Parties and Surprises

Disclaimer: Nope, still not lucky enough to own Charmed, but I got dibs on Victor Webster!

(X)

Phoenix eagerly eyed P3. Finally her twenty-first birthday had arrived. She knew her parents had a family bash planned, but THIS was the party she'd waited for. She wasn't one to be impressed by drunkenness; rather she was more excited about the prospect of being a full-fledged adult with no restrictions placed on her. Phoenix hated being restricted. Being, finally, allowed inside P3 represented her new freedom. Besides, after the day she'd had maybe a cocktail was in order!

Characteristically, she shared tonight's celebration with a few of her college classmates. She'd been asked by multiple men for a date, but preferred to celebrate with her friends. She dated, rarely, but was always disappointed by the overzealousness of the male species.

She entered the club.

"SURPRISE!"

Phoenix looked around, everyone was at P3. Her parents, aunts, uncles, sisters, cousins…everyone grinned goofily.

Phoebe enveloped her daughter in a hug, her grin wide and toothy. "Happy birthday, Ladybug!"

She hugged her mother back, "Thanks, mom."

Once Phoenix wasn't surrounded by well-wishers, Chris walked towards his cousin. Kissing her cheek, he said, "Happy birthday!" Then he leaned into her ear, "P3 is closed for a private party for a few hours, but we open like regular at midnight." He assured her.

She grinned at her cousin. She didn't care if P3 never opened for the public, all her favorite people were right here, right now.

(X)

Priscilla tried to get inside P3, but the bouncer wasn't letting her in. Wyatt caught the situation however, and hurried over. "It's okay, she can come in," he told the muscular man.

When they were out of earshot, Wyatt asked, "How did it go?"

Priscilla smiled, "I don't think Laura will be having anymore problems. In case you would have forgotten, I reversed the spells the girls cast."

Wyatt looked dumbfounded, he had, in fact, forgotten. He grinned winningly and kissed Priscilla's cheek, "You're a lifesaver!" and continued sheepishly, "I did forget."

She laughed indulgently, "Don't worry; you'll get the hang of it."

(X)

"Happy birthday," Pace greeted Nix.

"Thanks," she replied, mischief sparked in her eyes, "Now, I can get in whenever I want," she winked at Pace.

He gave an embarrassed cough. When she'd tried to come in the week before, he'd given her a hard time because she was underage; he also hadn't known she was related to his boss!

"I didn't know you'd be allowed in. I don't run the place, I just work here," he defended himself with a smile.

"Relax, barkeep, I'm teasing you." She assured the man. How odd, she thought to herself, she finally meets a man who isn't instantly smitten and she's not attracted to him because of his aloofness, a trait she imagined to be infinitely attractive. Even odder was the fact that Pace was indeed attractive; dark blonde hair, blue eyes, tall, strong looking, with a winning smile and cute dimples. 'Nope, no spark,' thought Nix with some amusement. Oh well, as the daughter of a cupid, she was sure to find love!

(X)

Priscilla looked around uncomfortably, "Looks like I crashed a private party. I should be going."

Wyatt hurried to reassure her; he liked this older woman immeasurably. "It's just a birthday party for my cousin Nix, Phoenix," he corrected himself, "Besides, I'd really like for you to meet my mom and aunts."

Looking amazingly horrorstruck, Priscilla began furiously trying to make up excuses, "No, really, Wyatt, this is a family gathering…"

"We're not very big on formality in this family," Piper joined the couple, "Besides, I thought I heard Wyatt saying he'd like to introduce us." She smiled brightly at Priscilla, noting the woman's extreme nervousness, "I'm Piper, Wyatt's mom."

Priscilla shook hands with Piper, "I'm Priscilla, Pace's mom," she indicated the bartender.

"Oh, then you're Palmer's mother too!" Piper concluded, "He's a great young man." Palmer worked for Piper at Angel's as a busboy, so she knew that son of Priscilla's a lot better. "Don't you have another son?" Piper asked. Wyatt seeing that Priscilla was being entertained, walked away to wish his cousin a happy birthday.

"Parker," Priscilla confirmed, intensely feeling the absence of Wyatt's buffering presence.

Paige and Phoebe had wandered over and overheard the profusion of p names. Paige started to giggle.

"How much have you had to drink, Missy Paige?" Piper asked acerbically.

"Nothing," Paige defended herself with a shrug. "You know I don't drink, Piper," She reminded her sister and then turned to Priscilla, "I hope I didn't offend you. I just thought only our family had a weird thing for 'P' names. I'm Paige," she shook hands with Priscilla.

"And I'm Phoebe," with that the middle Charmed sister struck out her hand.

Not shaking the proffered hand, Priscilla again, tried to excuse herself, "It's nice to meet you all, but I feel extremely awkward considering I shouldn't be here…at your family celebration." She started to walk away and she turned to toss back, "Please wish your daughter a happy birthday for me."

"What was that all about?" Piper asked.

"That woman was terrified!" Phoebe exclaimed, to Piper's astonishment. Piper hadn't really expected an answer, and then reminded herself that Pheebs was a powerful empath.

"Why?" Paige asked, puzzled. She didn't look like The Source of All Evil, did she?

"All I know is that her emotions were on severe overload." Phoebe frowned, "She really was happy to meet us, but she was terrified to shake my hand." Phoebe dropped the bombshell, "That woman has one helluva secret."

"Do you know what it is?" Piper asked curiously.

"No, she threw up a blank. Good one too. I could barely get from her what I did, the only reason I got some is because she felt too much, too much to hide it all."

"The second innocent?" Piper mused.

"The one with connections to the Source?" Paige added.

"I think that this is one woman we need to keep an eye on." Phoebe confirmed.

(X)

A/N I hope you all enjoyed the 'episode'; I'll get started on the next one soon. Unfortunately mwahahaha I don't expect the Bennett's to play a part in that one, so you'll have to wait and see what happens next for dear, scared Priscilla.

Please r/r.

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