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Chapter 9: Meet the Changs

On May 19th, Toby probably made the smartest decision of his life. He pleaded guilty to rape, attempted rape, and assault. He would be spending the next twenty years wearing an orange jumper courtesy of the city of San Francisco.

When Piper heard the news, she felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off her chest. She felt free for the first time in months. She no longer was terrified to walk out to her car after dark, in fear some one would attack her. She was able to be herself again, not having to look over her shoulder. Everyone noticed the change and welcomed back the old, happy Piper.

Mark celebrated with her, happy the bastard was being put where he belonged, but today his heart wasn't in it. He opened the door to his apartment and headed towards the kitchen where Piper was baking another one of her delicious treats.

"Hey there," he said, hugging her from behind and kissing her cheek. "What's cooking?"

"Just some muffins. Prue has a office meeting tomorrow and asked me if I would make some stuff." She turned around and kissed him. She noticed his worried expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

Mark took a breath and said, "My mother called me today."

Piper just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"She wants us to come for dinner with the family on Tuesday."

"And…" Piper said, not quite understanding why he was worried.

"That's it."

"Oh. And this is a big deal because…?"

"It's just that my family's not exactly…normal."

"Like mine is?" Piper asked, laughing. She took his face in her hands and kissed him. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."

I hope so, he thought.

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Mark walked around to the passenger side of the car and helped Piper out. She was wearing a black knee-length skirt and a red blouse that brought out the tone of her skin.

Mark held her hand as they walked up to the front porch. Just before they opened the door, Mark said, "Piper, I just want you t know I love you, so regardless of whatever my family says…"

Piper ran her fingers through his hair. "It'll be fine. Just stop worrying. They're your family."

"That's what I'm worried about."

Piper just laughed. "Relax," she told him.

Mark finally smiled and was just about to kiss her when someone cleared their throat. Piper looked up to see a man standing in the doorway. "Hello, Uncle," Mark replied. The man didn't reply; he just turned around and walked back into the house. Mark sighed and hung his head. "Here we go."

Suddenly, all the good feelings Piper had about meeting his family were washed away. She now realized how different his family was, how different the Chinese culture was.

She just hoped she would fit in.

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An hour later everyone was seated around the table, eating dinner. Mark sat next to Piper and held her hand under the table. This wasn't going as well as he hoped. Thankfully, Piper didn't speak Chinese. His relatives weren't exactly saying the nicest things about Piper.

But Mark was proud of Piper. She was nice to his family, even when they were rude. But out of all the uneasiness around the table, Piper managed to receive Ming-na's, Mark's mother, approval. Mark suspected it had something to do with Piper's knowledge of Chinese cuisine and the ability to use chopsticks. But as for the rest of his family, that was a different story.

When it was finally time to clean up dishes, Mark left Piper at the table to help his mother. Piper made began to stand up and help, but Mark motioned for her to sit down. Mark followed his mother into the kitchen, carrying an armload of dishes. As his mother washed the dishes and he dried, they had a conversation in rapid-fire Chinese.

"Mark, she is a nice woman, but she is not Chinese."

"So?" Mark replied.

"So?! No one in our family has ever dated someone who was not Chinese."

"Well, maybe it's time for that to change."

"Mark, what would your father think? You need to get over this girl."

"I think Dad would have agreed with me on this. And I'm not going to get over her. I love her."

His mother dried off her hands, tired of arguing. "I won't argue anymore. If this is the girl you chose, then so be it. But don't expect everyone else to be so understanding," she warned.

Oh geeze, Mark thought and walked back out to where Piper was sitting.

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Piper sat uneasily at the table. Mark's relatives stared at her, smiled, and would say something in Chinese to he person next to them. Probably discussing how much they hate me, Piper thought. She hoped Mark was fairing off better in the kitchen, but apparently not, since she heard escalated voices talking in rapid Chinese. She had no doubt what the heated topic of the discussion was.

She felt very uneasy as his relatives gave her another sly smile and started talking in Chinese again. Damn Spanish, Piper thought. Why did I take Spanish? Now she knew why Mark was so uneasy about introducing her to his family. They apparently didn't take well to people who weren't Chinese.

Needless to say, when Mark came out of the kitchen, announcing it was time for them to get home since they both had to work the next morning, Piper was relieved. Mark and Piper quickly said their good-byes and headed towards the car.

The ride back to Mark's apartment was quiet. It wasn't one of those comfortable silences, like the ones Piper and Mark usually have. This was an uncomfortable silence, one where it seemed you could reach out and grab the tension in the air.

They pulled up to Mark's apartment and sat in the car, staring out the windshield. They sat in silence, the car still running.

Piper broke the silence. "Your family doesn't like me," she said, her eyes filling up with tears.

Mark turned off the car and faced her. "That's not true. My mom likes you, it's just…"

"What?"

"You're not Chinese," he said simply.

"So?"

Mark once again faced the windshield and put his hand on the steering wheel. "For generations, my family has always followed the same traditions, the same rules. One of those includes marrying a Chinese girl. No one in my family has ever strayed from that tradition."

"Oh," Piper said, looking out the side window. She blinked back her tears.

Mark, seeing her distress, reached out a hand and touched her cheek. "But I don't care. I love you too much to give you up."

Piper faced him a huge smile on her face. 'Really?"

"Really," he said as his lips pressed firmly over hers.

Soon they were both out of the car, continuously kissing each other. They made it up the stairs to the building, through the security doors, up the stairs to Mark's third floor apartment, and to his front door with out breaking the kiss.

Piper was leaning against his apartment door, laughing. Mark worked the key around her body and unlocked the door. Piper laughed even harder when she almost fell backwards as the door opened. Mark happened to catch her by the waist just in time.

Piper was still laughing, but the laughter died on her lips as Mark turned on the lights and she took a look around the apartment. Papers were strewn everywhere, drawers were emptied and turned upside down.

"What the hell?!" Mark exclaimed. "Piper, go call Andy."

Piper just nodded and headed to the kitchen to call Andy. Why the hell does stuff keep happening to us, she wondered.

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Three hours later, the police were cleaning up and leaving. Andy walked up to Piper and Mark who stood together in a corner of the room, arms wrapped around each other.

"We're done here," Andy told them.

"Thanks," Mark said.

"Piper, Mark, I don't think it's safe for you to stay here tonight. Maybe you should stay the night at the manor."

"Why? The burglar already robbed the apartment. Why would he come back tonight?"

"I'm not so sure this was an ordinary burglary."

"Why?"

"Mark, you said the only things missing were some clothes and your birth certificate?"

"Yes."

"That's not a normal burglary. Burglars are usually after things worth money, things they can pawn off. Clothes and birth certificates don't fall under that category. That's why I think this was a personal crime."

Piper looked at Mark, concern in her eyes. "Mark, he had a point. Maybe we should stay with my sisters for the night." Piper suddenly felt unsafe in the apartment.

"Alright," he said, much to Piper's relief. "We'll just clean up and then go over there."

Andy said good-bye, telling them he would see them when they arrived at the manor. Piper and Mark began cleaning up the apartment.

The whole time, Andy's words rang through Piper's head. A personal crime… a personal crime… a personal crime… Piper had a feeling in her heart that something was going to happen to Mark, something bad.

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Author's Note: I would like to thank all of you who have reviewed, I appreciate it! Your reviews are what keep this story coming.

For those of you who are wondering, I think the next chapter will be Mark's last (sob, sob). For those of you who asked not to make this fic a Piper and Leo one, I'm sorry, but that's the way I planned it.

I appreciate your comments and I hope you review.