"Pre-Wedding Hysteria"
Author: Pamela
Contact: destructo-girl@cox.net
"They're going to hate me."
"What?! Why would they hate you?" Buffy argued as she and Angel stood in Sunnydale's small airport waiting for her maternal grandparents to get off of their plane.
"Your dad hates me."
"He does not, Angel!"
"Buffy he uses every chance he gets to verbally bash me."
Buffy sighed loudly. "Angel, you're upsetting me."
"I'm sorry." Angel apologized, truly feeling guilty. She had been dealing with a lot of stress. Having an infant in the house made everything chaotic, and it was hectic enough with the wedding in a week.
Angel smiled to himself when he realized that in a mere week he'd be Buffy's husband. She'd be his wife.
And they'd go to Hawaii... alone.
"Just don't worry about them, Honey. Don't you remember how much Grandpa liked you last January? And if Grandpa likes you, so will Grandma." Buffy assured him. "Just be glad it's not my dad's mother that's coming into town."
"She's the one from Buffalo, right?"
"Yeah, and she hates pretty much everybody. But she refuses to go near the West Coast so we won't see her for a long time. I suppose we should have visited her when we were in New York, but I think it would have been a long drive." Buffy told him. "Plus, I'm not sure she would have loved seeing her seventeen year old granddaughter with her older boyfriend on their trip alone to New York."
"That tends to upset grandmothers." Angel agreed.
"Okay, here they come! Remember, we haven't told them I'm pregnant yet." Buffy reminded him before running and hugging her grandfather and grandmother.
Angel walked more slowly towards them. "Hello, Mr. Evans."
"Angel! How are you doing? Nervous? You do realize you are one helluva lucky guy for marrying our Buffy, don't you?" Truman Evans grinned.
"Oh, I am well aware of that sir." Angel smiled back.
"Oh, Buffy he is *adorable*!" Mary Evans smiled, as she looked at her future grandson-in-law.
Both Angel and Buffy blushed, so Truman nudged his wife. "Mary, you're embarrassing them!"
"I'm sorry.. I'm just so excited! Not only is my Buffy a bride but I have a grandson."
"Oh Grandma, Toby is great! He is so cute and sweet and I love to help take care of him..." Buffy began to gush about her new brother as the four of them walked out of the airport and headed home.
Angel made sure that the baby monitor was turned off so that he couldn't be overheard before he moved next to Buffy, who was busy diapering Toby.
"This may be a stupid question, but when are you planning on telling your grandparents about the baby? I'm thinking sometime before it's born would be nice."
Buffy sighed. "I know, I know... I'm just nervous about it. I don't know what they'll say."
"Well, they're pretty happy about the wedding. And I think they really like me." Angel told her with a proud smile.
Buffy couldn't help but the return the smile when she looked up at him. She looked back at her brother and finished dressing him. "I know that. They really do like you... But they are old, with old fashionedness... and the fact is I got pregnant when we weren't married and I'm not sure how they're going to feel about that. Especially my grandmother. She's very religious and fornication is, like, a mortal sin, or something."
"Yeah, but this isn't something you can just hide. Sooner or later they'll find out."
"I know." Buffy replied, "I promise as soon as a good time comes I will tell them."
"Before the wedding?"
"Before the wedding."
Pleased, Angel kissed the top of his fiancée's head as she picked up the baby and held him against her chest. Together, they headed downstairs; to spend the afternoon with Buffy's ever expanding family.
"Are you sure it's a good idea for me to lay out like this? What if I burn like I always do? I'll look like a lobster for the wedding." Willow asked as she lay on a lounge chair along with Buffy and Cordelia next to Cordelia's backyard pool.
"The wedding is six days away, if you burn it will probably turn into a tan by then. You ought to hope for a sunburn." Cordelia informed the redhead.
"Oh wow... I will be *married* in six days! I will no longer be Buffy Summers. I'll be Buffy McKellen... or Buffy Summers-McKellen... I haven't decided."
"I can't believe you still haven't told your grandparents you're pregnant." Cordelia replied.
"Yeah, Buffy, it's kind of one of those really important things they need to know." Willow agreed.
