"I now pronounce you husband and wife," said the man dressed in flowing robes. "You may kiss the bride."
The groom lifted the bride's veil and kissed her in front of the entire gathering of people. When they had finished kissing they turned to face the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said the man in robes. "I have the distinct pleasure to introduce for the first time publicly, Mr. and Mrs. Cole Turner."
As the organist played the final cords of the wedding march, and to the standing ovation of the gathered crowd, Cole and Phoebe moved from the dais to the front of the building and the exit to await the heartfelt congratulations of the spectators. Piper and Paige, especially, were grinning from ear to ear as they watched their sister walk with her new husband to the exit.
"Phoebe it was a wonderful ceremony," said Leo at the reception afterwards.
"It certainly was," said Piper. "A lot better than my wedding. Talk about a disaster."
"That wasn't Prue's fault," said Phoebe, hanging onto Cole. "And it was absolutely perfect. Nothing went wrong. I was kind of surprised. The Halliwell women aren't known for having weddings go smoothly."
"No surprise, really," said the man in robes who had officiated at the wedding. "With all the people gathered here demons would have been more than foolish to try anything."
"Thanks for performing the ceremony, Thaddeus," said Phoebe. "When you offered I was a little bit leery about letting an Elder officiate at my wedding. I'm glad now I decided to let you."
"It was my pleasure," said Thaddeus. "The Elders felt it was some small recompense for all that you'd done for us recently."
"Still it was very thoughtful," said Piper.
"Can't say I was real comfortable being in the same room as an Elder," said Baldasor. "We don't exactly see eye-to-eye on things."
"Still, for a demon, I must say you behaved yourself admirably," said Thaddeus.
"How could I do otherwise?" Baldasor asked. "It was the wedding of my baby brother. I couldn't very well disrupt that, could I?"
"Don't call me that," said Cole. "You may be more than three hundred years older than I am but I've earned the respect to be treated like a man. You of all people should know that."
"Is he always this annoying?" Peter asked, Cherise holding his arm.
"Yeah, pretty much," said Cole. "But he'll grow on you after a while."
"It's a shame, really," said Baldasor.
"What is?" Paige asked.
"I just get a sister-in-law and it's very likely that at some point in the future I may have to kill her," said Baldasor, smiling slightly.
"Are you joking?" Piper asked.
"She is a witch," said Baldasor. "And I'm a demon. It just stands to reason that's the way it's going to end up."
"Not if we vanquish you first," said Paige.
"That's enough," said Cole. "He's joking. Now that the Brotherhood are located in Lost Angeles it's very unlikely you'll ever see him again and he knows it."
"Well, except when I stop by to visit now and again," said Baldasor. "Purely social, of course. Not on 'business' as it were. Especially after the little ones come along."
"Little ones?" Phoebe questioned. "We just got married. Give us a chance to get settled into our marriage before we start talking about kids."
"That's enough," Cole repeated more forcefully. "Baldasor, they aren't used to your sense of humor. Let's just give it a rest, okay? It is my wedding day, after all."
"Okay, okay," laughed Baldasor. "But don't forget. You still have that fertility potion the Seer created for you. When you're ready that should help quite nicely."
"A potion I destroyed as soon as we got back to the manor after getting the pages from the Tome of the Ancients," said Cole.
"Speaking of which," said Thaddeus, turning to Michael who had been standing by watching the exchanges. "You never did tell us what you did with those pages."
"They're safe," said Michael. "I felt it was best if no one knew where they're hidden. That way no one will be tempted to try and get them."
"Hidden even from the Elders?" Leo asked.
"Hidden from everyone," said Michael. "Power that great is too tempting."
"No more talk about work," said Phoebe. "This is my wedding day. I'll not have it spoiled. They'll be enough time for that later. Right I just want everyone to enjoy themselves while I show off my new husband."
"Agreed," said Cole. "Except I'm showing off my new bride. We have a truce today. I'd like to think it might last at least for a while."
"Fair enough," said Thaddeus, picking up a glass of champagne.
"I didn't think Elders were allowed to drink alcohol?" Leo asked.
"Special occasion," said Thaddeus. "And I don't think one glass will hurt."
"So, any idea where you're going on your honeymoon?" Cherise asked.
"Tahiti," said Cole. "Leo has graciously agreed to provide us with transportation there and back."
"Speaking of not being allowed," Thaddeus said, smiling at Leo.
"Well, I didn't think it would hurt anything," said Leo. "It's my wedding present to them."
"Your secret is safe with me," said Thaddeus.
"So, Paige," said Cherise. "You have a brother-in-law that's a White Lighter and one that's a demon. Excuse me, Cole. Former demon. Who do you think you'll end up marrying?"
"With our luck, " said Piper sarcastically, "she'll end up marrying an Elder."
"I'm single," said Thaddeus, smiling coyly.
"Married to an Elder?" said Paige. "Somehow I'm thinking that's not going to happen."
"He's just kidding, Paige," said Leo, looking at Thaddeus. "Elders don't marry."
"Not that it's forbidden or anything," said Thaddeus. "It's just that we're much too busy protecting the innocent."
"Still not going to happen," said Paige.
"Don't worry, Paige," said Leo. "Thaddeus is just yanking your chain, that's all."
"Of course I am," said Thaddeus, smiling. "For one thing, I'm much too old for you. By several hundred years, as a matter of fact."
"Thank goodness for that," said Paige. "The last thing I need is an Elder as a stalker."
"Well, I must be going," said Thaddeus. "I do have other duties to attend to. Phoebe, Cole, it was a pleasure to marry you. I am honored you agreed to it."
"You did a wonderful job, Thaddeus," Phoebe said kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you for doing it."
"My pleasure," said Thaddeus. "Well, enjoy your honeymoon. I'm sure it will be over much too quickly. As I understand it, they usually are."
"For an Elder he's not so bad," said Paige. "Assuming all that business about being single was really a joke."
"It was," said Leo, smiling. "He looks on you more like daughters. He was just having some fun at your expense. I wouldn't be too hard on him. He doesn't get much chance to joke around like that."
"Thank goodness," said Phoebe. "I like Thaddeus but I don't think I'd want him as a brother-in-law. Like he said, he is considerably older than Paige."
"Cole's a lot older than you," said Cherise.
"That's different," said Phoebe. "Cole's not an Elder."
"And not likely to be one any time soon," said Cole.
"Well, that's not exactly what I meant," said Cherise.
"What did you mean?" Piper asked.
"Well, now that Cole and Phoebe are married," said Cherise, "technically that makes Peter Phoebes' step son. And when Peter and I get that will make me your daughter-in-law."
"Okay?" questioned Phoebe. "I'm still not seeing your point."
"It's just that Leo is what, eighty some years old?" questioned Cherise. "And Cole is something like one hundred if what Peter told me is correct."
"It is," said Cole.
"Well," said Cherise, "it's just that when Peter and I get married that will mean that Phoebe will have a stepson and daughter-in-law who are older than she is. That's all I'm saying."
As Piper and Paige just giggled Phoebe stared at Cherise. After all they had been through and she would still be the second youngest in the family.
The End
(Authors' endnote: While Michaels' dual identity as Malevant in this story was exposed, it is an Alternate Universe story. Future canon stories will still feature Michael with his "secret" identity although future stories based on this one will proceed with his secret having been exposed.)
If you've enjoyed this story, you can find more "Charmed" stories at my website, You can also post your own "Charmed" stories if you like to write fan fiction.