"Piper!" called Prue one morning in an urgent tone. Piper appeared in Prue's bedroom doorway in seconds flat, her hands up ready to use her powers. She was followed close behind by Phoebe. Both girls were still in pyjamas and had bed hair.
"My jeans won't do up," Prue whined, sticking her bottom lip out and pouting. Piper threw her hands into the air and Phoebe groaned.
"What? I'm late for work and I have nothing to wear." Prue explained seriously. Piper shook her head.
"What about these?" Phoebe asked, holding up a pair of dark wash jeans. "You always used to complain about how they were too big on you."
"I was wearing them when Andy died," Prue responded, as if that explained everything. Rationally it didn't, but her sisters understood.
"You can borrow a pair of my pants," Piper offered. "But next time, let's save the panicked yelling for demon attacks, okay?"
Prue dashed into Piper's room and started pulling clothes out of her cupboard until she found a pair of smart black trousers that fit. She hastily pulled them on and then dashed out the door. Looking at the pile of clothes Prue had left on the floor, Piper sighed, but before she could pick them up the doorbell rang.
Standing outside was the cute guy named Dan who lived next door. Piper instantly regretted answering the door in her dressing gown.
"Sorry," she mumbled, motioning to her attire.
"Oh no, it's 8:30 in the morning, pyjamas are pretty much mandatory unless you're leaving the house," he replied with a smile. Piper noticed how perfect his smile was; it made her insides feel fluttery and her cheeks feel flushed.
"The mailman gave me some of your mail by mistake," he continued, "just wanted to drop it off before I took Jenny to school. Thought it might be important." Piper thanked him and took the crisp, white envelopes from his hand. Their gaze met for a second before Piper looked away, muttered goodbye and then rushed back inside. Once on the other side of the door, she slumped against it and ran her hands through her hair. Dan was a good guy, perfect even, but he wasn't perfect for her. She had secrets she could never tell him. And even if she could, it wouldn't be fair to make a move on him when every flash of blue she saw had her hoping Leo had returned.
"Who was at the door?" asked Phoebe, appearing at the top of the stairs. Piper startled and pretended to be focussed on sorting the mail.
"Oh no one, just Dan" she said absentmindedly, still shuffling the mail in her hands.
"That poor guy is so into you. That's the third time this week he's made up an excuse to come see you." Phoebe teased. Piper waved the envelopes in the air.
"Okay, but yesterday he was asking if we'd seen his cat. I don't even think he has a cat! Go for it girl, you deserve some happiness." Phoebe turned on her heels and headed towards for the shower. Piper was glad to have that conversation over with.
It was mid-afternoon and Piper was reading in the lounge room when the phone rang. Jumping up from her seat she answered and instantly recognised her older sister's voice on the other end of the line.
"Hey Piper, I forgot to ask you this morning but can you and Phoebs come with me to my ultrasound appointment this afternoon? I would've asked sooner but I've just been so forgetful lately."
Piper assured her that there was nothing they'd like more than to be there. After finding out the time of the appointment, she hung up and called Phoebe to let her know. Phoebe was over the moon about the idea of getting to see the baby for the first time, and it made Piper feel awful that she didn't have the same reaction. She felt the same wave of jealousy and sadness wash over her all over again.
Prue rode the elevator up to the obstetrics ward, which was on the third floor. Her head was flooded with thoughts. She was about to see her baby for the first time. She was nervous and excited, but most of all she wished Andy could be there with her. She'd been thinking about him a lot lately, ever since she'd visited his grave. It still hurt but at least she wasn't hiding from the pain anymore and every day it got a little easier. Prue supposed it must have been true what they say: time does heal all wounds and she had to endure the painful healing process for the sake of her baby. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Prue found herself in a small waiting room, with dusky pinks walls and a row of white cushioned seats. At the far end of the room was a desk. Behind it sat a man with blonde hair and dark glasses. He was wearing a badge pinned to his shirt that read "Brad".
"Ah, Prue," he said, looking up as she approached.
"Yes?" she replied, slightly confused as to how he knew her name.
"It's on your chart," Brad mentioned in response to her questioning expression. "I just took a guess that you were here for the 5 o'clock appointment. You're a little early so feel free to take a seat over here and I'll call you when the doctor's ready." He smiled warmly and personally escorted Prue over to the seats against the opposite wall. Prue followed him and couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him from somewhere. It was his walk â it just seemed familiar. She barely had time to think about it before Phoebe and Piper arrived. They sat down beside her and chatted about their day. It wasn't long before Brad was calling Prue's name. The three sisters followed him down a short hallway where he ushered them into a small room on their left.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Elisabeth Walker. But please, call me Libby. And you must be Prudence," She said, extending her hand towards Prue.
"Call me Prue," Prue confirmed. "And these are my sisters, Piper and Phoebe." They both briefly shook hands with the doctor.
"Okay, well how about we get you up on the bed so we can take a look at this baby!" said Libby as she patted the bed beside her. Prue did as she was told and gently rolled up her shirt, exposing her swollen midriff. Libby spread the cool gel onto Prue's lower abdomen.
