Part Two

Phoebe stood outside Dex's door and took a deep breath before she knocked. Her heart pounded as she waited for him to answer. It had been three weeks since she'd last been there, last seen him, other than for an unexpected and uncomfortable elevator ride, and she was more than a bit worried as to how he'd react to seeing her now. Especially with the news she had to share.

"Phoebe…"

She was too nervous to smile and meekly asked, "Can I come in?"

"I thought you were giving me space," he muttered. But he immediately regretted his harsh tone when he saw her flinch. She was pale and looked as if she hadn't slept in days and he couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay?"

"Can I come in?" she requested again. "I, uh, I need to talk to you."

"Look, Phoebe," he cautiously said, "I'm sorry but I'm not ready yet. I can barely keep up with my work because I always end up thinking about what you told me and I still need time. I can't simply let it all --"

"Please," she desperately interrupted, "it will only take a minute. Please, Dex…"

He opened the door wider and reluctantly waved her inside. "Should I sit down? Isn't that what one does to prepare for hearing bad news?"

"It's not bad news," she shook her head, "at least I'm hoping it's not."

He exhaled slowly and suggested, "Then maybe you should just say whatever it is you have to say and get it over with."

Phoebe turned around to face him and took a deep breath and smiled, "I'm pregnant." But her smile quickly faded as his face flickered through varying degrees of negative emotions, ending with an angry frown. "Dex?"

"I almost believed you," he whispered harshly. "I almost believed you were caught up in a situation beyond your control and were doing the best you could."

"It's true." She reached out to touch his arm but he snapped it back and she worried, "What's wrong?"

"I was finally working it out in my head that I was caught up in something but that it could almost be something good," he seethed. "I was beginning to think that maybe you could teach me more about this magic of yours and that maybe this relationship could work, and now, now you tell me this?"

"I know it's a surprise but it's a wonderful one," she insisted.

"After your confession, I never thought you would have the audacity to lie to me again. I never thought you'd --"

"I haven't lied," she uttered in shock. "And I'd never lie about something like this."

"Then why are you here?" he snapped. "Because it's sure as hell not to tell me that I'm going to be a father."

"Of course it is," she nervously laughed, "who else would I tell?"

"The other man you're sleeping with," he exclaimed.

Incredulous at his accusation, she declared, "If there's one thing I am, Dex Lawson, is faithful to the man I'm with. I have not been with, nor thought of being with, another man since I met you and you are the father of this baby."

"Then you've just admitted you've used magic on me because," he informed her, "medical science says it's nearly impossible that I will ever father a child of my own."

Phoebe staggered back a step and whispered, "I don't understand."

"It's not that hard, really," he said. "I've known for years that I've got a very low sperm count and the only way I'll ever conceive a child of my own is through intervention."

"I didn't know," she whispered.

"There's a lot about me you don't know," he pointedly reminded her.

She felt her knees giving way and, as his arms quickly steadied her, she insisted, "Then it's a miracle, Dex. One we should both be very grateful for."

"I thought I had an open mind when it came to other worldly experiences but I'm sorry, Phoebe," he slowly released her, "but I think I've reached my limit. And I think you should go."

"We have to talk about this," she softly pleaded. "This isn't something that --"

"We can annul?" he interrupted. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that too," he admitted when her eyes widened in surprise, "and, now more than ever, I think it sounds like a good idea."

Phoebe stared at him and knew there'd be no reasoning with him now and, as she somehow made her way to the door, she commented dully, "Sure, Dex, you take care of the details and I'll make sure Julie's there to sign whatever…"

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Phoebe stared at the page before her but didn't see the words. She'd been reading from the Book of Shadows for hours and still hadn't found any magical explanation for her pregnancy. Dex was wrong. Just because he had a low sperm count didn't mean he could never be a father so it had to have been Billie's spell still at work. Because the only other explanation the Book was hinting at wasn't one she was anywhere near ready to accept. The pages began to flip and she pressed her hands down on top of them and leaned forward, "Stop it!"

"Pheebs?"

Phoebe glanced up and noticed her older sister standing in the doorway. She set the open Book to her side on the sofa but, when the pages flipped and stopped on the same page it had automatically flipped to before, she angrily slammed it shut.

"Pheebs," Piper rushed across the room, "what is it?"

But Phoebe couldn't talk about it and apologized, "It's two in the morning, did I wake you?"

Piper shook her head, "Bathroom break, something you're unfortunately going to learn all about now."

Phoebe looked down as she pressed a hand to her stomach, "But it's a good thing, right?"

Piper smiled and immediately sat at Phoebe's other side. She took Phoebe's hands in hers, "Of course it's a good thing. And I know Dex's reaction was a shock to you but --"

"I've never seen him like this," Phoebe interrupted in a sad tone. "He was so angry, Piper, and I didn't need any empathic power to feel the anger radiating off him."

"He was hurt and in shock," Piper reasoned. "Give him some time to adjust to the news. This is your little girl, Phoebe, the one you've been waiting for, praying for. This is supposed to be an exciting thrilling time for you."

"I know," Phoebe uttered in a tiny voice, "and I'm so happy…I really am…"

Piper brushed away a tear from Phoebe's cheek, "Then tell me why you're angry with the Book of Shadows."

"There's nothing," Phoebe whispered, "no sign of any spell or potion that might've made Dex more, you know…"

"Well you didn't get pregnant on your own," Piper lightly said, "so maybe it is just one of God's miracles."

"Dex doesn't seem to think so," Phoebe shook her head.

"Well, honey, given his medical history, he's had a bit of a shock and he still hasn't recovered from the last one," Piper rationalized. "A baby's a life-altering event especially when he seems to have resigned himself to the fact that it would never happen the old-fashioned way. He's gonna need time to work through all this. Try to be patient, he'll come around."

