Setting: Pre-episode, "Marry-Go-Round"

Written: December 2, 2004

Father Daughter Dinner

"So Dad's coming?" I asked, drying a dish and setting it on the counter.

"Yep," said Phoebe. "Sent his invitation back today. I'm so glad he can come."

I smiled. "He wouldn't have missed it, Pheebs. It's your wedding."

Phoebe wrinkled her nose, lifting another soapy dish from the sink. "I know," she said in her excited, babyish voice. "Only two more weeks and I'll be Mrs. Halliwell." She paused for a moment, dish temporarily suspended in the bubbles.

"A little weird?" I asked.

"Just a little. I feel like Grams or something. Mrs. Halliwell."

"You could always take Cole's name."

Phoebe laughed. "Grams would die all over again if she found out." She handed me the dish. "Besides, I'm kind of attached to my last name. It's been mine for over twenty-six years now."

"I know the feeling."

We continued washing the dishes, talking mostly about Phoebe upcoming nuptials, until I had the last dish dried and set on the counter, and Phoebe left the room to go get ready for her date with Cole. As soon as she had left I picked up the phone and pulled the address book out of the drawer. Time to get this over with.

The phone rang three times before Dad picked up on the other end.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey, Dad. It's Piper."

"Oh, Piper. Hi. How are you?" He sounded surprised, but I had expected as much. The fact that I had to look up my father's phone number said a lot about how much we actually talked.

"I'm good, Dad. Busy, but good."

"And Phoebe? How's she doing?"

I smiled and leaned forward to look out the doorway. Thankfully, no one was in sight. "She's great. Really excited about the wedding, you know?"

"I can't believe my baby's getting married," said Dad. "First you and now Phoebe. You're all grown up."

I chuckled, but it felt insincere. I hoped he couldn't sense that through the phone. "The wedding was actually what I was calling about," I said, cutting to the point. "When are you getting in?"

"Oh, I just made reservations today," he said excitedly. "I'll be there Wednesday before the wedding. And I know you guys are going to be busy with the wedding and all, but I was hoping maybe I'd get to spend some time with you."

I nodded, checking out the doorway again. "Yeah, Dad. Actually, I was wondering if I could meet up with you privately. Before you even drop by to see us here at the house."

There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone. "Uh...yeah, Piper. I can do that. Is there something you want to tell me?"

Ha. You can't even begin to imagine, Dad. I tugged on my ear, nervously. "Yeah, there is, but I don't want to talk about it over the phone."

"You're okay, aren't you? Nothing bad happened? You're not sick?"

"Oh, no. Nothing like that," I said. I almost added that what I had to tell him was a good thing, before remembering that for him it would probably not be such great news.

"Thank God," he said. "Well, um...I'll get there about five. Why don't we meet up at Bistro Clovis around six for dinner?"

"That'd be great," I said.

"Piper!" Phoebe yelled from upstairs. "Piper, have you seen my diamond earrings."

"Oh, I have to go, Dad. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and hurried out of the room to help Phoebe with her latest missing earring fiasco.

I sat at a table in the restaurant, alternating playing with my napkin anxiously with sipping my water. My nerves never had been good in these sorts of situations, and they were always worse when I had to wait.

Just after the waiter arrived for the third time to pester me about ordering salad or soup while I was waiting, Dad showed up, out of breath. "Sorry," he said, as I stood and gave him a hug. "Traffic was awful."

"Oh, it's okay," I said. I sat down again and went back to fidgeting with the napkin.

"So, I've been dying to know what this is about, Piper," said Dad, cutting right to the chase. "You got me pretty anxious these past two weeks, but I think I know what's up."

"You do?" I said, picking up the water and taking a long drink.

"Yep," he said. I stared ahead, waiting for him to continue, but he just sat there with a goofy grin.

"I don't think this is what you're thinking-" I began, but he interrupted.

"You're pregnant, aren't you!" he blurted out.

"What?" I said. "No. No. I'm not pregnant."

His face fell slightly and he leaned forward. "You're not?"

"No. Not pregnant." I didn't add that Leo and I had been trying for a couple weeks now. Not even Phoebe and Paige knew that yet, so I wasn't exactly going to spring the news on Dad.

"Okay," he said, sounding disappointed. "Well, then, what's the news? What did you have to tell me in private?"

I took a deep breath. Here we go. "Well, Dad, Phoebe and I are living with someone now."

He gave me a small smile. "And you thought I'd be upset?" he asked. "I'll admit I'm a little surprised. I didn't think you'd want to rent out Prue's room. At least not this soon."

"Well, there's more to it than that," I said.

"Honey," he said, "if this is about money, I'll be more than happy to help out. I don't have a lot, but-"

"It's not about money, Dad," I interrupted. "It's about who moved in with us." I paused and took a deep breath. "Now, I want you to promise you'll stay calm about this."

"Piper, just tell me what's going on already. You're making me nervous."

I just raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to promise.

"Fine," he said impatiently. "I promise to stay calm."

"Okay," I said. "After Prue died I cast a spell to find a lost sister, because I was desperate for a way to get Prue back. But it didn't work. At least, it didn't work the way I wanted it to." I paused and took another sip of water. "So, um..." I smiled. "This is a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"Just tell me, Piper. It can't be that bad."

"Oh, it's not bad at all," I agreed. He looked at me like I was crazy. "Okay. I'm just going to say it. The spell ended up leading Phoebe and me to Paige who we thought was just an innocent, but it turns out she's actually our half sister." There. I'd said it.

"Your what?" Dad asked, eyes widened significantly.

"Half sister," I said. I swallowed hard. "Mom and her Whitelighter had a baby together."

"They what?" he said, his voice at least two volumes from where it was before.

The waiter chose that moment to show up again, but promptly fled again after Dad barked at him.

"You promised me you'd stay calm," I hissed as soon as the waiter was out of earshot.

"Yeah, well that's before you dropped this little bombshell on me," he said angrily.

"So you didn't know?" I asked. "Mom didn't tell you?"

"Of course I didn't know," he said. "It was obviously after we broke up. I always knew that Whitelighter was no good-"

"Dad!" I said. "Don't. Don't even start."

"Piper!"

"No, Dad. Like it or not Paige is our sister, and after twenty-four years we're finally getting to know her. All I can do is thank God every day for sending her into our lives, because, honestly, I don't think I'd be functioning right now if it weren't for her." Dad raised an eyebrow, questioningly, so I continued. "I lost it, after Prue died, Dad. Completely lost it. And I wasn't very nice to Paige when I met her. I wasn't open and warm toward her. All I could focus on was how angry I was with Prue for leaving me and how my life was never going to be the same again. But Paige helped bring me back, and she helped ground me. She even helped us vanquish the demon who killed Prue." I paused and took a deep breath. "We need her and she needs us. We're sisters."

"Piper..."

"I'm sorry if Sam ruined your relationship with Mom. But you can not take it out on Paige. She is part of our family now and you have to promise me you're going to be civil with her. Maybe even make an effort to get along with her." For a second I stared at the tablecloth, but then I raised my eyes to meet Dad's again. "If you can't promise me that, then I don't think you should come to Phoebe's wedding on Saturday."

We sat in silence and for a second I half expected the waiter to pop up again. He didn't though. Instead, Dad let out a deep sigh. "Well then," he said. "I guess that's that."

"That's what?" I asked.

He tugged at his ear. "I guess I'm going to have to promise to be civil to your sister. And maybe even treat her like a member of the family."

"Really?" I asked.

He nodded. "Really. If she's that important to you and Phoebe, well, there's no arguing with that."

I gave a little nod back and we both smiled.

Finally, something was going right.