Note #1: Since I've been taking so long between chapters, I figured I'd rather remind my readers of a couple of things about previous installments. One of them is, if you don't remember the shawl I'm referring to at the end of this chapter, just check the last chapter of "Fruit of My Womb". And the other one is, I mentioned on chapter 1 of "Cursed Be" that Cole has a human client whom he'll be representing in court in a few days. The trial per se isn't relevant to this story, but the fact that there'll be a trial is.

Note #2: 'Confused reader' who reviewed chapter 17 of "Cursed Be", no, I don't mind constructive criticism, so feel free to express yourself. :-) I knew from the beginning that that story would be harder to write and to read than the previous ones, what with all the "guest characters", and even though I'm sad that you didn't like that story as much as the previous ones, I'm really glad that you haven't given up on this series, and I hope to live up to your expectations with this one. But I also hope that you don't have a problem with OCs in general, because two of them, who appeared on previous installments, are back for good in this story.

Note #3: Please let me know if you guys have any trouble viewing the formatting, especially the scene separators, because lately has been ignoring all my attempts to use asterisks, tic tac toes, dots or anything else except the horizontal line that you can see in this chapter. :-(

Timeline: This story take places on the week right after "Cursed Be", thus before Anya and Xander's wedding day and also before Melinda's birth.

Previous installments: Redemption - The Demon's Advocate - So Mote It Be - Fruit of My Womb - The Coleville Horror - Season of Hope - Cursed Be

Credits: I don't own any of the Charmed characters, I never meant to infringe anyone's copyrights, so please take this story for what it is -- fun -- and don't bother to suit me.

Leo leaned back against the pillows that Piper had fluffed for him and let out a contented sigh as she started to massage his sore feet, her fingers applying gentle pressure to the sole while she stroked them with oil covered hands.

"Thank you, honey," he sighed with his eyes closed. "My feet have been killing me for the last two weeks. It's like…"

"… like being pregnant with a seven pound baby?" Piper asked with a smile.

"More like eight," he said, opening his eyes and smiling back at her.

"Just one more week," she said. "I'm due in one week and then all those nasty symptoms will be over."

"And it will all be worth it when I get to hold our little one in my arms," he said, feeling his heart swell with love like it did every time he thought about their unborn daughter.

"Have Phoebe and Cole called yet?" he asked after a while.

"No," Piper said, shaking her head. "And I wish they would," she sighed. "I know that they don't need the Power of Three to vanquish a mere Daiva, but I hate to think that those two are out fighting demons and I don't know what's happening to them."

"Honey, they're both powerful witches," Leo said, reassuringly. "I'm sure that the Daiva won't even know what hit it."

"I know," Piper said, using her thumbs to gently knead his left heel. "Still…" -- she gave him a hesitant look -- "Don't you think that Cole has been a little bit off during the last couple of days?"

"Piper, to be completely honest," Leo sighed, "I don't think I have talked to Cole at all since Monday: and that would make not just two, but three days. He's been busy getting ready for the hearing tomorrow, and I have been spending a lot time with this new coven in France."

"Well, I think he has," Piper declared, turning her attention to his right foot. "I was watching him practice in the basement last night, and he did worse than he used to do when he first began to use his powers. He failed several times to do some simple things that I have seen him do before, and at the end he was tired and frustrated."

"Maybe I should talk to him," Leo said, frowning. "Cole can be very self-demanding, and I don't want him to become blocked by the anxiety."

Piper reached a rather sore point on his heel and he hissed softly as her fingers worked on it, gently kneading and rubbing.

"You," he said, with his eyes closed and a blissful smile on his lips, "are a wonderful, wonderful woman."

"No better than you deserve," she replied softly.

Leo sighed contently and let himself sink further into the pillows, but he suddenly jerked forward, bringing his hand to his temple and startling Piper.

"What happened?" she asked, alarmed.

"Cole happened," he said, exasperated, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed. "Won't he ever learn that there's no need to yell?"

"Where is he?" Piper demanded anxiously. "Is he okay? Can you sense Phoebe?"

"I can sense them both," Leo said, standing up and not bothering to put his shoes on. "But Phoebe seems to be hurt and Cole is completely freaked out."

