?"
"It's late sweetheart, but Daddy has something important to tell you. I'm human, I can take you out in the sun now, and eat normal food and everything."
"Does that mean Mommy can be with us?" Lizzie asked, knowing the fact that her father was a vampire was the reason her Mommy didn't live with them.
"She could if she wanted to baby," Angel said, "I called Grandpa Giles and I told him to decide whether or not to tell her, because I want her to be happy and if she's happy now I don't want to ruin that. We'll just have to see what happens."
"Oh" Lizzie said, a little disappointed, "Can I go back to sleep now?"
"Yes baby, and tomorrow we'll go to the park together." Angel smiled as he leaned down and kissed his daughter's forehead.
"Goodnight Daddy."
"'Night my angel."
Chapter 1
September 6, 2011
Lizzie bounded in the front doors of the hotel.
"Hey Cordy is Dad busy?" She asked the woman behind the desk.
"Nope, you can go in." Cordy smiled, "and happy birthday." She wondered what Angel's daughter was so excited about, true it was her birthday but she had a feeling it was more than that.
There was a knock on Angel's office door.
"Come in" he called. Lizzie entered. "Hey Pumpkin, how was you first
day at school?"
"It was good. My computer teacher is so cool. She talks to us like we're real people and she really nice. I can actually understand her; she doesn't go into techno babble. And get this, I went back to talk to her after school about the homework and I saw her surfing a Wiccan website. She's a techno-Wiccan."
"How do you know she wasn't just surfing?"
"I asked her straight out and she told me. Miss Rosenberg is so cool and honest and nice and she doesn't treat us like kids. I think I'm really going to like her class."Angel thought the person had sounded familiar but when Lizzie mentioned her teacher's name he knew exactly who it was. He had to get Lizzie out of the office so he could try and catch Willow at the school before she went home.
"Lizzie did you say you have homework?"
"Yeah, really sucks that they give us homework on the first day of school, not to mention on my birthday. But what can you do?"
"Go get it done and then we'll go out and pick up the cake and buy some ice cream to have for dessert after supper. Ok?"
"Sure Dad, see you in a bit." She bounded out of the office and up the stairs to her room.As soon as Angel was sure that she was out of hearing range he dialled the school's number.
Ring, ring..
"Lincoln Middle School."
"Yes, can you tell me if Miss Rosenberg has left for the day yet?"
"No she hasn't, may I ask what this is concerning?"
"My name is Mr. O'Connor, my daughter Lizzie is in one of her computer classes."
"Just a moment sir, I'll have her paged." The line was silent for a few minutes and then a familiar voice spoke.
"Willow Rosenberg."
"Willow, it's me, Angel."
"Angel? They said it was a parent of one of the kids in my class."
"Well I am, Lizzie came in today raving about her computer teacher. When I realized it was you she was raving about I decided to call. I haven't heard from any of the Sunnydale crew for a long time, except for Giles."
"Whoa, Angel, back up a minute. What do you mean you have a daughter in my class? I thought that was impossible."
"Remember when Buffy got pregnant freshman year of college?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, I know Giles said that he had my consent and that he found a good family for her but the truth is I had him bring her to me, she is my daughter after all. I've been raising her ever since."
"Does she know what you are?"
"What I was, I'm human now, have been for almost 6 years. But yes, she knows, and she knows about all the other things that go bump in the night."
"You're human? Wow, that is so cool. It would be nice to see you again we should get together sometime. You, me, Tara and Lizzie." Willow wanted to ask why Buffy didn't know but she decided that it was better to do that face to face.
"Why don't you guys come over for dinner tonight? It's Lizzie's birthday so everyone in the office and their families are having dinner here. It's sort of a tradition."
"That's sounds wonderful, just let me call Tara and run it by her. Give me your number and I'll call you back in a few minutes."Angel gave her the phone number and they hung up. A few minutes late Willow called back.
"Hi, Angel, it's me. We can make it, what time do you want us there?"
"Well, dinner's at 6 so why don't you get her for 5:30 so we have some time to talk before the other get here?"
"Ok, sounds good. Should I bring a birthday present?"
"You don't have to but if you want to."
"I do want to. How do we get to your place?" Angel gave her the directions; they said their good byes then hung up. Angel sighed, he hadn't spoken to any of the Scooby gang in a long time, it would be nice to catch up with the goings on in Sunnydale. He talked to Giles periodically but he didn't really know anything except what was going on demon wise. He put those thoughts aside and got back to work on his latest case.A while later Lizzie came back downstairs. She stuck her head in her father's office.
"Hey Dad. Heather's here so can we train now so we only have to do the half an hour a after supper with the others instead of the whole hour?"
"Yeah go get your work out clothes on, I'll be there in a minute. But what about the cake and ice cream?"
"Let Cordy get it. Tell her I want vanilla ice cream, it goes best with the chocolate cake."
"Ok, I'll tell her."Lizzie and, Cordy and Wesley's older daughter, Heather were both training to join Angel Investigations when they were older. All the kids of the member of AI trained in the martial arts. They all were trained in hand to hand, and staffs. All but Cordy's two youngest Isabel and Ryan, ages 7 and 4, and Gunn's youngest Samantha, age 5 were trained with stakes and swords, the younger children didn't know about vampires yet. Because Lizzie and Heather want to join AI and patrol they were also training with crossbows, daggers and eventually they would train with battle-axes. The two girls, ages 11 and 10, trained an hour and a half each day, half an hour before school and an hour after. The other kids trained for half an hour after school. Angel got his work out clothes on and went to help the girls train. He spent most of his time helping Heather since Lizzie had inherited her mother's strength, senses and heightened reflexes. Once the half an hour of training was done they had just enough time to take showers before Willow and Tara arrived.
Angel was walking down the stairs just as Willow and Tara entered the front doors of the hotel. "Willow, Tara, how are you?" Angel asked as he gave Willow and hug and shook Tara's hand since he had only met her once before."We're good." Willow responded, "why doesn't Buffy know you're human?" She didn't waste any time getting to the point."Why don't we go into my office and talk?" He led them to his office. "I guess the reason Buffy doesn't know is because Giles never told her. When I got my shanshu, that is when I turned human, the first thing I thought of was to call Buffy. Then I remembered that Giles had told me she had a fiancé and was happy. So I called Giles instead. I told him what had happened and that it was his choice whether or not to tell Buffy because I didn't want to ruin her happiness. I guess he didn't tell her."
