Hey you guys, we're really, really, really sorry about making sooo long to update again, it's been hard, but well we're here... Thanks for the wait...
Chapter 16
"My First Official Day with Daddy.".
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Phoebe tried to pop in the Manor unnoticed; she was supposed to be back home at least 4 hours before. Instead, she had lost track of time while making sweet and romantic love with Cole in bed.
She had put her hair up in a ponytail, in an intent to hide her messy bed hair; but the red and glow on her face she couldn't hide, reason of why she chose to avoid her sisters. She quickly climbed up the stairs.
"What is that errand you had to run this late?" suddenly a voice asked her.
Phoebe just gasped nervously and turned back. "Paige! You scared me." She said.
"Sorry, didn't mean to..." She apologized innocently.
"Paige, what's the name of the actor that played the guy Carrie used to live with?" Alex asked as she walked behind Paige. "Hey Phoebs."
"Hey..." Phoebe said. "I'm gonna check on Prue."
"Wait..." her sister stopped her.
'Damn!' Phoebe thought and turned back. "What?"
Paige just stared at her sister silently.
"What?" Phoebe asked again. 'Oh god, they caught me...' she nervously stated in her mind. Was is that obvious she just had sex?
"You had them!" Paige pointed.
"What are you talking about?" Phoebe questioned confused.
"The earrings..." Paige said.
Automatically Phoebe reached to touch one of the earrings she was wearing. A sight of relief escaped her lips. "Oh, yeah sorry... this morning I just took them from your dresser." she explained.
"Where's the other?" her sister questioned her a little mad.
"What?" Phoebe asked and reached for the other, which was missing. "Oh Paige, I must have dropped it somewhere... I'm really sorry." She apologized. "I'll replace them, I swear..." she quickly added ashamed. She couldn't think of a place where she could have dropped it, she had done some many things that day and been in so many places, that it could have been anywhere.
"Aren't those MY earrings?" Alex questioned Paige.
"Oops." Paige turned to her friend. "I'm afraid...", she frowned.
"Alex I swear I'll replace them..." Phoebe apologized even more ashamed.
"It's ok..."Alex assured her. Not pretty convincing though.
Phoebe headed to her room when Alex directed to her: "Phoebe, honey, do you always get dressed in the dark?" she asked casually.
"What?" she asked back clueless.
"The buttons of your blouse are not in the right..." Alex said pointing to Phoebe's blouse referring to how Phoebe had skipped a few holes.
Phoebe laughed nervously. 'Think Phoebe, think very fast...' she thought. "I left in a hurry this morning.." she lied. "I'll go to bed, I'm kinda of tired." Phoebe excused and walked to her room; at least she had fooled Paige to not talk about what she had been doing earlier that night.
She got into her bedroom and closed the door, she walked to the crib and saw Prue was awake.
"Hey there..." Phoebe smiled as she took her daughter in her arms. "Were you playing dirty on your aunties? They said you were asleep..." she said in baby voice.
Prue just giggled.
"So were you waiting for your mommy? You want to gossip a little I see..." Phoebe kept talking with Prue as she laid in her bed with her baby. "Well, after I left you in the afternoon, mommy could make it to get in the bank to get some money to feed this little roundy tummy..." she said in baby voice as she tickled her in the tummy. "Then mommy met your daddy to agree on paperwork about you...." She explained. "And guess what? He got a surprise for you..." she said referring to Prue's new bedroom. "Then..." she lovingly sighed as a school girl. "We saw a movie together and..." she said in her regular voice and paused herself; she couldn't help but blush when she remembered what they had done after... "and I did the most stupid thing I could have done..." She sadly reproached to herself. "Again..."
She sighed. How could she do that again? The most stupid, stupid but deliciously wonderful thing she had done lately...
Truth was that she hadn't felt so good in a year, she had felt whole again when she was with him. She shook her head at her little girl and finally smiled. She sighed and said: "I don't know what to do baby."
"We could be a family, you, me and your daddy... but it's so complicated, so hard. I'm so afraid of getting burn again, so afraid of you getting hurt."
She kissed her daughter on the cheek and said: "Too complicated for a baby like you. Time to sleep."
She got up and put Prue back on her crib and the little girl started crying.
"I know baby, just give mommy time to get change into her Pj's and I'll be right there." She said, caressing the baby's tummy.
She got changed in a matter of time and took Prue with her in bed and they fell asleep together.
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Alex sighed before opening the door to the penthouse, her home, because the image of her big brother bitching about her being home late crossed her mind; he always bitched about anything she did. She finally opened the door and walked in quietly and carefully, trying to pass unnoticed. Everything was dark and she had almost reached her bedroom. "I already saw you." Cole suddenly said with a calm stare.
'Damn' she thought. She gave up her mouse attitude. "Hey." She said.
