The Lost Halliwell

By Patricia L. Bryans

Disclaimer: The only characters in this story that I have created are Pam, Stella, and Andy. (Not the Andy you think)

Rated PG. Set in June 2012.

Piper tied her hair in a bun and headed for her bedroom door. When she opened it, Paige was standing there with a mischievous grin on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" Piper asked. Paige showed her what she'd been hiding behind her back. It was a small white book, yellowed slightly with age.

"What's this?" Piper asked.

"See for yourself," Paige replied cryptically. Piper took the book from her. She opened the first page and read aloud.

"'Phoebe's Diary 1998, Don't Read Prue!' Paige, where did you find this?"

"The attic, on a bookshelf," Paige replied smoothly.

"Why are you showing this to me?"

"Well, it seems that Phoebe had a little secret when she moved to New York…"

"Yeah, right. Phoebe couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it," Piper chuckled.

"Well, that might be because keeping this secret took up so much of her brain space that she didn't have room for keeping others. Trust me, this is a very big secret."

"Well, what is it?" Piper asked.

"Read," Paige said.

"Paige! I'm not going to read Phoebe's diary! I don't feel like being grossed out by sex-capades right now! And besides, a diary is a personal thing; I can't just invade her privacy like that! Which brings me to the question… why did you read it?"

"Because as her sister, I have a God-given right to snoop into Phoebe's personal business." Piper looked at Paige incredulously. "Okay, it was two o'clock in the morning, and I was tending to my crying children. I figured why go back to bed if the twins are just going to wake me up again? So I searched for things to do. I even considered going to my house and seeing how the renovations were coming so I could find out how much longer I'd be rooming here. But I didn't, so I just rummaged around in the attic and found this. It turns out that neither Stella nor Andy cried again last night, but I still didn't get any sleep because I was sucked into my sister's diary!" Paige said, quickly adding a "Not literally."

"Well, I'm still not reading it. Can't you just tell me what the big secret is?" Piper asked.

"Alright, but you're ruining all the drama of it!" Paige complained.

………………………

"Why won't you believe me? I swear I can turn invisible, I just don't know how to control it!"

"Well, Pam, honey… we'll always be on your side for everything, but you have to understand. We're only sending you to Dr. Madison because…"

"Because you think I'm a nutcase, don't you mom? Don't try to hide it, I can read your thoughts!" Pam said. Her voice was very firm.

"Honey…"

"My real mother would understand me! She wouldn't think I was crazy like you people do!" Pam shouted.

"Pamela Ann Richardson, you hold your tongue!" Mr. Richardson said forcefully. Pam sighed angrily and stomped off to her room. Once she was up there, she emptied all her secret money stashes and packed a suitcase. This was the final straw. She quietly snuck out of the house. As soon as she was away from possible eyesight of her adoptive parents, she stopped and took out the only picture she ever had of her biological mother.

"I'll find you. I promise I will, mom. And then maybe you can tell me why I'm such a freak." Pam stuffed the worn old picture back in her pocket and continued walking. She was a little nervous about walking the streets alone when it was so late at night. "At least I don't live in downtown Manhattan. The danger would be greater there," Pam told herself. Sure, that was true, but Queens was only a little ways outside of the Big Apple. The danger would still be high. Well, at least she would be off the streets and on a bus soon.

………………………

"Did you tell Phoebe you know about her secret?" Piper asked.

"No, I figured I should come to you first," Paige replied.

"Good choice," Piper said. "Now what is it?"

"Okay, well, do you know why Phoebe left for New York about fourteen years ago?"

"Yeah, she thought there was nothing left in San Francisco for her. And she wanted to find our dad."

"That was just her cover-up story. Do you remember how Phoebe used to party it up at college instead of study?"

"How could I forget?" Piper asked, chuckling a little. "Grams was so mad whenever she'd come home with a hangover…"

"Well, those drinking parties got her into a lot more trouble than you thought…"

"Oh, c'mon, Paige, out with it! Stop building up the drama, I wanna know what this secret is!" Piper demanded.

"Alright!" Paige said. She took a deep breath. "Phoebe has a daughter," she said quickly. Piper stood there expressionless for a moment, still processing what she'd just heard.

"What?" she finally asked.

"You heard me. Phoebe's a mom," Paige repeated.

"Whe… When did this happen?" Piper asked.

"You didn't get it with all of the hints I gave you?" Paige sighed. "When Phoebe left for New York, it was because she was pregnant!"

"Oh my God," Piper said. "Who's the father?"

"She doesn't know. But apparently, some guy named Clay basically acted as a husband and a father for her in New York."

"Yeah, Clay. I remember meeting him once… Nice guy, just a little two-faced," Piper said.

"So she writes," said Paige, glancing back at the diary.

"I don't believe this. Why didn't Phoebe just tell us? I would've…"

"You would've supported her. It was Grams and Prue she was worried about. Especially Prue."

"Well… it makes sense. They never really got along at all back then. Especially after that thing with Roger…"

"Yeah, I know. I read about it," Paige said.

"So… what's my niece's name?" Piper asked.

"Pamela Ann Halliwell. But Phoebe just called her Pam."

"No wonder she was always so good with babies… And why she couldn't stay away from Wyatt when he was born… And why she gave me breastfeeding advice," Piper realized. It all fit perfectly. Phoebe seemed to have natural maternal instincts because she was a mother. "So what happened to Pam?"

"Well, Phoebe's bills got out of control. She knew she had to come home, because she didn't want to raise her daughter in poverty. But she was also afraid of facing Prue. Hey, can you image her coming home with a baby and saying something like 'Surprise! You guys are aunts!' You'd be shocked. So anyway, although she couldn't stop writing about how painful it was to do, and how much Clay opposed it, Phoebe gave up Pam for adoption."

