To everyone, I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I know you all hate me, I'm so sorry! We moved house, and my dad didn't want to get in the removal men so we did it all ourselves, so it took forever. And then we had to wait for BT to connect our internet! Life is such a trial…
Stephanie - Thanks for the confirmation, I really want to get this right. I'm sorry you don't like ice-cream, that must be so terrible for you! Thanks for your review.
Mysterious Midnight - Yet again, you were first! Sorry about the long time between updates, we've just moved and the internet took a while to get connected. Thanks for reviewing, please don't give up on me!
Kat Hawkins - Thanks for your review! That's really weird, that high school starts at different ages in different states, I never knew that!
InTheForestsOfTheNight - Yey to you too!
lillynilly - Thanks, I think tenth grade is right. You're fifteen when you go into it and sixteen when you leave, right? Just checking. See this is how I have it planned. Nicki turns fifteen on May 12th, 2002. She goes into tenth grade in September 2002, right? Thanks as always, for your review!
EaglePride - I'm glad that you like this story! That makes me so happy, thanks for saying that!
hazza123 - I'm sorry for the wait, we moved and the internet has only just got connected. Please keep reading this!
DorkNextDoor010 - I'm so glad you love my story! Happy, happy, happy! Thank you for reviewing!
Pruedence.Halliwell - Thanks for your idea about the shopping trip, as you will see, I used it, it was really good! And as for Phoenix Madison shortened to Nicki, take the 'nix' from Phoenix. I thought that she needed a nickname, Phoenix is a bit of a mouthful (just like Prudence was, I guess)!
Cute-Kovu - I'm sorry if I made you cry! I hope they weren't painful tears, just empathic ones! Thanks for reviewing my story, it means so much!
--Chapter Twelve--
A few hours later, Piper was pushing Wyatt in his stroller through a large department store. They'd been at the mall for almost an hour now, and Wyatt had gone to sleep. Nicki was behind her with a small trolley, full of clothes. There was underwear, nightclothes, and enough shirts, skirts, dresses and trousers to be the skeleton of a new wardrobe. There were already some bags underneath Wyatt's stroller, bought and paid for, with essentials like shoes, moisturiser and hairbrushes.
'We'll just get you a couple of nice dresses,' Piper was saying, as she walked over to the evening-wear section, 'and then I think we're nearly done.'
'Are you sure?' Nicki asked, looking slightly worried at the amount of clothes they'd already picked out. Most were bold, dark colours; they'd discovered that she couldn't wear light colours because she was so pale. 'I've never had this many clothes before, and this is going to cost a lot of money.'
'Of course,' Piper said, dismissively. 'The club always does well in January; we've got some extra money lying around.' She looked back at Nicki, who was still looking slightly dubious. 'Honestly honey, it's fine,' she added, smiling at her.
Piper picked out two dresses from the petite rack, and handed them to her niece. Nicki was about a foot shorter than Piper was, and was built very lightly, like Prue had been. 'Here you go,' she coaxed, 'why don't you go try these on?'
Nicki took them into the changing room, and came out a couple of minutes later wearing the first. It was long, nearly brushing the floor, simply cut, and a dark, midnight blue colour.
'Great,' Piper said, smiling. Nicki looked gorgeous. 'What about the other one then?' she asked.
'Sure,' Nicki said, retreating back into the changing room and pulling across the curtain. She handed Piper the blue dress back through the gap, and Piper put it on a hanger and on top of the rest of the clothes in the trolley.
Nicki pulled back the curtain to model the last dress and Piper gasped. It was black, cut just above the knee, and was fitted quite closely. Now that Nicki was wearing it, Piper realised that it was the same type of dress that Prue used to wear when she worked at Buckland's. Nicki looked so much like Prue, it was almost disturbing.
'That is absolutely perfect,' she said, quietly.
'Are you okay?' Nicki asked, coming worriedly over to Piper.
Piper pulled herself together and stopped staring at her niece. 'Sure,' she said, pulling her into a quick hug. 'I'm just a little tired, that's all, now you go get changed out of that and we'll get you some matching shoes.' She ushered Nicki back into the changing room, and went over to the stands of evening shoes. 'What size are you?'
'Umm, a three and a half in England,' Nicki replied from inside the changing room, where she was carefully stepping out of the dress and hanging it up.
Piper consulted the conversion chart pinned on the wall. 'Right, so you're a five,' she said, putting the last dress on top of the pile of clothes. 'Wait a second,' she said to Nicki, who was just putting her trainers back on.
'Okay,' Nicki said, straightening up, her shoes held loosely in her left hand.
Piper walked up the aisle until she reached the fives, where she picked out a pair of simple black sandals, with a small heel. 'Here,' she said, walking back to Nicki and giving them to her. 'You like these?' she asked.
'Yep,' Nicki agreed, sliding off the purple socks Piper had left for her that morning. She slipped her feet into the sandals and tied the straps. They were a perfect fit. 'They're really nice,' she added, showing Piper.
'You're right,' Piper said. 'Now take them off and we'll get out of here, what do you say?'
Nicki giggled as she put her trainers back on. 'Okay,' she said happily, putting the shoes into the trolley, carefully avoiding the dresses.
They walked over to the checkout, and Piper noticed that Nicki was looking slightly worried again, and glancing at all of the clothes they'd accumulated. Not wanting her niece to worry about the cost, she stopped just short of the till.
'Tell you what,' she said, pulling a ten dollar bill out of her purse, 'can you do me a favour sweetie?' she asked.
'Sure,' Nicki said, looking slightly puzzled.
'See that vendor over there by the fountain?' she said, pointing out of the store and into the foyer of the mall.
Nicki nodded. 'Yeah,' she said, taking the bill from Piper's open hand.
