[Yep its me again, Garnet with another 'Angel and kids'
challenge:
Ok, have Angel dealing with his kids during Halloween. He and
Buffy can
have as many kids as you want them too have, as long as they
are all under
age of 12. He can either be taking them trick or treating or
they could be
at a party, you decide.]
Must include the following:
~A sticky lollipop
~reference to "Halloween" the episode
~busy-body neighbor
~one kid either needs to be changed or has to go to the
bathroom (mundane I
know, but think of having to change a baby while out in the
neighborhood
trick or treating and your house is a ways back)
~Black cat (of course)
~a Witch (naturally)---can not be Amy, Miss Calendar, or Willow
~Pumpkin Pie
~a ghost (need that one)
~one of those tapes of spooky noises (door creaks, footsteps,
etc.)
TITLE: It's A Wonderful Life*
*TITLE NOTE: I must be one of the ten people in the world who
don't like
this movie, and so I've decided to put the title to use in
regards to a
different holiday.
AUTHOR: Zorya
EMAIL: LunarMyth
DISCLAIMERS: Some of these characters belong to Joss & Co.,
Mutant Enemy,
WB...some don't.
SPIOLERS: In my dreams...
SUMMARY: Angel and Doyle have to take the kids trick or
treating.
CATEGORY: B/A, C/D...fluffy, happy, nice stuff
RATED: PG
DISTRIBUTION: If you want it, just tell me you're taking it.
COMMENTS: Yeah, I know the names
lack...ummm...creativity...but I enjoyed using them 'cause I'm
fruity like
that.
FEEDBACK: It's fluff. But if you wanna, please do.
************************
"You know why, love," Buffy said with a tinge of exasperation.
"Someone has
to stay and hand out candy. I'd love to join you and the kids,
but I can't
just abandon my post. Besides," she grinned wickedly, "it's
*your* night."
"Oh, that's funny," Angel growled and gathered his petite wife
in a strong
embrace. His eyes flashed as he leaned down....
"DAAAAAAAAAA-DEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" their youngest son, Nicholas,
screamed from
the kitchen doorway.
...and placed a light, restrained kiss on the tip of her nose.
Buffy laughed and swatted him on the rear as he turned to their
son.
Angel knelt down in front of the four year old. "What's up,
Nicky?" he
asked gently.
Nicholas frowned, his dark eyes snapping so much like his
father's. "Seth
stole my belt!" he proclaimed in impotent fury. His hands were
placed
proudly on his hips as he stood in an amusing caricature of
Superman's pose.
"Oh did he?" Angel asked, trying not to laugh. "Well," he said,
picking his
son up with ease, "let's go find out why on earth your brother
would need
your belt."
Angel took the stairs four at a time, his young son giggling as
he was
jostled in his father's strong arms.
"Seth!" Angel bellowed once in the hallway and his eight year
old son came
charging out of his room. Angel bit the inside of his bottom
lip and
watched his son flush in anger and embarrassment.
"Yes, Dad?"
"Seth," Angel said slowly. "What are you doing with your
brother's Superman
belt?" It was actually quite obvious what he was doing with it.
"But, Dad," Seth started. "I'm the Karate Kid." He
straightened the belt
that was tied around his forehead. "I need it more than he
does."
Angel shook his head. "Take it off, Seth. It belongs to
Nicky."
Nicholas smiled, gloating down at his brother.
"But..." Seth started as he took it off.
"No buts. Now, give it to your brother and come with me. I'm
sure I can
find something you can use."
"ANGEL!" he heard Buffy calling from downstairs.
Stifling a groan, he put Nicholas down and stepped to the top of
the stairs.
"What is it, Buffy?"
"Cordy, Doyle, David and Glenn just arrived. The
boys...errr...men," she
corrected laughingly, "are ready when you are, dear."
"I'm coming," he replied in a hurry as he took Seth by the hand
and led him
into the master bedroom. He rummaged around in his armoire for
a moment
before finding a black bandanna -- he hoped it was Buffy's --
and tied it
around his son's head. "Better?" he asked.
