Chapter 24: Mama Summers

Buffy couldn't sleep. She had been laying there for an hour after she almost told Angel she loved him. She couldn't stop thinking about how she felt and the fact that she should tell him but she couldn't. She was already in to deep and she knew that Angel cared about her, he had to since he was still hanging around… 'although we live together so he kind of has to.' Buffy rolled over on to her side and faced the window letting out a soft sigh. She thought maybe she should go and do something so she didn't wake up Angel.

She felt Angel's warm touch on her arm. "Are you okay, Baby?" he asked kissing her shoulder.

He had been laying there next to her wake wondering what was bothering her, normally

if she was awake they would talk until they fell asleep.

"Nothing. Did I wake you?" She asked rolling over half way just enough to see him.

Angel shook his head. "I've been awake."

Buffy gave him a small smile. "Maybe I should ask you if everything is okay."

"I'm fine. Just worried about you. Is it the baby? Is that what is bothering you?" He asked her rubbing her arm.

Buffy turned back over, she could feel tears gathering in her eyes. "No." She whispered.

"What's wrong then, Baby? Talk to me." He said resting his lips on her shoulder.

"Just a little case of insomnia." She whispered looking at the window but not out.

Angel glided his lips back and forth against her shoulder lightly. "Really? After that sex episode, you cant sleep?" He joked. "Okay then. Can I ask you something that's pretty random? Or it might seem random to you."

Buffy made a face, he couldn't see her though. She had no idea what he was talking about. "Shoot."

"Do you think I can meet your mom sometime?" He asked.

Buffy rolled over to look at him. "Why?"

Angel smirked. "Because she's your mother… and my parents are going to be here on Friday and its only fair that I meet your mom too."

Buffy shot up in bed. "Friday?"

Angel chuckled. "I told you they were coming. My lovely mothers, my adoring father and my sister." He said sarcastically.

Buffy turned her head to look at Angel. "Does your family even know about me?"

"No." was Angel's short reply.

Buffy sighed. "Well I guess that makes it easier because my mom doesn't know about you either."

Angel narrowed his eyes at Buffy, studying her face. "Why not? Your closer with your family then I am with mine."

"Because…" Buffy trailed off and looked down. "Because your in the Army."

"Your mom had problems with the military too? How can that be when you and Keith were talking you said she liked Riley. She knew he was in the Army, didn't she?" He asked.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, she knew. She doesn't have a problem with the military. I have a problem with my mom getting to attached to someone just to have them leave."

Angel shook his head. "What do you mean?"

"I wasn't going to tell my mom about you until after you were gone… but if you really want to meet her then I will talk to her tomorrow. Tell her everything there is to know about you!" She said looking at him.

Angel gave her a half smile. "I don't know about everything there is to know about me." He leaned over and kissed her putting his arm around the front of her waist and guiding her back down to lay on the bed. "Anything else you want to talk about to kill time until your insomnia is over?"

Buffy turned to look at him laying next to her. 'This is why I love him. Well part of the reason. He is just going to stay up with me until I fall asleep. He's so sweet.' She thought.

"I was thinking about taking my permit test on Friday…. But with your parents coming I think I might wait until after they leave." She told him.

"Why? What do my parents have to do with it?" He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Well… what time are they getting here?" She wanted to know.

"I think the She Bitch said " He said referring to his mother. "You would have time to take the test before they get here because the DMV closes before 8:00... But you don't half to be here when they get here. Hell, I don't even want to be here when they get here. I might go to Willy's bar and get shit faced."

Buffy laughed. "I could but maybe I will take the test tonight afternoon or Thursday… I will talk to my mom about when she can meet you. She might want to do it on a Friday though, I think she would make a dinner."

"Did she make a dinner for Riley?" Angel asked.

Buffy moved a little closer to Angel. "No. She said 'Hello, nice to meet you. Be good to my daughter.' and she was out the door. She had a flight to catch to go look at some Artsy stuff for her Gallery. She took a little time to come around to him… like a month. Did I tell you my mom owns a Gallery?"

"No, you didn't. That's interesting." Angel commented.

"How so?" Buffy wondered.

"I love Art. Its been a passion of mine since I was young." He replied. Buffy cuddled closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. She was getting ready to finally fall asleep.

Buffy didn't have much to do at work that day because Veronica had just closed a case so she was hanging out at the office manning the phones while Keith looked into a bail jumper. Buffy had called her mother to see if they could meet at the Gallery but her mom told her to stop by the house because she had taken the day off.

Buffy walked into her moms house. "Mom! I'm here." She looked on the stand next to the door and saw a vase full of flowers and a card that read. "Last night was a lot of fun. We should do it again sometimes. XOXO" Buffy's eyes got bigger. "Hey! Flower getting lady! Where are you?" Buffy looked around from the entrance way. "Mom!" Buffy walked into the dinning room and heard a noise in the kitchen. Her mom was cleaning the over. Cleaning. 'Yeah, mom and Angel will get along just great.'

"Hey, I have been calling for you for like a hour." She joked.

Joyce stood up wiping her face. "Oh sorry sweetie. I was a little distracted."

