Wouldn't It Be Nice
Acepilot

AN – Alright, this fic was going to be called So Much to Tell You, but then this title came to me and it was simply perfect, for much the same reason that it was a perfect title for the AGU episode that also made use of it. If you've never heard the song, then I highly reccomend you do so. Anyway, this is the conclusion to the Susie/Angelica 'trilogy' of tie-ins to the Tertiary universe. This is set on the same day as Chapter 15 of Tertiary and the fic You Were the Only One in the Room, though reading those is not entirely necessary. I hope you enjoy this fic - I've found this couple really different and fun to write. Reviews are ever appreciated.

Disclaimer - you know the drill. I don't own it. I'm sure this is a surprsie to no-one.

8 _ * _ * _ 8

Susie Carmichael had long had plans.

She had planned to be a singer – or maybe a dancer. It had been her dream since she was a child, that she might some day see her name up in lights, to share what she viewed as her most special gift with the world. The idea that her singing could make people...feel better, or feel sad, or feel anything was incredibly special to her.

She had planned on getting married and starting a family. She knew, from a young age, that she wanted to be a mother. Dil Pickles had, more than once while they were growing up, commented on her mother henning of the group and she had to admit he had a point. The idea of having a family, someday in the future – was very high on her list of priorities.

Of course, some plans change.

"Not that I'm complaining," Angelica gasped as she tried to get her breath back, "but what the hell was that for?"

"I love you," Susie told her. "I just felt the need to express it."

"Did you have to express it right against the DeVille's front door?" she asked, indicating their surroundings with a vague wave of her hand. "Again, just to clarify – not complaining. Just a bit surprised."

" Yes, I did. It was completely necessary that I do that here, and now," she emphasised.

Angelica shrugged. "Well, if that impulse overtakes you, then it's absolutely one-hundred-percent necessary that you act on it."

Susie grinned. "Come on. We should probably get to my parent's house before dinner."

"Susie, it's just there," Angelica indicated the house across the street.

"Yeah, but we're being punctual," she told her, grabbing Angelica's hand and leading the blonde toward the house she'd gown up in. "I think it went well."

"Of course it went well, my parents adore you," Angelica pointed out.

She had a point, of course. When they had told Angelica's parents they were dating, the response had been rather unexpected – Drew had nodded and smiled while Charlotte said she was pleased – that Angelica had found someone as sensible and grounded as Susie, especially after "all those...airheads" she used to date.

Angelica had taken offence at this, but only because she felt obligated to. She guessed her mother had a point.

"Well, some of us are just born perfect," Susie told her, adopting a long suffering tone of voice. "And your parents were good enough to recognise that in me."

Angelica rolled her eyes. "I've got to stop complimenting you so much. Your head won't fit through doorways pretty soon."

"It's just because you're good enough to recognise it in me, too," Susie told her.

Angelica simply smiled as her fiance took her hand and started walking them toward her childhood home.

"So, would I be correct in assuming that you know something I don't about the manner in which Phil and Kimi tore out of here this afternoon?" Angelica queried. "Because I'm guessing it wasn't to elope. Unless they were seriously trying to steal our thunder."

Susie snorted. "I would be very, very surprised if they were taking off to elope, trust me," she told Angelica. "No, something finally happened with Lor and Phil. I imagine they'd be in Bahia Bay by now."

Angelica laughed. "Ah, damn. I was getting such mileage out of the tension between the two of them – now I won't have anything to tease Phil about."

"I'm sure you'll find something," she said, pulling Angelica up to the front door of her parent's house. "Alright. Are we ready to do this?"

"I suspect we're as ready as we're ever likely to be."

"Come on, it's going to go fine," Susie reassured her.

Angelica quirked an eyebrow. "This is a far cry from this morning."

"Well, I'm being positive and hopeful."

"I'm glad. It'll be fine, Susie. I told you everyone was going to be happy for us – and look what's happened so far. Everyone is."

She smiled at Angelica as she reached out to ring the doorbell. Everyone had, indeed, been fine – though by and large everyone they'd told so far had been happy for them from the beginning. Telling their parents had involved everyone becoming aware of their relationship – other than Phil, of course, who had already known they were falling for each other, and had received confirmation that they'd moved into a more...intimate relationship when he had come to Susie's dorm one morning with coffee and a plea for advice, only to discover a very naked couple on the couch scrambling for clothes.

