-----

Prue meandered through the mall, lagging behind her sisters a few paces. She had two bags in her left hand and three more in her right, and the bags kept getting tangled up in each other. She could only take shopping in small doses, and she and her sisters had been at the mall a little over three hours. She was more than ready to pack up and go home, but Piper and Phoebe were having a blast. They both had already spent more money than they probably should have, but they showed no signs of slowing down.

The sun was shining through the skylights in the ceiling, casting bright beams of light on the floor. Prue looked up through the skylights, gazing at the white puffy clouds that were rolling past, and all she could think about was how much she wanted to be outside in the fresh air. All of a sudden, the mall felt very confining. The air suddenly seemed thin, almost as if it wasn't enough to fill her lungs, and all she wanted to do was go outside and take a couple of deep, refreshing breaths. "Guys," she managed to croak. "Guys, wait."

Piper and Phoebe whirled around as Prue leaned back against the glass railing. "Are you okay?" Piper asked, immediately concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled, setting her bags beside her. She placed her hands on her knees and leaned forward, taking deep, even breaths. "I just got dizzy for a second."

"Do you think you're hungry?" Phoebe asked. She didn't remember seeing Prue eat breakfast and she had only picked at her meal when they got lunch at the food court.

Prue shook her head, slowly standing up straight. "No. I'm okay now."

"You don't look okay," Piper said, her voice shaking. "You're a little pale."

"I promise, I'm fine." She picked up her bags and started to walk ahead. "I just got a tiny bit claustrophobic."

Piper and Phoebe exchanged a concerned glance, but Piper just shrugged and followed Prue.

The sisters walked through the mall in silence until they came across the World of Science. The small shop sold all kinds of scientific relics and items as well as educational toys, games, and books. The displays were set up to encourage shopper interaction and buyers of all ages were invited to play with the products on display. Phoebe's eyes widened and she turned to her sisters, a look of pure mischief on her face. "Want to go in the science store?"

Prue smirked, shaking her head at her sister. "Sure, why not?"

Phoebe grinned and ran ahead of her sisters. "Yes!"

Prue shook her head again as Piper sidled up next to her. "What was wrong earlier?" Piper asked quietly.

"I told you, it was nothing," Prue answered with a shrug. "I haven't been feeling well lately. I keep getting the feeling that something big is going to happen."

"Like what?"

Prue shrugged again and entered the store, breaking away from Piper. She wandered around the shop, taking care not to knock anything over with her bags. She stopped once to look over the polished rocks, The smooth, rounded blue worry stones made her smile, a little bubble of nostalgia making its way to the surface. As she made her way to the back of the store where the glow in the dark stars and blacklights were on display, she spotted a young girl with long blond hair that hung down to her waist staring at the wall, fascinated by the blacklights.

The little girl, who looked to Prue to be no more than seven or eight, turned around with a grin, then walked further down the back wall. She abruptly turned around, peering around the store. Suddenly, all the color drained from her face.

"Daddy?" she called, running a little closer to the front of the store. "Daddy, where are you?"

When no one came over to the girl, her eyes filled with tears. "Daddy? Daddy, where are you?"

Prue walked up to her, kneeling down so that she was eye-level with the girl. "Hey, honey, what's the matter?"

"I can't find my daddy," she cried, sniffling. "I stopped to look at the stars and when I turned around, he was gone."

"Okay, don't panic," she answered gently. "Maybe he went to another store and he thought you were right behind him. Want me to take you around to a couple of the other stores?"

The little girl hesitated, clearly remembering what she had been taught about going places with strangers.

Prue smiled. "You're a smart girl," she said, reading the girl's mind. "My name's Prue. What's yours?"

"Abby," she answered after a moment.

"That's a pretty name." In the meantime, Piper and Phoebe had come up behind Prue. She looked up at them, then back at Abby with a smile. "These are my sisters, Piper and Phoebe. I promise you, we're not going to hurt you. We just want to help you find your dad."

Abby glanced from Piper to Phoebe, and finally into Prue's eyes. She seemed to be completely sincere. Abby took a deep breath and slipped her hand into Prue's.

-----

The sisters had been at the information booth with Abby for about an hour. The woman working the booth was a kindly older woman who reminded Prue a lot of her grandmother. Her dark hair, her wise eyes, even her tone of voice were so much like Grams's that it was a little disconcerting. The woman had been paging Abby's father every five minutes for the past hour, and so far, no one had come to claim the little girl.

"Peter Lancaster, please come to the information booth on the first level of the mall," she said into the microphone once again. "Your daughter is waiting for you." She looked up, caught Prue's eye, and shook her head slightly. This wasn't shaping up to be good.

"Prue?" Abby asked in a small voice. "How come he's not coming?"

Prue locked eyes with her sisters, begging them to help her think of something to tell the little girl. They just shrugged, completely at a loss. "I don't know, sweetie," she answered after a moment's hesitation. "But I promise, we're not going to leave until someone comes for you."

"Abby, is your mom home?" the receptionist, whose nametag identified her as Lorraine, asked. "I can call her and she can come pick you up."

"I haven't seen my mom in four years," she answered somewhat uncomfortably. "Daddy and I moved because my mom didn't want me. I don't even really remember her." She moved closer to Prue, seeking comfort. Prue placed her hands on the little girl's shoulders and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "Actually, he's not really my daddy. My real daddy died before I was born and then my mom married Peter."

The sisters all exchanged a glance with Lorraine. They were all thinking the same thing: this poor little girl had been through so much already. Could it really be that her stepfather had abandoned her? "How old are you, pumpkin?" Lorraine asked, trying to get Abby's mind off the fact that no one was answering her pages.

"I'm seven, but I'm almost eight," she answered proudly. "My birthday's in July."

Prue smiled and hugged the little girl lightly. She was such a sweet little kid. Why would anyone abandon her not once, but twice? She let the girl out of the embrace and grinned. "Honey, can you stay here with Piper and Phoebe for a second? I just have to talk to Lorraine real quick." Abby nodded with a smile, quickly ran over to Piper, and climbed into her lap. Prue walked over to Lorraine, finally letting her concern show on her face. "What happens if he doesn't come for her?" she asked quietly.

"I'll have to call the police," she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. "They'll come down, take a statement, and take her to a group home downtown. Unfortunately, I've seen it happen more than once."

"A group home?" Prue asked with a slight moan. The thought of Abby spending even one hour in a group home after what she'd already been through made Prue sick to her stomach. "Isn't there some other way?"

"I don't know," Lorraine whispered back. "Unless you three would be willing to take her in, I don't see any other way, and even that's a long shot."

Prue groaned, running her hand over her face. There had to be some other way, there just had to. It was a little unnerving how much Abby meant to her already, and she had only known her for a little over an hour. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "It may not be that long of a shot," she said with a grin. "When you call the police, ask for Inspector Andy Trudeau. He should be able to help us out."

Lorraine smiled and picked up the phone, dialing the number to the police station. Prue turned back to Abby and her sisters, setting her shoulders. "Okay, guys, the four of us need to have a talk."

All Andy could think of as he made his way through the mall to the information booth was why they had sent him. He was a homicide investigator, after all, and even though homicides in the mall weren't unheard of, they didn't usually happen at three in the afternoon. Plus, whoever had called the stationhouse had asked for him specifically. As far as he knew, there wasn't a personal emergency, though his first thought when he was dispatched had gone to Prue. He had just found out the truth about Prue and her sisters, and he was constantly worrying about them.

He arrived at the information booth in record time and as soon as he walked up to the desk, he understood why he had been asked to go. Prue was sitting down, holding a little blond girl in her lap, and Piper was at her right side, talking animatedly with the little girl. Phoebe was talking with the receptionist, casting furtive glances in the little girl's direction every so often. "Hi, Inspector Trudeau," he said, flashing his badge and a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Andy," Prue said in a tone that let him know he could drop the professionalism, "this is Abby Lancaster. Abby, this is my friend, Andy."

"Hi," Abby said shyly, leaning back against Prue.

"Hi," Andy answered with a friendly smile. He sat down in the chair at Prue's left side. "How are you?"

"Okay," she answered with a polite shrug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he said, smiling. She was one of the most polite kids he'd ever met. He looked up at Prue, silently asking her what had happened. She just shook her head, biting her lip. Andy had an idea just by the way Abby was acting that she had been left by someone, so he proceeded cautiously. "I have to ask you a couple of questions, okay?"

She nodded, her hand searching for Prue's. Once Prue gripped her hand tightly, the little girl took a deep breath and set her shoulders. "Okay, shoot."

He took out a small notebook and set his pen to it, waiting to write down what Abby was about to tell him. "All right, can you tell me what happened?"

"My daddy decided to take me to the mall today because he said he was going to buy me a new teddy bear," Abby explained, huddling on Prue's lap. "Before we got to the toy store, he asked me if I wanted to go to the science. I like those stars that you stick on the ceiling that glow in the dark, so I said yes. I went straight for the stars and when I turned around, he was gone. I met Prue and she took me a couple of the other stores to look for him. When we couldn't

find him, we came down here and Lorraine paged him over and over. He never came."

"What does he look like?" Andy asked.

"He has brown hair and blue eyes," Abby answered, closing her eyes to think. "He was wearing his favorite pair of jeans and a T-shirt with a weird symbol on it."

"Do you think he would have left you?"

Abby shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "He always said he'd love me forever. When we moved, he said we had to move because my mom didn't want me anymore, but he would always love me. I don't know why he's not coming back for me."

Prue wrapped the girl in a tight, comforting hug. Abby buried her face in Prue's arm, trying not to cry. After Andy was through writing, he looked up and met Prue's eyes. She was begging him to help her with Abby, help her know what to say and what to do. "Can she stay with you?" Andy mouthed. When Prue nodded, he tapped Abby's knee and smiled, meaning it as a comfort to both Abby and Prue. "Okay, Abby, I'm going to get everyone I can to look for your dad. In the meantime, you have a choice to make. You can either come with me and I'll take you to a place with a bunch of kids where you can stay until we find him, or you can go home with Prue, Piper, and Phoebe and stay with them until we find him."

Abby looked up at Prue and smiled, her tears tapering off. "I can stay with you guys?"

Prue nodded, smiling. "Of course, honey."

"I want to stay with Prue, Piper, and Phoebe," she said excitedly.

"Great," Andy said with a smile. He stood up and went to leave the information booth.

Piper rushed up and followed closely behind him. "Andy," she said, stopping him, "Peter is Abby's stepfather, not her real father. Her real father died before she was born."

"Okay, thanks. The first thing I'm going to do is see if anyone reported her missing four years ago. Something about him telling her the mother didn't want her isn't sitting right with me. I'll call you when we find anything."

"Andy, what happens if the mother did abandon her and you can't find the stepfather?" she asked quietly.

He cleared his throat, wishing he could avoid the question altogether. "We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it," he said instead, giving Piper a quick smile before heading back to the station.

-----

Abby stepped into Halliwell Manor and involuntarily drew in her breath. The house was impressive from the outside and totally amazing from the inside. From the vintage wallpaper right down to the hardwood floors, the place looked like something out of a home and garden magazine. She walked further into the foyer, peeking into the dining room at her right, then gazing into the parlor at her left. "Whoa," she said under her breath.

Prue giggled, dropping the shopping bags in the hallway. She and her sisters had gone on one more shopping binge before bringing Abby home. They had bought Abby some new clothes and sneaker, as well as necessities like a toothbrush and undergarments. When they were done shopping for clothes, they had taken the little girl to the toy store so she could get the new teddy bear she was promised. "You like it?" Prue asked as she flung her keys onto the little table in the foyer.

"Yes!" Abby said excitedly. "This place is huge! My apartment could fit in your parlor!"

Smiling, Prue wrapped her arm around Abby's little shoulders. "Want to see where you'll be staying?"

Abby nodded her head vigorously, running back to get the shopping bags that contained her new clothes. Once she got all of them in her hands, she bolted ahead of Prue, taking the steep stairs two at a time, She heard all three sisters burst into giggles, but she didn't stop until she reached the top of the staircase. Prue caught up with her a moment later and led her down the hall and into a bedroom that seemed to be out of Abby's fairy tale books. The headboard was made of dark cherry wood and all the furniture matched perfectly. The mattress was raised high above the ground and it looked incredibly comfortable. "Prue, this is amazing," she whispered.

Prue grinned and slipped a few of the bags out of Abby's hand. "I'm glad you like it."

