Chapter Seven: Birthday Cakes
"Keep your little hands from the chocolate cake, do you hear me ... oh, Buffy,
Ashlynn, David, hi," Anya turned around as soon as she'd seen who was at the door and hurried back to the kitchen, where she arrived just in time to prevent Matt from crawling onto the table to taste his brother's birthday cake. The boy cried in protest but his mother ignored him and put him down on the floor with a firm but gentle hand. Matt was more than a year younger than his brother and his lower lip began to tremble at the unfairness of life. There was something wonderful on the table and he couldn't understand why he had to wait for it.
Anya saw her son's expression and gave him a motherly smile, "Oh Mattie, you'll
get something later on, I promise. Now go. Aunt Buffy has arrived and she's
brought David."
Hearing the name of his best friend - his brother didn't count, because ever
since Mark had understood that he would be four soon and for that *much* older he behaved as if his little brother was nothing to be bothered with anymore - so
hearing about the arrival of David, Matt's face brightened and with a squeal he
ran from the kitchen almost colliding with Buffy's son. The two little boys
grinned at each other and then disappeared towards Matt's room.
Laughing and shaking her head Buffy entered the kitchen, "You have all my
admiration, Anya. How do you manage to handle two of them and not go insane? For
me David is enough, he's always so ... so active, when he isn't sleeping of
course. I'm really grateful Ashlynn is almost nine and beyond the worst age.
Sometimes she even likes to watch her brother."
The former demon shrugged but grinned, "Maybe I'm used to it. But I wouldn't
exchange them for the world. Just to think that for 1100 years I thought vengeance is the perfect job for me."
"Children really change perspectives, don't they," Willow said from the doorway.
She and her life-partners had arrived ten minutes ago.
"You can say that," Buffy nodded, glad that Cordelia and with her a certain
ex-vampire didn't seem to be around yet. She hadn't slept much the last night -
and needed hours to make herself presentable - and for this there had been too
much time to think about Angel for her comfort. The problem was, she still wasn't sure what to do. Not that she actually knew what he wanted, not from his mouth anyway.
"Mark seems to feel very grown up today," Willow interrupted her thoughts.
"Oh yeah," Anya grinned again. "And is driving everyone crazy with it, especially his brother. For about a week he's like 'you don't know that, you little boy'. At the beginning Matt cried, yesterday he hit his brother."
Buffy laughed, "They're really great kids," and with a wink towards the former
witch she added, "Who would've thought that Xander would be able to produce
something like that."
"Hey," the former demon protested in mocked annoyance. "It's my husband you are
talking about. And besides, they have 50% from me!"
"That explains everything," Willow said and somehow kept a straight face. Rubbing her belly she smiled, "Talking about kids. I'm going to have another one."
"Willow!," Buffy hugged her best friend. "That's wonderful."
"Yeah," Anya agreed and gave the red-head a genuine smile.
"Thanks, we think the same. Tara and Oz are happy too. They can barely wait to
see the first ultrasound pictures." The beam lit her whole face. It was certainly an unconventional relationship the three of them shared, but the radiant expression on Willow's face told everyone they were more than happy about it.
Buffy was about to ask how she would manage to continue her business and a new
baby when the doorbell rang. The ex-slayer tensed immediately and she gave Willow a grateful smile when the red-head took her hand and squeezed it. "It's going to be okay," she whispered. Buffy took a deep breath. Come on Summers, she told herself, you can do this.
***
Xander grinned at Cordelia, Gunn, and Angel who stood a bit behind the others, and shifted the little girl he was holding to hook her on his hip. "Hi," he greeted them. "This is Ellie," he introduced the girl to the ex-vampire who'd never seen her so far. "She's Willow's. Come in, come in," he stepped back and closed the door when his guests had entered.
"Everyone's already there," he explained. "So be aware of little feet and hands", he warned while he leading them towards the living-room where Oz and Tara were playing with the other kid of the trio. "And that's Amy." He put Ellie on her father's lap and turned to the three from L.A. "I think with this ... oh, I forgot," he smiled when he saw a blonde head looking around the corner. "This is Ashlynn," he pointed at the door. "She is Buffy's daughter."
