Chapter Four

"I don't hear anything," Piper worried as she dried her hands on a dishtowel. "Maybe I'd better check on them."

Paige pointed one of her fries at her older sister before she bit off the tip, "Leo can handle Cole. They're probably just standing on opposite ends of the room glaring at each other. Besides, quiet's good. We won't have to worry about them attracting the boys' attention or disturbing Phoebe's bath."

"She didn't say anything about how it happened?" Piper asked as she sat next to Paige.

Paige shook her head, "Just that Cole is definitely the baby's father. I told you, she barely spoke at all."

Piper stole one of the fries and munched on it. "How the hell did this happen?" she sighed. "For crying out loud, he's been dead for six years."

"Wyatt and Chris, need I say more?" Paige mumbled. At Piper's wide-eyed stare, she shrugged, "Seriously, we can't come on too strong with Phoebe. Even if the doctor said the baby's fine, we can't risk her health right now."

"I know," Piper agreed, "but for a secret like this, I'm telling you, Paige, I could just strangle her."

Paige nodded sympathetically and dipped another fry into ketchup before eating it. "I can't believe we're stuck with him again."

"Not necessarily..."

"Come on, Piper, you tried blowing him up when we discovered him in the attic."

"So much for my powers being stronger," Piper grumbled.

"Wouldn't matter if he's invincible. Still," she waved her hand in the air, "whatever. Point is, vanquishing him's probably not an option anymore. We've gotta come up with something else."

"We can use your idea from that alternate world," Piper suggested, "and strip him of his powers first."

"You wanna try slicing a piece of skin off him?" Paige unenthusiastically challenged. "Or d'you think he'll do it for us if we asked nicely?"

"Paige..."

"Sorry..."

"Did he say anything about how he got here?" Piper sighed. Paige shook her head. "Didn't you ask?"

Paige glared at her sister, "When'd you want me to ask? On our way to the doctor when we pulled the car over for Phoebe to throw up? Or maybe at the office while the doctor was examining her? Or maybe on the way home when --"

"Sorry, sorry," Piper quickly apologized, holding her hands up in mock surrender.

"Besides," Paige said with a grin, "I think the big guy's actually in shock. You should've seen his face when the doctor put the baby's heartbeat on speaker. I swear, I thought he was gonna pass out."

Piper nearly smiled at the thought of the former Belthazor/former Source fainting because of a tiny innocent baby's heartbeat. Innocent? With Cole as the father? "What're we gonna do about him?"

Paige wiped her fingers on a napkin, "Thought about it on the way home. If we can't vanquish him because he's invincible, maybe we can just send him back to the past where he'll be vanquished anyway."

Piper's eyes lit up, "Leo did say it was a time portal that opened. Maybe we can call Alicia and use her spell to send him back. If Phoebe was enough for Alicia to bring him here, the two of us and Alicia have to be more than enough to send him back."

"And everyone lives happily ever after," Paige commented in satisfaction as she carried her plate to the sink. "You do realize that it means Frank must've come from the past too."

Piper shook her head, "Let's deal with Cole first. You think Phoebe'll be okay?"

"Of course," Paige quickly replied as she rinsed the dish and placed it in the dishwasher. "Look, we can't deny the fact that she loved the guy but she's not the same person she was back then. She's moved on and has a fantastic life and doesn't want to open it to the risks and dangers he brings."

"I wish I could be so sure," Piper admitted. "She's always been unpredictable where he's concerned. Every time I thought she'd worked him out of her system..."

"It's different this time," Paige argued. "The baby makes it different."

"Exactly," Piper softly agreed.

"She won't risk the danger to her baby," Paige insisted when Piper didn't seem to understand her meaning. "Not even for him."

"Still," Piper said as she led Paige into the living room, "we should probably talk to her before we do anything." She noticed Leo sitting alone in the room, "Leo! Where's Cole?"

"He disappeared a little while ago," Leo reluctantly admitted when he stood, "and I can't sense him. You know that." He saw the look in her eyes, "Don't worry, the boys are fine. They're asleep, I checked."

"What about Phoebe?" Paige retorted.

"I wasn't about to orb in when she's taking a bath. Besides Cole wouldn't hurt her," he assured the sisters. He knew they wouldn't want to hear it but he plunged ahead. "He loves her. He may still be angry with her and may be confused about the entire situation but he does love her."

Trusting her husband's ability to sense the truth, Piper unhappily uttered, "Great, just great."

