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One of THOSE Days // Kitty Cat
DISCLAIMER: *laughs*
SUMMARY: It's one of those days for Buffy. Future fic. B/A fluffy fluff.
WORDCOUNT: 1586
A.N.: IMHO... pink mashmellows are EVIL (just ask my used-to-be-pristine-white fav pants.
Grrr.) And they taste weird, too.
A.N.2: *sighs* See what happens when you are not spoiled? I wrote this before being
knowing one 'little' detail of the finale. I'm in denial and SO not changing my story. So,
I guess that 'detail' is NOT happening here. That's. All.
ONE OF THOSE DAYS
by Leni
There were good days, she thought.
But today was definitely not one of them. Not only had she had to give a double martial
arts class - and there she blamed Claude, her fellow teacher, completely. What right did
he have to get the flu *just* on Wednesday? Didn't he know that every Wednesday there were
two *very exhausting* lessons and that *two* teachers were necessary to impart them?! -
but she had also had to walk all the way back home because Angel had taken the car to the
repair shop in L.A *again*
They really did need another car, maybe something with more space so the children could
play in the backseat?
She sighed.
Those were the times when Marissa and Catherine slept quietly sucking their thumbs... But
the twins were now seven-year-old healthy children and as such couldn't stay silent for
more than fifteen minutes.
Thank God Giles had offered to pick them up from school. Well, not much 'offer' as respond
- like any responsible 'Grandpa' - to heer cry of help. She wouldn't have been able to walk
to the school and then BACK to her house with TWO children on tow. She may have been the
Slayer but, damnit! she wasn't made of stone!
She opened the front door ready for the cries of 'Moooom, dinner's still not ready!' and
'Look what we did today!' but the house was strangely... silent. Too silent.
"Cat? Marissa?"
She put the gym bag on the floor and waited for an answer.
Nothing.
"Girls?"
She quickly took off her coat and moved to hang it on the holder. Just there he noticed a
note with her Watcher's careful writing. 'Took the girls home. Just rest tonight. Giles.'
Buffy blinked. The note still said the same.
Huh? Had Giles just *willingly* taken the Tornado Duo to his house? To his clean, tidy and
always so Giles-y house? And to spend the night!
Sure, they had left the girls at Giles' some times in the past, back when the girls
couldn't do more than crawl from one corner of their playpen to another... Did Giles even
know that they liked to hear stories before being put to bed? And that they liked
chocomilk with mashmellows (Cat wouldn't eat the pink ones. Therefore, in typical sisterly
manner, Marissa would try to leave only pink mashmellows for her sister which would result
in a sisterly spat and Angel scrubbing sticky pink grumps from the floor while Buffy tried
to change them into their pijamas...)
And Giles was *willing* to have them overnight?
Then she read the rest. 'P.S.: Willow is coming by to help me put them in bed.' Buffy
breathed out in relief, Cat adored her auntie (she still claimed that her red hair came
from Auntie Willow even though Angel had explained that his Grandma was a redhaired too.
Cat had demanded proof of it, there *had* to be a photography of her great-grandmother
somewhere, wasn't there? And neither Angel or herself knew how to explain that cameras
were not even invented then.) and Marissa, well, she loved anyone who could tell her a
fairytale... as long as it was an original one. Buffy smiled remembering that her
favourite was the crossover between Sleeping Beauty and The Magic Beans, with a guest
appearance of the Wicked Witch from the West... Poor Angel had conceived the crazy story
on a night when the girls wouldn't fall asleep at the Harris'...
Oh really, this Saturday it was their turn to have the kids over.
Buffy considered it a fair arragement: Every two Saturdays the children - the twins, Mark
and little Jesse - would spend the night at a house, alternatively theirs and the Harris',
and stay there until Sunday late afternoon. That way each couple had a 'free night' every
month... Anya was the one to come up with Rule Number One: The visiting parents don't
leave until their children are asleep and silent (that was after the twins had kept her up
until three in the morning...) That rule was followed by Angel's 'If they are left around
pink mashmellows it's NOT our fault.'.
She remembered that on that special night -ninth anniversary!- Marissa had been fussing
too much, never quieting enough to sleep... and Angel was desperate because he had made
reservations in L.A. and they were *late*...
That's how her husband had invented the story of the lonely princess who traded her
spinning wheel for a magical bean and... well, truly, the only one who actually remembered
the whole story was Marissa herself. It was so funny to hear her plead with her Daddy to
tell her the story.. and in the end it was she the one who told it!
The phone rang.
