TAG

It was the next morning in the Halliwell home. Paige walked down half of the stairwell then stopped. She could hear Phoebe and Piper in the kitchen, talking. Paige still wasn't sure whether she was ready to talk with the sisters yet about what had happened.

She closed her eyes and leaned against the railing. One thing this whole ordeal had done for Paige was to open up her eyes. Before, Paige had finally begun to think that she was actually becoming a part of the Halliwell home. She, Piper, and Phoebe had been getting really close. Now... Paige realized that she was never a fully part of the Halliwell home. And maybe she never would be. She had never even heard Piper say, "I love you" to Paige.

I was stupid to think that one day it would change. That I'd be as close to Piper and Phoebe as they were to Prue. I'm just their half-sister. Nevertheless, Paige couldn't completely rule out the possibility that one day she might hear those word from Piper that she's wanted to hear for so long.

In the kitchen, Piper and Phoebe were drinking coffee. Piper sighed. "I guess the reason it was so hard for me to let go of Prue was... It's just that we've cheated death so many times. And it took me a while to understand that this couldn't be one of those times."

Phoebe looked at Piper understandingly. "I know how hard it is, Piper. But Prue's at peace now. She's up there with Mom and Grams and... who knows? Maybe even Andy."

Piper smiled, even though it was a sad one. Phoebe smiled back at her. "We're never going to stop missing her, Piper. Or forget her. Now we can only have her in our memories... and in our heart."

Piper took Phoebe's hand. "Thanks, Phoebes. What would I do without you?" Phoebe didn't reply, just smiled, and smoothed back Piper's hair.

Paige was listening outside to the conversation. She decided that it would be best to just act like everything was okay. She walked in to the kitchen.

"Hey, Paige," Phoebe greeted. "You want some coffee?"

Paige shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm meeting Chase for brunch at his place. Just thought I'd say good morning before I leave."

"Are you sure you don't want any?" Piper asked. "Yeah, yeah. Coffee stains your teeth, anyway. But I'm sure to forget that tomorrow."

"Okay," Piper conceded. "Have fun on your brunch."

"Thanks." Paige walked out of the kitchen.

After she was sure that Paige was out of hearing range, Phoebe asked, "Do you think we should worry about her?"

Piper replied, "I think she'll be okay. She knows that we'll be here for her if she wants to talk, anyway."

Phoebe looked at Piper. "Well, uh, should I worry about you?"

Piper looked at Phoebe confused. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that... ever since Leo left, you've been kind of... different. And I've been meaning to talk to you about it, but then this whole thing came up and... Anyway, I've been worried because you don't talk about him. All you do is work and take care of Wyatt, which is great, don't get me wrong. It's just... I know it must be hard for you now that Leo's gone. After all, you're a single mother now. Raising a magical baby by yourself. And I know that that's not the only problem. You miss your husband. And I know there's nothing I can do to... I just want you to know that I will always be here for you if you want to-"

"Phoebe," Piper interrupted, with a confused look on her face. "Who's Leo?"

END OF TAG