Chapter 33: A Little Family Fun
Buffy woke up before Angel, she just laid there watching him sleep. She loved how peaceful he looked when he was sleeping. Angel slowly opened his eyes. "What time did you get home last night?" He asked her.
"9:00PM." She watched him as he started to close his eyes again.
Angel was almost asleep again. "I thought you weren't going to stay very long."
"I wasn't. we left my moms house at 6:30 but then Dawnie talked us into getting some ice cream. She wanted pizza too but I told her I had to get home." Buffy smiled at Angel, he was so tired. "What time do you have to go to work today?"
"8:30 AM" He mumbled half asleep.
Buffy looked at the clock on the night stand next to Angel's side of the bed. It was almost 6. 'I should go back to sleep.' she thought. "Are you… Are you mad about something?"
Angel opened his eyes slightly to look at Buffy.
"Your mom said you wouldn't talk to them yesterday. Are you mad about me not being pregnant or maybe the whole stress thing?" Buffy asked
He shook his head slowly. "You not being pregnant might be a good thing and you cant help it if you are stressed. I get stressed too. I'm just trying not to let my parents get to me."
"I'm trying that too." Buffy whispered. "You don't get to see your sister very often and I know how much she means to you. I have always taken Dawn for granted and then yesterday something was just different. I wanted to spend time with her and we didn't fight at all. Maybe its seeing how you are with your sister or maybe…" 'Maybe its because I found out Keith is my real dad, things are just different now.' Buffy bit her lip. "I don't want you to tell your family to leave. You don't get to see them enough."
Angel caressed Buffy's face. "Are you sure?" Buffy nodded.
"Now go back to sleep, you look like you are about to pass out." Buffy joked. She laid her head on his chest and he rubbed her arm a few times before he fell asleep.
Buffy woke back up an hour later, she wanted Angel to sleep some more so she slowly got out of bed and went downstairs. She walked into the kitchen and stopped in her tracks. It was a mess! 'Angel wouldn't let his kitchen get like this!' There were dirty dishes all over and piled up in the sink. 'How could it get this messy?'
Angel woke up, feeling the other side of the bed and not finding Buffy he got up rubbing his eyes. He walked by the bathroom, the door was open. Angel went down stairs to look for Buffy. He walked threw the living room and saw her standing in the walk way to the kitchen. "Baby, what are you doing?" He asked still tired.
Buffy turned around. "You don't want to come in here."
Angel stopped right next to Buffy. "What the HELL happened in here!"
Buffy bit her lip. "It wasn't like this yesterday?"
Angel shook his head. "I don't know. As soon as I came home I went upstairs. Went to bed."
"Well it wasn't like this when I went to work yesterday." Buffy told him.
Angel walked further into the kitchen about to start the dishes but Buffy stopped him. "Go back up stairs. Lay down for a little while before you have to go to work. You still look exhausted. I will do the dishes."
"Baby…" Angel started.
Buffy pointed towards the hallway. "Go mister!"
"Your amazing." He told her kissing her.
"Pretty much." Buffy nodded. "We are both going to need that coma this weekend."
Angel turned around laughing and going back upstairs.
Buffy started the dishes. If there was one thing Buffy didn't mind doing it was the dishes. She thought it was fun for some odd reason.
When Angel came back down stairs he was showered, shaved and in a clean pair of ACU's. Buffy was almost done with the dishes. "Is it weird that I find you cleaning very, very sexy?"
Buffy turned around to face him laughing. "For a guy with OCD, no."
Angel wrapped his arms around Buffy's waist, kissing her neck. His hands traveled lower the waist band of her night shorts, and slipping into the front.
Buffy moaned. "Your just going to tease me right? Because in about 5 minutes you have to walk out the door for work."
Angel laughed against her neck. "Wish I didn't have to."
Buffy turned her head to look at him. "Me too." She kissed him. "You better get going Mr. Friendly Hands."
He removed his hands and mumbled an agreement as he kissed her neck and his hands went under the front of her shirt.
"Someone is going to walk in and see you fondling my breast." She joked.