Buffy rushed to the living room and reached for the cordless phone on the couch.
"'Lo?"
"Hey Buffy, did you read Giles' note?"
Buffy smiled, it was Willow of course. "Yeah... aren't you supposed to go to his
house to help him with the girls?"
"Don't worry. I already told him to pick the pink coloured 'mellows out... and we'll
tell them the G-rated version of your first year in Sunnydale. Giles has prepared a
masterful villain's voice for the Master--- heh, pun not intended."
"Will!"
"What?"
"The *Master*?"
"Well... hadn't you and Angel decided to show the twins our *real* world?"
"Yeah but... the Master?"
"Well, it was the best we could come up with. Though I guess we could do Mayor
Wilkins instead... only Giles can't do his voice as well..."
"Wil-lo-ow..."
"Just kidding. But the Master's really Giles' best impersonation... 'sides, the girls
already know about it and they are naturally curious. We figured this was the best way to
introduce her to our past."
"WHAT?"
"Well, you know Anya... she told the boys and Mark is a communicative little guy and
he told Marissa 'in secret' but you know the girls can't keep anything between them so she
told Catherine and then Cathy told me that there used to be, and I quote, 'a big bad man
with a bat's face in the basement but mommy made him go out'."
"After he killed me..."
"Well, be glad Anya didn't add that particular detail."
"Thank God for little favours, you mean?"
Willow smiled. "You know Anya as well as I. By the way... Buffy, you still haven't
checked your bedroom, have you?"
"Errr no. I just got in."
"Then go. Now." And she hung up.
Buffy looked at the phone in puzzlement and then shrugged. Her bedroom, huh? What had
Willow left there this time? Ever since they were best friends they had taken to leave
little presents on each other's beds... it was always a nice surprise and after all the
angst from ten years ago they had resumed the old habit.
She hacked up the stairs veeeeery slowly. Her thighs still ached from the strain and she
could feel sharp needles in her neck and upper back... She felt *awful*.
Thank God the girls would stay at their Grandpa's tonight. Nothing better than a
stressless night to relax. Maybe a hot bubble bath to soothe her muscles? If only Angel
was here and not repairing the damn car!
She opened their room's door and only noticed a slip of paper on the mattress. In Willow's
hurried handwriting it read: 'Poor you, it's D.T.D. (Double Time Day) and Claude has left
you alone (I found his girlfriend at the pharmacy today). You must be very tired and in
need of a good masseuse. So, as my gift for you I'll take your car to repair. P.S.: I'll
be back in time to help Giles with the girls.'
"You like the gift?" a soft voice asked from behind her.
Buffy grinned. "Oh yes." She watched him as he leisurely approached her and put
his arms around her. "I like it very much."
Angel chuckled and kissed her crown. "I love you too, Buffy." Buffy smiled
because that was what she had meant.
"I think you owe me a massage," she reminded him pointing to Willow's note.
"I think so, too," he drawled. "Willow gives excellent gifts, don't you
think?"
She nodded. "Don't forget Giles, he'll be the one picking mashmellows from the floor
tonight." Still smiling, she took off her blouse and laid herself face down on the
mattress. She waited patiently until Angel situated himself behind her and placed his
hands on her shoulders. He began a smooth circling motion... it hurt. Just a bit. But then
it became nicer, she could almost feel her muscles relaxing back into their respective
places.
She nearly purred in delight.
After a while she felt better than when she first woke up. Angel's movements were now slow
and meant to entice her. It was working. "Did you know that they are telling our
girls about the Master tonight?" she asked when the silence got too much.
"Giles does a wonderful imitation," he answered, "sounds like a real
villain. Must be all those years as the Ripper."
"Mmmm." She closed her eyes and enjoyed her husband's ministrations.
"You feeling relaxed now?"
Buffy just nodded into the mattress.
When she opened her eyes again, Angel's eyes were inches apart from hers while his lips
were just milimeters away... she crossed the distance without a second thought.
And she silently thanked Giles for keeping the girls overnight. And Willow for the good
idea.
And, really, this was one of those good days.
The End
11/06/03
Feedback,
please?
DISCLAIMER: Well, the girls are mine... the kitty is mine... Angel
and Buffy are not mine... Oh well, I still own three out of five! :-P
SUMMARY:The family goes pet-shopping.
WORDCOUNT: 845
DEDICATION: To my 'Minina'. May you be in the Cats' Heaven... running
after rubber mouses (and munching on them as you were so fond of doing), eating tuna with
mayonnaise everyday and protecting poor, helpless puppies as you always did (really, she
did!). *sniffs*
KITTY CAT
by Leni
Angel could feel their hopeful stares boring into him.
