Monday dawn
When the noise starts, Paige grunts and pulls the covers over her head, but soon the commotion at the front door becomes too loud to be ignored: someone is pounding on the door, strong enough to make the window glasses vibrate with every knock.
As Paige gets up and reaches out for her robe, it sinks in that, whoever is at the door, they're much stronger than your everyday delivery boy, not to mention that a quick glance at the clock shows it's only 4:30 a.m.
As she reaches the stairs, the door to Piper and Leo's bedroom is opened, and Piper mumbles:
"What's going on?"
"That's what I intend to find out," says Paige.
As she starts to walk downstairs, followed by Piper and by a very drowsy Leo, with the corner of her eye she sees Phoebe and Cole come stumbling out of their bedroom.
"Hold your horses!" she says as she walks through the foyer. "Now, what..." -- Paige's voice trails off when she sees the huge troll standing at the door.
"Let me in," he grunts, "before someone sees me."
"I... uh... ah..." -- Paige stares at him with big round eyes.
"Paige, get out of the way!" says Piper, regaining her wits and raising her hands.
"Where's the defendant's attorney?" the troll asks, starting to show signs of impatience.
"The... Piper, wait!" -- Cole runs past Leo and catches up with Piper in the foyer. She gives him a bewildered look and he explains, pointing at the troll: "He must be the prosecutor."
"Yes, I am," grunts the troll. "Now, tell the woman to get out of my way. Soon there'll be people on the street."
"Sure," says Cole, taking Paige by her arm and making her move aside. "Come in."
"Why did you come so early?" he asks, as the troll ducks to walk through the door.
"Empty streets," says the troll. "It's not my fault that the stupid demon has chosen a human attorney. Do you think I enjoy coming to San Francisco?"
"Right," says Cole, yawning.
Then, looking at the four people still standing here in their pajamas, he says:
"Sorry. I'll handle this, why don't you go back to sleep?"
"How did he knew where to find you?" Piper asks, giving the troll a suspicious look as she takes Paige's arm and pulls her still stunned sister towards the stairs.
"Good olfaction," says the troll, showing the document with Cole's blood on it.
As the others go back to their bedrooms, Cole scratches his head and looks around, a bit uncertain, wondering where a ten feet high troll can sit.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"So much for no magic involved..." Paige mutters as they get to the second floor.
"Cole didn't use magic," says Phoebe, defending her husband. "And the troll is just... being a troll, I guess."
"A troll in my living room..." Piper sighs. "I just hope Cole doesn't let him break anything."
"I'm not so sure about the 'no magic' part..." Paige insists. "He gave the troll a document signed with his own blood."
"Alright," says Phoebe, annoyed, "Leo, what do you think?"
"That I need to throw up," says Leo, pushing her aside and rushing into the bathroom.
Phoebe and Paige grimace as Piper follows him, and they choose to drop the subject for now. They go back to their respective bedrooms, hoping to have some sleep before it's time to get up again and go to work.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Monday morning
Cole bites the tip of the pen, studying the names written on the cardboard in his hand. On the top of the list he wrote "Prosecution Witnesses", and now he writes an interrogation mark next to one of the names, before placing the cardboard on the top of a pile by his right side. He's sitting on the floor of the sunroom, surrounded by cardboards on which he's written the information he obtained from the prosecutor, the story Sarsour told him, what he remembers from the trolls' laws, the information he still needs... He'd rather work at his desk or -- considering he actually doesn't have one -- at the kitchen table. But he's alone with Ben, and this was the only arrangement his son found acceptable: he's lying on a blanket spread on the floor right beside Cole, along with all his favorite toys.
Cole gives a loving look towards his son, who's now very busy chewing a rubber duck. As if sensing his father's stare, he raises his head, returning his look and happily mumbling some baby gibberish.
"Yeah, I love you too," says Cole, smiling.
He turns his attention back to his notes, and soon he's so absorbed with his work that he doesn't even hear when Piper arrives from the market, fifteen minutes later. She stops at the doorway to check on them, and gasps when she sees that Ben has crawled to the edge of the blanket and grabbed a couple of cardboards, which he's now chewing with great enthusiasm.
Suddenly raising his head, Cole looks at her, notices the look in her eyes and follows her stare.
"Oh, no, Ben, don't!" he reaches out for the cards, but Ben thinks it's a game and holds them tighter, giggling. "No, son, don't do that! Give dad the cards, come on, they're not toys!"
"Wait, Cole!" says Piper, rushing towards them and kneeling on the blanket next to Ben. "This way you're gonna tear up the cards."
She waves her car keys in front of Ben, making them chime and catching his attention.
"Here, sweetie," she says, smiling. "You like the keys, don't you? Do you want the keys?"
Ben laughs and reaches out for the keys, dropping the cardboards, and Cole quickly rescues them. Piper then takes the baby in her arms and raises him above her head, making him scream in delight.
"There," she says, bringing her nephew close to her and kissing him several times, "you're such a good boy!"
She turns to Cole, who's looking at the drool covered cardboards with a very unhappy expression.
"Cole, why were you sitting on the floor, on the first place?" she asks.
"Because Ben wanted company," he sighs. "I so need an office."
"Well," says Piper, "I can't help you with that, but here's what I can do: I can baby sit while you work."
"Really?" he says. "That'd help a lot."
