"Jason is coming home today!" Phoebe shouted to Skylar. (Skylar was a
friend of Wyatt and Portia's from school, her father had been a demon who
the Charmed Ones vanquished.) "Just wait till you meet him, he'll adore
you. I've told him all about you and how pretty you are."
"I hope he likes me, he didn't mind that you took me in without telling him?"
"No, he's always wanted kids and we haven't had any, now you're our kid," Phoebe said hugging Skylar.
Skylar smiled, she really liked Phoebe and how she treated her. Phoebe had never once yelled at her like her dad had. Sometimes he'd scream at her when she didn't use her power right and blew up the furniture. But Phoebe never yelled and she appreciated that. She's like her mom was, so gentle and fun loving.
Surprisingly, she wasn't that upset about her dad being killed. He never liked her, he just wanted a child, a son, to be specific, and he always reminded Skylar of that. "I wanted a son, and I got you!" he'd say when he was mad. In front of other people he was so nice, but to her he was mean as hell.
"What do you want to do before Jason gets home?"
"Well, how about we make some food and then after that we can do makeovers!"
"How about we do the makeovers first and then make some food?"
"Okay," she took Phoebe by the hand and they ran up the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After nearly a month, Wyatt still hadn't talked to Leo. He had wanted to, but every time, he lost the nerve, but he had promised his mom that he would do it today. He was waiting for Leo up in his room. Piper had gone to the club for awhile to give them some privacy. Sky and his Aunt Phoebe were still at home, but they had promised to keep the noise down.
The blue and white lights of Leo's orb startled Wyatt as he stiffened on the edge of his bed. Leo appeared. "Hi, son."
Wyatt didn't know what to call him. "Hi...dad."
"Your mom said that you wanted to talk."
"Yeah," he hesitated, not really knowing how to put his feelings into words. "Why don't I start at the root of my problem...how you left mom."
"Wyatt, I didn't leave your mom."
"Yeah, you did. I may have been really little, but I can remember lots of things that you wouldn't expect me to remember. I felt her being really mad, then really happy, and sad and indifferent at the same time. You don't need to explain why she was happy, because I know, you put a spell on her, and I do understand why. And you came back for a few years after, but then you totally left us. I can remember her telling me all about you, and how you had a higher duty, but now, in my heart of hearts, I know that that is the biggest pile of horse **** I've ever seen."
"Wyatt!"
"No, don't interrupt. Your first duty was to your wife and child, and you neglected us. She tried to tell me when I was younger that you always watched me, but I never felt any loving eyes on me. Remember, you can sense me, well I can sense you, and you never watched over me."
"Is this really about your mom, Wyatt?"
"In a way, but it is more about you, shirking your duty to your family. That's why I didn't want you around. I figure, if you can ignore us for so long, why not forever?"
Leo didn't know what to say. He hadn't been watching Wyatt all the time, true, but he did love his son and his wife. "Wyatt, I love you and your mom. You were created out of love. A love that was pulled through trial after trial. I never ignored you, but I couldn't have watched you 24/7. I don't want you to doubt that I love you. You're my son, and I love you with all my heart. I love your mother too, and I've just rediscovered the love that had been dormant in my heart for years."
"I know you love mom, I can see it in your eyes."
"Wyatt, do you think that we could work on building our relationship, you and me?"
"yeah, I guess, that would be okay. But how?"
"We can have days where we just hangout with each other, father ad son."
"Okay dad." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~ Piper sat in her car outside of club. She had finally finished doing her inventory and stocking, and was going to go home. She had hoped that everything went alright with Leo and Wyatt. She wanted them to get along so she could have her family back again.
She put the key into the ignition and turned it. Strangely it wouldn't start. She checked her lights, and sure enough, she had been distracted and left them on. Well, Paige had jumper cables in her car and would be willing to come and give her a hand. She picked up her cell phone and called Paige.
"Hey, Paige, it's me, Piper. I was wondering, could you bring your jumper cables here and jump start my car? I left my lights on."
"Yeah, I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Just sit tight."
"Thanks sis." She hung up the phone. Now the wait. Portia sat at her desk writing a school paper. An essay on the history of your family. "Which family should I use?" she asked herself. "I don't know a lot about my mom or my dad's family, but how do I get past the 'we're witches' thing?" She sighed, and got up to go talk to her mom. She had to know more about her grandma and grandpa Marcel than anyone else.
She stepped down the hallway went down the stairs. Her mom and dad were in the kitchen going over bills. Her mom looked up and pushed a strand of dark hair out of her face, "Hi, sunshine, what's up?"
"Well, I have to do a paper on my family, and I wanted to do grandma and grandpa, because I don't know how to get around the whole witch thing with our real family. Can you help me? I mean, I already know that they're French and that they lived in France, but that's about it."
"Well, why don't you give them a call?" Patrice said studying a bill.
"But that means..." Portia whined getting interrupted.
"You'd have to remember your French." Patrice put down the bill and looked at her daughter. She knew very well that Portia could speak fluent French and Italian, but she liked English better.
"I remember my French, kids ask me to speak all the time at school."
"So, give them a call," John said smiling at his bullheaded daughter.
"Fine, where's the phone number?"
"On the phone list in the cupboard," Patrice said quickly before delving back into the pile of bills that lay before her. Portia opened the cupboard above the phone and looked up the number. She scribbled it down on a sticky note and ran back up stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prue was in her office. A bouquet of red roses was on her desk. Bane had sent them, he knew that she loved them. She smiled at the thought of him. He had really turned his life around. He'd gotten a good job at a construction company and was fixing up his house so they would have a place to go after the wedding.
Thinking about her wedding sent chills through her body, not bad chills, but good ones. She had dreamt of this day her entire life and now it was within reach. But so much for dreaming at the moment, she had three photo spreads on her desk and about a million phone calls to make. She could dream later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, Piper, you're all set," Paige said cleaning off her hands in the club.
"Thanks so much. I'm sorry to pull you out of work, I would have called Leo, but..."
"I know, the cease fire was today. It's alright. Plus all I did was orb here. It's way quicker than driving."
Piper nodded as the two of them walked out of the club. Piper locked the door and Paige went to step behind a tall bush so she could orb back to her car. "I'll see you at dinner tonight." Paige waved to Piper and she orbed out.
Piper got in her car and drove towards the manor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason's car pulled up in the driveway and Phoebe bolted down the stairs with Skylar at her heels. She couldn't even wait for him to get to the door. She flung it open and ran into his arms. He had to drop his luggage to catch her.
"Hi, sweetie." She showered him with kisses. After a minute she pulled away and introduced Skylar. "Jason, this is Skylar, and Sky this is my husband Jason."
Jason looked down at her and smiled. "You are just as pretty as Phoebe said. I'm glad you decided to join our family."
"Well, compared to my psycho dad, you guys are normal." She laughed and both Phoebe and Jason laughed with her.
"Why don't we go inside. We can talk better in there." Phoebe said.
"Great idea, honey," Jason said picking up his suitcases with Skylar's help. The newly formed family went inside. Leo stood up and Wyatt followed suit. They could hear the ruckus downstairs. "Uncle Jason must me home," Wyatt aid sighing. His Aunt Paige had been right, his dad wasn't so bad, and he was rather reasonable. The talk had lifted a huge weight off his shoulders. He proceeded down the steps, not far behind Leo. The clunk of luggage on the floor and the jovial laughter of his Aunt Phoebe told the entire story.
Looking out of her rose colored world, Phoebe saw Leo and Wyatt on the stairs. "Oh, did we disturb you? I'm sorry," she apologized.
"No, we were finished," Leo replied smiling. He rested his hand on Wyatt's shoulder. Phoebe nodded and went into the sitting room where Skylar and Jason were already talking. She snuggled into place next to Jason.
Wyatt, who had been watching his other family members, turned to face his father. "Why don't we wait for mom and then go to the park and do something together as a family?"
"Sounds like a plan to me, son." He smiled that gentle smile and Wyatt began to see more of himself, and could perhaps feel more comfortable in his own skin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portia picked up the telephone in her bedroom and dialed the long distance telephone number. The line at the other end picked up. "Hello?"
"Hello, Grandmamma, its Portia." Her grandmother immediately started babbling in French, asking her how she was and how her mother was.
Portia provided all of the necessary responses, delivered in proper French, but that wasn't the most exciting part. Her uncle Didier and her grandparents were planning a visit to San Francisco.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piper pulled in the driveway, got out of her car and walked into the house. Leo and Wyatt were waiting with jackets and shoes on. "Hello," she said seeing the two of them. "What's going on?"
"We're waiting for you," Leo said smiling as she walked over and planted a kiss on his lips. "Wyatt wants to go hang out as a family. Just the three of us."
"That's a great idea! Where would you like to go?"
"Don't matter to me, anywhere, as long as we're together."
"Well, how about we go to the movies?" Leo asked, and Wyatt and Piper nodded in agreement.
Piper picked her purse back up and looked in the mirror. "Oh, wait, let me tell Phoebe that we're leaving." She went into the living room, and quietly told her sister of their outing and the small family of three left to spend an evening together. Portia ran back down to the kitchen where her parents had just started preparing dinner, they were having the sisters over, a bi-weekly ritual that had been going on for the last five months. "Mom, dad you'll never guess who's coming here!?!"
"Who sunny?"