Angel squeezed her breast whispering "Then I will just welcome them to Slutsville."
Buffy laughed. "People are going to think I am the queen of Slutsville if you give me a hickey!"
"I don't see you stopping me." He said against her neck again.
Buffy whimpered. "Because it feels so good."
Angel moved Buffy's hair a little more out of the way. "Do you know if Spike is still here? I don't think he would leave before me but stranger things have happened."
Buffy let out a disappointed sigh. "Way to turn me off- mention Spike."
"Noted: Never say his name again." He kissed her shoulder and gently rubbed his lips from her shoulder back to her neck.
"Bloody hell!" They faintly heard from the living room.
Angel stopped kissing Buffy's neck. "That answers my question."
"Are you and Spike car pooling now?" She asked turning around and putting her arms around his neck.
"Thought it would be cheaper on gas." He smirked. "Honestly I just want to make sure his lazy ass gets there."
"You're the boss." Buffy smiled.
Angel nodded. "This Saturday we are still doing the Pop Goes The Fort right?" Angel asked referring to the 4th of July fireworks on Base.
Buffy nodded. "After our coma."
"Good." Angel kissed her once more. "See you later Baby. Thanks for doing the dishes."
Buffy saluted him.
During Angel's break he was texting Buffy when his mother called him. He didn't really want to talk to his mother but if he didn't now he would hear about it later. He answered the phone begrudgingly.
"Yeah, Mom?" He said into his cell phone.
"Hello Liam." His mother said a little to nicely.
Angel closed his eyes. He was feeling tired again all the sudden.
"Charles told Kathy about some celebration that goes on at Fort Marshall for the 4th of July." His mother continued without a pause for Angel to respond. "Why didn't you mention it? We are going right?"
He let out a sigh. "No mom. I had other plans."
"Would you care to tell me what those plans are?" His mother asked.
"Yeah, they were plans that didn't involve you. Look, mom, Buffy and I were going to go to the Fireworks together." He told her truthfully.
His mother gasped dramatically causing him to roll his eyes. "So we cant go and celebrate a very important holiday not only to this country but to my only son who serves this country!"
"Mom…"
"And because of this… girl?" His mother said in disgust.
"Mo.."
"I cant believe you would do this to your own mother and your sister who loves you so much!" His mother continued .
Angel rubbed his face, he was so sick of his mother. "MOM! I will see what I can do."
Irene smiled into the phone. "I knew you would."
Angel picked Buffy up from work that afternoon, he was just going to flat out tell her that his mother ruined their 4th of July plans. As soon as Buffy got in the car he didn't waste any time. She hadn't even kissed him hello yet when he blurted it out. "My mom wants to go to Pop Goes The Fort. My whole family actually."
Buffy forced a smile. "Oh, that should be fun."
"I wanted to tell you as soon as I saw you just to get it out there." He said not to happy.
"Okay… and now can I have a kiss?" She asked. 'Now I cant go to the Fireworks because they can only get one car in and there wont be enough room for me.' she thought.
Angel kissed her quickly. "So here's what I'm thinking… You could ask your mom if she wanted to do the fireworks."
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I could go to the fireworks with my mom and Dawn, they always go and sit in the school parking lot.."
Angel laughed. "I mean if they wanted to go to Pop Goes The Fort."
"Huh?" Buffy grunted.
"I can get a day pass for one car for that day. Your mom would have to drive in behind us and still show ID but they wont give her any problems because I will give her the pass." Angel explained.
"Oh, I can talk to her… but why?" Buffy asked.
Angel smiled. "I don't want my family driving you crazy all day. If your family is there it might be a little more bearable for you. Gunn or Doyle can get my parents the day pass for all I care."
"You don't seem to happy." Buffy noted.
Angel shook his head. "I'm not. It was going to be just me and you. We could do whatever we wanted while we were there but now I have to answer to my family."
Buffy nodded. "Why doesn't your family just ride with you instead of getting someone else to give them a day pass?"
"This way people can leave when they want, and I don't have to listen to my mother complain." Angel explained.