" Well maybe Giles thought she was happy, and I guess she was to a degree, but never as happy as she was with you, Angel. Anyways her and Chris, that's her husband, are getting a divorce. He didn't know about the slaying, he sleeps like a log so she was able to sneak out of the house to go patrolling. When he wasn't sleeping she would just tell him that she was working the night shift, she's a police officer. She was retired from slaying officially when she turned 30 but the new slayer is a slow learner so she still patrolled a few nights a week. One of those nights, about 6 months ago, a neighbour noticed her sneak out and meet Xander to go patrolling. He figured she was having an affair and told Chris what he saw. Even before that night Buffy had already decided to file for divorce because she realized she could never love him the way she loved you. She thought that it was unfair to him and she felt like she was betraying you. When she filed he asked if there was another man and she said yes, meaning you of course. He asked her how long it had been going on and she told him that you had started dating when she was in high school, she was going to say that she hadn't seen you in 11 years but he wouldn't let her finish. Then he got really mad yelled at her and said the kids probably weren't even his. He's given her complete custody and has said that he never wants to see them again. He doesn't even say hello to them when he sees them at school, he's a teacher there. She's living with Giles right now. I really think she deserves to know since you are the reason she got a divorce so there's no wondering if she still loves you."
"I don't know, Willow, what if she's mad at me for not telling her?"
"Just tell her what you told me about telling Giles, hopefully she'll understand."
"Ok, I'll call her right now." Angel conceded, "Cordy's here and Wes should be here by now too. You guys can talk to them and catch up while I call Buffy. Cordy's at the front desk, just ask her to show you to the rec room." The two women left the office and headed towards to front desk and a very surprised Cordelia.
Chapter 2
Angel sighed. This would be one of the toughest phone calls he had ever made. He slowly picked up the phone and dialled Giles' number.RING, RING. Buffy picked up the phone.
"Giles residence, Buffy speaking," It was so good to hear her voice again that Angel couldn't say anything for a few seconds.
"Hello, is anybody there?" her voice came again. Angel managed to find his voice to answer her.
"Buffy, it's Angel. I need you to listen to what I'm about to tell you and not say anything until I'm done. Ok?"
"Ok." Buffy was shocked that he had called, she hadn't heard from him since her mother had died, and he'd called to say that he couldn't make it to the funeral because of a case, and confused as to why he wanted her to listen and not interrupt.
"Buffy I have two very important things to tell you. I'll start at the beginning. When you got pregnant freshman year and put the baby up for adoption, it didn't get adopted, I had Giles bring her to me. Don't get mad at him for lying to you, because he didn't. I talked to him about this and he never said straight out that I had given my consent and he said that he had found a good home for the baby not a good family. That home was with me. Her name is Elizabeth Rose but she goes by Lizzie. She's 11 now and as you probably know today is her birthday. Since she grew up with me as her father she knows about vampires and other demons. The other important thing is that I'm human. I have been for almost 6 years. I received my humanity as a gift from the powers that be after the end of days battle. Lizzie was 5 at the time. When it happened the first thing I wanted to do was call you but then I remembered that Giles had said you were engaged and happy. I called him instead, I told him what happened and I gave him the choice of telling you or not because I didn't want to ruin your happiness. And since you didn't show up I assumed either he didn't tell you or you were mad at me. The reason I'm calling now is because it turns out the Willow is Lizzie's new computer teacher and when I found that out I invited her and Tara over for dinner. She told me about what happened with Chris and why you're divorcing him. She told me to call you and I agreed that now was a good time. I'm done now." Angel took a deep breath and held it while he waited for her response. The line was silent for a few moments and then she spoke.
"Wow," she started, "that's a lot to take in at once. I'm glad you called, and I'm not mad, not at you anyways, Giles, however, is going to get a good tongue lashing when he gets home." She laughed a bit. At the sound of her laughter he let out the breath and relaxed.
"You don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that." Angel said relieved.
"I'd like to meet her, our daughter." Buffy said, she sounded slightly choked up.
"Of course," Angel agreed, "you can come see her whenever you want. She wants to meet you too."
"Is it ok if I come tonight?" Buffy asked, "I don't want to miss another minute of her life, or yours. I've already lost 11 years of her life and 6 years of you being human."
"I can't think of a better birthday present for her." Angel said. "And you know I have always loved you, I would love it if you would come and stay with us, at least for a while."
"How about forever?" Buffy asked, already knowing the answer. "I can pack up my stuff and the kids stuff and be there in two and a half hours."
"Forever is more than I could ever hope for." Angel said, now he was the one who sounded choked up. "I take it the extra half hour is to pack."
"Partly. We're basically still living out of suitcases so packing should only take about 15 minutes. That leaves 10 minutes to yell at Giles, he just walk in the door, and 5 minutes to get the kids dressed and out the door."
"What are you going to tell your children, if they ask where they are going?" Angel wanted to make sure he covered all the bases.
"If it's alright with you I'd like to tell them they we are going to live with their new Daddy." Buffy held her breath waiting for Angel's response; she didn't have to wait long.
"Of course you can say that," Angel said with a smile in his voice, "I'd be honoured to be their new father. I suppose as their new father I should know their names." He had just realized that she hadn't told him her kids' names.
"Oh, I can't believe I forgot to tell you." Buffy said, amazed that she had forgotten, "Jennifer Katherine is 5, she goes by Jenny and David Liam is 3, her goes by Davey."
"You..you..I wha?" Angel stammered.
"Yes, Jenny is after miss Calandar, Katherine is after your sister and Liam is after you. Even when I was with Chris, you were never far from my mind."
"Willow told me that Chris didn't know about the slaying so I assume that the kids don't either?" Angel asked, He knew that if they came to live here they may not be able to keep it a secret long. The only reason Isabel hadn't figured it out yet is because she was the quiet type who wasn't really curious or sceptical about what her parents did and the other kids were to young although Sam was getting suspicious.
"Actually, Jenny knows," Buffy said, "but only because she was kidnapped by some vamps about a year ago. They only had her for one night so it was easy enough to cover up from Chris. I just told him that she was staying at a friend's house. I swear that man is so naïve he would believe any story I fed to him. Well I guess the sooner I get off the phone the sooner I can be there. We can talk more when I get there."
"Just a minute Buffy," Angel said before she could hang up, "We're having spaghetti for supper do you want the adults to wait for you? We're going to have to feed the younger kids but Lizzie and her best friend Heather can wait `til you get here."
"Yeah, that would be great, who all is there?" Buffy asked wondering who was there.
"There's Wesley and Cordy and their two girls Heather and Isabel and their son Ryan, Gunn and his wife Theresa and their son CJ and daughter Samantha, Kate and her son Jordan, me, Lizzie, Willow and Tara." Angel didn't mention that Faith was also one of his employees, she was out at dinner with a contact.