"And they need to know *before* little Cordelia graduates from high school so they can send her serious money!" Cordelia added.
Willow wrinkled her eyebrow. "What is she talking about... Little Cordelia?"
"She thinks if it's a girl we'll name it Cordelia." Buffy explained.
Cordelia looked at Buffy to retort, then gasped. "Oh my God!"
"What?!" Buffy and Willow asked in unison, both of them worried at Cordelia's expression.
"I just had an actual *nice* thought! I mean, it was totally complimentary towards you and everything Buffy!" Cordelia exclaimed. "I have to tell you now!"
Buffy and Willow gave each other incredulous looks. This should be interesting.
"You look, like, great! I mean, here you are three and a half months pregnant, and your stomach is flat as a board! I guess it's all that exercise you do because of being the slayer, huh? Your stomach muscles keep the baby in."
"Wow... That really was nice. Thanks."
Cordelia lay back against her lounge chair. "I feel really strange."
"Do you feel kind of nice, though? Because that's what it feels like for the rest of us when we say something nice." Willow asked.
"Yeah... I might try it more often. It's just so hard to have totally nice thoughts a lot, though."
Buffy patted the brunette's shoulder comfortingly. "Make sure you rest now, Cordy."
Cordelia nodded absently then made a face. "I just realized that even after your mom had Toby, she still looked just as pregnant as before."
Buffy frowned. "I know."
"But she is losing weight, and since he was so early she didn't get as huge as most pregnant women do... but you could probably be just plain fat for a long time Buffy!"
"I know!" Buffy repeated, her distress rising. "What if I am still huge after the baby is here and I gross Angel out and then he dumps me for a skinny girl?!"
Willow shook her head fervently. "It'll *never* happen."
Cordelia shrugged. "Probably not, anyway."
"No probably about it, Angel loves you Buffy. He'll love you fat or skinny."
Buffy took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"I am! So, when are you going to tell them?" Willow asked.
Buffy shrugged. "I promised Angel I'd tell them before the wedding. My dad is coming down here either tomorrow or the next day. Maybe tomorrow? I definitely need to tell them *before* he arrives... Because if he's here it'll be even more complicated. Tonight would be bad; we're going to be celebrating the 4th of July, because my grandfather is a 'real American'. It's so funny, Giles wants to please him so much he is praising America."
"You should tape that. You can use it as blackmail." Cordelia suggested.
"Now there is an idea!" Buffy replied a wicked grin on her face.
"Giles, why don't you tell us how great America is?!" Buffy asked with a grin on her face as she focused the camera on Giles as he sat at the picnic table in the backyard.
Her grandfather was busy showing Angel the ways of the barbecue as her grandmother and Joyce were bringing food out to the table. Giles was in charge of taking care of Toby, who was sitting in his baby seat.
Seeing Truman looking at him expectantly, Giles knew he must answer. "I... uh... love America because of all the... freedom... it's a land of... fighters. People fought for their freedom." Looking a little green he added. "England can only hope to one day achieve the same level of greatness as America."
Buffy grinned so widely her face hurt. "That's what *I've* been saying for years!"
Toby started crying, thereby giving Giles a way out of being tortured by his stepdaughter any longer.
Bored, Buffy wandered over to Angel and Truman. The heat from the grill was too much for her and she felt faint. Moving away, she could barely hear Angel and her grandfather asking her if she was all right before the backyard started to spin.
Buffy gripped the corner of the wooden table to try to get back her sense of balance. She realized Angel was trying to get her to sit on the bench. She let him guide her to a sitting position. Slowly, her senses returned to her.
"Maybe she needs a glass of water?" She heard her grandmother say.
She realized Angel was kneeling before her, concern filling his chocolate-like eyes.
She looked up and saw her mother give her a sympathetic smile and hold out a glass of water. "It's just a dizzy spell, Honey. It's completely normal, you're fine."
Buffy nodded slightly and took the glass, sipping it slowly.
"A dizzy spell? What's wrong with Buffy that she's having dizzy spells?" Mary asked.
