Chapter 19.
"Dawn! Dawn are you home?" Buffy shouted out as her and Faith pushed open the living room door.
Buffy dropped her purse on the table and kicked off her shoes.
"My feet are killing me, why did we think walking home was a good idea?" She continued sitting down and rubbing her sore toes.
Faith picked up a note from the table and handed it to Buffy.
"Looks like Dawn's out for the night again!" She said,
Buffy read the note and threw it back onto the table. "Jeez that girl has a busier social life than me!"
Faith nodded in agreement, Dawn had become quite the partygoer herself since starting college. She had a social life that easily rivalled Faiths, and a particularly sexy boyfriend that Buffy was yet to find out about. Dawn had confided in Faith a few weeks back, she often went to her for advice about boys and things. Dawn found it easier to talk to Faith, she didn't judge, whereas Buffy would fly into a blind panic if Dawn and sex were ever mentioned in the same sentence.
"So what do you want to do tonight then?" Buffy asked. "We could go out if you like?"
Faith shook her head, she was feeling a little tired after the previous night.
"I vote for pizza and a night in front of the television," she offered.
Buffy walked over to her friend and placed her hand on her forehead.
"Are you feeling ok Faith?" She asked in mock concern. It was true, Faith was never one to turn down a night on the town.
The brunette picked up the telephone and placed their order, then settled in front of the television and began to flick through the channels. She never really watched much television, she was normally out and about. She admitted defeat in the end and threw the remote control over to Buffy, who quickly selected a movie channel. Faiths' attention didn't take long to stray from the movie.
"So B! I had an idea today, about Christmas." Buffy turned the volume down and put her feet up onto the coffee table.
"I was thinking maybe this year we could, well, sort of have one." She smiled in a very bizarre way at Buffy.
Buffy didn't quite know how to react. Christmas was a bit of a sore subject in their house, generally they didn't celebrate it at all, not since her mom had passed away. Faith was never one to celebrate Christmas. She had never actually had a family Christmas, she was always being pushed from pillar to post, and so she had avoided festivities since her childhood. Buffy had found dealing with this time of year difficult. It had never been discussed, it was just an unsaid agreement, and Christmas doesn't exist.
Faith could see the confusion spread across Buffy's face, so she continued.
"Well I was thinking I could get Xander to pick us up from work tomorrow, and we could go get a tree, and stuff like that. Then we could do a big Christmas Day dinner thing! I mean Willow and Tara are here and Wills is good with cooking and stuff, and she never does the Christmas thing either!" Faith beamed at her bemused friend.
"Faith, Willow's Jewish!" She chuckled.
Faith was not to be deterred. "Well yeah, but apart from that I know she would like it! And Xander could bring Anya, and Dawn, well she hasn't had a Christmas for years, it would be good for her. We could have a sleepover the night before, and have a nice proper family day after. It would be good, don't you think?"
It would be good, Buffy couldn't help but agree.
"So what do you think Buff, it could be like old times, all of us together making with the merry!" She wriggled her eyebrows in a mischievous manner.
"I think it's a great idea Faith, and you're right it would be nice for Dawn to have a family Christmas. In fact it would be nice for all of us." She smiled and went to open the door, which was being pounded on by the delivery door.
She returned a few minutes later and placed the boxes down on the table.
Tucking into a slice Faith finished a mouthful then spoke up. "Maybe we should invite Spike? I mean we are making new starts here, so maybe he should come over too. I am guessing he doesn't have any plans seeing as he is here alone, it might be nice if we invited him back in."
Buffy had suspected she was going down this road, but strangely she didn't find the thought of spending the day with Spike offensive at all. In fact she agreed with Faith, Spike should be there too, all the gang back together.
"I think you're right Faith, although when did you get so insightful!" She laughed.
Faith shrugged her shoulders, "Hey I had a wake up call B! What can I say, I realised there are other ways to fill the empty holes inside me. I always held on to the fact that I have no family, I was letting it destroy me, but I do, I have you guys, and that's all I need."
Buffy stroked her hair gently. "You always have us Faith," she whispered.
Faith jumped up from the chair. "Okay, enough of the sappiness! I got a reputation here!" She laughed, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.
She took hold of her glass and raised it.
"I think we should have a toast here. To moving on!"
"To moving on!" Buffy clinked her glass on Faith's and they turned their attention back to the television.
