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A Charmed Story - Part Six:
Happy Birthday, Chris!
Chapter 1

"So you think we both got that power of premonitions?... But..." Cole said when they walked up the stairs to the front door.
"Yeah," Chris interrupted him, "We went in that place as Cole Turner and Christopher Halliwell... And we passed the test. So Cole Turner and Christopher Halliwell got that power..."
Cole shook his head: "But you don't have that..."
"Because I'm not the Christopher Halliwell who got it," Chris explained while opening the door. "Look... I'm the second one from the point of view of magic. I'm the one who doesn't belong here really. My little self is the first in the row."
Cole just looked at him, as all this sank slowly in: "And that's why your mom had these visions when..."
"Now you've got it uncle!" Chris said pointing his finger to his chest.
Cole laughed. "Well... if you say so..."
Chris threw his keys to the drawers and then put his bag on the ground next to it.
At that second Phoebe ran down the stairs. She ran over to Cole and jumped to his arms. Her fiancé dropped his bags to the ground, hugged her and kissed her passionately. "I missed you honey," he muttered while kissing her.
"So?" she replied. "If that's true why did you go?"
Cole placed her back to her feet and smiled. "Because your nephew asked my to buy some baby-dresses with him," he explained grinning.
Chris grinned too: "Yeah... that's what a future godfather is for, right?"
"So will you show me what you bought?" Phoebe asked excited. She had already looked into the bags on the ground and taken out a little pink dress with a teddybear on it. "Oh, that's so cute," she said grinning.
Cole and Chris just shook their heads. Then, the Elder-witch looked at his uncle: "You really should think about having your own kid."
Phoebe rose his head: "Well... not that I don't want children... But... soon there will be enough babies around here."
Cole nodded: "Exactly..." Lovingly he pulled her up again and close to himself: "And there is still enough time for us..." She hugged and kissed him again.
Chris sat down on the stairs and watched them grinning.
"Hey... there is a bedroom for something like that," Piper said. She had just entered from the kitchen.
"Hello future-sister-in-law," Cole said, not taking his eyes away form Phoebe.
Piper just shook her head. Then she winked at her son: "There is some pizza in the kitchen."
Chris jumped up with a thankful smile. "That's exactly what I need!" he said and went away. At the door to the kitchen he turned around to his mom again: "Don't you think it would be better if you relaxed?" His voice sounded really worried.
Piper rolled her eyes. "I think you should relax, or I swear there will be no birthday-gifts for you tomorrow."
"Hey, there is only one thing I want... me being born!" Chris replied and left to the kitchen. His mother followed him with her eyes, thoughtful touching her womb.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris put out a plate and sat down on the table. He took a big piece of the pizza with mushrooms, pineapple and ham. It smelled very delicious. He just wanted to start eating, when someone shimmered in. First, he thought it would be his wife, but then he turned pale.
He jumped up and tried to duck when he saw the demon. The creature threw a fireball at him, but luckily the demon missed him.
"Damn!" Chris swore, and threw the demon through the room. The sound of breaking wood, when he crashed into the sidebord, was heard in the whole house.
The Elder-witch jumped up to his feat, ready for another attack, but the demon just shimmered out.
In the same second his family entered. "What's going on here?" Phoebe asked.
Chris just shrugged: "The usual business."
Piper went over to him caressing his cheek. "Are you ok, son?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm alright," he sighed. "And you? I mean..." Chris was the whole time afraid that something could happen to his mom. And now, after that attack, he worried even more.
"What did he look like?" Cole asked.
"Actually, I think it was a 'she'... and well...she had two horns..." Then Chris raised his eyebrows and sighed. "I'll go and have a look on the book." He winked to Cole and orbed to the attic.