Phoebe shook her head again, "He doesn't believe me, doesn't trust me." She glanced at the Book, "I just wish there was something else in there." Something other than what the Book was trying to tell her.

"Well," Piper announced as she picked up the Book, "getting mad at the Book isn't the way to go." As she opened it, she looked up to the ceiling and asked, "Did you call up there for some help?" But just as Phoebe leaped forward as if to stop it, the pages began flipping and Piper grinned, "See?"

Phoebe couldn't look and squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't tell me," she requested.

And Piper didn't. She was too stunned to form words. She stared at the page and uttered, "I don't understand." The small strip of photos fluttered to the floor but Phoebe beat her to it in picking it up. "Pheebs, you haven't…I mean, you didn't…It can't be him…"

Phoebe stared at the photos, taken at a time of her greatest happiness, and gently tucked them back into their place in the spine of the Book which she now slid off of Piper's lap and back onto her own. She stared at his image, rather Belthazor's image, and couldn't stop the tears. "He's gone, Piper. He's been gone for almost three years. And I don't know why the Book keeps opening to his page. It's not like he has a soul that exists in this world to even interfere in my life anymore. And I…" She couldn't finish her thought. She needed to think about the baby and Dex, not about this man from her past. This man who had claimed more than her heart. And how could Piper understand when she didn't herself? That, despite all the anguish and the pain, she was afraid that a part of her heart still belonged to him, still missed him, still loved him? "Cole is gone," she repeated in a whisper. "He's not part of this and I don't know why the Book keeps haunting me with this but," she slammed the Book shut, "I can't afford to open up that part of my past, Piper. I can't think about it or I'll end up lost."

Shaken by her sister's words for reasons Phoebe didn't know, Piper wrung her hands and debated running downstairs and asking Leo for advice. But she'd never told him the complete truth that she hid from Phoebe, that Cole was still alive, so to speak. And she wasn't sure telling her sister now would be the best thing for Phoebe. "Pheebs, maybe you should go to bed. You haven't slept well the past few days and have had a bit of a shock yourself given Dex's reaction. Rest is the best thing for you right now, for the baby. Trust me, okay? Things will get better."

"I just don't understand," Phoebe whispered. "What if…"

"What if what?" Piper warily asked.

"What if Cole is somehow a part of this?" Phoebe could barely breathe as her mind raced with possibilities.

"That's, that's impossible," Piper stuttered. "You know that's impossible."

Phoebe leaned back and wearily closed her eyes, "Dex said something that I didn't understand until now because maybe that's what the Book is trying to explain. What if that's how it's all connected?" She opened her eyes to find Piper wearing a pensive expression and she said, "You're thinking I'm right."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Piper cautiously replied.

Phoebe explained her quickly forming theory, "Dex and I have no memories whatsoever of the day we were married when we were under the spell. But he told me that later that night he still felt odd and wanted to know if magic was involved because he didn't feel like himself and that he had strange images in his head of me as Phoebe and not as Julie. It sounded like he could've been possessed. What if Billie's spell…"

"C'mon, Pheebs," Piper nervously chuckled, "Billie's not that powerful that she can bring back the dead."

"I know," Phoebe almost wistfully commented, "but what if…I don't know, Piper, what if Cole was somehow there that night? It would explain why Dex felt he was someone else but why it felt so right being with me. And it might explain the images he saw."

"What kind of images?"

Phoebe shrugged, "I kind of got sidetracked and didn't ask but what if they were images of me through Cole's eyes, his memories?"

Piper shook her head free of those thoughts, "The important thing, Phoebe, is that you're pregnant and Dex is the father and the two of you are going to have to be patient with each other and put that little baby first."

"But what if Cole's the father?" There, she'd said it. The one thing she feared since the Book first opened to his page. "What if Cole somehow came back and he's the reason I'm pregnant?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Piper exclaimed. "You slept with Dex and only Dex."

Phoebe stared at the Book, "Did I?" Suddenly she stood and placed the Book back on its stand and stared at it, "There has to be a reason why the Book keeps flipping to Cole's page. And I haven't been able to come up with anything else."

"You're tired," Piper told her. "You need some sleep. Things will look better in the morning and maybe we'll contact Grams to see what's up with the Book."

Phoebe sighed, crossed back to her sister, and kissed Piper's cheek, "You're probably right. Thank you, sweetie, I love you and I'm sorry for keeping you up at all hours of the night with my problems."

Piper smiled with complete assurance, "I'm your big sister and it's my job. Now, get to bed."

"Yes, ma'am," Phoebe smiled.

Relieved that the smile didn't seem forced, Piper nodded and wished her, "Sweet dreams."

Phoebe paused in the doorway when she realized Piper wasn't following her, "Aren't you going back to bed?"

"In a minute," Piper nodded, "there's something I want to try first and I know if I don't do it now I probably won't remember in the morning."

"Well don't be too long," Phoebe smiled tiredly. "I'm not the only one who needs a good night's sleep."

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"This had better work," Piper muttered, "because I'm not killing myself to get this done." She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before she recited the spell she'd created. And then she waited. And waited. And, after nearly an hour, was finally rewarded with his appearance.

"You rang?"

"Unless you want to be vanquished in a more painful and permanent way," she warned, "I suggest you choose your next words very carefully."

"Piper, as sunny as always."

"It's three in the morning and I'm not playing games, Cole," she threatened. "I want the truth and I don't need Phoebe's power to know if you're telling it."

He considered her words with a smirk, "And I am, as always, intrigued. Life with the Halliwells is always an adventure and I've a feeling this one won't disappoint."

But she wasn't in the mood to exchange witty barbs and angrily blurted out, "Did you or did you not get Phoebe pregnant?"

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