First Comes Love
Chapter One
Are You Ready For The Real Truth?
Andy Trudeau has always secretly been in love with Prue. He never remembered anything about her or Piper or Phoebe being witches since every time that Piper froze him when they were kids, Grams would always erase his memory of it, and unfreeze him. It's a Tuesday, right after they all got through Grams's funeral services just a week before, and while Prue is asleep on the couch where she was reading, Phoebe comes bouncing downstairs with a big smile on her face, and she is even whistling.
"Do you mind? You never whistle, so what's going on?" Prue says, nearly scaring the crap out of her because she didn't even know that she was still there. As far as Phoebe knew, Prue had left for a meeting at Buckland's.
"Oh. I'm uh, I'm just happy is all. I'm just very extremely happy, happy today." Phoebe tells her, lying through her teeth. They have just gotten their powers back, and Jeremy has been gone for only four days when they had to vanquish him using the power of three spell, that Grams had taught them.
"Yeah right. Again, you never whistle, and you are not usually this bouncy or happy go lucky about anything. Who is he?" Prue asks, as she finally gets off of the couch and follows Phoebe into the kitchen to have some coffee and talk before Piper gets home.
"I have no idea what you are even talking about. If you know that I never whistle, or I'm never bouncy as you just put it, then you would also know that I never get serious about a guy. I promise, that I am not interested in anyone right now. However, I have a way for me to pass my finals next week." Phoebe replies, while taking a drink of her coffee, and they hear Piper pull up in the driveway and honk the horn.
"She must have stopped by the store on her way home. You know that if you are failing any classes, you can have one of us to help you. Don't try to use magic to pass. You've only been talking about that for about the last four days now." Prue tells her.
"Not a chance. I'm not using magic but I do have a way of passing, and still get my degree." Phoebe replies, and they go out and help Piper with the groceries, and Prue can see a brown box in her floor board.
"What's that? You forgot about that box down there." Prue says, while trying to figure out how a box could just move on it's own.
"Oh that? That, my dear sister, would be a gift from Andy, to you. He said that you are to take that into the house, up to your room, open it up, and when you see what the surprise is, look at the note attached to it, and call him cause he has something to ask you today." Piper tells her, and Prue smacks her on the shoulder and says, "I hate it when you talk in riddles. You're just like Grams and Mom." Piper smiles and kind of laughs, cause she already knows what the surprise is. They get everything inside, and while they are putting stuff up, Phoebe asks what's in the box.
"Trust me. You're about to find out in three, two, one." Piper says, as they hear, "Damn you! Get back here. Get back here now! Piper, I'm gonna kill you!" The surprise was a puppy. They hear Prue running down the hall after the puppy and he's just whining and barking and crying the whole way down the stairs and into the kitchen where Piper freezes him.
"Thank You. I need to have a talk with Andy about this adorable little puppy that I just can't keep." Prue says, as she picks him up while he is still frozen and puts him Kit's cat cage for a few minutes.
"Why can't you keep him?" Phoebe asks, while pouring herself another cup of coffee and sitting back down to her essay and book report. Just then, Kit walks in with everyone and hisses at the puppy in her cage.
"Any other questions as to why I can't keep him? Kit hates him." Prue replies. Phoebe just shrugs her shoulders and gets back to work. She starts writing so fast that she drops her pen, holds her hand in her other one, and cries out in pain.
"Why don't you take a break honey? I'm sure that thing's not due until next week. You have time don't you?" Piper tells her. Phoebe shakes her head and says, "No. I don't. It's actually due tomorrow. I asked if I could type it out, and they said no. This thing has to be hand written." She does decide to take a small break and while Piper is hopping down in the floor to go through the cabinets and find something for supper, there's a knock at the door. Prue goes to answer it and she sees that it's Andy.
"Hey. I was wondering if you got your surprise yet?" Andy says, while hugging her and kissing her on the cheek.
"Yes. I did, and I hate to tell you that Kit hates him. I don't think I can keep him because one of these days we'll all be gone from the house and Kit is either gonna hurt him or kill him and eat him. She tends to get vicious once in awhile." Prue tells him and she lets him in.
"Well, the reason I needed you to call and talk for a few minutes, is cause I was gonna ask you if you wanted to join me for dinner tonight. I have something serious to ask you, and I want to do it over dinner." Andy replies.
Prue is getting ready for her dinner date with Andy, when there's a crash downstairs. She goes to the top of the stair case and sees that another one of the source's little pawns has decided to pay a visit.
"Come and play witch." He says to Phoebe, who is trying her best to kick the hell out of him. Prue waves her hand and throws him into a table, and while he's laying there, Piper freezes him.
"The power of the witch's cry, source unseen across the sky, make this evil leave our house, make him as small as a mouse." They all chant, and it does in fact work. That demon ends up being shrank down to the size of a mouse, and Kit has a field day with him.
"Ohh, Kit had fun with him didn't she?" Piper says, while Kit is finishing up with her snack and licking her lips.
"Eww. Okay, I'm gonna go finish getting ready." Prue replies, almost getting sick at the sight of the the demon being kitty kibble.
Prue was way beyond quiet on the way to the park where her and Andy were going for their dinner date, and when he asks her about it, she just shrugs and says it's nothing. He is still thinking that there's something that he isn't telling her, but he doesn't give it a second thought. Finally after an hour into their date he asks her and tells her that he won't take anything but the truth as to why she's being so quiet.
"Prue honey. You're not yourself tonight. I want to know what's on your mind. Maybe it's something I can help you with." Andy tells her.
"Andy, I'm not sure if you will like it if you knew what's going on with me." Prue says, while reaching for her drink and he takes a hold of her hand and tells her, "Nothing can be that bad where I won't still love you."
"Okay fine. I still say you won't like it but, if you think you can handle it then, I'll tell you. You don't ever remember anything when we were kids because Grams was able to get you to where you had forgot about everything. My sisters and I, we uh, we're um. Damn it. This is the only way I can tell you is to show you. Watch. Just watch." Prue starts to explain but then chokes on her own words, and she takes one of the carrot slices off of the plate, lays it in front of her, and makes it move in the air and spin around.
"What the hell? How are you doing that?" Andy asks.
"I'm a witch Andy. If you want to leave me and have nothing to do with me anymore, then believe me that this has happened before. No, no one ever knew before you that I had dated or whatever. There were people in school who just thought I was weird. We just got our powers back after Grams died. She stripped them from us when we were kids. I'm sorry I could never tell you, it's just that we have to protect this secret of ours." Prue tells him.