"Sure, why not? It's not like I'd be helping you with the case or something," -- Piper blushes, because that's exactly what she intends to do -- "I mean, can't an aunt spend some quality time with her nephew?"
"Sure," he says, smiling. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she says, smiling back at him. Then she stands up, with Ben in her arms. "Good luck."
As she leaves the room, Cole collects all the cardboards and moves to one of the white wicker chairs next to a glass top table. He looks at the cards Ben's chewed and waves his head.
"I'm definitely gonna need some luck," he sighs, before getting back to work.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Monday afternoon
"You know," says Leo, "your mother was right: lemon ice cream does help."
"I'm glad to hear that," says Piper with a smile. She's sitting by his side on the couch, sewing a button on one of his shirts. "Can I have some?"
"Hum, I don't know..." he says, with mock doubt, "I'm not sure you're entitled to it, since you're not getting sick..."
She pouts, and he smiles and gives her a spoonful of ice cream. Just then, they hear Ben humming to himself on the second floor.
"Should we go get him?" Leo asks, looking at the baby monitor.
"Nah," says Piper. "He sounds happy. Let's enjoy this rare moment of peace a little longer..."
Leo smiles and leans down to kiss her. Just when his lips are about to touch hers, Sarsour shimmers before them, startling them both.
"What are you doing here?" says Piper, straightening up. "You should be waiting for your trial!"
"I am," he says. "I have an appointment with my attorney. Uh, what time is it? Did I arrive too early? They said I should be here at 3 p.m., isn't it 3 p.m. yet?"
"Relax, you're right on time," says Piper, glancing at her watch. "Your attorney, on the other hand..."
When the phone rings, she and Leo exchange a look.
"Now, I wonder who this could be..." she says, rolling her eyes as she reaches out for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Piper? Cole here."
"Cole, hi!" she says, smirking. "We were just talking about you. Is there anything you'd like to tell us?" she asks, softly.
"He's already there, isn't he?" Cole asks, grimacing.
"Oh yes, he is," says Piper. "But I can't blame him, since he had an appointment with his attorney at 3 p.m. and it's..." -- she looks at her watch -- "3:02 p.m."
"I'm awfully sorry, Piper. I didn't say anything to you because I thought I'd be home way before three o'clock. But there were like one million people in the bank today. Is Leo home, too?"
"Yup."
Cole swears under his breath and asks:
"Is he pissed off?"
"Hum... a little," says Piper, barely hiding a smile at the way Leo's glaring at Sarsour, while this one examines the room with great interest.
"Great..." Cole sighs. "Can you stay with Sarsour until I get home? It won't take long."
"Well," says Piper, "it's not like I actually have a choice, is it?"
"Uh, no," he admits. "But I figured out it'd sound better if I asked."
Piper's glad he can't see her smile now. She asks in her most stern voice:
"Have you at least left the bank already?"
"Sure, I'm on my way back home, I..."
"Wait. On your way back home? You're speaking on the cell phone while you drive? Is the phone in hands free mode?"
"Yes, Ma'am," says Cole, rolling his eyes. The woman is only two months pregnant and she already sounds like a mother. "I'll be there in ten minutes, okay?"
"Make it fifteen," says Piper. "Slow down, there's no point in killing yourself because of a few lousy minutes."
"I'm not running," says Cole, releasing his foot from the gas pedal. How does she do it? "Thank you, Piper. You're the best."
"Yeah, yeah..." she says with a smirk. "Bye."
After she hangs up, she turns to Leo and Sarsour:
"He apologizes, the bank was more crowded than he had expected, but he's already on his way home."
They hear Ben through the baby monitor again: he's starting to get restless.
"I guess I'd better go see Ben now," says Piper. "I mean," she adds, giving Leo an uncertain look, "unless you'd rather..."
"No, I'd rather stay here, honey," says Leo, unwilling to let Sarsour alone with his wife, half elf or not.
As Piper leaves the room, Leo and Sarsour remain in silence for an awkward moment. Noticing Sarsour stare at his ice cream bowl, Leo sighs and says:
"That's lemon ice cream. Will you join me?"
"Sure," says Sarsour, oblivious to the fact that Leo's offered it just out of politeness.
Leo stands up and says, heading to the kitchen:
"Follow me."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Leo is closing the freezer door when Cole bursts in, breathless.
"Leo, I'm sorry, I..." -- he stops short and his jaw drops as he looks from Leo to Sarsour, each one holding an ice cream bowl.
"Not a word," Leo warns.
"Far from me to say anything," says Cole, watching with great amusement as Sarsour feasts himself. "But since everyone is having ice cream, can I have a bowl, too?"
"Suit yourself," says Leo, moving away from the freezer.
As Cole opens the freezer door and reaches out for the ice cream pack, he says in a low voice:
"So, you're being the good host."
"Don't push it," says Leo in the same tone, "you lost your guest privileges when you became part of the family."
"I can live with that," says Cole, smirking. Then turning to Sarsour: "Come on, let's work at the sunroom."
"Listen," he says to Leo, before following Sarsour through the door, "I can take it from here. If you and Piper want to go for a walk or something, until we're done here..."
"Actually," says Leo, "I'd rather stay here during this meeting of yours. I mean, if you don't mind."
"With you staying here through the meeting? No. With the fact that your presence will be part of the 'keeping a close eye on me' policy? A little."
"Well," says Leo, walking past him and heading to the sunroom, "keep in mind that I'm doing this out of concern for your welfare and get over it."
