~ The next afternoon ~
Phoebe ran over to Dylan and began fixing his tie. "You look very handsome today, Dylan. Will you do mommy a favor and not act up today? Prue is so scared something bad will happen at her wedding like it did at Piper and Leo's and at your father and mines. So if you could, please don't.."
"I get the picture mom. It's not like I am going to do anything wrong. I promise I will be a good boy."
Phoebe stared at her son as if he had to be kidding her. In the last two days he had promised to be a good boy only to get kicked out of school, tried to harm his cousin with a low energy ball, and raised Phoebe's stress level higher than it had been in years. She finished fixing his tie and kissed him on the cheek praying that she wouldn't have to discipline him again within the next twenty-four hours.
"And please whatever you do, don't get dirty. I don't have time to clean anything off your suit," Phoebe reminded Dylan as he ran off in search of his cousin.
Piper was helping Prue to get ready in the area that had been set aside for the bride and her bridesmaids. Prue was now standing in a beautiful satin corset with pearl beading on the front. Her dress was done in a classic bell shape with light pink beading that embroidered the bottom and down the center back of the dress. She looked like she had just stepped out of a fairy tale book. Piper, Phoebe and Buffy were all dressed in body fitting soft pink satin gowns.
"You look absolutely beautiful," Piper told her sister trying to hold back her tears.
"Thanks, but don't you start crying otherwise you're going to make me cry then I am going to end up ruining my make-up." Prue turned around and hugged Piper letting her know how much she meant to her.
"Can I get in on this sisterly bonding moment to?" A voice called from a crack in the door.
"Sure, Pheebs, get over here," Prue smiled. "I want you both to know how much I love you. You mean so much to me that I couldn't imagine a life without either one of you."
"Well the feeling is mutual," Piper assured her older sister.
"I think we should be getting into our places right about now. We don't want Andy to think that you would stand him up at the altar now do we?" Phoebe added.
After a few minutes Prue was standing at the altar reciting her vows for all to see. All was going perfectly until the sound of someone tripping over something in the hallway became to great to ignore. As the man got to his feet and ran into the church, Prue gasped in disbelief. Bane was now standing in the aisle watching Prue while she stood holding hands with Andy. The minute Piper noticed Bane she began praying for a wedding that would go off without any problems.
"Prue?" The priest called out. "Prue."
Prue turned to look at the priest realizing the question he had just asked her. She looked once again at Bane who now looked as if he heart was being ripped out of his chest, but not completely torn out just yet. Prue then turned to look at Andy who now had the look of fear and confusion on his face wondering what Prue was going to do now that Bane was obviously there for more reasons than just to be a witness to the nuptials.
"I do," Prue slowly declared looking back towards Bane.
Bane stayed long enough to see Andy kiss his new bride, whom he wished would have decided to run away with him. Piper breathed a sigh of relief that for once a Halliwell was getting married without any interference of any kind natural or supernatural. As Prue made her way down the steps to the limousine she couldn't help but notice a man staring at her from out of the corner of her eye. Bane was still there watching her as she left the church on her way to her reception at P3.
~ P3 ~
After the wedding Prue had expected Bane to show up at P3 since he decided to come to the wedding. All night long even though she was thrilled to be married she kept thinking in the back of her mind 'when is he going to show up? How was he going to show up? What was he going to do once he showed up?' She got so lost in thought that she didn't even notice Phoebe or Cole walk up behind her.
"So how's life treating you Mrs. Trudeau?" Cole came up to Prue and asked.
"Couldn't possibly be any better. It's great really. You and Piper are going to have to handle things here without me while I am in France on my honeymoon, Phoebe."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can't you stop thinking about your Wiccan duties for just a little while?" Phoebe jokingly snapped.
"Nope," Prue grinned.
"Well you should. I just wanted to say congratulations and I am glad that you are enjoying the whole-married-life scene. It really is great," Phoebe hugged Prue before leaving to go home and relieve the nanny of Dylan.
~ Penthouse ~
When Cole and Phoebe returned home they found the house to be a total mess. They also found that the nanny was most grateful to get her money and get out of there as quickly as possible. Apparently for most of the night she was tied to a kitchen chair and gagged with a kitchen towel. The only reason Dylan untied the nanny was because he was getting hungry. She sorrowfully notified Cole that if they ever needed a babysitter she was not one to call.