"I can see why you would have to do that. I need to get going. I have a million things to do before my shift tomorrow. Does Darrel know about you guys?" Andy says, and Prue nods her head yes.
"Are you okay with this?" Prue asks him, and he sits there for the longest time before answering her.
"Ya know. I uh, I'm not sure yet weather I am or not Prue. I need some time. That's all I need, is a little time." Andy says, as he gets up from the table and leaves her sitting there, alone with her thoughts and the feeling that she probably shouldn't have told him her secret. She thinks about weather or not to call home for a ride, but decides she will just walk and clear her head.
Chapter Two
No Hope For Redemption
It's been three months since Prue has told Andy her secret about magic. They had done been together as a couple several times, and gotten close to where everyone had thought they were married, even though they were only dating. Prue had decided to go ahead and keep the puppy that Andy gave her, and she named him Sampson, and he's already too big to try to be a lap dog. Prue is trying to enjoy her day off from work and while she's cleaning up the kitchen, she gets a phone call from Andy.
"Hey. I haven't talked to you for awhile. How have you been doing?" Prue asks him, while putting some plates in the cabinet.
"Oh busy. Been pretty busy with work and such, and um, other things. How are you?" Andy replies.
"Doing bad Andy. I really miss you. You've had plenty of time to decide if you're okay with me being a witch or not. So are you? Are you still going to date me or not? At least I told you, and I didn't lie to you about it." Prue says, almost losing her cool.
"That's what I called to talk to you about. I value your honesty I really do. I will always respect you as a person, and continue to be friends with you. I'm sorry, but friends is all we can ever be. Nothing more. I love ya but, I won't put myself in danger either. I have a job to stay safe for. I'm sorry." Andy tells her. Prue tries to keep it together, and just when she feels her heart sink down to her feet, she tells him, "Yeah. I understand that. I gotta go." Prue hangs the phone up, and continues her work cleaning the house.
When Piper gets back from her job, Phoebe is walking up the sidewalk and Piper stops her to see if she's okay cause she looks like she's been crying.
"What's the matter Pheebes? Something happen in class today?" Piper asks, and they sit on the front stoop to talk.
"Not really. I just have a bad headache and it's bothering my stomach. Has Dad called back?" Phoebe replies. She had called their Dad a few days back, even though Piper and Prue told her that it was a waste of time.
"No. He hasn't. I just got home myself but, if you want me too, I can bring you something for your head later if you want to go ahead and lay down for awhile." Piper replies, feeling of her forehead and seeing that she isn't running a fever. Phoebe moves her hand away from her head and tells her, "I'm not sick. It's just a headache. I haven't eaten all day cause I've been trying to get stuff done." Phoebe gets up from where she was sitting with Piper and goes inside. She sees Prue standing in the foyer, looking at a few papers she had gotten in the mail, and she waves at her and continues to make her way upstairs. Piper is just heading inside when Dan stops her to talk for a few minutes.
"Hey. I wanted to ask you one more time, if you are sure about us? I mean, I know you said that it was Leo you are wanting to be with, and I respect that, but it's just hard to let you go." Dan tells her.
"Dan. I have told you before, and I can't be any more sure either. I was destined to be with Leo. I can't really tell you what I mean by that, but, I do want to be with him. I'll still be your friend, but that's it." Piper replies, as she finally makes her way inside. Prue tells Piper about her phone call from Andy and while they go in the kitchen to talk over coffee, Phoebe comes back downstairs to finally get something to eat.
That night, Prue is taking Sampson outside to the bathroom and since there haven't been any demon attacks for over three months, she tries to call Andy to talk to him about something she feels he should know about.
"You've reached Andy Trudeau. I'm sorry I missed you. I'm either on a case or out walking. Just leave me your name and a detailed message about why you're calling, and I'll try my best to return your call in a timely manner. Thank You." The voice mail message says.
"Hey Andy. It's Prue. I'm not going to tell you in a voicemail message why I'm calling. Let's just say, you need to call me back as soon as you get this. No, nothing happened to any of us, we are fine. Just, call me when you get this. Bye." Prue says leaving her message when Sampson tries to pull her across the yard.
"Stop! Behave." Prue tells him, and he starts minding. He sits down and looks at her, and smiles.
"Don't you sit there and smile at me when you're in trouble. You know better. Come on, back inside." Prue says, as she lightly pulls on his leash and he gets right up and follows her inside. He already weighs 25 pounds and is only 3 months old. Prue used to think that he was getting big too quick, but then she realizes that a pit bull boxer mix will get big quick. Kit really didn't like him at first, but now she will go over to him and lay on top of him when he's laying in the sun in the living room. Prue gets him in and lets him off of his leash, and she goes up to take a shower while Phoebe is cramming for another test.
"You really need to take your studying down a notch honey. You're doing too much. I know graduation is in only two months, but you'll make it." Piper tries to tell her, and she continues to pound away at that keyboard.
"Since my professor said I could use my computer to type up the essays and everything, it really does go by faster. Oh, before I forget. I seen Cole on the way home today. He told me to tell you hi for him." Phoebe replies, as she finally finishes with her essay.
"That was nice of him. I guess he's doing okay then with his legal work." Piper says, as they hear the words, "Oh my God, No. It is true." coming from Prue's bathroom down the hall.
"What the hell?" Phoebe asks, getting up from her desk.
"I don't know." Piper replies. They go and check on her and see if she is okay, and when Prue opens the door, they see something in her hand, and they didn't know that it was the second one.
It's now ten and while they are talking in front of the fireplace, Andy finally calls her back.
"Hey, sorry. I was pretty busy earlier. Darrel had asked me to check into something for him. What's up? Your message sounded pretty desperate." Andy says, while drying his hair. He had just gotten out of the shower.
"Yeah. Piper and Phoebe already know about this. I just found out myself around an hour or two ago. I hate to tell you over the phone, but I know you won't be coming back here anytime soon so I can tell you face to face." Prue says, and she starts stalling on telling him.
"Prue, what is it?" Andy asks, and she can tell by the sound of his voice, that he really doesn't want to talk at the moment.
"We're having a baby okay. It's not a joke either. I have the test laying here on the table in the living room if you want to come and take a look for yourself. I've taken two of them, and they both showed up the same thing. I don't suppose we can get back together for the sake of the baby can we?" Prue tells him.
"Um. Nope. I told you that we would be friends, and nothing more. I'm not sure I can even deal with the fact of having a magical child. You're not on your own though. You have your sisters to help you." Andy says, as he just hangs up, and crushes Prue one last time. She puts the phone on the table, looks up at Phoebe and Piper, and says, "There's absolutely no hope for redemption between he and I."
