Chapter 11: Daddy Knows

Angel wanted to tell her parents that he wasn't really Riley? It would make things so much easier, they wouldn't have to pretend anymore and she wouldn't have to call him Riley in front of her parents, Xander and Anya. That would work out perfect, if her mother wasn't her mother. Her mother had always found something to rag on her about whether it was her grades in school, her friends, her boyfriends, or her lack in extracurricular activities. She was never the smartest out of her siblings, neither was Xander but he had been on a swim team since he was seven and once he was in high school he was the captain of the swim team. He had to keep his grades above passing to stay on the team so he always made sure he was. She hadn't had any reason to keep her grades up until Willow introduced her to the world of computers and she suddenly had the urge to go to college but she wasn't a part of any team or activity. She had tried out for Cheerleading in ninth grade but didn't make it on the squad. Faith and Amy had tried out for the squad too but hadn't made the final cut. That was when the three girls became best friends. If she moved back to Sunnydale with Amy the three best friends could be together again. Looking over at Angel as he sat on the bed with her younger sister she smiled, this man had come into her life only a few days ago and it seemed like he was the answer to all of her problems. "I thought you didn't want to tell my parents until after you were gone."

"That was before we were together." He smiled back at her.

Buffy nodded. "Okay…" She had a bad feeling about telling her parents that Riley had broken up with her but she also had a feeling that everything was going to be okay and that feeling was stronger. "I will tell them, I will move back to Sunnydale and I will take the job."

Angel smiled and watched Willow jump up excitedly, giving her sister a big hug. The redhead ran to the bedroom door and turned around. "Just think, Buffy… now you will get to see Spike everyday too!"

Buffy groaned, her face falling into her hands.

"You know Spike?"

Willow smiled at her sister and boss. "Small world." Then went to see if Oz was back yet.

"Yeah, he married my best friend." Buffy nodded.

"Faith?" Angel asked surprised. He had heard the name Faith mentioned once before in the cabin but he never made a connection, there could be hundreds of people named Faith. "Your best friend married my best friend!"

"Where you at the wedding?!"

Angel nodded.

"You're kidding me!" Buffy laughed. "I don't remember seeing you there."

"I don't remember seeing you there either." He smiled. "I would have remembered you."

"I looked a little different last year." She motioned to her hair. "I colored my hair brown because I was sick of Spike calling me Golilocks and I lost a little weight since then."

Angel nodded. "I was going to say, the only blonde I remember was part of the wedding party and she definitely wasn't you."

"That would be Amy. I stood right next to her during the ceremony."

Angel looked at her shocked. "I walked her down the aisle! You must have been right in front of us! Doyle walked with you!"

"Doyle was very interesting." Buffy nodded and laughed. "Kinda cute too in a I-can't-wait-for-the-reception-so-I-can-get-trashed kind of way. He helped keep my mind of Riley who wouldn't stop texting me about Spike."

"Doyle is my cousin." Angel smiled. "Why was Riley texting you about Spike? Did he not like Spike?"

"You could say that." She smiled teasingly. "He always thought Spike just wanted to get into my pants… for good reason though. Spike had been trying to get into my pants ever since I met him."

"I'm gonna hit that guy."

"Your best friend?"

Angel nodded and smiled when she got up from the desk chair and made her way over to him, stopping when she stood between his legs. "You know, this is the second guy you said you wanted to hit for me."

He brought his hands to her waist and slid them around to her back. "It won't be the last."

"So, I hear you are moving back to Sunnydale."

Buffy and Angel looked towards the voice and saw Oz leaning against the door frame, his cheeks still red for being outside. Willow stood beside him with a smile still on her face.

Buffy nodded, smiling at her soon to be brother in law.

"It will be good to have you back." Oz smiled, pushing himself off the door frame and stepping into the room. "You and Amy can keep Willow company if I have a gig out of town."

Angel pulled Buffy closer to him, pressing his face into her stomach. "Don't expect her to be around too much."

"Buffy, I don't know if you want to hear this but…" Willow smiled at her older sister. "You two are more disgustingly adorable than Dawn and Connor."

"I don't know." Buffy pursed her lips. "Is there an award involved? I would be okay with it if there was an award involved. I never get awards."

"Bull!" Oz exclaimed. "Tenth grade English- Most Improved Award."

"The award was a Snapple." Buffy laughed.

"Lemonade Snapple." Willow nodded. "Your favorite."

"Senior Prom." Oz crossed his arms over his chest. "Class Protector."

"That was because I was nosey!" She laughed then looked down at Angel. "I got an umbrella surprise because I wanted to know everyone's business!"

Angel shook his head laughing and pulled her down into his lap. She patted the bed next to them and Sassy jumped up, laying her head in Buffy's lap.

"Not true." Willow jumped in. "You helped everyone even though you had your own problems."

"Okay." Buffy smiled, petting Sassy. "So I was an untrained therapist. Is there an award for being disgustingly adorable or not?"

