"Liam!" Buffy called from downstairs. She checked her watch, noticing she was running behind schedule. "You're going to be late for school!"
"I'm ready!" Liam declared as raced down the stairs and headed straight for the door.
"No breakfast?" Buffy questioned crossing her arms. Liam huffed and followed his mom into the kitchen for breakfast. He struggled his way onto one of the barstools by the kitchen island, but eventually was able to hop his way on.
Buffy dished her son a bowl of cereal. It wasn't the most elaborate breakfasts since Joyce was at the Gallery and Giles already off to work, but it was more than what he would have received weeks ago.
"Your dad is coming with us to take you to school," Buffy commented, cleaning up the kitchen. She tided up a few dishes and wiped down the counters, so her mother didn't have to come home to a dirty house. It was the least Buffy could do since her mother was letting her and Liam stay there free-of-charge.
"Why?" Liam asked, not too bothered by his mom's statement. Though he liked when it was just his mom taking him to school as they blasted music the entire car ride and acted silly, Liam had a feeling that his dad wasn't the silly type, but he wouldn't pass up the opportunity for his parents to be together.
"He's going to drop me off at my job interview," Buffy explained. Per Willow's advice, Buffy decided to start trying to move on with her life. Her first step in "moving-on" was trying to get a job. She called Sunnydale High a few weeks ago and the principal - her old boss - seemed ecstatic at the prospect of having her back.
Liam, always the inquisitive one, scrunched up his face in confusion. "Why do you need to get a job?"
"Because I don't have a car and I don't want us to live off your grandparents for the rest of our lives." Her mother's generosity had been more than anticipated. Joyce had set up everything, making it almost impossible for Buffy or Liam to want to leave.
"I like living with Grandma and Grandpa." Liam started calling Giles Grandpa at Buffy's insistence. Her father wasn't in the picture since her parents divorce over a decade ago. He didn't even bother to show up to see if she was okay once she escaped. In the short time she knew Giles, before her abduction, he was more of a father figure to Buffy than her own father.
The knock coming from the front door stopped Buffy's response before it even began. She went to a nearby mirror and fixed her hair and straightened her outfit. Once deemed sufficient, Buffy answered the door to Angel in his uniform.
"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law," Angel joked as Buffy nervously laughed with her mouth slowly going dry. The uniform was always a big turn on for her. Six years later and it still had the same effect.
"I thought you got promoted, Detective. Since when do you have to wear the uniform?" Buffy asked. That bit of news Buffy had received from Giles. She remembered how Angel used to pine for the title of Detective when they were together. Buffy was glad he his goal came to fruition.
"Since a few people had come down with the flu," Angel replied. He hated his old uniform and always had, but Buffy seemed to love it. He could tell by her smile that the outfit still elicited the same reaction when they were younger. "Are you guys about ready?"
"Yeah," Buffy assured him. "Liam! You're dad's here!"
Liam stopped midway through his meal, jumped off the barstool, and charged towards his dad at full force. "Daddy!" Liam cheered. Angel braced himself and swept Liam off his feet mid run.
"Hey kiddo! Ready to go?" Angel asked, bouncing Liam in his arms.
"Uh huh!" Liam said. Buffy grabbed Liam's backpack from the hall closet and led the two boys out the door and to Angel's car.
Once Liam was secured in the backseat of the car, Angel drove off with Buffy to drop their son off at school. "Are you excited for Thanksgiving break?" Angel asked.
"Yep! Mommy and I've celebrated Thanksgiving before, but it was really boring. No fun and not a lot of food. But Grandma and Grandpa said that they are going to cook a bunch of food," Liam rambled. "Are you coming over for Thanksgiving?"
"Liam!" Buffy scolded out of embarrassment. Though Angel would be welcomed at Thanksgiving dinner, he wasn't formally invited. When her mom asked about inviting Angel, Buffy said no. If Angel would come over, she would want it to be just him, not Kate, but seeing as they were to be wed that would be impossible.