Piper made a move to grab his arm but he held up his hand, saying:

"I'll just orb there and bring them back home."

With that, he orbed out, leaving his wife to fret until he returned.

At first, Leo felt that he had orbed right in the middle of Hell. His first unwarned breath caused him to inhale a great amount of black smoke, and he leaned forward, resting his hands on his thighs and coughing painfully, feeling the hot air burn his lungs and bring tears to his eyes.

"LEO!!!!!!!" -- Cole's voice didn't sound inside his head this time, but it came from his left instead, and Leo blindly lumbered in his direction.

"Cole?" he called hoarsely, trying to distinguish his charges through the smoke that filled what he now recognized as an abandoned warehouse on fire.

"Le…" Cole broke into a coughing fit, but Leo had already spotted him, sitting on the ground and cradling Phoebe's unconscious body, and the Whitelighter lost no time in orbing them out of there.

Piper shrieked in horror when she saw her sister lying limp on Cole's arms. He placed Phoebe on the bed and Leo promptly started to heal her, and Piper noticed that he, too, had severe burnings on his face and arms.

When Phoebe came to, Cole immediately pulled her into a tight embrace, oblivious to the pain as she was pressed against his own burnings.

"I'm sorry, baby," he said hoarsely. "I'm so sorry."

"Shh, baby, that's okay," she said soothingly, while Leo didn't wait for them to pull away from each other and started to heal Cole. "That's okay, Cole, it wasn't your fault."

"What happened?" Piper asked anxiously. "Was it the Daiva?"

"The Daiva is dead," Cole said quietly. Leo finished healing him, and he turned to the Whitelighter. "But there's something wrong with my powers."

The look that Leo exchanged with Piper didn't go unnoticed and he sighed, exasperated.

"I am not just tired," he said. "I'm losing control of my powers. Things that weren't so difficult two weeks ago have suddenly become a challenge."

"Your powers are getting stronger," Leo reasoned. "You need time to adjust to them."

"I don't have time!" Cole snapped. "I almost killed Phoebe today!"

"What happened?" Piper asked again, trying to keep her voice calm.

"It wasn't his fault," Phoebe said. "It wasn't," she insisted when Cole opened his mouth to object. "I threw a fire ball at the Daiva, but it ducked and dodged it, and Cole tried to change the fire ball's course in the air."

"Something that he probably shouldn't be able to do, anyway," Leo chided, raising his eyebrows at Cole. "A fire ball doesn't exactly apply to the laws of physics and you know that."

"It's still fire," Cole said stubbornly. "And I didn't try to change its course: I tried to make the fire grow enough to hit the Daiva."

"And it didn't?" Piper asked.

"It did," he said gloomily. "It hit the Daiva, and it hit the wall behind it, and it hit the ceiling. The whole place turned into hell in the blink of an eye."

"Cole, you had never tried anything like that before," Leo said, "and Benjamin himself said that fire is the most tricky element."

"Something. Is. Wrong," Cole insisted, annoyed. "I can feel it, Leo. My powers aren't getting stronger; they're getting out of control. I…"

"Cole," Phoebe said, alarmed, placing her hand on his arm. The glass of water sitting on the bedside table had been filled with water a minute ago, but now it was completely empty, all the water having boiled and evaporated in a split second. The same was happening to the falling raindrops as they slid down the window, and the air outside was starting to become steamy.

"What the…!" -- Cole's agitation only made it worse, and the falling raindrops were hissing and evaporating as soon as they reached the cloud of steam, until Piper suddenly took a step forward and slapped him hard across the face.

"Ouch!" he yelped both in pain and in shock.

"Piper!" Phoebe exclaimed, stunned.

"I didn't know what else to do," Piper said with an apologizing shrug. "Sorry," she added, gently patting Cole's shoulder.

"Thank you," Cole said, rubbing his stinging face. "I guess."

"Well," Leo said, peering outside through the window. "At least you stopped him."

"Now you agree that there's something's wrong?" Cole said.

"What is wrong," Leo patiently said, closing the window and turning to him again, "is that you won't be able to control your powers if you keep fretting over them."

Cole sighed roughly, running his hands through his hair.