Joyce remembered Buffy still hadn't told them she was pregnant. "Oh, um, I just meant that she's been in the sun all day. It's awfully hot out here, she probably just overdid it "
Joyce bit her lip as her parents gave her disbelieving looks. Buffy sighed, hating to make her mother lie for her. "It's because I'm pregnant."
"W-w-w-what?! You're what?" Truman exclaimed.
Mary sighed and shook her head in disappointment.
"I'm three and a half months pregnant. Yeah, I know, we aren't married yet, but in a week we will be and when I got pregnant we were already engaged."
Both her grandparents looked completely disappointed in her. Buffy looked down, trying not to cry. She begged herself not to cry. She managed to regain her composure and look up a moment later. Everyone was standing around awkwardly, except for Angel, who had moved to sit next to her on the bench, as though they were two little children about to get a lecture.
Mary walked over to her husband and softly touched his arm. "Why don't we finish dinner up. It's not like ruining the night will make a difference."
That seemed to work, because he went back over to the grill and finished cooking the hotdogs and hamburgers. Dinner went be uneventfully, but Buffy and Angel made a point to be as quiet as possible.
To Angel's horror, Joyce asked Buffy to come help her and Mary with the dishes, leaving him alone with Truman and Giles. Angel practically gripped Buffy's arm to prevent her from leaving, but she gave him a pleading look and walked away. Angel looked at Giles, begging him to help if he needed it.
He managed to sit in silence in the living room with the other men. Giles and Truman made idle conversation about world events and such, before Truman stood up.
"I think a bit of fresh air would do me good. Angel, would you mind joining me?"
This was it. He knew he was much stronger than the man was, but still... The idea that he could possibly be leaving Buffy and the baby on their own crossed his mind as he slowly rose from his seat. He had no idea why he feared this man so much.
Together, Angel and Truman walked out onto the front porch. Angel stood there nervously as Truman leaned against the railing and looked out at the neighborhood.
"I'm not happy about this, as I'm sure you know." Truman finally said. "I had my doubts about her getting married so young, but you two really seem to love each other. And this baby... There are so many things I object to. As of this moment she is pregnant, and not married. She's a teenager. I also don't think that people should have children right after they get married. But it's a little late. She is pregnant, at eighteen, and you two will be having a child pretty soon after you get married. What's done is done. I don't like it, but I don't want to cause my Buffy any more stress. She has a new brother, a baby of her own, and a wedding to worry about. I'm not going to offer her grief, just support."
Angel let out a breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding.
"But I am warning you, you had better treat my Buffy right. I don't want to find out that she's having any problems with you at all... if I do... you will be sorry."
Angel nodded. "I would make anybody else who hurt Buffy sorry they were ever born, so I would want someone to do that to me."
Truman smiled and patted the 'younger' man on the back. "I think I like you. I almost trust you. But this is my granddaughter we're talking about... it'll take time."
Angel smiled, he had the rest of their lives to prove to everyone just how much he loved and adored Buffy.
"Buffy, your father is on the phone!" Joyce shouted.
Buffy sprang up from the couch, leaving her grandfather to watch Wheel of Fortune on his own. She grabbed the cordless phone from her mother and went out on the back porch so that she could have some privacy from her mother and grandmother in the kitchen.
"Daddy, where are you? It's Tuesday night, you should have been here by now."
"I know, I'm sorry Princess... We've been swamped at work and I'm at the airport. I have to fly to Japan... it's a last minute thing."
"Japan?!"
"Yes, but I should only have to be there for a couple days... and as soon as I get in I will head down to Sunnydale."
"You won't miss my wedding?"
"I give you my honor that I won't miss it. Now I have to run. I love you Sweetie."
"I love you too Daddy." Buffy replied, turning the phone off and taking a deep breath in hopes of washing away her doubts.
Her Daddy would never ditch her. Would he?
"I think we are *finally* done!" Buffy sighed as she flopped down on the brand new couch in her brand new home.
Angel flopped down next to her. "Want to... christen... every room?"
"Want to order pizza?"
Angel ignored that and began kissing her neck; his fingers trying to undo the buttons of the baggy denim shirt she wore.
"Angel knock it off!" Buffy practically growled. "I told you, not before the wedding."
