And one for good Luck
Halliwell Manor was buzzing with activity. Leo and Henry were hanging balloons and streamers from all of the doorways while Coop busied himself with organizing the mass of wrapped gifts on the front foyer table. He was meticulously arranging and rearranging them until Henry caught sight of him.
"Would you just leave the presents alone? There's no sense in making them look nice. The house is going to be a mess anyways," Henry commented with a snort.
"Well it's my daughter's birthday and I can obsess over her if I want to," Coop shot back with a smile. For being a Cupid he did have an argumentative side.
Just as Henry was about to make a pithy comment back the front door opened and Phoebe walked in. She looked at the three guys and just shook her head.
"Piper's in the kitchen," Leo offered innocently.
"Thanks. Keep streaming," Phoebe snickered as she walked by. On her way she gave Coop a swift kiss o the cheek.
"How's the cake coming?" she addressed her older sister upon walking into the kitchen. It looked like a war zone.
"It would have been done an hour ago but somebody had to keep orbing the ingredients all over the kitchen," Piper snapped.
"Mom! He's seven months old. He doesn't mean it," Wyatt protested, holding Tristan close to him.
"Are you making Grandma mad?" Phoebe cooed at the child. He giggled, squirming in his father's arms.
"He's just lucky I love him," Piper muttered and pulled the cake from the oven. She set it on the counter to cool and surveyed the kitchen. Flour, sugar and batter were spread over almost every surface of the room.
"Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to be unseen," Piper chanted and the kitchen glowed and became spotless.
"Don't let Grandma fool you. She would yell at me if I did that," Wyatt whispered to his son.
"Did you want to clean it up?" Piper asked, fixing her oldest son with a stern look.
"I'm just trying to instill good morals in my son. And you always taught us not to abuse magic," Wyatt protested.
"I know. I just want everything to be ready for Melissa's party tonight," Piper sighed and began to assemble and frost the cake.
"Well I'm going to run over to the apartment, get this little guy cleaned up and pick up Penny," Wyatt announced just as Paige walked in.
"Did I miss anything?' she asked, sounding out of breath.
"No. Well except the huge mess your great nephew made of the kitchen," Phoebe answered. Wyatt gave them all a small wave and orbed away.
"The cake looks great," Paige commented as Piper finished writing "Happy 14th Birthday Melissa" on the top of the cake.
"Thanks," Piper murmured.
"I can't believe she's turning fourteen," Phoebe sighed. Piper and Paige shared a look.
"Been there, done that," they stated in unison.
"I hope you know that you two just made yourselves sound old," Phoebe chuckled.
"Face it Pheebs. We are old," Piper stated.
"God, when did that happen?" Phoebe mused.
"About the time Wyatt turned eighteen," Piper suggested. The sisters burst into laughter as they mused on their old age.
"The whole house has been covered," Leo announced, tossing the roll of masking tape like a basketball into the open drawer.
"Show off,' Paige teased.
"So everything is set then? Except for the entire family being here," Coop called.
"Yes, honey. Everything is all set," Phoebe shouted back at him.
"He didn't obsess like this over Rachel's 14th birthday," she muttered with a shake of her head.
"Who knows…maybe he just wants Melissa to have a memorable birthday," Paige suggested.
"I just hope it goes demon free," Phoebe muttered just as Wyatt and Penny reappeared.
"How's my little mess maker," Phoebe babbled at Tristan, taking him from the baby carrier.
"Don't encourage him," Piper shot, hiding the cake in the fridge.
Slowly the rest of the family began to show up. Chris orbed in from upstairs, a present in hand. Coop saw him and whisked the present away.
"Ok…what's up with him?" he asked, pointing at his uncle.
"Don't ask," a chorus of voices answered him.
"So…what's the game plan? Dinner, presents cake?" he asked his mother.
"I'm just the cake baker. Ask your aunt. She's in charge," Piper replied. Chris looked at Phoebe.
"Yeah. Dinner, presents, cake is the plan," she answered.
"Is everyone here?" Piper questioned. Chris peered into the sun room. The rest of his cousins were crammed into the room, doing their best to not eavesdrop on the adults.
"Yes," Chris answered in a whisper.
"Tell them to go to the table. We'll bring stuff out," Piper informed her middle child.
"Hey guys. Dinner is being put on the table," Chris announced, walking into the sun room. The mass of children scrambled to the table, all eager for Piper's cooking. Even though they all ate dinner together at least twice a week, birthdays were special occasions and merited extra special meals.
Piper walked in followed by Paige and Phoebe all carrying steaming hot dishes of mashed potatoes, sweet corn, gravy and two large roast chickens. Melissa's eyes lit up as her mother and aunts set the food on the table. It was her favorite meal.
"Thank you Aunt Piper!" she exclaimed, jumping from her seat and catching Piper in a hug.
"You're welcome sweetie," Piper replied, returning the hug.
"Can we eat now?" Paisley asked, licking her lips while she stared at the corn.
"Dig in!" Piper called. As soon as she sat down, hands flew over the table and dishes circulated from person to person.
"This is really good, Piper," Henry commented as he put down a chicken leg, picked clean of any meat.
"I try," she said, giving him a smile. Just then there was soft ringing. Henry looked down to see his beeper flashing.
"Excuse me for a second," he told the table and walked away. He dialed the number into his cell phone. It only took two rings for the other person to pick up.
"Hello," a male voice answered.
"This had better be good, Mike," Henry spoke.
