"Saving Forever"

Author: Michelle
Email: michellabella52478@yahoo.com

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Buffy and Angel laid on her bed, the sheets covering them to their chests, her back resting partially on his chest, her hair still swept up in the clips from the wedding. His hands clutched hers at her waist, his fingers entangled in hers, drawing lazy circles around her knuckles.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Tired. But in a good way. That was…god, I can't even think of any words to describe it. Amazing, outstanding and mind-blowing don't seem to cover it," Buffy replied.

He kissed the top of her head. "I know exactly what you mean. I'd almost forgotten how good you feel, how close to heaven I am when we make love. It felt like our first time all over again."

"It did. Almost makes me wish I were a virgin again just so I can experience my first time with you once more. But then I think, all those other times we made love wouldn't have happened. Last night wouldn't have happened. I would not trade those memories for anything in the world."

"Neither would I. You're as close to perfection as I've ever known. I'd never be able to find it with anyone else."

"Really?"

"Of course, Buffy. How can you even doubt that?"

She shook her head, her hair tickling his neck. "You're always telling me that, but I can't help but find it strange."

"How so?"

"Because it's me. Just like you can't believe that I don't need flowers and music for a romantic night with you. All I need is you. But you don't see that, and I don't see myself as being anywhere near perfection."

"I see you, inside and out. We're a perfect match, meant for each other, soulmates, whatever you want to call it. When we're together, especially like this, I don't know where I end and where you begin. That's true love, that's perfection, Buffy. You."

She turned herself over so that she could look him in the eyes. Her legs brushed against his, her body pressed to him. "So it's like you only feel complete when you're with me? When we're making love and that's it?"

"All the time, Buffy. Not just when we're like this, but whenever we are in the same room together. Touching you, being near you makes me feel complete. A part of me is missing when you're not around."

"That's how I feel. Guess we're on the same wavelength."

He smiled at her, making her melt. "Guess so."

Resting more fully against Angel, Buffy kissed him. Her fingers ran through his hair, massaging his scalp. "I thought you were tired," he commented after they ended the kiss.

"I just got my second wind."

---

Buffy was curled up in Angel's embrace when the phone rang at noon. She groaned, her body sore from the hours of lovemaking she and Angel had engaged in. It seemed like every time one of them woke up, the need to be with the other one overcame them. She'd lost count of how many times they'd done it, she was sure that some of those times were done in a dazed-like state.

Carefully disentangling herself from her sleeping lover, Buffy reached for the cordless phone next to her bed. "Hello?" she asked groggily.

"Hey, Buffy!"

It was Willow. "Hey. You're up early."

"Early?" her friend laughed. "It's ten after twelve. Where have you been?"

"Sleeping."

Willow whistled. "Wow. You really must have been tired if you slept this long. What time did you get in last night?"

Next to Buffy, who'd wrapped the sheet around her naked body when she sat up, Angel stirred. He opened his eyes, seeing her sitting half a foot away from him. Frowning, he sat up as well, disappointed to find her talking on the telephone. Once again, he wanted her, and he had to figure out a way to get her off the phone.

"Quarter to two."

"Did you go right to bed?" Willow wanted to know.

"Oh yeah. I really didn't get much sleep, though."

Her best friend giggled. "A little wound up?"

"You could say that." She felt Angel take her right arm, kissing her inner wrist down to her palm before putting each of her fingers in his mouth individually. Buffy glanced over at him, catching the 'come hither' look in his eyes. She knew damn well what he wanted, and what he was trying to do.

"Is Angel awake?"

Buffy nearly moaned into the receiver when Angel brought his lips to her inner elbow. She couldn't stay on the phone for much longer, not with him nibbling away at her sensitive skin. "I'm pretty sure he's up. But I didn't hear him get out of bed."

"Oh. Was he sleeping when you got home?"

"No, but he was getting ready for bed."

Willow couldn't help but wonder. Her best friend was being very cryptic with her answers. "Buffy, is everything okay? You're being evasive."

"I'm fine, really."

"Something didn't happen, did it? Did you and Angel have a fight last night?"

'No, we just had really amazing sex. The best of our lives.' But she couldn't tell Willow that. "Everything's fine, Will, I swear."

"Okay." Willow was still suspicious. "Did you want to do something today? Go see a movie or get a cup of coffee?"

Buffy looked over at Angel, who'd stopped kissing her arm and made his way to her right earlobe. "Get off the phone," he whispered in a husky voice. The mere tone of his voice was like an aphrodisiac; she was overcome with the need to be with him again.

"I don't think so. I might just stay in bed all day long. Thanks for the offer, though. Rain check?"

"Sure. Maybe tomorrow. Get some rest. See you later."

"Will do."

Buffy didn't even bother to say goodbye. She turned off the phone, then turned the ringer off so as not to be interrupted. Throwing the phone on the carpeted floor, she forced Angel to lay on his back.

"That was mean and you know it," she chastised.

He grinned. "It got you off the phone, didn't it?"

"It did. Now, you have my undivided attention. What do you want to do with me?"

"This." He retaliated by pushing her down onto the bed, kissing her.

---

Gentle kisses on her cheek awoke her five hours later. When she opened her eyes, she saw Angel standing next to her side of the bed. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," he said.

"I was sleeping. It better be good."

"I thought you might be hungry. So I made us dinner. Get dressed and come downstairs so we can eat."

Buffy pouted. "Can't you bring it up here to me? This way I don't have to get out of bed."

Angel shook his head. "Nope. You need to get out of bed and get some exercise."

"How about you come back to bed and we work on my exercise here?" she suggested.

"Not gonna work. Downstairs or you don't eat at all."

Her growling stomach made the decision for her. "Fine. I'll be down in a minute. Just let me get dressed."

She crawled out of bed, padding to her closet to find a long t-shirt and a pair of shorts, not even worrying about putting on undergarments. They'd only get in the way later. Once she got dressed, she walked downstairs to the kitchen.

Buffy found the table set and the food waiting. Grilled chicken breast, a side of steaming pasta with steamed vegetables on top, two glasses of water and a bottle of wine. "It looks great. Who knew you were a gourmet chef?"

"Years of practice after having to cook for myself. Eat up, you need your energy."

"Yeah, I'm pretty drained. Hours of great sex takes a lot out of a girl," she said to him.

The two of them devoured their dinners; both were starving after not having eaten in nearly twenty four hours. Every once in a while, they'd feed each other, taking time out to share a gentle kiss.

"I'll clean up, you go watch television," Angel told her.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Go on. I'll be out in a couple minutes."

Plopping herself on the couch, Buffy turned on the TV. At six-thirty, there was nothing on that interested her. So she turned on MTV and waited for Angel to join her in the living room. When he sat down next to her, she immediately cuddled in his arms.

"I'm bored," she whined two hours later. "There's nothing on TV Sunday nights."

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Not your fault." She stood up. "Take off your shirt," Buffy ordered.

"Huh?"

"Just do it."

"Why?"

"Because I'm bored and I figured out a way to entertain both of us. Now take off your shirt before you make me do it for you."

Angel did so. He put the garment on the couch next to him. Buffy put her hands on his waist, forcing him to slouch in his sitting position, then sat down on her knees, spreading his legs apart. She brought her mouth to his navel, kissing the smooth, bare skin, feeling his muscles twitch underneath her lips. Her hands moved from his waist to his chest, touching him, letting her fingertips roam his every crevice.

She looked up at him. "Do you have any idea what a perfect body you have?"

Angel shook his head. "No."

"It's wonderful, perfect, sculpted, chiseled. Cordy once told me you were built like a Greek god. She was right, you are."

Once again, she stood up, this time to remove her clothing. Angel was only somewhat surprised to see that she had nothing on beneath her outfit. On her knees again, she pulled the sweatpants from his legs, finding that he, also, neglected to put on any underwear. With one look, she saw that he was more than ready for her. Climbing onto the couch, she sat down on him, feeling his erection pressing against her backside.

"Do you want me, Angel?" she asked.

"You know I do."

"How badly?"

He closed his eyes, bringing his hands upward to her voluptuous breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples. "So badly I can't think or see straight. I want to be inside you more than I want to take my next breath."

Lifting herself off him, she positioned her body right above his awaiting member, slowly easing herself down until the tip of his erection was inside her heat. "Do you love me?"

"I love you, Buffy. I never stopped and I never will. Forever."

Happy with his answer, she slid down, engulfing every last inch of him. Both moaned with exquisite pleasure at being filled with the other. Reaching over to kiss him, Buffy guided his right hand to where their two bodies met. "Like last night. It was heaven, just like you said. Take us to heaven, my Angel."

With a gentle rhythm at first, Buffy rode him. At first he only traced her abdominal area, not ready to bring her to her climax. Not yet, anyway. She pumped her body up and down on his erection while he sat there, only kissing her, but not giving her any of the satisfaction she so desperately desired.

"Angel, come on," she pleaded. "Touch me, I want you to."

"I'm enjoying this, just watching you."

"Please, I want to come. It's torture."

He tortured her a little longer, quite contented to watch her work out her frustrations by slamming down on him harder and harder but to no avail. Finally, he bucked his hips upward, meeting her in midair, hearing a sigh of relief escape her throat. Not so gently, he rubbed her clit between his thumb and forefinger, driving her over the edge for what she had been wanting for so long.

Burying her head in the crook of his shoulder, she came around him, yet it didn't trigger his own orgasm. As Buffy calmed down, he flipped them over length-wise on the couch so that he was on top, never leaving the warmth of her body. He thrust himself in deeper, lost in abandon as her legs ran along the backs of his, her hands on his back, scratching his skin. He felt her start to shudder again, her vaginal walls clenching around him, and this time, he couldn't control himself. Their climaxes hit simultaneously, both of them crying out for the other.

"Oh god!" Buffy cried.

"You're so amazing. I love you," Angel said once he left her body, a little while after they'd stopped moving.

"Love you, too."

Pulling the blanket from the back of the couch over them, they fell asleep.

---

"Ah-choo!"

Angel's eyes shot open upon hearing Buffy's loud sneeze. They were still lying on the couch, even though the time was well into the middle of the night. "God bless you," he told her.

"Thank you," Buffy replied, sounding all congested. She sneezed again.

"Are you okay?"

"Aside from the sneezing, sore throat and stuffy nose, I'm a hundred percent. I feel like death warmed over all of a sudden."

Angel frowned, sitting up. "Sounds like you're coming down with a cold."

She shook her head. "I'm fine, really. Just need some sleep and I'll be back to my old self in no time."

"That's why you just said you feel like death warmed over. I don't think you're fine, Buffy." He touched the back of his hand to her cheeks and her forehead. "Yep, you've got a fever."

"No, I don't."

He sighed. "I may not be a medical expert, but I know what a normal, healthy person feels like. And you are not one. Come on, stand up and we'll go to your bedroom."

Slowly, Buffy began to stand up. She was stiff and sore from lying in the same position for hours. When she tried to stand on her own, her head felt dizzy and her knees gave out, causing her to fall back on the couch. "Ouch."

Angel, who had already stood up, reached down to pick up the blanket, then wrapped it around the sick young woman. Placing one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders, he picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. Once he put her on the bed, he searched her closet for something to wear. Angel wasn't about to let her sleep without clothes on, not with her being sick. He didn't want her to catch pneumonia.

"Can you put this on?" he asked, holding up a long black t-shirt.

"Yeah. I'm not a baby, I can dress myself."

"I never said you were a baby. I only asked because you're probably really weak. Do you need my help?"

"No, I should be able to do it," Buffy said, taking the shirt from him. She watched as he headed for the door. "Where are you going?"

Angel turned around. "Downstairs to see if I can find some nasal decongestant for you. Anything that will make you feel better."

"Okay. I won't go anywhere."

Angel smiled. "Buffy, if you can't even stand up on your own, I doubt you'll be leaving the bed."

