A/N Notice that somewhere in this story I hint at another one of my
stories. See if you can find it. It's "wicked obvious!" To quote Faith.
2009
"No Willow, I'm not going." Buffy said into the phone.
"Why not? It'll be fun!" Willow said on the other end.
"Will, first of all, Sunnydale High School is the very embodiment of all that is unholy in Sunnydale. Second: If I go, something really evil will pop up and I'll have to fight again in front of my three year old son. Third: I have work."
"That was a lame excuse."
"Sorry, I'm just a little backed up with the letters and I'm all stressed out. Taking care of a three year old isn't exactly fun and games. Well, it can be sometimes. He loves Candyland!"
"But Buffy, this is your 10 year high school reunion. It only comes once!"
"Willow, do you really think I want to visit the place that tried to kill me for three years?"
"No. But don't you think Angel would want to come?"
"Absolutely no! Willow, have you lost your mind? He would rather be staked multiple times and tortured with hot pokers before going back to Sunnydale. Especially for a high school reunion of all things. Really Will, it's not that important to me."
"But it is to me. And Xander! It just won't be the same without you."
"I know, but I have a whole new life here that I can't just leave."
"But you won't be leaving it. Well, you will, but only for a couple of days."
"Will, a couple of days in Sunnydale is like twenty years in hell." The door opened and Angel and Connor's voices drifted to her. "Hey, I gotta go. Angel and Connor are back."
"Awe, how is the little angel?"
"He's so smart Will! He's been talking in full sentences. He can't do whole paragraphs, but he's already way beyond what most three year olds can do. He has the mental capabilities of a four or five year old. The doctors and nurses love him when he goes for check ups."
"I was that way when I was three."
"Yes, and you picked your college major when you were still in diapers."
"Well, at least he won't grow up to be a nerd."
"You're not a nerd. Now I have to go."
"All right, but you're not off the hook yet."
"I know. Bye Will."
"Bye Buffy."
Buffy hung up the phone just as Connor ran into the room. "Mommy!" He jumped up onto her lap and hugged her around the neck. "Look what daddy bought me!" He jumped off of her lap just as quickly as he had jumped on and ran to Angel's side. "Show her daddy! Show her!"
"Calm down munchkin." Angel said, tousling Connor's dark blond hair.
"What have you bought him this time?" Buffy asked, walking up and kissing Angel lightly on the lips.
"Only this." Angel held up a piece of paper and Buffy read it. "What do you think?"
"You bought him a whole ranch?!"
"Not just him, all of us. I thought we could use it as another vacation house."
"Tell mommy about the horsies!" Connor said, tugging on Angel's pant leg.
"Horsies? You bought horsies.. Horses?" Buffy asked incredulously.
"I figured it would be fun for me to show both of you how to ride." Angel said. "And when Willow, Xander, and Giles come down, they'll have their own horses too."
"How many did you buy!?"
"I bought a black stallion for me, a white mare for you, a pony for Connor since he's not old enough for a full grown horse, then there are the four others I bought."
"Angel! I thought we agreed to talk this over before you went around buying things like houses and horses."
"We did. But Buffy, this place was just too gorgeous to pass up. I've had my eye on it for the past six months!"
"Where is it?"
"Just outside of Manhattan. It's about an hour and a half drive from here."
"When do I get to see it?"
"Well, you have to pick out the furniture for it, don't you?"
"When?"
"Will tomorrow work for you? I know you only have that staff meeting at nine. I figured it shouldn't be longer than an hour or so. We could leave about noon and you can scope the place out. Use your exquisite decorating tastes to their full extent."
Buffy eyed Angel for a minute, a little furious that he had bought a whole ranch without consulting her first. He and Connor both put on their puppy dog faces and Buffy couldn't resist. "You two are a tag team, aren't you? All right! We can go tomorrow."
"Yay!" Connor grabbed onto Buffy's leg and she lifted him up to hug her. "You're the best mommy in the world!"
"I wish you could have met your grandma. You definitely wouldn't be saying that about me."
