While You Were Gone
The sight that greeted the newlyweds when they stepped into the mansion they called home was a very familiar one. Ciara was facing the fireplace, her hands covering her eyes as she counted to one hundred. Kieran was running frantically from room to room, trying to find just the right hiding place. However, his activity stopped as soon as he spotted his parents standing at the door.
"Mommy! Daddy!," he exclaimed, running towards them.
Ciara whirled around, smiling radiantly when she saw her parents. "You’re home!"
Kieran leaped into his mother’s embrace, holding tight, while Ciara took her rightful place in Daddy’s arms. Kisses and hugs were exchanged, and whispered words of love were spoken.
"Mommy, life was so boring without you," Ciara informed her mother.
>From his spot in his father’s arms, Kieran nodded in complete agreement.
"Even playing at the park wasn’t as fun."
"We missed you," Ciara added.
"A lot."
Buffy and Angel smiled, kissing their children once more. "And we missed you," Angel said, setting his son back on his feet.
"Were you good for your grandmother," Buffy asked as she and the children followed Angel into their bedroom.
The two siblings nodded in answer. "We were especially good for Aunt Cordelia," Ciara announced.
At the mention of Cordelia, Kieran’s eyes took on a dreamy quality. It was a well known fact that Kieran had a major crush on the brunette, something that Cordelia was all too happy to indulge.
"She took us out for ice cream," Kieran informed his parents with a smile. "And we went to her house and watched movies and had popcorn and cookies and pizza."
Ciara exchanged an amused glance with her mother. "He fell asleep sitting on her lap."
Buffy and Angel laughed. "Sounds like you had a good time," Buffy remarked.
"The best," the twins replied in unison.
Buffy and Angel sat down on their bed, gathering the children in their laps. "What else did you do while we were gone?" Angel asked when Ciara snuggled into his arms.
"We helped Aunt Willow watch Uncle Oz," Kieran said with a smile. "He got out of his cage and we had to chase him down the block. Mr. O’Leary from across the street got mad because Uncle Oz scared Penelope up a tree and she wouldn’t come down for two whole days."
"And we helped Grandpa Giles cast a spell," Ciara continued. "But he messed it up and the whole basement was filled with blue and purple smoke. It was so pretty!"
"And we went to Willy’s with Uncle Spike!"
At that Buffy shrieked in anger while Angel simply rolled his eyes. "I’m going to kill him," Buffy stated angrily. "I’m going to hunt him down and stake every part of his body!"
Hearing that, Kieran and Ciara giggled. "Uncle Spike said you’d say that," Ciara told her mother with a smile.
"You won’t really stake Spike, will you Mommy?"
Smiling, Buffy shook her head, hugging her son close. "No, I won’t stake Uncle Spike."
Ciara nodded. "Good. If you staked him there wouldn’t be anyone around to make fun of Uncle Xander."
"Speaking of Xander, did you see him while we were gone," Buffy asked getting a glare from Angel.
"Yep," Ciara answered with a nod. "He took us out for tacos."
And for the next hour and a half, Buffy and Angel sat there, listening to stories of what the twins did while their mother and father were on their honeymoon. They all laughed when Ciara told them the about Xander and Spike coming back from patrol soaking wet because they accidentally fell into the lake when they were chasing a vampire. There was a story about going to the studio with Oz, during which Devon ranted for ten whole minutes (quite a long time for a couple of six year olds) about how the earphones were messing up his hair. Then there was the story about helping Grandma Joyce out at the art gallery and going grocery shopping. Although, the cutest one had to be the one about Kieran helping Cordelia run lines for a play and getting his first kiss from a real girl.
"His face was so red, I thought for sure his head was going to explode," Ciara had informed her parents. "That would have been cool."
When the twins were finally finished telling their tales, Buffy smiled. "It doesn’t sound as though you two were bored at all."
"Yeah," Angel agreed. "Sounds like you two had a pretty great time without us."
Ciara shook her head, frowning. "No way. We missed Daddy’s special Chocolate Chip Pancakes."
"And Mommy’s peanut butter and banana sandwiches," Kieran supplied.
"And we missed your bedtime stories," Ciara continued.
"And you tucking us in at night."
Ciara and Kieran gathered their parents close, hugging them tightly. "We missed you," the said together, kissing their parents.
Buffy and Angel exchanged a smile. "We missed you, too."
The End