"Uncle Didier and Grandmamma and Grandpapa. And Uncle Didier is bringing little Giverny! Can you believe it!?!"
Patrice looked at John. It's not that she wasn't excited, but knowing her mother, they would be staying at the house. How in the world would she explain magic if her family ever saw.
"Aren't you happy Mom?"
"Yes...of course sunny, but what else did Grandmamma say, when are they coming?"
"Next week, and they want to stay with us. She said that she'd call you to make sure that it was okay, but that they were definitely coming. Uncle Didier wants a tour of San Francisco, and he's bringing his 'American Wife.'"
Patrice looked at John and gulped. "Did you get any information on the family?"
"Nope, I was too excited, I'll just do the Halliwells, and leave out the magic part." Portia turned on her heels and walked back up the stairs happy as a lark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prue had finished the three spreads and was headed out of the office for the day. Her assistant, Meriel, was pregnant and couldn't be happier that she had taken Prue's advice. As Prue pushed open the swinging doors to exit the building, Bane entered through the other set. "Hey," he shouted to her.
She stopped and waited for him to come back to her. He planted a quick kiss on her lips and went out with her. "What are you doing here?" She coyly asked him.
"Coming to see my favorite photo editor, and my future bride."
"Well, your future bride is on her way out, I'm headed to the Manor."
"Isn't that a coincidence, I had just finished work and picked up some stuff at the grocery store to take to your sister's house tonight. I'll meet you at home, and then we'll make that and something else together." Prue giggled as she walked out the door with Bane's arm wrapped around her shoulders and his hand grabbing her rear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phoebe, Jason and Skylar were standing in the Halliwell kitchen putting gooey chocolate chip cookies on the cooling rack. "They smell sooooo good, don't they?" Skylar asked looking at Phoebe who was pulling the last tray out of the oven.
"They sure do. I bet even Aunt Piper will praise them."
"Hey, what time do we have to be over there?" Jason asked Phoebe, while he looked down at his watch.
"Six thirty," she replied setting the tray down. "Watch out Sky." Skylar moved back as to avoid the tray that Phoebe had just placed on the counter.
"Well, we have two hours to let these cookies cool and get ready. Sky, do you want to watch a movie and then we can finished getting ready?"
"Sure...Jason."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piper, Leo and Wyatt arrived back from their pleasant afternoon only minutes before they had to go, luckily, Piper had already prepared a dish to take over to Patrice's. And it was a cold dish, all she had to do was take it out of the refrigerator. "Leo, Wyatt, hurry and get cleaned up so we can go. Prue, Bane, Skylar, Paige, Phoebe and Jason were already waiting for them. "Sorry, the movie ran over." She grabbed her casserole dish, fluffed her hair in the mirror and stood at the door. Wyatt and Leo hurried down the stairs. The gang headed next door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portia was waiting at the door for her family. She was brimming with excitement about her mom's family coming to San Francisco, but her mom had told her not to say anything. This put a mild damper on her mood. Her Aunts kissed her and her Uncles hugged her. She led them into he dining room.
Patrice definitely knew how to throw a party, things were basked in candle light. The sisters placed their dishes on the table on and waited for Patrice. She came out of the kitchen with a wine bottle in one hand and a pitcher with water in the other. "Sit down, don't stand on account of me!" She said merrily. John followed her with a pheasant.
"It smells divine Patrice, I never knew that you could cook." Piper said very impressed be her little sister.
"Well, I wanted to introduce you to some French food. Things that I grew up eating. I hope that you enjoy it, despite what I'm going to tell you."
Prue, who was putting her napkin in her lap stopped. "And what would that be?"
"My parents are coming for a visit, and they're staying with me."
"Why would we mind, it'll be cool to meet your parents," Paige said.
"Well, the whole magic thing and all."
"Don't worry, you'll have a great time, and so will we." A week later, the day of the arrival of Patrice's family was upon them. Both the Manor and Patrice's house were cleaned from top to bottom. Every demon stain scrubbed until it had disappeared. But, not a day goes by without having to vanquish a demon, and Paige had to vanquish one in her freshly cleaned bedroom. The carpet had a huge stain, which took her half an hour to scrub out. But fortunately, that had been the only demon attack.
Promptly at four o'clock they arrived at Patrice's house to greet her family. Piper wore a burgundy top and black pants. Leo, who had forgone his elder attire wore black dress pants and a white shirt with a burgundy tie to match Piper. Wyatt wore cacki's, and blue shirt and a yellow tie. Phoebe donned a fitted black dress that came just past the knee and Jason was dressed much like Leo. Paige had a pink top on with a black skirt. Skylar put on a new blue top and a black skirt as well. Portia, always the favorite of her grandmamma's, sported a red shirt and a black skirt. Patrice was dressed to kill however. Her mother had not wanted her to move to California, and Patrice wanted to show her how good she looked. She wore a tight white sleeveless blouse and a rather short black skirt and a pair of knee high black boots. John was also dressed much like Leo and Jason. Bane wore a sports coat and black pants, while Prue wore a simple pair of black pants and a striped black and white shirt. The entire family looked great.
The knock came on the door and Portia ran to it. She opened it and threw herself into her grandmamma's arms. Her grandma kissed her and told her how beautiful she was. She proceeded to her grandpapa and her uncle and his American wife, who was holding baby Giverny.
"Allo, ma petite," Ariane said to her daughter. Patrice walked up and embraced her mother.
"Ca va mama, et toi?"
"Ca va bien." Ariane pulled away. "Qui-est-ce?"
"Mama, Papa, Didi, Nan, this is my family."
"Tous..." her father started.
"Oui, papa, j'ai quatre soeurs. Je vous presenter Prue, Piper, Phoebe, et Paige. Aussi, j'ai trois beau freres, Jason, Bane et Leo. Voice mon neveu, Wyatt et ma niece Skylar." While Patrice babbled to her family, Portia translated for them.
"I have four sister. I would like to present Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. Also, I have three brother in laws, Jason, Bane and Leo. This is my nephew Wyatt and my niece Skylar." With that said everyone greeted each other.
They went into the dining room. Patrice and Piper had outdone themselves with the feast they had prepared. A turkey, a pheasant and all the dressings that go with it, a salad made with French cheese and fresh baked baguettes. By the time dinner was over everyone was stuffed.
They had talked the whole night through about life and told Patrice's parents all about her biological mom, minus the little magic part. Her parents seemed totally pleased that Patrice's real family was good to her.
Mama shared stories about her childhood in the wilds of Bretagne and papa shared stories about giving tours of Roman ruins in Provence. They talked about how they met, and their children. Piper played with little Giverny all night. He made her remember how much she had wanted another child, and how it wasn't too late for her to have another munchkin of her own. Maybe she would discuss it with Leo, maybe they could have their little Melinda.
As the hour neared midnight, the family started to split, each going to their prospective homes and quarters. Mama and papa were staying two weeks. How could the sisters prevent a demon attack for two weeks, when they had one in each house nearly every day? The sun came up the next day. Portia could hear little Giverny crying in the bedroom down the hall from hers. She couldn't go back to sleep, so she gave in and started the day. She walked to her mom's room and knocked. "Come in!" Portia pushed open the oak door and entered. Her mother sat at her vanity table plucking her eyebrows.
"Doesn't that hurt?" She asked her mother.
"Not too bad, but it doesn't feel good. What are you doing up?"
"Giverny was crying and I couldn't sleep after all that ruckus. He's so loud." Portia looked around the room for John. "Where did dad go?"
"Up there, they gave him the jingle," Patrice sighed.
"What are we going to do if a demon attacks us? I mean, how are you going to explain it they see it happen?"
"We'll tell them the truth, plain and simple. There would be no way around it."
Patrice could hear the padded footsteps of her mother's house shoes coming down the hall. She knocked and entered. "Bonjour mes petites."
"Bonjour, mama." Patrice said getting up to hug her mother. Portia hugged her as well.
"Did you sleep well grandmamma?"
"Ah, yez my dear. Well, Cherie, what are we doing today?"
"Well, my sister Paige and I were going to take you around town and then tonight we're planning on going to Piper's club so you can hear the new band that's playing there. And I know what you're going to say, what about Giverny and the other kids, well, our friend Chris is going to watch them."
"I guess you have everything planned, Cherie. I'm going to go get dressed. A quelle heure est-ce que nous sortirons?"
"Dix heures, maman." Ariane left the bedroom to get prepared for their ten o'clock rendez-vous. Piper and Leo woke up once again in each other's arms. Over the last month their love had reblossomed into a beautiful rose, whose beauty no one could mar. Leo had already been awake when Piper stirred. "Hey," she said to him, "what are you up to?"
"Just watching my beautiful wif...I mean just watching you," he stammered because she was no longer his wife.
"Well, let's say we get up since I promised to wake Paige up so she wouldn't be late getting to Patrice's." Leo nodded but groaned as she pulled away from him and got out of bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prue and Bane had already been awake and had breakfast on the table waiting for the rest of the family. A knock on the Manor door signaled that Patrice was there with her family and coos could be heard coming from little Giverny. Prue walked in and greeted them, and offered to take Giverny. Nancy handed him over willingly. Prue had wanted a baby for so long, but she was nearing her menopause time and was unsure if she and Bane could have children. She could only pray, but she played with Giverny and cuddled him and he laughed at her. The rest of the sisters came downstairs.
"Hey sis!" Paige said patting Patrice on the shoulder. Patrice smiled at her and then spoke to her family.
