Title: Is Daddy an Angel?
Chapter Eight
Posted: re-posted March 30, 2004
Author's Notes: I just want to say that it was lovely writing for you all, but sadly this is the last chapter, unless some strange unforeseen thing happens that forces me to prolong it. I do not see any sequels in the future, though someone had asked me to go and save Fred. I was tempted, but I've decided that I'm incredibly proud of this story, and in my mind, I could not make it any better, only worse, by dragging it out. Through eight chapters we've gone from a runaway and her daughter in a town where no one knows anyone's name to- well, you haven't read that far. I'll continue this at the end…
The song belongs to The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I'll tell you more, after you've read; I don't want to give it away!
Reader Responses:
BAshipper- well, I can't keep this from someone in withdrawl! I get that a lot, good BA romance is like a drug at times….check out . It's ALL Buffy and Angel! Hehehe. And yes, Buffy is going home. *sigh* was it that obvious?
Kate: thanks for your high praise. I don't deserve it, but thanks none the less!
Bluie: well, if you read the response I had to BAshipper, then you now know. Guess it wasn't too obvious….*sigh* And I decided to make Kate Lockley know about Kendra, because wouldn't it be in Buffy's 'criminal record'? If Kate had sent for her record, to ensure what Angel said was true, and she was a missing person, then she'd probably get everything, from her problems at Hemery, to the fights and stuff, if the police found out, and all that stuff. So that's how she found out.
Kg- yeah, I liked writing that part. I was just thinking to what most kids would do, and I know that if someone grabbed me, I'd bite them, even now! And I promise not to make you cry. If we went through everything, and Buffy and Angel weren't together, I'd cry. They have to be together, and that's just how it has to be.
Suicide is the only Option- I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! Ok, here ya go!
Lisa Anne1- But you have to have some sort of cliffhanger, or else there's nothing leading you into the next chapter. But they are evil, I understand!
Thanks to melluvben for reviewing, you're review really didn't need a response, though others didn't either…oh well. You're waits almost up. There's your response, lol!
March 29, 2004- New Reader Responses:
For some strange reason, it didn't upload the chapter. I want to thank Bluie, Alexandra multiple times, and Nobody from bringing this to my attention. I am going to try uploading this one more time, and if that doesn't work, then I'll do something!
Queen Boadicea- I know, for some reason, no matter how much I wanted to kill them, at least Spike, since I think that Dru is just too crazy to get killed, they managed to escape me once again! Grr…maybe in one of my stories I can manage to kill them…who knows…
March 30th- here I am in study hall, so I am going to try to post this, hoping it was just my computer, and not something wrong with the story. It's only six pages when formatted correctly, it shouldn't be too long or large…oh well…here we go!
Huh, that didn't work…maybe if I try posting it under a different name?
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The car pulled up to the curb. The two blonds in the front seat sat there in silence.
"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked. The child in the back picked up on the tension and stayed silent.
"No, I can…. yes, please." She said nervously.
"Come on." She said comfortingly, getting out of the car, and helping the child out.
She looked at the two-story house she had lived in for two years. The outside was the same, but would the inside be?
"Mommy, are you coming?" the girl asked, stepping onto the walkway.
"Yeah, I'm coming." She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car.
She stood at the door, and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Her daughter and her friends stood to the side, watching as she tried to calm her nerves. As she stood there, trying to get the nerve to knock, Kathy let go of Kate's hand and grabbed her leg.
"You can do it, Mommy. You fight those monsters, you can knock on a door." She hugged her mother's leg.
"Yeah, you're right. I can." She smiled, taking Kathy's hand. She knocked three times on the wooden door.
The door opened after a moment, and a woman with graying dirty blond hair stood there. Buffy knew that it was gray from stress, and not age, and she felt guilty about causing the woman before her stress.
"How may I-" her voice was laced with sadness, she could tell by those few words, and she stopped suddenly, seeing the woman who stood before her, and her eyes filled with tears. Kathy, suddenly shy, slipped behind her mother.
"Who is it, Ms. Summ-" he stopped, shocked. She just stared at the boy who had been her best friend. But he was a boy no longer. Over four years had changed him, just as it had changed her. There was more sorrow in his eyes, just like the sorrow found in her mother's eyes.
