Crossover Challenge - Multi-Fandom Coffee Shop AU - P3D and More
Title: P3D and More
Fandoms: Mostly Charmed, Due South, The Magnificent Seven, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel with cameos from Supernatural, Walker Texas Ranger, Smallville, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, California Dreams, and The Flash
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Leo/Piper, Diefenbaker, Benton/Ray V., Inez, Sabrina, Cordelia, CD, Oz/Willow, Sam, Dean, and more
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Piper's leading a much more fulfilled life after moving on from P3.
Word Count: 2,655
Written For: The Creative Court's September 2022 Monthly Theme (If you join Lands of Magic, be sure to tell them Apache Firecat from Team Winter sent YOU!), 1 Million Words Crossover Challenge, and 100 Ships: 90: Coffee
Warnings: Multi-Fandom Crossover AU
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Piper bustled. She was a flurry of activity, and her mind seemed a thousand places at once. She was still mulling over last night's Demon attack while waiting on the phone to talk to the manager of the band she had booked for that very evening, the same one that had left a message on her answering machine early that morning in the God-forsaken hours between two and three o'clock when not very many people had any good business being awake (which also made her question rather or not she actually wanted the band to perform at any café -- this wasn't the night club she had been wrangled into running before and she certainly wasn't looking for that kind of clientele ever again). At the same time, she was moving quickly about her shop, checking her inventory and making note of what she absolutely had to order this evening so it would be there come Monday. She rarely made two orders a week, but they truly needed the merchandise this week. The place was thumping! She was actually managing to succeed at something other than just killing a bunch of Demons and saving the world!
She almost bumped into one of her young workers and made instant note of the black cat hair covering the girl's white blouse. "Sabrina, maybe another color other than white the next time your kitty wants to play?"
"Huh?" Sabrina was dumbfounded. The girl always seemed distracted, and Piper had to wonder to where the girl's mind was constantly venturing. Whatever might be bothering her, she was quite certain it wasn't Demons, but at the same time, she knew the pains of trying to stay employed while dealing with personal issues all too well. Perhaps some of her team was right. Maybe she was a little too lenient where the kid was concerned, but somebody had to give the children a chance. Otherwise they'd just end up delving into the Occult or drugs or worse, springing from boyfriend to boyfriend like her sisters were constantly doing.
"Black cat hair and white shirts don't mix, Sabby," she said as gently as she could. "The Health board wouldn't approve."
"Oh." The blonde teenager looked down at herself. "I -- I didn't realize Salem -- "
"I've got another shirt in my car," Lana Lang, another of Piper's young workers, a girl who actually did show genuine drive and dedication volunteered. She grabbed Sabrina's arm and pulled her away, heading toward the back. "I'm pretty sure it will fit you. We'll be right back, Miss Halliwell."
"How do you like that?" a third of her young workers muttered. She knew the brunette was frustrated. She'd come out here to California to make a career of acting, and like most who did so, had found not only that it wasn't an easy field in which to make herself a success but there were other problems plaguing her personal life as well. "Not only do they get to take another break, but they get a new wardrobe too!"
"It's one shirt -- " Piper started to admonish the girl, but their resident "mother hen" as she and Prue had often been called at various times throughout their life broke into their conversation in a flurry of Spanish.
"It is one shirt," Inez finally finished, "and besides that, Cordelia, I've seen you take three breaks! Now -- " She paused in her orders as she heard their front bell ring and look up. " -- why don't you -- "
"Go take their order?" Cordelia asked, fawning over the tall, discreetly muscular man in a red Mounty suit who had just entered the coffee shop.
Piper wasn't certain if he was a real Mounty or not, just as she was not at all certain that the shorter man beside him was not his partner in more ways than one, but she again glanced around her shop to make certain she didn't see anyone else with a clipboard. At least the wolf was basically a trained police dog, and she doubted that the Health board would have too much to say to Diefenbaker. "Make sure you give the wolf a doughnut," she murmured to Inez. "You know our policy on the law enforcement." It paid to encourage the cops to look the other way, especially when you were constantly having to break the law away from your job to save an ungrateful world.
