The Love that Didn't Die
The front door opened and Henry walked in, baby carrier over one arm and a bag of groceries in the arm. He struggled to close the door but nearly dropped the groceries. He finally resolved to kick the door shut with his foot.
"Paige! Honey, I could use a little help," he called out. In moments blue orbs appeared, depositing his wife of almost two years in front of him. Her swollen stomach was growing bigger with everything day, twins growing within.
"Here, I'll take him," Paige offered, taking the baby carrier off of her husband's arm. She gazed down at the baby boy nestled under the baby blanket.
"How was he?" she asked, her voice softer now so as not to wake the sleeping infant.
"Fell asleep as soon as we got in the car," he answered and headed for the kitchen. Paige followed him, setting the carrier on the kitchen table.
"Honey be careful," he scolded her, pushing it farther from the edge.
"Oh quit your worrying. He hasn't started orbing yet," she chuckled, taking the diapers out of the bag and orbing them to the bathroom upstairs.
"Yet. The key word is yet. What are we going to do when he starts?" Henry asked. The thought of his own son disappearing on him at a moment's notice frightened him.
"Well…Wyatt did it. And Piper and Leo managed to handle it," Paige retorted.
"We're not talking about your nephew. We're talking about our son," Henry stated.
"We'll worry about it when it happens," she replied and tossed the now unpacked bag into the trash.
"I promise. We'll get through it," she whispered, giving her husband a kiss on the lips. He slid his arm around her neck, pulling her as close as her stomach would allow. Before he could make a move, Paige looked up in annoyance.
"Alright, already. I'm coming," she grumbled to the ceiling and disappeared. Henry just shook his head. He was used to her orbing out at odd times to tend to her charges. With a sigh he turned to face his son.
"Why don't we get you in your crib, buddy," he said softly and headed upstairs. He didn't notice the figure crouching in the shadows on the back porch. In a flash the figure disappeared and reappeared in the kitchen. He wore all black, a hood covering his face. Cautiously, he began to trace Henry's steps up the stairs and into the baby's room. Henry had just laid Henry Jr. in his crib when he felt the small hairs on the back of his head stand on end. He spun around and came face to face with the figure all in black.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked, trying to put himself between the man and his son.
"Might want to watch the language around the kid," the man said with a smirk, pulling his hood down.
"What do you want?" Henry asked, looking like he was ready for a fight.
"You took the one thing I cared about away from me," he hissed, taking a swing at the parole officer. Henry ducked just him time.
"Excuse me?"
"Paige! You took her!" he howled and grabbed Henry, disappearing. The two men reappeared in the living room.
"Took her? Look pal…I don't who…or what you are but I can assure you that Paige is no one's property," Henry spat.
"I loved her. I understood her magic. You…what do you know about magic. You're a mortal," he hissed. With a flick of his wrist an athame appeared and lunged at Henry.
"I may be mortal but so is Leo, Piper's husband," Henry commented, dodging the blade.
"He was a whitelighter…and elder," the other man spat.
"Well he lost his powers a few years ago," Henry remarked, grabbing his assailant by the wrist and knocking the athame out of his reach.
"All I want…is Paige. Where is she?" he shouted. He was starting to lose it. He could feel the magic consuming him, driving towards the darkness.
"You aren't going anywhere near my wife," Henry ground out and darted for the phone. He was about to dial 911 when he felt a sharp pain in his back. He slowly slid to the ground, the athame protruding from his spine.
"Call her," the other man ordered, producing another knife from thin air.
"Paige," Henry called out, his voice raspy. Blue orbs appeared once more and Paige rematerialized.
"Henry! Oh God," Paige gasped, bending over him.
"No…I….I'm ok…he…" he tried to explain.
"No…Shh. Let me heal you," she whispered, her voice starting to choke with tears.
"I believe he didn't want to be healed," the other man said, leaning on the doorframe. Her eyes looked up and breath caught I her throat.
"Richard," she whispered. She stood up, placing herself between her ex-boyfriend and her husband.
"What did you do to him?" she accused.
"Don't want to get too worked up," Richard snickered, placing a hand on her stomach.
"Don't touch me," she snapped, pushing him away.
"What happened to you, Richard? I thought you found peace. I thought you took the power stripping potion," she rambled.
"I faked it. But I regret it. I want you. I've always wanted you, Paige," Richard murmured, feeling the power consuming him more. He grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers. As quickly and forcefully as she could she pushed him away from her.
"Don't come near me ever again. I mean it," she shot heatedly.
"Or what? You'll vanquish me? You don't have it in you," he taunted.
"Phoebe overcame Cole. I can overcome you," she retorted. Neither of them was paying attention to Henry. He hand managed to drag himself over to the drawer by the phone and had pulled out his extra gun.
"I don't believe that. And I know you don't either," Richard sneered. Just then a loud shot rang out and Richard looked down to see a large gun shot wound in his side.
"You little—" he began, turning towards Henry but stopped when he felt another bullet pierce him, this time his chest. He fell to the floor, his body convulsing. All Paige could do was watch as the life left him.
"I…I'm sorry," Henry managed to get out. Remembering that her husband had a knife sticking out of his back, she rushed to his side. She pulled it from his back and placed her hands over the wound. Within minutes the wound was healed.
"I…you dated that guy?" Henry questioned, pulling himself up from the floor.
"Yeah…the whole thing with Chris coming back from the future. Oi that was a crazy year," Paige said, trying to smile.
"So...um…what do we do with his body? He's not a demon…so he doesn't disappear," Henry commented.
"I think I can take care of it," she assured him.
"Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to become unseen," she chanted and his body disappeared.
"Here, sit down," Henry ordered, noticing how labored her breathing had just become.
"I'm fine. Just…a little emotional. He lied to me. He swore he had stripped his powers. I don't understand why…why he waited all these years to try and win me back," Paige mumbled.
"Would you have gone back to him?" Henry queried.
"Seeing him consumed by his powers, no. He was…is…no was…anyway you know what I mean, a scary person when he was overcome with hiss power," Paige explained.
"Good to know," Henry murmured, kissing her cheek.
"I guess I can say I really know what Phoebe was going through with Cole. The love that just wouldn't die," she said, laughing a little.