The next day Piper, Phoebe, and Paige take Serena back to South Bay Social Services. During the car ride, Serena throws out a lot of questions as her nervousness increases.

"But what happens if it doesn't work?" Serena asks as she sits in the back seat with Paige.

"Serena, I told you, just relax ok; let us deal with the social workers. And Paige has connections. Just relax! It'll be ok," insisted Piper as she drove.

"But what if they make me go back to the Singers? What if they're really really mad 'cause I ran away? What if --"

"OHH Serena! Look at that swarm of birds flying in the sky! There's so many of them!! They must be flying south for the winter," exclaimed Paige, trying to divert the girl's attention.

Serena glances at the window. A smile grows on her face. "Hey, yeah! Look they're in the shape of a V!" Serena paused for a moment and then looked back at Paige. "How come they do that?"

Paige makes a cute face. "I think so they can stick together so they don't get lost on the way." Phoebe looks back at Paige who shrugs her shoulders and makes a face.

"Kinda like how we're gonna stick together…right?" Serena sneakily added.

Piper smiles as she turns into the parking lot of South Bay Social Services. "We sure will try!" She parks the car and they all take off their seatbelts. They all get out of the car except Serena.

Paige is about to close the door on her side when she sees Serena just sitting in the car. "Serena, aren't you coming?" Serena looks terrified and shakes her head rapidly. In a soft gentle voice Paige leans in the car a little and says, "I have some candy and stickers in my desk if you want some…" Serena quickly shakes her head again.

Piper walks over to the other side of the car where Serena is seated. "Honey you can't stay in the car forever."

"I don't wanna go in there. I'm scared," Serena pleaded in a soft voice.

"But you're with us now. Come on," Piper puts out her hand, "we'll be with you every step of the way."

Serena grabs Piper's hand as she gets out of the jeep and walks closely alongside Piper. Paige leads the way inside and they find her boss.

"You do realize that you are 10 minutes late!" Paige's boss scolds.

"Yeah, but with good reason. Look who we found." Piper, Serena and Phoebe walk into view.

Paige's boss angles his head towards Serena. "Serena! Long time no see."

Serena, hand in hand with Piper, motions backwards in an attempt to hide behind Piper's side. Piper noticing the tugging motion on her arm looks back at Serena who avoids eye contact and just stares at the ground. Piper looks back at Paige's boss. "She's just a little scared," she says in a quiet voice. Serena has let go of Piper's hand but latches a grip to Piper's sweater.

"Wait a minute…I remember you. Halliwell right?"

Piper does a giggle sigh; "Yes, yes that would be us."

"I can't tell you how often your name has come up," he says as he glances over towards Serena who is still hiding.

In a soft whisper, Piper says, "Oh, we can imagine." Piper smiles. "Can we talk somewhere, like your office or something?"

"Uh yeah sure; here step this way. Jim! Here, watch over this little one for a few. We'll be in my office if you need us."

Jim, a coworker, makes his way over and holds out his hand for Serena. Serena looks back at Piper and the others.

"It's ok, we'll be right inside," reassures Piper. Serena reluctantly goes with Jim and sits down.

The girls make their way inside Paige's boss' office. "Please, have a seat," he gestures. "I want to thank you for bringing Serena back. That little runaway has given us more gray hairs…" he chuckles.

Piper decides to get down to business. "Umm, see that's actually one of the things we wanted to talk to you about. Considering she HAS run away so many times, and that she continually talks about us and made it all the way to our house, I mean…what I'm trying to say is…we'd like it if she doesn't have to run anymore."

In a swoop of his head he says, "And so do we…that's part of the reason we're here."

"Us too…" Piper adds. Paige's boss tilts his head a little. Piper then adds, "We'd like to adopt Serena…"

"You do understand what you're asking Miss Halliwell?"

Piper nods her head as she says, "I do understand. And what I understand is that there is a little girl outside who is in desperate need of a family. And…we can BE that family. We love her..."

Paige's boss ponders for a moment. "You do realize that the courts may have to get involved --"

Paige interrupts, "Sir, if I may. If she's going to keep running away, maybe we can show the court that we ARE the right family for her!"

Paige's boss nods. "And you're all sure you want to go through with this."

"Absolutely!" Phoebe says with a smile. Everyone else agrees.

Paige's boss's face lights up. "Alright then, I'll set up a hearing. And I'll give you the date as soon as I can."

The girls are ecstatic! Paige adds, "Uh, sir, about Serena's temporary custody…?"

"Ah, yes. Well circumstances being what they are…" He pauses for a moment. "I'm afraid we have to place her back in the orphanage until we get the legalities straightened out."

