Tired, wondering how she made it through the days sometimes, Buffy suddenly wished that she had a supply of sleeping pills. Bedridden and still quite sick, the retired Slayer had nothing to do with her days but stare longingly out her window, lucky to at least have a room that faced a scene of nature rather than industry. A bluebird had just fluttered into the sunlit sky, leaving Buffy alone once again, when a familiar voice suddenly made itself known.

"Guess who!" turning her head to face the doorway, Buffy was shocked with pleasure to see her family standing there. Dawn had been the one to speak, her elderly lips still possessing the ability to sound like an excited child. Willow was beside her in a wheelchair, Xander gripping the handles of her purple-framed mode of transportation from behind.

"Dawn! Willow! Xander!" the smile on her lips couldn't have been wider. "What are you doing here?" it had been over two weeks since the last appearance of her family-like friends, and Buffy was beginning to think they might never return. Realising the ludicrous nature of her question, the Slayer smiled, laughing softly. "I mean… come in… please… come in!" she waved them inward with her hands.

"Sorry we haven't been around in so long, Buff" Xander said as he wheeled Willow next to the bed. "Dr. Bardin was on a warpath again. Some people came down with the flu and he had the whole home on lockdown. This is the first we've been allowed out in ten days" although the man had of course grown old over the years, his spirit hadn't changed in the least. The definition in Xander's face had of course dropped away somewhat, leaving the odd sag here and there, but to Buffy, he was still the same boy she met so many years ago at Sunnydale High.

Willow giggled softly from her place. "Yeah, so of course Xander had to organize a fake-escape party amongst the more daring patients. Armed with canes and walkers, they rushed the receptionist and demanded her key to the front door" Buffy and Dawn each had to laugh at the thought of a young woman being bombarded by elderly patients and their crude weapons. "From Dr. Bardin's point of view, I'm sure it wasn't very funny, but from where I was sitting… Well, let's just say you could have made a few bucks by charging admission to the show" Willow's green eyes glinted with her smile.

"It's good to see you" Buffy said after a short pause, looking to each senior, all of them still so close that she considered them family. On Buffy's right side, Xander was sitting next to Willow, dressed in a green plaid shirt that contrasted nicely with the ex-Wicca's butter-hued and quite flowery dress. "Same here, Buff…" the once-successful carpenter said with more seriousness, brushing his fingers lightly against his friend's hand.

"Oo!" Dawn said, accidentally interrupting the intimate moment. "I forgot to tell you…" she held up a shiny blue gift bag, a smile spread over her face. "We come bearing gifts" upon stating the reason for her minor outburst, Dawn sat down in the chair to Buffy's left, no doubt wrinkling the white skirt she was wearing.

"What's the occasion?" the Slayer asked, knowing it was far from Christmas or her next birthday. Then again, Dawn and company often did things without much of a need for prompting them to do so.

"No occasion" Willow explained with a small shrug. "It's just… you've been in here for two months and the room is still practically bare" emphasizing her point, the woman looked around Buffy's hospital room.

Xander sat quietly, allowing the girls to explain. "So, before I picked Xander and Willow up today, I grabbed a couple things from your house that I thought you might like." Dawn lifted the bag into full view again, making sure Buffy understood. "I didn't bring much this time, but more is on its way with the next visit".

Buffy looked almost blissful at her sister's explanation, and Dawn wasted no time with more formalities. Reaching into her sack of goodies, the first item to be pulled out was a green picture frame. In it was a photo that Riley had taken of Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Willow, Anya, Joyce, Giles, and Tara during one special occasion when the entire group had been together. No other still life representations of the once massive Scooby gang existed; this image was one-of-a-kind, and Buffy had done her best to keep it in perfect condition over the years.

Handing her sister the frame, Dawn wasn't surprised when Xander and Willow leaned in to glance at the photo, mesmerized by the happiness it symbolized, even though they had already seen it earlier on in the car. "Next…" Dawn started after the atmosphere had settled somewhat. Second to come out of the gift bag was a very old, very stuffed pig.

"Mr. Gordo the Second!" Buffy exclaimed, causing a passing patient to turn their head in concern, though not stopping to investigate. Tugging the pig into her arms, the Slayer was glad to feel the familiar plush material against her cheek. "I tried to bring the genuine article, but Mayella wouldn't hear of it…" Dawn sighed, having had another lesson on how difficult it was to negotiate with a five-year-old, granddaughter or not. Buffy simply smiled and laughed, thinking of her second-generation niece. "That's okay" the Slayer gave her pig another hug. "This guy is just as nice to have".

Picking a lint bunny away from her violet shirt, Dawn looked up again, remembering something else lying in her bag. "I brought one more thing," she said, catching the Slayer's attention, as well as Willow and Xander's. On the drive with Dawn, they had seen only two objects in the bag, having heard no mention of a third.

What Dawn pulled out was in fact another parcel, the deep green gift paper topped off by a small golden ribbon fused to one corner. Buffy glanced at her sister in confusion as she was handed the gift, its thin rectangular shape suggesting a book or another picture. "Dawn…?" she said, partially curious, somewhat nervous, and internally excited.

"I'm not going to tell you what it is," her sister returned with a smile. "You'll just have to open it".

"Oh no, we wouldn't want to spoil the utter suspense" Xander joked, glancing to the Slayer in hopes that she would tear into the green paper.

Rolling her eyes with a slight smile, Dawn turned back to her sister, who had already opened one end of the package. Inside, as Buffy had expected, there appeared to be a picture frame. Glancing with intrigue to her sister, and then to Xander and Willow who gave her equally puzzled looks, the Slayer pulled out her third gift so that its velvet backing was facing her. When she turned it over, Buffy gasped.

