A/N: Hello darlings! Thank you all so much for your continued support and for reading my stories :) I'm really trying to move the story along now, hopefully you'll all like what is to come. Love it, hate it, like it, dislike it - either way, leave a review and tell me! I want to know what you all think.
Also, someone asked why Cole doesn't date but Phoebe does ... first of all, I never said that, but yes, it's true that he doesn't. The reason behind it is that he's simply too busy with work and Prue. In any case, I also feel like Cole never got over Phoebe and he knows that she's the only woman he'd ever love so, he doesn't really see the point in wasting his time. You know?
Anyway, here is chapter 10! I hope you all enjoy it! :D
Oh, and as a warning, there's some (foul) language in this chapter. Not a lot, but I don't know what you're offended by.
Cole awoke and looked at his alarm clock. The panic that immediately overcame him was calmed when he realized it was Sunday. He got dressed and went to wake up his daughter. He stood in the doorway staring at her for a few minutes and sighed. When she was asleep, everything was normal. She was just a kid, not a demon or the most powerful magical being to ever exist. For the time being, Prue was just a little girl. She looked so peaceful among the royal purple colored sheets. He laughed at the weird juxtaposition of the dark sheets and the otherwise girly, pastel colored room. They weren't even kids' sheets. Jake, the epic idiot he often was, had bought them at the start of Prue's purple obsession. Only Jake would buy expensive sheets for a child. He was also responsible for letting the toddler know that this was the color of royalty, thus inducing a royal purple frenzy. Cole was pretty sure she had at least half a dozen royal purple dresses. He sighed and walked over to wake Prue up.
It took them an hour to finally reach the cafe they always had their brunch at. She got nutella waffles with a banana and some cold milk, and he got an omelet. It was an hour and one messy toddler later by the time they finally went home. It took him a while to convince her to change out of the chocolate covered blue and white dress she'd worn that day. Eventually, he'd gotten her to change into jeans and a t-shirt, noting that a pretty dress was not proper playtime attire and that she couldn't play unless she changed. There was no way he was going to let Will's stuck up wife call Prue a mess again.
Of course, Piper and her son were first to arrive to the little playdate. Cole directed Wyatt to Prue's room to color, and, after some reassurance from Piper, Wyatt took off. Cole smiled at how alike Wyatt and Prue were: shy, creative, twice-blessed ... Piper looked around the apartment nervously, "So..." He had to laugh at how nervous she seemed around him. There had been a time that she'd considered him family. If he was honest with himself, he still considered all the Halliwells as family, and it kind of hurt to know that Piper just thought of him as a guy she used to know.
"Have a seat, Piper. I won't bite." She seated herself on the couch and placed the basket she'd brought with her on the coffee table. "Ah, a Piper Halliwell basket. What did you bring? Muffins? Cupcakes? A streudel?" She looked confused for a moment and he knew she wasn't expecting him to act like her brother in law. She pulled herself together, "Oh, um..I baked cookies yesterday and I thought maybe the kids would want some later." "I'm sure they would. Emma and Skylar should be here soon. Just hide the basket from Matt, he eats like a large twelve year old." Piper laughed. Maybe this whole day wouldn't be terrible after all. "Can I get you anything, Piper?" "Um, just water."
The elevator dinged as he walked towards the kitchen. His buddy Matt walked in with Skylar in tow. "Hey Skye, Prue is coloring in her room with Wyatt." That sent Skylar running off towards the room. The kid had more energy than an energizer bunny. Cole saw out of the corner of his eye that Matt had taken a seat next to Piper on the couch, introduced himself, and promptly turned on the tv to watch football. Playdates were always on Sundays because Matt and Will's wives didn't let them spend the whole day watching the games.