"Est-ce que je vous ai dit que Paige est ma jumelle?"
Portia translated, "Did I tell you that Paige is my twin sister?"
"Vraiment!" Ariane asked.
"Oui mama."
"Mais il n'y a pas de ressemblance."
"Je sais, parce que J'ai l'air de ma mère biologique. Phoebe where do you keep the pictures of mom?"
"I'll get them." She went to a drawer and pulled out a framed picture that they had not had enough space for. "Here you go," she said handing the picture to Ariane. Ariane gasped and looked at her daughter.
"Incroyable," Didier exclaimed, looking over his mother's shoulders. "That's weird, sis. So what are we going to do today?"
"Well," Paige started, "we're taking you on a tour of San Francisco, who wants to stay cooped up in our stuffy houses!" They laughed.
"Your house is very beautiful," Arnaud replied. That was one of the few times that they had heard him speak. He was a very quiet and reserved man, nothing at all like the Halliwells, or his wife.
"Thank you," Piper said. "It's been in our family for generations. We inherited it from our grandmother. It was her house."
"Speaking of generations, if we don't hurry up we're going to be stuck in this house for eons, eat up everyone," Patrice said. She had already discussed the risks of having a demon attack when her family was around.
Everyone ate and when all were satisfied, Patrice and Paige led the French battalion out into the muggy San Francisco day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Wyatt!" Portia said after her family had left, "come here."
He left the kitchen where his mom and his Aunt Prue were cleaning up. "What is it?"
"I wanted to run something by you."
"I hope this is a non-magical thing...please tell me it is."
"Well, it's not. How are we going to keep the houses safe? I mean, how can we protect them?"
"I don't know, but I do think that you should run this by my mom before you cast any spells."
"Why? You know how to make potions, all we need is some home protection spell and potion, and it'll be a snap!"
"Portia, I don't think..."
"Well stop thinking then and let's get to it, you're wasting precious time. Plus, Chris is going to be here later and he definitely won't let us."
"And you think our parent's would?"
She brushed him off and drug him upstairs. "I'm so going to be dead," Wyatt thought to himself. It was five o'clock that afternoon when the battalion arrived home. They were beat after driving around San Francisco all that afternoon. They had seen everything around town and had taken a few streetcars around. Ariane was first through the door and she sat down right away. "Oh la la Patrice, you live in a very large city."
"Ah, that's nothing compared to Paris mom," Didier said as he flopped onto the sofa and Nan sat beside him.
"I liked it," Nan said, "It's like Chicago, just smaller and not as cold."
"Would anyone like some coffee?" Patrice offered. Her parents nodded, so she recruited Paige to go into the kitchen. Patrice got the coffee grounds and filters while Paige filled the water in the pot up.
"We are so lucky the demons have been leaving us alone," Patrice said.
"I wouldn't speak too soon though, we still have a few weeks to go."
"I know, I'm just worried about how they'd react. When I discovered my powers after I graduated, I asked them if they believed in magic, and they said no. How am I going to tell them that I'm a witch?"
"Let's hope we don't have to have that conversation. What they don't know can't hurt them," Paige said.
Patrice nodded as she pulled out a platter to put cups on. Paige got the cups out of the cupboard and placed them on the platter upside down. The coffee was ready and within five minutes they were back in the family room.
An hour later after chitchatting, a knock came at the door, in a hurried fashion. It was Piper ready to head down to the club. Everyone had changed into nicer clothes that were still comfy, and they headed out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portia and Wyatt were in the attic. Wyatt had used his telekinetic orbing to orb the necessary ingredients to the attic. The door was locked so no one could get in. They couldn't risk the adults finding out.
"Portia, magic can be very dangerous, you need to be careful."
"Wyatt, I know what I'm doing," she said throwing some dragon's blood into the cauldron. Wyatt hadn't wanted to help his cousin, but she drug him into it. She could be very intimidating at times and Wyatt wanted no part of her being mad at him. Every rule of magic he had learned told him no, but he didn't want her to be alone if something happened. "Hey, hand me that bottle over there, the one that's sitting on the bureau." He obliged and handed it to her. She threw some of its contents into the pot and it smoked. "Bingo!" she said throwing her hands in the air. "And no one caught us."
There was a knock at the attic door, "Who's up here?" It was Chris.
"Just me and Wyatt, Chris, we're just on our way out." She telekinetically opened the lock and he came through the door. Chris knew they were up to something but there was nothing out of order.
"Well, I wanted to check on you guys. Why don't you come down and help me with Giverny, after all, he is your cousin Portia." She rolled her eyes while tightly gripping the small flask, which held the contents of their potion. Wyatt walked out ahead of her giving her a stern look as he passed her. She made a face at him and followed him out. Patrice's family had loved Piper's club. "Piper, your club is ze best!" Arnaud exclaimed. He had never been quite that excited during the whole trip.
"It is very nice, much like the places I went to in Paris," Ariane said. Patrice had known that her mother had been a partier in her heyday.
"Thanks," Piper said, "I'm glad you liked it. Well Patrice, we're going to go home, do you want me to send Portia over?"
"She's probably asleep Piper. If she is don't bother to wake her, I'll be over in the morning."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris had fallen asleep on the couch. "Come on, Wyatt," Portia said quietly. She had her potion in her hand and was ready to cast the protection spell.
"Portia, can't you cast the spell alone? I'm really tired."
"Oh come on you big baby," Portia teased. Wyatt begrudgingly followed her.
She stood in the foyer holding the potion bottle. "Now, you watch Chris and holler if he wakes up!" Wyatt stood by the wall and peeked around the corner. Chris was still asleep. "By dark of night and light of day, let us have a peaceable stay, a guardian for this house we seek, to keep watchful eye and protect the meek," Portia chanted. She threw the potion and just as she did, she didn't see Piper standing in the doorway. The potion hit her leather pants.
"Great," Wyatt said seeing his mom, "Now you've gotten us in trouble."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Portia Atiana Tomasi, what in the hell were you thinking?" Patrice yelled at her daughter. Portia knew she was in trouble, they had even called her dad.
"Well, I was trying to protect the houses from a demon attack while the family's here and Aunt Piper mucked it up."
"Don't even try to blame Piper, you were the one casting spells without permission."
"It was for the greater good!" Portia said raising her voice.
"Don't take that tone with me young lady," Patrice said angrily. She had nothing else to say to her daughter.
Piper took over, "Portia, honey, do you know why we don't want you casting spells?"
"Ummm...yeah! It could attract a demon."
"No, that's not why. You and Wyatt aren't experienced with your magic yet. Casting a spell could mean that something happens to you. Not all spells work the way they are supposed to, sometimes they backfire."
"I know Aunt Piper."
"So, if you promise not to cast any spells without permission, I'll forgive you for staining my leather pants. Do we have a deal?"
"Yeah," Portia said feeling ashamed. It had been her fault and she felt bad for blaming her Aunt.
"Patrice, is that alright with you?" Piper asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Hey Piper! I got the stain out!" Phoebe yelled from the laundry room.
"See Portia, you didn't stain my pants."
Portia smiled, but when she looked at her mother and her cousin she could tell that both of them were mad. She could understand her mom being upset, but Wyatt? He didn't get in trouble, there was no guilt by association. "What's your problem?" Portia asked Wyatt.
"You!"
"ME! You didn't get in trouble, I did, and I can guarantee you that I'll be grounded when I get home, but that doesn't explain you. I repented and confessed."
"I just don't want to talk to you right now," he said turning away from her.
"Fine then," she said slamming the door as she left. He was such a jerk sometimes. "Patrice you should calm down sweetie," John said trying to say anything to comfort his fuming mad wife.
"No, she was using magic for personal gain, and that is against the rules. Her even thinking about casting a spell at her age is against the rules."
"She wanted to protect her grandparents from a demon, can you really blame her? You would have done the same thing, you know you would have."
"John, that's not the point, I didn't misuse magic..."
"She didn't misuse it, she didn't even finish casting it, and it was a harmless spell. I've heard you cast it before."
She looked at him harshly, but he just smiled back at her and she couldn't help but laugh. She sat down, "I guess you're right, I probably would have done the same thing, in fact she just got to the spell before I did." They laughed together and John hugged her. Patrice's tensions eased as she went home to talk to her daughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piper had gone up to her bedroom. She felt good for explaining to Portia what she did wrong and what could have happened, rather than flying off the handle and being mad at her. "Leo!" She yelled up into the wild yonder above and the shimmery blue lights appeared in her bedroom.
"What is it Piper?"
"Can't I just want to be with the man I love," she said standing up and going to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "you know Leo, I was thinking..."
"About what?"
"Oh...never mind, right now I just want to be with you," she said pulling him down on the bed and laying on top of him.
"Why, Mrs. Halliwell, are you trying to seduce me?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skylar had gone to comfort Wyatt and finally Phoebe and Jason had some alone time. It had been two weeks since he had gotten home from Japan and she had been dying to be alone with him. "Alone at last," Phoebe said leading him into their bedroom.
"I know, it' s been how long?"
"A month and a half. Too long!"
"I know," he said nuzzling her neck. He moved down her body and they quickly threw off their clothes.
After their little interlude, Phoebe lay naked in his arms.
"Wow," he said.
"It's really been a long time hasn't it?" She goofed and he laughed at her. "Hey, I need to tell you something?"
