a/n: This might be the last up-date for a while

Chapter 13: Casting Petty Jealousies into Darkest night.

Prue was going stir crazy. It had been 5 days since the vanquish of the hechizado demon, yet to her it seemed like 5 months. The elders were taking their sweet time in deciding how best to reintroduce her to San Francisco society, which meant while the jury was still out, she had to remain indoors, to avoid the risk of being seen by the people she knew.

If that wasn't enough, her sisters were driving her insane. Paige it appeared was avoiding her, or if not avoiding her, then definitely keeping her distance, for what reason god only knew. At the other end of the scale Piper and Phoebe were wrapping mollycoddling her to no end, continuously asking her if she was ok, refusing to let her help them with anything, ignoring her insistences that she was fine. When Prue had attempted to speak to Piper about the whole 'who does what in a demon hunt now I'm back' scenario, infuriatingly her younger sister had told her 'not to worry, we've got it under control'.

So it came to be that Prue was sat in the breakfast alcove , sipping on a mug of coffee, relishing in the peace and quiet of having the house to herself-Phoebe was at the television studios, Victor had the kids overnight , Piper and Chris had gone to take an early delivery at P3….

However Prue wasn't the only witch to think she was alone in the house. Paige shuffled into the kitchen, unaware of Prue's presence, and began pouring herself a cup of tea.

"Coffee's already in the pot if you prefer" Prue called out from her hiding place.

"Shit!" Paige orbed in and out in surprise "You nearly gave me a heart attack"

"Sorry, just thought I'd save you a job"

"No, it's ok, I don't think I 'd better drink coffee" Paige muttered, as she filled her mug with a herbal drink. She paused, unsure of what to do, if she stayed here then she would have to talk to Prue, if she left then it would be a deliberate snub.

"You can go if you want" Prue called, as if she had read Paige's mind. "I won't be offended..but just so you know, I don't bite"

"Don't be silly" Paige headed toward the alcove. Pulling up a chair opposite Prue, she sat, her eyes fixed on the mug the entire time.

"See if I was a cynical person, I would say you've been avoiding me" Prue stated.

"No" Paige said, a little too loudly "No, I mean, I've got a lot of things on my plate at the moment, I need a bit of time to get my head round them…"

"I see"

" I mean, you know how it gets around here with all the kids and the noise, I just need a little breathing time to collect my thoughts.."

"You know Paige, I may have only known you for like 6 days, but I can still tell you're hiding something"

The silence seemed to answer her question.

"If you ever want to talk…I.."

"I'm not the only one!" Paige interrupted, "You've been pretty quiet yourself as of late, and if what the stories Piper and Phoebe have told me are true, then you must be hiding something too"

"Perhaps I am"

"whuh?" Paige hadn't been expecting that response.

"I said, perhaps you're right, there has been something that has been annoying me this past week"

"oh" The wind was taken out of Paige's sails.

"Truth be told I'm kind of glad you're here, I could do with someone to talk to"

Paige looked half amused, half terrified "What about Phoebe and Piper?" she asked "They're your sisters, why can't you talk to them?"

"They aren't my sisters. I hardly know them any more"

"Phoebe and Piper? That's ridiculous, of course they're, your, well, our sisters"

"They are so far removed from the sisters I left behind that they are almost like strangers. You wouldn't understand, you didn't grow up with them, and I don't mean that as an insult, it's just the truth" Prue looked up at Paige, who seemed to be processing this sudden revelation.

" Phoebe for example" she continued " always the youngest, immature, never held down a job for more than a couple of weeks, forever borrowing money, clothes, cars, hopping from one unsuitable guy to the next, not always living on the correct side of the law, fiery tempered , quick to get into an argument with me or Grams or any other authority figure…..look at her now, a career woman with a high profile steady job, a minor celebrity no less. A mother, a peacemaker, has a bigger and better wardrobe than I do, …"

"all that she went through with Cole forced her to grow up a lot" Paige said, forgetting that Prue didn't yet know the extent of what Phoebe and Cole had been through.