He walked out the door, stopping first in his bedroom to find a pair of pajamas. Rummaging through the drawers of the dresser, he found a pair of black boxer shorts and a long sleeved blue shirt. Coming up with an idea, he searched his suitcases for the electric blanket he'd packed from Cleveland. He didn't know exactly why he'd brought it with him, but he was suddenly glad he had.

In the kitchen cabinets a couple minutes later, Angel pulled out a bottle of Vicks NiQuil and a spoon. Still holding the electric blanket under his arm, he bounded up the stairs to Buffy's bedroom, where he saw that she had fallen asleep.

Removing the hair from her face with his hand, Angel tried to wake her up. "Open your eyes, Buffy."

They fluttered open. "I'm still here, see?"

"I see that. I got you some medicine, it'll make you feel as good as new. But it will make you drowsy."

She nodded. "Sleep is good. I haven't gotten much of it lately, with the wedding and you being here."

"And I'm willing to bet that's why you're sick. You are probably so rundown from everything that's been going on around here this past week that you became susceptible to this cold. Not to mention the fact that you never got dressed yesterday and didn't let yourself get the rest you obviously needed."

"But I felt fine yesterday. You were with me the entire time. I got sleep."

"Yeah, the whole five minutes when we weren't having sex. That's not quality sleep time, Buffy, and you know it." Angel poured her a teaspoon of the medicine, moving it to her mouth. "Open up and swallow this."

She did so, but made a disgusted face afterward. "It tastes icky."

"Medicine that works isn't supposed to taste good. That's how we know it works."

"What's that?" Buffy asked, pointing to the blanket under Angel's arm.

He held it out. "My electric blanket that I used in Ohio. Winter nights got pretty cold, so I always slept with this. I saw that you had goose bumps when I brought you upstairs, so I grabbed this; it'll keep you warm tonight."

"You always think of everything."

"I don't want you to get sicker than you already are." He placed the heavy blanket on top of her, then plugged it in. "I kept the heat level at four, but you can adjust it if you want."

"If it keeps you warm, it'll keep me warm. Of course, if I fall asleep with your arms around me, I'm sure I'll be much warmer."

He got the hint. "As you wish, mi'lady."

"How come you're so good to me?" Buffy asked after he'd scooped her into his embrace.

Angel kissed the side of her neck. "Because I love you."

---

At ten-thirty the next morning, Angel stood in line at the grocery story buying tea bags and chicken noodle soup for Buffy. She hadn't woken up yet – the medicine he'd given her knocked her out completely. So he canceled his plans for the day to devote his time to taking care of her.

"Hi, Angel," he heard someone say from behind him.

He turned to see Willow standing behind him in the checkout line. "Hi, Willow. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. How 'bout you?"

"Alright."

She bit her lip, debating whether or not to ask her next question. "I don't want to sound rude or anything, but is Buffy okay? Are you two okay?"

Angel nodded. "We're fine. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. Buffy seemed kind of preoccupied when we were on the phone yesterday. I thought maybe something happened between you two that made her that way."

"We're getting alone fine, Willow. No worries."

"That's good. Are you two working things out?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think there's a chance of you and Buffy getting back together? You guys are such a perfect match and you broke up for the stupidest reasons."

"I can't answer that, at least not for Buffy. Let's just say that I came back to Sunnydale for a reason."

Willow wiggled her eyebrows. "So you want to get back with her."

"Yes, I do."

"Does Buffy know yet? Have you told her?"

"She knows how I feel about her; that I love her."

"Are you staying in Sunnydale for good now? You're not going back to Cleveland to finish your Watcher thing?"

Angel shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere. Sunnydale is my home, it always was. Everyone I care about lives here."

"I'm glad you're staying. We all are, *all* of us."

"Thanks. That means a lot."

"Do you know if Buffy's home? I want to see if she wants to get together today. When I called yesterday she was still in bed," Willow told him.

"Today doesn't look too good, Willow. Buffy's really sick. I think the past week finally caught up with her and now she has a pretty nasty cold. I'm playing nurse until she feels better."

Willow grinned. "She's really lucky."

"With her being sick and miserable, I don't think she'd agree with you."

---

"I'm so lucky," Buffy said.

She sat in the bathtub, Angel massaging her shoulders, which were tightly knotted. When she woke up at eleven-thirty, he heated up some chicken noodle soup and a cup of tea for her. After, Angel drew her a bubble bath, where he joined in, only to relieve the tensions in her muscles. To Buffy, it was highly erotic, having him sit behind her, rubbing away at her sore, tense muscles, even though they weren't doing anything sexual. To her, it was simply romantic, Angel trying to ease her pain.

"Why?"

"Because I have you to wait on me. You really are my perfect match. I bet no other man would do this for me, but you will. You're perfect for me, you know that?"

"I told you."

He moved his hands to her upper arms, kneading the muscles gently. "I ran into Willow at the store. She asked how you were; how we were."

"What did you say?"

"That you're sick and I'm taking care of you. She also wanted to know if we are getting back together."

"Uh-huh. How did you answer that one?"

"I didn't, really. Buffy, I think your friends are getting suspicious of us. We have to tell them, it'll be hard to keep it a secret from them much longer. Our parents already know, who knows if they'll leak it to one of them before we do, and then it'll make your friends mad at us for not telling them in the beginning," Angel voiced his opinion.

Buffy exhaled. "You're right. We'll tell them after I get better." She paused for a moment. "I feel so bad about all this."

"What?"

"Being sick and making you take care of me. You probably had plans today and now you're stuck here with a sick Buffy."

"I don't mind. Besides, I didn't want to go house-hunting alone."

"House-hunting?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah. I can't stay in the spare room forever. So I thought you and I might look for a house."

"You want me to come with you?" Buffy asked, shocked.

"Of course. I can't make a big decision like that without you. Especially if it's going to be your house as well."

Buffy turned to face him. "My house? You want me to move in with you, live with you?"

"Yes, I do. That is, if you want to."

"I do. I do I do I do!" She pressed her mouth to his, surprising him with a kiss.

"We'll have to find out if it's okay with your mother. She might not like the idea or think we're moving too fast."

"Mom will be thrilled. I'm well over eighteen, and besides, then she and Geoffrey will have the whole house to themselves to do their newlywed things. I want to live with you."

Angel smiled at her. "Sounds like a plan. As soon as you're up to it, I'll set up an appointment with the realtor."

Buffy wrapped her legs around his waist. "You realize now that you're going to get sick because I kissed you."

"That's okay. It'll definitely be worth it."

---

"How are you feeling?" asked Angel on Tuesday morning. It was eleven o'clock and he'd been up for three hours, cleaning the house. There were dead flowers all around and he had to vacuum the stairs and the hallway to remove the petals.

"Just peachy," she replied sarcastically.

"Okay, I'm noting sarcasm in your voice. My guess is that you still don't feel good and you need more medicine."

Buffy glared at him. "Good guess, genius. You have such a grasp of the obvious, it's no wonder you're a Watcher," she said in a nasty tone.

"Not in a good mood either, I take it."

She hissed. "Go to hell, Watcher Boy."

"Okay, I'm going to leave you alone for a bit. I'll be back in a minute with your medicine. Try not to break anything."

"Make it quick."

Angel left the room, heading for the kitchen. He grabbed a TV tray, placed their breakfast on it, along with a bottle of DayQuil. As he walked down the hall toward her bedroom ten minutes later, he heard her groaning. Entering her room, he saw Buffy fumbling through her closet.

"What are you looking for? You should be in bed," he told her.

"It's freezing in this house. I'm looking for another blanket. Is that a problem for you?" she demanded.

"Get in bed. I'll get the blanket for you, you shouldn't even be out of bed if you're still sick."

"Give me a break. I have two perfectly good legs, I think I can handle walking from my bed to my closet."

"Go back to bed now, Buffy. You'll make yourself sicker and neither of us want that." 'Especially me. God, she really is a bitch when she's sick. Joyce was right all those years ago.'

She groaned, turning around, walking to her bed. Angel tucked her in, covering her with the blankets. "Warmer now?"

"A little. Turn up the heat, it's freezing in here."

"Have something to eat first." He placed the tray of food in front of her.

Buffy only looked at it. "Didn't Geoffrey ever tell you that old wives' saying? Starve a cold, feed a fever?"

"And you have both, Buffy, so I'm feeding you. Don't argue with me. Just eat your breakfast. There wasn't much in the fridge, but I managed to whip up scrambled eggs and french toast."

"I'm not very hungry."

He didn't care if she was sick and miserable, Buffy was getting on his nerves. Her attitude aggravated him. "Then eat what you can. Shove it down your throat if you have to, I don't really care. But you need something in your stomach. And drink your tea or you'll get dehydrated."

"Only if you turn up the heat."

Angel shook his head. "Nice try. Once you get some food in your stomach, you'll warm up."

Buffy took a forkful of eggs and put it in her mouth. "This just isn't fair," she said between bites.

"What is that?"

"Well, I'm the Slayer. Or, at least I used to be until the freaking Watcher's Council decided I'm not good enough to be one just because I got in one lousy fight and nearly got killed. Anyway, I should be strong enough to fight off this damn cold. I haven't gotten sick like this in years, and now, virtually out of nowhere, I'm laid up in bed with a stuffy nose and a fever. It sucks."

"Everybody gets sick, Buffy. I'll be here to take care of you until you feel better."

"Which better be soon. I hate being so unproductive. There's other things I'd rather be doing."

Angel raised his eyebrows. "Such as?"

"Shopping. Catching up with my friends, looking for a house with you, having sex with you. But noo…I'm here in bed."

"Once you feel better, you can do all those things again."

"I want to do them now."

"Have patience. You're not going to get better overnight. It's gonna take some time."

Buffy gave up. She was tired of arguing with him about it. Instead of talking, she finished her breakfast in silence. Angel was an excellent cook, so she finished up every last crumb. "Breakfast was good," she complimented twenty minutes later.

"Glad you liked it."

"But you were wrong."

"How was I wrong?" he asked.

"You said I'd be warmer if I ate something. So, you were wrong because I'm still freezing."

He got off the bed. "Fine, I'll go downstairs and turn the heat on. Will that make you happy? Will you stop complaining then?"

"Very happy, and yes, I'll stop complaining."

"Thank God."

Angel returned to the living room, searching for the thermostat. It wasn't there that he could see. As he turned to go back to the bedroom to ask for Buffy's help in finding it, there was a knock at the door. He answered it, finding Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia and Kristen on the other side.

"Hi, guys," he greeted.

"Hey," said Xander, holding up a plate of food. "We brought you guys lunch."

"We weren't sure if your parents left you a stocked fridge, so we all whipped something up," Willow told him. "Except Cordelia."

The brunette groaned. "I'm not a cook, excuse me. I brought some Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup for Buffy. Maybe it'll make her feel better."

Angel smiled. "Right about now, I'm willing to try anything. I bought some for her yesterday, but it doesn't seem to have helped, she's still sick." He moved out of the way, letting them through the door.

Xander laughed. "Lucky you. Buffy's a lot of fun to be around when she's sick."

"So I've noticed. It's a riot," replied Angel, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Remember junior year of high school when she had the flu? Buffy was sick, miserable and could have easily dethroned Cordy for Bitch of the Year."

"I resent that!" Cordelia exclaimed. "She never would have taken my title. I was way bitchier than her."

Willow nodded. "I can only imagine what it's like to be stuck with her all day long. You definitely have my sympathy, Angel."

"Thanks. I don't mind it, though. I'm nothing if not patient."

"Why don't we put the food in the kitchen before we go see Buffy?" Kristen suggested.

They all agreed. Angel carried the apple pie Kristen made, leaving it on the counter for later. Willow and Oz put their dishes in the refrigerator while Xander and Cordelia left theirs next to the stove.