"Madre de Dios!" Inez breathed, shaking her head, but another of their younger workers zipped along behind them, heading for the register where customers were steadily piling up. Inez suddenly breathed the same words a second time, and Piper couldn't help smiling at the change in the senorita's tone and face. She glanced knowingly at the door and immediately had her suspicions confirmed -- the men currently filling the doorway behind Constable Fraser and his two companions were some of Inez's own very favorite customers. Instead of bustling after them and being as obvious as Cordelia was being with Fraser, Inez turned and swiftly started bustling in the other directions. Smiling to herself and knowing that her Assistant Manager would have the seven policemen's orders filled before they could reach the counter, Piper returned to making her order, but not without another glance toward her register.
"Barry's doing fine. Seems to learn real quick."
Piper shrugged as she glanced at CD. "I just know he hasn't had a lot of luck in jobs before, and this isn't exactly like his old job."
"The kid's clumsy," the retired cop admitted with a nod, "but he seems to have the register down pretty well. Do you need any help with the ordering?"
"Nah. I've got it almost finished. Besides, it's about time for your son to be here." Piper herself had suffered for so many years with jobs that didn't understand or appreciate the fact that she was working not just to support herself but for her family, mainly her two sisters. She understood very well that people worked harder for their families than for themselves, which was why she constantly supported her workers' family lives to the best of her abilities. Perhaps she was too light on them, but most of them paid her back with loyalty and not ringing her at all times of the night when she and her family were out slaying Demons and saving the world.
"Hello? Hello?"
Piper blinked, confused, at first, as to where the voice was coming.
"It's your phone," CD told her. "When was the last time you took a day off?"
"Oh!" Piper grabbed her phone and held it back to her ear even as she heard a familiar voice shout, "CD!"
"Hello," she answered the woman on the other end of the phone. "This is Piper Halliwell, owner of P3D and More." Her smile twisted a little into a borderline smirk for she knew CD was suddenly too busy with Cordell Walker and his group to be able to continue pressing about when she took time off. She didn't, but the old man didn't need to know that. This place, on its good days, actually was a breath of fresh air for her, an escape that her own family could not offer for all they had been called to do, rather they wanted to do it or not.
"Oh, yes, ma'am! I'm sorry about this morning! I think Oz may be able to perform tonight after all, but he wasn't, huh, feeling too good last night."
"Oh. Is that why you were up so late?"
"Yes. Yes! We, huh, had to get special care for him."
"I'm sorry to hear he's sick. He's your lead singer, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"And you're Willow Rosenberg?"
"Yes."
"I heard you do great the Magic Box."
"Well, that's not really true," the younger woman admitted. She was trying not to nervously babble, which caused Piper to genuinely smile again. Perhaps her singer really had been sick. Not all of the younger crowd were hooked into such horrible things as drugs, Satanism, and tramping around town. "I mean, they do. They play there every Friday and Saturday night, but they do need other gigs, especially now with the baby coming. And I'm not really a member of the band."
"You're their manager, aren't you?"
"Well, yes, but I'm his girlfriend too."
"Oh? Congratulations! When are you due?"
There was dead silence suddenly on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry. I just assumed -- "
"Y-You're right." Piper suddenly had the image of a very softly spoken, very quiet, very easily intimidated girl. "Well, yes, I, huh, am, but, huh, we've never met. How did you know?"
Piper shrugged. "Call it woman's intuition."
"Oh. Well, hum, he is feeling better if we can still -- "
"Of course, but are you sure he's up for it? It's important the father gets his rest too so he's able to provide, so he's -- " Piper paused as she heard the familiar, telltale twinkling of the orbing lights that predated her own lover's arrival. Leo wrapped his arms around her, and she hummed softly as she leaned back into her husband's embrace. The girl was babbling again, but she didn't really hear her as Leo kissed her cheek. "Look, why don't we give Oz -- that is what you said his name is, right? -- a chance to really recover, and you guys can come play Wednesday night." She didn't normally have live entertainment in the earlier part of the week, but it had been something she'd been considering for a while now.
"I don't mean to leave you in a lurch -- " Willow started.
"You're fine. I've got another band I can call in tonight. They've been asking for a shot for a while now too." And they, too, were another group of young teenagers. Their manager worried her sometimes, but Phoebe had said she knew they were good and had the support of the DaCosta family. The kids truly did seem dedicated to their music and each other too, if nothing else. It somehow seemed fitting, too, to have the California Dreams playing the last weekend of the Summer. "We'll discuss another Sunday venture on that Wednesday."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much!"