"This is getting to be a bit much. We have seriously got to do something about his behavior," Phoebe snapped.
"He is already asleep so why don't we just talk to him in the morning?"
"Fine, only this time I better not hear you defending his actions. It's bad enough to have a child that feels as if he can do as he pleases when he pleases, but when you don't even defend me when I am trying to discipline him does not help the situation any."
"Look we are both tired and before we end up saying something we will regret later why don't we just go to bed," Cole insisted while untying his tie.
"No because in the morning I plan on getting to the bottom of this and I want to know that I have your support."
"Who said you didn't?"
"You did with your actions. You sit there and undermine what I say to him. You make it seem like 'boys will be boys' is a rule that we should follow. He needs to be more discipline, which is something I think we both have been lacking as of late."
"He is only seven years old for crying out loud. He is just trying to experiment and see how far he can push our buttons. I really think that he is trying to get back at us for telling him he was not allowed to go to the reception with Melinda and that he had to stay in his room all day."
"Get a backbone, Cole," With that Phoebe walked pass Cole and into their bedroom.
"Get a backbone? What is that suppose to mean," he followed her into the bedroom shutting the door behind him.
"I mean I tell Dylan he has to be in bed at seven-thirty you let him stay up all night playing with Melinda. I tell him he is not allowed to play with the neighbor's kids and instead of telling them that he is on punishment when they come to play with him you allow him to have company. That my friend is not having a backbone!" She shouted.
"For one thing it was not like I told him that he could have friends over I kind of figured you would tell the nanny that he couldn't have friends over seeing as how you told me as well as Dylan. I have no control over who the nanny allow him to play with when I am not home. You know when I am out doing something called working, ever heard of it?" He said staring her in the eye.
Phoebe was so hurt and so enraged that she slapped Cole as hard as she could and watched as he stood there in shock at what had just happened. "Don't you ever talk about my work as if it is nothing!"
"You know I told you this was not a good idea," Cole walked over and grabbed a pillow and blanket.
"Where are you going?" Phoebe looked confused watching as he headed for the door.
"I am going to sleep in the guestroom. That way I don't have to listen to you bitch about what a horrible father I am. Goodnight!"
After Cole slammed the door Phoebe laid in bed crying that she hadn't taken Cole's advice and just let it go until the morning. In the next room Dylan had been listening to everything his parents had just said from inside his closet. After hearing his mother crying he walked into her room and told his mom how sorry he was for being such a bad boy.
"Can I please sleep with you tonight, mommy?"
"Sure, baby if you want." Phoebe said climbing under the covers wrapping her arms around Dylan. "Get some sleep, buddy. We have some serious talking to do in the morning."
~ Manor ~
"Morning, sweetheart."
"Morning, mommy. Where's daddy?" Melinda wondered looking around the kitchen for Leo.
"He had to go to work early, but he will be back later today if you need to talk to him. How did you sleep?" Piper sipped her morning coffee waiting on a response.
"Okay, except for this funny feeling I had."
"What kind of funny feeling? Are you getting sick?" Piper began feeling Melinda's forehead and cheeks.
"No, not me, Dylan. Something is not right with him."
"Honey, you are just now realizing this? When he tried to throw an energy ball at you that right there should have told you something wasn't right with him."
"Mommy, listen to me," Melinda demanded shaking Piper's arm.
"All right," Piper announced putting down her morning paper. "I'm all ears. What is wrong with Dylan?"
"I have the feeling that there are two sides to him. You know the side of him that can be good and then there is the side of him that doesn't know how to be good." Melinda continued. "Do you know what I mean, mommy?"
"Well everybody has two sides, honey. Even mommy has two sides you know the side that likes to have fun and party then the side that likes to have a clean, noise free, party free house."
"That's not what I meant, but I guess I understand. I just don't think that Dylan means to do the things that he does."
"Honey, it is called self-control and discipline. Something he just doesn't seem to have."
"You don't understand, mommy." Melinda stated grabbing a muffin and heading out the door for the school bus.
"I don't seem to be understanding a lot of things these days," Piper told herself as she continued to sip her coffee while reading the daily news.