"Hey..." he greeted back with the same calm tone. He stayed there with empty look, in his chair at the corner of the living room, only wearing his boxers and a scotch in his hand.
He didn't say anything; he didn't care about anything at the moment.
'Where's the bitching, the yelling and the complaining?' Alex questioned herself mentally. Something was wrong here... "Cole, are you ok?" she asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm great." He lied. Of course he was not good. He felt miserable. He couldn't believe she had just gone... she had been in his arms again and now she was gone. It hurt. It hurt badly that he'd had the chance to touch her, to kiss her, to love her, to tell her all he wanted to say... to feel her once again and now she was not there. She had been his, but now she wasn't anymore. Now, it was all the same. He was here, in his home and she was there, in hers.
They both were away from him, the two people he needed in his life. Now he was standing there with an empty soul, knowing that something will always miss in his life.
"Is there something wrong?" she insisted.
"Just go to bed and leave me alone." He coldly said.
She was a little taken by his reply. "Oh.. I see you're not in the mood." She rolled her eyes and walked to her bedroom.
Cole just stayed there for a while, till he decided to return to bed. It was almost worst... he still could feel her essence in his bed and the smell of her hair in his pillow, he just imagined her there, sleeping like an angel, right next to him... it was torturing him. He managed to get through the night.
The next morning, he was lying on his bed, his eyes opened, looking at the ceiling and thinking. Thinking about the both of them, how much he loved them and how much he wanted to be with them, in their lives, forever. He knew he wasn't the one coming first, what was coming first was their safety. Even if it was painful to be away from them, he knew that it was for the best. He could die for them so being heart broken wasn't a big deal compared to that. Suddenly, the doorbell interrupted his thoughts, he glanced at the alarm clock which was already indicating 7am. He realized that he had been thinking all night long. He got up and rubbed his eyes before heading to the door. When he opened it, all his negative thoughts went away and happiness filled his heart and mind.
"Hi." Phoebe said while holding Prue in her arms.
"Hey, how are you?" He asked casually. Images of what had happened between them some hours before were hitting him.
'It was just a one time thing.' He remembered.
"Good." She replied, avoiding his eyes and looking down at her daughter.
"And how's my little one today?" He asked, looking at Prue who smiled at him and giggled.
"I think she wants to be with her Daddy." Phoebe said as she handed him their daughter.
"Thanks. Come on in." He said and Phoebe finally looked at him and she smiled as she walked in.
"What?" He asked, smiling back at her.
"I love when she's in your arms, you guys are so cute together." Phoebe answered. "This is a Kodak moment." She joked.
Cole smiled even more and Phoebe said: "She hasn't asked for her bottle yet and I think she's going to fall back asleep soon."
"How can you tell?" Cole asked.
"She's like her mother, she finds that your arms are the best place to fall asleep, that's all." Phoebe replied, avoiding his stare once again.
"Phoebe..." Cole said in a serious tone.
She blushed when she realized what she had just said. She looked up at him and he said: "You look tired, maybe you should get some rest." He was concerned about her, he wanted her to feel good and to be okay.
"I know, but I have to go to work, I'll be fine don't worry." She replied.
Suddenly Alex walked in a rush of exasperation. "Oh shit this is a complete mess!" she said as she walked to the kitchen. "My Shimy Shoes... they're ruined..." she complained.
"Morning to you too." Cole sarcastically said.
Alex just mocked at him. "Oh now you want me to greet you and to talk to you..." she said a little upset about his behaving of the night before.
She walked to the living again and suddenly grabbed Prue from Cole's arms. "Hey girl... did you miss your favorite auntie?" she played with Prue in baby voice.
Prue just laughed since she loved playing with her auntie. "Hey Phoebs." She greeted.
"Hi. How you doing?" Phoebe said.
"I'll get some coffee." He offered and walked in the kitchen.
Phoebe couldn't help but follow his stare till he got in the kitchen. My god he was only wearing his boxers. Alex noticed it and got close to her: "I know my brother is hot, but just think about him bossing around and he won't seem the same." She said in a confident way.
Phoebe just blushed at this 'I like when he bosses around' she thought.
When Cole got back with the coffe and juice for Phoebe, she just excused and kissed Prue, who was back on his Daddy's arms.
"Be nice with Daddy, I love you." She said to her daughter.
She closed her eyes, feeling Cole's presence close to her. Besides, she couldn't ignore the fact he was only wearing his boxers, he looked so great.
'It was just a one time thing.' She remembered.
"I have to go to work." She said trying to give him her best smile to hide her emotions.
"Bye Phoebe, take care." Cole told her.
"You too." She answered before leaving.
Cole closed the door and looked down at Prue.
