"Everything To Be Thankful For"

Author: Pamela
Contact: destructo-girl@cox.net

Buffy forced herself to stop grinning as she opened the bathroom door and walked back into her bedroom. However, the sight that greeted her brought a whole new grin to her face. Angel, clad only in a white undershirt and black silk boxers, was sitting up in bed with his back leaning against the headboard as he read the newspaper. In between his legs sat Jacob, who was also "reading" his little plastic book that he tended to chew on more than anything. It was absolutely adorable.

Buffy walked across the room and crawled onto the bed up to her husband, who was still thoroughly engrossed in the newspaper. Buffy didn't care, though and leaned over to kiss him passionately. His paper forgotten, Angel moaned and lifted a hand to her face to deepen the kiss. Jacob shoved a corner of his book in his mouth and looked up at his parents.

Buffy broke the kiss when the need to breathe became an issue and smiled contentedly at Angel.

Angel returned the smile and continued lightly stroking her cheek with the pad of his thumb as he asked, "Not that I minded it one bit… but what was that for?"

"I love you," she replied, before kissing him a bit more tenderly.

Angel's smile widened, "I love you too."

"I also love Sundays," Buffy replied, knowing Angel agreed.

Over the past few months, they'd developed a ritual. Since Monday through Friday they had to rush around so that Angel could go to work, Buffy could go to school and Jacob could get ready for his mornings at the gallery with Daddy, they hardly had time to say two words to each other. And Saturday they usually were busy cleaning or shopping or whatever else needed to be done that they hadn't had the time or energy to do during the week.

So Sunday was designated family day. Their first priority was spending time together. The three of them would lounge around in Buffy and Angel's bed until one of them, usually Jacob, was absolutely starving for breakfast, so they would go downstairs and make pancakes together. They usually went to the park or just hung around the house afternoons before having a nice family dinner. Even Spike knew that when he was in town, he should stay in the basement until nightfall on Sundays.

Angel lifted Jacob up and scooted down until he was on his back with the baby sitting on his stomach. Buffy settled next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Sighing, he said "You know, I really wish I could have taken you back to Hawaii like I promised."

Buffy shrugged, "Hawaii will be there forever. We have plenty of time to go back."

"I know, but I told you I would and I didn't," Angel lamented, "If things hadn't been so busy at the gallery..."

"But they were," Buffy replied, "I am perfectly fine with it. I swear to you that I have not once even thought about it. If you didn't mention it, I would forget you ever said it. We'll go next summer."

"Yeah, but what if next summer we're busy and we say we'll do it the next summer and then before you know it we're senior citizens and Jacob has his own kids and we still haven't gone back?"

Buffy gave him a strange look, "You're not having a midlife crisis on me, are you? I mean, you're about twenty years early… although technically you're a hundred or so years too late…"

Angel smiled and kissed her to shut her up, "I swear I am not… it's just that I know how short life really is… and I don't want to be one of those people who put things off until it's too late. I want to enjoy life to the fullest… and to do that you have to remember that there won't always be a tomorrow."

Buffy nodded, "We'll make Hawaii a priority. If we're serious about going, we will find a way to make it happen."

"We could go next month! A lot of people go there for Christmas. We can get some sun and warmth in the winter… you can get a tan… and you won't miss any school. I'm sure your mom can let me off for a week."

"Oh Angel, I don't know. Jacob's so young… and it's not like last year when he didn't know what was going on. He'll be one this time… he and Toby can open presents and everything. Don't you want him being with his family at Christmas?"

Angel sighed, "Yeah, that's a good point. Still… maybe we can go the day after Christmas?"

"Yeah! That's a great idea, we'll have to look into it."

"I'll try to call a travel agent tomorrow morning," Angel said, "We'd better get plane tickets and make hotel reservations as soon as possible, since they probably get a lot of business this time of year."

"Cool, then you can buy me a bikini for Christmas," Buffy said cheerfully, "Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Not especially," he replied, frowning. He hated shopping.

"You sure? What if I got my mother to watch Jacob and sneaked you into the fitting room at the store so I could model them for you… especially really skimpy ones."

"You're evil," Angel told her before covering her lips with his own. At this rate, Jacob would be the one dictating when they'd finally leave the bedroom.

"Well, my History professor is going out of town for the holiday, so we don't have class Wednesday. I figured I could go shopping then. Maybe Tuesday night we can make the list? Yeah, you should come here, then you can check and make sure I have everything we'll need for Thursday," Buffy told her mother over the cordless phone as she put all the toys strewn around Jacob's room back in his toy box.

