A/N: This story takes place in my own little alternate Charmed reality. Cole is evil (not the Source, but still very evil), Piper, Paige, and Phoebe all live at the manor along with Leo. Leo and Paige are married (duh) but don't have kids. Paige remains husbandless though she continues to date. Phoebe also hasn't married but she does have a child (hmmm...)
Disclaimer: I DON'T own charmed, nor do I own Phoebe, Piper, Paige, Leo, or Cole.
The alarm chimed annoyingly. Phoebe slammed its surface hard with her outstretched hand. She rolled over in a meager attempt to ignore the day but was interrupted by a knock at her bedroom door.
"Phoebe!" Yelled Piper from the other side of the door. "Phoebe, I'm coming in." Without waiting for a response, Piper entered the bedroom.
"What?" Phoebe said wearily, without turning over.
"Why are you so tired today? How late did you stay out?" Piper sat down on her sister's bed.
"I don't know, I maybe got in at like one." Said a groggy Phoebe.
"Ooh, good date?" Said Paige who overheard the conversation from the hallway and decided to join in.
"I guess. He was nice, no real sparks though." Phoebe sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes.
"Nice hair sis." Said Paige to Phoebe while joining Piper and Phoebe on the bed. Phoebe only smirked.
"Why are you in here?" Asked Phoebe addressing both her sisters.
"I can't pick Parker up from school today, I have a meeting at P3." Piper said walking over to Phoebe's jewelry box and sifting through mounds of earrings.
"What meeting?" Asked Paige, still sitting on the bed.
"With a new DJ. Our old one quit so we have one day to find a new one."
"That's fine. I'll swing by the school after I finish my column." Phoebe pushed off her covers and rose to her feet. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I need to get dressed." Phoebe shooed Piper and Paige out of the room, and started getting ready for work.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Piper asked Parker.
"Toast and cereal sound fine. Do we have any good cereal?" Parker asked standing up and walking to the pantry. Parker was Phoebe's son, though raising him was often a group effort. With work, and demon fighting, raising a happy, healthy child grew increasingly difficult. Parker was, for the most part, a normal ten-year-old boy, apart from his magical heritage, and often-uncontrollable demonic powers. Parker was of average height and build for a child his age. His hair was a pleasant shade of auburn, much like Phoebe's was when she was younger. His eyes, however, were a piercing olive-green, like his father's. Parker knew nothing of his father or the source of his demonic powers, he never asked, and Phoebe never told.
"I think there are some Lucky Charms or something in there." Said Piper while extracting the toast from the toaster.
"Yeah I got it, we're almost out though." Parker poured the cereal in his bowl and devoured it rather quickly. Phoebe eventually emerged from her room and made her way to the crowded kitchen.
"Hey baby, you should go get dressed." Phoebe kissed Parker on the top of the head before he rushed up stairs to get dressed. "I need coffee." Said Phoebe once Parker had exited the kitchen.
"I just made some." Piper said handing Phoebe a cup. "Headache?"
"That would be an understatement." Phoebe said, chugging down the mug of coffee.
"What did you do last night?" Piper asked with one hand on her hip and the other on the counter.
"I don't even remember." Phoebe said, refilling her cup. A horn honked outside. "Parker, your carpool's here!" Shouted Phoebe up the stairs. Parker raced down the stairs but was stopped at the bottom by Phoebe. "I'm picking you up after school today, so be outside at three, okay?" Phoebe tightened Parker's tie and straightened out his school issued sweater.
"Okay, love you mom." He gave Phoebe a quick kiss, grabbed his bag, and rushed out the door. Phoebe watched him run outside to the silver Volvo and throw his bag into the trunk. Before he got in the car he waved briefly to Phoebe. She smiled, waved back, and closed the front door. When she walked back into the kitchen an unhappy looking Leo was standing next to Piper.
"Hey Leo, what's going on?" Asked Phoebe, taking yet another gulp of her coffee. "You look all flustered."
"We've got trouble." Leo said while helping himself to one of Parker's pieces of uneaten toast.
"Trouble?" Asked Paige, entering the kitchen after spending at least the last hour in front of the mirror.
"It's Cole." Said Leo.
"Of course, it's always Cole." Phoebe avoided eye contact with the others. She busied herself with Parker's breakfast dishes. "What is it this time?" Phoebe hated discussing Cole with her sisters. They were dead set against him while Phoebe, no matter how hard she tried to hate him, could not. She felt soft and vulnerable around him. She didn't still love him, but she definitely didn't hate him. He rarely appeared to the witches, he had stayed pretty much hidden for the past ten years, which was the best for all of them. He caused trouble occasionally, but for the most part he steered clear of the mortal world.
"He's here, in San Francisco." Said Leo, polishing off his piece of toast.
"Why?" Asked Paige, in her usual childlike voice.
"The Elders don't really know. They don't trust him though."
"We better brew up some potions, just in case." Piper said throwing a towel into the sink, "Like we didn't already have enough to do."
"Piper, I can handle the potions. Go to P3, meet with the new DJ, everything will be fine." Paige said. Piper looked at Paige, deciding what to do.
"Fine. Try to get it done today though, okay Paige." Piper said, obviously worrying about the lazy work ethic of her youngest sister.
"No problem." Said Paige, "I'll start now." Paige smiled perkily and headed to the attic.
"I'll talk with the Elders again later today to find out more information if I can." Said Leo. He gave Piper a brief kiss on the cheek and orbed out.
"What was that?" Asked Phoebe.
"What was what?" Asked Piper.
"That pathetic kiss. Usually you two are all over each other. You guys okay?" Questioned Phoebe, walking over to her sister.
"No. He's never home anymore, he's always off with his charges. When he is home he's like...like that. No passion, no surprise, just blah." Piper walked into the living room and slumped down on the couch.
"Have you talked to him?" Asked Phoebe, sitting down next to her sister.
"No, he always seems so stressed out, I don't want to add to that."
"Maybe you should. He needs to know how you feel."
"Yeah, maybe. Anyway," Said Piper shaking her head and turning to her sister, "we've got more important things to deal with now, like Cole."
"I do not want to talk about Cole. I have to get to work anyway." Phoebe rose from the couch and began putting on her jacket.
"He could be up to something big." Said Piper, also rising from the couch.
"Could be, but there's nothing we can do until we get more information or until he does something." Phoebe grabbed her purse and walked towards the door. "I'll be home around three thirty, we can talk about this more then."
"Okay. I've got to get to that meeting anyway." Piper and Phoebe prepared to leave when they heard a loud thump from the attic.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it!" Shouted Paige.
"Right." Said Piper as she and Phoebe headed out the door to work.
A/N: The action part of the story is coming, it really is just bear with me! Oh, and please review, reviews keep me writing!