Notice: I do not own these characters, except for the ones that I make up.
Author's Note: Hello, everyone. It's nice to meet you, guys. Am I being too friendly? Fabulous. Well, anyway, I've been following this website for a while now and I love it. I sort of love it, anyway. I am going to let you guys know that I except all reviews but I do not except flames that have no explanation behind them. I toss those reviews into the garbage where they belong. I'm not trying to be mean but flames without explanation is kind of lame.
Summary: This takes place after season seven of Buffy. Buffy goes back to LA to find Angel and they soon reunite their love and end up in small town Cedar, Colorado with three daughters. This is a little AU because Connor never came to be (he's a very bad boy), Spike and Anya are alive, and well, I think that is it.
Now let me answer some reviews:
Sophie: I'm glad you like the story but I have Angel with a shanshu in this story and that's how he had the kids.
HARRYPOTTER4LIFE: I am not stupid, plain and simple. I know vampires can't have kids and if you read the story you would catch on.
Queen Boadicea: Thanks for the review. It was nice.
Cloudofcalm: Thanks for the help but don't judge my story this way on only the first chapter. Answers will be revealed so just sit back and relax.
CHAPTER 2
Stacey walked down the halls of school, a blank look on her face, stuck in her own world. As she moved down the halls it was as if she wasn't really focused on anything yet had a purpose to get to her next class. Stacey passed by a couple of girls as she headed to her locker.
"Isn't that Stacey Angel?" the taller girl asked her blonde friend.
The blonde nodded. "Yeah. She is totally out of it. Can you believe it?"
"Her boyfriend died after all."
"Did they find his killer yet?"
The tall girl shook her head and replied, "Nope. I haven't heard anything."
As Stacey opened her locker door she glanced towards the inside of the door at a picture of her standing next to Rick, her boyfriend that had died. He had deep, dark black hair and flashing blue eyes. Rick had his arm around Stacey in the picture and they were both smiling at a carnival. Stacey shut the locker door hard and stormed off down the hall.
Later that day Buffy sat at her desk down at the police station where she worked, going over some paperwork. She looked up as the chief of police, Frank Gibson, made his way out of his office. Buffy stood and started to go after him.
"Frank," she began. "How's it looking with Rick's case?"
Frank kept walking as he spoke. "I need to get back to work," he told her, dismissing the issue.
"The last time I checked this was your work," Buffy reminded him. "Now talk to me."
The chief turned around and looked at her. "Mrs. Angel, look. I know Stace has a general stake in this but you can't stay focused on it."
"Yes, I do have to stay focused on it," Buffy insisted. "And don't call me Mrs. Angel. You can't call someone's daughter Stace and then go Mrs. Angel on them."
"Buffy," Frank continued. "You and your husband are the pros when it comes to the whole paranormal thing, the best detectives. But this is a regular case. It's a depressing one but it's regular. Ricky Jackson died from getting stabbed to death, the poor kid."
"I know," Buffy sighed a little, pulling her blouse down a little. "But what I don't get is how no one has been able to find the killer." Frank started to turn away again, exasperated, but Buffy grabbed his arm. "Frank, please. This isn't just a detective talking. I'm a mother, too. And this is hurting my daughter."
Frank sighed deeply. "Buffy, we're doing everything we can. We'll keep you updated. But, for now, maybe you should just focus on your daughter and not her boyfriend." Frank turned and walked off then, leaving Buffy to think on what he said.
Angel walked into his house when school had already ended and saw Dawn sitting in the living room, flipping through a magazine on the couch.
"Hey, Dawnie," Angel greeted, leaving the front door ajar.
She looked up from her magazine at the shanshu having vampire. "Oh, hey, Angel."
Angel walked into the living room, dropping his coat into a chair. "Thanks for picking Vanessa up from school. Where is she?"
"In the kitchen I think," Dawn replied, going back to her magazine.
Vanessa indeed sat at the kitchen table eating the cookies and chocolate milk Dawn had put out for her. Thoughts of the day ran through the six-year-old's mind as she munched on her sweet butter cookie. One of the girls in kindergarten had told her about a trick she had learned where she wet her hands then touched the flaming part of a candle and didn't even fill the burn. Vanessa had been dying to try the trick out all day, thinking it sounded like something a vampire would be able to do and she loved vampire games.
She got down from the chair she sat at and went over to the stove, turning one of the dials a few times before one of the burners of the stove finally lit. Vanessa had seen Buffy do it several times and knew how to work the electric stove. She went over to the sink and wet her hands well then went back over to the stove's lit burner, slowly reaching her hand out to it.
"Vanessa—" Angel started as he entered the kitchen. The smile he had on his face washed away when he saw what she was doing. "Hey!"
Vanessa gasped, startled, and accidentally burnt the tip of a couple of her fingers. "Ouch!" she exclaimed in pain.