He seemed to get more energy every day, which made Buffy wonder how women who weren't nineteen-year-old slayers handled it. Her own mother found herself exhausted after chasing Toby around, but she was forty-five. Then again, Buffy had an excellent reason for being so tired as of late...

Smiling, she finished the conversation with her mother and turned off the light in the now clean room. Returning the phone to it's charger, Buffy headed downstairs to the family room, where she had left Angel and Jacob twenty minutes earlier.

"Hey Baby," Spike greeted as he slid his leather duster at the foot of the stairs.

Buffy smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "Going out?"

"Yeah, I heard about a club in LA I'm gonna go raise some Hell," he told her with a wicked grin on his face.

Buffy returned the smile, "Be careful, okay? Don't get wasted and fry yourself."

"Don't worry, I'll be back by sunrise. I could never leave you and the little one all alone with the Big Poof."

Buffy rolled her eyes good-naturedly and waved as he walked out the door. Turning around, she entered the family room the find Jacob running around screaming and laughing as Angel moved on all fours, snarling and growling as the pretend monster.

Seeing her standing in the doorway, Jacob waved his arms wildly and shrieked, "Mama!"

"Watch out, Jacob, he's going to get you!" she teased her son, holding out her arms so he could attempt to run to her... if he could get past Angel.

Angel turned around and grabbed her leg, pretending to gnaw on her. Buffy played the damsel in distress, begging Jacob to stop the beast from biting her. Excited, Jacob ran and jumped on Angel's back to try and defend his mother.

All of a sudden, Angel reared up, a shocked look on his face, "He bit me!"

Buffy forced herself not to laugh, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just surprised," he replied.

Buffy pulled Jacob off his back and looked at him seriously, "Jake, no biting Daddy. No biting *anyone*, as a matter of fact. Biting is very bad."

Jacob's chin shook as his eyes filled with tears. A few seconds later, he began bawling. Buffy hugged him to her and assured him that it was okay and she wasn't mad. Angel held his tongue; he loved his son just as much as Buffy did, but he didn't want him turning out to be a Mama's boy, which is what seemed a distinct possibility the way Buffy doted on him at times.

He walked up to the both of them and placed a hand on Jacob's back, "Hey, it's okay, Buddy. Daddy's okay… Mommy was just telling you not to do it again, okay?"

"It was probably wrong of us to play that whole game with him, he's too young to understand the difference between pretend and real biting," Buffy lamented, feeling horribly guilty. She hated making her baby cry.

"He's fine," Angel assured her. "Five minutes from now, this whole thing will be forgotten. Watch- hey Jake, where's your car?"

Jacob pushed on Buffy as his way of showing her he wanted down. She obliged and he ran off to go get the plastic car Xander had brought him the night before when he had baby-sat.

Buffy watched him go and sighed, "He's getting so big."

"Yeah… I can't believe he'll be a year old next week."

"He's not going to be my baby anymore," Buffy said sadly.

"Buffy, he's going to be *one*, not twenty-one. I don't think you have to worry about him running off with your car until he is at least toilet-trained and has more than three teeth."

"I'm sorry… I'm feeling melodramatic," she apologized, flopping down on the couch.

Angel sat next to her and smiled, "That's okay, I'll indulge you. I like getting on your good side."

"Dad," Jacob called as he came back in the room with the car as well as a plastic airplane.

"Oh, do I get to be a pilot?" Angel asked in an enthusiastic voice as the baby gave him the plane and began pushing the car on the floor in front of the couch.

"What should we do for his birthday?" Buffy asked.

Angel shrugged, "We never got around to getting him into any play groups so the only other kid he knows is Toby… we could just have him, Giles, Joyce, Xander and Cordelia over for cake and ice cream, maybe dinner too."

"I guess," she said, "I want it to be very special. Is that special enough?"

Angel looked up at her and replied, "He'll be with all the people who love him most… what could be more special than that?"

Buffy smiled, he never ceased to amaze her with how sweet he was. "Oh, and if I can find my dad to ask him over for Thursday, I can see if he'll come too! I mean, he's only seen Jacob twice and he only lives two hours away. I can't let him miss out on something as big as his grandson's first birthday."

Angel remained silent, knowing if he said anything about his father-in-law, it would upset Buffy. He had never been a fan of Hank's because of the way he'd treated Buffy, but the way he practically ignored Jacob infuriated him. Angel didn't care if Hank liked him or not... but Jacob was his blood and an innocent child. He tried to keep his opinions to himself, though. Buffy would only get mad at him if he said them out loud. As much as he hated letting her get hurt, this was one lesson she'd have to learn the hard way. Hank would eventually break too many promises or run out of excuses why he seemed to forget his grandson existed and Buffy would see that he wasn't worthy.