"Wow, what a crowd. I better go pack up. I'll see you in 2 ½ hours."
"Bye Buffy, I love you." It sounded so natural to say those words, it didn't seem like 11 had passed since he had said them to Buffy heself and not just to the picture he kept beside his bed.
"I love you too, bye Angel."
Angel hung up the phone and headed back into the living room to tell the others the good news.
Chapter 3
By this time all the guests had arrived. Tara and Willow had been introduced to the members of AI that didn't know them. Lizzie and Heather still hadn't come down stairs, but they were pre teen girls they were probably gossiping about boys in Lizzie's room.
Angel walked into the room with a grin as wide as the Mississippi on his face. From that smile Willow knew how the conversation had gone before he even spoke.
"She's coming." He said, the smile never leaving his face. Willow and Tara hadn't filled the others in on what was going on. They had only said that Angel was taking an important phone call.
"Who? Who's coming?" Asked Cordy excitedly, she had an idea who it was but she wanted to hear him say it out loud.
"Buffy." Angel said simply, "She's coming back to me, for good. She's should be on her way soon. She just had to pack up her things and the kids and yell at Giles and then she's going to leave."
"She has kids?" Cordy asked, surprised, "Other than Lizzie, I mean."
"Yes, she has kids," Angel answered calmly, "Two of them, Jenny and David, they're 5 and 3. She's getting a divorce from her husband and he gave her full custody of the kids."
"So, she and her children are coming here to live?" Asked Wesley in
his usual inquisitive tone.Just then Lizzie and Heather walked into the room.
"Who's coming here to live?" Asked Lizzie.
"Your Mom and your half brother and half sister." Angel said gently.
"Mom's coming to live here?!" Lizzie cried giving her father a bear hug, "alright!! That's the best birthday present ever." Then she noticed Willow and Tara. "Miss Rosenburg? What are you doing here?" She was confused as to why her computer teacher was sitting in her rec room.
"Willow's a friend of your mother's." Angel explained. "She's the one who told me that your mother was getting a divorce and convinced me to call her. It's partly thanks to her that your Mom is coming."
" You mean Miss Rosenburg is the Willow from all the stories you told me?" If she had know her teacher's first name she might have figured it out on her own but Willow had introduced herself as Miss Rosenburg and left off her first name.
"Yes, she's that Willow." Angel answered, "How many Willow Rosenburgs there are in the world?"
"Stories?" Willow interrupted.
"Ever since I was a baby Dad's been telling me stories about his times back in Sunnydale with Mom and the Scooby gang. I've heard about how they met, their whole relationship, every demon they fought, and all the little high school melodramas that went on. Just about everything that Dad knows I know. I feel like I know Mom and all the Scooby gang, at least I know them the way they were when Dad left Sunnydale. And we haven't been completely in the dark, Giles feeds us little bits of information now and then, usually by accident, plus he supplies us with up to date pictures of Mom when he can."
At the same time in Sunnydale
Buffy hung up the phone; she was still a little shocked over what she had just learned. Her daughter brought her out her trance. "Mommy, what's wrong?" Jenny asked looking up her mother.
"Nothing, baby," Buffy answered as she knelt down so she was at her daughter's eye level. "You and me and Davey are going to go on a trip. I have to talk to grandpa Giles but I'll be up in a while to pack your suitcases. What I want you to do is get your backpack and pack up the things you want to take in the car with you and help Davey pack his. And both of you change into your pj's; it's going to be past your bedtimes by the we get there." Buffy wanted to get her kids out of the way while she yelled at Giles.
"Ok, Mommy. Where are we going?" Jenny asked innocently.
"We're going to go live with your sister and your new Daddy." Buffy answered, "I'll explain more later, right now I want you to go pack your back pack."
"Ok." Jenny agreed as she headed for the stairs.
"Giles, may I speak to you in the kitchen please?" Buffy said in a voice that was calm but dripping with anger.
"Yes," Giles responded hesitantly, following her into the kitchen. He didn't know why the former slayer was so angry but he was quite worried that he was going to get his but kicked.
"That was Angel on the phone." She began, "and do you know what he told me? That he's human and you knew about it! Not only that but he has been raising our daughter for the past 11 years. I can understand why you kept that from me for the first five years but why didn't you tell me when he turned human?! I can't believe you thought that I was truly happy with Chris. I was happy but never as happy as I was when I was with Angel. You should have been able to see that! I never stopped loving Angel, why else would I name my kids after him and his sister? I thought you knew me. I guess I was wrong. Even if you did think I was happy with Chris why didn't you tell me when we broke up, especially since you knew the reason that we broke up was because I still love Angel? I can't believe you Giles, I never thought YOU would keep something so important from me." As she finished she leaned against the counter, crossed her arms and looked expectantly at her former watcher.
"Buffy, I I ..I don't know what to say." Giles stammered.
"Ok, I'll assume you thought I was happy with Chris. Why didn't you tell me about Angel when Chris and I broke up?"
"I don't know. I guess I was thinking of the children and how traumatic it would be to lose their father and have to move at the same time. That's to many changes for small children to adapt to in a short amount of time. I'm truly sorry Buffy, I see now that I was wrong." Giles was trying to explain his reasons but it was just coming out all wrong.
"Apology accepted but I don't know how long it's going to take me to forgive you." Buffy replied in a slightly softer tone. "As you probably know it's her birthday today. Angel invited me and the kids to go and stay with him. I decided to take him up on that offer, I think Karrie can handle the slaying by herself by now." Karrie was the new slayer that had taken over when Buffy had retired.
"I understand that it will take some time for you to forgive me. What are you going to tell the children when they ask where they are going?"
"Jenny already asked and I told her the truth, that we are going to stay with their new Daddy."
"What about Chris?"
"Chris hasn't even bothered to say hello to his children since I served him the divorce papers. Anyways, he gave up his right to complain when he gave up his parental rights."
"If you don't mind me asking how did Angel find out that you and Chris were separated?"
"Turns out Willow is Lizzie's computer teacher. Lizzie came home raving about her new teacher and Angel figured out that it was Willow and phoned the school."
"Oh, I see. Would you, uh, like to see a picture of her? Your daughter." Giles wanted to smooth things over as soon as possible between him and the former slayer. She was like a daughter to him and he hated fighting with her.
"Yes, I would." Buffy said simply.Giles walked into his study and retrieved a small photo album from the shelf.
"Here." He said handing her the album, "the, uh, more recent pictures are at the, uh, back."
Buffy flipped to the back of the book and encountered a picture of Angel and a girl who looked to be about 10. The girl had the same dark, soulful eyes as Angel and the same raven hair and his brilliant smile but the rest of her was an exact replica of Buffy.