Piper smiled, but her voice was firm as she told the girl, "Thank me by having him here this Wednesday at four o'clock sharp and by making sure he plays good."
"He will."
Piper clicked off on her phone and mused aloud, "Hmm."
"What?" Leo whispered questioningly in her long, dark hair as he slowly danced in place with her.
"I just... Sometimes you really can't tell by people's names."
"You can never tell by people's names -- "
"I know, but... Honestly, Dingoes Ate My Baby?" She made a face. It was the very name of the band that had made her question rather or not they were right for her coffee shop, but after speaking with Willow, she had a much better feeling about them.
There was a ripple in the air, and Piper tensed. Stepping away from Leo, she raised her hands. "Not in my restaurant, you don't!" With two quick shakes of her fists, she had frozen everybody and exploded the incoming Demons before they could even get a good look around her establishment. She and Leo both grabbed the closest dustpan and were just finishing sweeping up the gooey bits of Demon flesh and other parts when everybody else unfroze.
"What happened?" Cordelia asked.
"Somebody puked."
"Euuw!" Cordy hurried away, but Piper could feel somebody watching them.
"What is it?" Leo asked in a hushed whisper as his wife knowingly surveyed the room.
Diefenbaker was whining softly as he strained against the Mounty's firm hand on his collar. A couple of the cops were watching them, and two new people who slightly resembled each other but whom she had never seen before stood, gawking, in the doorway. "Cordelia, wait on those two young men, please!" Piper called as she hurried over to the doughnuts and selected one of the wolf's favorites with pink icing and sprinkles. Racing back around the counter, she bent and offered the doughnut to the wolf. "This is for you, you handsome, strapping fellow."
"He already had one," Barry remarked from the register.
"So he gets two today."
"Don't argue with your boss lady," CD called to the teenager.
Piper even let the wolf lick her fingers clean from the sugar and glaze as the tallest of the squad whom Inez always gushed over leaned down and asked, "Is everything all right, little lady?"
"Everything is fine, Officer Sanchez," Piper quickly assured him, though a frown flitted over her face as the wolf actually winked at her. "Everything's perfectly fine." She smiled brightly at all gathered as she stood back up, noted that Lana and Sabrina were back with Sabrina in a fresh blouse, and then headed back over to her husband. Just in time too, it would seem, as one of the strangers was trying to ask him something. The tall, young man had a very serious air about him, but the other man had been distracted even from Cordelia's low-cut blouse as he eyed the case full of doughnuts.
"SAM, COME HERE! FORGET ABOUT THAT! WE'LL FIND HIM LATER! LOOK! THEY'VE GOT EVERY KIND OF DOUGHNUT IMAGINABLE!"
"Dean, can't that wait a minute?"
"NO!" the other stranger cried in denial. He looked like he was salivating almost as much as the wolf had been on his first few trips to the shop.
Sam sighed, stuck his pencil back behind his ear, and closed his notebook. What were they? Piper wondered, making quick, mental note of both. They clearly weren't the Health Board, although she had been right. It would be wise to keep him around, and to keep him pleased. "If you do happen to see the guy," Sam spoke to Leo, "please don't hesitate to call." He passed him a business card even as Piper tugged on her husband's hand. Entwining her fingers with his, she yanked him away from the front toward the back, and her office, as Sam reluctantly followed Dean, whose hands and face were plastered to her glass case.
She led her husband to her office and shut the door behind them to the outside world, Demon, customers, employees, and all. Turning, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him close.
"I'm sorry," Leo apologized. "I didn't know he was -- "
"I don't want to talk about Demons," she said softly.
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, lovingly threading his fingers through his wife's hair.
She shrugged against him. "I don't want to talk," she answered simply. Leaning up on her tip toes, she pressed her lips to his. As she relished the moment of just standing in her husband's loving embracing and sharing their passionate kiss, it again felt as though she had eyes on her, but she knew to whom those eyes belonged. She opened one eye and peeked over Leo's shoulder at the image of Prue that hung above her desk.
It had been her eldest sister who had encouraged her to truly pursue her dreams and to stop with the night club that had so often left Piper with questions about the kind of clientele and service with which she was dealing. This little place, so focused on family and feeding people rather than on dancing and booze, was much more aligned with the dreams she'd always had. And she was living the other one, she thought, being loved by a good man, the very man who was holding her now. She deepened their kiss and let her notebook drop to the floor. She knew her sister, and her own family, would approve.