"If there was don't you think Dawn and Connor would have already gotten it by now?" Angel smiled and kissed her lightly.

0o0o0

Willow and Oz walked out into the living room with Buffy and Angel walking behind them holding hands, the guys were just getting warmed back up from chopping wood and Joyce, Dawn and Connor were in the kitchen putting empty Tupperware containers in the sink. Joyce always took food when she was going to visit someone saying you can't show up to someone's house empty handed.

"Guess who's back." Willow pointed behind her to Angel.

"Oh, Riley!" Joyce exclaimed then turned to Xander who was standing near Buffy now. She gave both of her oldest children a stern look. "See! We should have waited to put up the tree!"

"Buffy said he wasn't coming back!" Xander pointed at his sister.

"I didn't think he was coming back." She rolled her eyes. "I'm hungry."

"Riley..." Rupert said cleaning his glasses. He put them back on and nodded towards the front door. "Can I have a word?"

Buffy gave Angel a worried look, he gave her a small smile. "Yeah, sure." He gave her a soft kiss and started to pull away but she wouldn't let go of his hand. "I'll be right back." He whispered giving her another kiss but she still looked worried.

She watched Angel go out the front door with her dad, she was worried about what her dad was going to say.

0o0o0

Angel stepped out on to the porch behind Buffy's father, he glanced around and wondered when it had started getting dark. Where they really in the bedroom that long? Rupert turned around and didn't waste a second to begin. "Listen, I don't know who you are but I know you aren't Riley Finn."

"Excuse me?"

"You are not Riley Finn." Rupert repeated slowly. "Do you know how I know you are not who you claim?"

Angel shook his head.

"I know my daughter." He said putting his hands in his jean pockets. "She's happy. She has been with Riley Finn for four years and never once in that time has she ever smiled like she has around you. When you were gone earlier she was upset. The way she was acting in your absence is how she reacted while she was dating Mr. Finn. So my question is, who are you?"

"Look Rupert, I really like you and your family. I respect you. I don't want to do anything to disrespect you but…" Angel sighed. "I also respect and care about your daughter. I don't want to do anything to upset her so, I think that will have to be a question you ask Buffy."

Angel turned to go back inside and Rupert put his hand on Angel's arm. "Do you love my daughter?"

"Yeah." Angel nodded. "I do."

"Then I don't give a damn who you are." Rupert smiled. "That's good enough for me."

0o0o0

Walking back into the Cabin with Rupert a few steps behind him he followed Buffy's voice into the kitchen when she was making a snack and talking to Xander. He gently grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from everyone else. "Your father knows." He whispered.

"What?" She whispered back.

Buffy and Angel looked towards Joyce, along with everyone else when they heard her let out a small scream. "Who is this?" Joyce asked with the dish towel she was holding clutched to her chest.

Buffy and Angel both looked around the counter and saw Sassy standing in the opening of the hallway looking slightly scared with her head down and tail between her legs until she saw her owner and Buffy. She started to wag her tail. "That would be our dog." Angel smiled.

Buffy grabbed ahold of Angel's hand, pulling him through the kitchen and down the hall, petting Sassy on the way. She heard her mother say "I didn't know you had a dog."

"Come here, Sassy!" Willow called, patting the couch.

0o0o0

"What do you mean he knows?" Buffy asked as Angel shut the bedroom door.

Angel shrugged. "He knows I'm not Riley but he doesn't know who I am. We agreed to tell them anyway."

Buffy nodded running her fingers through her hair. "I'm just a little panicky because they are going to FREAK when they find out I have been lying to them for six months."

"I will be right next to you." Angel smiled, taking her hands in his. He lightly kissed her. "Everything will be fine."

"Yeah." Buffy whispered, smiling back at him. "I believe you." She bit her lip then quickly added "What exactly was said out there?"

"Pretty much just that you weren't happy with Riley but you are happy with me and he doesn't care who I am..." He said still smiling. "because I love you."

"You love me?" She asked shyly.

Angel nodded. "Didn't I tell you?"

Buffy stood on her tippy toes. "Not in those exact words."

"Well…" He leaned in closer to her, about to kiss her. "I love you."

"Ditto." She whispered against his lips.

"Ditto?" He sighed. "That's all I get?"

Buffy giggled and kissed him again. "I love you too."

"That's better." He smiled against her lips, he pulled away. "I feel like I am doing this wrong… am I doing this wrong? The light should be out with a bunch of candles around the room or something…"

"What?" Buffy laughed. "Why do you think that?"

"I have never done this before." Angel shrugged. "I don't get this serious about anyone, not this quickly and I definitely have never told a girl I love her before… there's just something about you Buffy Summers."

"Well, you did it perfectly." She smiled. "Next time you shouldn't tell the girl's father first though."

"Next time?" He shook his head, sitting down on the bed he pulled her down to the bed with him. "There isn't going to be a next time." He kissed her, covering her body with his own. "This is it for me. You are it for me. I can feel it."