Angel rolled his eyes and released her. "That makes no sense at all! It's not like we've never had sex. After all, you *are* pregnant. What difference does it make now?!"
"Because my grandparents are already disappointed in me. The least I can do is hold off on my hormones until I am a married woman."
"They're never gonna know!"
"*I* am gonna know though!" Buffy argued, then sighed. "Come on, Angel. The wedding is Saturday. Three days from now. In 72 hours we will be married. You can't wait until then?"
"Fine!" Angel resigned, annoyed.
"You're mad?"
"I'm not mad."
"You are! What, I tell you I won't have sex with you, and I'm going to make you wait a few *days* and you get all pissed at me? What kind of marriage are we going to have if all you want from me is sex?"
"I don't just want sex from you!"
"Sure, fine... Whatever." Buffy replied, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away.
"Look... I just think this wedding stress is making you a little...insane."
"Insane?! *Insane*?! I'm insane?! Why did I even want to get married in the first place?" Buffy replied as she stood up and marched around the room.
"What are you saying?" Angel asked, standing up as well.
"I don't know!" Buffy's voice began to rise. "Maybe this isn't a good idea, since you seem to only be interested in one thing!"
"Oh that is such a load of crap!" Angel began to shout.
"I need to get out of here!" Buffy vented as she walked towards the kitchen.
Angel grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?"
"I'm calling my house to get someone to come pick me up."
"Why don't you want *me* to drive you home?"
"Because I don't want to be near you right now!" She replied, her voice cracking as tears streamed down her face. "Did you ever even think about how our wedding night is supposed to be so special? I just thought you could wait three days!"
Angel instantly felt remorseful. "I'm sorry, Honey. I'm the one who's being cranky... I didn't even consider your feelings." He pulled her into a hug. "Forgive me?"
Buffy nodded. "I'm sorry I'm so wacked."
"Shhh..." Angel comforted, kissing her on the top of her head, feeling guiltier than he had in months.
Buffy and Cordelia sat at the kitchen counter in Buffy's house, eating salads they had picked up on their way home from the bridal shop when they had picked up their dresses for the wedding in two days. Willow had a previous engagement with her mother, but would be picking her dress up later that afternoon.
"I'm so glad I still fit into the dress." Buffy said before stuffing a forkful of lettuce in her mouth.
"Well, you picked a good dress, even if you were showing you'd look good in it."
"Yeah... but think about the clothes I bought for Hawaii... now, my stomach is flat, but it used to be inverted... Will I still look good?"
"As annoyed as I am to say it, you will look great." Cordelia replied.
The phone rang, interrupting the girls. Buffy rushed over to it and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hey Princess." She heard her father reply on the other end.
"Daddy, where are you? Are you heading down here now? The wedding is in just a couple days!"
"Honey... I don't know how to tell you this... I'm not going to be at your wedding..."
Giles walked in the front door, fully expecting to find the house loud, and people bustling about with final preparations for the wedding. So when he found it in utter silence, he was surprised. Wandering about, he found Truman at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in front of him as he stared off into space.
"Hello, Truman, where is everyone?" Giles asked his father-in-law.
Truman looked up at Giles in surprise, as if he hadn't even noticed he'd come in. "Joyce and Mary went to go shopping for a few things, they took Toby with them. Buffy's upstairs with her friend... Cordelia, I think her name is."
Giles nodded, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. "Are you all right?"
Truman shook his head. "That bastard father of Buffy's, Hank, called and told her he couldn't come to the wedding. My granddaughter is upstairs, bawling her eyes out thanks to him."
Giles' jaw dropped. "How could he do that to her?! He knew she'd been looking forward to him being there for all these months."
Truman shrugged his shoulders. "He claims that he's stuck in Japan on business. I can tell you I would never put my job before my daughter. She really wanted him to give her away."
Giles put down the books he had carried home from the Sunnydale High School library. "Would you please excuse me? I'm going to try to talk to Buffy."
Truman nodded slightly, watching the younger man rush out of the room and up the stairs. He smiled slightly. Buffy might have the worst father, but she quite possibly had the best stepfather to make up for it.
Giles rapped softly on Buffy's bedroom door. "Might I come in Buffy?"