Angelica had noted that, after this, Phil had learned that knocking wasn't enough – and never entered a room without an express invitation first.

Of course, it hadn't been quite that easy with Susie's parents.

Susie had felt like she was in a very awkward scene from Guess Who's Coming To Dinner when they'd finally come out to her parents. Neither her mother or father seemed to want to appear impolite, but she (and she was quite sure Angelica) could tell that they were not exactly thrilled with her choice of significant other. Her mother had taken her aside and asked her if she 'really could afford to let herself be distracted' from her studies.

Susie had assured her she could control both, but she knew that her mother's lingering question marks over her relationship with Angelica had remained.

But like she had told Phil earlier, she had seen it all before, when first Alysa and then Edwin had found the respective loves of their lives. Her parents were simply not keen on anything they thought might not be entirely serious. If you're not willing to work hard at something, why do it at all?

"You want to knock or are we just going to stand here for the rest of the evening?" Angelica asked, placing a hand on Susie's shoulder.

The question and the body contact jolted Susie back to life. She hadn't even realised they were standing in front of her parents house. She blushed a little and turned to smile at Angelica. "Sorry," she said, kissing her on the cheek, before turning back to the door and knocking, twice, slowly.

"Coming!" On the upside, Susie thought to herself, at least her mother sounded cheerful. Moments later the door was flung open and she found herself face to face with her parents, her mother cradling Michael, the newest grandchild and Edwin's first offspring.

Susie threw them her brightest smile. "Merry Christmas, Mom, Dad," she offered, stepping forward into the doorway and wrapping them both up in as big a hug as she could manage without jostling the baby too much.

"Merry Christmas sweetheart," her mother returned, leaning into the embrace and kissing her on the forehead – before Susie felt her stiffen slightly. She pulled back to see that Lucy was looking over her shoulder. "And merry Christmas to you too, Angelica."

"Same to you, Mrs. C," Angelica replied. Susie mentally crossed her fingers that this wouldn't become a sticking point of etiquette. "I hope you've all had a lovely day."

The line was delivered with obvious rehearsal and was about as distant from Angelica's usual behaviour as you could possibly get, but it was a nice gesture and they were, after all, out to impress. Susie decided to distract her parents from the issue at hand by reaching out and claiming Michael from his grandmother. "And Merry Christmas to you too, little man," she said, hoisting the baby in the air. "Did Santa bring you lots of presents?"

"Eee!" the child squealed.

"That's good," she murmured.

"What are you all doing standing on the doorstep?" Ty, Alysa's husband, asked from behind the elder Carmichaels, where he stood with overfilled rubbish bags loaded with wrapping paper. "Oh, hey Suz."

"Hi, Ty," she returned, watching as her parents parted to allow him through. He smiled and greeted Angelica as he cut through toward the trash cans by the side of the house, while the two couples and the baby finally made their way indoors. Susie was just glad to be out of the stilted manners of the doorstep greeting.

The house was full of the sights and smells and sounds that Susie associated with a score of Christmases and Kwanzaas, her parents decorations were the epitome of tastefulness but this year had clearly been yanked at and chased after by a gaggle of newfound toddlers – Michael and his assorted cousins. Alysa, Buster and now Edwin had all had kids – Alysa now had two, even.

Susie had a flash in her mind of her own child tugging at the garland of popcorn hanging from the tree, cackling madly. She reached out and grasped Angelica's hand, squeezing it tightly, and felt her gesture returned. She wasn't sure if Angelica was thinking along the same lines or just thought she was nervous again, but she wasn't fussed. Just knowing that she was there and not running despite the obviously problematic beginning was enough for her.

Not that Angelica was one to run.

"Hey, little sister," Alysa's voice broke into her train of thought, and she suddenly found herself buffeted by a bruising hug. Angelica seamlessly let go of her hand so she could return the embrace, and she grinned.

"Merry Christmas, Alysa," she said. "How's it going?"

"Tiring," she said, rocking back on her heels. "Arthur decided that four thirty was plenty late enough to sleep in this morning. Thankfully Jason hasn't quite got it quite worked out that there's a reason to be up early, but one of them was enough."

"Tragically, I suspect you'll get used to it," Susie told her, before jerking a thumb toward Angelica. "Some people never grow out of it."

