One of the drawbacks to his younger sister's surprise visit home for the holidays, returning to the States after a few years of being abroad full time, fell in with it brought the large group of loved ones back together more and more and that mean putting a lot of unneeded attention on him time and again. Not for the first time, he walked into the kitchen to find the lot of them standing around discussing his little turn of life events and current affairs and rolled his eyes, clearing his throat to announce his presence, not that it seemed to matter either which way.

"Okay, so I don't think I've still gotten any sort of clear answer as to why he's not asked this Buffy girl out on a proper date or something yet right?" Kathy asked, shooting a smirk over her wine glass before taking a sip. "Is he just not into her like that or something? I thought everyone said she was totally cute. And sweet and lovely and all the things..."

Gunn chuckled at that and commented on the "definite sparkage" happening between him and the blonde in question making his eyes roll back in his head once more. "Do you people really not have anything better to discuss with your free time than my love life or the lack there of?" Angel asked. "I have not even ever spent time with this girl except when I've been with Connor. And I barely even know her in case any of you have forgotten."

Gunn took a large bite of the dinner roll Mom handed him and pointed a finger Angel's way. "No offence to Connor because we all know how awesome that little man is, but I don't think he's the sole reason she's into you, bro."

"And, please, it's not like you're not getting your rocks off somewhere anyway when he's not around so really you might as well-"

"Seriously?!" he cut his sister off really not wanting to talk about that part of his life and she just laughed harder.

"Well, it's true isn't it?"

"That is so beyond the point and has nothing to do with anything here!"

Kathy shrugged her shoulders, taking another drink. "I'm just pointing out you're off carrying on meaningless relationships whenever you get the chance I'm sure... which if that's what you want to do than so be it kid... jump in and out of random women's beds in the middle of the night if you so damn wish too... but there's nothing saying you can't have more... if you so wish either."

"And... I am sure when the time is right that part of my life will manage to fit in somewhere but geez, everyone seems to just ignore the fact Connor's already been through hell, is just getting used to me even let alone all of us, and springing someone on him like that seems like it'd all just be too much."

"Have you even talked to him about it?"

"No I have not."

"Even some sort of round about hinting at something like that?"

"No," he repeated.

"Well then maybe you're thinking too much into it. There's no set rule about when you can do what."

"I wish there was," Angel grumbled. "That'd make things a fucking lot easier to be quite honest." And if that wasn't the truth he didn't know what was. There never seemed to be a clear cut answer to these types of things but he sure could use some right about now. The last thing he wanted to do was making anything harder on Connor and so much of the time that's all he felt he did.

OoOoO

The holidays were always rather bittersweet to Buffy now days, she was always excited with Thanksgiving and of course Christmas in the air, loved the decorations, seeing families getting together again, watching old favorite movies, seeing lights and all of that but they also made her feel incredibly lonely, too.

Thanksgiving was usually a little easier, she and her friends still tried to work something out to get together but Christmas hit differently. Willow didn't exactly celebrate Christmas of course, Faith usually found some man to go sneak off with, and Xander had a disaster of a family his own self though now that he'd distanced himself from them more and was starting a life settling down with Anya and all he seemed to be in a better place than ever.

With her mother gone she really didn't have much in the way of family other than those friends. She and her father had a strained relationship to put it mildly. He'd been amazing when she was younger but teenage years came, he changed jobs, Hank and Joyce's marriage fell apart and he just took the easy way out in the end. They had gone years without talking and still managed more often than not to keep that tradition up, though every once in a blue moon he would call or even a few times had met up for something or another but then went their own way right after until the next random moment came. He felt like a stranger if she were being honest, now into his third marriage, raising some step children not even half her age, and even had a half sibling of hers out there in the world she'd never even met with a random affair along the way.

Her father's family had never been involved and her only aunt was more someone who checked in with her only slightly more often than her father so that really left no one. Except Giles... but even he had moved back to England a couple of years ago and while he certainly went out of his way to keep in touch and came to see her as much as possible it just wasn't the same.

