This a work of fiction, meant to entertain. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and others. I am not benefiting financially from these stores.
The Chumash are a real Tribe. They are mentioned in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which Xander accidentally unleashes a vengeance spirit. This story is not meant to be offensive to anyone, if I do offend, I apologize.
Today Alexander Harris, known as Xander to his friends, turned ten. That meant you would need all the fingers on both hands to count how old he was. Not that he needed to use his hands to count anymore. He hadn't needed to use his hands to count since he was in the first grade, he might not be as good at math as his friend, Willow, but he wasn't that bad either.
Xander's birthday had been pretty good so far. Jesse, bestest bud of bestest buds, gave him a copy of the new Superman comic book. Willow gave him a chocolate bar. Cordelia smiled at him and didn't get mad when he decided to steal a kiss. It was the first time he'd ever done that, but he'd wanted to ever since they were seven and played Knights and Castles and she kissed his cheek. It kinda made his cheek tingly and he wondered if kissing her would make his mouth tingly. It had. He wanted to kiss her again. She hadn't gotten mad, after all. Maybe because it was his birthday or maybe her cheek was tingly like his had been. He was afraid to ask though.
His birthday, which was Dec. 21st, got even better because it was the last day of school until after Christmas. His Grandma was picking him up. She was his only Grandma. His Grandma and Grandpa Harris died when he was a little baby, they were just pictures on the wall at his Uncle Rory's place. His Grandpa Harris had been a Doctor. You had to be smart to be a Doctor. Xander's dad said he wasn't smart enough to be a Doctor when Xander told him maybe he'd be a Doctor someday. His mom didn't say anything. His Grandma Harris had been a teacher. Xander didn't want to be a teacher. Uncle Rory was a Marine, he fought bad guys, like maybe Lex Luther, or something. Uncle Rory said he wasn't allowed to talk about the bad guys he fought. He just said, "I'm making sure they can't hurt you, kid." Xander was glad Uncle Rory was making sure they couldn't hurt him.
But his very favorite person was his Grandma Abigail. Grandma Abigail was a Medicine Woman. That was like a Doctor. Grandma Abigail was a Chumash Indian. She lived on a reservation not far from Sunnydale, where Xander lived. Grandma Abigail was funny and gave great hugs. She told him stories about the old days and people who fought bad guys. She told him about his Grandpa John, mom's dad. Grandpa John was a cop. He fought bad guys too, like Uncle Rory. Only, a bad guy killed Grandpa John when Xander was four. Xander remembered Grandpa John had a big laugh and smelled like the outdoors. Xander missed Grandpa John. Grandma Abigail also tucked Xander into bed and kissed his head when she said goodnight. Nobody else did that. It was nice.
So spending Christmas with Grandma Abigail was just fine, as far Xander was concerned. They would make hot chocolate and cookies and Xander would get presents. If his Uncle Rory wasn't fighting bad guys somewhere, he'd stop by and give Xander presents too. Grandma Abigail wasn't Uncle Rory's mom. He had the same mom that dad did. But he still liked Grandma Abigail too, they were friends.
The only bad part about going to Grandma Abigail's house for Christmas was that, after Christmas, he had to go back home and school too. Home wasn't as nice as Grandma Abigail's. Dad and mom smelled like beer and his dad sometimes threw his empty bottles at Xander. Xander's birthday wish was always the same. That they'd stop smelling like beer. It smelled bad.
When dad and mom picked Xander up after Christmas at Grandma Abigail's was over, Grandma looked sad. Xander felt sad too. But Grandma's birthday was next month and he'd get to come see her again. He reminded her of that and she smiled at him.
Xander climbed into the back seat of the car. He always sat in the middle of the seat and made he sure he used the seatbelt. His mom and dad didn't like to use their seatbelts. Xander made sure to sit in the middle, because dad drove funny sometimes and Xander's head would hit the window if he sat on the side. He didn't like that, it hurt.
It would be this practice of sitting in the middle of the back seat and remembering to use his seatbelt, that would save Alexander Harris' life that night when his drunk father ran a red light and hit a Ford pickup truck. The driver of the truck was fine. Some bumps and bruises, a concussion, but he would recover.
Xander's parents, however, didn't survive the crash.