Disclaimer: Piper, Leo, and all the Charmed gang do not belong to me. If they were mine, I wouldn't be writing this. I promise to return them in one piece when I'm done.
Dedication: To Buttercup and Toby.
A/N: This is going to be a very long, very depressing story. If you do not like depressing stories, then stop now. The next bunch of chapters are going to be pretty grim. I went through a rough couple of weeks a bit back, and took everything and poured it into this. It is a Piper/Leo story, in which they find themselves up against something they can't fight. It is not going to be very pretty. You have been warned; if you're still reading, then let's get on with it, shall we?
Strength And Sorrow
Chapter Two:Safe Or Sorry
"Mommy can we go to Aunt Prue's house today?" six year old Melinda asked, giving her mother the puppydog look.
Piper smiled at her daughter's pleading expression. "Sure, honey. Just let Mommy finish these papers, okay?" She gestured at the pile of paperwork in front of her. It took more than the average person realized to get a band to a club on a Friday night.
"But I don't wanna wait!" Melinda whined.
"If you let me finish up these quick, we can go over there sooner, okay? Just give me a little bit."
"But Mommy, I wanna go NOW!"
Piper sighed and gave in.
As she was helping her daughter into her coat, Piper suddenly frowned and looked at her daughter. "Melinda, did you hurt yourself?" There was a small lump on the side of Melinda's neck. It could have just been one of the many small injuries the hyperactive six year old suffered in play, but Piper got a bad feeling from this. Especialy when Melinda shook her head to indicate no, she hadn't hurt herself.
Oh, well, Piper decided as she guided her daughter out the door and to the car. I'll just make an appointment and have the doctor check it out. It's probably nothing........but it's better to be safe than sorry.