As soon as Piper and Leo arrived home from dropping Melinda off at her dorm, they paused in the foyer and just stared at each other. "What are we supposed to do now?" questioned a bewildered Piper.
"I have no fucking clue," Leo answered honestly. "We've never lived by ourselves before." First with her sisters and then the kids came along. An empty nest was a foreign concept to them both.
Piper sighed. People were in and out of the house all day so they weren't truly alone - somebody would likely pop in soon - but that was beside the point. "We'll figure it out." When he smirked at her, she chuckled. "And I know what you're thinking but no sex right now. Maybe tonight." She smacked his ass as they headed into the conversatory to sit down.
"It's weirdly quiet. Too quiet," Leo muttered under his breath.
"That's because we're not used to silence," Piper pointed out, suddenly hoping for a quick, easy demon vanquish just so they could have something to do. She hoped she hadn't just jinxed them. When nothing happened, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"I miss the kids. Maybe we should call Chris and Wyatt, see what they're up to." Leo knew the boys wouldn't mind but their behavior would probably get old quick.
"We could call Melinda to check on her, see if everything's going okay."
He side-eyed his wife for that suggestion and Piper glared at him. "We're not bothering her just yet. Maybe tonight."
Piper couldn't help but fret over their youngest. "Wishing again that Lindy could orb like her brothers."
"The boys and/or Paige will be there in seconds if Lindy needs them," Leo reminded her.
The two of them gazed around the conservatory for a few minutes before boredom struck. "I'm going to cook something," Piper decided.
"You sure you don't want to head to the restaurant, check on everything over there?" he suggested. Piper had taken the day off to get Melinda settled in but she liked to check in at least once a day when she wasn't working.
"I'll go later. Now, you want to help me or not?"
"Sure," Leo agreed. He grinned at her, stood up, and then followed Piper into the kitchen. He grabbed some of the utensils she needed and then watched her start to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch.
Chris orbed in just as the first batch went into the oven, and they both beamed at their middle child. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he questioned, confused, just two seconds before his parents hugged him.
"Thank God you're here," Piper murmured, ruffling his hair as she pulled away from him.
Leo pressed a kiss to Chris' forehead. "We missed you."
"Is this because Lindy moved into the dorms today? You guys are spinning out, huh?" he deduced, trying to hold in his laughter at their misfortune.
Piper and Leo scowled at him and it only made Chris laugh harder. "Stop laughing at us, Christopher!" she scolded.
He held up his hands in defeat. "I'm sorry but you should look at yourselves. You weren't like this when Wy and I moved out."
Piper snorted. "Did you see your father when you moved out?" To be fair, there were extenuating circumstances for Leo having a meltdown when Chris moved out but they all understood why.
Leo groaned. "Don't remind me."
"Or me," Chris agreed.
"Anyway, I need to take a look at the Book if you two are done freaking the fuck out. Have fun with that!" He waved at them, eyeing the cookie dough ready to go into the oven, and then orbed up to the attic.
"We scared our kid away," Leo mused.
"No, we amused him and then he went to do what he came here for in the first place," Piper corrected.
After he was finished checking through the Book of Shadows and found the demon he was looking for, Chris orbed downstairs to steal a few cookies, hugged his parents goodbye, laughed at them one more time, and then orbed back home to the apartment he shared with Wyatt.
"We did a good job, didn't we?" Leo pressed. "We have three mostly very happy and healthy kids despite all the curveballs life threw us at over the years."
"Don't be smug," she shot back with a laugh.
The two of them kissed and then headed back into the conservatory after they finished baking and put all the cookies away. They'd eventually get used to the empty nest and learn to embrace it but Piper and Leo were never truly alone since their family continued to come and go as they pleased. They were used to it and had accepted it a long time ago. Neither of them minded anyway.