Disclaimer- I do not own Charmed
I know it's a bit late for an Xmas chapter, but I say why can't we be festive all year round? I watched 'A call to Arms' recently and did anyone else notice PAIGE HAD A MOUSTACHE! Anyways…I just read that Julian McMahon will be making a guest appearance in season seven. YAY! Thank you so much for your reviews, they are MUCH appreciated!
Wyatt333- YAY you reviewed again:D thanks! & Your theory on the third child was good but I'm afraid it's not right!
Jackie67- You nearly cried? Cute! (how patronising-lol)
Passions- Thank you!
CharmingCat- Thank you!
Batman-Kicks-Butt- I knew the cheese would! You're not a Phoebe fan either I can see!
I'm back to my usual length of chapters now, but I'm not very pleased with this one. Hmph! Nevertheless, enjoy & Please review!
May the power of Cheese guide you!
Laur xXx
Chapter5- Santa Claws.
When Paige and baby Laura Rose Anderson were finally allowed to leave the hospital her sisters seemed almost as exhausted as she was. They had been researching Decron and Shax for the past week and a half and were still none the wiser. Despite the fact they knew Decron was Shax's brother, it was almost as if he had no history. The only information in the book of shadows was his name; no picture, no vanquish, not even an MO. He was, as they knew, very powerful and seemed to know a lot about the Charmed Ones, but even Cole, who had been a demon for a century, had not heard of him. They had wondered why such a powerful demon had kept such a low profile until now and why, other than the fact she had reunited the Charmed ones, did he have such a grudge against Paige?
No matter how many times they tried and how many spells they used, Decron could not be summoned. Paige was still struggling to cope with the fact that he had almost killed her baby and they had no way of even finding out about him. She and Mark were very protective of their daughter and Mark's nauctater instincts mixed with the instincts of a protective father led him to become obsessive about killing demons until Paige had warned him that if he kept at it any longer, Laura would be left without a father. Despite their original queries Paige and Mark both made extremely good parents.
Christmas was vast approaching and since Laura's birth in early March she had already grown into a striking resemblance of her mother- with the exception of her father's mysterious blue eyes. She seemed to have inherited the freezing power of her "Nana" and Auntie Piper. Mark had discovered this after buttons (Laura's bear) had stopped in mid air when falling off the highchair. Due to her parents' unique parenting skills, Laura was a very happy baby.
Prue, now one and a half, was beginning to grow into her powers. It seemed as though she had inherited levitation from Phoebe and the power to call for objects from her whitelighter father. After reaching an age where she had started to speak Prue had a name for everyone in the Manor. Obviously Piper and Leo were 'Mommy and Daddy', Mark was 'Unkie Mak', Paige was ''tie Pay', Laura was 'Lola', Cole was 'Unkie Co' and Phoebe, much to her annoyance, was ''Fee Fee'. It amazed Piper as to how much her daughter looked like her namesake and she had tried on many occasions to summon Prue so that she could meet her niece. Unfortunately, she had failed to succeed.
Despite the happiness of her family Phoebe was having a lot of relationship problems. Since moving in with Cole, he had seemed distant and somewhat unwilling to open up to her. This was causing Phoebe to worry and her suspicions were beginning to rise. Something the darklighter had said was constantly playing on her mind: "Once a demon, always a demon." She found herself trying to keep her distance from him and spent an awful lot of time at the Manor.
22nd December 2003
"Mark! Hurry up! We're gonna miss the plane!" Paige called up the stairs of the manor. She was waiting beside the front door, Laura in her arms, surrounded by suitcases and a stroller.
"I'm coming sweetheart! I just forgot to pack my toothbrush!"
"That's because I packed it for you! Idiot!"
"You know you guys have only been married for a year and you sound like an old married couple." Piper informed her little sister with a sly grin.