"Whose room is this?" She dropped the rest of the bags and climbed onto the bed, bouncing slightly to test it. It was soft and bouncy, just as she suspected.

"Mine," Prue answered. She started to unpack the bags and refold the clothes, separating them into neat, organized piles. "I'm going to stay with Piper and you can stay in here until Andy finds your dad."

"I didn't mean to kick you out of your room," Abby said apologetically.

"Oh, sweetie, don't worry about it." Prue sat down on the bed and patted her lap. Abby complied, crawling across the bed and settling into Prue's lap. "While you're here, you're family. Our house is your house, okay?" Abby nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable here."

Abby nodded again, resting her head against Prue's shoulder. "Prue, why are you guys being so nice to me?"

Prue looked down at Abby, brushing the girl's hair out of her face. "Well, we like to help people anyway, but you're a special little girl. We wanted you here with us rather than at the group home downtown. We wanted to look out for you."

Abby smiled widely. She had weathered so much loss already in her young life, and she was starting to believe that no one wanted her at all. Her mother didn't want her, and she thought her stepfather loved her. Apparently, though, he didn't or he wouldn't have left her at the mall. Then the sisters came along and she was able to believe that someone cared about her.

"Come on, honey," Prue smiled, tapping Abby's knee. "Let's go back downstairs. I think Piper is making you a spaghetti dinner."

Grinning, Abby climbed off Prue's lap and stood up. Prue stood as well and took Abby's hand. Abby allowed Prue to lead her down the stairs, all the while thinking that she was certainly lucky the Halliwells had found her. I'm definitely going to be comfortable here, she thought as she sidled a little closer to Prue.

Prue tucked Abby into bed, pulling the soft comforter up to the little girl's chin. Giggling, Abby pulled her arms out from underneath the covers and hugged her brand new teddy bear to her chest. The small white bear was soft and cuddly, and Abby had already named her Amethyst in honor of the deep purple ribbon tied around her neck. "Okay, sweetie, if you need us, you know where Piper and Phoebe's rooms are."

Abby nodded, smiling as she turned onto her side and propped herself up on her right elbow. "Thank you for everything, Prue."

"It's our pleasure, honey," Prue answered, running her finger gently down the girl's cheek. "You try to get some sleep."

Nodding again, Abby laid back down, settling her head into the pillows. She closed her eyes, but when she heard Prue stand up to leave, she opened them again. For some reason, she was overwhelmed with fear. Maybe she was afraid she was going to be abandoned once again. "Prue, wait."

Prue turned around, her brow furrowed in concern. "What's the matter?"

Abby shook her head, unwilling to say what was on her mind. Her fear was completely unfounded. Granted, she didn't know the sisters very well, but she didn't get the feeling that they would leave her, too. "Do you think they'll find Peter?"

Prue seemed a little taken aback at the fact that Abby had called her stepfather by his name instead of Daddy, but she didn't mention it as she walked back over to the bed and sat down right above Abby's knees. "Well, I can't guarantee it, but I do know that Andy doesn't give up easily. If anyone can find him, it's Andy." She smiled gently.

Abby smiled, running Amethyst's satin ribbon between her fingers. "Okay."

"Is something wrong, honey?" Prue asked, her face suddenly turning serious.

Sighing, Abby shrugged as tears began to gather in her eyes. "I just miss them. Peter and my mom."

Prue comfortingly rested her hand on Abby's arm. "That's perfectly understandable." She hesitated, wondering what she could say to ease Abby's mind. Suddenly, she grinned. It wasn't the best thing in the world, but a little nostalgia might do Abby some good. "Do you remember your mom at all?"

"Sort of," Abby said, propping herself up on her elbow again. "I remember the day we moved. My mom and my dad weren't living together, so I'd go to my dad's every weekend. One weekend, my mom packed a little suitcase and my daddy came to pick me up. She was holding me and when he came, she gave me to him. She waved goodbye and we drove to his friend's house. Then we took his friend's car and we drove all the way here."

"All the way?" Prue interrupted. "Where did you live?"

"Massachusetts," she said uncomfortably. "On the way, he told me that my mom told him that she didn't want me anymore and to take me away. What's weird is that she didn't act like she didn't love me. She was always hugging me and kissing me." Her eyes were growing heavy and she stopped to hide a yawn behind her hand.

"You should try to sleep now," Prue said softly, smiling. Abby closed her eyes and settled back onto the mattress.

Prue sat for a moment, then stood up. "Prue?" Abby called, opening her eyes once again. The fear of being abandoned was rising in her heart again. "Do you have to go?"

Prue turned around, suddenly realizing why Abby was so jumpy. "I won't if you don't want me to."

When Abby shook her head, Prue smiled, turned off the overhead light, and climbed into bed next to Abby. The little girl turned over so that she was facing Prue and smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem," Prue said. "Now, close your eyes and just relax."

Abby did as she was told, hugging her bear tightly to her chest. Her mind was racing, however, and she couldn't seem to relax enough to fall asleep. So much had happened in the past twelve hours. It was like she had been through a lost and found, and it was hard for her to think of herself as someone people loved. Though, the sisters were making it easier. Everything they were doing for her, from allowing her to stay with them to making her a homemade spaghetti dinner, made her feel special.

Sighing, she opened her eyes and looked over at Prue. She had already fallen asleep and was snoring softly. Abby flung the covers off her legs, climbed out of bed carefully so as not to wake Prue, and sat down on the antique sofa in front of the window. She pulled the shade up and winced as the light from the street lamps flooded the room. She quickly glanced over at the bed and let her breath out in relief when Prue didn't stir.

Turning back to gaze out the window, her thoughts fell to her mother. She couldn't help but think about what she'd look like now, if she even remembered her daughter. The one thing that Abby remembered clearly about her mother was her golden hair. Abby and her mother looked quite a bit alike, she remembered. Both had the long blond hair that curled when it was humid and both had pale blue eyes. I wonder why she all of a sudden didn't want me, she thought. How could she just give me away like that?

She swiped at the tears that were welling in her eyes and sniffled. Her eyelids finally began drooping so she closed the shade and climbed back into bed, laying her head down on the pillows. She gave Amethyst a quick kiss goodnight and closed her eyes. "I miss you, Mama," she whispered before she drifted off to sleep.

-----

Prue stretched and opened her eyes, the bright sunlight peeking around the edges of her shades. Glancing over, she saw that Abby was still asleep, the teddy bear lying at her side. She also caught the clock out of the corner of her eye. It was a little after eight, and it was already shaping up to be an unseasonably hot day. She kicked the covers off, climbed out of bed, and quickly ran her brush through her hair before going downstairs.

As soon as she hit the bottom of the stairs, the smell of coffee brewing hit her nose full force. Grinning, she quickly made her way into the kitchen, the coffee scent making her mouth water. "Morning," she said cheerfully to Piper as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Morning," Piper answered, nibbling on her peanut butter toast. "How come you stayed with Abby last night?"

"What?" Prue shook her hair out of her eyes and sat down at the table with her sister.

"Well, I assumed that you went to bed after me and got up before me," she explained. "But when I peeked into your room this morning to check on Abby, you both were zonked."

"She didn't want me to leave," Prue answered with a shrug. "What was I supposed to say, that I had to?" She sighed, running Abby's situation through her head one more time. No matter how many times she thought it over, she couldn't think of anything that could help the little girl, other than trying to track down her mother. "You know, I don't think her mom abandoned her. I think Peter took her from the mother." When Piper looked up at her, confused, Prue recounted what Abby had told her the night before.

"A marvelous deduction, except for one thing," Piper said as she put down her slice of toast. "The mother never reported her missing."

"You're kidding me."

Piper shook her head solemnly. "Andy called this morning. That's why I was up so early. There's no Abigail Lancaster in the missing persons database."

"Why wouldn't she report her missing?" Prue asked, biting her lip. She knew the answer, but she didn't want to voice it herself.

"If she really did abandon her," Piper said softly.

Prue groaned and placed her head in her hands. Everything was falling apart. At least when she was going on the assumption that Abby had been taken from her mother, she was sure that the little girl would have someplace to go when all was said and done. Now, the girl had no one unless . . . Suddenly, Prue's head shot up. It was completely impractical, but it was worth bringing it up. "Is Phoebe up yet? We need to have a talk."

"I'm up," Phoebe said as she walked into the kitchen and sat down with her sisters at the table. "What's going on?"

Prue took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Okay, here goes nothing, she thought. "All right, if both her mother and her stepfather really did abandon her, Abby has nobody. She'll have to be put into foster care and I don't want to see that happen to her. So I was wondering . . . if it comes down to it, do you think we could take her in?"

Piper and Phoebe both gasped and looked up at their sister sharply. "Um Prue," Piper said gently, "don't take this the wrong way, but are you nuts?"

"Prue, we can barely protect ourselves and we're the Charmed Ones!" Phoebe exclaimed. "How could we protect a mortal child? She's defenseless."

"I don't know," Prue shrugged. "Maybe we can slip her a protection potion or something. Maybe something that blocks all evil magic?"

"If it was that easy, don't you think someone would have thought of it by now?" Phoebe countered.

Prue shook her head, trying to think of something else to say. "Look, honey, it's not that we don't want to," Piper said, placing her hand over Prue's. "It's that we can't. We can't put her life in danger and that's what we'd be doing if we took her in."

Prue sighed heavily, trying to fight the tears that were forming in her eyes. She and her sisters were Abby's only chance and her sisters were shooting her down without even considering what she was saying. "Okay, think about it like this. Abby's just a little bit younger than I was when Mom died. And we were lucky; we had Grams. Abby won't have anybody. Instead, she'll be taken in by family after family, moved from house to house, and finally she'll be thrown out onto the street on her own at eighteen. I can't let that happen to her. I just can't. Will you two please just think about it?"

Piper hesitated, softening at Prue's tone of voice. "She means a lot to you, doesn't she?"

"Yes," Prue nodded. "Yes, she does. All I'm asking is that you think about it."

Phoebe exchanged a concerned glance with Piper. "Sure, we'll think about it, honey."

"That's all I ask," Prue said, smiling in relief. "I'm going back upstairs. I don't want her to wake up alone."

"Okay," Phoebe said, watching Prue stand up and leave the room. Once she was sure her sister was out of earshot, she

turned to Piper. "We can't take in a mortal child, Piper."

"I know," Piper sighed, sitting back against the chair, "but if I know Prue, she's not going to give up on this. And the thing is?"

"Yeah?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm not so sure she's wrong."

Piper smiled as she watched Prue and Abby playing in the water. Thought it was early May, the temperature had soared into the high nineties and heavy, humid air had settled over the city. Anxious to get out of the house, Prue had suggested taking Abby to the beach. Piper and Phoebe agreed and packed the beach bags and cooler while Prue took Abby to the store to get her a bathing suit.

The water was still cold, but it was just warm enough for Prue to go in up to her ankles. Abby was trying to get her further in, splashing her and doing cartwheels right at her side. Piper giggled as Abby took a running start, did a cartwheel, and fell down, splashing Prue with a spray of water. Prue laughed and kicked water at Abby to get her back. "Look how much fun she's having," Piper said softly, nudging her sister, who was lying on her stomach, reading.

Phoebe looked up from her book and smiled. "Which one, Prue or Abby?"

Piper stared straight ahead, watching her sister walk further into the water to appease Abby. She stopped when the water reached her knees. "Both of them. I think Abby's just as good for Prue as Prue is for Abby."

"I think you're right," Phoebe said quietly. She sat up and adjusted her towel. Then she set her book down next to her and hugged her knees to her chest. "I don't think I've ever seen her this happy."

Piper nodded and placed her hands behind her, leaning back on them. She straightened her towel with her heels as a soft breeze kicked up and blew her hair in her face. She sighed, shook her hair out of her eyes, and turned her attention back to Abby and Prue. Abby was tugging Prue's hand in a futile attempt to get her all the way into the water. "Come on, Prue," she heard Abby whine. "It's not that cold. You get used to it real fast."

Prue shook her head and stood her ground. Abby gripped Prue's other hand and started walking backwards, pulling Prue little by little into the water. Suddenly, Prue lost her footing in the soft sand and fell down, taking Abby with her. Prue started laughing, jumping up quickly as the icy chill of the water hit her, and splashed Abby. Piper giggled at the two of them. "I don't think I've seen her this happy, either."