'Can you take Wyatt and get me a latte and a chocolate chip cookie for him? And wait for me there?' she asked, moving Wyatt's stroller in front of Nicki. 'There's enough there for you to get a cookie too, if you want one,' she added, gently taking the handle of the trolley.
'Okay then,' Nicki said happily, pushing Wyatt, who was still sleeping, towards the vendor.
Piper smiled at the retreating back of her niece, and turned the trolley round to get in the queue for the checkout, keeping an eye on them at all times.
Once Piper had paid for all the clothes, she came out of the store carrying six full shopping bags and walked over to Nicki and Wyatt. She sat down on the bench next to her niece, who smiled, taking small bites of her own cookie. Piper managed to fit two more bags underneath the stroller, and hung the rest on the handles.
'Here you go,' Nicki said, handing Piper her latte and Wyatt's cookie. 'And you have some change, too,' she said, taking out a couple of dollar bills and some coins.
'Keep it honey,' Piper said, pushing the money back at Nicki. 'Get a magazine or something later.' She took a long drink of her coffee, loving the feeling of warmth she got as it ran down her throat.
Nicki looked slightly taken aback, but slid the money into the pocket of her jeans anyway. 'Thank-you,' she said, taking another bite of her cookie.
'Don't mention it,' Piper said, wiping her mouth with her napkin. 'So,' she added, 'how about we hit the grocery store and then go home?'
An hour and a half later, Piper and Nicki walked into the kitchen, arms laden with carrier bags, Wyatt, now awake, bouncing on Piper's hip and eating his cookie.
Piper set the bags she was carrying down onto the counter. 'Can you watch Wyatt while I get the rest of the shopping?' she asked, taking Nicki's bags from her.
'Sure,' Nicki said, gently taking Wyatt from Piper and putting him into his high-chair.
'Thanks,' Piper called, already half way out the door. When she came back in with the last of the groceries ten minutes later, she put the car keys on the hook, the bags on the table and sat down heavily.
Nicki slid into the chair opposite her. 'Are you okay?' she asked, looking slightly worried.
'Oh yeah, honey,' Piper replied quickly, 'I'm fine, just a little tired is all.' She smiled at her niece and got up to see to Wyatt, who had started to cry. She picked him out of his chair and bounced him on her hip again, trying to soothe him. 'You hungry?' she asked loudly, over Wyatt's cries.
'A little,' Nicki replied, also getting up.
'Well,' Piper said, her voice lowering in volume as Wyatt's cries petered out. 'How about you make yourself a sandwich whilst I put the groceries away?'
'Sounds good,' Nicki said, smiling.
Piper showed her where she could find everything she'd need, as she put away the shopping, still bouncing Wyatt and humming to him absent-mindedly.
A little while later, Nicki had finished eating and the kitchen was looking neat and tidy again. Wyatt was still sniffling, and Nicki was looking slightly tired too.
'I'm going to put him down for a nap,' Piper said, cradling her son's head in the crook of her arm.
'Okay then,' Nicki replied, as they left the kitchen. 'Do you need any help?'
'No, honey, don't worry,' Piper said, smiling gratefully at her niece. 'If it's okay with you, I'm going to catch some sleep as well.'
'That's fine,' Nicki said, climbing the last step of the staircase. 'Umm, can I ask you something? I mean, it's okay if you say no…' she trailed off, looking hopefully at Piper.
'Of course you can,' Piper said, placing a hand on her shoulder for reassurance. 'What did you want to ask?'
'Umm, can I take a shower or something? It's fine if I can't, I can do it some other time if it's a problem…'
'Of course you can!' Piper said, laughing. 'That's fine, give me a couple of minutes and I'll get you a towel.'
'Thank-you,' Nicki replied, happily, and they split up in the hall, Piper and Wyatt into Piper's room, and Nicki into Phoebe's. As she opened the door, she saw that Piper had laid all her new clothes out on Phoebe's bed. A smile crept inadvertently onto her face, as she looked over all the brand new clothes, labels still attached. She picked up a sweater and sat down where it had been. She lifted it to her face and inhaled deeply. God, the smell of new clothes. Isn't it incredible? I've never known anything quite like it.
Piper walked in several minutes later to find her niece with her head buried in a purple sweater. 'You okay?' she asked, clearing some clothes and sitting next to her.
Nicki lifted her head to reveal an incredible smile. 'Absolutely perfect,' she said quietly, setting the sweater back down onto the bed.
'Here,' Piper said, handing her a large, fluffy white towel. 'Cosmetics are in the bathroom, help yourself.'
'Thanks,' Nicki replied, feeling the softness of the towel with her fingers.
'When you're done,' Piper continued, standing up and brushing herself off, 'there's a bookcase downstairs, help yourself. You know how the TV works?'
Nicki nodded. 'Sure,' she said.
'Feel free to have a look around,' Piper continued, 'but will you stay out of the attic for a little while, honey?'
'Of course,' Nicki replied, 'that's not a problem.'
'Great,' Piper said, opening the door. 'If you need me, I'll be in my room, across the hall. Don't worry about waking me up.'
'Thanks,' Nicki replied, also standing up.
'No problem. See you in a couple of hours,' Piper said, closing the door softly behind her. She walked slowly into her room and through into Wyatt's nursery. After making sure that her son was asleep, she swiftly changed into her own pyjamas and got under the covers. She switched off her bedside lamp and was pleased when no light came through the tiny crack in the curtains. Having got less than five hours of sleep the night before, Piper sank quickly into a deep slumber.
--End of Chapter Twelve--
Apologies if you guys didn't think much happened in this chapter. I have big plans for the next one though! And to anyone out there who's American, just to let you know, I'm not, I'm British. So it's 'colour', and not 'color', 'centre' and not 'center'. I'm sorry if that annoys you, but that's just the way I write! Either way, please review!