Chapter 10
The next morning Angel came to tell me that we could go over to Buffy's house to meet the Summers family. I spoke to David and we decided it was time to tell Kate. We called her and her brothers and sister and asked them to sit down.
"You know when you were all singing, 'Alright Now' last night?" I started, trying to think what I was actually going to say.
Liam groaned. I gave him the look and he was quiet.
"Well, Lorne is able to read something about your future, and if there is anything significant he can tell what is going to happen, and… he saw something in Kate's future."
They all looked at me with mouths slightly open.
"What was it?"Asked Kate.
I looked at her, "You have the potential to be the next Slayer."
Silence. (There did seem to be a great deal of silent interludes during our visit to Los Angeles and this wasn't a usual occurrence in the Kerrigan household back in England.)
"So… that means…" started Kate.
"You can kick ass!" interrupted Finn.
"Ssh!" David and I both said at the same time.
"You will have the power to help a lot of people," answered Angel who came in to join us.
"And kick demon butts!" Liam joined in.
"I'll kick your butt in a minute!" responded Kate. "Just let me think."
"My sister's the slayer." Chanted Finn and Liam at the same time, it was a twin thing.
"Boys." I said, with the Mum look and the pointy finger.
"What will it mean for Kate?" asked Beth, "And for us as a family?"
"Well," replied Angel, "we are going to see a family that can tell you, we are going to meet Buffy and her family."
"Today?" asked Kate.
"Strike while the iron is hot." I said, hoping that this would make sense to somebody.
"What should I wear?" asked Kate.
Angel turned to me and smiled.
Wesley, who was not coming with us, had hired a people carrier so that the Kerrigans plus Angel could all travel down together. It had tinted windows ensuring that Angel could travel comfortably. Wesley, Gunn and Cordy were going to track down the seer for the protection spell and so left before us. Wesley turned to Kate before they left. "Listen to what Buffy has to say, she is a very good slayer and would be a good role model for you in a lot of ways." He smiled and hugged her.
Cordy came over and hugged Kate too, "But she has no dress sense so ignore that," she grinned and came and hugged everyone. Kate laughed. We said goodbye to Lorne and Fred who were going to stay at the Hyperion and do some information gathering about Potentials.
David was driving, and it wasn't long before the questions started.
"Was Sunnydale named before it was a hell mouth?"
"What's a Hellmouth?"
"Because if it was a hell mouth, then who would name the town on top of it, Sunnydale?"
"What's a Hellmouth?"
"Can I have some water?"
"If it was Sunnydale before the hell mouth, then they could have changed the name to Helldale."
"Wasn't that in 'Back to the Future' where future Marty was going to live?"
"What's a Hellmouth?"
"Do we have anything to eat?"
"Can I have some cold water, this is warm?"
"No it was called something else, stupid."
"Are we there yet?"
I turned to Angel, "Are you still sure you would like to have children?"
After a couple of hours we drove into Sunnydale and Angel directed us to an area of the town that seemed to be a typical suburban area with neat houses and gardens, infact, everything looked perfectly normal and here we were, coming to find out what it is like to have a Slayer in the family! We stopped outside a lovely house where everything seemed peaceful.
I went up to the front door with Beth, Kate, Liam and Finn. David was staying with Angel until the door was open so Angel could make a very quick entrance into the house.
I knocked and jumped as almost instantaneously the door was flung open and a very, very bleached, blond haired man said, "Bloody Hell there's a pack of them, and two of them look like that ponce, Angel."
We watched in amazement as he was grabbed from behind, there was a sound of a smack and an, "Ow!"
And the figure that came to the door was of a very pretty blond haired young woman. She smiled and said, "Sorry about Spike, I'm Buffy, you must be Angel's…"
She looked at Finn and Liam, "Oh, yes you must be his family, please come in."