"What about we go back to bed, sleep a little, have breakfast, show you your new room, go to the park, take picture of us and then I think it'll be time for you to go home?" Cole proposed to the little girl who replied with giggles. "I'll take that as a 'Yes'." Cole smiled, he loved her so much, she was so cute that his heart melt every time he was with her, and he felt the same when he was with Phoebe. He wanted to be there for them and to protect them forever. He kept smiling and then turned to his little sister and eyed her.
"What?" she asked.
"What will you do today?" he asked
"Got college." She replied.
"Too bad, you could have spend some time with us." Cole replied.
"I'll be with the two of you later, right after college." Alex said with a smile.
She walked close to Cole and kissed Prue on the cheek.
"Thanks for being here sweetie, you make Daddy a lot more nicer than when you're not here." She said and stick her tongue at him.
"Gotta get prepared." Alex said before heading to the bathroom.
"And us baby, we have to go back to sleep." Cole said to Prue as he walked to his bedroom.
Suddenly, someone orbed in the room. Cole froze and tightened his hold on Prue, it could be anyone, good or bad. When the glow disappeared, he saw Patty Halliwell standing right in front of him.
"Hello Cole." She said, in a cold tone.
"Hello." He replied, he knew she was there for something and he also knew she would get straight to the point.
Patty wasn't known to be mean or rude, but lately, when it was about the whole Phoebe/Cole issue, she acted very judgmental and sometimes not very understanding.
"You have to know that Prue is a powerful magical being, her future is full of good, she'll be one of the greatest witch, even with evil powers." She started.
Cole didn't react, he knew she hadn't finished and he wanted to hear everything she had to say.
"The Elders don't see it the good way that you are back in their lives, I agree with them. Of course in the human world you have rights to see her, but not in ours."
Cole was about to talk but she stopped him and continued: "Let's get this straight, you can see Prue as you and Phoebe agreed, but in no way, you'll be allowed to see Phoebe like... last night." She stated. "If you don't follow our rules, you'll be sent back to hell where you belong, leaving your sister, Phoebe and Prue alone against the demons trying to kill them, and trust me, they will be a lot."
Cole looked down and Patty repeated: "You can see them, but you can't be involved in Phoebe's life."
Then, Patty walked to them, and lovingly passed a hand over Prue's little head.
As he noticed his former mother in law had softened her mood a little, he dared to ask. "Why? Why can't we be allowed to be together when we still love each other so much?" he asked her softly.
She looked at him symphatically. "You're from different worlds. You're not supposed to be together." She replied sadly. After all, Phoebe was her daughter, and it hurt her that she couldn't be happy with the guy she loved, just like she couldn't be happy with Sam herself.
Cole didn't say anything. It was true what she had just said.
Patty kissed Prue in the cheek and whispered: "Blessed be." She said to her new granddaughter.
"Take good care of them." She said to him before orbing out.
Cole stood still. He knew Patty was right, he was a threat to Prue and Phoebe, he couldn't be part of their lifes, he would be watching over them for the rest of his life and if he wanted to be able to protect them, Phoebe and him would only have to be friends and to resist the temptation, they couldn't be really close friends.
He sighed and kissed Prue on the forehead and told her: "It's okay baby, they could have said that they didn't want you to stay with me."
He laid down on his bed with his daughter, he was sad, but he knew it was better like this.
"I love you honey." He whispered as Prue was slowly falling asleep.
He closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.
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When Cole woke up, he rubbed his eyes, he smiled when he noticed that his little girl was quietly playing and giggling next to him. He smiled quickly disappeared when he remember what Patty had told him. He sighed and sat up in bed. He took Prue in his arms and kissed her on the cheek.
"Guess we'll have to tell Mommy about what happened." He told her.
The phone rang and Cole picked it up.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Cole, it's me, how is everything?" Phoebe asked, she was calling from work.
"Well, we just woke up." Cole said with a smile.
Phoebe smiled as well and said: "What's next?"
"Breakfast, shower, park, lunch, nap, park again and then we'll see." Cole replied, playing with his daughter.
"What do you think about having dinner tonight? With Prue and me?" Phoebe proposed excitedly.
"Huh... I'm sorry but I've already planned dinner with Alex tonight." He lied turning her down.
"But could you come over here after work? There is something I want to tell you." He asked her.
"Well, yeah, is there anything wrong?" She asked back.
"No, it's just something I need to tell you, nothing to worry about." He lied again.
"Okay, fine, I'll be there around 6.30pm." Phoebe said.
"Great, well goodbye then." Cole told her.
"Wait, could you pass the phone to Prue? I wanna talk to her." She asked him, almost begging.
"Sure, but remember she doesn't know how to talk yet." He joked.
"I know that." She replied with a smile.
Cole put the phone close to Prue's ear and told her: "Say hi to Mommy."
"Hey Baby... you miss mommy?" Phoebe asked.
Prue just giggled and Cole said into the phone in baby voice. "Yes, we both miss you a lot."
