Two times the charm
Disclaimer: No Paige, set after Leo and Pipers wedding in season 3.
Prue, Phoebe and Piper walked up the stairs to the attic. They were summoning their mother and Grams. Leo had just told them that the elders had granted that Patty and Penny could spend a few days with them. The sisters all thought that it was somewhat strange that the elders would do that, but neither had anything against getting to be around Penny and Patty the next couple of days.
"Come on, Piper. I swear you're like a snail today." Phoebe complained almost jumping up the stairs. She couldn't wait to see her mother again and had been ecstatic since Leo had told them the news.
Piper stopped and supported herself against the wall. "Sorry, Pheebs." She said barely above a whisper. Phoebe glanced over her shoulders; she had expected a smart comeback from Piper, certainly not an excuse for being slow. Prue stopped as well and turned around to look at her middle sister, "You sure you're ok?" She asked. Piper nodded and stared to climb the stairs again.
Once they were in the attic Piper sat down in the couch letting her sisters do the summoning. She wasn't feeling good at all, she hadn't told Prue and Phoebe in fear of them worrying about her today. This was supposed to be a good day.
"Hear these words, hear my cry,
Spirits from the other side.
Come to me, I summon thee.
Cross now the great divide."
Both Prue and Phoebe chanted together. There were instantly bright swirling lights surrounding them and Patty and Penny appeared in their solid forms. Patty smiled at her oldest and youngest daughter and hugged them tightly.
"Where's your sister?" She wondered with a puzzled look on her face. She had expected to see Piper standing beside her sisters. Penny looked over at the couch and saw Piper sitting there with her face buried in her hands. She nudged Patty in the side and motioned to where Piper sat.
Patty walked over to the couch and kneeled down so she was face to face with her middle child. She tucked some hair behind Piper's ear and was concerned to see her daughter's pale and worn out face looking up at her. Piper gave her a small, but heartfelt smile before being embraced in a tight hug. "Hi Mommy." She whispered to Patty as she leaned against her shoulder.
Penny, Prue and Phoebe joined Patty beside Piper. "You're not looking too good, Piper." Penny placed her hand on her granddaughter's forehead. "You're burning up, child." Piper shook her head gently, "I'm fine Grams, don't worry." Truth was that she knew she was running a high fever and she could feel her eyes burning from it.
Patty frowned at her response; she knew Piper wouldn't want to ruin their day together by being sick. "You should go lay down, sweetie. It'll only get worse if you go ignoring that you're not well. Come on, baby, let's go." She held her hand out for Piper to take. Piper stared at her mother's hand and grabbed a hold of it reluctantly. She turned her head to her sisters and muttered an apology for stealing their mother away before being lead out of the attic and down to her room.
"I'm fine Mom, really I am." Piper tried to reassure her while being tucked into bed by Patty. She couldn't even remember the last time her mother had tucked her in. Then again she didn't really remember that much about Patty from when she was little. After all she had only been four years old when she had died. She felt guilty being sick and getting all the attention. This was something she had struggled with ever since she was a child. She was too considerate for her own good at times, something that had often been used against her by her sisters.
Patty wasn't fooled, "That's something you get from your Grams." Piper looked at her mother with a confused expression. "What?" Patty smiled and grinned, "You're a bad liar." Piper shrugged her shoulders, "Who said I was lying?" Patty sat down on the bed beside her and stroked her feverish cheek gently, "Sweetie, you came from me. I know when you're not telling the truth, besides it's not exactly hard to see that you're not well." Piper gazed down on the bed and sighed heavily. "I'll admit that I may not be in the best shape of my life right at the moment."
"You get some sleep now, baby, and I'll be back to check on you in a couple of hours. Alright?" Patty got out of the bed and kissed Piper on the forehead, "Ok, mom." Piper gave in and closed her eyes. By the time Patty had reached the door, Piper was already fast asleep.
Prue and Phoebe stared at Patty with concerned looks as she entered the kitchen. Prue was as usual the first to speak. "How is she?" Patty sat down at the table with them. "She'll be fine in no time, don't worry." Phoebe giggled, "Prue, not worrying? Yeah right!" She commented with sarcasm nearly dripping from her words. Prue gave her an evil glare and slapped Phoebe's shoulder. "Go away." She mocked her baby sister.
