The Halliwells and Abby were sitting in the hard plastic chairs at the
police station, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Carol Lancaster. Prue's
hands were even shaking. Her heart was pounding, her palms were clammy, and
she was beginning to get very thirsty. She couldn't remember being this
nervous before, and she didn't know why she was.
Perhaps it was because she was afraid for Abby. For four years, the little girl had thought that her mother didn't love her anymore and now, she was about to face the woman again. What if they were uncomfortable around each other after all that time? What if Carol had become so used to living alone that she forgot what living with a kid was like? What if, because they had been separated for so long, they didn't love each other anymore? Even still, Prue thought, Abby's lucky she's able to try to be reunited with her mother. Prue and her sisters never got that chance.
The front door opened with a whoosh, allowing humid air from outside to spill into the air-conditioned building. All four of them jumped in their seats and turned to look. A woman with blond hair that hung a little past her shoulders and pale blue eyes walked in, her eyes searching the room. Prue knew those eyes. She had looked into eyes just like those countless times over the past five days. Prue smiled in spite of herself. Abby was the spitting image of her mother.
"Mama?" Abby cried out, jumping out of her seat and stepping forward cautiously.
The woman abruptly turned around, following the little voice. "Abby?" she asked quietly, almost as if she didn't know if she should believe it. She took one look at the little girl and ran over to her, kneeling down in front of her and giving her a tight, long hug. "Oh, Abby, I thought I'd never see you again! How are you? Did he treat you okay?" She let her go and held her at arm's length. "My, you're so big! Let me take a look at you."
Abby giggled as she wiped away the tears that were welling in her eyes. For the first time in a long while, the tears weren't from sadness. "He treated me fine, Mama. He never hurt me." Her mother smiled and pulled her daughter into another hug. Abby squeezed back for a moment, then pulled away, remembering her manners. "Mama, this is Prue, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell," she said, pointing out each of the sisters in turn. "They took care of me after he left me at the mall."
Carol shook hands with each of them, giving them a grateful smile. "Thank you for being so good to my daughter. When the police told me that he had left her in a mall and three sisters took her in while they tried to find me . . ." She trailed off, choking up. Clearing her throat, she smiled again. "Most people wouldn't have done what you did for her. She was certainly lucky you three found her."
"It was our pleasure," Prue said, smiling back. "She really is a wonderful kid."
Andy walked up to the group, reluctant to interrupt the reunion. "Mrs. Lancaster?" he said gently. "Inspector Trudeau. We talked on the phone."
"Of course," Carol said, shaking hands with Andy. "Nice to meet you."
"Pleasure's mine," he smiled. "I hate to do this, but if I could just have you fill out some forms . . ."
"Oh, sure." She looked down at Abby and cupped the girl's chin in the palm of her hand. "I'll be right back, baby."
"I'm not going anywhere," Abby said with a grin.
Carol smiled, then went with Andy to fill out the necessary paperwork. Prue watched them leave, then sat back down somewhat sadly. There was no doubt that this woman was Abby's mother. They looked exactly alike. They even sounded alike, which meant that Prue really was going to have to give the girl back.
Abby, sensing Prue's melancholy mood, climbed into Prue's lap and tried to comfort her. "Hey, you said she lives right down the street from you, right?"
Prue nodded, swallowing the lump that was quickly forming in her throat. "It's like, a five-minute car ride."
"See? We'll see each other all the time."
Prue smiled and embraced the girl tightly. "Yes, we will."
Phoebe and Piper crowded around the two of them, trying to comfort Prue while saying goodbye to Abby. "I'm going to miss you, kiddo," Phoebe said as she lightly tugged on a lock of the girl's hair.
"We won't be too far apart." Tears were beginning to gather in her eyes once again. She really didn't want to leave, but she knew she had to. Obviously she was excited and even relieved to be back with her mom after all this time and to know her mom really did want her, but she still wished she could stay with the sisters, too. She wished she could split herself in two. That way, she could be with both her mom and the sisters. She swiped at her eyes and leaned back against Prue. "We'll just be down the street from each other."
"That's right," Piper said with a smile, hoping to cheer everyone up. "We can call and write and even go for a visit."
