DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the CHARMED characters. I just love and miss them.

Thank you, Constance Burge for developing a wonderful cast of characters and adventures.

Chapter 3

A Likley Story

Piper sat at her dining room table with stacks of papers all around her. She was franticly looking for the one marked State of California tax Id information.

"This is ridiculous" Piper said out loud scolding herself for waiting till the last minute to file her paperwork. She is normally very organized when it came to the club.

The club had been one of the few things that kept her sane over the years, it was her constant. Throughout the demon attacks and the heartache she could always count on the club.

Although there were music trends to keep up with, the actual running of the club was very mundane inventories, ordering product was very predictable and comforting, when you are responsible for saving the world on a regular basic it nice to have something as boring as inventories to keep you grounded.

Piper placed the last file neatly back in to the box she used to transport things back and forth from the club and home, and placed the box into the corner of the conservatory. She stretched and looked out the window. She noticed that in the distance there was what looked like black smoke bellowing Piper frowned and wondered what was on fire.

She turned to go into the laundry room when the door bell rang. Piper looked at her watch and wondered who would be stopping by this time of day.

Piper opened the door of her family home and expecting to see an adult. She was pleasantly surprised to see her four year old niece looking up at her.

"Aunt Piper" the little girl squealed as she flung herself in to Piper's open arms.

"I missed you!! Aunt Piper" Patricia Halliwell said to Piper who was still standing in the doorway of the manor. Patricia was the beautiful oldest daughter of Phoebe and Coop. She was very petite like her mom with dark brown hair that was contained in a ponytail she had ice blue eyes just like Prue.

Piper reached down and picked up the small child and kissed her on the cheek." I missed you too Miss Patricia" Piper told the child as she ticked her belly. Patricia struggled to get down when she seen her Mom walking up the steps of the manor with her little sister in a baby carrier.

"Hello their …. Do I know you?" Piper jokingly asked her sister whom she had not seen in almost 3 weeks sure they had talked on the phone several times a week, but that was not good enough for Piper she needed sisters to be close at hand.

Piper stepped out onto the porch and reached for the baby carrier from her sister's hand, Phoebe relinquished it instantly.

Piper walked to the living room and sat the carrier down on the coffee table she immediately removed the blankets so that she could look at her little baby niece who was sound asleep. Phoebe's second child had been born 3 months ago today her name is Priscilla and she is perfect with dark brown hair and eyes. She has a small rosy birthmark on her right hand in the shape of a heart. Considering her father is a cupid Piper thought it was adorable.

Phoebe turned to see Patricia who was in the conservatory already in Wyatt and Chris's toy box and had flicked the T.V. on to the cartoon channel.

"Well I see that your niece has made herself at home" Phoebe stated as she plopped down next to her sister on the sofa.

Piper turned to watch her niece for a moment and said "good" I always want her to feel at home here.

Phoebe knew Piper was referring to the magical connection the manor had to the Halliwell witches.

"Are you feeling alright" asked Piper as she eyed her sister up and down. Phoebe had developed severe anemia during her pregnancy.

Phoebe was ever grateful for all of the help her sister's had given her during her pregnancy especially the last month, not to mention how much they helped her right after Priscilla was born.

Paige had kept Patricia at her house for several days and helped with all of the last minute things Phoebe needed before the baby was born.

Piper cooked meals for them and helped with the household chores, she watched Patricia everyday after preschool for two weeks.

Phoebe was not surprised at her sister's willingness to help her she knew she was blessed with their love.

"Yeah, I am actually I have been feeling stronger and almost back to my old self" Phoebe replied with a big smile.

"Don't worry so much; Piper you will get wrinkles" smirked Phoebe

"Worry is one of the things I do best and you know that" snapped Piper ignoring the wrinkles part.

Piper looked at her younger sister but she was not completely convinced that all was well. However she kept that to herself.

"I can't take it any more" Piper said as she lifted Priscilla out of the baby carrier "I have to hold this little baby."

Phoebe watched her sister gently pick up her daughter and cuddle her in her arms. "Hey there baby, how ya doing" asked Piper.

Phoebe knew that her sister wanted desperately to have another child. Piper longed for the little girl she had seen in her future when she had time traveled long ago. Although, Piper had never said so to anyone including her husband, Phoebe being empathic could feel the loss or void that Piper felt not having that little girl in her life.

"So can you stay for dinner?" asked Piper genuinely hoping the answer would be yes.