Angel turned slowly and still he wasn't prepared for this smaller edition of the
woman he loved. Ashlynn was a beautiful girl and you could already see she would
be the image of her mother. Her hazel eyes were bright and smiling, her blonde
curls had the same length as Buffy's when he'd first met her.
Angel swallowed hard and quickly glanced at Cordelia whose hand was laying on his arm comfortingly. She gave him an understanding smile and he had problems to
suppress the tears welling up in his eyes. She was all he had ever dreamt of and
the emotions overwhelmed him. She wasn't his daughter of course, but somehow that wasn't important at all. She was Buffy's and just for this he loved her.
"Hi Ashlynn," he greeted chokingly.
"Hi," she smiled back and then with a question in her eyes turned towards Xander.
"This is Angel, Ashlynn, he's a friend of your...," mother he had started to say, but suddenly his voice became much warmer and he said instead, "he is a friend. Our friend."
A giggle escaped the girl's mouth, "Your name is really Angel?," she asked.
The former vampire managed a nod, he was beyond words. Xander's last statement
had done the rest to make his throat tighten with emotions.
"Nice," she commented. "I have to go now, see you later?"
"Sure," he replied, glad his voice was working again.
"Now," Xander rubbed his hands. "Everyone is here and I'm really hungry. Aren't
you Mark?," he turned towards his son, who was sitting on a huge chair and
smiling royally, perfectly aware of the fact that this was his day. So he
suppressed a squeal of delight by the thought of chocolate cake and just nodded.
Xander bit his cheek when he exchanged a glance with the adults in the room
and saw Tara press a fist on her mouth to stop a giggle. "Anya, honey. We're all
here now. How about the cake," he asked walking towards the kitchen.
"Coming soon," she replied. "We don't need you. Willow and Buffy are with me in
here and I have enough hands." There was a hidden warning in the words and
turning back to his friends Xander explained, "She's always afraid I'm going to
taste the cake. Me and Matt are much alike in this. Speaking of the younger
Harris," he looked around, then remembered he'd seen two boys disappear just
before, "Matt, David, it's time for the cake!"
Only seconds later two little bundles came racing into the living-room, one
stopped dead in tracks seeing the strangers there, the other hurled himself into
Angel's arms. "Uncle Angel, uncle Angel," he squealed in delight. Over the past
year the ex-vampire had become one of his favourite grown-ups. Seeing his best
friend so friendly with the dark-haired man, David cautiously stepped closer.
Mark narrowed his eyes from his spot on the chair, "It's not your birthday you
know," he hissed at his brother.
Matt stuck out his tongue, but otherwise ignored his older brother completely.
The situation was saved as the Anya, Buffy and Willow entered the room with the
cake and plates.
"Hi," the former demon just said while Willow gave the newly arrived guests a
warm smile. Buffy nodded at Gunn and Cordelia but avoided looking at Angel,
suddenly wishing she was anywhere but here.
She felt his presence in every fiver of her body and wasn't so sure anymore that
she could survive the day without embarrassing herself again. And this time it
was even worse because today her children were here and she didn't want them see
her mother screaming and running away.
"Hi Buffy," Cordelia raised an eyebrow at the ex-slayer's attitude but didn't
comment it.
"Cordy, I thought you'd be on a honeymoon by now," she replied wincing slightly
at the harsh sound of her voice. Nice move, Summers, show everyone how much this
affects you. Get a hold on yourself, you're 31 years old. But there was no way to deny it. With Angel around she felt like 16 allover again.
The former vampire immediately sensed how uncomfortable she was around him and
busied himself with Matt who was smiling happily. "How are you partner?," he
asked and tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. She was so near, he
could almost reach out and touch her, but she'd never seemed more away from him
as right in this moment. Why on earth had he allowed Cordelia to convince him to
come? He should've known that it would only distress Buffy. It couldn't have been more clear that she didn't want him around. But it was too late now. He couldn't just leave, Matt was excited about his visit and that alone was enough even if he would forget about the fact that Cordelia and Gunn wouldn't have a car for the drive back if he'd go now.
He closed his eyes for a second, then took a deep breath, summoned all his
strength, plastered a smile on his face and took the plate Willow handed him.