Angel hauled her up quickly and sat her down next to the sink, immediately running her entire hand under cold water, much to the child's pleasure as the burn went away quickly.
"Vanessa Angel," Angel began, wiping her hand off with a nearby towel. "What did you think you were doing?"
Vanessa took her hand away and looked it over, seeing only a couple of dark marks on her fingers. "I was doing a magic trick."
Angel looked at her closely. "What kind of trick?"
"I learned it at school," Vanessa explained. "This girl told me about how when she wets her hands she can feel fire so I wanted to try it."
Angel knelt down, making sure his brown eyes met her hazel ones. "Listen to me and listen good. Don't you ever do that again. You could have really burnt yourself."
Vanessa pouted, staring down at her jeans. "It was just a vampire game."
"I've warned you about those games, too," Angel said, picking her up off from the side of the sink and standing her up. "I better not ever catch you doing anything like this again and don't play anymore of those games."
Vanessa continued to pout. "You're no fun," she grumbled, crossing her little arms. Angel suddenly swatted her behind, causing her to jump. "Daddy!"
Angel knelt down to her. "If I ever catch you putting yourself in danger by playing these kinds of games again I'm going to put you over my knee and spank you."
Vanessa's pout increased, partly because she knew for a fact that he meant it and partly because the thought made her sad. Before either of them could say anything the sound of the front door opening interrupted them.
"Hey!" a familiar voice called. "I'm not breaking in. The door was open."
Vanessa smiled, forgetting Angel's threat. "Uncle Lorne!" She started to run out of the question.
Angel grabbed her arm before she could make it to the doorway and said, "Don't forget what I said."
Vanessa just nodded and ran out to where a man in a loud colored suit stood in the living room with Dawn, a scarf wrapped around his face.
"Hey, Uncle Lorne!" the little girl shouted, knowing who it was regardless of the scarf.
Lorne slowly unraveled the scarf, revealing his green face. "Howdy, pumpkin." He looked his scarf over. "You'd think with all the paranormal sites in this town that I wouldn't have to wear this thing."
"Well, look on the bright side," Dawn smiled softly, her arms folded. "It matches your tie."
"Thanks, Dawnie," Lorne returned the smile. "That's what I was going for."
"Hi, Lorne," Angel greeted, joining the others in the living room. "When did you get in?"
"When the morning bells were ringing," Lorne told him. "I got a call from a local club owner. He wants me to run karoke night."
"Um, won't that be kind of hard? You know with the whole..." Dawn pointed at his horns. "The whole demon thing?"
"Not to worry, princess," Lorne assured her. "Compliments of a few resources of mine, I've got the ingredients for a perfect cover up spell. I'll appear human to anyone who's never seen my true face before."
"Cool," Vanessa beamed up at him.
"Very," Lorne agreed, looking down at the child.
"So, Lorne, how are the others?" Angel asked. "AI still running well?"
Before Lorne could say anything Buffy walked through the door, throwing her jacket into the same chair as Angel's coat.
"Where's Stacey?" Buffy asked her husband.
"Hi, Buff," Lorne waved.
"Hi, Lorne," Buffy greeted him absent mindedly, still waiting for Angel to answer her.
"She hasn't made it home yet," Angel replied.
Buffy sighed. "Great."
"What's wrong?" Angel questioned. "I thought you said Frank wouldn't talk to you."
"Well, he did talk to me but, like always, he didn't give me any answers. All he said was that I should focus on Stace." Buffy slipped off her purse as she said, "I think the police in this town are useless."
"Buffy, we are pretty much the police," Angel reminded her as if he were desperate to say duh.
"Yeah, well, I guess that makes us useless, too," Buffy said as she left out of the room in search of a cup of coffee.
Lorne watched her leave then turned to Angel. "Cute little cup of sunshine isn't she?"
"She's stressing," Dawn said. "It's been flat around here. Stace seems to really have lost it since... you know."
"Her boyfriend died," Vanessa stated in a blunt childish way.
"What she said," Dawn agreed, pointing at the girl.
Lorne nodded understandingly then turned his attention to Angel again. "Everything's cool at AI," he replied to the vampire's previous question. "Gunn's doing a good job of running it."
"I thought I left Wesley in charge," Angel said, a confused expression making its way to his face.
"Yeah, well, we demoted him with a unanimous vote. We call it the "he's a bossy bouncer" vote," Lorne explained.
Angel nodded, still a little confused by it. Dawn hid a giggle behind her hand and Vanessa openly laughed.
Second Author's Note: This was supposed to longer but I guess I changed my mind at the last minute. Please review me. Oh, and I know a lot of you have questions and most will be revealed in the story, like Angel's shanshu. Well, in case anyone was wondering Dawn is all grownup now and lives in Cedar with the rest of them. See? I'm not stupid. I'm a total thinker who just likes fluff.