"I would like that" said Phoebe," great" answered Piper truly happy that she agreed to stay. "Now call that handsome husband of yours and tell him dinner is at six."

"Then I have a little bone I would like to pick with you Missy" Piper stated as she walked toward the dining room.

"What?" Phoebe asked looking a little confused.

Piper turned around to face her sister and asked "what do you know about a little conspiracy that's going on in my house to get a dog?"

A dog... what dog Phoebe stuttered … "Ah ha…. I knew you were in on this" Piper said as she turned to enter the kitchen still holding Priscilla.

Phoebe shook her head and laughed at her sister as she walked to the phone to call her husband.

Phoebe walked into the kitchen holding the empty baby seat and a diaper bag she sat it down on the kitchen table and opened the fridge to get a glass of iced tea.

"Have you talked to Paige in the last few days?" Phoebe asked her sister.

Um…. yeah I talked to her Wednesday night why? Asked Piper

"Oh no reason I was just wondering that's all" replied Phoebe as she walked over and took her fussy daughter form Piper.

"I knew something was wrong since the minute you got here, spill it" demanded Piper

"I think Paige is mad at me?" said Phoebe "Why" Piper asked "did you try to get her to adopt a dog too?"

"Very funny sis" replied Phoebe "besides Paige has two cats remember."

"Go on" Piper said giving her full attention on her sister.

Well you know how Paige feels about being a witch and a white lighter right? Asked Phoebe

"I do" replied Piper as she checked her watch calculating in her mind how long it would be before the school bus dropped off the boys.

"Of course you know about Patricia having a hard time controlling her powers" said Phoebe "I know about that too" said Piper "what does that have to do with Paige?"

"You also know that little Henry has not shown any evidence that he has active powers it does not appear that he can even orb" stated Phoebe

"Yeah, well …. Having children who can orb is not all it's cracked up to be" replied Piper sarcastically.

"Well. Coop and I are considering binding Patricia powers and Paige is really upset about it, and I think it's because she thinks her child is not magical." Phoebe said holding her face in her hands and letting out the breath she did not even realize she and been holding.

"Do you feel better now?" asked Piper as she reached for her sister's hand.

Phoebe was not going to feel better until she got the answer to her next question "If we decide to bind Patricia's powers are you going to be mad at me too?"

"Oh Phoebe" cried Piper is this why you have been avoiding me?

"A well a yeah kind of sort of" admitted Piper's younger sister.

Piper walked over to her sister and hugged Phoebe to her chest." Since when have you not been able to confide in me" asked Piper with just a little bit of hurt and concern in her voice.

"Well you know Piper you are not exactly shy about you opinions" said Phoebe as she pulled away from Piper so she could respond to her crying baby.

"A family trait" answered Piper with a smile in defense of her strong opinions.

"I remember Piper that before you got pregnant with Wyatt you and Leo argued for days about binding the powers of your children." Said Phoebe "If I do decide to bind Patricia's powers I don't want you to be disappointed in me"

"Yes, we did argue about that but, Phoebe it was our argument and not yours. I still believe magic is a gift". Said Piper "But I also believe that no one knows what's best for their children better that their parents."

"Most of the time that would include a bossy over protective Aunt" said Piper as she gave her sister a coy smile.

"Most of the time" asked Phoebe laughing and rolling her eyes at her big sister.

"Yes! Most of the time" repeated Piper as she her hugged her sister again.

"Why are you hugging my mommy" asked Patricia as she walked into the kitchen? "Because she is my baby sister and I love her" laughed Piper.

"Well she is my Mommy and I love her too" said Patricia as she ran toward Phoebe and flung herself between the two sisters.

Piper looked at her watch and knew that the boys would be home in just about 15 minutes. She went to the cabinet and took out the peanut butter she knew they would be starving when they arrived and she figured that Patricia could probably use a snack to hold her over until dinner.

Hungary children were crabby children and we won't be having any crabby children today decided Piper

"Hanging out in here is like old times" said Phoebe as she patted Priscilla on the back so that the baby could burp.

"Yeah it's nice" replied Piper with a smile as she peeled a banana.

Piper took four slices of bread and put them in the toaster. While she waited for the toaster she walked over and took her niece from Phoebe

"Hi their little girl' said Piper to the baby that was now smiling. "When are you going to be coming in to your powers" asked Piper as she kissed the head of her baby niece.

