Disclaimer: I do not own them they belong to the WB. Moaning Close at Heart

Halliwell’s Episology (Year 4 & a Third):

The bus honked, I could hear Grams yelling from the kitchen as I stepped out of the front door. “Piper?! Did Prue get an umbrella outside?!”
“She did Grams!”
It was pouring quite a rain and that bus indicated that the little rascal of the family had ‘arrived’ home. Earlier when the skies darkened, Grams had instructed me to wait outside for her bus, to shield her from the rain. The yellow door of the bus opened, she hopped out grinning big at me and I did better. I practically had the shape of the alphabet ‘O’ pasted on my face.
“PRUE!! I’M HOME!” She was ever so right! She’s home and according to my foresight, she’s gonna brew a rather mini storm in the manor minus the drenching part; for us.

All eyes on the bus were on us, I grabbed her arm and hurried her into the house. Finding it amusing that she had to skip along to keep up with my pace, she started giggling oblivious to whatever was coming her way.

Closing the door behind us, I turned to see Piper standing not far away. Probably she had wanted to give her baby sister a loving hug and I believed, that repulsive sight changed her mind. I recognized the look on Piper’s face cause it was printed on mine a few seconds ago. Looking at Phoebe, she seemed proud to decorate her entire body to really know what were the consequences. I can’t blame her though, Piper and I had never did that before and most likely, she must have thought that it was only a harmless fun. Well, at least Grams didn’t think likewise. We must have waited for quite sometime in silence and focus because the next loudest thing I heard even before she came into full view was her voice.
“PHOEBE!!” Three heads turned simultaneously. There stood Grams, hands at hip, eyes nearly bulged out in shock and that letter ‘O’ shape mouth prominently exhibited right front up. I started thinking whether that kind of shocking look runs in our family.
“What have you done to yourself?!!!”
“Grams, you talked so loud, I can hear you so clearly.” Phoebe merely answered but she knew by that kind of look, somehow it meant that she was in trouble.
Nevertheless, she still had a smile on her face, a rather nervous one. Piper giggled at her innocent speech, I wanted to laugh out loud but seeing Grams hard stare, I lost my guts. Coming towards the youngest one, Grams looked down at her while the latter looked up meekly at the wrinkled face beneath that white crown she so respected and fear and yet gave her the most heart-jumping moment with her ever so curiosity nature. In time to come, Grams will be glad to know that she wasn’t the only one. Kneeling down and tugging at her shirt,
“You didn’t go out with this hole there did you young lady?!” Phoebe shook her head. “The why did you come back with one?” Grams demanded to know.
“I played hide and seek in school today. I hide and then Tommy found me. I try to run but he keep pulling my shirt like that;” Phoebe did a demonstration of how her shirt was pulled and she did one good act cause there was a ripping sound. Grinning at Grams, she said, “You see? Now the hole gets bigger already.”
Grams had her hand on her head and started shaking. “Phoebe? Why did you play so rough in school?” Piper, the gentle sister asked.
“It wasn’t me who make this hole!” She answered back with an irritation look.
“Ok honey, let’s forget the hole. But how? How did you get into this awful mess?!” Grams finally asked the question that came into our mind after the first look at her.
My littlest sister had gone out in a white shirt with light blue jeans and a pair of white shoes. Right before our eyes, nothing on her told me that she was the same sister who walked out of the door that morning. Her brown hair was completely wet and was dripping water onto the floor as we spoke. Amidst that brown tangling mess, I spotted small leaves and tiny twigs. After Grams probing, I saw my baby sister’s eyes lit up almost immediately, like she was waiting for this moment.
“It’s so cool Grams! Mandy asked me to play mud restling with her!”
“Mud wrestling?!” Piper and I sure made a singsong team.
“Ya!! It is so fun Prue, Piper! We push each other, we roll in the mud and we even get to throw the mud!!”
Now I got the picture why her entire wear was covered in mud or simply saying, absorbed in that dark brown liquid. Her face and limbs weren’t spared the muddy sight either. She must have literally been rolled on a mud filled ground to get that kind of special effect and she smelled like; mud! However, she wasn’t the least bothered by her dreadful appearance. Grams did though.
“Phoebe! Do you know how dirty it is to play in the mud?!”
“No! It’s not dirty! It’s only mud!” She protested.
“Tell me young lady! Was it raining in school when you started playing?!” Grams continued her interrogation while I crossed my fingers.