Prue nodded, held Abby tightly for a moment, then let her go as Carol came back up to them. Andy, who was walking her back, smiled when Abby hopped off Prue's lap and ran up to her mother.
"Okay, baby," Carol said, wrapping her arm around Abby's shoulders and holding her dearly, "let's go back home. Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to say that to you."
"Can we stop at Prue's first?" Abby asked hesitantly. "I have to get Amethyst."
"Amethyst?" Carol asked, glancing down at her daughter.
"Her teddy bear," Prue explained. She stood up and smiled. "We bought her a teddy bear and some new clothes when we found her."
Carol smiled and tousled Abby's hair. "Sure, baby." She looked up at the sisters. "Again, thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you for . . ." She shook her head, choking up again.
"Just let us visit from time to time," Prue said with a gentle smile.
"You got it." Carol pulled her daughter's hair away from her face and sighed. "What do you say, baby? Want to head out?"
Abby broke out of her mother's grip and ran up to the sisters. She gave each of them a huge hug, Prue's being the longest and the tightest. "Thank you, guys. I love you." She let Prue go and stepped back, smiling at them with tears glistening in her eyes. Then she ran back to her mother, slipping her hand into Carol's. "Come on, Mama. Let's go home."
**********
Prue was up in her room, folding all of Abby's little clothes. She had been planning to drive the outfits over to Abby's house for a couple of days, but so far, she hadn't been able to bring herself to get in the car and make the five-minute drive. It would all seem so final if she did. It would mean that Abby wasn't coming back to stay. It was a little ridiculous, she knew, but Prue felt like she had lost a daughter. She knew she shouldn't feel that way because Abby never was her daughter, adopted or otherwise, but she couldn't help it. She had enjoyed acting like a mother and she enjoyed listening to the sounds of a little kid running through the house.
She felt hot tears begin to prickle in her eyes. She put down the small T- shirt she was folding and sank down on the bed, wiping her eyes. Pull yourself together and get a grip, she chastised herself. She took a deep breath in and held it for a moment. It was going to be all right. It was just going to take a little time.
After a minute or two of just sitting there, she stood up and picked up where she left off. She had just finished folding a little lavender T-shirt that had a couple of ice cream stains already when she heard the doorbell chime. She stopped what she was doing, trying to hear who was at the door, but after a second, she gave up, rolling her eyes and turning back to the task at hand.
She heard a quiet knock on the door a minute later and ignored it at first. Then a second knock sounded and the door slowly creaked open. "Prue?" Piper asked from the doorway. "You have a visitor."
Prue glanced over her shoulder at her sister, then turned back to the clothes. "Tell them I'm not home," she mumbled as she picked up a pair of jeans.
"Trust me. You want to come downstairs for this visitor," she said with a mischievous smile. She entered the room, ripped the jeans from Prue's hand, and took her other hand, pulling her out of the room. Prue resisted at first, but Piper was still able to half-drag her down the stairs.
Once Prue's feet hit the floor of the foyer, she turned towards to door, ready to whine at Piper for making her come downstairs. Instead, she grinned. There, standing in the foyer and holding three small shopping bags, was Abby, a wide grin on her face. "Abby!" Prue exclaimed. She ran up to the little girl and wrapped her in a tight hug. "How are you? How are things with your mom?"
"I'm great!" Abby said through a fit of giggles. "It's so good, Prue. It's like my mom and I were never apart." She squeezed Prue back, then gently pulled away. "Mama's waiting for me in the car. She said she thought this was something I should do on my own . . . or something like that." She handed each sister a shopping bag, then stood back against the wall and smiled. "I wanted to say thanks. I picked them all out myself."
Phoebe shared a grin with her sisters, then tore into her bag. Inside were two blank journals and a set of colored pens. "You said you like to write," Abby explained. "But notebooks get ruined. Now you don't have to worry about that."
Phoebe smiled, truly touched by the thought Abby put into the gift. "Come here, kiddo," she said, holding out her arms. Abby ran into them, giving her the biggest hug she could. "I'll treasure them forever."
Abby nodded and pulled away, wiping a lone tear from her eye. She had promised herself she wasn't going to cry and she intended to stick to that promise. "Open yours, Piper," she said as she leaned against Phoebe's legs.