"Alright, I'll clean up this mess," Piper said and took the broom.
"No, Piper..."
"Let us do..."
Phoebe and Cole didn't want her to do that, Piper should relax as Chris had said. But when they approached her and Phoebe accidentally touched her, she had a premonition. She was just flashed for a moment.
"What?" Piper asked knowing very well the kind of look her sister had now.
"Oh-oh..." Phoebe muttered. Then she called for Leo.
"What?" Piper asked again, when her husband orbed in. But her sister didn't lose time with explanations. "Orb us to the school," she just said. Leo noticed her worried look and just did it.
No one had noticed that Cole was standing in the corner very pale. Slowly he went over to the trashcan and vomited into it.
He had seen it. He had touched Piper's arm and then he had seen it. Chris was right... he had a premonition, his first premonition. He saw the same things his fiancée had seen.
He had seen Chris, the oldest one, approaching the baby... and then, he saw a bright light covering everything. 'Oh my God... the prophecy,' he thought.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris was deeply concentrated on the book, trying to find the demon with horns. He looked at every page and examined the picture of the demon thoroughly, so that he didn't skip it.
He was a little bit frustrated... During the last week, the amount of stupid demons trying to kill them had increased quite a lot. But he didn't think it was really important. The same stuff as always! All the demons had been different, they had never found a connection between them, so they had just gone through the pages of the book, prepared some potions, found the demon, and vanquished him or her. Quite simple.
But this time he was about to reach the final page of the book, and there was nothing to be found. He growled upset. There should be something!
At that very moment someone orbed by his side. Chris turned to look at the newcomer in surprise: "Bianca!"
"This little girl really enjoys orbing all the time!" she said, feigning frustration.
Chris chuckled and touched her womb, quite big by now. "Hey, Hope... Missing daddy?"
Bianca grinned, and took his hand between hers. Then she kissed him lovingly on his lips.
"Oh..." Chris muttered after the kiss was done. "maybe it was mom that told you to bring her here orbing, so that she could blame you..."
Bianca laughed and slapped him softly on his chest: "You're really a bad boy, Chris!" Then she saw the open book, and frowned: "What are you looking for? Something happened?"
Chris nodded and then shook his head: "Well, something, yes, but you know... the usual stuff. You don't need to worry, sweetie. Just an ugly female demon with horns." Bianca approached the book to take a look at it, as he continued talking: "The problem is I cannot find her here. I don't think it's possible that no demon of her species has ever been vanquished by my family. I'm pretty sure she was a low-level demon..."
Bianca pushed him aside a little bit and started to revise the book herself. Finally she sighed:
"You must have been really bad at hide and seek... Here you are. Is it this one?"
Chris frowned: "Yes... It seems so... Well, I hadn't reached the last pages, ok?" He stopped suddenly and stared at something on the page. He narrowed his eyes: "It seems... it seems that actually, none of my relatives or ancestors killed any of her species before."
"What do you mean? She's in the book, isn't she? Because it's that one... Am I right?"
Chris nodded, and pointed to the short poem written by the drawing: "But there's no spell, Bianca... And I guess you can recognise this handwriting too."
Bianca opened her eyes widely: "Oh, my God..."
"A woman with horns is not what you think. The big is small, the small is big. Just don't forget, try to think. Ignore the visible, find those that hid."
Both of them looked at each other in awe... A new riddle by Wyatt. Well, for sure, one of those they ignored the last time, when they were trying to decipher the one regarding the Phoenix and the double demons. In this case, the whole entry seemed to be made by him.
"Look..." There was something else, not only the poem.
"When the time comes, the sun will be defeated by the darkness... Don't let it happen."