Phoebe nodded. “Ya, but we wait until the rain comes down smaller.”
“That was so stupid Phoebe!” I exclaimed out loud.
“No! I’m not stupid!” She hated it when people told her that and she glared at me angrily, probably unable to understand why an innocent playing was spoilt by our reprimanding.
“What if you were hit by a lightning?!” I retorted at her lesser mature mind.
“I won’t! Lightning only appear in the sky! Its too far to hit me!!” Piper rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. However, it was Grams who managed to let out a chuckle.
Looking at her sulking face, I softened a little too.
“Prue, why don’t you take your sister upstairs and run the water for her. Make sure she’s all clean and dry up.” Grams pushed Phoebe to my side.
“Grams, can you bath me? I don’t want Prue! She will scold me!” The littlest one sulked and looked at me unhappily. I narrowed my eyes intentionally giving her a scorning look. “See?” She pointed a finger at me.
“Prue; no honey, I’m busy in the kitchen. Be a good girl and go with Prue. Go get clean up quick or you’ll catch a cold in this weather. “Grams coaxed. “Piper, go with Phoebe. See that she’s all clean and smelling good.”
“Come on Pheebs, let’s go.” Piper reached out and with her two fingers secured a tight hold on the dirty one’s shirt pulling her along.
Grams watched as the three of us stomped our way upstairs squabbling as we went, especially the one who left her footprints behind each step;

~~~~~~~~~~

Someone was slapping on my arm, continuously. I opened my eyes gruntingly, “What is it? What is the time?”
“Still dark Prue.”
“Then why did you wake me up?”
“Come and see Phoebe.”
“Why? What’s wrong with her? She wet the bed again? Tell Grams Piper, just don’t disturb me.” I took a glance at the luminating numbers of the digital clock on the table before lying back on my pillow.
“She did not Prue; Prue?!” My middle sister could be such a persistor.
I sat upright and turned on the table lamp, hoping that the orange light brought out the annoyance look on my face. “What?!”
“Phoebe is making noises in her sleep.”
That’s it. I understood what that means and seconds later, I was back with Piper in her room which she shared with Phoebe. There was the littlest one lying beneath those huge covers with eyes closed, obviously. Except that she wasn’t sleeping quietly, she was moaning and groaning; a Phoebe’s style of telling the whole house that she was sick.
“Piper, stay with her, I’ll get Grams.” It wasn’t as if the first time any of my sisters was sick, so it was no emergency for me.
Soon, Grams was reading from the thermometer after we managed to wake her up from her noisy slumber. “Fever. That’s for playing in the rain Phoebe, you naught girl. I’ll get some medicine for you sweetie, hang on a little while.” Grams left and we sat on the bed with her wrapped up in blankets, probably shivering from the chill.
She looked discomfort, her cheeks rosy from the heat building inside her and definitely looking very tired. Then she sneezed and the contents in her nose rushed out almost shamelessly.
“Eeks! That’s horrible Pheebs!” Piper exclaimed with a horrifying look and Phoebe giggled despite her sore. Still, the former reached out for the tissue box nearby and cleaned her up.
She started coughing and I patted her back asking with love, “Are you ok?” She looked at me shaking her head with tears I believed, were in her eyes.
“Prue; I’m sick.”
“I know Pheebs but Grams will make you feel better again ok?”
“But Grams will ask me to swallow those round round thing. I don’t like them, they’re yucky.” She protested softly and her tears dropped.
My baby sister you see, is one with a lion’s heart when it comes to experimenting new things she never really will run away, not even punishment is in the air. But with pills and mixture, its like cornering a wild mammal and she’ll listen to just almost anything to run away from it.
“Phoebe, you have to take your medicine. It will make you feel better, don’t you want to go to school and play?” Piper tried to make sense in the littlest one’s fuzzy head.
“Ya, I want to go to school but I don’t want to take my medicine. I’ll vomit.” Her lips started quivering as her tears trickled.
“Tell you what Pheebs, I’ll sneak downstairs and get a sweet for you. But we won’t tell Grams. You’ll take the sweet after the medicine when Grams is not around ok?” I don’t seem to have a better idea already. At least I got a nod from her, it wasn’t that difficult after all to hush and coax a 4 years old, it was the older version that makes my life a sweet living nightmare; Leaving her with Piper, I went down the stairs running into Grams lying to her about a forgotten precious pencil on the kitchen counter. Luckily my baby sister still possessed her baby teeth and she could afford to drop any of them anytime;

~~~~~~~~~~

(18 and two third years later...)