~ Penthouse ~
After Dylan had woke up he noticed his mom was not next to him. He walked into the kitchen and saw that his parents seemed to be in quite a heated debate about something, but he wasn't sure what. He walked passed them and went to the refrigerator to grab the milk carton before heading to the table where his cereal and a bowl were already waiting for him. After a few minutes his parents eyes seem to be trained on him as if they had just realized that he had came into the room.
"Morning, Dylan." Phoebe sighed.
"Morning, mommy." Dylan didn't dare look up fearing the lecture that was soon to come.
"We need to talk," Cole began sitting down next to Dylan. "I think that maybe your testing our authority has gotten out of hand."
"What is authority?" Dylan inquired.
Phoebe stepped in to tell him that his dad was basically saying that he is trying to test the rules that they had set for him and that they didn't feel that it was a good thing. Cole began to ask Dylan why he tied the nanny up for most of the night only to have his son tell him that he wanted to play cops and robbers and so he had to tie her up so that she couldn't get away from him. The shock that was now on Phoebe's face appeared on Cole's and Dylan knew exactly what was coming next.
"You don't tie a person up against their will just because you want to play a game that you weren't suppose to be playing in the first place. We forbid that game the last time you and your friends played that game because you guys wanted to use real weapons from the kitchen drawer. How many times have we told you just to behave, Dylan?" Cole started interrogating.
The only response that came after a few minutes was "I don't know, a few times maybe?"
"A few times!" Phoebe began to protest. "Baby, you have been told that more than a few times and it's sad to say you are kind of making mommy want to pull her hair out every time she gets a call from your school about something you have done. I just want you to.."
"Behave," Dylan repeated silently. "Why do you guys always have to gang up on me?"
"Why do you always have to get into trouble?" Phoebe replied trying hard not to show how upset she was.
"I don't want to talk anymore. You guys are being mean to me," Dylan started to get up only to have Cole push him back into his seat.
"You sit and listen while we talk." Cole gave his son a look as if to warn him that he didn't want to get up from his chair. "I have spent the morning talking to the principal at a private school. After your mother and I go and check it out we will let you know if you will be attending."
"Why do I need a new school?"
"Because obviously public school is not giving you the structure that you need, so maybe if we placed you in a private school it would give your more structure and discipline," Phoebe leaned near making sure Dylan heard every word that she was saying.
"I don't need discipline, mommy. I'm a good boy. Can't I just stay at my school with all my friends?" Dylan pleaded.
"That is not going to work this time, baby. You know maybe we are just missing the bigger picture here or something," Phoebe sighed sitting down across from her son. "What is it that we could do to get through to you? Where have we failed as parents."
"You haven't failed. I can be good really."
"That's not what your actions are showing though," Cole intervened. "What your actions say is that maybe I spent too much training with you to fight like a demon and not enough time being a proper dad."
"But I am good now. You said it yourself that I have progressed farther than you ever expected me to be at my age. You said that remember daddy?" Dylan confessed.
Phoebe and Cole looked at each other for a minute thinking that maybe they just weren't getting through to their son once again. Phoebe then spoke up and told Dylan that everything he said was true about the training, but that still does not make up for the ways in which he has been abusing his powers lately.
"I haven't done anything wrong!" he once again protested to his mom.
"What part of you trying to hurt your cousin don't you understand? You could have caused some major damage to her. You could have killed her, Dylan." Cole shouted.
"I said I was sorry. I even told Melinda I was sorry and she forgave me. It was just a low energy ball anyway and I knew I wasn't going to hit her."
Unable to continue to hold her anger Phoebe pointed towards Dylan's room and said, "Go now, before I do something I will truly regret."
"Mommy!"
Cole looked at Phoebe who seemed to be trying hard not to move told Dylan to go to his room and he would talk to him in a little while. Dylan got up and began to storm off to his room leaving the remains of his breakfast at the table.
"Maybe if I had a brother or sister like Michael does then I wouldn't have to mess with other people." Dylan mumbled as he shut his door.
Cole turned around looking confused as ever wondering if Phoebe had heard what their child had just said. One look at Phoebe assured him that she had heard every word of it and instead of wanting to go and confront her son for slamming the door she felt this feeling of sadness and sorrow once again return. A feeling that had been hidden for so many years by a chaotic work schedule, vanquishing demons, and trying so hard to please her family members now seemed to be resurfacing. Phoebe seemed to be zoning out back to a place in which she never thought she would return again.
