Chapter 7- Families

Disclaimer: I own nothing….unfortunately.

Buffy sat on top of her mother's grave for a long time. She didn't know just how long she had been there but the sun had disappeared below the horizon about 5 minutes ago.

She had spent the last few hours just thinking about her mom and wishing that she was beside her so Buffy could hug her.Just as she was thinking that she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her in a protective way. She turned and saw her Angel.

" Hello.", he whispered and pulled her closer to him. Her head was pillowed on his chest and her crown was resting just beneath his chin comfortably.

She didn't reply just snuggled closer and breathed in his relaxing scent. He always smelled delicious. A mix between ivory soap, mints, and something that was distinctly Angel and that mix comforted her to no end that night.

They sat in silence for a long time just soaking in the fact that they were together. Then Buffy broke the silence. " I wanna call the adoption agency."

Angel looked down at her in sympathy. " Are you sure? You could wait…"

"NO!" Buffy shouted so loud that Angel jumped slightly. " Sorry. It's just that what if I wait to long and then my birth mom dies too. I can't. I have to know."

Angel nodded slightly and sighed. " Do you wanna call now?"

Buffy looked up at him. Her hazel eyes sparkling with tears and shook her head. " No right now I want to sit with you."

Angel looked at her and pulled her close again. " Cry Buffy. You'll feel better."

She shook her head. " No. I have to stay strong. I can't let mom see how weak I am."

Angel tilted her chin upwards to face him and said, " No. Buffy you are NOT weak. You are one the strongest and most capable people I know and you need to cry and let it go. It's not good for you to keep your emotions inside. You need to cry and no one's here that will see you as weak."

Buffy looked up at him and a tear traced down her cheek. " My mommy's gone Angel. She's gone and I'm alone." She hugged him closer as the tears she had successfully hidden for the last week started to poor.

She emitted a sob and Angel began to rock her. " It's okay, it's all going to be okay. Your mom will never be completely gone as long as you love her. You need to let her go though, just cry and let it go."

They sat like that for an hour. Angel's back against a tree rocking a sobbing Buffy in his lap and murmuring soft words of love into her ear, until her sobs had tapered of into slight gasping breaths.

" Thank you." She murmured into his ear, and gave him a slight kiss on his lips. She stood up and stretched. " Mm… You think we could go call that agency?"

Angel gave her nose a kiss and smiled his traditional half smile. "Of course. If you want."

Buffy nodded exuberantly. "Yes. I do." The couple started their way to her house to face her future and Buffy knew instinctually that Angel would be there for every moment.

They reached to Buffy's house at about 10 o'clock and walked into the living room. Her dad was on the couch watching the news and looked up at her.

" There you were. I was starting to get worried. Hello Angel." Hank was drawn to his daughters face which was pale and her eyes were red rimmed. He smiled softly, glad that she had finally cried.

" Hello, sir. How are you doing?" Angel asked politely trying to at least have it so that Hank Summers didn't hate him. This was the first time in his life he gave a damn about what the parents of the girl he was with thought of him.

" As well as can be expected Angel, and yourself?" Hank watched the man in front of him. Yes, there was no doubt that he was a man not a boy. Angel had an aura around him that screamed intelligence and strength. Hank was mostly comfortable in entrusting Buffy to Angel but it was still his little girl, therefore Angel was still on probation.

Angel shifted uncomfortably, knowing his every move was being appraised. " Good." Angel calmed slightly as Buffy's hand squeezed his in a show of support. He was yanked back to the reality of the situation by this move. He needed to be giving her support not the other way around. " We should call them before you go to bed, love."

Buffy nodded and sighed deeply. " Yeah, hold on. You put the paper on the desk right?" At his affirmative nod she separated herself and reached the desk.

" Buffy?" Hank asked curiously. " What are you doing?"

Buffy glanced back towards him. " I'm calling the adoption agency. I need to know my parents." She hoped those words did not hurt him but would call either way.

She sighed in relief when Hank gave her a supporting smile and made her call feeling more nervous than ever. ' What if they don't want me?' She shook her head slightly, 'No. Bad Buffy. No 'what if' games.'

" Hello. Trinity Adoption Agency" came a voice on the other end. It was British and she froze. " Hello?"

Buffy cleared her throat. " Hi. I'm Buffy Summers and I need to talk to Aileen Carlson, please." She was twirling a strand of her hair in her hands.

" Alright. One moment please." Buffy heard the 'elevator' music play over the phone. Then a voice.

" Miss Summers?" The voice was warm and caring with just the right accent to make her think of a female version of Giles.

She smiled and answered quietly, " Yes. Hi. Um… I was adopted about 16 years ago." A few tense seconds went by and then, " Were your adopted parents Hank and Joyce Summers?"

" Yes. My birth parents were Cassandra Anderson and Sirius Black." A few minutes of typing and then a throat clearing.

" My records show that you were born in 1981. Do you have parental permission to be making this call? I am truly sorry but it is procedure." The speech sounded rehearsed and had been said many times before.

" My father is aware that I am making this call and supports my decision." She was surprised that she could sound so official when she was shaking so madly.

More minutes of typing and then, " I am sorry but I cannot hand out information over the phone for security reasons. Could you schedule an appointment for sometime this next week? Possibly for a week from today?"

Buffy unstuck her throat. " I'll be there. I need to catch a flight but I'll be there."

" You're American, correct?" The question caught her off guard.

" Yes. Is that a problem?" Buffy was nervous. ' What if they don't handle overseas cases anymore?' There she went with the 'what if' game again. The next sentence put aside her fears.

" No Miss Summers. No problem. I put your appointment for Thursday at 2 o'clock . Call if you can't make it by then and we'll reschedule you. Have a nice evening."

Buffy heaved a sigh of relief. " Thank you. I'll schedule a flight out next Wednesday."

The soft lilting accent took place of the brisk business tone. " Miss Summers, you take your time. I know how difficult this must be for you."

After she hung up the phone she sat in silent shock between her dad and Angel both offering her the silent support that she needed. They sat in silence while the muted T.V flashed scenes across an unwatched scene. They missed the news report shown on the 'world view'. The captions read. " It is believed that Sirius Black is armed and dangerous. Convicted of murdering 13 people 12 years ago, if Black should approach do NOT under any circumstances try to apprehend him, call the police immediately. People traveling to Great Britain should be aware and cautious of incoming and out coming flights. While in local news…" If they had only been watching the news.

I want to say thank you all for your support and waiting patiently for me to update. It'll probably be happening more often but my best friends mom just had a baby and I'm helping them out a lot so... yeah just keep on being patient. As always make my day and give me a review. Nat