She was trying really hard to get into the spirit of things but it just wasn't working out. She had enjoyed buying gifts for those who she loved most and wrapping them, would enjoy that aspect and had driven out to a see some bigger light shows and enjoyed little things like that but she had avoided all the events she usually went out to and hell hadn't even bothered decorating her and Faith's place this year. She kept putting it off and now it didn't make any sense to bother but even so she found herself bummed out every time she let her mind think too much about it all, the missing tree, not having any fun colorful lights up, no decorative signs or plushies or anything of that nature around... everything just being boxed up across town in her storage unit still.

OoOoO

"Does it look okay?" Angel asked, probably for the third time, in a hushed voice as he looked over everything. Inside his head he jumped back and forth over if everything here was too much, too little, worrying himself to death over Connor's first real Christmas not being absolutely perfect, him not liking his gifts, it being underwhelming, overwhelming...

"Everything will be amazing," his mother's soft voice called out to him from the sofa. "There's next to no better magic in the world than what the morning will bring, just you wait," she promised with a large grin.

He sighed and said he sure hoped so, coming to take a seat next to her. "Thank you for staying the night by the way."

She waved him off, telling him of course. Whether he had wanted to do this big event on his own and come by their house or invite them all over later, everyone crash out and do something big, whatever... she would have been on board with, all of them would have. "You'll truly be appreciative of it tomorrow," she said with a laugh. "All this adrenaline and worry and finding it harder to fall asleep worse than he even has it will come to bite you in the ass tomorrow. You cash in a naptime any time you wish, kiddo, we got you. I'm pretty sure your father can remember how to put some little toys together if need be."

Even as he forced himself into bed, and as tired as he was, Angel sure enough found it hard to actually drift off to sleep as he laid there and kept thinking about morning but eventually he must have dozed off because before he knew it the sun was shining and happy shrieks filled the house as Connor woke up.

OoOoO

Sure enough, Christmas was everything he could have hoped for and more. Angel was pretty sure he had never seen a more appreciative child in his whole life compared to Connor and he ate every single bit of the day up with him, how his eyes lit up seeing all the presents and getting to unwrap them, how he thanked everyone about fifteen times after each and every opening,, as happy to have something homemade or something simple from a dollar store as anything else, clothes, toys, a new bedding set... any of it made him feel like the luckiest kid alive. It both made Angel's heart burst and break though because he knew way more than what you saw in on the surface was going on with every bit of it all.

Honestly he didn't know how life might have truly might be different for either of them had he'd been given the chance to be there earlier or perhaps even from the start but he knew it would have been better than what Connor had been left to deal with and boy did that kill him. Even if he knew there was nothing he could do about it now and had no reason to even think something like that was going on without his knowledge all that time it still didn't stop those feelings from lurking and wondering what could have been, how easier Connor's life could have been before this year, how different his own might be right now.

As out of the blue finding out Connor even existed in the first place was and how he felt like he'd been scrambling around trying to figure out how to suddenly be a parent and take care of a whole other tiny human he couldn't deny how fulfilling the entire experience had been from the get go, how that little slice of himself stole his heart and ran the fucking hell away with it without looking back once. And all he wanted to do was give Connor the world since.

His parents had taken to him just as easily, his sister of course had been a bit of a different story given she wasn't actually physically around until just now but even she had just rolled with it, and now with her here he couldn't get over the bond they already seemed to have made. Being roped into watching some cheesy holiday romance Hallmark movies with them had not been on his to do list but somehow had become a normal thing since she strolled in, too. He was pretty sure Connor was just wanting to be near her and do whatever she wanted... at first anyway but now he seemed rather invested.

And beyond all the presents Christmas had held passing on traditions he had grown up with, making a huge breakfast together and eating far too much food, dad and grandpa mumbling over tools and tiny pieces, dance parties... When family favorite friends started piling in later in the day the news broke that Connor was about to no longer hold the title of the youngest member of the group with Wesley and Fred's pregnancy and that might have been what made Connor the happiest out of everything.

OoOoO

When Friday rolled back around, Buffy had barely been able to get a word in edgewise with Connor rushing to tell her all about all the excitement that had been going on the past several days. Then Saturday brought a surprise with running into her a couple towns over at the closest skating rink, something Connor had been asking to do ever since he saw one featured in one of those romance movie Kathy'd been binging on.

