ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES

CHAPTER 120 - THE SWALLOWS

MARCH 21, 2009
FRIDAY
NOON
CAPISTRANO SEASIDE INN

"Bet that's them," William said, starting to reach for the phone next to their king-sized bed.

“Hello?” he said, listening. “No, just got here about half an hour ago ourselves. Sure, here she is.”

Buffy turned away from where she’d been looking up at the sky to see if she could spot the newly arrived visitors from the patio door, which looked out onto a private fenced, landscaped terrace, which sported their very own Jacuzzi.

Because of work, they couldn't be here on March 19th, the day the swallows were suppose to arrive in San Juan Capistrano after their 7500 mile flight, which was always the same every year. Luckily, they had today off were able to come and see them still, and enjoy the rest of the festivities for the weekend.

“Hi Dawn,” Buffy said, picking up the phone on the desk.

"Hey Sis, we just checked in. Want us to come to your room?" Dawn asked.

"Sure, come on over," she answered Dawn, giving her the room number.

“Oh, and isn’t this place just the coolest?” Dawn asked happily.

“Yeah,” Buffy said, smiling, “it sure is.”

Buffy belly flopped down on the bed next to William, "Um...so, you think we should tell them here or at the restaurant?" she asked, leaning her head on her hands.

"I don't know, wherever you want to, luv," he answered, smiling at her.

"Guess it's about wherever you want to hear Dawn squeal, in private or in public."

William grinned, well aware of what that would sound like.

"I'd say it's a choice between setting off high frequency alarms or having everyone in the restaurant looking at us."

"I'll leave that up to you, Elizabeth," William said, as he fell back on the pillow laughing, in good humor.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door.

“Come on in,” Buffy said, opening the door.

The four of them greeted and hugged each other warmly.

“I’m so glad you guys could make it,” Buffy said.

“Me, too. I’m glad you guys waited until now. This is the first long weekend John’s had off since Thanksgivings Day weekend.”

“Ooh,” Dawn squealed, “You’ve got a fireplace, too! Isn’t that just the most bitchin’ thing?”

Buffy smiled at her.

“Oh, I forgot, you and William are used to having a fireplace,” Dawn said, sticking her tongue out.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make it any less cool, Dawn. I’ve never had a hotel room with one. Or with a private Jacuzzi outside the door. We don’t have a Jacuzzi, like some people,” she said, looking at Dawn.

“Yeah, but it’s for the whole apartment complex, so it’s kinda eww, if you know what I mean. Probably full of...nevermind. I don’t even want to think about it.

“And it has it’s own tropical garden!” Buffy proclaimed.

John had walked over to William while the girls were still going on about the amenities of the place.

“So, how you doing, William? School coming along?”

“Yes, it’s fine. Sort of hard to get back into the swing of things, but I’m enjoying the professors I have, if not the homework.”

John nodded, understanding. “This was a good choice, William.”

William smiled, “Yes, it appears to be quite nice, and the girls seem to be enjoying it, what small amount of time they’ve been here. You do know that Dawn had to make the reservations, because I don’t have a credit card, don’t you?” William asked, embarrassed.

“Quite alright. I’m sure you’re good for it,” John said, patting his arm. Not that he was in charge of anything financial as far as Dawn was concerned, as they didn’t quite live together full-time, but it seemed that William wanted him to be okay with it, since he was her significant other.

“Which reminds me,” William said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. He opened it up and took out a check made out to Dawn Summers and handed it to John, “could you give this to her, please?”

“Be glad to, William,” he said accepting the check and discreetly putting it into his pocket.

They decided to drive over to the Mission and swallow watch, while exploring it. Neither Dawn nor John had been there before, but Buffy and William had for his birthday, so they would act as their tour guides.

Tomorrow they would come back for some of the festivities, but instead of being swamped by the weekend crowds, they’d drive over to Dana Point, and do some browsing around there, and even go to the beach, which was right across Pacific Coast Highway.

They spent the next few hours discovering the Mission ruins. Buffy and William also got to see some of the ones they’d missed the first time around. Late in the afternoon, the swallows seemed to all ascend for at once, before settling back down to their temporary roosts for the night.

“Wow,” Buffy said, “what do you think that was all about?”

“I don’t know, maybe a last hurrah before nightfall?” Dawn said.

“Define hurrah,” William said.

“Probably looking for a last meal before nightfall,” John added.

They all looked at him and nodded.

“That sounds good. Maybe we can check it with one of the staff around here tomorrow, but I bet you’re on the right trail. Either that or they just want to show off,” Buffy said, grinning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They went back to the hotel to dress for dinner, having settled on a somewhat fancy restaurant named L'Hirondelle, which was French for "The Swallow,” although the food claimed to be Belgian. "A Little Bite of Belgium in Capistrano," the advertisement had said.