Chapter Three
Trying To Cope Alone
Prue was two months into her pregnancy when she found out about the baby, and when she is at six months along, she's been trying to adjust to life without Andy there with her. She's up in the attic reading a book on baby names, and trying to look through all of the brochures she had picked up at her doctor's office on labor and delivery, when she starts nodding off and trying to go to sleep. There hasn't been very many demon attacks, and not one of them had been able to figure out why when all of a sudden, there's two sets of bright white lights, and Prue sleeps through it all.
"Prue. Come on sweetheart. Wake up. Wake up and talk to me." Patty keeps saying, and she's not waking up.
"Prudence!" Grams sort of hollers and that gets her attention.
"Grams? Mom? Hey. What are you guys doing here?" Prue says, as she gets to a full sitting position and gets lightheaded. She tries to stand up and Patty tells her to just sit back down since she's getting dizzy.
"We had to come by to check on you and see how you all are doing. We know about the baby and how Andy has been acting toward you. Are you doing okay?" Penny tells her. Prue just nods her head that she's okay, but Patty knows better. She sits on the arm of the chair and just as soon as she puts her arm around Prue's shoulders, and she can feel that Motherly kind of love, Prue turns to her and cries on her.
"Yep. We didn't think so. Listen, Prue. The reason you girls have not had any demon attacks for awhile is because, we have been taking care of them, from afar. That way, the three of you can take care of each other for awhile. Phoebe has finally made it through collage, and that's great. Now, she has to decide on a career. Piper has to figure out if she's gonna stay where she is working at, and you, are going to have to go on maternity leave at your job pretty soon." Penny says, while she listens downstairs to see if Piper and Phoebe are home.
"They're not here Grams. I know who you're listening for. They left around an hour ago. I sent them out for awhile and told them that I just needed some time to myself. I think they went shopping or to a movie or something. Who knows?" Prue replies, while trying to get up again. She's not standing for very long while they are talking, when she gets light headed again, and this time no one can stop her from falling back down. She doesn't land in the chair though. When Prue hits the floor, the side of her head smacked the table that's always in the middle of the room.
"What was that?" Piper asks Phoebe, hearing the crash as soon as they walked through the front door.
"I don't know. It came from the attic though." Phoebe replies, as they both take off running. They get up to the attic, and see Patty and Penny, trying to heal Prue, as well keep calm enough to be able to do so.
"Forget this Patty. Leo!" Grams yells, and Leo shows up.
"Oh no, Prue. I'll try." Leo says, while putting his hands over Prue's head to heal the gash and knot.
"What happened? When did you two get here? What all did we miss?" Phoebe says, looking around the attic and seeing everything.
"They showed up while I was reading." Prue says, as she wakes up from hitting the table. She sits up after Leo is able to heal her, and she still has her hands up to her head.
"I can heal things like that, but a broken heart, she's gonna have to just deal with that one in her own time, and in her own way." Leo tells them, and without warning while everyone is talking, as soon as Patty sits on the floor beside Prue, Prue just lets out the loudest painful, emotional, scream she has ever let loose before, and starts crying so hard that she is shaking.
"I hate him. I hate that man for this. How could he turn away from me for something I never wanted in the first place? I didn't want to be a damn witch, I didn't want powers, I didn't want to fight demons daily, and I didn't want to have to lie to him like he swears up and down that I did. God Mom, I hate him so much, and I'm not claiming this witch crap anymore. I'm done! I'm done with it all!" Prue cries out, still very emotional, and she jumps out of the floor, and runs down to her room, slamming the door behind her.
"Mom? What do we do? I want so bad right now to be able to stay with her. I wish we both could, but I know that we can't." Patty says, as she too, starts to cry. Penny walks over to her, lifts her from her spot on the floor, wipes a tear away, and tells her, "Patty. You're crying darling. When you're just a spirit, you can't do that. Something is going on, and I would like to know what it is."
"I'll go up and check with the elders and see why a spirit can shed tears. That doesn't sound right to me either Grams." Leo says, and Penny nods her head and tells him, "Yeah, head on up there. Thanks."
"Patty. We need to be heading back now. There's nothing more we can do here for the time being." Penny says, and they try to leave. They hug Piper and Phoebe, and when the white bright lights come, both of them leave, but Patty reappears.
"What happened? I'm supposed to be gone too. Mom?" Patty says, while looking around and wondering what happened as to why she stayed behind and her Mom left.
"Okay. Piper, would you come with me? The elders told me what's going on. I see that they have already made their choice too." Leo tells her, as soon as he gets back from his little meeting.
"Uh, Leo. What's up? Can't I know what's going on? It did happen to me ya know?" Patty asks, and she is smiling and waving her right hand at him like she's saying 'Hello, did you forget about me?'
"Hang on for a second. I'm not sure how to even tell her." Leo replies when they hear a banging on the wall.
"That's Prue. I'll be right back." Phoebe says, as she takes off down to Prue's room and Leo takes Piper over to a secluded part of the attic.
"What's going on? Why did Mom stay and Grams leave? Also, spirits can't cry and shed tears. So, why did she?" Piper asks.
"Well, here's the thing. The elders said that they felt so bad for everything that the three of you have been through and dealt with, and what all has happened within the past few years, and they have gave you girls your Mom back." Leo tells her, and she can't help but have a hugh smile across her face, and nearly cry.
"Gave her back? For how long?" Piper asks again.
"They said for good. They said that she was robbed of her life way too soon, and that this is still part of her destiny too, and so they have given her back to you full time. She's here baby. She's home to stay." Leo tells her, and she grabs him and hugs him, then kisses him, and takes off running toward her Mom.
"Mom, you can stay!" Piper says, as she can't get stopped in time and she plows right into Patty and knocks her in the floor. While Piper is on top of her, still hugging her, and Patty reaches around to put her hand on her lower back and, she asks, "What did you just say?" They get out of the floor and Piper tells her what all she knows from what Leo has told her. In Prue's room, her and Phoebe are talking and crying together when Piper and Patty come and knock on the door.
"Hang on a second until it's just us again. Yeah?!" Phoebe says, talking to Prue, then hollering to whoever was knocking. She sees both Piper and her Mom standing there.
"What's going on? Is Grams still here too?" Prue asks.
"No. Just me." Patty replies. She sits down and explains everything the best she can from what she was told by Leo, and Prue just leans over and lays her head on Patty's lap, and continues to cry some more.