"Joyce?" The deep British voice rolled over her in waves. She hadn't realized EVERYONE would be there. She started to hyperventilate and started looking for possible escape routes. Kate came from behind her and placed a reassuring hand on her arm. It also didn't leave her any place to run.
"Guys, you're letting all the warm air ou…t" The one person she wanted to see more than anything, and didn't want to see at the same time came to the door. She just sort of squeaked at what everyone was gawking at.
But then someone came to the door that she had never expected to see. Ever again. She took one look at his broad shoulders, his dark eyes and hair, and knew he had been the one looking for her. With that thought, the air went out of her lungs, and darkness closed in on her.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
I wouldn't be that mean, would I?
Ok, so I would….
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
As she slowly came to, she became aware of the warm glow around her. She was lying on the couch that had been in the house since they had moved in. Her mother sat on the floor beside her, Giles standing right behind her, a hand on her mother's shoulder, and the thought crossed her mind about how natural they looked together. The two adults were having a silent conversation, it seemed. Xander, Willow and Kate were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, playing with Kathy. She should have known that her two best friends would make both of the blonds welcome.
She thought back to how she had gotten here…she remembered fainting, but what had made her…Him. She couldn't see him in her limited view of the room. Had it all been just a figment of her imagination? She twisted to look, and there he was, leaning against the door jam, arms crossed over his chest, brooding, and the darkness almost swept over her again.
But then Kathy looked up from whatever she was playing with, and jumped up, racing to her side. "Mommy! You're awake!" she cried happily. "Mr. Gordo said you would. But I was frightened."
She pushed herself up into a sitting position, and took the girl into her lap, oblivious to everyone watching them. "Well, Mr. Gordo was right, wasn't he?" She took the pig from her hands and had it kiss the four-year-old nose. Kathy laughed, pushing the pig away. Then Buffy looked around at the people in the room, who were now looking at her. She sighed. "Hi. Um…I'd like you all to meet my daughter, Kathy." She didn't meet anyone's eyes, and looked over towards the stairs, but his eyes drew her in, and he saw the truth there. "And that's Kate. Detective Lockley. She helped me, in more ways than one, but she helped me find my way home." She now looked at the carpet at her feet. It was the same carpet that had been there before she had left.
Willow was the first to speak, "We missed you so much, Buffy. We had almost given up hope." She said, tears shining in her eyes. She set her daughter on the ground, and stood. Willow rushed over to hug her. Buffy let herself go in the red head's embrace, and tears were soon streaming down both of their faces. Xander rushed over and hugged the two women that were still his favorites.
Kathy wandered over to the only familiar face, Kate. "Why is Mommy crying? Did I do something wrong?" she asked.
"No, honey, you didn't do anything wrong." Joyce said from beside Giles. "Mo-Mommy's just very happy to see old friends, is all."
Eventually Xander and Willow let go of her, and she turned to her mom. "I'm really sorry mom. It-Just-Everything. And I couldn't cope." The tears came again, just when she had thought she had stopped crying.
"It's my fault, Buffy. If I-" she sighed, "If I had only taken things better-"
"No, mom. It's my fault. I was scared, and hurt, and you had kicked me out. I didn't even know about Kathy yet. So I ran. I was planning on- no; I was never planning on coming back, no matter how much I wanted to. And then Kathy- I didn't think you'd ever let me come back home." She sniffled.
"Oh, baby." Joyce enfolded her daughter in her arms. Kate stood by, awkward. Once Joyce let her go, she turned silently to Giles, pleading with him with her eyes. His facial expression staying impassive, but Joyce elbowed him.
"Ah, yes. Uh…Welcome home, Buffy." She smiled, and ran over and hugged him. This time he wasn't taken aback like so many times before at a sign of affection from the remarkable girl before him. He just wrapped his arms around her, and let her cry into his sweater.
She pulled back a little bit, fingering the material, "This isn't tweed." She said, and he chuckled.
"Ah, no. It's not."
"He dumped the tweed a long time ago. Your mom is a very good influence on him, Buffy." Willow said, smiling at the two older people.
Buffy started, looking at them, "Ok, I know I shouldn't pass judgment since I'm still in trouble, but ew!" she said good naturedly. Then her heard a voice being cleared behind her, and she turned.
