"Frozen In Time"
Disclaimer: See Chapter one, if it really matters to you.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Three Surprises
Setting: July 26, 2022
Sander awoke that morning with a splitting headache, as the previous nights events returned to memory. He glanced at the clock, it was noon. He threw on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, and headed downstairs.
Pru was in the kitchen, looking through a stack of papers that Cole had given her.
"Hey." he smiled as he sat down opposite her.
She nodded and continued to shift through the piles of papers.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
"His birth certificate so he can get a god damn passport." she said in a pissy tone.
"Why don't you just orb or shimmer?"
"Because its not the same. Would you like to go on your honeymoon and have to use magic?" she asked.
"I cant go on a honeymoon, because I cant get married, legally." he said.
"That's right. I'm sorry." she said sadly.
"Its okay. Where is Greg? He wasn't in his room."
"Emma called at about nine o'clock, and he had to leave."
"Is everything alright?" he inquired.
"I don't know. Eureka!"
"What?" Sander asked.
"I found the certificate!"
Sander laughed a little, as he noticed a note on the table.
Kids–
I need to talk to you, when I get home.
Love– Dad
"Did you see this?" he told Pru as he handed her the note.
"No. What do you think its about?"
"I have no idea. I guess we'll find out when he gets home."
Sander was in the shower by twelve thirty. The warm water felt so good after a night of demon ass kicking. He had a massive headache, most likely from being propelled through a window and into a wall just hours apart. Man did demon fighting hurt.
As he washed himself, he noticed a bruise forming on his abdomen. He groaned, and got out of the shower. He dried off with a towel and placed his blue terrycloth robe on, when he heard his sister call for him.
"Sander! DEMON!!" was what she yelled.
Sander didn't have time to react, he felt a strange twinge in his muscles, a twinge different from the one he felt when he used his telekinesis. He felt his body being pulled upwards, and he fell to the ground.
Pru was in the living room orbing out of the way of various energy balls. She threw a vase at him, but it did barely nothing.
Then there in a swirl or orbs, Sander appeared dressed in his robe.
"Whoa!, how did you orb?" she asked as she dodged yet another energy ball.
"I don't know!" he yelled, "Shit I don't have my power. Say the spell!"
"Demon standing in my sight, vanquish yourself with our might!" Pru chanted as the demon burst into flames and exploded.
Sander and Pru sighed and headed up the stairs.
"What was that?" he asked confused.
"Maybe another power of yours is orbing like me." she suggested.
But that wasn't the case, when he opened the bathroom door, there he was on the floor...passed out.
"Whoa." Pru said as she saw her brother on the floor.
"Am I dead?" he asked stupidly, as he disappeared in a swirl of orbs, and the Sander on the ground awoke.
"I am so confused." Pru said as she helped her brother up.
"I orbed out of my body?" he said in confusion.
"Maybe it's a form of astral projection, like Aunt Prue, but you orb your astral self out of your body instead?" Pru suggested.
"Maybe, we can ask Daddy when he gets here."
At four-thirty, Greg returned home. His eyes puffy and bloodshot. It looked as if he was crying.
"Greg?" Sander asked as Greg entered the kitchen. Pru and Greg spent the afternoon scouring the classifieds. Both were in need of jobs, for neither of them attended college anymore. Last spring Sander graduated, with a degree in French. Greg had a degree in psychology, while Pru retained an Art History degree.
"Emma's pregnant." he said in a monotonous tone.
"Oh my god." Sander said.
"What are you going to do?"
"We decided we were going to keep it. And I think we need to discuss living arrangements. There is not enough room in this house."
"I know what you mean. Dad needs to talk to us." Sander said.
'What about?"
"We don't know. We are waiting for him now."
As if on cue, Leo orbed in the kitchen.
"Hey kids." he said.
The three nodded at him. Fearful of what he had to tell them.
"Kids, I've been offered a position as an Elder. Meaning I would move to the heavens permanently."