"I think he would." Angel said, wrapping one arm around Buffy's waist and the other around her shoulder and Connor. "So, who was that on the phone?"
"That was Willow."
"Aunt Willow?" Connor asked.
"Yes, aunt Willow." Buffy put Connor down. "Hey sweetie, why don't you go in your room and play and mommy will come get you and take you up to play in your castle in a little bit?"
"Ok." Connor ran away into his room and shut the door, but opened it again when he remembered the rule about keeping it open unless mommy or daddy was in there with him. Buffy and Angel had agreed that until he was older, they would take precautionary measures just in case. There was no telling what would happen if the wrong person or thing found out about Connor.
Buffy turned to look at Angel. He was sitting on the big recliner watching her. "What'd she want?"
Buffy walked over and plopped down into Angel's lap. "She wants us to go back to Sunnydale for my high school reunion."
"Uh uh. No way."
"That's exactly what I said."
"If Connor ever goes anywhere in California, it'll be LA or San Francisco, but not Sunnydale."
"Exactly. We can't risk it."
"Also, why would you go back to the place that tried to kill you for three years? That's not likely."
"I said the same thing to Willow. She's really disappointed, but I'm sure she'll get over it."
"It's Willow. Of course she'll get over it."
"Right."
"Is it just me, or do we both sound like we're trying to convince ourselves that not going is the right thing to do?"
"It sounds that way, but I don't think we are. We know it's right."
"Good. So Sandra and Russ have invited us to Catia's birthday party."
"Mmm, a bunch of little screaming kids."
"How fun, right?"
"Yes, a bunch of pre-pubescent children running amuck in a Chuckie-Cheese."
"Oh. Thank God I don't remember puberty!"
"Sweetie, I think you're still going through it emotionally."
"Thank you for your confidence."
"Anytime." Buffy smiled and leaned in for a kiss.
Angel's lips met hers in a smoldering kiss that deepened until a little voice said, "Can I come out now mommy?" Connor stood in the doorway to the living room watching them.
"Come on in little guy." Angel said. Connor ran in and jumped up on Angel's free leg.
"What are you talking about?"
"You."
"Me!? Why?"
"Because you're our special little boy." Buffy said.
"I am?"
"MmHmm. And you know why?" Connor shook his head. "Because you're ticklish." Buffy attacked. Connor squealed and ran to the middle of the living room. She crawled over and he jumped on her back like a horse. Buffy spun her upper body and grabbed Connor before he could hit the floor. She pinned him there and started tickling him. He laughed and squealed.
"Daddy HELP!"
"Yeah daddy, help." Buffy said.
Angel jumped off the chair and pounced on both Connor and Buffy. He pinned them to the floor and tickled them both. Now both of them were laughing and squealing. Buffy tried to gain the upper hand in the battle, but Angel went behind her back and ran a finger across her lower back. She arched and squealed. That was her most ticklish spot. Connor started to laugh harder as he went for Buffy too. Angel blocked him and moved from Buffy to Connor. Buffy started to help, but the phone rang. She ran to the kitchen to escape the noise.
"Hello? Oh, hey Sandra! Yeah, we're coming tonight. Where're we meeting you? There? Where's it at? You know what? We'll come early and meet you at your house and then Angel and I'll follow you. Sound good? Ok. I'll see you then. Bye."
"So, we're going?" Angel asked, walking into the kitchen with Connor in his arms.
"Put him down, you're spoiling him. Besides, he too big for you to carry him around like a baby. And yeah, we're going. You know, it's amazing that I've turned into my mother."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Not in most respects, no. It's cool to be like mom. It isn't as bad as I thought it would be. What about you? Who have you turned into?"
"No one. Buffy, my father and I didn't have the best relationship. My mother raised me until I was old enough to go out on my own and create my own little adventures."
"Do we have a good lationship daddy?" Connor asked.
"Of course we do. You're my little guy."
"Is mommy going to raise me like grandma raised you?"
"In a way. I'll be there to help her out a lot more than my father was."
"Who raised you mommy?"
