Heaven's Mistaken Gift
by: Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell
Co-written by: That70sShoLova
Chapter 14: This May Sting a Bit
Patty sat down. "Well, as your grandmother said, Phoebe became involved with a man older than her."
"Why doesn't that surprise me from the stories you've told us?" Paige asked.
Phoebe's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Paige sighed. "It's nothing. Forget it."
"No Paige, what are you implying? That I was a slut just because I liked to be in the company of older men?"
"Girls, settle down," Grams said.
"Yeah, this conversation isn't supposed to be about what type of men we prefer, so just shut it!" Piper commanded. The younger sister's silenced their protests. "Go on, Mom."
She cleared her throat, turning her attention back to Phoebe. "You were only sixteen at the time, and he must have been twenty. He was a demon sweetheart and he impregnated you."
"A demon? You've gotta be kidding? Grams would've never let a demon get so close to us."
Penny sighed. "That is true. If only I'd known before hand."
"Wait, you didn't know?" Paige asked. "I thought you were famous for your intuition."
Penny smiled. "Yes, I usually am, but I never met this Josh kid."
"Jared!" Phoebe corrected, yet again. "All these years and you can't get it right?"
Patty just couldn't help smiling at how connected her daughters were, despite the fact that Paige had only been in their lives for a year now. It truly was her one wish that they got along. And while all families fight, the girls always had each other's backs when it counted.
"Phoebe, focus!"
She smiled. "Okay Mom, I guess I owe you that for coming down and explaining." Penny raised an eyebrow. She sighed. "Yes, I know its way more than that, but I mean now. Geez, quit breathing down my neck, will you?"
"Okay, on to important matters," Patty continued. "Cole, his friend, fell in love with you. And Jared wanted to keep her and raise her evil—"
"Wa—wait, evil? How could she be evil if I wasn't?"
She sighed, knowing this wouldn't be easy. "Phoebe, you told Grams that you heard The Source's name mentioned in your Premonition, right?"
Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, but I thought it was some weird coincidence. Why?"
Patty moved to sit on her knees in front of her, taking her hands. "Jared wasn't just any demon when he impregnated you, Phoebe," she hesitated, knowing this information might send her on a killing spree to find her daughter and convince her to change her ways. And Patty was pretty positive she'd get herself killed before she even met her daughter. "Jared was taken over by The Source."
Phoebe's eyes got wide. The word 'no!' wanted to spring from her lips, but she had no voice for a few moments as tears trailed her cheeks. Only when she leaned into her mother's shoulder did her protests of "No! No! No! No! Why? She-she can't be!" come from her.
Piper and Paige looked at one another, not knowing exactly what to do. They'd dealt with demons and even The Source, but Phoebe's daughter—their niece—being The Source of All Evil? A 10-year-old girl?
Phoebe's entire being was wracked by the emotions she'd somehow kept hidden for the past 10 years. She'd always known something was missing, but never imagined this. When her sisters tried to console her, she pulled away and shrugged them off. Deep down, yes she knew she know she needed them to get through this, but now her mother was the only person she wanted to help her.
Piper stood and walked over to the end table. Grabbing the notepad and a pen, she walked over to the Book of Shadows. Paige looked at her oddly, but she held a finger to her lips and beckoned her near. Paige stood, seeing the emotions that were rushing through her sister and realized it was better if hardly any noise was made and walked over to Piper who was flipping pages.
Paige looked at what Piper was writing down. "A calming potion?" she whispered.
Piper nodded, pointing to her sister. Their mother had moved to the spot she'd recently vacated and held Phoebe in her lap who wasn't able to do much more than cry. "This should help," she whispered.
They walked to the doorway. "Grams, why don't you come with us too?" Piper asked. Her eyes locked with Leo who nodded in a confirmation that he would stand in the background to watch out for them while they were gone.
Penny walked over. "What is it?"
"I just think I might need power if something shows up and since we won't have the luxury of the Power of Three—"
"Let's go," she urged. They both grabbed Paige's hands and reformed in the kitchen.
Piper grabbed a pot from the stove drawer and set it on the island. Then she handed Paige the list of ingredients. "Will you find these, please?"
Snatching it from her, Paige grumbled something about always being the 'get this, find this' person and never being actively involved as she stalked over to the cabinet and searched.
Piper just grinned. "Paige, this is important. We need to know what's going on—"
"—and to find that out, you need to know what happened, but first we need to calm Phoebe down," Grams finished.
"Have I ever told you how much I hate it when you finish my sentences?" Piper asked through gritted teeth.
"You never needed to tell me, dear. I already knew."
She sighed. "Figures. So was what Leo was holding help us once she calms down?"
"Yes."
Paige brought over the ingredients and Piper began using her favorite skill.
Phoebe was finally beginning to calm down and her tears were beginning to stop. "I'm sorry. I know I made a scene," she sighed. "I guess I became what I feared most," she whispered, hoping her mother wouldn't hear her.
Patty moved her hair behind her ear. "No, you didn't. You think I don't cry when I don't get to see you? Phoebe, it wasn't fair that your daughter was taken from you. Just like it wasn't fair that I was taken from you or that Paige couldn't be with us."
