ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES

CHAPTER 109 - CHISTMAS EVE WITH FRIENDS

December 24, 2008
Tuesday
4:30pm

“Are you ready yet, Elizabeth?” William said, jingling the car keys he held in his hands.

“We don’t have to be there for a half-hour still, which means we really don’t have to leave for another 15 minutes.”

“Alright, alright,” he said dejectedly, plopping down on one of the chairs. He smoothed out the leanlean blue and tan sweater that Elizabeth had bought him while at the mall a couple of weeks ago. She’d given it to him today as an early gift, in case he wanted to wear it, assuring him it was dressy enough, even for Christmas Eve. He wore the nice tan pants that he’d got him as well.

About 10 minutes later, she walked out of the bedroom. William inhaled sharply, as he gazed at her.

Her hair was in a loose ponytail, two ornate gold and green chopsticks through it, with a couple of curled tendrils framing her face. She wore a see through, forest green, lace top, with a thin, spaghetti strap tank top underneath it. She had on a black velvet skirt that came down just beneath her knees and black boots talmoalmost came up to her knees, sporting about 4” heels. She carried a matching black and dark green velvet jacket over her arm. She had on her lovebird necklace, as always, and a simple gold chain, which had couple of gold beads every 4 inches or so. Her earrings were gold and green stars.

William stood up and just stared at her.

“What do you think?” Buffy asked, turning around once for him.

“You take my breath away,” he said, his voice filled with emotion and appreciation.

“You, too,” she answered, pleased by his response.

He held out his hand to her and she took it. He pulled her into his arms and onto his lap as he sat back down.

“Look at you,” he said, “you’re…what’s another word for gleaming?”

“I gleam?”

“Like a precious gemstone, like a diamond…”

She kissed him, stilling his sudden burst of poetic expression, “Thank you, William,” she said, gently breaking off the increasingly passionate kiss, “but I thought you said we had to go.”

He groaned, putting his hand down along her hip, which in turn made her moan from the contact, “Uh…there it is,” he said, pulling out his watch from his pocket.

“We still have a good 5 minutes,” he said grinning, pulling her in for another kiss.

“Just watch the makeup. I won’t have time to reapply it.”

“I will, promise. Um…lipstick okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, grinning, “I’ll have time to put some more on, and you’ll have time to take some off.”

“Come ‘ere then!”


Buffy and William walked into The Rittenhouse Restaurant at exactly 5:00pm, carrying a large bag of presents.

Buffy had finally decided that the only way for Edna not to be overzealous every time she saw William, was not to avoid going there, but to go there. So, she had one day after school, she suggested that they have dinner. That had been early in September, and ever since then, they had come at least once a week. Luckily, it paid off in that manner and Edna never again said something that sent William into a nightmarish tailspin.

Edna never let them pay, much to William and Buffy’s chagrin, so William offered to at least do something around the restaurant for her, as did Buffy. At first, Edna wouldn’t even hear of it, but when Buffy said that William would not be comfortable coming there to eat anymore, if they couldn’t pay and couldn’t at least return the favor, Edna relented.

“At least I could mow for her,” he’d said.

“I think her grandson does that.”

“Yeah, but he’s busy with school now.”

And so, that was one thing that William would do on the occasional Saturday morning.

And when one day he’d come home and told Buffy that Edna had said that the hostess was ill for the day and the other was out of town, Buffy called Edna, telling her she would be glad to step into the role for the evening.


“Master William! Miss Elizabeth,” Edna said excitedly, seeing them as she walked up to the front from the dining area.

“Edna!” they both said.

“Merry Christmas,” Buffy said, reaching into the bag that William held and handing her a large present.

“Oh my!” Edna said, flustered, “you didn’t have to…”

“Nonsense, my dear,” William said, giving her a card and a peck on the cheek.

“Shall I open this now?” she asked.

“Sure,” Buffy answered.

Edna put the package on the maitre d’s stand and carefully undid the wrapping, making sure not to tear it, as she was a die-hard saver and re-user of wrappings and bows.

Finally, she came to the package and opened it up.

“A cuckoo clock? How did you know?” she asked, her eyes tearing.

“A little bird whispered that it was always something you’d wanted and that it reminded you of when you were a little girl,” Buffy said, smiling.

William grinned. He’d been that little bird, as he’d heard her talking to some other diners one night about her childhood and the subject of clocks had come up somehow. He hadn’t heard the whole conversation, but he remembered that when Buffy wondered what to get her.

