“My place!” Buffy declared happily, practically dancing.
Angel chuckled from his seat on the floor, leaning back on his hands. They had just gotten possession of the apartment today and were gathered with Buffy’s friends to celebrate that. The group of them were sitting around on the floor of the living room with soda, pizza, and a pile of bridal magazines Willow and Buffy had bought. The entire place was devoid of furniture or any of their belongings, except for the glowing spell crystal sitting on the kitchen counter.
“Our place,” Angel corrected her with a small smile.
“Ooh, our place!” Buffy agreed, grinning from ear to ear. She pranced around her group of friends sitting on the floor before plopping herself down next to Angel. She leaned over him and reached for the pizza box. “Mmm, cheese.”
Willow was lying down on her stomach, flipping through one of the bridal magazines. “Oh, Buffy, this would look beautiful on you!”
Buffy grinned around a mouthful of pizza and leaned across the circle to look. Swallowing her food, she shook her head. “Too fancy,” she disagreed. “I can’t wear a dress with a train on the beach.”
“Well, how are you planning to wear heals on the beach? Aren’t you going to put out a carpet or something?” Willow asked.
“Hmm. I didn’t think of that.” Buffy looked at Angel questioningly. He shrugged. “Oh, you’re a big help.”
“You know anything you want, I’ll do,” he replied sincerely.
“Like I said, a big help,” Buffy retorted, smiling despite herself.
Xander stopped eating long enough to put in his two cents. “Weddings are really a girl thing anyway.”
Buffy sighed and grabbed one of the magazines from the pile as she continued to eat her pizza. “I had no idea it was going to be this complicated.”
“Maybe you should hire a wedding planner,” Anya suggested.
Buffy just looked at her. “And if I didn’t want to get married before the end of the semester I’d agree with you. As it is…I might as well ask my mother to plan the occasion. Then who knows when we’d actually get married.”
“Plus, you’d loose the whole small wedding thing,” Willow said. Buffy had already been telling her about the long argument she’d had with her mom about who to invite. She just didn’t seem to get that Buffy didn’t want to explain her entire life – and Angel’s – to random family members that she hadn’t seen since she was born. Buffy would much rather all the guests knew everything – the big secrets, as it were – in advance. The only exception was her father, and she was already wondering how she was going to go about introducing him and Angel.
She let out an exaggerated sigh at the thought and Angel wrapped a comforting arm around her.
“I don’t mean to bring in reality, you two,” Xander said, breaking the silence. “But aren’t you forgetting a majorly important aspect of a wedding?”
Buffy looked at him in confusion.
“Umm, a priest? You know, someone to perform the wedding ceremony? Because I know religious ceremonies and Not-so-dead Boy don’t get along all that well.”
“Plus, there are legal issues to consider,” Willow piped up.
Buffy bit her lip and looked up at Angel. He was looking back at her in concern, and obviously had no ideas either. Of all the stupid things to forget…
Tara hesitated, but spoke for the first time all evening. “Uh…I might have an idea…”
Buffy bit her lip and let Tara speak. She was so nervous!
“Jillian…uh, the head of the U.C. Sunnydale Wicca group…said that you can perform legally binding marriages,” Tara said hesitantly.
“Yes, I can,” she replied uncertainly. “But so can a priest, or a minister of the peace. Why do you want me?” She turned her attention to Buffy. “You’re not Wiccan, are you? Or your fiancé?”
Buffy glanced at Tara, then looked at the woman sitting across from her. “I’m not particularly religious,” she said.
“And your fiancé?” Diana pressed.
“He…has some issues with religion. Christianity in particular.” Still the woman didn’t look convinced. Buffy sighed. “Do you want the truth?” she asked.
Tara looked at her in surprise.
“I would appreciate it, yes,” Diana replied easily.
Buffy paused for a second, uncertain of how to begin. “How much do you know about this town? Its history?” she asked very slowly.
The woman raised her eyebrows at Buffy. “Do you mean the old Indian legends or the fact that the burned out high school sits on top of a portal to hell?”
That was definitely not the response Buffy was expecting. “Uh…the later.”
Diana smiled. “I’ve lived in Sunnydale all my life,” she said. “I know this isn’t a normal town.” With that said she pulled aside the collar of her shirt to reveal a faded scar on her neck. A vampire bite.