"So what do you want to do today?" Penny asked everyone, breaking up the sibling rivalry between the oldest and youngest. "Oh, I know! Pick me, pick me!" Prue started to laugh at her little sister's outburst. "What Pheebs?" Penny shook her head and laughed along with Prue and Patty. "We can look at old home videos and pictures. Not to mention we can do it in Pipers room, so she won't feel left out." Phoebe smiled at her suggestion, it would be fun to hear what her mother had to say about what happened in the videos and when pictures had been taken. Stuff like that, stuff like she never would have gotten to know unless Patty told her.
"Good idea, besides if Piper wants to sleep, she's the only person I know that can sleep though everything. So we won't bother her." Penny liked the idea very much; she hadn't seen the videos or pictures in years. She knew Patty loved the idea too, she could tell by the way her eyes lit up when she heard it.
They made their way up to Pipers room with two boxes full of albums and videos. Patty, Victor and Penny had done a good job at taking pictures of their girls when they were little. Patty knocked on the door and entered the room first. "Sweetie, are you up for looking at some pictures and videos with us?" Piper rubbed her eyes, nodded slightly and pushed herself up in the bed. Patty sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. Piper leaned against her mother and yawned, relaxing by the sound of Patty's heartbeats. Prue and Penny joined them on the bed as well, while Phoebe put a video on. Then she jumped up on the bed and snuggled against her family.
Prue's birthday 1975
The camera focused on Prue smiling happily in her new blue dress. "How's the birthday girl?" Victor asked his oldest daughter, his voice filled with pride. "This is the best day ever, Daddy!" She shouted while jumping up and down with excitement. "That's good! I'm happy for you, baby." He exclaimed and turned the camera to where a heavily pregnant Patty sat in the couch.
"You're supposed to film the girls you know." Patty laughed. "I am filming my youngest daughter, not to mention the most stunning woman in the world who just happens to be the mother of my children." Patty grinned and pointed a finger at the camera, "Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Bennett." The laughter of Victor was heard in the background. "Now, where is the soon to be second littlest Halliwell hiding today?" He asked Patty from behind the camera. Patty motioned to the big box standing beside Prue. The camera moved closer to the box and Victor opened the lid, so he could film inside it. "There you are!" He exclaimed acting surprised to find her. Piper squealed of joy playing with all the paper that had been wrapped around Prue's gifts. "Daddy!" She shouted from the top of her lungs and stood up from the box throwing her hands up in the air.
Piper rubbed her sore eyes again. "Can't say I remember that." Patty gazed down at her, "You were just a toddler. Would be strange if you did remember." Phoebe patted Piper teasingly on head. "If it makes you feel any better, I can't remember either." She giggled. Piper and Prue rolled their eyes at Phoebe and turned back to the video.
1976
The video showed two toddlers sitting on the floor in the parlor playing with a ball. Even though there was two years between Piper and Phoebe, Piper wasn't really that much bigger than Phoebe. Of all the girls, Piper had been the smallest one at birth and she still was smaller than Prue had been when she was the same age.
Prue ran up behind them and lifted Phoebe up in her arms. "Smile to the camera, Phoebe." Phoebe did as her sister told her, and flashed what she had of teeth in a huge grin. "Careful not to drop her, Prudence." Penny's voice was heard in the background.
"I am careful, Grams!" Prue assured her grandmother sat her back down beside Piper on the floor.
"How old are you, Piper?" Patty asked her middle daughter from behind the camera. Piper looked up with her chocolate brown eyes and smiled softly. "This many." She gently answered her mother holding up three tiny fingers for her to see. "That's right, baby, three years old. How old are you then, Prue?" Prue scratched the freckle beside her nose and sat down next to Piper. "I'm five, silly. Don't you remember?"
Prue leaned against Penny's shoulder and glanced over at her younger sister. "You were so little, Piper." Piper wrinkled her nose and tried to defend herself. "I wasn't that small."
Prue giggled, "Either you were little or Phoebe was a gigantic baby." Phoebe shot her oldest sister an ugly glare. "I was not gigantic, Prue! I was perfect, thank you very much!"
Patty silently laughed at her daughters bickering. She knew that they didn't mean anything bad about it; this was a perfectly ordinary thing in the Halliwell household.