"Wow," Piper remarked. "She must've struggled really hard to keep those emotions hidden once she got back. I can't image having Wyatt or Chris for only two months and then giving them up."

"Same here with Stella and Andy," Paige commented.

"Well, it's no surprise that Phoebe picked another 'P' name. She never liked the fact that we stopped that tradition… I still can't believe all this. Does the diary say who Pam's adoptive parents are?" Piper asked.

"Ben and Victoria Richardson. They live just outside Manhattan. In Queens, I think. Or at least they did fourteen years ago."

"Wow. God… I have a teenage niece," Piper thought. It still seemed like a dream.

"I know. I was really taken aback when Phoebe first wrote that she was pregnant," Paige commented. "I paced around the attic for about an hour repeating 'Phoebe was pregnant, Phoebe was pregnant!' Over and over… Hey, do you think Phoebe would want to meet her daughter?" she asked.

"I never thought of that. She probably would. Well, we have to talk about this anyway, so when she gets home from work we'll tell her we know and then maybe we'll discuss a mother-daughter reunion," Piper suggested. Just then, the sisters heard crying from another room.

"Well, it sounds like naptime's over," Paige said, walking out of Piper's room. "I hate having a husband on a business trip."

"Trying having one who's an Elder!" Piper called after her. She sat down on her bed, tons of thoughts racing through her mind. Did Pam look like Phoebe? Or did she look like her dad? Is she rebellious? What if she's a drug addict or something? Would she hate Phoebe for ditching her? How much did Phoebe beat herself up inside over this? For how long was she secretly mourning? Was the reason she so desperately wanted to have children because she wanted to make up for giving up Pam?

Piper pinched herself, just to make sure she was awake. Yep, it was true. Phoebe had a daughter.

………………………

Pam arrived at the bus station. She looked up at the schedule. There was a bus going to Cleveland… from there maybe she could catch one going to Chicago, and then maybe St. Louis, and maybe Dallas, and then Vegas, and then San Francisco, where her mother's note from long ago said she lived.

"I just hope she hasn't moved," Pam thought. "And that the bus routes I just thought up actually exist." So, taking a deep breath, Pam snuck around to the Cleveland-bound bus. Her plan was to sneak on, but she had no idea how she was going to do that unnoticed. There were people standing all around. She closed her eyes. "Mom, help me do this," she whispered to the wind. To her surprise, when she opened her eyes, she was invisible. "Maybe I'm finally getting some control over this power," she thought as she casually strolled past the clueless driver and onto the bus.

………………………

"Mom, we're home!" a voice called to Piper, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hello, boys. Did you have a good last day of school?" she called into the other room. She was reading some Paige-chosen excerpts from Phoebe's diary.

"Ooh, read June 5th, too," Paige said as she rocked Stella. Andy was in his baby carrier on the kitchen table, sucking on his pacifier. Chris and Wyatt ran into the kitchen.

"I did good!" Chris said happily, waving his year-end report card in Piper's face.

"You did well," Piper corrected as she hung the report card on the fridge. "What about you, Wyatt?" she asked as the boys headed for the cookie jar. "Hey, no cookies before dinner!" she commanded.

"Sorry," Wyatt replied. "I did okay. Hey mom, what're you reading?" he asked.

Piper quickly closed the diary. "Uh, nothing, boys." She glanced at Wyatt's report card and hung it next to Chris's. "Why don't you go upstairs and play video games or something?" she suggested.

"I'm gonna beat you this time!" Chris said as the boys took off for the stairs.

"No you won't, you're two years younger than me!" Wyatt replied.

"One and three quarters!" Chris corrected. He orbed upstairs. "Beat you!" he called through the ceiling.

"No fair!" Wyatt said as he orbed up as well.

"Hey, don't be so lazy! Use the stairs every once in a while!" Piper advised. She sighed. "I can't believe in three years, Wyatt will be a teenager. I don't think I'm ready."

"Well, Phoebe already has a teenager," Paige reminded as she put Stella down and picked up Andy. During the baby-exchange process, she orbed a bottle into her hand. "I don't know how I would ever manage having twins without magic. I can't imagine not being able to orb someone's pacifier to them, or orb a smelly diaper in the can, or be to their room in the blink of an eye, or orb some keys above their heads for entertainment… Prue was a genius for thinking of that, by the way."

"I'm sure she's happy to hear that," Piper said as she returned to the diary. They would only have to wait two more hours for Phoebe to get home.

………………………

Pam was relaxing on the bus. Many issues weighed on her head, like what would happen if she didn't find her real mother. She was worried of what could happen to her if she was alone across the country. Maybe it was a stupid idea to leave in the first place… But at least she was safe for now. Pam blasted her headphones to block out the thoughts of everyone, letting herself get lost in the calming, yet powerfully hard rock Bohemian Rhapsody. She hated being able to read minds. It gave her a headache every day. She took out the old, yellowed note from her mother and read it once more.

"Dearest Pamela Ann: Hey. It's your mother, Phoebe Halliwell. I'm writing this the night before I have to give you up. I wish tomorrow would never come. You're probably about twelve years old or something by the time you're reading this. It's hard to imagine you, a tiny baby, being so big. I'm going to miss you every single day. You're probably curious about who your birth mother is, or was in 1998 anyway, so here's a little bit about me. I grew up in San Francisco, in a red house at 1329 Prescott Street. I have two sisters, Prue and Piper Halliwell. My…"

………………………

"Hey guys! Did I leave my black-rimmed glasses over here? I can't find them next door," Phoebe asked out as she strolled in the front door of the Manor.

