TITLE: "Full of Thanks"
AUTHOR: ASH Watcher/Slayer Watcher
EMAIL: GGtheSlayer@aol.com
PAIRING: B/G friendship
RATING: PGish
SUMMARY: Thanksgiving in Sunnydale.
SPOILERS/TIMELINE: Um...sometime in Season 6
DISTRIBUTION: GilesRulesBaby, ash_watcherfanfiction, anyone else, ask
first. :)
DEDICATIONS: For Gileswench & Gail, We Love You!! :)
FEEDBACK: Pretty please, with Giles on top??? :D
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is in response to Gileswench's: The
Wencheriffic, Giles-Centric Thanksgiving challenge. For further
details of the challenge, email me offlist!! OH and Spike? He's in an
urn somewhere in, um, Prague??
******************
Giles sighed, tomorrow was Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving since
Buffy had returned from Heaven. She'd been slowly coming around, and
he was beginning to believe that maybe everything would be all right.
Dawn had gone to L.A. to spend Thanksgiving weekend with Hank & his
new wife. Willow, Tara, Xander, and Anya, were all coming over
tomorrow for dinner. Buffy was doing her best to get into the spirit
of things.
She walked into the living room, and plopped down next to Giles on
the couch.
"Hiya, Giles...whatcha doin' ?"
He smiled at her, and she returned it. He noticed she had a piece of
paper in one hand.
"Hello, Buffy. I'm just sitting here and thinking...what've you got
there?"
"It's a shopping list...we need to get the stuff for dinner tomorrow.
Oy, I can't even begin to imagine how crazy the stores are gonna be.
But hey, I'm the Slayer, and I've defeated demons, vampires, and
anything else. I think I can handle the supermarket....especially
with the bestest Watcher by my side. Right, Giles?"
He blinked...Buffy had just said more to him, then she had in days.
He slowly grinned and nodded in agreement. Buffy laughed and then
grabbed her purse. Giles drove to the store and spent a good 15
minutes trying to find a parking spot. As soon as the two of them
walked through the front doors, they were stunned to see how chaotic
everything was. He snagged a grocery cart, and then grabbed Buffy's hand and they
started down the nearest aisle.
***************
Around 10 minutes later, they were standing by the turkey selection.
Neither one of them were quite sure as to which size they should get.
"Well, Tara & Will aren't gonna eat any...and I doubt Anya will. So
that leaves, you, me, and Xander....and knowing Xander..."
"Right, the 20-LB one then," Giles replied, hefting the bird into the
cart.
"Now we need Cranberry Sauce, ooh...should we get the kind with the
whole berries in it? Or just the jellied kind??"
"I don't know, Buffy....does it really make a difference?"
Buffy's jaw dropped in shock, didn't Giles realize the importance of
picking the right kind of Cranberry Sauce?
"Giles, how can you say that?! Never question the necessity of the
right kind of Cranberry Sauce. The whole dinner could be ruined by
the wrong choice!"
He was flabbergasted...surely she wasn't serious, was she? Buffy was
trying not to laugh...but failed. Her giggles were infectious, and
soon Giles was giggling right along with her. Everyone passing by
them, was giving the pair very odd looks. And a very wide berth, just
in case.
***************
A few minutes later, they'd picked two cans of Cranberry Sauce...one
with berries, one without. Next they picked the Crescent rolls, then
the ingredients for Green Bean Casserole. Yams, Brown Sugar,
Marshmallows, Orange Jello, Tangerines(in a can), a sack of potatoes,
gravy mix, stuffing, and various other items, were all thrown in the
cart. They finally made their way up to the check-out stand.
***************
Half an hour later, Buffy & Giles, were busy unpacking the grocery
bags. The two danced and sang along with the little kitchen radio. He
was very happy and Buffy seemed to be enjoying herself too. Which of
course, made him even happier.
"I say, Buffy, would you like to hear a funny joke I heard the other
day?"
"Hit me, Watcher-Mine!"
"Why did the turtle cross the road?"
"Um.....I have no idea. Why *did* the turtle cross the road, Giles?"
"Why, to get to the Shell Station, of course!", he laughed.
Buffy rolled her eyes, but giggled at the same time.
***************
The next morning, Buffy popped out of bed and raced downstairs. Giles
was sitting at the table, drinking tea and eating Marmalade toast. He
looked up from the newspaper and gave her a cheerful smile. She
smiled back and poured herself some tea. Then sat down next to him.
Giles smirked when Buffy grabbed the Comics out of his hand.
