Here we go! Sorry it took so long. It's going to take a few chapters to transition from where we were at the end of the last story to the real events of this one. So it's going to be a few chapters of fluff and filler which can be tough for me to write, but I think I got it this time. Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think!

Ch. 3

"I just finished my last midterm ever!" Buffy exclaimed as she slammed the front door behind her. Hannah rushed over to her excitedly greeting her before Angel could even stand up from the couch. "Spring break has officially started!"

"Congratulations," Angel smiled as he walked over and gave her a kiss. "Are you sure you don't want to take a trip somewhere?"

"We just went to Hawaii," Buffy reminded him and he shrugged. "I definitely won't mind spending my spring break locked at home with my soon-to-be husband," she grinned as he pulled her close to him. "And we're getting close to the hockey game. You have a lot to teach me," she pointed out and he chuckled.

"There's a game on tonight," he smirked as he picked up the remote and turned on the TV. "They're already talking about it. I'm sure you could learn a lot if you don't have any other plans."

"Too bad. I actually DO have other plans," she said grabbing the remote and turning off the TV. "They involve you and me going out. We're celebrating."

"Celebrating?" he asked and she nodded.

"With music, alcohol, dancing, and then you taking me somewhere private and ravishing me for the rest of the night."

"I think I'm going to enjoy your spring break too."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Annngel please!" Buffy whined as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I want to dance."

"I'm not stopping you," he smiled at her pout. She'd had a few drinks and she was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol.

"I want to dance with you," she insisted and he bit back a groan as she stepped closer and pressed her body against his. "Why don't you like to dance with me?"

"I don't like to dance period," he corrected but as his hands slid around her waist, feeling the smooth fabric of her dress he sighed. Why did he even try? Grabbing his drink off the table he finished it in one swallow and then grabbed Buffy's hand. "Come on," he said leading her to the dance floor. He heard her excited squeal as she followed behind him.

"Thank you Angel," Buffy grinned as she looped her arms around his neck. "I promise I'll make it up to you later," she smiled as her body began to move sensually against his.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I love the drinks here!" Buffy grinned as she sat on a stool at Willie's.

"I remember," Angel smiled, now positive it was a good idea to take her here after the Bronze. He wanted her to have fun. It was the first night of her spring break.

"You remember more than I do," she giggled before turning to Willie and ordering her drink. "Thank you for taking me here Angel. I'm so glad to have a break from school," she said honestly and he looked over at her.

"Two months and you're done," he reminded her and she sighed. It still seemed like forever.

"I feel like I'm so beyond college at this point. I mean, I'm getting married and then we'll have kids and I'll have to stay home anyways so why bother getting a degree?" she babbled and Angel frowned.

"You don't have to stay home with our kids Buffy. I would-"

"No, I WANT to stay home. I just don't want to be in college anymore," she admitted and he smiled. "And if I don't pass this freaking Spanish class…" she trailed off and Angel knew it was something she never would have mentioned if she'd been sober.

"How did your midterm go?" he asked and she sighed.

"Terribly," she told him. "There's an oral part where the professor asks us questions in Spanish and we have to answer them. But I couldn't understand what she was asking so I didn't know what to say," she answered dejectedly. "I babbled something about basketball but I think she was asking about dinner."

"You'll get through it," he assured her. "No matter what, we'll get you through it. But…" he said grabbing his glass and holding it up in a toast. "We're not worrying about that tonight because tonight is your spring break."

"Damn straight," she grinned as she clinked her glass against his.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh my god," Buffy groaned as she sat up in bed.

"There's breakfast and aspirin on the nightstand," Angel spoke from next to her on the bed as he turned the page in the book he was reading.

"Why are you so chipper?" she grimaced reaching for the tray of food.

"I didn't drink as much as you did," he pointed out and she pouted.

"I'm getting too old for this," she muttered and Angel chuckled.

"You just turned 23. Don't even try telling me that's old."

