Chapter 6.
Once they pulled into Sunnydale, instead of turning down Creswood Close to turn into Revello Drive, Angel turned right into Blumfield Avenue, then continued along that, until he turned onto Crawford Street, to the Mansion. Angel parked the car in the driveway.
"Why are we here?" Buffy asked him.
"I thought it might be easier for you, if you saw everyone again on neutral territory. I asked them all to meet me here, but I didn't tell them anything." He answered her gently.
Carefully, so as not to wake Kalika and Jamila, Buffy and Angel extracted the sleeping girls from their seat belts, while Lalita took hold of Hexa's leash, as Buffy unclipped the dog's harness.
Lalita asked no questions as to where they were, and what they were doing there. For that, Buffy was thankful. The entered silently, using the sub-level entrance that Buffy herself, had used so long ago.
At the bottom of the stairs Lalita begged to be picked up. Angel obliged, balancing Kalika on one side, and taking Lalita on the other. Within seconds the third little girl was sound asleep. Buffy unclipped Hexa's leash, calling the dog to heel, whilst still holding onto Jamila.
************
It was dark in the Mansion, it always had been.
Angel entered the room first, pretending not to notice the stares of everyone, as he entered, carrying two little girls. "Just give us a minute to put the girls down and we'll be right out." He told the roomful of confused people.
As Buffy entered she felt a wave of panic come over her, but it then dissipated as quickly as it had arrived. She felt everyone's stares as she followed Angel towards the master bedroom.
Carefully they laid the girls down onto the bed, covering them with a blanket, to ward off the chill in the afternoon air.
"Take it easy," Angel tried to reassure her, "They've been pretty worried for a long time, but they'll get over it." Buffy reached out to brush Kalika's dark brown curls off her face. "Do you really think so?"
He put an arm around her waist. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" he asked, ushering her out to the main room. Hexa stayed where she was, lying down on a rug at the foot of the bed.
***********
Once they re-entered the main room Angel ushered her into a chair.
"Interesting sort of meeting, Angel." Xander bit out sarcastically.
Inwardly Buffy thought, 'And so it begins' She said nothing, just looked around at all of the people she had left. As she did so, Buffy saw the hurt and confusion on their faces.
Giles was the first to speak, "How are you, Buffy?"
She took a deep breath, "I'm okay."
Angel perched himself on the arm of her chair, protecting her.
"What happened?" Giles persisted, "Where did you go?"
"Those three little girls we brought in here? The ones who are sleeping in the other room? They're what happened. I left Sunnydale because I found out that I was pregnant, and I wanted to be able to take care of my children." Buffy smiled at the memory of the little girls sleeping in the next room.
"Where did you go?" Giles asked again.
Buffy said nothing for a long moment. "LA, San Francisco, I ended up in Seattle though. That's where the girls were born."
"We tried to find you though." Willow interrupted. "We tried everything, even magic."
Buffy just looked at her sadly. "You can't look for something when it isn't lost. On my way up to Seattle, I stopped in San Francisco. Three of my cousins live there. Witches. I asked them to hide my aura, sort of disguise my presence. You need to know that for a long time, I didn't want to be found. That's why I went to the trouble of hiding so well." Buffy paused. "I knew about your attempts to find me using the Eyes Only Informant Net. I know one of the informants. He knew that I wanted to hide. I even told him why. Max wouldn't have let him run the cable hack anyway."
"Max." began Joyce Summers, speaking aloud for the first time since seeing her daughter again, "As in little Maxie you went to school with?"
Buffy nodded. "She's been a good friend to me, always. She arranged to get me new ID, an apartment, she was there with me when the girls were born. They call her Auntie Max."
"Sounds like you've had a good time then." Xander bit out. "I guess we're used to picking up the pieces though."
Buffy said nothing, until he spat out his last remark, "I wonder what made you come back?"
She shook her head and got to her feet, "If I made a mistake, it sure as hell wasn't leaving Sunnydale. If I made a mistake it was coming back here. Angel, would you help me put the girls back in the car? I don't need this, and I sure as hell don't deserve it." In the beginning her tone had been calm, but by the end of her speech it was clear that she was angry. Xander opened his mouth to say something else, but she cut him off. "Whatever you're going to say, I don't need to hear."
"Buffy-." he began again.
But once more she cut him off, "I think you've said all that you need to, don't you?" Stressed, she ran the fingers of one hand through her hair. As she did so, a small voice carried from the doorway. "Mommy?" Kalika whimpered, frightened by the presence of so many strange people. She held onto Hexa's collar as though it was a lifeline.