“Thank you William, thank you Elizabeth,” Edna said, coming up and giving them a hug. “I’m going to put it right over that wall,” she said pointing to the wall that the museum room was located on.

“Maybe I can put it up for you later,” William suggested.

“Yes, you can, but not tonight William. No work on Christmas Eve! Now, if you’ll wait one moment…” she said, and disappeared into the dining room.

She was back in a couple of minutes; “Your table is waiting, if you’ll kindly follow me.”

Buffy smiled when she saw Dawn and John were already seated.

“You’re here!” she said excitedly, giving them hugs.

William hugged Dawn and shook John’s hand.

“Hey, there’s Clem,” Dawn said, waving to him as he walked over.

They sat down and started to talk, but Dawn interrupted, “I have a surprise for you Buffy,” she said, grinning.

“What’s that?”

“That would be me,” said a familiar voice.

Buffy turned around and there was Willow!

“Will!” she shouted, standing up and hugging her. “How? When?”

“Just last night. I spent the night and part of today with my mom and dad, and now I’m here!”

“But I thought they were going over to England for Hanukkah, “Buffy said.

“They already did,” she said, taking a chair, “but it fell early this year; about 2 weeks ago. I wasn’t going to come to the states again so soon, but then Kennedy got homesick and wanted to go see her family in New York, so that’s what she’s doing. In fact, I’m catching the red-eye back there tonight.”

“Tonight? Already?” Buffy said, disappointed, “but at least you’re here now!”

“Yeah, I know, it’s a short trip. Kennedy and I are spending tomorrow with her family on Long Island, then we’re going over to New Jersey, to see Xander and Angela and the kids.”

“That’s great. Okay, you’re forgiven then for spending less time here.”

They had ham and turkey and all the side dishes of a traditional dinner, plus Edna had some specialties from Ireland that she had cooked up as well.

Mrs. Carpello came by the table with her sister on their way to being seated.

“Hello Elizabeth, o Wio William. Merry Christmas Eve.”

“You, too. Everyone, this is Mrs. Carpello, directress of Montessori, where we work. Mrs. Carpello, this is my sister Dawn and her boyfriend John, and this is my best friend Willow. She’s in from England.”

“Ah, another English person in our midst,” she said, smiling at William.

“Not really,” Willow said, “I’m from California, but I live there now.”

“How wonderful for you,” Mrs. Carpello said, “and this is my sister Marjorie.”
llosllos were said all around once again.

“Well, I’ll leave you to your dinner. Will you and William be at midnight service tonight?”

“Um, I don’t think so, I…” Buffy stammered.

“You should think about it, St. Marks it’s quite nice. Very old fashioned church we have here, built around the turn of the century and it’s really quite spectacular looking at midnight; very special.”

“Um…maybe we’ll think about it,” she said, looking questioningly at William.

He nodded, “We will.”

“Well then, maybe we’ll see you tonight,” Mrs. Carpello said, smiling as her and her sister went to their table.

“Looks like everyone in town is here tonight,” Buffy said, looking around.

“It’s like this every year. You would have known that if you’d come with me all those years I invited you,” Clem said.

She just shook her head and shrugged. There was an awkward silence for a moment, until Willow started talking to John.

William squeezed her and and leaned over, whispering in her ear, “Why didn’t you ever come here on Christmas Eve.”

She looked at him, before softly answering, “Well, a couple of times I went to my dad’s, to see him and Dawn, but mostly I just stayed home.”

“Alone?” William asked, his eyes sad.

She shook her head, “Not here,” she said, putting her hand over her heart, which he took in his, his eyes never leaving hers.

Dawn cleared her throat, and Buffy and William quickly returned their attention to the table, “So, when are we going to get to the presents?”

Buffy grinned at her, ever the little kid who can’t wait, “You know the rules Dawn, first you eat, then you open.”

“Aw, mom!” she said.

They finished dinner with still 2 hours to spare before Willow, Dawn, and John had to leave to catch their flights.

“Why don’t we just invite them back to the house?” William whispered to Buffy.

Quickly her mind took in not only the time logistics of it, but the idea that now, their house, Spike’s house, would be opened up to guests. Willow she didn’t mind, Dawn had already been there, but John… She looked at William and she didn’t have a good reason she could come up with for denying him this. Besides, she’d just make sure that Willow still had that protection spell in place, maybe throw a forgetting spell in for good measure. Besides there was something she wanted to talk to Willow privately about.

“Okay,” she answered him. Heled led at her, pleased.

“Elizabeth and I would like to invite you back to the house to open presents there with us, instead of here. It’s not far and you’ll still have plenty of time to make it to the airport. And, we have wine.”