Piper stuck her hand into her bag and came out with two packages of glow in the dark stars and one set of glow in the dark planets. She grinned, knowing exactly why Abby had given her that particular gift. "You remembered!"
"Remembered what?" Prue asked.
"I told Abby the first day she was here that I like the stars, too, just like she does," Piper explained as Abby broke away from Phoebe and ran up to Piper, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I even have a couple on my ceiling, but I didn't have enough to make constellations or anything like that. Now, I do." She lifted the little girl into the air and settled her on her hip. "Thanks, honey," she said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek.
"Don't mention it," Abby replied, once again trying not to choke up. "Your turn, Prue."
Prue smiled and dug into the bag. Her fingers wrapped around something soft and she pulled out a small white teddy bear. It looked exactly like Amethyst, except that it had a dark blue ribbon around its neck instead of a purple one. "I named her Sapphire, but if you don't like it, you can change it," Abby said quietly from Piper's arms.
"No, I love it," Prue replied, tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you so much."
Abby jumped out of Piper's arms and run up to Prue, waving her hand to ask Prue to crouch down. Prue did as she was asked and Abby wrapped her arms around her neck. "See? Now we're even closer because we're teddy bear twins."
Prue embraced the little girl tightly, trying not to cry. She suddenly missed Abby more than ever. Though she didn't want to let the girl go, she did, sniffling back some tears. "Yes, we are."
"And we're all secret twins, too, because I know I can't tell anyone about the magic," Abby whispered. She hugged Prue tightly once more before pulling away and heading back towards the door. "I should go. Mama's probably getting worried. She hasn't let me out of her sight since I went home." She smiled at the sisters, her hand on the doorknob. "You better come visit me. I love you guys."
"Oh, we love you, too, kiddo," Phoebe said. Prue could tell that even she was trying not to cry. "And the visiting thing goes both ways."
Abby grinned and opened the door, waving as she exited the Manor. All three of them rushed to the door, watched Abby get into the car, and waved to Carol as she pulled out of the driveway. "I'm going to miss her," Piper said softly.
"Me, too," Prue murmured, staring down at the teddy bear in her hand. "More than you know."
**********
Prue had been up in her room for hours, ever since Abby's visit that morning. She wasn't doing much besides lying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She had Sapphire balanced on her stomach, running one hand over the bear. All she could think about was Abby.
At least she knew Abby was happy. She was excited to hear that Abby and her mother had settled in together so quickly and so comfortably. When the little girl had stopped by that day, she had seemed so relaxed and so happy that Prue couldn't help but feel happy for her. But she was also saddened because the little girl was no longer with her. In just five short days, Abby had become like a daughter to Prue, and the thought of not having the little girl there day after day left her with an empty feeling. It was almost as if something was missing.
She closed her eyes and sighed. Why was this making her so upset? She should be happy. She and her sisters had helped a lost, lonely little girl find her mother; they had reunited a family. Prue honestly couldn't have felt prouder than she did when she saw the look on Carol's face when she spotted Abby for the first time in the police station. But, in a way that made Prue question her values, she wished they hadn't found Carol. That way, Abby could have stayed with them forever. Oh, cut it out, you're being selfish, she chided herself.
Someone knocked on her door and she started, opening her eyes. "Come in," she called quietly.
Piper opened the door and peeked her head into the room. "Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes. Hope you want lasagna."
Prue tore her eyes from the door and stared down at Sapphire, quickly picking up Abby's habit of running the satin ribbon between her fingers. "I'm not hungry."
"Prue, you have to eat something," Piper insisted from the doorway. "Over the past two days, I think I've seen you eat two meals, and that's because Phoebe and I forced you."
"I'll eat something later."
Piper entered the room and sat down on the bed beside Prue. "Look, I know you're upset, but--"
"I'm not upset," Prue shrugged without taking her eyes off Sapphire.
"Don't give me that," Piper said, shaking her head slightly. "I know you're upset without her. I am, too. But we had to let her go."
"The house is so quiet."
"Yeah, it is." Piper looked down at Prue, then nudged her, making her scoot over. Prue obliged and Piper laid down beside her, placing her hand under her head. "You know, she's just down the street. It's not like she had to move back to Massachusetts. We'll see her all the time."