"Have you talked to your father about this?" Phoebe said, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it gently. "If there's someone who can understand what you're going through, it's him."

"He thinks I'm overanxious," Cole unwillingly admitted. "He says I'll get a grip on my powers when I stop worrying so much about them."

Phoebe was about to say that no one knew Cole's powers better than his father did, and that if Benjamin said that everything was fine it meant that everything was fine, but a closer look at her husband's distressed face made her change her mind.

"Why don't you summon him," she suggested helpfully, "and tell him what happened today? I still think that there's nothing wrong with you," she quickly added, "but maybe he knows something that will help you better understand what's going on."

Cole glanced at Leo, and the Whitelighter nodded:

"Go ahead. If not for any other reason than to reassure yourself."

Twenty minutes later, the four of them were gathered in the attic, standing by the pedestal of the Book of Shadows. Phoebe had just lit the last candle, and she gave Cole a reassuring smile before he started to read the summoning spell with a slightly nervous voice:

"Hear my words, hear my cry,
Spirit from the other side,
Come to me, I summon thee,
Cross now the great divide."

Benjamin promptly appeared in the circle formed by the five candles, a broad smile on his face as he answered to his son's summoning spell.

"Well done," he said, proudly, and Cole smiled in spite of his anxiety.

"Hi, dad," he said.

"Hi," Benjamin said. He greeted the others and turned to Cole again: "So, are you just practicing your spells or do you need my help with something?"

"I don't know what I need," Cole started, uncertain, and his father gave him a look of concern. "Dad, something's wrong with my powers. They're feeling…" -- he shrugged -- "weird. Like a garment whose splices are unraveling, it seems that every time I use my powers I rend it a little more."

"Son, your powers are developing quickly," Benjamin said gently, "and it's only natural that you sometimes feel that you're losing your grip on them. You felt the same way at the beginning, then it got better as you learned to control them, and now they're getting stronger and…"

"This is different, dad!" Cole insisted. "I can feel it. I get mad and the water boils, and…"

"Has it happened again?" Benjamin asked, for the first time looking perturbed. "After last week, with, uh…" -- he frowned, trying to remember the vampire's name.

"Spike," Phoebe said. "It happened today, just before he summoned you. Why?" she asked with some apprehension.

"Maybe we should talk," Benjamin said, thoughtfully.

"Thank you!" Cole exclaimed theatrically, throwing his hands into the air.

"Watch your tone," his father chided mildly. Then, turning to Phoebe: "I'd like to know more about that power-stripping potion you told me about."

"It can't be that bad!" she exclaimed, shocked, the hand holding Cole's hand squeezing it tighter.

"I have no intention of taking away his witch powers," Benjamin quickly assured them. "But I'm starting to wonder if maybe there's still something left of his demon powers, something that doesn't agree with his witch powers."

"There's nothing left," Cole said. "Trust me, I'd know."

His father didn't miss the note of yearning in his voice, and he asked gently:

"It still feels strange, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Cole admitted, shrugging. "I thought that unbinding my powers would make the void left by my demon self disappear, but it seems that it only made it more evident."

"I never thought it would come to this," his father sighed. "Your mother and I didn't know what kind of powers you would inherit from us, but we never considered the possibility that your human heritage and your demon heritage might antagonize each other the way they did. I mean, the mere fact that you had a demon self and a human self…" -- he shook his head -- "I had never heard of anything like that. Demons who are able to assume human form, that's very common, but they're still the same person, the same demon, no matter what they look like."

"It's more complicated than that," Cole said. "Belthazor was still me, but at the same time… he wasn't. It's just…" -- he sighed and shook his head -- "…complicated."

"I could feel her, too, you know?" he blurted. "Mother. It was never as strong as the Source's aura was, but I could tell that she was out there, somewhere." He sighed and added quietly: "Even after all this time, sometimes I still forget and reach out; and there's nothing there, and it's just so… weird."

He cleared his throat and gave them an apologetic shrug.

"But, of course, that's not the point."

Phoebe fondled his arm and the others didn't say anything for a while, until Benjamin said softly:

"There's still a lot of her in you, son. I can see her all the time, in the little things you do, in the color of your hair and in your body language, and in the way you fight." -- he hesitated, biting his lower lip as he watched his son with a pensive expression -- "And when you boil the water."