End of Part Seven.
"Keep your little hands from the chocolate cake, do you hear me ... oh, Buffy,
Ashlynn, David, hi," Anya turned around as soon as she'd seen who was at the door and hurried back to the kitchen, where she arrived just in time to prevent Matt from crawling onto the table to taste his brother's birthday cake. The boy cried in protest but his mother ignored him and put him down on the floor with a firm but gentle hand. Matt was more than a year younger than his brother and his lower lip began to tremble at the unfairness of life. There was something wonderful on the table and he couldn't understand why he had to wait for it.
Anya saw her son's expression and gave him a motherly smile, "Oh Mattie, you'll
get something later on, I promise. Now go. Aunt Buffy has arrived and she's
brought David."
Hearing the name of his best friend - his brother didn't count, because ever
since Mark had understood that he would be four soon and for that *much* older he behaved as if his little brother was nothing to be bothered with anymore - so
hearing about the arrival of David, Matt's face brightened and with a squeal he
ran from the kitchen almost colliding with Buffy's son. The two little boys
grinned at each other and then disappeared towards Matt's room.
Laughing and shaking her head Buffy entered the kitchen, "You have all my
admiration, Anya. How do you manage to handle two of them and not go insane? For
me David is enough, he's always so ... so active, when he isn't sleeping of
course. I'm really grateful Ashlynn is almost nine and beyond the worst age.
Sometimes she even likes to watch her brother."
The former demon shrugged but grinned, "Maybe I'm used to it. But I wouldn't
exchange them for the world. Just to think that for 1100 years I thought vengeance is the perfect job for me."
"Children really change perspectives, don't they," Willow said from the doorway.
She and her life-partners had arrived ten minutes ago.
"You can say that," Buffy nodded, glad that Cordelia and with her a certain
ex-vampire didn't seem to be around yet. She hadn't slept much the last night -
and needed hours to make herself presentable - and for this there had been too
much time to think about Angel for her comfort. The problem was, she still wasn't sure what to do. Not that she actually knew what he wanted, not from his mouth anyway.
"Mark seems to feel very grown up today," Willow interrupted her thoughts.
"Oh yeah," Anya grinned again. "And is driving everyone crazy with it, especially his brother. For about a week he's like 'you don't know that, you little boy'. At the beginning Matt cried, yesterday he hit his brother."
Buffy laughed, "They're really great kids," and with a wink towards the former
witch she added, "Who would've thought that Xander would be able to produce
something like that."
"Hey," the former demon protested in mocked annoyance. "It's my husband you are
talking about. And besides, they have 50% from me!"
"That explains everything," Willow said and somehow kept a straight face. Rubbing her belly she smiled, "Talking about kids. I'm going to have another one."
"Willow!," Buffy hugged her best friend. "That's wonderful."
"Yeah," Anya agreed and gave the red-head a genuine smile.
"Thanks, we think the same. Tara and Oz are happy too. They can barely wait to
see the first ultrasound pictures." The beam lit her whole face. It was certainly an unconventional relationship the three of them shared, but the radiant expression on Willow's face told everyone they were more than happy about it.
Buffy was about to ask how she would manage to continue her business and a new
baby when the doorbell rang. The ex-slayer tensed immediately and she gave Willow a grateful smile when the red-head took her hand and squeezed it. "It's going to be okay," she whispered. Buffy took a deep breath. Come on Summers, she told herself, you can do this.
***
Xander grinned at Cordelia, Gunn, and Angel who stood a bit behind the others, and shifted the little girl he was holding to hook her on his hip. "Hi," he greeted them. "This is Ellie," he introduced the girl to the ex-vampire who'd never seen her so far. "She's Willow's. Come in, come in," he stepped back and closed the door when his guests had entered.
"Everyone's already there," he explained. "So be aware of little feet and hands", he warned while he leading them towards the living-room where Oz and Tara were playing with the other kid of the trio. "And that's Amy." He put Ellie on her father's lap and turned to the three from L.A. "I think with this ... oh, I forgot," he smiled when he saw a blonde head looking around the corner. "This is Ashlynn," he pointed at the door. "She is Buffy's daughter."
