Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?: Dinner is Served

I acknowledge that Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated characters were probably created by Joss Whedon. No copyright infringement is intended. (In other words, please don't sue me.)

This is the sequel/companion piece to my fic "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"

Angel smiled to himself as he thoughtfully pondered his wardrobe choices. He wanted to make a good impression on a certain slayer's mother, but it wasn't as if he had many options: There was black, black and oh yes, black. Not entirely true, but the bulk of his choices did lean toward black. After a few minutes of digging around, he finally came up with a plain white button down shirt. That coupled with black trousers and jacket would have to do.

It had been a very long time since he had worried about impressing someone's parents. He thought about that for a momenthad he ever really worried about it? Thinking back to his mostly misspent youth, he decided that this evening would be a first for him.

Angel thought back to the evening a week ago when he and Buffy had a date (?) at the Bronze. It was only coffee; it wasn't like they were running off to get married. He remembered the worried expression she wore as she approached him where he stood waiting for her. Expecting to be told of some life endangering new prophecy that Giles had just discovered, he was naturally relieved when Buffy revealed the true nature of her distress: her mother wanted to have him over for dinner. Buffy was so nervous about it, he wasn't sure whether or not she would hit him over his amusement of the situation.

He could understand Mrs. Summers' concern over the situation. He was an older man, a much older man, although he would always look the 22 years he was when Darla turned him. Closing his eyes, he visualized himself on the Jerry Springer Show. He could just imagine an incoherent argument between Buffy and her mother and then Joyce attacking him with a chair. That actually brought a smile to his face as he remembered Buffy telling him about the adventures of parent teacher night from a few weeks ago. Forget the chair, Joyce was more of an ax wielder.

Snapping back to the present, Angel realized that although he could not tell Buffy's mom the whole truth about himself, he could at least try to reassure her that he had nothing but respect for her daughter and would never hurt her in any way. *Dear God I hope I never hurt her* Angel thought. Then glancing at the clock, he realized that he had better get going or he'd be late. And that would not help him make a good impression.

While he walked the streets of Sunnydale towards Buffy's house he was suddenly struck with how *normal* he felt. And then he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket finding a forgotten stake he had placed there so long ago. "So much for feeling normal," Angel said half out loud drawing a strange look from a young couple walking past him. That's when he noticed the florist shop. He glanced at his watch and decided that he had time for a quick stop.

As he approached Buffy's house, out of habit he started round to the side of the house where Buffy's bedroom window was located. "Oops!" he thought to himself grinning, almost forgetting that tonight he was an invited guest. That meant entering through the front door, not sneaking through a window.

Angel began to fidget after he rang the door bell . He wondered who would be answering the door. Buffy or her mother. Angel was about to ring the bell again when the door opened.

Buffy opened the door knowing she would find Angel on the other side. Smiling brightly she said quietly, "It seems kinda weird for you to be ringing the bell."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I caught myself trying to climb the tree to your--Mrs. Summers! It's uh nice to see you again!"

Joyce moved to stand next to her daughter. If she had heard what Angel said or almost said, she gave no indication.

"I brought these for you," Angel stated feeling a bit lame as he brought out the bouquet of flowers he had purchased for Mrs. Summers from behind his back.

She opened the door wider to accept the flowers and admit her guest. "Angel, they're lovely. Please come in and make yourself at home while I go put these in water."

As Joyce went in search of a vase, Buffy ushered Angel into the living room.

"You bring my mother flowers? You never brought me flowers," Buffy teased as she sat down on the couch patting the seat next to her. Angel took the hint and sat where Buffy had indicated.

"The man at the florist shop said you would probably be miffed, but I was short on cash. My accountant is a bit backlogged with my finances."

"I've put the flowers on the dining room table. They make a lovely centerpiece," Joyce explained as she entered the living room. "Thank you so much Angel. That was very thoughtful."

"I'm glad you like them." Angel said as he grabbed a snack tray and helped himself to some of the raw vegetables on the platter in front of him. Buffy almost fell off the couch when she saw Angel take a bit a carrot, chew it up and swallow it. It suddenly occurred to him that Buffy had never seen him eat before. But she quickly recovered and followed suit by grabbing a few carrot sticks for herself.

"So, Angel, tell me a bit about yourselfdo you have any family in the area?" Joyce asked, not noticing Buffy tensing slightly at the question.

"I'm afraid it's just me. My family was killed some time ago," Angel replied, his voice tinged with regret. "I've been on my own for a while."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Has it been difficult for you?"

