The three Charmed sisters were sitting together in the room Piper had set up as her own. Perched on the bed, they sat in a circle, a circle that represented so much more than anyone realized.

"It's so weird seeing her all grown up." Phoebe started. "Her and her boyfriend have been living together for two years now."

"How exactly is she related to you?" Paige asked. "I know she's your niece, but what's the story?"

"After our father left us, he married another woman and had Amy, our half sister. He then left their family, but that has more to do with him not being a good father than anything else."

Phoebe recognized the bitterness in Piper's tone more than anyone else, remembering the days when any mention of their infamous father caused an argument. "Piper doesn't speak to our father much. In fact, we quite disagree on the subject of him."

"Anyway," Piper frowned at in Phoebe's direction, "Amy was born and raised in Roswell. When she was sixteen, she got pregnant and married Kevin DeLuca. That's where Maria came from. Then Kevin ran out on them, and Amy had to raise Maria alone. Amy died at the beginning of last year in a car accident."

Paige gasped. "Oh God, that's terrible. She had no one."

"We should take them out to dinner," Phoebe suggested, "Get to know them better."

"That's a good idea. I'd like to bring the sister, too." Piper added. "Taja, her name was?"

"Yeah, Taja. That's such a pretty name."

"I'd like to know what's behind them. I think they have a really cool story."

"Leo thinks something strange is going on here. Like the way Michael and Maria seem to know what the other is thinking and how close they are for a teen relationship." Piper generalized. "Then there was that secret they were hinting towards. Do you remember?"

Phoebe perked up at the mystery. "Michael was talking with Cole, about being able to handle just about any kind of secret."

"Michael also mentioned about telling some guy, that they could protect themselves." Phoebe said. "Then they said their lives weren't normal, either."

"Something strange is definitely doing on here." Piper stated flatly.

"Whatever they've gotten in to, I hope they can handle it."

"Michael and Maria seemed calm enough."

* * * * *

Liz walked past Michael and grabbed is shirt. "Michael, come with me to make us something to eat."

"José's working today," Michael whined. "Let him do it. I got the whole week off."

Liz stopped right in front of him and gave him a stony look. "We'll slow him down and we're not paying. Help me with food."

"He, he, he!" Alex snickered.

"Make lots of meat. I'm starving!" Max called as they walked to the kitchen.

"Hey, Maria." The group looked up at the voice speaking to Maria over their table. A tall, dark man stood there in a black pullover and black trousers.

"Hey, Cole. What are you doing here?"

"Just getting a feel for the town. Who are your friends?"

Looking around the booth, Maria saw the faces of her family. "This is Alex, Isabel, and Kyle. Over there is Isabel's brother, Max, and Michael's sister, Taja. Liz is at the counter with Michael. Everyone, this is Cole Turner, my Aunt Phoebe's boyfriend."

"Have you been to the UFO Museum, yet?" Max asked. "I work there part-time."

"Yeah, I just stopped by. It's got some interesting information."

Isabel looked up at the handsome man, "Do you believe in aliens, Mr. Turner?"

"Cole, please." He smiled. "I think humans are very arrogant in their belief that their existence is the only one in the universe. There is life out there, without a doubt."

"That's a really unbiased opinion. Not many people look at it that way." Liz and Michael had returned from the kitchen, leaving José to finish the burgers.

"So, Cole, what do you do in San Francisco?" Max asked.

"I'm a district attorney."

"Our father's a lawyer, too. Mostly business contracts, though. Not criminal law. Isabel beamed.

"Do you want anything to eat, Cole?" Liz asked, ever conscious of a customer. "Michael and I were in the process of raiding the kitchen."

"No thanks. I don't know what Piper and Phoebe are planning, but it's a real good idea to just go with the flow when dealing with the Halliwell sisters. I have to talk to them first."

"Cole, can I ask you a personal question?" Maria asked suddenly.

"Sure, as long as it's not too embarrassing."

"If you know two people who both had secrets from each other," She started, "but one of the secrets was important to both of them, do you think its okay to share?"

"Maria, what are you doing?"

Max looked worriedly at Michael. "What is she doing?"

"I don't know what she's doing," Isabel cut in, "but I hope it's not what I think it might be."

"Maria," Cole answered, "I think it all really depends on the circumstances ad the history of everyone involved." He cocked his head to the side. "Why do you ask? Need help with something?"

"Maria! Stop this!"

"No, Michael. He's acting funny. I've got to find out how much he knows."

"We can have Isabel dreamwalk him then. You can't just reveal everything to him like this!"

"Michael, they told us their story."