"Yes my dear."
"Well, not long after you left, I was feeling a little weird, like nauseated, so I went to the drugstore and bought a pregnancy test."
Jason sat up in the bed, "AND!!!"
"I'm pregnant."
"Whoo who!" Jason screamed hugging Phoebe and she laughed. "You mean I'm going to be a daddy?" She nodded, "whoo who!" he yelled again. By this time, everyone except Piper and Leo was standing outside of their bedroom door. Paige knocked.
"Are you guys all right in there?"
Throwing on his robe, he ran out and picked Skylar up. "You know what angel, Phoebe and I are going to have a baby!" The rest of the group was flabbergasted. Congratulations were passed around outside the closed door so Phoebe could get dressed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Now, when should we set the official date for the wedding?" Prue asked Bane?
"I think that we should get married in June."
"June? But that's four months away!"
"But remember the saying, when you marry in June you'll always be a bride."
"Well, then a June wedding it is," she agreed.
"Now," Bane said reaching in his pocket, "I have something for you." He pulled out a ring box and opened it up to reveal a two carat diamond solitaire with a white gold band.
"Bane! It's gorgeous, but where did you get the money?"
"My promotion." He took the ring out of the box and put it on her finger. "There, now you are officially taken." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly.
"I love you Bane."
"I love you Prue." "Errrgh!" Portia screamed as she entered her house. "Stupid Wyatt, he always thinks he's above everyone else just because he's..."
She slammed the door behind her, but heard some faint screaming noises coming from upstairs. Her heartbeat quickened as she took the first step. "Should I call for my Aunts and mom?" she thought to herself, but if there was a demon here, she didn't want him to find her right away. She quietly ascended the staircase, hoping with all her might that her family was alright.
She walked to her grandparent's room and a pukey green skinned demon was hovering over her grandparents who were in the comer. He obviously hadn't heard her come up, so from behind him she yelled, "DAD!!!!!"
The demon snapped around and created an energy ball in his hands and came looming towards her. She backed up and looked behind, a wall, he would have her trapped if she was up against it. The demon raised his hand to throw the energy ball, but was stopped when Portia threw her hands up and froze him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I knew she was up to no good, and look at the trouble she got herself into!" Wyatt complained to Skylar.
"She thought that she was helping."
"What by making my mom and her mom mad at her?"
"Your mom wasn't exactly mad, but Aunt Patrice was going to boil over. I'm surprised she didn't."
"Still, why does she have to be so stupid?"
"Wyatt, listen to me, she was casting a good spell, valid, right? She wasn't trying to hurt anyone, she was trying to protect her family. You know her mom wanted the demon attacks to be at a minimum, well she was trying to help."
"I guess, but she didn't have to get such an attitude with me."
"Wyatt, you astound me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Patrice, I think Portia's calling us and she sounds panicked," John said standing up from the Halliwell sofa.
"What could be wrong now?"
"She sounds scared, like something is happening, you better round up your sisters." Patrice went to get her sisters and after about five minutes they were all ready to orb out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"DAD!!!! Errrgh, why aren't you listening to me," she yelled. The demon in front of her was still frozen but he was starting to pull out of it.
He came out of her freeze and stared at her, "You are a Charmed One?"
"What of it?" She haughtily replied.
"You interrupted my feast and for that you will pay."
"What are you?" she asked as he approached her.
"I'm a soul sucker and I want your soul. Those feeble humans over there are just appetizers, you my dear will be the main course." he got closer to her as her back hit the wall. He laughed and rose his hands up and placed them around her neck as he began to inhale her soul.
Suddenly, the blue lights of the Halliwell family appeared and they saw the bind that Portia was in. "He's....a soul...sucker...mmm....mom," she was very near death. Phoebe ran up to him and kicked him in the side, knocking him away from Portia. Portia clutched her throat and ran to her dad's side. Once there she fainted.
"Patrice, I'm going to orb her to the manor, you check on your parents." Patrice started towards them, but Leo stopped her.
"No, you fight with your sisters and I'll take them to the Manor." She smiled at him and rejoined her sisters.
"Anyone know a spell?" Paige asked.
"Nope, there was nothing in the book about one of these guys." Prue said.
"Well, let's make one up then," Piper chimed in, "quickly."
Paige started and the others grabbed her hands. "You feast on souls, to make your own complete, but we end your sucking spree, we set your victims free..." the trapped souls inside his body began to pour out his mouth as he convulsed in a standing position, "may you suffer the same fate, times three."
His body convulsed as he slowly shrunk and them exploded. The sister's nodded to one another and Patrice looked at her mom. She had wide eyes and a hint of fear. "Mama?"
"Why don't we get them out of here, in case any demons come to attack again," Prue said. "Patrice, qu'est-ce qui s'est passee?" Ariane asked.
"What happened," Patrice said, "is a...well, that was a demon?"
"Le diable?"
"No, it wasn't the devil. It was a demon, we actually get a lot of them around here, which is why I've been trying to keep you out of the house as much as possible."
"What do you mean, sis?" Didier asked, stepping forward.
"Didi, I mean to say that I'm a witch, and so are my sisters?"
"Elle est sorciere!" Arnaud exclaimed. "But Patrice, you are not bad."
"Father, not all witches are bad, we're good witches, we save people all the time." They looked at their daughter in disbelief. "Don't you believe me?"
"Well, I'm not sure what to think," Ariane replied. "What can you do?"
"Well, Didi, do you remember how I could always tell what you were thinking?"
"Yeah, that was freaky."
"Well, that's one of my powers, and watch," she said as she threw her hands at a flower in the vase across the room. She froze it, picked it up and brought it to her mother. "I can turn things to ice. " In turn each of the sisters showed their powers and Portia did some tricks for her grandparents.
Ariane was still in shock. "Patrice, I think I need some time to think." Patrice went to help her mother up, but Ariane pulled out of her grasp. "No, I prefer to do it myself thank you."
Patrice was aching inside, her own mother was afraid of her. They had been serious when they had told her they didn't like magic. A part of her was broken. Ariane walked up the stairs with Arnaud at her side. Her mother cast a woeful glance back at her. She sat down on the sofa and started to sob.
Didier came up to comfort her, "It's alright sis, I believe you. I've known you were different for a long time, but I also knew that mom and dad would act like this. Mom doesn't approve of that stuff, to her it's devil worship. She's catholic after all. I guess I can see where she's coming from, it surprised me too, but she shouldn't be mad. It's a part of you." He hugged her, at least someone approved. Her sisters comforted her too, but they had something else to worry about, Portia was very weak.
Patrice got up and went over to her daughter. "Sunny, what's the matter?"
"I feel sick, I ache all over the place." Patrice pulled her up and there was blood running down her back. A black arrow was stuck there too.
"Guys, come here. That wasn't just a soul sucker, that was a darklighter too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wyatt was still fuming in his bedroom, but he had calmed down a little. The commotion downstairs was normal for the family, but there was an urgency in the air. But her really didn't feel like dragging himself down the stairs to see what was up. Instead her laid down on his bed and started to daydream.
A peaceful day with his mom and dad, another family day. His dad wasn't that bad. And he was reasonable, for an elder, that is. But his mom was the apple of his eye. She was practically perfect, just like Mary Poppins, an old favorite of his mother's.
Suddenly, his body temperature rose, and he could feel a whitelighter in pain. Was it his dad...no. It was Portia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Now, lay still honey," Phoebe said as she broke the arrow and pulled it out. Patrice, Paige, Chris, John and Leo weren't allowed near it. Didier held his niece's hand.
"My, sunshine, you are a brave one. When did this happen? you seemed fine when you were talking to everyone."
"The poison doesn't always kick in right away," Leo said, "but she's in grave danger now."
"Leo, can you heal her?" Piper asked. Footsteps were on the stairs.
"Ma petite!" Ariane yelled.
"No, mama, don't go by her, we're trying to save her," Patrice said restraining her mother.
"We need more hands in here," Leo said, "this arrow was loaded."
Another set of footsteps hurried down, "I knew it," Wyatt exclaimed. He ran over to where his dad was and administered his own healing touch. Paige and John added in. Patrice was the last one, and the wound was healed.
Portia slowly tried to rise, "No, no sunny, you stay down and rest. No moving, do you hear me?" John said.
"Yes daddy." He hugged her and Patrice joined in.
"You really aren't bad people," Ariane said. "You saved her."
"That's what we do mom," Patrice said. "It's our destiny, to help people. That thing that hurt Portia was a demon. They live in the underworld, or a place much like Hell."
"But why were you chosen for this fate?"
"My biological mother was a witch from a line of powerful witches. My sisters and I are the most powerful force of good the world will ever know. We stop the evil from wreaking havoc on the world."
"But the powers?"
"We each have powers, they were passed throughout the Halliwell lineage. We...inherited them from our family."
"I think that I have come to a better understanding of what your life is like. I'm sorry that I ever thought you were bad." Patrice hugged her mother and the others smiled. She noticed her father had been on the steps the entire time listening. He winked at her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A week later, the family had left, and the Halliwells were free of worries...well at least the temporary worries that had been caused by the family. But they had been introduced to a world of doubts that could be solved, and they thought that exposure was bad. But teaching people and showing them that things that are unknown are not evil.
Portia and Wyatt had made up, and were thicker than molasses. On the condition that Portia never make him accomplice to her ideas again, like that would ever happen. But on reflection, Portia said to herself, "We may be afraid of the unknown, but unless you face it like a trooper and go for it, you'll miss an awful lot.