"Ha!" Angelica crowed. "Who was up at the crack of dawn?"

"You woke me."

"I did not. I see no reason to be up earlier than seven a.m any day of the year."

"Hi Aunty Susie."

Suzie looked down to see the nine year old in question looking up at her. She smiled and knelt down to give him a hug. "Merry Christmas, Arthur."

"Thank you Aunty Susie," he said. "Does this mean we can open the rest of the presents, now?"

Angelica laughed, quite loudly. Alysa blushed and Ty, coming back in the house just in time to catch his son's words, chuckled, but still tried to sound disapproving when he scolded, "Arthur, that's not very polite."

"Oh, he's nine," Susie brushed it off. "Have they made you wait?"

"Mommy and Grandma said we had to wait until you and Auntie Angelica were here before we could open your presents."

There was a stifled cough from somewhere – Susie wasn't sure where – at the phrase 'Auntie Angelica'.

"Well, that's nice of them," Susie told him. "Give us a minute to say hi to everyone and then we'll probably be able to do something about these presents."

"I don't know which of our families is less crazy," Angelica told her when they were alone. The family had scattered to prepare for dinner – changing babies, trying to wash Jason's face and hands, checking on the food – and left the lounge room more or less unoccupied, except for Susie, Angelica and Michael, who was pushing a wooden train along the floor with an expression suggesting fascination. Angelica was down there with him, pushing it back into his reach whenever it slipped too far away.

"At least my half is smaller," Susie pointed out, staggering across to slump onto the piano bench. She would admit, however, if pressed, that opening presents with her family was at least as exhausting as it was with the extended clan across the road.

"Just barely," Angelica said. "That said, imagine what it's going to be like there when everyone starts having kids."

Images of Christmases filled to overflowing with children around her ankles flashed into Susie's mind. "That's not something you should even joke about."

"Inevitabilities rarely are," Angelica grinned wickedly, at which Michael laughed – if Susie hadn't known better she'd have said it was an evil cackle. "We'll have to have ours first so it'll rule the roost."

Susie rolled her eyes at that as she pushed the cover back on the piano and started tinkling out some scales. "At least they've kept this thing in tune," she muttered, trying out a few chords and finding they sounded right.

"When do you want to tell them?" Angelica asked, looking up from her game with the youngest Carmichael.

Susie shrugged. "Want to see if we can make it all the way through the meal this time? Or should we just get it over with now."

"They're your family," Angelica pointed out. "Your call. You know any Christmas carols?"

"O Little One," she said, "but I don't think that counts."

"I'll work with it," Angelica told her, scooping up Michael into her arms and crossing the room to the piano. "Put it in a key I can hit."

Susie moved her fingers up the keyboard and tapped out the opening notes to the song in question, transposed somewhat higher to try and reach Angelica's preferred range. Angelica had never been a gifted singer when they were younger – contrary to her view on the subject – but since they had become a couple Susie had worked on it with her and they could now generally find some kind of harmony between them, working out what did suit Angelica's voice.

Michael, who had been cooing away to himself, fell silent as they crooned O Little One. Susie looked up from the piano, letting memory guide her fingers, watching as Angelica sang to the infant.

It made her ache.

Part of her knew that, at 23, they were really quite young to be talking seriously about children, at least by modern standards – her mother had Alysa by her age already. But one of the few things Susie knew for sure about her life – that she loved music, that she loved Angelica, that she wanted to be a mother. She didn't think she and Angelica would seriously have a child for at least another few years – but, even knowing that waiting was the right thing to do, until they were more settled, until she was through with school, until they had more money, part of her still longed for one, now.

Watching Angelica sing Christmas carols to her nephew was not helping dull the need.

When the song ended, Susie let the room lapse into silence. Angelica raised an eyebrow. "No more tunes?"

"I don't know any other Christmas carols," she reminded her.

"Play anything then."

Susie smiled and played the opening notes to Wouldn't It Be Nice, something Phil had introduced her to and a song she had come to associate with her relationship with Angelica. Her fiance grinned and began dancing with the baby in her arms to the more upbeat tune, pitching in on the harmonies and swooping a delighted Michael around the room, his cackling laugh nearly drowning out the music.

The sound of a throat being cleared on the other side of the room startled Susie, and she hit a clinker, dragging everything to a halt. She turned to see her father standing in the doorway, an unreadable expression on his face. "That sounded very nice, girls," he said, in a tone of voice suggesting otherwise. "Dinner is ready."