"At first it was my mom and dad, then it was just my mom." Buffy said.
"What happened to grandpa?"
"He went away for a while."
"He's here now."
"Sometimes. You know what? Why don't I take you up to play in your castle and then afterwards we can get dressed and go to Chuckie-Cheese for Catia's birthday?"
"Yay!" Connor jumped up and down.
"Come on. Angel, you coming?"
"I'll be up in a minute; I need to finish some paperwork for the shelter since we're adding the building next door to it." Angel said.
"Ok." She kissed him lightly as Connor dragged her by the hand towards the private stairwell that led up to the roof.
"Never again Buffy! Never again!" Angel said as he walked in to the apartment with Buffy and Connor right behind him. They were just getting back from Catia's birthday party. It had been a living nightmare for Angel.
"Come on Connor, let's get you to bed." Buffy said.
"I'm not sleepy." Connor said.
"You will be. You're all funned out." Connor yawned. "See." She smiled as he walked up to her and held his arms up for her to pick him up. Buffy picked him up and carried him to his bedroom. By the time she laid him in his "big boy bed" and went to grab a pair of pajamas, he was fast asleep. Angel undressed him and Buffy put on his footsie pajamas. With a kiss from both of his parents, Connor turned over and Buffy and Angel walked out to the living room. "What do you mean 'Never again?'"
"All those screaming kids! I have never been more terrified in my life."
"Well, Connor is a kid and he needs friends that are kids. How will he ever learn to play nice with others and be sociable?"
"That's why you put him in that day care school? For social skills?"
"Yeah. I didn't put him in there for the trail mix and milk! Sandra put Catia in there when she was Connor's age."
"How long is Connor going to have to suffer in there?"
"He's not suffering. And he goes to pre-K this coming school year. He'll be four in about a month. That's usually the age kids go into pre-K at. Then it's kindergarten at five, then first grade at six, and so on. God, he is growing up so fast! All those times mom said I was growing up so fast, it felt like eternity to me! Pretty soon he'll be in high school and that is just downright the worst of all places!"
"Buffy, I'm sure that Connor will go to a great high school that's not over a portal to hell."
"I'm not talking about that! Teen angst! All that studying! Heart break! That's usually the time you really get into the dating scene! He's going to be bringing all these girls home. I mean, we're cool parents. Look at us. Young forever and I'm famous." Buffy paused. "Oh."
"What?" Angel was sitting on his big recliner watching Buffy pace and ramble.
"What if that's the only reason girls will date him: Because his mother is famous. Oh God, that would be horrible! I don't want my son to be used like that!"
"I'm sure Connor will find a.."
"And how are we going to explain looking like we're in our early twenties with a teenage son to his girlfriend? That's not exactly normal! WE'RE not exactly normal! I think I'm panicking here! God, I'm already starting a bad track record as a mother!"
"Buffy!" Angel shot up off the couch and grabbed Buffy's shoulders to make her stop pacing and look at him. "No, you're not a bad mother. You're a great mom! Connor loves you. We'll deal with all of that later. He hasn't even started pre-K and you're planning his future."
"See," Buffy sat down on the couch. "Bad mom."
Angel sat beside her. "You're not. I'm sure all mom's plan their kids' futures right when they find out they're pregnant." Buffy stared at him. "I wouldn't know from personal experience, but I've read stuff."
She looked at him sheepishly and smiled. "I was planning on sending him to college in England. He'll be close to Ireland and we can go live there the whole eight years it takes for him to get a medical degree."
Angel smiled back. "I wanted him to go to Stanford or Harvard to become a lawyer."
"NO!" Angel stared at her. "I mean, lawyers are evil, bad people. They're like professional liars. We don't want Connor to grow up and be dishonest."
"Good point. Ok, MIT to become an astronaut?"
"Oxford to become a doctor. It's the best way."
"You win. Oxford it is."
"Hey, do you think they'll accept his admission now?"
"I doubt it baby. Come on, lets get into something a lot more comfortable and watch a movie. I want to watch that Red Dragon movie again."