It was dark, I dragged my exhausted body up the stairs, careful not to disturb the peace of the night. Piper had gone for a short holiday with Leo after being assured that no demons and warlocks were in range. It took quite some effort still, from Phoebe and I to convince her to go for she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving us a power short, as in sibling’s wise. Boy, she was only going away for 2 days and she made it sounded like 2 weeks. Phoebe and I won’t agreed to that; My thoughts interrupted, my legs stopped walking and I heard something. Groaning; moaning; in that silence. I knew where it was coming from and I dreaded to know the day ahead of me, better still, I rather not test the night’s survival skills instill in me since young, especially when Piper was not around.

Stepping into the room, she was lying on her side and covered right up to her ear. Sitting on the edge careful not to wake her up. I touched her forehead and she let out another moan. Though I felt the heat, I had to giggle out softly. The littlest sister I have still ‘sounded’ the same when her body battled an illness. Whatever discomfort she had whilst sleeping, she always shares with the rest of the occupants in the manor.
Many years ago she did a lot of that, many years later she is still doing it. I left her side to lay my hands on the proper medication and the measuring tool. Coming back a couple of minutes later, she hasn’t quitted the moaning. “Phoebe.” I slapped on her face gently.
A few slap later, “What? What is it? I’m tired ; I want to sleep” She murmured and slugged out each word in closed eyes.
I tugged at the covers, “Phoebe, get up and take this. You need it to sleep better.”
“I will; if you just stop shaking me.” I ignored her and forcefully pulled her into a sitting posture. She was about to start wincing and I popped the thermometer into her mouth. Looking at her in that unkempt hair, closed eyes, rosy cheeks and unstraightened posture, I knew I had a smile pasted on my face. Not that I was unsympathizing to her being sick, but it was when she was sick I got to see the cutest and most innocent wild sister I thought I should have in my life; but did not most of the time. Still, I feel blessed for her presence. Then she started dropping to her left side, which was my right. She was succumbing to an exhausting call for sleep and I had to wake her up. Before she fell, I cupped her warm face with my hands and gently shook her awake again.
“Phoebe, you can’t go to sleep yet.”
“I didn’t; I’m only; closing my eyes.” Indeed, she didn’t really open them as yet, more like peeling a line to let in a little light. Taking the thermometer, it read 39.
“Honey, are you feeling uncomfortable elsewhere?” She moistened her lips and finally forced opened her heavy eyelids.
“Prue; I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Pheebs, the way you might wake the neighbors, you don’t have to tell me.”
“I did it again?” Her sad, restless brown eyes enquired. “Yes sister, as always, siren’s loud and clear.” I guessed she knew her own embarrassing moment as she managed to chuckle along with me but not for long. She let out a loud sneeze and her nose ran loose.
“Yucks Pheebs! Do you have to do that?” Nevertheless, I reached for the tissue box.
“Sorry; my premonition didn’t work that well when my system is down.” I handed her the tissue and she blew into it.
“Here, take this and you’ll feel better by morning.” She took a look at the pills on my hand, then turned to me with hopeful eyes.
“Please?”
“No. You can’t get well without them.” I insisted.
“But I’ll vomit.”
“You won’t. I brought up this sweet with me and you will have it only after you swallow the pills.”
She stared from the sweet to me in a bigger pair of eyes. “Gosh Prue; I’m not 4 years old anymore.”
“Oh? And you won’t take your medicine? Because? You’re afraid of throwing up or more like you’re afraid to take pills?” I issued an ultimatum. She was about to argue back but thanks to a sneezing fit, she couldn’t. “Look, if you don’t take it any sooner, it’s going to get worse. By then, I may have to take you to the hospital and Piper will harass me for days if she’s gonna visit you there to give you a souvenir.”
Sniffing in watery eyes, “Oh; I hate it when I’m sick. Cause you got to torture me with pills.” She took the pills from me.
“Well, I don’t like it either. Cause you get to torture us with all those moaning and you’re still sleeping sweetie. How did you actually still manage to do it after so many years?” I gave her the glass of water to aid in her swallowing. After that, she simply rested her head on her chest while I patted her back hoping that what went in stay put.
“I think my sexual satisfaction is suffering from a little deprivation of late. So I’m using this flu thing as a release?” She answered amidst sniffing and laughed lightly along with me.
Minutes later, I had her all tucked in before leaving to take a shower. By the time I returned, the drowsy effect has kicked in and my sister was off to dreamland, minus the moaning part. I touched her again hoping that the temperature has gone much down but miracles don’t work that way. Knowing that I won’t feel at ease with her burning up for the rest of the night, I decided to ‘camp’ in with her during those dark hours. Kissing her lightly on her feverish forehead, I left for my room to pick up my pillows and blankets;