“Well, if there’s wine,” Willow said, smiling, as she raised her glass of White Zinfandel.

“Goodnight, Edna, Merry Christmas, dear,” William said, holding the shopping bag full of gifts with one hand, Elizabeth’s arm linked through his other.

“Merry Christmas to you, too, William, Elizabeth. I’m so glad you’re together again…” she smiled at the happy couple, but stopped herself before she got carried away.

“Teresa said maybe you would be coming to services tonight?” Edna asked hopefully.

“Teresa? Oh, Mrs. Carpello, well, um…maybe,” Buffy said.

“Good night dears,” Edna said.

“Boy, everyone is really wanting us to go to church tonight,” Buffy said, laughing, as they drove toward home. Behind them were Clem ailloillow in one car, Dawn and John in the other, following.

“Did you ever go?” William asked, after a moment.

“Where? Church? Um…not really. I mean, I think my mom took me a couple of times when I was real small. Dad wasn’t with us, I don’t think. Then when I was about 10, I went to a friend’s church once or twice, but my mom didn’t like what I told her about it when I returned, so I never went again. Other than that…guess Elizabeth and church are unmixy things,” she said, feeling a bit more than the usual ungodly heathen she rather thought herself, not without some perverse satisfaction. Well, rather an ‘ungodly,’ than someone like Caleb. She stifled a shudder; “What about you?”

“I went to church pretty regularly as a boy. We went to a small church, not far from our home, but every other year on Christmas Eve; we went to services at Westminster Abbey; it was quite…moving. To be in that grand cathedral…we sat in this part of the Abbey called the Nave. To look up as a child and see that ceiling that is over 100 feet tall, all gothic arches and such…well, you can imagine, it’s quite an impressive thing; sharing that sense of awe, the sense of history. And when we sang, the music seemed to echo right off the walls, the ceiling, until it felt like the music was right inside you; hundreds of people all there on that special night, all holding little candles, all singing. It was…oh, nevermind. It was a long time ago,” he said, hastily.

“It sounds like it was really nice. How old were you when you first went?”

“Um…maybe around 8. My mum always had wanted to try it, but my father wouldn’t hear of it, since he thought the vicar of our church would be insulted, even though lots of the parishioners went to the cathedral for Christmas Eve. Still…it wasn’t until my father died that we went. My mum’s compromise was that we only went every other year, that way, she felt like she wasn’t hurting the vicar’s feelings too much, or my father’s memory.”

“I see. Well, that was pretty clever of her, really.”

“Yeah, she was that…” he trailed off.

Buffy put her hand over his, as they approached the house, “That was a nice story. Thanks for telling me that.”

He reached over and took her chin in his hand, then kissed her, “You’re the keeper of all my memories, Elizabeth. Aren’t you?” he asked, his question obviously carrying so much more than one meaning.

She nodded, “I guess I am at that.”

He nodded back briefly, then got out of the car, as did she.

“Come on in everyone,” Buffy said, as William held the door open.

“William, Buffy, this is so nice,” Willow said, once inside.

William took Willow and John on the tour, while Clem started the fire and Dawn helped Buffy in the kitchen with the getting the wine poured.

“Bet it feels funny having everyone here, huh?” Dawn asked.

“Yeah, but nice, too. William is the one who suggested it, he loves his friends,” she said, smiling at Dawn.

The trouped into the kitchen just then, on their way out the back door. John came over to Dawn and pulled her with him. She gave Buffy a helpless grin.

“Where you taking them now?”

“Out to see the sky, the barn, I dunno.”

“William, don’t you want our guest to be able to have some time to relax, drink some wine, open presents?” she gently scolded.

“They will, they will,” he said, as the door banged shut.

It opened again, and Willow came back inside, “Think I’ll skip the barn tour,” she said, grinning.

Buffy rolled her eyes, “Do they know you stayed? Otherwise, they’ll be outside for an hour looking for you!”

“Yeah, I grabbed Clem and told him.”

“Good. Anyway, I’m glad you stayed,” Buffy said, giving her a hug, “want to help me carry these glasses out to the living room? Oh, wait, we need to move a table first.”

After they’d transported the coffee table from the spare bedroom to in front of the couch, dusted it off a bit, they put the glasses and bottles of wine down on it. Next they put everyone’s Christmas presents under the tree. Buffy plugged in the tree lights.

“Ooh, pretty!” Willow said, smiling.

Buffy nodded, “Yeah, it is. Our first tree, actually my first tree since coming here.”