Angel awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I wish I could, but Kate and I are going to see her dad," Angel explained. He would have loved to spend the holidays with his son, but Kate's dad was sick and not getting much better. Kate wanted to see him in case he wasn't able to make it to the wedding.
"What about later?" Liam persisted. "I thought you were supposed to spend the holidays with your family. That's why Mommy always cried during holidays, because she missed everyone."
Buffy wished Liam did not divulge that personal information about her. The past six years had been hard on her, especially around the holidays. She had so many good memories attached to them. Despite wanting Angel to spend the holiday with them, she did not want his heart to be half in it if Kate was there.
"I'll try," Angel said, knowing that he may very well not be able to make it. He would have to talk to Kate about it. More likely than not, she would support them going to visit for a short while after seeing her father.
Angel continued to drive down the street until he reached Sunnydale Elementary. Buffy hopped out of the passenger's seat, unbuckled Liam, and walked him inside to his class.
Upon Buffy's return to the car, they rode in silence to the high school before either was willing to speak. When Angel arrived to Buffy's destination, Angel broke the silence.
"I'd been meaning to ask you something," Angel led. Buffy turned to face him, knowing that this question would most likely not be in her benefit since all of their most recents chats did more harm than good to her. "Saturday, Kate's going dress shopping, I know it's late, but we were wondering if you would like to go. Cordelia and Faith are going with her, so it's not like you'd be alone with her."
"Why would she want me to go?" Buffy questioned. "If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't want my fiancée's ex to be involved."
"Well, I want you to go. It would be nice for you guys to be on good terms before we get married. You both are very important to me and I want you guys to get along and get to know each other. If not for my sake, then for Liam's," Angel explained, taking a pause. "She's going to be his stepmother."
Buffy thought about Angel's words. She did not like the idea of spending time with Kate, but since it was for Liam's sake, she decided it was probably best. "Fine, I'll go, but can you unlock the door for me?"
"Oh yeah, right!" Angel said unlocking the door. Buffy opened the door and left Angel in the car. He watched as she walked into the high school and whispered, "Good luck."
"What do you guys think of this one?" Kate asked, stepping out of the changing room. The dress she wore was a simple, asymmetrical dress that hit at her mid calf with plain beading along the neckline, spaghetti straps, and trim of the garment.
"Very much you," Cordelia said, taking another sip of her champagne. After five dresses, Cordelia was about to finish her third glass.
"It's nice," Buffy added, not particularly interested in any of the dresses. She was only there to play nice and agree with whatever Kate wanted.
"Looks like something I would wear," Faith commented. Due to the dress's simplicity and lack of bling, it was straight up Faith's alley.
"Guys, I need more. This is my wedding. I want the dress to be perfect," Kate argued. On the outside, she may seem like a straight-laced cop with no ounce of femininity, but deep down she wanted a fairytale wedding and that meant she needed the perfect dress.
"Good thing there is one more in the back," said the consultant, Lorne. He guided Kate back to the changing room, allowing the three women to chat.
"So B, how awkward is it that you have to help you baby daddy's fiancée dress shop?" Faith asked, breaking the silence between Cordelia, Buffy and herself. This was the one question that had been on her mind all day. She could not comprehend why Buffy would want to voluntarily do this. Hell, Faith didn't even want to do this and she knew Kate much better.
"Faith!" Cordelia chastised, before slipping into her old high school gossip-obsessed persona. "But really how is it? Because I know if Xander and I were getting married again and Anya was in the picture, I would try to ruin her wedding at all costs."
"Angel asked me to do this as a favor, so I'm doing it," Buffy stated.
"But why?" Faith pestered, still confused.
"Because I have to think about my son. If Kate is marrying Angel, then she'll be around Liam. I have to be on good terms with her," Buffy explained. If Liam was not around, then there would be no need for Buffy to be here, even if Angel asked her too. Her only reasoning was Liam. Liam is her top priority in all of this.