"It doesn't change anything," Paige spoke up. "We know what he's done and what he's capable of not to mention that he poses a danger to history every minute he stays."

"Too bad," Cole interrupted when he appeared before them, "because vanquishing me's the only way to get rid of me now. Now, where do you keep the crackers? I couldn't find them in the pantry."

Paige ignored him and asked Leo, "Is it possible to recreate the time portal Alicia used?"

"We figured the two of us working with her might send him back," Piper explained.

"I'm not sure," he said. "You know how tricky it is working with time."

"I deserve an answer," Cole announced in annoyance.

"You deserve a vanquish," Piper coolly informed him, "but, unfortunately for us, you're invincible so we're doing the next best thing. Now, what was the exact date before you appeared in our attic? We'll need to know if we're not to cause an even bigger mess with time."

"I'll give you an even bigger mess with time," Cole responded before angrily blowing up the grandfather clock.

"Hey! You know how hard it is to fix that thing?" Paige seethed.

"Yeah," he sneered, "I do. Now, tell me where the crackers are before I turn your china into mosaic tiles."

"We may be stuck with you, pal," Piper snapped, "but we don't have to feed you."

"You're every bit the bitch as Paige," he muttered, "and I ought to send you for a dip in the ocean." But, in a surprisingly calm voice, he informed them, "Phoebe threw up again. Now for the last time, where are the damn crackers?"

"I'll get them," Paige contritely volunteered.

To Leo, Cole asked, "This's the fourth time since she created the portal. Are you sure she's okay? I know what the doctor said, I want to hear it from you."

Surprised by Cole's appreciation of his talent, Leo nodded, "The baby's fine, Cole. I think it's simply due to a combination of stress and the portal opening."

"I don't understand why she was affected by the portal at all," Piper commented. "We've all used portals before and never doubled over in agony."

"You were never pregnant at the time," Cole told her.

Leo considered Cole, "It's still different this time because you're the baby's father."

"Because the baby was conceived in the past," Cole realized, "and the portal was a direct link to the past."

"Could the opening of another portal cause her to miscarry?" Paige wondered when she returned with a box of crackers.

Leo hesitated a moment before answering, "I don't know but I'm sure it's a possibility."

"Strike two for you," Cole told them. "Now, I don't know how Phoebe went back in time, I don't know how I came forward, but I don't ca--"

"It was Zimaan," Phoebe interrupted as she, wearing her terry robe, held onto the banister and carefully came down the stairs. "Six months ago, pack of Stripe Demons?"

Paige thought a moment before she snapped her fingers, "Right, orange dude that fired black blobs."

"A time manipulator?" Cole paled as he quickly helped steady Phoebe and led her to the sofa. "You went against a time manipulator?"

"Yeah," Piper uttered as she placed a blanket on Phoebe's lap, "we know how dangerous they are because they don't consciously control the time blobs and it wasn't easy but we got him."

Paige handed Phoebe a cracker and said, "You were lucky you weren't sent back to prehistoric times."

As Phoebe nibbled on the bite-size cracker, Piper couldn't help but glare at her sister. "You lied to us. You knew exactly where you'd been and you lied and told us you didn't know."

Phoebe stared at the rest of the cracker in her fingers and quietly confessed, "I knew how you'd react if I told you the truth."

"How would you expect us to react," Paige asked, "if you told us that you deliberately went to Cole and got pregnant?"

Phoebe shook her head but immediately grabbed the side of the sofa when the room spun. "That isn't what happened," she whispered before she swallowed the last of her cracker.

"Then what did happen?" Piper demanded. "If you knew you were back in the past, why didn't you just come home and ask for our help to send you back?"

"That's just it, Piper," Phoebe let the blanket fall to the floor and looked up at her sister, "I didn't know I was back in the past. Remember, I'd just hit the dumpster really hard avoiding the demon and I was dizzy and things went black. Sure, later I knew it was because of the blob sending me back in time. But, I swear, at that time, when I opened my eyes and found myself in the penthouse, I thought I was dreaming. I thought my subconscious was giving me the chance to confront the feelings I'd kept buried for so many years."

"And all I'd wanted was to forget I ever laid eyes on you so I thought you were just an evil hallucination sent to torture me while I got drunk," Cole quietly told her. Gazing at her belly, he added, "Looks like we were both wrong."

Phoebe's eyes followed his gaze and she automatically smoothed her robe before she looked back at him. "Reason enough for a happy birthday?" she whispered, knowing what his fate would be when he returned to his birthday.

"More than reason enough," he replied in a choked voice.