"Hello," I smiled, "Angel's going to join us when the coast is clear." With that we all piled into the house and were shown into the living room where there were several people – I noticed a tall man who looked at Finn and Liam, gave half smile, took off his glasses and started cleaning them, a pretty girl with long brown hair, a girl with auburn hair and a big smile on her face, there was also a woman who I knew must be Buffy's mother. Before anyone could speak there was a noise behind me and David and Angel entered the house as well.
"So," said the woman I assumed to be Joyce, "Welcome, would you like something to drink, tea or lemonade?"
"That would be lovely," I replied.
"Buffy, you make the introductions; Spike can help me as he's already in the kitchen."
Buffy stepped forward, "Well that was my Mom, Joyce, and here is Dawn, my sister." The pretty girl with long brown hair waved and I noticed Finn and Liam waving back, with grins on their faces. Teenage boys, I love them.
Buffy continued, "This is Rupert Giles, my Watcher - she indicated the tall man, and Willow my best friend. There are some more people to meet later on; my friends Xander, Anya and Tara but we thought it would be too confusing and noisy if everyone met everyone all at once, if you see what I mean, because.."
"Yes, thank you Buffy," continued Rupert, with the universal adult signal that Buffy had gone on too long and was beginning to ramble.
To my surprise Kate stepped forward, "Hello, I'm Kate Kerrigan and this is my family, Mum - Clare, Dad -David, older sister - Beth, and younger brothers - Finn and Liam and I'm sure you know Angel."
Buffy looked at the carpet at that point but Willow gave a big wave and said, "Hi, Angel," and grinned at him. I really liked Willow from the moment I saw her. Angel waved back at Willow with a grin on his face. I loved Angel too!
Joyce came in with a tray followed by the blond haired man.
"Bleedin' servant, that's what I am."
"Shut up Spike," several voices said together.
"Look I've got those little chocolate biscuits you like," encouraged Joyce. Spike smiled at her and continued in a completely different tone, "I'll help you Buffy, to tell the potential what it's like to be a
Slayer." He reached over, grabbed a handful of biscuits and smiled at Kate.
"Aren't you a vampire?" She asked.
'How did she know that?' I wondered.
"Yep," he said, through a mouthful of biscuit, "William the Bloody, I killed two slayers."
"Then why are you going to help me?" she replied.
Buffy stepped in, "He's not, he's just a nuisance who eats all our food, it's a long story but he's harmless, if not annoying."
"Nothing's changed then." I heard Angel's voice from behind me.
Spike glared at Angel, while crunching on his biscuits.
There was obviously a lot of history between Angel and Spike and I'm sure I would get to know about it sometime, but this first meeting was to find out what it was like to be a Slayer for Kate and how that affected the family. Over drinks, people sort of drifted together in groups.
David migrated towards Rupert, who I found out later like to be called Giles and Angel tagged along.
Liam and Finn made straight for Dawn and Beth started talking to Willow about Wicca as she noticed a charm Willow was wearing. I swear Beth could talk to anybody about anything. Kate of course was talking to Buffy and I found myself sitting on the stools in the kitchen talking to Joyce. Spike seemed to wander in and out of the groups adding to conversations – I must admit there was something about him that I found 'little boy lost' and I'm always a sucker for that.
We were talking about general issues like the weather and what we had been doing in Los Angeles and the conversation progressed on to how Angel and I met and the revelation that we were family and the likeness of Liam and Finn to Angel.
"How did you find out that Kate was a potential Slayer?"
I explained about Lorne and Caritas and that it was only yesterday.
"Goodness you have worked fast to get here!" she sounded amazed.
"Well we only have a few days left before we head for home and so we wanted to find out what we could about being the family of a Slayer."
Joyce looked at me. "Do you want the honest answer?"
"Yes." I whispered, feeling that I wasn't going to like what she was going to tell me.
She took a breath and looked at me, "It will break your heart," she said simply.
A/N I'm going away for a few days so will update when I get back. Thanks for all your reviews.