"I'm glad you're able to be here Mom. I really am, cause without you, I would not be able to make it through this." Prue tells her, and she falls asleep while laying on her Mom's lap just like she used to do when she was little. Patty gets her to where she is laying on her bed, puts a blanket over her, then shoos Piper and Phoebe out and they all go downstairs.
The next morning, Prue wakes up feeling like she has been dreaming the entire thing. She gets out of bed, goes to the mirror in her room, and when she sees her reflection, she can see that it was not a dream. She starts downstairs and she can hear a familiar voice, and she does force a smile when she remembers that it's her Mom's voice. She goes ahead to get some coffee and get ready for work when Patty notices she's came down finally.
"I thought everything was just a dream last night. Good to have you back Mom. I hope you never leave." Prue tells her. Prue sits down at the table, and they both have some coffee and just talk for awhile before they get their morning started with their jobs. Patty was able to get her job back at the same diner she had worked at so many years before. They were under new management and then of course, her Mother had reset time to where it was as if she had never even died in the first place.
Chapter Four
From A Tragedy To A Miracle
Prue is now just seven months along, and she finds out that she's having a little girl. Her name is still undecided. Prue had kept saying that she was going to just wait until she had her to see what features she had as to weather or not if she looked like a Jennifer or an Angela. Those two names, she's loved the most for the longest time. Andy is now just a distant memory to Prue, and Grams is still taking care of the demons from afar while they all get to catch up on some missed time with Patty. Prue is all by herself at home, doing up the baby's room and she realizes she's all out of glue for the wallpaper. She looks around the room and when she doesn't find any, she remembers that there's a whole drawer full of craft supplies down in the basement. She sits her water down and heads off to go get what all she may need and while she's making her way down into the basement, she slips and falls all the way down the stairs, on her back, hits her head on the wall on her way down, and is knocked out cold.
Some two hours later, Prue is still out, and no one would have ever thought to look for her in the basement. Patty is just headed out from work, when Phoebe calls her.
"Mom. I am so about to give up. If I have to go through one more depressing job interview and get shot down, I'm gonna go balistic. No one has any idea. I'm headed home soon, have you heard from Piper or Prue today?" Phoebe says, and Patty doesn't know weather to laugh or frown.
"Sweetheart I understand how upset you must be. You had your heart set on that job. As for your sisters, I haven't heard from either one of them. No, wait a minute. Scratch that. Prue did call earlier. She said that she needed a few decorative items for the baby's room and I ran by the store and pulled out all of the stops for her. I know how close you and her are, so, would you be willing to help decorate for your little neice?" Patty replies. Phoebe says that helping with the baby's room will lift her spirits, and they agree to meet back at home, not realizing what they will find upon their arrival.
Prue has finally waken up and realized that she is still laying at the bottom of the basement stairs, on her side, and wondering why she is not able to move her right leg. Just as she hears the front door open, she waits to holler until she knows that it's her sisters and Mom first.
"Help me please. Someone, anyone, help. Please, help me!" Prue says, as she starts to scream and cry all at the same time. Patty runs through the house to where the screams were coming from, and when she sees the basement door standing wide open, and no light on, she's thinking to herself, "That's odd." The basement door is never open and even she remembered that one.
"Hello? Prue? Are you down there honey? Are you okay?" Patty asks, while fiddling around until she found the light switch and she says, "If you're down there, watch your eyes.", while she flips the light on. She sees Prue laying there, and she gets a look at her eyes and notices a knot and gash on her head, and her eyes are glassy.
"Mom, I need your help. I can't feel the baby moving anymore. She was moving all day today until I fell around ten minutes ago." Prue tells her, and she starts crying again.
"Prue! Oh my God. Mom, she's not been there for only ten minutes. She called me around three hours ago, then when I tried to call her back cause I was tied up at work, she didn't answer. She's been down here at least two hours or more." Piper says, while joining them and seeing how bad the situation is, and she pulls out her phone to call for an ambulance.
"Did I get knocked out or something?" Prue asks, even though she knows they probably wouldn't know cause they weren't at home, and she tries to move to sit up.
"Don't move baby. Stay still. Help's coming. They're coming to get you honey. By the way your eyes look, you did get knocked out for awhile." Patty tells her, and she starts asking for a blanket or two since the floor of the basement is so cold, and it's the middle of December, a week away from Christmas, so Patty knows she's cold.
"How is she?" Phoebe asks, from the top of the stairs. She had been watching for the paramedics after Piper told her she called them.
"She's really cold. Would you go to the hall closet and get her a couple of blankets?" Piper replies, while taking her jacket off, folding it up, and laying it under Prue's head for support.
"I'm on it! Hang on Prue honey. I'll be right back." Phoebe says, as she takes off out of the kitchen and toward the closet. She gets the two biggest warmest blankets she can find. They get Prue covered up and she's just starting to get warm when the EMT's show up finally. She was trying to go back to sleep, but once they get that IV line started on her and get ready to close those doors, she says, "Mom, ride with me please." Patty hands her car keys to Piper and tells her, "Meet us there. I love you girls."
At the hospital, Piper and Phoebe are getting Prue registered when Patty comes out of the ER where she was at with Prue, and she looks worried but she just gets a cup of coffee and sits down.
"Mom. What did they say? Can we see her yet? What about the baby?" Phoebe asks, while still pacing back and forth.
"She's in surgery. That's all I know as of right now." Patty replies, as she takes a drink of her coffee.
"Surgery? For what?" Piper asks, and now she's worried again.
"They had to do an emergency C Section on her in order to save the baby. They said that when she fell today, she was out for so long that no one knew she was there, and it really shook the baby up, and raised Prue's blood preasure, as well as dropped the baby's heart rate. If she lives, it'll be a miracle. That's what the doctor said anyway. My baby girls are in there being worked on, and there's nothing I can do but sit here and go crazy before they tell me something." Patty explains.
An hour later, the doctor that took care of Prue and the baby, comes to get Patty and take her into surgery consultation room one, to talk to her.
"I think you will be happy to know that both Mommy and baby are fine. The baby though is very small, but thriving just fine to be born two months early. She weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces, and was only 14 inches long. Prudence on the other hand is doing pretty good. Her vitals are great, she did good during surgery, and came through everything well. Her right leg is of course broken in two places, and she will be out of surgery completely in about another half hour. Once I got the baby out, I had a bone surgeon come in and repair the bones in her leg. I think he said that he'll have to put in a plate or something like that. Sorry, I'm not an orthopedic surgeon so I really don't know how that part works. For now, would you like to see your new Granddaughter?" The doctor explains, and Patty can't help but cry at the thought of them both being okay. She says that yes, her and Piper and Phoebe would like to see the baby and the doctor takes them to the NICU where she is being closely monitored and is hooked up to wires and such. Phoebe starts talking to her, and Piper just wants to pick her up and hold her, even though they all know they can't yet. While they are visiting with the baby, they lost all track of time and a nurse comes in and tells them that they have moved Prue to her room.