"You can come closer," Libby encourages, beckoning to Phoebe and Piper who still stood nearer to the door. "You won't be in the way, and you'll have a better look at the screen from over here!" Prue looked at her sisters, her eyes pleading for them to move closer. She didn't want to do this alone. She wanted them there for such an important moment. Phoebe was by her side in an instant, holding Prue's hand. Piper hesitated, looking like she was torn. Between what, Prue didn't know.
"Piper?" She asked. Piper moved slowly towards her and stood beside her head. Prue knew the look on Piper's face â she was trying not to cry. Phoebe had noticed too, and put her free arm around Piper.
"Now let's see if we can hear this baby's heartbeat!" Libby excitedly interrupted the silence, blissfully ignorant of the emotions going on around her. She pressed the handheld device to Prue's stomach and moved it around. It wasn't long before the sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room. Tears sprang to Prue's eyes as soon as she heard it. It was fast, sounding a bit like a train but Libby explained that that was normal. She proceeded to point out the baby on the monitor.
"What a little cutie!" Phoebe exclaimed, her eyes also glistening with tears. She squeezed Prue's hand and looked at her with a smile that reached from ear to ear.
"Everything looks good for eleven weeks," explained Libby confidently. "I'll just get a good picture for you and we're done here!" Prue felt Piper stroke her hair. Letting out a sigh of relief she let her tears spill over and run into her hairline.
The three sisters left the doctor's office minutes later, Prue clutching a picture of the baby.
"You weren't going to leave without showing me your gorgeous baby, were you?" Brad called from his seat behind the desk. Prue walked over to the desk and handed him the black and white image.
"You have one beautiful baby, Prue," he told her, examining the photo closely. "He or she will definitely grow up to be a heartbreaker."
"Thank you. I bet you say that to all the mothers though," laughed Prue.
"No, only when it's true." Brad handed back the photo, looking almost like a proud father. He said goodbye to the three girls and went back to his computer.
"What was that all about, Missy?" pried Phoebe playfully as they took the elevator down to the ground floor.
"Nothing," Prue answered, "what do you mean?"
"I mean he was obviously flirting with you! Duh!" They stepped out of the elevator and crossed the foyer, exiting out into the dazzling late afternoon sunlight.
"No he wasn't!" Prue objected. "And if he was, I'm definitely not ready to move on yet."
"I know," Phoebe assured her. "But I haven't had a guy flirt with me in forever! Yet my pregnant sister manages to pick up without even trying."
"Hey! I resent that! I am still a highly desirable woman, thank you very much." Prue said, jokingly punching Phoebe in the arm.
"And Piper here," Phoebe continued, "She's got two guys. Leo and cute next door neighbour, Dan."
"In case you haven't noticed, Leo's gone!" Piper snapped. "And Dan, well he just isn'tâĤ"
"Isn't Leo," Phoebe finished, her face serious now.
They had reached the cars. Prue suggested Piper ride with her while Phoebe drove the Jeep home. Piper didn't fight it and climbed into the passenger seat beside Prue.
"Care to tell me what that was all about, Kiddo?" Prue asked tenderly as she turned out of the car park behind Phoebe in the Jeep.
"I'm fine." Piper lied, keeping her eyes fixed on the road.
"I'm your older sister, Piper, you can't fool me. Something's upset you â what's wrong?"
Piper sighed, and began to explain her feelings, knowing full well that Prue may hate her by the time she'd finished talking.
"It's just hard, watching you go through this pregnancy, when I thought I was going to be the first to have kids. In the future, Leo and I had Melinda and all of a sudden, the idea of children was real to me. I love her so much, and she doesn't even exist yet. And I haven't heard from Leo for months, so it looks like I'll never get to see my baby girl again. I don't know if you can mourn what you never actually had, but I think I am."
"Piper, look at me," Prue said slowly. "You miss Leo, I know. But doesn't the fact that you were together in the future give you hope that he'll return? I'm sorry this is hard for you but it's hard for me too! At least you and Leo are together in the future; at least your daughter had a dad!" She was shouting now.
"We were divorced," Piper whispered. She was crying. "And our sister was killed in the future. Doesn't that make you doubt that the future is set in stone?"
"I don't know! But I do know one thing that isn't changing: Andy is dead. He's never coming back and he'll never meet his beautiful baby! Have you tried tracking down Leo? Maybe that's what future Piper did; she probably did something about it instead of crying about it."
"He's a Whitelighter, Prue," Piper said, a little stronger than before. "There's no way to find him. The only records of his existence are from over fifty years ago and among them is a death certificate stating that he died in World War Two!" By then they were turning into the manor's driveway. Prue turned off the ignition and went inside without saying a word, leaving Piper to follow, drying her eyes as she walked. Both girls barely uttered a word to Phoebe and headed straight upstairs to their rooms. Phoebe groaned. She wasn't used to Prue and Piper fighting and she didn't know which one to comfort first. Meanwhile, upstairs, both girls felt absolutely miserable about the things they'd said.