"I can't help it that you're an old man," she retorted and he found himself laughing again. "Stop laughing at me! Oh god I didn't do anything I don't remember, did I?" she asked horrified. She didn't think she'd had that much to drink, but she was a little scarred from kissing Angel the night they met and not remembering it.

"Do you remember using very unfair methods to convince me to dance with you?" he asked and Buffy grinned despite her headache.

"Yes."

"How about taking a poll of how many people in Willie's spoke Spanish in an attempt to prove that it was fruitless for you to learn?" he asked and her cheeks flamed red as she thought about that. She did remember. "Ironically, the results were not in your favor."

"There was a group of 8 people that all spoke Spanish. That's not my fault!" she shot back and then clutched her head.

"Still didn't help your case," he said as he sat on the edge of the bed. "By the way, Fred called. Something about bridesmaid dresses."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm not wearing a yellow dress," Cordelia insisted.

"I really liked the purple," Buffy jumped in. They didn't have time to get custom dresses so they had to take whatever was available. Alterations were possible, but the wedding was coming up so soon even that was pushing it.

"I think we're going with the purple. It should be easy to match flowers with it too," Fred agreed with a smile.

"Great. Now that we have that figured out, we need to plan your bachelorette party," Cordelia said and Fred grimaced.

"I don't think that's a good idea Cordy. Half the time I'm too nauseous to move," Fred replied but Cordelia shook her off.

"We'll think of something. A girls weekend somewhere. It'll give the boys time to do something for Wes too," Cordy said. "Buffy and I will plan everything. All you'll have to do is show up!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Guys, you really shouldn't have done this," Fred smiled as she walked into Buffy's living room to see it decorated for a bridal shower.

"Of course we should have," Buffy said leading Fred towards the kitchen. "We have all kinds of cool finger foods in here which I did not cook so they're safe. And in the other room we have presents and some wedding trivia games. And we were really glad you picked your colors the other day. Look," Buffy said showing Fred the streamers and decorations hung in the other room. They were all in various shades of purple with some white thrown in.

"This was really nice of you," Fred gushed as she held back tears. She'd been incredibly emotional since she'd gotten pregnant, but she didn't want to cry. She'd thought she was just coming over to watch a movie with Buffy, but she showed up to find an entire bridal shower. "I'm not even registered anywhere yet," Fred said having already been worried about that.

"Don't worry. We mostly just got you guys general things. You can always return them, but your mom helped us pick some," Buffy told her and Fred relaxed a bit. She had been planning on enlisting her mother's help to register anyways.

"Time for presents!" Cordelia exclaimed carrying in the last few from the car.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Why was that not a penalty?" Buffy asked in frustration. She was really trying to understand hockey, but every time she thought she got something, the next play showed she was wrong.

"Because the ref is blind!" Angel called loudly to the TV. "It was tripping."

"So it was a penalty?"

"It should have been," Angel insisted. "But the refs are too busy worrying about keeping the star players on the ice rather than in the box."

"You only say that when they miss a penalty against your team," Buffy pointed out and he scowled.

"Well…they're unfair," he said and Buffy held back a laugh. Angel was usually so easygoing, but when it came to hockey he took things very seriously. "See that guy? The one named Kopitar? And the other one named Carter?" Angel asked pointing to the TV screen. "They're great. Incredible to watch. Oh my god, did you see that?!" he exclaimed as he grabbed the remote and rewound a few seconds. "Watch this Buffy."

Buffy watched and she saw one of the guys he'd pointed out execute a spin move to keep the puck away from the other team. She wasn't that impressed, but she could see it made Angel excited. And what did she know anyways?

"That was awesome," she nodded with a smile and he grinned. "I can't wait to see it in real life."

"Buffy it's going to be so great. I can't believe I've only been to a handful of games in my life," he rambled and this news surprised Buffy. When was the last time he'd gone?

"How many have you been to?" she wondered and he shrugged.

"Three or four. My dad used to take me when I was a kid," he explained and Buffy's eyes widened.