They had thought about going to Cafe Mozart again, since they had been pleased overall with the food and atmosphere when they’d had lunch there on William’s birthday, but decided that it wasn’t everyday that one got to try Belgian food, waffles aside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Think I ought to mention it to her this weekend?” Dawn asked.

“Is this about the phone call you got from overseas?”

Dawn nodded.

“Well, what do you think?”

“I hate when you give me that psychologist crap, you know? Or is it just basic man crap? If I knew, I wouldn’t ask you!”

John sighed. He was actually guilty of that sometimes, “Okay, what are your pros and cons of telling her about it this weekend, then?”

“Oh, much better!” she said, rolling her eyes, but then quieted down to actually think about it.

“Okay, on the pro side, number 1, it may be important since it’s happening soon, so it will give Buffy more time to decide what she wants to do. Number 2, I hate keeping secrets and it will make me feel better to tell her sooner, rather than later,” Dawn said, sticking her tongue out at John.

“And on the con side?”

“Number 1 is that it may very well upset her and then she won’t have as nice of a weekend as she would otherwise, because she’ll be all worried, if I know Buffy.”

John nodded, “I’d say that, if it’s not an emergency, you might just call her on Monday and let her know then, also telling her why you didn’t tell her over the weekend.”

Dawn put her arms around John, and kissed him, “You’re okay for a psychologist, you know that?”

“And you’re a pretty good sister. And girlfriend,” he hurriedly added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Driving in John’s car, they arrived at the restaurant at 7:30pm. The hostess took them through the main dining room and outside to the patio. The ten tables or so were set up around the center of the room, which was a flower garden with a cascading fountain made of stone in the middle of it. There was a loosely framed lattice roof over the whole room, and along two sides more latticework, draped in Bougainvillae. Candles graced each table, and small lanterns provided soft light from overhead.

The view from the patio was the Mission itself, which was directly across the street. As the sunset drew near, the lights across the street came on, bathing the it in light.

They ordered Champagne Cocktails and appetizers first. John decided on the Escargots de Bourgogne, with garlic butter. Dawn and Buffy decided to share the Mushrooms Farcis, mushroom cups filled with shrimp, crab, and cheese, baked in Hollandaise sauce, and William ordered the Smoked Mackerel, imported from Holland.

After about 20 minutes, the waitress came back for their dinner orders. Buffy ordered the Poulet Marie Antoinette; boneless chicken breast, with cheese and mushrooms baked in a sherry-cream sauce. William ordered the Poulet aux fines Herbs, boneless chicken breast marinated in herbs and oven baked. John ordered New York Steak, baked with mushrooms in a Merlot wine sauce, and Dawn got the Shrimp Maison, sauteed in garlic butter, white wine and cream.

They talked about school, cars, and the upcoming Shakespeare plays they were to see. John and William still argued over which was the funniest of comedies.

The waitress took their plates after dinner, and asked if they wanted dessert. Buffy asked her if she could come back in a little while.

After she’d left, Buffy looked at William, and he caught her meaning. He smiled at her and reached for her hand.

“Dawn, John...Elizabeth and I have something to tell you,” William said, as he squeezed her hand.
William looked at Elizabeth, giving an almost imperceptible nod. She smiled and squeezed his hand back, then turned to look across the table at Dawn and John.

“Oh my God, I’m going to be an aunt, aren’t I?” Dawn asked, her voice rising in pitch.

“Dawn!” John said.

“No, you’re not going to be an aunt yet,” Buffy said, a funny feeling coming over her as she said it that way, as if it was an inevitability. Swallowing back that bit of stomach flutters, she continued, “What we wanted to tell you is that we’re engaged,” she said, holding up her hand to show them the ring, which now had a diamond in it.

“Oh my God!” Dawn squealed loudly enough to attract the attention of the tables nearby, as had been predicted, “Oh my God, oh my God!”

“Congratulations you two,” John said, putting out his hand to shake William’s and getting up to come around the table to kiss Buffy’s cheek, “that’s just wonderful!”

“Yeah, wonderful!” Dawn said, giggling, “I’m so happy for you both! Oh my God!” she squealed again.

Buffy and William laughed at her giddiness.

John motioned to the waitress and ordered a bottle of champagne.

“Isn’t that the ring that William bought you for Christmas?” Dawn asked.

“It is. I liked it so much, we decided to have it be my engagement ring.”

“We added a diamond to it,” William said.

“I like it!” Dawn said, “nobody else will ever have an engagement ring just like this. That’s so cool.”