"MOM! I'm sure Angel would appreciate it we changed the subject," Buffy exclaimed nervously knowing the true fate of Angel's family.

"It's OK Buffy," Angel soothed. "I mean yes, it's a hard subject for me to talk about, but isn't the reason I'm here is so that your mom can get to know me? As much as I do try to keep the past in the past, what happened can't be undone. It's still part of my life. Part of who I am."

"Well I am sorry if I've made you uncomfortable. But Buffy hasn't exactly been forthcoming with any information about you," Joyce prompted. "When I came in the room I heard you mentioning something about an accountant?"

"Oh yes ma'am. Well he's more of a family retainer. You see, I am originally from Ireland. My family owned, or I guess you could say that I own...well inherited is more like it... a rather large country estate. Most of the tenant rents go back into the running of the estate, but one a month or so, my accountant wires funds into my bank account here. And this month, as usual, he's a bit behind."

"Do you get back to Ireland much?" Joyce asked.

"I haven't been back there in, well a very long time," Angel replied.

Joyce couldn't comprehend why Buffy chose that moment to commence with a coughing fit. After a few moments Joyce offered to get Buffy some water. "Angel, can I get you a drink as well. We've got some cola and I just made a batch of iced tea."

"Iced tea would be great," Angel shouted toward the kitchen where Joyce disappeared. "Are you all right Buffy," Angel continued lowering his voice."

Buffy coughed a few more times before recovering enough to speak. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Here you go Buffy," Joyce said as she handed Buffy a glass of water and set a glass of iced tea down in front of Angel. Buffy grabbed the glass and took a long drink.

"Oh dinner should be ready in a few minutes. I hope vegetarian chili is OK with you Angel. Buffy mentioned that you don't eat meat. Is that a moral choice?" Joyce asked.

"Well if it was a moral choice, my shoes wouldn't be leather," Angel responded pointing toward his feet. "No, its uh, more of a health issue with me." Joyce nodded in response.

"So tell me Angel, since you seem to be a man of independent means, besides tutoring Buffy with her history, what *do* you do with yourself?"

As the question was not unexpected, Angel had spent some time thinking that one through and was grateful that he could truthfully answer it, well mostly truthfully.

"Well, I am a bit of a night owl. Did Buffy mention that I'm basically allergic to sunlight?

"No she didn't. But that seems to be par for the course." Joyce replied giving Buffy a look.

"Uh, it never came up," Buffy replied defensively.

"Basically its an allergy to the sun. Even minimal exposure can be bad for me."

"How terrible for you." Joyce exclaimed.

"It's not so bad. I've been living with it pretty much my whole life. But it does rule out trips to the beach, in the daylight anyway."

"So what do you do with your days since you can't go out?"

"I've basically reprogrammed my internal clock so I pretty much sleep during the day. When the sun goes down is when I start my day."

"Interesting." Joyce marveled wondering what other surprises she would learn about that evening. "What did you do about school, when you were younger I mean?"

"When I was growing up I had a governess who also tutored me," Angel truthfully replied.

"Miss Leary?" Buffy interjected, remembering one of the few stories that Angel had related to her about his childhood. Joyce look at Angel expectantly so he again recounted the story.

"One day when I was five years old, I had been particularly bad. I forget now what I had done, whatever it was Miss Leary had told my parents. It got me sent to bed without any supper. The next day a boy whose family lived on our land came over to show me the frog he had just caught, and I decided to put the frog into Miss Leary' s bed. You never heard such a ruckus! My father tanned my hide so bad I couldn't sit for a week."

"So were you a little demon when you were younger?" Joyce playfully accused. 'Not far off,' Buffy thought to herself.

"You might say that," Angel admitted, grinning his little-boy-up-to-no-good grin.

Just then a buzzer sounded in the kitchen. "I'll be right back," Joyce said as she stood to make her way to the kitchen.

"So how are we doing?" Angel asked Buffy.

"I think so far so good."

"So why did you almost fall off of the couch?"

"I guess seeing you actually eat something was a bit of a surprise."

"Really? Hmmm. Never really thought about it before. I guess you never have seen me eat food before."

"Buffy, you and Angel come to the table. Dinner's ready." Joyce shouted from the kitchen.

Angel stood up first and offered his hand to Buffy. She took the offered hand and dragged him toward the dining room.

Angel rearranged his arm so that instead of being dragged toward the dining room by Buffy, he was escorting her to the table. As the pair entered the dining room, Joyce had just set last dish on the table and was moving to the chair at the head of the table. Angel released his arm from Buffy's in order to pull Joyce's chair out for her. Once she was settled, he repeated the action for Buffy.