"You haven't even told everyone his story yet. They won't understand!"

"Nope, just a question I've been asking everyone. A personal questionnaire of a sort." Maria recovered.

Just then, the bell on the Crashdown door chimed. "Hello again!" Phoebe called out.

"What's up!"

Phoebe looked back to the voice. "Alex? You've gotten so tall!"

"It's Auntie Phoebe, Liz!"

"Liz, where are you?" Phoebe called.

"Yep! Hey Phoebe! Hey Piper!"

Piper gave Liz a huge hug. "God, you guys are all so big now! And Liz, the last time I saw you, you were drunk off your ass. It's good to see you."

"So how's it all going?" Alex asked.

"Just fine," Phoebe answered. "We were actually inviting Maria and Michael out to dinner with us. A family kind of thing."

"Michael," Piper finished for her sister. "Your sister is welcome, too."

"Thank you," Taja said.

Cole kissed Phoebe's neck. "I've been catching up with the local color, baby. Aren't you proud of me?"

"Yes, you've been really good today." She patted him on the head.

"Where's Leo?" Piper asked Cole.

"He, uh, got a call." Cole looked at Piper knowingly. "He said he'd get here as soon as possible."

"Well, speak of the devil…" Phoebe spoke.

Leo sauntered in with a grin on his face. "I got us a table at the little Italian place in the next town over. Dress is casual, so we can leave now if you want to."

"That's fine. Liz, everybody, we'll talk later, 'kay?" Maria agreed.

"Yeah, call me."

"Do you know the way, Leo?" Maria asked.

"I got directions from the guy at the restaurant, but…"

"But they're probably wrong." Michael finished. "We know how to get there, so you don't have to worry. Come on Taja." They wave and leave the Crashdown.

* * * * *

They pulled in under the neon Maggiano's sign and left the vehicle with the valet. Walking into the building, Leo walked up to the host. "Halliwell, party of eight."

"Right this way, sir." They were lead to a round table in a secluded corner of the restaurant.

"This is lovely, thank you." Piper dismissed him.

"My pleasure, ma'am." He said, backing away discreetly.

After getting their drinks and food, they settled into serious conversation.

"Taja, Michael mentioned that you came to live with him from New York." Piper started first.

"Yeah. I was adopted here in New Mexico when I was a baby, but then my parents moved to Colorado. They were killed in a fire when I was fourteen so I went to New York."

Leo was curious. "Michael, how did you find her? Did you even know that you had a sibling?"

"I always knew I had a sister. We're twins, so I guess it was a kind of bond that made me start looking for her."

"That must have been tough to find her in all those people with so little clues." Phoebe sympathized.

"Something just told me to look for her there, so I did, and I found her."

"I was adopted, too," Paige related, "but I didn't know that Piper and Phoebe were my sisters until Prue died."

"Prue was our older sister. She died about a year ago." Piper seemed closer to coming to terms with it each time it was spoken.

"I'm sorry." Taja's eyes were warm and comforting.

"So," Cole tried to lighten the mood. "You all live in that house together, huh?"

"I inherited it when my mother died, but I needed a guardian because I was still underage. The Sheriff allowed Michael to stay with me since he was emancipated. When we found Taja, she moved in, too."

"Do you all go together on payments?" Piper asked, not wanting Maria to be stuck with the responsibility of three people.

Michael caught on. "Well, most of it was already paid off so it's only like a hundred bucks a month. Between the three of us, that's no big deal."

"So you all have jobs, then?"

"Taja works with me as a waitress at the Crashdown and Michael's one of the cooks."

"For a while, I was also working security at this chemical facility, but that was only for some extra cash."

"Are any of you planning to further your education?"

"Well, Isabel is already in college, 'cause she graduated early, but the rest of us have to graduate first. I don't really know what happened after that."

"You'll probably have it all worked out in time. You're young and there's plenty of time left in your life." Paige offered.

"How long have you and Leo been married, Piper?"

"A little over a year, Taja."

"That's great."

"Cole and I are engaged." Phoebe bragged.

"Really?" Maria was surprised. "Congratulations."

"We haven't really set a date or gotten anything organized yet," Cole explained, "we've just made the commitment."

"I don't even have a boyfriend," Paige said, pretending to be glum.

"I'm sure we can find you a nice man, Paige."

"I don't want nice, Piper, I want thrilling."

"Be careful what you ask for," Phoebe glanced at Cole, remembering.

"I don't have a boyfriend, either." Taja consoled her.

"Well, we'll go looking together in San Francisco, how 'bout that?"

"Cool."

* * * * *