He glared at the black thing sitting oh so innocently on the store's counter.
He shook his head adamantly.
"Oh no. No way. No how..."
Three pairs of eyes pleaded with him.
He shook his head his head again.
"But daaaaaad..." Cathy wailed.
"No," he said determinedly.
He had never thought he would deny his dear family anything... But *this* was just too
much... he stared at the squirming *thing* on the counter.
He blinked.
It wasn't on the counter... He heard cooes and 'darling's coming from his younger -by
whole twenty minutes- daughter. His gaze turned to Marissa and yes, there IT was... making
strange noises while searching for a comfortable spot in his daughter's arms...
"Please daddy?" Marissa insisted with her big brown eyes. "Please, please,
pretty please?"
"With a cherry on top..." Buffy purred with a smirk.
For a second breath left him... his wife certainly knew how to ask.
Mmm... cherries.
But... "No."
Catherine ran to her sister and plead with her to let her carry the *thing*. Angel shook
his head and stared at his wife. "Buffy, stop them... you know we can't..."
"Why not?"
"You work. I work... the girls are not even eight yet... who would care after
it?"
She just cocked an eyebrow, letting him know that his words were without fair cause.
"It's just a cat, Angel. And you did promise them a pet..."
"Yes bu---"
"Its name is Kiana," declared Catherine playing with the recently named kitty's
ears.
Buffy smiled.
"Kiana?" Angel asked, closing his eyes. Good, they'd gone and made the black
kitty *theirs*. Now it'd be impossible to tell the girls no.
"Well," Marissa explained, "I wanted to call her Kitty.."
"It sounds too much like Cathy!" her sister protested.
"..but Cathy wanted to call her Diana," Marissa continued.
"It's a better name too! Diana is a princess' name while Kitty is a name for every
other cat in the world!"
"...so we settled for Kiana," the younger sister finished glaring at her
interrupting sister.
"It's a beautiful name," their mother agreed, "don't you think so,
honey?"
Angel was trapped and he knew it. It was not that he didn't want pets... his argument
about no one having time was invalid, either he or Buffy was always at home, and the girls
were very responsible for their short age... but why a cat?
Couldn't it have been a nice canary? Or some fishes even? For gods sake, even a puppy
would have been better, in his experience dogs were a lot more manageable... but a cat!
He glanced at his daughters' happy faces, both of them petting and cooing to 'Kiana', then
at his smiling wife who was watching tenderly at their girls, and finally at the kitty...
as if she knew that he had the final word, 'Kiana' met his eyes with her own golden ones
and purred louder... Angel smiled in spite of himself.
Demons and Apocalypsi he could fight, but not a little cat which his family already was in
love with.
"Very nice." He breathed deeply, knowing that he was damned to follow their
whims since that very first day in L.A. "Welcome to the family, Kiana," he
finally allowed.
His three girls squealed in joy.
Once Buffy had sent the kids with the money to pay for the black kitty, she immediately
went to hug Angel in a tight embrace. "You're the best," she whispered.
"I still want that cherry on top," he whispered back.
Buffy blinked in surprise. She turned and answered his smirk with one of her own...
"You can bet on it," she purred.
They would have kissed but a loud MEOW called for help...
"Marissa!" Cathy whined. "give her to meeeeeee!"
"No, it's MY turn."
"It's mine!"
"No!"
"Give her!"
"Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeow!!!"
"Look what you've done!"
"It's your fault! You should have given her to me in the first place!"
"But it was still not your turn!" Marissa defended.
"It was!"
"No, it wasn---"
"Girls," their mother interrrupted, "it is daddy's turn now, okay?"
Both pouted but finally they handed the dazed kitty to their father. Angel looked
bewildered at the offered cat but finally took her in his arms. For a moment he didn't
know what to do with her but finally opted to put her on his chest so that her forearms
rested on his shoulder and the rest of her body dangled vertically over his body.
"Go ask the owner what we should give her to eat," he ordered the girls.
They nodded and went to search the older man.
Buffy smiled and petted the black ball of fur. The kitty stared down at her questioningly,
still looking a bit faint from the girls' manhandle. "Hey there," she said in a
calming voice, " you know what, Kiana? You chose a very crazy family to stay
with." And she winked playfully at the cat.
Angel laughed, petting unconsciously the small cat.
Golden confused eyes went from one to the other...
"Meow?"
The End.
25/06/03
Feedback,
meow?
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