"Mahal"
By: Lynn
DISCLAIMERS: Making it short...NOT MINE!
SUMMARY: AU; Just another story where everybody's human and Angel, Oz, and Xander are the new students in school.
DISTRIBUTION: Are you kidding me! I NEED someone to host my fics. Just e-mail me if you want them. Previous Parts found at: http/
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BETA READER: Ashley Russo (last parts un-beta¡¦ed)
Part 17
"Hey Buffy," Oz greeted his brother's girlfriend at the front door, moving aside to let her in. Without a word, besides saying hi, Buffy followed Oz, knowing that he was leading her to where Angel was.
There was a faint sound of salsa music in the large house, and it only got louder as they approached the kitchen.
She stopped in the wide doorway and smiled as she watched the touching scene before her.
Angel, Xander, Connor, Jessica, and Mrs. Roarke were all laughing and dancing joyously to the salsa beat as Mrs. Roarke and Angel prepared dinner. Oz even stopped for a second to spin his sister around on his way to the fridge. Buffy truly adored this family. It was clear to see that they were a tightly woven bunch. It seemed as if even with all that had happened in their lives, nothing could bring them down.
"Hey Buffy," they all chorused, finally noticing the blonde in the entryway. Angel signaled Connor to take over the vegetable chopping and walked over to his girlfriend, giving her a sweet kiss when he reached her.
Buffy let out a squeal as Angel, out of nowhere, spun her out, brought her back to his body, and dramatically dipped her. As she smiled up at him, she couldn't believe how lucky she was to find someone like Angel. He was everything she could hope for and then some. She was even embarrassed to say that she had to catch herself from singing "What a Man" by Salt 'N' Peppa and doing a cheesy little dance whenever she thought of him.
"'Ey Loverboy," they heard Jessica's voice call out to him as she turned down the music, "Less PDA, more cooking."
"Yeah come on Monkey Boy! Chop chop! We're hungry," Xander added.
Isabella gave warning glances toward two of her mischievous children, "Alexander, Jessica... Leave them be. They're cute."
Angel shot a smug look towards Xander and Jessica, who just childishly stuck their tongues out back at him, murmuring something along the lines of "Mama's Boy."
"You cook," Buffy questioned him when he left her embrace to go back to the hot stove and she sat on a stool next to Oz.
"One of my many talents," he smirked at Buffy. He then retrieved the vegetables that Connor had just finished chopping and put them in a pot of boiling water.
"Hmm... and very talented you are," she gushed, ignoring the disgusted groans around her, "Is there anything you don't do," she stared admiringly at him.
"Sing," the four voices of Angel's siblings answered casually for him.
Angel gasped in denial, "What! I can sing!"
"Ha! Not well," Connor said and then proceeded to mock him by joining in a horribly sung rendition of "Mandy" with Jessica and Xander.
"Hey," Angel yelled while they were all laughing, including Buffy, "I so don't sound like that. Mom, don't you think I have a nice singing voice?"
Isabella stared at her eldest son by several minutes for a few beats with pursed lips. Deciding to keep her mouth shut, she looked at the blonde who was trying to stop laughing for her boyfriend's sake.
"So Buffy," she asked, obviously avoiding the question, "Are you staying for dinner?" Feeling rejected, Angel scoffed and returned to his cooking. He playfully threatened Jessica, who had just sidled up next to him, with the big metal spoon he was using, saying that they were lucky he wasn't going to spit in the food.
"Sure," Buffy responded to Isabella's question, "I mean, if that's okay."
"Nonsense Buffy," the kind mother of five squeezed her shoulders affectionately, "It's always okay." The two exchanged kind smiles, "Now do me a favor and make sure these guys don't cause severe mass destruction in here. I kinda like this house."
Buffy nodded, "Will do, Mrs. Roarke." With that said, Isabella took off to retreat herself in her office.
"You know, just for that comment, you get no dinner." Buffy caught the middle of the conversation between brother and sister. She quickly looked around and noticed that it was now only her, Jessica, Oz, and Angel in the kitchen. Xander and Connor had run outside to the backyard, probably testing out the half-pipe the two had finally finished.
Buffy and Oz traded amused stares as they listened to Angel and Jessica tease each other. Oz, being used to their banter, quickly lost interest and put his attention to the magazine in front of him.