Phoebe smiled, and for some reason, even when he couldn't see it, Cole knew she was smiling. "I miss you too, the both of you." She admitted.
Then Cole continued, "Daddy said last night was great."
Phoebe blushed and he could feel it. "Tell your daddy to stop teasing..." she said trying to hide the blush.
"Daddy said that there's not need to blush." He continued.
"I'm not blushing!" she threw even more red.
"Yes you are..." he teased. He knew he was playing with fire, he wasn't supposed to tell all this to Phoebe, he was supposed to be mean to her, to make her understand that they couldn't be together, but that was too hard, he didn't want to be mean, he wanted to be lovely, nice and careful with her.
"No I'm not!" she said. "Okay, I'm blushing, you've won. I'll be there at 6.30." she changed the subject.
Cole just laughed. "Ok, see you then."
Phoebe laughed and Cole smiled, he always loved to hear her laughing but he remembered about Patty once again.
"See you after work honey." Phoebe said. She didn't mean to say honey but it just came out, it felt natural and normal after what had happened the night before.
"Bye." Cole replied and they both hung up.
"I'm going to miss her so much." Cole said to his daughter sadly.
"But I have you, that's already good, what if they had forbidden us to see each other?" Cole asked.
His daughter starred at him with big round eyes. "Let's not even think about it." He said and kissed her in the forehead. Then, they went to the kitchen for breakfast to start the day; they had a very important and filled agenda, they couldn't break. It was an important day, it was their first official day together.
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"I swear it wasn't my fault..." Alex insisted while Cole followed her inside the Penthouse with Prue in his arms.
"...then you wonder why you can't borrow my car." He argued.
"But it was nothing. It was my car I was driving, my car the one which is injured." She remarked. "It was an accident."
"Accident I'm paying for..." he turned to her. "Today is my day.. my special day to spend with my daughter. Couldn't you crash your car some other time?" he questioned her.
"I told you, there was this ambulance and-" she tried again.
"I don't want to know." He cut her off in exasperation and got into Prue's bedroom and layed her in her new crib.
He stood there with holding her little hands and talking to her. "I know you silly auntie ruined part of our walk on the park, but I promise I'll make it up to you." He said.
After taken breakfast, Cole gave Prue a bath, then played with her in her new room. Then, they took lunch, they took a nap and then went for a nice walk in the park, where he got a call from his sister telling him she had been in a car accident. It was passed 6 p.m., he noticed. The day was almost over, but it had been one of the best days of his life.
Soon, too soon, Phoebe arrived. He didn't want to tell her, he didn't want to have to be away from her. He opened the door with Prue in his arms.
"Hey! How's my little baby?" Phoebe asked as she immediately took Prue in her arms and covered her with kisses. "So, how was your day?" She asked Cole.
"Actually..." Cole trailed off. "Why don't you come in and sit down?" He asked her.
She nodded, walked in the living room and sat down on the couch with Prue cuddled in her arms. He was being a little avoiding.
"This morning... Your mother came here." Cole informed her.
"She what? Mom?" Phoebe asked very surprised.
"It's hard to say it... She told me that the Elders don't allow me to be in your life and if I don't follow the rules, I'll be sent back to hell." He explained.
Phoebe's jaw dropped. "No... it's... that's impossible I can't believe it..." She said. "I mean, we... uh... we're not actually together."
"We were last night..." he softly said.
"Oh..." she looked down, it was true. "But... that doesn't mean... I mean..." she tried to justify.
Cole looked down and said: "I know... But I still can see Prue."
"Of course, she is your daughter." Phoebe said, she was really shocked. "It'd be even more unacceptable if they didn't let you see her." She said angrily. "I mean, who are they to even decide whether or not we should or shouldn't be together?" revel Phoebe questioned angrily.
"Phoebe, you know they're right..." he told her. "So I guess life will go on this way..." He added.
A deep silence filled the room.
"You better go." He told her sadly.
Phoebe looked up at him and said: "I love you."
He smiled and said: "Don't try to make things harder than they are already."
She got up, tears running down her face and walked towards the door as he followed her.
It was hard, but they knew it was the right thing. They couldn't be together, reason of why it hurt soo much to be close and to meet. They were at door. Phoebe had Prue in her arms, who was about to sleep. A deep silence filled the room and Phoebe and Cole starred at each other.
"Goodbye." She said sadly.
"Goodbye." He replied and then came closer and hugged tight.
She did the same and accepted the hug. She felt so much comfort in his embrace.
They hugged tigh for a couple of minutes. He didn't want to let her go. She didn't want to let go either. It felt so good, warm and safe in his arms, that she didn't want to forget this sensation ever. But it wasn't right and they knew it. So he broke the embrace and pulled apart from her.
"I'll call you, so we agree about when you can pick her up, to spend the day with her, like today." She said.
