The youngest of the sisters laughed a little. "Yeah, you guys are right," she responded, frowning a bit before looking back over. "It's just hard to talk to her, you know," she muttered. "I mean, she's always acted more like she's my mom than my sister…"
"That isn't her fault…" Piper muttered, though she didn't continue as Dean and Phoebe gave her looks that dared her to continue that sentence. She practically had to give up her own childhood to help raise us. She'd been there for all four of them growing up, and she really had been a mother figure for Sam, as she'd been the only one old enough for Grams to trust her to take care of him when he was a baby.
"We know," Dean said, laughing just a little in long suffering amusement.
"Hey, we were lucky she was so responsible," Piper said. "We had it easy. All we had to do was be there."
"Yeah, well, I don't need a mom anymore," sighed Phoebe. "I need a sister."
"Dude, legally, she is my mom," Sam pointed out, putting his thoughts across easily. Phoebe laughed a little, although it was a little sad for everyone to think about. It shouldn't have been Prue's job and they knew it. Sam had a dad rambling around the country right now that should have been taking care of him, but who wasn't, and when Grams died, it had defaulted to the sisters. Growing up, Prue had been Sam's replacement mom, and Dean had forced himself to man up and fill the gaps that their father left empty
Seconds after he said it, there was a knock at the door and they all turned in surprise to see Prue standing there with a quilt. "Hey," she said, holding up the blanket and setting it down hesitantly. "This was always the coldest room in the house."
Part of Phoebe wanted to smile ironically at the mothering nature Prue still displayed, but she was cordial when she said, "Thanks."
Prue looked awkwardly between her sisters and her cousins, feeling like she hadn't been invited to a party that everyone else got to go to before turning around and walking away, leaving the other four in a brief awkward silence.
(-:-)
After the awkward half dinner the four had shared upstairs, Piper, Dean and Phoebe retreated downstairs while Sam finished up some homework in his room, ever the serious student no matter how much Dean made fun of him. Phoebe had of course noticed the Ouija board in the dining room and decided to be nostalgic and play around with it a little. Piper had readily agreed, happy to spend time with her sister, and Dean hesitantly joined them. They all remembered having spent creepy nights with the board when they were tweens. Phoebe had even convinced them to try out the odd spell or 'ritual' every now and then. Piper had just laughed at the novelty of it all back then, but Dean had quit all together when he had finally gotten old enough to go on hunting trips with his dad.
They made small talk as the three of them moved the pointer across the board, talking about Dean's job as a mechanic, and what Phoebe had been doing in New York. Then the conversation turned to Piper and her boyfriend, who seemed to be doing all the right things.
"I'm glad to hear that you and Jeremy are still together," Phoebe said brightly, not surprised when she heard Dean make a blanching noise. Phoebe laughed a little at how much like a little brother he and Sam were. Neither of the boys liked Piper's boyfriend much, and were pretty vocal about it.
"Where did you meet him anyway?" Phoebe followed up.
Piper popped Dean in the arm before he could make a comment on that, but didn't look up from the pointer. "We met in the hospital cafeteria the day Grams was admitted," she explained. "He was covering a story, and I was bawling over a bagel. So he handed me a napkin."
Phoebe glanced at Dean as he rolled his eyes. "How romantic," she said dubiously.
"As a matter of fact it was," Piper said in defense of her boyfriend. "The napkin had his phone number on it."
Dean cringed again. "How is that romantic? That's preying upon emotionally fragile family members."
Phoebe giggled a little, and Piper looked back at the board as their hands moved over it. "Stop pushing the pointer," Piper sighed at her little sister.
"I'm not touching it…"
"You used to always push the pointer," Dean said, rolling his eyes a little, pointing at her with a forefinger as Piper took her hands from the board, grabbing the bowl of popcorn she'd made to walk towards the kitchen.
Phoebe looked at Dean and rolled her eyes a little before looking back to the board and calling after Piper. "Hey, I forgot your question," she hollered after Piper. Dean quirked an eyebrow, and watched Piper walk away for a few moments.
"I asked if Prue would have sex with someone other than herself this year."
At that, Dean made a face. Phoebe snickered.
"That's disgusting!" the boy called after her.
But Phoebe just looked back at the board pointedly. "Please say yes…"
Dean wrinkled his nose as he put his hand back on the pointer, just in time for it to glide forcefully towards the A on the board.
The two cousins at the table ripped their hands away from the pointer in shock.
Phoebe's eyes were wide as she started to breathe her sister's name. Then it moved to the T with neither of them touching it. "Piper!" Phoebe blurted, looking up at Dean, whose jaw had clenched, and who looked just a little terrified of what had just happened. "Get in here!"
Piper started back into the room, concerned when she saw the looks on the two of their faces. "What?"
Then there was Prue's voice. "What did you do now?"