"Cool!" Seth exclaimed as he bounded out of the room, his dark
hair flopping
up and down. Angel laughed and shook his head. It was going to
be a very
long night.
"Daddy?" he heard the quiet voice and looked up to see the
small, impish
face peering at him from the doorway.
"Come here, Aly," he said with a smile. She walked forward
slowly, her
golden curls bouncing with every step. "You're a beautiful
princess," he
said softly as she climbed onto his lap.
Alyson batted her eyelashes coquettishly and he could tell she
wanted
something. Leaning up, she planted a loud, smacking kiss on his
cheek.
"Daddy...?"
Angel gazed down into her soft green eyes and his heart melted.
As if he
could deny her anything. "What is it, princess?"
"Well, Daddy. I was thinking. You're big. And strong. So,
we," she said,
referring to her and all of her brothers and sisters, "were
thinking maybe
you could get us the most candy. You know, you could scare 'em
or
somethin'. 'Cause you're a vampire."
Angel laughed out loud. Placing a kiss to her temple, he picked
her up and
walked out of the bedroom. "S'not gonna happen."
"But, Daddyyyy!"
"No," Angel said with a grin. "Now go get your sisters."
His six year old daughter pouted all the way to her room.
"Carrie!
Sarah!!! Daddy wants you out. NOW!"
With another shake of his head, Angel bounded downstairs. As he
walked to
the kitchen, he could hear the bickering.
"It's mine!"
"'Tis not! S'mine!"
"Boys! Calm down, will ya? 'Tis only a bag, man. You've got
your own."
"I want the vampire one!"
"Well, I'm older!" David crowed.
"Da!"
"They're never going to make it," Cordelia sighed.
Buffy laughed. "You should have seen Angel's first Halloween
with more than
one child. It brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't stop
laughing."
Angel growled and wrapped his arms around his wife from behind.
"I think
you're very sadistic, wife," he said merrily.
"And I think Halloween and I don't mix. I seem to remember one
year where I
felt I had to impress you...and ended up almost getting killed
all because
of your penchant for petticoats and silk and lace and corsets -"
"Stop," Angel murmured. "Or I might not leave the house at all
tonight."
"Why not?" Buffy asked. Angel tightened his hold on her,
pulling her flush
against his body, and Buffy blushed in realization. "Oh," she
squeaked
meekly.
Angel grinned and let her go. "So are we ready?" he asked
Doyle.
"It's what I live for, man. We're creatures of the night, we
are."
"How do you put up with him, Cordy?"
"Oh, well, I try to keep him otherwise preoccupied. The other
half of the
time, I just tune him out." She smiled sweetly at her husband.
"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" they heard the cries and the
thundering
footsteps running down the stairs. As the kids skidded to a
halt inside the
kitchen, Angel had to take a deep breath. There were six of
them in all.
Their oldest daughter, Sarah, was twelve, and had planned her
costume in
secrecy with her mother. He saw why now and shot Buffy a
disapproving
glance that she answered with a meek grin. Sarah's long blonde
hair was
pulled up into a ponytail and she was dressed in an old -- and
altered --
pair of Buffy's leather pants, a white tank top and her mother's
short
leather jacket. In her hand she carried a stake, and she wore
her mother's
silver cross around her neck. So she was going as a Slayer, was
she? By
the looks of it, and it was something Angel did not want to see,
the
fourteen year old David -- who just so happened to be going as a
vampire --
was halfway slayed by Sarah already. He shook his head, feeling
his old age
-- literally, and looked at the rest of his children. Their
eight year old,
Charisma -- Carrie, for short -- was dressed as the cutest
little witch he'd
ever seen, Willow included. Their oldest son, Anthony, had
decided that at
eleven, he was too old to dress up, and was boycotting the idea
-- though he
still wanted the candy.
Angel sighed. How had he gotten so lucky?
