Buffy woke as light filtered through the window and her alarm clock went off. Time for a brand new day. She smiled to herself and stretched in her cozy queen sized bed. Her hand gently switch the alarm off and she slid out of bed. She threw a robe around her thin body and entered the living room. She smiled down at the two little girls sleeping on the living room floor and bundled in blankets.
They both had long dark blonde hair that curled at the ends. She gently tip toed past the girls and unlocked the front door for her visitors arriving in a few minutes. One of the little girls yawned loudly and slowly began sit up.
"Good morning, sweetheart." Buffy said sweetly at the youngest girl.
The little girl smiled at her and stretched her arms and legs.
"Hey!" Came another young female voice when her sister accidentally hit her.
Buffy grabbed the remote control off of the coffee table and turned the TV to Cartoon Network. "You guys wanna watch some cartoons while I take a shower?"
Both girls responded by running to the couch and began watching the 32 inch flat screen TV.
"Momma's gonna be here soon. Chloe, can see keep an eye on Avery? Make sure she doesn't get into anything."
Chloe, the oldest girl, nodded her head without taking her eyes off of the TV.
Buffy walked to the master bedroom's bathroom and took a nice, long shower. Twenty minutes later she exited the bathroom and entered the living room when she heard voices. A thick and very comfortable green towel wrapped her body as she slowly entered the living room. A woman and a man both in their early 30's chatted with the girls on the couch and they told her about their exciting weekend with Buffy.
Buffy took the girls to Disney World on Friday. Sea World on Saturday. And they went to the movie theatre on Sunday, ate ice cream and bought new summer outfits.
The older woman glanced at Buffy and gave her a loving smile. "Thank you so much for watching the girls. Chloe told me she had an 'awesome' time."
"I think I enjoyed it more than the girls." Buffy lightly chuckled to herself. "It's been a long time since I actually interacted with someone outside of work."
The woman stood up and left the girls with her husband. She followed Buffy into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.
"You work too much, kid. You should take a vacation for a couple of weeks. Get outta here, meet some cute guys."
Buffy smiled. "Actually, I am leaving. Tomorrow, to be exact."
"Oh? Tell me more! Does this involve a guy?"
Buffy laughed and shook her head. "No, my sister."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Dawn?"
"Yeah, she wants me to go back to Sunnydale for her graduation ceremony and after party."
"Jesus. Dawn is graduating already? Wow, how time flies. She was just 15 the last time she came down here, wasn't she?"
Buffy nodded her head. "Yep. And now she's 18. It's been a long time since I've talked to her, or anyone in Sunnydale. She just called out of the blue and practically begged me to fly over to see her graduate. She's very excited about being finished with High School and going to college."
The woman shook her head in amusement. "I can't even imagine what she looks like now. She was just a little kid when we last saw her." There was a brief pause as the women watched the girls show off their new clothes to their father. The older woman looked back at Buffy. "You remember when you were Dawn's age?"
Buffy laughed. "Oh yeah. That seems like such a long time ago."
The woman playfully hit Buffy's shoulder. "Girl, please. You're 22 years old. It was only 4 years ago. I just keep thinking about how much you've changed between 16 and 18 years old. It was a huge transformation. You were this scared, hurt little girl when you first moved in with my mom, rest her soul. By the time you turned 18 you were this magnification mature young lady. I hope Dawn is half the woman you are. She'd be absolutely brilliant."
Buffy smiled shyly. "This is going to be a terrifying experience." The woman gave her a confused look and Buffy explained. "Come on, Jody. I haven't seen these people since I was 16 years old. Except for my mother and my sister. It's been 6 years since I've seen Willow, Tara, Xander, Angel…Spike." She sighed as she remembered the last time she saw that man. How unstable she was. "They're all going to be there. Dawn's gradation party. I'm embarrassed to show myself to them. I was so weak and scared. They probably think I'm a psycho now."
