Chapter 1
“Can you believe it, Buffy? We finally graduated from college, those four years felt like an eternity.”
The blonde couldn’t help agreeing with her excited friend. “I know what you mean, Willow. I’m so relieved to never have to deal with Professor Walsh again. That woman is beyond scary.”
Willow cringed at the thought of their former Psychology Professor, then decided to change the subject. “So, what are your plans for the summer?”
Buffy didn’t even need to hesitate with her answer. “I think I want to look for my mom. I told myself that I wouldn’t bother to find her until I’m old enough, and I think now’s that time.”
Willow nodded and knew how much her friend wanted to find her birth mother, ever since her parents revealed that she was adopted at the age of thirteen. “How do you think Riley will take it?”
Buffy shrugged. “He knows how much this means to me. If we’re going to be married, he has to accept that this is what I want to do.”
Willow had nothing to say to that. None of their friends thought Riley Finn was the right choice for Buffy. He basically lived in the fifties and still thought that all women should be stuck at home with the kids, while the men went out to work. She didn’t understand how Buffy could never see it, but no one wanted to tell her what they really thought of her fiancé. It would only upset her, anyway. She had to find out on her own.
* * * * *
“I don’t understand why you need to do this, Buffy. You already have two parents that love you. I don’t know why you need to go look for the woman that abandoned you at birth. You will only get disappointed.”
Buffy rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time. “We’ve already been through this, Riley. I do love my parents and I know they love me, but I’ve always wanted to find out where I came from. This woman would have all of the answers. I want to get a chance to meet her. I have a right to know why she gave me up, even if finding out means I might get disappointed. I’m not a little kid anymore. I can handle some disappointment. We’re engaged to be married next year. I was hoping you would understand how important this is to me.”
Riley let out a long sigh and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I don’t mean to be difficult about this. I’m just going to miss you if you go away. I like having you around all of the time. Besides, I don’t want you to get hurt. It makes me hurt, too.”
Buffy pressed her lips to his. It was an incredibly corny thing to say, but he could be sweet sometimes. “I shouldn’t be gone long. If I find her, I just plan on asking her a few questions. She might not even want me to stick around for very long. I doubt the woman that gave me up for adoption would want me suddenly invading her life. I’ll be back before you know it, and then we can continue to plan our wedding.”
He smiled. “That sounds good to me.”
* * * * *
“Are you sure about this, sweetheart? You can always change your mind, there’s no pressure.”
Buffy smiled at the older woman, finding out the truth that she wasn’t her real mom didn’t change the fact that Buffy would always consider Jenny to be her mother. “I told you not to worry, Mom. I’m going to be fine.”
She nodded and felt tears prick her eyes. “I know you are. I just worry about you, but I suppose I have to let you grow up one of these days. I just wish it didn’t have to be now. Well, here’s the address that I got from the adoption agency. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”
Buffy took a deep breath and glanced down at the paper that was now in her hands. “She lives in Sunnydale? That’s only two hours away. I can’t believe my birth mother was so close to me all this time.”
Jenny ran her fingers through Buffy’s hair like she used to when she was a child. “I want you to be careful, honey. Don’t talk to strangers, don’t drink the water, and you can come home as soon as you want. You can call me in the middle of the night to pick you up and I’ll do it.”
“Dear lord, Jenny. The girl is nervous enough as it is, you’re not making her feel any better.”
She glared at her husband. “I only want what’s best for her, Rupert.”
Buffy loved both of her parents and was very grateful that they took her into their home. From the story that her mother told her, they weren’t able to have children. Adoption was the only choice they would have considered. Her father was a librarian at UCLA and her mother a Computer Science teacher. They met and fell in love when Jenny took a vacation to London, where Rupert was living at the time. He was born there and never expected to fall head over heels for an American woman, one that was his complete opposite. Buffy knew that her father wouldn’t have changed that decision for anything in the world. They both got job offers in Los Angeles and relocated there. It was then that they decided to adopt a child and fell in love with Buffy at first sight. Her father was a lot less stuffy after she came into the picture and always complained about how Rupert was too pompous of a name, so he then started to have everyone just call him by his last name, Giles. Buffy came out of her reverie and decided to jump into the conversation before more arguing could be done. “I know you both want what’s best for me, but I’ll be okay. I shouldn’t be gone for too long,” she explained and gave her mother a quick hug, then did the same with her father. “You be good, Daddy.”
He tried to keep the tears out of his eyes, but knew that it was hopeless. “Of course, dear. You just be careful like your mother said. Don’t forget to call us when you arrive.”
Buffy nodded. “I won’t. All right, I have to get going if I want to catch my bus.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you?”
“That’s okay, Mom. I need to do this on my own. Willow offered to drive me to the bus station. Don’t worry, I’ll see you guys soon,” she told them, then grabbed the few belongings that she was taking and made her way out of the house.
Jenny and Giles watched their only daughter walk away, praying that everything would work out for her.