"Fine," Jessica said with a care-free tone, "but when the day comes when Mom asks why I'm malnourished and looking like a sad Ethiopian child, I'm just gonna tell her it's all because you didn't feed me."
Angel shook his head and chuckled while stirring whatever was in the pot, the steam rising from it and swirling around him, "You're horrible, Jess."
Jessica made a pained look on her face and put a hand over her heart, groaning as if he actually stabbed her there. It was followed by smile and a giggle towards Buffy, who happily returned them.
"You guys are crazy," was Buffy's only comment.
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As Isabella rushed around her bedroom throwing some things into a small suitcase, five pairs of blue and brown eyes watched intently from her bed. While she frantically packed her necessities, she went over some rules to abide while she was gone.
Isabella had received a call from a New York hospital and was told that she was needed for a few special procedures that only required the best surgeons, and was needed right away.
Being too busy with packing and spewing out rules, she didn't see the devious looks on her children's faces. They were thinking of all the different opportunities that they would get while their mother was away for no longer than a week. It gave them freedom to do whatever they want... just as long as they didn't get caught.
"... Lorne should be here soon. He's going to be staying with you kids so you guys won't get into any trouble." At that, the Roarke siblings' happy expressions fell, their unsupervised plans going to waste. But on the upside, Lorne was a bit of a pushover, so there was still some hope.
"... And Uncle George and Aunt Emily will be checking up on you guys frequently so you won't be able to take advantage of Lorne," she continued, like most good mothers, knowing how her children's minds worked.
This time, Isabella heard collective cries and groans of displeasure, a triumphant grin spread on her face, their plans now totally soiled.
"Come on Mom," Connor cried, "don't you think we're a little too old for babysitters?"
"Yeah Ma," Xander rang in, "Don't you trust us?"
She turned around to sternly look at her offspring and crossed her arms.
All she needed to say was, "Do I need to remind you of Spring Break of 2001," and she had all of them looking ashamed and shaking their heads in refusal. Well the boys that is. Her only daughter had a grin on her face and a gleam in her eye.
Jessica laughed and said, "Dude, remember when Faith and I made that Butterball turkey explode? That was so friggin' awesome." Looking around, her grin faded when she saw that her family was clearly unamused and glaring at her. "Sorry," she mumbled and gazed down at the flowery comforter.
"That was three years ago, Mom," Xander argued, "We've matured," their mother snorted, and he just repeated more forcefully, "We've matured. Can't you, you know, just let it go?"
Isabella had a thoughtful expression on her face, looking as if she were caving in, giving the teenagers hope, again. It was shattered when Isabella regained her stern look and firmly answered, "No."
Not giving up, the kids decided to bring out the big guns and have no mercy. The four boys poked at their sister and gestured for her to do her thing.
Jessica crawled off the bed and slowly approached their mom, a look of innocence on her face. Her lip jutted out in a pout and her eye's wide and glossy like a puppy's. She wrapped her arms around Isabella's waist and snuggled into her shoulder.
"Please Mommy?" she said with a baby's voice.
Isabella smiled and put a hand on her daughter's cheek, bringing her "innocent" face to look at hers, "Aww Baby," she said sweetly and then maintained the firm tone in her voice, "No."
Just when she thought it was over and they had finally waved their white flags, her boys donned the same pitiful face as their sister, except for Oz of course, and all wrapped themselves around their mother, trapping her in the middle.
"Aww...," came a new voice, "That's so sweet. It's like a scene from Full House. Only less cheesy."
"Sweet my butt, Lorne," Isabella objected when she saw that her friend had let himself in, she was still trapped in the tight circle of her devious children, "They're only hugging me so they can get their evil ways, but I can tell them right now that it's not working."
With a second round of groans, the teenagers finally gave up and retreated from the huddle.
"Yes I know. I'll miss you, too."
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Bored out of her mind, Jessica sighed and frowned at Dawn who was too busy with her studies to entertain her.
So after a few moments of just watching Dawn do school work, she finally decided to break the silence and asked the question that was burning in her mind for the last hour. "Were your parents hippies?"
Dawn looked up from her homework to stare at her friend with furrowed eyebrows, her question being rather random. "What?"
"Were your parents hippies?" Jessica repeated.
"Why? Where did that come from?"
"I was just thinking... 'Buffy and Dawn Summers'... They sound very hippy-ish to me."
