Again, more excuses. I am very, very sorry, the internet has been playing up, it's been logging me out constantly for like, two weeks! I have been getting serious withdrawals, but anyway, here is another chapter...

Mysterious Midnight - I'm really glad you liked the dialogue, I'm never really sure about whether the characters sound right! Thanks for reviewing; you were the first, again!

JanaRose - I hope the DVDs come out soon too, I'd love to catch up on the episodes I've missed, there's only two or three, but it's so annoying! Your reviews are always so nice, and also constructive, which is always good.

FanOfBRASH - I'm so glad you like my story; really, it gives me a little happy feeling inside! If you want me to help with your story then you can always e-mail me, my address is on my author page, I'd be happy to see if I can help, although I'm not even so sure I'm so good, but hey, you seem to like it, right?

hazza123 - I'm really happy that you like my story, thanks for reviewing! I do plan on giving Nicki powers, but not for a little while yet.

Pruedence.Halliwell - Yep, Nicki's dad is a demon, so she's half-demon, like Cole. But she's also half-witch, which makes her innately good, and demons know she's the daughter of a Charmed One, so they really don't want her to come into her powers. I'm so glad that you thought about it, at least I know that people are reading it thoroughly, so thanks for your review!

Brooklyn Turner - I'm really glad that you liked my story! Thank-you for reviewing!

naiya-isis - I know what you mean about them! Prue couldn't keep the baby because she had a really great destiny to fulfil, and they didn't want to jeopardise that. And as for making sure that the baby had magical protection, I have something planned along those lines, so watch this space! Thank once again for your review!

--Chapter Seven--

Phoebe opened the door of her bedroom, holding Nicki's hand in her spare one. They were heading to the stairs when Piper came down from the attic, looking obviously flustered.

'You two,' she said abruptly, as she caught sight of them. 'Downstairs, now, we have to talk.'

Nicki shrank back, looking apprehensive, but Phoebe smiled and pulled her gently towards the stairs, whilst Piper went into the nursery to get Paige.

'Don't worry about her,' she said, as they entered the kitchen. 'Piper's a little... highly strung sometimes.' Phoebe sat Nicki down at the table and walked over to the kitchen cabinets. She opened several, and then frowned. 'What would you like to eat?' she asked. 'We have lots of ingredients, but no real food. Cereal?' she offered.

Nicki nodded, 'Okay,' she said. She watched as Phoebe took a box of Weet-Bix from the cupboard.

Piper walked into the kitchen, with Paige on her heels. She looked back and forth between Phoebe and the cereal box quizzically. 'Phoebs,' she said, sitting down at the breakfast bar, 'cereal? It's like, six pm.'

Phoebe sighed, and looked at her whilst she walked over to the fridge to get milk. 'It's not for me,' she said. 'It's for Nicki, she hasn't eaten in like, three days?' she questioned, looking over to Nicki for confirmation. Nicki nodded. 'Besides, we don't have any real food.'

Piper sighed long-sufferingly, and put the Weet-Bix box back in the cupboard. 'Phoebe, how many times do I have to tell you? I go grocery shopping on Fridays, so it's not likely that we'd have much on a Thursday, is it?' Phoebe smiled sheepishly, and Piper continued. 'Besides, there's plenty here, you just have to cook it. Would you like me to make you an omelette or something?' she asked Nicki.

'Sure,' Nicki replied. 'That would be really nice, thank-you,' she added, quickly, as if she was afraid Piper would start scolding her too.

Piper went to the fridge and got out some eggs, cheese and ham, and took some black pepper from the herb cupboard. 'Can you two go wait in the living room?' she asked Phoebe and Paige. 'I'll be in in a minute.'

'Sure,' Paige said, catching Piper's eye significantly. She grabbed Phoebe's elbow and glared at her to stop her protesting, as she steered her out of the room.

'Thanks,' Piper said, as she took a pan from the bottom cupboard and poured the egg into it, and threw in the cheese and ham that she'd just chopped. She ground some black pepper onto the omelette, and then took a knife and fork from the cutlery drawer and took them over to the table to Nicki.

