title: Marriage, Sunnydale-Style
author: Heather (heather@hella-good.org)
rating: R
spoilers: none...completely an au/fantasy fic except for things borrowed from
the Buffyverse (season 1-7) that are twisted to fit in this universe.
disclaimer: If I actually owned anything, I probably wouldn't be doing this :)
summary: After almost 10 years of dating, Buffy and Spike finally find
themselves in the midst of planning a wedding and remembering the long journey
that got them there.
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Chapter 19
"Hello?" Buffy said, answering the phone with a giggle. Putting her hand over the receiver, she turned to Spike and whispered, "Stop that!"
"Why aren't you at work?" she heard her mother ask. Buffy's smile dropped instantly and she flinched at her mother's tone. "Buffy?"
"Uh, yeah, Mom," she said, emphasizing the mom part which Spike instantly picked up on. She coughed a bit, lowering her voice an octave lower and said, "I'm sick."
"Right...sick. So Spike caught this sickness, too?" Joyce asked, making it clear that she didn't believe her daughter at all.
"Yup, it was the darndest thing."
"Buffy, you're twenty-eight years old. If you want to play hooky from school and spend the day laying around with your fiancé, I'm not going to object." Buffy felt her face flame red at embarrassment. "It's not like I've never done it."
"Oh god, Mom..." Buffy groaned. "So did not need that information."
"Lighten up, Buffy. Just because I'm your mother doesn't mean that I don't partake in-"
"Stop! I beg of you to please stop. If you love me, you will change the subject and never, ever talk of that ever again," Buffy pleaded.
"Okay, how's this? When exactly did you plan on telling me that Dawn was involved in a fight?" Joyce asked.
"Uh...so back to the sex-"
"Buffy, how could you not have told me about this?"
"I didn't want to worry you. Everything was fine...for the most part. Eventually, everything was fine," Buffy said, stammering over her words. She felt Spike put his hand on the small of her back, rubbing it gently, instantly relaxing her. "How did you even find out? Did Dawn actually tell you? Because that's exactly what I told her to do. I said, 'Dawn, you're twenty-one now and it is your responsibility to tell Mom about your total lack of judgment'. I was being all big sisterly, not letting her get away with anything. Go me, right?"
"If you think I believe that, maybe you should tell me again how sick you are," Joyce said, sarcastically. "Cordelia came in and told me that I needn't worry about the damages as Dawn was there bright and early, ready to help with whatever Cordelia needed her to do. So imagine my surprise..."
"Ah, Cordy came in. Of course. I should have gone with that," Buffy commented, almost to herself. "Mom, if it was a huge deal, I would have told you. It was a mistake. These things happen, right?"
"It's Connor, isn't it? He's ruining her."
"Mom, Connor is not ruining Dawn. There's no need to be so over dramatic-"
"I want to talk to Spike," Joyce interrupted her.
"What? Why?" Buffy asked, confused.
"I want to talk to him, Buffy. Put him on the phone now."
She turned over to face him, shrugged her shoulders and handed him the phone. Spike looked at her wide-eyed, clearly as surprised as she was.
"Hi, Joyce," Spike said, tentatively.
Joyce wasted no time and said, "Keep an eye on Connor."
"I don't think Dawn would like that too much." Buffy nudged his shoulder and mouthed "Wouldn't like what?". Spike shook his head and she sighed heavily at being left out of the loop.
"I'm not particularly worried about what Dawn would like. One bar fight here, a night in jail there...I don't want to know what happens after that. She's my baby, Spike. Promise me that you'll watch out for her."
"Of course, Joyce."
"Thank you. It's about time one of the Summers's women found a decent man," Joyce sighed. "I'll talk to her again now."
"Okay..." Spike handed the phone back to Buffy and mimicked the shrug she had given him.
"Mom, what's going on?" Buffy immediately asked.
"Nothing, Buffy."
"You're obviously lying."
"I'm sure Spike will tell you. Speaking of, did you talk to him last night about Warren?"