"Sweetie, that came out six years ago!"
"What can I say? It's a classic!"
"I'd prefer Maid in Manhattan if you're going to pick something from 2003, but hey, what can I do? All right, Red Dragon it is."
"Or we can compromise."
"On what?"
"You want a love story, I want a movie with guy qualities."
"Yeah."
"Gone With the Wind. It has the Rhett and Scarlet love story and the violence of the Civil War."
"Not that much violence. Ok, if we're going for old movie classics with female and male qualities here, I vote Pearl Harbor. It's got the love story and the full out battle of Pearl Harbor. Plus it's great on surround sound."
"Ok. You win. Pearl Harbor it is."
"Thank you." Buffy said, walking over to the entertainment system and popping in the first DVD.
The movie started and Buffy leaned her head against Angel's chest. She thought about how she had wanted this all her life. What was this? Well, normalcy of course. Normalcy with Angel was even better. Now she had the added bonus of being a mother to Angel's son. She couldn't have asked for a better life. It was what she had always dreamed of. But the questions would start too soon for Buffy. Why is there blood in the back of the refrigerator? Why is daddy's heart not beating? How come you don't get older like the other mommies and daddies? How come daddy's cuts heal instantly? How come mommy is so strong? "What are you thinking about?" Buffy shook her head and opened her eyes. The last question had come from Angel, not the little Connor in her head.
"What?"
"Well, I knew you weren't asleep and you definitely weren't watching the movie because your eyes were closed, so I assumed you were thinking."
"Thank you for the explanation. I meant, what did you say?"
"Oh. I asked what you were thinking about."
Buffy smiled and shook her head. "Not so typical mommy things that kind of creep in there and give you a wiggens."
"Like?"
"The questions Connor's going to start asking sooner or later. Why is there blood in the back of the refrigerator? How come we don't age like the other mommies and daddies? Stuff like that."
"Well, do you want to watch the movie or talk?"
"I think we should talk."
"Ok." Angel clicked a button on the remote and the entertainment system turned off. "Let's talk."
"We're not like other parents, Angel. There are factors there that the others don't have to worry about. I know we promised that we weren't going to, but we're going to have to tell Connor sometime and I think we should tell him now."
"You want to go wake him up?"
"No! No, I only meant now while he's young. If he grows up with it, it won't be so hard to deal with. If we just out of the blue decided to tell him when he's 15, he's not going to believe us. I've seen what happens to people when they find out about what goes bump in the night. I don't want to traumatize my kid when we prove that those bumps are really monsters. Not to mention that his dad is one of them and his mom is supposed to fight them."
"So, when do you want to tell him? I think he'll believe you now because his imagination is so wild, but if he keeps hearing it over and over then he'll start to understand that it is real. If he asks for proof then I'll just.. I'll vamp out."
Buffy gave him a melancholy smile. "You haven't vamped out in a long time."
"Not since Dawn died."
"Can you still.." Angel vamped. "Yeah, you can still."
He de-vamped. "It's like riding a bicycle."
Buffy sighed. "This is going to be hard. I've never had to explain any of this stuff to someone so close to me."
"You explained it to your mother."
"No, it was different with her. A part of her realized it and she chose to ignore it. I just told her what she already knew."
"So, how are we going to tell him? Connor will want to tell his friends."
"We'll tell him it's our secret and he can't tell anybody. He understands that." Buffy noticed Angel staring off in space, almost in brood mode. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm just trying to figure out when the right time to tell him would be." Buffy started to say something, but Angel stopped her. "I don't mean how old, I only meant when. Should we just bring him in the living room one day and tell him, or should we take him out to the ranch or something?"
"Oh. Well, I think we should take him to the ranch, after it's finished, and one day we'll tell him everything."
"This is weird."
"Why?"
"Three years ago we both pledged that he would never find out about any of it, but now.."
"Now we're planning on telling him. We've had three years to think it over. At least we both agree on telling him."
"Giles would be so proud."
"So, we'll tell him soon, right?"