"I hope he likes me, he didn't mind that you took me in without telling him?"
"No, he's always wanted kids and we haven't had any, now you're our kid," Phoebe said hugging Skylar.
Skylar smiled, she really liked Phoebe and how she treated her. Phoebe had never once yelled at her like her dad had. Sometimes he'd scream at her when she didn't use her power right and blew up the furniture. But Phoebe never yelled and she appreciated that. She's like her mom was, so gentle and fun loving.
Surprisingly, she wasn't that upset about her dad being killed. He never liked her, he just wanted a child, a son, to be specific, and he always reminded Skylar of that. "I wanted a son, and I got you!" he'd say when he was mad. In front of other people he was so nice, but to her he was mean as hell.
"What do you want to do before Jason gets home?"
"Well, how about we make some food and then after that we can do makeovers!"
"How about we do the makeovers first and then make some food?"
"Okay," she took Phoebe by the hand and they ran up the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After nearly a month, Wyatt still hadn't talked to Leo. He had wanted to, but every time, he lost the nerve, but he had promised his mom that he would do it today. He was waiting for Leo up in his room. Piper had gone to the club for awhile to give them some privacy. Sky and his Aunt Phoebe were still at home, but they had promised to keep the noise down.
The blue and white lights of Leo's orb startled Wyatt as he stiffened on the edge of his bed. Leo appeared. "Hi, son."
Wyatt didn't know what to call him. "Hi...dad."
"Your mom said that you wanted to talk."
"Yeah," he hesitated, not really knowing how to put his feelings into words. "Why don't I start at the root of my problem...how you left mom."
"Wyatt, I didn't leave your mom."
"Yeah, you did. I may have been really little, but I can remember lots of things that you wouldn't expect me to remember. I felt her being really mad, then really happy, and sad and indifferent at the same time. You don't need to explain why she was happy, because I know, you put a spell on her, and I do understand why. And you came back for a few years after, but then you totally left us. I can remember her telling me all about you, and how you had a higher duty, but now, in my heart of hearts, I know that that is the biggest pile of horse **** I've ever seen."
"Wyatt!"
"No, don't interrupt. Your first duty was to your wife and child, and you neglected us. She tried to tell me when I was younger that you always watched me, but I never felt any loving eyes on me. Remember, you can sense me, well I can sense you, and you never watched over me."
"Is this really about your mom, Wyatt?"
"In a way, but it is more about you, shirking your duty to your family. That's why I didn't want you around. I figure, if you can ignore us for so long, why not forever?"
Leo didn't know what to say. He hadn't been watching Wyatt all the time, true, but he did love his son and his wife. "Wyatt, I love you and your mom. You were created out of love. A love that was pulled through trial after trial. I never ignored you, but I couldn't have watched you 24/7. I don't want you to doubt that I love you. You're my son, and I love you with all my heart. I love your mother too, and I've just rediscovered the love that had been dormant in my heart for years."
"I know you love mom, I can see it in your eyes."
"Wyatt, do you think that we could work on building our relationship, you and me?"
"yeah, I guess, that would be okay. But how?"
"We can have days where we just hangout with each other, father ad son."
"Okay dad." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`~ Piper sat in her car outside of club. She had finally finished doing her inventory and stocking, and was going to go home. She had hoped that everything went alright with Leo and Wyatt. She wanted them to get along so she could have her family back again.
She put the key into the ignition and turned it. Strangely it wouldn't start. She checked her lights, and sure enough, she had been distracted and left them on. Well, Paige had jumper cables in her car and would be willing to come and give her a hand. She picked up her cell phone and called Paige.
"Hey, Paige, it's me, Piper. I was wondering, could you bring your jumper cables here and jump start my car? I left my lights on."
"Yeah, I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Just sit tight."
"Thanks sis." She hung up the phone. Now the wait. Portia sat at her desk writing a school paper. An essay on the history of your family. "Which family should I use?" she asked herself. "I don't know a lot about my mom or my dad's family, but how do I get past the 'we're witches' thing?" She sighed, and got up to go talk to her mom. She had to know more about her grandma and grandpa Marcel than anyone else.
She stepped down the hallway went down the stairs. Her mom and dad were in the kitchen going over bills. Her mom looked up and pushed a strand of dark hair out of her face, "Hi, sunshine, what's up?"
"Well, I have to do a paper on my family, and I wanted to do grandma and grandpa, because I don't know how to get around the whole witch thing with our real family. Can you help me? I mean, I already know that they're French and that they lived in France, but that's about it."
"Well, why don't you give them a call?" Patrice said studying a bill.
"But that means..." Portia whined getting interrupted.
"You'd have to remember your French." Patrice put down the bill and looked at her daughter. She knew very well that Portia could speak fluent French and Italian, but she liked English better.
"I remember my French, kids ask me to speak all the time at school."
"So, give them a call," John said smiling at his bullheaded daughter.
"Fine, where's the phone number?"
"On the phone list in the cupboard," Patrice said quickly before delving back into the pile of bills that lay before her. Portia opened the cupboard above the phone and looked up the number. She scribbled it down on a sticky note and ran back up stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prue was in her office. A bouquet of red roses was on her desk. Bane had sent them, he knew that she loved them. She smiled at the thought of him. He had really turned his life around. He'd gotten a good job at a construction company and was fixing up his house so they would have a place to go after the wedding.
Thinking about her wedding sent chills through her body, not bad chills, but good ones. She had dreamt of this day her entire life and now it was within reach. But so much for dreaming at the moment, she had three photo spreads on her desk and about a million phone calls to make. She could dream later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, Piper, you're all set," Paige said cleaning off her hands in the club.
"Thanks so much. I'm sorry to pull you out of work, I would have called Leo, but..."
"I know, the cease fire was today. It's alright. Plus all I did was orb here. It's way quicker than driving."
Piper nodded as the two of them walked out of the club. Piper locked the door and Paige went to step behind a tall bush so she could orb back to her car. "I'll see you at dinner tonight." Paige waved to Piper and she orbed out.
Piper got in her car and drove towards the manor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason's car pulled up in the driveway and Phoebe bolted down the stairs with Skylar at her heels. She couldn't even wait for him to get to the door. She flung it open and ran into his arms. He had to drop his luggage to catch her.
"Hi, sweetie." She showered him with kisses. After a minute she pulled away and introduced Skylar. "Jason, this is Skylar, and Sky this is my husband Jason."
Jason looked down at her and smiled. "You are just as pretty as Phoebe said. I'm glad you decided to join our family."
"Well, compared to my psycho dad, you guys are normal." She laughed and both Phoebe and Jason laughed with her.
"Why don't we go inside. We can talk better in there." Phoebe said.
"Great idea, honey," Jason said picking up his suitcases with Skylar's help. The newly formed family went inside. Leo stood up and Wyatt followed suit. They could hear the ruckus downstairs. "Uncle Jason must me home," Wyatt aid sighing. His Aunt Paige had been right, his dad wasn't so bad, and he was rather reasonable. The talk had lifted a huge weight off his shoulders. He proceeded down the steps, not far behind Leo. The clunk of luggage on the floor and the jovial laughter of his Aunt Phoebe told the entire story.
Looking out of her rose colored world, Phoebe saw Leo and Wyatt on the stairs. "Oh, did we disturb you? I'm sorry," she apologized.
"No, we were finished," Leo replied smiling. He rested his hand on Wyatt's shoulder. Phoebe nodded and went into the sitting room where Skylar and Jason were already talking. She snuggled into place next to Jason.
Wyatt, who had been watching his other family members, turned to face his father. "Why don't we wait for mom and then go to the park and do something together as a family?"
"Sounds like a plan to me, son." He smiled that gentle smile and Wyatt began to see more of himself, and could perhaps feel more comfortable in his own skin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portia picked up the telephone in her bedroom and dialed the long distance telephone number. The line at the other end picked up. "Hello?"
"Hello, Grandmamma, its Portia." Her grandmother immediately started babbling in French, asking her how she was and how her mother was.
Portia provided all of the necessary responses, delivered in proper French, but that wasn't the most exciting part. Her uncle Didier and her grandparents were planning a visit to San Francisco.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piper pulled in the driveway, got out of her car and walked into the house. Leo and Wyatt were waiting with jackets and shoes on. "Hello," she said seeing the two of them. "What's going on?"
"We're waiting for you," Leo said smiling as she walked over and planted a kiss on his lips. "Wyatt wants to go hang out as a family. Just the three of us."
"That's a great idea! Where would you like to go?"
"Don't matter to me, anywhere, as long as we're together."
"Well, how about we go to the movies?" Leo asked, and Wyatt and Piper nodded in agreement.
Piper picked her purse back up and looked in the mirror. "Oh, wait, let me tell Phoebe that we're leaving." She went into the living room, and quietly told her sister of their outing and the small family of three left to spend an evening together. Portia ran back down to the kitchen where her parents had just started preparing dinner, they were having the sisters over, a bi-weekly ritual that had been going on for the last five months. "Mom, dad you'll never guess who's coming here!?!"
"Who sunny?"
"Uncle Didier and Grandmamma and Grandpapa. And Uncle Didier is bringing little Giverny! Can you believe it!?!"