"Buffy," Joyce began. "I have to give you credit. You seem to have found someone with manners."

"Well I'm glad you think so," Buffy beamed, glad that her mother seemed to be impressed; and although she didn't want to jinx it, she did think the evening was going well so far.

Angel settled himself at the table and as Mrs. Summers had picked up her spoon, Angel followed suit and hesitantly took a bite of chili. For a moment Buffy just looked at him, as he slowly chewed and swallowed the spoonful of chili. Joyce couldn't imagine why Buffy had found this action so fascinating and was about to say something when Angel complimented her on the meal.

"Mrs. Summers this is.good. It's been awhile since I've had a home cooked meal."

Now it was Joyce's turn to beam. "It's a simple recipe. I'll write it down for you if you'd like. That is if you cook. Do you?"

Angel finished chewing and swallowed. "I don't usually do much cooking, but I wouldn't mind having the recipe, if it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble. I'll copy it down after we're through eating. So now tell me, how and when did you two meet?"

Buffy was relieved that she could finally answer a question.

"We met at the Bronze like the first week we moved here. When I got there I had this weird feeling that I was being watched, and when I turned around to look over my shoulder I kinda banged right into him."

"*Were you* watching my daughter?" Joyce questioned Angel teasingly.

"Guilty as charged," Angel said solemnly, as he gently put his spoon down and raised his hands as if to surrender. The effect was ruined when Joyce laughed at his actions causing him to smile in return. He put his hands back down and continued. "From the moment I saw her, I knew she was someone special that I wantedno, needed to get to know."

The emotion going through Angel's voice did not go unnoticed by Buffy or her mother. Buffy gave Angel a bright smile, while Joyce looked at him inquisitively.

Of course Angel neglected to mention the first time he had actually seen Buffy was back in Los Angeles almost two years earlier. He hadn't even told Buffy about that. It was a time in his life that he'd rather not remember.

"So explain where the tutoring came in." Joyce asked.

For a moment Angel was a bit lost. < Tutoring? > he thought. < Where did that come from? > He tried to formulate a response as he took a long drink of water, but before he could say anything, Buffy was leaping to the rescue.

"Uh you remember last year," Buffy prompted. When you were helping me with that American History class?" Angel thought back and vaguely remembered helping her pick a topic for a research paper so he nodded in agreement.

Joyce frowned. "Buffy, as I recall you got a C- in that class."

"Well it would have been a D- if Angel hadn't helped me with my term paper," Buffy quickly explained.

"In that case, Angel, thank you for keeping Buffy out of summer school last year."

As the meal continued, Joyce asked Angel some questions about Ireland. And although he had not been back to his birthplace in well over a hundred years, he found he had little troubling answering her.

When it looked like everyone had had their fill, Joyce suggested that Angel head for the living room while she and Buffy cleared the table. "I'll bring dessert and coffee in."

As he rose from his chair, he and Buffy exchanged glances and smiles while Joyce disappeared into the kitchen with some of the dinner dishes.

"Is this the part where your mom lets you know how I rate so far?" Angel asked.

"UmI think so," Buffy replied grabbing a few glasses from the table and then breezed into the kitchen leaving Angel to make his way back to the living room.

Resuming his original seat on the couch, Angel tried to fight the temptation to eavesdrop on the conversation in the kitchen. In this case, he failed miserably.

Buffy rinsed plates in the sink while Joyce busied herself with the coffee maker. After a few moments of silence, Buffy blurted out, "Well?"

"Well what?" Joyce replied a small smile on her face as Buffy "harrumphed."

"Do you like him?" Buffy asked.

"He seems like a nice boywell a nice man. But I'm still concerned about the age difference. You read so much today on TV about older men going after young girls just for sex. I just don't want you in a position that you're not comfortable in."

"Mom!"

"Look Buffy, I'm not saying that Angel is like that. I only wanted you to know that as a parent I am concerned."

''I know that mom. But you don't have to worry. Its not like that with Angel and me. And he isn't pressuring me or anything. Like I said last week we went for coffee; we didn't make plans for a steamy rendezvous."

Joyce relaxed a bit.

"We scheduled that for next week."

Buffy could hardly contain her smile when she saw the look of horror on her mom's face.

"Just kidding."

"I suppose I deserved that for not trusting your judgement."