"Go ahead Giles." Cordelia answered.
Giles slowly opened the door and found the two girls sitting on the edge of the bed. Who was surprised to see that Cordelia had her arm around Buffy, not worrying about appearances and just being the comforting friend.
Poor Buffy looked horrible. Her face was red and her eyes puffy from her crying. Cordelia had a box of kleenex's in her lap and she would occasionally hand the blonde one.
Giles gingerly sat on the bed beside her. "Can I talk to you for a moment, Buffy?"
Buffy nodded, unable to speak because of her sobbing.
"I'll go get her water." Cordelia said softly then left the other two alone.
"I'm so very sorry your father won't make it, Buffy. I'm sure he is completely heartbroken he's going to miss your wedding." He told her in a comforting voice.
"I have to wonder if he's even really in Japan... what if he just doesn't *want* to go to my wedding?" Buffy sobbed.
On instinct, Giles pulled her into his lap, allowing her to bury face in his shoulder as he rocked her slightly. "I'm sure he wants to come more than anything, Buffy. You're his only daughter, he wants to be there for your big day."
"He was supposed to walk me down the aisle."
"I know... Perhaps your mother could? I hear that it's become quite a trend."
Buffy couldn't help but laugh. "Oh God... I never thought I'd hear *you* telling *me* about trends!"
Giles smiled back at her. "It'll be all right, Buffy."
Buffy looked down. "Um... feel free to say no, okay? I was just... well... not that I think you're my second choice, it's just my dad is... my dad, but... would *you* walk me down the aisle?"
Giles couldn't believe it. He'd never dreamed Buffy would deem him worthy of such an honor.
"I'd be delighted, Buffy."
"He what?!" Joyce exclaimed as she stood in the kitchen after just arriving home with her mother and son from their trip to the mall.
"He said he's in Japan or something... basically he's not coming to the wedding. Buffy was kind of... blubbery and hard to understand but I am sure of the fact that he isn't going to be there." Cordelia told her. "Giles is talking to her now."
Joyce sighed; it would be just like her husband to ruin her daughter's big day. She had no idea what she'd ever seen in him.
At least he'd given her Buffy.
She was about to head up to her daughter's room when she saw Giles walking down the stairs with his arm around Buffy.
"Everyone, get ready to go. Buffy wants a Big Mac." Giles announced.
Joyce exchanged smiles with her parents, as they were relieved to see Buffy seemed to be doing pretty well considering.
"*You* are going to McDonald's Giles?" Cordelia asked incredulously.
"Yes... I go there often." Giles lied. At the looks of disbelief from everyone he amended "Okay, I've never been there but I am sure I will like it. I eat sandwiches."
Buffy smiled warmly at him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."
She walked over to Cordelia, who grabbed a Kleenex and did her best to fix her makeup.
Joyce walked up to her husband. "Thank you for helping Buffy."
"I'd do anything to make her happy, Joyce." He replied the added with a proud grin. "And she even asked me to walk her down the aisle!"
"Are you sure I don't look fat in this? It's skin tight!" Buffy asked as she stood in front of her full-length mirror in her room.
Buffy was a wreck. She was trying not to let her father's absence ruin her big day. She was trying to help take care of Toby. She was trying to get ready for the honeymoon. And it was the night of the wedding rehearsal.
In 24 hours she would be married.
Her mother shook her head from her seat at the foot of Buffy's bed as she fed Toby. "Not at all."
"But my stomach..."
"Is flat!"
"And used to go IN, not stay OUT!" Buffy cried. "I should just wear my overalls."
Joyce rolled her eyes. "Ignoring the fact that you can't wear overalls to your wedding rehearsal, you look wonderful honey. Calm down, take deep cleansing breaths."
Buffy gave her mother an annoyed look, then glanced at her watch. "Eww... We're leaving in five minutes, I guess I have to wear this... maybe I should wear a long baggy coat with it."
Joyce rolled her eyes again. If this was how bad Buffy was now, they'd be in real trouble in about four months.
"You. Look. Beautiful." Angel told her, accenting each word with a kiss.
"Just think... 24 hours from now.. okay, we'll be on a plane in 24 hours, but 48 we'll be on a tropical island." Buffy grinned.
