A/N: Wow! There's no way I can do individual thank you's because I had 26 reviews today! Lol. Granted they are almost all from the same person (Swimmer07 that was a lot of reading you did! Lol. But I'm glad you enjoyed it.) Plus I g2g – I should be off to bed now, but I'm desperate to finish and post this chapter so you guys can read it.

I don't have time to go back and answer questions, either, so I'll do that next chapter. I'm so sorry! But wouldn't you rather have the chapter tonight without individual thanks yous and answers to questions, then have those things and no chapter until Friday or Saturday? Lol.

Anyway, please enjoy! I think you guys will like this chapter. And please review! It makes me so happy to know how many people are enjoying this!

PS: If this is a little short, please forgive me. I wanted to get it posted and at this moment, I only have about 5 minutes in total to write and post.

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Melinda had explained everything to Chris, except the fact that she was pregnant. She had managed to – with great difficulty – conceal that fact from him. No one could know she was pregnant, even though Wyatt knew. It was too risky. Plus, if Chris knew what Wyatt had threatened to do, he would go off and play the hero and be killed.

It was hard enough being in the past; She missed her mother so much, yet she couldn't reveal who she was. Chris was concealing his identity from the sisters, and rightly so. If they knew, the future would be twisted into ways that she and Chris did not want it twisted into.

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Chris never slept at the Manor. There were no spare rooms. Melinda had offered to sleep on the couch, but Phoebe insisted she take her room and Phoebe ended up bunking with Paige.

Later that night, when Melinda was sure everyone was asleep, she crept downstairs – dressed in a tank top and black pajama pants that Phoebe had loaned her – and sat on the couch. Moonlight streamed in through the bare windows and bathed her face.

"Don't worry," Melinda whispered to her unborn child, a hand on her stomach, "I won't let him hurt you, no matter what. I promise."

"Who ya talkin' to?"

Melinda jumped and stood, hand out and a fireball glowing in her palm. When she saw it was Phoebe, she clenched her hand into a fist and the fireball extinguished.

"No one," Melinda replied curtly. "And you shouldn't sneak up on me like that. I could have killed you."

"But you didn't," Phoebe stated. "If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead already. My sisters, too. You don't want to hurt us. I can sense it. But I also sense other things that are confusing me."

Melinda quickly tried to make her mind blank. She couldn't risk Phoebe finding out-

"What are you trying to hide?" Phoebe questioned.

Melinda sucked in a sharp breath. "Nothing. And if I were, it would be none of your business, witch."

Phoebe stared at her. She seemed as if she wanted to say one thing, but changed her mind and said another. "Why can't you go back to your own time? You're the Source – the most powerful evil. Who would dare attack you? What could make it so dangerous? And why do I sense more good from you than evil? How do you know Chris? He's good, as far as we can tell. So why would you be so friendly?"

"I do not wish to answer those questions," Melinda said firmly.

"Don't want to – or can't? Or are you just too chicken?" Phoebe asked, knowing that if her intuition was wrong, she was as good as dead.

Melinda stared at her mother, frowning deeply. She was being so brave. It broke Melinda's heart to see here again – alive and well – and not be able to tell her how much she loved her. She was suddenly overcome with sadness.

Phoebe gasped slightly at the sudden sadness she felt radiating off the girl. "You're hiding something and it's killing you to do so. I can help you. But you need o be honest with me."

Melinda opened her mouth; shut it then opened it again. "I'm the Source. I don't have to answer to you, witch. You answer to me. You were right; I don't intend to harm you. But if you keep snooping where you don't belong, then I'll be forced to do whatever I need to do to get you to stop nosing around."

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" Phoebe asked stubbornly.

Melinda smiled for a brief second, but it was gone so fast that it was difficult to say if she had really, in fact, smiled. "You always were stubborn.

Phoebe cocked an eyebrow.

Melinda regretted what she had said.

Again, she was struck with sadness, longing, nostalgia, and even regret. She felt unconditional love to Phoebe and – and tried to block it all out before the empath sensed it. Melinda's cover would be blown –

But it had almost already been blown. Phoebe had sensed all her emotions, especially the love.

"What are you trying to keep from me?" Phoebe asked gently, confused.

Melinda looked away. She couldn't look her mother in the eyes and lie to her: it was too hard.

"Nothing. Nothing that concerns you and nothing that I wish to tell you. Now stop asking stupid annoying questions. I came down here to be alone-"

"Did you?" Phoebe asked. "Or did you come down here so that you could let out all your emotions without me sensing them?"

Melinda looked at her, startled. She had almost forgotten how well her mother was at sensing things, picking up on small details, and figuring things out.

Phoebe could sense Melinda's startled shock. Maybe she was finally getting somewhere.

"Maybe I did." Melinda looked away. But she suddenly tensed up. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Phoebe sneaking closer and closer to her, undoubtedly to try and touch her and get a premonition.

Melinda waited until the last second. When Phoebe's hand shot out, Melinda shimmered out of the room, then back in a few feet away from her mom.

"That was a big mistake," Melinda said. "And a bad way to earn my trust. You want me to prove that you can trust me, but I need to know I can trust you, too. Trust works both ways-" Melinda paused and looked away. "My mother told me that once, a very long time ago."

"She must be a very smart woman," Phoebe noted.

"Was. She's-" Melinda paused. "She's dead now." Though this was partly a lie. Her mother stood right in front of her. But Phoebe couldn't know this."

"I'm sorry." Phoebe paused for a moment before speaking again. "Back to my original question. Who were you talking to? Who won't you let get hurt by whom?"

"I was just talking to myself," Melinda said quickly, panicked for a moment. She knew Phoebe wouldn't by it.

Phoebe sensed her panic and backed up a step. "I don't believe that. Be honest with me."

"I was talking to no one," Melinda snapped, though really she was frightened. How could she explain this away without making Phoebe even more suspicious of her?

Phoebe sensed the girl's fright and backed off. "Fine. You can tell me in the morning. Well, it is the morning, technically: One AM to be exact, and I think we both need to go to bed."

"Don't order me around," Melinda snapped, but shimmered back upstairs anyway.

Phoebe, however, stood where she was, staring at the spot where Melinda had stood. Something about the girl and the situation bothered her, more than she liked to admit. She didn't want to tell Piper or Paige, either, not until she had some stronger evidence to back her up – though, back her up on what, she still hadn't figured out.

Phoebe sighed with frustration and went up to bed in Paige's room.

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In Phoebe's room, Melinda played the events from downstairs over and over in her mind. She could have handled it better and she could have been more cautious with her emotions. But to see her mom again, alive and well and happy, before all the shit started to happen . . .

She sighed, wondering if maybe she should tell Phoebe some things – if she swore it was confidential and between just them, not even Piper or Paige. She'd only tell her certain things, like the fact that she was pregnant and someone (She wouldn't say who) in her time, who was more powerful, wanted to take her baby from her once it was born.

At least then she'd have someone other than Chris on her side.

Pondering all this, Melinda fell into a very uneasy sleep.