"Right. As soon as the ranch house is done." Angel said, pulling Buffy closer to him.
2009
"No Willow, I'm not going." Buffy said into the phone.
"Why not? It'll be fun!" Willow said on the other end.
"Will, first of all, Sunnydale High School is the very embodiment of all that is unholy in Sunnydale. Second: If I go, something really evil will pop up and I'll have to fight again in front of my three year old son. Third: I have work."
"That was a lame excuse."
"Sorry, I'm just a little backed up with the letters and I'm all stressed out. Taking care of a three year old isn't exactly fun and games. Well, it can be sometimes. He loves Candyland!"
"But Buffy, this is your 10 year high school reunion. It only comes once!"
"Willow, do you really think I want to visit the place that tried to kill me for three years?"
"No. But don't you think Angel would want to come?"
"Absolutely no! Willow, have you lost your mind? He would rather be staked multiple times and tortured with hot pokers before going back to Sunnydale. Especially for a high school reunion of all things. Really Will, it's not that important to me."
"But it is to me. And Xander! It just won't be the same without you."
"I know, but I have a whole new life here that I can't just leave."
"But you won't be leaving it. Well, you will, but only for a couple of days."
"Will, a couple of days in Sunnydale is like twenty years in hell." The door opened and Angel and Connor's voices drifted to her. "Hey, I gotta go. Angel and Connor are back."
"Awe, how is the little angel?"
"He's so smart Will! He's been talking in full sentences. He can't do whole paragraphs, but he's already way beyond what most three year olds can do. He has the mental capabilities of a four or five year old. The doctors and nurses love him when he goes for check ups."
"I was that way when I was three."
"Yes, and you picked your college major when you were still in diapers."
"Well, at least he won't grow up to be a nerd."
"You're not a nerd. Now I have to go."
"All right, but you're not off the hook yet."
"I know. Bye Will."
"Bye Buffy."
Buffy hung up the phone just as Connor ran into the room. "Mommy!" He jumped up onto her lap and hugged her around the neck. "Look what daddy bought me!" He jumped off of her lap just as quickly as he had jumped on and ran to Angel's side. "Show her daddy! Show her!"
"Calm down munchkin." Angel said, tousling Connor's dark blond hair.
"What have you bought him this time?" Buffy asked, walking up and kissing Angel lightly on the lips.
"Only this." Angel held up a piece of paper and Buffy read it. "What do you think?"
"You bought him a whole ranch?!"
"Not just him, all of us. I thought we could use it as another vacation house."
"Tell mommy about the horsies!" Connor said, tugging on Angel's pant leg.
"Horsies? You bought horsies.. Horses?" Buffy asked incredulously.
"I figured it would be fun for me to show both of you how to ride." Angel said. "And when Willow, Xander, and Giles come down, they'll have their own horses too."
"How many did you buy!?"
"I bought a black stallion for me, a white mare for you, a pony for Connor since he's not old enough for a full grown horse, then there are the four others I bought."
"Angel! I thought we agreed to talk this over before you went around buying things like houses and horses."
"We did. But Buffy, this place was just too gorgeous to pass up. I've had my eye on it for the past six months!"
"Where is it?"
"Just outside of Manhattan. It's about an hour and a half drive from here."
"When do I get to see it?"
"Well, you have to pick out the furniture for it, don't you?"
"When?"
"Will tomorrow work for you? I know you only have that staff meeting at nine. I figured it shouldn't be longer than an hour or so. We could leave about noon and you can scope the place out. Use your exquisite decorating tastes to their full extent."
Buffy eyed Angel for a minute, a little furious that he had bought a whole ranch without consulting her first. He and Connor both put on their puppy dog faces and Buffy couldn't resist. "You two are a tag team, aren't you? All right! We can go tomorrow."
"Yay!" Connor grabbed onto Buffy's leg and she lifted him up to hug her. "You're the best mommy in the world!"
"I wish you could have met your grandma. You definitely wouldn't be saying that about me."
"I think he would." Angel said, wrapping one arm around Buffy's waist and the other around her shoulder and Connor. "So, who was that on the phone?"