*** Flashback***
Dr. Lewis: I just got the test results back
Phoebe: Really, so what do they say? Am I? I mean I was starting to wonder after three years if something was wrong with me.
Dr. Lewis: I am terribly sorry, Phoebe.
Phoebe: That's okay I mean it's not like we won't stop trying. Really, it's okay.
Dr. Lewis: Try as you may you still won't find yourself getting pregnant anytime soon.
Phoebe: No that can't be right. I think that maybe you have got the test all wrong. I want to be.
Dr. Lewis: I am so sorry, but the trauma that took from a falling down a flight of...stairs did you say?
Phoebe: Yeah, stairs. (Being thrown against a wall by a demon is more like it.)
Dr. Lewis: It did more damage than you could ever imagine. I am very sorry, but if you would like I could talk to you about the wonders of adoption.
Phoebe: No, thanks for the offer though. I think right now that I just want to go home and be with my son.
*** End of Flashback ***
"Phoebe. Earth to Phoebe." Cole was now waving his hand in front of Phoebe's face.
Phoebe turned to see Cole now standing right in front of her wondering where she had zoned out. She told him what she had been thinking about and he immediately hugged her reassuring her that everything was going to be okay.
"You are right!" She agreed.
"I am?"
"What we should be concentrating on right now is that young man sitting in his room. I was thinking of calling Piper and seeing if she could watch Dylan long enough for us to go check out that school. Do you think you could get the day off today because I think it would be best if we both went to check it out." Phoebe requested.
"I will go call now," Cole informed his wife heading off to find his cell phone.
~ Manor ~
"Phoebe, you know he is always welcomed here. What would make you think that he wasn't?" Piper stood in the doorway waiting on a response.
"Oh I don't know him trying to scare his cousin with energy balls."
"We will be fine. You go and take care of what you have to and we will be here when you return," Piper hugged her sister before watching her get into the car with Cole.
Dylan came back downstairs after seeing that Melinda had not made it home yet and asked when she would return. Piper told him that it was only one in the afternoon so she still had two more hours to go in school. They went to go sit down on the living room couch where Piper began to tell him about what Melinda had told her earlier today. Dylan did not respond at all to hearing the news he just looked down at the floor as if to be lost in thought.
"Is there something that you would like to tell Aunt Piper?"
"No." Dylan began twiddling his thumbs.
"Are you sure? We can talk about anything you know." Piper began running her hands through Dylan's hair the way she would do Melinda when they would relax on the couch.
"Mommy and daddy think that I am bad don't they? That is why they want to stick me in another school."
"I am sure they just want to give you the best education that money can buy."
"If I were to tell you something could it stay between you and me?" Dylan urged.
"Sure, it can be our little secret."
"Melinda was right but I don't know how to tell my parents because I am not even sure I understand it myself."
Piper looked at her nephew puzzled by what he could possibly mean. Dylan then explained to her about his dreams of seeing two of him only one of him is not very nice at all.
"Are you sure you don't want to maybe tell your dad? I am sure he would understand more than you would even imagine." Piper urged her nephew realizing exactly what he was telling her.
"No, that's okay. Do you think that maybe I can watch a movie?" Dylan quickly changed the subject.
"Sure. How about Beauty and the Beast? Melinda seems to be playing this one quite a bit lately."
After Piper had made sure Dylan was taken care of she picked up the phone and called Phoebe's cell phone. Phoebe at first tried to get Piper off the phone as soon as she could since they were just about to leave the school building. The minute she heard what Dylan had told her sister, Phoebe immediately became all ears to what Piper had to say.
"I think that maybe you might have to do something about this now, Pheebs. The last thing we need is to worry about another Belthazor within our family."
"We are on our way. I am sure there has to be some way to fix this right." Phoebe said looking for optimism.
" I sure hope so because the last thing I want to do is vanquish my own nephew." Piper hung up the phone and walked back into the living room to find Dylan having fallen asleep watching his movie.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thank you to all that have reviewed this story. I tried to give everybody what they wanted. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Thanks again.