Prue opens her eyes long enough to see her family there in the room with her, and she points across the room to a towel by the door, and then points at her face. Patty figures that she probably has a concussion and she wants the towel to lay over her eyes. Patty tells Phoebe to get it for her, and while they are visiting with her, and talking to her, Patty tells her everything.
"So, she's okay then? What does she look like? What I mean is, how bad does she look, and what name would suit her?" Prue asks, while having her arms above her head with the back of her left wrist across her eyes to press the towel down farther so it's near completely dark in there.
"Well, she looks straight up like you. She has my nose though. She's got your feet, your body build, which is small frame, then she has dark peach fuzz hair, and I would say even your ears. She has nothing of Andy's. She looks good, but she does not look like an Angela or a Jennifer. She looks more like a Carter. That's just what I think though." Patty tells her. Prue nods her head and says, "Carter Jade it is then."
"Jade? That's my middle name." Piper says, and she almost cries.
"She's named after you both Piper. Think about it. Phoebe Carter Halliwell, Piper Jade Halliwell. She has both of your's names." Prue replies, as she goes back to sleep. Patty motions toward the door to let the girls know to head on out and she will join them as soon as she talks to the doctor for a few minutes.
"Does she need someone to stay with her while she's here, or do I just go ahead home or what?" Patty asks her.
"She doesn't really need anyone to stay with her, but if you want too, you can. She's gonna do nothing but sleep for most of today anyway. If you do want to stay with her, I would suggest just coming back later tonight cause she's gonna be asleep until at least ten. The anesthesia will last that long or longer. There wouldn't be anything you could do, unless you wanted to help the NICU nurses with the baby." The doctor tells her.
"Carter. Her name's Carter. Carter Jade Halliwell. If you would be so nice as to have the nurse write that on her birth certificate, thank you." Prue says, and Patty had thought that she was asleep.
It's now around 10:30, and Prue is awaken by a small crying sound. She can't move much but she manages to somewhat turn to the left side of her bed and she is face to face with Carter for the first time.
"What's she doing in here? She's too small, get her back to the NICU." Prue tells her Mom, because she's worried about her.
"Easy there Momma. Just calm down. She was doing so good that they brought her in here so you could see her. She started breathing on her own, so they have taken all the tubes and wires out of her, and her vitals have improved since she was born this afternoon, and the only thing wrong now is, she won't eat on her own yet. They were hoping you might be able to do something." Patty replies, and Prue fights against her pain until she's able to sit up and pick up Carter.
"Hey. Now just what is your problem? Carter, you better stop that sqeaking of yours girl. What's up?" Prue tells her, while she moves her from her baby bed, and lays her on her lap with her knees bent to where Carter is propped up. Patty can see that the way she has her, it's hurting Prue's stomach to sit like that, but she just leaves her alone for a few minutes. Prue continues to talk to her, and she gets her to eat a little bit. Once Prue gets Carter to eat, she gets her in her arms, lays her on her chest, and they both go back to sleep. Patty gets her camera and takes a picture of them so she can show Piper and Phoebe the next morning.
Chapter Five
The Measure Of A Man
Prue is finally able to take Carter home, after two weeks of her being in the hospital since she was so small at birth. She finally weighs 8 pounds, 6 ounces, and is now 16 inches long. Darrel comes by the manor one afternoon to see everyone and while Prue is letting him hold Carter and play with her, the door bell rings. Phoebe goes to answer it, and the mail man is there with a small package for Prue.
"I'll sign for it. Thanks. Sampson, get your big ass back. Go lay down. Thank You sir." Phoebe tells him, while dealing with Prue's horse of a dog and talking to the the mail man at the same time. Sampson just sits there by the door, under foot where he always is, while smiling at her again. He yawns to where it looks like his head is gonna disappear, Phoebe nudges him with her foot, and he finally gets up and goes back in the living room where Darrel and Prue are with the baby.
"How in the world can Andy not want to have anything to do with his own baby? It just sickens me." Darrel says, while he lays Carter down and covers her up. He got her to go to sleep for awhile, and Prue had said for no one to hold her while she's asleep, so he didn't want to, but he put her down on her blanket in the play pen that Patty bought for her.
"It's his loss yes, but it does bother me sometimes. It mostly gets to me when she wakes up in the middle of the night and there's no one there to help me with her. I mean, I can handle it of course, but, he still should be here." Prue replies, and Darrel puts his hand on her shoulder and tells her, "If you would like me to, let me know and I'll talk to him in the morning." Just as Darrel had put his hand on Prue's shoulder, Sampson jumped up on his knee and started growling and barking and it wakes Carter up.
"Oh man. Carter honey, please go back to sleep. Mommy is way beyond tired. You have no idea. Sampson! Go lay down somewhere." Prue says, just about losing her mind and Patty comes out of the kitchen with a bottle.
"This might help. Come here you little screamer. Ain't nothing wrong with you or them lungs is there? No there's not, no there's not, so you just stop that racket and let your Mama get some sleep. Darrel, you gonna be staying for dinner? I've got a roast in the oven. Call your wife and tell her she's welcome too." Patty says as she picks her up, lays her on her lap, and gives her the bottle.
"I'll be damned. She just ate awhile ago. Maybe half an hour ago." Prue tells her, and Darrel tells Patty that they can't make it that night but maybe another night. Phoebe has just sat Prue's package on the table since she said she couldn't get it right away.
The next morning, Prue was so busy with Carter that she hadn't even looked at whatever it was that was sent to her. She sneaks through the house, knowing that if Sampson hears her, he will want to play, and that will only wake up Carter and everyone else before it's time to start breakfast. She picks up the package, sees that the return address is Andy's, and when she opens it, there's some baby clothes and some money. Prue counts it, and there's a little over fifty dollars. There's even a note that says, "Prue, I know I will never be in your daughter's life, but I wanted to send this to her to help you out just a little bit. I hope it does help, and please, don't be afraid to look for love in another man cause I know the right one is out there for you. - Andy-" She almost tears up the note, but keeps it inside her pocket until Patty comes downstairs, which she didn't have to wait very long cause about ten minutes after Prue got sat down and comfortable in the kitchen chair, Patty joins her.
"Mom, you need to look at this." Prue says, and she hands her the note.