"Hmph! You know what Pixie?" Paige said, making faces to her daughter, "Auntie Piper's not being very nice about Mommy and Daddy. And you know what that means? Do ya? Santa Claus isn't gonna bring her lotsa nice presents like he's gonna bring you." She finished with a small peck on Laura's curly haired head and a motherly giggle. Laura had obtained the nickname 'Pixie' or 'Tinkerbelle' from her parents after they had dressed her up in a pixie outfit for Halloween.
Piper sighed slightly "I can't believe we're gonna miss her first Christmas! Remember Prue's? She was more fascinated by the wrapping paper than the presents!"
"Yeah, that was so cute. I'm really sorry. It's just that Mark's mom hasn't even met Laura yet and, I mean, who couldn't turn down an invitation to Christmas in Scotland? It might even snow!- Mark! We have to go soon! What are you doing?" (AN- it's really hard trying to make Paige get excited about Scotland! I've lived here my whole life and believe me, I'd much rather be in San Francisco!)
"I don't see why you can't just orb." Phoebe stated. She had just come downstairs, followed by Mark.
"We told you." He said, "We don't want Laura to grow up relying on magic. We're gonna teach her how to do things the non-magical way."
"Yeah, but she's nine months old! She's hardly likely to notice?"
Paige looked sternly at Phoebe, but soon smiled. "It's too late now! We've paid for the tickets!"
"Okay. You guys have a great time okay. And call us! You've got the presents right?" Piper asked.
"Yes! All packed!" Mark said indicating to a small suitcase sitting in the stroller.
"We've left your presents down in the basement. Have a good Christmas. Love you! See you next year!"
Leo and Mark carried the suitcases out to Paige's green beetle as Paige, Phoebe, Piper, Prue and Laura exchanged goodbyes. Paige couldn't help but notice that Phoebe was somewhat distant, but didn't say anything because she knew it would be Cole related.
"Say bye bye Prue." Piper said bouncing her daughter
"Byeeee Pwoo!" came the reply. All the Charmed Ones laughed, leaving the one and a half year old confused.
"Bye guys! I'll email you when I get there! Have a good Christmas." With that Paige strapped Laura into her seat, climbed in beside her and closed the door of the car. "Bye!"
"Boy is she gonna regret not orbing! Can you imagine a baby on a plane for ten hours?" Phoebe said as she turned to head back into the manor.
"Yeah! Especially a baby like Laura. I thought Prue was restless, but that kid never sleeps!"
"Are you surprised? With parents like Paige and Mark she's bound to be one active little girl."
Later that day
"Phoebe, what's up?" Leo asked his sister in law. He already knew it had something to do with Cole but he was worried about her recent odd behaviour.
"What do you think?" she said sounding cold.
"I'm sorry, it's just that, well, I worry."
Phoebe tried as hard as she could to smile. "Yeah, I know. I don't want to talk about it. I'll go get the presents Paige and Mark left and put them under the tree." With that she left the sunroom and Leo.
She entered the terracotta basement and noticed Piper had beaten her to the presents that lay in the corner of the room on Paige and Mark's bed. "Hey." She said, the stress evident in her voice. There was no point in trying to hide how she was feeling from Piper.
"Come 'ere," Piper said, her arms open for a hug. As Phoebe accepted the offer Piper continued "What up?"
Phoebe stepped back, trying to hold back the tears that had been fighting to fall since this morning. Piper, noticing this, motioned for Phoebe to sit on the bed next to her.
"You can tell me honey."
"It's just...I don't know what to do..." She said breaking down.
Piper knew her sister was upset about her situation with Cole, but she really could not see what was wrong with him. "It's okay." Piper soothed "You can tell me about it."
"I think he's evil." (A/N: Don't worry he's not:p)
"What!" Piper had not meant to sound so surprised, but Cole was one of her best friends. "Why do you think that?"
"I don't know. He's just never around…y'know? And with a past like he has it… Makes me wonder."
"Phoebs…" Piper sighed. How could she accuse her own boyfriend of being evil? Although Piper wanted nothing more than to shout at her sister for being so stupid, it seemed harsh under the circumstances. "Don't you think if he was evil then Paige would have sensed it by now?"
