“Piper, come on.” Phoebe tried to gently usher her sister away from the sink. Piper shrugged her off again and just stood there staring at the wall.

“Piper, come on!” Phoebe was getting more frustrated. There was just nothing she could do to get through to her.

Piper shot her a look and wriggled out of her sister’s grasp. “It’s ok, I’m fine” she replied timidly. Nothing in her voice of body language backed up her hollow words.

“No Piper” Phoebe snapped, “You’re not fine, it’s not OK.”

She could tell she was making her sister uncomfortable, that was the last thing she wanted to do but she had run out of other options. Shouting was the only thing she had left that had a shot of getting through to Piper.

“It’s been 6 months and you’ve hardly said his name” Phoebe continued, “You can’t just bottle everything up, you need to talk. The girls miss their Dad too.”

Piper stood across the room from Phoebe, facing the closed living room door. She swung around violently and glared at her sister.

“Don’t you think I know that?” She snapped, “Don’t you think that I’m thinking about him every second? I know I should talk, I know it’s affecting my kids…”

“They need you to talk about their Dad.”

“He’s not Kate’s Dad though, is he?” Piper said in a hushed voice. Kate knew of course, but Paige and Poppy had no idea.

Phoebe looked hurt. For Leo and for Kate. “Biologically, no. But he loved her like his own, and he was the only father she ever knew. You can’t just block him out!”

Phoebe was practically shouting now. Piper was just standing there, not really talking it in. “I don’t need to listen to this” she said, tears slowly forming in her tired, sleep deprived eyes. She started walking towards the back door.

“Talk to your kids, Piper” Phoebe persisted, “It’s not just you he left behind!”

Piper turned the handle and stepped outside. She just wanted to get away. She knew everything her sister was saying was the truth; she just couldn’t handle it right now. She paused for a moment and spun around, tears streaming down her face. “You know why I don’t say his name?” She spat, “It hurts too much.”

She slammed the door behind her and left Phoebe standing in the middle of the kitchen.

* * *

The shouting had stopped. Kate opened her tightly shut eyes and uncovered her ears with her hands.

The muffled sounds of her Mom and aunt arguing had become all too familiar recently. So had the mental images of Mom storming out and of Aunt Paige trying to shield her little sister from the events as best she could.

She wished everything could go back to how it was. She looked at a photo of her and her Dad sitting on the lawn on sunny day two years ago. She remembered the day it was taken, during Paige’s snap happy phase.

Aunt Phoebe was chasing Poppy round the garden, trying to keep her out of the way and Mom was standing behind the camera, pulling faces. Her and Dad had tried so hard not to laugh…

Only he wasn’t her Dad. She hated that fact more than anything. No matter how much they loved each other, no matter how much she wished it wasn’t true, it would always be that way.

They never talked about it, she had never felt like she didn’t belong. That’s why hearing her mother remind her was all the more painful.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Paige pushed it open slowly and stepped inside. She sat down gently on the end of the bed.

“Where’s Poppy?” Kate asked finally.

“Fast asleep in her bed” Paige replied, detecting her niece’s concern. “I orbed her up to the attic as soon as the shouting started, kept her occupied with a story book. I thought it best she didn’t hear.”

Kate nodded and twiddled her thumbs anxiously. “She’s gone hasn’t she? Mom, I mean.”

Paige nodded. “You know she doesn’t mean to upset you, right?”

“I know” Kate replied, “I just wish she could say his name.”

* * *

Piper slammed the door and stormed down the garden path, sobbing. She sat down at the end of the driveway and rested her head in her hands. What was she doing? She knew Phoebe was right, however much she didn’t want to admit it. Storming out of the house was only making everything ten times worse.

Her girls were suffering even more because of her attitude and that’s the last thing she wanted. Why did she have to bring it up? She never had before. She didn’t care that Kate wasn’t Leo’s daughter; she had only brought it up to get back at Phoebe.

That sounded so stupid now. It wasn’t her fault; she just needed someway of venting her anger. Better that, she thought, than yelling at her kids, but she didn’t like shouting at he sisters either.

She flicked her hair out of her eyes and wiped her face. She turned around to look at the house. There was no way she could go back in there tonight, she couldn’t face her family after the way she had acted. She stood up and walked to her car, she took the keys out of her coat pocket and unlocked the door.

Climbing into the driver’s seat, the tears, once again, began to fill her eyes. She turned the engine on and strapped in, tears trickling down her cheeks. She pulled away from the curb and drove down the road, looking back at her house as she went.

* * *

Poppy lay awake in her bed. She had pretended to her aunt Paige that she was asleep but she wasn’t. She couldn’t sleep when her Mommy wasn’t here. She clutched her bear tight against her chest and stared out the window.

She had heard her Mom and aunt fighting. Aunt Paige thought she didn’t, but she did. She couldn’t make out what they were saying but she heard the anger and grief in their voices. She just wicked they’d stop.

Why was Mommy so angry? She didn’t understand it. She knew it was because of Daddy but he died ages ago and she figured there must be something more. She had tried her best not to get in the way but she couldn’t help feeling that she was partly to blame.

Poppy couldn’t sleep on her own, she never could. Her Mommy or Daddy had always stayed with her at night to make sure she wasn’t scared, it wasn’t right now. Her aunts had tried to help but it just wasn’t the same.

Her Dad was gone and all she wanted was for her Mom to be like she was. To give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be OK.

* * *

“Hello, is that social services?” The man let go of the curtains and stepped away from the window. “Yes, hello. I need your help. I am very worried about two children who live next door to me.”

He paused and listened to the person on the other end. “Yes, It has been going on for some time, there’s always been something strange about that family and I’ve just seen the girl’s Mom storm out of the house and drive away. I think you should get involved.”