They stood there admiring it for a moment.

“Um…Willow, I’m sort of glad you stayed behind there’s something I wanted to ask you about.”

“What’s up Buffy.”

“I’m not sure exactly, see I had this dream the other night…”

“A slayer dream?”

“No. I mean, I don’t think so, there was no slaying but there was…this is hard, and some of it’s kinda fading, you know, how dreams are, but other parts, the ones I wish would fade, they’re still so clear if I thiboutbout them,” she shook her head.

Buffy proceeded to tell Willow the content of her dream, how William had told her that it hadn’t been enough, how he had faded into oblivion before her very eyes.

“What do you think it means?” she asked Willow.

“I’m not sure,” she said, “could just be a bad dream.”

“Yeah, but what if it isn’t?”

“Buffy, maybe you’re just letting your insecurities get the better of you. After all, it’s still been a relatively short amount of time since Spike’s been back, I would think it’s normal to still have dreams that he’s gone or that he’s left. I think it’s just your subconscious fear.”

“I have conscious fear, too. I’m well aware of my fear. My fear and I are old friends. And believe me, I’ve had those kind of dreams, too. But this was so specific, it wasn’t just that he’d never come back or that he left, but that somehow I…I was responsible. See, I’ve been thinking Willow. Maybe this has to do with the prophecy. Maybe the part you couldn’t read? Please Willow, what if there’s something I’m supposed to be doing to make it stick, but I don’t know what it is, what if…”

Just then they heard the others come back in from the back door.

“Buffy!” Willow said, “There’s nothing else you can be doing. You guys are good, right?” she asked, with a slightly worried expression.

“We’re better than good, we’re wonderful,” Buffy answered.

“Then don’t worry, okay? Dream, that’s all.”

William came into the living room and walked over to Buffy, putting his arm around her, “Sorry, luv, got caught up with talking about the DeSoto.” He said, sheepishly, looking over at John.

“Don’t blame poor William, I kept him out there, making him answer 101 questions about his awesome car,” John said, winking at her.

“It’s okay, I forgive you both. Besides, Willow and I were enjoying our visit,” she said, smiling.

“Hey, presents!” Dawn chirped, going over to the tree, while everyone watched her with amusement. She turned around, blushing a little. “What? Can’t I be excited about presents anymore?”

“Of course you can, Dawn,” Buffy grinned, “you can be as excited as you want, but we’re still going to make a toast first.”

Dawn looked at Buffy, nodding, “I’m down with that.”


“Oh, here, this is for you, John,” Dawn said, handing him a package, “it’s from William.”

John opened it up, “Hey, it’s…wait a minute. Dawn, hand William the package from me, would you, hon?”

“William, I want you to open this the same time I’m opening yours,” he said, laughing. “It’s for you, too, Buffy.”

“Alright,” he said, taking the package from Dawn, as he looked at John, questioningly. “Elizabeth, do you want to…?”

She shook her head, “Nope, you do the honors.”

“Good. Okay. Ready, set, unwrap!” John ordered.

William tore off the wrapping, coming to a large box, which for its size was incredibly light. He opened it up and foam noodles popped out onto the floor. Digging down, he found a smaller box inside, also wrapped. Again, he tore off the wrapping, until he came to a small, long box. He opened it up and looked inside the envelope. He started to laugh and pointed at John, who was also doubled up.

“What is it you guys?” Buffy asked. She took the envelope from his hands and looked at a set of four tickets inside. They were for two Shakespeare plays at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego for the next spring and early summer. One was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the other for Taming of the Shrew. Buffy stated to laugh.

“We’ve got tickets, too,” Dawnd.
d.

“This is so cool,” Buffy said.

John held up an audio CD, “Plays of Shakespeare, read aloud by Sir Alec Guiness,” he said, laughing, “guess we’re both bound and determined to win our points, aren’t we William?”

“I should say,” William agreed. They shook hands and thanked each other.

Buffy got up and handed Clem his package, “It’s from William and me.”

He opened it up and whooped when he saw the DVD Recorder; “Thanks! This is great, guys! Now I won’t have to miss any of my favorite shows and I can copy all my old VHS tapes…wow!” Clem sat back, looking a bit overwhelmed.

“This is for you, Dawn,” Buffy said, handing her a package.

“Yeah, present!” Dawn said, and unwrapped it. “Wow! This is…wow!”

“What is it, Dawn?” Willow asked.