°°°°°°°°°°

Slowly Cole went to the hidden door. He felt still a little sick, and wished he could just lie down, but he needed to talk to Phoebe.
Actually he was a little afraid about what she would say if she heard the truth. He hadn't told her, or the other sisters, until now. Still, he didn't want to be a witch...
But now he needed to talk. So he went close to the wall. As soon as he was near enough, he moved his hand over a spot in the wall and the old wooden door appeared. He opened it and stepped through.
The next second he was at the school. He stood in the grand hallway where a dozen of kids were running from one side to another... A usual school-day.
Cole turned to the library. He was sure that his fiancée would be there... or in the little office next to it.
On his way down the hallway he almost ran into Steve. "Hey, what are you doing here?" the young witch asked.
He looked funny dressed in his teacher-robe... same as the rest of the family. Cole always had to smile when he saw them like that. But not today: "I'm seeking Phoebe, have you seen her?"
Steve shook his head. Then he moved on, apologising that he had no time. Cole waved his hand to him and then he went on.
A few moments later he reached the library, where Phoebe - as he had guessed - was talking to Piper and Leo. "Hey," he said when he went in.
The others turned around surprised. But Cole didn't care. He just looked at his love: "I need to talk to you, now!"
Phoebe sighed: "Couldn't you wait a moment? We have a really big problem and..."
"Phoebe, please..." he interrupted her.
He looked not good at all. Phoebe saw that, and she also could feel that... she felt that he was worried... and scared... "Ok, but... not too long," she said, nodding at Leo. Then she took Cole's hand and went out with him.
Piper looked at her husband scared: "I still can't believe that..."
"We still don't know what this is about... maybe Phoebe took her premonition the wrong way..."
"But what if it's true?"
Leo sighed: "It can't be... Wyatt said they will be both there in the future... So this can't be the end of it, ok?"
Piper nodded: "But if it's not... what else is it?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe went with Cole to an empty classroom. After they had entered, he closed the door carefully.
"Alright, honey, what's wrong?" she asked impatient.
Cole sighed, he didn't know how to start...
"Ok, so if you don't know what to say then I'll go back... 'Cause THAT is really important... And I pray it's not as bad as it felt..." Phoebe was about to leave.
"I know," Cole just said.
She turned around: "What?"
"I know what you're afraid of..." he answered.
Phoebe frowned. 'What the hell is he talking about?' she thought. She sensed lots of weird feelings inside him, but nothing which could explain his words.
Cole sighed again: "Look... do you remember the people in grey?" Phoebe nodded, so he went on.
"Chris and I tried to get that witch-potion... And that place... it's a testing area... and when you pass the test you become..." He really didn't want to end this sentence.
Phoebe was still frowning: "Honey, what do you want to tell me?"
Cole shook his head: "I want to tell you that I feel like being hit by a truck, put into a dough mixer and spat out by a fucking little monster from the underworld, just because I touched Piper accidentally and saw how Chris and his baby version created that extremely bright light!"
Phoebe looked at him shocked. Could that be possible? She frowned and asked: "Do... do you mean... do you mean you had a premonition?"
Cole sighed, and then nodded.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris and Bianca read and re-read the riddle thousands of times, trying to make sense of it. Finally, Chris sighed, frustrated: "Oh, man... I think my brother is just having fun of me... he knows how much I hate riddles!"
Bianca approached him and patted his shoulder lovingly: "Ok, honey... It will be like the other times. Even if it doesn't make any sense now, everything will fit at the end. Just relax. Maybe it'd be a good idea to copy this down and try to decipher it downstairs, sitting on the sofa, and drinking some tea..."
Chris nodded. "Ok," he sighed. Then he orbed a paper and a pencil to his hand, and copied the whole poem and the short note.
"Ok, let's go," Bianca said, taking his hand and holding her womb with the other.
"No, wait, don't shimmer, I'll orb both of us, you shouldn't wear yourself off."
And they did as Chris had said. He left the attic with the feeling that something was really wrong. 'The woman with horns is not what I think?' Chris thought. That sounded more like a joke... But he knew Wyatt's riddles weren't jokes.

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe kept staring at Cole, with her mouth widely open for several seconds.
"Ok, Phoebe, I know... It's scary and all... I was a demon, and now I have the powers of a witch. But I swear to God, that I didn't want them. I didn't do anything! Well, it seems I did, but it was not my intention, sweetie, and I don't want that this bothers you and..."
Phoebe suddenly realised Cole's feelings, so she just put her finger on his lips making him stop bubbling, and smiled sweetly: "That's... This is amazing, sweetheart. I'm so happy for you... for us! You're now a true Halliwell, a witch as all of us!"
"What?" Cole was surprised. He had thought that the fact that an ex-demon had now witch powers would scare her, but she behaved in the opposite way as the one he had imagined she would do. "You don't mind?"
Phoebe grinned: "Why? You really deserve this, honey! You did so many good things for us, you really deserve this prize!" She jumped on his arms and hugged him tightly: "I can't believe it!"
Cole hugged her back, still shocked by her reaction, but uneasy due to the fact that he felt it was wrong, that he had those powers. "Don't tell them ok? Don't tell especially Odin... You know... I guess he wouldn't like it..."
Phoebe looked him in the eyes, and finally nodded: "I promise... But they should know sooner or later, and this is good, really good, honey! I can't believe you're a witch... How comes that Odin doesn't know it? I mean, he should know what happened in those fields if you passed the test... So maybe he knows..."
Cole shrugged: "Perhaps he thought it wouldn't work anymore... I don't know but... Just don't tell him, please. Anyone. And now, just let's focus on what has happened, because I've got a very bad feeling about what we have seen, and now... I guess I should pay more attention to my bad feelings."
Phoebe nodded, suddenly remembering what they were doing there.