"What? Mother has no such power," Cole said, puzzled.

"No, she doesn't," his father agreed. "But when she was pregnant with you, and her powers were frenzied by the presence of yours, it happened every time she got upset."

"So," Leo said, cautiously, "what you're saying is, there might still be something demonic about Cole, something that might be rejecting his witch powers?"

"I don't know," Benjamin admitted. "But I do remember my wife saying that she felt… off balance."

He glanced upwards, as if wondering if the Elders were listening before turning to Cole again:

"Son, is there any chance you'd be able to contact your mother?"

"He summoned her once," Phoebe said helpfully.

"I'm not sure it would be a good idea to try it again," Cole said, unsure.

"You did a good job summoning me," his father assured him.

"It's different." -- Cole shifted his weight from one foot to the other -- "Mother hates to be summoned. Most demons do. It's rather… invasive."

"I assume you didn't do much progress with the Elders," Leo said, turning to Benjamin.

"Don't even get me started," Benjamin said with a tired sigh.

"But if she possesses the knowledge that might help Cole, " Phoebe said, "if there's actually something wrong..."

"I'm not saying that there's indeed something wrong," Benjamin said, holding up his hands, "I just want to make sure we're not missing anything."

"Would you like me to talk to the Elders?" Leo asked.

"Tell them not to do anything stupid," Cole said.

"Like what?" the Whitelighter asked, turning to him with a puzzled look.

"Like anything that doesn't include asking my opinion first. I'm serious, Leo; you don't wanna cross my mother. The reason why she's not listed in many Books of Shadows isn't because she is not enough of a threat; it's because there's usually nothing left of a coven after they cross paths with her."

He turned to his father with an apologizing shrug, and Benjamin nodded in silence.

"I'll talk to the Elders," Benjamin said to Leo. "I know that they think I'm blind to my wife's flaws," he added grimly, "so I'm sure they'll take it into account when I warn them against her. And they might know a way for Cole to contact her without having to summon her."

"I'll be back as soon as I have an answer," he told Cole. "Until then, just try and relax."

As Benjamin vanished, his sober expression was somewhat spoiled by the subtle glint of excitement that danced in his eyes at the perspective of seeing his wife again. Cole, too, couldn't deny that he had butterflies in his stomach: he hadn't seen his mother since she had rescued Ben from Julie, two months ago. Also, as much as he tried, he just couldn't remember a time when he had seen both his parents together in the same room. He wanted to see how they'd look at each other, how they would behave, what they would say. Despite his anxiety about his powers and his mixed heritage, Cole was smiling as he and Phoebe started to pick up the candles from the floor.

"I'll start preparing lunch," Piper said. "Phoebe, will you have lunch at home today?"

"Yes," Phoebe said, placing two candles in the drawer. "I only have to be at the magazine at two. And, to be honest, after this morning I'm seriously considering e-mailing my column and not showing up at work at all."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Cole asked, giving her a concerned look as he placed the remaining three candles in the drawer.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "But I feel like taking a nice, relaxing bath, and spending some time with my husband. Not that these two things are mutually exclusive," she added, smiling coyly at him.

"Don't you two have a son to look after?" Leo asked in feign reproach as he placed his arms around Piper to orb her to the kitchen.

"Paige's with him," Cole said, already tugging on Phoebe's hand and pulling her to the door. "She's taking a day off from work."

"Lunch will be served at noon," Piper called as they were leaving the room. "You two had better be here by then, or I might remember that you don't live here anymore and send you to have lunch at your own house."

"Just make sure you cook something with lots of carbohydrates," Cole replied from the stairs. "To replace the ones we'll be burning."

They heard Phoebe giggling while she and Cole hurriedly rumbled down the stairs, and Piper sighed and rolled her eyes as she snuggled with Leo.

"Is it me," she asked, resting her head on her husband's chest, "or are those two impossible?"

"They're impossible," Leo said, smiling against her hair as he orbed her to the kitchen.

"We should do this more often…" Phoebe cooed, snuggling in Cole's arms.