Abby and Prue played in the water until the wind suddenly changed and a cool breeze came in off the ocean. The girls scrambled out of the water and ran back to Piper and Phoebe, dripping wet and teeth chattering. Prue grabbed an unused towel and tossed it to Abby before taking the last one for herself. She wrapped the towel around her shoulders and rubbed her hands over her arms to try to warm herself. "Good God, that was cold!" She settled herself into the lounge chair and closed her eyes.

"It wasn't that bad," Abby said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, that's why your lips are purple," Piper teased.

Abby giggled, covering her mouth. "They are not!" she exclaimed, her voice muffled by her hand.

"Yes, they are," Phoebe laughed.

Abby grinned, laid her towel out and grabbed an empty cup. She sat down on the very edge of the towel and began filling the cup with damp sand, packing it tightly. "What are you doing?" Piper asked as she watched Abby shovel another handful of the heavy sand into the cup.

"Making a sand castle," she answered as she tipped the cup over and held it in place for a moment. Then she tapped the bottom of the cup and lifted it slowly away from the sand. A small mound of dirt in the shape of the cup stood in its place. "Ehh, it's a little dry. I'll be right back."

She ran down to the water, cup in hand, and filled it with water. As she was coming back, Piper nudged Prue. "She's good for us, Prue."

Prue opened her eyes and glanced over at Piper, eyeing her carefully. "What do you mean?"

"She's giving us a taste of motherhood," Piper shrugged. "And you know what? I like it."

"I like it, too," Prue said softly. "Piper, she means so much to me, and I can't figure out why. I mean, yeah, she's a great kid, I'm scared for her and everything, but I feel . . . I don't know, I feel like she was meant to be with us."

"Maybe she was," Piper said with another shrug. "Destiny always gets what it wants, remember?"

Prue smiled as Abby came back up to the three of them. She plopped down in the sand, dipped her hand into the cup of water, and dribbled it onto the mound. Suddenly, she put the cup down and stared straight ahead thoughtfully. She seemed a little confused, but mostly like she was trying to remember something. The sisters all exchanged a concerned glance, but it was Prue who spoke up. "Abby? What's wrong?"

"We went to the beach," she said, her voice barely audible. "We were at Nantasket Beach, just me and my mom. Then, Peter came and my mom asked me to throw something away for her. The barrel was like, right there and on my way back, I heard Peter say that my mom was going to pay for what she did to him. He said that he'd take the one thing she loved more than anything away from her, and then my mom ran over, picked me up, and took me home. I remember that she was almost crying." She looked up at Prue, tears in her eyes. "What was he talking about?"

The sisters exchanged a confused glance, each asking the other the same question. "I don't know, sweetie," Piper

answered, "but I promise we'll figure it out."

Abby nodded and climbed into Prue's lap. Prue didn't even care that Abby was getting sand all over her and the lounge chair. Instead, she began playing with the little girl's hair, pulling it back into a long ponytail. "We can go home if you want."

She shook her head and turned around, looking Prue in the eye. "No, that's okay."

"Do you want to go anywhere else?"

Mischief flashed in Abby's eyes and she grinned. "Back in the water!" She jumped up and grabbed Prue's hands, pulling her off the lounge. "Come on!"

"I was just warming up!" Prue whined as she followed Abby back down to the water.

Phoebe laughed, shaking her head, then turned to Piper, her face turning serious. "What do you think Peter could have been talking about?"

"Your guess was as good as mine," Piper said with a shrug. She gazed out at Prue and Abby, smiling at how carefree Abby was making Prue, then sighed. "Maybe he was talking about Abby."

"But if Abby really was the one thing her mother loved more than anything," Phoebe countered, "why didn't she report her missing?"

Piper sighed again. "Yeah, that's a very good question. One I wish I had the answer to."

-----

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Prue," Andy said with a sigh. "We've run her name through missing persons, we've run her fingerprints through the computers, and we've come up with nothing. By police standards, Abby isn't missing."

Prue ran her fingers through her hair and flopped down on the couch with an irritated groan. The more Abby remembered, the more certain Prue became that Peter had taken Abby from her mother. The only wall she kept running into was the fact that Abby wasn't listed in any of the police databases. And she had to admit, it was a pretty big wall. She shook her head, giving up trying to figure it out. "Well, Andy, if you were the one here when she remembers these things, what would you think?"

"I'd think the exact same thing you're thinking," he admitted, "but there's no evidence she was kidnapped."

"But she's remembering--"

"No hard evidence," he clarified, sitting down on the couch next to Prue. "We've got the word of a seven-year-old against the fact that no one seems to be making an effort to find her. Plus, she's remembering stuff that happened when she was what, three at most? It's hardly reliable."

Prue sighed heavily. She couldn't understand why it seemed that no one wanted Abby. She was such a good, sweet little kid, quiet and polite. The little girl was also one of the strongest people Prue had ever met. She knew that she didn't have a permanent home at the moment, but she wasn't letting that knowledge get her down. She seemed to be having a good time with the sisters, which to Prue was all the more reason for her to stay with them for good. "Well, did you try looking for her mother?"

"I called the Massachusetts State Police and they couldn't find any record of a Carol Lancaster, at least our Carol

Lancaster, living in the state," he said hesitantly.

"Well, maybe she moved!" Prue exclaimed. "Is there some way to--"

"Prue, I can't call every state police department in the country." He stopped to push Prue's hair back behind her ear so he could see her face clearly. "I know you want to help her, but there's only so much we can do."

Prue put both hands to her head and began massaging her temples to stop the headache that was starting to form. She was meant to help Abby, she knew it. Why else would she have found the little girl? Maybe that's what her dizzy spell in the mall was for. Maybe it was a way to delay the sisters just long enough for Peter to leave Abby in the science store. Maybe it was a way to ensure that the sisters were in the store when Abby discovered that Peter was gone. "Andy, this little girl has nobody--"

"I know that," he said gently. "And I know she means a lot to you, but you can't help everybody. Sometimes kids like Abby fall through the cracks and it's not fair, but it's just the way it has to be." Prue sighed and closed her eyes. Andy could tell that she was trying not to cry. While most of the tears were from sheer frustration, he knew that Prue felt horrible for Abby and even more horrible that she was failing the little girl. "Where is she?" he asked, hoping that a slight change in conversation would cheer Prue up a bit.

"Piper and Phoebe took her for ice cream sundaes," she said with a small shrug. "They knew I wanted to talk to you alone." She looked over into Andy's eyes, searching his face for any sign that he was withholding information from her. This couldn't be the end of the road; it just couldn't. She had promised Abby that they'd help her, and the little girl had been through too much already to have someone disappoint her yet again. "This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed. "I'm a witch, for Chrissake! I have powers beyond human comprehension. There has to be something I can do."

Suddenly, she jumped up and headed for the stairs with a determined expression on her face. "Prue, where are you going?" Andy asked, trying to mask his exasperated tone.

"To check the Book of Shadows," she called over her shoulder. "I'm going to find her mother if it kills me."

-----

Piper climbed out of bed with a small sigh. Prue had stayed Abby for the second night in a row. Abby was still a little nervous when she was left alone and Prue was afraid that the little girl would have a nightmare, wake up frightened, and be even more afraid if no one was there for her.

Prue had been frustrated when she went to bed the night before. She hadn't been able to find anything in the Book of Shadows that could help Abby. When Phoebe promised that she'd look a little later in case Prue missed something, Prue relaxed slightly, but not as much as Piper would have liked. She knew that Prue felt like time was running out for them and if they didn't find Abby's mother or stepfather, it wouldn't be long before they would have to give Abby up to the state. She'd be abandoned once again.

Piper stepped out into the hallway and took a deep breath in. The hot, oppressive air from the day before had been cooled by a small overnight rain storm and the cool air that had taken its place was deeply refreshing. On her way down the hall, she passed Prue's room, then backed up. Maybe she should peek into the room, just to see if everything was okay.

She turned the knob and the door creaked open slowly. Prue was sound asleep, curled up in a ball with her hands tucked under the pillows. At first glance, it seemed as though Abby was sleeping with Amethyst clutched tightly to her chest. It wasn't until Piper began easing the door shut that she heard quiet sobbing. She opened the door back up and peered into the room. Abby's little shoulders were shaking and her face was buried in Amethyst's soft fur. "Abby, are you okay?" she whispered.

Abby gasped, abruptly stopped crying, and sniffled. "Yeah."

"No, you're not." Piper entered the room and sat down on the bed above Abby's knees. "What's the matter, honey?"

The little girl shook her head and squeezed the teddy bear harder. "Nothing."

"I think Amethyst would disagree," she answered, her tone gently teasing. "You can talk to me, you know."

"I know." Abby sighed, closing her eyes against her tears. She took a deep breath in and held it for a moment, then she let it out slowly. "I'm an orphan, Piper."

"Oh, honey, no, you're not"

"Yes, I am," she said, choking up again. "They're not going to find Peter or my mom and then I'm going to have to go to the orphanage."

Piper brushed the girl's hair out of her face. "What makes you think they're not going to find them?"

"Please. I'm seven, I'm not dumb," she said, rolling her eyes. "They would have found them already. Now I'm all alone and I'm going to have to go live in the orphanage and maybe someone else will want me, but most likely they won't. People want babies, not bigger kids like me."

"Sweetheart, you're not alone," Piper said comfortingly. "You have us."

"Yeah, but I can't stay here forever." She sighed and closed her eyes again, squeezing Amethyst so hard that her arms hurt. "Forget it. You don't understand."

"Sweetie, we understand more than you think."

Both Abby and Piper gasped, startled, and turned in the direction of the voice. Prue was sitting up, her dark hair tousled from being slept on. "Did we wake you up?" Abby asked quietly.

Prue looked into Abby's eyes and smiled. "Yeah, but that's okay. I'm going to tell you a little story, all right?"

Abby nodded and turned onto her back. She held Amethyst in her left hand and ran the bear's satin ribbon between her right thumb and forefinger.

"Okay." She glanced up at Piper, asking her permission. Piper gave her a barely noticeable nod, telling her that it was okay to tell Abby what they themselves had been through. "When we were very little, our dad left our mom. He stayed in touch for a year or so, then he disappeared and we had no idea where he went. Then, a couple of years after he left for good, when I was just a little bit older than you are now, our mom died."

Abby gasped and sat up. "Really? Who took care of you?"

"Our grandmother did and I helped out whenever I could." Prue pulled Abby onto her lap and began playing with the girl's hair. "We may not know exactly what you're going through, but we do understand what it's like to feel lost and abandoned."

Abruptly, Abby turned around, dropped Amethyst by her side, and wrapped her arms around Prue's neck tightly. "Please, can I stay here? I'll be good, I promise! I'll be quiet and I'll be good and you won't even know I'm here. Please let me stay here, please." She broke off as she dissolved into tears.

Prue hugged Abby back, squeezing her tightly to try to calm her down. "Oh, honey, shh. I don't know if the courts will let you stay here."

"Well, you can ask, right? Please, don't you guys abandon me, too."

Prue locked eyes with Piper as she rocked the little girl back and forth. Piper looked away with tears in her eyes. She had been on the fence about Abby's stay becoming permanent, but this clinched it for her. They couldn't allow Abby to be shuffled to any more homes. They had an obligation to Abby, and if that meant taking the little girl in as their own, she was more than ready. Piper looked back up at Prue, smiled, and nodded, telling her that she wanted Abby just as much as Abby wanted them.

-----

"No offense, but you two have lost your marbles," Phoebe said, glancing up at her sisters before crossing her arms over her chest.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were having a processing summit up in the attic. Abby had cried herself back to sleep in Prue's arms and after Prue laid the girl back down and spread the blanket over her, she and Piper had gone to find Phoebe. As it turned out, Phoebe was already up in the attic, paging through the Book of Shadows like she had promised. "We haven't lost our marbles," Prue insisted. "We can totally do this. She needs us, we want her. What's the problem?"

"The problem is our world is much too dangerous for her," Phoebe said, shifting position in the chair to make herself a little more comfortable. "Prue, we have beings with otherworldly powers gunning for us constantly and they're not going to stop until we're dead. How can you willingly put her in that environment?"

"And how can you willingly put her in the orphanage?" Prue asked. "At least here she'd have a home with people who care about her."

"Yeah, a home that could get her killed."

Prue groaned, running her hand over her face. "Look, I know this isn't going to be easy"

"Easy? Prue, it's impossible!" Phoebe exclaimed. "I am talking about a little girl's life here."