Buffy moved to pick up her daughter, Hexa stayed sitting at her feet. "It's okay baby, mommy's just talking to some people."
"Is Uncle Angel upset too?" was the little girl's next question.
Buffy brushed the loose curls away from her daughter's face, "I don't know." she replied.
"When Lily and Mila wake up can we go to the park?"
Buffy smiled, going to the park was something she could deal with arguing was something she could not. "When your sister's wake up we can go to the park." Buffy answered, sitting back down, holding her daughter in her lap. The pair of them curled up together, with Hexa lying comfortably at their feet.
Angel smiled, they painted a beautiful picture, like something Mary Cassat would have painted.
Peace radiated from them.
Buffy stroked her daughter's hair, as the little girl, lulled by her mother's familiar presence fell asleep once more.
"Do you want me to take her?" Angel asked, "I'll put her down with Lily and Mila, if you like."
Buffy smiled at him. "No, she doesn't like to sleep in strange places. She still gets a little scared."
Angel pulled a rug off the back of a nearby chair and covered Kalika with it. "Let me know if you change your mind."
Everyone in the room stared at the little girl, sound asleep on her mother's lap.
"What's her name?" Joyce asked softly.
"Kalika," Buffy answered.
"How old is she?"
"Four and a half. Kalika is the oldest of the girls."
"What are the other's names?" Willow asked.
"Lalita, and Jamila." Buffy answered softly.
Xander said nothing. For once he didn't know what to say.
Buffy didn't even make eye contact with him.
Giles got up, and moved towards Buffy, immediately Hexa jumped to her feet and began growling.
He moved backwards, turning white as the dog approached him. Buffy barely even looked up. "Hexa, friend. Sit down please." she reprimanded the dog softly.
Immediately Hexa returned to her place at Buffy's feet and sat quietly.
"The dog's well trained." Xander offered, as a peace-making gesture.
"She was a present to the girls from a friend. She's very helpful." Buffy answered.
Giles still looked white, "Yes, well she's very large too."
Buffy chuckled. "You should see the dog Zane keeps then. Her name's Shandy. She's enormous."
"I don't think that I'd like to meet her very much." Giles returned stiffly.
"She's a good girl though." Angel said, bending down to pat the dog. "She gave us one hell of a fright on the beach."
Once they pulled into Sunnydale, instead of turning down Creswood Close to turn into Revello Drive, Angel turned right into Blumfield Avenue, then continued along that, until he turned onto Crawford Street, to the Mansion. Angel parked the car in the driveway.
"Why are we here?" Buffy asked him.
"I thought it might be easier for you, if you saw everyone again on neutral territory. I asked them all to meet me here, but I didn't tell them anything." He answered her gently.
Carefully, so as not to wake Kalika and Jamila, Buffy and Angel extracted the sleeping girls from their seat belts, while Lalita took hold of Hexa's leash, as Buffy unclipped the dog's harness.
Lalita asked no questions as to where they were, and what they were doing there. For that, Buffy was thankful. The entered silently, using the sub-level entrance that Buffy herself, had used so long ago.
At the bottom of the stairs Lalita begged to be picked up. Angel obliged, balancing Kalika on one side, and taking Lalita on the other. Within seconds the third little girl was sound asleep. Buffy unclipped Hexa's leash, calling the dog to heel, whilst still holding onto Jamila.
************
It was dark in the Mansion, it always had been.
Angel entered the room first, pretending not to notice the stares of everyone, as he entered, carrying two little girls. "Just give us a minute to put the girls down and we'll be right out." He told the roomful of confused people.
As Buffy entered she felt a wave of panic come over her, but it then dissipated as quickly as it had arrived. She felt everyone's stares as she followed Angel towards the master bedroom.
Carefully they laid the girls down onto the bed, covering them with a blanket, to ward off the chill in the afternoon air.
"Take it easy," Angel tried to reassure her, "They've been pretty worried for a long time, but they'll get over it." Buffy reached out to brush Kalika's dark brown curls off her face. "Do you really think so?"
He put an arm around her waist. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" he asked, ushering her out to the main room. Hexa stayed where she was, lying down on a rug at the foot of the bed.
***********
Once they re-entered the main room Angel ushered her into a chair.
"Interesting sort of meeting, Angel." Xander bit out sarcastically.
Inwardly Buffy thought, 'And so it begins' She said nothing, just looked around at all of the people she had left. As she did so, Buffy saw the hurt and confusion on their faces.
Giles was the first to speak, "How are you, Buffy?"
She took a deep breath, "I'm okay."