"And Piper" Prue's voice softened " My little Piper, always so timid, self-doubting, hated fights, rarely shouted, ever the follower, never the leader, always needed someone to look after and protect her, first grams, then me, then Leo..they were just a couple of newly weds when I left..when I saw her the other day, taking control like that, deciding what to do, commanding everyone, it shocked me, she dictated the orders and you all leapt to do her bidding. I never imagined that she could be like that, that she could have the confidence, to take charge……..and her and Leo, 3 children!.. they've been worn down by time, that newly wedded sparkle, the innocence of youth, is gone…"

"They still love each other greatly" Paige reassured her "…and Piper, she didn't want to be the Big Sister, she even told me as much, but someone had to be the responsible one, keep me and Phoebe in line!..."

"I just didn't think that they could change this much"

"They're still the same people..Pheebs still does marshal arts, is untidy and never keeps the same hair style for more than 5 minutes, Piper still likes calm and order, runs round tidying up after us, frets about a normal life, bakes cookies…"

"I know, but I don't know how to talk to them, how to be with them anymore, it's easier with you, we didn't know each other, I have no preconceived ideas about how you should be.."

"That's easy for you to say"

"why? What did they tell you about me"

"Oh just that you were super witch, the best Sister in the world, perfection personified, thou who could do not wrong…"

"I'm far from that Paige, believe me"

"maybe so, but they idolised you, to the extent that were it not for the fact they ultimately needed me to make up the power of 3, I'm not sure I would have even had a proper place in this family"

"You can't believe that! I've done nothing this past week but feel jealous at how close you 3 are, how well you guys all work to together, and how little I was obviously missed"

"You, were jealous of me!" Paige stifled a laugh "I really have heard everything now!"

"It's not funny!"

"Yes it is, The Great Prue Halliwell Jealous of little old me……well well well" Paige's face grew serious "but honestly, please don't ever question how much you were missed, Piper and Phoebe, they fell apart, Piper, she was nearly consumed by the grief."

"I didn't realise"

"you wouldn't. It has taken them a long time to get to the place where they are now"

A silence fell between them.

"and what about you?" Prue asked, "Fair's fair, I've told you what was bugging me, now what has been bugging you to the extent that you seem to be avoiding everyone?"

Paige could feel the crystal blue eyes gazing at her, she desperately wanted to confide in someone, and Prue was right, it was nice to talk to someone who had no preconceptions about you…."Okay, but you can't tell Phoebe or Piper, not yet"

"Promise"

"I'm Pregnant"

"and this is a bad thing…………….?" Prue was confused.

"No, Yes, I don't know…I'm such an idiot!"

"why?"

"well most people who get pregnant as the result of a one-night stand tend to learn from their mistakes, but no, not only do I manage to do it twice, but by the same bloke no less!"

"But I thought you were dating this Kyle person?"

"I am, sort of, but it's all very complicated , it's all very new, I don't know where we are headed, and this will seriously blow the smoke out of the water.."

"but being a father to Jo hasn't scared him off?"

"well no, not at the moment, but that's because Jo doesn't know who he really is, so he still has a get out clause, plus it's one thing being a weekend dad to 12 year old who can walk talk, feed and clothe themselves, quite another to a baby"

"Have you told him yet?"

"no"

"Well to be fair to the guy, perhaps he needs to be told before you can analyse his actions"

"I've tried, but I don't know how…"

"Why can't you talk to Phoebe and Piper about this?"

"Because Phoebe will come out with some sort of psycho babble that I really don't want to hear, and Piper will act just like my mum did the first time I confessed I was pregnant, and I'll just feel like I screwed up once again"

"You shouldn't feel like that Paige, you're not 15"

"You're right, 15 year olds have more sense.."

"are you going to keep it?"

"I guess so, but I really really wish I didn't have to deal with it right now, not with everything else that is going on too, I just want to stick my head in the sand and make it all go away"

" well I'm afraid real life isn't like that, part of life's rich tapestry is confronting our fears and dealing with them"

"yeah well real life sucks" Paige sulked in a baby voice.

"oh you sound just like a 28 year old!" Prue laughed.

Paige smiled. Prue had been right, it was good to talk, get a new peron's perspective on things.

"Thanks" Paige said

"For what?"

"For.." Paige was cut off by the sudden appearance of Cole, who shimmered into the kitchen, his back to the breakfast nook

"If you're looking for Phoebe, she's not here, she's at work" Paige told his back.

"Do you think you could go get her?" Cole asked as he turned round slowly to reveal a giant red blood stain that was on the front of his shirt, which was growing larger by the second.

"I could really do with her help…" he trailed off before collapsing onto the flag stone floor.

XXX