Phoebe
Coop traced his hand over my swollen stomach. "Baby, come on out already, I'm tired of waiting." I sighed happily but I was also exhausted. After 3 days of apparently being 'in labour' I just wanted to hold our baby in my arms. Plus, I was totally over my huge stomach, for someone who has always had a flat, toned stomach, pregnancy was defiantly something new.
"Arggghhhhhhhh" I screamed as another wave of pain hit me like a ton of bricks. Coop squeezed my hand, his face etched with worry and I knew that he was feeling my pain too.
"God I hate childbirth" he moaned.
"Me and you both baby" I gasped out between sobs trying desperately not to hit him. I knew that whatever pain I was feeling, he would feel it too, and vice versa, but it was only secondary what he was feeling, nowhere near as bad as the real thing. I screamed again, this time louder than ever before and then, darkness.
I woke up, exhausted. Coop was sitting in the chair next to my bed, head lying asleep next to my body, his hand still clutching mine. My baby, I thought and looked desperately around the room. "Coop, wake up, where is she?" Coop sat bolt upright and scanned the room with his eyes. He must have fainted when I had. "Piper, Paige?" I called out, trying to keep the panic from rising in my throat. Piper ran into the room, looking ready to fight a demon."Where is my baby?" I demanded, this time not caring about the raw emotion lodged in my voice. Piper smiled. "Paige is just bringing her to you now." Paige walked into the room holding a pink bundle. Tears dropped silently from my eyes and I reached out to hold her. Paige gently slipped her into my arms and I saw tears on her cheeks as well.
"She's absolutely beautiful" whispered Paige.
I looked down and saw my baby girl for the first time. She opened her eyes and looked up at me, her long eyelashes flickering. Coop leant over my shoulder and gasped. "She's so cute!"
I looked down into my infants face smiling. A thought suddenly struck me and I knew what her name was going to be."Prue." I whispered. Piper walked over, misunderstanding me. "Baby, Prue would be so proud of you"
I looked up at my big sister. "No, I mean she looks exactly like Prue." Piper hesitated, and then looked down at my baby. Her hands flew to her mouth, trying to hide her surprise. I turned to Coop, silently asking him for permission. "I think she suits Prue" he whispered back to me, kissing my forehead.
Coop.
As I watched my daughter sleep in her mommy's arms, I felt myself relax. The birth had taken so long; we had all thought that something was just waiting to go wrong. Phoebe suddenly breathed in deeply, her eyes rolling back into her head and her arms going floppy. Prue started to fall off the bed and I grabbed her, pulling her close to my body, trying to calm her screams. Phoebe came back to reality with another gasp. "Demons, coming for Prue, Coop, heart her out of here" I beamed away holding my tiny girl in my arms, to the Garden of Eden. One think I love about being a cupid is being able to time travel, so I can heart to the very beginning of time, the very end of time and everywhere in between. I sat down on the grass, comforting Prue, amazed at how stunning she looked. Her deep Brown eyes blinked up at me but all I saw was Phoebe. I looked desperately around me, trying to find something to do to distract me from the fact that Phoebe would be unable to help battle a demon in the state she was in. Prue made a little gasping noise, like the one I had heard from Phoebe only seconds before. I felt power surge through me and my eyes rolled into the back of my head.
I saw Phoebe, screaming for Paige and Piper to wake up. Balthazar prowling towards her, snarling, an energy ball bouncing playfully in his hand. "Coop" Phoebe is screaming. The energy ball hits Phoebe full force in the chest and she falls back, lifeless.
My vision returns and I know that Prue has just had her very first premonition and I somehow intercepted it. I stand up immediately and heart back to Phoebe. As I heart in, I see that I have made it just in time. Balthazar has not yet arrived. I grab phoebes had and am about to heart her out of there when I remember Piper and Paige. "It's Cole, he's coming! Paige, get Piper outta here" I heart out, not looking back.
Phoebe
Over the next few days Coop has another Cupid take over his charges for a while and I hire a ghost writer for the paper. We just hang around our loft, waiting for an attack, just holding our precious baby girl. She is so quiet, she sleeps all the way through the night, which I know is not normal, but I'm thankful for it. She wakes up starving and feeds for about half an hour then just lies happily in my arms. Coop and I have already bonded with her, although Coop says she is totally a mummy's girl.
Coop kisses Prues nose then kisses me. "I'll be back in half an hour, just call if you need me, I will come straight away, and I don't care about exposure." I smile at Coop to reassure him that I will be fine on my own. I'm a little bit nervous, but hey, I'm a charmed one, nervous comes in the job description. "Ok honey, I'll just watch a movie, Prue's about to drop off anyway. Oh and don't forget nappies and ...Ummm, what did we run out of again?"
