CHAPTER FIVE

"Four years!" screamed Phoebe.

Victor sighed. "I guess you don't remember that either. The Source stole it after…"

Drea's blue eyes grew misty. "After they killed Mom."

"Mom?" Phoebe stared at her in shock, as she finally recognized those blue eyes. "Prue was your Mom?"

Patty couldn't believe it. "Don't tell me you don't remember that!"

"No, we don't," Piper admitted. "But if the Source has The Book, why don't we just steal it back?" while Phoebe again made motions, trying to get her to stop.

"Phoebe's right," Victor insisted. "Just let it go. Both of you know you can't do that without The Power of Three!"

"And you haven't had it since Shax…" and Drea's head fell as she looked at the floor.

Piper walked over to her niece and began massaging her back. "It's okay, sweetie."

Drea looked up gratefully. "At least Shax didn't kill you, too, Aunt Piper!"

Victor was staring at his daughters in confusion. "Well, whatever spell you're under, it must have really done a number on.."

"Phoebs," Piper interrupted. "I think we changed more then we were supposed to."

Patty gave her a weird look. "Strange spell if it made you forget things that happened and remembered things that didn't"

Piper nodded. "Yeah, it was a strange spell, all right."

"Are you sure?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know," Piper admitted, before turning to her parents and niece. "How many times was Grams married?"

"Four times!" cried Phoebe, while Piper rolled her eyes at her.

"No," insisted Victor. "Just twice-- let's not exaggerate!"

"What year did Melinda Warren die?" Piper next asked.

Patty shrugged. "I would have to check the family tree.."

"1712!" Drea exclaimed.

Piper turned to her niece. "How did you.."

"Don't you remember?" Drea asked. "I recently did our family tree for a school project."

"Do you happen to have it still laying around?" Piper asked, hoping it would help to shed some light on the subject.

Drea grinned. "Sure," and she ran off to get it.

Patty stood up. "While you guys check on that, I'm going to go check on your daughter, Phoebe, since you seemed to have forgotten her, too."

Phoebe looked a bit sheepish, but nodded. "Thanks, Mom."

Soon the others had the family tree spread out on the dining room table.

"Okay," Piper was saying, "so Prue married Andy right after college and," she smiled at Drea, "then they had a beautiful little girl," and she patted her niece on the back.

"Yeah," declared Drea, "one who can kick some serious as.. " At her grandfather's stern look, she corrected herself, "..butt! By the way, Aunt Phoebe, when is the next karate lesson?"

Phoebe wasn't listening. She was staring at the family tree. "1956? She died in 1956? I thought it was 1924!" and she pointed at an entry: P RUSSEL 1899-1956

"Yeah," said Drea. "Great-Great-Great Aunt Pamela is one of my favorite ancestors. She died helping some orphans escape a burning building."

"Are you sure she wasn't the one who started the fire?" Piper sarcastically asked.

"Hey!" and Phoebe put her hands on her hips and glared at Piper, insulted.

Drea answered Piper. "Positive," and she pulled out a very aged newspaper article from the back of the family tree.

Phoebe began reading it, then grinned. "I died a hero! I mean she did."

Piper rolled her eyes at Phoebe, then told her, "Check the more recent entries--like your own."

"Yeah, I glanced at that, but I didn't want to read it."

Drea rolled her eyes at her aunt. "You and Cole got married in 2002 and had Nicole in 2003. You named her after her dad like Mom named me after mine."

At the sound of her name, Nicole shimmered in. She climbed up into Phoebe's lap and cuddled up next to her, murmuring, "Mommy!" Phoebe stared at her, first in shock, then in love as she began to cuddle her back. She looked at Piper, still finding it hard to believe. "Mine and Cole's?"

Piper also stared at Nicole. "Dad, Drea, where are my sons? Why aren't they mentioned on the family tree? I mean, okay, I married Dan in 2001, I guess, but where are Wyatt and Chris?"

"Sons?" Victor stared at her as if she'd sprouted an extra head. "There haven't been any males born to the Warren line in centuries."

"Piper, not you, too!" cried Patty, standing at the door, where she'd come looking for her shimmering granddaughter. "You were always the sensible one! The next thing you're going to say is that Leo is The Source of All Evil!"

"Leo?" Piper began to whimper. "Where's Leo?"

Patty shrugged and pointed up before matter-of-factly stating, "Up There, just like he's always been. He's Sam's boss, The Chief Elder."

That was the last straw for Piper, as she lost it. "No! This is all wrong! Leo was a whitelighter! Our whitelighter!"

"No, sweetie," Patty's voice was gently insistent. "Sam has been our family whitelighter all of your life."

Now it was Piper's turn to scream as she became very seriously pissed. "No! No! Leo was our whitelighter! I love him! He loves me! I chose him as my husband, not Dan! We got married! We have two sons! Wyatt and Chris!

"Is that why Dan ran out the door?" Victor asked, while Drea simply stared. "I think both of you girls need to apologize to your husbands!"

Very, very gently, Patty told Piper, "Honey, Elders and witches do not get married. Just like witches do not have affairs with their whitelighters. Just like you and Dan are very happy together, even if you don't have any kids. You love each so much--you did from the moment he moved in next door! Just like Phoebe and Cole and just like Prue and Andy did. Don't you remember? After we took the Hollow out of Cole and put it back in its box, the Angel of Destiny gave all of us a chance to live your fondest dream, Piper--we gave up our powers so we could live a normal life!" Drea nodded. "We can still cast spells, but we can no longer vanquish demons, nor do we have to fear The Source or other magical villains. We can no longer save innocents from them, but at least we're safe. Remember? Only Sam and Cole kept their powers in case The Source changed his mind and came after us!"

"And he hasn't for three years!" cried Drea. "And except for the fact that we can't save innocents any more, we've all been very, very happy, even though we'll always miss my Mom and Dad! Surely you remember that, Aunt Piper!"

But Piper didn't. She began to weep. "No! No! This is all so very wrong! What have we done, Phoebe? What have we done?"

Phoebe cuddled Nicole, smiling at her parents and niece. "We've made our lives better."

"No!" screamed Piper, becoming hysterical. "No! NO, NO!"