Phoebe ran over to Dylan and began fixing his tie. "You look very handsome today, Dylan. Will you do mommy a favor and not act up today? Prue is so scared something bad will happen at her wedding like it did at Piper and Leo's and at your father and mines. So if you could, please don't.."
"I get the picture mom. It's not like I am going to do anything wrong. I promise I will be a good boy."
Phoebe stared at her son as if he had to be kidding her. In the last two days he had promised to be a good boy only to get kicked out of school, tried to harm his cousin with a low energy ball, and raised Phoebe's stress level higher than it had been in years. She finished fixing his tie and kissed him on the cheek praying that she wouldn't have to discipline him again within the next twenty-four hours.
"And please whatever you do, don't get dirty. I don't have time to clean anything off your suit," Phoebe reminded Dylan as he ran off in search of his cousin.
Piper was helping Prue to get ready in the area that had been set aside for the bride and her bridesmaids. Prue was now standing in a beautiful satin corset with pearl beading on the front. Her dress was done in a classic bell shape with light pink beading that embroidered the bottom and down the center back of the dress. She looked like she had just stepped out of a fairy tale book. Piper, Phoebe and Buffy were all dressed in body fitting soft pink satin gowns.
"You look absolutely beautiful," Piper told her sister trying to hold back her tears.
"Thanks, but don't you start crying otherwise you're going to make me cry then I am going to end up ruining my make-up." Prue turned around and hugged Piper letting her know how much she meant to her.
"Can I get in on this sisterly bonding moment to?" A voice called from a crack in the door.
"Sure, Pheebs, get over here," Prue smiled. "I want you both to know how much I love you. You mean so much to me that I couldn't imagine a life without either one of you."
"Well the feeling is mutual," Piper assured her older sister.
"I think we should be getting into our places right about now. We don't want Andy to think that you would stand him up at the altar now do we?" Phoebe added.
After a few minutes Prue was standing at the altar reciting her vows for all to see. All was going perfectly until the sound of someone tripping over something in the hallway became to great to ignore. As the man got to his feet and ran into the church, Prue gasped in disbelief. Bane was now standing in the aisle watching Prue while she stood holding hands with Andy. The minute Piper noticed Bane she began praying for a wedding that would go off without any problems.
"Prue?" The priest called out. "Prue."
Prue turned to look at the priest realizing the question he had just asked her. She looked once again at Bane who now looked as if he heart was being ripped out of his chest, but not completely torn out just yet. Prue then turned to look at Andy who now had the look of fear and confusion on his face wondering what Prue was going to do now that Bane was obviously there for more reasons than just to be a witness to the nuptials.
"I do," Prue slowly declared looking back towards Bane.
Bane stayed long enough to see Andy kiss his new bride, whom he wished would have decided to run away with him. Piper breathed a sigh of relief that for once a Halliwell was getting married without any interference of any kind natural or supernatural. As Prue made her way down the steps to the limousine she couldn't help but notice a man staring at her from out of the corner of her eye. Bane was still there watching her as she left the church on her way to her reception at P3.
~ P3 ~
After the wedding Prue had expected Bane to show up at P3 since he decided to come to the wedding. All night long even though she was thrilled to be married she kept thinking in the back of her mind 'when is he going to show up? How was he going to show up? What was he going to do once he showed up?' She got so lost in thought that she didn't even notice Phoebe or Cole walk up behind her.
"So how's life treating you Mrs. Trudeau?" Cole came up to Prue and asked.
"Couldn't possibly be any better. It's great really. You and Piper are going to have to handle things here without me while I am in France on my honeymoon, Phoebe."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can't you stop thinking about your Wiccan duties for just a little while?" Phoebe jokingly snapped.
"Nope," Prue grinned.
"Well you should. I just wanted to say congratulations and I am glad that you are enjoying the whole-married-life scene. It really is great," Phoebe hugged Prue before leaving to go home and relieve the nanny of Dylan.
~ Penthouse ~
When Cole and Phoebe returned home they found the house to be a total mess. They also found that the nanny was most grateful to get her money and get out of there as quickly as possible. Apparently for most of the night she was tied to a kitchen chair and gagged with a kitchen towel. The only reason Dylan untied the nanny was because he was getting hungry. She sorrowfully notified Cole that if they ever needed a babysitter she was not one to call.