"That was Willow."
"Aunt Willow?" Connor asked.
"Yes, aunt Willow." Buffy put Connor down. "Hey sweetie, why don't you go in your room and play and mommy will come get you and take you up to play in your castle in a little bit?"
"Ok." Connor ran away into his room and shut the door, but opened it again when he remembered the rule about keeping it open unless mommy or daddy was in there with him. Buffy and Angel had agreed that until he was older, they would take precautionary measures just in case. There was no telling what would happen if the wrong person or thing found out about Connor.
Buffy turned to look at Angel. He was sitting on the big recliner watching her. "What'd she want?"
Buffy walked over and plopped down into Angel's lap. "She wants us to go back to Sunnydale for my high school reunion."
"Uh uh. No way."
"That's exactly what I said."
"If Connor ever goes anywhere in California, it'll be LA or San Francisco, but not Sunnydale."
"Exactly. We can't risk it."
"Also, why would you go back to the place that tried to kill you for three years? That's not likely."
"I said the same thing to Willow. She's really disappointed, but I'm sure she'll get over it."
"It's Willow. Of course she'll get over it."
"Right."
"Is it just me, or do we both sound like we're trying to convince ourselves that not going is the right thing to do?"
"It sounds that way, but I don't think we are. We know it's right."
"Good. So Sandra and Russ have invited us to Catia's birthday party."
"Mmm, a bunch of little screaming kids."
"How fun, right?"
"Yes, a bunch of pre-pubescent children running amuck in a Chuckie-Cheese."
"Oh. Thank God I don't remember puberty!"
"Sweetie, I think you're still going through it emotionally."
"Thank you for your confidence."
"Anytime." Buffy smiled and leaned in for a kiss.
Angel's lips met hers in a smoldering kiss that deepened until a little voice said, "Can I come out now mommy?" Connor stood in the doorway to the living room watching them.
"Come on in little guy." Angel said. Connor ran in and jumped up on Angel's free leg.
"What are you talking about?"
"You."
"Me!? Why?"
"Because you're our special little boy." Buffy said.
"I am?"
"MmHmm. And you know why?" Connor shook his head. "Because you're ticklish." Buffy attacked. Connor squealed and ran to the middle of the living room. She crawled over and he jumped on her back like a horse. Buffy spun her upper body and grabbed Connor before he could hit the floor. She pinned him there and started tickling him. He laughed and squealed.
"Daddy HELP!"
"Yeah daddy, help." Buffy said.
Angel jumped off the chair and pounced on both Connor and Buffy. He pinned them to the floor and tickled them both. Now both of them were laughing and squealing. Buffy tried to gain the upper hand in the battle, but Angel went behind her back and ran a finger across her lower back. She arched and squealed. That was her most ticklish spot. Connor started to laugh harder as he went for Buffy too. Angel blocked him and moved from Buffy to Connor. Buffy started to help, but the phone rang. She ran to the kitchen to escape the noise.
"Hello? Oh, hey Sandra! Yeah, we're coming tonight. Where're we meeting you? There? Where's it at? You know what? We'll come early and meet you at your house and then Angel and I'll follow you. Sound good? Ok. I'll see you then. Bye."
"So, we're going?" Angel asked, walking into the kitchen with Connor in his arms.
"Put him down, you're spoiling him. Besides, he too big for you to carry him around like a baby. And yeah, we're going. You know, it's amazing that I've turned into my mother."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Not in most respects, no. It's cool to be like mom. It isn't as bad as I thought it would be. What about you? Who have you turned into?"
"No one. Buffy, my father and I didn't have the best relationship. My mother raised me until I was old enough to go out on my own and create my own little adventures."
"Do we have a good lationship daddy?" Connor asked.
"Of course we do. You're my little guy."
"Is mommy going to raise me like grandma raised you?"
"In a way. I'll be there to help her out a lot more than my father was."
"Who raised you mommy?"
"At first it was my mom and dad, then it was just my mom." Buffy said.
