Summary: Cole Turner has survived for 5 years without Phoebe, raising their son by himself. But what happens when young Warren wants his Mommy?
Disclaimer: When I buy it, I'll let you know it's mine.
AnimeAlexis: Ok, a little sooner than I planned to update this. I wanted to pace myself because I've only got about a chapter or two written. But, I couldn't help myself. I'm putting this up now so you won't hate me when updates are slow. Oh, yeah. Season Eight never happened (But Paige is a social worker again)), they're still themselves and Piper never met Cole in that halfway place.
Chapter 1
"Mommy!" Phoebe heard the small voice calling out, and presuming it was either Wyatt or Chris, rolled over to go back to sleep.
"Mom! Mommy!" the voice called again, and Phoebe frowned. It didn't sound like Wyatt, or Chris, now she came to think of it. And it almost sounded like… like it was a magical call, not from her nephews in the room next door, but from somewhere further away. She sat up straight.
"Who's there? What do you want?" she whispered into the air. No one answered, and she thought she was alone again. Then another voice spoke, seeming to have the same distant, echoey quality of the child's voice.
"Phoebe…" It faded away, leaving Phoebe as confused as ever, and somewhat frightened too. She knew that voice for sure.
"Oh, not good." She whispered to herself. "He's back."
Phoebe looked exhausted when she came downstairs the next morning. She slumped at the kitchen table, and groaned.
"I need coffee." She sighed, reaching for the coffeepot.
"And good morning to you too, sunshine." Piper chirped happily, trying to get a two-year-old Chris to eat some breakfast. Paige looked at Phoebe in concern, however.
"Honey, you don't look too good. Didn't you sleep?"
"No, actually. There was this voice calling out to me in the middle of the night. I thought it was Chris or Wy at first, but it sounded…really weird."
Paige and Piper exchanged glances.
"It sounded like Wy or Chris? How?"
"It was a little kid's voice. A little boy. Calling me 'Mommy'." Phoebe explained. She buried her head in her hands.
"I'm going crazy." She mumbled.
"No, you're not." Piper disagreed.
"Yes, I am, Piper. The little kid's voice wasn't the worst of it. I heard another one, too."
"And…?" Paige prompted.
"It was Cole." Phoebe muttered, her head still in her hands. "I heard Cole's voice."
"You what?" Paige exclaimed. "But Cole's dead! As in, can't come back ever ever dead. Can't contact us dead."
"Apparently not." Phoebe said.
"But that doesn't explain the little boy." Piper mused.
"Leo!" she yelled.
"Coming!" he called back, and came in with Wyatt hoisted on his back.
"Will you take the boys to daycare?" she asked him. "We have to sort out a little magical problem with Phoebe."
"Sure." He agreed, taking them out of the room to get them ready to go.
"Piper." Phoebe protested. "We can't call off the day because of me hearing voices."
"Meanwhile, Paige." Piper continued, ignoring Phoebe. "Can you get someone to cover your shift for you?"
Paige nodded her head. "Michael owes me a favour anyway."
"Paige." Phoebe cut in. "I will be fine. You two have jobs to go to."
"And lastly, Phoebe." Piper turned to the middle sister. "Call Elise and tell her you'll work from home today."
"Piper! Paige!" Phoebe snapped. "It is not that important. Would you please not act as if the world is about to end? You have lives to live, and I have a deadline. This Cole thing? It can wait."
"Actually, Pheebs, when it comes to Cole, it can't wait. Better to be safe then sorry, and all that. And besides, the sooner we deal with the problem, the sooner it's over." Paige said, somewhat grimly.
"But –"
"No buts, Phoebe. We'll sort this now, before it gets any farther." Piper said.
"Fine." Phoebe sighed, seeing she wasn't getting anywhere with her protests. "What do we do?"
"Well, you go back to bed. You need to sleep. Paige and I will scry and write a summoning spell for Cole. We'll wake you up when we're finished."