The End
Fandoms: Mostly Charmed, Due South, The Magnificent Seven, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel with cameos from Supernatural, Walker Texas Ranger, Smallville, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, California Dreams, and The Flash
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Leo/Piper, Diefenbaker, Benton/Ray V., Inez, Sabrina, Cordelia, CD, Oz/Willow, Sam, Dean, and more
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Piper's leading a much more fulfilled life after moving on from P3.
Word Count: 2,655
Written For: The Creative Court's September 2022 Monthly Theme (If you join Lands of Magic, be sure to tell them Apache Firecat from Team Winter sent YOU!), 1 Million Words Crossover Challenge, and 100 Ships: 90: Coffee
Warnings: Multi-Fandom Crossover AU
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Piper bustled. She was a flurry of activity, and her mind seemed a thousand places at once. She was still mulling over last night's Demon attack while waiting on the phone to talk to the manager of the band she had booked for that very evening, the same one that had left a message on her answering machine early that morning in the God-forsaken hours between two and three o'clock when not very many people had any good business being awake (which also made her question rather or not she actually wanted the band to perform at any café -- this wasn't the night club she had been wrangled into running before and she certainly wasn't looking for that kind of clientele ever again). At the same time, she was moving quickly about her shop, checking her inventory and making note of what she absolutely had to order this evening so it would be there come Monday. She rarely made two orders a week, but they truly needed the merchandise this week. The place was thumping! She was actually managing to succeed at something other than just killing a bunch of Demons and saving the world!
She almost bumped into one of her young workers and made instant note of the black cat hair covering the girl's white blouse. "Sabrina, maybe another color other than white the next time your kitty wants to play?"
"Huh?" Sabrina was dumbfounded. The girl always seemed distracted, and Piper had to wonder to where the girl's mind was constantly venturing. Whatever might be bothering her, she was quite certain it wasn't Demons, but at the same time, she knew the pains of trying to stay employed while dealing with personal issues all too well. Perhaps some of her team was right. Maybe she was a little too lenient where the kid was concerned, but somebody had to give the children a chance. Otherwise they'd just end up delving into the Occult or drugs or worse, springing from boyfriend to boyfriend like her sisters were constantly doing.
"Black cat hair and white shirts don't mix, Sabby," she said as gently as she could. "The Health board wouldn't approve."
"Oh." The blonde teenager looked down at herself. "I -- I didn't realize Salem -- "
"I've got another shirt in my car," Lana Lang, another of Piper's young workers, a girl who actually did show genuine drive and dedication volunteered. She grabbed Sabrina's arm and pulled her away, heading toward the back. "I'm pretty sure it will fit you. We'll be right back, Miss Halliwell."
"How do you like that?" a third of her young workers muttered. She knew the brunette was frustrated. She'd come out here to California to make a career of acting, and like most who did so, had found not only that it wasn't an easy field in which to make herself a success but there were other problems plaguing her personal life as well. "Not only do they get to take another break, but they get a new wardrobe too!"
"It's one shirt -- " Piper started to admonish the girl, but their resident "mother hen" as she and Prue had often been called at various times throughout their life broke into their conversation in a flurry of Spanish.
"It is one shirt," Inez finally finished, "and besides that, Cordelia, I've seen you take three breaks! Now -- " She paused in her orders as she heard their front bell ring and look up. " -- why don't you -- "
"Go take their order?" Cordelia asked, fawning over the tall, discreetly muscular man in a red Mounty suit who had just entered the coffee shop.
Piper wasn't certain if he was a real Mounty or not, just as she was not at all certain that the shorter man beside him was not his partner in more ways than one, but she again glanced around her shop to make certain she didn't see anyone else with a clipboard. At least the wolf was basically a trained police dog, and she doubted that the Health board would have too much to say to Diefenbaker. "Make sure you give the wolf a doughnut," she murmured to Inez. "You know our policy on the law enforcement." It paid to encourage the cops to look the other way, especially when you were constantly having to break the law away from your job to save an ungrateful world.