A few minutes later, the phone rang. It was Tara, letting Buffy know
that she and the others would be over for dinner about three. Buffy
said that was fine and then they said their good-byes and hung up.
She glanced at the clock and gulped, it was 10:00 AM.
"Giles! It's 10 o'clock! Everyone will be here in FIVE HOURS! We need
to get cracking!" she screeched.
"Calm down, luv...the Turkey's in the oven right now. I put it in
about 15 minutes before you got up. Now, we just need to get the
potatoes and other side dishes assembled and cooked."
She hugged him and after a brief second, he returned the hug. He
kissed her cheek, too. She blushed, then raced upstairs to get
dressed. When she came back down, Giles was preparing the casserole
as well as the Yams. Buffy started peeling the potatoes and within
two or three minutes, they were on the stove cooking. Tara and the
others, were bringing pie and whatever else for dessert. Giles put
the Yams and casserole, into the fridge for the time being. No sense
in having everything done too early.
***************
Buffy dragged Giles into the living room and turned on the TV.
"Oh good, the parade's just starting!," she exclaimed.
"What parade are you talking about?"
"The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, of course. Haven't you ever seen
it?"
"Not as such, no...what exactly is it?"
"It's a bunch of different floats and musicians parading down the
streets of New York. And there are Marching Bands, and Santa Claus.
It's tradition to watch it every Thanksgiving."
"Ah, I see...well, since I've never seen it, would you please walk me
through it as we watch?"
"Sure thing, Watcher-Mine," she grinned, hugging him quickly.
***************
At three o'clock, the doorbell rang. Buffy raced out of the kitchen
and flung open the door. She welcomed everyone inside and then took
their coats. Giles came out of the living room and said hello.
Willow, Xander, and Anya, all joined Giles in the living room.
Tara joined Buffy in the kitchen.
"Hi Buffy. Willow and I brought Pumpkin Pie and a Chocolate Cream
Pie. Where do you want them?"
"Hi Tara, um, in the fridge for now. Thanks!"
The pies placed safely in the fridge, the Slayer & Wicca just chit-
chatted about various things. Buffy went into the living room and
roped the guys into setting the table. Xander & Giles grumbled, but
did as they were bid, smiling the whole time. When everything was
ready, Buffy and Giles brought all the food out and placed it on the
table.
"All righty then, everyone grab a seat!," Buffy announced.
Giles sat at one end of the table, with Buffy at the other, Willow
sat next to Buffy. Tara sat across from Willow. Xander sat next to
Giles, with Anya across from him. Just as Xander started to reach for
the just-carved Turkey, Giles cleared his throat.
"I thought perhaps, that we could take turns going around the table
and saying one or two things we are most thankful for."
They all nodded in agreement, and it was decided that Buffy would go
first.
"Me first, huh? Okay...," she began, pausing a few seconds to gather
her thoughts.
"I am most thankful for....being here with all of you. I love you all
and...um...I hope that everyone likes the food, I guess," Buffy
laughed nervously.
Everyone chuckled, then Willow said what she was thankful for.
"I'm thankful for my great friends, who're my family as well. I...I
don't know what I'd do without any of you... I love you
guys!," Willow declared, a tear or two running down her face.
Tara said that she was thankful for being a part of a great family.
Xander agreed with that sentiment and Anya...well...she said she was
thankful for the great orgasms Xander gave her. Everyone laughed and
Xander just kissed her and said, "That's my Ahn!"
Giles was the last one...and he cleared his throat, then took his
glasses off, polished them, then put them back on. They all smiled at
his familiar nervous gesture.
"I am ever so thankful for all of you...you lot bring me so much
joy...and at times, so much sorrow...I can't imagine living my life
without any of you in it. I love you all, so very, very much."
It was very quiet as they all sat and reflected each other's words of
thanks. In a few minutes though, Buffy declared, "Dig In! I don't
want any leftovers!" Xander vowed to do his best at eating
everything in site. Giles rolled his eyes in amusement. Willow & Tara
exchanged smiles. And Anya muttered something under her breath
like, "I'm gonna have to roll Xander out of here."
***************
Three hours later, the group sat in Buffy's living room. None of
them were tempted to ever eat again. Well, except Xander...he was
digging into the Pumpkin Pie. Buffy was sitting on the couch, her
head resting on Giles' shoulder. Willow & Tara were cuddling on the
loveseat. Anya was snoozing away in the easy chair. Giles was very
content...and he fought back a sleepy yawn. He glanced around at
everyone, then smiled and closed his eyes. A short while later,
everyone had dozed off, even Xander. It had been a very good holiday
indeed.
*********
The End!
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