"Please don't hurry" said Phoebe as she reached for her daughter. Phoebe laughed but, she could not have been more serious about the request.

Phoebe watched Piper place two more pieces of bread in the toaster. She then watched Piper cut the crust off the toasted bread and spread each piece with peanut butter. Piper repeated the same process with the last two pieces of toast.

Phoebe started to open her mouth to tease her sister about being the perfect mom. But the word "gross" was all that would come out as she watched Piper cut the banana she had peeled earlier in half then carefully cut thin slices of banana and place them on the peanut buttered toast.

"Piper you are a chief what on earth are you doing" asked Phoebe with her face screwed up in discus of the toasted peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

Piper laughed out loud at her sister's question and response to her choice of snack for the kids.

"Sometimes it's worse" said Piper with her hand on her hip nodding her head.

"Impossible" replied Phoebe "how could it be worse" she asked not really sure she wanted the answer.

"Sometimes we pour honey all over the bananas" answered Piper trying to keep a straight face.

"Ugh …" was the only thing that Phoebe could say

"This is Leo's and the boy's favorite snack they make it all the time" said Piper "Since it's very good for them what can I say" Asked Piper "Patricia likes it too"

"She does" asked Phoebe in amazement. Piper nodded her head.

Piper heard the air breaks of the school bus and knew her son's were home she always said a silent thank you to the universe that they came home safe.

Piper heard the dragging of their trash cans up the drive way and was proud of her sons for doing there chore without being reminded.

"Mom we are home" Chris called out before he got the door open.

Before Piper could answer the boys were in the house and running straight for Phoebe they absolutely adored her and she them.

"Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Phoebe" Chris and Wyatt yelled in unison as the hugged Phoebe.

"Watch the baby" yelled Piper in an attempt to calm them down.

Chris looked at Pricilla who was now lying in the carrier. She was stimulated by all the noise and was waving her arms and legs. Chris thought this was so funny "look mom" he said "she is shaking all over".

"I see that" replied Piper as she watched her youngest son carefully touch his cousin small hands and feet.

"Aunt Phoebe did you get your dog yet?" asked Wyatt.

"We are going to go pick one out tomorrow" answered Phoebe

"What kind are you going to get a brown or black one" asked Chris

"I don't know yet" said Phoebe first we have to meet all the dogs then see which one will be perfect. "Can me and Chris go with you to get the dog" asked Wyatt

"Chris and I" said Piper correcting Wyatt's grammar. "Okay can Chris and I go with you Aunt Phoebe" asked Wyatt rolling his eyes at his mother. Piper noticed but said nothing.

"You sure can" said Phoebe if it's okay with you mom. "Mom may we please go" asked Wyatt

Sometimes when Piper looked at Wyatt she was taken back just how much he really looked like Leo. "I think that's a good idea, but I want to ask your dad first okay?" said Piper

Wyatt turned and looked at Phoebe and said "My Dad won't mind"

Piper knew this was true.

"Go change you school clothes and then you can have a snack." Said Piper

"Okay" replied Wyatt with a smile on his face. Wyatt walked out of the kitchen thinking he was out of Piper's sight and orbed to his room.

"No unnecessary orbing" yelled Piper on a deaf ears.

Piper walked to the doorway to make sure that Chris did not get sidetracked with his cousin and went to change his clothes too. As suspected Chris was already in the conservatory playing with Patricia.

"Chris go upstairs change your clothes then you can have a snack" said Piper.

She knew he had just seen his brother orb out of the room. "Go ahead you can orb" said Piper she knew she was fighting a lousing battle anyway, with that her youngest son disappeared into brilliant white and blue lights and disappeared out of the room.

With a heavy sigh Piper walked back into the kitchen to get the sandwiches for the kids.

"See you are not the only one that has children with pent up magic issues" said Piper as she reached for the saucers in the cupboard.

"That may be so" said Phoebe but I bet you don't have happy meal toys go flying across McDonald's when you stop for lunch.

"Well happy meal toys are very enticing" said Piper

"Piper" said Phoebe changing the subject we are going get our new puppy from an animal shelter for abused and unwanted dogs it is about 3 three hours from here so we are going to get a real early start in the morning I think the boys should spend the night at the condo it will just make it more convenient in the morning.

"Do you want to ask Coop if he minds first?" questioned Piper allowing the subtle conversation change to go unchallenged

"Oh he won't care replied Phoebe "he loves spending time with Wyatt & Chris the boys can sleep on the sofa bed it will be no problem at all."

