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Buffy smiled as she entered her new home. She had butterflies in her stomach, but the good kind. This was going to be great. Gracie had fallen asleep on the cab ride and she carried her into the house. The moving truck with her things would be coming in less than an hour.

"Good, look at this place" Buffy said to herself. The apartment was beautiful. Still holding onto her daughter, she walked around, giving herself a tour. The apartment had two bedrooms and a big bathroom. It had a balcony that overlooked a beautiful garden. It had a nice sized kitchen with a fridge and an electric stove. "Wow" Buffy breathed at the place.

"Mommy" Gracie said sleepily and opened her eyes.

"Hi baby" Buffy said. "Look, this is our new place. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's nice" Gracie said and Buffy put her down. "How long are we gonna be here, mommy?"

"For six months. Until August" Buffy told her.

"Is daddy coming to live with us?" Gracie asked.

"Uh, no, baby. Daddy's gonna stay in California. He has a job there. But we'll see him again when we go back" Buffy said and the doorbell rang and Buffy answered it to find some guys standing there.

"Hello, Mrs. Finn?" one of the guys asked.

"Yes" Buffy said.

"We're the moving company. We're here with your stuff," the guy said.

"Oh, of course, come in" Buffy said and let him in. He directed two guys in with boxes.

A while later the guys had everything in the apartment and had left. Buffy sat down on the couch where Gracie had again fallen asleep. As she curled up in a ball, she too fell asleep.

Willow sighed as she flipped the page in her ethics book. She laid sprawled out on her and Tara's bed and Tara sat at the top by the pillows.

"Marietta Lincoln has some good theories in here" Tara said.

"Mmm-hmm" Willow said, though she wasn't really listening.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Tara asked as she crawled to the foot of the bed and laid beside Willow.

"Nothing, it's just weird without Buffy here. I mean, she's gonna be gone for six months. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for her. She deserves this, but I just miss her" Willow said.

"I know you do, sweetie, but she'll be back before you know it" Tara said, pushing the hair out of Willow's face. Willow smiled at her girlfriend.

"You're right" Willow said. "I just can't think about it. And besides, she'll call soon."

"Right" Tara smiled. "You just have to be patient."

Dawn came down the stairs and sat on the couch with her mother. She sighed heavily and Joyce looked at the seventeen year old.

"What's wrong, Dawnie?" Joyce asked.

"It's weird. I mean, I always knew that Buffy lived ten minutes away and I could just drop by anytime I needed her, but now. She's 8,000 miles away across the Atlantic ocean" Dawn said.

"She'll be back, honey" Joyce said, turning off the TV.

"But don't you miss her?" Dawn asked.

"Of course I do. But this is good for her. And the University of Birmingham is a good college. She'll be back in six months. If you think about it, August doesn't seem like that far away" Joyce said.

"I guess" Dawn said. "I'm gonna go over to Janice's. I'll see you later."

"Okay, be home for dinner" Joyce said and Dawn nodded and grabbed the keys off the key rack and left.

Buffy woke suddenly and looked around. She had realized that she had fallen asleep and she still had unpacking to do. She sighed and got up. This was difficult for her. She wasn't used to not being around family. She hoped that she would make friends quickly so she didn't have to be alone.

She went over to the first box and unpacked it. Inside was a bedspread her mother had given her and some other things for her room. She took in into her bedroom and put it in there. She came back out and looked for the box labeled Gracie. Inside that was Gracie's bedspread and the things for her room.

After an hour of unpacking, Buffy decided to take a break. Since she didn't have any food in the house she decided to get her and Gracie dressed and go out to eat. It would be a good way for her to see Birmingham.

"Gracie, baby, wake up" Buffy said and shook her daughter lightly.

"Hi mommy" Gracie said, opening her eyes.

"Hi, honey. Come on, we're gonna get dressed and go out to eat, okay" Buffy said and picked Gracie up. She had put their clothes in their rooms so they could find them easily.

After getting dressed Buffy looked in the phonebook for some places to eat. After only searching for a couple minutes she found the name of a coffee shop that was just down the street from Buffy's apartment called Gina's.

Buffy and Gracie walked to the coffee shop and entered it. It was a cute place. It had round tables with tablecloths on them and saucers. Buffy and Gracie sat at a table and a waitress came up to them.