"It's not the same," Prue said, her voice verging on a whine.
"No, it's not, but it can't be the way you want it to be."
"I know," Prue sighed. She squeezed the teddy bear against her stomach. "And I know I should be happy. I mean, we reunited a mother and a daughter, but I feel like--"
"Like you lost a daughter," Piper finished. Prue nodded sadly. "Honey, I know you were close with her and she was close with you, but she was never ours to begin with. I know we thought that maybe she was destined to stay with us, but it's obvious now that she wasn't. We weren't meant to raise her as our own. We were meant to lift the shield so she could find her mom, which we did."
Prue nodded again, praying that Piper couldn't see the tears in her eyes. She swallowed hard. "Then how come I feel like she belonged here?"
"Because you wanted her to belong here." Piper looked over at Prue and saw that she was biting her lip to keep from crying. "Honey, if you want to cry, you can cry."
Prue just shook her head. "I'm okay."
The sisters laid in silence for a few minutes before Piper gasped, bolting upright. "Damn it, dinner's about to burn!" She got up and ran for the door. Once there, she turned around. "Are you sure you don't want to eat?"
"I told you, I'm not hungry. I'll eat later."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Piper said, smiling gently.
Prue smirked, nodding. After Piper had quietly left the room, Prue rolled onto her side, curling into a ball and hugging the teddy bear to her chest, and allowed herself to start crying. Once she started, she couldn't stop. Everything she had ever been angry over, everything she had ever been upset about, she was feeling it all in this one moment. "Why give her to me and then take her away?" she cried into the pillow. "Why let me love her and then take her away from me?"
She honestly had no idea how long she'd been crying, though she knew it was at least ten minutes. She was just starting to calm down when she felt a hand slide onto her shoulder. She gasped and looked up, expecting to find Piper or Phoebe or possibly both of them hovering over her. Instead, she found no one at all and she could still feel the hand on her shoulder. She was a little wary at first, but after a moment, she smiled. The hand squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, almost as if it was telling her that everything was going to be all right. She had no idea who was comforting her, though she was willing to guess that it was either her mother or her grandmother, but it didn't matter. It worked.
She got up off the bed, wiped her eyes, and headed downstairs to dinner, the smell of the lasagna making her stomach rumble. Piper and Phoebe were sitting at the dining room table, talking quietly over their meal, but as soon as Prue entered the room, they both stopped and looked up at her, smiling. "Hey," Piper said, greeting her sister.
"Hi." Prue slipped into place at the table and scooped a slice of lasagna onto her plate.
"Hey, have you been crying?" Phoebe asked, noticing for the first time that Prue's eyes were red.
She nodded and stuck a forkful of pasta in her mouth. "Are you going to be okay?" Piper asked.
Prue nodded again and swallowed her bite of lasagna. "I will be. I realized that I have to let Abby go. She's not mine, she never was, no matter how much I want her to be. Right now, though, I want to eat. I'm starving!"
Piper grinned and scooped a little more lasagna onto Prue's plate. "By all means, eat up!" She exchanged a glance with Phoebe and smiled at her. Phoebe smiled back.
Prue looked up and caught the silent exchange. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," Piper said with a grin. "I was just thinking . . . you're going to make a great mom."
Prue smiled. "You really think so?"
Phoebe nodded. "If this week with Abby was any indication, you'll be a terrific mom."
Prue beamed, blushing. Her sisters were right. She had a knack for mothering and it took having to take care of Abby to make her see that. And while she was going to miss the little girl, she knew that Piper was right when they were talking in her room earlier. Abby didn't belong at the Manor, she belonged at home with her mother. And her mother just so happened to live a mere few houses down the street. If Prue wanted, she could still see the little girl whenever she felt like it and she could still watch her grow up.
It was going to take a little time, but Prue knew she'd be all right. She now knew that she wanted to be a mother and she knew that she would be good at it. And she had Abby to thank for it. Maybe that was another reason the sisters had found Abby. Maybe it was destiny's way of showing Prue she had nothing to fear. She smiled to herself, thinking that Abby had helped her just as much as, possibly more than, she had helped Abby. And even though she was going through hell right now, she wouldn't change one thing about it.