"When's the last time you went to a game?" she asked and he sighed quietly.

"It was my high school graduation present from my dad," he told her and she scooted closer to him.

"You should have told me," she said as she leaned against him. She felt him wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her even closer still. "So why is that guy freaking out?" she asked drawing Angel's attention back to the hockey game. She knew he didn't want to talk about his dad right now. He gave her a grateful kiss and went back to answering her questions.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Go, go, go, go…NO!" Angel exclaimed as he stood up in his seat that was just to the right of center ice. Slapping the glass in frustration he shook his head.

"Here you go," Buffy said handing him the beer she'd just gone to get him. "What did I miss?"

"Thanks. All you missed was our team looking like they belonged more at Fred's bridal shower than on NHL ice," he grimaced and Buffy nodded holding back her own laugh. Angel got so macho when hockey was involved. And it was ten times worse when they were actually at the game.

"We're still winning though, right?" Buffy asked glancing up at the scoreboard. It still read 1-0 Kings.

"Yeah. We're up by 1," he nodded as he looked over at Buffy. She was watching the game intently and he smiled to himself. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail and was proudly sporting her LA Kings jersey. On the way in he'd had to pull her away from a guy selling foam fingers and when she saw light up sticks that said "Kings" on them she begged him to buy her one.

And that was why there were now two light up "Kings" sticks in her hands.

But as she smiled and waved them around suddenly it didn't matter so much if the Kings won. He always loved being at a live hockey game, but being here with Buffy was one of the best moments of his life. He knew she didn't particularly like hockey and she was really only here for him. But she didn't seem bored. Although that probably had a lot to do with the light up sticks, he chuckled.

She caught him looking at her and she gave him a questioning glance.

"I'm glad you came with me," was all he said before turning back to watch the game.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Less than a minute was left in the game and the Kings were now down by one. They'd taken out their goalie to have an extra player but that seemed like a risky move to Buffy. Angel was on the edge of his seat just like the rest of the crowd. Buffy didn't even realize she was biting her nails. Her eyes were darting between the clock and the ice.

Why did they keep passing the puck? Someone needed to shoot it!

Finally there was a shot on goal, but the goalie blocked it eliciting a groan from the entire crowd. It was nearly silent in the stadium. All the people sitting around them were just as nervous.

With six seconds left on the clock the Kings shot the puck and it slid past the goalie and into the net. And it was at that moment that she wished she had a camera to capture Angel's reaction.

"WHOOOOOOO!" he yelled jumping in the air with a fist pump. "We got OT Baby!" he exclaimed grabbing one of the light up sticks from the floor and twirling it around faster than Buffy had ever imagined. "YEAH!" Buffy clapped along with the crowd and waved the other light up stick, but the best part of her night by far was Angel reacting like a cheerleader on speed.

When the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the period Angel turned to Buffy. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly on the lips. She was surprised, but she kissed him back.

"Thank you for coming," he said for what had to be the tenth time that night.

"It's no problem. I'm really having fun," she said and he grinned. "But I'm starving and I have to go get some nachos or something," she said giving him a quick kiss before leaving the seats and heading up the stairs.

"You're lucky your girlfriend comes with you," Angel heard behind him. He turned to see a middle aged man sitting with an empty seat next to him. "My brother had to work at the last minute and my wife wouldn't even come with me when I had an extra ticket."

"She's missing a good game," Angel smiled and the man shook his head.

"And she doesn't care one bit," he chuckled. "Your girl's into it though," he nodded to where Buffy had been sitting.

"She's not a hockey fan. This is the first time she's been to a game," he said and the man smiled.

"I'd bet money you two will be seeing a lot of games. She's been cheering right along with you this whole time," he told Angel who smiled to himself. She had been. "And she sure loves those light up sticks."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe we lost!" Buffy exclaimed in annoyance as they sat in the car waiting to get out of the parking lot. "Overtime is so not fair. The other team gets one lucky shot and we don't even get to try after that? It's just over!" she huffed and Angel smiled. She was now referring to the Kings as 'we' rather than 'LA' or 'your team.'