"Dawn…" she whispered, able to glance at her sister only momentarily before her gaze was pulled back to her present. The frame itself was made of wood, stained a dark chestnut. Within its borders, however, was a picture of Buffy and Spike, taken when she was perhaps thirty-one. Dressed in a dark-green shirt and simple jeans, she was sitting next to Spike on the Summers' ancient sofa, his arm wrapped tightly around her. Head resting on his shoulder, covered of course with his leather duster, vampire and Slayer each wore a sort of blissful smile, not too dim, but not overly cheery. A gold plate lined the frame's bottom, and on it the word 'Eternity' was engraved, with a stake crossing each 't', pointing inward to the heart that dotted the 'i'.

"Do you like it?" questioned the younger sibling after a long silence had swept over the small group of senior citizens. When Buffy didn't respond, she glanced at Willow and Xander, realising that she had asked the wrong question. "Are you okay, Buffy?" she corrected herself, lightly touching her sister's arm.

Emerald eyes flickered in Dawn's direction as Buffy finally heard her, slowly nodding. "Uh… Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine" she paused to study her sister's face. "I love it, Dawn. Really" the solemn look on her face was simply because of the memories it conjured, something that Dawn easily understood. 

Remembering yet another feature of the picture frame, Dawn sprung into action, but in a calm manner. "And look…" she said, taking hold of the frame for a moment. "The film shop just got in this new type of frame. You can store more than one picture in it, and change them just by pulling on this little handle here" she helped Buffy work the contraption, glad for her sister that it wasn't a difficult concept to grasp.

Easily memorizing how to change the photo in Dawn's wonderful gift to her, Buffy was now completely content. Such a state was not brought on by the fact that she wasn't stuck with the one photo, but instead because different pictures conjured different memories of her life and times with William the Bloody. Memories that only she and her lover shared, ones that deserved to be legendary instead of questionable fact.

With a sigh, Buffy arranged her newly arrived items carefully. Mr. Gordo II was positioned directly beside her in the bed, a place that made him easily accessible. Her cherished group photo of the Scoobies went on the nightstand next to Xander, ready and waiting for the moments when her window lost its novelty. The almost magical present Dawn had bought, no doubt spending weeks finding just the right photos, was set up on the table to Buffy's right, leaning against the vase of beautiful flowers Spike had given her. None of her friends had noticed the blossoms yet.

Looking back to Xander and Willow, deciding that Dawn would jump in if she felt at all left out, Buffy gave each of her true friends a smile. "So tell me, what's new and improved in the lives of Sunnydale's finest?" she asked, sincerely wanting to know. Without their usual tales of adventure that took place at the Sunnydale resting home, day-life at the hospital had become almost unbearable for the Slayer. No matter how absurd the story, she was glad to have the company of friends filling the void between day and night.

Buffy listened intently to Xander's tales of the Surprise-Soup, the Iguana Lasagna, and his politically incorrect letter that had somehow made it into the old age home's weekly newsletter. Every morsel of Buffy's attention was directed to Willow as the long since retired Wicca depicted her adventures with Xander after lights out, and how she had been instrumental in redecorating the ladies' wing of her makeshift home. As always, the Slayer was thrilled to hear Dawn's latest news of her grandchildren, her words proud but not boisterous before three elders who hadn't had the most luck with relationships during their remarkably long lives.

A contented wind of breath flowed through the Slayer's lips as her sister's final word was spoken. Giving each of her friends a sincere gaze, Buffy smiled while speaking. "It's so good to see you guys… I don't know what I'd do if I only had Miss 'I was emotionally wounded as a child' for company" involuntarily giving a roll of her eyes as she spoke, Buffy gave a light laugh at her description of Doreen.

"Wow, Buff… They really treating you that bad?" Xander said with a cocked eyebrow, having been under the impression that nurses were tested on their bedside manner.

"I guess not…" she said with resignation, taking a moment to revise her wonderful living quarters. "It's just that all Spike and I ever get from her is attitude… it's like she's permanently PMS-ing" Buffy took a moment to rant, knowing that her friends would understand.

"Did you ever consider just telling them what's going on between you and Spike?" Willow offered, remembering other confessions that Buffy had made to her.

"Well, yeah… but try to imagine what she'd be thinking…" changing her tone of voice as if she were in a scene, Buffy stared at the wall ahead of her. "… 'Um, excuse me… could you please try to act a little nicer to me? Spike isn't just some young kid in it for the money… He's actually a vampire and we've been together since the turn of the century'" sighing as the fake scenario ended, Buffy glanced at Willow, hoping she understood.

"Fine" Willow said with a quirked smile. "You've made your point" she sighed, smile still pulling at the edges of her lips.

"Speaking of night time" Xander piped up, exposing his still unusual train of thought. "It's almost five o'clock… dinner's in an hour, and tonight's mushy pizza" apologetically smiling at Buffy, he added. "We really should be going…"

"Don't worry, Xander. No need for the long faces. You guys'll be back soon enough, right?" when they all nodded, Buffy did as well. "Besides, Spike will be here soon anyway."

Giving each of her friends an appreciative and heartfelt hug good-bye, Buffy had to stop a small flood of tears from being exposed to natural air. It wasn't long before the Slayer was once again alone in her room, staring into the scenery of her comforting window. With a sigh, the aged woman attempted to force herself into sleep, hoping that it would become a useful and efficient way of passing the time before the arrival of her true love.

(Hey everyone. I was writing this chapter and I just noticed the fact that I kept calling Willow an 'ex-Wicca', and other things of the sort. Seeing as though Wicca is a religion, I just wanted you guys to know that Willow is still a Wicca, she just doesn't practise magick anymore. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter!)