**********
Note: Thanks to all y'all who stuck through this all the way through. It was quite a bit longer than I intended on it being, but it was quite fun to write :)
Perhaps it was because she was afraid for Abby. For four years, the little girl had thought that her mother didn't love her anymore and now, she was about to face the woman again. What if they were uncomfortable around each other after all that time? What if Carol had become so used to living alone that she forgot what living with a kid was like? What if, because they had been separated for so long, they didn't love each other anymore? Even still, Prue thought, Abby's lucky she's able to try to be reunited with her mother. Prue and her sisters never got that chance.
The front door opened with a whoosh, allowing humid air from outside to spill into the air-conditioned building. All four of them jumped in their seats and turned to look. A woman with blond hair that hung a little past her shoulders and pale blue eyes walked in, her eyes searching the room. Prue knew those eyes. She had looked into eyes just like those countless times over the past five days. Prue smiled in spite of herself. Abby was the spitting image of her mother.
"Mama?" Abby cried out, jumping out of her seat and stepping forward cautiously.
The woman abruptly turned around, following the little voice. "Abby?" she asked quietly, almost as if she didn't know if she should believe it. She took one look at the little girl and ran over to her, kneeling down in front of her and giving her a tight, long hug. "Oh, Abby, I thought I'd never see you again! How are you? Did he treat you okay?" She let her go and held her at arm's length. "My, you're so big! Let me take a look at you."
Abby giggled as she wiped away the tears that were welling in her eyes. For the first time in a long while, the tears weren't from sadness. "He treated me fine, Mama. He never hurt me." Her mother smiled and pulled her daughter into another hug. Abby squeezed back for a moment, then pulled away, remembering her manners. "Mama, this is Prue, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell," she said, pointing out each of the sisters in turn. "They took care of me after he left me at the mall."
Carol shook hands with each of them, giving them a grateful smile. "Thank you for being so good to my daughter. When the police told me that he had left her in a mall and three sisters took her in while they tried to find me . . ." She trailed off, choking up. Clearing her throat, she smiled again. "Most people wouldn't have done what you did for her. She was certainly lucky you three found her."
"It was our pleasure," Prue said, smiling back. "She really is a wonderful kid."
Andy walked up to the group, reluctant to interrupt the reunion. "Mrs. Lancaster?" he said gently. "Inspector Trudeau. We talked on the phone."
"Of course," Carol said, shaking hands with Andy. "Nice to meet you."
"Pleasure's mine," he smiled. "I hate to do this, but if I could just have you fill out some forms . . ."
"Oh, sure." She looked down at Abby and cupped the girl's chin in the palm of her hand. "I'll be right back, baby."
"I'm not going anywhere," Abby said with a grin.
Carol smiled, then went with Andy to fill out the necessary paperwork. Prue watched them leave, then sat back down somewhat sadly. There was no doubt that this woman was Abby's mother. They looked exactly alike. They even sounded alike, which meant that Prue really was going to have to give the girl back.
Abby, sensing Prue's melancholy mood, climbed into Prue's lap and tried to comfort her. "Hey, you said she lives right down the street from you, right?"
Prue nodded, swallowing the lump that was quickly forming in her throat. "It's like, a five-minute car ride."
"See? We'll see each other all the time."
Prue smiled and embraced the girl tightly. "Yes, we will."
Phoebe and Piper crowded around the two of them, trying to comfort Prue while saying goodbye to Abby. "I'm going to miss you, kiddo," Phoebe said as she lightly tugged on a lock of the girl's hair.
"We won't be too far apart." Tears were beginning to gather in her eyes once again. She really didn't want to leave, but she knew she had to. Obviously she was excited and even relieved to be back with her mom after all this time and to know her mom really did want her, but she still wished she could stay with the sisters, too. She wished she could split herself in two. That way, she could be with both her mom and the sisters. She swiped at her eyes and leaned back against Prue. "We'll just be down the street from each other."
"That's right," Piper said with a smile, hoping to cheer everyone up. "We can call and write and even go for a visit."
Prue nodded, held Abby tightly for a moment, then let her go as Carol came back up to them. Andy, who was walking her back, smiled when Abby hopped off Prue's lap and ran up to her mother.