"Is Buffy upstairs?" Oz asked.

"Yep. She's in a bad mood, though."

"Angel! Turn up the heat, it's freezing in here!" called Buffy from her bedroom.

He walked to the bottom of the stairs. "I can't find the thermostat!"

"If you'd look for it, you'd find it. Behind the plant stand. God! This is all your fault, you know that? If you hadn't insisted on having sex all day Sunday, I wouldn't be sick right now and I sure as hell wouldn't be so cold!" Buffy screamed.

Angel's face blushed to a bright crimson when he turned around, seeing the looks of shock on Buffy's friends' faces. All of their eyes were wide, not even blinking. "Um…"

Willow felt embarrassed for him. "Why don't us girls go visit Buffy." She, Cordelia and Kristen walked upstairs to Buffy's bedroom.

The three men sat down, Oz and Xander unable to take their eyes off of Angel, who felt utterly humiliated. Oz was the first to break the uncomfortable silence between them.

"So, all day, huh?"

Angel kept his eyes on his hands, which were clasped in his lap. "Buffy exaggerated a lot when she said that."

"I hope so," Xander commented. "No man should have that much stamina. It's not fair to the rest of us normal guys. Although, you're not exactly a normal man."

"Why am I not normal?"

"Because you're like the male equivalent of Buffy…super Slayer, only with a Y chromosome. So, maybe it is possible for you to go on all day long."

Angel lifted his eyebrows. "No, it's not. Believe me, Xander, it's not. I'm not quite that super."

"If I were doing Buffy, I'd find a way," he said.

"Do you ever think before you speak?" Oz wanted to know. "You're embarrassing him."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Now shut up while I ask the questions."

---

"So, you guys did it all day Sunday?" Cordelia asked.

Buffy nodded. "Pretty much. I mean, we had to stop every once in a while, obviously, due to the laws of gravity. We'd nap, wake up, do it again, and then repeat cycle for most of the day."

"Angel must have a lot of stamina," she said teasingly.

"Oh yeah. I think he would have gone on all day long if he could have. But I'm not complaining in the least. It was great…better than great."

"Where did you guys do it?"

"You want a list?" Buffy laughed. "Just the bed and the couch."

Kristen jumped up from her spot on the bed. "Ew! You guys probably had sex right where I'm sitting."

Buffy giggled at the seventeen year old Slayer. "Actually, we did. But we had to change the sheets on Monday when he did the laundry."

"That's so gross."

"No, it's not, it's romantic," Willow disagreed. "Kristen, they hadn't made love in three years; what you call gross was only them rediscovering each other."

"It's still gross."

"You won't think so once you've done it," Buffy told her.

"Are you going to give us the details?" Cordelia asked.

"How much do you want to know?"

She smiled. "Nothing *too* personal. Like, was it totally spur of the moment? Did you two plan it at all?"

Buffy shook her head. "You've thought way too much about my sex life, Cordy. Truthfully, I had no idea when it was going to happen. When Angel and I talked about it the night he came back and we decided to give it another go, he said that he was going to make it perfect for me. He planned the whole thing and it came as a total surprise to me."

"Was it perfect?" questioned Willow?

"Oh yeah. I came home from the reception and he had it all set up. Roses everywhere, music, candles, the whole works. We slow danced and then we went up to my room. He'd placed rose petals on the carpet leading here, and more on the bed. It was the most romantic thing he's ever done for me."

"A bed of roses?" Willow asked in awe.

"Uh-huh. It had been a dream of mine for years, and Angel wanted to make it come true. He did, and we made love. And it was better than I ever could have dreamed of."

Cordelia grinned. "After three years, I'd hope it would be."

"We grew up so much in those three years. We know more about life, about each other. We've experienced other things and we've had other lovers. But all those things made us more in love with one another," Buffy explained.

"Other lovers?" Willow repeated. "I know about Riley, but there was someone else? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I haven't been with anyone other than Riley and Angel."

"Then…Angel…" Willow trailed off.

Buffy nodded. "He met someone in Ohio and they…well, you know. But he broke things off with her before he came back to Sunnydale."

"That must have been hard on you when you found out about her."

"It was. I cried; I thought for sure that things were over for good, that he'd found someone else to love when I couldn't. When he came back, though, we had a long talk about our future. Angel never loved her, at least not like he loves me. I really think it's going to work this time."

Cordelia, Willow and Kristen all hugged their sick friend. "I'm so happy for you," Willow said.

"I wanna be a bridesmaid at the wedding," Cordelia added.

"Angel hasn't proposed to me, Cordy. We just got back together a week ago."

"But it's only a matter of time before he does."

Buffy shrugged. "I guess you're right. He and I are going to look at houses when I feel better. He asked me to move in with him."

"Really?" Kristen asked. "Are you going to?"

"Hell yeah! I plan on laying in bed next to him, waking up next to him every morning for the rest of my life. There's no way I'm letting him go this time."

---

"How is the honeymoon?" Buffy asked her mother three days later when she called from Antigua.

Mrs. Summers sighed. "Absolutely wonderful, thank you for asking. Extremely romantic. Geoffrey's great."

"I certainly hope you mean he's great in the general sense. Because I really don't want to hear specifics."

"As if I'm going to be giving my twenty one year old daughter specific details of my sex life, especially on my honeymoon. I didn't ask about yours when you and Angel were sleeping together," Mrs. Summers said.

"And you have no idea how much I appreciate that. But have you two even left the hotel room? Have you been to the beach at all?"

She laughed. "Yes, Buffy. Geoffrey and I aren't two hormone-driven teenagers, we've left the room. And we went to the beach, the water I just like in the brochures, bright blue and the sand it pure white. You'd love it here, it's paradise."

"I've always wanted to go to Hawaii for my honeymoon. Lay on the beach all day and lay in bed all night."

"And you're complaining about me spending too much time in the hotel room. Buffy, you'll wear your poor husband out before you get him home!"

Buffy grinned devilishly, even though her mother couldn't see her. "Don't worry. Angel will be able to handle it, he's done pretty well so far."

"Maybe when he was younger, but he's in his thirties now."

"Men reach their sexual peak in their thirties, don't they?"

"I'm not sure. But you should remember that you are nine years younger than him and you probably have more energy than he does. That nine years might make quite a difference. Trust me, as you get older, the amount of time spent having sex drastically decreases."

"Mother! Don't tell me you're wearing out poor Geoffrey? Is that twelve years making a difference to you two?" Buffy wanted to know.

"Not in the least."

"It hasn't for me and Angel either. While you and Geoffrey have been off on your honeymoon, Angel and I have been having one of our own. And believe me, we've got just as much sexual energy as we did before."

Mrs. Summers cleared her throat. "So you two have…"

"Yes, mother. Gotten totally back together. The night of the wedding, he and I…well, we consummated it. Sort of our way of making our reunion official. He decorated the house with flowers and candles, put on soft music, and we just…you could say he seduced me, but it didn't take me to do so."

"Were you two careful?" her mother asked.

"It wouldn't make a difference anyway. Or have you forgotten that I can't have children?"

"There's always a chance."

"Yeah, a very minuscule chance that barely registers a bleep on the monitor. Face it, Mom, I'll never be able to give you grandchildren. So, what's the point of using protection if I can't get pregnant?"

"Don't be so cynical." Instead of arguing about an already-dead subject, Mrs. Summers moved on to something else. "Is Angel home?"

Buffy switched the phone to her other ear. "No, he went to the real estate agent's office."

"What for?"

"He's buying a house here in Sunnydale. In fact, he sort of asked me to move in with him the other night."

"Sort of?"

"Okay, he did ask. And I said yes."

"That's great. I'm happy."

"Really?"

Mrs. Summers grinned from ear to ear. "Really."

"You're not mad? You don't think it's too much too soon?"

"Not at all. You two deserve to be happy, besides the fact that it's been three years in the making. And now you'll be on your own and Geoffrey and I can be on our own as well."

"You're the greatest. Thank you so much for understanding."

"Angel makes you happy, honey."

"He does. I got sick this week and he stayed home to take care of me. He was a real trouper through it."

Mrs. Summers nearly gagged. "Angel met Hurricane Buffy? And he lived to tell the tale? He's definitely a keeper. If he can live through that, he can live through anything."

"Very funny, Mom."

---

Angel turned the truck down the street. It was the first house he and Buffy were going to look at, and he hoped she would like it. The real estate agent told him it was a beautiful home, perfect for a couple just starting out, as long as said couple could afford it. Located on the outskirts of town, they would have a great deal of privacy. Angel wanted that for them. Very few interruptions that way.

Buffy's eyes lit up when they pulled into the driveway of the house. "This is it?"

"Yep. Do you like it?"

"I dreamt of this place."

"You did? When?"

"The night before you left for Cleveland. Angel, it was a sign, I know it was. I want this house," Buffy said. "We have to live here."

He glanced at it. It was a large two-story home with off-white siding, shutters on every window and a wraparound porch. A white picket fence outlined the front of the property. He had to admit, he loved it too. "Don't you want to look inside?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not going to make much of a difference. This is it, the home I want to have with you. I don't need to look inside, I've already seen it in my dream."

Angel smiled at her. "Can I at least take a look?"

"You don't trust my judgement?"

"Of course I do. If this is the house you want, this is the house we'll get. I totally trust your dream. Maybe it was a sign. Come on, let's go inside."

The two of them exited the truck, heading up the driveway to the front door. Angel knocked on it, waiting for the real estate agent to let them in. She opened the door a minute later.

"Mr. Reilly, how nice of you to make it. Please, come in and I'll show you around," she said to him.

"Thank you. Miss Craig, this is my girlfriend, Buffy."

Miss Craig smiled. "Brought her along to give you some ideas?"

"Actually, it's going to be her house, too. We'll be living together. And if we do decide to take it, I want her name on the papers as co-owner."

"Oh. Very well then."

"I'm in love with the house already," Buffy told her. "But we'd like a closer look around, if you don't mind."

"Follow me."

She led them through the living room, which had a fireplace, built-in entertainment center and a large picture window. The dining room had shelves five feet from the ground to display the good china or other various knickknacks. The kitchen had a sliding glass door that led to the back porch and an enormous backyard with a built-in pool. Also, an island in the middle of the room housed a stove, sink and a microwave.

"How long has this house been on the market?" Angel wanted to know.

"Since April of 2000. The couple that had it built were killed before they had a chance to move in," answered Miss Craig. "I feel the need to tell all the interested parties the history of the house, and it often turns them away."

Buffy shook her head. "Not me. I want this house. I don't care who owned it before us or how they died or even if it happened right where I'm standing. This is my dream house. Angel?"

He took her hand. "Do you really want to live here, Buffy?"

"I do. Please, I want this house. It's perfect for us."

"Okay. Let's look upstairs first, and then we'll figure out what we'll do."

Upstairs, they found a master bedroom with an attached bathroom and two walk-in closets. Down the hall were five other bedrooms and two more bathrooms. At the end of the hall was a balcony overlooking the family room that opened up to a private study.

"This house, as you see, is perfect for a couple just starting out. It's a family home, great for a large family with many children. This room would make a great nursery, don't you think so?" Miss Craig asked.

Angel agreed. "Yes, it would. We'll take it."

"Great. I'll bring the paperwork from my car and you can sign the papers. That'll seal the deal."

"How long before we can move in?" he wanted to know.

"Tomorrow at the earliest. You've already been approved, so as soon as the paperwork is filed it's yours." She left the bedroom to get the papers.

Angel walked over to Buffy, who was gazing out the window into the backyard with a faraway look in her eyes. "A penny for your thoughts."

With her arms crossed under her breasts, she turned to him. "Don't waste your penny, this house is costing you enough."

"What's wrong, Buffy?" She seemed so sad to him, when five minutes earlier she'd been so excited about the prospect of owning the house.

"This house…it's meant for a family, like Miss Craig said."

"We are a family."

She shook her head. "No, a real family. A mother and a father with two point five children and a dog. You know, lots of kids…the American Dream. What are we going to do with five other bedrooms?"

"We'll fill them with our children when we have them."

"Angel, we can't. I can't. I'm never going to be able to do that, don't you see? As much as I love this house, it needs a family to fill it. We can't give it that family." Tears spilled down her cheeks.

He pulled Buffy into his arms. "Yes, we will. We'll fill it with lots of love. And out of that love with come children."

"Not ours."

"So what if you can't have children? There's other alternatives to that. A surrogate mother. We can just have another woman carry our baby."

She shook her head. "It's impersonal. I couldn't do that, not even for my own child."

"Alright, adoption. When we decide to get married, we'll put our names down on some waiting lists. We can have children that way."

"No. The one thing I want more than anything in this world is to feel your baby growing inside of me. I want to be the one who gives birth to it, not some strange woman who might fight to take him or her away from us. No way. It has to be natural, and it'll never happen. Not with me. We'll never fill all these rooms. They'll just be empty and barren. Like I am."

Angel kissed away the tears from her cheeks. "Don't say stuff like that. We'll have a family, you and me. Maybe it'll take some time, but it will happen." He embraced her and let her cry on his shoulder for the children Buffy thought she would never be able to give him.

---

Five minutes later, they stood at the kitchen counter, getting ready to sign the papers. Angel took the pen from Miss Craig so he could put his signature on the ownership papers. Then the house would be his and Buffy's.

"I need you to sign here, here and here," she told him, indicating the three pages of paperwork that needed his signature.

He read everything over before signing. He wanted to make certain that everything was in order prior to putting his signature on the documents.

"As you can see, everything is written as we agreed. All taxes, including the realtor's fee, are included in the two hundred thousand."

Angel nodded. "I see that." He signed his name on the three pages, then handed the pen to Buffy. "It's your turn, Buffy."

She sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Okay. Where?"

"Right under my name."

Buffy nodded, signing her full name as well. When she handed the pen back to Miss Craig, the realtor noticed her red, bloodshot green eyes.

"Are you okay, miss?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Really."

Angel hugged Buffy. "She's a little overwhelmed, that's all. It's our first place together and we're both really excited about it. Buffy just gets very emotional."

Miss Craig smiled at the couple. 'They are so adorable. One look in his eyes and you can see how much he loves that young woman. I'll bet he tells her so every single day.' "It's great that you two are excited about this place. If my fiancee and I could afford it, we'd have bought it."

"It's an amazing home. We can't wait to move in."

"I'll call you tomorrow afternoon to have you pick up the final ownership papers, Mr. Reilly. Congratulations."

After Miss Craig left the house, Angel embraced his girlfriend. "Buffy? How are you doing?"

She shrugged. "I'm alright."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Okay, so maybe I'm a little upset. Angel, I love this house, I really do. You just bought me my dream house…but I can't help but feel like we're keeping some other family from it. In my dream, there was a child here. How can I live here knowing that I can't fill it with children when it's meant to have them?"

"You and I are a family. I once told Geoffrey that if I couldn't have a family with the woman I love, then I don't want one. Three and a half years later, that still holds true. Between your family, my family and our friends, we will fill this house, Buffy," Angel told her.

She looked up at him. "But not like in my dream."

"What happened in it?"

Buffy frowned, remembering how she felt in that dream. So alone and distanced from her son and her lover. "You were in the backyard playing catch with our son. With Gregory. You two were so happy, and he looked just like you, Angel, with your brown hair and brown eyes. He came up to me and asked me why I left you two, why I abandoned you both. Then you told him to leave me alone and you acted like you never even saw me standing there. I was on the outside looking in at my own family."

"It'll never happen."

"You're right, it won't. Because I'll never have the opportunity to give you children."

"How do you know that for a fact?"

"Because the doctor told me in the hospital."

Angel sighed. "That was three years ago. Haven't you had it checked out since then?"

Shaking her head, Buffy replied, "No. I didn't see the point of getting myself checked out if I wasn't going to get pregnant. It's not as if I've had sex with anyone since you left town. I had broken up with Riley and I was waiting for you to come back."

"But you want to have children?"

"God, yes! Your children, nobody else's."

"Buffy, you should go to the doctor and get a checkup. Maybe you'll be surprised by the outcome," he suggested.

"Why bother? It won't do any good."

He kissed her gently. "Do it for me? For the chance of having future children with me?"

"Okay, for you. I'd do anything for you, Angel."

---

"How have you been, Buffy?" Doctor Price asked her the next afternoon.

She sat in the chair facing the doctor's desk. Angel had talked the doctor into giving Buffy an abdominal MRI the day before, and now she was seeing the doctor for the results.

"I've been good."

"You graduated from college, I heard. Congratulations."

Buffy smiled. "Thank you. I took some summer courses for two years to graduate early. I got so far behind my freshman year that I was afraid I wouldn't graduate on time. But I busted my butt and I got out early. A little added bonus."

"That takes a lot of work. Was that your boyfriend who called me yesterday? He seemed very concerned," said Doctor Price.

She nodded. "Angel. Yes, he's my boyfriend. And yes, he's concerned."

"I don't remember you mentioning him the last time you came to see me. Did you two recently start seeing each other?"

"No, when I saw you last we'd broken up. He and I dated for eight months, between the end of high school and the beginning of my freshman year of college. Angel was by my side during my accident, but I broke up with him at the end of that January over a stupid argument. But now, we're back together, and we're moving into our first house later today."

"That's great." She tapped her fingers on the yellow envelope in front of her. "I suppose you want to know what these had to say."

"That is kind of why I'm here."

"Yes, well, I must say, your MRI amazed me."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "In a good way or a bad way?"

"In a very good way. Buffy, you had a large tear in your uterine wall. So bad, in fact, that you were told that the chances of ever having children were very small. It seems that is no longer the case."

She didn't understand. "What do you mean that's no longer the case? Is something else wrong with me?"

"Not at all. Everything's right as rain. The tear in your uterus has healed by itself. I've never seen that happen before."

"So I'm…"

"One hundred percent healthy. I see absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to conceive a child and carry it full-term."

Buffy was rendered almost speechless. "I can have children," she muttered under her breath. "I can really have his baby."

"I hope this is good news for you, Buffy."

"It is. I'm thrilled, and when I tell Angel, he will be too. Thank you so much, Doctor Price."

"Anytime. If you have any questions, feel free to call."

Buffy picked up her purse. "I will."

---

Angel was waiting by the door when Buffy walked in. Her face was devoid of any expression; he couldn't tell if she had good news or bad news for him.

"Well, what happened?" he asked.

She launched herself into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, raining kisses on his lips. "I'm perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with me and nothing stopping me from having your baby."

Angel kissed her back passionately. "That is so terrific. See, I told you. Positive thinking does wonders. I bet you're pretty happy you went to the doctor's now."

"I am. It's the best news I've ever gotten."

"Me, too. But I guess this means I have to go buy some condoms, doesn't it?" Angel asked her.

She shook her head. "No."

"We should use protection. Especially now if there's a chance you can get pregnant. It's not something we should rush into. I'd like us to be married first."

"I don't want to change a thing. Angel, I wanna have your baby, and I don't care if we're married or not when it happens. I wanna start trying right away."

"Buffy, you know it won't happen overnight. It takes time."

She started unbuttoning his shirt. "I know. But practicing is half the fun. Come on. This is the best news I've gotten ever, except for finding out you're staying in town to be with me. Let's make love, Angel. Let's celebrate. Let's start our family."

He couldn't deny her anything, especially not after she'd just received the news they wanted so badly to hear. Scooping her up against him more securely, Angel carried her up to her bedroom. Once inside, they fell onto the bed, Buffy underneath him, holding his head, keeping lips on hers. She hardly let him breathe between kisses, she was so happy.

"I love you so much," she whispered. "I can't wait to start a family with you."

"Me neither." He removed her black turtleneck to kiss along her neck and shoulders.

Just as she was unzipping his pants, the telephone next to the bed started ringing. "I hate it when that damn thing interrupts us," Buffy growled.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Angel wanted to know.

"No way. Let the machine get it. I want to make love to you, not talk on the telephone for three hours with God knows who."

"What if it's your mother?"

"She called yesterday. Angel, just ignore the telephone and kiss me," Buffy demanded.

He did as she demanded, but couldn't help but notice as the answering machine picked up on the fifth ring. A female's voice came through the speakers.

"Hi, I hope I have the right number. I…Angel, it's Megan. I'm sorry for calling, but I want to apologize. I found this number in your address book and couldn't wait until after Christmas when you return to talk to you. The main reason I'm calling is to say how sorry I am for what I said to you before you left. Saying that your feelings for Buffy were disgusting…well, that wasn't really me talking. I only said that because I was upset that you weren't taking me to the wedding. Please, Angel, call me back when you get this message. We can talk things out. I want to hear your voice, I miss you, I love you. Call me back. Bye." Megan hung up.

Buffy and Angel lay unmoving on the bed. He looked into her eyes, seeing a flicker of jealousy in them. "Buffy, please don't think what I know you're thinking."

"She loves you. I can tell that she wants you back."

"But I don't want to go back to her. And I don't love her. My heart belongs to you, it always has."

"I know that, I trust that you love me. What did she mean by saying that your feelings for me are disgusting? What was she talking about, Angel?"

"When she found out that Geoffrey was getting married to your mother, she thought it was gross that I was in love with you. Just because we were going to be stepbrother and stepsister. Megan saw it as incestuous, said that I was trying to keep it all in the family. You know how much I love you, Buffy. Nothing of what she said was true."

"Oh," Buffy replied. "Are you going to call her back?"

Angel shook his head. "No. Megan is part of my past, something I kept in Cleveland when I came back here. Right now, I'm going to make love to you."

---

The day before Christmas Eve, Buffy and Angel began work on the new house. As it was, they loved it, but wanted to change a few things before they could truly call it home. All the furniture that it had been decorated with – a dining table, dressers, a sofa and chairs – were covered up with white sheets to protect from dust. They decided to keep those pieces and add on with furniture of their own and some things Angel left in his Cleveland apartment.

First on their agenda was to paint the master bedroom – their bedroom. They chose basic white to keep the room light because the only window faced east for morning sun. The balcony off the bedroom opened to the south, not lending itself to afternoon and evening light. And since the previous owners had painted it white, Buffy and Angel only needed to add a fresh coat of paint to cover up the slight dirt the walls had accumulated.

At eight in the morning, Angel dropped Buffy off so she could begin cleaning. He had an appointment, but promised he'd be there to help clean as soon as possible.

"You promise to come and help me?" Buffy asked before getting out of the truck.

"I promise. I have an appointment, then I have to pick up my new car. But I promise to be here by mid-afternoon."

"Yeah, right. You're just saying that to keep me from complaining. Guys don't clean, they make the women do it, then show up later and claim they forgot all about it."

"I'm not most other guys, Buffy. I have no problem with cleaning; I don't mind getting dirty."

She gave him a funny look. "Men aren't supposed to like to clean. It's not masculine."

"Well, I do. And I'm very secure in my masculinity."

"Don't I know it. You're very masculine. Do you promise to come back and help me?"

Angel leaned over to the passenger's side to place a soft kiss on Buffy's lips. "You have my word. If I'm not back here to help you paint the bedroom by three o'clock, you can have your way with me tonight."

"That's not exactly a punishment. You'd probably enjoy it too much. Don't worry, I have seven hours to think up a suitable punishment for you."

"Looking forward to hearing what you come up with. See you at three."

Buffy climbed out of the truck, then walked to the back of it to take out the mop and bucket. With a wave to Angel, she headed up the driveway to the two-car garage. Using her set of house keys, she let herself into her new home.

She walked up the three stairs from the garage to the hallway, then three more to the kitchen. Sighing, Buffy looked around. 'All this is ours; mine and Angel's. I still can't believe it. I live here now and I'm going to spend the rest of my life here. Angel and I are going to raise our family here. It's a dream come true.'

Putting the mop and bucket on the floor, Buffy made her way into the living room. One by one, she pulled the sheets off the furniture, coughing as the dust flew in her face. "Looks like I'll be vacuuming first."

The night before, the two of them brought over several necessities they'd require for cleaning and painting their new home. In addition to the refrigerator, washer and dryer Angel purchased the day they bought the house, and had delivered while Buffy was at Doctor Price's office, they bought a vacuum cleaner, paint and brushes.

Buffy spent fifteen minutes vacuuming the living room, study and the stairs. Next on her agenda was to wash the floors. With all the prospective buyers that had walked through the house in the two and a half years it had been on the market, the white tiles of the kitchen floor were caked with dirt. Carrying the bucket over to the sink, Buffy filled it with warm soapy water. She wanted to make the floor shine. It was her house and she'd be damned if it didn't look presentable.

The kitchen was enormous, and it took her three hours to scrub with a sponge. The clean water turned black by the time she was finished cleaning. Spending another half hour mopping, Buffy was tired and hungry when she was done. But she needed to wait until the floor was dry before she could raid the refrigerator.

'Maybe I'll take a little nap,' she decided. 'Then eat and start painting. Just a quick nap.' Laying down on the couch, Buffy fell fast asleep.

---

When Angel returned at ten after two, he found Buffy still sleeping, curled up in a ball on the couch. He smiled; she looked so peaceful just lying there in her dirty sweats and bandanna covering her long blonde hair. If there had been room enough, he would have joined her.

He glanced around, seeing the outstanding cleaning job Buffy had done while he was out. The carpet was dirt- and dust-free and the kitchen floor tiles were a sparkling white. Making his way back to her sleeping form, he whispered in her ear, "Wake up, slacker."

Buffy bolted up, nearly hitting Angel in the head as she did so. Taking a few quick, deep breaths, she looked at her boyfriend, who was laughing at her. Narrowing her eyes, she punched him in the arm with all her might.

"Ow!" he complained, rubbing his arm from her attack. "What was that for?"

"Waking me up. You more than deserved it. And don't you dare call me a slacker. I spent all morning vacuuming and scrubbing the floors. You didn't pitch in one bit –"

Angel silenced her tirade with a kiss. Buffy was still tense from having been woken up, but quickly relaxed as their tongues dueled in one anothers' mouths. She deepened it, but Angel slowly began to break away.

"Better?" he asked.

Buffy nodded. "Much."

"I was only kidding about you being a slacker. I saw how much work you put into this house so far. You deserved that nap."

"Damn straight I did. Did you get that new car?"

Angel flashed her a half-smile, the one that always made her melt into putty in his hands. "I sure did."

"What did you get?"

"Brand new Ford Explorer. I liked the rental car so much that I bought one of my own. And I have more good news."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"I got a job today."

"That's great. Doing what?"

"Teaching American History at Sunnydale High. I had an interview with Principal Snyder this morning and got hired on the spot. I start right after the holidays. Apparently, the last teacher died mysteriously. Or so he says."

Buffy hugged him. "I'm so happy for you. I can assume that you didn't mention you're my boyfriend, since you were hired."

"No, but I did tell him that I tutored you senior year and that you passed with flying colors. Snyder made the comment that if I managed to get you to pass, I could get anyone to. So he hired me on the spot," Angel told her.

"That man is a troll. He never liked me."

"That's his loss, then. Because I happen to like you very much."

"Just 'like'?"

Angel considered for a moment. "Okay. Love, adore, worship, dream of, etc. You're the one."

"Flattery will get you everywhere."

"Is it working?" he wanted to know.

"It is. But first we have to paint the bedroom. 'Cause I want to spend Christmas Eve in bed with you in my own home. In our home."

"Let's get a move on, then."

On the way up the stairs, Buffy stopped, holding her arm out to stop Angel as well. "I just had an idea."

"What idea?"

"Why don't we have Christmas here? Invite Giles and the gang over for dinner and open presents. What do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea, but it's kind of short notice. We have to buy a tree, decorations, lights. Not to mention food. Who's going to cook a ham dinner for eight people?"

"I am," Buffy said. She caught the unconvinced look in his eyes. "Okay, you'll cook. Angel, you do wonders with food. Ham dinner, mashed potatoes, fruit salad, chef salad and veggies. I can handle brownies and cake and pie. What do you say? Please?"

With her puppy dog eyes ripping his heart out, Angel couldn't say no. "Alright. I'll make dinner, you make the dessert. And we'll both decorate."

Buffy threw her arms around him. "You're the greatest."

"I try."

---

At eight-thirty, they had a pizza delivered. Both were so exhausted from painting the bedroom that they didn't have the energy to do anything but call for pizza. Angel started a fire while Buffy placed a blanket over the carpet in front of it, pillows all around. Grabbing a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator, and two glasses from the cupboard, Angel joined her in front of the fire with the pizza.

"Sorry it's not a candlelight dinner for two, but I'm too tired," he apologized.

"Pizza and champagne on the living room floor with you is wonderful enough."

Angel poured them each a glass. "A toast."

"To what?"

"To our new home. To the children we're going to fill it with in the years to come. And to the beautiful woman who has given me all of those things."

Buffy blushed. "Then I want to make a toast to the only man alive who can actually make me feel as beautiful as you say I am. To you."

"To us."

They touched glasses, linked their arms and sipped the bubbly liquid. Putting their glasses on the tile in front of the fireplace, both of them began to dig in to the pizza, devouring the entire pie in forty-five minutes.

"I can't get over that this is ours," Buffy commented. "This huge, amazing house belongs to us."

"Believe it."

Buffy leaned over, sitting on her knees, to capture Angel's lips in a kiss. She wasted absolutely no time in tugging his black t-shirt from his jeans.

"Wouldn't you rather wait until we have a bed?" Angel asked.

She shook her head. "Don't wanna wait. I think it's romantic, us making love for the first time in our new home in front of a roaring fire."

And he did agree with her there, it was rather romantic. He let her take off his shirt, and she began to kiss his chest, pushing his back to the carpet. Resting her body between his legs, her mouth moved along his smooth, chiseled abs up to his neck. Buffy worked her way to the hollow of his throat before latching her mouth onto his nipple. He couldn't stop himself from purring when she scraped her teeth along it.

Buffy looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "That was something new. I never made you purr before."

"That was the first time I ever have," he admitted.

"Kinda kinky." When she did the same thing to his other nipple, he unconsciously purred again. "I really like that. I'm going to have to make you do that more often."

Angel sat up, taking a hold of Buffy's sweatshirt and pulling it over her head. He gazed at her for a second before pushing the straps of her bra off her shoulders. Burying his face in the cleavage created by the push-up bra she wore, he snaked his tongue into the valley between her breasts. Unsnapping the front clasps, her breasts broke free from their confinement and Angel placed kisses on every inch of them.

"They are so perfect," he muttered between kisses. "Every part of you is perfect. You don't have a single flaw."

As his mouth sucked on her nipples, moving from one to the other and back again, Buffy's hands traced the waist of his jeans from the back to the front before unzipping them. With him resting on his knees, she easily pulled them down, taking his boxers with them. She ran her hands from his backside to the outside of his thighs, then working her way up again. Putting her hands around his erection, Buffy felt him grow harder with each second.

She let go of him, forcing his head up to look at her. "I've had enough foreplay. I want you inside me now. Please?"

Angel nodded. He slid out of his jeans, then rid Buffy of the rest of her clothing. Laying her gently on the pillows, he lowered his body to hers, sliding himself inside of her body in a single motion as her legs wrapped around his waist. He badly wanted to make it last as long as possible. Slowly, he made love to her, thrusting in and out of her at a snail's pace, nearly driving her out of her mind with want.

She kept trying to make him move faster, but he refused to give in. Soon, though he needed to speed up, and he finally began to thrust harder and harder, pushing her thighs wider and higher to gain better access. Each thrust sent Buffy closer to the edge, but never over it.

"One more," she moaned. "Harder. One more. Oh God, I'm almost there, Angel. Please, one more."

He thrust as hard as he could inside of her body, wanting to feel her orgasm surround him. She clutched him tightly, her back arching off the ground as she came, sending waves of pleasure through Angel's body as well. Seconds later, he came, spilling himself inside her still-shuddering body. His face buried in her neck, he bit ever-so-gently at the tender skin, trying his hardest to remain inside of her.

"Angel?" Buffy said a couple minutes later, lying in his arms with her legs tangled around his.

"Yes, my love?"

"Wouldn't it be perfect if we made a baby just now?" she asked.

The question sort of took him by surprise. Angel wasn't sure if he was ready for fatherhood yet. Obviously, Buffy couldn't wait to get pregnant and start a family, but he was perfectly happy just being with her. He wasn't sure if he wanted children just yet.

"Yeah. Perfect," he replied half-heartedly.

She snuggled closer to him, not noticing his lack of enthusiasm. "I hope we did. I can't wait to have your baby."

"Me either," Angel agreed. He couldn't help thinking, though, that maybe it was too soon. For both of them.

---

Christmas Eve morning was spent buying a tree, decorations and all the food for their Christmas dinner. While Angel left to buy the ham, potatoes and dessert mixes, Buffy stayed home decorating the house. She left the tree alone, wanting to decorate it with Angel; it was something she wanted them to do as a couple.

Wrapping red and silver garland around the banister of the staircase, Buffy sang along with the music on the radio. "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows."

For the first time in years, she found herself enjoying the holidays. It had been a long time since she actually looked forward to Christmas. Three years, in fact. The last holiday season she looked forward to was in 1998. And now, being able to spend Christmas with Angel instead of simply receiving a card and a gift from him in the mail made it the best yet.

"All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games," sang Buffy.

Angel entered the back door, smiling at his girlfriend's off-key singing. Quickly running up the back stairs to their bedroom to put away the package he bought in his sock drawer, he made his way back downstairs to the kitchen. He poked his head into the living room, seeing Buffy on the steps, decorating.

"I'm home," he announced.

Buffy ran over to him. "Hey! What do you think of my decorating job so far?"

Angel glanced around the room. In addition to hanging the garland on the banister of the stairs, she'd hung it along the doorways leading to the study, the kitchen and the dining room. A movable Santa and Mrs. Claus adorned either side of the fireplace, candles were placed on the mantle next to a framed picture of them from the Prom. Buffy had strung white lights along the windows, and placed the tree in the corner by the staircase.

"You've done a great job," he complimented. "But you haven't decorated the tree yet."

"I thought we'd do that tonight. Something we can do together, you know?"

"Very good idea. Where did you put the wreath?"

"On the front door. Where else did you think I'd put it?" Buffy wanted to know.

"I didn't know what you had in mind. Maybe the walls or something."

Buffy looked around the room at the empty walls, then at Angel. "I had an idea while you were shopping. The walls – they seem kind of bare to me. They need something."

"Wall paper? A new paint job?"

"No, silly. Pictures. We should put some pictures on the walls. It'll brighten up the place."

Angel agreed. "It's a good idea. After Christmas, we'll look around, see what we can find that will make this place brighter. More homey."

She shook her head. "That's not exactly what I had in mind."

"What did you have in mind, then?"

"Store-bought paintings are so impersonal. They can't capture the essence of us, of our home. Only one person can do that."

"Who?" asked Angel.

She smiled at him. "You. Angel, I want you to draw the pictures."

"I'm not a professional artist, Buffy," he admonished. "It's only a hobby of mine. My work is strictly amateur. It's not even that good."