"Okay." Buffy nodded again. "I will call my mom when we get home."
When they got home Buffy went to their room and called her mother to ask about the 4th of July celebration. Her mother wanted to make sure everything was going to work out with getting on Base and Buffy explained to her what Angel had said. Her mother agreed to go, she thought it would be a lot of fun and she could meet Angelus' family. Maybe even Dawn and Kathy could become friends. Buffy hoped not though, she didn't need Dawn acting like Angel's sister!
Buffy walked down stairs, she found Angel cleaning the living room. "Hello Lover."
Angel turned around and smiled at her. "My mom said it's a go." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "She's just worried that she might not be able to get on Base but I told her my babes got it covered." she teased.
"Yeah, he does." Angel pulled her closer to kiss her again.
Buffy looked around the living room. "Need some help?"
Angel nodded. "Yeah, but not with the living room."
Buffy looked at him questioningly until he ran his hands down her back and they rested on her ass. "Help upstairs" He smiled. "In the bedroom. In the bed."
Buffy laughed. "You want me to make the bed? You already did this morning."
"Don't act all innocent with me. You know exactly what I am talking about." He gave her a devilish smirk.
Buffy smiled. "I do? I think you might need to explain it to me…"
Angel picked Buffy up and threw her over his shoulder running upstairs to their bedroom.
Doyle had gotten Angel's family a day pass, they were now on their way to the base while Buffy and Angel went to meet Buffy's mom and Dawn at their house to head over to Base. Kathy had thrown a fit about riding with Angel but he told her no. She looked shocked that he had told her no but he didn't care, he wanted some alone time with Buffy.
Buffy watched Angel as they drove to Fort Marshall with her mother and Dawn in behind them. "I could have road with my mom. Kathy could have come with you."
"I didn't want her too. I wanted you to." Angel said watching the road.
Buffy watched his face very closely. "You don't seem very happy."
Angel glanced over at her. "The only reason I'm not happy is because it isn't just you and I going. My family had to once again get involved. I can never have something that makes me happy. Its like my parents want me to be miserable just like them. The only difference is they have someone to be miserable with."
"You can be miserable with me." Buffy joked.
Angel shook his head. "That's the thing Baby, I don't want you to be miserable."
"Ditto."
Joyce was relieved that there were no problems getting her and Dawn in. The guard at the gate had said something about doing a care search but she soon found out he was joking, he told her not to tell Angelus he said that or he would really get it on Tuesday when they weren't back to work. Now Joyce's worry was that the base was so big that she would get separated from Angelus and Buffy, not knowing where to go she and Dawn would get lost. Buffy had told her it was a big Base and to try to keep as close as she could and if they got separated that Angelus would pull over until they were in sight again. Luckily no one cut them off and they made it to the Park it was being held at.
They got everything out of the back of Joyce's jeep, Angel had told Buffy to tell her mom to bring bathing suites because there was a small man made beach area and a outside pool. There was also a kids water area but none of them would be using that.
"Are you all rested up?" Buffy asked taking Angel's hand as they walked from the parking area.
Angel nodded. "Mostly." They had gone to bed early the night before and slept in until noon, they had to get to base at 3:00 PM because Angel's mom was worried it would be packed even thought it didn't start until 5:00PM.
It was hot out, Buffy had checked the weather before they got dressed. It was going to be 108 today so Buffy picked out a light orange thin strap sundress with flip flips and Angel worse tan shorts and a white wife beater.
They got to the entrance of the Park, now all they had to do was find everyone else. Spike hadn't left the house yet, he said he would get there whenever, Buffy thought maybe it was because he was "British" but she didn't see how he was actually British since he was born in America. His parents were born in Britain maybe, but he wasn't. If he was a British citizen then he couldn't be in the US Army.
Dawn walked up beside Buffy and whispered. "Should I be scared? After everything you have said about his family…"
Buffy smiled at Dawn. "Be cool Soda Pop." Dawn frowned at Buffy's 'The Outsiders' reference.
