Willkommen
By Sauscony
E-mail: sauscony@forty-two.co.nz
Rating: G
Pairings: Buffy/Giles and others
Summary: Reply to a 2000 Christmas Challenge
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are copyrighted ©20th Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN and the WB, and are used without permission. No copyright infringment is intended.
Buffy reached the bottom of the stairs, her husband a few steps beside her, just as the front door crashed open and two figures hurtled through it. Without needing to think, she hurried across the hallway and slammed the door shut. She turned back, leaning against the closed door and glared at her elder daughter and her daughter's boyfriend.
"You're cutting it a bit fine, aren't you?" she queried acidly. "Sweeping the dust off the doorstep wasn't in my Christmas plans."
Brianna gave her mother a disgusted look, one only daughters knew how to give. "Chill out, Mom. We made it."
Angel straightened up and gave a lopsided, apologetic smile. "Sorry Buffy, we lost track of the time."
Brianna smirked, something Buffy missed because she was too busy glaring at the vampire. "I might not be the Slayer anymore, but you make my daughter unhappy by doing something stupid like frying yourself because you..." Her voice grew glacial. "...Lost track of the time and I'll stake you with the first bit of wood I find."
"That would be rather difficult if he was already dust," Giles commented mildly, coming up beside her and slipping an arm around her waist.
Buffy turned her gaze on him. "You're not helping, Rupert," she said crossly. "You know what I mean."
"Stop it!" Brianna snapped suddenly. "We're okay. We made it. What happened to the Christmas spirit around here?"
Startled, Buffy actually looked at her daughter. Brianna's face was flushed and there was a hurt expression on her face, one that tightened the skin around her mouth and put a furrow across her brow. Instantly contrite, Buffy abandoned her husband to give her daughter, who was a good few inches taller than she was, the most enveloping hug she could manage. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," she said into Brianna's shoulder. "Merry Christmas." She stepped back a pace and looked up. "I just worry about you." Her gaze turned to Angel. "Both of you."
Brianna's face and posture relaxed. "I know, Mom. But Angel's had a lot of practice at not getting caught in the sun." She looked over at the vampire and without her even realising it she began to smile, suddenly looking almost beautiful. "We were exchanging..." She blushed suddenly and her voice trailed away.
"...Christmas presents," Angel finished smoothly.
"Yeah, right," Buffy agreed sardonically. She gave Angel a dark look. "Just don't do anything stupid. We went through that thirty years ago, and once was very definitely enough."
Angel's voice was suddenly serious. "I love Brianna, Buffy. I love her more than I've loved anyone." There was an emphasis on the last word that all four of them understood, even if they generally chose not to put into words. "I wouldn't do anything to put her at risk."
"See that you don't," Giles told him in his best father-voice, but there was a glint of friendship there; it might have taken the two men a lot of years to reach a point where they could be friends, but now that they were, their friendship was a strong one.
"Bree!" There was a delighted cry from further along the hall and Joy came running up, trapping her sister in a solid hug. "Merry Christmas. I thought you weren't going to make it and we'd be helping you sweep up the dust." She grinned across at Angel. "No offence or anything."
"None taken," he agreed gravely, and Buffy began to laugh.
"Come on, everyone, who's going to help me prepare breakfast?"
"All done," Dawn told her smugly. "Come and eat."
"Egg nog and pancakes," Miri declared importantly.
Susan brushed a hand across her daughter's hair. "So how about you go and find Daddy and Jeremy and tell them it's breakfast time?" she suggested.
"Hokay," Miri agreed cheerfully, following up a moment later with a loud shout of, "Daddy!" that made Hazel, who was standing nearby, screw up her eyes before grabbing one of Miri's hands.
"Come on, Kitten. We'll go together." She pulled Miri along the hallway and in moments the little girl was skipping at her side.
Everyone else headed in the other direction, towards the kitchen and breakfast.