"Piper, I don't think I'll even be able to sleep. Let me help." The steely look in her eyes and the tone of her voice made it clear any arguing would be useless.
"All right." Piper relented. "Come on." They headed up to the attic to work on a summoning spell, bringing the cordless phone with them. Phoebe and Paige rang into their respective jobs to tell them that they couldn't come in. Paige looked increasingly frustrated as her phone call wore on.
"But Mike…yeah, I guess…ok. No, it's fine. No, seriously. Thanks. Yeah, I'll be in as soon as I can." She hung up and sighed.
"Are you ok?" Piper asked concernedly.
"Yeah. Mike isn't able to work for long today. His cousin's wedding is on at 11. So we need to hurry along or I'll be out of a job." Her sisters nodded and got down to work. Paige and Phoebe started working on vanquishing potions, while Piper lay out a ring of purple and white candles, then went to get crystals.
"Ok." Paige breathed. "So we've made some of our strongest vanquishing potions in case Cole is violent."
"Circle is ready." Piper reported, standing by the carpet with a crystal in hand. Below her lay a ring if crystals , interlaced with lit candles for a séance.
Phoebe and Paige moved over to Piper, Paige with her arms full of potions, and Phoebe holding open the Book of Shadows. She held it out in front of her sisters, and they read together.
"Hear these words, Hear my cry,
Spirit from the other side.
Come to me, I summon thee,
Cross now the great divide."
Nothing happened. They waited a few moments, then tried thee spell again. When it became apparent nothing was going to happen, Piper held up her hands in defeat.
"Maybe he's not dead." Paige suggested.
"Of course he's dead, Paige, we vanquished him. Twice." The eldest of the Charmed Ones replied.
"Exactly. He came back before, who's to say he won't do it again? And besides, Piper, you and Phoebe only vanquished him once."
"Yeah, well, our alternate universe counterparts still count as us."
"Ah, nuh-uh!" Paige replied childishly.
"Yuh-huh." Piper argued.
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yuh-huh!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yuh-hu –"
"What I wish now let me see,
Send Cole Turner and the child to me."
Phoebe chanted, interrupting her sisters bickering.
"Are you sure that'll work?" Piper asked, breaking off her intellectual debate with her baby sister.
"It already has." Phoebe answered grimly, as a swirl of lights announced Cole's arrival. He was holding the hand of a small boy and grinning. The smile faded as he looked around the room and sighed.
"Daddy? Where are we?" The little boy asked curiously, not seeming at all perturbed by the method of transport. Quickly, Piper dropped the last stone into place, trapping the two in the circle. Immediately, the boy clutched his father's hand tighter.
"We were on our way to school." Cole informed the Charmed Ones. "Warren has to go to kindergarten."
Paige let out a small laugh.
"That's what you say? That?" Cole shrugged.
"What do you expect me to say?"
"I don't know, how about, why am I not dead? Umm, it's been a long time? Or, how about an old favourite, I love you Phoebe and I'm not evil anymore?" Paige retorted sarcastically. Cole rolled his eyes.
"I haven't been dead for quite a while now, Paige. It may have been a long time for you since I saw you last, but not nearly long enough for me. I'm not evil, but that's none of your business. And as for Phoebe," He glared at the witch in question. "I don't love you anymore. Now, if you please? I have a son to get to school and a job to get to."
He indicated the crystals.
"We're not letting you go, Cole. We want answers. Why were you calling Phoebe?" Piper demanded. His brows furrowed, then cleared as he looked down at his son.
"Warren." he said reprovingly, and his son winced. "Did you use magic without my permission again?"
"Well…" he said in a small voice. Cole groaned.
"I will talk to you about this later. For now, if you ask the ladies nicely, maybe they'll let you go to school."
"Cole, we are not letting you go until we get some answers." Paige reaffirmed. "Can't you get that through your head?"
"Look, if you let me go I'll take Warren to school, call in sick to work and come back here. I'm sure you're dying to know what I've been up to."