"You're too modest. Your drawings are great, and I should know. The picture you drew of me and my mother is still hanging over the fireplace at her house. I used to see it every day and think about what an outstanding job you did on it."

Angel thought for a couple of seconds. "Is that what you really want? Me to draw the pictures for our living room walls for all to see?"

"Yeah. I know you'll do a wonderful job. Say you'll do it."

"Okay, I guess I can do a little work tonight and tomorrow. You'll have to let me know what you want."

She hugged him. "I knew you'd agree to it."

"As if I could ever say no to you." He turned to walk back into the kitchen to put the groceries away.

Buffy grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Oh no you don't. You can't go anywhere without giving me a kiss."

"New rule? I can't leave the room without kissing you?" he joked.

"It's a novel idea, but no." Buffy pointed to the green plant hanging above them. "Mistletoe."

Angel nodded. "I see." He leaned down, kissing her gently on her waiting lips.

---

After dinner, they started decorating the tree. Because they bought all the decorations and the tree at the last minute, there wasn't a large selection and they had to settle for a small tree and minimal ornaments. It took them half an hour to put the red and silver glass balls on the tree, keeping with the same color scheme as the garland.

"What should we put on top? The star or the angel?" he asked her opinion.

"Hmm," Buffy considered. "Good question. How about the angel? A little heavenly luck wouldn't hurt."

"Okay."

They both held the white, plastic angel and placed it on top of the tree together. The couple took a few steps back to admire their work. The tree looked beautiful.

"The tree looks great," Angel said.

"Yeah, it does. Very understated. I hate those trees that have a gaudy ornament on every branch. It makes it look like the people tried too hard. But our tree looks good. Like something out of a magazine."

"Do you want to make hot chocolate and sit in front of the TV all night? 'It's a Wonderful Life' starts at seven." Angel told her.

"That's one of my favorite movies of all time. You get the hot chocolate ready while I go upstairs and finish putting away the laundry."

"Aren't we becoming domesticated," he joshed.

Buffy smirked. "Well, someone has to do it. And it doesn't look like you're volunteering."

"Gotta make the hot chocolate, remember?"

"Typical male. Laundry is the woman's job."

Buffy went up into their bedroom. Earlier that day, she'd left a laundry basket full of their clothes on the bed to be put away later. In the dresser, she placed several sweaters and a pair of Angel's jeans. Reaching for his socks, she opened the sock drawer. As she put them away, Buffy found a brown paper bag buried at the bottom.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, she opened the bag, believing it was one of her Christmas presents and she could sneak a quick peek. When she looked inside, though, she saw that it wasn't a gift for her. Instead, she found a box of Trojan condoms. 'These must be left over from when Angel was in Cleveland. He should just throw them out, we're not going to use them.' Deciding to let it be, Buffy put the box back in the bag. She picked up the receipt, which had fallen onto the bed, to put it back in the bag, but she wanted to see how long ago he'd purchased them. 'December 24, 2002. Angel bought them today.'

Angry, she bolted down the stairs, reaching the living room at the same time Angel entered, carrying two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. "Ready to watch the movie?" he asked with a small smile.

"I want an explanation," she demanded angrily.

He put the cups down in the coffee table in front of the sofa. "An explanation? For what?"

"This." She held the box of condoms in front of her for him to see.

"Where did you find those?"

"In your sock drawer. Why are they there? And don't try to tell me that you brought them with you from Cleveland, because I saw the date on the receipt. Today's date. Care to tell me why you're buying condoms when we're trying to have a baby?"

Angel was tired of pretending that he wanted a family as much as Buffy did. It wasn't that he didn't want a child, but he didn't want one so soon. He let out a sigh. "Because I don't want you to get pregnant, Buffy."

"Excuse me?" His answer did not make any sense to her. Angel had said it himself that he wanted to have a baby. "I was under the impression that we're trying to get me pregnant."

"I don't want to have a child."

By this time, she was fuming. "Four days ago, you couldn't wait to start a family! We bought this house with all these extra rooms so we could have a lot of children, even though we thought I couldn't get pregnant. And now that we find out I can have kids, you don't want to have them anymore?"

"I phrased that wrong. It's not that I don't want to have children, I just don't want to have them yet."

"Yet? Or ever?" she shot.

"Don't put words in my mouth."

"I'm not."

He clenched his fists in anger, though he'd dream of hitting her. He wasn't a violent person, and could never hit the woman he loved out of anger. But Angel hated the way she was throwing accusations at him. "You know what? I'm just being selfish, that's the whole problem. I bought that box of condoms today to keep you all to myself for a little while. I don't want to worry about you getting pregnant every time we have sex. Pardon me for not wanting to start a family right away."

"You could have told me that instead of hiding them in the sock drawer. What did you think, you'd slip one on really quick and I'd never know the difference? I would know right away."

"I was going to tell you."

Buffy lifted her eyebrows. "When, exactly?"

"When the time was right."

"Yeah, sure. Tell me, how long have you felt like this? Since we got back together? Or has it been since we lost Gregory three years ago?"

"Buffy, you are making this worse than it really is. I never said I didn't want to have children with you, I just don't want them right now. Personally, I don't think I'm ready to be a father to someone yet."

Buffy could only look at him. "But I'm ready to be a mother."

"Which makes me feel worse about it. I can't help the way I feel about this."

"Neither can I."

"Last night, after we made love, and you said you hoped we made a baby, this feeling of dread came over me. I had to ask myself if I'm really ready to be a father. And you know what? I'm not. Are you ready to be a mother? You're still so young, Buffy. Can you honestly say you're prepared to be responsible for another human life?"

"I want a baby," she stated.

"But are you ready for that responsibility?"

She cast her eyes downward. "I'm not sure."

"You have to be one hundred percent positive or you might regret it. And I don't want you to regret having a child with me."

"I wouldn't."

"You say that now. Please, all I want is a little bit of time. I want to spend quality time with you. We just found each other again, and I think we need to get to know one another, re-discover each others' habits, even live together for a while before we start thinking about having children together. If that's being selfish, then I'm sorry, but I want to be selfish."

Buffy shook her head. "You're not being selfish. I am. I just don't want to wait. I'm afraid of…"

"Of what?" Angel prodded.

"I'm afraid of losing you again."

Angel put his arms around her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You went away before."

"And I'm back. You know why? Because I can't live my life without you. Buffy, I promise you, we'll be a family someday. Not yet, though. Me and you, that is all I want right now. Can you live with that?"

She nodded. "I guess. But if I do get pregnant…"

"We'll worry about that when the time comes. Right now, you are missing your favorite movie."

They sat down on the couch, Buffy curling up next to Angel. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," she apologized.

Angel slung his arm around her shoulders. "It's okay. If I were you, I probably would have done the same thing."

With Buffy resting her head on his shoulder, they watched the movie.

---

Angel sat at the desk in the study, trying to decide where to start. He felt privileged that Buffy wanted him to draw the pictures that would adorn their walls, and he didn't want to disappoint her. The only problem was, he had no idea what to draw. Buffy had told him to do whatever he wanted, but Angel was unable come up with any ideas.

"I want you to choose anything you want," Buffy had said before they went to sleep the night before. "I totally trust your artist's eye."

"I don't want to let you down. It might not be very good."

"Don't say that. You're way talented. Besides, I believe talent like that comes from the heart, not the head. Don't think too hard about it, use your heart. That's where you'll find your inspiration."

'Buffy's right,' Angel thought. So he sat in the study at eight in the morning Christmas Day while Buffy lay asleep upstairs. 'I have to draw from my heart.' Putting pencil to paper, Angel started to draw.

He drew nonstop for two hours, inspiration flowing from his heart to his blood, to his fingertips, through the pencil and onto the paper. Angel was so consumed by his work that he never noticed Buffy enter the room until her arms wrapped around his neck from the back. Only then did he stop working.

"Good morning," she said, kissing his cheek.

"Merry Christmas."

"You know," Buffy started, turning the chair so she could sit on his lap. "It's Christmas morning and I woke up in an empty bed. But I distinctly remember falling asleep with your arms around me last night. Why weren't they there when I woke up?"

He closed his eyes. "Sorry. I've been up since dawn. Starting dinner and other stuff for tonight."

"And here I was, thinking you got up early to shake all your Christmas presents like a little boy."

"The thought had crossed my mind, but I decided against it. No, I had some last minute stuff to do, then I came in here to start working on those pictures you want me to draw."

Buffy looked at what he had accomplished so far. Picking it up off the desk, she stared in awe. "Angel, this is great. This picture, it's amazing."

"It's okay."

"Don't sell yourself short. It's beautiful. I love it."

The picture Angel drew was of the two of them from the day they first met in the Sunnydale High Library. He had drawn himself on the left, a look of hopeless love written all over his face, his gaze locked on Buffy. She had been drawn on the right with a sweet smile on her face and her arm outstretched in front of her.

"You told me to draw from the heart, so I did."

Buffy smiled. "You drew us. The day we met."

"The day I fell in love with you."

"And your heart told you to draw all this?" she asked.

"It told me to draw you. And the first thing that came to my mind was that day. My life changed forever that day; the day you came into my life."

She brought her lips to his, kissing him ever-so-softly before placing more pecks on his cheeks and nose. "So did mine."

"Would you like to open your presents now?"

Buffy shook her head in response. "We've got all day for that. Personally, I wouldn't mind a little exercise."

"I haven't set up the exercise room in the basement. It won't be finished until after the new year," Angel informed her.

"That's not the kind of exercise I was talking about."

He laughed at her insinuation. "Aren't you tired after last night? I swear, we must have gone through half of that box."

"I have the endurance of ten men. Or ten women, however you want to think about it. I don't tire easily."

"So I've noticed. You are insatiable, Buffy Summers."

"Only for you."

"Well, let's eat breakfast first, then I'll think about letting you exercise."

She pouted. "Okay. But you know we'll end up in bed eventually."

"Later. Right now I have to make breakfast and worry about making sure our dinner is perfect for tonight."

---

"Which one should I open first?" Angel asked an hour later, after they'd finished eating. He'd cooked scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes. Now they sat under the Christmas tree, ready to open their presents.

Buffy shrugged. "Whichever one you want. I'm sorry, I didn't get a chance to buy you anything really nice. Nothing I bought you really says how I feel about you."

"I don't need gifts to know how you feel about me. All you have to do is say it."

She handed him a large, heavy box. "Open this one."

Angel took it from her, carefully removing the wrapping paper. It was a cedar box, a foot and a half long and a foot wide. He opened it up, revealing a supply of art tools. "Buffy, you shouldn't have. It's so much."

"Do you like it?"

"Of course I do. Now you have to open one of yours."

From the large pile next to her, Buffy chose a small present. When she unwrapped it, she saw a black velvet box. "What did you do?" she asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. Just look inside."

Upon opening the box, she gasped. Sitting inside was a ruby ring with a small diamond on either side of the stone. Buffy put it on her right ring finger; it fit perfectly. "Thank you so much," she whispered softly.

"I saw it at the jeweler's the other day and just had to buy it for you."

For the next half hour, they opened the rest of their Christmas presents. Both had quite an impressive pile, including gifts left for them by their parents. Buffy had given Angel several books on different events in American History for him to use for teaching, a navy blue sweater, a gold nameplate for his desk at Sunnydale High and a silver watch engraved with the words ALL MY LOVE FOREVER, BUFFY. Angel, in turn, brought her a blouse, a silk nightgown from Victoria's Secret, a TV and VCR for their bedroom and a large selection of shampoos and body sprays.

"I guess that's all of it," Buffy commented.

Shaking his head, Angel got up off the floor. "Not quite. I still have one more present to give you."

"More?" she asked in shock. "You've given me so much already. I don't need anything else."

"I think you need this. Close your eyes."

She did, and Angel took her by the hand, guiding her to the front door and onto the porch. "No peeking," he told her on the way.