"She's so beautiful." Buffy said quietly. "I should go and pack. I told Angel we'd be there as soon as we could and they're holding supper for me." She turned and headed up the stairs.
Chapter 4
Buffy walked into the bedroom in Giles' apartment that she shared with her two children. She needed to pack but there was something she had to do first. She opened a drawer and reached to the very back. She pulled out a small velvet bag and emptied the contents into her hand. There was the silver cross Angel had given her when they first met and the claddagh he had given her on her seventeenth birthday.Jenny looked up from packing her backpack, "What are those, Mommy?"
"They are things that are very important to Mommy. Some one very special gave them to me." Buffy answered her daughter as she put them on and then began packing her things.
"Who Mommy?"
"The man who will be your new Daddy. We have known each other for a long time, he was the first man I ever loved. He gave me this cross the first time we met and the ring on my 17th birthday. When I wear the ring with the heart pointed in it means that I belong to someone. He has a ring just like it and wears his the same way." Or at least she hoped he did. `Who am I kidding, of course he wears his. Or at least if he wasn't he's doing the same thing as me right now.' Buffy thought.
At the same time in LA
"Excuse me," Angel said suddenly, "there's something I have to do." He promptly turned and walked quickly out the door, heading for the stairs.
"What the" Cordy started, then she realized what he was talking about, "the ring" she and Willow said at the same time.
"What ring?" asked Lizzie.
"His claddagh," Cordy explained, "he hasn't worn it since he turned human and your Mom didn't come. He thought she didn't love him anymore, and since the ring means that you belong to someone, he took it off. Now he knows that she still loves him and that he belongs to her just as she belongs to him."
Just then Angel re-entered the room. "Sorry I just had to get.."
"Your ring." The other occupants of the room finished for him.
"How'd you know?" Angel asked perplexed.
"Come on Angel, we know you." Cordy answered, "You talk to Buffy and she says she's coming to move in here. Of course the first thing you are going to do is put the symbol of your love for each other back on your finger. Enough talk about this mushy stuff, we should eat."
"Actually, I told Buffy the adults would wait for her before we eat. But you're right we should feed the kids."
"Dad, can I wait for Mom too?" Lizzie asked. She wanted to meet her mother plus she basically considered herself one of the grown ups.
"Yes you may, and Heather may too, if it's alright with Aunt Cordy." Angel responded, sneaking a glance at Cordy to check if it was ok if Heather stayed up. She nodded her agreement.
"Lizzie can you and Heather set the table while I get the spaghetti ready? And then can you find the other kids and let them know that supper is ready?"
"Sure Dad, and I'm pretty sure the other kids are playing hide and seek on the third floor." Lizzie said as she stood on her tiptoes to reach the plates. She and Heather set the table while Angel strained the spaghetti and put it and the sauce into to serving dishes. When the girls were done with the table they decided to be lazy and use the intercom to get the other kids. They went into Angel's office and turned on the intercom.
"Attention all hide and seekers. Anybody who wants to eat supper better get down to the dining room, pronto. You have 5 minutes or we start with out you." The girls turned off the intercom and raced back to the dining room to see how fast the other kids would get there. They stood in the door way looking at their watches until the last kid ran by.
"Two minutes twenty three seconds, not bad, but not a record from the third floor." Heather said to no one in particular.Angel, who had heard the announcement and thus knew what was going on came in and said, "I guess everyone is getting food tonight, but you could have been a bit quicker, maybe we should shorten the time limit next time."Lizzie knew he was joking but the younger kids weren't sure, it was hard to tell when the former vampire was joking and when he was being serious. They looked slightly scared that the next time they may not make it in time and not be fed.
"He's just joking." Lizzie assured them.
Angel started walking around the table doling out the spaghetti.
"Aren't you eating too?" asked Samantha, when she realized that none of the adults were sitting down.
"No sweetie not now." Angel answered, "There's been a slight change in plans, only you kids are eating now. The grown ups and Lizzie and Heather are waiting for a special guest to arrive later tonight."Once Angel said this most of them just nodded and dug in.
"Uncle Liam, who's coming?" asked a curious Izabel.
"Lizzie's mom is coming and staying for good. Now hurry up and eat because after you eat and Lizzie opens herpresents we have a lot of
work to do. We have to get ready for whenBuffy and her two kids get
here."
"How old are they?" Izabel had definitely inherited her mother's curiosity.
"Jenny is 5 and David is 3. Now eat." Angel said in a mock commanding voice. Izabel obeyed.
Chapter 5
While all that was going on in LA Buffy had managed to get herself and her kids packed and into the car. Jenny was still asking questions about Angel.
"Do you still love Daddy Angel?" Jenny had started calling him Daddy Angel as soon as Buffy had told her his name.
"Yes I do baby, I never stopped."
"Then why did you marry Daddy?"
"Because it was dangerous for Angel and me to be together. That's changed now. Actually it's been changed from since before you were born but I didn't know because Grandpa Giles didn't tell me."
"If you haven't seen him in so long how can I have a sister?"
"A long time ago the thing that made it dangerous for us to be together went away for a day. A little while later I had your sister. I knew that Angel was her father. I wanted to put the little girl up for adoption and told Grandpa Giles to get Angel's permission. I thought he did, and I thought that she went to a nice family, someone I didn't know. I never even saw her. It turns out that Grandpa Giles took your sister to her father. Angel's been raising her ever since. Today your sister, Lizzie, turns11."
"Why'd he call today?"
"It turns out that your Aunty Willow is Lizzie's teacher. She told Angel that you Dad and I were apart and convinced him to call. Now what do you think we should get your sister for her birthday? I think we should get her two things, one from you and Davey and one from me."
"I want to get her a stuffed animal." Jenny decided.
"Me too." Piped up Davey from the back seat. He had been listening to the conversation between his mother and sister.
"Ok, a stuffed animal from you two and I think I'll get her a gift certificate for music since we don't know what she likes."Buffy turned the car into the parking lot of the Sunnydale mall and quickly got her kids out. The first stop they made was at the music store for a gift certificate and then they went to the toy store to pick out a stuffed animal. The kids decided on a stuffed pig that, coincidently, looked a lot like Mr Gordo. The entire shopping trip took less than ten minutes then they got back on the road.
Back in LA
The kids had finished their spaghetti and devoured half the cake. Lizzie had opened her presents and now it was time to get down to work. Angel divided up the tasks.
