Chapter Fourteen: Telling the Truth Again

Disclaimer: As always, Charmed doesn't belong to me. The plotline, thankfully, does.

That night Vanessa didn't sleep well at all; she tossed and turned, plagued with the thought that her parents may disown her due to her true heritage. In the short time she did spend asleep, her dreams were full of the various outcomes that could happen in the morning. In one scene, her parents stood before her unable to say a word until she walked out the door. In another, her parents yelled and screamed at her for being a freak before they kicked her out of their door and their lives. The most unlikely scenario had her aunts blasting down the door and casting a spell on either Vanessa or Vanessa's family. If Vanessa had no idea what she was going to tell her mom and dad, she was even more concerned what she was going to say to her aunts for accidentally showing the family secret.

Bolting awake from the last scenario, wherein Piper froze the room before binding Vanessa's powers, Vanessa glanced nervously around her room. Everything was exactly as it had been yesterday, as if the room didn't know yet that everything had changed. Taking a deep breath to calm her heartbeat, Vanessa deliberately walked between the closet and dresser, getting ready for the day.

Opening the door, she was surprised at how quiet the house seemed. It was already after 8, so her parents should've been up and in the kitchen preparing breakfast before Mike left for work. The rest of the family should've been talking loudly trying to make the slow pokes among them work faster at their various morning chores. Vanessa herself, had it been a normal day, would've been down helping her mother flip pancakes or cook eggs. Yet it was surprisingly quiet, as if everyone was afraid of making any noise.

The quiet was, thankfully, a peaceful silence. Vanessa had partially been expecting an awkward silence after last night's run-in with her siblings, but she was not met with complete silence when she finally made it to the kitchen. There was noise. The usual morning noise- the sizzle of the pancake batter, the lawn mower, running water, pens scratching, feet tapping, and breathing.

"Morning everyone!" Vanessa greeted uncertainly. She was answered with various morning greetings from her family before her mother asked for help flipping pancakes.

The traditional morning routine continued as before, with hesitant conversation starting between siblings. While flipping pancakes, Vanessa thought about the various ways she could tell her parents about her powers. The dream from the night before weighed heavy on her mind, but she knew her parents loved her no matter what. Hopefully her newfound powers wouldn't change that.

Once the family was seated around the table, and everyone's plate was filled, Vanessa took her chance and started talking.

"Mom, Dad," she began, "there's something I need to tell you."

Her siblings quickly shoved food in their mouths, eyes trained on the plate in front of them, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

"Please don't interrupt. Please don't ask questions. Honestly, the less you know, the better it'll be for you."

Julie and Mike had been eyeing their other six children suspiciously, but at the last statement, they glanced at each other nervously wondering what was going on.

Vanessa cleared her throat and continued, "Meeting my aunts wasn't the only thing that's happened to me lately. In fact, if I hadn't met them, I never would've known my true heritage. There's really no easy way to say this and I'm sorry for the shock you're about to receive. Mom, Dad; I'm telekinetic. I know you know what that word means, but you need to listen. I can move things without touching them.

"Last night, Tommy caught me using these powers and tattled to everyone else except you. The point is: I wasn't supposed to let anyone know about my telekinetic abilities. I'm not sure what consequences I'll have to face now. I'm just glad I won't have to hide my powers from you, assuming you'll ever let me back in the house again."

Julie jumped up, exclaiming, "Of course, you'll be allowed in the house. You're my daughter and NOTHING will change that!"

Vanessa smiled at her mom before continuing. "Having these powers is a gift. But with the good comes the bad, and this is the part that I'm going to be as vague on as I possibly can be. My aunts and I are witches- we can cast spells and make things happen by mixing potions. Unfortunately, there are bad people in the world who would do whatever it takes to kill us. By killing us, these bad people can take our powers. My aunts have been doing this for as long as I've been alive, so they have experience protecting themselves. They're teaching me how to protect myself, so I can still have a typical teenage life without endangering my friends or family. It's still a risk, though, and I don't want to put any of you in danger. So my visits here may be limited until I am fully capable of protecting you. I know the simplest of ways to protect everyone and, if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to put up protective crystals during my next visit. That would give me time to charge them with protective energy so bad guys can't use any of you against me."

Every member of the Fitzgerald family was staring wide-eyed at Vanessa. She knew she had put far more information into that speech than she should have, but the idea of demons using her family as leverage scared her. She knew she would do anything a demon or warlock would want her to do, so long as her family remained unharmed. If she managed to get a head-start by keeping them protected now, she may prevent a demon from taking them in the future.

As if by magic of its own, each person starting talking at the same time.

"Bad people!?!?!?!"

"Protective energy?!?!?!"

"Endangering us?!?!?!"

"What the hell?"

"You think a ROCK would save us?"

"Vanessa, please. You think telekinesis is the same thing as witchcraft?"

"You're on a hit list?"

"You're freaking me out, sis!"

Vanessa sat calmly through this mayhem, cutting her pancakes and gingerly dipping the golden breakfast item into syrup. She took her bite, chewed carefully, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and looked out into the sea of faces. "Will you all take a breath please? I know this is a lot of information- a lot of scary information, but this is my life now and I will take responsibility for every consequence that happens because of my actions as a witch. And YES, Rebecca, my telekinesis is a power that stems from my ancestor Melinda Warren who happened to burn at the stake as a WITCH."

When Rebecca looked like she was going to say a scathing remark, the matriarch of the family quickly said, "Obviously we all have a lot to think about. Equally obvious, this subject goes no farther than this house. This is Vanessa's secret and she can share it with who she wishes, but that does not mean you can all go telling your friends. Now, I want peace and quiet so we can finish breakfast and get on with our day."

Breakfast and clean-up passed swiftly and before she knew it, Vanessa was packing up her things to go back to her aunt's. Part two of her already difficult day would be happening in less than 90 minutes- telling her aunts that she messed up by telling her family about her powers. She hoped they would understand after they realized that she got caught. Little did she know about the fiasco several years ago that ended with Prue's death.