"Okay, baby," Carol said, wrapping her arm around Abby's shoulders and holding her dearly, "let's go back home. Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to say that to you."
"Can we stop at Prue's first?" Abby asked hesitantly. "I have to get Amethyst."
"Amethyst?" Carol asked, glancing down at her daughter.
"Her teddy bear," Prue explained. She stood up and smiled. "We bought her a teddy bear and some new clothes when we found her."
Carol smiled and tousled Abby's hair. "Sure, baby." She looked up at the sisters. "Again, thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you for . . ." She shook her head, choking up again.
"Just let us visit from time to time," Prue said with a gentle smile.
"You got it." Carol pulled her daughter's hair away from her face and sighed. "What do you say, baby? Want to head out?"
Abby broke out of her mother's grip and ran up to the sisters. She gave each of them a huge hug, Prue's being the longest and the tightest. "Thank you, guys. I love you." She let Prue go and stepped back, smiling at them with tears glistening in her eyes. Then she ran back to her mother, slipping her hand into Carol's. "Come on, Mama. Let's go home."
**********
Prue was up in her room, folding all of Abby's little clothes. She had been planning to drive the outfits over to Abby's house for a couple of days, but so far, she hadn't been able to bring herself to get in the car and make the five-minute drive. It would all seem so final if she did. It would mean that Abby wasn't coming back to stay. It was a little ridiculous, she knew, but Prue felt like she had lost a daughter. She knew she shouldn't feel that way because Abby never was her daughter, adopted or otherwise, but she couldn't help it. She had enjoyed acting like a mother and she enjoyed listening to the sounds of a little kid running through the house.
She felt hot tears begin to prickle in her eyes. She put down the small T- shirt she was folding and sank down on the bed, wiping her eyes. Pull yourself together and get a grip, she chastised herself. She took a deep breath in and held it for a moment. It was going to be all right. It was just going to take a little time.
After a minute or two of just sitting there, she stood up and picked up where she left off. She had just finished folding a little lavender T-shirt that had a couple of ice cream stains already when she heard the doorbell chime. She stopped what she was doing, trying to hear who was at the door, but after a second, she gave up, rolling her eyes and turning back to the task at hand.
She heard a quiet knock on the door a minute later and ignored it at first. Then a second knock sounded and the door slowly creaked open. "Prue?" Piper asked from the doorway. "You have a visitor."
Prue glanced over her shoulder at her sister, then turned back to the clothes. "Tell them I'm not home," she mumbled as she picked up a pair of jeans.
"Trust me. You want to come downstairs for this visitor," she said with a mischievous smile. She entered the room, ripped the jeans from Prue's hand, and took her other hand, pulling her out of the room. Prue resisted at first, but Piper was still able to half-drag her down the stairs.
Once Prue's feet hit the floor of the foyer, she turned towards to door, ready to whine at Piper for making her come downstairs. Instead, she grinned. There, standing in the foyer and holding three small shopping bags, was Abby, a wide grin on her face. "Abby!" Prue exclaimed. She ran up to the little girl and wrapped her in a tight hug. "How are you? How are things with your mom?"
"I'm great!" Abby said through a fit of giggles. "It's so good, Prue. It's like my mom and I were never apart." She squeezed Prue back, then gently pulled away. "Mama's waiting for me in the car. She said she thought this was something I should do on my own . . . or something like that." She handed each sister a shopping bag, then stood back against the wall and smiled. "I wanted to say thanks. I picked them all out myself."
Phoebe shared a grin with her sisters, then tore into her bag. Inside were two blank journals and a set of colored pens. "You said you like to write," Abby explained. "But notebooks get ruined. Now you don't have to worry about that."
Phoebe smiled, truly touched by the thought Abby put into the gift. "Come here, kiddo," she said, holding out her arms. Abby ran into them, giving her the biggest hug she could. "I'll treasure them forever."
Abby nodded and pulled away, wiping a lone tear from her eye. She had promised herself she wasn't going to cry and she intended to stick to that promise. "Open yours, Piper," she said as she leaned against Phoebe's legs.
Piper stuck her hand into her bag and came out with two packages of glow in the dark stars and one set of glow in the dark planets. She grinned, knowing exactly why Abby had given her that particular gift. "You remembered!"