After another half hour of playing with his father with his mother looking on and occasionally oohing and ahhing when Jacob "impressed" her, he started to show the telltale signs of fatigue. Buffy caught a yawn and Angel noticed drooping eyelids.

Smiling at each other, the couple rose from the couch in unison. Angel picked up Jacob and the three of them headed upstairs to his bedroom. Jacob was promptly sound asleep in his crib with his thumb in his mouth. Quietly, Buffy and Angel left him alone in the room and went back downstairs for some time alone before they went to bed as well to begin another hectic week.

"I have an idea," Angel announced in a low voice as Buffy gently rubbed his temples. He was comfortably positioned between Buffy's legs with his head resting on her shoulder as she spooned his back.

"Yeah?"

"Forget about going to Hawaii after Christmas. Let's *tell* everyone we're going, lock up the house, turn the ringers off all the phones and have a week full of Sunday's."

"But then I can't wear a bikini," Buffy pointed out.

"Sure you can… we do have a Roman tub… we'll pretend it's a beach in Hawaii if you want."

Buffy laughed and playfully smacked his shoulder, "You're nuts."

"Hey, you try living with you and Jacob and see how you end up."

"Watch it or I'll flip you off the couch in one swift move," she threatened.

"I'm sorry baby," he replied, turning his head to kiss her.

"I have something to tell you," Buffy said, almost nervously.

Angel grinned devilishly, "You want to take me upstairs and seduce me?"

"No," she replied, "Well, yeah, that too… but what I want to tell you… it's very important."

Sensing her seriousness, Angel scooted up a bit so he was somewhat sitting, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is wonderful… at least, I feel that way," she answered, then bit her bottom lip, "I'm pregnant."

Angel's eyes widened before he sat up completely and turned to look at her, "You're serious? Pregnant? We're having another baby?"

Buffy nodded her head, giving him a small, hopeful smile, "I took a home pregnancy test. I still have to see a doctor, but those things are pretty accurate, so I'm not doubting it."

"This is great!" Angel exclaimed, then calmed himself, "It *is* great, right? You're happy about this?"

"Absolutely," she replied, grinning, "I'm so excited! It's really not that soon after Jacob, anyway, because they'll be almost two years apart."

"Yeah… this is wonderful news," Angel told her as he leaned down and kissed her passionately. He hadn't really thought much about Buffy getting pregnant again, but he had always wanted a lot of kids... So the new baby made him ecstatic.

Buffy reciprocated the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck as she did so. It had been hard keeping her secret all day, and she was quite relieved to have someone to celebrate with. Pulling back, she asked, "Want to go to bed?"

Angel nodded, "You tired?"

Buffy smiled flirtatiously and shook her head. Angel grinned before standing up and sweeping her into his arms. Carrying her bridegroom style, he went up the stairs with his wife so that he could show her just how much he loved her.

Repeatedly.

"Angel brought home a brochure for the hotel we're going to stay at yesterday… Mom, it is amazing. It's close to the beach, a golf course, and they have an adult *and* baby pool. Jake's going to love that," Buffy told her mother as the two of them made Thanksgiving dinner.

"Yeah, he was telling me about it, it sounds very nice," Joyce replied. "I'm glad you three are going, you need a vacation."

"I know… thank God Angel didn't just let me talk him out of it. I didn't want to miss the holidays because of Jake, though. I want him to have a ton of happy memories of them."

Joyce smiled tenderly at her daughter, "I wish I had been able to do that for you."

"I have a lot of happy memories," Buffy assured her, "Some not-so-happy ones too… but a Halloween never goes by that I don't remember going trick-or-treating with Daddy. And I always remember that Christmas that I wanted a pony more than anything and I didn't get one so I spend the morning sulking in my room."

Joyce smiled as she recalled that day nearly twelve years earlier. "I made you chocolate chip pancakes and we had a tea party until you forgot all about the pony and wanted to play with your new Barbie Dreamhouse."

"I wish Daddy was coming today," Buffy sighed.

"I know, and I could just wring his neck. It's not like he doesn't *know* it's Thanksgiving."

"Maybe he forgot," Buffy replied downheartedly, "Being in the Bahamas with someone less than ten years older than me is probably distracting."

Joyce shook her head, "He is a fool. He's having fun right now, but sooner or later he is going to realize all he's missing out on and he'll regret it. You see how fast Jacob's growing up. *I* sometimes worry I'm missing out on seeing him grow because I work and I live ten minutes away and see him all week, every week. He's seen him two times and Jacob's almost one."