"How can we trust you?" Phoebe asked disbelievingly.
"You can't." Cole said shortly.
"Then you don't go." Phoebe answered, just as shortly.
"'Scuse me." Warren interrupted, looking at Phoebe. "But we're having Show and Tell today, and Julie's bringing in her pony!"
"Oh, really? Does Julie live on a farm?" Piper asked, grinning at him. He giggled and grinned back.
"There's no farms in New York, silly!" he told her.
"New York?" Phoebe exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's where we are." He said slowly, looking at her oddly.
"No, we – mmph!" Phoebe was cut off by Paige's hand over her mouth.
"What are you bringing in?" Piper asked quickly, with a warning glance at the middle sister.
"I'm going to do some magic tricks!" Warren told her excitedly. "Daddy's been teaching me!"
"Really?" Paige asked, her hand still covering Phoebe's mouth. "Can you show us?"
"Warren, you won't be able to show your friends if we don't get to school! Why don't one of you come with us?" Cole asked the girls. "Then you can make sure that I come back."
"Piper, maybe you should go. You don't have to set up for the band until 3. Phoebe can go into work, and I should go and tell Mike he can go to the wedding. Are you ok with that?" she asked her oldest sister.
"I'll be fine. Call you if I need you." Piper replied. She kicked one of the crystals away from the cage and indicated that Warren and Cole should step out.
"So, should Paige orb us? You can't exactly go back the way you came."
"There's no need. I'll teleport us." Cole replied, grabbing her hand with his free one. They disappeared in a shimmer of light, leaving Paige and Phoebe alone in the attic.
"He's gone. Paige, you know that little boy…"
"Yeah?" Paige asked, indicating for her older sister to continue as she drifted off.
"Nothing. I have to get to work. Orb me over on your way to the office?"
"Gladly." Her sister replied. Taking her hand, they orbed out.
"Ok, Warren, hurry up and get your stuff, we'll teleport to outside the school since we're already so late." Cole told his son as they materialised inside the apartment. Piper moved towards the window, taking in the view.
"Wow, New York City. Haven't lost your taste for penthouses, I see." She commented lightly, trying to make conversation. "This must have cost a lot."
"I work a lot." Cole snapped. "I want to be able to raise Warren right."
"No need to get snappy Cole, I'm trying to be nice." The ex-demon laughed.
"That's funny. I could've sworn that you were the one who killed me. Twice." Piper winced.
"I know. And I also know that sorry doesn't begin to cover it. But for what it's worth, I'm not saying you did anything wrong to get this place. I know what it's like to want the best for your kids. And I can see that you're doing a fantastic job raising yours."
"Thanks." Cole said grudgingly. "So what about your own family? How's your daughter? And Leo?" he asked, trying to make up. "Last time I saw you, you were quite pregnant, as I remember."
"Yeah, I was, wasn't I?" Piper said, thinking back to about 4 and a half years ago.
"Well?" Cole prompted.
"Well, I have two kids now."
"Two?" Cole interrupted. "I thought in your future you only had one. So what's it like raising two girls? I suppose Phoebe buys a million pink cringey outfits and Paige keeps secretly returning them?" He smiled at her.
"See, there you go with the daughter thing again." Piper told him, laughing. Cole gaped.
"You have a boy?" he queried, shocked.
"Two, actually. Wyatt, who's four, and Chris. He's two." Piper chuckled at the look on Cole's face.
"You have boys?" he repeated.
"So do you." she retorted, starting to get slightly annoyed.
"Yeah. I just –"
"Daddy, I'm ready to go now!" Warren cried, rushing into the room. Cole turned towards his son, a smile lighting his face.
"Ok, buddy, let's go so." He took Warren's hand and held the other out to Piper. After a second's hesitation, she took it, and the penthouse was left empty.
AnimeAlexis: There we go! Nice and long just in case I don't get a lot of chances to update again. Review please! You know I love hearing from everyone!