The light-haired brunette shrugged, "Well my dad did go through this one weird phase when he was younger, but he was one of those guys who'd beat down the peace loving hippies."
After a lapse of silence, Jessica giggled, "Wouldn't it be funny if Anne was your middle name, too? Then you'd be Dawnie Anne Marie."
Dawn just looked confused while her best friend kept laughing at her own joke, "I don't get it."
"Dawnie Anne Marie? You know, like 'Donnie and Marie'," she tried to elaborate for her, but still didn't get the response she wanted. "As in 'the Osmonds'? They had freakishly big smiles and huge white teeth." When she still got no response she sighed and said, "They were in that Pepsi commercial with the Osbournes."
Finally, Dawn got it and her eyes widened and Jessica smirked, "You think your parents did it on purpose?"
With that, Dawn jumped out of the wooden chair and ran out the Roarkes' kitchen. She yelled for her sister who she knew was in the other room.
Laughing to herself, Jessica went back to her notebook, knowing that she probably made her friend upset towards her when she heard the truth, but it was all worth the amusement.
Behind her, Noah entered the kitchen, a panicking Dawn whizzed right by him and ignored his greeting.
"What was that all about," he got Jessica's attention, and hooked a thumb towards the direction Dawn left.
Jessica smiled and waved her hand in dismissal, "Don't mind her. A day without Dawn being a drama queen is like a day without sunshine. It's okay, though, I still love her." She then gestured for him to sit in the vacant seat next to her.
"What ya studying," Noah asked once he sat down. He leaned over and tried to peek at the notebook in front of her.
"Dawn's doing the studying. Me? It's not studying so much as doodling." Jessica flipped the notebook towards him to show what she was doing.
Noah's pale gray eyes widened at what he saw. What she showed him wasn't the little hearts and swirlys like he expected. It was a very realistic sketch of Dawn enraptured in her studies, her back was bent and her head was buried into her books as she scribbled down something on a piece of paper.
"Oh my God. That's awesome. You drew that?"
Jessica blushed and tossed the notebook back on the table. "Yeah. I didn't feel like studying."
"You're good."
"Thanks. I try, but Angel's better. He does this everyday from memory. I only sketch when I'm bored and I have to look off of something."
Noah grinned, seeing she was being modest, "Can you sketch me? I'd make a great model."
The girl raised her eyebrow at him. In the short months that she'd known the boy, she knew him to be very shy. Now he was acting as if that the word "shy" never existed in his vocabulary. It was kind of weird, but she liked it.
Jessica returned his grin and decided to play his game. "Yeah. I'm sure I can work around that ass on your chin."
Noah quickly covered his dimpled chin and replied, "I don't have an ass on my chin."
"Yes you do," she pointed to his face, "It's like a little elf is mooning me." She burst into laughter and Noah joined in.
"Hey guys," Connor entered the kitchen and walked up to the table, "What's so funny?"
"Noah has a butt-chin," Jessica cheerfully filled in.
Connor shook his head, "Whatever... Noah, the guys were wondering why you were taking so long. We've had the game on pause forever."
"Okay," Noah got up and walked to the fridge to get the water he was originally coming to the kitchen for. He gave Jessica a wave of his hand before heading upstairs.
"I'm right behind you, just gotta ask my sister something," Connor informed his friend as he passed him.
"What's up," Connor's twin asked, smiling up at her brother.
"You really like him, don't you?" Connor got right to the point, his face full of curiosity.
"Who?"
"Noah. You like him."
"What," said in false incredulous tone. She did like him, A LOT, she just felt uncomfortable to tell her brother for some reason. "No. Of course not."
Connor narrowed his blue eyes, checking to see if she was lying. "Are you telling the truth?"
"Yes! Look, I like Noah, yeah, but it's not like that between us."
Finally, he believed her answer and nodded. "Okay, fine I believe you."
"Besides," Jessica continued, "He's not my type," a mischievous grin appeared on her face and she teased, "Preston on the other hand…"
Connor glared at her. "Don't push it little sister. That's not funny."
"Who said I was being funny?"
Unbeknownst to them, Noah had overheard their whole conversation and had taken Jessica's statement more seriously than it was meant to. The spark of hope that she actually felt something for him other than friendship was stomped out. Noah sighed and sadly trudged up the stairs, the happiness he felt earlier melted away.
TBC…