'Here,' she said, as she handed them to her. 'How are you doing?' she asked, as she walked back over to the oven and turned the omelette over onto a plate, and, turning off the hob, she took the plate over to Nicki.

'I'm okay,' Nicki replied, through a mouthful of omelette. 'This is really good, thanks.'

Piper smiled sadly at her. How can we tell her about her mom and... dad? No child should ever have to deal with that. 'That's okay,' Piper replied, as she stood up. 'Umm, I'm gonna go talk to Paige and Phoebe, there's a bottle of water in the fridge, and ketchup and salad and stuff, help yourself. You'll be okay?'

Nicki nodded, her mouth still full. She swallowed forcefully and smiled up at Piper. 'Yeah, thank-you.'

Piper smiled again, and squeezed her shoulder as she walked through into the living room.

Paige and Phoebe were sitting on the couch when Piper walked in. Paige sat up straighter as Piper sat down in the armchair.

'So, what did Grams tell you that just couldn't wait?' she said, in an accusatory tone.

Phoebe put a hand on her arm, and eased her back onto the couch, calming her almost immediately. 'What did she say about Nicki?' she asked, looking urgently at Piper. 'What's going on?'

Piper took a deep breath. 'Well, it turns out that Prue did have a child in England.' She sat back heavily into the armchair and closed her eyes, still breathing deeply. 'By a demon.'

Paige looked shocked, but Phoebe just looked tired. 'What do you mean, a demon?' Paige asked, before she could help herself.

'It means,' Phoebe said, also leaning back into the couch as if for support, 'that our sister's ex, Justin, was a demon, called...?' she looked over to Piper for an answer.

Piper still had her eyes closed, but filled in anyway. 'Deimos, apparently. Grams vanquished him, after what he did to Prue.'

Paige looked as though she was putting the pieces together in her mind. 'So Prue was... raped... by a demon? When she was sixteen?'

Piper nodded. 'Yeah,' she said, tiredly. She was leaning back into the armchair, letting the events of the day wash over her.

Paige was still looking puzzled. 'So, Nicki is half-demon, and half-witch?'

Phoebe answered, because it looked like Piper had had as much as she could take. 'Yeah, apparently. What else did Grams say?' she asked Piper.

Piper drew her knees up to her chest, and looked at Phoebe. 'Not a lot, you can ask her if you want, she's in the attic with Leo,' she smiled mischievously over her knees.

Phoebe chuckled. 'You left Grams with Leo? Do you think we should go upstairs and break them up?'

All three of them stood up, the mood lightened slightly. They were walking up the stairs when Nicki timidly came out of the kitchen, yawning behind her hand. The sisters stopped half-way up the stairs when they noticed her in the hall. All three of them looked at her, their eyes filled with a mixture of pity and confusion.

It was Phoebe who spoke. 'You sleepy, honey?' Her voice was soft, and she walked back down the stairs and took Nicki's backpack from the corner of the hall.

'Uh huh,' Nicki said, hiding another yawn. 'Umm, do you want me to go?' She said quickly, looking at the floor as she took her bag from Phoebe and slung it over her back.

Phoebe did a double take and grabbed Nicki's elbow as she tried to pass her to get to the door. 'Whoa, there, of course not! Hey, come upstairs, it's okay,' she steered Nicki towards the stairs.

'Really?' Nicki asked, looking up at Piper and Paige, who were still standing half-way up the stairs.

'Of course,' Piper said, as Paige nodded. 'It's not like we'd let you leave, you don't have anywhere else to go,' she smiled warmly at Nicki, who smiled back, a little unsure.

'You can stay in my room, if that's okay with you,' Phoebe said, as they joined Piper and Paige and they all reached the top of the stairs. They went into Phoebe's room, and Nicki sat down on the floor.

Phoebe chuckled again. 'Don't be silly, honey. You take the bed,' she said, offering Nicki her hand so she could get up.

