Chapter 4.4 – Happy Banter

Down the hall and a couple doors down, Prue was looking out her bedroom window. Andy was still asleep in bed, and he looked so peaceful, she didn't want to wake him. She still didn't know enough about whitelighters to know if they needed sleep, but she did wonder when the last time Andy had been able to sleep in was. They had important things to do today, but they could wait. So longer as they had no visitors, the house was safe enough for her two formerly-dead loved ones. She heard a rustle behind her and turned away from the window. She found Andy rubbing sleep out of his eyes. It looked rather adorable. "Good morning."

Andy stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at her. "Good morning." He yawned. "What time is it?" he asked, surprised to feel hunger for the first time in three years.

"Just past ten," Prue admitted. "Piper's downstairs cooking breakfast. At least I think that's what she's doing. I haven't been down there to check, not yet. But I heard Leo let Paige and her parents in about half an hour ago. I was just about to go downstairs." She smiled at him. "Want me to get going so you can change? I have more of your clothes in the closet if you want."

"Don't leave on my account," Andy told her with a smile, "but your sister might want you down there."

Prue smiled. "All right, then I will see you when you come downstairs."

Andy climbed out of bed. "I'll join you shortly."

Prue walked over to him and pressed a kiss on his lips before heading for the door and out of the room.

Downstairs, Mary was washing and cutting pears at the sink. Piper was cooking at the stove. A stack of pancakes were piled high on a plate next to the stove and both bacon and scrambled eggs were cooking in the pan. At the sound of a chuckle escaping Piper's lips she turned away from the sink to look at Piper. "Care to share?"

"It's nothing," Piper told her, glancing away from the stove. "I was just thinking of what my Dad's response to all this will be when he finds out."

"Not magical, I take it?"

"Hardly," Piper replied with a laugh. "He'll be glad Prue and Phoebe aren't any more. I think he'll be just glad to see me alive."

"I imagine so," Mary agreed. "If anything were to happen to Paige, I would be very happy to have her back, with or without powers."

Piper nodded. "Exactly." She saw a shadow headed into the room, followed momentarily by her new half-sister. "Hi, Paige. So how did you like your tour of the attic?"

"Good," Paige told her with a smile. "My dad and your husband are now sitting on the couch in the front room discussing sports. When they got on the topic of baseball, I figured I'd better find something else to do."

Piper laughed. "Don't like baseball?"

"Baseball's great," Paige countered. "You should see my fastball. Even when it's not helped by my powers. I'm just not too interested in the stats of games that happened before I was born."

Piper held back another laugh as she moved the food she was cooking off the burner. It wasn't often that she considered exactly how old her husband was. "I see what you mean. I'm glad Leo found someone who also cares for such things. I sure don't and neither do my sisters or Cole."

Mary smiled. "Neither do I. But John has a photographic memory--part of the reason why he's so good with spells. And he reads everything and anything he can find about baseball, so he knows all of the stats from almost the first game ever played. I'm sure he's enjoying hearing about those older games from someone who actually saw them live."

"Since I'm here is there anything I can do to help?" Paige offered with an easy smile. "I prefer to keep busy."

Piper looked at the food she had just finished cooking. "Actually, we are about done in here, so unless you want to set the table, then I don't see what."

"I can set the table," Paige replied affably. "Just show me where to find the dishes."

Piper walked over to one of the cupboards. "Plates are kept here. Glasses," she said pointing, "are in there. And the utensils are in that drawer over by the sink," she finished pointing to a drawer. She looked up at the sound of footsteps, smiling as she saw Prue enter the room.

"I thought I'd find you in here," Prue told her as a smile bloomed on her face, thinking how great it was to walk in this room that meant Piper and find Piper there, so totally different than the previous morning. "How are you doing this morning?"