Angel perched himself on the arm of her chair, protecting her.
"What happened?" Giles persisted, "Where did you go?"
"Those three little girls we brought in here? The ones who are sleeping in the other room? They're what happened. I left Sunnydale because I found out that I was pregnant, and I wanted to be able to take care of my children." Buffy smiled at the memory of the little girls sleeping in the next room.
"Where did you go?" Giles asked again.
Buffy said nothing for a long moment. "LA, San Francisco, I ended up in Seattle though. That's where the girls were born."
"We tried to find you though." Willow interrupted. "We tried everything, even magic."
Buffy just looked at her sadly. "You can't look for something when it isn't lost. On my way up to Seattle, I stopped in San Francisco. Three of my cousins live there. Witches. I asked them to hide my aura, sort of disguise my presence. You need to know that for a long time, I didn't want to be found. That's why I went to the trouble of hiding so well." Buffy paused. "I knew about your attempts to find me using the Eyes Only Informant Net. I know one of the informants. He knew that I wanted to hide. I even told him why. Max wouldn't have let him run the cable hack anyway."
"Max." began Joyce Summers, speaking aloud for the first time since seeing her daughter again, "As in little Maxie you went to school with?"
Buffy nodded. "She's been a good friend to me, always. She arranged to get me new ID, an apartment, she was there with me when the girls were born. They call her Auntie Max."
"Sounds like you've had a good time then." Xander bit out. "I guess we're used to picking up the pieces though."
Buffy said nothing, until he spat out his last remark, "I wonder what made you come back?"
She shook her head and got to her feet, "If I made a mistake, it sure as hell wasn't leaving Sunnydale. If I made a mistake it was coming back here. Angel, would you help me put the girls back in the car? I don't need this, and I sure as hell don't deserve it." In the beginning her tone had been calm, but by the end of her speech it was clear that she was angry. Xander opened his mouth to say something else, but she cut him off. "Whatever you're going to say, I don't need to hear."
"Buffy-." he began again.
But once more she cut him off, "I think you've said all that you need to, don't you?" Stressed, she ran the fingers of one hand through her hair. As she did so, a small voice carried from the doorway. "Mommy?" Kalika whimpered, frightened by the presence of so many strange people. She held onto Hexa's collar as though it was a lifeline.
Buffy moved to pick up her daughter, Hexa stayed sitting at her feet. "It's okay baby, mommy's just talking to some people."
"Is Uncle Angel upset too?" was the little girl's next question.
Buffy brushed the loose curls away from her daughter's face, "I don't know." she replied.
"When Lily and Mila wake up can we go to the park?"
Buffy smiled, going to the park was something she could deal with arguing was something she could not. "When your sister's wake up we can go to the park." Buffy answered, sitting back down, holding her daughter in her lap. The pair of them curled up together, with Hexa lying comfortably at their feet.
Angel smiled, they painted a beautiful picture, like something Mary Cassat would have painted.
Peace radiated from them.
Buffy stroked her daughter's hair, as the little girl, lulled by her mother's familiar presence fell asleep once more.
"Do you want me to take her?" Angel asked, "I'll put her down with Lily and Mila, if you like."
Buffy smiled at him. "No, she doesn't like to sleep in strange places. She still gets a little scared."
Angel pulled a rug off the back of a nearby chair and covered Kalika with it. "Let me know if you change your mind."
Everyone in the room stared at the little girl, sound asleep on her mother's lap.
"What's her name?" Joyce asked softly.
"Kalika," Buffy answered.
"How old is she?"
"Four and a half. Kalika is the oldest of the girls."
"What are the other's names?" Willow asked.
"Lalita, and Jamila." Buffy answered softly.
Xander said nothing. For once he didn't know what to say.
Buffy didn't even make eye contact with him.
Giles got up, and moved towards Buffy, immediately Hexa jumped to her feet and began growling.
He moved backwards, turning white as the dog approached him. Buffy barely even looked up. "Hexa, friend. Sit down please." she reprimanded the dog softly.
Immediately Hexa returned to her place at Buffy's feet and sat quietly.
"The dog's well trained." Xander offered, as a peace-making gesture.
"She was a present to the girls from a friend. She's very helpful." Buffy answered.
Giles still looked white, "Yes, well she's very large too."
Buffy chuckled. "You should see the dog Zane keeps then. Her name's Shandy. She's enormous."
"I don't think that I'd like to meet her very much." Giles returned stiffly.
"She's a good girl though." Angel said, bending down to pat the dog. "She gave us one hell of a fright on the beach."