Coop laughs at my forgetfulness and I blush with pleasure. "Coffee?" he reminds me. As he leaves I reach over for the TV remote and turn it on to a random channel. About ten minutes into a mindless programme and Prue is snuffling, asleep in my arms. The TV screen flickers and then cuts out. A small black dot starts growing from the centre of the screen. I gasp sharply as I recognise what, no who, it is. "Cole, you bastard get out of my TV"
Cole smirks at me "Sure thing doll face" Next thing I know Cole Turner is standing in my living room, five feet from where I am sitting. "Coop!" I call out desperately. "What are you doing here?" I snarl at him, holding Prue closer to me, trying to hide her from Cole. "Oh you know, just thought I'd drop by, see how you're doing, just a social visit"
"Yeah right Cole, you really expect me to believe that, after all the lies you've told me...COOP!" Cole laughs "He can't get in, I've blocked the room, so we would not be interrupted by your pesky husband or sisters."
I glance at the front door, only metres away from where I'm standing. Cole follows my gaze."Oh you can't leave either; you're stuck in here, with me." He chuckled to himself, laughing at his own cleverness. I feel the panic rise up from deep within but as Prue stirs I try to fight it,i couldn't let my baby get scared too. "You bastard, you know my sisters are going to find away to fight this."
Cole hesitated for a while then started speaking "I know, that's why I won't be staying long. If you kiss me I'll go away."
"Go to hell Cole"
"Thought you'd say that, and plus already been there and done that, got the scorch marks"
"What d'ya want from me Cole, are you hell bent on destroying my life or something, because it seems that you always turn up when I'm happy, but guess what Cole, you should stop, because I'm over you, well and truly over you. I love Coop, and you see this, yeah she's my baby girl, with Coop, as in, Coop's the dad, as in I love him, not you, so just leave me and my family alone"
"You know I can't do that Phoebe, your love has kept me alive all these years, kept my half human side alive, made me live through hell and back to come back to you, we belong together."
"Oh my god Cole, what part of, I really can't stand you and I hate your guts are you having difficulty with?"
"The part where you can't look me in the eyes and say it" I march up to Cole and look defiantly up into his eyes and I see nothing but evil. "I hate you"
Suddenly there is a loud bang from the front door and Piper runs in, followed by Paige and Coop, all fighting each other to arrive first. My head snaps back to Cole, who shimmers out.
"What took ya so frickin long?" I demand as Coop pulls me close to him. He smells like home and I reach up and kiss him. He takes Prue out of my arms and holds her looking down adoringly at her sleeping body.
"Well, someone here was a little bit preoccupied" Piper laughed, looking at Paige. Paige blushes and then explains "Okay, so if I had known it was Cole I would have come sooner, but I was kind of busy"
"More like gettin' busy" howls Piper with laughter and I snort along with her. Paige turns an even deeper shade of red before slapping Piper on the back. "At least I'm getting some" she retorts, which stops Pipers laughter.
"I'm just glad you came at all." Coop looks up at my sisters. "From now on one of us is always with Phoebe, I'll take to majority of the shifts but when I need to run somewhere one of you will have to take over." My sisters nodded in agreement.
"Whoa...hold on here, I'm not some invalid who can't defend herself, I'm fine, I don't need you guys hanging around me twenty four seven."
I watch as my husband and two sisters cast each other a disbelieving look. "I'm a frickin charmed one guys, if I can't protect myself, who can?"
Piper folded her arms in front of her chest, something she always does when she is about to tell it how it is. "Phoebe, this isn't any ordinary demon, its Cole, who knows what he will try and do to you, and until I know that his arse is safely back in hell where he belongs, I won't let you be left alone"
"Here here "agreed Paige, who turned red under my glare.
Two hours later and it's just me and Coop left alone in our loft, Prue asleep on our bed. I had told him and my sisters exactly what had happened when Cole had come and we had come to the conclusion that he was up to something. Like always.
"I just don't think I need watching over" I stated to Coop as we cooked dinner together.
"Onions" he replied. At first I gave him a blank, confused stare, and then passed him the onion which was next to my elbow.
"Well I think you do Phoebe, you may be a charmed one, but you're not invincible, one day your sisters aren't gunna be able to save you and then what? It's not just me you'd leave behind, you have a daughter to think of as well, do you want to leave her like your mom left you."