Cole rolled his eyes at his friend, bringing Piper's water, Matt's usual beer, and beer for himself out into the living area. "Matt, this is Piper, she's my sis-, uh, ex-sister-in-law." Matt turned his attention away from the television, "The one that ruined your life?" Cole laughed. Matt was such an asshole. "No. The other one." Matt nodded, "Okay, cool. Nice to meet you." Piper looked between the two of them, confused. "Uh, nice to meet you, too." Matt quickly got absorbed in the game, and excitedly tracked his Fantasy players. Cole also got absorbed in the games. Piper sat awkwardly between them.
It was less than three minutes of awkward silence later before the elevator dinged again. Kate walked in with her daughter and Cole had to suppress a groan. Of all people, Kate was probably the last person he ever wanted to spend time with. She smiled at Matt and Cole, "I know, I know, this is usually boys' day but Will is so swamped with the whole takeover thing, so, I'm crashing your party. Emmy, why don't you go find Prue. She's probably in her room with Skye." Cole laughed at Kate as he watched Emma run off into Prue's room. "Walk, don't run, baby!" Matt rolled his eyes, "Only you would dress a child in her Sunday best for a playdate." "Unlike some of you, William and I value going to church and it is clearly benefitting Emmy. She's a total angel." Cole rolled his eyes, "Oh please. Your kid is no better than anyone else's." Matt threw in, "and she sucks at ballet." There was then a small crash and scream, followed by Skylar's voice yelling, "I'm okay." Cole and Matt laughed, but Piper worried, "Maybe I should go check on them -" Cole interrupted her, "Don't coddle him. I'm sure they're all fine, this happens every week." Kate scowled at him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me not to introduce myself. I apologize for the little rant back there. I'm Katelyn, and you are?" "Piper. Nice to meet you." Kate nodded at her with a smile and looked over to Cole expectantly. He sighed, looking away from the game to quickly note, "She's my ex-sister-in-law." "Will said she was a redhead." "No, that's the other one." "Wow, I thought you didn't have to deal with in-laws anymore after you got divorced. Damn." "Wow, I didn't realize Saint Kate knew a curse word." Kate scowled at him.
Matt laughed, "Oh, don't worry, this is the nice one. She made cookies!" Kate shrugged, "I didn't even know you were on speaking terms with your ex. Tsk, tsk, Turner." "Recent development. Besides, I don't actually have to tell you or anyone else about my personal life. You know that, right?" Kate shook her head, "I suppose so. So, Pepper, tell me about yourself." She took a seat across from Piper, who felt both increasingly uncomfortable and annoyed. Kate's heels were too high for daytime, a Sunday, and especially for a playdate. She knew Kate was silently judging her, and, from the look she was getting, could safely assume Kate thought poorly of her. "Actually, it's Piper. And, well, I'm a chef, and I own a club." "Oh, a restauranteur! How quaint. Any place I would know?"
Matt cut in, "What is this, the FBI? Stop interrogating her. If you're going to crash our guy day, then sit down, shut up, and watch the game. I'm kicking ass and I'd like to enjoy my victory without the sound of your voice. Cole, get some chips." No one said another word, because with the end of that sentence, Matt turned up the volume on the game, put his feet up on the table, and made himself comfortable. Kate sat down in her seat, annoyed with Matt, as usual. She couldn't fathom why her sweet husband was friends with these idiots. Matt was such a loaf of bread: boring with nothing important to offer. The guys' love for fantasy football was honestly disgusting. In her capacity as a therapist, she had already mentally diagnosed Will's friends as immature idiots with commitment issues trying to fill a hole in their lives with fake football games.
Cole came back with the chips Matt had requested. Matt barely even noticed. Piper looked around awkwardly. She felt like she should get out of here, make some kind of stupid excuse and leave, but she didn't trust Cole and she didn't know these other people; she couldn't leave Wyatt here alone, and she couldn't leave with him so early in the playdate. She took a deep breathe. Sure, she didn't like football, she didn't like Kate, and Matt basically ignored her existence after saying hello. At least Cole was being nice, and Wyatt was having fun.