"I think it's time you menfolk got out of here," Cordelia said,
shooing her
husband and sons out the door. "Buffy and I have a lot of
things to do and
only a little time to do them in. So go."
"I'm still curious as to what you two -"
"Too bad," Cordelia told Doyle as she placed a brief kiss on his
cheek.
"Have fun, boys. You girls watch out for them. Make sure they
don't get in
trouble."
Carrie and Alyson laughed as they followed the boys out. Sarah
and David
trailed behind the group, both pretending they weren't sneaking
glances at
the other.
Angel leaned down and kissed his wife thoroughly. "I'm gonna
miss you," he
told her softly.
Buffy sighed and leaned into him. "I miss you already," she
replied, a
happy grin on her face as she gazed up at her beloved.
"Come on, now. Get out. Can't you tell when you're not
wanted?" Cordelia
asked as she pushed Angel out of the door.
Angel shot her a wicked smile. "Let's just say I know when and
where I'm
wanted, and if it were up to me, I wouldn't be going anywhere
right now."
Cordelia rolled her eyes and looked down at her best friend.
"Aren't you
gonna do something about him?"
Buffy shook her head and watched her husband stroll down the
walkway, easily
scooping up Nicky in one arm and holding Aly's hand with the
other hand.
"Nope," she murmured as she closed the door. "He's absolutely
perfect just
the way he is."
***
"TRICK OR TREAT!!!!" came the loud chorus of little voices in
front of the
door.
"I hear old lady Donnegan's really a witch," David said
off-handedly as he
leaned cockily against the picket fence. His father and his
"Uncle" Angel
were standing with the kids at the door and he'd decided to take
the time to
strike up a conversation with Sarah, sure she'd be impressed by
his "older"
air and knowledge.
"As if," Sarah replied. "She's just a sweet old lady. I don't
get why you
guys like making fun of her," she defended. "Besides," she
continued, "you
know what a real witch is like. Just look at Aunt Willow."
David shook his head, not willing to let her get the upper hand.
"What do
you know? You're just a little girl."
Sarah arched a little brow, looking much like her mother. "I
know I could
kick your butt without even trying, so don't call me 'little
girl' again."
David snickered. "Little. Girl," he said snottily before
walking off.
Sarah watched him go with a tinge of sadness...and stubbornness.
"Well...you...you....boy!" she murmured hatefully before turning
to join her
siblings. As if David knew anything anyway. He was just
jealous that she
knew more than he did.
"Did not!" Anthony yelled.
"Did too!" Seth hissed back.
"Boys, boys...what's going on here?" Angel asked, putting Nicky
down.
"He stole my candy!" Seth tattled.
"Did you do that, Anthony?" Angel frowned.
His son shook his head innocently and Angel held his hand out in
expectation. Heaving a sigh, Anthony took his hands from behind
his back
and set the candy in his father's hand.
Angel grimaced and Doyle laughed loudly, having come up on the
argument.
Gingerly, Angel lifted the sticky lollipop from his palm, the
sugar and spit
clinging to his hand.
"Daddy!" he head a small, imperative plea for his attention.
Angel looked down and saw Nicky pulling on the hem of his black
leather
jacket. "What's wrong?"
Nicholas motioned for his father to lean down, and when Angel
did, he
whispered loudly, "I have to go to the bathroom."
Angel heaved a sigh and picked his son up. "Okay. Here's the
game plan,"
he said conspiratorially as he walked up behind the group.
"They'll ring
the doorbell and we'll sprint in unnoticed, 'kay?"
Nicky grinned and hugged his daddy's neck tightly.
"Trick or Treat!"
Juliet Ramses answered the doorbell immediately. She'd been
watching all
night. "Well, hello," she greeted with saccharine sweetness.
She lounged
in the doorway, her vampiress costume clinging to her shapely
body. "So
will it be trick...or treat?" she asked softly, her gaze
wandering
completely over Angel's form.
Doyle cleared his throat and nodded imperceptibly to the
children. She
laughed and leaned down, filling their bags with chocolate.