"No interruptions."
"None." Buffy replied, kissing him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but they're seating us so you two have to come in." Joyce called, sticking her head out the front door of the restaurant.
The couple sighed and pulled apart, then walked hand in hand into the restaurant. As soon as they walked in, they were greeted with the blinding flash of Mary's camera.
"Oh, you two are so darling!" She exclaimed giving her granddaughter's face a squeeze before fluttering off to the table the maitre d showed them to.
As Buffy and Angel slowly followed, he whispered in her ear. "Now I see where your mother gets it."
Buffy smiled, until she came to a realization. "Oh no... what if I end up like that?!"
"I'll love you anyway."
"And try to stop me?"
"Of course."
"Thanks sweetie." Buffy smiled as Angel held a chair out for her to sit in.
Angel didn't know, *how* it happened, but he was stuck next to Xander. Unamused, he watched the boy stuff forks in bread rolls and danced them around. Everyone else ignored him, as Angel tried to do, but Xander wouldn't let him, often hitting him with the rolls. Angel wanted to snatch the rolls away and smash them... but he didn't think that would bode well with his future in-laws.
After the dinner was over, Angel went to Buffy's with her family for dessert. At last Xander was out of his hair so he could enjoy the time with his beloved. He couldn't believe that this was the last night that he'd be single for the rest of his life... And he didn't mind a bit. He wanted nothing more than to spend year after year worshipping the beautiful creature that sat beside him.
He kissed her passionately, not wanting to let go. She clung to him as though he were her lifeline. Eventually, she had no choice but to break away.
"I have to get to bed." She said regretfully.
"Want me to tuck you in?" He teased a playful grin across his face.
"If you do that I'll never get to sleep, and since I have to get up early tomorrow I need my beauty sleep."
"You're already the most beautiful woman in the world." He told her, stooping down to steal another kiss.
"Stop being so charming!" Buffy laughed.
Reluctantly, Angel left, wondering if he would actually be able to sleep at all that night.
Buffy headed back into her house, told everyone goodnight and headed up to her room. Soon after she had gotten into her pajama's, there was a knock on her bedroom door.
"Come in." She called softly.
Her mother entered the room, a smile on her face. "Hi sweetie... I wanted to talk to you alone, and I wasn't sure I'd get another chance before the wedding."
"What about? Is something wrong?" Buffy asked apprehensively.
"Nothing. Everything is perfect." Joyce told her as she sat on the edge of Buffy's bed and patted the spot next to her. When Buffy sat down, she continued. "I just... I wanted to tell you I love you. I'm so happy for you and so very proud... I just can't believe my baby girl is getting married tomorrow... and that she's having her own baby."
"Mom!" Buffy admonished.
"I'm sorry, sweetie, but you'll see soon enough that your baby is always your baby, whether they are four or forty." Joyce explained as tears leaked from her eyes.
"Mom, don't cry! If you cry, I'll cry!"
"I'm sorry!" Joyce apologized as she and Buffy embraced, with tears spilling down Buffy's cheeks as well.
After they had calmed down, Joyce continued. "I don't know how to say this without it coming out wrong, but I need for you to know that... this will always be your home. If you *ever* for any reason, need a place to stay, you will have your room here."
"You don't think Angel and I will last?"
Joyce shook her head. "I *know* you will last... but, like, when he goes out of town on business, you might not want to be home alone, especially when you're eight months pregnant."
Buffy smiled and hugged her mother. "Thank you."
Buffy sighed and rolled over in her bed. Glancing at her bedside clock, she saw it was well after midnight. Cordelia would freak if she had bags under her eyes in the morning. She *had* to get to sleep soon.
Toby started crying and Buffy sprang up and out of bed. As she rushed to her brother's nursery, she realized this could be the last time she'd ever get to pick him up in the middle of the night. The thought saddened her... Until she remembered that in about six months she'd be getting up in the middle of the night with her own child. The thought excited her, and reminded her of all the reasons she was so looking forward to marrying Angel.
She sat in the rocking chair, the small baby resting his head on her shoulder as she pondered what was to come.
The End