Angel turned slowly and still he wasn't prepared for this smaller edition of the
woman he loved. Ashlynn was a beautiful girl and you could already see she would
be the image of her mother. Her hazel eyes were bright and smiling, her blonde
curls had the same length as Buffy's when he'd first met her.
Angel swallowed hard and quickly glanced at Cordelia whose hand was laying on his arm comfortingly. She gave him an understanding smile and he had problems to
suppress the tears welling up in his eyes. She was all he had ever dreamt of and
the emotions overwhelmed him. She wasn't his daughter of course, but somehow that wasn't important at all. She was Buffy's and just for this he loved her.
"Hi Ashlynn," he greeted chokingly.
"Hi," she smiled back and then with a question in her eyes turned towards Xander.
"This is Angel, Ashlynn, he's a friend of your...," mother he had started to say, but suddenly his voice became much warmer and he said instead, "he is a friend. Our friend."
A giggle escaped the girl's mouth, "Your name is really Angel?," she asked.
The former vampire managed a nod, he was beyond words. Xander's last statement
had done the rest to make his throat tighten with emotions.
"Nice," she commented. "I have to go now, see you later?"
"Sure," he replied, glad his voice was working again.
"Now," Xander rubbed his hands. "Everyone is here and I'm really hungry. Aren't
you Mark?," he turned towards his son, who was sitting on a huge chair and
smiling royally, perfectly aware of the fact that this was his day. So he
suppressed a squeal of delight by the thought of chocolate cake and just nodded.
Xander bit his cheek when he exchanged a glance with the adults in the room
and saw Tara press a fist on her mouth to stop a giggle. "Anya, honey. We're all
here now. How about the cake," he asked walking towards the kitchen.
"Coming soon," she replied. "We don't need you. Willow and Buffy are with me in
here and I have enough hands." There was a hidden warning in the words and
turning back to his friends Xander explained, "She's always afraid I'm going to
taste the cake. Me and Matt are much alike in this. Speaking of the younger
Harris," he looked around, then remembered he'd seen two boys disappear just
before, "Matt, David, it's time for the cake!"
Only seconds later two little bundles came racing into the living-room, one
stopped dead in tracks seeing the strangers there, the other hurled himself into
Angel's arms. "Uncle Angel, uncle Angel," he squealed in delight. Over the past
year the ex-vampire had become one of his favourite grown-ups. Seeing his best
friend so friendly with the dark-haired man, David cautiously stepped closer.
Mark narrowed his eyes from his spot on the chair, "It's not your birthday you
know," he hissed at his brother.
Matt stuck out his tongue, but otherwise ignored his older brother completely.
The situation was saved as the Anya, Buffy and Willow entered the room with the
cake and plates.
"Hi," the former demon just said while Willow gave the newly arrived guests a
warm smile. Buffy nodded at Gunn and Cordelia but avoided looking at Angel,
suddenly wishing she was anywhere but here.
She felt his presence in every fiver of her body and wasn't so sure anymore that
she could survive the day without embarrassing herself again. And this time it
was even worse because today her children were here and she didn't want them see
her mother screaming and running away.
"Hi Buffy," Cordelia raised an eyebrow at the ex-slayer's attitude but didn't
comment it.
"Cordy, I thought you'd be on a honeymoon by now," she replied wincing slightly
at the harsh sound of her voice. Nice move, Summers, show everyone how much this
affects you. Get a hold on yourself, you're 31 years old. But there was no way to deny it. With Angel around she felt like 16 allover again.
The former vampire immediately sensed how uncomfortable she was around him and
busied himself with Matt who was smiling happily. "How are you partner?," he
asked and tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. She was so near, he
could almost reach out and touch her, but she'd never seemed more away from him
as right in this moment. Why on earth had he allowed Cordelia to convince him to
come? He should've known that it would only distress Buffy. It couldn't have been more clear that she didn't want him around. But it was too late now. He couldn't just leave, Matt was excited about his visit and that alone was enough even if he would forget about the fact that Cordelia and Gunn wouldn't have a car for the drive back if he'd go now.
He closed his eyes for a second, then took a deep breath, summoned all his
strength, plastered a smile on his face and took the plate Willow handed him.
End of Part Seven.