Buffy spun around so fast she got dizzy. “Just shut it, Angel. My life and the people in it are no longer your business.”
Sneering at her, Angel made a tsk-ing noise with his tongue. “Now is that any way to talk about the father of your children?”
God, this was humiliating. How dare he come into her home and make nasty remarks! William must be ready to bolt by now.
But when she looked over at William, she was shocked to see his face turning red and his fists clenched tightly at his sides. He was angry. Very angry, if she was reading his reactions correctly.
“Father? More like sperm donor. When have you given a damn about our children, Angel?” She spat out.
This wasn’t the time for this argument. First off, airing out her ugly past in front of William was not going to win her his affections. Secondly, her children were in the next room with Angel’s horrible parents. And damn it, it was Christmas.
“Excuse me? I do pay you child support, don’t I? I’m providing for my children just fine,” Angel replied.
“Sending a check in the mail doesn’t mean you bloody care.”
Both Angel and Buffy had matching expressions of shock as they stared at an incensed William. Did he just say that?
Angel was the first one to shake off the stunned brain freeze. “What did you just say, you little piss ant?”
She expected William to back down at Angel’s menacing glare. Most men did. Angel was a large man with a black temper to boot and it wasn’t often someone called his bluff. Not that it was really a bluff since Angel did whatever the Hell he wanted to.
“You ‘eard me.” William stood tall, unflinching against the very dangerous threat in front of him. Either he was incredibly stupid or he really had what it took to back up such a display.
Dark eyes narrowed, Angel studied his opponent for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter. “You,” he began, wagging his finger at William. “You have some balls to be picking a fight with a man in his own home.”
“This isn’t your home, Angel. Not anymore,” Buffy told him.
Glaring at her, Angel snorted. “Thank God for that. You were a worthless wife.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw William’s jaw twitch. Okay, time to put the old dog down.
“Why don’t you go spend some time with the kids, Angel. It’s Christmas Eve,” Buffy said, hoping he didn’t fight her.
Angel didn’t say anything. He just turned on his heel and stomped out of the dining room. Well, one of her Christmas wishes just came true.
“Hey.” She reached out and touched William’s arm. “Are you okay? I’m really sorry about that, he’s just-”
“A soddin’ wanker? Yeah, I think I got that.”
Buffy grinned. Looks like they had something in common. A general loathing of her ex-husband. She could work with that.
“Do you want to go? I mean, I’m not going to make you stay if you don’t want to,” she told him.
William gave her an incredulous look. “And leave you alone with that git? I don’t think so.”
“I think I can handle him. I was married to him for four years, you know.”
“Why?”
Her brow furrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”
“Why were you married t’ a guy like that? Seems t’ me you could do a helluva lot better than that sod.”
Like you? She highly doubted he meant anything more than a compliment, but a girl could hope, right?
“Well,” she began, biting her lip slightly. “He wasn’t always like that. When we met in college, he was actually a nice guy. Or so I thought.”
His head tilted to the side as he gazed at her thoughtfully. He was so expressive. With Angel, it had been ‘which one of the three faces am I going to get this time‘, but William wore his emotions for everyone to see.
“I think you’re a really wonderful woman and you deserve more than what an idiot like that could give you.”
Oh, God, she was falling in love with him already.
This was where he would make a complete fool out of himself and she would kick him out.
Stepping towards her, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. It wasn’t much more than a chaste kiss, but it still sent bolts of electric current through his body, making his muscles twitch in anticipation.
She wasn’t returning the kiss and he pulled back with the full intention of apologizing when she grabbed the back of his head and smashed her mouth against his.
His heart stopped and for a minute all he could do was stand there like an idiot while she kissed the life out of him. But then his back-up brain, a.k.a. his raging libido, kicked in and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
A moan escaped him as her tongue slid over his and he had to resist the urge to rub against her body. She didn’t need to know how much she was affecting him. Who knows what she would do if she did? Laugh at him, most likely.
She tasted sweet like egg nog and a small hint of alcohol. William didn’t think he’d ever tasted anything as good as her before.
Suddenly she broke the kiss and William could do nothing but stand in awe. Her face was flushed a rosy pink and her lips were swollen from their tempestuous kiss. She was bloody gorgeous with her chest heaving and her eyes wild.
“Wow,” she said breathlessly.
Yeah, his sentiments exactly.