"Where did this come? I mean, it says it's from Andy and the return address is even his, but that can't be his hand writing. Your Grams and I, had him over here all the time when you girls were little, and he still doesn't seem like the person to do this." Patty replies, and she even counts the money.
"Yeah, I know. But, he is that way apparently. What in the hell does he think I'm gonna be able to get her with only fifty two dollars? That won't buy her formula for the week I bet ya. I won't be able to go back to work at least until she's two months old. I'm gonna need the money to buy more than just fifty bucks worth of stuff for her." Prue tells her, when they hear Carter start to cry. Prue tries to take off running, but soon realizes that's gonna be easier said than done since she still has her stitches from the C Section. Also, her doctor had put in two plates in her leg where she broke it, and put her in a brace. She can still walk, but it takes her forever to get from one room to another. When she gets to the stairs, she can hear Piper holler, "Sampson! Bring her back here." Piper had gotten Carter out of her crib and layed her on the bed for a minute, then Sampson got up there and wrapped her in the blanket with his mouth, then got the blanket in his mouth, and tried to carry her downstairs. Piper freezes him, gets a hold of Carter, and then unfreezes Sampson. Prue is hollering up the stairs wondering what happened when Piper makes her appearance with Prue's little 'care package' as they all call her just for fun. Piper explains what all just happened, and Prue says, "That's it dude. You're going outside for awhile. Mom, would you please?" Patty smiles and nods her head that yes, she will take him out and put him in his dog run out back. When she gets back inside, she goes up to the attic and has her Mom to pay a visit.
"Mom. The girls are wondering why they still haven't fought any demons, and they still have their powers. Prue, I think still has them. She has not used them one time since she found out about Carter." Patty tells her.
"It's because with Prue being the oldest, she has dominance over the power of three. If she continues to not use her powers, the power of three will go away, and so will magic all together. How is Prue doing with her recovery and how is Carter?" Penny replies. Patty tells her that they are both doing okay but there are several times in a day where Prue will be in so much pain that she only wants to sleep, but she doesn't because she wants to be the one who takes care of Carter.
"Ya know Mom. If Prue keeps doing this, and the whole destiny and power of three magic thing, does sease to exist, I'm with her. I will support her and Piper and Phoebe, and stand behind whatever decision they make." Patty says, when Penny all of a sudden tells her that she has to be leaving.
Later on that morning, the whole police department is jumping all over Andy and asking how can he be the way he is toward Prue and his baby.
"That girl is not my baby. I don't have a child." Andy tells them all as he goes into his office and slams the door behind him. Darrel goes in to talk to him about everything, and Andy thinks that he is going to be on his side.
"Ya know Trudeau. It just sickens me how you are doing Prue and Carter. Who cares that they are witches? They're on the side of good. I know it, and you know it, that they would never hurt anyone. Why in the hell are you doing this to them? Why would you turn your back on your own daughter? She's yours dude and the sooner you realize that and come to terms with it, the better it will be for everyone involved." Darrel says, cutting lose on him.
"I just can't handle the fact that I have a magical child. I want nothing to do with either one of them as long as they have powers. Now, that baby is only going on three weeks old, so I'm sure she doesn't have powers yet, but Prue does. I am not strong enough to handle everything Darrel, and I admit it." Andy replies, and he sits down at his desk and almost cries. Darrel pulls the blinds down over the window so no one else in the department can see anything, and he tells him, "Look man. I know it's not going to be easy. But instead of pushing Carter away just because she may or may not have powers, you need to embrace her. Yes, she was born of a witch, but look at her as being special. So what, she's special with powers. Every child is special in their own way. The measure of a man is not in how often he can be big and bad and hide the truth or try to cover up his past. No, the measure of a man is in how often he is able to admit to his past, and being able to find the courage to overcome it and do something about it. Do the right thing Andy. Get out of here, and go see Prue and hold Carter. Hold her close to your heart and let her know that her Daddy does love her."
"Darrel, you're right but, I really wasn't wanting any kids right now in my life anyway. I just simply don't have time for them. Prue probably wouldn't want me there anyway. I talked so horribly to her. She probably hates me right now." Andy tells him, when truthfully, Carter is all he thinks about.
"Well then, that's when you make time and swollow your damn stubborn pride, and call her and ask if the two of you can meet up. Kids are everything man, and they are what makes this world a better place. There's nothing more special or rewarding when a baby looks into your eyes and they connect with you for the first time. Go talk to her." Darrel replies. Andy sits there for a few minutes after Darrel leaves his office and then after thinking strongly about what all Darrel told him, he gets his jacket, rounds up everything for the day, then heads out to his car to go and talk to Prue.
Chapter Six
Road To Recovery
Prue is still in her brace and getting ready to go for a follow up appointment with her doctor, and still needing some help here and there. Leo has been after her to let him heal her, but everytime he asks, she says no. She finally gives in one morning and when it doesn't work, she tells him, "I knew it wouldn't. I've already been told that if I keep not using my powers, they would slowly go away. I wanted them too Leo. Thank You anyways, but I'm done with the whole damn magical business." She then slowly makes her way downstairs with Carter, and finishes getting ready.
"Hey Prue! Would you care if I rode along to your appointment? You know that I need to go to the store today anyway." Patty says, from the kitchen where she's sitting in the floor, going through what all is needed for the week when it comes to groceries.
"Sure Mom! Not a problem." Prue hollers back when she has to go answer the door. She gets there and Andy is there once more, trying to re connect with her and Carter.
"I only need two minutes of your time. I was wanting to see her more often, and maybe even you too." Andy tells her.
"I said no Andy. I don't care how many times you try to measure up or how many times you say you love us both, or that you regret everything you said and did to us. Let me ask you this. Where the hell were you when I was in the hospital after having her by emergency C Section? Where were you when I was laying in that damn basement floor and almost lost her when I fell? Where were you when my family was taking care of Carter and I after we got out of the hospital because I couldn't move due to a broken leg with two plates in it? Andy the point is, you weren't here for any of the important things that we needed you for. Weather you want to admit it or not, and weather or not you claim me, she is a part of your family! You should have been here to help with her, and not be worried about having a magical child because it scared you. Do you realize that there are scarier things out there than magic? Try for instance, a child who was born two months early and you think the whole time they are in the hospital, that only one of you is going home. How about, when you wake up in the morning and you think to yourself, 'How am I going to be able to take care of this baby today while everyone is at work because you don't want to have them to put their jobs on hold for you?' Andy, I have to go. I have to be somewhere in half an hour and it takes me awhile to get around, so if you would be so kind as to move out of my way." Prue says, really letting him have it. Patty is still in the kitchen but she was close enough to where she could hear the whole thing, and she lets a few stray tears fall before wiping the others away.