"Wonderful," Susie said, rising from the piano bench, stealing Michael and a kiss from Angelica before heading into the dining room, which was a bustle of activity, adults trying to settle children and claim seats for the forthcoming meal. She settled Michael into his high chair, brushing off Edwin's insistence that he would do it - "You do it every night," she told him, - before turning back to the table.

She raised an eyebrow. The couples had all been seated next to each other, with two exceptions – her mother and father sat at the head and foot of the table, as was their tradition.

And the only seat left for her, by accident or by design, was opposite, rather than next to, Angelica.

A quiet alarm went off in Susie's mind, but she decided that no, she was just being silly and paranoid, and maybe it was inevitable that one of the couples would end up like this, but she had a sneaking suspicion to the contrary.

The meal progressed, by and large, without incident. If anyone noticed the ring on her finger, no-one said anything about it, for which Susie was glad. While lunch certainly hadn't been a disaster, it wasn't exactly what they had planned, either, and Susie was wanting to handle things properly here. She felt Angelica's feet touch hers under the table, and they played briefly with each other, toes grasping and soles melding. It wasn't playing footsie as such, it was just a soothing contact they could share between themselves.

Susie spent dinner talking to Edwin, who sat next to her, about how life had been treating him, and she kicked herself somewhat for not keeping in better contact with her siblings since they had all moved on from home. She really did miss Edwin and Buster and even Alysa, but they all lived in different cities, Buster in an entirely different state, and though they had been siblings they had never been close – not like the DeVille twins were, or even Chuckie and Kimi were. But they were a massive part of her life and she pledged to herself to make more time for them from now on.

"Of course," Edwin said, as if reading her mind, "all time for socialising goes out the window once you have a kid. They warn you about it, of course, but unless you've got very understanding friends, many of them kind of disappear for a while after the birth."

"Thanks for the warning," Susie told him.

He smiled. "Something you don't really have to worry about, huh?"

Susie smiled cautiously.

Her parents had always been a bit of a question mark in regards to her relationship with Angelica, but her siblings had all had differing reactions. Edwin hadn't really gotten it – understanding perfectly what homosexuality was but not quite understanding how Susie came to it, but had eventually decided that as long as Susie was happy he wasn't going to interfere. Buster remained highly sceptical but kept silent to keep peace. Alysa, however, had always strived to play things as being completely normal. It was occasionally awkward, but it was still a step up on her parents and their repressed tolerance.

"Well, you never know," Susie offered, unwilling to flat out say no, which she felt would constitute lying to her brother, but not really wanting to get more deeply involved in this conversation before having a chance to tell her whole family about her and Angelica's news.

Edwin, however, was not one to let things go. "You planning on having kids, Susie?"

She smiled at him, deciding that maybe this was as good a time as any. "Well...yes, actually, I am."

Edwin's jaw dropped, but he nodded nonetheless. "Oh." He paused for a moment, seemingly struggling to find the right words for the situation. "With Angelica?"

Susie smiled at him even more broadly. "Yes, Edwin."

"Oh," Edwin said.

"I'm sorry Susie," her father asked, leaning over from the head of the table where he had – Susie kicked herself for not realising – been listening to his offspring's conversation. "Did you say that you and Angelica are planning to have children?"

Angelica's toes retreated to their own side of the table and the blonde raised an eyebrow at her. "We just can't get through a meal, can we?"

"Nope," Susie said. The rest of the table was falling quiet, and Angelica shrugged at her. She shrugged back. "Well, everyone, we wanted to tell you all – we were going to do it after dinner but apparently neither of us are very good at keeping things quiet today – that we're planning to get married next year and start a family."

There was dead silence. Edwin was still thinking to himself. Alysa and Ty were smiling but didn't say anything. Buster looked slightly stunned while his wife Marianne looked like she'd rather be anywhere else. Her mother's expression was unreadable.

"Well, congratulations," her father finally said.

"About time you made it official, Suz," Alysa commented. "I think married life gets a bad rap. The only way to be, if you ask me."

Susie smiled at her sister as everyone else murmured congratulations. But when she turned to face her mother, the older woman's expression hadn't changed.

She knew she'd been nervous for a reason.

8 * - * - * 8

to be continued in Chapter 2, coming soon.