Two hours later, Kate had already left after spending her whole time on her blackberry, ignoring everyone else and refusing to have a cookie. Piper felt a bit more at ease after she was gone, but now it was plain awkward with just Matt and Cole. Not that it would have been any better with just Cole. Luckily, her phone rang, and revealed a demonic attack. "Um, I have to go ... family emergency." Cole stared at her for a moment, and she almost thought he was contemplating offering his help, but he just nodded. She gathered Wyatt, who surprisingly begged to stay, crying that he was having fun with Prue and Sky. She left as quickly as possible and called for Leo before the game finished and Matt decided to leave, forcing her to go home the conventional (ie. slow) way.
Later that night, Cole's phone rang as he set up Prue's dinner. "Daddy will be right back, princess." He exited the room and answered the phone, "Phoebe," he said, as he walked into his room, shutting the door behind him.
"Hey, Cole. Piper said the playdate went really well." "Yeah, the kids had fun. Tell Piper I'm sorry about Kate. She's just always like that, it's nothing personal. How was the demon?" He asked as he sat down on his bed. "What? Oh, it was fine. Look, I was wondering if maybe we could talk about me seeing Prue sometime soon? I know you want to wait but -" "No, it's fine. I'll ask her what she wants to do. Maybe we can all go out to lunch or something." Phoebe sighed in relief, "Okay, great. Thanks." "You're welcome." "Goodnight, Cole." "Goodnight,Phoebe." He sighed, dropping his face into his hands. Life was so much simpler without the Halliwells in it. He rarely thought about magic, he never had to worry about attacks, he never had to think about his feelings for Phoebe. Life was so much simpler when all he had to worry about was Prue, his cases, and his fantasy football league.
He walked back to the kitchen table slowly. He saw that Prue was already done and sighed. "Prue, daddy needs to talk to you." She nodded, putting down the fork she'd been playing with and walking over to the couch. She tapped the area next to her. Cole took a deep breath. As mature as Prue liked to act, she was still a toddler, and a very emotional one at that. He hoped this wouldn't lead to disappointment. "Prue, would you like to see your mommy next week?" She shook her head from side to side furiously. "Why not?" He knew that he wasn't an expert, but he was pretty surprised Prue didn't want to hang out with Phoebe.
He was even more confused when she started to cry, "I'm sorry, daddy. I'll be a good girl, please don't leave me. I promise I'll be good. I won't eat any chocolate unless you tell me to, and I won't make a mess and -" "Princess, what are you talking about?" "You said that it was against the law to see mommy, and uncle Jake said that if I see mommy, then I can't live with you anymore, and I want to stay with you. Please daddy, why do you want me to go? I promise to listen and be good and -" "Woah. Stop right there." He pulled the little girl into his arms and let her cry into his shirt. She hiccuped a few times, but her sobs were consistent. He lifted her chin to face him, "Prue. Prue, stop crying, please. I love you. Don't let anybody ever tell you differently. But, remember that daddy is a lawyer?" She nodded, sniffling softly. He would murder Jake for planting this idea in her head. "Well, that means I can try and fix the law a little bit so that you can see your mommy. Okay? I'm not going anywhere, ever, I promise. You are the best daughter in the entire world and I love you more than anything else. Okay?" She nodded, sniffling softly again, and burying her tiny face into his blue sweater. He patted her hair softly as he attempted to calm her down. "C'mon. Princesses don't cry." She nodded, wiping her face quietly. "Promise you're never going to leave me?" His heart broke at the worried expression on her face. The fact that his little girl needed reassurance of this was a sentiment to his failure as a father.
"I promise. I love you too much." She nodded, a small smile slowly making it's way to her face, "I love you, daddy. You're the best." She gave him a hug as evidence of that truth. It took less than ten minutes for her to fall asleep in his arms. He decided not to tuck her into her own bed that night, instead letting her sleep in his room without even asking. He didn't want her to ever think that he was going to leave her. Ever.