A/N: OMG, I was supposed to post this in November and I FORGOT! I'm so sorry, everyone! November was super busy for me with National Novel Writing month, and December has been crazy with the holidays. Hopefully you read this story over at the IWRY A03 site, but just in case you didn't, here it is! Sorry it's late! It's just a little short piece I'm afraid, but hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Angel knew something was different when he opened the door. For one, the apartment was clean. No toys, no pacifiers, no burp cloths or bibs lying around. It was also quiet. Even when Liliana wasn't crying, she made a lot of noise. And was that garlic bread he smelled? Was Buffy actually…cooking?

At the thought of his wife, she emerged from the kitchen with a smile.

"I thought I heard you come in."

She greeted him with a kiss, and Angel took her in his arms.

"What's going on?" Angel asked. "It's so quiet. Is the baby taking a nap?"

"Carmen took her for the night. She said Lily was her honorary granddaughter and that she would be delighted to babysit her so that we could have a date night. Plus, we can catch up on our…sleep."

She gave him a smile, and Angel knew that Buffy didn't mean sleep.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Yes," Angel said, pulling her closer to him and kissing her again.

Buffy laughed. "I mean for dinner."

"That too."

Buffy took his hand and led him to the couch. "You sit and relax until dinner's ready. I bet you're tired from saving the world again."

Angel began to take his shoes off. "You're actually cooking something? You hate cooking."

Buffy joined him on the couch. "Well, you're always cooking dinner for me, so I thought I would return the favor. And before you get too excited, I had some help. Carmen was the one who actually made the ziti. I just helped. But it's got to cook for a while. It's in the oven now."

"I'm sure it'll be delicious. I'm starving." Right on cue, his stomach growled. "Maybe some of that garlic bread I see on the table will tide me over."

Buffy straddled his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I have a better idea. How about I distract you from your hunger?"

XOXO

Buffy hadn't intended to seduce him while waiting for dinner to cook, but here they were twenty minutes later—sprawled out naked on the couch.

The afghan blanket draped over them, and Buffy rested her head against his chest. She could feel the steady beat of his heart and the rise and fall of his chest. She never got tired of feeling that, nor did she ever take it for granted. Angel was alive.

Angel shifted his position. "What am I laying on?" He reached behind him and pulled out a pink pacifier.

"I've been looking for that one!" Buffy grabbed it. "It's Lily's favorite."

"Think we should go downstairs and give it to Carmen?"

Buffy set the pacifier on the coffee table. "Nah. I packed the green pacie in her bag, and I'm sure Carmen can get her to sleep. She's really good with her. And anyway, if we go over there, we'll get Lily all riled up, and we're supposed to be having a date night, remember?"

"Sometimes I think it would be nice to move out to a house in Tuscany and get away from it all. But then if we moved, we wouldn't have Carmen downstairs. And who would watch Liliana when we need to have a date night?"

"Maybe when she's eighteen and we retire, we'll do that. We could live near a vineyard and drink wine all the time."

"Retire?"

Buffy sighed. "Right. Who am I kidding? We'll never get to retire. Well, that's okay. I could grow old with you in this tiny Rome apartment. I like it here. It's where we got back together."

She thought about the night Angel came to her, bloody and beaten. She hadn't been certain he was human until she saw his reflection in the mirror.

Angel moved a strand of hair out of her eyes. "And it's not too bad living in one of the most romantic cities in the world. Sure beats Sunnydale."

"Yeah. The vampires speak Italian here."

Angel laughed.

They kissed, and after a while, Angel lifted his head. "The food smells good."

Buffy's eyes widened. "Oh, crap! The baked ziti! I forgot!"

She threw the blanket off, stood to her feet, and ran to the kitchen. She opened the oven door and stood back from the heat. Probably not a good idea to take something hot out of the oven with no clothes on, but there hadn't been time to get dressed. The ziti was burned at this point—Buffy was sure.

Angel came behind her tugging on his jeans. "Let me get it." He grabbed the oven mitts and pulled the ziti out. "It's not too bad," he said, examining it. "It's only burned on the edges. The middle still looks good."

Buffy had her doubts. The cheese looked pretty crispy to her. "You think?"

Angel grabbed a spatula and cut into the middle. "Oh yeah, it's fine. We can eat this."

"At least the garlic bread isn't burned. I know that's your favorite." She laughed, thinking it ironic that a former vampire would enjoy garlic bread.

Angel grabbed two plates from the cabinet. "I'll get this ready for us."

"Okay, thanks. I'm going to put some clothes on."

Angel looked her over. "You can eat nude if you want to. Might make dinner interesting."

"Ha, you wish. How about instead, I go put on the surprise I had planned for you later tonight? I went lingerie shopping." She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "I know how you like to undress me."

She kissed him before heading to the bedroom.