The girls look aghast. Phoebe then jumps in and says, "You can't keep bouncing her from place to place, it's not fair to her. And besides, what if she decides to run --"

"She won't run away; and if we explain to her that you're trying to get custody of her, more than likely she'll say put." He sighs. "Look, the courts don't want the child gaining any coaching from the potential parents --"

Piper frowns. "I can assure you we wouldn't do --"

He cuts her off and says, "I know and I trust that you wouldn't. Knowing that Paige supports this adoption request ranks very high in my book. She's one of our best workers. But the courts…they're a different story. It's probably in the child's best interest to NOT be with you during this whole process."

"But we can still see her right?" asked Phoebe.

"Sure, we can arrange temporary visitation…but I'm not sure if they will require supervision or not. Why don't you go outside and break it to her and I'll get on the phone and let you know when the next available hearing is."

The girls agree and walk outside. Serena catches sight of them and runs over to them looking excited. "So, did he let me stay with you?"

The three girls look at each other. Paige motions to them, "Why don't we go into this room over here for a moment." They all enter the small room which contains a long table and a few chairs.

"So when do we get to go?" asked Serena with a smile on her face.

The girls exchange glances. They don't know how they will be able to break it to her. Piper decides to try to explain. She takes Serena by the hand and goes and sits on one of the chairs next to the wall. She situates Serena so that they are face to face, still holding her hands. Piper smiles before she starts to talk. "Well kiddo, I've got some good news, and I've got some bad news."

Serena starts to look upset. She looks down for a moment. "What's the bad news?" she asks very quietly.

Piper takes in a deep breath before she starts. "Well, they want you to go back to the orphanage for a little while, just until we get all this court stuff worked out."

Serena looks like she is about to cry. "But I don't wanna go back there. I wanna stay with you!" She looks at Piper directly in the eyes. Then she glances at Phoebe and then at Paige. "How come you couldn't make him understand?"

"Well, sweetie, we DID make him understand. See we are going to try to adopt you and he is going to try to help us!" said Phoebe as she bent down to Serena's level.

"He is?" Serena asked quietly.

"Yep. But in order for the courts and the judge to make sure that it's ok, they have to check up on some stuff and they want you to be in the orphanage where you won't have to be bothered by all this grownup stuff," replied Phoebe.

"But trust me, everything is going to be ok," added Piper. "But you have to be willing to help us out here. You can't run away anymore and you just have to pretend like you're on a vacation. And you'll be back home with us before you can say…lickity splickity!" said Piper as she touched Serena's cute little nose. Serena smiled a little. "So do you think you can do this for us?"

Serena took a deep breath. She pressed her lips together and nodded. "Ok."

"And don't forget to thank Paige for all of her help with her boss!" said Piper trying to warm Serena up to her.

Serena looked over at Paige who was sitting next to Piper. "Thank you Paige," she said shyly.

Paige smiled at her. "You're very welcome."

Paige's boss pops his head in the room and knocks on the side of the open door. "Girls?" They motion for him to come in. "It's all settled. Took a little pushing and shoving, but your hearing is tomorrow afternoon at 1:30."

"Thanks" they all replied.

"What's a herring?" asked Serena with a confused look.

They all smiled and giggled slightly. "Herring is a type of fish, honey. A HEARING, is like a meeting with the judge to where he decides if you need to go to court or not," answered Phoebe.

"Oh," responded Serena.

"So Serena, all ready? ((to the girls)) I'm assuming you let her know…" The girls nod. "Ok then. Serena lets get you to the orphanage."

Serena looks at the girls. They tell her it will be ok and give her a hug goodbye. She takes the hand of Paige's boss but then stops. "Wait!" She looks back then up at him. "Can…can Paige take me?" Paige's eyes widen. She thought Serena didn't like her, especially considering that Prue was gone.

Paige's boss then says, "I'm sure Miss Matthews has a lot of work to get --"

"I'd be happy to take her if you'd like…" Paige adds.

Serena looks up at him. "Please?" she asks quietly.

"Ok then. You know where to go right?"

"Yes sir." Paige responds as she gets up. Serena walks over to her and takes her hand.

"Well it was nice meeting you ladies. Have a good day," he then makes his way back to his office.

Paige grabs her coat. "All ready sweetheart?" Serena nods quietly. "Ok," Paige says drawing out the syllables. Serena looks back at Phoebe and Piper and gives a small wave. She then looks up at Paige and says, "Do you still have stickers in your drawer?"

Paige laughs a little. "You know what, I think I do. Would you like one?" Serena nods and Paige giggles. They then make their way out of the room and Paige glances back at the other two and makes a cute surprised face right before they leave.