Spreading the Holiday Cheer
Chapter 1: Hello Cutie
Buffy Summers was not happy. Sure it was the holidays and she was finally getting a chance to spend some quality mom time since she'd left for college, but then Joyce dropped the bomb. Nuclear bomb.
Spike was coming over for the holidays.
"Mom, you can't! What part of vampireevil don't you understand?" she cried.
"Buffy don't be silly-he has his chip doesn't he? Besides no one should be alone on Christmas," her mother reprimanded her gently.
"I don't think that applies to demons," Buffy said with a pout. Spike being there was definitely going to ruin her happy family style Christmas frosted with prezzies and a fake fire.
"Just play nice for one night? Then you can go back to threatening to stake him," Joyce said, her voice tinged with amusement.
"What about Dawn?" Buffy tried as a desperate last attempt.
At the sound of her name the fifteen year old bounded down the stairs, "What about me?"
Buffy rolled her eyes, "Mom decided that Spike need some holiday cheer and invited the bleached bloodsucker over for Christmas dinner," Buffy saw a guilty look flash on her mother's face and turned to question her.
"What was that look for?" she asked suspiciously.
"Well, honey its not just dinner…" Joyce trailed off with an apologetic look.
"Oh my god! You invited him to stay here? Overnight? To open presents?" She shrieked.
"Cool!" Dawn said happily. Buffy finally lost her patience and stomped out of the room ranting, "Evil! Why can't anyone see that?"
"Bad news," Buffy moaned to Willow.
"Uh oh- another one?" Willow asked feeling dread sink into her bones.
"Huh?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Apocalypse?" Willow prompted.
"No worse," Buffy groaned plopped her head down on the table in front of her. There's something worse? Willow wondered.
"Spike's coming over for Christmas," Buffy said her voice muffled.
Oh I guess there is, Willow winced.
"Oh!" she said eyes wide.
"Yeah." Buffy muttered.
"Um…why?" Willow hesitated to ask. Buffy's head shot up, eyes blazing, "Mom decided Spike needed some holiday cheer."
Willow couldn't help but giggle at that and Buffy shot her a look.
"Sorry, but Spike and holiday cheer? Not so mixy,"
Buffy cracked a small grin, "Yeah. But that doesn't change the fact he's coming over," she grumbled.
Willow bit her lip, "Maybe he'll play nice," she ventured.
Buffy gave her another look.
"Okay, maybe not," Willow then came up with an idea, "What if Tara and I come? And maybe Xander and Anya? You'd have back up and support."
Buffy brightened for a second, "Yeah that would be great. And in the words of my mother 'the more the merrier'."
Then Buffy was reminded why they were coming. Stupid vampire.
"I know something bad is gonna happen," Buffy told Willow and then promptly smacked her head back down on the table, "I know it."
Willow patted her friend's back reassuringly.
Yep, something bad was definitely going to happen-especially with Spike and Buffy involved.
"Buffy! Can you find my nice plates?" Joyce called to her daughter from the kitchen.
Buffy sighed and glanced around her to see the many unpacked boxes in the basement.
"Sure," Buffy yelled back trying to keep her voice cheery but it sounded force even to her.
In a few hours hell was about to break loose so she mind as well be helpful now before she ended up breaking something trying to kill Spike.
"Buffy any luck with those plates?" Joyce's voice broke through Buffy's thoughts.
"Still looking," Buffy called back and shifted the boxes around. She still couldn't believe it. Spike and her family dinner. It would have helped if Giles were here, he would have backed her up and her mom listened to Giles. But he was in England.
"Stupid England," Buffy muttered and accidentally knocked over a picture. She bent down to pick it up and saw it was a picture of the landscape, probably from a trip. The ocean was a stormy blue-gray. Kinda like Spike's eyes. Buffy froze and her eyes widened.
Like Spike's eyes?
"I didn't not just think that," Buffy groaned out loud. It was fluke, she reassured herself. She had merely been noting the fact Spike had blue eyes, nothing special.
Yeah nothing special about comparing a guy's eyes to the ocean, her devil voice (which sounded remarkably like Faith sometimes) teased her.
"It was nothing," Buffy told herself and turned to glare at the makeshift guestroom her mom had set up for him.
"Stupid vampire," Buffy confirmed, but a strange sensation rippled through her. Not of the good. She quickly found the plates and ran upstairs.
She had to cut back on the eggnog.
"Hey guys," Buffy greeted Willow and Tara warmly with a hug.
"Hey, we brought cookies," Willow said with her charming grin, holding out a container filled with chocolate chip cookies, "My special guilty cookies," then added, "Except there's no guilt this time." She paused again and turned to Tara worriedly, "There isn't is there?"
Tara smiled, "No sweetie-just gooey yummy cookies,"
Buffy smiled and felt a pang of jealously at there love. She wished she could find someone like that-who didn't lose their soul when he had a 'happy'.
"Is he here yet?" Willow whispered into her ear.
Buffy shook her head, "Not yet."
"Hey Willow, hey Tara," Dawn smiled at them, "Mom's almost ready," then Dawn noticed the cookies, "ooo! Cookies. I'll show you where those go," Dawn said and directed them into the kitchen.
Just then the doorbell rang again and Buffy opened it to see Xander and Anya standing there.
"Hey" Buffy said and ushered them inside.
"Hey, we weren't sure what to bring…" Xander trailed off and Anya supplied, "So we didn't bring anything,"
"Don't worry, we have enough to feed us for days here," Buffy said and they walked to the kitchen.
"Goody," Xander said and rubbed his hands together.
Just then the doorbell rang and Buffy instinctively ran to open it.
"Hello Cutie"
Damn. She really shouldn't have opened the door.