"We just caught one of yours messing around with an underage girl," Mike answered.
"Can't you just hold him for a few hours? I'm in the middle of dinner. It's my niece's 14th birthday party," Henry begged.
"We need you down here now, Mitchell," Mike spat and the line went dead.
"Damn it," Henry swore before walking back into the room. Paige caught his eye and knew something was wrong.
"What is it, honey?" she asked.
"I have to go. One of my parolees just broke parole and I have to deal with him," Henry stated, sounding apologetic.
"Go ahead. We'll be here," Paige assured him. He disappeared out the front door. Moments later the sound of his car speeding down the street filled the air.
Henry pulled to a stop at a light, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. He couldn't believe they couldn't just hold the little pervert until dinner was over. He pressed on the gas when the light turned green and pulled into the police station. Henry climbed out of his car and headed inside.
Back at the Manor everyone had moved to the sun room again and were handing Melissa the large pile of presents. Coop was flitting around taking pictures. He caught Melissa off guard and her hand flew up to shield her eyes from the bright flash.
"Dad…could you stop that?" she asked, sounding very much like a teenager.
"Sorry, honey," he apologized and put the camera down.
Melissa continued to open presents while Henry walked through the metal detector at the precinct. He was met shortly by Mike who led him to holding cell. Seated on the hard wooden bench was one of his newest parolees, Adrienne. Mike unlocked the cell and Henry stepped in.
"Hey man…I didn't know she wasn't 18. She looked 18," Adrienne protested immediately.
"Just relax, man. Just walk me through what happened," Henry instructed.
"I was just walking down the street right. And this chick walks up to me and just starts like climbing all over me," Adrienne began.
"I wasn't going to protest or nothing but I guess so cop saw us," he continued.
"So how do you know she wasn't eighteen?" Henry asked.
"I overheard the cop checking her ID. Said she was fifteen. I'm telling you man. She didn't look like no fifteen year old girl I ever seen," he answered. Henry merely nodded and surveyed the young man. He had a gash on his left forearm.
"You put up a fight?" he asked, pointing to the wound.
"Not to no cops I didn't. Your buddy over there was cuffing me and she just pulls a knife and cuts me. Like it was my fault we got caught," Adrienne replied.
"And the cops didn't do anything?" Henry questioned and Adrienne shook his head.
"Alright. I'll see what I can do," Henry assured him.
"What happens if you can't? Do I go back?" Adrienne asked looking very scared.
"No. If you're telling the truth and you didn't approach her, you didn't really break parole," Henry answered, stepping from the cell. He motioned for Mike to join him at his desk.
"What is it, Mitch?" Mike asked.
"You didn't notice the girl pull a knife and slash him?" Henry asked.
"No," Mike answered simply.
"Where's the girl now?" Henry asked and Mike pointed to a chair partway down the room. She was sitting looking innocent as Henry moved towards her.
"Can we talk?" he asked and she nodded.
"I have a guy in there that says he was minding his own business when you just started climbing all over him. I want the truth. Is that what happened?" he explained gruffly.
"Maybe," she said with a shrug. Suddenly Henry's cell phone rang. He gave her a half ass smile and walked away.
"Henry Mitchell," he spoke into the small device.
"Henry, it's Phoebe. I just…had a premonition. Are you ok?" Phoebe babbled.
"I'm fine. Why…what did you see?" he asked in a hushed voice.
"A girl…a demon stabbing someone with an athame," Phoebe answered.
"You're telling me a demon jumped one of my parolees?" Henry groaned.
"Thank God it wasn't you," Phoebe breathed. "Paige was freaking out."
"Well she's sitting about two feet from me. What do I do?" he asked, sounding nervous. Henry looked over and to his horror saw what looked like a decorative knife in her hands.
"She's armed," he added in a whisper.
"Uh…hang on," Phoebe told him. There was soft, muffled voices until someone picked the phone back up.
"Uncle Henry. I'll be there in like two seconds," Wyatt stated and the line went dead. Slowly Henry closed the phone and moved back towards the girl. Wyatt appeared in the doorway just in time to see the girl look up at Henry and plunge the athame into his stomach. Mike was preoccupied on the phone, his office door shut.
"No!" Wyatt shouted rushing towards his Uncle.
"Well look what the cat dragged in," the demon snickered.
"Here let me wipe that smile off your face for you," Wyatt spat and backhanded her, stealing the athame in the process. He slammed the weapon into her chest and watched her explode. Next he bent over his Uncle, healing him as quickly as he could.
"You alright?" he asked, pulling the older man back to his feet.
"Yeah. I…thanks. I have a parolee to let out. But…what do I do about the girl?" Henry muttered.
"Easy. I'll cast a memory spell so that they won't remember," Wyatt offered. It took him only a minute or two to draft the spell and cast it.
"Adrienne come on. I'll drive you home," Henry ordered the young man.
"Thanks," the parolee answered.
"See you a home," Wyatt whispered and watched his uncle leave. He then disappeared in a flurry of light.
Henry arrived back home just as Melissa was about to cut the first piece of cake. He rushed in, wrapping his arms around Paige.
"Glad you could make it back," she whispered in his ear.
"Wait, Lis. You can't cut it yet. You missed a candle," Chris called out.
"No I didn't. There were fourteen," Melissa retorted. He pulled a lit candle from behind his back.
"But not the one for good luck," he snickered. She rolled his eyes and blew it out.