It was really just bad circumstances that landed them there at all. The girls had been put in their grandmother's care when their mother, Patty, drowned in '79. Phoebe had barely been three at the time, and had never known her mother. She'd always been a bit of a wild child that drove her eldest sister crazy. Piper, the middle child, had been the designated peace keeper and Grams' little helper. Prue was eight at the time, and had been forced to help take care of her sisters, and later cousins. The fact that their father left them a few weeks later didn't help matters.
Four years later, Sam and Dean moved in as well when their mother, Mary, died in a fire. Sam had only been six months old, so the manor was the only home he'd ever known, with Grams and Prue being the closest thing he had to normal parents. Dean was four at the time, and had taken it upon himself to be everyone's protector after that. He insisted on taking care of Sam and his cousins, even though Prue was already a teenager. Their father, John, was around every now and again. He came home for some major holidays and the boys' birthdays, and had been taking Dean Hunting every summer since he had turned thirteen. Dean idolized him, but he still hadn't been around enough to have raised his boys like their grandmother had.
So, the fifteen years all of them had cohabited the manor, things were a little complicated.
The past six months had been even worse.
When their Grams had died, their odd little family unit was shaken up even more than it had been before. Phoebe left to live in New York mere hours after the funeral. Prue called off her engagement and Piper quit her job somewhere along the way. Dean had come home from rambling with his father to help with Sam, despite the fact that he was always itching to get back out.
And Piper knew it was only going to get worse when her younger sister returned tonight.
She let the drapes fall back into place and started back into the front room, trying to think of how to break the news to the eldest of the five cousins, and the only one that did not already know that Phoebe Halliwell was coming back to San Francisco.
"I don't get it," Prue grumbled, flipping various switches at the breaker box in the laundry room. "I've checked everything. There is no reason why the chandelier shouldn't be working."
Piper took a deep breath, scratching her head, trying to think of how to say this. "Um, you know how we were talking about Phoebe earlier, right?"
Prue knitted her brow, looking at her sister. "Yeah, why?" she grumbled, starting to move back towards the kitchen. Piper followed close behind. Sam walked into the room at the same time, going towards the fridge like any normal hungry teen. He raised an eyebrow at Prue as she walked past him, obviously in a bad mood, and then looked at Piper.
"Ah, well, you know, she's pretty good with a wrench, and you obviously have a lot to fix around here, maybe…maybe she could help out."
Sam's eyes bulged as he realized the topic of conversation, and immediately started to turn around. Tragically, his escape was blocked by Prue as she walked towards a drawer on the other side of the kitchen island.
The eldest Halliwell made a face. "And so is Dean, but unlike Phoebe, he has a job, and he doesn't live in New York. Speaking of which where is-"
"Not anymore."
Prue turned around when she heard this, and Piper looked at the fridge where Sam was trying to disappear after what he'd just blurted.
"What?" Prue asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sam looked up tentatively. "Ah…Phoebe doesn't live in New York anymore. Dean is picking her up from the bus station right now."
Piper looked up nervously, and smiled a little in fright, confirming what Sam had said. "She's moving back in with us," she confirmed.
"You have got to be kidding!" Prue blurted, immediately stomping away from the drawer and past both of the slightly frightened family members in the room. Piper looked over at Sam, making a face before starting to go after her sister, Sam shortly behind her.
"It isn't like I could tell her no!" Piper protested, trying to keep up with her. "It's her house too. Grams willed it to all of us."
"Yeah, months ago, and we haven't seen or spoken to her since!"
"Well, you haven't spoken to her," Piper sighed, making it obvious to her older sister that she was the only one putting a block on communication with Phoebe. In fact, Piper had called at least once a week since Phoebe had run off to the other side of the country. Dean and Sam hadn't called quite as much, but Sam missed having his cousin around. Dean always had something to rave about that he couldn't talk to the rest of them about, so Phoebe still wound up being his outlet. He in particular had always been close with Phoebe, which was understandably why he was the one out right now picking her up.
"No, I haven't," Prue responded loudly. "Look, maybe you've forgotten why I'm so mad at her!"
Piper sighed, and Sam stood behind her warily, not saying a word.
"Well of course not," Piper sighed, waving her arms in a flustered motion. "But she had nowhere else to go, she lost her job, she's in debt-"
"And this is news?!" shouted Prue. She took a breath before looking between the two sitting there. "How long have you all known about this anyway?"
Piper looked away. Sam shrugged, wincing a little. "A couple of days?"
Prue arched her brows, begging the question of whether he was telling the truth.
Sam looked at the ground. "Maybe week…"
Prue looked at Piper. "Maybe two," the woman responded, sounding guilty.
A glare was given to them both. "Thanks for sharing. When does she arrive?"
Just then, there was the sound of a slamming car door outside, and someone was laughing. Prue knitted her brow, and turned to the door just as a couple of shadows fell across the window, and Phoebe Halliwell stumbled through the doorway with her leather-clad, nineteen-year-old cousin Dean right behind her.