"I haven't seen them," Piper replied from the solarium. "Anyway, we were just about to come over and get you."

"Why?" Phoebe asked. "Is it a demon?"

"No," Paige replied. "Something more serious."

"More serious?" Phoebe asked. "OK, spill. I can sense that whatever it is, you're nervous about telling me." Both sisters started to stutter. They had no idea how to address this.

"Uh, Piper was just about to tell you," Paige said. Piper sneered at her.

"Well, uh, Phoebe… Don't get mad at us, now. Um, we… Paige kinda read your diary," Piper concluded.

"What? Why? Which one?" Phoebe asked.

"The one that says you have a daughter," Paige said, hoping not to be killed in a fit of Phoebe's rage. "And Piper read it, too."

"Oh," was all Phoebe could say. After over fourteen years of hiding it, her secret was finally out. "I haven't thought about Pam in a while." She said as she sat down next to her sisters on the living room couch. She began talking about all the times when she wished she'd never given up her only child, especially when Wyatt was born, and back when she'd lost her own demon-spawn child. "Hey, why did you read my diary, anyway?"

"You know, Pam is fourteen now," Paige said, trying to change the subject.

"Wow. I can only picture her as a two month-old baby," Phoebe remarked. She seemed too distracted to even care that her sisters had snooped into her personal life.

"Y'know, Pheebs, Paige suggested that maybe we could all meet the lost Halliwell. You could call the Richardsons and ask," Piper said.

"That's a good idea. I'd love to see what she looks like now." Phoebe cracked a smile. "Give me my diary." She found the page where she'd written the phone number and dialed it.

"Hello, Mrs. Richardson? This is Phoebe Halliwell. Do you remember me? Yeah, I figured you would. Uh, I was wondering if maybe… I could um, meet Pam some time; like a reunion. What? Oh my gosh! I picked a really bad time to call, didn't I? Well, sorry for the inconvenience. If Pam comes home, could you tell her that I want to meet her? Okay, bye. Sorry again!"

"Well?" Paige asked. "What was that about?"

Phoebe sighed. "Pam's run away from home."

"What?" Piper asked. "Why would she do that?"

"I dunno. It's probably just a teen phase," Phoebe said. "I mean, my leaving for New York can be interpreted as running away."

"Are you saying Pam's pregnant?" Paige asked.

"No!" Phoebe replied, not amused at the bad attempt for humor. "She just probably didn't like her parents' rules, so she left."

"Which means we either find her, or you might never see her," Paige said.

"No, I don't think we should meddle with this," Phoebe said. "She's probably not in any danger, or I would've gotten a premonition. She'll turn up in a few days, and then she'll get grounded, and I'll call the Richardsons about a month later with the same question."

"Whatever you say, you're her mother," Piper said. Paige left to go check on the twins. Piper could tell that Phoebe was trying to hide her glumness about this whole thing. "Hey, do you want some tea?" she asked.

"No, I'm alright," Phoebe answered, staring at the floor.

"You don't sound alright," Piper informed. Phoebe sighed.

"This is really stirring up the old pain, y'know? The pain I felt when I first left her. It was almost as bad as when we lost Prue. Maybe even more so. Over the years it's dulled a little bit, but today… I almost had a chance to see her again. And I'm not going to get it," Phoebe sighed.

"You will," Piper comforted, smiling. "Someday. Now, how about some tea?"

………………………

Pam had no idea what time or hour it was. She had been forgetful enough to leave her watch at home. Cleveland was a long way away from there. No going back now. Pam was in Ohio, about to sneak onto a bus to Chicago. Hopefully her invisibility power would pull through for her again.

Pam wished she could control her powers. To her, mind reading was a curse. At first, she thought it was great to hear the secrets her peers at school kept. But secrets are meant to be kept secret; she soon realized. There were things Pam didn't want to know. The problem was, there was no way of turning off the mind-reading switch. And a lot of people in a room was somewhat like what Jim Carrey was hearing in his head in the movie Bruce Almighty. And invisibility was just weird.

"Hopefully you know why I'm like this, mom," Pam said to herself. She took out the picture again, but quickly stuffed it back into her pocket because if she didn't get on that bus soon, it would leave without her.

………………………

Phoebe woke up the next morning on the sofa with a strange empty feeling weighing on her chest. She'd for some reason felt like sleeping in the Manor that night rather than going home. She dragged her feet into the kitchen.

"What's this?" Paige said sarcastically at the sight of her. "Miss Fashion-Savvy hasn't gone next door to change or at least style her hair?" Piper cracked a smile. Phoebe didn't find it funny at all.

"Uh… I'm gonna go watch TV," Paige said, noticing Phoebe's expression and realizing that she was making things worse. She strolled in towards the living room with her bowl of cereal. A cry was heard through the ceiling. "Scratch my TV time, I have to be super-mom again. I swear, every time I try to do something…" she sighed, smirking at the irony of it all. She orbed upstairs, still holding her cereal bowl.

"Still down about Pam, Pheebs?" Piper asked.

"Before, I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on Pam's memories. I had newfound powers to control, demons to fight, and a destiny to fulfill. That's sort of how I got over her. I focused on my magic. But now, I have fourteen years of witchcraft under my belt. There's nothing to hide the memories," Phoebe said.

"Well, I suggest doing whatever you did to get over Prue's death," Piper advised.