Buffy smiled. "I see. You got flowered."

Joyce smiled back. "Yes, I did. Aren't they lovely?"

Buffy nodded. "You have a boyfriend?"

Joyce put the sponge in the sink and took her gloves off. "I don't know if I would call it a boyfriend, but I do have a guy friend who had been taking me out once a week for a few weeks."

"Boyfriend." Buffy smiled bigger.

"Okay. If that's what you kids are calling it. Dawn is teasing me about the same thing." Joyce laughed.

"What's his name?" Buffy quizzed her mom.

"We are still in the early stages, Buffy. You know I don't bring a guy around you kids unless I know its going to work out." Joyce told her.

"The early stages don't give names anymore? Well I came here to talk to you about something along the same lines but if we don't bring guys up to each other unless we know they are going to work out…." Buffy trailed off teasingly.

Joyce quickly moved to Buffy's side. "You met a guy?" She smiled. "What's his name? How long have you known him? Its not serious is it?"

Buffy thought about everything her mom was asking. "Um… Yes. Angelus. A little over a month and… its serious to me."

Joyce took Buffy by the wrist and pulled her to sit on the bar stool at the isle in the kitchen saying "Come come! Share with me!"

Buffy laughed at how her mom was acting. They sat down. "He was asking about you last night. He wants to meet you- this week." She said looking at her mom.

"Wow. That soon? It must be serious." Joyce said with a playful look.

"I think its mostly because his parents are coming into town on Friday and I am going to be meeting them and he wants to meet you before I meet them." Buffy told her mom.

Joyce looked puzzled. "Why does he want to meet me first?"

Buffy shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with his family. He isn't close with his parents. Doesn't actually really get along with his Mom or Dad, I think he is afraid his parents will scare me away and he might never get the chance to meet you." She laughed.

Joyce took Buffy's hand in hers on the counter. "Sweetie, is this serious for you?"

"Very. I really care about him mom." Buffy said getting a little emotional.

Joyce smiled. "Okay, then what are you two doing tonight?"

Buffy looked at her mom. "Tonight? That's soon. And would it upset you if I said I was living with him?" Her mom gave her a stern look. "He's one of the guys I moved in with… my room mates." She explained.

"Well you said his parents were coming Friday and he wants to meet me first, unless tomorrow is good for you. I take it you two are… having Bible studies then?" Her mom told her.

"No, I will ask him." Buffy said pulling out her phone and texting Angel. "it might take him a little while to get back to me, he isn't very good with the technical stuff and he cant have his phone at work unless he is on his break. And yes, Bible studies are happening… very good fun Bible studies." Buffy smiled.

"Where does he work?" Joyce asked laughing at her daughters comment about Bible studies.

Buffy looked down at their hands. "Fort Marshall. Mom, he's in the Army."

Joyce looked shocked. "And you said you wouldn't date anyone in the Army." Joyce smiled.

"I know, but he changed my mind. As soon as I met him I knew there was something I liked about him and then by the end of the week, I was hooked. And mom… he's teaching me how to cook, drive and shoot a gun…. Just to know how… like self defense if I should ever need it or something." She told her mom with a big smile.

"WOW! Is he taking on a handful!" Her mom joked.

"We already went driving once and I didn't hit anything, and I cooked dinner and people ate it! The house is still firmly in one piece too! He's a great teacher." She said still smiling.

"Buffy." He mom said seriously. "Are you… in love with him?"

Without hesitation Buffy responded. "Yes."

"Oh my god! Sweetie! That's so great!" She said hugging Buffy.

"I just haven't told him yet." Buffy finished.

"Why not?" Her mother asked confused.

"Because he leaves in like 11 months." Buffy said acting like she didn't know exactly how long before he left. March 15th. Buffy dreaded that day, but it was the day Angel was to sign his new contract.

"Where is he going?" Her mom asked her concerned.

Buffy felt a tear run down her face. "Where ever the Army takes him."

Joyce pulled Buffy into a hug, she began to tear up watching her daughter cry over the man she loved. The same man that in a little less then a year would be leaving her.

Buffy lay curled up on the couch with her head in her mothers lap. They used to lay like this when Buffy was younger and watch movies. Right now they were watch Murder She Wrote. Buffy thought it was a little odd that a girl her age loved this show but she couldn't help it, she had watched it since she was little, she also loved Colombo.

Buffy was wearing jeans and her ARMY tank top. She had been wearing her tank top under her shirt, when she had gotten hot and took her shirt off her mother raised her eyebrows and smiled at Buffy's shirt. "Yeah, I'm a walking advertisement now." Buffy had laughed. "He bought it for me, and I love it."

Buffy was just about to ask her mom a question about the episode of Murder She Wrote they were watching when he phone went off telling her she had a text message. It was Angel. She looked at her mom smiling. "He said tonight is perfect and he's excited."

Joyce gave her the 'I don't believe you' look she often had given her when Buffy was in high school.

"Really, see." Buffy said handing her mother the cell phone.

Joyce nodded. "Where did you get that phone? Does that say Angel?"