The sound of the doorbell ringing interrupted the afterglow they were both feeling. Buffy’s face fell into a disappointed frown. She really needed to stop doing that. He didn’t like seeing her unhappy.
“I better get that. You want to come with?”
His eyebrows rose. She wanted him to help greet her guests? Was it possible that she had the same interest in him as he had in her? It was silly since she’d just gotten finished kissing him into a gelatinous mass, but he was still unsure of her intentions.
Hell, he didn’t even know the woman. What was going through her mind, he couldn’t even begin to guess.
“Sure, luv.”
Her face lit up with a beaming smile. Now that’s how she should look. Wonderfully happy and content. Anything else was unacceptable.
She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers with his, pulling him out to the foyer. “I didn’t invite anymore trolls to this party, so we should be okay.”
The door opened to a large group on her porch. They were all chatting, smiling, laughing and each one called out a greeting to Buffy when they saw her. One by one they piled through the door, setting their gifts down to give Buffy a hug.
“Who’s this?” An older woman who had a striking resemblance to Buffy asked. She was smiling softly and the lines around her kind eyes crinkled.
“Oh, this is William,” Buffy replied, placing a hand on his chest. “And William, this is my mom, Joyce.”
Ah, that would be why they looked like each other.
He held out his hand. “It’s nice t’ meet you, Joyce.”
She raised an eyebrow at Buffy before taking his hand. “You too, William.”
Buffy walked over and tugged on the coat sleeve of another guest. The man turned around quickly to pull her in for an embrace. She whispered something into his ear, then led him over to where William and Joyce were still talking.
“William, this is my dad, Rupert,” she told him.
They shook hands and William noted that the man’s grip was harder than it needed to be. An odd feeling that he was ‘meeting’ her parents went through him. This wasn’t something strangers did. A girl didn’t just invite a guy she didn’t even know back to her house to meet her parents.
No, that was supposed to come much, much, much later.
“It’s a pleasure, sir.” He felt the need to add the respectful title at the man’s disapproving look.
Rupert’s eyes popped open. “He’s British.”
“Yeah, maybe you guys could reminisce or something. Talk about blood pudding and the Queen,” Buffy replied, giving her mom a wink.
“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, Buffy.” Rupert shook his head.
The group quickly moved into the living room. Angel’s parents were glaring daggers in William’s direction, but it wasn’t long before they were giving everyone else the same. The two children were playing quietly next to the tree, but Angel was nowhere to be found.
What was that berk up to now?
Everyone had shown up by quarter to eight and Buffy wasn’t feeling as apprehensive about having the party anymore. People were getting along, even Angel’s parents were behaving civilly, and William seemed to be the hit of the party.
He was standing next to the fireplace talking to her father, who was quite animated in discussing what ever topic he was going on about. Most likely sensing her gaze on him, William turned his head towards her and a brilliant smile lit up his face.
Her parents had hated Angel even before he’d turned into an angry, twisted version of himself. They had begged her not to marry him, but of course, she hadn’t listened to them. Then she made the colossal mistake of having children with him.
She loved Dawn and Conner in a way that was so deeply imbedded into her soul that she felt pain when they were too far away. There wasn’t anything in this world that she cherished more than her babies. But, if she had it to do over again, she wasn’t sure that she could put them through the heartache of having a rotten father.
Every time he had promised to visit or come to a birthday party, he had been a no show. She could see the twins die a little inside each time and in turn, it made her die a little. The disappointment was taking its toll on their ability to trust and for that, she hated Angel.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
Buffy glanced to the voice next to her to find Anya Harris standing there.
“No. Just a friend.” Which she wasn’t quite sure was the most honest answer. It was more than just a friendship. Well, she wanted it to be more, anyway.
“He’s giving you looks like he’s your boyfriend.”
Leave it to Anya to put her blunt two cents in. Buffy didn’t like Anya when she’d first met the outspoken woman three years ago. Anya had a way of pointing out the elephant in the room whenever Xander would bring her over for dinner. The elephant being Angel’s rotten temper and Buffy’s unhappiness, of course.
But Anya had been her savior in the end. Gave her the wake up call to finally recognize how horrible Angel was treating her. Let her know it was okay to want more, to deserve more.
“He’s nice,” Buffy replied, not copping to her true feelings.
Anya rolled her eyes. “Who are you trying to convince? He’s not the only one giving sexy looks, Buffy.”
“I don’t even know him.”