While the kids
were cheering, Angel asked her quietly if he could use her
bathroom. Juliet
stepped back, inviting him in, and watched him walk by her, his
massive
frame filling her doorway. With a soft moan she turned back to
the group,
her black cat weaving a path in and out between her legs.
"So, Ms. Ramses. Is Julie home?" David asked loudly, smirking
when he
caught Sarah furious glance.
Juliet grinned down at the fourteen year old boy. So he was
after her
Julie. She mentally congratulated her daughter for having
impeccable
timing, as the object of her thoughts came hopping down the
stairs.
"Hey Mom. James and I are gonna go out for a bit. We'll be
home later."
Her fourteen year old daughter and her sixteen year old son
paused in the
doorway as they spotted the large mob. Julie smiled immediately
when she
spotted David. "Hi, David," she practically purred.
Sarah watched in horror and anger as the older girl smiled at
David. How
dare she? The...the..."trollop" came to mind, a term her father
used often.
Stepping forward, Sarah linked her arm through David's and
smiled up at
the girl. "Hello, Julie. How are you?"
Juliet and Julie, mother and daughter, both glared down at the
small slip of
a girl. So much like her goody-two-shoes mother, Juliet
thought. She
doubted *Buffy* had ever worked hard a day in her life. Things
had always
been handed to her on a silver platter. Including that
delicious husband of
hers.
"Hello, Sarah," Julie smiled brittlely. "Well," she said,
turning. "Are
you going to the party tonight, David? It's exclusively for
eighth graders,
you know. Everyone who is anyone will be there," she entreated.
David grinned, thrilled that Sarah had been jealous. "Nah," he
told Julie.
"I should stay here. Gotta take care of the girls, you know,"
he said as he
put his arm around Sarah's shoulders.
Sarah couldn't hold back a smile either. Oh, she would
eventually pay him
back for that comment -- as if she needed taking care of -- but
for now,
David had chosen her over that tacky little eighth grade witch.
Angel stepped behind the family at that moment and cast a
speculative glance
at his eldest daughter and his best friend's son. He didn't
want to be
seeing this. She was growing up right before his eyes.
Juliet turned as she felt his presence behind her. "Oooh,
Angel. I didn't
even know you were there."
Doyle rolled his eyes and snickered.
"That's okay, Ms. Ramses. Thank you for letting us use your
bathroom."
"Oh, anytime," she giggled. "Anything...for you," she murmured
as she
placed her hand on the middle of his chest. Oh, his chest was
so hard. She
had a hard time not ripping through his clothes right then and
there. "So,"
she continued softly. "How are things between you and...Betty?"
Angel smiled thinly and tried to maneuver his way through the
blockade. "My
wife's name is Buffy, and to tell the truth, I've never been
happier in my
entire life," he told her. "No one could ever compare to Buffy.
She's
perfect," he told her, casting her a meaningful glance.
Juliet smiled a sickeningly sweet smile, her thoughts turning to
dreams of
the beautiful, loyal, loving, perfect Buffy enduring one-half
the things she
had. "Of course...."
Angel nodded and stepped back out into the night, taking a deep,
calming
breath. That woman never ceased to infuriate him. He looked at
David and
Sarah and the two broke away guiltily. Shaking his head, he
herded his
flock back out onto the streets.
"Daddy! I think I got a whole pound of chocolate!" Aly
exclaimed.
"Don't be silly," Seth told her. "You could never have a whole
pound of
chocolate. That's just too much."
"What do you know?" Carrie backed up her sister.
Anthony and Glenn got involved in the squabble as they walked
back home.
"So on a scale of one to ten, how bad do you think it was, man?"
Doyle
asked.
Angel grinned, cradling his sleeping son's form to his chest.
"It didn't
kill me," he joked.
"Any idea what our lovely wives are up to?"
Angel shook his head. "Not a one. Knowing those two, it'll
either be very
painful, or very...painful. Just in the good way."
Doyle smirked.