"Dawn! Dawn are you home?" Buffy shouted out as her and Faith pushed open the living room door.
Buffy dropped her purse on the table and kicked off her shoes.
"My feet are killing me, why did we think walking home was a good idea?" She continued sitting down and rubbing her sore toes.
Faith picked up a note from the table and handed it to Buffy.
"Looks like Dawn's out for the night again!" She said,
Buffy read the note and threw it back onto the table. "Jeez that girl has a busier social life than me!"
Faith nodded in agreement, Dawn had become quite the partygoer herself since starting college. She had a social life that easily rivalled Faiths, and a particularly sexy boyfriend that Buffy was yet to find out about. Dawn had confided in Faith a few weeks back, she often went to her for advice about boys and things. Dawn found it easier to talk to Faith, she didn't judge, whereas Buffy would fly into a blind panic if Dawn and sex were ever mentioned in the same sentence.
"So what do you want to do tonight then?" Buffy asked. "We could go out if you like?"
Faith shook her head, she was feeling a little tired after the previous night.
"I vote for pizza and a night in front of the television," she offered.
Buffy walked over to her friend and placed her hand on her forehead.
"Are you feeling ok Faith?" She asked in mock concern. It was true, Faith was never one to turn down a night on the town.
The brunette picked up the telephone and placed their order, then settled in front of the television and began to flick through the channels. She never really watched much television, she was normally out and about. She admitted defeat in the end and threw the remote control over to Buffy, who quickly selected a movie channel. Faiths' attention didn't take long to stray from the movie.
"So B! I had an idea today, about Christmas." Buffy turned the volume down and put her feet up onto the coffee table.
"I was thinking maybe this year we could, well, sort of have one." She smiled in a very bizarre way at Buffy.
Buffy didn't quite know how to react. Christmas was a bit of a sore subject in their house, generally they didn't celebrate it at all, not since her mom had passed away. Faith was never one to celebrate Christmas. She had never actually had a family Christmas, she was always being pushed from pillar to post, and so she had avoided festivities since her childhood. Buffy had found dealing with this time of year difficult. It had never been discussed, it was just an unsaid agreement, and Christmas doesn't exist.
Faith could see the confusion spread across Buffy's face, so she continued.
"Well I was thinking I could get Xander to pick us up from work tomorrow, and we could go get a tree, and stuff like that. Then we could do a big Christmas Day dinner thing! I mean Willow and Tara are here and Wills is good with cooking and stuff, and she never does the Christmas thing either!" Faith beamed at her bemused friend.
"Faith, Willow's Jewish!" She chuckled.
Faith was not to be deterred. "Well yeah, but apart from that I know she would like it! And Xander could bring Anya, and Dawn, well she hasn't had a Christmas for years, it would be good for her. We could have a sleepover the night before, and have a nice proper family day after. It would be good, don't you think?"
It would be good, Buffy couldn't help but agree.
"So what do you think Buff, it could be like old times, all of us together making with the merry!" She wriggled her eyebrows in a mischievous manner.
"I think it's a great idea Faith, and you're right it would be nice for Dawn to have a family Christmas. In fact it would be nice for all of us." She smiled and went to open the door, which was being pounded on by the delivery door.
She returned a few minutes later and placed the boxes down on the table.
Tucking into a slice Faith finished a mouthful then spoke up. "Maybe we should invite Spike? I mean we are making new starts here, so maybe he should come over too. I am guessing he doesn't have any plans seeing as he is here alone, it might be nice if we invited him back in."
Buffy had suspected she was going down this road, but strangely she didn't find the thought of spending the day with Spike offensive at all. In fact she agreed with Faith, Spike should be there too, all the gang back together.
"I think you're right Faith, although when did you get so insightful!" She laughed.
Faith shrugged her shoulders, "Hey I had a wake up call B! What can I say, I realised there are other ways to fill the empty holes inside me. I always held on to the fact that I have no family, I was letting it destroy me, but I do, I have you guys, and that's all I need."
Buffy stroked her hair gently. "You always have us Faith," she whispered.
Faith jumped up from the chair. "Okay, enough of the sappiness! I got a reputation here!" She laughed, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.
She took hold of her glass and raised it.
"I think we should have a toast here. To moving on!"
"To moving on!" Buffy clinked her glass on Faith's and they turned their attention back to the television.