She smiled when he gingerly pulled up the comforter that had slid from her shoulders with the movement, keeping them both nested in the warm cocoon formed by the covers. They were lying together in bed, enjoying each other's company and basking in the aftermath of their lovemaking.

"Yes, we should," Cole sighed contentedly, all worries about his powers, his parents, the upcoming hearing, the ozone layer and whatnot gone from his mind at the moment.

Phoebe nuzzled his chest, relishing the soft fragrance of patchouli left by the bath salts that had been liberally used in their previous bath, but also, and mostly, the familiar scent of Cole that laid underneath the patchouli. In the back of her mind, she registered the fact that there had been no boiling or freezing or anything magic related when they were making love earlier in the bathtub, and for that she was mightily thankful: not only it would have completely spoiled the mood, but also that would have been one piece of information that she'd rather not share with her husband's parents, thank you very much.

"Then again," Cole proceeded with a smile, bringing her back to the current moment, "we now actually can do this more often, without Paige banging at the bathroom's door and asking if her hair drier is in there."

"It only happened once," Phoebe said, giggling even as she went to her sister's defense.

"Twice," he corrected her. "One time with the hair drier and another one with the lipstick. And it was twice too many."

Phoebe smiled and rubbed his chest, saying reassuringly:

"It won't happen again. And Ben is still too young to know how to get out of his crib on his own, which means we have a few months to properly inaugurate every room in this house."

"Were you serious about e-mailing your column to Elise and staying home today?" he whispered, leaning down to lightly brush her forehead with his lips. "Cause I think I know just which room to inaugurate next."

Phoebe sighed contently as he let his lips wander, grazing her skin as they made their way to her own lips.

"I'm yours for the rest of the day, Mr. Turner," she purred, and gladly put her arms around his neck when his mouth captured hers for a long, leisurely kiss.

When they parted, Cole rolled to his back again, bringing Phoebe with him so that she was lying on top of him, not ready to make love to her again but unwilling to break the reassuring contact with the warmth of her body.

"I'm thinking of buying Anya's wedding gift later today," she said mildly, resting her head on his chest. "Would you like to come with me to help me pick it?"

Cole ran his hand through her hair, pondering the idea. He didn't spend time in the mall if he could avoid it, but it was a gift for Anya, nonetheless.

"You're not going to use the opportunity to buy yourself a new pair of shoes, are you?" he asked suspiciously.

"No," Phoebe said truthfully. She would use the opportunity to buy him a new pair of shoes, but why make him suffer in advance?

"What are you thinking of buying?" he asked, and smiled when she made an impatient puffing sound that Ben could mimic to a tee.

"It's no fun shopping with you," she protested. "You want to plan!"

"You are fun," Cole said with a complacent smile. "I'm efficient."

"Well, Mr. I'm-So-Efficient-That-I-Always-Forget-Where-I-Parked-The-Car," she teased, making a face at him, "what are you thinking of buying?"

"Something pretty," he said, grinning. "Something glitzy."

"Don't you think Xander would rather receive something practical?" Phoebe asked, sliding down from his chest and nestling in the curve of his arm.

"He's marrying Anya; he'll be giving up on practical the moment he says 'I do'," Cole pointed out. "The grass is green, the sky is blue, and Anya isn't practical," he enunciated. "It's a fact of life; Xander will just have to cope."

"How about we compromise? They get something glitzy from us and something practical from your mother?" Phoebe offered, smiling at the thought of an upper level demon sending a dough mixer to the newlyweds.

"It's a deal," Cole said. He lightly nuzzled her temple, knowing that not too many women would be willing to take money out of an already tight budget in order to buy a wedding gift on behalf of a demonic mother in law.

"I just can't picture your mother and Anya hanging out together," Phoebe commented after a while. "I mean, was Anya always so… Anya-like?"

"Yes," Cole said with a smile. "But in her demon days, she was also a power to reckon with," he recalled. "Her business in this realm was usually of the vengeance kind, but when my mother was assigned a mission in another realm the two of them usually worked together."

"My mother is a skilled strategist," he said thoughtfully, lazily running his hand through Phoebe's hair as she snuggled against him, "But Anya's chattering never seemed to bother her, not even when she shooed Sarsour and I out of the room so that she could scheme in peace."