"Its OK mom. I guess I'm glad that you do worry about me." Buffy gave her mom a quick hug.

Out in the living room Angel smiled, glad that Buffy had such a caring mother. It brought to his mind thoughts of his own mother. Feeling a pang of guilt he remembered those last years before he was turned. He had not been the best of sons. He had never done much of anything to make his mother proud, in fact, he knew he had been a great disappointment to her. But the past was the past. And although he could not undo it, he could at least be sure to let Mrs. Summers know that he had nothing but the best intentions toward Buffy.

Angel was snapped out of his reverie as Buffy and Joyce entered the living room with a tray of coffee cups and a plate of brownies. Buffy resumed her seat next to him and handed him a cup and saucer.

An awkward silence ensued. For a minute or two, everyone seemed to be studying the carpet or the inside of their coffee cup. Then Angel remembered that Joyce worked at a gallery.

"Buffy tells me that you work at an art gallery."

"That's right." Joyce's face brightened. "Are you interested in art?"

"Yes, actually I am. Does your gallery specialize in any particular form or period?"

"No we don't. I like to have a well rounded stock. So we usually deal in specific pieces. But once in a while we do have shows dealing with a particular artist or period. You should stop by sometime."

"I'd like that."

Just then the phone rang.

"Why don't you get that Buffy. I'm sure it will be for you," Joyce said.

Buffy hoisted herself off of the couch and went to pick up the kitchen extension worrying at the consequences of leaving Angel and her mother together for too long.

Angel listened as she practically ran to the kitchen to pick up the phone. He grimaced when her heard her answer, "Hello?.....Oh hey Willow." He may be stuck sometime alone with Joyce.

"I don't know why I bothered putting the phone in my name. It's not like I usually get any calls."

Angel smiled politely and nodded as if in agreement. He took a deep breath as if to speak so Joyce looked at him expectantly.

"I'm guessing you're concerned about my seeing Buffy."

"Good guess. I'm a mother. Part of my job is to worry. I mean why would you want to date someone Buffy's age? Wouldn't you rather be involved with someone your own age?"

"Mrs. Summers, I've seen a lot of those talk shows. You know the ones where teenage girls are involved with much older men?"

Joyce nodded wondering if Angel was psychic.

"But," Angel continued. "It's not like that with Buffy and me. I have nothing but respect for her. I'd never even think of pushing her into anything."

"So no ulterior motives?" Joyce asked.

"No. She's such an amazing person. I just want to spent time with her.get to know her better."

"You might not push her, but what about her? She's only 16. What if she believes *she's* ready for something?" Joyce's voice trailed off.

Angel shifted around in his seat a bit, wondering just how to respond to that.

"Well let me ask you this. Do you think you have done a good job raising her? I mean have you let her know how you feel about..um..uh."

"Sex?" Joyce asked softly seeing that Angel could not bring himself to say it. "I-we-um...talked about it. I think I was clear on my feelings on the subject."

"So you think Buffy is pretty clear on your views?"

"Yes I do. But even so, I don't want to see her get hurt."

"I've given you my assurances that I am not in this for lascivious reasons. So it's up to you to trust your daughter and trust in yourself as a parent."

Joyce sat back in her chair pondering what Angel had just said. "Are you sure you're only 22?"

"Why do you ask?" Angel replied, trying to sound casual.

"You just seemed to know what I needed to hear from you."

As Angel smiled and took his last sip of coffee, Buffy came bounding into the living room.

"That was Willow. She wanted to know if we planned on heading over to the Bronze tonight. I told we would be there in a little while. That is if it's OK with you mom."

"Go have fun. I think I've tortured you kids enough for one evening."

"Great! Let me go grab a coat," Buffy said over her shoulder as she ran up the stairs.

"So," Angel began as he rose to a standing position, a slight smile curling onto his lips. "Do I pass muster?"

"I think so," Joyce answered as she stood and walked with Angel toward the front door. "But if you hurt my little girl"

"Don't worry. I've heard that you're pretty handy with an ax."

A moment later Buffy bounded back down the stairs nearly colliding with Angel and her mother.

"All set?" Angel asked as he offered Buffy his arm.

"All set!" she replied linking her arm through his as Joyce opened the front door.

"Have a nice time you two. And Buffy, please try to be home before midnight tonight OK?"

"Sure mom!" Buffy called as she pulled Angel out of the house and down the front steps.

Joyce looked at the two of them as they walked arm in arm toward the Bronze and smiled. Angel really *was* as wonderful as Buffy seemed to think.

~end~