"It's like I just saw you," Buffy greeted with a smile when she saw them, just finishing up with her skates. "Happy New Years Eve!"

Connor smiled and complimented her skates which matched her outfit. He quickly informed her that he had never done this before, nor had his dad or aunt who had also decided to tag along for the adventure. Kathy who he noted was being unusually quiet over there, at least out loud anyway. Her eyes were holding a whole conversation as she took in the petite blonde woman she had been hearing oh so much about.

"Oh, I bet you will do great," Buffy told him. She looked over her shoulder then pointed to the ticket booth explaining that's where they should go, about the lockers available, and also pointing out the user friendly skate guides they had available for rent. Shooting a look the adults' way she frowned and said she was sorry it did have a height limit and they were just going to have to learn the hard way.

Buffy also pointed across the way to a little cut away area in the outside wall, slipped a piece of gum in Connor's hand and told him he could pay the lady in the booth over there with candy and request a song if he wanted.

OoOoO

While both he and Kathy tried to figure out what they were doing, he didn't mind as Buffy came back around their way after awhile and started working with Connor and just carrying on as they did. Eventually he felt like he almost had the hang of this whole situation but poor Kathy looked like she was regretting even agreeing to come here at this point. Buffy took pity on her too though and tried giving some pointers but obviously this was not something the youngest Angelus child was going to be taking to.

Finally Buffy laughed and pointed out they did have a snack bar but more importantly just around the corner there was a small food truck set up if that was more up her alley. Kathy was out of her skates and ready to go chase after some tacos before you could even blink, promising she would still happily do the ferris wheel sitting outside with them, too but she was absolutely calling it quits on the ice.

OoOoO

Buffy had very much declined any offer to go up with them, even with all the coaxing Connor tried laying on the table, then as they were waiting in line Angel noticed her walking out of the building with her bags and starting toward the parking lot. Not giving himself time to overthink or talk himself out of it, he quickly asked Connor if he was okay riding with Kathy real quick then they could all go for a second round in a second.

Connor looked confused but Kathy just had a smirk on her face. "I just wanted to go ask Buffy something real quick before she left," he quickly told Connor and made sure he was all good before excusing himself trying to get back out of the line and chasing after the blonde.

Buffy looked surprised when he caught up to her and even more surprised when he rushed out asking if she would in any way, shape or form be interested in doing something with him tomorrow.

She agreed slowly before asking him what he might have in mind.

OoOoO

Angel had really wanted to bridge the conversation over these type of things before he went and did some split decision making but that hadn't exactly gone to plan. The idea about Buffy and really just the idea about dating in general was already there, sure, but he kept telling himself to wait and wait... which was fine... but then today happened and all he could think about was wanting to spend the first day of the new year with her with all the new beginning feelings and hopes just spinning around freely in the air right now.

So, after he'd joined for one, then two more rides on the ferris wheel with Connor and Kathy, they'd stopped off to get some last minute supplies for the little get together they had planned to ring in the new year, then made their way back to the house.

Of course in the midst of setting everything up, he'd sat down with Connor to ask how he might feel over the idea of him and Buffy... pretty sure that he mostly just kept running around in circles more than anything and was way more worried about everything far worse than Connor was. But not surprisingly Connor smiled and nodded saying he understood when Angel talked about making sure he would always be his number one priority and could always say he wasn't okay with this or change his mind later if it came to that, and really just got excited over the idea of also getting extra time with her.

He really had no idea how any of this was supposed to work but he hoped what he was explaining to Connor would in fact be how things panned out... that while yeah, he wanted to get to know Buffy better and would spend some time just the two of them, he also wanted to work in time for all of them to be together as well, and again making sure Connor knew they would still be together as normal.

Connor laughed hard as Angel tickled him, coming up for breath and suddenly asking if he planned on kissing Buffy. Angel just stared for a moment, stumbling over an "I don't know," only making Connor laugh harder.

OoOoO

As the night dragged on, Connor was doing his absolute best to try and make it to midnight but the longer time continued, the more tired he became. And that was saying a lot as the kid had been fed more candy than he was sure any one person needed tonight, and junk foods from every which way, their whole group had done a cookie and donut decorating contest... not to mention excitement in the air, dance parties and favorite movies on a marathon going on...