"Damn you Andy." Patty whispers to where no one can hear her. She gets her car keys, and her, Prue, and Carter, all head to the doctor's office.
While they are waiting for Prue's doctor to come in, she has to change Carter, and normally Patty would have tried to help, but she knows that Prue has had enough of people doing everything for her. The doctor finally comes in and Patty takes Carter while he looks over Prue's leg.
"Where's Stacey?" Prue asks, talking about the OB doctor who took care of her and Carter.
"Oh, she's back in her office today. Once she got Carter, she sent you on to me. I worked on your leg, which looks like it's healing beautifully. The wound looks good and clean where we had to go in and repair the bones and put those plates in. You're doing great. What's your level of pain been?" The doctor replies, while checking over everything and smiling at the progress she's been making.
"Just about a two or three." Prue tells him.
"Prudence Mae. Don't you be lying to this nice young man. You tell him the truth." Patty scolds, even though Prue is well over 25.
"If I do, he'll just put me on stronger pain killers and I'll spend another ten days all drugged up and not be able to do for Carter." Prue argues.
"Well now, not really. If you're hurting that bad Prue, what I can do for you today is, just give you a pain shot, let you go home and sleep for a few hours, then you get these filled as soon as you can." He tells her, while handing her a prescription for Tramadol and Ibuprofin 800's. Prue looks at them, and finally tells him the truth.
"Okay. Sounds good. The truth of it is, I've been hurting pretty bad." Prue replies, and he orders another x ray to be done so they can see how the bones are healing up. A nurse comes in and gives Prue a pain shot, and tells Patty that it's going to start affecting her soon, and that the x ray results will be back in around twenty minutes.
Four hours later, Prue wakes up in her room and Carter is in her little bed beside Prue's bed, still asleep. Prue doesn't want to holler through the house and take the chance of waking Carter up, so she reaches over on her night stand and gets her phone to text Phoebe, whom she knows will be home. She sends a text that says, "Hey Pheebes. If it's no problem, could you come and help me with Carter? She's still asleep, but I was getting ready to head downstairs anyway and I figured I better bring her too." Prue hits the send button then sort of props herself up to where she's half laying, and half sitting. Phoebe quietly goes up to Prue's room to help her and she whispers outside the door instead of knocking. She goes in and helps Prue get to a standing position since she's still so drugged from the pain shot, and when she picks up Carter to take her downstairs, she thinks for a minute that she's gonna wake up. Phoebe told her upon her entering the room, that Leo had carried her upstairs when she fell asleep on the couch and that Piper had taken Carter up and put her in Prue's room with her.
"Shh shh, hey. Hey now, no no. That's a good girl. Go back to sleep for Auntie Phoebe. Yeah." Phoebe whispers, in a tone loud enough to where Carter can hear her, and she goes back to sleep. Prue just smiles and says, "Thank God she went back to sleep." They get to the top of the stairs, and Phoebe tells Prue to stay put for a minute while she puts Carter in her playpen and then she'll come back and help her.
"So, has anyone called yet with my results from the x ray?" Prue asks, when Phoebe gets her on the couch and all propped up.
"Not that I'm aware. Of course, I've only been home for about an hour. Piper was here for a little bit then got called in to work so she called me, and I came home early otherwise, she would have been in trouble. Mom's here I think. Let me go see cause I heard someone in the kitchen." Phoebe says, as she takes off to go see who or what was in the kitchen.
"Sampson you ass wipe!" Phoebe hollers after she sees that he peed all over the floor. She mops it up and gets the floor to smelling fresh again when Patty comes in the back door.
"Hey. Is Prue up yet? The doctor called with her results, and she's not going to like them." Patty tells her, while sitting grocery bags on the table and going back out for some more, and telling Phoebe to lend her a hand.
"I'll get the rest. You just go let Prue know what they said because she was asking about them and I didn't know what to tell her. She's on the couch. I took care of her and Carter, don't worry." Phoebe replies, and she heads out to the car to get whatever else may be left in there. She always hates it when either her Mom or Prue goes grocery shopping because they both try to buy out the store every time they go. Patty goes into the living room to talk to Prue about her results and she can see that she is still looking drugged up from that shot.
"Hey babe. You doing okay?" Patty asks, sitting beside her on the couch, and placing her hand on Prue's good knee.
"Not really. I just want to sleep but I can't because Carter might wake up soon and she'll need changed and fed again." Prue says, while trying to sit up but falling right back down.
"Mom! Hey Mom, are you home?" Piper hollers, coming through the front door, and nearly waking Carter up. Phoebe comes out of the kitchen and shushes her and points to the living room.
"I'm in here. Quietly please, Carter's asleep and Prue's still drugged and wanting to sleep. Anyway before you go back to sleep, you're going to need to get up soon and have a good supper. Your x ray results are back and the bones are healing just fine. However, the ligaments and tendons around the knee are not where they should be. So, the doctor wants to go in tomorrow and reconstruct your knee and repair the tendons and ligaments." Patty tells her and Prue does manage this time to sit straight up and almost holler, "Are you bull crapping me!? Another surgery? Are they out of their minds? Ouch. Ohh, I've hurt myself that time." She leans back then and tries to calm down a little bit, because she knows that her Mom wouldn't lie to her.
"Okay. Whatever, I just want to be able to be back where I was before those stairs. What's for supper then and when are we eating?" Prue says, while pulling herself to a sitting position and still looking around for her blanket. Carter was born in late December, a week before Christmas, and it's still pretty cold in the manor. Prue had kept saying just how hard it was to keep that place warm in the winter time. Patty hands her a blanket from the closet and says, "Apparently Piper put it back in here." Piper finally gets to say her news as to why she's home early, and Prue makes her way into the kitchen to get Carter's supper ready.
The next afternoon, Patty had sent Phoebe and Piper ahead to work and told them not to worry about anything, and that Prue was at a good hospital and in good hands. Both of the girls have already told their bosses though, that when they get the call from their Mom that Prue's out of surgery, they are leaving and going to the hospital, and their bosses both understood.
"Carter baby. I sure as heck wish someone would tell me when your Mommy is gonna be going to her room, and how everything went." Patty tells her now month and a half old Granddaughter, who just wakes up from her small nap and smiles at her.
"You make things so much easier to deal with. Ya know that?" Patty says, just talking up a storm to her when the doctor finally comes and gets her.