"Maybe I'll be able to talk to him by Wednesday so he can be here for the party," Buffy said, "By the way, do you think it'll be okay if everyone comes over *on* his birthday instead of next Saturday or something? It doesn't have to be very late, since he's in bed before eight anyway. We'll have dinner at about five-thirty and just have cake and ice cream after. Oh, and, of course, Jacob has to open his gifts. But games are definitely not in the plan."

"I think that'll be just fine. I know Rupert and I won't have a problem with it and I doubt Xander and Cordelia will think that's too late."

"Oh, but if Dad comes, it may be hard for him to make it here early enough and I would hate for him to make a two hour drive home after only being here a few hours. Maybe he can come here a day or two before and stay with us!" Buffy exclaimed, "Wouldn't that be so perfect, Mom? Then he could spend a lot of time with us and get to know Jacob. I just know if he spends more time with him, he will totally fall in love. He might make a point to come visit more and really take an interest in our lives!"

Joyce didn't say anything, not wanting to take away Buffy's dreams. Her ex-husband was a loser. He had an adoring daughter and a wonderful grandson that he didn't appreciate. Hank took it for granted that they'd always be there but Joyce knew someday Buffy would give up on him. She hated the thought of how hurt her daughter would be, but Joyce didn't see an alternative. Of course, Buffy could end up being right. Hank could wake up and realize what he had… but Joyce wasn't about to hope for that. If she'd learned anything in the years during her first marriage, is that Hank was the best at disappointing.

Looking up, she saw Angel standing in the doorway from the dining room and from the look on his face, knew he had what they'd been discussing. His eyes met his mother-in-law's and saw that she felt the same way as he did. Giving her a shrug that said he didn't like it, but what could he do, he walked into the room.

"How's it going?"

Buffy looked up at him and grinned, "We're making great time. The stuffing's all done and the turkey's in the oven."

"Good," he smiled at her, "Anything I can do?"

"Give me a kiss?" she teased.

"Ooh, absolutely," Angel laughed before walking up to her and kissing her softly on the lips. Ever since she'd told him about the baby, they'd been even worse than normal about being amorous.

"Good to see you two are still in the honeymoon phase," Joyce commented with a wry grin on her face.

Buffy and Angel just chuckled; they weren't going to tell her Buffy was pregnant just yet. They wanted it to be a nice announcement in front of the whole family.

"Mama!"

Buffy looked down and saw her son standing in the doorway from the family room holding up a pair of corduroy overalls. Frowning, she recognized them as the pair that Toby had been wearing when Giles had brought him over an hour earlier.

"Jacob, why do you have Toby's clothes?" she asked, taking the overalls from Jacob.

Jacob babbled some baby-talk and ran away. Buffy sighed; he was completely wired and the only explanation was that it was a holiday... Ever since he had woken up he had been full of energy and when a playmate had arrived it had only gotten worse. She was half-expecting his head to start spinning around.

"Toby must have taken it off. He's learned how to take his clothes off; didn't I tell you? Of course, he doesn't know how to put them back *on*, so he runs around the house in nothing but a diaper," Joyce informed her, taking the overalls.

Buffy smiled, "Oh boy, something I have to look forward to in six months."

Since they really had everything taken care of for the time being, the two women left the kitchen in search of their sons; it appeared that Angel and Giles both had neglected to keep an eye on them.

Fairly quickly, Buffy caught Jacob crawling under the desk in the den and grabbed him. The baby wriggled wildly and began whining, she lifted him above her head and blew on his belly. Jacob began to laugh, forgetting that she had interrupted him and wasn't going to let him run wild any longer. Walking back out into the hallway, she looked through around for any sign of Toby and came across him on the living room floor as Joyce redressed him. Angel and Giles were also in the room, sitting on the couches and discussing some demon.

"Thanks for watching Jake, Angel, it's so nice not having to worry about him as well as dinner for tonight," Buffy said sarcastically.

Angel looked up, surprised, "Um… I'm sorry, Honey. Giles and I just got really into this."

"Well why don't the both of you do something that includes your sons?" Joyce suggested, "Something that would preferably keep them fully clothed and unharmed."

"Something that doesn't trash my house," Buffy added, giving Angel a sugary smile as she handed him Jacob.

Angel groaned as he tried to think of what they could do with two toddlers for an hour before dinner would be ready. When the doorbell rang and Buffy went and let Xander and Cordelia in, a grin spread on his face.

After all, who was better to entertain two little kids than the biggest of them all- Xander?

"Okay, it's really nice that the both of you are so domestic, but this is just not for me. I am *destined* to have a maid and a cook… and how is *Xander* ever going to afford that?" Cordelia asked, gesturing towards the dark-haired teen on all fours in the family room, playing the horse so that Jacob and Toby could crawl all over him.