"Yeah, but Paige was different. You had to give her up. You had no choice. Plus, I'm betting that her powers would remain hidden if she wasn't around Grams or us."
"Yes, that's true," she answered, but her daughter's response still bothered her. "Phoebe, what did, or do, you fear the most?"
She silently cursed. But she knew she had to tell her. "That she'd grow up not knowing me. That," she swallowed hard, "that I'd be like you. I'm so sorry! It's just that with how things turned out—"
Patty held up her hand to stop her rant. "It's okay. I understand."
"Really?"
She nodded. "Yes, you don't think Grams tried to bargain with the Elders to take my place over and over again?"
"Well, I guess I never really gave it much thought, but it would make sense, now anyway."
"Does this mean we just spent all that time in the kitchen for nothing, Piper?" Paige asked as she, Piper and Grams reentered the attic. "I mean, she's seems calmer now. Nothing like before."
Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "You were only gone 15 to 20 minutes."
Paige shrugged. "Seemed longer."
"Phoebe," Piper walked over, "drink this. You'll feel a bit better."
She nodded, taking the vial and draining it before handing it back to her. "Wha-what was that? I don't feel so—" she fainted, cutting off the sentence.
"Piper! What did you do?" their mother asked. "You're not going to make her relive them alone are you?"
She shook her head. "No, what I gave her was only a relaxer, but that combined with stress…well, I'm not surprised she passed out."
"What do you plan on doing when she wakes up?" she asked, standing and repositioning Phoebe on the couch.
"What can I do?" Piper asked. "I don't know what happened to her. Only you and Grams do. We just have to be there for her."
Penny nodded. "Yes, that may be true, but we might as well do a little more. We are witches after all." Stepping into a role she knew all too well, she started to direct orders. "Piper go fix another potion, this time make it so you can enter her mind and see what she is seeing also."
Piper nodded, a little annoyed that she had to take orders, but nevertheless walked out of the attic and down to the kitchen.
"Paige, dear?" she called. "You write a backup spell in case the potion doesn't work."
"And what will you two be doing?" Paige asked.
"Certainly not twiddling our thumbs," Penny replied. "Patty, go get some cold washcloths to press against her forehead," she laid a hand on her granddaughter's brow. "She's heating up. I'll go get a couple glasses of water."
Patty bent down and kissed Phoebe's temple. "It's okay, darling." She dematerialized to the bathroom, her own mother following her lead.
Paige sighed. Why does luck always seem to strike us? Paige thought sarcastically. Her eyes brightened, could she...? She thought of a short fellow with green attire that she had met many years ago. Naaah...
Piper threw in the last herb in the boiling pot, a loud crack sounded throughout the room and a puff of smoke would have blown in her face had she not been so experienced and learned how to move out of the way.
Paige walked into the kitchen, holding a pad of paper and a pen cap hanging out of her mouth. "Hey Piper?"
"Yeah?" Piper asked, looking up slightly from pouring the scarlet-colored potion into a vial.
"What rhymes with memories?" She twirled the cap in her mouth and walked towards her older sister. Piper yanked the piece of plastic out of her mouth and tossed it into the garbage.
"Dude!" Paige shouted. "I was chewing that!"
"It's worse than you eating those lollipops," Piper said. "That cap has who knows what on it."
"You're such a downer," Paige pouted. She picked up the pen, flipped it around and started to gnaw on the end of it.
Piper sighed, knowing her younger sister would never learn. "Don't worry about it, Paige. The potion will work, guaranteed."
Paige shrugged and set the pad down. "If you say so." She grabbed the potions and Piper's arm, orbing the two up to the attic.
Patty knelt by Phoebe's side, the washcloth against her daughter's warm sweaty head. "Poor baby."
Penny set three glasses of water on the table, for when the girls woke up she had explained. Paige and Piper walked in and Penny ushered them over. "Let me read the spell."
Paige looked slightly guilty, before pointing a finger at Piper. "She told me not to bother. She says the potion is fool-proof."
"Pride will get you nowhere, Piper. Look at what happened to Prue when you guys were affected by that pesky sin demon," Penny berated.
"I could say the same for you, Grams. Just look at what happened to Phoebe," Piper said while taking back one of the potions from Paige and handing it to her mother.
Patty sat Phoebe up against her, opening her mouth and pouring the contents down her throat. She then laid her back on the couch. "Don't worry, you won't be alone this time," she whispered, kissing her forehead.
"I did not kick Phoebe out, out of pride, Piper. I did because—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," She clinked her glass with Paige. "Bottoms up."
Paige gagged. "I hate warm potions." Nevertheless she downed it in a gulp and collapsed to the ground with Piper following suit. . .
Author's note: So what do you think? Okay, I decided to put the memories in the next chapter, so this one wouldn't be 10+ pages long. The nexy chapter will contain many flashbacks.
Reviews are much appreciated. Please?
Review thanks to: That70sshowlova & SynthiaDowell
Thanks to my co-writer: That70sShowLova!
Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell & That70sShowLova