"Look at segue way Mom. Nice job. I did, in fact," Buffy told her, a smile creeping onto her face.
"So I should assume that everything went well..."
"Extremely well."
"Thus the staying at home."
"Mom, get your mind out of the thus!"
"I just like to get you all riled up. It's so easy," Joyce teased.
"You make it sound like I'm a prude. I'm not a prude!"
"Certainly not that," Spike mumbled.
"I never said anything like that. You just need to realize that in order to have you and your sister, I had to have had sex-"
"And it only happened those two times. Don't shatter the illusion, Mom," Buffy quickly interrupted. Joyce couldn't help but laugh at her daughter. "Hey, is Tara around? We were supposed to look at the invite tonight."
"She's in the back restoring a piece that got a bit scuffed on it's way here."
"Could you be the best mom in the world and let her leave earlier than eight so she and Will can come over for dinner and we can go over everything?"
Joyce sighed dramatically, milking it for what it was worth. "I suppose. Although I did have big plans to go out and have sex with strangers tonight. Possibly on the hood of a car or maybe-"
Buffy's squeal of disgust and the phone going dead in Joyce's ear stopped her from continuing on. She put the phone back on it's cradle and went into the backroom.
"My daughter just hung up on me," Joyce announced as she went over to inspect Tara's work. "Very nice job. What are you using for that?"
Tara held up her pinky finger and smiled. "Works like a charm for the smudging. Why did Buffy hang up on you?"
"How did you know it was Buffy?"
"Dawn would be too scared to do that," Tara said, laughing softly.
"Very true. Apparently Buffy doesn't like sentences that have sex and me in them."
"Buffy has told me that denial has a very pretty view," Tara joked. "Did she mention coming by tonight for the invite?"
"Actually, you're leaving early and going over there for dinner."
"Oh, no, Joyce. You asked me to work until closing because you have plans. I'll call her back and tell her I can't make it."
"No, you won't. It was only dinner with a friend. I can easily reschedule," Joyce explained, her tone making it clear to Tara not to put up an argument.
"Okay, but I'll be sure to say lots of sentences that involve you and sex as a trade off."
"I knew there was a reason why I liked you," Joyce said, smiling.
----------------------------
"Hey, Will," Buffy said as Willow answered her cell phone. "What are you doing?"
"Grading papers, eating lunch...alone, I might add. I knew you weren't sick! You big faker."
"Me? Never!" Buffy gasped in mock horror. "Mom's letting Tara out of work early tonight so you guys can come over for dinner. Sound good?"
"Are you cooking?" Willow asked, hesitantly.
"If I say yes, you won't come?"
"Of course we'll come...we just won't eat."
Buffy laughed and said, "No, Spike plans on cooking but I will be helping. You know, I'll make a salad or something. I can cook, you know."
"Ha!" Willow exclaimed. "Oh, I mean, yeah, of course, you can."
"How can everyone forget that Thanksgiving feast I cooked our freshman year or the times I brought lunch when I was suspended? You all had no problem eating that up."
"We were really, really hungry," Willow teased.
"You know what, I am cooking tonight! The rest of you be damned."
"What time should we be there for the damning?"
"Whenever...we'll be here all day so whatever works for you two," Buffy answered.
"Around six-ish, Iron Chef Summers?"
Buffy agreed and they said their goodbyes. She picked up the tray that had only remnants of her breakfast on it and brought into the kitchen. She saw Spike making them a sandwich and she smiled, placing the tray on the counter.
"I'm cooking tonight." Spike stopped spreading mayonnaise on the bread and looked at her, mouth open, but no words coming out. "Jesus, what is it with you people? I can cook!"
"Lamb, I never said you couldn't. You just never do."
"I did for Thanksgiving," Buffy argued.
"That was nine years ago..." Buffy huffed in response, crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "You know what that pouting does to me..." He leaned down and ran his tongue over her bottom lip.
She sighed and muttered, "Sort of the point."
Spike pulled away and continued to make lunch. "I'm having no problems with you cooking tonight. What are you going to make?"
"Whatever you were going to make...only ten times better."