Buffy smiled at the sight, "But Cordy, look how sweet that is. Xander's great with kids, doesn't that mean anything to you? Besides, you're going to college, so what if Xander's career is basically nonexistent? I can totally see you as the career mom and Xander as a stay-at-home dad."

Cordelia thought it over and nodded her head in approval, "That might work for me. Only any children I have won't be anything like those two. They'll be much more docile. What do you do, anyway? Give Jacob a sugar IV a night?"

"Shoot, you figured out my secret," Buffy grinned, "To be fair, you know he's not this bad when he's on his own. It's like you put Jacob and Toby together and they are three times worse than normal."

"Is the table all set?" Joyce asked the brunette as she put the finishing touches on the turkey.

Cordelia nodded, "All that it needs are the mashed potatoes and turkey."

"Great!" Buffy grinned, "This is my first Thanksgiving and it's going off without a hitch! Although if I'd been on my own..."

"You would have made it work just fine," Joyce assured her daughter.

Sensing a mother-daughter moment was coming on, Cordelia made herself scarce and went to round everyone up for dinner.

"I really appreciate you helping me out, Mom," Buffy said, hugging her mother.

Joyce hugged her back, "Oh, it was fun. A lot of work, but fun. I love spending time with my girl. Now let's get this food out there. We can feed the kids until they're so stuffed they'll just lay on the floor, unable to move."

Buffy laughed and complied, anxious to begin dinner. Once she did, she and Angel could make their announcement.

"This is delicious, Honey," Angel smiled at his wife before kissing her.

Buffy returned the kiss, "Thank you. Jake seems to like it as well."

"You know, Buff, I've been meaning to compliment you on your fine chopping abilities. If I hadn't seen you cut it into little bits myself, I never would have believed you hadn't used a blender on Jacob's turkey," Xander joked.

Buffy gave him a dirty look, "Xander, he has *three* teeth. He can't exactly chew as well as you."

"Now that you mention it, my Aunt Harriet has to do the same thing for Uncle Frank," Xander replied.

"Way to disturb us, Xander," Cordelia complained.

"Honey, do you want a glass of wine?" Joyce asked her daughter, seeing that Buffy was the only one drinking water.

Buffy shook her head and gave Angel a questioning look. He nodded approvingly, so she turned to everyone else to the table and said loudly, "I have to stay away from alcohol for the next eight months or so."

Giles' eyebrow quirked, "You mean..."

"Buffy's pregnant," Angel answered, grinning proudly.

"Again?" Xander exclaimed in disbelief. "You two are fertile!"

"Xander," Cordelia scolded, smacking him on the arm, "You're supposed to sound happy. If they were whining we could go on and on about how sad it is that they can't stop reproducing, but they aren't so we smile and congratulate." She turned her had and gave Buffy and Angel a dazzling smile, "Congratulations."

"Oh, I am so happy for you two!" Joyce said, getting up so that she could walk around the table and hug Buffy and then Angel.

"Yes, this is quite good news," Giles beamed. Buffy may be his stepdaughter, but he felt like he was a proud grandfather the second time around.

Buffy felt elated; even though Cordelia and Xander's reactions weren't quite as joyful as everyone else's, she hadn't expected more from them. She was just so happy that everyone else was as excited about the baby as she and Angel were.

"Tired?"

"Very," Buffy told her husband, leaning back into his embrace, "But it's a nice tired. It's tired from baking a very yummy meal all day with my mother and having my stomach full."

"Good… that's the kind of tired that doesn't get you too worn out, right?" Angel asked, "Because that's the kind of tired I definitely don't want you to be."

"I'm wonderful," she assured him, "And the dishes are all done, so that's makes me feel even better."

"Well Jacob is bathed and sound asleep, and your mother got the dining room all clean. I picked up the messes in the living room and family room," he informed her, nuzzling her neck.

"Great," she moaned, "Too bad Spike went out of town the other day, it would have been fun if he had been here. He'll kill us for letting everyone else find out about the new baby before him."

"He'll get over it," he replied, "Besides, if Spike was here he would probably be bugging me and then I wouldn't be able to take you upstairs right now to take a soak in the tub together."

"Sounds heavenly," she grinned, then turned out and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Do you know that I don't think I can be any happier than I am right now?"

"Do you know I feel the same way?" Angel responded, then added, "Although, I think about eight months from now when I get to see you holding our new child, I might be even happier."

"Ditto," Buffy said with a grin, "I love you."

"I love you too… let's go upstairs."

The End

 

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