EIGHT

"Cole Turner, I don't care what the case is you're working on, you

promised this weekend was going to be for us and us alone," said a slightly

irate Phoebe as she chastised Cole in the living room of the manor. "Need I

remind you that we haven't even been able to take a honeymoon since we got

married? You're always having to go out of town on some type of business."

"I know," said Cole, "but I can't help it. This is a really important

case and I have to interview a very important witness. It will only be

overnight and I'll be back the next morning, I promise."

"Cole," began Phoebe as the doorbell rang. "Oh, you're exasperating.

This isn't finished."

Phoebe went to answer the door as Piper was just coming down the stairs.

"Gotta break another date?" she asked.

"Yes," said Cole. "I feel terrible about it. I'm going to make it up to

her, I promise."

Phoebe opened the door to find Leo, Tiffany, and Chris standing on the

front porch. Leo just smiled at her.

"Hi," he said, "remember me?"

"Leo?" questioned Phoebe, breaking into a big smile. "Leo Wyatt? Well,

what the devil are you doing here? We haven't seen you in, what, five years?"

"Something like that," said Leo. "I was in town and thought I'd stop by

and say hello. And maybe make a few explanations while I'm at it. Mind if we

come in for a bit?"

"No, no, not at all," said Phoebe, opening the door. "Piper, Prue, come

look who's stopped by for a visit." Suddenly she noticed Chris standing behind

the other two. "What's he doing here?"

'That's part of the explanations," said Leo walking into the manor.

"Hello, Piper. It's good to see you again."

"Leo Wyatt?" questioned Piper. "I thought Phoebe was hallucinating.

Prue," she called up the stairs, "better get down here. We have an old friend

visiting."

"I'd like to introduce Tiffany Morgan, my cousin," said Leo. "And I

believe you've already met Chris. He's Tiffany's brother."

"That we have," said Cole. "Hi, I'm Cole Turner, Phoebe's husband."

"Well, belated congratulations," said Leo.

"Thanks," said Cole.

"So, what's this explanation?" asked Phoebe, looking suspiciously at

Chris. "He was here yesterday but he was ranting and raving like a madmen."

"That's my fault, I'm afraid," said Tiffany. "I just got so busy I forgot

to get his prescription filled. When he came home going on about the three of

you, I got it filled immediately. I'm sorry if he was an inconvenience."

"Not an inconvenience," said Prue, coming down the stairs, followed by

Andy. "Just a little confusing. Hi, I'm Prue. Hello, Leo. It's been a long

time."

"Too long," said Leo. "Why don't we all go into the living room where we

can talk. We can make all the introductions and hopefully I can explain what

happened yesterday."

"Not to mention what happened five years ago," said Piper. "You just

disappeared on us."

"I know," said Leo. "I'll explain everything."

Together, the group went into the living room. Chris was very

uncomfortable and wasn't sure if they were going to buy the "explanation" or

not.

* * *

"So, Chris isn't dangerous?" asked Piper. "When he was here yesterday

ranting about how Prue, Andy, and Cole were dead, I was afraid he might get

violent."

"Oh, it's nothing like that," said Tiffany. "Little brother just has a

chemical imbalance that sometimes impairs his reasoning if he doesn't stay on

his medication. It can even produce hallucinations and delusions, as you saw

firsthand. I usually have his prescription filled in plenty of time but I've

been busy of late and it just slipped my mind."

"I'm sorry if I scared you," said Chris uneasily. "Leo has told me so

much about you all that I feel like I know you. I don't know why I thought you

were all dead."

"Hallucinations rarely make sense," said Cole. "I've seen my share of

them in my line of work."

"So, Leo," said Piper, "what happened to you five years ago? One day you

were doing repairs around the manor, the next you were just gone."

"My father passed away," said Leo. "As I told you, Tiffany is my only

living relative, aside from Chris. She was in medical school and he was still

in high school. I had to go home to help them. I didn't have a chance to say

anything. I was going to call or write but just never got around to it."

"And now you're back in San Francisco?" asked Prue.

"Temporarily," said Leo. "Tiffany has accepted a position at San

Francisco General and I helped her move here with Chris. I figured as long as

we were in time, I'd stop by and say hi. And take a look at the place again.

It doesn't seem to have suffered to badly without me around."

"Oh, we get by," said Phoebe. "Cole and Andy have been a big help there."

"Well, when I can," said Andy. "Being a police lieutenant keeps me busy.

And as an ADA, Cole has his share of work to do, too. But between us we're able

to stay ahead of things pretty well."

"That's good," said Leo. "Piper, you're not married?"

"No," said Piper. "Too busy with work and all. I'm the senior partner at

Quake now. Running the restaurant takes up a lot of my time."

"Phoebe, what about you and Prue?" asked Leo. "What have the two of you

been up to?"

"Motherhood," beamed Prue. "Or at least I will be in about six months.

Andy and I are expecting our first."

"Congratulations," said Tiffany. "Have you been to a doctor yet?"

"Yes," said Prue. "I go on a regular basis. Don't want anything to

happen to this little girl."

"A girl," said Leo. "Funny, I would never have picked you as the mother

type, Prue."

"Neither would we," said Phoebe. "But it seems to agree with her."

"And what about you?" Tiffany asked Phoebe. "What do you do?"

"Try to get him to take a break," said Phoebe, poking Cole in the ribs.

"Actually, I do volunteer work at the hospital. With Cole's income I really

don't need to work but I do have to stay busy. And it is really satisfying

helping some of those people."

'I was wondering," said Leo. "If it's not too much of an imposition,

since I'm here and all, would it be okay if I had a look around the old place?

I did quite a bit of work when I was here. I'd just like to see how the manor

is holding up after all these years."

"Oh, absolutely," said Piper, taking his arm. "In fact, why don't I give

you a tour? We can talk about old times and get reacquainted."

Almost embarrassed, Leo glanced at Tiffany who only smiled. A tour would

give Leo the perfect opportunity to look around the place without suspicion.

And it would give her and Chris a chance to talk to the others.