He just nodded.
She turned and left.
Chapter 16
"My First Official Day with Daddy.".
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Phoebe tried to pop in the Manor unnoticed; she was supposed to be back home at least 4 hours before. Instead, she had lost track of time while making sweet and romantic love with Cole in bed.
She had put her hair up in a ponytail, in an intent to hide her messy bed hair; but the red and glow on her face she couldn't hide, reason of why she chose to avoid her sisters. She quickly climbed up the stairs.
"What is that errand you had to run this late?" suddenly a voice asked her.
Phoebe just gasped nervously and turned back. "Paige! You scared me." She said.
"Sorry, didn't mean to..." She apologized innocently.
"Paige, what's the name of the actor that played the guy Carrie used to live with?" Alex asked as she walked behind Paige. "Hey Phoebs."
"Hey..." Phoebe said. "I'm gonna check on Prue."
"Wait..." her sister stopped her.
'Damn!' Phoebe thought and turned back. "What?"
Paige just stared at her sister silently.
"What?" Phoebe asked again. 'Oh god, they caught me...' she nervously stated in her mind. Was is that obvious she just had sex?
"You had them!" Paige pointed.
"What are you talking about?" Phoebe questioned confused.
"The earrings..." Paige said.
Automatically Phoebe reached to touch one of the earrings she was wearing. A sight of relief escaped her lips. "Oh, yeah sorry... this morning I just took them from your dresser." she explained.
"Where's the other?" her sister questioned her a little mad.
"What?" Phoebe asked and reached for the other, which was missing. "Oh Paige, I must have dropped it somewhere... I'm really sorry." She apologized. "I'll replace them, I swear..." she quickly added ashamed. She couldn't think of a place where she could have dropped it, she had done some many things that day and been in so many places, that it could have been anywhere.
"Aren't those MY earrings?" Alex questioned Paige.
"Oops." Paige turned to her friend. "I'm afraid...", she frowned.
"Alex I swear I'll replace them..." Phoebe apologized even more ashamed.
"It's ok..."Alex assured her. Not pretty convincing though.
Phoebe headed to her room when Alex directed to her: "Phoebe, honey, do you always get dressed in the dark?" she asked casually.
"What?" she asked back clueless.
"The buttons of your blouse are not in the right..." Alex said pointing to Phoebe's blouse referring to how Phoebe had skipped a few holes.
Phoebe laughed nervously. 'Think Phoebe, think very fast...' she thought. "I left in a hurry this morning.." she lied. "I'll go to bed, I'm kinda of tired." Phoebe excused and walked to her room; at least she had fooled Paige to not talk about what she had been doing earlier that night.
She got into her bedroom and closed the door, she walked to the crib and saw Prue was awake.
"Hey there..." Phoebe smiled as she took her daughter in her arms. "Were you playing dirty on your aunties? They said you were asleep..." she said in baby voice.
Prue just giggled.
"So were you waiting for your mommy? You want to gossip a little I see..." Phoebe kept talking with Prue as she laid in her bed with her baby. "Well, after I left you in the afternoon, mommy could make it to get in the bank to get some money to feed this little roundy tummy..." she said in baby voice as she tickled her in the tummy. "Then mommy met your daddy to agree on paperwork about you...." She explained. "And guess what? He got a surprise for you..." she said referring to Prue's new bedroom. "Then..." she lovingly sighed as a school girl. "We saw a movie together and..." she said in her regular voice and paused herself; she couldn't help but blush when she remembered what they had done after... "and I did the most stupid thing I could have done..." She sadly reproached to herself. "Again..."
She sighed. How could she do that again? The most stupid, stupid but deliciously wonderful thing she had done lately...
Truth was that she hadn't felt so good in a year, she had felt whole again when she was with him. She shook her head at her little girl and finally smiled. She sighed and said: "I don't know what to do baby."
"We could be a family, you, me and your daddy... but it's so complicated, so hard. I'm so afraid of getting burn again, so afraid of you getting hurt."
She kissed her daughter on the cheek and said: "Too complicated for a baby like you. Time to sleep."
She got up and put Prue back on her crib and the little girl started crying.
"I know baby, just give mommy time to get change into her Pj's and I'll be right there." She said, caressing the baby's tummy.
She got changed in a matter of time and took Prue with her in bed and they fell asleep together.
-----
Alex sighed before opening the door to the penthouse, her home, because the image of her big brother bitching about her being home late crossed her mind; he always bitched about anything she did. She finally opened the door and walked in quietly and carefully, trying to pass unnoticed. Everything was dark and she had almost reached her bedroom. "I already saw you." Cole suddenly said with a calm stare.
'Damn' she thought. She gave up her mouse attitude. "Hey." She said.
"Hey..." he greeted back with the same calm tone. He stayed there with empty look, in his chair at the corner of the living room, only wearing his boxers and a scotch in his hand.
