A.N. Why did this take so long? I seriously suck at endings. But this is it, folks. Thank you for reading and reviews are always welcomed.

"The bride wants to see you," Anya said.

"What now?" Buffy asked. She was just coming from a last minute problem with the music, and now that the crisis was averted she was going to deal with a different problem over the phone with the caterers back at the reception.

"I don't know," answered Anya. "She didn't say."

"I'm a bit busy, Anya."

"You have to go," Anya insisted. "She's the bride."

Buffy sighed. There was no arguing when Anya got that tone in her voice. "Fine. Can you yell at the caterers then?"

Buffy quickly explained the problem and gave Anya the number. With how determined the former vengeance demon looked, Buffy thought it was better for Anya to handle it anyways. Her way of doing things unsettled people enough to make them please her just so she would leave them alone. Buffy's strength was in beating things up. That didn't go so well over the phone or with the wedding industry. So Buffy made her way to the dressing room with one less stress weighing her down. Dawn was just putting the finishing touch to her hair when Buffy walked in.

Buffy started to tear up.

"Oh no!" Dawn said. "You can't blubber yet. If you start I'll start."

"All right," Buffy said with a deep breath to let her eyes dry. "What did you need to see me about?"

"Well, Anya said that the guests are all arriving and going to their seats, so I wondered if he was here yet?"

"Not yet, but he's on his way. Should be here soon."

"Okay." Dawn smoothed a nonexistent crease in her skirt.

"Don't be nervous. He'll love you."

"It's just… why did this have to wait until now? Shouldn't we have moved the wedding a little later? What if we regret him not being the one to walk me down the aisle?"

"One, you couldn't move the date and keep your deposits. Two, even if the date was moved something would have happened and he wouldn't have been able to come early anyways. And three, he understands that Giles is the one walking you down the aisle, but he will be the one to claim the father-daughter dance."

"Okay." Dawn groaned. "This is going to be a nightmare."

"Dawn, it's fine. Jack isn't scary. Plus, you survived Xander and Anya's wedding. Somehow everyone survived that—though I don't know how from what I've heard. I don't think anything can be that bad and I wasn't even there."

Dawn gave a small laugh. "Half the guests behaving horribly inhuman, the other half all demons, yeah it was bad. The drinking, the fighting, the fact that Xander almost ran and would have if Spike hadn't spotted what that one demon was up to and dragged Xander back before he got far. That black eye did not look good in pictures."

"See? Connor's not running, but Spike is standing by just in case."

"With instructions to break his kneecaps—less visible in pictures."

"Exactly! Plus, your guest list and in-laws are quite a bit smaller. We don't have to worry about any sudden Jerry Springer of the Damned moments."

"Um, well," said Dawn. "Don't forget, Jack's gonna meet Angel."

"Oh god!" Buffy moaned dramatically. "Don't remind me. I've been trying not to think about it. Our dad is meeting your dad-in-law, who is not only a vampire but also my ex. It's beyond bad."

"Not much we can do about it," said Dawn. She took a few deep breaths while Buffy turned her panic to pacing. "Okay, bright side: this is gonna be one hell of a story to tell later. We can't let Xander and Anya have all the fun. But I'm not missing one moment of our personal soap opera! They don't meet until I'm there to see it!"

"I'm so glad my pain amuses you," Buffy grumbled at Dawn's brightening attitude.

"Sure does. This is gonna be good!" Dawn then got an especially evil glint in her eye. "You know, with the father-daughter/mother-son dance, since Darla's dust maybe you could fill in with Connor. You and his father were really close…"

"Oh god! Shut up right now!"

Buffy left the room with Dawn laughing and headed for the church entrance so that she could greet Jack on his arrival. She met Spike in the lobby.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Just this messed up family. My little sister is marrying the son of my ex-boyfriend, while meanwhile I'm dating a man who's the spitting image of my father's ex. I think we're cursed. This feels like an evil family curse."

He immediately pulled her into his arms and leaned in for a kiss.

She pulled back. "Hey, you'll ruin my makeup!"

"Don't care," he said with a grin. Her frown and her resistance didn't last long. When they pulled apart he gave her face a long look. "Nope, still perfect."

"Well, my lipstick does go well with that tie," Buffy teased.

"Then I won't wipe it off," he answered back. He leaned in to kiss her again; she could feel how he deliberately shaped his lips to get a thorough coverage of lipstick this time. She tried her best not to giggle.