Breakfast quickly turned into a loud, cheerful affair. The kitchen was big, but it was still a squash to fit in nine adults, one hyperactive four year old and a baby. Angel and Brianna ended up perched on the bench beside the sink, sharing a plate, pancakes and private conversation that stopped any time anyone else got close. Miri roamed at random, coming back for another bite of breakfast only when someone reminded her to eat. Her baby brother, Jeremy, proceeded to make a very large mess, not only all over the highchair, but also a large section of the floor as he made his first attempt at eating something that wasn't totally pureed. Everyone else fitted themselves in where they could.
With Christmas carols playing on the radio and a dozen conversations going at once, it was hardly surprising that no-one heard the doorbell ring.
So the first indication that more members of the extended Giles "family" had arrived was a voice announcing, "See, I told you it couldn't be a herd of elephants."
Willow Rosenburg was grinning at her friends, her partner standing a pace behind her and trying not to laugh.
"Merry Christmas," Tara added, deciding to go with tact rather than insults.
Buffy, laughing, gestured them into the kitchen. "You might have to turn someone into a toad to find a seat, but come and join us. Hazel said... Good grief!"
She broke off as the two women entered the room and she see could see just how much food they had brought with them.
"Told you they were baking," Hazel pointed out with a chuckle.
"A task from which you bailed early," Willow retorted.
Hazel shrugged. "It was when Tara started looking for the newt eyes I decided it was time to leave."
"Please," Giles begged in a tight voice, "Tell me there aren't any eyes in the edibles."
"Of course not," Tara protested indignantly. She gave her daughter a look. "Really, Hazel."
"Okay, I'm kidding," Hazel admitted. "Relax, Uncle Giles. No eye of newt."
"What's noot eye?" Miri asked curiously.
"Eat your pancakes," her father told her crushingly. Miri sighed and did as she was told.
Laughing, Willow and Tara came into the kitchen, miraculously found space for their own contributions to the day's food, then went looking for plates and pancakes for themselves.
Joy turned away from the window to look at the various family and friends scattered around the living room. "No wonder they're late," she announced. "I think they've brought the whole tribe. There's a car and a minivan pulling up outside."
"Really?" Brianna came up beside her and peered through the curtains. "And they're both full," she added as more and more people started piling out of the vehicles. "Clan Harris arrives."
After a pause while the adults outside tried to keep track of all the children, the party started up the walkway and a moment later the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it." Buffy got up, secretly delighted, as always, when Rupert immediately stood and came to the door with her. This was their house and they did things like welcoming their guests together. They had for thirty years and neither had any intention of changing things now.
Xander was the first through the door. He gave Buffy a hug and a kiss, then shook hands with Giles. "Merry Christmas, both of you." He pretended to do a double take and stepped back a pace. "Why G-Man, you're looking good. You haven't aged a bit."
"Very funny," Giles said drily. It was an old joke, and starting to get very tired. "And don't call me that."
Anya, who had followed her husband inside, studied Giles critically. "Actually, he is looking kind of older."
Well used to Anya by now, Buffy just nodded. "I think he is, too. The gift was that he wouldn't age until I caught up with him. Technically, that happened a couple of years ago and I think it's starting to show now."
She smiled at her husband, both of them remembering a long ago, unforgettable day. Buffy's thirtieth birthday, almost unbelievable in itself when most Slayers never survived to see twenty, and the even more amazing surprise of a personal visit from one of the Powers, or one of their representatives, at least. "I'm only a messenger," he had insisted, and with his attitude and Irish accent, they had been inclined to believe him.
But they were soon infinitely more interested in the message than the messenger. A message that had never been given before, because its requirements had never before been reached. If a Slayer reached thirty, he told them, she was automatically retired and a new one called. Buffy Summers - Buffy Giles as she already was by then - was the first. And, "for services above and beyond," the little man had added sardonically, there was an extra gift. One for her husband.
Amazingly, Sunnydale being the place it was, they had never needed to explain it either. If people noticed that the lovely Mrs Giles was aging with as much grace and charm as three toddlers allowed, somehow they always missed that fact that her husband wasn't doing the same.