“It’s called Archeology Palm Pilot. It’s got…wow…just about every single thing I ever need to reference. See, when you’re out in the field, and you come across a find, you can look up the data on it, based on shape, location, density, etc. But you can also use the camera to take a picture of it, which is fed right into the Palm’s memory, which will bring up either what it is you’ve found, say a bone from a Mastodon’s little toe, or at least give you points of reference.”

“Cool,” Willow said.

“Very. Thanks, Buffy!”

“You’re welcome.”

“John, here’s another small present from me,” Buffy said, handing him a box.

He undid it and laughed. It was a mug which said, ‘Shrink This!’ on it, filled with Christmas candy.

“Thanks. Next time a patient is giving me a hard time, I’ll just hand ‘em a candy in this mug.”

Willow stood up and handed out gifts to Dawn, William, and Buffy, all wrapped with Harrod’s of London wrapping paper.

Dawn and Buffy each received a light blue sweater with a huge snowflake in the middle, which sported a detachable, thin, matching scarf. William also receia swa sweater. It was quite similar, sans the scarf and a darker shade of blue, and had a few snowflakes on it, instead of one large one.

“I was going to get you and William matching sweaters, but I thought maybe you wouldn’t go for it,” sai said laughing.

William shook his head, “With a scarf?”

“Um, no William, the his and hers sweaters didn’t come with a scarf.”

“This is fine, Willow. They’re really nice! And they almost match, don’t they, William?” she teased.

“Closely enough, but still allowing me some modicum of dignity,” he said.

The girls giggled.

Buffy rolled her eyes at Dawn, could she get more domestic? Almost matching ski sweaters. Sheesh!

“There’s one more for you guys,” Willow said, handing Buffy the package.

“Hmm…must be matching toothbrush holders!”

“Ha-ha. In fact, it’s not, just open it.”

Buffy opened the package. It was a bank shaped like Kensington Palace.

“Cool, a bank!”

“Not just any bank, but a we’re-going-to-save-money-so-we-can-come-and-visit-Willow-and-Kennedy-bank.

“Even cooler! Thanks,” she said, reaching over William to give her a hug.

“I’ll be right back,” Clem said, going out to his car.

“William, close your eyes,” he said, as he came in the door.

William heard something being rolled across the floor.

“You can open them now,” Clem said.

William looked at the large red and gray tool chest on wheels, sporting a big bow on top.

“Wow, Clem…”

“This is from me and Xander, for your tools,” Clem explained, “thought you might need it, when you’re working on your car and what have you.”

William stood up to look at it. He pulled open the drawers and lifted out the top section. There was a wrench and screwdriver set in there, as well as a sealed tray full of screws, nails, brads, washers, etc.

“Clem, this is…thank you.”

Clem just nodded, “My pleasure. Mine and Xander’s that is.”

William went over to Clem and whispered something to which Clem nodded.

“We’ll be right back,” William said to Elizabeth, “and you close your eyes this time.”

“Okay,” Buffy said, wondering what was going on.

She heard them go out the door, then a few minutes later, come back in.

“Your eyes still closed?” William asked from the doorway.

“Uh-huh.”

“I think she’s cheating,” Dawn yelled.

“No cheating!”

“I’m not, I’m not.”

“Okay then.”

William and Clem walked into the living room, carrying a large mirror, the dark wooden frame, ornately carved with birds and flowers, and leaves.

“Can I look now?”

“You can look,” William said.

Buffy opened her eyes and gasped.

“I hope you like it. You said you always wanted a mirror over the dresser…”

“William, it’s beautiful. Where did you get this?” she asked, standing up and walking over to it.

“At an antique store that Clem and I went to during one of my driving lessons.”

“My God, it must have cost so much,” she said, looking at him.

He shook his head, “Not as much as it would now. It was in pretty bad shape. No varnish, mirror was all cloudy, bits of the frame broken,” he said, pointing to a fine hairline crack that she could barely see.

“You fixed it up?”

William smiled shyly, looking down, “Well, Clem and I did…”

“Uh-uh, Buffy. William did most the work. Sanded it, varnished it. Put it together. All I did was find another mirror for it.”

“But you supervised and got the stain and brushes and all that, fixed the crack in the frame,” Clem argued.

Buffy had wondered what William was up to the past 2 weeks. He’d been going over to Clem’s almost every other night after dinner, telling her that it was a secret. Coming home with smelling like…varnish!

“William…this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done, it’s just beautiful! Thank you. Thank you, too, Clem.”

“You’re welcome, Elizabeth. Think we can put it on the dresser for now? Maybe we can hang it tomorrow.”