"Well, with the free spirit's lack of eating meat, I was going with the garlic and lemon spaghetti."
"Ooh, I can do that! That's really easy...right?"
"Sure, pet, I can help out, too."
"No, no helping. I'm proving once and for all that I can cook and not just some appetizers or an entire Thanksgiving meal. So there!"
--------------------------
"Come on in!" Buffy called to the knocking on the apartment door. She turned and smiled as Tara and Willow made their way into the apartment.
"It's pouring out!" Willow exclaimed, shaking off her jacket in the hallway. "Something actually smells really good."
"I'm sure Buffy did a fantastic job," Tara said as she put her arm around Buffy's shoulder, giving her an encouraging hug.
"This is why we all like Tara. She's not as mean and snarky as the rest of us," Buffy said, laughing. "You want something to drink?"
"Coke," both girls answered simultaneously. Buffy handed them each a can of soda and turned back to the stove to stir the food.
"We're having ziti instead of spaghetti because someone forgot to go to the store," Buffy told them, apologetically.
"If it's pasta, it's for me," Tara said, brightly.
"I was detained," Spike said, as he walked into the kitchen.
"I bet," Willow said under her breath. Spike heard her and shot her a smirk.
"Why don't you guys go cop a squat in the den? There's a few more minutes left..." Buffy suggested. The couple left and Buffy turned to look at Spike, panic in her eyes. "This looks nothing like yours!"
Spike walked over to her and looked at the pan, brow furrowed. "What did you do?"
"I...don't know. It's not all oily like yours. Mine has this like sauce stuff. That wasn't supposed to happen, right?"
"The sauce will be good for the ziti," Spike told her, dipping his finger in the pan and tasting it. "Wow."
"Wow...what?"
"Good. Really good, actually," Spike said with a smile.
"No way! Better than yours?" Buffy asked.
"I wouldn't go that far..." She playfully swatted him on the arm. "What exactly did you do?"
"I put the butter in, then the chopped up garlic, let it cook for a bit, then I added the lemons and oh! I put some bread crumbs in."
"Bread crumbs?"
"Yeah, when you make it with chicken, you always put bread crumbs on the chicken so I thought I'd just put some in the pan."
"There's how you got the sauce. It's perfect, pet."
"Yay me!" Buffy exclaimed, doing a little dance. The timer for the ziti went off and she went about the task of getting the rest of the dinner ready. "Set the table, hon?"
"Man-slave is what I am," Spike mumbled.
"Ooh, whips and chains involved in that?"
"Watch it, missy," Spike warned, slapping her lightly on her rear. She giggled and poured the garlic-lemon sauce over the zitti. She brought it over to the table, where Spike was still placing the silverware around the plates.
"Hey, you know what?" Buffy whispered into his ear. Spike turned to look at her, eyebrow raised. "I love you." Not waiting for a response, she went back to the kitchen and retrieved the salad and dressings. After placing them on the table, she went to the den to get Willow and Tara.
"Come and get it," Buffy said with a smile. "And keep an open mind, okay? It's a little different than Spike makes it."
Everyone sat at the table, putting the food on their plates and salad in their bowls. At first, no one ate anything. Buffy was waiting for someone to eat first, Spike was too busy wondering why Buffy wasn't eating, Tara was letting it cool and Willow kept moving it around on her plate.
"Bloody hell, Red, eat it."
"I...I am, see?" Willow put a ziti in her mouth and began to chew, a slight look of unease on her face that quickly turned to a smile as she put a more food in her mouth. "So Spike made this and Buffy stood by the stove pretending that she made it?"
"I am offended!" Buffy yelled, jokingly.
"It's just really good, Buff," Willow tried to explain.
"I told you I can cook. No one ever believes me."
"Yeah, but prosciutto and a turkey isn't that difficult. Not that lemon-y, garlic-y ziti goodness is hard...it's just better than I expected. Sorry."
"You can make it up to me by telling everyone how amazing I am in the kitchen. It is my mission to squash that untrue rumor," Buffy told them adamantly.