"Once again, magic. You said it yourself, we didn't have a chance to mourn her, because one day she was dead, and the next, we discover we have a half-sister, and then the Source of all evil comes to kill us…"

"I understand," Piper said. She poured Phoebe some tea. "I can remember," Piper recalled slowly, "the night Grams died. Before it happened, you were sitting around the house, obviously down about something."

"Damn, I was trying to be subtle," Phoebe commented.

"So, I asked you what was wrong. You asked if we could talk, so I said 'Sure, just wait a minute, okay?' And then Grams… Well, you know. I forgot that we never got to talk. It was about Pam, wasn't it?" Piper asked.

"Yes. I had my whole escape plan to New York worked out. I planned to leave that night, but all that was missing was emotional strength. I didn't know if I could go through with it. I knew I could trust you to help me. I was planning on telling you I was pregnant and asking you what I should do."

"Well, I hate to tell you this Pheebs, but I would've been blown away by that one. I can't guarantee that I would've been able to give you advice," Piper said.

"That's okay. I'm glad I didn't know that then, though. I would've felt even more alone," Phoebe looked down at the table as she recalled an image of her smiling down on her new baby daughter, loving her more than she'd ever loved anyone. She thought that she would raise this girl in a family that she'd dreamed of having: parents who loved each other, a father who was around all the time, and most importantly, a mother who wasn't dead. If only she'd know the reality that would happen in two months. Her dreams of a perfect family would be shattered. Sitting there at the kitchen table, tears began to fall uncontrollably from Phoebe's eyes.

"Oh, Phoebe, it's okay." Piper grabbed the Kleenex box and handed it to her.

"I haven't cried in… forever," Phoebe remarked.

"There's no shame in crying, Pheebs," Piper comforted.

"Good thing I'm not wearing any makeup yet, huh?"

………………………

"Dammit!" Pam whispered to herself. She couldn't turn invisible.

Slowly a panicky feeling swept over her. What if she was stuck in Cleveland forever? What if someone realized she had snuck on the bus and she ended up in jail? How would she survive in a strange city? Pam tried to calm herself down, but with all of the buzzing thoughts around her, that proved to be difficult. She tried again to turn invisible. Nothing.

"Her! She's the one who snuck on the bus!" Someone said to a bus driver, pointing at Pam.

"Oh no!" Pam said to herself as she dashed off, desperately looking for a place to hide.

………………………

"I miss her so much," Phoebe said, on her seventh Kleenex. "I want more than anything to talk to her. I want to know if she was like me when I was a teenager."

"Let's hope not, or the Richardsons have their hands full," Piper said sarcastically.

"Yeah…" Phoebe said, smiling slightly. Her expression then instantly changed. "Piper, I just realized something."

"What?"

"I never bound Pam's powers. I didn't even know about mine when I gave her up. What if she has hers?"

"Then she would be a witch who doesn't know she's a witch being raised by two mortals… That's not very good," Piper said, getting worried.

"She could expose magic! Remember Prue?" Phoebe started to panic.

"Phoebe, calm down. I'm sure The Cleaners will take care of it!" Piper reassured.

"They didn't take care of it with Prue! And they probably don't know that Pam exists! …I-I don't want her to die, Piper." Phoebe contemplated the situation for only a second longer. "That's it, I can't take it anymore!" Phoebe charged upstairs. Piper briskly followed.

"Phoebe? Where are you going?" Piper asked as they trolled through the second floor hallway. Paige came out of her temporary bedroom.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"The hell if I know!" Piper remarked. The two followed Phoebe into the attic.

"Phoebe, what are you doing?" Piper asked as her sister approached the Book of Shadows. She flipped through the pages.

"This," Phoebe said. Piper read the page she'd stopped on.

"To Call A Lost Witch. Phoebe, I don't know if that's such a good idea…" Piper said, trying to stop her.

"I don't care! I want to talk to my daughter!" Phoebe said.

"But the consequences!" Piper reminded.

"I'll deal with the consequences later," Phoebe replied.

"Personal gain!" Paige said as a last attempt to stop Phoebe from doing something potentially dangerous. Phoebe just smirked at Paige.

"Powers of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies, come to me who calls you near, come to me and settle here. Blood to blood, I summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me!" Phoebe chanted.

………………………

Pam wasn't sure how much longer she could outrun these men. If she were to trip, she could be arrested and taken home in an instant. And she didn't want to have come all this way just to go back. She rounded a corner, temporarily out of the eyesight of her pursuers. She hoped for something, anything to happen. Something to save her. And that's when the bright lights appeared.

………………………

"Phoebe, what were you thinking!" Piper asked. "What if Pam doesn't have her powers! Then you'll be summoning a mortal fourteen year-old! Do you think she'll believe you if you tell her that you're her mother? What if she doesn't know she's adopted?"

"The Richardsons said they'd tell her once she was old enough to understand! And I left her with a picture of me, anyway. She'll recognize me!" Phoebe said.

"With all the times you've changed your hair color?" Piper asked. Phoebe was about to make a witty comeback when a swarm of lights appeared in front of them. Once they disappeared, a tall red-headed girl was standing there.

"What just happened?" Pam asked, looking around. Somehow she'd appeared in a strange room, with three strange women staring at her.

"Pam!" Phoebe said a little too enthusiastically. Pam jumped at the sight of a stranger coming toward her with outstretched arms. She was about to turn and run when she recognized the stranger. It was the same woman in her old, worn picture. Her mother.

"M-Mom?" Pam stuttered as the woman squeezed her tight.

"You recognize me! I told you, Piper!" Phoebe said, happier than ever.

