"Are you alright to stand Nancy?"
"Yes sir….I mean Your Honor."
"Nancy do you know the difference between the truth and a lie?"
"Of course I do Your Honor."
"Can you explain it to me?"
"A lie is something that is not true, a falsehood. The truth is something that corresponds with facts, or reality. People usually tell lies to deceive somebody, or to hide the truth. You must always tell the truth in court. Your Honor may I ask you a question"
"Of course."
"You have read my file correct?"
"Yes."
"Then you know that I have an I.Q. of over 200. Is it really necessary to speak to me as if I were a child who doesn't understand?"
Prue clasped her hands together and lowed her head, silently praying. Challenging a judge was not the best idea, it certainly wouldn't help their case. She peaked her eyes up, while still keeping her head down and saw a smile on the judge's face.
"Believe me Nancy, I totally agree with you. I shouldn't have to ask these questions, but in the eyes of the law you are still a child. Some children, no matter how smart they think they are, or other people say they are, don't know the difference between the truth and a lie. If you would like me to believe everything you tell me, I had to make sure you truly understand. Alright?"
"Yes Your Honor. Sorry I asked."
"Don't be sorry. You can ask anything you want, it's the best way to learn. Now I want you to be totally straight with me. At anytime, since you've been living with the Halliwells have you felt in danger, or unloved?"
Nancy thought for a moment. She knew she couldn't lie in court, but she couldn't exactly talk to the man about demons. She decided to be honest in a different way.
"Yes."
The girls looked at her in shock. She wasn't really doing this. Piper raised her hands getting ready to freeze the room. If they even thought for one minute she would say the word demon, or witch, they would do everything they could to stop her.
"When?"
"When I first arrived. It's no secret that my life before arriving home wasn't the greatest. I didn't exactly trust anyone, everyone before them would lie to me. If you had told me 'It won't hurt', or 'I won't hurt you', I wouldn't have believed even you."
"How have they helped you with that?"
"They were very patient with me. They would ask if they could tuck me in at night. They asked if they could give me a hug or a kiss. Mostly they gave me time, and privacy, they even knock before they come into my room. I've never had that before. Love is very hard for me to express, even harder sometimes for me to understand. I know they do love me, but I don't always understand why. I'm learning that knowing why isn't always important, and their helping me to be able to express it a little better."
"How would you feel about Prue being your guardian?"
"It really doesn't matter to me who you appoint my guardian. They each help me in different ways. While it's true that Prue is the oldest, and the strictest, Piper, and Phoebe help just as much. Prue keeps me focused, she won't put up with any of my B.S…I'm sorry Your Honor. Can I say that?"
The judge nodded his head yes, and had to crack a smile.
"Even when I don't want to do something, and Prue knows it, she makes me do it anyway."
"Give me an example."
"Things like my Physical Therapy. I hate going, I don't think I need it, but Prue say's I do. No matter how much I kick and scream, and refuse to eat my dinner, she still makes me go. Basically she keeps me focused, so that I can take care of the things that need to be done, and then I can have fun."
"And Piper and Phoebe, how do they help?"
"Piper teaches me all about feeling, and how important it is to use them. She makes it OK to cry. She also makes it alright to ask for help when I need it. That's really new to me, but everyday she reminds me that as a family we do things for each other, and don't judge each other. Phoebe helps me to have fun. She's like a big kid, a responsible big kid. Sometimes she takes me to therapy and I beg her to let me skip it."
"Does she ever let you?"
"Are you kidding, heck no. For lots of reasons."
"Like?"
"Well first of all she knows that it's important for me to go, she knows I won't get better if I don't do the work. Second of all Prue would be upset with both of us if I didn't go. Prue has been Phoebe's surrogate Mom since their Mom died when she was three. Just like a child doesn't want to disappoint their parent, she doesn't want to let Prue down. But, what kind of kid would I be if I didn't try to get away with stuff. We usually end up compromising. She promises that if I don't fight going, and don't become to difficult once we get there, we can get ice cream after, or go to the movies. She helps me be a kid, I've almost forgotten how to do that."
"If you could pick one of them though, who would it be?"
"Well it doesn't matter who it is, it's more important that we are a family. So lucky for me I don't have to pick, that's your job. I wouldn't want to take your job from you. At least not till I'm a whole lot older."
Everyone in the room got a kick out of this, including the judge. The judge could tell that Nancy was being sincere, and had no real reason to lie.
"Alright I've reached my decision. Nancy why don't you have a seat."
Nancy took Prue's hand and sat down. She looked into Prue's eyes and saw tears, but she knew they were tears of happiness. The ladies all joined hands and listed to what the judge had to say.
"I will grant custody of Nancy to Prudence Halliwell under one condition. I see from your records that as of yet you are not back in school. As soon as your physically able, you are to return to the classroom. You have a very gifted young mind Nancy. I don't want it to go to waste. Understood?"
"Yes!"
All the girls yelled as they raised from their chairs, and formed a big group hug.
"Good! Case dismissed."
They released from their group hug and turned to thank Jamie, who was already packing away her files, for her glowing recommendation. After each of them gave her a big hug, she shook their hands and left in a hurry to get to her next court appearance. The girls decided to head home, and have a quiet evening enjoying a movie, and pizza.