"It's delicious," Tara concurred. "I like it better than Spike's."
"Hey, now!" Spike objected. Tara only flashed him a sweet smile.
"Oh, Buffy, your mother wanted me to give you a message," Tara began. "Since she let me out early, she had to stay at work and cancel her date-"
"She had a date?" Buffy asked, surprised.
"Yes, but she was happy about it as he was going to come to the gallery instead. Apparently, she's always wanted to christen her place of business."
Buffy stopped chewing her food, mouth agape, and blushing profusely. "What...how...are...no. No, no, no."
"She was thinking of starting in her office. The desk as a matter of fact and she wanted to know if you had any pointers for her," Tara added, trying to hide the wicked smile that wanted desperately to form on her lips.
"Willow!" Buffy screamed in embarrassment.
"Oops..." Willow said quietly and bowed her head, putting more food in her mouth.
------------------------------
"Luv, it was joke," Spike said, trying to calm Buffy down. "Tara?"
"I'm sorry. Bad joke but I promised her I would do it."
"See? All better," Willow put in.
"Tara, you're the non-evil one amongst us. You're not supposed to do that to me!" Buffy cried. She buried her face in the cushion of the sofa and Spike rubbed his palm between her shoulders blades, laughing. "I an eel oo affing."
"What was that?" Spike asked, leaning over her to get closer to her mouth.
She sat upright and repeated, "I can feel you laughing. It's not funny."
"It's a little funny..." Spike commented.
Buffy narrowed her eyes at him and made a small growling noise before throwing her head back onto the cushion. "I ish dis ay nebah apphend."
"Buffy, don't talk into the cushion," Willow chided. "Not unless you're carrying on the conversation with yourself."
Buffy sighed audibly and removed her head from the cushion. She leaned against Spike's chest and brought his arm down to lay it across her chest and held his hand. "I said, I wish this day never happened."
"All of it?" Spike whispered in her ear and Buffy blushed.
"C'mon, you've had all day with the snuggly-wugglies. We're here for wedding purposes!" Willow said, getting their attention. "Tara?"
Feeling the three sets of eyes on her, Tara suddenly got a case of her old overwhelming shyness. She reached into her bag and pulled out a card wrapped in plastic. "Okay, this is just a rough draft. If you don't like it, please tell me. We'll work on it..."
"I have all the confidence in the world, Tara," Buffy said, taking the card from her.
"Yeah, well..." Tara muttered. She felt Willow's hand on her thigh and smiled, thankful for the comforting gesture.
"I feel like a kid in a candy store," Buffy said, happily as she undid the tap from the plastic. Spike was starting to feel antsy as Buffy took forever to take the invitation out.
"Do you want me to do that?" he asked, impatiently.
"Well, look who suddenly is taking an interest in this," Buffy joked. She finally pried the tape away, pulled out the invite and turned to Spike, smiling. "Success!"
"Buffy..." Spike breathed in when he looked at the invite. He nodded his head in the direction of the invite and she looked down, immediately gasping. He looked back at Tara and shook his head in awe. "This is your rough draft?"
"Tara, this is perfect. I mean, this is just what I..." Buffy trailed off, her eyes misting over. "I'm such a baby right now."
"Didn't she do an amazing job?" Willow asked, excitedly. "When she showed me, I was stunned. She got everything right. The slashes of burgundy in your dress, the corsage, Spike's hair, even the dance floor and balloons."
"Amazing is an understatement," Buffy whispered.
"Yup, that's my girl," Willow said, beaming. Tara smiled shyly, looking down to hide her embarrassment. "Spike? Are you okay?"
Spike looked away from the invitation, quickly nodded and got up from the couch. He walked into the bedroom, leaving the three women to look at each other in confusion.
"Is that bad?" Tara asked meekly.
"I'll, uh, be right back," Buffy said, getting up from the couch. She paused in front of the loveseat that Tara and Willow were sitting on and leaned down, embracing Tara. "Thank you. It's wonderful." She let go of Tara and walked to the bedroom, quietly knocking on the partially closed door.