He was silent for a moment, and Phoebe waited while he collected his thoughts, watching the various emotions that flitted across his face as he talked about his mother.

"Do you think maybe Anya could contact your mother?" she asked after a while. "It seems that she still has some connections in the Underworld."

"Maybe," Cole said. "I hadn't thought of that. Do you, too, think that my mother may know something that will help me with my powers?"

"I don't know," Phoebe admitted. "But even if she doesn't, I think you need to talk to her."

Cole gave her a surprised look and she proceeded quietly:

"Even after she rescued Ben, I thought that your issues with your mother were just something that you'd have to cope with, and all I could offer was my love and support. But when your father came back, and later with Anya…" -- she sighed -- "You won't have peace unless you talk to her; as much as I'm not thrilled with the idea of having not just a mother in law, but the ultimate mother in law from hell…" -- she shrugged and gave him a lopsided smile -- "Like Xander, I'll just have to cope."

"That should teach you two not to marry ex-demons," Cole said with a smirk, kissing her forehead. "We come with a lot of baggage."

"Well," Phoebe said, smiling as she rubbed his chest, "I can't speak for Xander, but I happen to think that it's worth it all."

He pulled her close again, burying his face on her hair when she cuddled with him.

"I don't know where I'd be without you," he murmured against her hair.

"Well," she said lovingly, "let's make sure you don't need to find out."

Just then, they heard a knock on the door.

"Is there anyone in there?" -- Paige said through the door -- "There's a little boy here who wants to say 'hi' to his mommy."

Phoebe and Cole smiled at each other when Ben called out from his place in Paige's arms:

"Mama!"

"Mommy will be with you in a minute, muffin," Phoebe said as she and Cole got up from the bed and started to hurriedly get dressed.

"Mama," Ben happily called again, and they could hear his little hands impatiently tapping on the door.

When he decided that mommy was taking too long to come out of the bedroom, he turned to Paige again.

"O'b!" he commanded, making the grown ups laugh.

"Trust me, kiddo," Paige replied, "orbing into your parents' bedroom when they're there alone can be a awful idea."

"Paige!" Phoebe chided, opening the door and catching Ben when he promptly threw himself into her arms. "Hey, there," she cooed, cuddling the toddler. "Did you miss mommy?"

"Mama," Ben repeated, nuzzling her neck. "Ta ta ta ta ta ta," he lilted then, just for the sake of saying it.

"What?" Paige said, giving the unmade bed a knowing look. "It's true."

"Improper nonetheless," Cole said as came out of the bedroom, buttoning up his shirt.

"Less," Ben chimed in, always ready to agree with his daddy. "Leh, leh, le-eh-eh! Less!"

"You seem to be in a very good mood today, young man," Cole said as he took Ben from Phoebe's arms and placed the toddler on his shoulders. "I hope Auntie Paige hasn't indulged you with cookies," he added as the three of them started to walk downstairs, "or she'll find herself in charge of you for the rest of the day."

"LESS!"

"Indoors voice, Ben," Phoebe said while she picked up a small plastic pickaxe that laid discarded on the floor.

"Less," Ben whispered, giving mommy a charming grin that never failed to make her smile.

"That's a good boy," Cole said, chuckling.

"Just like his daddy," Phoebe muttered, shaking her head in feign reproach and reaching out to pick the Cashmere shawl that was resting on the couch.

"Here," Cole said, sobering as he lifted Ben from his shoulders and held him with one arm, reaching out with his free hand for the shawl that his mother had left there two months ago, after bringing Ben back from the Underworld. "I'll take it."

"Mine!" Ben promptly proclaimed when he saw the shawl.

"He's still very fond of it, huh?" Paige asked, arching her eyebrows.

"Yes, he…" -- Phoebe inhaled sharply when she touched the shawl, closing her eyes as the premonition took over her senses.

"Phoebe?" Cole called, quickly moving to her side. "What did you see?"

Phoebe didn't answer right away and just stared at the shawl in her hands, and Cole called again, worried:

"Baby?"

"I saw your mother," Phoebe said, giving him an alarmed look. "She's gonna kill a witch."