"I'm not. Are we almost there?"

"Yep. You can open them now."

When she lifted her eyelids, she found herself outside, facing the driveway. Along with Angel's new truck was a royal blue Ford Mustang with a red bow wrapped around it. "That's for me?"

"Uh-huh. If you don't like it, or don't like the color, I can trade it in for something else. But it's fully-loaded with everything you can possibly imagine," he told her.

She threw her arms around him, raining kisses all over his face. "Oh my god, I love it. It's so wonderful and thoughtful and…"

"And what?"

Buffy stopped kissing him so she could look him in the eye. "Expensive. It must have cost you thirty thousand dollars, Angel."

"Fifty, actually."

She gulped upon hearing the amount. "You spent fifty thousand dollars on it? That's entirely too much. You shouldn't have done that."

"But I wanted to."

"I don't want you to waste all your money on me."

"Buffy, what on earth am I going to do with five hundred million? Buy myself more clothes? More shoes? I'd rather spend it on you than on myself."

"It's just not right. You spent so much money this past week. The house, the truck, furniture and appliances, my presents, this beautiful and obviously expensive ring. And now the new car. To me, it seems like you're throwing your hard-earned money away," Buffy said.

He sighed. "I didn't earn that money, my grandfather did. All I did was put it in stocks and bonds and let it gain interest. I've got more money than I'll ever know what to do with. If I have it, why can't I spend it on you? Why can I buy you – buy us – a home? A car? Expensive jewelry? At least if I'm spending it on you, I feel like it's being used for something important. Making you happy."

"Your money and the things you buy me don't make me happy. You do that."

"It's a way for me to show you how much I love you."

"I don't think it's fair, though. I can't offer you all that. Angel, I can't afford to give you that kind of nice stuff. I'm not rich."

"I don't care. Just knowing that you love me is gratitude enough."

A thought occurred to her, a horrible one. "You don't think I'm using you for your money, do you?"

"God no. What would make you think that?"

"It just came to me. Maybe you buying me all these things is a way to keep me around." She shook her head. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"No, Buffy, I'm not going to forget it. If I thought for one second that you were only using me, I wouldn't be with you right now. I know how I feel about you – I love you so much I can't see straight sometimes. And I know exactly how you feel about me."

"I loved you before I knew you had any money."

"I know that. You don't need to worry about me thinking you're only after my money. You're not like most other girls, Buffy."

"I was in love with you when I thought you were just a poor, yet studly Watcher. Angel, I don't want you to buy me all this stuff. Give some of the money to charity, put it to some good use. Don't waste it all on me."

"I'm not wasting it on you. And I'm not going to stop buying you nice things when it's what I want to do."

There was no arguing with him on the subject, Buffy realized. "Fine. Just don't be so extravagant. I don't need expensive gifts to know how much you love me. Especially when you tell me that every single day."

"And I know that you're not using me for my money. But if you want, I'll bring the car back."

Buffy laughed. "Are you crazy? I'm not letting you take it back. That Mustang is mine!"

"What happened to me not buying you expensive gifts?" Angel asked with a smile.

"That goes into effect tomorrow."

Angel planted a kiss on her cheek. "You're one in a million, Buffy. Let's go inside, I have to finish up with dinner."

"Yeah. The gang's going to be here at three and I still have to vacuum and clean the rest of the house. I can't wait to show off my new car. And this ruby ring. Cordy's going to flip."

"Poor Xander. She's going to be complaining about not getting one."

"Of course, that's Cordy for you. Come on, let's go inside and start getting ready."

---

Buffy walked into the kitchen at two o'clock after she'd finished cleaning the upstairs bedrooms. They needed a good vacuuming and dusting, giving her something constructive to do for a few hours. She found Angel leaning against the counter, reading a cookbook.

"Hey, you," she greeted.

"Hey."

She sniffed the air, the aroma of the cooking ham invading her nostrils. "Smells delicious."

"Thank you."

"Whatcha reading?"

"Trying to figure out how much garlic butter to put in the potatoes," Angel answered.

Buffy laughed. "Are you expecting a gang of vampires to show up and steal our mashed potatoes?"

"Plain mashed potatoes are so boring; no imagination behind it. This is our first real dinner party in our new house and I want people to remember it."

"They will. Angel, you worry too much about what other people think."

"Sorry, but I can't help it."

"That's okay."

"I've been meaning to ask you this. I have to fly to Cleveland to pick up my books and the rest of my clothes. Do you want to go with me?"

She nodded. "I'd love to. When?"

"The day after tomorrow?"

"It's a date."

Buffy stuck her finger in the brownie batter sitting in a bowl on the counter next to her boyfriend. She put her finger in her mouth, licking the batter off of it. Angel playfully slapped her hand away.

"Don't eat all the brownie batter," he chastised.

"You mean like this?" She put another finger in, scraping the bowl. Only instead of bringing it to her lips, she wiped it on Angel's lips. "Oops."

"You're cleaning it up, you know."

She smiled, putting her arms around his neck. "No problem."

Placing her lips on his, Buffy licked away the chocolate batter from his lips, then probed her tongue inside Angel's mouth to give him a taste. He sucked greedily on it to remove every last hint of sweetness she was offering to him. The kiss began to take a more passionate turn when the timer went off.

"The green bean casserole is done," Angel said.

"Yeah, perfect timing," she pouted.

"We'll have to finish that later. Right now, I'm more concerned with not burning our dinner."

Buffy headed for the backyard to clean out the pool. She had plans for taking a swim after her friends left. "Spoil sport. Ruin my fun."

---

At precisely three, the doorbell rang. Angel was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the potatoes and Buffy was upstairs in their bedroom getting dressed. Meeting at the door, they answered it together.

"Merry Christmas!" they said in unison.

All of their friends stood on the other side, holding bags of presents and/or food.

"Same to you," Xander replied first. "You guys have air conditioning, right? It's hotter than a sauna out her."

An extreme warm front had been passing through Southern California the past few days, keeping the temperature well above eighty-five degrees. It was much hotter than usual, making standing outside somewhat uncomfortable.

"Yes, we have air conditioning," Buffy told him. "Come on in, guys."

Giles, Xander, Cordelia, Kristen, Willow and Oz entered the living room, staring in amazement at the size of the house.

"Buffy, this place is gorgeous," Willow commented.

"And huge," added Cordelia.

She nodded. "I know. Why don't you put the gifts under the tree and I'll give you the grand tour."

Angel took the plate of cookies from Kristen and the pumpkin pie from Willow while Buffy gave the women a tour of the house. He walked into the kitchen, followed by the three men.

"Can I offer you guys something to drink?" Angel offered.

"Water is fine," Giles replied.

"Got any mixed drinks?" Xander asked. Oz elbowed him in the stomach. "Never mind. Water's good."

Angel poured four glasses of water, carrying them to the table where Giles, Xander and Oz were sitting.

"You have a very lovely home," Giles said.

"Thank you, but Buffy picked it out. Plus, I wanted someplace with a lot of space. I didn't see the point in moving into a small house and then have to move when Buffy and I start a family. This house wasn't cheep, but it's worth every penny I spent on it."

"So, you're working on a family?" Xander said.

"Not officially. Buffy and I aren't ready for the responsibility of being parents. Not yet, anyway. But when we are, we'll have plenty of room."

"How many bedrooms?" Oz wanted to know.

Angel took a sip of water. "Six bedrooms, three bathrooms, kitchen, living room, family room and a study."

Xander whistled. "That's a lot of rooms to christen."

Water nearly hot out of Angel's nose. "Excuse me?"

"In order for it to truly be home, you and Buffy have to have sex in every room. You know, christen it," he explained.

Giles removed his glasses in discomfort from the direction of the conversation and Oz merely shook his head at Xander's inappropriate comment. Angel, however, glared at the young man. "I know what it means, Xander. And no, we haven't christened every room. That's why Buffy and I have a king-sized bed."

"Don't get mad at me. I was only asking a simple question."

"A rude question," Oz put in.

"Sorry, Angel. It's just…I envy you sometimes, you're really lucky. Not that I'm still into Buffy."

Angel smiled at the mention of Buffy's name. "I'm well aware how lucky I am. Like, lottery lucky. When I'm with her, it's like…it's like I'm split in two. Half of me is just on fire, going crazy if I'm not touching her. The other half is so still and peaceful, just perfectly content. Just knows, this is the one."

"That's exactly how I feel about Willow," Oz agreed.

"Did you tell Buffy all this?" Giles asked.

"She knows exactly how I feel."

Xander slapped his hand against the table. "Did you pop the question yet?"

Angel shook his head. "It's still too soon. I'm not going to rush things this time. But one of these days I will. When it's right for both of us."

---

"Did he ask you to marry him?" asked Cordelia.

The four women sat on the bed in the master bedroom. Buffy showed them the entire house and they were in awe. Cordelia especially, because Angel bought her friend her dream house. She knew she'd never have a man as devoted to her as Angel was to Buffy. It made her jealous to know her friend had the perfect man.

"No."

"He didn't?" Willow exclaimed in shock. "I thought for sure he was going to."

Buffy shrugged. "We're not ready for it yet."

"The man bought you a house and a car. And you say you're not ready for marriage yet? He obviously is."

"We will. Not now, though."

Cordelia could only look at her friend. "Didn't you want him to propose?"

"Of course I did. What girl wouldn't want to marry him? But I don't need Angel to get down on one knee and put a diamond ring on my finger to know I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him," Buffy answered. "But he did get me a ring."

The three other women took a long look at the ruby ring on her right hand. "That's real," Cordelia said.

Buffy nodded. "I know. Angel's not a cheap spender."

"What else did he get you?" questioned Kristen.

"A TV and VCR, the Mustang, the ring, a nice blouse and a nightgown."

Cordelia raised her eyebrows. "Show us the nightgown."

Having put it away earlier, Buffy took it out of her drawer, holding it up for them. It was made of black silk, barely a breeze against her skin. The neck scooped plungingly downward, more than likely barely covering her breasts. It flowed to the floor, surely completely covering her long legs.

"That screams 'I wanna have sex,'" Cordelia commented.

"I'm sure that was Angel's intention."

Kristen stared wide eyed. "Have you two tried it out yet?"

"Krissy! I just got it this morning. Angel and I don't have sex every minute of the day," Buffy told her.

"If he were my boyfriend, I would want to have sex with him all the time. He's a total hottie."

They all laughed. "Lucky for him, he's not your boyfriend."

"Better watch it," Willow warned. "It looks like Kristen has her sights set on Angel."

"Back off," Buffy warned with a smile. "That man is all mine. And I'm not giving him up without a fight."

---

Dinner went off without a hitch. Everybody left the dining room table stuffed from eating helping after helping of ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, spinach salad, chef salad and dessert. Angel received glowing compliments on his cooking, causing him to blush from the adoration.

Their guests began to file out at eight o'clock. Before he left, Giles pulled Angel into the study to speak to him privately.

"What's up, Giles?"

Giles checked to make sure they were alone. "I didn't want to tell you this in front of everyone else. It's rather private, at least for the moment."

"Is something wrong? Are you sick?" Angel asked.

"No, nothing's wrong. It's…I've reached a crossroads in my life. I feel it's time for a change. In the past five years, I have worked with three Slayers. And now it's time to pass the torch."

Angel shook his head in confusion. "I don't understand."

"As of January first, I shall be retiring as Kristen's Watcher. I've already contacted the Council and have recommended that you be my replacement."

"You want me to take over her training?"

"Yes. It's the only logical choice. You've trained with Buffy; she tells me you two still train together. The two of you will do a wonderful job with Kristen. Angel, I wanted you to know in advance so it wouldn't come as a shock to you when the Council does contact you about it."

He knit his eyebrows together. "What will you do now?"