"Gunn, go to the hardware store and get the letters for the names Buffy, David and Jennifer, and get an and sign. After you get back add the Buffy to my door, change client 1 to David, that's the one that joins with mine, and client 2 to Jennifer. Cordy make room in my room for Buffy's stuff and maybe make it a little more Buffy friendly. Wes, get the two rooms at the end of the hall ready to be turned into client rooms to replace the ones we're using. Teresa, Kate, Willow and Tara get the kids rooms ready. Ryan, Sam and Izzy you guys clean up the rec room and make some room in the toy box for Jenny and Davey's toys. The rest of you kids have to train for half an hour and then after your showers you can help whoever needs helping."The group split up to perform their assigned tasks. As the others were leaving Jordan approached Angel. "Uncle Angel, I'd like to join the special training to join AI when I'm older."
"Have you talked to your Mom about this?" Angel asked.
"Yes he has," Kate said coming up behind her son, "and I said it was ok."
"Ok Jordan, Lizzie and Heather have already done their special training for today but you can join us bright and early tomorrow morning at 6:30."Jordan gulped, "Six thirty? That's early."
"If we practiced any later you kids wouldn't get to school on time. If you want to be a member of the team you'll have to play by the rules. Now go get changed for training."
Jordan ran to his room to get changed. Angel went to get changed himself.
2 hours later
Everyone was finished their assigned tasks. There were two rooms upstairs ready for children to move into, Angel's room was `Buffy friendly', the rec room was clean and, Buffy and the kids had their names on their respective doors just like everyone else and there were two new client rooms. Everybody, except Lizzie, was sitting in the rec room talking about the good old days back in Sunnydale, well Angel, Willow, Wesley, and Cordy were talking and everybody else was listening. Lizzie was sitting by the front window of the hotel holding the picture of her mother off her bedside table. She was staring out the window watching for her mother's car. Willow had told her it was a blood red suburban with a thin silver stripe down the side. Just as Lizzie saw the car coming down the street Angel stood up in the other room and said simply, "She's here." He left the others and walked briskly toward the front of the hotel.
"Huh? How can he know that she's here, he doesn't have vampire hearing anymore?" Gunn asked no one in particular.
"Well you know how spiderman has spidey sense, Angel has Buffy sense and Buffy has Angel sense. They can always tell when the other one is around even if they don't see them." Willow explained.Angel entered the lobby just in time to see Lizzie running out the front doors.
Buffy pulled up in front the Hyperion, just as she stepped out of the car a young girl ran to her. The girl latched her arms around Buffy and said, "Mommy," in a small voice. Buffy hesitantly put her arms around the girl and said, "Hi Lizzie."
"Lizzie do you think you could detach yourself from your mother long enough for us to say hello." Angel said coming up behind his daughter.
"Oh, sorry Dad." Lizzie let go of Buffy.
"Angel," Buffy breathed
"Buffy," he replied. He could say her name like nobody else could. The one word carried a thousand emotions and meanings.They stared deep into each other's eyes seeing only the love they had for each other and the longing intensified by 11 years apart. They moved toward each other, Angel grabbed Buffy by the waist and pulled her close to him. He kissed her, softly at first but then deepening the kiss with the longing of 11 years. She lifted her hands, entangling them in his hair and pulling him closed to deepen the kiss even further. Lizzie, somewhat embarrassed at witnessing the scene, turned her attention to the little girl who had gotten out of the car after Buffy.
"Hi, you must be Jenny," she said crouching down so she was at eye level with the five year old. "I'm your sister, Lizzie."Lizzie glanced at her parents who were still engaged in the passionate kiss. "What do you say we leave these two love birds alone and go inside?"
"Ok," the girl responds, giving her mother and Angel a disgusted look.
"What about your brother?" Lizzie asked, motioning to the small boy sleeping in the car seat in the back of the car.
"Oh, he can sleep through aaaanything." Jenny exaggerated.
"Ok, come on." Lizzie said standing up and taking Jenny's hand in her own.She led the small girl through the front doors of the hotel. And towards the rec room located on the other side of the lobby.
"Wow, you live in a hotel?" Jenny asked in awe.
"Yeah. I know it looks really big but you'll get used to it. Let me introduce you to everyone." Lizzie said to the small girl as they entered the rec room. "Everybody this is Jenny. Jenny these are the people that work with my Dad. That's Wesley and Cordy and their daughter Heather, she my best friend. That's Gunn and his wife Theresa, that's Kate and I think you already know Willow and Tara. Faith works here too but she's out right now."
"Hi," Jenny said shyly and waved.
"Hehmm," Wesley cleared his throat loudly, "If you don't mind me asking, where ARE Angel and Buffy."
"They're still outside getting reacquainted or rather their lips are getting reacquainted." Lizzie quipped.
"Oh, I, uh, see." Wesley responded slightly embarrassed by the response to his question.Angel and Buffy entered the rec room, he had one arm around her waist and the other one was carrying a small boy.
"Look who I found outside." Angel said, a goofy grin plastered on his face and his eyes shining with love.
"Hi Buffy." Cordy said getting up to give the former slayer a hug.
"Hi Cordy."
"It's good to see you again, Buffy," Wesley said giving her a friendly smile.
"You too, Wesley." She turned to Willow and Tara, "Wil, I don't know how I could ever thank you enough. If it wasn't for you I might never have found out that Angel was human."
"Your welcome Buffy," Wil got up and enveloped her friend in a bear hug. "Least I could do after you saved my hide so many times."
"Uncle Liam," Heather piped up, "Can we eat now? I'm really hungry."
"Yeah we can eat as soon as Jenny and Davey get to bed." Angel answered, "Lizzie why don't you show Buffy where Jenny and Davey's rooms are." He passed Davey to Buffy so he could get to food ready.
"Sure Dad." Lizzie said leading her mother and Jenny out of the room. Jenny looked tired so Lizzie picked her up and carried her up the stairs. When they got to the top of the stairs Lizzie pointed out the rooms.
"This is Jenny's room, right at the top of the stairs. The next one is Davey's room and it has a connecting door into you and Dad's room. On the other side of your room is my room, it has a connecting door to but we don't use it anymore. Next to mine is Heather's and then her sister Izabel who's connects to Aunt Cordy's and Uncle Wes's room. On the other side of their room is Ryan's room. On the other side of the hall is Sam's room and then Gunn's and Theresa's, then CJ's. Next to CJ is Jordan, they're best friends just like me and Heather. Then's it's Jordan's mom Kate. And right at the end of the hall is Faith's room."
"Just a minute, Faith works for Angel. Faith as in renegade slayer that went to jail Faith?" Buffy asked shocked. Buffy quickly glanced at her younger daughter who luckily hadn't heard the question because she had fallen asleep in her sister's arms.