“So? I didn’t know Xander all that well either and look at us now. Happily married and we still have a great sex life. Maybe getting to know someone is what ruins it,” Anya told her.
Okay, that was a little far out there. Jumping into bed with perfect strangers was not the brightest idea. Although, this stranger was starting to make her dim and the thought of jumping in with him didn’t sound like such a bad idea.
“He’s too young.”
“He’s in his sexual prime,” Anya argued.
Buffy gave her a doubtful expression. “How the hell do you know that?”
“He’s wound up way too tight. I can tell. You should take advantage of this opportunity while he’s still got all that pent up sexual tension,” Anya replied in a matter of fact tone.
Shaking her head, Buffy just chuckled. “I’ll think about it.”
“You should,” Anya said, before patting Buffy on the shoulder and walking off to find her husband.
Buffy wandered over to the tree where Dawn and Conner were still playing Candy Land. They were good kids, never fighting or trying to get their way when she’d told them no. It was easy raising them and she whispered thanks everyday that she had been blessed with such little angels.
They sure didn’t get that from their father.
“Who’s winning?” She asked, kneeling down to them.
“I am, Mama,” Dawn replied, beaming up at her. “Conner gave me his blue card and I got to move this many spaces.”
Conner smiled, his missing front tooth leaving him with a nice-sized hole on his top row. “She likes blue.”
She felt their absence already from Christmas morning. How was she going to wake up and go downstairs without them? She would miss the sweet surprise on their faces when they saw the presents and would feel empty without their laughter.
It occurred to her that she could just tell Angel where to shove it and renege on their visitation arrangement. But the kids had been looking forward to it for a month now. She couldn’t take that away from them just because she would miss them.
“How’s Santa gonna find us if we’re at Daddy’s?” Conner asked, flipping another card over.
“I called him and gave him your Daddy’s address. He’ll know exactly where you’ll be,” Buffy told him.
Actually, she was sending her presents for them with Angel tonight. Hopefully, he would remember to put them out.
“I don’t think Santa wants to come if that lady’s there.”
“What lady, Dawnie?”
Okay, Angel hadn’t mentioned anything about seeing anyone. Not that he was obligated to, but if he was going to have some woman around her children, she wanted to know about it.
“The mean lady.”
Mean lady? Oh, hell no! She was not going to allow Angel’s new skank to be nasty to her children. There was going to be an argument, but as much as she wanted a peaceful Christmas Eve, her kids were more important.
Where was that bastard anyway? She hadn’t seen him since the argument in the dining room.
With a grim determination, she went off to give him a piece of her mind. He wasn’t going to get away with this.
William watched Buffy stalk out of the room and he instantly knew it had something to do with her wanker ex-husband. What had he done now?
Just as he was about to excuse himself from the conversation with Buffy’s father to go after her, Rupert said something that made him cringe.
“So, what are your intentions with Buffy, William?”
“Uh…” William had no answer to that. At least not one that would make the man happy.
“You know she has children. I would hope that if you are going to be in a relationship with my daughter, you would be willing to accept them as well.”
“I…”
He hadn’t really thought about the sprogs. It was probably a huge undertaking to get involved with a single mother, but somehow, he didn’t care.
When he’d seen them at the pumpkin patch, he had instantly taken a liking to them. They were adorable kids, all grins and giggles. It wasn’t even really a question that he would be able to accept them. What was there not to like?
Of course, that didn’t mean he was ready to jump in head first either. As willing as he was to be a part of Buffy’s life, he didn’t want to intrude on their family unit. He would let Buffy make that decision if she decided she wanted to see more of him.
Lord, he really hoped she wanted to see more of him. If she rejected him, he wasn’t sure how he would be able to deal with it.
“You’re not giving him the third degree, are you, honey?” Joyce asked as she put her arm around her husband’s waist.
“Of course not!” Rupert exclaimed, giving William a pointed look.
“I hope not. William seems like a perfectly nice young man,” Joyce told him. “How old are you, William? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Twenty-four.”
“Oh.” Joyce and Rupert said in unison.
William laughed nervously. “Is that a good or bad ‘oh’?”
“Neither, I think. Besides, I don’t think your age should matter if two people care about each other.” Joyce gave him a gentle smile.
Well, mum was on board. That had to speak well for his chances, right?
Buffy found Angel in the backyard with a bottle of rum in his hand.
Sighing, she moved to sit next to him on the porch step. “What are you doing out here?”