But I think Anya's right, Buffy reflected as she gave Rupert another look. He's started to age again. She smiled. That's okay. Now we do the "growing old together" part. I've been waiting for that. She chuckled suddenly and everyone turned to look at her.
"Yep, Anya's right," she said with a grin. "Xander, you're going to have to come up with a new joke."
"Thank goodness," Giles added in a heartfelt tone as he welcomed in the rest of his guests.
The Harris family really could only be described as a "tribe" or, as Xander declared in more trying moments, possibly a "horde". He and Anya had five children, from the eldest, Peter (married and working in Saudi Arabia with his wife, although their three children were staying with Grandma and Grandpa for the holidays) down to Jake (just eleven and their "afterthought") and six grandchildren so far. That number looked quite likely to continue to grow as the years went by, and both Harris elders tended to look on their expanding dynasty with a kind of smug satisfaction tinged with a degree of disbelief.
They trooped on through to the living room until Anya, idly looking up, noticed the sprig of mistletoe hanging at the centre of the archway that opened into the room. She shot out a hand and dragged her husband backwards, causing a pile up behind her.
"Xander, you have to kiss me now."
"Whatever you say, dear." Xander tried to sound put-upon, but failed miserably.
Jake watched his parents for a moment, then rolled his eyes. "That is so gross."
Susan laughed. "Just wait until you get a bit older," she predicted.
"Never!" Jake proclaimed. "It's icky."
"You'll change your mind," his father promised as he finally managed to disentangle himself from his wife and went to drape himself all over the only remaining empty chair. Anya followed and draped herself all over Xander.
"It's gross," Jake repeated.
Susan laughed. "Is not," she retorted. "Nothing beats a good kiss."
"Or nothing you going to tell an eleven year old about in my house anyway," Buffy corrected.
Susan laughed and dragged her husband to his feet. "Come on, love. We're going to show him."
"Do I have to?" Wesley Giles, twenty-eight like his twin sister, was physically her opposite. Where Brianna had inherited their father's height and build, Wesley was slight and only a few inches taller than his mother. He often joked that he had been obliged to marry Susan because she was the only one of his girlfriends who had been shorter than he was.
"Of course you do," his wife informed him firmly, taking his hand and pulling him under the mistletoe. "It's educational."
"Sure it is," Brianna said with a snort.
"You just want an excuse for smoochies with your husband," Willow added with a chuckle.
At that, Wesley laughed. "Why, Aunt Willow, who ever said an excuse was required?"
He caught his wife in his arms, spun her around and dipped her over as if they had been dancing a tango. "Educational, huh?" he whispered as he bent his head to kiss her.
"Mmmm," Susan murmured before uttering a startled shriek as her feet slipped from under her and she started to fall. Wesley just managed to catch her in time, both of them staggering as they struggled to regain their balance.
Jake started to laugh.
"Right, that does it." There was steel in Susan's voice, the tone that had made her younger brothers run for cover when they were children. As soon as she had her balance back, she reached up to remove Wesley's glasses, slipped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a real kiss.
It was the same as it always was between them, fire and peace in equal measure, and when they finally pulled apart she found Wesley looking at her with a tender, almost dopey expression on his face. "You know," he said softly, "When I take off my glasses, you're beautiful."
"I know." Susan smiled, and kissed him again.
"That's disgusting," Jake declared when he couldn't stand it any more. When the adults around him just started laughing, he glowered. "I'm going to look at the tree where there's no kissing."
"Jake," Xander warned sternly, but Giles shook his head.
"Let them go and look. We can all join them shortly. But," he added warningly as children began to swarm towards the door, "Just looking. No touching or opening until we get there."
Jake gave a long-suffering sigh. "I know that, Uncle Rupert." He gathered together his gaggle of children - his uncle's three, Aunt Jennifer's twins Ann and Alison, and Miri - and led them into the corridor. "I'm not a baby," he finished in an aggrieved mutter and let the door bang shut behind him. He probably wouldn't have appreciated it if he had heard all the adults burst into laughter once again the moment the door had closed behind him.