'Are you serious?' Nicki asked incredulously. 'But where will you sleep?'

Phoebe pulled her up of the floor and sat her on the bed, smiling. 'I'll take the couch, honestly, I'll be fine.'

Nicki stood up looking lost. 'Really? I mean, I couldn't do that. I'll sleep on the couch.'

Paige stepped in. 'Okay. Nicki, you take Phoebe's bed, and Phoebe can sleep with me. Alright?' She smiled, and pushed Nicki gently back onto the bed.

Nicki looked at her. 'Alright,' she said reluctantly. 'If that's okay with you,' she said, turning to Phoebe.

'Of course that's okay with me,' Phoebe said. 'I'll just get my things.' She walked over to the bed and took her pyjamas from under the pillow and grabbed a hair tie from her dresser.

Piper, who had been hovering over by the door, came and sat next to Nicki on the bed. 'The sheets are clean, I changed them this morning. Not that Phoebe would notice, all her sheets are the same,' she said, trying to make Nicki laugh.

It partly worked, Nicki smiled and looked a little more relaxed than scared. 'Thank-you,' she said.

Phoebe smiled. 'I'll just go set these down in your room, Paige, if that's okay?'

'Sure,' Paige answered. 'I'll just go make my bed.'

Piper, who had been watching her sisters, turned back to Nicki. 'Are you okay?' she asked, with concern evident in her voice.

Nicki looked up from the floor, which she had been staring at intently. 'What? Oh yeah, thanks, I'm fine.'

'Okay,' Piper said, not sure whether to believe her or not. 'Well, I'll go get you a nightshirt or something, okay?'

Nicki nodded, and went back to staring at the little spot on the floor, completely absentmindedly.

When Piper came back into the room a minute or two later holding a grey tank top and a pair of pink pyjama trousers, Nicki was looking not a the floor, but at the photo she'd pulled out of her pocket.

'Is this really you?' she asked Piper, when she noticed that she'd come back into the room.

Piper sat down next to her again, putting the pyjamas onto Phoebe's pillow. 'Yeah huh,' she said, looking over Nicki's shoulder. 'That's Phoebe, looking stubborn, as usual, that's me, and that's your... mom.' She stopped short, but seeing the pleading look in Nicki's eyes, she started to talk again slowly. 'Prue, your mom, I mean, and Phoebe, they used to argue a lot. But Prue had this angelic face that used to get her out of anything. See?' she gestured towards the photo, where Prue was indeed looking as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. 'It took another couple of years after that photo was taken before Phoebe learnt how to do that.' Piper smiled, reminiscently.

Nicki gently folded the photo and put it into the front pocket of her backpack. Piper jerked out of her daze, and looked back at her.

'Where was I?' she asked herself. 'Oh, right. There's a spare toothbrush on the top shelf of the bathroom cabinet, help yourself. Do you want a glass of water or anything?'

Nicki shook her head. 'No thank-you. I'll be fine.'

Piper stood up to leave the room. 'Well, if you need anything, we'll be around, just come and ask one of us,' she said, before opening Phoebe's door.

'Thanks,' Nicki said quietly. 'Thanks a lot,' she said, once Piper had left the room. She looked around the room, at Phoebe's vanity table, her bursting wardrobe. Her eyes lingered on a picture on her bedside table of Phoebe, Piper and Prue, taken at Piper's wedding. So that is what my mum looks like.

Piper's feet has carried her downstairs to the kitchen once she'd left Nicki, even though she was planning on going to check on Wyatt. She could hear Phoebe and Paige upstairs in the attic with Grams and Leo, it sounded like they were having the same conversation that she'd had with Grams. As she entered the kitchen, she saw Nicki's plate neatly put over by the sink with an empty water bottle. She'd obviously gotten some salad from the fridge, but she'd left all the tomatoes. Just like Prue always did. Piper brushed the tears angrily away from her hot cheeks.

--End of Chapter Seven--

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