"So am I!" Prue yelled, a little more loudly than she meant to.

"Okay, guys, stop." Piper interrupted. She stepped in between her sisters and held her hands out to her sides. "You both have very good points. Now here's how I see it. The little girl downstairs has nobody at all. Nobody except for us. If we were normal, there would be no reason why we couldn't take her in. We can at least try it. We can have Andy set something up, try it out for a month or two, and if it isn't working, I'm sure Andy can take care of it."

Phoebe shook her head unbelievingly. She couldn't believe that Prue and Piper were actually considering this. "How could we even attempt to protect her?"

"We'll think of something," Prue assured her. "We always do." She sat down on the floor and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Changing the subject slightly, did you find anything in the Book that'll help us?"

"There's a spell to call a lost love, but it's not going to work," Phoebe said with a sigh. She shifted the heavy volume on her lap and began flipping pages to find the spell again.

"Why not?"

"It's written in the first person." She found the yellowed page and pointed to the spell. "That means Abby has to say it and she can't say it without finding out who we are. I mean, what are we going to say, that saying this little poem will bring her mom back?"

Prue groaned. Another brick wall. She put her hand to her head, trying to think. "Maybe it's not such a bad idea," she said thoughtfully.

Both Piper and Phoebe looked over at her, identical surprised expressions on their faces. "Are you out of your freaking mind?" Phoebe exclaimed. "Prue, we cannot tell her about us."

"If she's going to stay here permanently, she deserves to know."

Piper could practically see the steam coming out of Phoebe's ears, so she broke in before Phoebe could say a word. This conversation needed a logical approach, not one fueled by emotion. "What could be gained by telling her about us?"

"Let her hear how she's going to be living," Prue shrugged. "Let her decide for herself if she wants to stay in this kind of environment." She stood up and crossed the room, taking the Book of Shadows from Phoebe's lap and placing it back on the lectern. She peered down at the page, smiling to herself. "Plus, if this spell will find her mother, how can we deny her that?"

"We can't," Phoebe sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, Prue was right. At least on her last point. They couldn't give up an opportunity to find Abby's mother simply because it would inconvenience them. However, she still wasn't sold at all on the rest of Prue's insane ideas. "I can't believe you're willing to give everything up for a girl we've known for three days."

"Phoebe, what are we giving up?" Prue asked defensively. "Look, we help innocents, right? We do everything we can for them. Are you telling me Abby's not an innocent?"

"No, but--"

"Then we help her, even if we have to expose ourselves doing it. We've told people before. What makes this time so different?"

Phoebe just shook her head. There was no way she was going to change Prue's mind. "Never mind, Prue. Just do what you want."

Piper sighed in aggravation. She hated when her sisters fought and she hated it even more when they fought over their supernatural obligations. "Phoebe--"

"No!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Listen to me for once. What she's asking us to do is crazy! I care about Abby just as much as you guys do, but we cannot take her in. If our lives were normal, I'd have no objection, but we have evil beings with even more evil powers coming into our house left and right to kill us. What happens if Abby gets caught in the crossfire? Or what happens if those evil beings succeed and Abby is left by herself yet again?"

"If we send her to the orphanage, she gets left by herself yet again anyway," Piper said softly.

"Stop fighting over me," a teary little voice said from the doorway.

The sisters whirled around and faced Abby. The little girl was standing in the doorway, almost hiding behind the doorjamb. "Abby," Prue started gently, "what--"

"I heard you from downstairs," she said quietly. "I heard you yelling and I followed the voices up here. If you don't want me to stay, I won't."

"Oh, sweetie, it's not that we don't want you to stay," Phoebe said, approaching the little girl slowly. Abby backed away, going down a couple of stairs. "It's just that it's complicated."

"Complicated how?" Abby asked as anger flashed briefly in her eyes. "I thought you guys cared, but you don't. You're just like everyone else."

The words tore through Prue's heart. The thought of Abby thinking that the sisters would abandon her just as everyone else in her life had made Prue sick to her stomach. She shot Phoebe an angry glare, then turned back to Abby. "Honey, just give me a chance to explain why it's so complicated."

Abby looked from one sister to another, finally settling on Prue's face. Prue was the sister she was closest to and the one she trusted most, and the thought that all this time she really didn't care made Abby want to cry. She wanted to hear a reason, any reason, for the argument she had just heard. After a long moment, she stepped into the attic and took Prue's hand. This better be good, she thought as Prue led her across the attic and sat her down in an old chair.

-----

Prue's heart was fluttering as she tried to think of a way to tell Abby about her secret without frightening her. Abby was young enough that accepting the supernatural and magical stuff would be rather easy for her. It was the constant battle of good versus evil she figured would be the scary part. After mulling it over for a few quick moments, she got an idea that would make it a little easier for all involved. She lifted Abby out of the chair and sat down herself, settling the little girl on her lap. "I want to show you something."

Abby looked up at her, both wary and confused, but Prue just gave the girl a smile. She met Piper's eyes and nodded her head in the direction of the Book of Shadows. Piper grinned once she realized what Prue was going to do. She lifted the Book from its lectern and handed it over to her sister. Prue opened the Book, gripping the sides and resting the bottom of it on Abby's knees. "Whoa," Abby said softly. "That looks really old."

"It is really old," Prue said with a smile. "It's been passed down in my family from generation to generation since the 1600s."

"Wow," Abby whispered, her eyes widening once she realized just how old the volume was. "What is it? I mean, besides a big book."

"I'll get to that." She turned to the page that told the story of Melinda Warren's prophecy. "This woman is our ancestor," she explained gently, "and we are the sisters she was talking about."

Abby skimmed the page, then looked from the Book to Prue cautiously. "But that means you guys are witches."

"That's right, sweetie," Prue said quickly, "but we're not like the witches in the movies. We use our magic for good."

"Magic?" Abby asked, a small smile forming on her lips.

Prue smiled at her. "Yes, magic. Real magic. Each of us has a special power and we use them to fight evil."

"This is why it's complicated, honey," Piper explained as she crouched down in front of the chair. "Our lives are very dangerous and because you don't have powers, you can't protect yourself the way we can protect ourselves."

Abby took a deep breath. "What kind of evil?" she asked warily.

Prue and Piper looked up at each other, unsure how to answer the question without scaring the little girl. "Well," Prue said, clearing her throat nervously, "they're people with powers just like ours. The only difference is they use their powers to hurt people instead of helping people like we do."

"Oh." Abby flipped through the pages of the Book of Shadows silently, trying to process what she had just been told. The sisters were magical and, from what she gathered, in constant danger. Because of that, she couldn't stay with them. It didn't seem fair at all. She wanted to stay with the sisters desperately. She liked all of them, though she was a little angry at Phoebe for arguing that she couldn't stay, and she appreciated everything that they were doing for her. They cared about her and now their magic was about to tear apart the only chance she had at a family. "Well, what if I say I don't care about the danger and I want to stay here anyway? Could I stay then?"

Prue glanced over at Phoebe and shot her an angry glare. She wanted to tell Abby that if it were up to her, they'd be her legal guardians right now, but she had to get permission from all her sisters and Phoebe was the one standing in the way. "Sweetie, it's not that easy," she said instead. "We'd have to go through the courts and stuff, and they might not let you stay here, even though you want to and we want you to."

Abby pouted, then leaned back against Prue, lazily flipping pages once again. Nothing seemed fair or right. She finally had people who seemed to care about her, and she couldn't stay with them. It shouldn't have to be this way, she thought angrily. I shouldn't have to look for people who want me. She closed her eyes against the tears that were gathering and bit her lip to keep herself from crying.

Phoebe slowly approached the little girl and put her hand on her arm, trying to comfort her. Abby pulled away and reached up, hugging Prue instead. Heartbroken, Phoebe looked up at Prue, silently asking what she should do. Prue just shrugged, softening a little when she saw how upset Phoebe was. Phoebe hadn't meant for Abby to feel like she wasn't welcome. She was just concerned about the girl's safety, just like she herself and Piper were. After a quick moment of thought, Prue grinned and tapped Abby's shoulder. "Hey, guess what. Phoebe may have found a way to find your mom."

Abby finally opened her eyes and looked up. "Really?" she asked, blinking back tears. The small smile was beginning to come back on her lips. She seemed excited for a second, then her face fell again. "But my mom doesn't want me, either."

"Honey, we don't think Peter was telling you the truth when he said that," Phoebe said gently. She rested her hand on Abby's knee, and to her relief, Abby didn't pull away. "There's a spell in the Book that might be able to find her."

"It's not for sure?"

"No, sweetie, it's not," Prue said, hugging Abby lightly. "See, the way the spell is written, you have to say it. But you're not magical like we are, so it may not work."

Abby sighed, shaking her head. It felt like they kept running into dead ends. "It can't hurt to try," she said after a moment, shrugging. "I mean, if it doesn't work, nothing bad will happen, right? Nothing will be different."

"Right," Prue answered, pulling Abby's long hair away from her face. The humidity of the attic was causing her hair to curl and form tendrils around her face. "So, what do you say? Want to try?"

"Sure," Abby answered with another shrug. Prue lifted the Book off of Abby's knees so the girl could hop off her lap.

Abby did just that and watched as the sisters got to work, setting up the attic for the spell.

Prue laid the Book on an old steamer trunk as Prue set out a small circle of candles. A little chill ran down Abby's spine once Phoebe lit the candles and the attic lit up with flickering candlelight.

"Okay, sweetie, come here," Prue said, holding one hand out to her and flipping the pages of the Book with the other.

Abby slowly stepped over to Prue and took her hand. Once Prue found the spell again, she led Abby into the circle and sat her down exactly in the center. "All right, you ready?"

Abby nodded, silently praying that she didn't look as nervous as she felt. "It's now or never," she said, her voice shaking slightly.

Piper grinned and set a small silver chalice in front of Abby. Phoebe finished writing something on a small yellow notepad with a flourish and handed it to Abby. She took it with a confused expression. "All right, this is what you have to do," Prue said gently, hoping to ease Abby's confusion. "Phoebe just handed you the spell you have to say. Read it, then stick one of the corners of the paper into a candle flame. After it catches, just put the paper in the chalice and that's it."

Abby took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm her nerves. This whole thing would be cool if it wasn't so overwhelming, she thought. After a moment, she opened her eyes and let her breath out slowly. "Okay, here goes." She looked down at the paper and tried to steady her hands. "Hear me now, I seek to find, the one whose name is on my mind. Carol Lancaster, please hear my call, and return to me once and for all." She placed the tip of the paper into the candle and quickly dropped the burning paper into the chalice.

As soon as the paper burned out, Prue leaned over and blew out the candles she could reach. "All right, that's it," she said with a smile.

"That's it?" Abby asked, jumping up from the floor. She blew out the rest of the candles before stepping out of the circle. "How do we know if it worked?"

"We won't know for a day or two, honey," Piper answered, wrapping her arm around Abby's shoulders and giving her a small sideways hug.

"What if it doesn't work?" Abby asked quietly, almost as if she was afraid to find out the answer.

"We look for something else to try," Prue said, strong determination in her voice. "Come on, sweetie. How about we play a game or something downstairs? All four of us."

Abby cast a nervous glance at Phoebe before sidling up to Prue. "Sure, why not?"

Prue locked eyes with Phoebe and gave her a gentle, apologetic smile. Phoebe smiled back, but as soon as Prue turned around, she allowed her face to fall. She wouldn't blame Abby if she hated her. After all the little girl had been through, the last thing she needed was to hear someone giving reasons why she couldn't stay with them. She just hoped against hope that she could gain Abby's trust back.

Abby opened her eyes with a groan, kicking the sheet off her legs. She glanced at the small digital clock on Prue's bedside table and groaned again. The little red numbers read one o'clock. Prue had tucked her in at ten and it seemed like all she had done in the three hours since was watch the minutes tick by. She just couldn't fall asleep. All she kept thinking about was the Halliwells' secret.

Magic was something she'd always believed in, though Peter had tried his hardest to convince her that it wasn't real. She never suspected, though, that the kind of evil the sisters were talking about existed. It was almost too much for her to think about. She couldn't imagine what they went through day in and day out, how scary it must be for them to be in constant mortal danger. Well, get used to it, she told herself. After all, if nothing got in the way, she'd be living in constant danger, too.

