~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't want to do it
Like my daddy did
I don't want to give it
To my baby's kid
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wait, what?!?"
Piper and Phoebe exchanged glances. They'd just told Prue about the e-mail from Victor, and her expression, a mixture of shock and anger, said it all.
"What the hell could either of you possibly have to say to him?" Prue demanded. "And Phoebe, why didn't you tell us about this?"
Phoebe shrugged. "I didn't want to worry you, with all the stress you've been under lately. Please don't be mad."
"Prue, he's our father," Piper added.
"Then where the hell has he been the past twenty years, Piper?"
Piper bit her lip. "Well... You could ask him yourself."
Prue shook her head. "I don't want to see him, and I don't want the two of you to go, either."
"But Prue, it's Dad," Phoebe implored. "I have to see him. You and Piper were old enough when he left, you've at least got a few memories of him. I don't have any."
"The only thing I remember is watching him walk out that door," Prue snapped.
Piper sighed, and sat down on the bed next to Prue. "Honey, I know how you feel. I remember some of what it was like after he left. Not as much as you, but I remember some things. I used to get so scared, and you'd have to come in to my room and sit with me until I went to sleep. Every night, I'd look at their wedding album like it was a storybook, until I was old enough to know he wasn't coming back. I'm just as mad at him for that as you are, but come on, Prue, aren't you curious? I am. I want to know why he left us, why we weren't good enough. I want to know why he's come back now. God, I just want to see him."
The memories had brought tears to all three sisters' eyes. Wiping her face with the back of her hand, Prue nodded. "Fine. I'll consider going. But if you think this is going to be some kind of big, happily-ever-after family reunion, forget it. We're all doing just fine without him."
"Allright," Phoebe conceded, kissing Prue's cheek. "We'll just see how the dinner goes, and take things from there."
Prue frowned. "I still don't like this. Just don't get your hopes up, okay? We all know from experience that we can't trust him."
Phoebe and Piper nodded, each secretly thinking that maybe their sister was wrong, maybe Victor had changed. Neither spoke these thoughts out loud. They knew Prue would only scoff at them.
"So how long have you been writing to him, anyway?" Prue asked Phoebe.
"A while," Phoebe admitted. "About two months ago, he e-mailed me. We've talked on the phone a few times since then, too."
Prue nodded, silently taking this in. "What did you guys talk about?"
"Everything," Phoebe answered. "There was just so much to catch up on. There still is. We tried to stay away from touchy subjects, because we both wanted to discuss that in person, but there was still so much we both didn't know. Mostly we just talked about how we're all doing now, within the past few years."
"Does he know I'm pregnant?" Prue asked, putting her hand protectively over her belly.
Phoebe nodded. "I hope you're not mad that I told him. It's his first grandkid, I thought he should know."
Prue shrugged indifferently. "I don't care. It's probably good that you told him. It'll save him from getting a hell of a surprise tomorrow night."
Piper smiled at her. "So you're definately going, then?"
Prue sighed, then nodded. "Yeah. I might as well see what he has to say. Not that anything he says will be a good enough excuse, of course. I'm mainly going for the two of you. I just don't want you both to get hurt again."
Phoebe and Piper wrapped their arms around their sister in a tight group hug.
"Honey, don't worry," Piper said. "We won't let our guard down until we know for sure he's not going to leave again, okay?"
Prue nodded. "Okay. Just be careful."
With this warning, the three sisters fell into silence, each lost in her own thoughts. The next night, for the first time in twenty years, they were going to see their father.
****************
A/N: I recently got a request for an 'Awakened'-type chapter. I am planning a chapter like that, but like most of the other things in this fic, it won't play out the exact same way as it did on the show. That's all I'm telling you. :P
A/N2: If you're reading this, it means I was *finally* able to upload to FFN. I haven't been able to for several days, and it was really ticking me off, but now I can, so yay. :)
~from the song "This Is The Place" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers~
I don't want to do it
Like my daddy did
I don't want to give it
To my baby's kid
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wait, what?!?"
