THAT MORNING.
Prue woke up and was going out of Leila's room when she noticed a bruise on Leila's arm.
"Andy" Prue whispered.
Andy woke up.
"What?' Andy asked.
"Look at Leila's arm" Prue said.
Andy got up and looked at the huge bruise on Leila's arm.
"I hope this isn't what I think it is" Prue said quietly.
"We'll have to wait until she wakes up" Andy said. "Let's not assume anything until we've talked to her"
Prue sighed and they walked upstairs to the kitchen. Prue picked up the phone and called Phoebe's work.
"Hello" Phoebe said sleepily.
"Pheebs, it's Prue" Prue said. "Listen, you need to come home. Leila didn't come home until 1:30 AM and she was drunk. Andy and I spent the entire night with her and them this morning I noticed that she has a bruise on her arm"
"Do you know what happened?" Phoebe asked worried.
"Not yet, she's still sleeping" Prue said.
"Okay, I'll be home in a couple minutes" Phoebe said. "Thank you, Prue. I shouldn't have stayed at the office so long"
"It's okay, I know what it's like to get distracted in your work" Prue said. "And you're welcome"
"Bye Prue" Phoebe said.
"Bye"
Prue hung up.
"She's coming home" Prue said.
"Good" Andy said.
They sat there.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Andy asked.
"I'm not hungry" Prue said.
"She's going to be okay, Prue" Andy said. "It won't happen to her"
"You don't know that" Prue said.
It was quiet again. Just then Ava and Andrea walked into the kitchen, both of them holding one of Aidan's hands. Aidan saw his mom and ran over to her leg.
"Hey sleepy guy" Prue said lifting him up.
Ava and Andrea went over to Andy.
"Morning Daddy" Andrea said.
"Good morning girls" Andy said.
Aidan laid his head on Prue's shoulder.
"I don't think someone's fully awake yet" Prue said.
"We're ready to go to school again" Andrea said.
"Do we ride the bus today?" Ava asked.
"Yes you do" Prue said. "Which means you two should start getting ready"
"We eat breakfast first" Andrea said.
"Sorry, I forgot" Prue said.
"What would you girls like?" Andy asked.
"Cereal"
"Toast"
"And what would you like Aidan?" Prue asked.
"Oatmeal" Aidan said.
"They can't all want the same thing" Andy said shaking his head. "I'll make oatmeal and toast, you make cereal"
"Deal" Prue said.
Prue set Aidan in his booster seat.
"How come Patti still sleepin?" Aidan asked.
"She's tired" Prue said.
"I'm not tired" Aidan said.
"That's because you went to sleep before her" Prue said.
"Did not" Aidan said.
Prue shook her head.
"Never mind, Aidan" Prue said.
Just then Phoebe walked into the kitchen.
"She's still sleeping" Prue said. "I called the school telling them she wouldn't be in school today"
"Thank you" Phoebe said.
"I'll be down there in a second" Prue said.
Phoebe went downstairs.
"Who's still sleeping?" Ava asked.
"Leila" Prue said. "She doesn't feel good today"
"I can finish breakfast if you want to go down there with Phoebe" Andy said.
"That would be good" Prue said.
She went downstairs.
"Daddy, how come you and Mommy don't say I love you to each other anymore?" Ava asked.
"We do to say I love you" Andy said.
"No you don't" Andrea said. "Do you guys not love each other anymore?"
"We love each other" Andy said.
"Then why does Mommy cry at night?" Andrea asked.
Andy stopped what he was doing.
"When does she cry?" Andy asked.
"When she's in her room" Ava said. "And you're down here on the couch"
"I'm sure she's not crying" Andy said. "You're probably hearing the TV or something"
Ava and Andrea were quiet.
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Leila's room.
Phoebe and Prue opened the door and went into Leila's room. Leila was sitting on her bed, awake.
"I know what you're going to say" Leila said.
"Well I'm going to say it anyway" Phoebe said. "But first I need to ask you a question"
"Here we go" Leila said.
"Where did you get this bruise?" Phoebe asked.
"I hit my arm against a wall" Leila said. "I was drunk"
"I find it hard to believe that even if you were drunk, you could've have hit a wall that hard" Phoebe said.
"Well believe it, because it's the truth" Leila said.
"Leila, I can feel that you are lying with my empathy" Phoebe said. "Did someone do this to you?"
Prue saw in Leila's eyes the pain and worthlessness she felt when she was with Roger.
"I know what you're feeling right now, Leila" Prue said. "But you have to tell us before this gets worse. You don't want to end up like I did"
"I won't" Leila said.
Prue sat down by Leila on her bed.
"Look at me, Leila" Prue said.
She took Leila's bruised arm and looked at it.
"This simple bruise may go away but it will be replaced by things far worse" Prue said.
Prue rolled up a sleeve of her long sleeve shirt.
"Do you want the thousands of scars I have on my arms and legs and neck" Prue said.
"But he won't do that" Leila said.
"You think that now but if he can give you this bruise, what's going to stop him from giving you a cut, then pushing, shoving, hitting" Prue said. "Stop this before he has a chance to seriously hurt you. I wish I would've done that"
Leila looked at the floor.
"I broke up with him," Leila said. "After he hit me. He started twisting my arm and some guy ripped him away and threw him out of the party. I started to drink because I was depressed and I got drunk"
"You did the right thing breaking up with him but you did the wrong thing by drinking" Phoebe said. "I'm very proud that you broke up with him"
"Yeah, well I still feel like crap" Leila said.
"That's called a hangover" Phoebe said. "And you're grounded, for a week if you promise you'll never drink again"
"I promise" Leila said.
"Good" Phoebe said.
She hugged Leila.
"I should go get Ava and Andrea out to the bus" Prue said. "I called your school to excuse you today, Leila"
"Okay" Leila said.
Prue went upstairs.
"Everything okay?" Andy asked.
"It is now" Prue said. "The girls got dressed?"
"And they brushed their teeth" Andy said. "I made lunches. Piper is getting Patti dressed right now and Leo is getting Faith dressed so they'll be down in a minute. I have to leave for work in about an hour"
"Hm" Prue said.
She went to leave the kitchen.
"Prue…this needs to be fixed" Andy said.
Prue stopped.
"I know" Prue said quietly.
"You know, I think I'll call in sick today" Andy said. "We need to talk"
"You shouldn't miss work for this" Prue said. "We already have money problems"
"Yeah, well we've got marriage problems too and those are a bit more important" Andy said.
"I'm going to take the girls out to the bus" Prue said. "I'll see you in a second"
Andy called his work while Prue took the girls to the bus.
"So you two are finally going to stop arguing and talk" Piper said coming into the kitchen.
"Spy much?" Andy asked smiling.
"Just a little" Piper said. "I think Leo and I are going to take Patti and Faith to the park, do you want us to take Aidan?"
"Sure" Andy said. "He'd love that"
"Okay" Piper said. "We're leaving right now so, I'll grab his coat"
"Okay" Andy said. "See you later"
"Bye" Piper said walking out of the kitchen.
Phoebe came up into the kitchen with Leila.
"We're going to the mall" Phoebe said. "For a bonding day since I haven't been home much"
"Okay" Andy said. "Where's Ryan?"
"He's going to meet us at the mall when he's done with his charge" Phoebe said.
"Good" Andy said.
"We'll see you and Prue later" Phoebe said. "Bye"
"Bye" Andy said.
Phoebe and Leila left to go to the mall. Prue came back into the kitchen.
"Where is everyone?" Prue asked.
"Piper and Leo took the kids to the park and Phoebe took Leila to the mall for a bonding day" Andy said. "And I had no part in any of this"
"Okay…" Prue said. "Do you want to go into the conservatory?"
"Yeah" Andy said.
They went and sat on the couch in the conservatory.
"So…" Prue said. "Where do we start?"
"I have no idea" Andy said. "All I know is that the girls asked me if we didn't love each other anymore"
"That's crazy" Prue said.
"Not completely considering all they hear us do is argue" Andy said. "How about we start with one of us telling the other exactly why we're mad and neither one of us can make a comment until the other person is done"
"Sounds like a deal" Prue said. "Who's going first?"
"You can" Andy said.
"Great" Prue said sarcastically. "I'm mad at you because it seems like you're never home. After a while it feels like you don't want to me here with your family. At first I could forgive you when you said you were sorry but you would never do anything about it. Then the little things just started to make me even madder and I'd yell at you and then I'd feel even more horrible. There I'm done"
"Okay" Andy said. "I'm mad at you because the whole reason I'm taking all of these extra shifts is because I am so worried that we won't be able to pay for this baby. Then when I get home, I get yelled at for not being there enough when really I'd rather be here with you and the kids. Then, like you said, the little things just started to set me off"
"I shouldn't be yelling at you, I know" Prue said. "You're just trying to make sure your family is taken care of and I love you for that. I promise you that I will stop yelling, because honestly I can't take it anymore. I'm lonely without you"
"And I'm lonely without you" Andy said. "I promise you that I'll find other ways to get extra money. Ways that won't take away from my time with you and the kids"
"Things just got so busy with the kids and being the Charmed Ones. I think we made sure to take of everything except our marriage" Prue said. "The one thing we never should have forgot about"
"I'm sorry" Andy said.
"I'm sorry too" Prue said.
"Do you remember what I told you on our wedding day?" Andy asked.
"That we were married now and that whatever happened we'd face it together" Prue said. "I've never forgotten that, I never will"
"Well we need to do that now" Andy said. "Face this together"
Andy took Prue's hand in his. Prue looked into his eyes.
"How long as it been since I kissed you?" Prue asked.
"Too long" Andy said.
Prue and Andy started kissing passionately.
"Come on" Prue said taking his hand and standing up. "We have the house to ourselves now"
"Yeah, well the last time we had the house to ourselves was five months ago and look what happened" Andy said.
"I'm already pregnant" Prue said. "There are no risks to take"
Andy smiled.
"Come on" Prue said dragging him upstairs.
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"We should probably get dressed before anyone comes home" Prue said. "I think I'm going to take a shower"
Prue went and turned the shower on. Andy was getting up to get dressed when Prue stood in the doorway.
"Are you coming?" Prue asked with a seductive smile.
Andy smiled.
"We should have marriage problems more often" Andy said jokingly.
Prue laughed.