"Piper? Piper Halliwell?" Pam asked. Piper nodded. "So you're one of my aunts." Pam smiled. She was very exited now. Being surrounded by her family made her not even care how she got to this strange place anymore. "So," she said, looking at Paige, "you must be my Aunt Prue."

"Uh, not quite…" Paige said. Her face began to fall as she thought back to times when she didn't quite feel like she fit in as a Halliwell. This was one of them. "I'm Paige Matthews. Prue is…"

"Uh, let's go over that later," Piper suggested.

"Good idea," Phoebe replied. "Paige is your aunt, too. She's our half-sister." There was a short moment of silence.

"So… how did I get here, anyway?" Pam asked. "Do you know?"

"Yes, yes! Of course we do! We'll tell you all about it!" Phoebe said. She was still reeling with so much happiness that her sentences became sing-songy. "Oh, you're so beautiful!" she remarked as she hugged her long lost daughter again. Pam breathed in the smell of her mother. It was comforting.

"How'd she get red hair?" Paige asked.

"Probably from her father," Phoebe said. "It's not from my side, anyway."

"Pam, has anything… weird… ever happened to you?" Piper asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Pam said. She started to get exited. Did this mean her birth family dealt with the same kind of freaky stuff she did? Could they all read minds? Turn invisible? "You see, I ran away from home to come… are we in San Francisco?"

"Yep," Paige said.

"To come here, then. To find you, mom. You see, ever since I can remember, weird things have happened to me. I started by randomly turning invisible. And over the years, I started to read minds, too. My foster parents don't believe me, and I have no idea how to control any of it. It's just random. I thought maybe my birth mother could help me figure out what's going on," Pam said.

"She's definitely a witch," Piper thought. Pam could here it.

"I'm a what?" she asked. The sisters looked clueless. "I just read your mind," she said, pointing to Piper. "You say I'm a witch." She was worried as to what her aunt meant in thinking this.

"Pam, I can sense that you're really confused and scared about this, but trust me, being a witch is a good thing. We're all witches. Me, you, Piper, Paige… and your cousins. Wyatt, Chris, Stella, and Andy," Phoebe insured.

"When you say you can sense… is that a motherly sense, or…"

"A Wiccan sense. Oh, Wiccan is just another name for good witches. You see, I am an Empath. It's one of my three powers. It means I can sense the emotions of those around me. I channel those emotions into strength," Phoebe explained.

"So… you all have powers?" Pam asked, processing this new information. She could hardly believe witches actually existed, but being that she herself possessed supernatural abilities, she wondered why it surprised her.

"Yes. Every witch has powers. My other two are premonitions, which means I can see the future, and levitation. I don't think I need to explain that," Phoebe said as she floated to the ceiling.

"Whoa," Pam said. "You can control yours! I wish I could."

"You will," Piper insured. "You just need some practice, and to focus. A little guidance can't help, either. Trust me, it took me forever to control my powers, and mine are lethal."

"Lethal?" Pam asked.

"You bet. Watch the sofa," Piper said. She threw her hand up at it. Foam shot up everywhere.

"Piper! Do you want me to keep sewing that back up?" Paige asked.

Pam whistled. "Is that your only power?" she asked.

"No. I can also…" Piper threw the Book of Shadows into the air. She threw her hand up at it. It stopped dead. "Stop time." She grabbed the Book and returned it to the podium.

"Wow," Pam remarked. "So why didn't we get frozen in time, too?"

"Because that power doesn't work on good witches. It does on demons, however," Piper said.

"Demons?" Pam said, her eyes widening.

"Yeah," Phoebe sighed. She'd hoped to keep this information away from Pam for a little while longer. "This might be a lot to take in right now, but as witches, and not just any witches, you see, your aunts and I are the most powerful witches in the world, The Charmed Ones… well, anyway, we have a destiny. We use our powers to fight and vanquish demons and warlocks. That way, we keep the world safe from evil and protect the innocent. We're sort of like superheroes," Phoebe said.

Pam couldn't believe that something that annoyed her and made her parents think she was crazy was actually a sign that she was some kind of kick-ass demon fighter, like Buffy. "So Paige… what can you do?" she asked.

"Well, I can orb. It's basically a fancy word for teleportation," Paige said as she orbed behind Pam. "Over here," she said.

"That is so cool," Pam remarked.

"I can also orb things to me. Like this." Paige held out her hand as a vase appeared in it. "I used to have to say the name of the object I wanted to orb, but now I can pretty much just extend my hand." She set the vase down. "And I can glamour, meaning I can shapeshift." Paige morphed into Pam and then back into herself.

"Wow," was all Pam could say. Yesterday, she was just a freak. Today she had a family that understood her completely and were exactly like her. "Are you sure I'm not dreaming?" she asked.

"We're sure," Paige said. "Pinch yourself if you don't trust us."

"So, back to my original question," Pam said, "How did I get here?"

"Oh. I summoned you," Phoebe said casually.

"You what?" Pam asked.

"I cast a spell to bring you here. I am a witch, you know," Phoebe said, smiling. "Here, come look." Pam walked over to The Book. "It's called the Book of Shadows. It contains our history, destiny, and all the spells you could ever imagine. Plus all the evil beings, too."

"All the spells?" Pam asked, flipping through. "How come I haven't found an instant cash spell yet?"

"Because that would be personal gain," Piper instructed. "We can't use our magic to help ourselves without something coming right back to bite us in the ass for it."

"Well that sucks," Pam said.

"Well, the world doesn't always revolve around everything you want," Piper reminded.

"…Mom?" Pam asked. Phoebe beamed when she heard that word.

"Yes?" she answered, smiling widely.