"Ugh, that is not something I wanted to see," said Jack.

Spike and Buffy turned to see Jack and Ianto just walking through the doors.

"Jack!" Buffy disentangled herself from Spike to greet her father with a hug.

He pulled back though. "I'm not sure if I want to be hugging you after you've been with… that."

Buffy huffed and put her hands on her hips.

"Ignore him," Ianto said. He greeted Spike with a friendly handshake and mutual manly clap on the shoulder. Jack was obviously still miffed and generally flummoxed about the two men's friendship. According to Ianto it was mostly because Spike looked like Hart and not that he was a vampire.

They were all then interrupted by Giles. "Buffy, it's time if all the guests are here."

"They are now," she answered.

"Well then," Giles cleared his throat. "Spike perhaps you could fulfil your duties as usher and…"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your knickers in a twist. C'mon, Coffee God, and I'll show you to your seat."

"Is that lipstick?" Giles asked the vampire as he walked past. Spike only gave Buffy a wink, and he and Ianto went into the chapel. Giles took off his glasses to wipe them.

"Giles, could Jack maybe have just a minute to say hi to Dawn, and then we can start?"

"Of course," he answered. "I'll tell Connor and Angel they can move to the front now." With Giles gone, Buffy turned back to Jack.

"Oh, c'mere!" He pulled her into a tight hug.

"Okay, enough rumpling my dress. The bride wants to see you." Since she used a firm tone, naturally Jack gave her a quick salute and then followed her to Dawn's dressing room.

The first words out of Dawn's mouth were, "They haven't met yet?"

"No," Buffy answered.

Jack looked curious but didn't ask.

HXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

The ceremony was sweet and simple. While some pictures were taken of the couple outside the church, the majority were postponed for at the reception where certain members of the party wouldn't burst into flame. So far Buffy had an easy time of keeping her father and her ex from meeting, but the inevitable was hanging over her like a guillotine's blade.

She was walking over to talk to Jack and Ianto. They were being entertained by Xander, and she caught enough of their conversation to know he was explaining how perfect Dawn and Connor were for each other. She thought she heard him talking about their ages when she had to intercept Angel; they were still waiting for the bride and groom and Buffy had a promise to keep.

"So that's you father?" Angel asked, indicating to where Jack sat.

"Yeah, that's him."

"The coat's a little odd, don't you think?"

"Asks Mr. Black Leather."

He shifted slightly. "Yeah, well…"

"Don't start. His vintage fashion sense is the last thing you need to worry about."

"What? What else is there?"

"Oh, just timey stuff. Maybe the fact that he's been around as many years as Spike but he hasn't even been born yet."

"What?"

They were interrupted by the arrival of Dawn and Connor. While greeting everyone, Dawn manoeuvred closer and closer until she was beside Buffy and Angel.

"Hello Father-in-law!" she said brightly.

He scowled while Buffy smirked. He said, "Dawn, I don't think…"

"Oh, c'mon you old stick in the mud, it's nothing I haven't said before. You're just uncomfortable because Buffy's here to hear it. Ooo, speaking of awkward, you haven't met my dad yet. Hey, Jack! Come meet the in-laws!"

Suddenly Buffy felt Spike come up behind her and take her hand. She glanced back and saw his eager look.

"Not you too," she muttered so just he could hear.

"Are you kidding, Slayer? Been lookin' forward to Peaches getting bent all out of shape. I wouldn't miss this for the world." He paused. "Though taking that thought literally leads to some very unpleasant images."

"What? Oh gross! I so did not need that!" She grabbed a glass of champagne and tossed it back.

Jack had left his table and Dawn was making the proper introductions. The handshake between Jack and Connor was obviously a testing one to both parties. It appeared they both passed. Buffy was expecting a cold look from Jack towards Angel given his treatment towards Spike. Instead he was wearing a flirtatious grin and Angel was scowling.

"Hi, Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said while shaking the vampire's hand. Somehow he was able to make just a handshake incredibly seductive.

Angel was momentarily dumb.

"My father, Angel," Connor supplied the introduction with a mischievous smile.

"Good to know you have an eye for good looking men, Buffy," Jack said with a flirtatious wink to Angel. "Must have hurt, that long fall from heaven."

Angel sputtered. Buffy refused to rise to his bait. Instead she crossed her arms and said, "Hey! Runs in the family. After all, we've both been with a man with the same face. I just got lucky with the better of the two."

