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Chapter 12: Coming Home

Piper and Laurie were both released from the hospital the next day. Leo took them to his apartment where Darryl already had officers pack up Piper and Laurie's things from the house and bring them to the apartment.

Leo and Piper had set up the extra bedroom for Laurie, but it was useless. Laurie usually ended up in bed with Piper and Leo. He really couldn't blame her. If he had been kidnapped and kept only God knows where, he would be afraid to be alone too.

Piper stood outside Laurie's bedroom, watching her daughter sleep. In the faint moonlight, Laurie looked peaceful. Leo came behind Piper and hugged her from behind. She leaned into him, not taking her eyes off of Laurie.

"She's beautiful," he whispered in her ear.

"Yeah, she is."

Leo drew her away from Laurie's room and to the living room where they were looking at pictures of Laurie when she was younger. They went over hundreds of pictures, and with each one Leo felt as if he missed out on something major. And then he realized he had. He missed three years of his daughter's life.

And Piper's. He wasn't there for her when she needed him the most. That tore him up, but he vowed to be there for her forever.

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Scott McGunther was fuming. Someone had taken the Halliwell kid while he was waiting to meet Piper. Stupid bitch had never shown. The cops must have somehow found the storage place he was holding her. Damn them.

McGunther wanted Piper more than ever. But now it didn't matter if she were alive or dead. Instead of desiring the feel of her skin, he desired the feel of her blood. Instead of longing to watch her undress, he longed to watch the blood slowly soak out of her body.

He had a plan for Piper Halliwell. The simple thought of watching the blood flow from her body excited him.

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Leo sat at his desk, staring at the framed picture of Laurie that Piper had given him the previous night. He couldn't get enough of looking at Laurie. It was as if he was trying to make up for three years of absence.

One of the female officers, a blonde named Candy, walked past his desk. "Welcome back, Leo," she greeted him.

"Thanks," he said, barely glancing up from the picture.

"Who is that a picture of?" she asked, indicating the picture.

"My daughter." He just couldn't get enough of saying 'my daughter.'

"I didn't know you had a daughter!" she exclaimed and walked away.

"Neither did I," he said to her retreating form.

He looked away form the picture and to the file sitting in front of him. Scott McGunther, still at large. The thought of that man made his blood boil. He spent hours on the file, calling people, asking questions, but discovered no new leads.

At five o'clock, Leo did something he had never done before.

He left work on time.

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Leo was at work and Laurie had gone shopping with Prue. Piper had planned on going with, but she wasn't feeling well. Her stomach was a bit queasy and she didn't want it to escalate to anything like it had before.

She was just about to fall asleep on the couch when the telephone rang. She picked it up and answered with a sleepy hello.

"Hello? Is this Miss Halliwell?"

"This is she," she replied.

"Miss Halliwell, this is Doctor Sabler from the Saint Mary Medical Center. I treated you last week after you passed out."

"Oh, yes. I remember."

"Well, I called to tell you I got the results back from your blood work."

Piper didn't like the sound that. If nothing was wrong, why did he call, sounding so serious? Tons of thoughts ran through her head. Did she have some weird tropical disease? Did she have some fatal tumor?

All the scenarios she ran though her head did not prepare for his answer. "Miss Halliwell, you're pregnant."

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Author's Note: Ta Da! I hope you were surprised! The next chapter is going to explain a lot about Laurie and her birth, but there is a surprise ending I bet none of you see coming! Sorry for the short chapter. But a lot of the chapter was Leo thinking about Laurie and dealing with the fact her has a daughter now.