Jody rubbed Buffy's shoulder. "They'll take one look at you and know that's completely untrue. You are a beautiful and mature young woman. You march through that town with confidence. Show them how much you've grown and how brilliant you've become. Those boys will drop to their knees and worship you and those girls will look at you with eyes full of envy."
Buffy laughed, "Oh, I doubt that." She glanced at the clock on the microwave. "Ugh, I gotta get ready for work."
Jody smiled and embraced her cousin. "Have a good day, hun. If I don't talk to you by the time you leave for California then I want you to have a great flight. And remember, be confident. Show them all how much you've changed."
Buffy pulled back and smiled. "Thank you, Jo."
Jody glanced back at the girls. "Chloe. Avery. Come say goodbye to Buffy."
The girls both ran over and threw their arms around Buffy.
Chloe had just turned 7 and finished the first grade. She has large blue-green eyes and looks almost identical to Jody. Her long dark blonde hair cascaded down to the middle of her back. Her hair was straight except for the ends, which had small curls. Avery's 5th birthday is 2 months away and she's going to start kindergarten in the fall. She has crystal blue eyes and looks very similar to Chloe. She also has dark blonde hair that curled at the end. Her hair is an inch past her shoulders and a bit thinner than her sister's hair.
Buffy dyed her hair dark brown every few months since she was 20 years old. She has a medium dark tan, not quite as dark as most people in Florida. She works in an office building and rarely has time to lay out in the sun all day. Her hair reached past her elbows a few weeks ago, but she finally decided to get it cut and it now rested a couple of inches past her shoulders. She worked out daily and kept in good shape. Her arms were slightly muscular but still feminine looking. Her abs were tight and flat. Her legs were long and slender. Her style of clothes changed drastically. She now preferred a business look and dressed mostly in silk blouses and black slacks or skirts.
Buffy said goodbye to the girls and dressed in a silky silver-blue tank top blouse and black pin striped slacks.
Her office building was located in downtown Orlando and she lived in a nearby suburb 15 minutes away. She moved near Orlando when she was 18 for college and graduated exactly one year ago. She used to share an apartment with her two friends from college but they each went their separate ways after graduation. Lily only moved to Florida for college and went back to Maine just two weeks after school ended. Alicia was born and raised in Jacksonville and returned home for a short period before moving to Chicago. Now, it was just Buffy. Still in Orlando. Without any family nearby, except for Jody, Chloe and Avery. But they lived in Boca Raton and she only saw them occasionally. She saw the girls more this past weekend than she has in the past two years. Her Aunt Iva passed away when Buffy was 19. She missed her terribly.
Jody's husband, Bill, had a business meeting in New York and took his wife with him. Buffy volunteered to watch the girls over the weekend so Jody didn't have to drag them along or hire a babysitter for 3 days.
Buffy worked until 6 pm and came home to an empty apartment. She walked straight into the kitchen and cooked a small bowl of rice for dinner. It was her tradition. A tradition that needed to change. She was tired of being alone. All her co-workers were already married, dating or too old for her. She hung out with a few women from work about once a month but they were all married and had children so they never stayed out too long. Buffy was the youngest woman in her department and couldn't relate to most of her co-workers.
She longed to have a companion. It's been so long since she had been in a relationship. She's been on a few dates in the past couple of years but none of the men appealed to her. She hasn't met a man she wanted since Jared. She met Jared her senior year in high school while traveling to Orlando to look at college's. They met and became friends overtime. They talked online for months, then one day, Jared decided to visit Boca Raton and spent an entire week with her. Just hours after he arrived, they became more than friends. He was a freshman in college and the main reason why Buffy chose that particular college. They were together for 3 years and she loved him more than anything else. At least until he left her for another woman. A young freshman came around and captured his heart. Buffy sighed sadly at the memories and spent another night alone.
She fell asleep around 11 pm and her last thought was about Sunnydale. Tomorrow she will have to face her past.
This is the big turning point in the story. Please read and review so I can know if anyone is even reading this!