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper was looking at the little old-looking sheet of paper. She read it again and again.
"The day in which the sun is defeated, in which the whole sky falls down, that day, two lives will collide, and the world will tremble in awe at the new power."
After they had vanquished Zankou and the Sorix, they had all forgotten about the prophecy, or wanted to forget. But - for which reason ever - Piper had kept that little sheet of paper in her pocket.
"What?" Leo asked
"Nothing, I'm only afraid to lose them."
Leo sighed and sat down next to her. He kissed her lovingly: "They will be alright, both of them."
Piper touched her womb thoughtful: "What if we go to the hospital and let them cut the little one out... I mean... Let's give birth to him by Caesarean... today... the day before... wouldn't that change something? I mean.. they wouldn't be born on the same day..."
Leo couldn't help grinning: "I don't think that makes any difference."
At that moment Phoebe and Cole returned. "Ok, what are we gonna do?" she asked looking at her sister.
Piper and Leo looked questioning at Cole. Phoebe noticed that, and also, that her fiancé felt uncomfortable about that... So she added: "I told him."
"What?" Piper asked, "I thought we didn't want to..."
"Sorry, he's my future husband, remember..."
Piper sighed. Leo looked frowning at Cole. The ex-demon-and-now-witch just shrugged. He could imagine what Leo was thinking, but he hoped his imagination was wrong.
"Cole, did you listen?" Piper asked again, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"What?"
"No word to Chris about that, alright?"
Cole nodded.
"Oh-oh..." Leo said all of a sudden, "Chris is sensing for you!"

°°°°°°°°°°

When Chris and Bianca orbed into the living room they noticed that it was unusually calm.
"Mom?" Chris called for her.
"Uncle Cole?"
"Aunt Phoebe?"
Nothing!
"Mom? Phoebe? Cole? Where are you?"
They went into the kitchen. The remaining pieces of the sideboard were still where Chris had left them. "MOM!" he yelled again.
"Try to sense her," Bianca said frowning. It wasn't usual that her mother-in-law left such a mess uncleaned.
"They are at the school," Chris said frowning after a few seconds. I think I should go and..."
Bianca put her finger on his lips: "I know..." Then she kissed him on his cheek.
But before Chris could orb to the school, Leo appeared in bluish orbing-lights.
"Dad," Chris said surprised, "what are you doing here? Is the Elder-meeting already over?"
"No... well, actually, yes," Leo said, trying to appear calm and happy. "I just wanted to tell you that your mom is fine, at the school."
Chris and Bianca frowned. "Why the hell did you take her there? What's wrong? What's happening?" Chris asked, concerned.
Leo shook his head and raised his hands, showing him that he didn't need to worry about anything. "The other Elders and I thought that there have been many demonic attacks lately in this house, son... And they said that Piper should stay in the school until your little self is born, at least. Just for protection."
Bianca stared at Leo, wonderingly, and Chris was still frowning: "Why are they worrying so much now, if in the past they didn't really mind? Come on, dad, there are some who still dislike me!"
Leo shrugged: "Odin is on our side, That's much. Everyone respects him, you know... And they feel they owe us many things so... It's just a little favour Chris... nothing else. Nothing to worry about."
"Ok..." Chris sighed. "But they left so suddenly. They should have told me that they were leaving! I was scared for a moment!" he complained.
Bianca took his hand lovingly: "It's ok, Chris... Forget it... It's better that we tell them about... you know."
This time it was Leo that looked at her waiting for an answer.
Chris nodded: "Yeah... The demon... That's why I was so scared, dad." Chris invited him to sit down, as he did the same thing, followed by Bianca. "A female demon attacked me a few minutes ago, and when I was looking for her entry in the book, I found another one of Wyatt's riddles!"
"What?" Leo exclaimed, surprised.
"We don't know what it really means... you know. It seems more like a joke, but Wyatt wouldn't joke with this..."
"Can you tell me the riddle?"
"We can show you," Bianca answered stretching her arm to give him the copy of the riddle and the short note. Leo read it in silent...

