A/N: I have, like, 2 seconds to put thank you's and add this chapter. So sorry if I'm rushing:
Charmedchick4eva: Well, she's part Witch, part Demon, and she has Source powers, so it's possible. Lol.
Bunn2007: Phoebe didn't know Melinda was pregnant until Melinda told her.
Thanks to everyone for the reviews! Hope you enjoy and please review!
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There they sat (or stood): Piper standing by the fireplace; Paige sitting on the couch; Phoebe standing by the doorway that led to the hall and the front door; Melinda on the couch opposite Paige.
And everyone was staring at Melinda, unblinkingly and unspeaking.
Melinda was leaning forward, her elbows on her knees and her head facing the floor so she was staring at the Oriental rug. Her fingers were intertwined and gently placed on her belly.
Things were about to get complicated. How to tell them what they needed to know without giving away too much? Without telling Phoebe who she really was, and how to break to Piper that her precious first born was a ruthless killer who didn't believe in good or evil?
"Melinda."
Melinda glanced up and at Phoebe, flinching slightly. She waited for her mother to say more, but she didn't.
"Start anytime, anywhere," Piper prompted in a stiff tone. "Maybe you could even start with what you told Phoebe when you were under the truth potion since she hasn't had a chance to tell us."
Melinda took a deep, unsteady breath. She hated being interrogated by her own family. And Chris was going to kill her when he found out.
"I'm The Source of All Evil in my time," Melinda said, beginning with the basics.
"Duh," Paige grumbled.
"Paige," Phoebe scolded.
Paige sighed and shut up.
"I came here to warn Chris about the Phoenix Assassin that My Master sent to kill him."
"Who's your master?" Piper asked.
Melinda shut her mouth and shook her head. "I can't tell you. Understand that I-I can't tell you everything-" She gulped, knowing that if Chris didn't kill her for telling them (almost) everything, Wyatt surely would.
Phoebe sensed her fear. "Don't force her, Piper. She'll tell us what she can."
Melinda felt relieved to at least have Phoebe on her side, and continued, "Yesterday, when I passed out, I spoke a name – Scott-" it pained her to say his name. "H-he was my boyfriend of two years. He was mortal, completely. He had no idea I was a witch and a-" She paused. She had been about to say 'half-demon' but decided against it. "-a ruler of Evil. He loved me and I loved him so much. I tried to protect him but I failed. Yesterday, I felt him b-being killed – by my Master."
"Why did your Master do that? Except for the obvious reasons," Paige asked.
Tears filled Melinda's eyes. "He found out something about me and- and I refused to do something, so it was his way of getting back at me."
"What did he find out?" Paige asked curiously.
There was a long pause before Melinda finally answered. "I'm pregnant with Scott's baby."
Awkward silence filled the room.
"My Master," Melinda began, feeling indignant at calling Wyatt her 'master' but it was her safest bet, "wants to take my child when she's born and either use her for evil if she's strong enough, or kill her if she isn't. I refused to let him touch her and he-he didn't like that. Then when I came here to warn Chris – and Bianca must have told him about my saving him and-" Tears filled her eyes again. Everything was her fault.
"Who's Bianca?" Phoebe asked.
"The Phoenix Assassin. She's his number one assassin, so I know her pretty well."
"And what's the deal with you and Chris and that – hugging?" Paige asked, shuddering slightly.
"We're cousins," Melinda admitted flatly. Oh boy, Chris was going to go freaking crazy when he found out . . .
"That explains a lot," Piper said, frowning slightly. "Anything else we should know?"
Melinda looked away. Should she tell them she was Phoebe's daughter? What would happen if they did?
A lot, she answered herself.
And they would know Chris was either Piper's or Paige's kid, too, then. Things would become crazy and worse than they already were.
So Melinda shook her head. "Just the fact that my whole family is dead. All I have left is Chris – and my daughter when she's born . . . if my Master doesn't enslave her and kill me, that is."
"You keep saying 'she.' How can you be so sure your child is a girl? You barely look pregnant and from the sound of your future, it doesn't seem hospitals would be abundant," Paige said.
"Just a hunch I have," Melinda said, not wanting to say the truth: that in the Halliwell family, more often than not it was a girl. Wyatt and Chris had been some odd kind of magical mix up or fluke.
"Anything else?" Phoebe asked, feeling like there was something else Melinda wasn't saying.
Melinda shrank under Phoebe's analyzing and intense stare, but shook her head. "No. That's it. That's all I can tell you, anyway. For now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Piper asked. But before she could get an answer, the baby monitor went off and she stood, sighing, and went upstairs to Wyatt's room.
She came back downstairs with an awake but exhausted Wyatt, snuggling him and talking in baby talk. She sat on the couch with her son in her lap.
Wyatt looked at Melinda. They locked eyes for a moment.
Wyatt's shield went up.
Melinda stiffened and averted her gaze, but not quickly enough.
Paige was staring at her, while Piper was gently trying to coax Wyatt into letting his shield down.
"You're the Source, but Phoebe said she sensed good in you. So why does Wyatt feel he needs to protect himself and his mommy from you?" she asked.
Melinda glanced at Piper and realized that she, too, was engulfed by Wyatt's blue shield. Piper still hadn't convinced Wyatt to put it down.
Melinda glanced at Paige, then at Phoebe, felt her emotions stirring dangerously, and quickly shimmered up to Phoebe's room, pacing.
Blue orbs filled the room. Melinda relaxed, happy (yet scared) and waited for Chris's form to appear out of the blue orbs.
But it was Paige. She glared at Melinda.
"I don't know who you are or what you want but your games stop here. I mean it. Phoebe might trust you, and Piper might be going along with it, but I'm not and I won't."
Melinda stared at Paige, the fun Aunt. The one you could go to with problems, for advice, and for money (haha). She was Melinda's favorite aunt and know she was being scolded and interrogated by her.
"I can't, Paige. I can't tell you who I am. I can't tell any of you. All you need to know is that I'm the Source of All Evil from the future and I came to help Chris save Wyatt, and to stop The Phoenix from killing him, which I did." Melinda paused. "Anything else you need to know, I've already told you and your sisters. I told you everything just now downstairs. Nothing more needs to be said."
"Liar," Paige said. "You're hiding something. My sister's might not have the guts to kick your sorry ass out onto the curb, but I won't hold back," Paige hissed, looking very pissed off, and when Paige was pissed off, you don't want to be near her. "Now either tell me who you are or you'll have worse things to fear than your 'master.'"
"I can't!" Melinda practically cried, feeling near tears.
"Why not?" Paige demanded.
"It'll screw with the future!" Melinda replied.
"But didn't you come here to change the future?" Paige asked.
"Yes, but that would change it in far worse ways. Some things just can't be told."
"Well you better tell me who you are and what you're really doing here or I won't hesitate to vanquish you," Paige snapped.
Melinda was silent for a long time. She didn't know what to say. Finally she spoke.
"Would you really vanquish me?" Melinda asked. "You'd be killing an innocent, too: my unborn child."
"So? She's evil. Just like you." Paige emphasized each word.
"She also had some of the most powerful blood running in her veins. Part demon, Part witch. Just like her mother," Melinda said.
Paige narrowed her eyes. "You neglected to mention you were part witch."
"Because I didn't want any of you to know I was part witch," Melinda said slowly, cautiously, nervously.
"Why not?" Paige asked slowly.
Melinda gulped. "Because I didn't want Phoebe to know I was her daughter."