She wanted desperately to stay with the sisters. She was surprised by how close she felt to them, Prue most of all. There was something about them she couldn't explain. Maybe it was because they knew what she was going through. Maybe that was why it seemed they were reaching out to her just as much as she was reaching out to them. Perhaps they saw a little bit of themselves in her and her situation.

Sighing, she turned over and faced Prue. She wanted to talk to someone and have someone answer all the questions that were tumbling around in her head. Unfortunately for her, Prue was sound asleep. Abby called Prue's name softly. She didn't even flinch.

Abby rolled her eyes and reached over, shaking Prue's arm. "Hey, Prue?" Abby whispered. "Prue?"

Prue made a face and pulled her arm away from Abby's hand, mumbling something under her breath that Abby couldn't understand, but she didn't open her eyes. Abby sighed and turned onto her back, blowing her hair out of her face. She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, then frowned and climbed out of bed, holding Amethyst tight against her side. She walked over to the door and stopped, her hand on the doorknob. Turning around, she glanced back at Prue to see if she had woken up. She hadn't. Abby sighed again and exited the room, pulling the heavy door closed behind her.

She stood in the hallway, unsure of what she was even doing out there. All she knew was she just couldn't lie in bed anymore. She would have driven herself crazy if she had. She headed down the hallway and was surprised to see a shaft of light under Piper's door. She crept up to the door and knocked quietly. "Piper?"

"Abby?" Piper asked, surprise evident in her voice. "Come on in."

Abby opened the door and entered the room shyly. Piper was sitting up in bed, reading. "Can I talk to you?" Abby asked, a little uncomfortably.

"Sure," Piper answered, patting the empty spot in the bed next to her. Abby grinned and climbed into bed. She settled under the covers and laid Amethyst next to her on the pillow. Piper smiled as she closed her book and placed it on her nightstand. "Is everything okay? Where's Prue?"

"She's asleep and I can't wake her up," Abby said, shrugging.

"Yeah, she can be a pretty deep sleeper sometimes," Piper said with a smile. "So what's up? You shouldn't be up this late."

"Nothing much," Abby said with another shrug. "I just can't sleep. Why are you up so late?"

"Sometimes I like to read late at night when everyone else is asleep. The house is so much quieter." Piper laid down on her pillows, facing Abby. "What's going on, honey?" she asked, brushing the little girl's hair out of her face. "Why can't you sleep?"

Abby looked over at Amethyst and began running the ribbon between her fingers. She suddenly realized that the rubbing the ribbon had become a nervous habit for her. She also knew from the look on Piper's face that Piper had realized the same thing. "I was just thinking . . . how do you guys live with the magic? I mean, right this very second, an evil guy could come here and hurt you, right?"

"Well, yes, but we can protect ourselves." Piper propped herself up on her elbow, looking Abby over. The little girl seemed nervous and just a little scared. "Like, if someone came and tried to hurt me right now, I could stop him with my powers. Then I'd wake up Prue and Phoebe and we'd get rid of him."

"Oh." Abby rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Can I see your powers?"

"We'll do that in the morning, honey," Piper said, smiling as she ran her finger down Abby's cheek. It was something she remembered her mother doing to her and her sisters to calm them when they were scared.

"Okay." Abby took a deep breath, wondering if she should ask another question. After a moment's hesitation, she drew in her breath and asked. "Piper, if I do end up staying here, will I still stay in Prue's room with her?"

"I don't know," Piper said thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure you'd have to have your own room. I'd have to talk it over with Prue and Phoebe, but more than likely, you'd get either my room or Prue's room and she and I will share a room again, just like when we were little."

"Okay." Abby said again. This time, though, her voice was noticeably softer.

Piper caught the change in Abby's expression. The little girl's face, which had been filled with confusion and a little bit of fear, now showed sadness and regret. "What's the matter?"

Abby sighed, closing her eyes. She brought Amethyst a little closer to her, squeezing the bear tightly. "Why doesn't Phoebe like me?"

Piper gasped in surprise. "What? Why do you think Phoebe doesn't like you?"

"She doesn't want me to stay here," Abby said matter-of-factly. "I heard her yelling at Prue, remember?"

"Oh, honey, she does want you to stay with us" Piper answered, gripping the girl's arm comfortingly. "She's just afraid that the evil people will hurt you if you stay. She doesn't want you to get hurt, is all, and she was just trying to get Prue to realize that there's a very good chance you could get hurt if you stay."

Abby smiled in relief. That made her feel so much better. Ever since she had heard the fight that morning, she had been afraid that Phoebe didn't like her and she just wanted to get rid of her like everyone else in her life had. Now she knew that wasn't true at all. She yawned again and her eyelids suddenly began to get heavy. "I'm getting tired, Piper," she said through another yawn.

"Your mind's clearing," Piper said with a smile. Abby nodded and closed her eyes. Piper leaned over and tucked the girl

in tightly. "You try and get some sleep."

"Can I stay in here or are you going to take me back to Prue's room?" she mumbled as she pulled the covers up to her chin.

"No, you can stay here, honey." Piper reached over and switched off her bedside lamp, then nestled herself under her

covers. "I won't go to sleep until after you do, okay? That way, if you think of any more questions, you can ask."

"Okay," Abby said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Night, Piper."

Piper smiled and gave Abby a quick good night kiss. "Night, baby. Sleep tight."

Abby smiled slightly and sighed. She was suddenly exhausted. Maybe Piper was right; maybe she felt better and more relaxed now that her major questions had been answered. At least I know now that Phoebe doesn't hate me, she thought

right before she drifted off.

-----

Piper sat in the long green grass of the park, watching Abby do cartwheels about twenty feet away from her. The little girl was doing them one after another until she got so dizzy that she fell down. Piper picked at the grass as she took her eyes off Abby to stare up, watching the few wispy clouds that were in the sky roll past. There was something about a bright blue sky with cotton candy-like clouds that relaxed her.

With a small sigh, she looked back over at Abby, seeing as she was supposed to be watching the girl. Phoebe had just arrived with the small soft serve cone she had promised Abby. She handed Abby the chocolate one while keeping the vanilla one for herself. The little girl grinned a thank you and plopped down in the grass, licking the ice cream quickly before it could melt any further. Piper smiled and turned her gaze to Prue, who was sitting forlornly on one of the swings. She wasn't even swinging very much; she was pushing the swing back and forth without taking her foot off the ground, lost in thought. Piper dropped the blades of grass that were in her hand, stood up, and walked over to the swings, sitting down next to her sister. "Hey."

Prue started and looked over at Piper. "Oh, hi," she answered softly.

"What's up?"

Prue shrugged and started out at Abby and Phoebe. They were both eating their ice cream and telling jokes back and forth. She smiled slightly when Abby's giggles reached her ears. "Nothing."

"Yeah, sure, that's why you're giving me one word answers," Piper said with a gentle smile. She sighed, trying to pinpoint what was wrong with her sister. "Are you mad that Abby stayed with me last night? Because she only came to me when she couldn't wake you."

Prue shook her head. "No, I'm not mad about that. And I'm not mad at you."

"Then what's going on?"

Sighing, Prue gazed down at the ground, digging in the dirt at her feet with her toe. "I'm failing her, Piper. I'm supposed to be helping her find her mother. We tried everything, we even tried magic, and nothing worked. And instead of trying to think of something else to try, I'm just sitting here on a swing! She needs me and I'm not coming through for her. I mean, last night, she needed to talk to me and I couldn't even wake up for her." She stopped, shaking her head.

"Prue, listen to me." Piper reached over and rested her hand on Prue's knee. "You are not failing her. She's not just your responsibility, you know. She's all of our responsibility. Yours, mine, and Phoebe's. And just because we haven't heard from her mother yet doesn't mean the spell didn't work."

Prue just shrugged, a clear indication that Piper's pep talk hadn't worked. She lifted her head and fixed her gaze on Abby. "Look how happy she is, Piper," she said, nodding in the little girl's direction. "How can we tell her that with all we can do, with all the powers we have, that we can't find her mother? How do we tell her that she's an orphan even after we promised her we'd help her?"

"Honey, you need to relax." Piper removed her hand from Prue's knee and brushed Prue's hair behind her ear. She hated when Prue got so worked up over things she couldn't control. She did it all the time, and Piper had no idea how to explain to her that beating herself up over something like this wasn't going to help anyone. "Abby's a tough kid. She's not going to all of a sudden hate you because we haven't been able to find her mom yet. She's very attached to you, you know, and I know that you're very attached to her. She doesn't seem like she thinks you're failing her. I think she knows we're doing every possible thing we can."

Prue looked down again so that Piper couldn't see the tears in her eyes. After a long moment, she let out a heavy sigh and lifted her head. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something else, but she shook her head, obviously changing her mind. "What did you guys talk about?" she asked instead.

This is what I've been afraid of, Piper thought. She didn't exactly want to tell Prue that Abby had thought Phoebe didn't like her because she knew Prue would get angry. The last thing she wanted to deal with was another fight between Prue and Phoebe. "Well," she said, hesitating just a little, "she asked about our powers and stuff. And she also asked why Phoebe didn't like her."

"What!" Prue exclaimed, anger jumping into her eyes. She made a move to get off the swing and stomp over to Phoebe, but Piper grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "Let me go," she said, angrily ripping her arm out of Piper's grasp.

"Prue, relax," Piper said loudly to get her sister's attention. "I handled it. I told her that of course Phoebe likes her and that she was only saying she didn't know if she should stay because of the danger we're always in. Abby accepted that no problem."

"I didn't want her thinking that any of us didn't like her," Prue said through clenched teeth. "She's been through too much to have to worry that we're going to abandon her, too."

Piper gently rested her hand on Prue's shoulder. "I know that, honey, but Phoebe does have a good point."

Prue jumped up, brushing Piper's hand off her shoulder. "I'm not sending her to an orphanage, Piper. I'm just not going to do that. I've promised her too much to just turn my back on her."

"Hey, don't yell at me!" Piper jumped off the swing, facing Prue. She met her sister's eye and smiled. "I'm on your side, remember?"

After a few seconds, Prue smiled back. "The question is, how do we get Phoebe on our side?"

Piper giggled and was about to answer when Phoebe ran up to them, trailing Abby behind her. "Guys, we have to go home," she panted. "I had a . . . thing."

"A thing?" Prue asked. She held her hands out to Abby and the little girl ran over to her, jumping into her arms. She scooped Abby up and rested the girl on her hips as she looked at Phoebe expectantly.

"Yeah." Phoebe's eyes darted back and forth, then she lowered her voice so that no one else could hear. "A premonition, and I don't think you guys are going to like it."

Prue opened the door at the top of the attic stairs and crossed the room, intent on opening the windows in hopes of creating a crossbreeze to stir some of the humid air in the room. If she was going to spend the next couple of hours in the stuffy attic, she wanted the air cooled down even just a little bit so that she could think clearly. Piper, Phoebe, and Abby followed her into room, each making herself comfortable in different corners of the attic. Piper and Phoebe settled into two old chairs and Abby planted herself on the floor.

After Prue had opened all the windows, she wiped the dust from her hands onto her shorts and sat down on the floor with Abby. The girl edged closer to her and she wrapped her arm around Abby's shoulders, giving her a quick but comforting hug. "All right, Phoebe, what did you see?" she asked, clearing her throat.

"Okay." Phoebe took a deep breath and held it a moment before letting it out slowly. "Abby and I were telling each other jokes and then, after we finished the ice cream, she wanted to teach me a hand clap game. The second I touched her hand, I saw a guy with dark drown hair and a woman who looked an awful lot like Abby arguing. She was basically saying that he was creeping her out and she wanted him to leave. He got defensive and yelled back at her, saying that she had promised him something and that she couldn't just back out of the agreement. She said that if he wasn't going to leave, she would. He lost it! He--"

"He grabbed both of her arms and squeezed them until she cried," Abby continued. Her voice was a low monotone, almost as if she was in a trance. But the sisters knew she wasn't in a trance. She was remembering. "His eyes turned red for a second and she screamed. She got away from him and grabbed me. I was watching everything from the stairs. She picked me up and ran out of the house. We stayed at a hotel that night."

All three sisters looked up at each other, amazement on all their faces. No wonder Abby didn't want to remember any of what happened. Peter being an abusive husband was bad enough, but the part about his eyes flashing red made him sound demonic.