He didn't say anything; he didn't care about anything at the moment.
'Where's the bitching, the yelling and the complaining?' Alex questioned herself mentally. Something was wrong here... "Cole, are you ok?" she asked him.
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm great." He lied. Of course he was not good. He felt miserable. He couldn't believe she had just gone... she had been in his arms again and now she was gone. It hurt. It hurt badly that he'd had the chance to touch her, to kiss her, to love her, to tell her all he wanted to say... to feel her once again and now she was not there. She had been his, but now she wasn't anymore. Now, it was all the same. He was here, in his home and she was there, in hers.
They both were away from him, the two people he needed in his life. Now he was standing there with an empty soul, knowing that something will always miss in his life.
"Is there something wrong?" she insisted.
"Just go to bed and leave me alone." He coldly said.
She was a little taken by his reply. "Oh.. I see you're not in the mood." She rolled her eyes and walked to her bedroom.
Cole just stayed there for a while, till he decided to return to bed. It was almost worst... he still could feel her essence in his bed and the smell of her hair in his pillow, he just imagined her there, sleeping like an angel, right next to him... it was torturing him. He managed to get through the night.
The next morning, he was lying on his bed, his eyes opened, looking at the ceiling and thinking. Thinking about the both of them, how much he loved them and how much he wanted to be with them, in their lives, forever. He knew he wasn't the one coming first, what was coming first was their safety. Even if it was painful to be away from them, he knew that it was for the best. He could die for them so being heart broken wasn't a big deal compared to that. Suddenly, the doorbell interrupted his thoughts, he glanced at the alarm clock which was already indicating 7am. He realized that he had been thinking all night long. He got up and rubbed his eyes before heading to the door. When he opened it, all his negative thoughts went away and happiness filled his heart and mind.
"Hi." Phoebe said while holding Prue in her arms.
"Hey, how are you?" He asked casually. Images of what had happened between them some hours before were hitting him.
'It was just a one time thing.' He remembered.
"Good." She replied, avoiding his eyes and looking down at her daughter.
"And how's my little one today?" He asked, looking at Prue who smiled at him and giggled.
"I think she wants to be with her Daddy." Phoebe said as she handed him their daughter.
"Thanks. Come on in." He said and Phoebe finally looked at him and she smiled as she walked in.
"What?" He asked, smiling back at her.
"I love when she's in your arms, you guys are so cute together." Phoebe answered. "This is a Kodak moment." She joked.
Cole smiled even more and Phoebe said: "She hasn't asked for her bottle yet and I think she's going to fall back asleep soon."
"How can you tell?" Cole asked.
"She's like her mother, she finds that your arms are the best place to fall asleep, that's all." Phoebe replied, avoiding his stare once again.
"Phoebe..." Cole said in a serious tone.
She blushed when she realized what she had just said. She looked up at him and he said: "You look tired, maybe you should get some rest." He was concerned about her, he wanted her to feel good and to be okay.
"I know, but I have to go to work, I'll be fine don't worry." She replied.
Suddenly Alex walked in a rush of exasperation. "Oh shit this is a complete mess!" she said as she walked to the kitchen. "My Shimy Shoes... they're ruined..." she complained.
"Morning to you too." Cole sarcastically said.
Alex just mocked at him. "Oh now you want me to greet you and to talk to you..." she said a little upset about his behaving of the night before.
She walked to the living again and suddenly grabbed Prue from Cole's arms. "Hey girl... did you miss your favorite auntie?" she played with Prue in baby voice.
Prue just laughed since she loved playing with her auntie. "Hey Phoebs." She greeted.
"Hi. How you doing?" Phoebe said.
"I'll get some coffee." He offered and walked in the kitchen.
Phoebe couldn't help but follow his stare till he got in the kitchen. My god he was only wearing his boxers. Alex noticed it and got close to her: "I know my brother is hot, but just think about him bossing around and he won't seem the same." She said in a confident way.
Phoebe just blushed at this 'I like when he bosses around' she thought.
When Cole got back with the coffe and juice for Phoebe, she just excused and kissed Prue, who was back on his Daddy's arms.
"Be nice with Daddy, I love you." She said to her daughter.
She closed her eyes, feeling Cole's presence close to her. Besides, she couldn't ignore the fact he was only wearing his boxers, he looked so great.
'It was just a one time thing.' She remembered.
"I have to go to work." She said trying to give him her best smile to hide her emotions.
"Bye Phoebe, take care." Cole told her.
"You too." She answered before leaving.
Cole closed the door and looked down at Prue.
"What about we go back to bed, sleep a little, have breakfast, show you your new room, go to the park, take picture of us and then I think it'll be time for you to go home?" Cole proposed to the little girl who replied with giggles. "I'll take that as a 'Yes'." Cole smiled, he loved her so much, she was so cute that his heart melt every time he was with her, and he felt the same when he was with Phoebe. He wanted to be there for them and to protect them forever. He kept smiling and then turned to his little sister and eyed her.
"What?" she asked.
"What will you do today?" he asked
"Got college." She replied.
"Too bad, you could have spend some time with us." Cole replied.
"I'll be with the two of you later, right after college." Alex said with a smile.
She walked close to Cole and kissed Prue on the cheek.
"Thanks for being here sweetie, you make Daddy a lot more nicer than when you're not here." She said and stick her tongue at him.
"Gotta get prepared." Alex said before heading to the bathroom.
"And us baby, we have to go back to sleep." Cole said to Prue as he walked to his bedroom.
Suddenly, someone orbed in the room. Cole froze and tightened his hold on Prue, it could be anyone, good or bad. When the glow disappeared, he saw Patty Halliwell standing right in front of him.
"Hello Cole." She said, in a cold tone.
"Hello." He replied, he knew she was there for something and he also knew she would get straight to the point.
Patty wasn't known to be mean or rude, but lately, when it was about the whole Phoebe/Cole issue, she acted very judgmental and sometimes not very understanding.
"You have to know that Prue is a powerful magical being, her future is full of good, she'll be one of the greatest witch, even with evil powers." She started.
Cole didn't react, he knew she hadn't finished and he wanted to hear everything she had to say.
"The Elders don't see it the good way that you are back in their lives, I agree with them. Of course in the human world you have rights to see her, but not in ours."
Cole was about to talk but she stopped him and continued: "Let's get this straight, you can see Prue as you and Phoebe agreed, but in no way, you'll be allowed to see Phoebe like... last night." She stated. "If you don't follow our rules, you'll be sent back to hell where you belong, leaving your sister, Phoebe and Prue alone against the demons trying to kill them, and trust me, they will be a lot."
Cole looked down and Patty repeated: "You can see them, but you can't be involved in Phoebe's life."
Then, Patty walked to them, and lovingly passed a hand over Prue's little head.
As he noticed his former mother in law had softened her mood a little, he dared to ask. "Why? Why can't we be allowed to be together when we still love each other so much?" he asked her softly.
She looked at him symphatically. "You're from different worlds. You're not supposed to be together." She replied sadly. After all, Phoebe was her daughter, and it hurt her that she couldn't be happy with the guy she loved, just like she couldn't be happy with Sam herself.
Cole didn't say anything. It was true what she had just said.
Patty kissed Prue in the cheek and whispered: "Blessed be." She said to her new granddaughter.
"Take good care of them." She said to him before orbing out.
Cole stood still. He knew Patty was right, he was a threat to Prue and Phoebe, he couldn't be part of their lifes, he would be watching over them for the rest of his life and if he wanted to be able to protect them, Phoebe and him would only have to be friends and to resist the temptation, they couldn't be really close friends.
He sighed and kissed Prue on the forehead and told her: "It's okay baby, they could have said that they didn't want you to stay with me."
He laid down on his bed with his daughter, he was sad, but he knew it was better like this.
"I love you honey." He whispered as Prue was slowly falling asleep.
He closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.
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When Cole woke up, he rubbed his eyes, he smiled when he noticed that his little girl was quietly playing and giggling next to him. He smiled quickly disappeared when he remember what Patty had told him. He sighed and sat up in bed. He took Prue in his arms and kissed her on the cheek.
"Guess we'll have to tell Mommy about what happened." He told her.
The phone rang and Cole picked it up.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Cole, it's me, how is everything?" Phoebe asked, she was calling from work.
"Well, we just woke up." Cole said with a smile.
Phoebe smiled as well and said: "What's next?"
"Breakfast, shower, park, lunch, nap, park again and then we'll see." Cole replied, playing with his daughter.
"What do you think about having dinner tonight? With Prue and me?" Phoebe proposed excitedly.
"Huh... I'm sorry but I've already planned dinner with Alex tonight." He lied turning her down.
"But could you come over here after work? There is something I want to tell you." He asked her.
"Well, yeah, is there anything wrong?" She asked back.
"No, it's just something I need to tell you, nothing to worry about." He lied again.
"Okay, fine, I'll be there around 6.30pm." Phoebe said.
"Great, well goodbye then." Cole told her.
"Wait, could you pass the phone to Prue? I wanna talk to her." She asked him, almost begging.
"Sure, but remember she doesn't know how to talk yet." He joked.
"I know that." She replied with a smile.
Cole put the phone close to Prue's ear and told her: "Say hi to Mommy."
"Hey Baby... you miss mommy?" Phoebe asked.
Prue just giggled and Cole said into the phone in baby voice. "Yes, we both miss you a lot."