Patrice looked at John. It's not that she wasn't excited, but knowing her mother, they would be staying at the house. How in the world would she explain magic if her family ever saw.
"Aren't you happy Mom?"
"Yes...of course sunny, but what else did Grandmamma say, when are they coming?"
"Next week, and they want to stay with us. She said that she'd call you to make sure that it was okay, but that they were definitely coming. Uncle Didier wants a tour of San Francisco, and he's bringing his 'American Wife.'"
Patrice looked at John and gulped. "Did you get any information on the family?"
"Nope, I was too excited, I'll just do the Halliwells, and leave out the magic part." Portia turned on her heels and walked back up the stairs happy as a lark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prue had finished the three spreads and was headed out of the office for the day. Her assistant, Meriel, was pregnant and couldn't be happier that she had taken Prue's advice. As Prue pushed open the swinging doors to exit the building, Bane entered through the other set. "Hey," he shouted to her.
She stopped and waited for him to come back to her. He planted a quick kiss on her lips and went out with her. "What are you doing here?" She coyly asked him.
"Coming to see my favorite photo editor, and my future bride."
"Well, your future bride is on her way out, I'm headed to the Manor."
"Isn't that a coincidence, I had just finished work and picked up some stuff at the grocery store to take to your sister's house tonight. I'll meet you at home, and then we'll make that and something else together." Prue giggled as she walked out the door with Bane's arm wrapped around her shoulders and his hand grabbing her rear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phoebe, Jason and Skylar were standing in the Halliwell kitchen putting gooey chocolate chip cookies on the cooling rack. "They smell sooooo good, don't they?" Skylar asked looking at Phoebe who was pulling the last tray out of the oven.
"They sure do. I bet even Aunt Piper will praise them."
"Hey, what time do we have to be over there?" Jason asked Phoebe, while he looked down at his watch.
"Six thirty," she replied setting the tray down. "Watch out Sky." Skylar moved back as to avoid the tray that Phoebe had just placed on the counter.
"Well, we have two hours to let these cookies cool and get ready. Sky, do you want to watch a movie and then we can finished getting ready?"
"Sure...Jason."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piper, Leo and Wyatt arrived back from their pleasant afternoon only minutes before they had to go, luckily, Piper had already prepared a dish to take over to Patrice's. And it was a cold dish, all she had to do was take it out of the refrigerator. "Leo, Wyatt, hurry and get cleaned up so we can go. Prue, Bane, Skylar, Paige, Phoebe and Jason were already waiting for them. "Sorry, the movie ran over." She grabbed her casserole dish, fluffed her hair in the mirror and stood at the door. Wyatt and Leo hurried down the stairs. The gang headed next door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portia was waiting at the door for her family. She was brimming with excitement about her mom's family coming to San Francisco, but her mom had told her not to say anything. This put a mild damper on her mood. Her Aunts kissed her and her Uncles hugged her. She led them into he dining room.
Patrice definitely knew how to throw a party, things were basked in candle light. The sisters placed their dishes on the table on and waited for Patrice. She came out of the kitchen with a wine bottle in one hand and a pitcher with water in the other. "Sit down, don't stand on account of me!" She said merrily. John followed her with a pheasant.
"It smells divine Patrice, I never knew that you could cook." Piper said very impressed be her little sister.
"Well, I wanted to introduce you to some French food. Things that I grew up eating. I hope that you enjoy it, despite what I'm going to tell you."
Prue, who was putting her napkin in her lap stopped. "And what would that be?"
"My parents are coming for a visit, and they're staying with me."
"Why would we mind, it'll be cool to meet your parents," Paige said.
"Well, the whole magic thing and all."
"Don't worry, you'll have a great time, and so will we." A week later, the day of the arrival of Patrice's family was upon them. Both the Manor and Patrice's house were cleaned from top to bottom. Every demon stain scrubbed until it had disappeared. But, not a day goes by without having to vanquish a demon, and Paige had to vanquish one in her freshly cleaned bedroom. The carpet had a huge stain, which took her half an hour to scrub out. But fortunately, that had been the only demon attack.
Promptly at four o'clock they arrived at Patrice's house to greet her family. Piper wore a burgundy top and black pants. Leo, who had forgone his elder attire wore black dress pants and a white shirt with a burgundy tie to match Piper. Wyatt wore cacki's, and blue shirt and a yellow tie. Phoebe donned a fitted black dress that came just past the knee and Jason was dressed much like Leo. Paige had a pink top on with a black skirt. Skylar put on a new blue top and a black skirt as well. Portia, always the favorite of her grandmamma's, sported a red shirt and a black skirt. Patrice was dressed to kill however. Her mother had not wanted her to move to California, and Patrice wanted to show her how good she looked. She wore a tight white sleeveless blouse and a rather short black skirt and a pair of knee high black boots. John was also dressed much like Leo and Jason. Bane wore a sports coat and black pants, while Prue wore a simple pair of black pants and a striped black and white shirt. The entire family looked great.
The knock came on the door and Portia ran to it. She opened it and threw herself into her grandmamma's arms. Her grandma kissed her and told her how beautiful she was. She proceeded to her grandpapa and her uncle and his American wife, who was holding baby Giverny.
"Allo, ma petite," Ariane said to her daughter. Patrice walked up and embraced her mother.
"Ca va mama, et toi?"
"Ca va bien." Ariane pulled away. "Qui-est-ce?"
"Mama, Papa, Didi, Nan, this is my family."
"Tous..." her father started.
"Oui, papa, j'ai quatre soeurs. Je vous presenter Prue, Piper, Phoebe, et Paige. Aussi, j'ai trois beau freres, Jason, Bane et Leo. Voice mon neveu, Wyatt et ma niece Skylar." While Patrice babbled to her family, Portia translated for them.
"I have four sister. I would like to present Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. Also, I have three brother in laws, Jason, Bane and Leo. This is my nephew Wyatt and my niece Skylar." With that said everyone greeted each other.
They went into the dining room. Patrice and Piper had outdone themselves with the feast they had prepared. A turkey, a pheasant and all the dressings that go with it, a salad made with French cheese and fresh baked baguettes. By the time dinner was over everyone was stuffed.
They had talked the whole night through about life and told Patrice's parents all about her biological mom, minus the little magic part. Her parents seemed totally pleased that Patrice's real family was good to her.
Mama shared stories about her childhood in the wilds of Bretagne and papa shared stories about giving tours of Roman ruins in Provence. They talked about how they met, and their children. Piper played with little Giverny all night. He made her remember how much she had wanted another child, and how it wasn't too late for her to have another munchkin of her own. Maybe she would discuss it with Leo, maybe they could have their little Melinda.
As the hour neared midnight, the family started to split, each going to their prospective homes and quarters. Mama and papa were staying two weeks. How could the sisters prevent a demon attack for two weeks, when they had one in each house nearly every day? The sun came up the next day. Portia could hear little Giverny crying in the bedroom down the hall from hers. She couldn't go back to sleep, so she gave in and started the day. She walked to her mom's room and knocked. "Come in!" Portia pushed open the oak door and entered. Her mother sat at her vanity table plucking her eyebrows.
"Doesn't that hurt?" She asked her mother.
"Not too bad, but it doesn't feel good. What are you doing up?"
"Giverny was crying and I couldn't sleep after all that ruckus. He's so loud." Portia looked around the room for John. "Where did dad go?"
"Up there, they gave him the jingle," Patrice sighed.
"What are we going to do if a demon attacks us? I mean, how are you going to explain it they see it happen?"
"We'll tell them the truth, plain and simple. There would be no way around it."
Patrice could hear the padded footsteps of her mother's house shoes coming down the hall. She knocked and entered. "Bonjour mes petites."
"Bonjour, mama." Patrice said getting up to hug her mother. Portia hugged her as well.
"Did you sleep well grandmamma?"
"Ah, yez my dear. Well, Cherie, what are we doing today?"
"Well, my sister Paige and I were going to take you around town and then tonight we're planning on going to Piper's club so you can hear the new band that's playing there. And I know what you're going to say, what about Giverny and the other kids, well, our friend Chris is going to watch them."
"I guess you have everything planned, Cherie. I'm going to go get dressed. A quelle heure est-ce que nous sortirons?"
"Dix heures, maman." Ariane left the bedroom to get prepared for their ten o'clock rendez-vous. Piper and Leo woke up once again in each other's arms. Over the last month their love had reblossomed into a beautiful rose, whose beauty no one could mar. Leo had already been awake when Piper stirred. "Hey," she said to him, "what are you up to?"
"Just watching my beautiful wif...I mean just watching you," he stammered because she was no longer his wife.
"Well, let's say we get up since I promised to wake Paige up so she wouldn't be late getting to Patrice's." Leo nodded but groaned as she pulled away from him and got out of bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prue and Bane had already been awake and had breakfast on the table waiting for the rest of the family. A knock on the Manor door signaled that Patrice was there with her family and coos could be heard coming from little Giverny. Prue walked in and greeted them, and offered to take Giverny. Nancy handed him over willingly. Prue had wanted a baby for so long, but she was nearing her menopause time and was unsure if she and Bane could have children. She could only pray, but she played with Giverny and cuddled him and he laughed at her. The rest of the sisters came downstairs.
"Hey sis!" Paige said patting Patrice on the shoulder. Patrice smiled at her and then spoke to her family.
"Est-ce que je vous ai dit que Paige est ma jumelle?"
Portia translated, "Did I tell you that Paige is my twin sister?"
"Vraiment!" Ariane asked.
"Oui mama."
"Mais il n'y a pas de ressemblance."
"Je sais, parce que J'ai l'air de ma mère biologique. Phoebe where do you keep the pictures of mom?"
"I'll get them." She went to a drawer and pulled out a framed picture that they had not had enough space for. "Here you go," she said handing the picture to Ariane. Ariane gasped and looked at her daughter.
"Incroyable," Didier exclaimed, looking over his mother's shoulders. "That's weird, sis. So what are we going to do today?"
"Well," Paige started, "we're taking you on a tour of San Francisco, who wants to stay cooped up in our stuffy houses!" They laughed.
"Your house is very beautiful," Arnaud replied. That was one of the few times that they had heard him speak. He was a very quiet and reserved man, nothing at all like the Halliwells, or his wife.
"Thank you," Piper said. "It's been in our family for generations. We inherited it from our grandmother. It was her house."
"Speaking of generations, if we don't hurry up we're going to be stuck in this house for eons, eat up everyone," Patrice said. She had already discussed the risks of having a demon attack when her family was around.
Everyone ate and when all were satisfied, Patrice and Paige led the French battalion out into the muggy San Francisco day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Wyatt!" Portia said after her family had left, "come here."
He left the kitchen where his mom and his Aunt Prue were cleaning up. "What is it?"
"I wanted to run something by you."
"I hope this is a non-magical thing...please tell me it is."
"Well, it's not. How are we going to keep the houses safe? I mean, how can we protect them?"
"I don't know, but I do think that you should run this by my mom before you cast any spells."
"Why? You know how to make potions, all we need is some home protection spell and potion, and it'll be a snap!"
"Portia, I don't think..."
"Well stop thinking then and let's get to it, you're wasting precious time. Plus, Chris is going to be here later and he definitely won't let us."
"And you think our parent's would?"
She brushed him off and drug him upstairs. "I'm so going to be dead," Wyatt thought to himself. It was five o'clock that afternoon when the battalion arrived home. They were beat after driving around San Francisco all that afternoon. They had seen everything around town and had taken a few streetcars around. Ariane was first through the door and she sat down right away. "Oh la la Patrice, you live in a very large city."
"Ah, that's nothing compared to Paris mom," Didier said as he flopped onto the sofa and Nan sat beside him.
"I liked it," Nan said, "It's like Chicago, just smaller and not as cold."
"Would anyone like some coffee?" Patrice offered. Her parents nodded, so she recruited Paige to go into the kitchen. Patrice got the coffee grounds and filters while Paige filled the water in the pot up.
"We are so lucky the demons have been leaving us alone," Patrice said.
"I wouldn't speak too soon though, we still have a few weeks to go."
"I know, I'm just worried about how they'd react. When I discovered my powers after I graduated, I asked them if they believed in magic, and they said no. How am I going to tell them that I'm a witch?"
"Let's hope we don't have to have that conversation. What they don't know can't hurt them," Paige said.
Patrice nodded as she pulled out a platter to put cups on. Paige got the cups out of the cupboard and placed them on the platter upside down. The coffee was ready and within five minutes they were back in the family room.
An hour later after chitchatting, a knock came at the door, in a hurried fashion. It was Piper ready to head down to the club. Everyone had changed into nicer clothes that were still comfy, and they headed out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Portia and Wyatt were in the attic. Wyatt had used his telekinetic orbing to orb the necessary ingredients to the attic. The door was locked so no one could get in. They couldn't risk the adults finding out.
"Portia, magic can be very dangerous, you need to be careful."
"Wyatt, I know what I'm doing," she said throwing some dragon's blood into the cauldron. Wyatt hadn't wanted to help his cousin, but she drug him into it. She could be very intimidating at times and Wyatt wanted no part of her being mad at him. Every rule of magic he had learned told him no, but he didn't want her to be alone if something happened. "Hey, hand me that bottle over there, the one that's sitting on the bureau." He obliged and handed it to her. She threw some of its contents into the pot and it smoked. "Bingo!" she said throwing her hands in the air. "And no one caught us."
There was a knock at the attic door, "Who's up here?" It was Chris.
"Just me and Wyatt, Chris, we're just on our way out." She telekinetically opened the lock and he came through the door. Chris knew they were up to something but there was nothing out of order.
"Well, I wanted to check on you guys. Why don't you come down and help me with Giverny, after all, he is your cousin Portia." She rolled her eyes while tightly gripping the small flask, which held the contents of their potion. Wyatt walked out ahead of her giving her a stern look as he passed her. She made a face at him and followed him out. Patrice's family had loved Piper's club. "Piper, your club is ze best!" Arnaud exclaimed. He had never been quite that excited during the whole trip.
"It is very nice, much like the places I went to in Paris," Ariane said. Patrice had known that her mother had been a partier in her heyday.
"Thanks," Piper said, "I'm glad you liked it. Well Patrice, we're going to go home, do you want me to send Portia over?"
"She's probably asleep Piper. If she is don't bother to wake her, I'll be over in the morning."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris had fallen asleep on the couch. "Come on, Wyatt," Portia said quietly. She had her potion in her hand and was ready to cast the protection spell.
"Portia, can't you cast the spell alone? I'm really tired."
"Oh come on you big baby," Portia teased. Wyatt begrudgingly followed her.
She stood in the foyer holding the potion bottle. "Now, you watch Chris and holler if he wakes up!" Wyatt stood by the wall and peeked around the corner. Chris was still asleep. "By dark of night and light of day, let us have a peaceable stay, a guardian for this house we seek, to keep watchful eye and protect the meek," Portia chanted. She threw the potion and just as she did, she didn't see Piper standing in the doorway. The potion hit her leather pants.
"Great," Wyatt said seeing his mom, "Now you've gotten us in trouble."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Portia Atiana Tomasi, what in the hell were you thinking?" Patrice yelled at her daughter. Portia knew she was in trouble, they had even called her dad.
"Well, I was trying to protect the houses from a demon attack while the family's here and Aunt Piper mucked it up."
"Don't even try to blame Piper, you were the one casting spells without permission."
"It was for the greater good!" Portia said raising her voice.
"Don't take that tone with me young lady," Patrice said angrily. She had nothing else to say to her daughter.
Piper took over, "Portia, honey, do you know why we don't want you casting spells?"
"Ummm...yeah! It could attract a demon."
"No, that's not why. You and Wyatt aren't experienced with your magic yet. Casting a spell could mean that something happens to you. Not all spells work the way they are supposed to, sometimes they backfire."
"I know Aunt Piper."
"So, if you promise not to cast any spells without permission, I'll forgive you for staining my leather pants. Do we have a deal?"
"Yeah," Portia said feeling ashamed. It had been her fault and she felt bad for blaming her Aunt.
"Patrice, is that alright with you?" Piper asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Hey Piper! I got the stain out!" Phoebe yelled from the laundry room.
"See Portia, you didn't stain my pants."
Portia smiled, but when she looked at her mother and her cousin she could tell that both of them were mad. She could understand her mom being upset, but Wyatt? He didn't get in trouble, there was no guilt by association. "What's your problem?" Portia asked Wyatt.
"You!"
"ME! You didn't get in trouble, I did, and I can guarantee you that I'll be grounded when I get home, but that doesn't explain you. I repented and confessed."
"I just don't want to talk to you right now," he said turning away from her.
"Fine then," she said slamming the door as she left. He was such a jerk sometimes. "Patrice you should calm down sweetie," John said trying to say anything to comfort his fuming mad wife.
"No, she was using magic for personal gain, and that is against the rules. Her even thinking about casting a spell at her age is against the rules."
"She wanted to protect her grandparents from a demon, can you really blame her? You would have done the same thing, you know you would have."
"John, that's not the point, I didn't misuse magic..."
"She didn't misuse it, she didn't even finish casting it, and it was a harmless spell. I've heard you cast it before."
She looked at him harshly, but he just smiled back at her and she couldn't help but laugh. She sat down, "I guess you're right, I probably would have done the same thing, in fact she just got to the spell before I did." They laughed together and John hugged her. Patrice's tensions eased as she went home to talk to her daughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Piper had gone up to her bedroom. She felt good for explaining to Portia what she did wrong and what could have happened, rather than flying off the handle and being mad at her. "Leo!" She yelled up into the wild yonder above and the shimmery blue lights appeared in her bedroom.
"What is it Piper?"
"Can't I just want to be with the man I love," she said standing up and going to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "you know Leo, I was thinking..."
"About what?"
"Oh...never mind, right now I just want to be with you," she said pulling him down on the bed and laying on top of him.
"Why, Mrs. Halliwell, are you trying to seduce me?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skylar had gone to comfort Wyatt and finally Phoebe and Jason had some alone time. It had been two weeks since he had gotten home from Japan and she had been dying to be alone with him. "Alone at last," Phoebe said leading him into their bedroom.
"I know, it' s been how long?"
"A month and a half. Too long!"
"I know," he said nuzzling her neck. He moved down her body and they quickly threw off their clothes.
After their little interlude, Phoebe lay naked in his arms.
"Wow," he said.
"It's really been a long time hasn't it?" She goofed and he laughed at her. "Hey, I need to tell you something?"
"Yes my dear."
"Well, not long after you left, I was feeling a little weird, like nauseated, so I went to the drugstore and bought a pregnancy test."