Piper and Phoebe exchanged glances. They'd just told Prue about the e-mail from Victor, and her expression, a mixture of shock and anger, said it all.
"What the hell could either of you possibly have to say to him?" Prue demanded. "And Phoebe, why didn't you tell us about this?"
Phoebe shrugged. "I didn't want to worry you, with all the stress you've been under lately. Please don't be mad."
"Prue, he's our father," Piper added.
"Then where the hell has he been the past twenty years, Piper?"
Piper bit her lip. "Well... You could ask him yourself."
Prue shook her head. "I don't want to see him, and I don't want the two of you to go, either."
"But Prue, it's Dad," Phoebe implored. "I have to see him. You and Piper were old enough when he left, you've at least got a few memories of him. I don't have any."
"The only thing I remember is watching him walk out that door," Prue snapped.
Piper sighed, and sat down on the bed next to Prue. "Honey, I know how you feel. I remember some of what it was like after he left. Not as much as you, but I remember some things. I used to get so scared, and you'd have to come in to my room and sit with me until I went to sleep. Every night, I'd look at their wedding album like it was a storybook, until I was old enough to know he wasn't coming back. I'm just as mad at him for that as you are, but come on, Prue, aren't you curious? I am. I want to know why he left us, why we weren't good enough. I want to know why he's come back now. God, I just want to see him."
The memories had brought tears to all three sisters' eyes. Wiping her face with the back of her hand, Prue nodded. "Fine. I'll consider going. But if you think this is going to be some kind of big, happily-ever-after family reunion, forget it. We're all doing just fine without him."
"Allright," Phoebe conceded, kissing Prue's cheek. "We'll just see how the dinner goes, and take things from there."
Prue frowned. "I still don't like this. Just don't get your hopes up, okay? We all know from experience that we can't trust him."
Phoebe and Piper nodded, each secretly thinking that maybe their sister was wrong, maybe Victor had changed. Neither spoke these thoughts out loud. They knew Prue would only scoff at them.
"So how long have you been writing to him, anyway?" Prue asked Phoebe.
"A while," Phoebe admitted. "About two months ago, he e-mailed me. We've talked on the phone a few times since then, too."
Prue nodded, silently taking this in. "What did you guys talk about?"
"Everything," Phoebe answered. "There was just so much to catch up on. There still is. We tried to stay away from touchy subjects, because we both wanted to discuss that in person, but there was still so much we both didn't know. Mostly we just talked about how we're all doing now, within the past few years."
"Does he know I'm pregnant?" Prue asked, putting her hand protectively over her belly.
Phoebe nodded. "I hope you're not mad that I told him. It's his first grandkid, I thought he should know."
Prue shrugged indifferently. "I don't care. It's probably good that you told him. It'll save him from getting a hell of a surprise tomorrow night."
Piper smiled at her. "So you're definately going, then?"
Prue sighed, then nodded. "Yeah. I might as well see what he has to say. Not that anything he says will be a good enough excuse, of course. I'm mainly going for the two of you. I just don't want you both to get hurt again."
Phoebe and Piper wrapped their arms around their sister in a tight group hug.
"Honey, don't worry," Piper said. "We won't let our guard down until we know for sure he's not going to leave again, okay?"
Prue nodded. "Okay. Just be careful."
With this warning, the three sisters fell into silence, each lost in her own thoughts. The next night, for the first time in twenty years, they were going to see their father.
****************
A/N: I recently got a request for an 'Awakened'-type chapter. I am planning a chapter like that, but like most of the other things in this fic, it won't play out the exact same way as it did on the show. That's all I'm telling you. :P
A/N2: If you're reading this, it means I was *finally* able to upload to FFN. I haven't been able to for several days, and it was really ticking me off, but now I can, so yay. :)
~from the song "This Is The Place" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers~