CHARMED
"Perfectly Charmed"
by shel
© april 2008
disclaimer: the charmed ones, cole, and leo, and the rest of the cast of characters we've come to know and love, belong to spelling television, inc. and possible other copyright holders. i intended no true infringement on their copyrights; i only wanted to borrow these marvelous characters for a short time in my own scenarios and hopefully return them no worse for wear; the only things i've gained from this story are the satisfaction and pleasure of having written it and in knowing that others may have enjoyed it too…
rating: pg-13
summary: to face her future with coop, phoebe must confront her past with cole…
timeline: may 2007 (a year after the series finale, s8's 'forever charmed')…
archive: please don't without expressed permission…
notes: minor references to s4's 'long live the queen,' s8's 'generation hex,' s2's 'heartbreak city,' s5's 'centennial charmed,' s7's 'seven year witch,' s4's 'charmed and dangerous,' and 'enter the demon'…please let me know if you enjoyed my tale and why and, if not, why not…and, please, don't bother wasting your time or mine by sending any flames…
Part One
"Mmmmmm…" I smiled into the pillow as his fingers lightly tickled my bare back. "Is that coffee I smell?"
"Smell being the operative word. You've gone caffeine-free, remember?"
I tugged the sheet over my head. "Then you're completely mean, taunting me with that smell."
I felt his lips through the sheet and nudged them away with a shrug of my shoulder. "Go away."
But even as I spoke, the blanket was pulled away and I glared at him. "I never should've married you."
He simply smiled at me in that special way that made my legs turn to jelly. Good thing I was already lying down. "I mean it," I warned in a hopefully cross tone. "You're supposed to love me, not be so mean."
"I do love you," he chuckled, "which is why I made coffee and have danishes ready. Unless you'd rather your boss regret doing you the favor of dropping by with that stack of mail you forgot yesterday."
"Blame Junior," I sniffed as I flounced on the bed, turning over, "and this stupid morning sickness."
I nearly jumped when his fingers crept their way around my barely noticeable baby bump. And I sighed at my inability to remain mad at him. I do love that husband of mine and I was the one who had overslept completely forgetting that, in return for letting me work from home today, Elise was going to stop by first thing with a huge stack of letters I'd sworn to her I'd have reviewed by this afternoon.
I twined my fingers with his and sighed again. "I don't suppose she'll allow me to make a habit of this."
He kissed my ear before murmuring, "I've offered you a solution."
Teasing or not, he still hadn't figured out when to back off. I pushed him and the cover back and reached for my robe. "And I told you, I'm not quitting this job just to raise a baby!"
He had the nerve to give me that what'd-I-say-innocent look and I stalked across the room but before I could slam the bathroom door behind me, I was swept up into his arms. I squeezed my eyes shut at the immediate rise of bile in my throat.
I guess the color had drained from my face because he immediately apologized as he quickly carried me back into the bedroom. "Oh, Phoebe, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."
I couldn't answer him, just tried concentrating on breathing in and out. He settled me on the bed but I wasn't ready to open my eyes or speak.
"Are you going to be sick? Should I take you back to the bathroom?" he asked anxiously.
I blindly reached for, and clutched, his hand as I rode out the wave of nausea.
He brushed my hair to the side, tucking some strands behind my ear, and he kissed my forehead. "I shouldn't have teased. I'm sorry."
"'Sokay…" Afraid to say any more, I simply squeezed his hand again.
Eventually, I curled onto my side, my back to him, and whimpered, "It's been like this since I vanquished that demon, on and off all day. God, how do women stand it?"
"Let's not get into that again, shall we?"
I sighed in agreement, hearing the annoyance hidden beneath the polite request. Though he had let the matter drop two days ago, I knew he was still angry by what I'd done. Not all the demons had accepted the way things were now and I'd vanquished not just the one who'd been stupid enough to attack me at work but two more later that afternoon. "I'm trying to adjust," I sincerely told him, hoping I didn't throw up right where I lay, "but it's going to take some time. Things are different for me now."
The bed shifted as he leaned over and kissed me. "I know. And I can be patient."
Then his hands started gently massaging my back and I couldn't help but groan gratefully. "I love your hands…"
"And I love you loving them," he whispered in my ear, his tongue flicking its lobe.
But a wave of nausea kept me from responding the way I'd have preferred. Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut even more tightly. And then I worried he might have gotten the wrong idea given my constant complaints about my condition. "I love this baby I'm carrying. You know that, right?"
"I do," he confirmed with a light kiss to my temple.
He didn't say anything else and I was content to let him work his magic. I'm not sure how much time had passed before I drowsily mumbled, "I love you, Cole."
The massaging stopped and his hands rested on my back. "You've got the best hands," I sighed. "Thanks, honey."
But he didn't say a word and his hands didn't even twitch. He wasn't truly frozen because I could hear him breathing, if not a bit heavier than usual, but something was clearly wrong. "What is it?" I wondered, unable to open my eyes for the dizziness I still felt.
The mattress expanded slightly and I realized he'd stood. I slowly turned over in confusion. "Coop? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. It's okay."
But it wasn't. Even if we weren't connected by our special bond I would know. "I can feel it, Coop. You're upset."
"I've no right to be," he shook his head. "I'm a Cupid."
"That doesn't mean you're not allowed to be upset." I reached for his hand to tug him closer but he was resisting so I slowly sat up. When the room didn't spin, I tested my legs and stood up.
He was quick to move to support me just in case I keeled over but I managed to stay upright without incident. "You should rest," he told me. "It's good you're working from home today."
"I'm not doing any work until we talk," I insisted. "What happened, Coop? One minute I'm waking up to a magical massage and the next I'm feeling all sorts of sad regretful feelings from the one who's providing it. Please," I sat down again and patted the mattress, "talk to me."
The longer it took him to react, the more anxious I felt. And the fact that he seemed unable to look me in the eye wasn't helping. "Coop? Are you mad at me?"
"No, sweetheart."
At least he hadn't hesitated that time. "Then what?"
"You called me Cole," he calmly announced while he slowly met my gaze.
I laughed, "Now I really am worried about you. Do Cupids ever lose their hearing?" But he didn't smile and I stared at him in shock. "You're serious. You think I called you Cole?"
He shook his head, "I know you did."
"You're wrong," I snapped. "I would never do that."
"Not on purpose," he agreed before kissing the top of my head. "I'll see you later."
"Coop!" But all that remained before me was the afterimage of a glowing red heart.
The phone rang, startling me, and I answered it, my mind distracted by what had happened. I'd been sound asleep, Coop began massaging me, and we avoided a new argument over my demon-vanquishing from the other day and…
"Hey, Pheebs, how're you feeling this morning?"
"Oh, God," I uttered as a long-buried memory of a different early morning massage suddenly flashed before my eyes, "I did."
"Did what? Are you okay?"
Why did I have all the luck to be put in the nearly the exact same situation with two different men? I pinched the bridge of my nose wishing I was still asleep, that it was some dream and it wasn't true. But it was. "I called him Cole."
"Called who Cole? Phoebe, what's going on?"
"I called him Cole," I whispered. How could I have done that to him? No wonder he was so upset. "God, what have I done?"
"Paige and Henry are here for breakfast. We can orb there in seconds."
The doorbell rang at the same time Piper spoke. "I've gotta get the door."
"Call me," Piper demanded.
"Later," I promised half-heartedly. I needed to fix things with Coop first. The doorbell rang again and I prayed the day wouldn't get any worse.