“And you were there when I got it,” William reminded her.

“Yeah, I was. Were you thinking about it that way, back then?” Dawn asked.

“No. Yes. I’m not sure,” he answered.

“In any case, Dawn,” Buffy said, “I’m really glad that you took William to the antique store and he found this. I like it so much better than the other rings we saw at the jewelry store. It suits me better too, don’t you think?”

“Definitely,” Dawn said, and they all nodded their heads.

“So, when did you get engaged and when are you guys tying the knot?” Dawn asked.

“Valentine’s Day,” she said, and hurriedly added, “but you’re the first ones to know. As for when...maybe around next Christmas time we’re thinking. Or next Valentine’s Day.”

“Why not this summer?” Dawn asked.

“I just don’t think I can plan it all in 3 or 4 months,” B sai said.

“What’s to plan? Get some invitations, I’ll help. Oooh, we can go shopping for a dress for you and shoes, other...”

John kicked her underneath the table.
“What?” Dawn asked, glaring at him.

“Sorry Buffy. You have it whenever you want to. I’m just so excited!”

“I know. And I will need your help Dawn, believe me. I’m definitely not great planning girl here,” she said, relieved that Dawn had let go of the summer wedding idea so quickly.
William watched the interchange among the girls and could see that Elizabeth was beginning to tense up. He tried to catch Dawn’s eye, but she hadn’t been looking at him. He was glad when John had noticed and had gotten Dawn to stop pushing the subject of a sooner wedding date.

It was enough that Elizabeth had agreed to marry him. He knew that, and that was why he’d agree to whatever date she wanted to set, however far in the future. He would marry her tomorrow, if she wanted, but for her to have agreed at all was miracle enough for him; he wasn’t about to push it any further than that. It hadn’t been so long ago, that he’d thought he would never, ever have someone love him in return. That had miraculously changed when Elizabeth had come into his life. Not only did she love him in return, but had brought such passion and purpose to his life that he’d only dreamed of before. And, although he didn’t think his memories were real, he was pretty sure that the insecurities he remembered were.

The bottle of champagne arrived, and Dawn and John made toasts.

John toasted them first, “To William and Buffy, I’m glad to have gotten to know you both. You’ve made me feel welcomed into your lives and Dawn’s. I wish you all the happiness that you hope for,” he said, raising his glass.

They all drank, then it was Dawn’s turn.

“To my sister Buffy, you know how much I’ve wanted you to be happy for so long, even when it seemed impossible because of...all the things that you had to do before...all the responsibilities you had. But now you’re finally getting that chance and I couldn’t be happier for you. For both of you.”

She turned towards William, “William...you’ve been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” she said, which was actually the truth, seeing that the early parts of her childhood memories had been ‘implanted’ by the monks. Never-the-less...”Back when I knew you as Spike, you gave a young teenage girl some pretty sage advice, which saved me from making some really big mistakes. And you took care of me, when you didn’t have to.”

William looked down, embarrassed.

“I’m so happy that Buffy found you again, and that not only are you back in her life and about to become my brother-in-law, but that you’re back in mine, too,” Dawn said, starting to get teary eyes.

“To Buffy and William,” she said, ending her toast.

They all took another drink, after clinking glasses.

The waitress came by right then, “Dessert?”

They took a moment to look at the menus again, and then ordered desserts and coffees. Espressos for the John and William, Cappuccinos for Dawn and Buffy. For dessert, William and Buffy split the Belgian Chocolate Torte ala mode, John got the Caramel custard, and Dawn the Custard Brulee.

“I love the name Creme Brulee,” Dawn said.

Buffy nodded, a piece of chocolate cake and ice cream in her mouth, “Um-hmm...definitely has a sexy sound to it, “Bruuuleeee,” she giggled.

“Creme Bruuuleeee,” Dawn added, in a low voice, turning to John and batting her eyelashes, “Would you like some Creme Bruuuleeee, lover?”

Buffy giggled, and William rolled his eyes.

John looked at Dawn in the way that he often did, which was part amusement, part exasperation, but he took her hand under the table and put it on the bulge in his crotch, watching as her eyes widened in surprise. Creme Brulee, indeed!

“Sexier than, asking, ‘Would you like some chocolate torte, lover?’ in any case,” Buffy said.

“Yeah, torte, sounds like tart. Hee! A chocolate tart!” Dawn said.

“Well, that could have possibilities. Besides, chocolate is sexy just because it’s chocolate,” Buffy said.

John and William looked at each other and shook their heads, as the girls went on taking about the implied sexiness of desserts.

“So, William, what do you know about soccer...?”

END CHAPTER 120