Piper willed her digital alarm clock in to oblivion.

The big green numbers read 03:04.

Piper had finally managed to pull herself from the sofa an hour ago and make her way up to bed.

After the prolonged cry jag Natalie's second present had caused.

The baby grows and bootees and mittens and stuff had been bad enough.

With making her cry that was.

She loved them.

They were some of the most adorable things she had ever seen.

Hard to imagine they would be on her baby soon.

The cry jag had been made worse by her sister not turning up to celebrate her eighteenth birthday with her.

They had promised they would.

She rolled uncomfortably on to her side tuning her back on the cursed alarm clock.

She wanted to sleep.

She had lay in bed for the last sixty odd minuets tossing and turning trying to get to sleep.

Sleep wasn't coming easily tonight.

Not for Piper.

Poor Piper.

She couldn't stop thinking about Leo.

She'd lied to him.

Really lied to him.

Lied to him big time.

She'd told him she was having a baby.

Which she was.

She was most certainly having a baby.

He'd seen that much for him self.

It was there, her bump, not the baby, plain for the whole world to see.

She'd told him.

She'd told Leo that she was having a baby.

She'd told Leo that she was having a baby and that Dan was the father of the child.

But it wasn't Dan's baby.

It wasn't her and Dan having a baby together.

The baby was Leo's.

It was Leo's baby.

She and Leo were having a baby together.

It was Leo's baby.

Leo was the father of her child.

No, he wasn't.

Her child didn't have a father.

Not Leo.

Not Dan.

No one

Just a Mother.

Piper.

The baby just had Piper.

Leo was her baby's biological father.

But he wasn't her baby's father.

He wasn't a daddy.

He wasn't going to be to this kid.

She couldn't stop her self from crying out and sobbing in pain a little.

Leo had been devastated.

She'd seen it in his eyes.

But he'd been so sweet.

He hadn't got mad.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt so much as it did now if he'd have gotten mad at her.

Yelled.

Screamed.

Shouted.

Hit out.

At her.

At Dan.

Any one.

But he'd just been sweet about the whole thing.

Heat broken.

But sweet.

For her to be as pregnant as she was, 22 weeks, she'd have had to have slept with Dan, the supposed father of her baby, before she was finished with Leo.

It would have been an affair.

God and it would have been before they got engaged.

She must have seemed like such a slut.

Screwing a guy, getting pregnant and then agreeing to marry a totally different guy.

He hadn't got mad at her.

She'd wanted him to yell at her.

Like Grams.

But he hadn't.

He'd given her a card and a birthday present.

Both still unopened in her bag.

He was the sweetest guy ever.

He'd hugged Piper and congratulated them.

That was the part that had killed Piper.

He'd been close to tears, heart broken, and he'd still said 'congratulations'.

If it had been the other way around it would have killed Piper.

She'd have never of been able to say it.

Not in a million years.

She saw it.

Every time she closed her eyes.

The exact moment his heat had broken.

Pin pointed.

"Piper you and our baby. You're all that maters to me. You. Us. Our baby." He'd promised her.

"Leo. We're not having a baby." She'd told him. "There is no us. We aren't having a baby."

"What?"

"There is no us Leo. There is no baby."

She'd pushed his had away from her stomach.

"I just felt the baby kick." He had insisted. "There is a baby. You can't say there isn't."

"Yes." She'd struggled to keep her tone even and not to let her self collapse into his comforting form crying. "There is a baby. But not our baby. My baby. Not yours. I'm having a baby. You felt my baby kick. Not your baby. This isn't your baby. You're not the father."

"What? Who is?"

"Dan." She'd seen Dan enter the room and had felt relief wash over her.

She could collapse in to him.

Into his arms safely.

Piper had run to him.

"Dan?" Leo had demeaned. "Him? His the father?"

Piper had not answered.

Leo had looked up to see Dan had his hands protectively on Piper's stomach and she was leaning back in to him.

Then.

That was it.

The moment Leo's heart had broken.

Piper had been looking straight in to his eyes.

His soul had been crushed.

His heart shattered.

She slipped out of bed and headed to her dressing table for tissues.

On her way back to her bed she picked up her bag.

She slipped back between the sheets and her bag spilled out on to the bed spread.

She put every thing away apart from the present and card.

First she opened the present.

She was afraid of what the card might say.

Of the message in side.

Of what he might have written.

Slowly she pulled back the wrapping paper.

When she had the paper off she saw a box of her all time favorite chocolates.

The ones Leo knew she loved.

Also a bead bracelet fell out.

She always wore bracelets.

Leo used to buy them for her.

They only cost a couple of cent.

But she loved them all the same.

She slid the bracelet on to her writs.

"Thank you Leo." She whispered softly as if he could hear her.

Tears were in her eyes.

But she had control of them.

For now.

Then she made a big mistake.

She opened the card.

She opened the card and read it.

'To Piper,

I just wanted to say happy birthday and tell you how much I miss having you as a friend.

I hope you have a wonderful day and that you are happy with every thing in your life.

You are always with me,

You own my heart,

You always will,

All my love from a broken man,

Leo.'

Tears spilled from Piper's eyes.

This wasn't good.

He could he be doing this to her?

They were over.

He was talking like they were still together.

Sob after sob built in Piper's chest.

They were all trying to escape at the same time.

After many seconds of fighting it one large sob escaped Piper's lips.

She looked at the front of the card.

There was a picture of a bottle of Champaign and a bunch of red roses.

"The girl of my dreams on her 18th birthday." She read the printed message quietly to her self.

The room suddenly felt very cramped.

Her cell phone was by her bag.

She grabbed it.

She pulled on her dressing gown and flung open the French windows.

The air out side on the balcony was cool and calming.

In her bare feet she walked out and leaned against the metal railing.

Her trembling hand still held the card.

She leaned over the railing.

The card fell.

It flouted down to the ground.

All the way down.

Piper thought if Mr or Mrs Harris or Cassy walked in and saw her right now it might look like she was about to jump.

The thought of jumping crossed her mind for a second.

As a stupid idea.

Leo was out of her life now.

But she had her self and her baby to live for.

The night and darkness was soothing.

Piper didn't want to go back in side.

She climbed up the steps to the terrace.

She slumped down on to the bean bags and starred up at the stars.

She could speak now.

People wouldn't be able to tell she was crying.

She hit the redial button on her cell phone.

She didn't care who she was ringing.

It was just a thing she did.

When she was in a sate like this she couldn't make decisions.

"Hello?" A sleepy Prue answered the phone.

Piper spilled her heart out to her.

And Prue listened.