Jason sat up in the bed, "AND!!!"
"I'm pregnant."
"Whoo who!" Jason screamed hugging Phoebe and she laughed. "You mean I'm going to be a daddy?" She nodded, "whoo who!" he yelled again. By this time, everyone except Piper and Leo was standing outside of their bedroom door. Paige knocked.
"Are you guys all right in there?"
Throwing on his robe, he ran out and picked Skylar up. "You know what angel, Phoebe and I are going to have a baby!" The rest of the group was flabbergasted. Congratulations were passed around outside the closed door so Phoebe could get dressed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Now, when should we set the official date for the wedding?" Prue asked Bane?
"I think that we should get married in June."
"June? But that's four months away!"
"But remember the saying, when you marry in June you'll always be a bride."
"Well, then a June wedding it is," she agreed.
"Now," Bane said reaching in his pocket, "I have something for you." He pulled out a ring box and opened it up to reveal a two carat diamond solitaire with a white gold band.
"Bane! It's gorgeous, but where did you get the money?"
"My promotion." He took the ring out of the box and put it on her finger. "There, now you are officially taken." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly.
"I love you Bane."
"I love you Prue." "Errrgh!" Portia screamed as she entered her house. "Stupid Wyatt, he always thinks he's above everyone else just because he's..."
She slammed the door behind her, but heard some faint screaming noises coming from upstairs. Her heartbeat quickened as she took the first step. "Should I call for my Aunts and mom?" she thought to herself, but if there was a demon here, she didn't want him to find her right away. She quietly ascended the staircase, hoping with all her might that her family was alright.
She walked to her grandparent's room and a pukey green skinned demon was hovering over her grandparents who were in the comer. He obviously hadn't heard her come up, so from behind him she yelled, "DAD!!!!!"
The demon snapped around and created an energy ball in his hands and came looming towards her. She backed up and looked behind, a wall, he would have her trapped if she was up against it. The demon raised his hand to throw the energy ball, but was stopped when Portia threw her hands up and froze him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I knew she was up to no good, and look at the trouble she got herself into!" Wyatt complained to Skylar.
"She thought that she was helping."
"What by making my mom and her mom mad at her?"
"Your mom wasn't exactly mad, but Aunt Patrice was going to boil over. I'm surprised she didn't."
"Still, why does she have to be so stupid?"
"Wyatt, listen to me, she was casting a good spell, valid, right? She wasn't trying to hurt anyone, she was trying to protect her family. You know her mom wanted the demon attacks to be at a minimum, well she was trying to help."
"I guess, but she didn't have to get such an attitude with me."
"Wyatt, you astound me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Patrice, I think Portia's calling us and she sounds panicked," John said standing up from the Halliwell sofa.
"What could be wrong now?"
"She sounds scared, like something is happening, you better round up your sisters." Patrice went to get her sisters and after about five minutes they were all ready to orb out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"DAD!!!! Errrgh, why aren't you listening to me," she yelled. The demon in front of her was still frozen but he was starting to pull out of it.
He came out of her freeze and stared at her, "You are a Charmed One?"
"What of it?" She haughtily replied.
"You interrupted my feast and for that you will pay."
"What are you?" she asked as he approached her.
"I'm a soul sucker and I want your soul. Those feeble humans over there are just appetizers, you my dear will be the main course." he got closer to her as her back hit the wall. He laughed and rose his hands up and placed them around her neck as he began to inhale her soul.
Suddenly, the blue lights of the Halliwell family appeared and they saw the bind that Portia was in. "He's....a soul...sucker...mmm....mom," she was very near death. Phoebe ran up to him and kicked him in the side, knocking him away from Portia. Portia clutched her throat and ran to her dad's side. Once there she fainted.
"Patrice, I'm going to orb her to the manor, you check on your parents." Patrice started towards them, but Leo stopped her.
"No, you fight with your sisters and I'll take them to the Manor." She smiled at him and rejoined her sisters.
"Anyone know a spell?" Paige asked.
"Nope, there was nothing in the book about one of these guys." Prue said.
"Well, let's make one up then," Piper chimed in, "quickly."
Paige started and the others grabbed her hands. "You feast on souls, to make your own complete, but we end your sucking spree, we set your victims free..." the trapped souls inside his body began to pour out his mouth as he convulsed in a standing position, "may you suffer the same fate, times three."
His body convulsed as he slowly shrunk and them exploded. The sister's nodded to one another and Patrice looked at her mom. She had wide eyes and a hint of fear. "Mama?"
"Why don't we get them out of here, in case any demons come to attack again," Prue said. "Patrice, qu'est-ce qui s'est passee?" Ariane asked.
"What happened," Patrice said, "is a...well, that was a demon?"
"Le diable?"
"No, it wasn't the devil. It was a demon, we actually get a lot of them around here, which is why I've been trying to keep you out of the house as much as possible."
"What do you mean, sis?" Didier asked, stepping forward.
"Didi, I mean to say that I'm a witch, and so are my sisters?"
"Elle est sorciere!" Arnaud exclaimed. "But Patrice, you are not bad."
"Father, not all witches are bad, we're good witches, we save people all the time." They looked at their daughter in disbelief. "Don't you believe me?"
"Well, I'm not sure what to think," Ariane replied. "What can you do?"
"Well, Didi, do you remember how I could always tell what you were thinking?"
"Yeah, that was freaky."
"Well, that's one of my powers, and watch," she said as she threw her hands at a flower in the vase across the room. She froze it, picked it up and brought it to her mother. "I can turn things to ice. " In turn each of the sisters showed their powers and Portia did some tricks for her grandparents.
Ariane was still in shock. "Patrice, I think I need some time to think." Patrice went to help her mother up, but Ariane pulled out of her grasp. "No, I prefer to do it myself thank you."
Patrice was aching inside, her own mother was afraid of her. They had been serious when they had told her they didn't like magic. A part of her was broken. Ariane walked up the stairs with Arnaud at her side. Her mother cast a woeful glance back at her. She sat down on the sofa and started to sob.
Didier came up to comfort her, "It's alright sis, I believe you. I've known you were different for a long time, but I also knew that mom and dad would act like this. Mom doesn't approve of that stuff, to her it's devil worship. She's catholic after all. I guess I can see where she's coming from, it surprised me too, but she shouldn't be mad. It's a part of you." He hugged her, at least someone approved. Her sisters comforted her too, but they had something else to worry about, Portia was very weak.
Patrice got up and went over to her daughter. "Sunny, what's the matter?"
"I feel sick, I ache all over the place." Patrice pulled her up and there was blood running down her back. A black arrow was stuck there too.
"Guys, come here. That wasn't just a soul sucker, that was a darklighter too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wyatt was still fuming in his bedroom, but he had calmed down a little. The commotion downstairs was normal for the family, but there was an urgency in the air. But her really didn't feel like dragging himself down the stairs to see what was up. Instead her laid down on his bed and started to daydream.
A peaceful day with his mom and dad, another family day. His dad wasn't that bad. And he was reasonable, for an elder, that is. But his mom was the apple of his eye. She was practically perfect, just like Mary Poppins, an old favorite of his mother's.
Suddenly, his body temperature rose, and he could feel a whitelighter in pain. Was it his dad...no. It was Portia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Now, lay still honey," Phoebe said as she broke the arrow and pulled it out. Patrice, Paige, Chris, John and Leo weren't allowed near it. Didier held his niece's hand.
"My, sunshine, you are a brave one. When did this happen? you seemed fine when you were talking to everyone."
"The poison doesn't always kick in right away," Leo said, "but she's in grave danger now."
"Leo, can you heal her?" Piper asked. Footsteps were on the stairs.
"Ma petite!" Ariane yelled.
"No, mama, don't go by her, we're trying to save her," Patrice said restraining her mother.
"We need more hands in here," Leo said, "this arrow was loaded."
Another set of footsteps hurried down, "I knew it," Wyatt exclaimed. He ran over to where his dad was and administered his own healing touch. Paige and John added in. Patrice was the last one, and the wound was healed.
Portia slowly tried to rise, "No, no sunny, you stay down and rest. No moving, do you hear me?" John said.
"Yes daddy." He hugged her and Patrice joined in.
"You really aren't bad people," Ariane said. "You saved her."
"That's what we do mom," Patrice said. "It's our destiny, to help people. That thing that hurt Portia was a demon. They live in the underworld, or a place much like Hell."
"But why were you chosen for this fate?"
"My biological mother was a witch from a line of powerful witches. My sisters and I are the most powerful force of good the world will ever know. We stop the evil from wreaking havoc on the world."
"But the powers?"
"We each have powers, they were passed throughout the Halliwell lineage. We...inherited them from our family."
"I think that I have come to a better understanding of what your life is like. I'm sorry that I ever thought you were bad." Patrice hugged her mother and the others smiled. She noticed her father had been on the steps the entire time listening. He winked at her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A week later, the family had left, and the Halliwells were free of worries...well at least the temporary worries that had been caused by the family. But they had been introduced to a world of doubts that could be solved, and they thought that exposure was bad. But teaching people and showing them that things that are unknown are not evil.
Portia and Wyatt had made up, and were thicker than molasses. On the condition that Portia never make him accomplice to her ideas again, like that would ever happen. But on reflection, Portia said to herself, "We may be afraid of the unknown, but unless you face it like a trooper and go for it, you'll miss an awful lot.