Note: I know this chapter is quite short, but a short chapter is better than no chapter at all, isn't it? The next scenes are being more difficult to write than I had expected them to be, and I just didn't want to leave you hanging too long.
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Friday evening:
"Honey, would you get the door?" says Piper, when the doorbell rings. "It's probably dad."
"Sure," says Leo, placing the wedding cake on the table, next to the champagne cups. He has just orbed from the basement carrying the cake, which was hidden there since Phoebe came home from work. As soon as she went upstairs to take a shower and get ready for the wedding, Piper, Leo, Paige and Cole started to work frantically on the first floor, while Ben watched them from his play pen with great interest.
While Leo goes see who's at the door, Paige takes one step back, gives the candle arrangement in the living room a critical look and says:
"Cole, I can take it from here: you'd better go upstairs and change, it's almost seven o'clock."
"Okay," says Cole. "Come on, Ben," he says, scooping the baby up, "let's get handsome for mommy."
"Here," says Piper, coming from the dining room and taking the baby from his arms, "I'll take care of him. All his stuff, including the crib, has already been moved to my bedroom, anyway."
Seeing Cole's surprised look she says, smiling:
"It's your wedding, for crying out loud. The least I can do is baby-sit for the night."
"Besides," says Paige, already pushing Cole upstairs, "I've rented a very special outfit for him, and it's supposed to be a surprise."
Piper walks upstairs with Ben is her arms, followed by Cole, while Paige turns her attention back to the ivory and blue pieces of tulle she's gathering together with ribbons tied to the ends and at regular intervals along the length.
Once they reach the second floor, Piper goes straight to her bedroom, while Cole goes to the attic to change. To Phoebe, they said that the groom isn't supposed to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony, but the fact is, Piper and Paige need to be in the bedroom with Phoebe to make sure she won't go downstairs before everything is set.
"Piper?"
Piper turns around to see Cole still standing at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the attic.
"What?"
"Are you sure we're not forgetting anything?" he asks, casting an uncertain glance towards the door to his and Phoebe's bedroom. "Won't Phoebe be upset because we planned the whole thing without her?"
"Cole," Piper sighs, walking towards him, "for the nth time, relax: everything is just perfect."
She puts her hand on his arm and adds, smiling:
"Phoebe will be delighted when she finds out you planned the whole thing as a surprise for her, I promise."
Cole bites his lower lip, still unsure.
"She wanted it to be perfect," he sighs, "and I screwed it up. I turned what should have been a celebration of our love into nothing but lies and deceit."
"Cole," Piper says, gently, "you have to let it go: we all have forgiven you, but you need to forgive yourself, too, if you are to move on. I've said it to you before, and I'll say it again: every member of this family has, at some point of their lives, been possessed by evil. Well, except for Leo, but he's a Whitelighter, I don't know if such a thing is possible..." -- she waves her hand, dismissing the idea -- "Whatever. Anyway, the rest of us, we've been Furies, Banshees, warlocks, Wendigos, vampires, the Woogy... And none of us was strong enough to fight it: the rest of the family had to drag us back to the side of good, screaming and kicking, even as we tried to kill them. You were possessed by nothing less than the Source of all evil, for crying out loud, yet you managed to resist him longer than any of us had. Even if you hadn't beaten him in the end, you'd still have come through it with flying colors, compared to the rest of us."
She goes on tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek, then adds with mock sternness:
"Now you go change, and don't come back here without that suit on."
Cole chuckles lightly and says, with a smile:
"Sir, yes, sir!"
He leans over and kisses her lightly on the cheek, too, saying:
"Thank you, Piper."
Cole playfully pinches Ben's nose, making the baby giggle and try to grab his hand, then walks upstairs to change.
"You know," Piper says to Ben with a smile, as she carries him to her bedroom, "sometimes I wonder what this family would do without my words of wisdom."
Ben babbles happily in response, and Piper gives him a sound kiss, saying:
"Now, let's see what aunt Paige has rented for you."
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Meanwhile, on the first floor, Leo is talking to Victor while Paige goes open the door to Darryl and a beautiful woman in a simple yet elegant blue dress.
"You must be Vanessa," she says, smiling at the newcomer and holding out her hand. "I'm Paige."
"Hi," says Darryl's wife, shaking her hand. "I'm so glad we've finally met. I hope you and your sisters don't mind that Darryl has told me about you."
"Not at all," says Paige as they walk through the foyer. "It wasn't really fair to ask him to keep a secret like this from his own wife."
Then, as they get to the living room, she says:
"Victor, Leo, you know Darryl. This is his wife, Vanessa. Leo, would you get them something to drink while I go upstairs to change?"
"Sure," says Leo, shaking the hands of Darryl and his wife, while Paige excuses herself and rushes upstairs.