"Yeah," Spike answered gruffly.
Buffy pushed the door open slowly and found Spike sitting on the reading chair in the corner of the room. "Baby, you okay?"
"Fine. I'm fine," he said too quickly. He looked up as she approached him, giving her a half-smile. She wiggled herself between his legs and sat on his lap, softly stroking his hair. "I'm such a jerk."
"What? Why?"
"This is really happening, isn't it?" Spike asked, quietly.
"It's good to know you're catching on," Buffy tried to joke but when she saw no reaction from Spike, she switched gears. "Spike, what's going on in there?" She lightly patted his head.
"Suits, dresses...the whole bleeding shebang...but none of it seemed like it was really happening until right now. Seeing that," he gestured to the invitation still in Buffy's hand, "made something click."
"Uh...what are you saying?" Buffy asked, feeling a tightness begin to build in her chest.
"Do you know how long I've waited for this?"
Buffy stopped playing with his hair, her confusion growing. "Spike, we've only been engaged for like six months."
"No...this, us, marriage, all of it. The whole kitten-caboodle, kitten," he said, a smile playing on his lips.
"Phew, I thought you were backing out," Buffy sighed in relief.
"Backing out? I wouldn't have stayed with you all this time, asked you to marry me five times, only to back out when it got down to the wire."
"It was not five times," Buffy argued. "It was...four." Her face flushed and she giggled.
"Fourth time's a charm, apparently."
She leaned over, giving him a kiss on his cheek. "Did I ever tell you how glad I am that you kept asking?"
"Figured I'd ware you down eventually," he said, smirking.
"So you just sort of freaked out..."
"Yeah, guess I did. The birds upset?"
"I don't think so...just confused like me. Are you okay?" Buffy asked, her voice deep in concern.
"Fine, truly. Maybe we should go back out..."
"I think maybe you're right," Buffy sighed, getting off his lap, grabbing his hands and helping him out of the chair. She turned and began to walk away when she felt Spike tug on her hand, spinning her around to face him. He quickly swooped down, placing his lips on hers and she moaned in both surprise and happiness.
He broke from her lips, resting his forehead against hers and asked, "Do you remember what I said when I asked you to marry me?"
"Which time?" she teased. Spike smiled and she said, "Yes, of course, I remember."
"It will always be true, Buffy. My moment was not about you or the wedding or any of the hoopla that goes along with it." He cupped his hand against the side of her face, pulling back to look at her. "I wouldn't change anything." He released his hold on her and began to walk out of the room. "You coming?"
"Give me a minute," Buffy said, quietly. Spike nodded and headed out. She heard him apologize to Willow and Tara for turning into a "chit" and laughed softly to herself.
She looked at the invitation and sighed happily. There was not one thing wrong with it. It seemed to encompass everything that was her and Spike on a tiny card. The card itself was a pearl gray color, the print was the burgundy that were the colors of the bridesmaids dresses, as well as the strips in Buffy's prom dress. She marveled at the recreation of the photo and couldn't help but think that Tara was the only person who could have done this right. She seemed to be able to capture them perfectly. She was even able to paint the love that was there but not yet spoken between the dancing couple. It was simple and in it's simplicity lied an elegance that made Buffy smile. Buffy was happy with everything, even the words Tara chose to put on the invitation. Above the drawing, it said, "Join Us" and below it continued "as a Moment in Time", Buffy opened the invitation and continued to read, "Becomes a Lifetime of Forever". She smiled when she saw what Tara had put for their names and walked back into the living room.
"Here," she handed Spike the invitation as she sat. "Check out the invitation part of the...er, invitation."
Spike read the front, opened it and read the inside, a smile forming on his face. He looked at Tara, who couldn't help but smile in return. "Buffy Anne Summers and William "Spike" Young in wholly matrimony...Love it, pet."
"Well, I couldn't help myself," Tara laughed. "It's okay?"
"I think it's great. Buffy?"
Buffy looked at Spike, eyes wide with emotion. "I think it's perfect."
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