"So.... You didn't wanna go to Anne Marie's party?" Sarah
asked, clutching
the makeshift stake in her hand as she walked.
David shrugged. "Nah. It wouldn't have been much fun anyway.
I mean....
They're always trying to be so cool...smoking and drinking and
making
out...." He blushed at the thought of making out with Sarah.
"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Well. I mean.... It must be
hard for
you, having to stay with these little kids."
"Not really. I mean...there's you...."
Sarah turned her head sharply to look at him.
"A-a-and you're not so b-bad," he stuttered.
Sarah grinned.
"For a girl," he finished.
Sarah's eyes snapped and David recognized it for the warning it
was.
Without any notice to the others, David and Sarah took off
running down the
street towards her house. The minute she caught him she was
gonna kick his
butt into next week. And he was looking forward to it.
Angel sighed deeply as he watched his daughter run after Doyle's
son.
"You do know, don't ya?" Doyle asked quietly.
"What? That I'm going to be seeing your son start dating my
daughter much
sooner than I'd like to?"
Doyle laughed. "No, man. That's just a given. I mean, you do
know what
she is, don't you?"
Angel looked down at his friend and nodded. "Yeah. Buffy
figured it out
first. I don't know how she could tell, but she did. It's
actually
interesting that she could see it in her, you know...considering
the rest of
the children...."
Doyle nodded. "I know what you mean. David's already started
having slight
visions and Cordy's worrying that any day now one of her
'precious boys' is
gonna sprout blue spikes from his face."
Angel grinned. "Well, at least you don't have to replace the
doors in your
house every few months just because your kids have the bad habit
of ripping
them off the hinges. Sarah may be the next
Slayer-in-training, but I'm thinking those kids inherited a few
genes from
Buffy and I that even we haven't figured out yet."
"C'est la vie, my friend, c'est la vie."
They stepped onto the walkway of his home, and Angel was
immediately alert
to the difference. How could he not be? There was loud, spooky
music and
sounds blaring from a speaker on the porch, decorations were up
everywhere
in an amusing parody of one of the many Sunnydale cemeteries --
complete
with a few "rising" vampires -- and their wives were seated in
the front,
ready to meet and greet every trick-or-treater that happened by.
"Why hello, my dearies," Cordelia sighed as they all stepped
onto the
veranda. She was wearing a white leather catsuit, her face
painted all
white and corpselike.
"You're definitely the most stylish ghost I've ever seen," Doyle
grinned as
he wrapped his arms around his wife.
Angel stared at his own beautiful better half. She was wearing
an off the
shoulder, sleevless, red velvet gown, trimmed in white fur. On
her head was
placed an elaborate golden crown. "And what are you supposed to
be," he
asked bemusedly, "besides exquisitely gorgeous?"
Buffy laughed and kissed him soundly. "Why, the Queen of your
Heart, of
course."
Angel nodded. "You definitely are that."
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" the children gathered around
Buffy and
Cordelia. "Look what we got!" They held out their bags for
inspection.
Buffy smiled. "Well, don't eat it all tonight. I've got a
treat for you
all...."
"What?" Aly asked.
Buffy nodded to Sarah and David. "Can you two bring them inside
and make
sure you all don't make a mess? There's a pumpkin pie on the
table in the
kitchen."
The two oldest nodded and led their respective siblings inside,
each rushing
to get a piece of the pie.
Buffy, Angel, Cordelia and Doyle sat down on the large swing and
sighed
softly as it glided back and forth. The women laid their heads
on their
husbands' shoulders.
"So...long night?" Cordelia asked.
"Oh, no," Angel said. "It was a breeze."
Doyle laughed softly and Buffy shot her husband a glance.
"I knew you could do it," she told Angel. "I love you so much."
She leaned
up and he leaned down and they shared a slow, sweet kiss,
mindless of their
friends giggling at them from the other side.
The two couples sat outside for a while, basking in the cool
October wind
and the haunting sounds of chains, ghoulish laughter and high
pitched
screams that surrounded them.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
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