Laughter

"Hey, Piper, do you know where my white halter top is?" Phoebe called from the top of the stairs.

"Try the second room on your left," Piper replied, giving her young sister directions to their oldest sister, Prue's room.

"Should have guessed," Phoebe laughed and charged back to her room. Piper just shook her head, if Prue had done that three years before, Phoebe would have been knocking her sister's door down with her cool martial arts skills.

"Hey hunny," Piper greeted her youngest sister as she walked in from the conservatory carrying an old picnic basket that she had found in her room. "What's up?" She asked at Paige's sober face.

The black haired woman shrugged and opened the lid, showing the velvet based inside. But it was what was embodied into the material that interested Piper:

To Penny Halliwell

Love, Mum

Happy 1960.

Piper gasped, no wonder Paige looked so sad, "Oh, Paige," She whispered as she dried her hands and wrapped her arms around her quiet sister.

"I guess Grams left it after her little visit," Paige whispered in reply, referring to three days, when the sisters' grandmother had summoned herself and had helped Leo through losing his wife and her sisters in the cave, the first time they had gone.

"Yer," Piper agreed as Paige pulled out of her grasp, "Yer, that's Grams for you." Paige gave a feeble laugh, "Okay, help me pack this antique with lots and lots of food!" Paige's face brightened and she headed towards the island in the centre of the kitchen just behind Piper, and began pack the millions of sandwiches, small cakes, cookies, drinks, milk, bottles, nappies and many other treasures that Piper had cooked that morning for the picnic they were planning later that day, "And then we could get Prue to price it…" Piper joked, but then she received a gentle punch on the shoulder, "I was only joking!" Paige shrugged at her sister's sarcasm before turning admiringly at the hand woven basket.

"Do you think she made this herself?" She asked, it was obviously hand made, but it seemed to be made with the skill that would have been lost by her generation. As Piper had said, it seemed to be an antique.

"Grams, no, but maybe her mother or even Melinda…" Piper guessed, referring to the good witch who had began the Warren line and had made them become the Charmed Ones.

"I guess not Melinda but maybe Prudence…" Paige countered, referring Melinda's daughter. Piper shrugged.

"Yer, you're probably right, but if it's that old we'd better hope it holds." Piper warned, but she guessed it probably had millions of protection spells cast over it as it looked very precious.

A low whistle came from behind them as Prue Halliwell entered the kitchen and caught sight of the antique.

"Wow," She whistled, "This is…" She gently took the basket from her youngest sister and examined it; she looked like she was a child in a candy store. "This is an antique!" She exclaimed taking in the care and devotion someone must have had to create such a treasure. As Paige had filled it with sandwiches, Prue simply assumed it was an heirloom of Paige's, she would have never of guessed it was even more precious as it was passed down the Warren line. Piper could almost see the dollar signs in Prue's eyes in the eldest sister's eyes as she was transported back to her antique acuctioning days at Buckland's. Paige hastily grabbed the treasure back, snapping Prue out of her daydream. Had Piper just imagined that greedy look? Or maybe she had forgotten her sister that much…

"Oh, yes, you'd better take care of that… as it's yours you know… well…" Prue stammered and then shook her head. What was up with her today? Even when she'd woken up that morning, the first thing she'd done was sneak a peek in Phoebe's wardrobe, something she would have never done before unless she was going on a hot date, but a picnic in the park was hardly a hot date. Self consciously she smoothed the white halter top that she was borrowing as she caught Piper casting her confused glances.

"No," Paige mumbled, "It's ours…" Prue frowned, "It's ours… Grams gave it to me…" Prue gasped and glanced apologetically at it, how could she have even thought of selling such an heirloom, even if it hadn't been the Halliwells', it was Paige's… Prue shook the thoughts away, it had just been a weird moment that was all, just revisiting the old days.

"No, Paige, it's yours, Grams gave it to you for a reason," Prue explained, Piper was glad her sister was back to her old self, "And you have to discover what that reason was…"

"Let's picnic!" The last Halliwell sister charged into the kitchen in a loose, calm looking, short sleeved crop top, and loose but complimenting shorts under her long colourful skirt. Phoebe was always the fashionable one in the house, even when she had no money, which was something that hadn't changed, even while Prue was dead.

"And I think Pheebs has just given us the reason there!" Piper laughed as her sister frowned at Prue's top.

"Nice top there Prue, I've got one just like it, you know… a white halter top which I brought last week, cheap too wasn't it?" She hinted. Prue just shook her head and gave Phoebe a little twirl.

"Yer, don't you think it suits me?" Prue jokingly replied.

-----------------------

"Naughty Wyatt!" Piper scolded her son as he orbed the sandwich that she had been about to eat into his own hand. The young infant just giggled behind the strawberry jam sandwich, making his mother smile. Baby Chris gave out a cry and caught Paige's attention, who was kneeling beside his carrier and passed him a piece of her own jam sandwich. Instantly the crying stopped as the baby fiddled and fingered the bread and jam.

Piper smiled and went to lay her head on her husband's shoulder, just as he moved, and Piper's head ended up in the plate of fairy cakes. The whole group burst out laughing as Piper's face reddened and Leo bit his lip in embarrassment for his wife.