“Sure, come on. I’d better move some stuff off of there, then,” she said, heading for the bedroom with Clem and William following.

They put it on the dresser and stepped back to admire it.

“The wood color really matches, she said, admiring it.”

“I hoped it would.”

“Glad you like it, Buffy,” Clem said, walking back out to the living room.

Buffy stood in front of the dresser looking at herself and William’s reflection, as he stood behind her, watching as he bent over to kiss her neck, his eyes meeting hers.

“Thank you,” she said, turning slightly in order to kiss him.

He deepened the kiss and for a few moments, their guests were forgotten.

Finally they broke apart. She turned back towards the mirror, straightening her hair a bit.

He smiled at her and when she was done, took her hand, as they went back into the living room.


The rest of the presents were opened. William gave Dawn a pair of earrings that she’d admired in the antique store, buying them while she was busy elsewhere.

She gave him a hug, whispering, “Thank you; you big sneak!”

Dawn had bought William a gift certificate to classicalmusic.com and gave him a couple of CD’s she had burned on her computer of Mozart and of the Sex Pistols.

“Dawn! My God!” he said, blushing when she he saw the label.

“Well, you used to like them,” she giggled.

“I doubt that very much! I can’t even imagine it being legal for a musical group to have such a name!”

“Doubt away, William, but it’s the truth. I swear. Didn’t he use to like the Sex Pistols?”

William grunted, blushing even more, upon hearing her say the name. He looked helplessly at Elizabeth, who was doing the best to not burst out laughing, as were the others.

Finally, she shrugged, “Um…well, you did use to go for some of that punk stuff from the 80’s,” she said.

He shook his head, rolling his eyes, then threw up his hands, leaning back into the couch, “Give ‘em one thing, a quite daring name!”

Everyone laughed.

Willow’s present to William, was a variety package of foods and teas from England, which he promptly passed around for everyone to sample.

Dawn also had brought a couple of packages of Buffy’s favorite bagels from near their dad’s place.

“Yum! Now my Christmas morning will be complete!”

There were two large boxes under the tree.

Buffy got up and brought them over to William, “These are from me,” she said, smiling at him.

He looked at her, quizzically. She grinned back, nodding.

“The remote control cars!” he said, pulling the wrapping off of them. He looked over at her, grinning, “how did you get those home?”

“I have my ways,” she said, mysteriously. “Actually, I just had them ship them to the school and when they got there, I just put them into the trunk when you weren’t around.”

“Sneaky,” he grinned.

“That’s me.”

“Who wants to race me?” William asked.

John held up his hand and William handed him a remote.

“No, no, not in here!” Buffy said, as the cars took off towards the tree.

William stood up, making his car back up. It swooped by Willow, crashing into Dawn’s foot.

“Hey, ouch!”

“Sorry,” he said, grinning.

“New drivers,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.

“Okay, to the kitchen!” William said to John, as they steered their cars through the dining area, “come on Clem, give you a turn at the wheel as well,” he offered.

Buffy looked over at the Dawn; “You remember when William and I met you and John at the mall a couple of weeks back? Well, we went into Radio Shack and found these for Xander and Alex, but first I talked the clerk into letting us take a ‘test drive,’ and he let us go and play with them behind the store. He had such a good time, I decided to get him one, too.”

“And yourself?”

“Of course. No fun if you don’t have someone to race against,” Buffy said, grinning.

They all turned to hear some whooping going on from the kitchen.

“No, you didn’t! Clem, didn’t my car touch first?”

“Better go and investigate,” Buffy said, getting up. Willow and Dawn followed her.

“Are you boys fighting again?” Buffy teased, hands on hips.

“I think we should show them how, don’t you?” Dawn asked.

“William, I do believe that’s a challenge,” John said.

“I do believe you’re right,” William said, half-smirking at Dawn, “how about ladies against gents, then?”

“You guys are so going to get your ass kicked!”

William almost sputtered.

They picked their first contenders, Willow against Clem, while the guys gathered behind him, and the girls behind Willow.

“Ready, set, go!” Dawn shouted.

“Come on Clem!” John and William shouted, as Buffy and Dawn did the same to Willow.

“Hoo hoo! Clem wins!” John shouted.

“Hey, I just learned how to use this thing, and not very well, I may add,” Willow said.

“Pffft, pffft, sour grapes,” William said, causing Willow to reach over and smack him on the arm.

“Ow! That would’ve made you forfeit if you’d won, I’ll have you know!”

“It still would’ve been worth it,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him. He laughed.

