Now
I kept my appointment for the next month and the one after that and the one after that, but soon it became apparent that I needed help and a normal ob/gyn wasn't able to provide it.
Sitting in my Porsche, 32 and all alone and pregnant, I hoped that the people on the opposite side of that door would have answers for me. I took a deep breath and pulled the release on the car door until I stood staring on the sidewalk. After a moment I began to move forward, both hands on my newly popped baby bump.
When I climbed to the top of the steps I heard voices so I knew someone was home and I prayed this wasn't the biggest mistake of my life, then I rang the bell.
"That's odd," Leo said and pushed his chair back. "Phoebe and Paige don't usually ring the bell."
"I got it," I said and put the casserole I had baked for lunch on the table. My hair was getting in my eyes so I pulled it back into a ponytail and pulled the door open.
"No," I screamed and feel to the ground. It felt like hours but within seconds Leo's arms were wrapped around me.
"Piper, you're gonna be okay. Come on, honey. Stand up."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come," her voice one I hadn't heard in almost twenty years. She took a step back and I was through the door before I knew what I was doing.
"Wait!" Yanking her arm I turned her around again and took a look at the face of my late sister, Prue. "Who are you?"
"I'm Pearl. Pearl Anne Rowland."
"Another P," I heard Leo say under his breath.
"Pearl. Like our aunt Pearl." I took in the sight in front of me and realized this young woman was pregnant. "You must be hungry. I just put lunch on the table. Why don't you eat with us and you can tell us more about why you're here."
Pearl looked from Piper to Leo and back again before nodding and letting Piper gently guide her over the threshold of Halliwell Manor.
Phoebe and Paige pulled up at the same time and shared a glance. "Do you know what this is about," the youngest sister asked. She had come straight from social services where she now worked as a supervisor, secretly helping young witches in the foster care system be placed within loving witch families.
"No clue," the advice columnist and novelist said. She and Coop were working on a deal with none other than her ex-boyfriend, Jason Dean, to become a partner in his internet dating platform and help others find love.
They marched up the steps and let themselves in when Paige smacked right into Phoebe's back. "Hey!" Paige started to speak when Phoebe grabbed her arm. Phoebe's eyes began to well up and Paige stepped around her to see what the big deal was when she saw someone she thought she'd never meet. "Is that—"
Pushing in her chair, the oldest sister walked towards them and shook her head. "Guys, this is Pearl Rowland. She's Prue's daughter."
Paige's mouth was still hanging open as the spitting image of her late sister stood and walked toward them, holding her hand out to shake.
Phoebe looked at it before completely ignoring it and hugging the stranger. "Oh, my Goddess."
Pearl chuckled and hugged her back. When they released each other Paige stepped forward and hugged her, too. Did you know, she mouthed to Piper whom was standing behind them.
Shaking her head, Piper lead Pearl back to her chair and they all took seats at the table.
"How is this possible," Paige asked.
"Paige, you have three kids," Phoebe wise cracked and Piper and Pearl chuckled.
"Not that," she smacked her sister. "How is it that Prue had a daughter no one knew about and how did you track us down?"
"I can't explain about Prue, but I've known about you all for a long time now. See, I grew up in Oregon at a Catholic orphanage. When I was a senior in high school I received access to my birth certificate and found the hospital where I was born, San Francisco Memorial. I decided to apply to school out here so that I could do a little digging and try to find my birth parents. There were some leads but they all seemed to go no where. By the time I was getting ready to graduate with my bachelors degree, I decided to take a DNA test and sent it in to 23 and Me. It came back with a paternal match to a man named Andrew Trudeau; it said he was likely to be my paternal grandfather. So, I was able to find his son and from there I found out where he went to high school and got a copy of his senior yearbook. That's how I figured out that Prue was my mother."
Phoebe reached for her hand and clasped it in hers. "But, if you've known for almost 10 years, why come to us now? Why not then?"
Paige reached for her drink and waited to hear her niece's answer.
"Finding out who my mom was and then learning that she had already passed on and so had my father, I wanted to know what had happened. I had a friend who worked for the police station in the records department and he told me about all of the weird noise complaints and police reports associated with you. It made me realize how much like my mother I really am. And if she was killed for it, then I didn't want anything to do with it."
"Wait," Piper blinked and looked between her sisters, "Are you saying that you…have powers?"
"Yes."
"When did you get them," asked Phoebe.
Pearl shook her head, confused. "I've always had them."