"Dad, you can't do that! What about us?" Pru exclaimed angrily.
"I would still be in contact with you. Plus I can't keep glamouring myself. Also, Lavinia is your whitelighter, not me."
"Your right, your not our whitelighter, you're our father!" Sander said.
"I know. But I will always be your father."
The three kids looked at him, hurt in their eyes. They couldn't help but feel that their dad was abandoning them.
"Pru, you and Cole have been discussing moving into his apartment. Greg, you and Emma can move into your moms and my room. That leaves two extra rooms for your baby." Leo said.
"Moving out? When were going to tell us?" Greg asked. Sander nodded.
"Well the Source is dead now." she said.
"Not important at the moment. How do you know about the baby?" Greg asked.
"I know everything, oh and congratulations about your new power, Sander."
"Thanks, but what is it?"
"It's called Astral Projection. But your whitelighter genes allows you to orb your astral self out of your body, and orb your astral self anywhere just like orbing, but the problem is that your telekinesis doesn't work in the astral form." Leo explained.
Sander smiled, he had been a witch for almost four years, and he finally got his second power.
"Look, I think becoming an Elder will be good for me. It will help me move on from your mother's death."
"Daddy, we just don't want to lose you." Pru said.
"You will never lose me." Leo answered sweetly.
"Dad, I understand, and I support you." Sander said as he sat on the counter.
"Sander!" Greg and Pru said sharply.
"What? Dad has always been supportive of me, and I think he should do what makes him happy."
"How can being away from his family make him happy?" Greg said angrily.
"He's not abandoning us. He's just moving away, and it isn't like we won't ever see him again." argued Sander.
"Greg, I think Sander is right, we need to let Dad do what he needs to. Maybe being an Elder is his destiny." Pru said, finally agreeing.
"What do we tell people? He died?"
"No." Leo said, "We tell people I moved out East to be with my mother."
"That's a good lie." Sander said in seriousness, but Pru took it as sarcasm.
"Look, they're calling me, so discuss it some more and we can talk when I get back." Leo answered and orbed out of the kitchen.
The three sat in silence and looked at each other for twenty minutes.
"What do we do about living arrangements?" Pru said brining up the confusing topic.
"Well with Dad up there, Pru, you and Cole can move in their room with the private bathroom. I'll of course stay up in the attic, and Greg, you and Emma can take your room, and Pru's current room can be the child's room." Sander said proposing an idea.
"That might just work." Pru said, "But I think Cole wants to move into his apartment."
"Yeah, but we are the strongest magically here." Sander said, always thinking like a witch.
"Emma's place is too small for us live in, so Emma will be moving in here." Greg said.
"That's fine, Pru just move into Dad's room, and when time comes for you and Cole to have a child, move out."
"Sander, you were always the smart one for a reason." Greg laughed as he picked up the Classifieds page, "Job hunting?"
"Yeah." the two other witches responded.
"I'm thinking about taking a position as a French teacher at the high school." Sander said.
"What about the club?" Greg said.
"Well we'll still keep it, and I can manage it at night because it really isn't open during the days, plus I really can't handle alcohol for another two years." he responded remembering the court order issued earlier that year.
"True, and you two wouldn't mind Emma coming to live here?"
"No, she is family." Pru said.
"What about you Pru? Any job options?" Greg asked.
"Yeah, Bucklands needs an appraiser."
"Bucklands, why does that sound familiar?" Greg asked, looking confused.
"Aunt Prue worked their."
"Oh." Greg said remembering.
"Greg, you didn't tell us, how did that interview go with Social Services like three days ago?" Sander said, remembering Greg had an interview for a counseling position.
"Good. I should be finding out tomorrow."
"With each of us with a job plus Emma's income and the club which is doing awesome, we have potential to be rich." Pru laughed.
"Wow, we have changed so much in the last three years." Sander laughed in retrospect.
There is chapter twenty-five. More is too come, including a new evil. Thanks for all the reviews!! Damien455