“Who’s next?” Clem asked. “Dawn, you want to race John?”

“Oh no, I want to race William,” she said, giving him her most wicked smile.

“Okay, then it’s Buffy against John.

“She cheats, so watch her,” William warned, remembering how she distracted him at Radio Shack. Well, she wouldn’t do that, exactly…

“Yeah, but you didn’t mind,” Buffy said, winking at William.

“Sheesh! I can only imagine!” Dawn said, then turned to John. “My sister is really quite incorrigible.”

“Hey, enough talk, you ready?” Buffy asked John.

“You’re on! Clem you start us.”

“Okay, Buffy.”

Buffy had the green car, John the blue.

“Ready, set, go!”

Buffy’s car shot out, flanked by John’s, who veered away toward the cabinets.

“No, no, no!” he yelled at his car, but Buffy had already turned around and was on the home stretch.

“Hurry John!” William yelled.

“Come on Buffy!” yelled the girls.

“Buffy wins!” Clem said, “sorry guys!”

“Woo hoo!”

“You’re up Dawn, time to show William what us Summers women are made of,” Buffy said, handing her the remote.

“Got that right! You’re going down, William!” Dawn warned.

“We’ll see about that,” he retorted.

Clem cleared his throat, “Ready, set, go!”

Everyone was yelling for their teammate.

Dawn’s green car shot out, straight and narrow, with William’s right beside her. She tried to ram into him, but he evaded her. Again she tried, and again he evaded. They both got to the stove at the same time, turning around almost in unison. William was slightly ahead, with Dawn coming up fast. This time when she went to ram him, he pulled back suddenly, causing her to go too far to the right, while he sped up, straight for the home stretch.

“No, crap!” yelled Dawn.

“William wins!” John shouted, with him and Clem patting him on the back.

“I believe darling, that’s two out of three,” John said to Dawn, “which means guys rule!”

“Boo! Hiss! Boo!” said the girls, with their hands cupped to their mouths.

“See, sore sports!” John said.

“Am not!” Dawn said, “but William has more experience with the remote.

“Oh, you did fine with the remote, Dawn. Just had a bad strategy,” William said, grinning at her.

Soon after, they went back out to the living room, to drink wine and talk. Before they knew it, it was time for their guests to leave for the airport.

“Hey Buffy, this was fun, you should do this every year,” Willow said, as she stood up to get ready to leave.

“Yeah, it really was. Hmm…maybe I’ll get electric trains for next year!”

“You got my vote!” Willow said, and the others enthusiastically agreed.

“Yeah, Buffy, you could get this mega train set and have the tracks running all over your house, with tunnels, bridges…” Dawn said.

“Overpasses, steam engines…” John added.

And the others added their suggestions to the mega railroad set.

“I think I’m going to have to win the lottery to do all that. That and start constructing it in July!” Buffy said, rolling her eyes. I had more in mind a set about the size of a ping pong table or something.”

“And she ruins the fantasy!” Dawn sighed.

“Well, we’ll seeybe ybe you guys could each send me one of your paychecks if you want the mega-kick-ass version, okay?”

“Sure, no problem,” Dawn answered, “especially since I don’t have one. I know, I’ll just get dad to bankroll our little fantasy.”

“Speaking of which,” Buffy said, going to get something from the spare bedroom. She came back out and handed Dawn a package.

“Give this to dad when you see him next, will you?”

“Sure, think I’m going to have dinner with him next week, before New Year’s Eve. What did you get him?”

“A robe and a shirt.”

“Good. Um, Buffy?”

“Huh?”

“Dad said to tell you that you’re invited, too. Why don’t you and William come down, have dinner with us? I mean it won’t be like you and William will be all alone with him, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Did you tell him about William?”

“Is this a trick question?”

“Spill!”

“I just told him that you were involved with someone that you knew from Sunnydale and that he’d been a friend before and that he’s very nice.”

Buffy was quiet for a minute, “That’s not tod,” d,” she said, blowing out a breath. “Sort of takes the pressure off of me breaking it to him. Not that I would have had to anyway, considering all the things I’ve kept from him, considering how much he really doesn’t even deserve to know anything about me…”

“Buffy? Chill?”

Buffy laughed, “Sorry about that. Did you tell him about William’s memory loss?”

“No, I figured that’s up to you. I also didn’t tell him about you guys living together or where you worked, only that William works at the same school that you do.”

“Well, good then.”

“So? Will you come?”

“I don’t know…”

“Well, think about it at least, okay?”

“Okay, but I’m not making any promises…”

“I know,” Dawn answered.