"Continue on as Sunnydale High's librarian. I'll still be in town, just not as an active Watcher."

"What if I mess up?"

"You won't. You did a wonderful job with Buffy. Just don't let Kristen fall in love with you the way Buffy and Nicole did. The Council may not take it very well if you keep attracting Slayers to you and making them fall in love with you."

Angel laughed. "I don't plan on making it three for three. I'm a one Slayer guy."

---

Back at the Summers' house, a message waited to be answered on the answering machine.

"Angel, it's Megan again. I'm sorry for calling on Christmas, but I really need to talk to you. I'm sure you're out with your family or friends, but it's really important that you call me back as soon as possible. Please. I know we've had our differences, but something happened we have to discuss."

---

Buffy and Angel walked hand in hand out to the pool. It was still steamy outside and they decided to take a late night swim. They put their towels on the deck and dove in.

"This is so great," Buffy said when she resurfaced. "Swimming in my own pool, no neighbors to spy on us; we could swim naked if we wanted to."

"Privacy does have its advantages," Angel agreed. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he dunked Buffy underwater.

He waited anxiously for her to come back up, but she didn't. Ten seconds went by and he started to worry. "Buffy?" he called. It was pitch black outside, so Angel couldn't see anything. A few seconds later, she came up.

"Oh my god, what took you so long? Are you okay?" he asked in a panic.

"I'm fine." She swam closer to him. "I lost something down there." Buffy held up her white bikini top.

"Looks like you better put it back on."

She tossed it onto the deck. "Nah." Pressing her body against him, Buffy passionately kissed him.

Angel felt her hardened nipples against his chest, and suddenly was overcome with want for her. Her arms around his neck sustained her to him and he dipped his hands under the water to her bikini bottoms. He untied the strings on either side of her hips, removing the article of clothing from her body. Throwing it to the other side of the pool, he wrapped her legs loosely around his waist, then thrust one finger inside her opening.

She moaned in his mouth, exhilarated by having part of him inside of her. Rubbing his thumb against her clit, he slid another finger inside, pumping in and out of her. Her inner muscles clenched around him, and he pressed his thumb more fervently against her aching clit, wanting to bring her over the edge.

He wouldn't do so, though, until he thrust one more digit in her. Slowly, Angel eased up his ministrations, allowing her to come down from her almost-climax before starting again with a faster pace. Twisting her rock hard nipple with his one hand, the other busied itself by pleasuring her under the water.

Scraping his thumbnail against her over-sensitized bud, Buffy convulsed in orgasm around his fingers. She buried her face in his neck, biting his shoulder muscle as she came, trying to prolong her orgasm for as long as possible. But when Angel's fingers left her, Buffy gave up trying.

"I want you, Angel," she told him breathlessly. "Here. In the pool."

He shook his head. "No, not now. I didn't bring anything with me to use for protection. And I won't make love to you without a condom."

"Just once."

"When we get back from Cleveland, if the weather's still like this, we'll do it out here. With protection."

"I still want you, though."

"Then why don't we go inside. You can model that nightgown I got for you."

Her eyes lit up. "Last one out of the pool has to do whatever the winner wants."

They swam to the edge of the pool, but Angel purposely let her win. He'd gladly be her love slave any day.

---

Angel carried Buffy's bag onto the airplane for her, putting it in the overhead compartment above their first-class seats. He took the seat next to her, and she smiled at him adoringly. He never ceased to amaze her.

"I could have done that myself, you know," Buffy told him.

"Can't you, just once, let me be the dutiful boyfriend?" he joked. "Yes, I know you could have done it yourself and that you still have all your strength. But every once in a while, I'd like to assert my manhood. And carrying your bag on the plane happens to be a way to do so."

"You don't need to assert your manhood to me, I know you're stronger than all the other guys around."

"It's nice to prove it every now and then."

Buffy looked him deep in the eye. "Angel, does it bother you that I'm stronger? That I can handle more stuff than you? That I still have all my Slayer strength and power?"

"No," he replied, shaking his head.

"Are you sure? You've been acting strange all day long."

He touched his hand to her cheek. "I'm fine. Really, I am."

"It has to do with Giles' secret, doesn't it? Ever since he talked to you at Christmas about that hush-hush thing, you've been behaving differently. Weird different."

Angel smiled at her. "Pulling the Psychology degree out, Doctor Summers?"

"Please be honest with me. You're hiding something and it's bothering you and I'd like to know what it is."

"Fine," he relented, knowing that Buffy would eventually find out and be angry with him for not telling her in the first place. "But you can't say anything to anyone about this. It stays between you and me."

"My lips are sealed. Tell me."

Angel took a deep breath. "Giles is retiring from being a Watcher."

"What?"

"As of the first of January, he's relinquishing his post. He'll be staying in Sunnydale, but not as Kristen's Watcher."

"Who's going to be her Watcher? Geoffrey? Or is the Council sending someone from England?"

He shook his head in response to her questions. "No. Giles recommended me to the Council. I start on New Year's Day."

"That's great news," she said, putting her arms around him, placing a delicate kiss on his lips. "Not about Giles retiring, but that he believes in you enough to be his replacement. It's quite an honor, I'd have to say."

"I'm really nervous about it, though. Buffy, what if I'm a horrible Watcher? What if I mess up and Kristen ends up hurt? Or worse? I'd never be able to forgive myself. I'll end up like Geoffrey after he learned about my mother. Hopeless and hurt and feeling utterly to blame because I might have been able to stop it."

"You're thinking too far ahead. Nothing like that will happen. You're going to be a terrific Watcher. You did an awesome job helping train me."

"And I almost lost my job because I fell in love with you when I was supposed to remain detached," Angel reminded her.

Buffy rested her head on his shoulder. "So…don't let it happen with Kristen."

"My track record with Slayers isn't that great."

"Nicole was psycho. She was like, stalker chick. She doesn't count. Only I do. And I love you. Just don't fall in love with Kristen or I may just have to beat you with a short stick."

"As if I could fall in love with anyone but you."

The pilot's voice came through the intercom. "This is your captain speaking. We will be taking off shortly, so I remind you to fasten your seat belts and to turn all electronic equipment off until we have reached our cruising altitude. We will be landing in Cleveland, Ohio at three-forty five."

Five minutes later, as the plane began its flight, Buffy took a hold of Angel's hand and squeezed it. "Angel?"

"Yeah, Buffy?"

"Um…are you planning to see Megan while we're in Cleveland?" she wanted to know.

"I hadn't planned on it. Why?"

She shrugged. "Just wondering."

"Are you afraid that I'll see her and decide to stay in town? I wouldn't do that to you. I love you, you should know that."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

Buffy waited a few seconds before beginning. "How did you meet her? We've never really spoken about her until now."

"She's an English teacher at the school I used to teach at. We met officially when we were chosen as the freshman class advisors. And Megan and I started dating around Thanksgiving of 2001."

"Were you serious about her?"

"Do you mean did I have the same feelings for her that I have for you? No way. But I cared about Megan a great deal. She was someone I could talk to, someone I could confide in. I tried to love her, but every time I thought about being in love with her, a pang of guilt went through me. It felt like I was cheating on you."

"Yet you had sex with her anyway."

Angel nodded. "I'm not going to lie and say I didn't. Yes, I had sex with her. And before you ask, no, she wasn't better than you. Great sex doesn't equal love or passion, not like you and I have; it isn't the same thing as making love to the person you want to spend eternity with. It wasn't like being with you. It was just something we did."

"How long did you wait before you two…?"

"Eight months. And even then, we only did it a handful of times. I'm trying to be as honest as possible with you, Buffy. When I got the wedding invitation in the mail three months ago, that was it. The beginning of the end. She and I never slept together again after that. Because I knew that the second I saw you, I'd never want to return to her. I'd never leave Sunnydale. And I was right. I've put Megan behind me, she has no place in my life anymore; no claim to me whatsoever."

---

"God, it's freezing here!" Buffy complained as they walked to the parking garage where Angel had left his car when he left for California.

"I told you to bring a jacket," he said. "This is Ohio in December, not Southern California. We have snow here and the temperature rarely gets above forty-five."

Buffy shivered. "I didn't expect it to be this cold."

Angel put his bag down and removed his leather duster. He put it around her shoulders to warm her up. "Are you a little warmer now?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm still upset, though."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, but having sex in a bathroom the size of a cubbyhole doesn't appeal to me. Even if it is with you."

"I want to be a member of the Mile High Club," she pouted.

"Buffy, I promised you on the plane that when we get back to my apartment, we'll do it there. Can you hold on for another half-hour?"

She frowned, disappointed that she'd have to wait even longer. "Fine. But I still don't see why the plane's bathroom wasn't good enough."

"I like a lot of room, okay? Not to mention, it's not as comfortable as a bed."

"Is your bed at the apartment big and comfy?" she asked.

"Very. I spent many a night lying on that bed fantasizing about you. Wishing every minute that you were there next to me."

She grinned devilishly. "When we get back to your apartment, I will let you live out all those fantasies. I'll make them all come true."

The reached the car, and he put the bags in the trunk. "All of them? We may be here for some time, then."

---

"This place is nice," Buffy commented when they entered the apartment forty minutes later. "It's very you."

"I should hope so."

She walked around, running her hands along the furniture. "I like your taste in furniture."

"Well, I wish I could take credit for it, but I can't. The furniture came with the apartment. The only things I own are the books and clothes. When I leave here, all this nice stuff stays here for the new tenants."

"Where do you want to start first?"

He smiled. "How about the bedroom?"

"No complaints here. Are we starting with the clothes or the books?"

Angel contemplated. "Actually, I thought we'd start by taking off our clothes and then I ravish you until we fall asleep. How do you like that plan?"

"I like it. What are we waiting for, then?"

---

Megan had been driving back from her parents' house when she passed by Angel's apartment. Seeing his car parked out front, she realized that he was back from his trip to Sunnydale. Parking her car across the street, she decided to stop in and see him. They had a lot to talk about; she had news she desperately needed to tell him. News that would infinitely affect their future.

She couldn't accept that things were over between them. Angel was the first man to ever make her feel like a real woman. Every other man simply used her, but not him. He was a true friend, a great person, and the best lover she'd ever had. Megan didn't want what they shared to end because he was overly-sensitive about his ex-girlfriend.

So, he still had feelings for her – this Buffy girl back in Sunnydale. Megan knew from experience that one never really gets over their first love. After fifteen years, she still felt something for Michael MacKenzie, the first boy she'd ever loved; the first boy she ever slept with. But her feelings for Angel ran deeper than her feelings for Michael. Angel Reilly was meant to be with her, she honestly believed that.

With her heart pounding in her chest, Megan used her key to enter his apartment. "Angel?" she called.

She received no answer, but faintly heard noises coming from his bedroom at the end of the hall. As she got closer, making her way to the bedroom, the noises became louder. It was the bedsprings squeaking, that she was sure of.

Thinking he was tossing and turning from a mid-afternoon dream, which she was used to from him, Megan opened the door, intending to surprise him. The surprise, however, was on her when she entered and found him in bed, his body stripped of his clothing, making love to a girl with long blonde hair. She nearly lost her lunch when the girl began to moan Angel's name.

Megan backed out of the room, banging against the dresser in the process. The mirror wobbled, hitting the wall behind it. The coupled ended their actions on the bed to see what had happened. Megan was unable to move or tear her eyes off of Angel's face when he looked at her. She stood in shock as Angel rolled off Buffy to the other side of the bed.

"Megan," he said, embarrassed, shocked and confused.

"I'll come back when you're not so busy," she said.

He shook his head while Buffy covered her naked body with the red bedsheets. "Don't go. I'll be out in a minute. I – I think we need to talk about this. About everything."

She turned away, wanting to erase the memory of seeing the man she loved making love to someone else. It ripped her heart out. "Yes, we do have to talk."

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