"You're so sweet." She whispered, kissing him again. After a few minutes she pulled away, looking up at him. "Sassy is OUR dog, huh?"

"Yeah." Angel nodded with a smile. "The way she took to you, she has never done that before… something we have in common." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Sassy was abandoned or… something, she was about 6 or 7 weeks old, she somehow found her way into my house and I kept her. I don't know why I kept her. I just felt like I needed too. She was skittish around everyone but me, it takes her months if not longer to get used to someone. She ran right to you so yeah, she is our dog."

"That's sad." She pouted. "Now I want to go give her a kiss."

Angel smiled. "Can I get another one first?"

She kissed him laughing. "Does she have food, toys and everything else she will need to be here?"

"I stopped off at the store before I came here and her favorite toy was already in the car…"

"Well, we should go to the store and get her some more." She smiled slapping his chest she pushed him off of her and was out the bedroom door.

He caught up to her in the living room where she was petting Sassy and giving the dog a kiss on the head. "Exactly how much more, Love?"

"I don't know." Buffy shrugged. "She looks pretty bored." She glanced at Sassy sitting on the couch between Willow and Connor. "Maybe she wants to play outside in the snow while we go get her some toys and stuff."

"I'll take her out to play!" Connor volunteered, knowing Sassy took a while to warm up to people.

"Great!" Buffy smiled then turned to her mom. "Do you need anything from the store while we are there?"

"I'm sure I can think of somethings." Joyce smiled back at her daughter. She was loved to see her daughter smile so much.

"You two should hurry back before it gets to dark." Rupert said looking up from his cross word puzzle.

Joyce nodded as she wrote a few things on a small note pad and handed it to Buffy. "When we were coming back the roads weren't too bad but they still had snow on them."

0o0o0

Walking outside she saw a neon green jeep next to hers. "Another car? You left your baby?"

He placed his hands on her waist from behind and kissed her neck. "I think I have enough babies here for now."

After Angel opened the door for Buffy to get in he shut it for her and jogged over to the other side of the jeep. Buffy looked in the back seat, the inside was pretty big. "I love the Wrangler, it's so much better than my Cherokee." Then she smiled "Hey, wanna fool around in the back?"

Angel laughed. "Store first. Fooling around later."

Connor, Dawn, Xander and Willow ran outside with Sassy as Buffy and Angel pulled out of the drive way. Sassy started to run towards them but Angel stopped the car and rolled down his window. "Stay." Sassy whimpered but sat down until the jeep was out of sight then turned and jumped into a snow bank that Oz had created while shoveling the snow.

0o0o0

"What exactly are you saying?!" Angel raised his voice glancing over at Buffy.

The blonde shrugged. "I think I pretty much made it clear what I'm saying."

"Clear it up for me some more!"

She shrugged again. "I'm just saying it's nice to see that you have some color in your life."

"I have color in my life!" He raised his eyebrows but kept his eyes on the road. They were lightly snow covered and Buffy had already freaked out when he took his eyes off the road for more than a second.

"Angel, ALL of your boxers that I have seen you in are black. All of your tanks are white."

"Not true. I have a few black." He said somberly.

Buffy laughed. "You just proved my point. At least THIS car is Green."

"Your fooling around time just got cut back." Angel scowled.

"Oh, really?"

"Yup." Angel nodded. "By at least… Five seconds."

Buffy laughed.

0o0o0

"Did we really have to wait until NOW to take an hour drive to Target? You do know if we went about 45 more minute that way…" He pointed in the opposite direction they came as he got out of his jeep in the Target parking lot. "We would be in the City of Angels, where you call home."

"It's snowing!" She exclaimed pulling Angel's black leather coat more tightly around her. "In that extra 45 minutes of a drive we could crash and die!"

"Sassy could have waited, she has food and a toy… her favorite toy." He rolled his eyes and opened the store door for the blonde. "and it is only for a few days."

"Unless I can convince you to stay until New Years." She smiled as she pressed her chest against his.

"And how do you plan on doing that, Love?" Angel smiled, looking down at her chest pressed against his. He could easily see down her shirt.

Smiling teasingly, she winked. "I'm sure I can think of something."

0o0o0

Angel walked around Target for what seemed like forever but turned out to only be 10 minutes, looking for Buffy. He found her coming out of the Mens section with something in her hands. She looked up at him surprised and turned around quickly. "What do you have?"

"Nothing!"

"It looks like something." Angel smiled grabbing her around the waist.

She reached out and grabbed a package of socks from the rack next to her. "Just getting my dad a Christmas present!"

"Socks?" Angel asked. "You're getting your dad socks?" He asked as she held them out and put something behind her back with her other hand. "With… dancing elves on them…"

Buffy nodded. "One year I got him socks with that dancing baby on them and a matching tie. He loved them!"

"Somehow, your dad doesn't strike me as the dancing animated characters type." He laughed.

"Can't the man have layers?"

Angel looked up when he heard a man's voice on the speaker announcing that they were closing soon and everyone needed to make their way to the check-out counters.