"He bought it for me. He has one just like it that is taking him a while to get used to. Yes, it says Angel." She answered her mother looking down at her phone that still had his text on the screen.

"He is buying you a lot, isn't he? He must care about you. Now, why do you call him Angel?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah, I guess he does buy me a lot. I tell him not to but sometimes I just cant say no to him." She smiled when she thought of this morning, he had woken her up early because he was feeling a little frisky before work and she just couldn't say no. "Angel is his nick name. He doesn't want any of his friends to know I call him it though because other then me only the kids overseas where he was deployed called him Angel. That's where he got his nickname from- the kids over there." Buffy said proudly.

Buffy left her moms house around 2:00PM and headed home knowing Angel got out of work at 3:00PM. Buffy was sitting outside in a patio chair when she heard Angel's car pull up. She got up from the chair and walked towards his car. He smiled at her not only because he loved seeing her but because she was wearing the Army shirt he got bought for her. He got out of the car and wrapped his arms around Buffy's waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Hello Beautiful" "Hey Sexy" They said at the same time.

Angel kissed her one more time, picking her up off the ground two inches and carried her into the house. He put her down inside the door and kissed her one last time then shut the door behind him. "So, your moms tonight?"

Buffy nodded playing with the name tag on his ACU's. "5:00. Why? You bailing out?" She smiled.

"No." Angel said walking towards the kitchen. "I'm going to make her brownies."

Buffy fake gasped. "Why don't you ever make me brownies? I like brownies! Suck up!"

Angel turned around smiling at Buffy. "How about I do one better. You love cake, I will make cake batter and you can eat it off my…"

Buffy jumped into his arms. "You had me at cake!"

At 4:45 Angel and Buffy pulled up to Buffy's moms house. He ran around to the other side of the car and opened the door for Buffy. She shoved the brownies at him. "Suck up!" She smiled. He kissed her.

"Your better at sucking then me, Baby." He winked at her. Buffy laughed.

They walked up the stairs and Buffy opened the door to her mothers house. "Mom!" She called much like she had earlier that day but this time her mom walked out of the living room to greet them. "You just want everyone to see those don't you?" Buffy said pointing at her mothers flowers by the door hugging her mother.

"Mom, this is Liam Angelus. Angel- Joyce Summers." She said introducing two very important people in her life to each other.

"Hello, Angelus. I have heard a lot about you." Joyce greeted.

"Like wise, Miss Summers." Angel said politely and Buffy mouthed 'Suck up." as Angel handed Joyce the brownies he made her.

"Call me Joyce." She told him

"Oh Sweetie, I was going to talk to you about this earlier but I am thinking about changing my last name back to…" Buffy cut her off.

"What? Your changing your name and leaving me and Dawnie alone with the curse that is Summers?" Buffy said raising her voice.

"I cant change Dawn's name without your fathers permission and you are of age to have your name be whatever you want… I was just thinking if I every got remarried…" Buffy cut her mother off again.

"Remarried? Earlier you say its not very serious, then this guys sends you flowers that suggest you did something dirty last night and now your talking about married? Who the hell is this guy?" Buffy over reacted.

"She obnoxious." Joyce said to Angel.

"Its cute." He said smiling at Buffy.

"To you." Joyce replied. "I lived with it for 18 and a half years. You have had it for a month."

"Mom!" Buffy shouted. "There are only two guys in this whole world I would be okay with you marrying and one of them we already know you have been with."

"Buffy" Her mother started. "Rupert and I are just friends." She said walking towards the dinning room.

"Yeah because you had sex with him!" She shouted again.

"Buffy Anne!" Joyce said in her motherly tone. "We are not discussing my sex life… "

"I am SO glad it was non existent for most of the time I lived here." Buffy shivered from disgust.

Buffy's mom asked Angel a bunch of questions about himself, his work and just his life in general. Angel in return asked her about her Art Gallery and complimented her on how amazing her daughter was and her beautiful home. Joyce and Angel were getting alone great, Buffy was happy about it other then the fact that they were ignoring her a little, or at least it felt that way to he. Buffy didn't know about Art or half of the things they were talking about. 'I thought everyone had a brain.' She said she herself.

They ate dinner and had the brownies for desert. Joyce loved the brownies so much she asked Angel for the recipe. It didn't surprise Buffy at all when he asked for a piece of paper and something to write on to give her the recipe. Joyce was surprised that he had it memorized.

Before they left Joyce asked Angel what they were doing on Friday before his parents got in and if they wanted to they could get together again. Angel excepted her offer and thanked her for such a great time.

Angel open the door for Buffy and she got in the car. He got in the driver seat and heard "Suck up." They both laughed.

"So, I talked to John today and he said Lisa would like to hang out with you.. The friend of mine with the kids- his wife. She said if tomorrow is good for you to let her know. He gave me her number to give to you." Angel said changing the subject from how much of a suck up he was.

"Okay, I will call her. I am going to go to the DMV tomorrow morning and I might only work for a few hours. The good thing about your best friends dad being your boss. You can pretty much get away with murder. So after that I will have the rest of the day free." Buffy told him as he started the drive home.