But finally the countdown was over, they drank their "fancy juice" out of their little "fancy cups" he had insisted on, confetti was everywhere, balloons dropped and he was sure not even twenty minutes after the big hurrah Connor had been out like a light, curled up in the corner of the sofa, a half eaten cookie still hanging on in his hand.

OoOoO

Handing their menus back to the waiter, Angel finished telling Buffy about how the night had gone and how Connor was being watched by his sister while they were out, which prompted her to admitting she started questioning him asking her out, if he had meant the two of them like this or was more asking for a group day out. Her face blushed a little, "Which I mean either would have been super fine I just felt ridiculous I guess trying to wrap my head around it." She also then mentioned she didn't exactly have experience in these types of situations.

"Me either," he admitted. "I mean I have gone out with my friends, gone out to bars or whatever every now and then and things like that but I have not actually dated or even close to it since he came into my life. I kept feeling everything was too soon and too much and there's not exactly some magically amount of time that's universally settled on or way to do any of this which can feel overwhelming."

Buffy gave him a soft smile. "I don't know by any means but I think that there's not really an answer for it, you know... more a case by case, situation by situation choice of whatever you feel is right. I mean there's just so many different ways people meet and things work out - or don't, you just have to follow whatever path you feel is right. My mom waited years before she even thought dating again and it was like with every suitor she had it was handled differently every time, she was just trying to figure it out too... for herself, for me..."

Of course Connor was an easy topic and they spent a good amount of time talking about all things relating to him but Angel was relieved to find that wasn't where everything started and ended, too, as dinner was served their discussions ranged from one random topic to the next, sharing more about one another, stories about different points in the lives, and somehow over dessert taking turns telling one another the worst jokes they could think of back and forth... pretty sure their table gathering the attention of close to a dozen by the end of it all at that.

OoOoO

After dinner, they walked around the large little strip of different shops and restaurants, taking in the light and water show with the large fountains at the front, listening to whatever free concert was also going on off to the side until their reservation time for the cave tour he'd settled on for the second half of their date got closer.

As the sun started going down, neither of them were too keen on the idea of going on the trail but they did manage to get through the lighted tour of the small cavern, looked through the impressive gift shop, and participated in the last painting group they offered for the evening.

Buffy eyed her ceramic bird, then took in Angel's much more impressive little house, and then at hers once again. "Yeah, I don't think painting is some hidden talent of mine," she commented. "Although it was fun," she added.

"Well that is the point right?" he asked. "I'll just be grateful we didn't have to craft these ourselves, I can only imagine what kind of a disaster that would have been."

Buffy laughed, imagining one of the older ladies who had joined them for the little class and complained the whole time... paint had touched her, she didn't like how any of the brushes felt, she hadn't liked her chair, or any shade of blue they had... she could only imagine how that whole thing would have gone with her if they'd had to do anything more.

She was just thankful the lady had not been part of the cave tour, unsure they would have survived the journey together.

OoOoo

Shifting through her little bag from the gift shop, Buffy pulled out the little gemstone and sand mining kit she'd grabbed with Connor in mind and handed it over to Angel to give him when they got back home before putting everything else in the backseat then thanking him for one hell of a perfect day out.

Angel leaned against the passenger side of his car parked next to hers making a comment how far away Friday now seemed, making her heart flutter inside her chest a little. "Well, I suppose if you were having some sort of withdrawls going on or something you could always call me," she joked. "You know, or send a little check in, making sure you're still alive text or something along those lines..."

"Careful, I might just take you up on that," he warned. "I don't know what next weekend is looking like yet to be honest but I would love to do something like this again soon if you're up for it."

"I would love that."

OoOoO

The first thing Connor asked when he came back through the door was if he had in fact kissed Buffy making his face turn red, his sister raising her eyebrows waiting to hear the answer. "I did not," he answered before tossing him the two bags of goodies he'd brought home, not mentioning the fact that he had regretted not daring to every second since.

"But did you have fun?" Kathy chimed in.

"I did..." he answered and started filling in his little audience on how the evening had gone and letting Connor check out what he'd picked up for him and the little cottage he'd painted. And asking what all he had missed out on with the two of them while he was away, noticing their own little craft station set up on the kitchen table.