I wrote this short fic, because I was inspired by A. Price's wonderful story "For Her". It's set eight years after "Chosen", it's Buffy's thirtieth birthday and the gang gathers round to celebrate.
Warning: Buffy/Spike, but it's a good read, so don't knock it.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is original BtVS. The rest of the characters are from my own mind.
Rating: Tame
Time Flies
Chapter One: Buffy
She watched the two girls swing on the swing set. Laughing, smiling, she almost forgot what she had been through before them. They were the start of her new life. The normalcy she had been so desperately seeking was found when her oldest daughter had been born. When Hope was born, she came out red-faced and screaming with wisps of blond hair, she looked exactly like her mother. Three years later, Madison was born on a cold day in April, unusual for sunny California, she wasn't crying nor was she breathing. Buffy spent a horrendous two weeks in the hospital worrying over her newborn baby girl. She'd hold her little hand through the plastic box and weep softly. This little one was a harsh reminder of her father. Light brown hair and gray-blue eyes, like the sky after a storm. That's how much her life had changed. A full 360 degree turn about. She had gone from worrying about impending doom and apocalypses to nap times and bath times. Buffy loved her little girls more than anything in the world. She couldn't remember life before them, or when she did, she never let the girls know about it.
She woke up at night, shivering in her bed, gasping for air, from nightmares that had been all too real. Of times in the long-gone Sunnydale, when she was The Slayer. Demons and Vampires invaded her dreams, and no matter what she did, they kept coming back. The worst was the one about the last day in Sunnydale. When she had left the man she loved most to die. She had barely realized how much she loved him and it was too late. Once again, she watched her lover die.
Buffy forced those thoughts out of her head. She couldn't be reminded of him. "Mommy!" Hope ran over to her. She wrapped her arms around Buffy's neck.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" She asked. She saw Madison walking guiltily over to her mother and sister. "Madison, what did you do?"
"She threw sand in my hair!" Hope pointed a pudgy, little girl finger at her younger sister.
"She said I was 'dopted," Madison pouted. She had a full bottom lip, just like her daddy.
Buffy pulled the two year old onto her lap with the other one. She held them close. "You're not adopted. Neither of you are. Both of you had a good daddy. And I'm a good mommy right?"
"You're the best," Hope said kissing and hugging her.
"That's right, now don't be mean to each other. One day, all you'll have is each other," Buffy said.
"Like you and Aunt Dawn?" Hope asked.
"Yeah, like me and Aunt Dawn. Go play," she said sending them off, back to the playground. Hope ran off, but Madison stayed back. "What is it?"
With her finger in her mouth, Madison smiled shyly at her. "I love you, mommy," she said then ran to join her sister.
Tears welled in Buffy's eyes. All that little girl had to do sometimes was look up at Buffy, and she'd burst into tears. When they asked what was wrong, Buffy'd make up some lame excuse like allergies or onions, something that the girl's would believe. It was eight years later, and she still had trouble with it. It was getting dark, another hour or so, and they'd have to get in doors. Maybe Dawn or Willow called. It was after all almost a week to her birthday, and the gang made it a point to get together and reminisce that day. Christmastime, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, and a day in May were the other times they all got together, but that was happy time and kind of hectic.
"Girls!" She called out to them. She waved to them, "One last ride down the slide and we have to go inside."
"Okay!" They called back. After they were done, they all walked back, holding hands, to their modest apartment.
"Can we come back tomorrow?" Hope asked.
"Of course," Buffy replied. She gave them baths and got them to bed. Kissed them goodnight, took a shower herself, put on her pajamas and flipped on the TV. She surfed through the channels, passing up the primetime sitcoms and dramas, until settling on MTV. She watched the music videos, without much interest. After a while, they all looked the same and sounded the same. The phone rang, startling Buffy and she reached over and clicked the 'talk' button. "Hello?"