"That's why it's so tense," Angel agreed.

"Well do we at least get to hate Chicago for beating us?" she asked hopefully and he chuckled.

"Obviously," he smiled.

"Good. Do we play them again this season?"

"Yeah. In Chicago," he nodded. He wasn't sure when but he remembered there was one more game between the two teams.

"We better beat them on their home ice," she fumed and Angel found himself almost glad they lost. Seeing Buffy so upset by what she now thought of as "her team" losing was great. "When's our next game?"

"Wednesday night," he answered and she grimaced.

"I have a Spanish exam on Thursday. I'll have to make sure I'm done studying before the game."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Professor Sherman called. He wants me to go look at the gallery," Angel said and Buffy looked over at the clock. She didn't have class for another four hours. She should study for Spanish. But that didn't sound like fun at all.

"I'll go get dressed," she said and within ten minutes they were in the car on the way to the gallery. She did have the Spanish flashcards Angel had forced her to with her. He was always making her study. She smiled to herself as she realized he must have been a real bookworm in school.

"Why is 'la bota' not the Spanish term for boat?" Buffy asked in frustration and Angel chuckled. She always talked out loud when she studied. "I mean 'el barco?' Really? That should mean bark!"

"What does 'la bota' mean?" he asked even though he knew.

"Boot," she answered grudgingly. "But that's not the point."

"Maybe not, but now you'll never forget what 'la bota' means. Or 'el barco,'" he pointed out and she sighed.

"So I just need to complain about every word to learn them?" she asked sarcastically and he shrugged with a smile.

"Everyone learns in their own way," he said as he turned into the gallery parking lot. "You know how to say art?"

"El arte," she said distractedly as she flipped through some of her flashcards.

"Art gallery?" he prompted and she frowned. She didn't know how to say gallery. But she could guess. She usually made up her Spanish translations anyways.

"La galería de arte?" she guessed and Angel grinned.

"See? You know more than you realize," he said and her eyes widened.

"That was right?" she asked in disbelief and he nodded.

"Yep. You got the right vocabulary, the right articles, and you got the nouns and adjectives in the right order," he told her and she grinned. Those had been the things she'd been having trouble with. "I told you that you just think too hard. When I asked you that you hardly thought about it and got it right. Language and speech patterns start to become instinctual. As you hear them you start to learn what sounds right. So always go with your first instinct," he said and Buffy nodded. Why couldn't he be her teacher? When he talked it made so much sense. When her professor talked she could barely understand her. And her Spanish professor was Chinese! Seriously? They couldn't find anyone better? Like Angel?

"Does that trick work with math too?" she asked hopefully and he snorted and shook his head.

"I can help you with a lot of things, but math isn't one of them. I never got beyond Math 105," he admitted and she grinned. She was taking math 257 as an elective. She didn't really like it, but she was decent at it and it was only once a week. She may not be able to distinguish Spanish from Russian, but she could solve for X until the cows came home.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"You girls were right. This is a great bachelorette party," Fred grinned as they all lounged in the sauna at the spa. They'd had facials and massages and Fred had never felt so relaxed.

"I told you," Cordelia said. "My brother will be very happy you're enjoying yourself since he's paying for all of it," she chuckled and Buffy blushed. She was the maid of honor so technically she was supposed to pay for it, but she couldn't afford a bridal shower, a baby shower, and a spa day for five girls.

"Well tell Angel I said thank you," Fred smiled and Buffy nodded. He had insisted on paying for it. He'd tried to get her a bridal shower gift, but Buffy had to explain that the men didn't do that. He had given her a confused look and then just hung the balloons and decorations like she'd asked.

"I wish Xander was rich like Angel," Anya sighed and the group laughed.

"Angel really is the perfect catch," Fred smiled and Buffy's cheeks flushed. She knew she was lucky. "He's handsome, kind-"

"Rich," Anya added and Buffy smiled. "He always gets you nice presents."