Angel asked Buffy to text Doyle or Gunn and ask the where they were. He handed her his phone to text one of them. Buffy picked Doyle because even though he was the whole reason Angel's family was even in Sunnydale he was the lesser of the evils in her eyes because Gunn seemed to be overly fond of Kathy. Doyle text 'Angel' back and said they were by the beach. The all walked to the beach watching as things were being set up at the Park. Bounce Houses, food stands, games and there was a large stage towards the back of the Park that was empty at the moment. As they walked , Buffy looked at the playgrounds they have, there were 4 play structures, 3 swing sets and a sand box. Buffy saw Haley and Caylee playing, she waved at them and Haley ran yelling Buffy's name with her arms out in front of her. Lisa looked over to see where Haley was going and smiled when she saw Buffy pick Haley up and hug her.
"Hi Haley! What are you doing?" Buffy smiled at the 3 year old in her arms.
"Playin'. Daddy not working today!" she told Buffy excitedly. Buffy laughed and put the girl down as Lisa walked over.
"Hey Buffy. How are you?" She asked giving Buffy a hug.
"Good. You?" Buffy asked.
"Great! Are you ready for your appointment next week?" Lisa wanted to know.
"Actually they rescheduled. I had it on Wednesday." Buffy nodded.
Lisa looked worried. "And..?"
Buffy shook her head no.
"Is that a good thing?" Lisa asked.
Buffy shrugged. "I don't know."
"It sure takes a lot of pressure off." She looked to Angel. "Right Angelus?"
He nodded. "I guess."
Buffy looked at her mom and Dawn. "Oh! Guys, this is Lisa. She is a friend of mine, her husband works with Angelus." She said to them. "This is my mom, Joyce and my sister Dawn."
"Its very nice to meet you." Lisa told them. "Oh, I have to go before Caylee has a Caylee moment."
Buffy laughed. "Bye."
They found everyone by the beach, the introduced Dawn and Joyce to Patrick, Irene and Kathy. They were just as welcoming to Buffy's family as they were to her. Everyone decided to go for a swim. Buffy, Dawn, Joyce and Angel needed to go change into their swim suites. They walked to the bathroom to change.
"Need any help in there?" Angel asked Buffy before she walked into the bathroom.
Buffy smiled at him over her should. "I think I got this covered, big guy."
When the three girls walked out of the bathroom Angel was leaning against the wall in his green swim trunks that Buffy had picked out for him, he wanted to black ones but Buffy said she had a green swim suite that they could match. He never thought he would be one of those people that matched with their girlfriend but he wanted to make Buffy happy.
"You look sexy." Buffy smiled playing with Angel's dog tags hanging around his neck.
Angel smiled. "Me or my dog tags?"
"You IN your dog tags… and nothing else." Buffy bit her lip.
They stayed at the beach for a while. The girls sun bathed while the guys went swimming. Angel asked Buffy to swim with him, she joked saying she didn't know if her bathing suite would stay on to swim, it was mostly for looks.
Angel pulled his sunglasses down to the bridge of his nose looking at her breast slightly popping out of her top. "I don't have a problem with that."
Buffy agreed to go swimming as long as he went after her bathing suite if it came off, luckily he didn't have to. 'That would be embarrassing' Buffy thought.
While Buffy was swimming Dawn and Joyce talked while Irene and Kathy talked. Joyce and Dawn tried to start conversations with Irene and Kathy but they ignored them.
After they were done swimming Buffy went to find where she could get a drink, she didn't know where there was a stand set up for drinks so she went to the vending machines and got a water. While she was walking back she saw a bunch of woman and one man in a group talking. She was curious about what was going on so she walked closer and heard them talking about deployments. She found out from another woman there that it was the FRG, Family Readiness Group. They were there for any wives, husbands and families who's soldiers were being deployed or were deployed. They helped the family cope with the soldier being away for so long. Buffy thought it was a good idea to have.
Buffy was gone for a half hour. When she got back Angel gave her a worried look. "I was about to send a search party."