Prue felt herself growing angry, angrier than she had been in a while. She already hated Peter for abandoning Abby at the mall, but it was starting to come together now. Peter didn't care about Abby at all; he never did. He was simply using her to take revenge on her mother for some perceived injustice. He took her away from a mother who loved her, and he hid her for four years only to get rid of her when he tired of playing daddy. "Abby" she started, trying to keep her voice from showing how upset she was.

"On the way to the hotel, Mama was crying," Abby went on. Her gaze was fixed on the floor, and even when Prue pulled the girl onto her lap and held her tightly, she didn't look up. "I was too young to really understand anything, but she just kept saying over and over that she was sorry that she met Peter and that she wished Rick was still here. Rick was my real daddy's name. Then she looked over at me and told me she was sorry for everything and that she wouldn't let Peter do anything to hurt us ever again."

"Did he ever hurt you, physically?" Piper asked quietly. It seemed as though all of them had about a zillion questions they wanted to ask, but none of them wanted to say a word. If Abby lost her concentration, she might lose this memory forever.

"He never hit me or anything like that," she answered with a sigh, "but when he got mad, he could be very scary. A couple of days after the night we stayed at the hotel, he took me and we moved out here."

Prue tightened her grip on the little girl, wishing there was something more she could do for her. She longed to turn back time and keep Abby from having to experience any of it, but she knew she couldn't The past is the past; it's over and done with, she told herself. We need to deal with this problem in the present. Unfortunately, dealing with the problem in the present wasn't going to erase what Abby had already been through.

"Weren't they separated when you moved?" Phoebe asked, choosing her words carefully. Abby nodded. "Then how come he was in the house that night?"

Abby leaned back against Prue, finally lifting her teary eyes from the floor. "He'd just show up in the house. I don't know how he got in all the time. I remember Mama changing the locks a couple of times, but he always found a way in."

Prue gave Abby one more comforting squeeze before gently lifting her off her lap. She then stood up and marched over to the Book of Shadows. Abby jumped up and followed Prue to the lectern, ducking under Prue's arm and standing directly in front of her as she began flipping pages furiously. "What are you looking for?" Piper asked quietly.

Prue just shook her head without looking up. She honestly had no idea what she was looking for, but she was certain she'd know it when she saw it. She slowed down just a little, reading the headings at the tops of the pages before quickly turning to the next entry.

"Wait!" Abby exclaimed. "Go back to that last page!"

Prue gasped in surprise at the sudden fierceness in the little girl's voice, but she complied, turning back to a page entitled "The Vorne League". A long page of spidery script was headed by a drawing of a strange symbol, which, according to the information, was the League's seal. It looked like the tines of a pitchfork enclosed in a thick circle.

"What is it?"

"That picture! It's the one on Peter's T-shirt."

Piper and Phoebe both jumped out of their seats and crowded around Prue and Abby, peering over Prue's shoulders in order to see the page. "'The Vorne League'," Piper read aloud. "'The Vorne League is a group of demons that use powers of seduction to trick vulnerable mortal women into bearing them an heir to their evil legacy. If, for some reason, the woman breaks off the relationship, the League member gets his revenge by taking what the woman considers her most valuable possession and placing a magical veil over it so that the woman can never find it again'." She shook her head in disbelief. "Nice guys."

"Are you sure?" Prue asked Abby as she skimmed the rest of the page. All the information seemed to fit: Peter latching onto Abby's mother so soon after her husband died, his threats about taking what her mother loved most, no one being able to find records of Abby or her mother anywhere. If she was being magically shielded, of course her name or her mother's name wouldn't show up in the police databases. They wouldn't be able to find each other by any means.

"I'm positive!" Abby exclaimed. "He wore that T-shirt like, every other day. I even asked him about it once, and he said something about getting it from a club he was in in college or something like that."

"Well, girls," Phoebe said with a wide grin, "looks like we have our answer."

-----

Prue read over the page with the information on the Vorne League for about the hundredth time. She had read it so much that she didn't even need to read it anymore. She knew the page by heart.

She had to wonder why Peter had picked Abby's family, of all families he could have chosen. Obviously, it was because Abby's mother fit the profile. She was perfect for what Peter had wanted to do. But still, Prue hated that the little girl's family had been ripped apart by evil.

She sighed and shifted position in the old chair. She didn't understand why this was all upsetting her so much. She had seen mortals' lives disrupted by evil more than a few times. She should be used to it by now. But something about this time was different. Maybe it was because Abby was so young. Or maybe it was because evil had taken Abby's mother away from her just as it had taken Prue's own mother.

"Prue, can I come in?"

Prue gasped, jumping when she heard the tiny voice. She had thought Abby was asleep like she should be, but there she was, standing at the top of the stairs, nervously pulling at her nightgown. "Of course, sweetie," Prue answered. She closed the Book, set it down on the floor at her feet, and patted her lap, inviting Abby to sit down. Abby smiled slightly and ran across the room. She hopped into Prue's lap and rested her head on Prue's shoulder. Prue smiled, twirling a lock of Abby's hair around her finger. "What's up?"

Abby just shrugged. "Peter's evil, isn't he?" she asked after a moment.

"Yeah, sweetie, he is," Prue said as she wrapped her arms around the little girl.

Abby turned around in Prue's lap so that she was sitting sideways. "If he's evil, does that mean he knows about you? About who you are, I mean?"

"Probably." When Abby dropped her gaze to her hands, she tightened her grip on the girl.

Abby leaned into the hug for a moment, then pulled away and jumped off of Prue's lap, tears welling quickly in her eyes. "I can't stay here anymore, Prue. I have to go somewhere else."

Prue gasped again, barely able to hide her surprise. What was she talking about? "What?" She stood up and approached Abby. The little girl backed away. "Abby, what's wrong?"

"I can't stay here! I mean, what if he comes looking for me and he hurts you? I'd never, ever forgive myself and I can't let that happen to you, I just can't . . ." She trailed off, bursting into hysterical sobs.

Prue ran over to the little girl, knelt down in front of her, and hugged her tightly. "Oh, sweetie, shh." She stroked the little girl's hair, trying to calm her down. Abby struggled against her grip for a moment, but she soon stopped, collapsing against Prue. Prue let Abby cry for another couple of minutes before speaking up again. "Sweetheart, this is not your fault. Not at all. I don't think Peter's going to come looking for you and even if he does come back, we can take care of him. And it will not be your fault, you understand me?"

Abby nodded, sniffling. She reached up and wrapped her arms around Prue's neck, sobbing into her shoulder. "This is so unfair," she cried, her voice muffled by her tears. "Am I being punished for something? I'm not a bad girl, am I? What did I do?"

"Abby, listen to me." Prue pulled out of the hug and held Abby at arm's length, staring directly into the girl's pale blue eyes. "You did not do anything wrong. This is just how evil works, sweetie. Evil likes to hurt perfectly innocent people."

Abby shook her head, her sobs returning. "No, I must have done something"

"Do you remember I told you my mom died?" Prue gently interrupted. She was gripping the girl's shoulders in an effort to make her listen. Abby nodded, wiping her eyes. "The thing I didn't tell you then is that she was killed by evil, the same kind of evil that took your mom away from you. It took me a long time, but I came to realize that I didn't do anything wrong, either. It was just something that happened because evil likes to hurt. It's what evil thrives on, seeing other people in pain."

Abby gazed down at the floor, sniffling. Prue pulled her back into a strong, comforting embrace. "Shh, I know it's hard, sweetie, I know it's hard." Abby wrapped her arms around Prue and squeezed tightly. "Hey, you know what we can do?" she asked after a moment of silence, stroking Abby's hair. She felt Abby shrug. "We can look through the Book of Shadows to see if there's a way to reverse the magical veil on you. What do you say?"

Abby pulled out of the embrace first and nodded, swiping at the tears in her eyes. "Okay."

"That's my girl," Prue said with a smile. She placed her hand on Abby's shoulder and led her back to the chair. Prue sat down and nestled Abby in her lap. Abby reached down and picked up the Book, then she leaned back against Prue, opening the Book to the first page.

Prue and Abby carefully paged through the Book for the next hour. They hadn't found a thing. Prue sighed in irritation, then yawned, the heat of the attic coupled with the hour of reading under dim light making her sleepy. Abby sighed as she turned one more page. "Prue, this is hopeless! We haven't found a thing and you're getting tired."

"Oh, sweetie, it's not hopeless," she answered as she rubbed her eyes. "We still have at least half the Book left. And I'm not getting tired. I just need to rest my eyes."

"I remember my mom using that excuse, too," Abby said, giggling. "If you want to close your eyes, it's okay. I can look for a little bit."

Prue grinned and kissed the top of Abby's head. "Do you know what you're looking for?"

"Something about getting rid of a magical shield?"

She tousled Abby's hair and leaned back against the chair, closing her eyes. "Exactly. I won't be asleep, so if you need me, just call me."

"Okay," Abby said. She turned the page and squinted in the dim light.

It seemed like Prue only had her eyes closed for a minute or two when she heard Abby's voice calling her. "What?" she asked, opening her eyes.

"Sorry I had to wake you up, but is this it?" She pointed down to one of the yellowed pages.

Prue rubbed her eyes, looked down at the page and grinned. "That's it! And I wasn't asleep."

"Please! You were snoring." Abby looked up at her and smiled.

Prue teasingly made a face at her, then turned her attention back to the spell. It was a simple couplet and the only preparation she needed was five white candles set up in a circle. "Want to do it now?"

"Can we really?" Abby turned around in Prue's lap. "I mean, don't you need Piper and Phoebe? It's after midnight and they'll be asleep."

"I don't need them for this one," Prue answered with a smile. She patted Abby's leg and Abby hopped off her lap, holding the Book in her arms. Prue got up out of the chair and headed to the steamer trunk. Somehow all the white candles had settled to the bottom of the trunk, so she had to pull all sorts of things out of the trunk in order to get five of them. When she finally had them all in her hands, she straightened, giggling at the amazement on Abby's face. "Didn't know we had all this stuff, did you?"

Abby shook her head as she bent down to finger a velvet cloak. "This stuff is so cool."

Prue grinned and set the candles up in a small circle. She took the Book from Abby and rested it on the trunk, lit the candles, then took Abby's hand, leading her into the center of the circle. "Okay, hold my hands."

Abby nodded, obediently gripping both of Prue's hands.

Prue looked back once to check the Book to make sure she had the spell memorized correctly. "The magic veil that's now on you, with these words, I'll now undo," she recited. A small gust of wind kicked up, blowing the candles out.

When the wind died down, Prue let go of Abby's hands. "Okay, it's done."

Abby shivered, hugging herself to try get rid of the goosebumps on her arms. "Whoa, that was weird."

Prue smiled, set the Book back on the lectern, and began leading Abby downstairs. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go down to bed. We'll check with Andy in the morning to see if he found anything now that the veil's lifted."

"Okay," Abby said through a yawn. She sidled up next to Prue as they walked down the stairs.

Prue smiled again, but as she was tucking Abby into bed, her face fell. If they were able to find Abby's mother, that meant Abby would have to go back with her mom, possibly all the way across the country. And while she was excited at the possibility of reuniting Abby with her mother, she didn't want the little girl to leave. She cared aboutno, she loved Abby, and the idea of having to give her up, even if it was to the girl's mother, depressed her. She knew she should be happy, but she wasn't. It was like the little girl was slipping away, and she desperately wanted to hold onto her. But try as she might, she knew she might not be able to.

Prue slowly became aware of the phone ringing. At first, she tried to ignore the shrill sound, but after it rang a couple more times, she groaned and rolled over, reaching across Abby to pick up the phone. As soon as she placed her hand on the receiver, the phone stopped ringing. She groaned again, annoyed at being awakened for no reason, then pulled her hand away and tried to go back to sleep. If it's really important, they'll call back, she thought as she tucked her hands under the pillows.

She was just drifting off when the phone started ringing again. She jumped about a mile, startled, and grabbed the phone off the hook. "Hello?" she answered, her voice groggy and hoarse.

"Hey, Prue? It's Andy," he said, adding his name a little unnecessarily. "Were you sleeping?"

"No," she said, clearing her throat. She opened her eyes, glancing over at the clock, and saw that it was a little after seven-thirty. She groaned quietly and sat up, running her fingers through her hair. "Of course not. What's going on?"

He chuckled and she could tell, even over the phone, that he was shaking his head at her. "Well, on a hunch, I ran Abby's name through missing persons again and this time, I got a hit. A report out of this little town in Massachusetts called Abington from four years ago. You wouldn't happen to know why I could find it this morning, but I haven't been able to find it the past couple of days, would you?"