"Miss Halliwell. She came through surgery fine. Everything looks good, and she is headed to recovery. She'll be back in her room in about twenty minutes. She did well with the anesthesia, and her knee only has a small space where I made the incision. She was starting to wake up when she was taken to recovery. You can come with me and I'll direct you to her room. Do you have any questions for me at this time?" The doctor informs her.
"Only one. When will she be able to walk on that knee and what all will she be able to do?" Patty asks, while Carter starts to get fussy.
"Sweetheart, calm down. Mommy's okay. She won't be doing anything today but going home and resting and sleeping off the anesthesia and effects of the operation today. I would say it really depends on how she feels but watch her. This was reconstructive surgery so, once she starts therapy in a few days, have her to slowly put preasure on it little by little, and then after she starts her therapy, and when she comes back for the follow up in two weeks, we'll see about her walking on it, but still with crutches." The doctor explains, after talking to Carter. Patty is lead into Prue's room and she only had to wait around ten minutes. Prue has always been a fast healer so it didn't take long for her to wake up. They get Prue back to her room and in come Phoebe and Piper.
"The hospital called Phoebe and then she called me to let us know she was out of surgery. How's she doing?" Piper says, and they sit down and they look half beaten up.
"We had to cram our eight hour shifts into just five hour shifts to be done in time. Can we take her home?" Phoebe tells her Mom.
"I don't think, hang on. I don't think they're gonna let me go yet. I have to be really responsive and my pain level has to be controlled first." Prue says, but she had to stop and clear her throat due to the breathing tube they always use in surgery. She gets on her elbows and scoots herself into a sitting position, and lays back on her pillow when the nurse comes in to see how she's doing. Piper tries to freeze the nurse because she wants it to be her family that takes care of Prue before they take her home.
"What are you doing? Are you okay?" The nurse asks as she takes Piper by both of her wrists and checks them out.
"I'm fine. Just cramps. I just got off of work, and I guess I did too much today in just a short time. I was supposed to work a full eight hour shift but got everything done in a five hour time frame so we could come here." Piper replies, while looking over at Prue with that look on her face like she's in trouble for her powers not working.
"When you get home tonight, be sure and ice them so they will heal. I can't really say for sure, but when I felt them, they felt tight." The nurse says, as she looks over everything and asks about Prue's pain level and gets her blood preasure again. Prue tells her that it's about a three, and the nurse starts writing everything down and getting her ready to go home.
"Prue, when we get home, I need to ask you something. Don't let me forget okay." Piper tells her. Prue holds up her hand and kind of waves Piper off, signaling that she doesn't really want to be bothered at that moment. Patty has the feeling that it's gonna one long recovery but they always make it through somehow, so she isn't real worried.
Two months later, Prue is finally back to her old self and doing just fine. Carter is now near four months, and still, Andy is not able to see her. She is rolling all around the living room floor one morning when Piper comes in and sees her there.
"Okay now look. I understand that you are only four months old. Well you will be in a couple of weeks anyway. Listen, you are going to crawl today. I don't care if you only scoot yourself around everywhere. We gotta start somewhere don't we?" Piper tells her and Carter just sticks her tongue out and kind of spits toward her, and laughs at her.
"Yeah yeah, very funny. Come on. You're supposed to be taking a nap but we won't tell Mommy will we?" Piper says, while getting her from her spot on the rug where Prue had left her, thinking she was asleep. Piper puts her in front of the window and then runs to the fireplace.
"Come on Carter. Get up on them knees and crawl to me. Crawl to Aunt Piper." Piper tells her and Carter just lays there smiling at her. Prue is heading back into the living room and when she gets ready to round the corner to the living room, she can hear Piper talking to Carter, and Carter just laughing at her so hard that she's having trouble getting her breath. Piper has asked Prue about why her powers seemed to not work anymore and Prue explained everything and surprisingly, her and Phoebe were okay with it. Prue stands there and watches for awhile before going in where all the fun is.
"Please. Pretty please Carter. Crawl for Auntie Piper. I'll give you a treat at supper. Yeah, would you like that? I know how well you like those mashed up bananas that your Mommy never wants to give you because they make you all sticky." Piper keeps pleading with her and Patty can hear some of it too from the kitchen. She walks in to where Prue is watching the whole thing, and she has to put her hand over her mouth to keep from losing it out loud, especially when Carter is pushed up halfway from the floor, but she's laughing so hard that she falls over on her back and continues to laugh even more. Piper even falls over laughing from seeing her carry on that way.
"Okay, now it's time to go get them." Patty whispers to Prue.
"I agree." Prue whispers back and then they both go into the living room and Prue says, "I thought you were supposed to be taking a nap. Piper, what are you doing?" Piper just lays there before saying, "Having bonding time with my neice." Prue just smiles, and goes over to get Carter where she was laughing herself senceless. Patty says she has to go in and work for a few hours, while Piper needs to go meet with someone at the club, and Phoebe goes to apply for different jobs. Patty asks Prue if she's going to be okay for a few hours just her and Carter, and she of course says yes and for them not to worry about anything.
Later that night when everyone gets home, the kitchen is cleaned up, the floors have all been swept, the vaccum has been ran, all of the furniture has been dusted, the windows cleaned, and there's even the smell of air freshener everywhere. Patty sees that there are even fresh flowers on the table in the foyer, and on all the tables as center peices.
"Prue! The only time the manor ever looked like this before was when there was a demon attack, and we all had to clean up like this afterward. Where are you at?" Patty calls through the house. She doesn't get any response, but she hears snoring coming from the living room, and when her, Phoebe, and Piper walk in there, they see Prue layed back in the chair, knocked out, and Carter is on her lap, leaning up against her stomach and chest, with her head on Prue's heart, and Patty knew that everytime she seen Carter laying like that, it was only to sooth her to sleep, is hearing her Mommy's heartbeat. Patty just puts a blanket over the both of them, and slips Prue's shoes off in a way that won't disturb her. She then goes back out of the living room, but stands in the entrance of it and talks to God and her Mom.
"Thank You God and Mom. You both have seen her through so much here lately. It really makes me wonder how anyone can put up with all that she has put up with and still make it out okay in the end. When I get to thinking like that, I only remind myself that she came from a strong family who always has God and the entire Halliwell line, behind her. Thank You both." Patty whispers in a small prayer. She reaches around onto the other side of the wall looking for the light switch. She finds it, flips it off so Prue and Carter can sleep, then she plugs in a night light so Prue can see is she needs to get up in the middle of the night. She blows Prue a kiss and says, "I love you girls. Goodnight."
THE END