"Why is it that you gave me up to some mortals when you're obviously one of the only ones who can teach me about all of this?"

"Oh… I figured that question would come up sooner or later," Phoebe said. "When I gave you up, I didn't have any powers. I didn't even know witches existed. I gave you up for your best interest, so you would have a future ahead of you. If I had known any of this, there would be no way I would've let you go. Which is why I called you back here today."

"Why didn't you have your powers then? When did you get them?" Pam asked.

………………………

For the next hour or so, the four Halliwells sat down on the partially blown-up couch and discussed everything Charmed. Pam was ecstatic. There was a completely different side of her that she barely knew anything about. And now she could learn. Pam imagined what it would be like as a Charmed One. She imagined her mother bravely vanquishing demons. She wanted this life more than her old one. She wanted to be a witch. A Halliwell. And then Leo orbed in, and a completely different conversation started. The talking dissipated, though, when Leo orbed back out.

"Pam, you know, there are a lot of times when your aunts and I just wish we were normal. If you want, and it's totally your decision, we can send you back to New York with your powers bound. You can get them back whenever you like," Phoebe said.

"Take them away? Of course not! I want to learn to use them, not go home with failure written across my face! Come to think of it, I don't want to go home at all. They don't understand me there. You do," Pam said.

"I don't know if that's going to work or not," Phoebe said. "I'd love to raise you here, but the Richardsons have custody of you. And you can't just leave them. You love them, too, don't you?"

"Yes, but you… you seem like such a cool mom to have. I don't want to let you guys go, I want to know what you're like. And I want to fight demons, too," Pam said. Phoebe held back tears. She was so happy that she'd only been a "mother" to a teenager for a few hours and already Pam loved her.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes!" Pam said.

"Because fighting demons isn't all glory," Phoebe informed. "You can get seriously hurt."

"I know, but Leo can heal me." The three sisters looked down at the floor.

"Not always," Phoebe said. Pam could read that they were all thinking one word: Prue.

"What about Prue?" Pam asked. "What happened to her?" The sisters were bewildered for a second until they remembered Pam's mind-reading power.

"She, uh…" Phoebe began solemnly. "She died. About eleven years ago. She gave her life in the line of duty. A demon named Shax killed her while she was trying to protect an innocent. By the time Leo got there, she was already gone. Luckily, we were able to get revenge by vanquishing Shax, but it wasn't easy. Being a witch is a very dangerous job. You can't just throw caution to the wind."

"Wait… I thought it was the Power of Three. How could Prue have been a Charmed One, too?" Pam asked.

"Because I am very much like you, Pam," Paige said. "I was given up at birth as well. I didn't know I was a witch or anything about my birth family until after Prue died. I got my powers back, I met my long-lost half sisters, and reconstituted the Charmed Ones. You know, you two owe me a lot!" Paige joked with Piper and Phoebe. She was happy that she finally found a place with her long-lost niece. Instead of just being "not Prue," she could now guide her and relate to her, because they were so similar in their upbringing. "So think about this for a second: Do you really want to just ditch the people who raised you to live here just because we're related?"

"Hey, that better not be what you thought when you moved in!" Piper said.

"My parents were dead when I moved in!" Paige reminded.

"I…" Pam thought for a while. "I guess not. But it's so hard to choose."

"Well, we'll give you some time," Phoebe said.

Pam changed expressions. "I didn't know about Prue. I'm sorry," she said. She was silent for a minute or so. "I still want to be a witch," she decided.

Phoebe smiled. "That's my girl!" she hugged her again. "C'mon. Wanna meet your cousins?"

………………………

Pam toured the Manor and at the same time met Wyatt, Chris, Stella, and Andy. She learned their powers as well. There were so many things to be attached to. "Now I don't know if I can ever go home!" she thought.

"Hmm…" Phoebe began.

"What?" Piper asked.

"I know!" Pam said. They all looked at her. "I can read minds," she reminded.

"Right…" Piper said, reminding herself.

"Mom, you're thinking that maybe we can work something out with my foster parents. Perhaps I could stay here for the summer, to learn my powers, and then go back to New York. And maybe come back next summer and do the same."

"That's amazing," Phoebe said. "It sounds like you already know how to use your powers…"

"Yeah, I just need to learn to control them!" Pam said.

"Well…" Phoebe began, "all powers are linked to a witch's emotions. To exercise control, you have to be relaxed. I suggest we meditate."

"How can I meditate if I have to clear my mind to do that? Every moment of every day, I hear voices," Pam complained.

"How do you think it is to feel pain and anger and happiness and sadness and fear all at once?" Phoebe said. "You have to learn to block out your power. In time, you will be able to only here voices when you want to."

"I feel for you," Piper said. "I cast a mind-reading spell once. It wasn't fun."

"Alright, so shall we meditate?" Phoebe asked.

………………………

Just then, a demon appeared out of nowhere in the hallway. It knocked Phoebe back against the wall. She lay there in pain. Pam ran into Phoebe's room. As soon as she saw the demon and what it did to her mother, this didn't seem like a fairy tale anymore. She remembered Prue and feared for her life. Was she really cut out to be a witch? Piper tried to blow the demon up, but it darted out of the way. It appeared to have some sort of super-speed power. It was immune to Piper's freezing power as well. The demon began to shoot fireballs at the witches. Paige reflected them, but that was all. It was just a matter of time before he outsmarted them.