"Remembered what?" Prue asked.
"I told Abby the first day she was here that I like the stars, too, just like she does," Piper explained as Abby broke away from Phoebe and ran up to Piper, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I even have a couple on my ceiling, but I didn't have enough to make constellations or anything like that. Now, I do." She lifted the little girl into the air and settled her on her hip. "Thanks, honey," she said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek.
"Don't mention it," Abby replied, once again trying not to choke up. "Your turn, Prue."
Prue smiled and dug into the bag. Her fingers wrapped around something soft and she pulled out a small white teddy bear. It looked exactly like Amethyst, except that it had a dark blue ribbon around its neck instead of a purple one. "I named her Sapphire, but if you don't like it, you can change it," Abby said quietly from Piper's arms.
"No, I love it," Prue replied, tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you so much."
Abby jumped out of Piper's arms and run up to Prue, waving her hand to ask Prue to crouch down. Prue did as she was asked and Abby wrapped her arms around her neck. "See? Now we're even closer because we're teddy bear twins."
Prue embraced the little girl tightly, trying not to cry. She suddenly missed Abby more than ever. Though she didn't want to let the girl go, she did, sniffling back some tears. "Yes, we are."
"And we're all secret twins, too, because I know I can't tell anyone about the magic," Abby whispered. She hugged Prue tightly once more before pulling away and heading back towards the door. "I should go. Mama's probably getting worried. She hasn't let me out of her sight since I went home." She smiled at the sisters, her hand on the doorknob. "You better come visit me. I love you guys."
"Oh, we love you, too, kiddo," Phoebe said. Prue could tell that even she was trying not to cry. "And the visiting thing goes both ways."
Abby grinned and opened the door, waving as she exited the Manor. All three of them rushed to the door, watched Abby get into the car, and waved to Carol as she pulled out of the driveway. "I'm going to miss her," Piper said softly.
"Me, too," Prue murmured, staring down at the teddy bear in her hand. "More than you know."
**********
Prue had been up in her room for hours, ever since Abby's visit that morning. She wasn't doing much besides lying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She had Sapphire balanced on her stomach, running one hand over the bear. All she could think about was Abby.
At least she knew Abby was happy. She was excited to hear that Abby and her mother had settled in together so quickly and so comfortably. When the little girl had stopped by that day, she had seemed so relaxed and so happy that Prue couldn't help but feel happy for her. But she was also saddened because the little girl was no longer with her. In just five short days, Abby had become like a daughter to Prue, and the thought of not having the little girl there day after day left her with an empty feeling. It was almost as if something was missing.
She closed her eyes and sighed. Why was this making her so upset? She should be happy. She and her sisters had helped a lost, lonely little girl find her mother; they had reunited a family. Prue honestly couldn't have felt prouder than she did when she saw the look on Carol's face when she spotted Abby for the first time in the police station. But, in a way that made Prue question her values, she wished they hadn't found Carol. That way, Abby could have stayed with them forever. Oh, cut it out, you're being selfish, she chided herself.
Someone knocked on her door and she started, opening her eyes. "Come in," she called quietly.
Piper opened the door and peeked her head into the room. "Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes. Hope you want lasagna."
Prue tore her eyes from the door and stared down at Sapphire, quickly picking up Abby's habit of running the satin ribbon between her fingers. "I'm not hungry."
"Prue, you have to eat something," Piper insisted from the doorway. "Over the past two days, I think I've seen you eat two meals, and that's because Phoebe and I forced you."
"I'll eat something later."
Piper entered the room and sat down on the bed beside Prue. "Look, I know you're upset, but--"
"I'm not upset," Prue shrugged without taking her eyes off Sapphire.
"Don't give me that," Piper said, shaking her head slightly. "I know you're upset without her. I am, too. But we had to let her go."
"The house is so quiet."
"Yeah, it is." Piper looked down at Prue, then nudged her, making her scoot over. Prue obliged and Piper laid down beside her, placing her hand under her head. "You know, she's just down the street. It's not like she had to move back to Massachusetts. We'll see her all the time."
"It's not the same," Prue said, her voice verging on a whine.
"No, it's not, but it can't be the way you want it to be."