She was suddenly wide awake. "What?" she exclaimed, forgetting to keep her voice quiet. "You really found her missing persons report?"

"Yes," he said, laughing at her excitement. "I'm looking at it as we speak. But seriously, people are going to wonder why a four-year-old report wasn't in the computer yesterday but it is today."

"Uhh," she hesitated. How could she put this concisely? "It's a long story involving a vengeful demon and a magical shield. Do you think you could convince everyone that it was a computer glitch or a clerical error or something?"

"Why does everything have to be so difficult with you?" he said with a sigh. He sounded exasperated, but she could hear the small hint of a smile in his voice. "Sure, I'll do what I can. We're running her mother's name through the national census database now. With any luck, we'll find her in a few hours. I'll let you go so you can tell her the good news."

"Great! Thanks, Andy. Thanks a bunch. Bye." She hung up the phone and looked down at Abby. The little girl was still fast asleep, completely undisturbed by the phone conversation. It appeared, though, that Abby's sleep had been restless at one point. The sheets were wrapped around her legs and Amethyst was lying face first on the floor beside the bed. Prue smiled sympathetically, then shook Abby's shoulder, gently rousing her. "Hey, Abby. Wake up, sweetie."

Abby turned over with a quiet moan, her eyelids fluttering open. "Hi, Prue," she murmured.

"Morning, sweetie," Prue said, brushing the girl's hair out of her face. "Guess what. Andy called. He found your missing persons report. You know what that means?"

Abby sat up, smiling almost hesitantly. "The spell worked?"

Prue nodded, grinning. "But you know what else that means?" Abby shook her head, her face marked with confusion.

"It means your mom never stopped loving you. She's been looking for you all this time because she never stopped loving you."

Abby's eyes filled with tears as she grinned and wrapped her arms around Prue's neck. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! They couldn't have found it without you!" She squeezed harder, her voice growing softer, more serious. "I love you."

Prue squeezed the girl back, touched by her admission. "I love you, too, sweetie," she said softly. "I love you, too."

She meant it, too. It was hard to believe that she had only known the girl for five days. It felt like Abby belonged with them, that Abby was meant to grow up in the Manor. She couldn't imagine her life without the little girl running around the house. But now, here she was, faced with the very real possibility of having to give the girl up. Tears jumped into her eyes and she let Abby go to swipe them away.

"What's the matter, Prue?" Abby asked, confusion on her face again.

"Nothing, sweetie," Prue said with a smile. "Come on. Let's go wake up Piper and Phoebe and tell them the good news."

"Great!" Abby exclaimed. She climbed out of bed and ran for the door. She whipped the door open and ran down the hall to Piper's room. "Piper, Piper!" she exclaimed again as she opened Piper's door and jumped onto her bed, waking

Piper out of a dead sleep.

Piper groaned and pulled the covers over her head, trying to ignore the bouncing. "It's too early, go away."

Prue giggled as Abby ripped the covers from Piper's head and shook her shoulder persistently. "Piper, guess what, guess what! Andy's going to find my mom!"

Piper sat up, grinning, and cast a glance over at Prue. "Really?"

Prue nodded somewhat sadly. Piper wrapped Abby in a congratulatory hug. "This calls for a special breakfast. How about chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Works for me!" Abby exclaimed, jumping off the bed. "I'm going to go wake up Phoebe!"

The sisters giggled as Abby ran from the room and headed down the hall. Once the girl was out of earshot, Piper climbed out of bed and walked up to Prue, resting her hand on her sister's shoulder. "You going to be all right?"

"Yeah," Prue shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be all right?" She tried to smile, but she knew that Piper could see through her facade. They both knew that she wasn't going to be all right.

-----

Abby looked over at Prue after she finished her turn. She and the sisters had been playing a game of Monopoly for a couple of hours, but Prue hadn't been paying much attention. Every time Abby looked over at her, she seemed to be totally lost in thought. Abby gently nudged her. "Prue, it's your turn."

Prue gasped, shaking herself out of her reverie. "What? Oh, sorry." She picked up the dice, rolled, and moved her token the seven spaces she was supposed to. Her pawn landed on Reading Railroad. "Keep the money from Go and give me the deed for the railroad, please," she instructed Piper, who was the banker.

Piper, Phoebe, and Abby all exchanged a concerned glance, but Piper wordlessly did as she was told. Prue accepted the deed with a smile, then sat back against the chair, her mind drifting elsewhere again.

Abby looked down at her own deeds, wondering what was wrong with Prue. As far as Abby knew, she hadn't done anything to make anyone mad. Plus, Prue didn't really seem like she was mad. It was more like she was sad. She opened her mouth to ask Prue what was wrong, then closed it, changing her mind. Instead, she silently watched Piper and Phoebe roll, took her own turn, then nudged Prue again.

Prue started and silently took her turn. Piper smiled, trying to cheer the room up. "Hey, guys, why don't we call it a draw? I know Monopoly gets boring after a while."

"Fine with me," Phoebe answered. "Who's up for ice cream sundaes? I can go get them and bring them back here."

"Sounds great," Piper grinned. "I'll go with you. Four hot fudge sundaes?"

"Mine with chocolate ice cream, please," Abby answered with a smile.

Prue nodded. "Mine, too."

Once Piper and Phoebe left the house and Abby heard the car pull out of the driveway, she got out of her seat at the table and climbed into Prue's lap, sitting sideways so she could see her face. She reached up and began playing with Prue's dark hair. "Prue, are you mad at me?"

"Of course not!" Prue looked down at Abby, her mouth open in surprise. "Why would you think I'm mad at you?"

"You're being really quiet," Abby answered, shrugging. She shifted position in Prue's lap, reaching around her shoulder to twirl more of Prue's hair around her finger. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing you have to worry about, sweetie," Prue said, plastering a smile on her face.

Abby sighed, totally unconvinced. She turned around and leaned back against Prue. The two of them sat in silence, each lost in her own thoughts.

Abby was excited, nervous, and sad all at the same time. She was excited about the fact that her mother could be only a phone call or two away, but she was also scared that her mother, despite the missing persons report, wouldn't want her back. It had after all been four years. Maybe she'd gotten used to not having a little kid around and maybe she wouldn't want to disrupt her life by taking her back and starting over again.

And even if her mother did want her back, Abby didn't want to leave the sisters. They had been so incredibly nice to her, they had gone above and beyond the call of duty, they had given her a home, no questions asked, and she didn't want to leave. She hadn't lived with her mother in over four years and even though she'd only been with the sisters for five days, she felt as if she belonged there. "I'm going to miss you, Prue," she said softly, breaking the silence.

"I'm going to miss you, too, sweetie." Prue wrapped her arms around the little girl and hugged her tightly.

Abby turned around and glanced up at Prue. She was surprised to see tears in Prue's eyes. "Oh, don't cry," Abby said, choking up herself. She kneeled up in Prue's lap and wrapped her arms around Prue's neck. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"Oh, sweetie, you didn't," Prue replied, hugging the girl back. She stroked the girl's hair and planted a kiss on her head.

"I just . . ."

"I shouldn't have come here," Abby sniffled, tightening her grip. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Hey," Prue said as she sniffed back some tears. She pulled out of Abby's hug and brushed the girl's hair behind her ears, smiling. "Hey, listen. You have nothing to apologize for. I wouldn't give up the past few days with you for anything. And of course I'm going to miss you, but we'll always remember the past couple of days and be happy. Plus, we can call each other or write to each other. We'll never be very far apart."

Abby nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "I don't want to leave you. I want to stay here forever."

"I know, sweetie," Prue said, hugging Abby tightly once again. "But don't you want to go back with your mom?"

Abby just shrugged sadly. "I don't really know her anymore. What if she doesn't want me anymore? Or what if she doesn't like me?"

"Oh, honey, don't worry. Your mom loves you, I'm sure of it."

Abby was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by the ringing phone. She hopped off Prue's lap so that she could answer it. Abby's heart was pounding as Prue spent what seemed like hours on the phone, just listening. After she hung up, she turned to Abby with a huge grin. "They found her! A couple of years ago, her job transferred her from Massachusetts to San Francisco! She lives just down the street from us. You've been so close to her this whole time and you didn't know it."

Abby jumped up and down, squealing with delight. "Really? What do we do now?"

"Go down to the police station and meet her," Prue smiled. She held out her hand. "Come on. We'll call Piper and Phoebe on the way."

The Halliwells and Abby were sitting in the hard plastic chairs at the police station, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Carol Lancaster. Prue's hands were even shaking. Her heart was pounding, her palms were clammy, and she was beginning to get very thirsty. She couldn't remember being this nervous before, and she didn't know why she was.

Perhaps it was because she was afraid for Abby. For four years, the little girl had thought that her mother didn't love her anymore and now, she was about to face the woman again. What if they were uncomfortable around each other after all that time? What if Carol had become so used to living alone that she forgot what living with a kid was like? What if, because they had been separated for so long, they didn't love each other anymore? Even still, Prue thought, Abby's lucky she's able to try to be reunited with her mother. Prue and her sisters never got that chance.

The front door opened with a whoosh, allowing humid air from outside to spill into the air-conditioned building. All four of them jumped in their seats and turned to look. A woman with blond hair that hung a little past her shoulders and pale blue eyes walked in, her eyes searching the room. Prue knew those eyes. She had looked into eyes just like those countless times over the past five days. Prue smiled in spite of herself. Abby was the spitting image of her mother.

"Mama?" Abby cried out, jumping out of her seat and stepping forward cautiously.

The woman abruptly turned around, following the little voice. "Abby?" she asked quietly, almost as if she didn't know if she should believe it. She took one look at the little girl and ran over to her, kneeling down in front of her and giving her a tight, long hug. "Oh, Abby, I thought I'd never see you again! How are you? Did he treat you okay?" She let her go and held her at arm's length. "My, you're so big! Let me take a look at you."

Abby giggled as she wiped away the tears that were welling in her eyes. For the first time in a long while, the tears weren't from sadness. "He treated me fine, Mama. He never hurt me." Her mother smiled and pulled her daughter into another hug. Abby squeezed back for a moment, then pulled away, remembering her manners. "Mama, this is Prue, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell," she said, pointing out each of the sisters in turn. "They took care of me after he left me at the mall."

Carol shook hands with each of them, giving them a grateful smile. "Thank you for being so good to my daughter.

When the police told me that he had left her in a mall and three sisters took her in while they tried to find me . . ." She trailed off, choking up. Clearing her throat, she smiled again. "Most people wouldn't have done what you did for her. She was certainly lucky you three found her."

"It was our pleasure," Prue said, smiling back. "She really is a wonderful kid."

Andy walked up to the group, reluctant to interrupt the reunion. "Mrs. Lancaster?" he said gently. "Inspector Trudeau. We talked on the phone."

"Of course," Carol said, shaking hands with Andy. "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's mine," he smiled. "I hate to do this, but if I could just have you fill out some forms . . ."

"Oh, sure." She looked down at Abby and cupped the girl's chin in the palm of her hand. "I'll be right back, baby."

"I'm not going anywhere," Abby said with a grin.

Carol smiled, then went with Andy to fill out the necessary paperwork. Prue watched them leave, then sat back down somewhat sadly. There was no doubt that this woman was Abby's mother. They looked exactly alike. They even sounded alike, which meant that Prue really was going to have to give the girl back.

Abby, sensing Prue's melancholy mood, climbed into Prue's lap and tried to comfort her. "Hey, you said she lives right down the street from you, right?"

Prue nodded, swallowing the lump that was quickly forming in her throat. "It's like, a five-minute car ride."

"See? We'll see each other all the time."

Prue smiled and embraced the girl tightly. "Yes, we will."

Phoebe and Piper crowded around the two of them, trying to comfort Prue while saying goodbye to Abby. "I'm going to miss you, kiddo," Phoebe said as she lightly tugged on a lock of the girl's hair.

"We won't be too far apart." Tears were beginning to gather in her eyes once again. She really didn't want to leave, but she knew she had to. Obviously she was excited and even relieved to be back with her mom after all this time and to know her mom really did want her, but she still wished she could stay with the sisters, too. She wished she could split herself in two. That way, she could be with both her mom and the sisters. She swiped at her eyes and leaned back against Prue. "We'll just be down the street from each other."

"That's right," Piper said with a smile, hoping to cheer everyone up. "We can call and write and even go for a visit."

