Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)
Cordelia waved an arm, and in another flash of light, Anya appeared.
"Wow, you wished me back, you actually did it!" The ex-demon cried excitedly. "Ooh, my heart's beating! I'm alive, I'm really alive!" While Anya continued to marvel at her own heartbeat, Spike made his way downstairs, 'Passions' DVDs in hand.
"Angel's driving me nuts, bloody wanker. Started up some stupid argument about a thing that happened back in the 1900's." The vamp froze when he spotted a certain former demon, and Buffy began to stir. She smiled when she saw Anya, then turned to Faith, opening her mouth to say something, but Spike beat her to it. "Anya!" He grinned, "Nice to see you back in the land of the living luv."
"Its nice to see you too Spike" Anya smiled, hugging the vamp.
"Well, it's time for me to go" Cordelia sighed.
"Aww, do ya have to?" Faith asked, frowning. "Can't you at least stay for the party tomorrow?"
"I wish I could, but no" said Cordy. She walked over to Anya, pulling her away from Spike and into her own hug. "You better stay in the land of the living for at least the next forty years missy. I don't want to see you back in my neck of the woods until you're old and wrinkly, got it?"
"Got it" Anya replied.
"And you've got to pass that message on to Tara when you see her, promise?"
"Promise."
"Okay. Goodbye everyone." Cordelia began to fade away, but suddenly re-corporealised. "One more thing, can somebody tell Angel I said hi?"
"Of course" Buffy smiled. "Bye, Cordy."
--
Early the next morning, Tara woke, smiling at the sound of Lily's giggles and gurgles coming through the baby monitor. She was a good baby, rarely crying except for matters of vital importance, like feeds or diaper changes. Tara disentangled herself from Willow's arms and climbed out of bed, silencing her wife's grumbles of protest by dropping a kiss to her forehead, resulting in the sleeping redhead emitting a small sigh of contentment. Tara then made her way into the nursery, lifting her baby daughter out of her crib before feeding her, changing her, dressing her and carrying her downstairs. Due to her prior knowledge of the events that were to have transpired the previous night, the blonde wicca was only mildly surprised to find Anya sitting on the couch, munching on a bowl of popcorn and watching 'Passions'. The lumpy blanket covered figure beside her was slightly more puzzling.
"It's Spike" said Anya, answering Tara's silent question. "He got grumpy everytime I tried to wake him up. The curtains are all closed, but I covered him up just in case any stray little rays got through and wanted to fry him."
"Good idea" replied Tara, nodding.
"Oh, and Cordelia says neither of us are allowed to die again until we're old and wrinkly."
"She doesn't have to worry, I don't plan on dying again any time soon" Tara smiled, gently bouncing a giggling Lily in her arms. "I've got too much to look after here. And I've seen myself in the future knitting clothes for my grandchildren, so that's a pretty good sign."
"Hmm. You know, the thought of getting old and wrinkly used to scare me" said Anya, "But it doesn't anymore. Since I lived so long the first time around, there were a whole lot of things I took for granted, like getting old, and having children that will look after me when I'm old, and grandchildren who are supposed to be better than children in some ways 'cause you can give them back when they annoy you.. even my own heartbeat" She paused, placing a hand on her stomach. "There's nothing I'm going to take for granted this time, Tara. Nothing."