°°°°°°°°°°

Piper was talking quietly to her sister while Cole sat in the opposite corner of the library looking into a book about prophecies.
"Why did you tell him?" the oldest asked again.
Phoebe sighed: "Because I love him. And maybe he could help us."
"How?"
"He's Chris best friend. No one is so close to him like Cole. He trusts him," Phoebe explained, "what if he asks why you're here?" She knew this was a bad explanation, but she loved Cole. And she really wanted to keep to her promise. She never would tell her sisters about his power...
Piper frowned, than nodded: "I see."
"Are you sure you got the words of the prophecy right?" Cole asked after a while.
"Yes, that's what the demon and also Leo had said... why do you ask?" Piper gave back.
Cole sighed: "Because in this book is a prophecy written down, witch is really similar to ours..."
"Really?" Phoebe asked surprised.
"Yeah, here... there is one about the moon defeating the sun... and a world trembling in awe... like in our prophecy... And the meaning was just a panic forced by a solar eclipse on midsummersday," Cole explained.
"But we have no moon, in THIS prophecy... So?" Piper asked not getting his point.
Cole grinned: "I know, but when you compare them... I mean, maybe it isn't bad actually, maybe it only seems so... like in this one about the solar eclipse."
Phoebe sighed: "I wish you would be right but what I saw..."
"Was just a light, right?"
Piper looked at him surprised. When Cole realised what he had just said, he turned pale. But Phoebe helped him: "I told him."
"Oh," Piper just nodded, even if she got the feeling that there was more... But there were more important things to deal with.
Cole sighed, looking thankful at his future wife. He loved her so much, and now, with her support, he loved her even more.
"But anyway..." Phoebe went on, "even if it was just a light... I can't deny that bad feeling I got... Something about that is really everything but good."

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo re-read the poem for the tenth time. Then he looked up: "Any idea what that could mean?" Chris and Bianca shook their heads. "The big is small..." Leo whispered more to himself. 'Could that be all a part of it?' he thought.
"What?" Bianca asked noticing his weird look.
Leo shook his head: "Nothing."
"Ok," Chris said, "what's going on here?"
"What?" Leo asked not understanding what his son was talking about.
Chris raised an eyebrow: "Even if in my time we were not the best team in the world... I've known you for a long time, don't forget that... You're hiding something... So? What is it?"
Leo sighed. He didn't know what to say, or do... He couldn't tell him about Phoebe's premonition. He had promised to keep that secret. And even if he had not... He couldn't tell this to his son and spoil his life again.
At that moment the phone rang. Bianca went into the living room to answer the call, while Chris was still focused on his father.
But then they heard the girl from the other room: "Chris, honey, it's for you."
Chris went over to her and took the phone: "Yeah?"
"Hey Chris, it's me, Mike, do you remember me?" he heard a familiar voice from the other end of the line.
"Of cause I do," Chris answered smiling.
Leo, who had followed him, looked questioning at Bianca.
"It's Michael," she explained.
"Oh, I wish I could, but... you know we have some... demonic problems and I..." they heard Chris say.
"Chris?" the Elder interrupted him. His son looked up. "What does he want?" Leo asked.
Chris shrugged: "He wanted to invite me and Bianca for a dinner... You know... he told his wife about me a few days ago - he told her a little fairy tale you know - and now she wants to meet us. But..."
"No, no..." Leo said waving his hands, "go there, it's no problem... and I think you need a break... Meanwhile I'll think about that message from your brother..."
"Really?" Chris asked, not really sure if he and Bianca should leave them now.
Leo nodded: "Yeah... you deserve a little life without magic."
Chris nodded finally, making Bianca smile. Then he turned to the phone again: "Is it ok when we come in about 30 seconds?... Ok, then a couple of minutes - yeah... Alright... So... see you."
He hang up the phone, took Bianca's hand and looked at his father. "Thank you," he said. Then the both orbed away.
Leo sighed when he saw the bluish orbing lights disappear. It was good that Chris was a little distracted now... maybe they would find a solution before he would come back.

(Chapter 1 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)