"This is getting to be a bit much. We have seriously got to do something about his behavior," Phoebe snapped.
"He is already asleep so why don't we just talk to him in the morning?"
"Fine, only this time I better not hear you defending his actions. It's bad enough to have a child that feels as if he can do as he pleases when he pleases, but when you don't even defend me when I am trying to discipline him does not help the situation any."
"Look we are both tired and before we end up saying something we will regret later why don't we just go to bed," Cole insisted while untying his tie.
"No because in the morning I plan on getting to the bottom of this and I want to know that I have your support."
"Who said you didn't?"
"You did with your actions. You sit there and undermine what I say to him. You make it seem like 'boys will be boys' is a rule that we should follow. He needs to be more discipline, which is something I think we both have been lacking as of late."
"He is only seven years old for crying out loud. He is just trying to experiment and see how far he can push our buttons. I really think that he is trying to get back at us for telling him he was not allowed to go to the reception with Melinda and that he had to stay in his room all day."
"Get a backbone, Cole," With that Phoebe walked pass Cole and into their bedroom.
"Get a backbone? What is that suppose to mean," he followed her into the bedroom shutting the door behind him.
"I mean I tell Dylan he has to be in bed at seven-thirty you let him stay up all night playing with Melinda. I tell him he is not allowed to play with the neighbor's kids and instead of telling them that he is on punishment when they come to play with him you allow him to have company. That my friend is not having a backbone!" She shouted.
"For one thing it was not like I told him that he could have friends over I kind of figured you would tell the nanny that he couldn't have friends over seeing as how you told me as well as Dylan. I have no control over who the nanny allow him to play with when I am not home. You know when I am out doing something called working, ever heard of it?" He said staring her in the eye.
Phoebe was so hurt and so enraged that she slapped Cole as hard as she could and watched as he stood there in shock at what had just happened. "Don't you ever talk about my work as if it is nothing!"
"You know I told you this was not a good idea," Cole walked over and grabbed a pillow and blanket.
"Where are you going?" Phoebe looked confused watching as he headed for the door.
"I am going to sleep in the guestroom. That way I don't have to listen to you bitch about what a horrible father I am. Goodnight!"
After Cole slammed the door Phoebe laid in bed crying that she hadn't taken Cole's advice and just let it go until the morning. In the next room Dylan had been listening to everything his parents had just said from inside his closet. After hearing his mother crying he walked into her room and told his mom how sorry he was for being such a bad boy.
"Can I please sleep with you tonight, mommy?"
"Sure, baby if you want." Phoebe said climbing under the covers wrapping her arms around Dylan. "Get some sleep, buddy. We have some serious talking to do in the morning."
~ Manor ~
"Morning, sweetheart."
"Morning, mommy. Where's daddy?" Melinda wondered looking around the kitchen for Leo.
"He had to go to work early, but he will be back later today if you need to talk to him. How did you sleep?" Piper sipped her morning coffee waiting on a response.
"Okay, except for this funny feeling I had."
"What kind of funny feeling? Are you getting sick?" Piper began feeling Melinda's forehead and cheeks.
"No, not me, Dylan. Something is not right with him."
"Honey, you are just now realizing this? When he tried to throw an energy ball at you that right there should have told you something wasn't right with him."
"Mommy, listen to me," Melinda demanded shaking Piper's arm.
"All right," Piper announced putting down her morning paper. "I'm all ears. What is wrong with Dylan?"
"I have the feeling that there are two sides to him. You know the side of him that can be good and then there is the side of him that doesn't know how to be good." Melinda continued. "Do you know what I mean, mommy?"
"Well everybody has two sides, honey. Even mommy has two sides you know the side that likes to have fun and party then the side that likes to have a clean, noise free, party free house."
"That's not what I meant, but I guess I understand. I just don't think that Dylan means to do the things that he does."
"Honey, it is called self-control and discipline. Something he just doesn't seem to have."
"You don't understand, mommy." Melinda stated grabbing a muffin and heading out the door for the school bus.
"I don't seem to be understanding a lot of things these days," Piper told herself as she continued to sip her coffee while reading the daily news.