Pam realized could here the demon's thoughts. She knew his attack strategy! If she could muster up the courage, she could take him by surprise. She remembered in the book that athimaes kill demons if they're stabbed with them. Pam saw one on Phoebe's dresser and picked it up. She had to be brave if she was going to save her family. All she had to do was turn invisible to sneak up on him… But she still couldn't control it! She remembered what Phoebe had told her about relaxing and concentrating. Pam tried her hardest to empty her mind and concentrated on turning invisible. When she opened her eyes, all she could see was the athimae, floating in mid-air! She'd done it!

Triumphantly she crept up behind the demon. Piper and Paige saw the floating athimae and diverted the demon's attention.

"We surrender!" Paige said.

The demon laughed evilly. "Finally, the end of the Charmed Ones…"

Feeling powerful and courageous, Pam plunged the athimae into the demon's back. He screamed in pain and burst into flames. Then he was gone. Pam turned visible again.

"I did it!" she said, smiling at her victory. She turned to see the three sisters smiling with approval.

………………………

"You're a great cook, Aunt Piper," Pam said as she finished her lunch.

"Thank you," Piper said. "I used to be a chef."

"Pam, come up to the attic with me," Phoebe said. "I have to show you something."

"What is it?" Pam asked once they were up there. Phoebe rummaged through a trunk. She pulled out a long, rolled-up piece of paper.

"This." Phoebe unrolled it and showed it to her daughter. "The Halliwell Family Tree."

"Wow." Pam studied the family line, from Melinda Warren down to Wyatt Matthew, Christopher, Stella, and Andrew Halliwell. "There's so many of you," she exclaimed.

"And there's about to be one more," Phoebe said. She uncapped a pen and smoothly drew a line down from her name. She wrote out Pamela Ann. "Would you prefer to be known as Halliwell or Richardson?"

"Halliwell," Pam smiled. Phoebe wrote Halliwell and Pam's date of birth.

"So… would you like to stay in San Francisco for the summer?"

"Definitely!"

"Alright. I'll call your parents and see what we can do," Phoebe said.

"Can I come back the next summer, too?" Pam asked.

"Of course you can. You can stay as many summers as you want. As long as your parents allow, of course. Maybe someday you'll have a sibling to visit, too."

"Maybe," Pam replied.

"I'm just so happy to finally meet you after all these years. I missed you so much."

"Same here."

"And before I thought there was nothing special about me to pass down to you. Now… I've given you one of the most precious gifts in the world." Phoebe and Pam hugged again.

"It's so surreal," Pam said. "All of this. I feel like I'm in a fairy tale. I just wish I could've met Prue."

Phoebe's expression changed. It was obvious she was thinking about something.

"What?" Pam asked. She then realized what she'd just said. "I can't read your thoughts! The meditation worked!" she laughed. "I never imagined I'd be happy to not know what others are thinking!"

"Yeah," Phoebe said. "It sucks to be a psychic sometimes."

"So what are you thinking?"

"Would you like to cast your first spell?"

………………………

"Piper! Paige! Can you guys come here for a minute?" Phoebe called down the stairs. Both women trolled in, each holding a twin.

"What?" Piper asked.

"Pam here is going to say her first spell," Phoebe informed.

"Which one?" Piper asked. Phoebe didn't answer, but set down five candles.

"I think it should work by now," Phoebe commented as she lit the candles.

"What?" Paige asked.

"I mean, it's been eleven years," Phoebe continued.

"What?" Paige asked.

"Go ahead, Pam. Chant away," Phoebe instructed. Pam stood at the podium. She read from the Book of Shadows.

"Here these words, here my cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee, cross now the Great Divide," she said flawlessly. Phoebe was beaming with pride as a swarm of light appeared inside the circle.

"WHO?" Paige asked, still lost.

………………………

The lights dissolved to show a translucent, beautiful, young woman, with long black hair and a wise expression standing in the circle. It was Prue.

"It worked," Pam said softly. The four women stood in silence for a moment, gawking at each other.

"Prue?" Piper asked finally. "Is it really you?" Her voice began to waver as her eyes got watery. "Am I dreaming?"

"No, Piper. It's real," Prue said. With the sound of her long-lost voice, a sound they had not heard in eleven years, Phoebe and Piper burst into tears. Prue shed a tear as well as she smiled at the two. Piper set Stella down on the still partially destroyed couch. Prue stepped out of the circle and became solid. The three sisters hugged each other for what seemed like forever.

"Oh, Prue, I missed you so much!" Piper raved, smelling the familiar scent of her sister. "You don't know how much you've missed!"

"I missed you too, Piper," Prue said, smiling through her tears.

"Prue, re-remember the leather jacket you had, th-the one that you thought Piper got cat pee on when she borrowed it?" Phoebe could barely keep her voice steady through her tears. "W-well, I borrowed it, n-not Piper. She just took the blame. I feel so guilty about never telling you!"

"It's okay, Phoebe. I forgive you." The three continued to squeeze each other tightly as they talked.

"Oh, I love you so much!" Phoebe said, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I love you guys, too," Prue said.

"Oh, Prue, I wish you could've been there!" Piper said, also sobbing uncontrollably. "I-I had a baby! Actually, two babies. Wyatt, and then Chris a year later! Boys! C-Can you believe it?"

"I know, Piper. I've been watching over you guys ever since I died. I flip the pages of the Book every once in a while.

"A-And I got married!" Phoebe said. "Not to Cole. H-He turned evil again. A nice mortal named Josh! W-we're trying to have children now!" Prue figured it was pointless to tell her sisters that she knew everything that had happened. She missed talking to them anyway.

"A-and Paige got married! She had twins!" Piper said.

"Paige," Prue said. She slowly pulled away from her sisters and turned to face the one she never met.