"Madre de Dios!" Inez breathed, shaking her head, but another of their younger workers zipped along behind them, heading for the register where customers were steadily piling up. Inez suddenly breathed the same words a second time, and Piper couldn't help smiling at the change in the senorita's tone and face. She glanced knowingly at the door and immediately had her suspicions confirmed -- the men currently filling the doorway behind Constable Fraser and his two companions were some of Inez's own very favorite customers. Instead of bustling after them and being as obvious as Cordelia was being with Fraser, Inez turned and swiftly started bustling in the other directions. Smiling to herself and knowing that her Assistant Manager would have the seven policemen's orders filled before they could reach the counter, Piper returned to making her order, but not without another glance toward her register.
"Barry's doing fine. Seems to learn real quick."
Piper shrugged as she glanced at CD. "I just know he hasn't had a lot of luck in jobs before, and this isn't exactly like his old job."
"The kid's clumsy," the retired cop admitted with a nod, "but he seems to have the register down pretty well. Do you need any help with the ordering?"
"Nah. I've got it almost finished. Besides, it's about time for your son to be here." Piper herself had suffered for so many years with jobs that didn't understand or appreciate the fact that she was working not just to support herself but for her family, mainly her two sisters. She understood very well that people worked harder for their families than for themselves, which was why she constantly supported her workers' family lives to the best of her abilities. Perhaps she was too light on them, but most of them paid her back with loyalty and not ringing her at all times of the night when she and her family were out slaying Demons and saving the world.
"Hello? Hello?"
Piper blinked, confused, at first, as to where the voice was coming.
"It's your phone," CD told her. "When was the last time you took a day off?"
"Oh!" Piper grabbed her phone and held it back to her ear even as she heard a familiar voice shout, "CD!"
"Hello," she answered the woman on the other end of the phone. "This is Piper Halliwell, owner of P3D and More." Her smile twisted a little into a borderline smirk for she knew CD was suddenly too busy with Cordell Walker and his group to be able to continue pressing about when she took time off. She didn't, but the old man didn't need to know that. This place, on its good days, actually was a breath of fresh air for her, an escape that her own family could not offer for all they had been called to do, rather they wanted to do it or not.
"Oh, yes, ma'am! I'm sorry about this morning! I think Oz may be able to perform tonight after all, but he wasn't, huh, feeling too good last night."
"Oh. Is that why you were up so late?"
"Yes. Yes! We, huh, had to get special care for him."
"I'm sorry to hear he's sick. He's your lead singer, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"And you're Willow Rosenberg?"
"Yes."
"I heard you do great the Magic Box."
"Well, that's not really true," the younger woman admitted. She was trying not to nervously babble, which caused Piper to genuinely smile again. Perhaps her singer really had been sick. Not all of the younger crowd were hooked into such horrible things as drugs, Satanism, and tramping around town. "I mean, they do. They play there every Friday and Saturday night, but they do need other gigs, especially now with the baby coming. And I'm not really a member of the band."
"You're their manager, aren't you?"
"Well, yes, but I'm his girlfriend too."
"Oh? Congratulations! When are you due?"
There was dead silence suddenly on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry. I just assumed -- "
"Y-You're right." Piper suddenly had the image of a very softly spoken, very quiet, very easily intimidated girl. "Well, yes, I, huh, am, but, huh, we've never met. How did you know?"
Piper shrugged. "Call it woman's intuition."
"Oh. Well, hum, he is feeling better if we can still -- "
"Of course, but are you sure he's up for it? It's important the father gets his rest too so he's able to provide, so he's -- " Piper paused as she heard the familiar, telltale twinkling of the orbing lights that predated her own lover's arrival. Leo wrapped his arms around her, and she hummed softly as she leaned back into her husband's embrace. The girl was babbling again, but she didn't really hear her as Leo kissed her cheek. "Look, why don't we give Oz -- that is what you said his name is, right? -- a chance to really recover, and you guys can come play Wednesday night." She didn't normally have live entertainment in the earlier part of the week, but it had been something she'd been considering for a while now.
"I don't mean to leave you in a lurch -- " Willow started.
"You're fine. I've got another band I can call in tonight. They've been asking for a shot for a while now too." And they, too, were another group of young teenagers. Their manager worried her sometimes, but Phoebe had said she knew they were good and had the support of the DaCosta family. The kids truly did seem dedicated to their music and each other too, if nothing else. It somehow seemed fitting, too, to have the California Dreams playing the last weekend of the Summer. "We'll discuss another Sunday venture on that Wednesday."
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much!"
Piper smiled, but her voice was firm as she told the girl, "Thank me by having him here this Wednesday at four o'clock sharp and by making sure he plays good."