Breaking the odd tension that admission created in the room, Buffy chuckled. “Oh look, we match!” she declared, moving her hair aside and reveling her own bite scar.
The woman’s knowing smile faded. “What does this have to do with you asking me to perform your wedding?”
Buffy was silent for a second, thinking about how she was going to say this. Well, straight out was always best. She somehow knew Diana would not repeat what she was told. “I’m a vampire slayer.”
The woman did not react as Buffy expected. In fact, she remained very calm. Maybe it was shock… “And your fiancé?”
“He helps me,” Buffy replied quickly. At the woman’s continued questioning look, Buffy braced herself for a reaction to her next statement. “He’s a vampire. Er, part vampire. He’s a good guy though!” she said quickly.
The woman said nothing for a long moment, just sat back in her chair. “So,” she said at last, “you want to have a relatively quiet wedding ceremony – to keep out of the eye of the local demon population and the local government – and you want it to be devoid of any Christian symbology for your fiancé’s sake,” she said slowly, putting the pieces together in her mind.
Buffy nodded, so nervous she couldn’t trust herself to speak.
“You know, this is the strangest request I have ever received,” Diana said after a moment.
“Will you help them?” Tara asked at last.
The woman smiled. “I wouldn’t
miss this event for the world.”
They were close to having the last of the hurdles to their
wedding removed. Still, Angel hadn’t been more nervous in the entire time
since his heart had begun beating again. Not even when he faced Mrs. Summers
– he at least knew a bit of what to expect from her. And that had worked
out well, right?
Angel hadn’t even seen Hank Summers since he’d watched Buffy in L.A. years ago. He’d never actually met the man. He had never met the father of the girl he was going to marry.
Angel figured he had the right to be nervous.
He and Buffy were standing outside one of the nicer restaurants in L.A. He glanced at Buffy, and she looked up at him almost immediately. She squeezed his hand and gave him a nervous smile. Angel wanted to reassure her, but he didn’t know what was going to happen any more than she did. Any reassurances from him, as nervous as he was, would have fallen horribly flat.
They continued to walk into the restaurant hand in hand, only letting go when they reached the maitre de. “We have reservations…” Angel began to say when Buffy spotted her father in the depths of the restaurant. She flashed the maître d' a smile and then began weaving her way in between the tables, Angel following right behind her.
“Dad,” Buffy said pleasantly and gave him a brief hug.
“It’s good to see you, Buffy,” he said as they all took their seats. “It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has,” Buffy replied a bit sharply.
Angel grasped her hand under the table, trying to will her some calm. She sighed, and then smiled at Angel. “Dad,” she said at last, “this is Angel, obviously. Angel, this is my dad.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Summers,” Angel said, trying to hide his nervousness.
“Same here,” Buffy’s father replied easily. He looked at Buffy. “You know, I was quite surprised when you called and said you were getting married.”
Buffy sighed. “You’re my father, I owed you that much. Even if I don’t want you walking me down the aisle.”
“Buffy…” her father protested, even though they’d obviously already discussed this over the phone.
“Listen,” Buffy said slowly, “I love you, because you’re my father. But quite honestly I didn’t even know if you’d be in the country for my wedding – or if you were, if you’d be able to make it. In the last couple of years Giles has been there for me in every way that a father is supposed to. He’s helped me through some very hard times that you couldn’t even begin to understand."
“I’m your father,” Mr. Summers protested. “Of course I’d understand.”
“No, Dad, you really wouldn’t,” Buffy replied, actually seeming more amused than disappointed at the idea. “My life…isn’t normal. Very few people understand everything that means.”
Mr. Summers glanced at Angel at that comment. Buffy couldn’t help but notice. “Yes, Angel understands. He’s in this with me in every way.”
Buffy’s father leaned back in his chair. “Well,” he said at last, “I guess recent weeks have proven how out of touch with your life I’ve been.”
There really wasn’t much Buffy could say to that.
“I…would like to catch up, if it’s possible,” he said, a bit uncertainly. “If not tonight, then at the reception?” he asked. “I would like to know more about your unusual life.”
Buffy smiled. “I’d like that. So you will be at the wedding, then.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
Outside, two vampires watched the threesome from a distance.
“Are you ready for a party, love?”
Layla grinned back at Spike. “Oh, I wouldn’t miss this party for the world.”
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