Today marked the day when Joyce Summers died. When the Mother of two had been stripped from the world and placed above with the angels. And, in Buffy's view, it had gone very fast since her Mother had died. So much had changed; so much had remained the same. Buffy, Angel and Dawn stood besides her grave, in silence, as they become entranced in their thoughts.
Angel wondered if he should leave. Phoebe had been left with Giles, Willow and Oz at the Magic shop because everyone else had been busy. He also wondered if he was invading the two sister's privacy with their Mother. He had come to know Joyce, a few months before her death, and was grateful when she had welcomed him into their family. A small smile unfolded across his face as he remembered the memories.
Dawn stood firmly besides Buffy. Her eyes were fixed on the grave, her flowers still positioned where she had left them a few days ago. Dawn felt the coldness spread through her body as endless thoughts penetrated her mind. She often wondered how different it would have been if her Mother had survived the tumour, would everything be different? Sadly, they would never find out.
Buffy held onto the flowers in her hands as her eyes fought to look anywhere but the gravestone. She hadn't been to see her Mother in a long time. She felt ashamed. Buffy wished her Mother could see her now. She was a Mother of one, almost two, and was going to get married next year. She had steadily matured throughout the year and only wished that her Mother could be aware of it. Buffy kneeled down and placed the flowers in front of the gravestone. She traced her fingers across her Mothers' name before returning to her feet and sighing. She turned to Angel and Dawn.
'Do you think we should go pick up Phoebe now?' asked Buffy.
'Sure,' replied Dawn, turning around.
Buffy and Dawn walked away, leaving Angel still stood besides the gravestone. He waited until they were out of ear-shot before opening his mouth.
'She misses you; a lot. Whether she shows it or not,' said Angel. 'I'll take care of her and Dawn. I promise!'
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Willow and Oz sat at the table, keeping their eye on Phoebe who was trying to crawl around the shop. Willow had been warned by Buffy that Phoebe was now trying to cling onto things and walk, however had been unsuccessful so far. Willow quickly jumped up and grabbed hold of Phoebe, who was about to cross paths with a customer. Giles had already begged them to keep Phoebe from roaming around the shop as it distracted customers. Most people seemed to be more interested in Phoebe than the products in the shop.
Phoebe began to cry as soon as Willow picked her up. Oz shrugged his shoulders when Willow threw him a confused look.
'Hoogwy,' cried Phoebe.
Oz grabbed his coat from the back of his chair and rose to his feet, smiling gently at Willow. Willow immediately understood and grabbed her purse from the table whilst balancing Phoebe on her hip.
'Giles, we're just going to take Phoebe for some dinner,' called Willow.
She heard a mumble from across the room where Giles was fiddling with something a customer had returned. She smiled as she followed Oz out of the shop, wondering what she could have to eat.
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'How long do you think until Buffy is fat?' asked Anya, flicking over a page of a magazine.
Xander rolled his eyes as Anya spoke up. He heard Cordelia chuckle from the other side of the room and felt automatically embarrassed when he remembered his ex-girlfriends presence. Cordelia had come around as she was bored, she had apparently packed her bags to move out of Buffy's house and was waiting until she got the keys. Xander put down his newspaper and looked up at Anya, smiling gently.
'An, Buffy is going to get really big, but don't kind of mention it in front of her,' smiled Xander.
'Why not?' asked Anya, looking up.
'Because she is going to be like a human hippo, not the most flattering thing to remind her of,' laughed Cordelia.
'And her baby is magical. Don't anger it,' warned Xander, giving her a serious look.
'Fine,' sighed Anya, throwing up her arms in defeat.
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A few miles from Sunnydale, stuck in an abandoned gas station, was a crowd of vampires. One of them, the leader of the group as some called him, stood upon a table as he spoke down to his 'minions.'
'It is the baby's first birthday in a few days, as you should know if you have been doing your job properly, and our plan has to be put in action!' cried Lysander.
Some vampires cheered, others clapped, and some stayed silent. One certain vampire looked around in fear; however the questioning look was visible above his vampire features. He slowly raised his hand and become nervous when all eyes turned to him.
'Yes?' said Lysander.
'Why do we need the child?' the vampire trembled.
Lysander sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He wondered if half of these vampires were capable of stealing a Slayer's child, it was pretty risky sending a bunch of morons to do the job.
'Because, moron brain, the Slayer is pregnant once more. If she has this baby and the eldest is still alive, they will be the most powerful siblings the supernatural has ever seen,' answered Lysander.
'How?' questioned another vampire.
'Because,' sighed Lysander, irritation mounting up, 'they shall both have powers that few posses. They are also, if you have forgotten, children of a Slayer and Ex-vampire!'
Most vampires seemed uncertain now. Angelus, in their world, was a legend for his brutal tortures and no one wanted to stick around when his family was threatened. The Slayer was also their weak line, after all her job was to kill them all.
'Tonight we head out and steal this child, we can't let her survive before her first birthday!' shouted Lysander, pumping his fists into the air.
A/N: I don't know when Phoebe's birthday will be even though her birth was the 34th chapter in 'I'll never forget'. I didn't plan this Lysander thing, it came up in my head when I was writing. So, I need to get them on the move and I need Buffy to find out the sex of her new baby. ;) And please get them reviews in – I really want to beat my target. Five more chapters and only nine reviews needed to beat it