Willow got her coat from the wooden coat tree that William and Buffy had bought themselves last week.

“Did I thank you for my coat, Buffy? I really love it!”

“I’m glad. Did Kennedy get the books?”

“Yeah, she thanks you, too.”

“Good. Oh, and tell Xander, Angela, and the kids that we send our love.”

“I will.”

“How’s Giles?” Buffy asked in a quiet voice. She had avoided asking about him the whole time Willow had been with them in the summer. It was still point of contention with her, how Giles had betrayed her trust, among other things. Her feelings about Giles were probably more conflicted than she had for her own father. Plus there was honest-to-goodness-fear, should he find out about Spike.

“He’s good…I guess. I don’t see him very often, but when I do, he seems kind of lonely. I think he misses you and Dawn… Xander. You know, the whole gang. Not that he says anything mind you, and definitely not that I say anything, it’s just a feeling I get from him sometimes.”

“I’m sorry about that. For him,” Buffy said, after a pause.

What else could she say? Life had changed for all of them and even if William hadn’t come back, she still wouldn’t have wanted to go back to slaying anymore. But now that William was back, her life was warmer, richer, better than it had ever been.

The others had walked out to the cars, Buffy put her hand on Willow’s arm; “Will? I meant to ask you…the protection spell on William, Dawn, everyone…?”

“Still in effect.”

“Good,” Buffy said, letting out a breath.

“And…here?”

“Still part of the forgetfulness spell. Without your exact permission, none of us will even remember how to get here. Nothing can be traced back to William. It’s all good, Buffy. Relax, enjoy your life, William…”

“I do, I really am…just sometimes I get worried. I just wanted to make sure. You know me. It’s not like I don’t trust you; you know that, don’t you? I mean, it’s just that sometimes I forget about it, then I overcompensate, because even if I’m living the almost 100% blissful life here, I really can’t forget, can I? I mean what have we here, Willow? Look at us! A former slayer and her erlyerly dead, then deader still vampire-now alive-and-back-from-Victorian days human lover and sometimes poet, a former dimensional key for a skanky Hellgod, turned sister, now college student, an awesomely powerful witch, a baggy-skinned demon who is hiding the fact from said former vampire-now-turned-human. And then there’s John. Suppose he’s just normal, but then again, shrink? Jury’s out on that one.”

Willow put her hand up in front of her mouth and giggled into it. “Kinda funny when you put it that way, especially since it feels all normal-like to us anyway, doesn’t it? Sheesh Buffy, relax! It’s Christmas Eve!”

“Okay, okay,” Buffy said, laughing too at the absurdity of it all.

They walked out to the cars.

“Bye Dawn,” Buffy hugged her, “take good care of her,” she said to John, reaching out to hug him, too.

“I will. I promise,” he answered.

The guys shook hands, then William gave Willow and Dawn hugs.

“Merry Christmas, William, “Dawn said.

“You, too, Dawn.”

Next came Willow.

“William, I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you, you’re doing great!” Willow said, as he hugged her good-bye.

“Thanks. You know I have all of you to thank…for so much.”

“Ach…you’re doing all on your own now,” Willow said.

“Well, not exactly alone,” William said, looking over at Buffy.

William and Buffy got into their car to lead their guests out to the main road, as did Clem.

They stopped on the side of the road, walking over to the car with Willow, Dawn, and John, giving them directions to the highway and wishing them safe trips.

“Call me, when you arrive,” Buffy told them.

“We will,” Dawn said, and with last waves, they were off.

William put his arm around Buffy, as they stood there watching the car lights fade off into the distance.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

Buffy nodded and they got back into the car and drove home.

They pulled up at the house and asked Clem if he wanted to come back in with them, but he declined.

“Got some other people to see tonight in San Diego. I’ll be there tomorrow, too, but I’ll be back the next day early.”

“Okay. Well, thanks for everything, Clem. Have a great Christmas Day tomorrow.”

“I will. You, too. Bye guys,” Clem said, getting into his car.

“Bye Clem, drive safely,” William said, “and thanks for the nice gift.”

“Gift! Almost forgot!” Clem said, bolting out of his car and into their house. He was back in a minute with his gift from them, the CD from Dawn, and some English cookies in a tin from Willow.

“Thanks for this. I love it!” Clem said, putting the DVD Recorder and other stuff in the backseat.

“You’re welcome, we’re glad you like it,” Buffy said.

“Bye guys, Merry Christmas.”

“You, too!” they called, as he drove off.

END CHAPTER 109