Other than Leo there was no one Piper trusted more than Phoebe with her children. Still she was hesitant to let them spend the night anywhere but, she thought it would be good for Phoebe and she knew her sister and brother-in-law would protect and spoil her children like there own.

"Sounds good I just want to check with Leo first" said Piper as she walked out to the table into the conservatory with the snacks for the kids.

When Piper walked back into the kitchen Phoebe was standing in front of the T.V. "Watching the afternoon news cast is something wrong" asked Piper looking at the reporter on the screen. "No not really I just noticed a big fire today on my way over here I was just wondering what it was". Said Phoebe

"I seen the smoke too" replied Piper as she took her largest baking pan out of the cabinet.

"Did they say what burned" asked Piper "no" replied Phoebe "maybe it will be on the later news" she added as she turned off the set.

Piper made fast work of preparing the lasagna for dinner. Piper chose to make lasagna for dinner for two reasons the first being it was her go to dinner when she was going to have to feed a lot of people with out a lot of notice. Secondly because Paige would never ever turn down Piper's lasagna and Piper wanted to find out what was going on with Paige and Phoebe and she knew that the lasagna would get Paige to the manor. Piper decided not to tell Phoebe just yet.

"Do you want to slice the strawberries for desert?" asked Piper looking at her sister "Okay" answered Phoebe but can it wait I kind of want to look at the book for a little while

"Likely story" said Piper grinning at her sister. "No really I will help in a little while" said Phoebe as she laughed at the fact that Piper seen right through her excuse as she and Valarie walked toward the attic.

Piper often wondered and worried what Phoebe and her family ate because Phoebe did not like to cook and was not very good at it.

Wyatt and Chris came running through the back door yelling dad's home dad's home. Patricia was not too far behind. Piper knew that they sensed him as soon as he orbed into the house.

Through the heater vent, Piper could here Wyatt and Chris talking about their future pet she tried to ignore the reality of the whole thing.

"Did those boys run off and leave you" asked Piper when she seen her niece trying to keep up with her older cousins. Piper reached into her dish and offered Patricia a piece of strawberry that she gladly accepted.

Piper was sprinkling sugar over the cut up strawberries and mentally checking off her to do list for dinner when her husband put his arms around her waist and drew her to him. Piper was surprised by the sudden contact after 10 years of marriage he sometimes still startled her with is stealth like actions, Piper instantly turned in his arms coming face to face with him.

"Hi" said Leo as he looked into the most beautiful brown eyes anywhere. "Hi yourself" she said smiling at her husband. Leo bent his head down and kissed his wife.

"How was your day" Piper asked her husband with a sincere interest as she gently pulled out of his embrace to continue the task. "As expected, I'm glad it's Friday" replied Leo as he reached around Piper to steal a strawberry.

"How was your day" Leo asked Piper "it was disturbingly informative replied his wife." "Really how so" asked Leo with brows drawn showing a look of concern.

Piper batted his hand away from the bowl after his second successful capture of a freshly cut strawberry. Leo walked to the fridge for a cold drink knowing he would never survive a third try for a strawberry.

"For starters my sisters are not talking to each other" stated Piper the concern obvious in her voice. "Not to mention that Phoebe is actually considering the crazy idea of binding Patricia's powers and apparently was afraid to talk to me about it."

Leo's immediate concern was Paige and Phoebe if there relationship was suffering more than a minor irritation it could affect the power of three and could put the whole family in danger. Although it was true in the last few years since the girls defeated the triad in the ultimate battle the demon attacks were few and far between. He knew however that any perceived weakness from the charmed ones would be an open invitation to attack his family.

"I just don't know what's wrong with them" complained Piper referring to Phoebe and Paige as she began to prepare the dinner salad.

Leo knew from years of experience that what ever he said to Piper right now would be wrong. He simply sighed and kept his immediate concerns to himself and let her continue.

"Oh and last but not least I hear were getting a dog" said Piper with an obvious fake smile.

"So I hear" said Leo with a grin attempting to look surprised.

"Don't act so surprised mister" said Piper as she pointed her finger at Leo "I know you were in on this plan".

"Honey there was never an actual plan" replied Leo attempting to defend himself. "The boys and I seen Coop a few days ago at the park he suggested it, I told the boys we would talk about it this weekend".

"Likely story" said Piper as she tossed the salad.