Tears prick my eyes as I know he is speaking the truth; I turn and rush out of the kitchen and into the bathroom. I lock the door and slide down it, sitting on the cold tiles.
"Honey let me in, I'm sorry, I went too far, please let me in"
I put my hands over my face and try to stop myself from crying. It doesn't work and I let myself go. Tears flood down my face and I don't even try to wipe them away. A pink beam spreads from the centre of the room and then Coop is standing there, looking guilty. He kneels beside me and hugs my sobbing body. I lean into him and cry more. As he strokes my hair I look up and see tears in his eyes as well.
"I'm so sorry Phoebe, really I am, I didn't mean it, not like that"
"It's true though" I cry. "I'm going to leave her like mom left me"
"No you're not honey, your mom was reckless, she thought she was strong enough on her own, you know that your family makes you stronger, you know you need us"
Coop stands up and pulls me up with him, so he is carrying me in his arms like a newly wedded bride. I loop my arms around his neck and snuggle my face into a crook in his neck that shields my face and makes me feel safer, warmer, and happier. He carries me through to our bed room and places me on my side of the bed. Shoving me over a bit he lays down next to me my back against his chest. He slides his arm over my waist and I give him my hand. He takes it in his, his much larger, rougher hands sheltering my tiny, soft ones.
He kisses my ear then my neck, his hot breath tickling my senses.
All of a sudden the room is filled with white hot orbs and Paige materialises holding Pipers hand. "Hey, there's good news, and there's bad news" I sit up and I feel Coop rise up behind me. "Oh hope we didn't interrupt anything" mutters Piper.
"What's the good news?"
"Well, we managed to vanquish Cole, again"
My eyes go huge with awe and I stammer out my next sentence. "B-b-but h-how?"
"Well, we pooled in every magical being that would help, we got fairies, leprechorns, giants, elfs, pixies, magical animals and about 20 other witches, oh and mom and grams called our ancestors to help." I gaped at my sisters who were both grinning from ear to ear.
"So what's the bad news?" butts in Coop. He takes my hand nervously in his and I feel his rapid heartbeat through his wrist pulsating through to my body.
"Wellll..."Paige drew out.
"He said it's not over, in that creepy demon voice he has, but you know what, I admire that guy, he just doesn't give up now does he." Piper drawled laughing.
Coop.
I feel Phoebe go limp in relief as she hears the good news. Cole is gone, for now. I squeeze her tightly and as if on cue Prues starts wailing from the nursery.
"I'll get her, you guys just relax" whispers Paige as she heads towards the nursery. Phoebe lets her younger sister take charge and leans back into my arms, happy again.
Leo orbs in smiling from ear to ear. "Look who got the cream" calls Piper, walking over to kiss her husband.
"We are all booked for a nice dinner at Mercy, the new restaurant in town, all 9 of us"
Piper screams with happiness "I really want to try their food, it's meant to be really good! Orb me home to get the boys ready, I'll send the nanny home early." Leo flicks his hand and Piper disappears in a swirl of orbs. Paige walks back into the room with Prue screaming in her arms.
"She's freaking out Phoebe"
"Yeah, that's coz she's hungry, pass her here." Phoebe holds Prue, whose cries instantly calm to a mere whinge.
"Now, that's why I'm not a mom yet" says Paige sadly.
"Don't say that Paige, you'll make a great mom someday" I reassure her.
"Thanks, well I'll meet you guys at Mercy, I have to go get changed and pick up Henry" Leo turns to face Phoebe and I. "Well, I'll go help Piper, be there in about an hour okay?" He orbs out of the room leaving our small family behind.
As Phoebe breast feeds Prue on our bed, I get up to change out of my jeans into something more, high end restaurant worthy.
"It will be so nice to get out of the house again and we can put Prue in that dress that Mary from downstairs got her, you know that pink fairy one with the wings and little booties, it will look so cute on her." Phoebe coos to Prue who has now stopped feeding and is screaming with pleasure.
"What are you going to where Mrs Halliwell?" I ask her bending down and kissing her.
"I dunno, maybe my jeans and one of my old tops."
"Babe we're going to Mercy, this is slinky, sexy dress worthy, not just plain old house clothes."
"Hey your boobs are not leaking everywhere with no control."
"hey you are not married to a totally sexy woman who has not changed out of her mom clothes since like, forever. I want you to wear something like you used to Pheebs, for me?"
I put the puppy-dog face on and whimper pathetically. She grabs my chin and pulls my face close to hers.
"Fine, you win" she answers, kissing me deeply.