"What happened to grandpa?"
"He went away for a while."
"He's here now."
"Sometimes. You know what? Why don't I take you up to play in your castle and then afterwards we can get dressed and go to Chuckie-Cheese for Catia's birthday?"
"Yay!" Connor jumped up and down.
"Come on. Angel, you coming?"
"I'll be up in a minute; I need to finish some paperwork for the shelter since we're adding the building next door to it." Angel said.
"Ok." She kissed him lightly as Connor dragged her by the hand towards the private stairwell that led up to the roof.
"Never again Buffy! Never again!" Angel said as he walked in to the apartment with Buffy and Connor right behind him. They were just getting back from Catia's birthday party. It had been a living nightmare for Angel.
"Come on Connor, let's get you to bed." Buffy said.
"I'm not sleepy." Connor said.
"You will be. You're all funned out." Connor yawned. "See." She smiled as he walked up to her and held his arms up for her to pick him up. Buffy picked him up and carried him to his bedroom. By the time she laid him in his "big boy bed" and went to grab a pair of pajamas, he was fast asleep. Angel undressed him and Buffy put on his footsie pajamas. With a kiss from both of his parents, Connor turned over and Buffy and Angel walked out to the living room. "What do you mean 'Never again?'"
"All those screaming kids! I have never been more terrified in my life."
"Well, Connor is a kid and he needs friends that are kids. How will he ever learn to play nice with others and be sociable?"
"That's why you put him in that day care school? For social skills?"
"Yeah. I didn't put him in there for the trail mix and milk! Sandra put Catia in there when she was Connor's age."
"How long is Connor going to have to suffer in there?"
"He's not suffering. And he goes to pre-K this coming school year. He'll be four in about a month. That's usually the age kids go into pre-K at. Then it's kindergarten at five, then first grade at six, and so on. God, he is growing up so fast! All those times mom said I was growing up so fast, it felt like eternity to me! Pretty soon he'll be in high school and that is just downright the worst of all places!"
"Buffy, I'm sure that Connor will go to a great high school that's not over a portal to hell."
"I'm not talking about that! Teen angst! All that studying! Heart break! That's usually the time you really get into the dating scene! He's going to be bringing all these girls home. I mean, we're cool parents. Look at us. Young forever and I'm famous." Buffy paused. "Oh."
"What?" Angel was sitting on his big recliner watching Buffy pace and ramble.
"What if that's the only reason girls will date him: Because his mother is famous. Oh God, that would be horrible! I don't want my son to be used like that!"
"I'm sure Connor will find a.."
"And how are we going to explain looking like we're in our early twenties with a teenage son to his girlfriend? That's not exactly normal! WE'RE not exactly normal! I think I'm panicking here! God, I'm already starting a bad track record as a mother!"
"Buffy!" Angel shot up off the couch and grabbed Buffy's shoulders to make her stop pacing and look at him. "No, you're not a bad mother. You're a great mom! Connor loves you. We'll deal with all of that later. He hasn't even started pre-K and you're planning his future."
"See," Buffy sat down on the couch. "Bad mom."
Angel sat beside her. "You're not. I'm sure all mom's plan their kids' futures right when they find out they're pregnant." Buffy stared at him. "I wouldn't know from personal experience, but I've read stuff."
She looked at him sheepishly and smiled. "I was planning on sending him to college in England. He'll be close to Ireland and we can go live there the whole eight years it takes for him to get a medical degree."
Angel smiled back. "I wanted him to go to Stanford or Harvard to become a lawyer."
"NO!" Angel stared at her. "I mean, lawyers are evil, bad people. They're like professional liars. We don't want Connor to grow up and be dishonest."
"Good point. Ok, MIT to become an astronaut?"
"Oxford to become a doctor. It's the best way."
"You win. Oxford it is."
"Hey, do you think they'll accept his admission now?"
"I doubt it baby. Come on, lets get into something a lot more comfortable and watch a movie. I want to watch that Red Dragon movie again."
"Sweetie, that came out six years ago!"