~ Penthouse ~
After Dylan had woke up he noticed his mom was not next to him. He walked into the kitchen and saw that his parents seemed to be in quite a heated debate about something, but he wasn't sure what. He walked passed them and went to the refrigerator to grab the milk carton before heading to the table where his cereal and a bowl were already waiting for him. After a few minutes his parents eyes seem to be trained on him as if they had just realized that he had came into the room.
"Morning, Dylan." Phoebe sighed.
"Morning, mommy." Dylan didn't dare look up fearing the lecture that was soon to come.
"We need to talk," Cole began sitting down next to Dylan. "I think that maybe your testing our authority has gotten out of hand."
"What is authority?" Dylan inquired.
Phoebe stepped in to tell him that his dad was basically saying that he is trying to test the rules that they had set for him and that they didn't feel that it was a good thing. Cole began to ask Dylan why he tied the nanny up for most of the night only to have his son tell him that he wanted to play cops and robbers and so he had to tie her up so that she couldn't get away from him. The shock that was now on Phoebe's face appeared on Cole's and Dylan knew exactly what was coming next.
"You don't tie a person up against their will just because you want to play a game that you weren't suppose to be playing in the first place. We forbid that game the last time you and your friends played that game because you guys wanted to use real weapons from the kitchen drawer. How many times have we told you just to behave, Dylan?" Cole started interrogating.
The only response that came after a few minutes was "I don't know, a few times maybe?"
"A few times!" Phoebe began to protest. "Baby, you have been told that more than a few times and it's sad to say you are kind of making mommy want to pull her hair out every time she gets a call from your school about something you have done. I just want you to.."
"Behave," Dylan repeated silently. "Why do you guys always have to gang up on me?"
"Why do you always have to get into trouble?" Phoebe replied trying hard not to show how upset she was.
"I don't want to talk anymore. You guys are being mean to me," Dylan started to get up only to have Cole push him back into his seat.
"You sit and listen while we talk." Cole gave his son a look as if to warn him that he didn't want to get up from his chair. "I have spent the morning talking to the principal at a private school. After your mother and I go and check it out we will let you know if you will be attending."
"Why do I need a new school?"
"Because obviously public school is not giving you the structure that you need, so maybe if we placed you in a private school it would give your more structure and discipline," Phoebe leaned near making sure Dylan heard every word that she was saying.
"I don't need discipline, mommy. I'm a good boy. Can't I just stay at my school with all my friends?" Dylan pleaded.
"That is not going to work this time, baby. You know maybe we are just missing the bigger picture here or something," Phoebe sighed sitting down across from her son. "What is it that we could do to get through to you? Where have we failed as parents."
"You haven't failed. I can be good really."
"That's not what your actions are showing though," Cole intervened. "What your actions say is that maybe I spent too much training with you to fight like a demon and not enough time being a proper dad."
"But I am good now. You said it yourself that I have progressed farther than you ever expected me to be at my age. You said that remember daddy?" Dylan confessed.
Phoebe and Cole looked at each other for a minute thinking that maybe they just weren't getting through to their son once again. Phoebe then spoke up and told Dylan that everything he said was true about the training, but that still does not make up for the ways in which he has been abusing his powers lately.
"I haven't done anything wrong!" he once again protested to his mom.
"What part of you trying to hurt your cousin don't you understand? You could have caused some major damage to her. You could have killed her, Dylan." Cole shouted.
"I said I was sorry. I even told Melinda I was sorry and she forgave me. It was just a low energy ball anyway and I knew I wasn't going to hit her."
Unable to continue to hold her anger Phoebe pointed towards Dylan's room and said, "Go now, before I do something I will truly regret."
"Mommy!"
Cole looked at Phoebe who seemed to be trying hard not to move told Dylan to go to his room and he would talk to him in a little while. Dylan got up and began to storm off to his room leaving the remains of his breakfast at the table.
"Maybe if I had a brother or sister like Michael does then I wouldn't have to mess with other people." Dylan mumbled as he shut his door.
Cole turned around looking confused as ever wondering if Phoebe had heard what their child had just said. One look at Phoebe assured him that she had heard every word of it and instead of wanting to go and confront her son for slamming the door she felt this feeling of sadness and sorrow once again return. A feeling that had been hidden for so many years by a chaotic work schedule, vanquishing demons, and trying so hard to please her family members now seemed to be resurfacing. Phoebe seemed to be zoning out back to a place in which she never thought she would return again.