Her lips trembled as she tried to speak, "I-I-I thought you were dead." Once again, those dratted tears welled up in her eyes, as she stood alone once more by the couch.
"I don't stay dead long."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
They sat out on the back porch. Her friends were entertaining Kathy, and Kate had left some time ago, a bit confused, but happy that Buffy was back where she belonged.
"She's yours." She said finally, after almost five minutes of silence, nothing but the crickets chirping in the balmy night air. "There's never been anyone else. Not since-" she couldn't go on.
"I never had any doubt." He said quietly.
"It was just too much, Angel. Maybe it was hormones or something, but you were gone, I had killed you myself-"
"You don't have to explain yourself to me."
"Yes, I do. If I don't, then things will be different between us. Is there even an us anymore?" she asked.
"Things already are different between us, Buffy. There's Kathy, for one, but…" he didn't know how to explain it, and she hung her head, already thinking of worst possible scenarios. "You've changed, and so have I. You're not the naive and innocent teenager you once were, and I'm not…not the vampire I was."
"I know." She whispered. "And I'll understand if you think it won't work."
"I went to LA, looking for you. Spike sent me pictures of a- well, Kathy. When I looked at those photos, I felt something…a responsibility, and yet I had no clue why. I didn't know it at the time…I thought it was just because she reminded me so much of you. I didn't realize that she looks like you because she's your daughter. It was chance that I chose that diner; chance that I learned your name. I went to the shelter, and then to the police, and then back to the shelter. While there, I had a dream. And that's why I didn't stay. I heard you and Kathy in that dream, though I didn't know her. And you chose her. And that's why I left. I figured you'd be happy with your decision."
The tears were streaming down her face. "I chose Kathy because I knew you were dead. I at least had a chance at saving her. I couldn't save you." He turned her to him, and gently wiped her tears away. She flinched the first time his warm skin touched hers, but she let his fingers dance across her cheekbones.
"You're so warm." It wasn't even a whisper, and the chirping of crickets almost drowned her voice out.
He took her tiny hand and slipped it between the buttons of his shirt. "I came back different. They must have known…" her jaw slowly dropped, and her eyes widened at what she felt under his skin.
"Is it-really?" her voice was strangled by hope. He nodded. She slowly moved until her head was rested against his heart. "I can hear it." She murmured.
He slowly pulled her away from him so he could see her face. "You still my girl?"
"Always."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
They stood, surrounded by their loved ones. The sun lazily floated through the shined glass windows. She looked stunning in her Spring Fling dress, and he looked gorgeous in black pants and a deep red button up shirt.
As the man before them finished speaking, he closed his book, and pronounced the words everyone had been waiting to hear.
She smiled as he turned to her, lifting her chin up ever so slightly. He bent down and placed his lips on hers, and they shared their first kiss as man and wife.
They slowly broke apart as everyone clapped. She smiled, and motioned for her daughter to join them. The small girl was wearing a sunflower sundress. She ran up and stood with her mommy and daddy, as the seven people in the church clapped and cheered.
Angel hoisted Kathy up, into his arms, and took Buffy's hand with his other. They walked down the aisle, not as a man and his wife, but as a family.
Dance, little Jean, this day is for you,
Two people you love, stood up and said, "I do"
Dance little Jean, the prayer that you had
Was answered today
Your mama's marrying your dad
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Through eight chapters, we've gone from a runaway just barely getting by, to Buffy and Angel getting married, and starting a life with their daughter, Kathy.
And please don't ask why I chose Kathy…maybe Angel had a moment of weakness and told her about his sister, or maybe it was her grandmother's name. I don't know. It seemed like a good name, and I like it, so that's what it is. It's a very unusual name, for me, to use for Angel's daughter, I generally choose Angela, or Angelina. So just be happy I didn't go with the stereotype….
The song, by the way, is Dance Little Jean, sung by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and by someone else…. the writer is, by the way, Jimmy Ibbotson. I don't have permission to use the song, since I don't own anything to do with the NGDB or Mr. Ibbotson, so I'm just borrowing it, ok? My friend sang me the chorus, which is what I have in this story, and it just fit SOO well, so…. Thanks Mandy!