"What can I say? It's a classic!"
"I'd prefer Maid in Manhattan if you're going to pick something from 2003, but hey, what can I do? All right, Red Dragon it is."
"Or we can compromise."
"On what?"
"You want a love story, I want a movie with guy qualities."
"Yeah."
"Gone With the Wind. It has the Rhett and Scarlet love story and the violence of the Civil War."
"Not that much violence. Ok, if we're going for old movie classics with female and male qualities here, I vote Pearl Harbor. It's got the love story and the full out battle of Pearl Harbor. Plus it's great on surround sound."
"Ok. You win. Pearl Harbor it is."
"Thank you." Buffy said, walking over to the entertainment system and popping in the first DVD.
The movie started and Buffy leaned her head against Angel's chest. She thought about how she had wanted this all her life. What was this? Well, normalcy of course. Normalcy with Angel was even better. Now she had the added bonus of being a mother to Angel's son. She couldn't have asked for a better life. It was what she had always dreamed of. But the questions would start too soon for Buffy. Why is there blood in the back of the refrigerator? Why is daddy's heart not beating? How come you don't get older like the other mommies and daddies? How come daddy's cuts heal instantly? How come mommy is so strong? "What are you thinking about?" Buffy shook her head and opened her eyes. The last question had come from Angel, not the little Connor in her head.
"What?"
"Well, I knew you weren't asleep and you definitely weren't watching the movie because your eyes were closed, so I assumed you were thinking."
"Thank you for the explanation. I meant, what did you say?"
"Oh. I asked what you were thinking about."
Buffy smiled and shook her head. "Not so typical mommy things that kind of creep in there and give you a wiggens."
"Like?"
"The questions Connor's going to start asking sooner or later. Why is there blood in the back of the refrigerator? How come we don't age like the other mommies and daddies? Stuff like that."
"Well, do you want to watch the movie or talk?"
"I think we should talk."
"Ok." Angel clicked a button on the remote and the entertainment system turned off. "Let's talk."
"We're not like other parents, Angel. There are factors there that the others don't have to worry about. I know we promised that we weren't going to, but we're going to have to tell Connor sometime and I think we should tell him now."
"You want to go wake him up?"
"No! No, I only meant now while he's young. If he grows up with it, it won't be so hard to deal with. If we just out of the blue decided to tell him when he's 15, he's not going to believe us. I've seen what happens to people when they find out about what goes bump in the night. I don't want to traumatize my kid when we prove that those bumps are really monsters. Not to mention that his dad is one of them and his mom is supposed to fight them."
"So, when do you want to tell him? I think he'll believe you now because his imagination is so wild, but if he keeps hearing it over and over then he'll start to understand that it is real. If he asks for proof then I'll just.. I'll vamp out."
Buffy gave him a melancholy smile. "You haven't vamped out in a long time."
"Not since Dawn died."
"Can you still.." Angel vamped. "Yeah, you can still."
He de-vamped. "It's like riding a bicycle."
Buffy sighed. "This is going to be hard. I've never had to explain any of this stuff to someone so close to me."
"You explained it to your mother."
"No, it was different with her. A part of her realized it and she chose to ignore it. I just told her what she already knew."
"So, how are we going to tell him? Connor will want to tell his friends."
"We'll tell him it's our secret and he can't tell anybody. He understands that." Buffy noticed Angel staring off in space, almost in brood mode. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm just trying to figure out when the right time to tell him would be." Buffy started to say something, but Angel stopped her. "I don't mean how old, I only meant when. Should we just bring him in the living room one day and tell him, or should we take him out to the ranch or something?"
"Oh. Well, I think we should take him to the ranch, after it's finished, and one day we'll tell him everything."
"This is weird."
"Why?"
"Three years ago we both pledged that he would never find out about any of it, but now.."
"Now we're planning on telling him. We've had three years to think it over. At least we both agree on telling him."
"Giles would be so proud."
"So, we'll tell him soon, right?"
"Right. As soon as the ranch house is done." Angel said, pulling Buffy closer to him.