"He does," Buffy agreed remembering the snow globe and fuzzy slippers in particular.

"And with a body like that he must be a good kisser," Anya said and Buffy grinned widely.

"The best. But I don't think Fred wants to talk about her childhood friend's kissing abilities at her bachelorette party," Buffy pointed out.

"Oh no. I love to hear this stuff about Angel," she rushed to say. "I've never seen him so happy."

"He makes me happy too," Buffy shrugged.

"How could he not?" Willow asked. "He's always planning something sweet and romantic."

"Seriously," Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Hot air balloon rides, cute little proposals…" she trailed off and Buffy covered her face.

"I know. And normally I don't even like that stuff," she admitted. "But when he does it it's just different," she said. "I know when he's doing it it's because he wants to not because he knows it'll make me willing to do whatever he wants later."

"Oz is the same way," Willow agreed. "He's big with the gestures. Not so much with the words."

"Yeah. When he proposes it'll probably just be a ring in cake and an inquisitive expression from him," Buffy giggled and the rest of the girls joined in.

"How did Wesley propose?" Cordelia wondered surprised they hadn't heard this story yet. They'd all been so wrapped up in the baby and wedding plans that they hadn't talked about much else.

"We were sitting in our new apartment trying to figure out where to put all the new furniture," Fred began and the girls could see a smile creep across her face. "He said how great it was that the second bedroom could be a guest room and I started freaking out because I still hadn't told him I was pregnant because I'd only known for about two hours," she rambled. "And then I just blurted it out and burst into tears. He stood there stunned and silent and I thought he was angry," Fred admitted as she shook her head. "But then he started to laugh and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a ring and got down on one knee. He said, 'I wish I'd asked you this about two minutes ago, but, would you do me the honor of being my wife?'"

"What did you say?" Buffy asked leaning forward in excitement.

"Obviously she said yes!" Willow gave her best friend a look but Buffy wanted a more detailed account of the conversation.

"I was so emotional I was convinced he was only asking because I was pregnant," Fred explained. "So at first I said no. But then he pointed out that he'd already bought the ring and had been planning it since before he knew I was pregnant. So then between a lot of tears I said yes."

"And then did you two you know…celebrate?" Cordelia asked and Fred blushed.

"Actually we started to panic and went online to research cribs."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do we have the cigars?" Doyle asked.

"Can't play poker without 'em," Angel answered holding up the box. "Let's get started. I'm sure the girls have already told each other everything there is to know about us."

"No doubt," Xander nodded as he began to deal the cards. Wesley took a sip of bourbon before even picking up his hand. When he saw three aces he maintained a neutral face.

"That being said, anyone want to state a disclaimer here before we hear it from the girls?" Doyle asked and Xander threw his cards face down on the table.

"If the monkey thing ever comes up," He began and he was met with four confused looks. "It was Anya's idea," Xander defended himself.

"What the hell is the monkey thing?" Doyle wondered but Angel held up a hand to stop Xander from replying.

"We'll all sleep better not knowing."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This was so much fun," Fred grinned as they all piled into the car. "Thank you."

"It's not over yet," Buffy said. "We're going to the Bronze and we are going to dance the night away!" she giggled feeling excited at the prospect of a night out with the girls. She'd just been at the Bronze, but it was always different with just the girls.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I fold," Xander sighed slapping his cards down in frustration.

"I'm in and I'll raise you," Wes said and everyone but Angel groaned. The entire game had been between Wes and Angel. Talk about bad luck for the other three.

"I call," Angel finally said and when they laid their cards out Doyle let out a low whistle.

"Talk about a close hand," he said. They both had a flush. Angel's high card was a ten and Wesley's was a jack. With a small smirk Wesley pulled the pile of chips his direction.

After a similar outcome over the next few hands Xander looked at the meager pile of chips in front of him and sighed.

"Anya's going to leave me."