"The wedding is two months away, a lot could happen, B," Faith said coyly, pouring some vodka, from her hidden flask, into her champagne flute.
"Like what?" Buffy questioned.
"I don't maybe Angel comes to his senses and realizes he made a mistake," Cordelia offered.
"Aren't you guys supposed to be here for Kate, not me?" Buffy commented. Though she liked the support coming from everyone around her, it didn't make the most logical sense. Faith and Cordelia were Kate's bridesmaids, they should be in favor of Kate's marriage to Angel.
"Let's just say Kate doesn't have many friends and we're doing this as a favor to Angel," Cordelia explained. For some reason, unknown to most people, Cordelia always had a strong bond with Angel. Though there was a time Cordelia would have liked to pursue a relationship, Angel and her were better off as friends, best of friends. "I work with her, and Faith is always stuck on double dates with them since she's dating Spike."
"She has a pretty good aim at darts," Faith commented, which she thought was an admirable quality. "But if we're being completely honest, we'd want you two to get back together."
"Girls, we have our last dress! And my oh my, is it a doozy," Lorne announced to the three with a cheery smile. He stepped off the side and went to Kate's side to help her out of the dressing room.
As Kate stepped out from behind the changing room curtains, Buffy's smile started to disappear and tears welled up. "So what does everyone think?" Kate asked hopeful.
Kate's new dress was on the opposite end of the spectrum in comparison to the last dress she tried on. While the prior dress was short and had no shape. This dress was practically a ball gown with off-the-shoulder, long sleeves.
"Hey, isn't that Bu-" Cordelia began but got elbowed by Faith. Cordelia quickly took the hint and shifted gears. "It's really pretty, but it's not something I would expect for you to wear."
"I second that!" Faith said. The dress was gorgeous, but it wasn't Kate's dress, though Kate did look beautiful in it. The dress was obviously meant for someone else.
Kate turned to face Buffy. She had been the only one to not immediately say anything, so Kate nervously asked, "Buffy, what about you?"
"It's very beautiful. Angel will love it," Buffy said wiping away her tears, so Kate wouldn't see.
"So is this the dress?" Lorne asked eagerly, believing that Kate had found the one.
Kate looked at herself in the mirror pleaded with her results. It was a fairytale dress, made for her perfect wedding. Everything seemed to be written in the stars for her. "Yes!" Kate exclaimed. "This is my dress."
"Okay, then, let's get you out of this and start signing the papers!" Lorne cheered, helping Kate off the platform and back down to the changing area.
Once gone and out of earshot, Cordelia and Faith went over to comfort Buffy. "You know she doesn't even look good in it. Her body doesn't even compliment the dress well," Cordelia criticized.
"Don't sweat it, B," Faith said, rubbing Buffy's back as Buffy's head hung in her hands.
"You guys don't understand. It's like she saw my old wedding book and took everything from it. First the date and now my dress. I was supposed to wear that dress when I married Angel," Buffy cried. "This was supposed to be my wedding. Now look at me! I'm a single mom and the love of my life if marrying someone else."
"But to be honest, were you even going to fit into the dress? I mean you would have been pushing five months pregnant. There is no way you could have worn the dress anyway," Cordelia went on, earning looks of anger and annoyance from both Faith and Buffy. "And I'll shut up now."
"I don't think I can do this anymore," Buffy admitted, pushing loose hair out of her face.
"What do you mean?" Faith asked.
"I can't move on. I try to but everything just keeps pulling me back. I had a job interview this past week at Sunnydale High and after they were done, they told me that while they would love to have me back, right now is not a good time," Buffy said. She understood the school's reasoning. This was not a position that technically needed filled as they already had Anya and Buffy was still relatively big news. The school did not need that attention.
"So what are you going to do?" Cordelia asked.
"The only thing I can do to get a fresh start," Buffy said, "I need to leave Sunnydale."