"Yep. She's really changed. She got out on parole last year and has been working here ever since. She wasn't down stairs because she had a dinner with an informant that she couldn't get out of, she should be back soon though."
"So does everybody live here?" Buffy asked. It was a reasonable question considering they each had their own room.
"No, just me, Dad and Faith and now you, Jenny and Davey. The other's just have rooms for when they have to work the night shift or if the kids have to stay here while their parents go out on a case."
"We'd better get these two to bed." Buffy said in a low voice. "You take Jenny into her room. She's already in her pj's so just take her shoes off and slip her under the covers. If she wakes up tell her I'll be in in a minute to say goodnight."
Lizzie nodded as she slowly opened the door to Jenny's room with her free hand. She took her sister's shoes off and tucked her into bed. Her movements were slow and smooth so she didn't wake the sleeping child. She had a lot of practice putting sleeping children to bed because both Sam and Izzy had a habit of falling asleep on the couch downstairs. She kissed her sister lightly on the forehead and quietly slipped out of the room. She joined up with Buffy in the hall way and they headed down stairs. Just as they were about to enter the rec room to join the others they heard the front door open. Lizzie automatically turned around to see if it was a client. She sighed with relief to discover that it was just Faith returning from her dinner; she didn't want her Dad's special night to be ruined by an emergency case. Buffy had turned around too. A look of surprised crossed Faith's face.
"B? What are you doing here?"
"Lets just say fate finally decided to give me a break and let me know about Angel being human."
"Huh? What d'ya mean?"
"Turns out my new computer teacher is Willow. She told Dad that Mom was divorcing her husband because she was still in love with Dad. Willow convinced him to call Mom and here she is." Lizzie explained. "It's the best birthday present ever."
"Buffy, Lizzie what's taking you guys so long? The spaghetti's getting cold." Cordy called out from the dining room.
"Coming." Lizzie called back. "Come on you two can play catch up while we eat." She dragged her mother into the dining room so they could chow down.
Chapter 6
"So you were married, huh B?" Faith asked after an awkward silence.
"Yeah for five years. He didn't know about my slaying and that sort of prevented me from really being open with him. In the end I realized that I didn't really love him with all my heart because I would never stop loving Angel. I felt that it wasn't fair to him and I felt like I was betraying Angel so I filed for divorce. Now he even refuses to see the kids, it's not really fair to them but it may be less confusing for them than having two dads."
"Just a minute you mean you're sticking around?"
"Yep you're stuck with me."
"Good finally I have somebody my own strength to train with."
"Good to know I'm wanted," Buffy said sarcastically
"You are wanted, baby," Angel put his arm around her and giving her a kiss.
"Would you two save it for the bedroom," Cordy said.
"I'll agree with that one," Lizzie added.
"Sorry honey," Angel apologized, "Why don't you tell us how your first day of sixth grade went."
"Dad, do you really think I want to talk about school, right now?" Lizzie retorted.
"Would rather watch us kiss?" Buffy said.
"So anyways I think I'm really going to like computers," Lizzie began, "and I'm not saying that because my teacher is sitting at the table. My English teacher seems pretty nice too. I don't know about my math teacher though, he seems sort of mean. I mean he gave us three pages of homework on the first day. We chose out instruments in music today, I chose the tenor sax. I wanted to choose the baritone sax but my fingers couldn't stretch far enough apart. I meet the rest of my teachers tomorrow."
"I guess that answered our question. I guess when ever we want her to tell us anything all we have to do is start making out," said Buffy moving to sit on Angel's lap.
"Come on guys the PDAs are getting to be a little much," Willow said. Tara, Gunn, Theresa and Cordy nodded their heads in agreement.
"I hope they're not always like this," Lizzie whispered to Heather as Buffy slid off Angel's lap and back to her own chair.
"I hope so too for your sake," Heather answered.
"OK, change of subject. What's up with the rest of the Scooby gang?" Cordy piped up.
"Well Giles has taken on the new slayer Karrie. She's a pretty slow learner, hey who am I kidding she is a extremely slow learner, but I think she's finally ready to take on the whole responsibility. Anya and Xander got married, did it like bunnies and now have three kids. Xander is a foreman or something in the construction company and Anya is half owner of the magic shop. She takes care of it most of the time since Giles is spending most of his time with Karrie, the afore mentioned slow learner slayer. Dawn graduated a few years ago with a degree in journalism and is now working on a book or something while she works at the paper to keep her alive. Spike is, well, Spike. And obviously you know what's up with Wil and Tara. So your turn, what's been going on here?" Buffy explained.
"Well basically during the day we're a regular PI business and during the night we also take on demon cases. Some of them walk through the door and others we find through damn my visions," Cordy said.
"Yes, we've developed a good reputation in both fields and we've developed quite a network of contacts through our cases. If a client is not able to pay the bill then we arrange for them to be a contact if they can be of use to us."
"That's where I was tonight, meeting with a contact. By the way Angel, Simon says that the chaos demon is holed up in that old abandoned church on 5th and 132nd," Faith informed her employer.
"What is it with demons and that church?" Gunn asked, "I swear that's the 5th one this month"
"Excuse me, but when do you guys sleep?" Buffy asked.
"We take turns taking the night shifts unless it's a really nasty demon." Angel explained, "Speaking of night shift, who ever has first shift for patrol tonight better get moving, it's almost ten, the malls are closing soon."
"Going," Gunn said grabbing his jacket.
"See ya later Buffy," Cordy said as she got up and followed Gunn out of the room.
"Cordy patrols?!" Buffy exclaimed after the pair had left.
"Yes in the past years she has become quite a proficient fighter." Wesley answered.
"Speaking of it almost being ten, you better to get to bed young lady." Angel said to his daughter.
"Aw Dad, come on Mom's here."
"Your mother with still be here tomorrow. And I'm still waking you up for training in the morning so I suggest you get some sleep. Go. I'll be up in a bit to say good night"
"Training?" Buffy asked partly confused and partly scared as to what it meant.Lizzie simply pulled up her sleeve to reveal the birthmark, the mark that destined her to become a slayer, before leaving the room.
"You too, Heather" Wesley said looking to his daughter.
"Night Daddy." She said as she kissed him on the cheek and followed her best friend out of the room.
When the kids were gone Buffy turned to Angel, "Our daughter's going to be a slayer?!"
Chapter 7
"Yes she will be a slayer but she's going to be prepared. I've been training her ever since she was 4. Now she trains two hours every day. She trains an hour in the morning before school, with Heather and now Jordan, another half an hour with them after school and half an hour with all the kids. Most of the kids know about vampires and demons since it's what their parents do for a living. Isabel, Sam and Ryan don't know but Sam is starting to get suspicious," Angel explained.