"I should've put it together earlier," Piper complained. "All your secrecy about the baby's father. That lame excuse of having had a drunken one-night fling."

Taken aback, Cole asked Phoebe, "That's what you said?"

"Should I've said it was my dead ex-husband?" she retorted. To Piper she said, "And it wasn't an excuse. It was only one night and Cole was drunk. I knew what you'd think and didn't correct you but that doesn't mean it wasn't the truth."

"You just love splitting hairs, don't you," Paige accused as she shoved another cracker at Phoebe.

"Maybe I should've told you then," Phoebe sadly realized, "'cuz the result's gonna be the same now."

"What result is that?" Piper asked in too sharp a tone that she regretted when she saw a tear trickle from Phoebe's eye.

Phoebe wiped away the tear and shrugged, nibbling on her cracker, "I'll have to move out and raise my baby alone."

"What?" both sisters exclaimed.

Phoebe looked up at them both, "If you only knew the number of times I almost told you. But it all came down to one thing: protecting my baby."

"From who?" Paige wondered in surprise. "From us?"

Phoebe shrugged again, "I knew how you'd feel about Cole being the father and I didn't want you treating my baby any differently from how you did Wyatt or Chris."

"We wouldn't do that," Piper insisted.

"Wouldn't you?" Phoebe countered. "Can you honestly say you wouldn't be more on guard around me? That you wouldn't be more suspicious of my every action? More careful of my helping save innocents?" Neither sister answered immediately and she nodded sadly, "I know how worried I was, given my last pregnancy, and I wasn't ready to cope with your negativity too. So, yes, I kept it all a secret, and, in spite of what you think, it was the right decision because it's all gonna change now. You won't be able to look at me without wondering how safe you are and you won't be able to look at my baby without being terrified that she's gonna be the next Source."

"That's not true," Piper said in a quiet voice. But she wasn't quite sure how honest she was being. Could she look at the baby and not see Cole?

"If Cole hadn't appeared," Leo figured, "you'd still be keeping it a secret." Phoebe nodded and he announced, "Okay, time-outs for everyone now. Piper, why don't you go to the club? Paige, you might want to research time portals in the school's library. And, Phoebe, you should lie down and try to sleep even if it's early."

"Cole," Phoebe looked at him, "could you get my laptop from the sunroom? There's something I need to show y--" She blindly reached out as soon as the images flashed before her eyes and she grabbed hold of Paige's shirt.

Paige cast a quick glance to Piper as she sat next to Phoebe, "It's okay, Pheebs, I've got you. Tell us what you're seeing."

Phoebe shivered uncontrollably, not feeling Paige's arm around her, and spoke in a halting voice, "Alley...dark...can't see the moon...building...abandoned I think...lots of garbage...seems familiar..." She reached out in front of her, "See her...blond, chubby...twenties maybe...party dress...one shoe's missing...backed up against the door...something in her hand...necklace maybe...she's looking at the shadow...no...form...it's...God...it's horrible...huge...monster...claws... it's tearing at her...Oh God, Oh God...it's ripping, it's ripping out her heart..." She jerked back, freed from the premonition, and began gulping for air.

"Bathroom," was all Paige announced before she orbed herself and Phoebe from the room.

"Sound familiar?" Piper questioned Cole.

But Cole had been staring with worry at Phoebe's empty spot on the couch and it took a moment for Piper's voice to register. "Could be any number of demons. I can't tell from that description alone."

"I'll see what I can find out," Leo offered.

"You can't," she shook her head. "I need you to stay with the kids and Phoebe while the rest of us find that alley."

"I'm not going anywhere," Cole stated.

"You're not staying here," she firmly told him. "I wanna keep my eye on you. I don't trust you."

"Then trust me," Phoebe weakly requested when Paige orbed them back into the living room. "Trust me to keep your sons safe."

Leo stepped in front of Piper just as she was about to argue. He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead, "Remember what I told you before. They'll all be safe. Cole will protect them."

"Please..." Phoebe uttered as she sank wearily into the sofa's cushions and put her hand to the base of her throat.

Paige handed Phoebe a cracker as she reluctantly accepted Leo's truth. With a sigh, she took Piper's hand just as he orbed away, "C'mon, Phoebe thinks she knows which alley it was."

Piper warned Cole, "If anything happens to any one of them, I swear to God you'll be so --"

Wanting to concentrate only on Phoebe, he interrupted Piper's tiresome rant, "Stop wasting time and save the innocent so Phoebe doesn't worry about it coming true."

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