Title: "A Man To Count On"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: G
Summary: Piper's going to learn she can count on Cole when she can count on no one else.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: 244. That's the number of stories that were sitting on my hard drive collecting dust because I lack the energy and time to take care of them as I once did. My betaing pattern has always been to write, then type up if written on paper, the story, read it aloud to my beloved Jack and our children, editing as I go, and then finally format and post. Sadly, this part is simply taking too much of my time and energy, and my beloved Jack and I have too little time together in person these days to be able to keep up with my stories. So what to do? Give up writing? I actually considered it for a while, tried to make excuses to myself other than the large number of stories collecting cyber dust on my computer, as to why I lacked the energy and Muse to write new tales. And then, with the turn of the new year, I decided to stop running and face the problem. The problem is, quite frankly, that once one gets so bogged down in formatting and editing that writing is no longer a pleasure but the actual posting of those writings becomes a hassle and - egad! - work, it's time to cut something out, and that will never be the writing process. So, in short, yes, there will be mistakes in this tale. Yes, it's missing about half of the header information I usually include. But I wrote it for pleasure and am posting it in hopes of sharing that pleasure with others. Do with it as you will.

Piper stared at her family, aghast. "You mean . . . none of you wants even a slice?"

"Sorry, sis," Prue flashed her a grin as she rushed out, "but I've got to watch my figure for this costume."

"I've got to go." Leo orbed out.

"Sorry," Phoebe said around a sticky mouthful. "I only get salt water taffy once a year. You cook, like, all the time!"

"I'll take a piece, Piper," Cole volunteered, following her into the kitchen.

Piper smiled as their eyes met. "I can always count on you."

"Yes," Cole took her hand while the others weren't looking, "you can."

The End