"I see you guys have a lot to talk about, I think we'll collect our kids and get out of your hair," Kate said getting up.
"You guys don't have to go," Buffy said.
"No, we should go, it's getting late," Wesley reiterated. "Is it alright if Heather stays here tonight, since she has to be here early anyways?"
"Yeah, no problem," Angel answered. "Kate, Jordan can stay too if you
want."The others left the room to collect their sleeping kids.
"No I think I'll take him home, but thanks," Kate answered. "I'll see you in a few hours."
"There must be some kid out there racking up a lot of money with all the baby sitting you must need," Buffy said to Kate.
"No, thank god Dennis doesn't mind looking after him when I'm at work," Kate said forgetting that Buffy didn't know who Dennis was.
"Is Dennis your boyfriend?" Buffy inquired.
"No my ghost," Kate clarified. "Well he used to be Cordy's ghost. When she and Wes got married she moved into his place and I took her old place. Dennis makes a great baby sitter."
"Now I've heard of everything," Buffy commented, "A ghost for a babysitter, who woulda thunk it."
"Yeah well, I should go. Bye Angel, nice to meet you Buffy." Kate walked out of the room and up the stairs.
"Ok back to our conversation, I can understand why Lizzie trains so much but why Heather and Jordan?" Buffy asked Angel curious as to why he was involving people that didn't need to be involved.
"Both Heather and Jordan want to join Angel Investigation when they are older," Angel said as he stood. "Why don't we move into the rec room."
"Sounds good to me. But finish answering my question," Buffy said as she followed him into the other room.
"I train them so they will be ready to patrol. I'm training all the kids with hand to hand and staffs, the ones who know about vamps are also training in swords and stakes, and Lizzie and Heather and soon Jordan are training in crossbows, daggers and eventually I'm going to train them in battle axes," Angel explained.
"Talk about over kill," Buffy commented sarcastically.
"I don't think so," Angel countered. "I want them prepared for whatever's out there. Even with my vampiric strength I have trouble defeating some of the demons we come up against."
"I thought you were human?" Buffy asked momentarily confused.
"I am but the powers let me keep my strength and healing abilities so they didn't lose a warrior. Just because the end of days battle is over doesn't mean that there aren't still demons out there," Angel explained.
"You don't have to tell me, I just don't see why we have to teach kids to kill them." Buffy said half-heartedly. She didn't want children having to worry about demons but at the same time she knew it was necessary.
"If we don't teach the kids who will take over when we're gone," Angel said. " I mean a good part of why you survived as long as you did was because of the scoobies. If it hadn't been for Xander you would have died at the hands of the Master."
"I did die. Remember Kendra," Buffy said pointedly.
"I meant you would have stayed dead," Angel said gently.
"I know. And I guess you're right if Lizzie has a network of friends that fight with her she's more likely to live longer as well," Buffy conceded.
"You see I just don't want our daughter to die." Angel pointed out.
"I know. But has she always known her calling. I mean you did let her have some childhood, didn't you?" Buffy asked hoping Lizzie's childhood wasn't like Kendra's. `Poor Kendra grew up with her watcher, she never had a chance to be a kid,' Buffy thought to herself.
"Of course. Until she was about 7 or 8 I just told her that she was taking the martial arts courses to be able to defend herself. When I told her about her calling is when I started trainer on the side. Now she trains the two hours with me everyday and goes to the Dojo twice a week for an hour. She spends an hour each week training for her black belt and the other hour helping teach the younger kids. She's also on the school judo team. In between that stuff, art club and soccer she barely has any spare time." Angel said, proud of his daughter's accomplishments.
"Art club? I take it she inherited that from you because she definitely didn't get it from me. I play pictionary and people think my goat is a duck," Buffy quipped.
"She's actually pretty talented," Angel said getting up. He went to a desk and opened a drawer. From the drawer he pulled a sketchpad. "Here look at these," he said handing her the pad.Buffy opened the book and found numerous sketches of people, places
around LA and everyday things. She had seenAngel's sketches before and these were almost as good, it was hard to believe that an eleven year old had drawn them.
"Wow, if she wasn't a slayer she could be the next Monet," Buffy commented.
"I don't see why she can't be both. I do hope she gets a real education first though. I want her to have something to fall back on." Angel said as he returned the sketch pad to it's place in the drawer before retaking his seat beside Buffy.
"You think to far ahead. Plus you're forgetting that she's a slayer, she could die before she even graduates high school," Buffy said with a sad look in her eyes.
"I know, but I like to think all the training we're doing now will pay off and she'll follow in her mother's foot steps," Angel said optimistically.
"I want our daughter to live as much as you do Angel but look at Kendra, she trained for her whole life and she died within a few months of arriving in sunny dale, less than a year after she was called," Angel winced as Buffy mentioned the slayer that was killed while Angelus had control of his body. Angel recovered and said,
"But Kendra had no exposure to the outside world. I think if we combine her training with a normal life she could easily be the best slayer ever."
"I thought I was the best slayer ever?" Buffy teased.
"you are and always will be in my eyes." Angel said softly as he leaned closer to his beloved.
"What are you trying to say Mr O'Connor?" Buffy said leaning in as well.
"Only that I love you more than life itself," Angel responded, his face now only inches from hers.
"Care to prove it?" Buffy prodded.
"I'd love to." Angel said just before he caught her lips in a passionate kiss. The kiss deepened, he pulled her onto his lap as she entangled her fingers in his gel filled hair. After a while they pulled away from the kiss breathless.
"What do you say we go to bed, my love?" Angel breathed into Buffy's ear. Buffy's only response was to kiss him again. The kiss was passionate and full of longing. Angel took this to mean that she agreed. He picked her up and began to carry her upstairs, never taking his lips off hers. He stopped in front of his bedroom door and opened it with one hand. He carried her across the threshold and shut the door behind them. He laid her down on the bed and they proceeded to lose themselves in each other in a way they hadn't been able to do since that fateful night nearly 12 years before.
Chapter 8
Lizzie knocked on her father's door, "Dad, come on, get up. We have
to train."It had been a long time since she had been up before her father. Even when he had gone on all night cases he managed to get up to train her. Of course Lizzie knew very well why her father had slept late but this was pay back for sending her to bed.
"I'm coming," he called back, "go down to the kitchen and I'll be down in a minute to make breakfast."Angel was the kind of guy that once he was awake he was ready to go. Angel gently untangled himself from Buffy. She rolled over and gently grabbed his arm.
"Where are you going," she asked sleepily.