"Hello, welcome to Gina's. Would you like to start off with something to drink?" the waitress asked.

"Yes please. I'd like a double mint latte. Gracie, do you want some chocolate milk or hot chocolate?"

"Chocolate milk" Gracie said.

"Chocolate milk also" Buffy said.

"Okay, do you need more time to order?" the waitress asked.

"Yes please" Buffy said.

"I'll be right back with your drinks" the waitress said and left. Buffy looked at the menu to find something to eat for her and her daughter.

"Gracie, what do you feel like eating?" Buffy asked.

"Grilled cheese" Gracie said and Buffy searched the menu and found it.

"Okay, they have grilled cheese" Buffy said. Just then she heard the bell to the door ring and looked over to see a guy and two kids come in. For some reason, of which she didn't know, her heart jumped.

"Hey, Gina" the guy said.

"Hey Spike, hey guys" the girl, apparently named Gina said and Spike and the two kids took a seat at the table next to Buffy and Gracie's. "The usual for you all?"

"Actually, we're gonna try something different today" Spike said. "We're actually gonna look at the menu."

"Okay" Gina said and went back to what she had been doing. Spike looked over at Buffy and smiled. Her heart jumped again and she smiled back at him.

"Hi" he said to her.

"Hi" Buffy said back. 'What is going on with me?' she asked herself. "Are those your kids?"

"One of them is. My daughter, Paige. The boy is my nephew Michael" Spike said. "Is she yours?"

"Yeah" Buffy said.

"What's her name?" Spike asked.

"Gracie" Buffy said and the waitress came up to them and handed them their drinks. "Thank you."

"Your welcome. Are you ready to order?" she asked.

"Yeah, can we get a grilled cheese and a BLT please" Buffy said.

"Sure" the waitress said and wrote it down and left again. Buffy looked over to Spike's table and Gina came over to him.

"Okay, Spike, what'll you guys have?" she asked.

"Uh...to drink two glasses of milk and coffee black and to eat...three cheeseburgers" Spike said.

"Okay, be back" Gina said and left. Spike looked over at Buffy and smiled and she smiled back at him.

"So, how old are they?" Buffy asked. She didn't just want to sit there staring at him.

"Paige's four and Michael's seven" Spike said. "Hold old is she?"

"Gracie's three" Buffy told him.

"Oh" Spike said and the waitress came up with Buffy and Gracie's food.

"Here you go," she said.

"Thanks" Buffy said and she walked away again. Buffy and Gracie ate and paid and then left the coffee shop, Buffy forgetting about the guy who she had talked to. They went back up to their place so that Buffy could finish putting her things away.

"Mommy, I want to set up my room" Gracie said.

"Okay, mommy put all your boxes in your room, so I'll help you put things where you want them" Buffy said.

"Okay" Gracie said and they went into her room. "I want my bed to go by the window."

"Okay, I can do that" Buffy said and cleared a place for Gracie's bed by her window. After putting her bed where Gracie wanted it, Buffy put on the sheets and bedspread. "Okay, where do you want your toy box?"

"Um...hmm...at the end of my bed, like you and daddy have" Gracie said.

"Oh, okay" Buffy said and put the box at the foot of Gracie's bed. After that Buffy hung up Gracie's clothes and put away her pajamas and her room was finished. It only took about a half an hour to get everything situated. "Thank god you don't have that much stuff" Buffy said to herself. "All right, baby, why don't you go into the living room and watch some television."

"Kay mommy" Gracie said and ran into the living room. Buffy went into her own room that was much less put together than her daughter's. She sighed and began putting her things where she wanted them.

It wasn't until about seven o'clock at night that Buffy finished her own room. After the last thing was put in its place, Buffy flopped down on her bed exhausted. Gracie came into her mother's room and crawled up on the bed with her.

"Mommy, I miss daddy" Gracie said and Buffy sighed.

"I know, honey. I miss daddy too, but it's gonna be fun, I promise" Buffy said. "Come over here. Come cuddle with mommy." Gracie crawled over and snuggled into Buffy. "Tell you what. Tomorrow, we'll call daddy and tell him how we're doing."

"Okay" Gracie yawned and Buffy kissed her on the forehead.

"Everything's gonna be great" Buffy said. "We're gonna be good."