Phoebe smiled, and for some reason, even when he couldn't see it, Cole knew she was smiling. "I miss you too, the both of you." She admitted.
Then Cole continued, "Daddy said last night was great."
Phoebe blushed and he could feel it. "Tell your daddy to stop teasing..." she said trying to hide the blush.
"Daddy said that there's not need to blush." He continued.
"I'm not blushing!" she threw even more red.
"Yes you are..." he teased. He knew he was playing with fire, he wasn't supposed to tell all this to Phoebe, he was supposed to be mean to her, to make her understand that they couldn't be together, but that was too hard, he didn't want to be mean, he wanted to be lovely, nice and careful with her.
"No I'm not!" she said. "Okay, I'm blushing, you've won. I'll be there at 6.30." she changed the subject.
Cole just laughed. "Ok, see you then."
Phoebe laughed and Cole smiled, he always loved to hear her laughing but he remembered about Patty once again.
"See you after work honey." Phoebe said. She didn't mean to say honey but it just came out, it felt natural and normal after what had happened the night before.
"Bye." Cole replied and they both hung up.
"I'm going to miss her so much." Cole said to his daughter sadly.
"But I have you, that's already good, what if they had forbidden us to see each other?" Cole asked.
His daughter starred at him with big round eyes. "Let's not even think about it." He said and kissed her in the forehead. Then, they went to the kitchen for breakfast to start the day; they had a very important and filled agenda, they couldn't break. It was an important day, it was their first official day together.
-------
"I swear it wasn't my fault..." Alex insisted while Cole followed her inside the Penthouse with Prue in his arms.
"...then you wonder why you can't borrow my car." He argued.
"But it was nothing. It was my car I was driving, my car the one which is injured." She remarked. "It was an accident."
"Accident I'm paying for..." he turned to her. "Today is my day.. my special day to spend with my daughter. Couldn't you crash your car some other time?" he questioned her.
"I told you, there was this ambulance and-" she tried again.
"I don't want to know." He cut her off in exasperation and got into Prue's bedroom and layed her in her new crib.
He stood there with holding her little hands and talking to her. "I know you silly auntie ruined part of our walk on the park, but I promise I'll make it up to you." He said.
After taken breakfast, Cole gave Prue a bath, then played with her in her new room. Then, they took lunch, they took a nap and then went for a nice walk in the park, where he got a call from his sister telling him she had been in a car accident. It was passed 6 p.m., he noticed. The day was almost over, but it had been one of the best days of his life.
Soon, too soon, Phoebe arrived. He didn't want to tell her, he didn't want to have to be away from her. He opened the door with Prue in his arms.
"Hey! How's my little baby?" Phoebe asked as she immediately took Prue in her arms and covered her with kisses. "So, how was your day?" She asked Cole.
"Actually..." Cole trailed off. "Why don't you come in and sit down?" He asked her.
She nodded, walked in the living room and sat down on the couch with Prue cuddled in her arms. He was being a little avoiding.
"This morning... Your mother came here." Cole informed her.
"She what? Mom?" Phoebe asked very surprised.
"It's hard to say it... She told me that the Elders don't allow me to be in your life and if I don't follow the rules, I'll be sent back to hell." He explained.
Phoebe's jaw dropped. "No... it's... that's impossible I can't believe it..." She said. "I mean, we... uh... we're not actually together."
"We were last night..." he softly said.
"Oh..." she looked down, it was true. "But... that doesn't mean... I mean..." she tried to justify.
Cole looked down and said: "I know... But I still can see Prue."
"Of course, she is your daughter." Phoebe said, she was really shocked. "It'd be even more unacceptable if they didn't let you see her." She said angrily. "I mean, who are they to even decide whether or not we should or shouldn't be together?" revel Phoebe questioned angrily.
"Phoebe, you know they're right..." he told her. "So I guess life will go on this way..." He added.
A deep silence filled the room.
"You better go." He told her sadly.
Phoebe looked up at him and said: "I love you."
He smiled and said: "Don't try to make things harder than they are already."
She got up, tears running down her face and walked towards the door as he followed her.
It was hard, but they knew it was the right thing. They couldn't be together, reason of why it hurt soo much to be close and to meet. They were at door. Phoebe had Prue in her arms, who was about to sleep. A deep silence filled the room and Phoebe and Cole starred at each other.
"Goodbye." She said sadly.
"Goodbye." He replied and then came closer and hugged tight.
She did the same and accepted the hug. She felt so much comfort in his embrace.
They hugged tigh for a couple of minutes. He didn't want to let her go. She didn't want to let go either. It felt so good, warm and safe in his arms, that she didn't want to forget this sensation ever. But it wasn't right and they knew it. So he broke the embrace and pulled apart from her.
"I'll call you, so we agree about when you can pick her up, to spend the day with her, like today." She said.
He just nodded.
She turned and left.