Pairing: Coop/Phoebe
Rating: Teen
Prompt: Coop/Phoebe, happy endings


Charmed Words


Phoebe actually started her portion of the Book of Shadows' History of the Charmed Ones while she was pregnant with her third child and waiting for something, (anything) to happen.

She'd delivered each of her daughters a few days prior to their due date and, expecting the same timing for the third, had chosen to start her maternity leave on the Monday before she was due. Of course this one was continuing to happily gestate five days past his or her expected arrival.

Phoebe's coworkers insisted that this meant the newest addition was a boy since he'd departed from the tradition set by his sisters.

Coop had been saying all along that he fully expected to be the doting daddy to three girls and had not changed his guess as the months passed.

The girls and Paige changed their guesses daily (once they stopped begging Phoebe to open the sealed envelope given to her from her anatomy scan) and Piper simply made tea, smiled, and repeated that babies usually come when they are ready.

Phoebe was far less concerned with what parts the baby would arrive with and far more concerned with when that arrival would take place. She was sore, restless, and, without work to distract her, in need of something to help manage the anticipation.

Thus sitting at the kitchen table with the book, weighing her words carefully, and trying to write words that her children, her sisters' children, and all the future generations of Charmed Ones would someday read and learn from. She and her sisters each carved out time from their busy lives to continue to update the book, chipping away at years of tales of battles fought, lessons learned, and personal reflections.

This endeavor was a way to ground themselves in their craft and reaffirm their dedication to the magical community. It was also even more fulfilling than Phoebe had ever imagined.

She considered heating up the rice pack for her lower back - aching worse and worse the longer she spent curled over the book - but she was in the middle of a easy flow of words building this particular passage and she didn't want to lose her rhythm.

An hour (and two trips to the bathroom) later, Phoebe finally checked the time. The kids would be getting off the bus from school soon and Billie had promised to leave work early to come over to check on her and entertain the girls for a while before joining them for dinner.

When she lifted the book of shadows, the ache in her back spread and a coiling cramp curled around her abdomen. It didn't last long, but she did have to stop for a moment and brace her hand on the table until it passed.

"Okay. Don't get too excited," she told herself, taking a few deep breaths before setting off for the stairs. "One decent contraction doesn't mean it's go time yet, so let's see what happens." She brought the book back to its place in the attic, running her fingers lovingly over the cover before turning back to the hallway. Hopefully she'd need to make another update to her story sooner rather than later.