"He will."
Piper clicked off on her phone and mused aloud, "Hmm."
"What?" Leo whispered questioningly in her long, dark hair as he slowly danced in place with her.
"I just... Sometimes you really can't tell by people's names."
"You can never tell by people's names -- "
"I know, but... Honestly, Dingoes Ate My Baby?" She made a face. It was the very name of the band that had made her question rather or not they were right for her coffee shop, but after speaking with Willow, she had a much better feeling about them.
There was a ripple in the air, and Piper tensed. Stepping away from Leo, she raised her hands. "Not in my restaurant, you don't!" With two quick shakes of her fists, she had frozen everybody and exploded the incoming Demons before they could even get a good look around her establishment. She and Leo both grabbed the closest dustpan and were just finishing sweeping up the gooey bits of Demon flesh and other parts when everybody else unfroze.
"What happened?" Cordelia asked.
"Somebody puked."
"Euuw!" Cordy hurried away, but Piper could feel somebody watching them.
"What is it?" Leo asked in a hushed whisper as his wife knowingly surveyed the room.
Diefenbaker was whining softly as he strained against the Mounty's firm hand on his collar. A couple of the cops were watching them, and two new people who slightly resembled each other but whom she had never seen before stood, gawking, in the doorway. "Cordelia, wait on those two young men, please!" Piper called as she hurried over to the doughnuts and selected one of the wolf's favorites with pink icing and sprinkles. Racing back around the counter, she bent and offered the doughnut to the wolf. "This is for you, you handsome, strapping fellow."
"He already had one," Barry remarked from the register.
"So he gets two today."
"Don't argue with your boss lady," CD called to the teenager.
Piper even let the wolf lick her fingers clean from the sugar and glaze as the tallest of the squad whom Inez always gushed over leaned down and asked, "Is everything all right, little lady?"
"Everything is fine, Officer Sanchez," Piper quickly assured him, though a frown flitted over her face as the wolf actually winked at her. "Everything's perfectly fine." She smiled brightly at all gathered as she stood back up, noted that Lana and Sabrina were back with Sabrina in a fresh blouse, and then headed back over to her husband. Just in time too, it would seem, as one of the strangers was trying to ask him something. The tall, young man had a very serious air about him, but the other man had been distracted even from Cordelia's low-cut blouse as he eyed the case full of doughnuts.
"SAM, COME HERE! FORGET ABOUT THAT! WE'LL FIND HIM LATER! LOOK! THEY'VE GOT EVERY KIND OF DOUGHNUT IMAGINABLE!"
"Dean, can't that wait a minute?"
"NO!" the other stranger cried in denial. He looked like he was salivating almost as much as the wolf had been on his first few trips to the shop.
Sam sighed, stuck his pencil back behind his ear, and closed his notebook. What were they? Piper wondered, making quick, mental note of both. They clearly weren't the Health Board, although she had been right. It would be wise to keep him around, and to keep him pleased. "If you do happen to see the guy," Sam spoke to Leo, "please don't hesitate to call." He passed him a business card even as Piper tugged on her husband's hand. Entwining her fingers with his, she yanked him away from the front toward the back, and her office, as Sam reluctantly followed Dean, whose hands and face were plastered to her glass case.
She led her husband to her office and shut the door behind them to the outside world, Demon, customers, employees, and all. Turning, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him close.
"I'm sorry," Leo apologized. "I didn't know he was -- "
"I don't want to talk about Demons," she said softly.
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, lovingly threading his fingers through his wife's hair.
She shrugged against him. "I don't want to talk," she answered simply. Leaning up on her tip toes, she pressed her lips to his. As she relished the moment of just standing in her husband's loving embracing and sharing their passionate kiss, it again felt as though she had eyes on her, but she knew to whom those eyes belonged. She opened one eye and peeked over Leo's shoulder at the image of Prue that hung above her desk.
It had been her eldest sister who had encouraged her to truly pursue her dreams and to stop with the night club that had so often left Piper with questions about the kind of clientele and service with which she was dealing. This little place, so focused on family and feeding people rather than on dancing and booze, was much more aligned with the dreams she'd always had. And she was living the other one, she thought, being loved by a good man, the very man who was holding her now. She deepened their kiss and let her notebook drop to the floor. She knew her sister, and her own family, would approve.
The End