"It's six, I have to go make Lizzie and Heather some breakfast before they train," he responded.
"It's six? Jenny and Davey should be up soon," Buffy said as she stretched while she watched Angel put on his work out clothes. `Man does he look hot,' she thought to herself, `to bad we can't stay in bed all day.'
"I'm going to have a shower," she said aloud, "I'll be down once Jenny and Davey are up."She stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss firmly on Angel's lips and then headed for the shower. Angel sighed contentedly before leaving his bedroom, their bedroom, and heading down to the kitchen to fetch the girls their breakfast. He entered the kitchen to find the two girls chuckling to themselves.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"Nothing," the girls chorused in that voice which definitely meant something was up. Lizzie had been telling Heather about the payback she did to her father.
"Whatever you say," Angel said, knowing very well that it was something and probably something about him. "How `bout scrambled eggs and sausages for breakfast?"The girls nodded. Just as Angel finished cooking the sausages Buffy came down the stairs. She held a sleepy David in her arms and Jenny, who seemed to be wide-awake, trailed a few steps behind her.
"Good morning Daddy Angel," Jenny said cheerily as skipped up to him and gave him a hug.
"Good morning Jenny," Angel said returning the hug. His eyes welled up slightly at hearing her call him Daddy. "How `bout some breakfast?"The young girl nodded. Angel doled out eggs and sausages for the girls, himself, and Buffy, he also made up a plate for Davey. Davey was clinging tightly to his mother. He was in strange surroundings with strange people. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in the car.
Davey pointed at Angel, "who dat Mama?"
"That's your new Daddy, Davey, and this is where we are going to live now," Buffy told her son.
"Oh, who dat?" he said pointing at Lizzie.
"That your sister Lizzie and that is her friend Heather," Buffy answered her son's questions. He seemed to be taking the news fairly well.Angel sat a plate of food down in front of Buffy.
"Hey little man, would you like some eggs and sausages," He asked the small boy.The little boy nodded enthusiastically, "thawtha-ges are my faaaaavorite."Angel laid a plate in front of Davey just as Kate and Jordan walked in.
"Jordan, would you like some breakfast?" Angel asked his newest trainee.
"No thanks I already ate at home," Jordan responded and sat down to wait for Angel and the girls to finish their breakfast.A while later as everybody was finishing up Angel looked at his watch. "Ok, you three it time to get to work," he said to his trainees. He turned to Buffy, Jenny and Davey, "I'll see you guys later." He ruffled Davey's hair and kissed Buffy lightly before following his three charges out of the room.After her kids finished breakfast Buffy took them to the rec room so they could watch sesame street. She then returned to the kitchen to talk to Kate. She didn't know much about the ex cop so she decided that kids was a safe topic to start off on.
"So Jordan just started training, for being a member of the agency, I mean?" She asked, it seemed like a safe enough question.
"Yeah, today's his first day," Kate answered, "Actually I want to see how he's doing, want to come?"
"Going in to the room during training will distract them," Buffy stated, "I know that from personal experience."
"We're not going into the training room," Kate said, "Come on, I'll show you."She led Buffy down a hall and into a small room. There wasn't much in the room, just some video recording equipment, an old couch and a couple of chairs. One of the walls was made of one-way glass. Through the glass Buffy could see the kids and Angel training but she knew all they saw was a mirror.
"Angel uses this room to record each training session," Kate explained, "at the end of each week he and the kids review the tapes together and analyse them for re-occurring mistakes and things they need to work on. Sort of like a pro sports team does."
"Good idea," Buffy said impressed. She turned her attention to the four people training in the adjoining room. Watching Lizzie train reminded Buffy of herself when she was first called, actually Lizzie was better than Buffy was when she was called.
Chapter 9
When Angel and the kids were done training Buffy and Angel got the kids ready for school. Well, Lizzie, Heather and Jordan got them selves ready and Buffy got her two ready while Angel made lunches. When everyone was showered and ready Buffy, Angel and the five kids piled into Buffy's suburban and headed toward the neighbourhood schools. First they dropped Lizzie off at the middle school and then continued down the street to the elementary school. Buffy, Angel and the remainder of the kids got out of the car. Heather and Jordan ran off to find their friends while Buffy and Angel took Jenny and Davey to the front office to register Jenny for kindergarten. As they entered the office the principal was walking through and noticed them.
"Mr. O'Connor, what brings you here? Didn't Lizzie graduate last spring?" he asked.
"Mr. Kelly, may I introduce Buffy Summers, Lizzie's mom. Buffy has just moved here from Sunnydale and would like to enrol her daughter, Jenny, in kindergarten." Angel answered.Mr. Kelly and Buffy shook hand. He called a secretary over, "Jackie, who's kindergarden class do we have room in?"
"Mrs. Murphy's sir," Jackie answered.
"Thank you Jackie," the principle said. "Why don't we go get Jenny settled and then we can come back and finish up the paper work?"
Buffy nodded and Mr. Kelly led her, Angel and the kids out into the hallway. They walked down a corridor until they came to a door with brightly coloured pictures all over it. Mr. Kelly opened the door and knocked lightly on the door frame.
"Mrs Murphy, I have a new student for you. This is Jenny, Jenny this is Mrs Murphy, your teacher." Mr Kelly introduce to small girl to her teacher. Jenny waved shyly at the tall woman with long dark hair and colourful clothes.
"Come in Jenny," the teacher smiled warmly at her, "we were just
about to start a craft, you can sit next to Kyle." She pointed to an empty chair beside a small blonde boy in a LA Laker's shirt. Jenny let go of her mother's hand and took her seat setting her bag down beside her chair. Buffy smiled at her daughter, Jenny was always so brave.
"Bye Jenny, I'll see you after school," Buffy smiled and blew her daughter a kiss.
"Bye Mommy, bye Daddy Angel," the small girl responded, waving. Buffy, Angel, who was carrying Davey, and Mr. Kelly turned and walked back down the hall towards the front office. Jackie was there waiting for they with the paper work.
"Let's get started shall we? What is her last name?" The secretary asked.
"Well right now it's Kearnan but you might as well put O'connor because that will be her last name soon enough," Buffy responded. She stole a glance at Angel was slightly shocked but pleased at her response. Davey was started to get restless so Angel decided to go start registering him for preschool. The preschool was next door to the elementary school he didn't have to go far. By the time he had gotten through the stuff he knew about Davey and what davey could tell him, which wasn't much, Buffy was done with Jenny paper work and came to join him. The paper work was finished and after taking ten minutes to settle Davey into his class they headed back to the hotel to unpack Buffy and the kid's things.
TBC...
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