"I know," Prue sighed. She squeezed the teddy bear against her stomach. "And I know I should be happy. I mean, we reunited a mother and a daughter, but I feel like--"
"Like you lost a daughter," Piper finished. Prue nodded sadly. "Honey, I know you were close with her and she was close with you, but she was never ours to begin with. I know we thought that maybe she was destined to stay with us, but it's obvious now that she wasn't. We weren't meant to raise her as our own. We were meant to lift the shield so she could find her mom, which we did."
Prue nodded again, praying that Piper couldn't see the tears in her eyes. She swallowed hard. "Then how come I feel like she belonged here?"
"Because you wanted her to belong here." Piper looked over at Prue and saw that she was biting her lip to keep from crying. "Honey, if you want to cry, you can cry."
Prue just shook her head. "I'm okay."
The sisters laid in silence for a few minutes before Piper gasped, bolting upright. "Damn it, dinner's about to burn!" She got up and ran for the door. Once there, she turned around. "Are you sure you don't want to eat?"
"I told you, I'm not hungry. I'll eat later."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Piper said, smiling gently.
Prue smirked, nodding. After Piper had quietly left the room, Prue rolled onto her side, curling into a ball and hugging the teddy bear to her chest, and allowed herself to start crying. Once she started, she couldn't stop. Everything she had ever been angry over, everything she had ever been upset about, she was feeling it all in this one moment. "Why give her to me and then take her away?" she cried into the pillow. "Why let me love her and then take her away from me?"
She honestly had no idea how long she'd been crying, though she knew it was at least ten minutes. She was just starting to calm down when she felt a hand slide onto her shoulder. She gasped and looked up, expecting to find Piper or Phoebe or possibly both of them hovering over her. Instead, she found no one at all and she could still feel the hand on her shoulder. She was a little wary at first, but after a moment, she smiled. The hand squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, almost as if it was telling her that everything was going to be all right. She had no idea who was comforting her, though she was willing to guess that it was either her mother or her grandmother, but it didn't matter. It worked.
She got up off the bed, wiped her eyes, and headed downstairs to dinner, the smell of the lasagna making her stomach rumble. Piper and Phoebe were sitting at the dining room table, talking quietly over their meal, but as soon as Prue entered the room, they both stopped and looked up at her, smiling. "Hey," Piper said, greeting her sister.
"Hi." Prue slipped into place at the table and scooped a slice of lasagna onto her plate.
"Hey, have you been crying?" Phoebe asked, noticing for the first time that Prue's eyes were red.
She nodded and stuck a forkful of pasta in her mouth. "Are you going to be okay?" Piper asked.
Prue nodded again and swallowed her bite of lasagna. "I will be. I realized that I have to let Abby go. She's not mine, she never was, no matter how much I want her to be. Right now, though, I want to eat. I'm starving!"
Piper grinned and scooped a little more lasagna onto Prue's plate. "By all means, eat up!" She exchanged a glance with Phoebe and smiled at her. Phoebe smiled back.
Prue looked up and caught the silent exchange. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," Piper said with a grin. "I was just thinking . . . you're going to make a great mom."
Prue smiled. "You really think so?"
Phoebe nodded. "If this week with Abby was any indication, you'll be a terrific mom."
Prue beamed, blushing. Her sisters were right. She had a knack for mothering and it took having to take care of Abby to make her see that. And while she was going to miss the little girl, she knew that Piper was right when they were talking in her room earlier. Abby didn't belong at the Manor, she belonged at home with her mother. And her mother just so happened to live a mere few houses down the street. If Prue wanted, she could still see the little girl whenever she felt like it and she could still watch her grow up.
It was going to take a little time, but Prue knew she'd be all right. She now knew that she wanted to be a mother and she knew that she would be good at it. And she had Abby to thank for it. Maybe that was another reason the sisters had found Abby. Maybe it was destiny's way of showing Prue she had nothing to fear. She smiled to herself, thinking that Abby had helped her just as much as, possibly more than, she had helped Abby. And even though she was going through hell right now, she wouldn't change one thing about it.
**********
Note: Thanks to all y'all who stuck through this all the way through. It was quite a bit longer than I intended on it being, but it was quite fun to write :)