"S-she's our sister, Prue! Mom…"

"I know, Phoebe. Mom told me," Prue said. "Paige. I've been watching you. You have a marvelous gift for the craft. You're more powerful than I could ever be, and a quick learner to boot. I'm sorry I never got to meet you before. But now I can. C'mere." Prue stretched out her arms towards her long-lost sister. Paige hugged her.

"It's good to finally see you, Prue," she said. Even though she never knew her, Paige began shedding tears over this emotional reunion as well.

"And," Phoebe began, "This is Pam. My daughter." Prue and Pam stared at each other for a while. Pam didn't know what to say. This was the person, Phoebe had wrote, that made her scared to admit that she was pregnant. The person who always pre-judged her. The cruelest person in her life. Pam didn't know how to react. Prue smiled, breaking the ice.

"Pam," she said softly. "I've only known about your existence for a few days, but I've been watching you, too. You will definitely be a strong asset to the Halliwell family." The two hugged. "Phoebe," Prue said, turning to her. "I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry I criticized you and made you feel inferior. If only I'd known what a great, emotionally strong, smart person you were back then. Maybe you wouldn't have given up Pam."

"Everything happens for a reason," Pam said, remembering something from the Book.

"Right you are," Prue said. "So Piper, Paige? Where are my niece and nephews?" Paige walked over to the couch where Stella and Andy were laying.

"This is Stella," Paige said, pointing to the twin on the left, "and this is Andy."

"You named your son after a detective I loved?" Prue asked as she knelt down and smiled at the babies. She knew all of this already, of course, but she liked to hear their stories.

"Yeah," Paige said. "It was Piper's idea. Nice tribute, right? I mean, he gave his life to save you guys…"

"Right," Prue said. Andy had wrapped his hand around Prue's pinky.

"Have you seen Andy, Prue?" Piper asked.

"Yes, I have."

"Are you two still… a couple?"

"Yes we are."

"Well, there's everlasting love for you, huh?" Phoebe said.

Prue chuckled. "I missed your jokes, Phoebe."

"Really?" Phoebe asked. "I never thought I was that funny."

"Wyatt! Chris! Can you come to the attic for a second?" Piper called. In a second, the boys orbed in.

"Is it a demon?" Wyatt asked enthusiastically.

"No," Piper said. "I would like you to meet someone." The boys turned to face Prue. "Prue, this is Wyatt, and this is Chris."

"Prue? Mom, is she…"

"Yes, Wyatt, she is. Your Aunt Prue," Piper said, smiling.

"Hello, boys," Prue said. She came up to them. They obviously weren't ready for hugs, so Prue shook hands with them.

"Mommy, didn't you say Aunt Prue was dead?" Chris asked.

"Well, she is, Chris." Piper's comment made Chris jump in surprise.

"She's a… ghost?" he asked fearfully.

"Not an evil ghost, Chris. A good ghost. More of a spirit. She's come to see you," Piper informed. Of course, the boys then had questions for Prue about being a spirit; and most of them were somehow related to Ghostbusters. Prue patiently answered all the childish questions.

"I think we're leaving someone out from this joyous reunion, Piper," Prue said.

"Oh, right!" Piper realized. "Leo!"

Leo orbed in instantly. "Piper, what… Prue?" He was totally stunned by the appearance of his dead sister-in-law.

"Good to see you again, Leo," Prue said as she patted him on the back. Everyone in the room was talking for several minutes until they heard the front door close.

………………………

Piper checked her watch.

"Wow, it's six o' clock already! That's Josh," Phoebe exclaimed.

"Phoebe?" Josh called.

"Up here, in the attic!" Phoebe called back. Josh climbed up the stairs.

"Phoebe…" Josh stopped and looked around. "What's everyone doing up here? Who are you?" he asked, noticing Pam.

"She's my daughter," Phoebe said slyly.

"What, did you cast one of those time-travel spells? Is she from the future?" Josh asked. "And who are you?" he asked Prue.

"Oh, I'm dead," Prue said plainly.

………………………

Phoebe explained everything to Josh, about her having Pam and Pam's powers and Pam possibly staying in San Francisco for the summer.

"Well," he began, "It's a good thing we all don't still live in this house!" It was the only thing he could say at the time to reduce the shock of Phoebe's news.

……………………………

Everyone was extremely happy. This had turned out to be one of the best days any of them could remember. Pam, Paige, and Prue arguably had the most fun getting to know each other. Everyone agreed to go to P3 (It was closed that day, so Wyatt, Chris, and Prue could go without anyone noticing.) for dinner and some fun.

"Wait," Prue said. "There's something we should do before we leave." No one stepped out of the attic. Prue made them stand in one spot.

"Prue, what are we doing?" Piper asked.

"You'll see,' Prue replied smoothly.

"Pam, read her mind! What're we doing?" Piper asked.

"Sorry, but I want to be surprised," Pam replied.

"Hph!" Paige said.

"Okay everyone, quiet!" Prue ordered. She took a deep breath. "I call forth, from space and time, matriarchs of the Halliwell Line. Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends… our family spirit without end. Gather now in this sacred place, so we can bring this child to grace."

"What's going on?" Pam asked Phoebe.

"It's your wiccaning," Phoebe whispered back.

Numerous spirits began to appear in the attic. There were many familiar faces- Melinda Warren, Grams, their mother, etc. Grams winked at Pam; obviously a sign that she was meant to be a witch from the very beginning.

And so began a new chapter in the lives of The Charmed Ones…

The End

A/N: Want to see more of Pam? Read "I'll Be Home For Christmas," set six months after this! (Or read the prequels, "Life Through The Eyes Of The Youngest" and "Phoebe's Journey"!)