Buffy smiled and handed him her water. "Sorry, I got sucked into a FRG meeting thing."
Angel took a drink from her water. "As long as it was productive."
A band had started playing on the stage at 5:00PM, as they started a new song Buffy got excited. "It's the song from Breakfast Club!"
"Good movie." Angel said.
"Don't you forget about me!" Buffy started to sing and bob her head. Angel laughed and started to sing too.
Angel went and got Buffy and himself a cheeseburger and chips for dinner, as they were about to eat it Gunn asked "How much were those?"
"$4." Angel said taking a bite.
"$2 a piece?" Patrick asked.
Angel shook his head. "$4 a piece."
Buffy thought she was going to choke. "WHAT?"
Angel shrugged. "They are big."
Gunn shook his head. "I will starve, thank you."
Buffy went to throw the wrapper of her cheeseburger away and a woman stopped her. "I like your dress."
Buffy looked down at her orange sundress. "Thank you."
The woman's husband looked at Buffy. "Your Buffy, right?"
Buffy nodded looking confused.
"Sorry, where are my manners." He shook Buffy's hand. "I'm Wyatt. I know Angelus."
"Your Buffy?" The woman asked. "Its so great to finally meet you."
"You know me?" Buffy asked.
The man nodded. "Anyone who is anyone to Angelus knows who you are. He talks about you all the time."
Buffy smiled with a hint of blush. "Really?"
"Oh yeah." The woman said. "I'm sure we aren't going to be the last people coming up to you tonight."
The woman was right. Several people stopped to talk to Buffy and Angelus that night and all of them knew who Buffy was. It was a little odd but it made Buffy feel good about the fact that Angel cared about her, he told his friends about her.
"I thought the fireworks were suppose to start at 7:00!" Kathy whined.
Joyce looked over at Kathy. "I'm sure they will start soon. Its only 7:05."
Buffy glanced over at Joyce and then to Angel. "I heard the FRG say they weren't going to start until 10."
"Let me ask Wyatt." Angel said starting to walk over to the other man. "He always knows what's going on."
When Angel came back he told them that Buffy was right, they weren't going to start until 10.
They talked some more, it was a lot of fun. Patrick actually talked to Buffy a little too.
At 9:50 Spike finally showed up. "Alright Lass's and germs. The Big Bad is here, now the real fun can begin!" He shouted with his hands up in the air.
Buffy elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut up."
Angel glared at Spike. "I'll be right back, Baby." He told Buffy, kissing her. He ran towards the exit of the park.
"Where's he going?" Spike asked. Buffy shrugged.
When Angel came back he had two blankets in his hand. "Joyce, do you have your blanket in your bag still?"
Buffy's mom nodded.
Angel laid one of the blankets out on the grass and tossed the second one on top, folded up.
"Are one of those ours.?" Irene asked Angel.
"Nope. They are for me and Buffy." Angel replied not even looking at his mom.
"Why do you need two?" Kathy asked
Angel looked at Kathy. "In case we get cold."
Kathy pouted.
Buffy bugged Angel. "We don't need both of them. They can have one."
"Why are you being so nice?" Angel asked her.
"Why are you being so mean?" Buffy asked him.
Angel tossed the folded blanket to Kathy. "Here. Buffy is being nice." He made sure they heard that it was Buffy's idea.
Kathy started to lay the blanket near Angel and Buffy's when Angel picked the blanket up and moved it a few feet away. Buffy gave him a warning look and he looked back at her innocently. Angel told Buffy to sit on the blanket, and he sat behind her with his legs on both sides of her. Wrapping his arms around her waist he kissed her ear.
"What's up with you?" Buffy asked him.
"Nothing." He whispered. "I just want some alone time with you."
Buffy looked behind her at him. "Why? We can have some alone time later. I thought we were going to have fun today."
"You know why." He trailed his hand on her thigh.
"We are in a public place! With kids around… and my mother! My sister! There is a sign right over there that says 'No Profanity'! You're a bad bad man Angel." She scolded him.
"But you love it." He whispered.
Buffy nodded her head and leaned into him.