He didn’t look at her, just took another swig of the rum. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
God, why did he have to be so belligerent? There was a time when she could actually talk to the man, but that time was long gone now.
“The kids said there was a lady at your house. Care to tell me about it?”
Snorting, he shook his head. “So it’s okay for you to ask about my love life, but I can’t? Doesn’t hardly seem fair, Buff.”
“I don’t care who you’re with, Angel. Really couldn’t give a damn. But I have a right to know if she’s going to be around my children especially when they tell me that she’s mean.”
He threw his hands up. “She’s not mean. She just doesn’t like children, is all.”
Doesn’t like children? Oh, now she really wasn’t going to let Conner and Dawn be around her.
“Angel, I would prefer it if-”
“She won’t be there, I promise. We had a fight tonight before the party and she said she wanted to spend Christmas elsewhere. Okay? Happy?”
Not really. She wouldn’t be happy until her kids were back with her and Angel was out of their life for another long string of months. And…maybe, if she could throw William into the mix as well. Then she would be a happy camper.
“So about that kid. You dating him or what?”
“So what if I am?” She was getting really tired of people asking her if she was with William. Did it matter?
Angel shrugged. “He’s young.”
“So was your secretary.”
He glared at her for a second before chuckling. “Touché.”
Were they actually having a civilized conversation? Without yelling and screaming? Without throwing things at each others’ heads? Wow!
“Will I be meeting this girlfriend of yours?”
“No.”
It was hanging there. All the reasons why she wouldn’t be meeting this woman. The biggest reason: That Angel had no intention of having the kids around often enough for it to matter. Buffy wasn’t sure if she should be overjoyed or disappointed.
“Why did you want the twins for Christmas?”
“My parents kept bugging me about not spending enough time with them.”
Buffy opened her mouth to say something, but Angel stopped her.
“It’s not that I don’t love them, Buffy. I do. But I’m just not cut out for this father gig.” He glanced at her. “You’ll still let them stay with me, right?”
“Yes, but not because of you. Conner and Dawn have been looking forward to spending the holiday with you and I’m not going to disappoint them. Don’t make me regret it, huh?”
“I know you.”
William looked down to see a little sprite with a red dress staring up at him.
“You do?”
“Yeah, you’re the pumpkin guy,” she said.
“That was a while ago, little bit. You still remember me?”
She nodded. “Uh-huh. You have sky eyes and I like blue.”
He chuckled lightly as he bent down to her. “I like blue too.”
“Really?”
“Yep. How about your brother? What color does he like?”
The little girl scrunched up her nose. “Brown. I think it’s a poo color.”
“Nah,” William replied, pinching her nose softly. “Think of all the great things that are brown. Like chocolate.”
“And horses?”
“Right, horses too. And what about Coca Cola?”
“Mama doesn’t let us drink that, but Daddy does. I like it coz it tickles my nose,” she replied with a shy smile.
Buffy and Angel came into the room and William couldn’t keep himself from glowering at the man. He’d had everything and he went and threw it all away. William would kill to have what he had.
Wanker.
Reaching down, Buffy picked Dawn up and hugged her close. “Are you having fun?”
“Yeah. The pumpkin man likes blue too.”
Buffy grinned at him. “Do you, now?”
“Oh, yes. Love blue. Of course, I’d have t’ say red is my favorite color,” William told her.
Dawn yanked on her sleeve and Buffy leaned in so that Dawn could whisper something into her ear.
“His name is William.”
“Can I go tell Conner?” She asked excitedly.
“Sure,” Buffy replied, setting her down and watching her sprint off to find her brother.
Turning back to him, she asked, “So, how about you? Are you having fun?”
“I am. Haven’t celebrated Christmas in a long time so it’s really nice that you’re lettin’ me share yours.”
It was true. He hadn’t had a Christmas in years, not since his mum died. The whole thing really hadn’t mattered after that and he had no family to share the holidays even if he’d wanted to.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
He searched her eyes for any sign that she was just being pleasant, but couldn’t find any. All he saw was her sincerity. She really did want him there.
“Me too, kitten. Me too.”
A/N: Wow! Thanks for all the great reviews I got on the first chapter. I’m glad everyone is liking the younger Spike(William)/older Buffy dynamic. I agree that there aren’t too many of them out there and I’m with you 100% with wanting to see more of them.
Happy Holidays! Expect another installment from me on this fic tomorrow. ~Jae