"To make things clear, Piper has always been the smallest out of you three and Phoebe wasn't a gigantic baby. At least not more than you, Prue." Prue grunted at her mother's words and gave her a smirk. "That was not the support I had hoped for."
"I'm just being honest with you, that's all." Patty grinned and took Prue's hand in hers. She gazed back down at her middle daughter who was resting on her shoulder when she heard the sound of deep breathing. "It never stops to amaze me how fast she can fall asleep." Penny chuckled, then suddenly jumped slightly when a fairly loud snore came from Phoebe. "And it never stops to amaze me how she can snore like that." Prue added, shaking her head gently at the sight of her little sisters sleeping like rocks.
Penny smiled at the scene before her. This was the way their lives should have been. Patty being there for the girls and taking care of them, Prue getting the chance to stop being her little sisters protector and for Piper and Phoebe to get the opportunity of Patty babying them around. She always felt her heart sink when she thought about how Piper and Phoebe never really got to know their mother the way they should have, and her heart broke when she thought of how Prue had seen Patty lying dead on the dock.
"Well, I'm kind of tired myself, think I'm gonna call it a day. Mom you can have my room, and Grams you can take Phoebe's. Phoebe and I can share Piper's bed." Prue yawned. Patty was about to say something, but Prue sensed what her mother would say and interrupted her. "Don't worry mom, the bed is big enough for us all. Besides if Phoebe kicks I'll throw her at the floor. She's used to that."
Patty laughed at her oldest daughter's words and tried the best she could at getting out of the bed without her two youngest daughters waking up, which wasn't easy seeing that both of them nearly slept on top of her. "If you say so, sweetie."
Finally getting out of the bed she looked down at her sleeping girls. They looked so young and innocent they way they had curled up in deep slumber. Just like they did before she died. Patty had always laughed at her mother whenever she still treated her like a child, but now she understood that no matter how old your children gets, one will never stop looking at them like little kids. Moving closer she planted a kiss on the top of each forehead, before she turned to face her oldest daughter.
"I love you, sweetie." Patty embraced her oldest daughter lovingly. "Sleep well." Prue gave her mother a peck on the cheek. "I love you too, Mom." She said and crawled into the bed beside her little sisters. Patty smiled softly at the sight before her and made her way to the bed in Prue's room.
Penny laughed, "See, this is one of the good things about being petite." Growing up, Prue and her sisters had always complained about their height. "What is?" Prue questioned her. Penny did as Patty had done and kissed the three of them on the forehead. "You all fit perfectly in one bed." She chuckled the way only Penny Halliwell could. "Grams!" Prue pretended to be offended, "I guess it's true though." Penny chuckled again, "Of course it's true. I said so. Have a good night my darling."
"Owww!" Prue shouted loudly and covered her nose with her hands. Patty ran into the room expecting to see a demon, instead she found Prue rubbing her sore nose, Phoebe occupying most of the bed and Piper curled up in a ball beside her big sister.
"What is wrong? Why did you shout? Was there a demon?" Patty rushed over to the bedside where Prue was bombarding her with questions with a concerned frown on her face. The oldest Halliwell sister pouted and pointed at her youngest sister. "Phoebe smacked me over the nose with her fist as she turned, not to mention she's taking over the bed."
Phoebe woke at the mentioning of her name, "Huh?" She mumbled as she yawned and stretched. Prue shoot her a deadly look. "You hit me over the nose!" Phoebe smirked and spat back. "Well maybe I did that because you're taking up too much of the bed." Prue growled and hit Phoebe over the head with her pillow. "Speak for yourself!"
"Girls, be nice. You're gonna wake your sister." Patty playfully scolded them. "Besides I need help making breakfast." Prue and Phoebe both turned the bickering into a laughing fit. "Prue and I can't cook." Phoebe clutched her side from laughing so hard. Patty smiled and joined them on the bed next to Piper, then asked in a motherly tone, "Would you two wake your grandmother for me and get dressed please?"
Prue giggled at her mother. She hadn't really been told what to do since Penny had died, and it had certainly been a long time since her mother had told her what to do. "Why do I suddenly feel like I'm six again?" She joked. Patty grinned and pulled both Prue and Phoebe in for a hug. "I'm sorry, I'm never gonna be used to you girls actually being adults. You're still my babies. I'm sure your father would agree with me."
