Creative Works   

Till Death Do We Part
By Jessi Knorr
slayer_2000_(at)hotmail.com

Summary: Three marriages . . . after a funeral?
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Buffy, Angel, Oz, Willow, Xander, Cordelia, Ms. Calendar and whoever else belong to the Devil himself, Joss! And also, the WB and Fox. What's not theirs -- Sage, Summer, Tia, Cora, Lance, the plot--is mine. Got it? Good. Now get going. The mythology is based off of Elisabeth Chandler's amazing novel-trilogy "Kissed By An Angel".

. . .

Prologue

It was the most beautiful ceremony anyone could ask for, and private at that. The only ones there were the happy couple's four friends, the bride's own mother, and their children, plus of course Reverend Green. Her dress was a lavish fifty yards of ivory satin decorated in white beads, with a sheer piece draped over it. Glitter fell over from her veil as she moved her head to look into her groom's eyes. They exchanged rings, vows, and the softest but most love-filled kiss they'd ever shared in their almost 12 years together. It had been only two months since they'd found each other again, but the two were ready to spend eternity together. The four young adults situated at the front on the right side pews clapped, one even obnoxiously hooted and whistled.

"Dead Boy! Dead Boy!" He repeated. The bride and groom broke and laughed at him as the group came forward.

"Xander, shut up." His wife Cordelia chided.

"If you wanted to support the groom," Oz Rosenberg calmly stated, "You should have sat on the other side. We can't all be in support of the bride, can we? I mean, is that standard? Normal?"

"Oz, you're forgetting that we're not your normal couple," Buffy grinned, wrapping her arms around Angel's neck.

"I guess you're right."

"Oh isn't this so great? The Scooby Gang all happily bound for life. Now we can never have an excuse to miss out on special get-togethers!" Willow smiled.

"Scooby Gang minus one, Willow. Remember that Giles never got the chance before-" Cordelia instantly saw their downcast looks. "Well, unless he did, when he was a teen. You know, like the Ripper?"

"So, do we get to throw the confetti in honor of the happy couple or are you all just going to stand there talking inaudibly while the children get fussy?" Joyce Summers came up behind them.

"No need to break out those messy little pieces of paper and make Father have to sweep again Mrs. Summers, I've got something just as festive…" Xander pulled back his tux coat and produced a can of Silly String from the pocket. He popped the protective cap and began to shake it.

"Don't you dare," Buffy's eyes traveled from it to him.

"Xander, if you spray that-" Cordelia reached for it but he pulled it away. She lunged for it again. He bent over backwards, over the front pew, to keep it out of her grasp. When she swung at him again, he accidentally set it off right in her face. Sage and Summer giggled at them. Tia was a little more stern faced but her eyes betrayed her laughter at the couple. Cordelia stepped away from Xander, covered in foam. She wiped the stuff out of her eyes and glared at her husband, who was grinning innocently, still holding the can. Cordy shrugged casually and straightened the pastel gown she'd helped Buffy pick out for the wedding. Then, unpredictably, she lunged again at Xander. He moved quickly and dashed down the carpeted aisle as fast as he could.

"You're going to pay for that Harris! You're driving all the way back to Cincinnati nonstop!!" The adults laughed as well at the mismatched lovebirds, even the reverend chuckled before he disappeared into the back hall.

"How they've lasted this long it's a mystery to me," Angel said. They all smiled again and Buffy put her head on his inviting shoulder. Sage shifted uncomfortably in his starched dress clothes and the girls fiddled with their lacy gowns.

"What do you guys say, why don't we head back to the house and get at that cake huh?" Buffy smiled.

"Yeah!"

"Ooh, did you get chocolate?" Willow asked as bride, groom, and remaining guests followed after the Harrises.

"What do you think? Vanilla gives the girls hives and they didn't have that strawberry kind we always have on birthdays."

"Well if you'd have called me before, I could have gotten a friend at the gallery to make you one in Sunnydale Buffy," Joyce sounded offended. Her daughter stopped and looked at her.

"Mom, I don't care if Marisa back in LA made it and had it sent to you, I'm not getting a cake from Sunnydale. It could have pickled fire demon or eye of newt or fricasseed korridor-"

"Korred," Oz corrected.

"Whatever. Anyway, when you see it, you'll renounce our decision of getting a six foot delicacy from the local bakery rather than have it sent from a town three and a half hours away."

"It wasn't our decision Buffy. You wanted a leaning tower of sugar, I wanted a nice, small, reasonable sized cake. The-"

"Angel you wanted one of those frozen ice cream ones they have at Dairy Queen."

"Guys, happy occasion? You just tied the knot, became man and wife…are you going to separate this early over something as trivial as a pastry?" Willow stopped them. "We aren't even out of the church. And Xander's not even out of silly string!" they heard screams and shouts rising on the late summer air and the sound of escaping pressure from a spray can. "Well, maybe not. Come on! You two just did something you won't be getting to do any more! And already you're acting like a couple who have passed their 50th anniversary."

"Sorry Will. You're right."

"Good old reliable Willow," Angel gave her a smile as they finally stepped out of the chapel. The kids were cheering Cordelia on as she chased her now-foam covered husband around the parking lot, having somehow wrestled the silly string from him. The can ultimately gave up on Cordy, freeing Xander from her stringy wrath. Buffy unraveled from her husband's grip and made her way to her son and new step-daughters. Angel stood at the bottom of the stairs, alone while Willow, Oz and Joyce joined them. He stared at Buffy with an affectionate gaze, almost unsure of the day. Just two months before he didn't even know who any of them were, but after he'd called off his marriage and engagement to Cora and he and Buffy had shared their first kiss in almost a decade later that night outside his residence, the flood of memories that washed over him was almost too much for himself to handle. Then he remembered he was mortal. He also had Buffy. And that he'd sired his first children all remarkably in the same year; Sage on the night after he'd had his mortality restored, and the twins Tia and Summer when he and Cora had been seeing each other in the fifth month of their relationship. He'd met Cora while staggering around Sunnydale, she was a vibrant young lady from San Francisco, and he'd lied and said he was wealthy and also lived in the Bay area. With luck he'd actually remembered the number of the account he had money stored in Whistler had somehow provided. Now he was reported to be the richest man, or former vampire, in San Francisco. Angel's mind wandered to the dream, or nightmare rather, he'd had on the night before he broke up with Buffy, on her prom; they'd gotten married. They'd walked outside, exactly like this. And when she'd sat on the side of the stairs leading from the chapel, she'd caught aflame. He made a double take to make sure she wasn't a ball of fire, but his new bride wasn't there. He gasped and looked around panicked before someone tapped his shoulder. He spun and jumped away slightly. There she was, smiling and holding the keys to his black Porsche.

"Hey, are you back from la la land yet? I wanna go before the press spots us." She kissed him with his keys dangling by his ear. Angel took them and kissed her back. They were interrupted by a car horn honking.

"Let's go! You guys can do that when the kids are asleep!" Xander yelled. Cordelia dug her nails into his arm, pulling him back down into their red convertible that resembled her old car. The only difference was the license plates. They rolled their eyes and climbed into their own car, where Joyce and the kids already were.

. . .

Page 1 of 4
Read the next part >>

. . .

Fanfiction Index