Prue nodded, held Abby tightly for a moment, then let her go as Carol came back up to them. Andy, who was walking her back, smiled when Abby hopped off Prue's lap and ran up to her mother.

"Okay, baby," Carol said, wrapping her arm around Abby's shoulders and holding her dearly, "let's go back home. Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to say that to you."

"Can we stop at Prue's first?" Abby asked hesitantly. "I have to get Amethyst."

"Amethyst?" Carol asked, glancing down at her daughter.

"Her teddy bear," Prue explained. She stood up and smiled. "We bought her a teddy bear and some new clothes when we found her."

Carol smiled and tousled Abby's hair. "Sure, baby." She looked up at the sisters. "Again, thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you for . . ." She shook her head, choking up again.

"Just let us visit from time to time," Prue said with a gentle smile.

"You got it." Carol pulled her daughter's hair away from her face and sighed. "What do you say, baby? Want to head out?"

Abby broke out of her mother's grip and ran up to the sisters. She gave each of them a huge hug, Prue's being the longest and the tightest. "Thank you, guys. I love you." She let Prue go and stepped back, smiling at them with tears glistening in her eyes. Then she ran back to her mother, slipping her hand into Carol's. "Come on, Mama. Let's go home."

-----

Prue was up in her room, folding all of Abby's little clothes. She had been planning to drive the outfits over to Abby's house for a couple of days, but so far, she hadn't been able to bring herself to get in the car and make the five-minute drive. It would all seem so final if she did. It would mean that Abby wasn't coming back to stay. It was a little ridiculous, she knew, but Prue felt like she had lost a daughter. She knew she shouldn't feel that way because Abby never was her daughter, adopted or otherwise, but she couldn't help it. She had enjoyed acting like a mother and she enjoyed listening to the sounds of a little kid running through the house.

She felt hot tears begin to prickle in her eyes. She put down the small T- shirt she was folding and sank down on the bed, wiping her eyes. Pull yourself together and get a grip, she chastised herself. She took a deep breath in and held it for a moment. It was going to be all right. It was just going to take a little time.

After a minute or two of just sitting there, she stood up and picked up where she left off. She had just finished folding a little lavender T-shirt that had a couple of ice cream stains already when she heard the doorbell chime. She stopped what she was doing, trying to hear who was at the door, but after a second, she gave up, rolling her eyes and turning back to the task at hand.

She heard a quiet knock on the door a minute later and ignored it at first. Then a second knock sounded and the door slowly creaked open. "Prue?" Piper asked from the doorway. "You have a visitor."

Prue glanced over her shoulder at her sister, then turned back to the clothes. "Tell them I'm not home," she mumbled as she picked up a pair of jeans.

"Trust me. You want to come downstairs for this visitor," she said with a mischievous smile. She entered the room, ripped the jeans from Prue's hand, and took her other hand, pulling her out of the room. Prue resisted at first, but Piper was still able to half-drag her down the stairs.

Once Prue's feet hit the floor of the foyer, she turned towards to door, ready to whine at Piper for making her come downstairs. Instead, she grinned. There, standing in the foyer and holding three small shopping bags, was Abby, a wide grin on her face. "Abby!" Prue exclaimed. She ran up to the little girl and wrapped her in a tight hug. "How are you? How are things with your mom?"

"I'm great!" Abby said through a fit of giggles. "It's so good, Prue. It's like my mom and I were never apart." She squeezed Prue back, then gently pulled away. "Mama's waiting for me in the car. She said she thought this was something I should do on my own . . . or something like that." She handed each sister a shopping bag, then stood back against the wall and smiled. "I wanted to say thanks. I picked them all out myself."

Phoebe shared a grin with her sisters, then tore into her bag. Inside were two blank journals and a set of colored pens.

"You said you like to write," Abby explained. "But notebooks get ruined. Now you don't have to worry about that."

Phoebe smiled, truly touched by the thought Abby put into the gift. "Come here, kiddo," she said, holding out her arms. Abby ran into them, giving her the biggest hug she could. "I'll treasure them forever."

Abby nodded and pulled away, wiping a lone tear from her eye. She had promised herself she wasn't going to cry and she intended to stick to that promise. "Open yours, Piper," she said as she leaned against Phoebe's legs.

Piper stuck her hand into her bag and came out with two packages of glow in the dark stars and one set of glow in the dark planets. She grinned, knowing exactly why Abby had given her that particular gift. "You remembered!"

"Remembered what?" Prue asked.

"I told Abby the first day she was here that I like the stars, too, just like she does," Piper explained as Abby broke away from Phoebe and ran up to Piper, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I even have a couple on my ceiling, but I didn't have enough to make constellations or anything like that. Now, I do." She lifted the little girl into the air and settled her on her hip. "Thanks, honey," she said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek.

"Don't mention it," Abby replied, once again trying not to choke up. "Your turn, Prue."

Prue smiled and dug into the bag. Her fingers wrapped around something soft and she pulled out a small white teddy bear. It looked exactly like Amethyst, except that it had a dark blue ribbon around its neck instead of a purple one. "I named her Sapphire, but if you don't like it, you can change it," Abby said quietly from Piper's arms.

"No, I love it," Prue replied, tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you so much."

Abby jumped out of Piper's arms and run up to Prue, waving her hand to ask Prue to crouch down. Prue did as she was asked and Abby wrapped her arms around her neck. "See? Now we're even closer because we're teddy bear twins."

Prue embraced the little girl tightly, trying not to cry. She suddenly missed Abby more than ever. Though she didn't want to let the girl go, she did, sniffling back some tears. "Yes, we are."

"And we're all secret twins, too, because I know I can't tell anyone about the magic," Abby whispered. She hugged Prue tightly once more before pulling away and heading back towards the door. "I should go. Mama's probably getting worried. She hasn't let me out of her sight since I went home." She smiled at the sisters, her hand on the doorknob.

"You better come visit me. I love you guys."

"Oh, we love you, too, kiddo," Phoebe said. Prue could tell that even she was trying not to cry. "And the visiting thing goes both ways."

Abby grinned and opened the door, waving as she exited the Manor. All three of them rushed to the door, watched Abby get into the car, and waved to Carol as she pulled out of the driveway. "I'm going to miss her," Piper said softly.

"Me, too," Prue murmured, staring down at the teddy bear in her hand. "More than you know."

-----

Prue had been up in her room for hours, ever since Abby's visit that morning. She wasn't doing much besides lying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She had Sapphire balanced on her stomach, running one hand over the bear. All she could think about was Abby.

At least she knew Abby was happy. She was excited to hear that Abby and her mother had settled in together so quickly and so comfortably. When the little girl had stopped by that day, she had seemed so relaxed and so happy that Prue couldn't help but feel happy for her. But she was also saddened because the little girl was no longer with her. In just five short days, Abby had become like a daughter to Prue, and the thought of not having the little girl there day after day left her with an empty feeling. It was almost as if something was missing.

She closed her eyes and sighed. Why was this making her so upset? She should be happy. She and her sisters had helped a lost, lonely little girl find her mother; they had reunited a family. Prue honestly couldn't have felt prouder than she did when she saw the look on Carol's face when she spotted Abby for the first time in the police station. But, in a way that made Prue question her values, she wished they hadn't found Carol. That way, Abby could have stayed with them forever. Oh, cut it out, you're being selfish, she chided herself.

Someone knocked on her door and she started, opening her eyes. "Come in," she called quietly.

Piper opened the door and peeked her head into the room. "Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes. Hope you want lasagna."

Prue tore her eyes from the door and stared down at Sapphire, quickly picking up Abby's habit of running the satin ribbon between her fingers. "I'm not hungry."

"Prue, you have to eat something," Piper insisted from the doorway. "Over the past two days, I think I've seen you eat two meals, and that's because Phoebe and I forced you."

"I'll eat something later."

Piper entered the room and sat down on the bed beside Prue. "Look, I know you're upset, but--"

"I'm not upset," Prue shrugged without taking her eyes off Sapphire.

"Don't give me that," Piper said, shaking her head slightly. "I know you're upset without her. I am, too. But we had to let her go."

"The house is so quiet."

"Yeah, it is." Piper looked down at Prue, then nudged her, making her scoot over. Prue obliged and Piper laid down beside her, placing her hand under her head. "You know, she's just down the street. It's not like she had to move back to Massachusetts. We'll see her all the time."

"It's not the same," Prue said, her voice verging on a whine.

"No, it's not, but it can't be the way you want it to be."

"I know," Prue sighed. She squeezed the teddy bear against her stomach. "And I know I should be happy. I mean, we reunited a mother and a daughter, but I feel like--"

"Like you lost a daughter," Piper finished. Prue nodded sadly. "Honey, I know you were close with her and she was close with you, but she was never ours to begin with. I know we thought that maybe she was destined to stay with us, but it's obvious now that she wasn't. We weren't meant to raise her as our own. We were meant to lift the shield so she could find her mom, which we did."

Prue nodded again, praying that Piper couldn't see the tears in her eyes. She swallowed hard. "Then how come I feel like she belonged here?"

"Because you wanted her to belong here." Piper looked over at Prue and saw that she was biting her lip to keep from crying. "Honey, if you want to cry, you can cry."

Prue just shook her head. "I'm okay."

The sisters laid in silence for a few minutes before Piper gasped, bolting upright. "Damn it, dinner's about to burn!" She got up and ran for the door. Once there, she turned around. "Are you sure you don't want to eat?"

"I told you, I'm not hungry. I'll eat later."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Piper said, smiling gently.

Prue smirked, nodding. After Piper had quietly left the room, Prue rolled onto her side, curling into a ball and hugging the teddy bear to her chest, and allowed herself to start crying. Once she started, she couldn't stop. Everything she had ever been angry over, everything she had ever been upset about, she was feeling it all in this one moment. "Why give her to me and then take her away?" she cried into the pillow. "Why let me love her and then take her away from me?"

She honestly had no idea how long she'd been crying, though she knew it was at least ten minutes. She was just starting to calm down when she felt a hand slide onto her shoulder. She gasped and looked up, expecting to find Piper or Phoebe or possibly both of them hovering over her. Instead, she found no one at all and she could still feel the hand on her shoulder. She was a little wary at first, but after a moment, she smiled. The hand squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, almost as if it was telling her that everything was going to be all right. She had no idea who was comforting her, though she was willing to guess that it was either her mother or her grandmother, but it didn't matter. It worked.

She got up off the bed, wiped her eyes, and headed downstairs to dinner, the smell of the lasagna making her stomach rumble. Piper and Phoebe were sitting at the dining room table, talking quietly over their meal, but as soon as Prue entered the room, they both stopped and looked up at her, smiling. "Hey," Piper said, greeting her sister.

"Hi." Prue slipped into place at the table and scooped a slice of lasagna onto her plate.

"Hey, have you been crying?" Phoebe asked, noticing for the first time that Prue's eyes were red.

She nodded and stuck a forkful of pasta in her mouth. "Are you going to be okay?" Piper asked.

Prue nodded again and swallowed her bite of lasagna. "I will be. I realized that I have to let Abby go. She's not mine,

she never was, no matter how much I want her to be. Right now, though, I want to eat. I'm starving!"

Piper grinned and scooped a little more lasagna onto Prue's plate. "By all means, eat up!" She exchanged a glance with Phoebe and smiled at her. Phoebe smiled back.

Prue looked up and caught the silent exchange. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Piper said with a grin. "I was just thinking . . . you're going to make a great mom."

Prue smiled. "You really think so?"

Phoebe nodded. "If this week with Abby was any indication, you'll be a terrific mom."

Prue beamed, blushing. Her sisters were right. She had a knack for mothering and it took having to take care of Abby to make her see that. And while she was going to miss the little girl, she knew that Piper was right when they were talking in her room earlier. Abby didn't belong at the Manor, she belonged at home with her mother. And her mother just so happened to live a mere few houses down the street. If Prue wanted, she could still see the little girl whenever she felt like it and she could still watch her grow up.

It was going to take a little time, but Prue knew she'd be all right. She now knew that she wanted to be a mother and she knew that she would be good at it. And she had Abby to thank for it. Maybe that was another reason the sisters had found Abby. Maybe it was destiny's way of showing Prue she had nothing to fear. She smiled to herself, thinking that Abby had helped her just as much as, possibly more than, she had helped Abby. And even though she was going through hell right now, she wouldn't change one thing about it.