"Speaking of dad, he's supposed to stop by later. I mean if you're ok with that?" Phoebe looked up at her mother. Patty smiled, "Of course. I mean I haven't seen him in a while, so it'll be nice to see him again." Prue gave her a cheeky smirk, "Seriously, mom?"
"Well, yeah. I was with him nearly half my life you know. Is it so weird that I'm looking forward to him visiting?" Patty released her hold on them and shooed them of the bed. "Don't answer that! Now do as I said and wake Grams." Prue and Phoebe smirked mischievously and did what they were told.
Patty shook her head at the two and turned to look at Piper who was still sound asleep. She tucked some of the hair that had fallen down in her face behind her ear. Feeling her forehead she was relived to discover that Piper's fever had gone down during the night. "Baby, it's morning." She spoke softly, not wanting to startle her. Piper stirred from her sleep. "What time is it?" She asked, not bothering to open her eyes. "It's 10.30. Thought you might want to help me with breakfast? Your sisters claim they can't cook." Piper let out a stifled laugh. "God no, they're very good at ordering in though." Patty smiled at her answer; sarcasm was always a good sign that Piper was feeling better.
"So, you wanna help me?" Patty asked again as she ran a hand through her daughter's long silky brown hair. Piper nodded and pushed herself up in a sitting position. She smiled brightly and put her arms around her mother. "Do you even have to ask?" Patty held her close and rested her cheek on Piper's head. "In case you weren't feeling any good."
"Phoebe, don't talk with food in your mouth!" Penny scolded her youngest granddaughter. Phoebe eyed her with a dumbfounded look on her face. "You said it Prue, why do I suddenly feel like I'm six again?" Penny gave her a stern frown, and then smiled. "Well, I have taught you manners, and you best use them." Prue joined the conversation, "Sounds like a threat, and from what I've been taught it's not nice to threaten people." Penny let out a chuckle, "That's beside the point."
Before they could get deeper into the bickering they were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Phoebe jumped to her feet and ran towards the front door. "Hi Daddy." They could hear her greet from the kitchen.
"Victor? Why is he here?" Penny asked Prue annoyed that nobody had told her. Patty silenced her mother, "He is their father. Do you really need any other reason?" She had to raise her hand to keep Penny from replying when Victor and Phoebe entered the kitchen.
Victor started to say something, but lost his words as soon as he saw his ex-wife and mother-in-law sitting by the table next to Prue. "Good morning, Dad." Prue stood up and gave her father a hug. "Morning sweetie." He leaned down and kissed top of her head. "Patty, Penny." He greeted them as he sat down. "So, what brings you back from the dead this time?" Penny shot him a look that could kill, "If you must know we are visiting."
Not noticing his middle daughter, he raised his brow and gazed over at his first-born. "Where's Piper?" Patty tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to her lap. In some weird way Piper had managed to fall asleep halfway on her chair, halfway on Patty's lap. "She's not feeling well." Victor looked at Piper with a concerned expression on his face. "Nothing too bad, right?" He asked Patty. She put her hand on top of her ex-husband's. "Don't worry, it's nothing that can't be fixed."
Prue and Phoebe smiled when they saw their parents together. Even if they had their differences you didn't have to be an expert to figure out that they still loved each other. They had noticed the looks between Patty and Victor at Piper's wedding; they had even been flirting, though very subtle. "Where's Leo?" Victor suddenly questioned. "He should be home taking care of her." Phoebe rolled her eyes at her father, "He's working dad, besides she is being taken care of."
"Who's being taken care of?" Piper mumbled from her mother's lap. Patty grinned and stroked her cheek lovingly. "You are, sweetie." Piper sat back up in her chair with an offended frown. "I can take care of myself." She pouted and gave her father a quick wave. "Hi Dad." Her frown grew bigger when everyone around the table laughed at her.
After breakfast they had all sat down in the couch. Prue and Piper leaning on each side of Patty and Phoebe practically sitting on her father's lap. Penny had excused herself to the attic, thinking it was only right that the girls could have some time alone with their parents. She didn't come down until she heard Patty shouting her name. "What's wrong?" She asked, but as she gazed over at her family she took the question back. "Let me rephrase that. How did this happen?"