Piper Halliwell threw the rag down at the sink and moved to put the left over casserole in the refrigerator. It had been weeks since Chris had called that family meeting and her children were still in turmoil.

She just couldn't figure out what had gotten into that girl.

Then again, Melinda was the one child Piper had never been able to read. Wyatt was her firstborn and Christopher was her little hero. He had saved their family and not a day went by that she wasn't amazed by the strength of his heart. But Melinda—that girl had Prue's confidence, Phoebe's rebellious nature and Paige's sarcasm. Her teenaged years had been a struggle as mother and daughter were constantly at odds and there appeared to be no common ground.

That didn't mean Piper didn't love her little girl. It just meant she had no idea what ran through her mind at times like these.

When she had traveled to the future with Prue and Phoebe, Piper had been so sure she would have that very special little girl but then Prue died, Piper had trouble conceiving and all of a sudden she found herself the mother to a very unexpected little boy. And that had been wonderful. When Chris came it had been life affirming. Everything he had fought for would come true.

And then the eldest surviving sister had found out she was pregnant again. She had assumed it would be another boy and as both of her children were named for their father's side of the family Piper had decided on naming the new baby Leo, Jr. Thank God for sonograms.

Prudence Melinda Halliwell brought tears to her mother's eyes when Piper realized she finally had her little girl. Then the thoughts began to come. Would it be the same child as before? Would Piper recognize her laugh or would this little girl be entirely different? When Mel was born Piper decided it didn't matter. She wouldn't allow herself to get caught in what could have been when she had something so precious right now.

In time Piper gradually came to be reminded that destiny always had its way and that little girl from that long ago trip would not be denied her life. Prudence Melinda Halliwell had always and would always be a manifestation of the great love Piper and Leo shared, and on that long ago day when Piper heard her daughter's laughter and began to recognize the face of that sweet child, Piper knew that some things would always be.

She had taken for granted the notion that her relationship with her sons meant she would have the same relationship with her daughter. And as she thought about this she felt her husband's arms wrap around her waist.

"Everything is going to be okay," he told her and pressed a kiss to her head.

No one else had the ability to make her feel so safe or protected.

"I wish I could believe that," the witch turned in his arms to lay her head against his heart. "I just keep thinking about everything that happened in the other time line. How Chris had to change the past in order to save our family and the world."

"Are you worried about Wyatt turning because of this?"

"No," Piper looked up into Leo's eyes. "I'm not worried about Wyatt. I know he's the man he was always supposed to be. It's her," she whispered and broke away from her husband. She moved around the island and began preparing the kettle for her third pot of tea that day.

"Knowing who the children are, who they once were…it's terrifying because nothing has been confirmed. There are so many legends about Arthur and Guinevere, Merlin but up until a few decades ago it was all make believe. I've spent years researching for the day something like this happened and this is not what I expected."

"How could it be? Piper," her husband leaned across the island to look into her eyes, "Arthur's first and only known reincarnation was more than a thousand years ago. There's no known documentation except for the journal Chris confiscated from the Elders. Only destiny itself knows everything that was or will be in store for our children. But you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. Especially Melinda."

Piper's head whipped up and her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'especially Melinda'? That girl—"

"—That girl is your daughter," he interrupted his wife and reminded her, "you've always been so hard on her."

"Leo, she has no sight. No sense of her future!"

"She's a seer, Piper. Her powers far surpass even Phoebe's but you always find something to criticize. You can put blind faith into our other children that they have the best intentions and yet you never afford any of that faith to Melinda."

Piper was growing aggravated and as the tea kettle began to sing she moved it off the burner and turned the gas down. "I don't know if you remember but that girl has nearly gotten herself and her brothers killed on multiple occasions, despite how much she sees. If she respected her craft, if she respected this family—"

"—and there you go turning a blind eye to the fact that Melinda has never taken a risk when she didn't know the outcome. Everything she has ever done has been carefully planned out even if she didn't share those plans with you or anyone else. And may I remind you that some of those plays came right out of the Charmed Ones playbook. She has never done anything that you or your sisters didn't do."

"And that got Prue killed or did you forget who she's named after," Piper screamed at the top of her lungs, tears springing forward as she fought for air. "Don't you get it, Leo? Everyday she reminds me of Prue more and more and everyday that terrifies me!"

All the fight left him as he once again moved to gather his wife in his arms. "I know. I know it does," he breathed out. "But you have to trust her. She is exactly the daughter that you always knew you would raise. She's smart and loyal and generous, even though she's built this wall around herself. Someday some very lucky man is going to bull doze through it and she will find herself seeking comfort from her mother and you will finally know what it's like to have our little girl back again."

"I'm just so scared," Piper admitted and clung to her husband, her hands fisted in his shirt as he stroked her hair. "I don't know what she's seen, I haven't been prepared or able to help her. Ever since her 13th birthday she's kept everyone at bay and I know—I have always known that she's taken everything on herself, just like Prue. Prue never stopped putting us before her self and that attitude, that lack of self-preservation took her from us. And I know that we were supposed to have Paige in our life. I know and I am grateful for her everyday. But why do they put us through so much for it to end in such heartache? I've lost my mother, my sister and even you so many times. I can't let anything happen to my baby," she cried.

"It won't. We'll do what we do best," he wiped away one of her tears and held her tighter. "We'll protect each other."

And as she cried Leo held her close. It was all you could do when you didn't know what may come.