*** Flashback***
Dr. Lewis: I just got the test results back
Phoebe: Really, so what do they say? Am I? I mean I was starting to wonder after three years if something was wrong with me.
Dr. Lewis: I am terribly sorry, Phoebe.
Phoebe: That's okay I mean it's not like we won't stop trying. Really, it's okay.
Dr. Lewis: Try as you may you still won't find yourself getting pregnant anytime soon.
Phoebe: No that can't be right. I think that maybe you have got the test all wrong. I want to be.
Dr. Lewis: I am so sorry, but the trauma that took from a falling down a flight of...stairs did you say?
Phoebe: Yeah, stairs. (Being thrown against a wall by a demon is more like it.)
Dr. Lewis: It did more damage than you could ever imagine. I am very sorry, but if you would like I could talk to you about the wonders of adoption.
Phoebe: No, thanks for the offer though. I think right now that I just want to go home and be with my son.
*** End of Flashback ***
"Phoebe. Earth to Phoebe." Cole was now waving his hand in front of Phoebe's face.
Phoebe turned to see Cole now standing right in front of her wondering where she had zoned out. She told him what she had been thinking about and he immediately hugged her reassuring her that everything was going to be okay.
"You are right!" She agreed.
"I am?"
"What we should be concentrating on right now is that young man sitting in his room. I was thinking of calling Piper and seeing if she could watch Dylan long enough for us to go check out that school. Do you think you could get the day off today because I think it would be best if we both went to check it out." Phoebe requested.
"I will go call now," Cole informed his wife heading off to find his cell phone.
~ Manor ~
"Phoebe, you know he is always welcomed here. What would make you think that he wasn't?" Piper stood in the doorway waiting on a response.
"Oh I don't know him trying to scare his cousin with energy balls."
"We will be fine. You go and take care of what you have to and we will be here when you return," Piper hugged her sister before watching her get into the car with Cole.
Dylan came back downstairs after seeing that Melinda had not made it home yet and asked when she would return. Piper told him that it was only one in the afternoon so she still had two more hours to go in school. They went to go sit down on the living room couch where Piper began to tell him about what Melinda had told her earlier today. Dylan did not respond at all to hearing the news he just looked down at the floor as if to be lost in thought.
"Is there something that you would like to tell Aunt Piper?"
"No." Dylan began twiddling his thumbs.
"Are you sure? We can talk about anything you know." Piper began running her hands through Dylan's hair the way she would do Melinda when they would relax on the couch.
"Mommy and daddy think that I am bad don't they? That is why they want to stick me in another school."
"I am sure they just want to give you the best education that money can buy."
"If I were to tell you something could it stay between you and me?" Dylan urged.
"Sure, it can be our little secret."
"Melinda was right but I don't know how to tell my parents because I am not even sure I understand it myself."
Piper looked at her nephew puzzled by what he could possibly mean. Dylan then explained to her about his dreams of seeing two of him only one of him is not very nice at all.
"Are you sure you don't want to maybe tell your dad? I am sure he would understand more than you would even imagine." Piper urged her nephew realizing exactly what he was telling her.
"No, that's okay. Do you think that maybe I can watch a movie?" Dylan quickly changed the subject.
"Sure. How about Beauty and the Beast? Melinda seems to be playing this one quite a bit lately."
After Piper had made sure Dylan was taken care of she picked up the phone and called Phoebe's cell phone. Phoebe at first tried to get Piper off the phone as soon as she could since they were just about to leave the school building. The minute she heard what Dylan had told her sister, Phoebe immediately became all ears to what Piper had to say.
"I think that maybe you might have to do something about this now, Pheebs. The last thing we need is to worry about another Belthazor within our family."
"We are on our way. I am sure there has to be some way to fix this right." Phoebe said looking for optimism.
" I sure hope so because the last thing I want to do is vanquish my own nephew." Piper hung up the phone and walked back into the living room to find Dylan having fallen asleep watching his movie.
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Thank you to all that have reviewed this story. I tried to give everybody what they wanted. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Thanks again.