"Oops…" He whispered, helping her up. His wife glared daggers at him, and Leo hoped he was safe from her using her powers on him in public. Unluckily, she lifted her hands and flicked her fingers, but she was just tricking him. Leo didn't realise until the last minute and lost his balance in a pathetic try to dodge Piper's exploding power. Instead, he swung his arms around, trying to keep balance. When Piper realised he was going to fall on Chris, she froze him in his comical position. Prue used her telekinesis to move Chris as Paige orbed the large chocolate cake into position, just behind her brother in law. Piper winked and then unfroze Leo, who, at the last minute realised the sisters', had done something and caught sight of the chocolate cake just beneath his head. None of the sisters caught Leo's wink to Wyatt and just at the last minute, the Elder orbed in mid fall, and reappeared. All four sisters spun around and caught sight of him reappearing, annoyed that their little trick hadn't worked. While the sisters where distracted, Wyatt used his telekinesis, not his orbing as that would catch his mother's attention, and placed the cake beside his mother's face.

"WYATT MATTHEWS HALLIWELL!" Piper screamed as her head collided with trap. Quickly, Wyatt orbed away, but was soon followed by his father who found him at the manor, but they stayed in hiding for a couple of minutes before orbing back.

Back in the park, Prue, Paige, and Phoebe all helped their sister clean the chocolate icing out of her hair as Piper spoke about all the curses she'd cast upon them and how she'd get her revenge. The rest of the sisters just nodded and agreed, knowing that when Piper was angry it was best just to agree if you wanted to stay alive. At some points, Phoebe wished she had Piper's freezing power just to shut her up because she was sure that being so angry would make the magic think Piper wasn't a good witch.

About five minutes in her ranting and raving, Leo appeared before his wife, chocolate cake in one hand, their blonde haired son in the other.

"Forgiven?" He pleaded, placing the cake at her feet, slowly, to prove that it wasn't another trick.

Piper sighed and shrugged, "Okay, I guess…" Sometimes she wished she wasn't so easy to impress but this was her husband and she loved him, actually… She thought as he suddenly burst out laughing, "…What?" She ordered.

"But it was funny…"

Piper gasped, how dare he laugh at her misfortune! But, before she could blow him to Timbuktu, her sisters joined in!

"Yer, but when Piper froze you, you looked so funny!" Paige laughed at Leo, defending her sister. That quietened him, Piper thought happily.

"You looked so stupid!" Phoebe agreed.

"It was comical!" Prue added, all in the midst of their giggles. Piper couldn't help but join in at the memory. Soon, everyone, including Wyatt and Chris, was laughing, and anyone passing would simply assume this was just a large regular family, not the people who kept the world from being over taken by demons every other day; this was what Piper had always wanted, a normal life.

Hours later, darkness began to sweep over San Francesco causing Prue to check the time on her watch. Typical Prue to have a watch, even after three years, the eldest sister still ran a timed life.

"Wow, its gone eight o'clock!" She gasped; they'd been there for over ten hours without even noticing. Baby Chris was already asleep, and Piper could see that Wyatt was fighting the tiredness he felt.

"I think it's past your bed time mister," She whispered as she crept past her sleeping son and lifted Wyatt onto her hip. Almost as soon as his head hit her shoulder, he was asleep.

"We'll take Chris," Paige whispered to Piper, picking up the carrier that the youngest Halliwell slept in. Quietly, Piper and Leo both crept behind the trees and orbed home, Paige gave them enough time to settle Wyatt, before she orbed Chris, Phoebe and Prue back to the manor.

"Shush," Piper whispered to her husband as they crept down the stairs after settling their second son. Phoebe gave a quiet laugh as Piper stepped on the creaky step at the bottom of the stairs.

Phoebe, Prue and Paige all sat gathered a roaring fire in the front room as Piper and her husband reached them. Suddenly a loud beep echoed through the silent room and everyone cast Phoebe stony glares as she tried to silence her pager.

"Oh—" Just managing to stop herself from swearing, Phoebe threw down the black pager and rushed upstairs to get her laptop. Prue reached over to the offending machine and checked the message:

Ask Phoebe column overdue, get it here before 9pm.

"'Ask Phoebe'?" Prue repeated, confused.

"Oh yer, you won't know will you?" Piper started sympathetically. "Phoebe's now an advice columnist," She explained.

"Hum, yer, I thought I saw her picture on the billboards on the way to the park." Prue thought back.

"That's because she's a pretty big one now too, with her empathy powers an' all," Paige added.

Prue frowned, "Empathy?"

"Oh, yer, she can read other peoples feelings," Paige explained.

"Yes, I know what empathy is Paige, but isn't that like an active power?" Prue stated, referring to how Phoebe wasn't allowed to have an active power because in her past life she had turned evil. Piper shrugged.

"It started like her premonitions, not really useful just helpful, now she's figured out how to use it to deflect powers and stuff, but I can't see her turning evil any time soon. She loves her job," Piper stated.

Phoebe soon came rushing down the stairs happily, "Right, that's that done so how about marshmallows?" She winked at Paige, who orbed the packet of marshmallows from the counter in the kitchen into her hands.

"Yummy!" The group praised as they dug into their little 9pm feast.