Spike wrapped his arms around her and grinned. Jack rolled his eyes. Angel looked thoroughly confused and disturbed. If he could, he would have been turning all sorts of interesting shades for red and purple. With a fake cough and some half-mumbled excuses, he left. Dawn let out her giggles as soon as he was gone, and there were smiles all around. Buffy just shook her head with a frown.

"Okay, drama over," Buffy said. "Was it everything you wanted, Dawn?"

"Good enough, I think we should move on to food and cake though. Then we can get to the dancing!"

"Dawn!" Connor groaned. "You know I don't dance."

"Well you're stuck dancing today, so toughen up."

Jack, Buffy, and Spike joined Ianto at their table as the couple walked away.

"Did you know he was gonna…" Buffy started to ask Ianto.

"Break the tension by making a joke of flirting with the father of the groom?" he finished. "How's the move to Seatle going?"

"Probably not as smoothly as if you were organising it, but it's good," Buffy answered. "We've got the place, and housing has been settled. We wanted to wait until after the wedding though."

"So now instead of wedding chaos we'll have packing chaos," Spike added with sarcastic cheer. "Huzzah!"

Jack snorted. Ianto smiled sympathetically.

"Has anyone seen Martha or Mickey?" He pointed to the two empty seats left at the table.

Buffy looked around. She was certain she had seen them together at some point.

"Let's just say I wouldn't go into the cupboard next to the loo without knocking," Spike said. "Twenty bucks says they don't come back before the toasts."

"You're kidding!" said Buffy. "I can't believe those two."

"I'll take that bet," Ianto said.

"How long has…" Jack started.

"Since they got off the plane," Spike said.

"Sooner," said Buffy. "It was on the plane. We left Torchwood and the chemistry just kept intensifying."

"Good for them," Jack said.

"What about Owen and Tosh?" Buffy asked.

"Slow, but steady," Ianto answered. Buffy smiled in response.

"Now are you done playing matchmaker?" Jack said. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

There wasn't an answer as Martha and Mickey came and sat down. Spike pulled out his wallet and handed a twenty to Ianto. Martha looked confused, but Mickey seemed to catch on and rolled his eyes.

HXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

The rest of the reception went just as one would expect. On the whole it was like the end of a romantic comedy that just happened to include vampires, vampires slayers, and alien fighters.

Buffy stepped away from the dancing to cool off for a minute or two outside. The sun had set at least an hour before, and true to California form there wasn't a cloud in the sky. A song she didn't particularly care for started playing inside, so she wandered away into the gardens. At the far edge was a bench where she sat down.

She was sitting there staring at the stars when Spike found her.

"Shouldn't you be back in there making merry, luv?"

"Dawn and Connor snuck out a little while ago. If anyone asks for me, too bad. My sister-of-the-bride duties are done."

"And the clean up?"

"Bride's side set up, so the groom's side has to take down and clean up."

"Too right." He sat down and wrapped an arm around her. She immediately nestled into his side. "It's a beautiful night. A night for poets."

"Are you gonna write me a sonnet?"

"Just so you can laugh at me?"

"I wouldn't."

"I was never any good."

"Like I'd know the difference."

"Hey!"

"I know," she cut him off. "Don't call myself stupid. But don't sell yourself short either, Mr. William the Bloody."

"The Bloody Awful Poet, you mean? No, I know you mean well, pet. 'Sides, don't know how much poetry there is in stars when you've seen 'em up close."

"And fought the aliens that live there."

"And that."

She tilted her head slightly. "Poetry or not, it's still beautiful."

"So would you ever wanna go back exploring or pick a different planet—sans demons?"

Buffy thought about the question for a minute. During the silence they both heard the faint sounds of moving dirt and grass.

"Isn't Angel's Rest Cemetery just the other side of this place?" Spike asked as Buffy got up and stood on the bench to look over the garden wall behind them.

"Yup," she answered. "Looks like a party over there too. Wanna crash it?"

Spike broke off a couple branches of the tree next to them. He handed her one. "Need a hand over the wall with that dress?"

"Eh, it rips, it rips. I wasn't really planning on wearing it again anyways." She vaulted over the wall and he followed close behind.

The battle was quick; the newly risen fledglings never stood a chance. When the dust settled Spike pulled her into a kiss.

She smiled at him. "I like living on this planet just fine."

Fin