"I guess your right," Phoebe said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Paige would have sensed it…I just…"
"Come on honey…he's just busy at work. You are too, does that make you evil?"
"No…" Phoebe sighed. Piper was right. She mentally scolded herself for being so stupid and went upstairs to apologise to Leo.
"She is way too paranoid." Piper whispered to herself as she watched Phoebe leave.
That night, Phoebe and Cole shared a night of passion. In an attempt to apologise for her odd behaviour over the past two weeks, Phoebe had lined the bedroom with candles and rose petals. She had bought the most expensive bottle of champagne she could get her hands on and had made the only thing she could cook- spaghetti bolognaise. Cole had been so taken aback by Phoebe's sudden burst of passion that he had forgotten one vital thing…
Christmas Eve
"You have mail." The computer said aloud.
Phoebe looked up angrily, ready to delete any spam that had just been sent to her inbox when she realised Paige had finally written.
"Piper! We have mail from Paige!" She shouted through to the living room, opening the email.
"Hey guys! You'll never guess what I did? I actually milked a cow! A real cow! With my hands! Okay so they had machines but how could I turn down an opportunity like that?" Phoebe read aloud.
Piper responded with a loud laugh "Trust Paige to get excited over that. She's so easily amused."
"Piper, she practically threw a party when she saw you bought Leo the 'Queer Eye for The Straight Guy' book..." Phoebe replied before continuing to read:
"Okay now that I'm over that, how are you? Scotland is amazing! It's like one minute you're in the city and the next you're in the middle of nowhere. Mark showed me round some really cool places. It actually snowed! We got snowed in and it was soooo cool!
Laura really likes her grandma. Remind me NEVER to take a baby on a plane again. EVER! The guy in the seat behind us complained like a million times about her making noise. They actually asked me to keep her quiet! Can you believe that? My niece is really nice. She's only seventeen and she knows more about magic than I do. She showed me how to make some neat potions and then we vanquished this demon that was hiding out in their barn."
At this point Piper let out another laugh. "I can't believe she found milking cows more exciting than vanquishing a demon!"
"She seems quirkier than usual…but then again she always rambles when she's excited," Phoebe responded with a shrug.
As Phoebe finished reading the email Leo orbed into the kitchen with a worried expression on his face. "Piper, Phoebe?" He shouted.
"On the computer!"
"You guys need to get to the book, now!" He said, out of breath as if he'd been running.
"Why what happened?" Asked Piper concerned.
"I'll explain in the attic, get upstairs now. Where's Prue?"
"Taking a nap on the loveseat..." Piper replied as Leo ushered her towards the stairs.
"Okay," He said with what sounded almost like relief.
Utterly bewildered Phoebe and Piper climbed the stairs to the attic. When they reached the attic, they were greeted by a grotesque; scaly, orange demon that was standing over the Book of Shadows looking slightly angry- he had obviously discovered he couldn't pick it up.
"Woah! Demon!" Phoebe said, turning to he sister.
Piper pushed past Phoebe and attempted to blow up the horned, rusty-orange demon that stood frowning in front of her. Unfortunately he shimmered out before Piper could kill him and she missed, blowing up the shelf on the opposite wall instead.
"Damn it!" She yelled before realising the demon had shimmered back behind her. She blew him up with a smirk of success plastered on her face. Piper's smirk soon faded as a second demon shimmered into the attic. The fact that there was a second demon was not the one that was bothering Piper, it was the fact that in the demon's arms, lay her sleeping daughter.
"Prue!" She gasped, "Give me my baby."
At the sound of her mother's angry voice Prue began to stir. She began to scream loudly when she saw the demon, which was holding her. "Mommy!"
"PRUE!" Piper yelled once more. The threat her daughter was under was causing her mind to fill with a hundred possible scenarios of what could happen and none of them were good. Plus, where on earth was Leo?
The demon took advantage of the two motionless witches and made straight for the book of shadows- her claws still firmly gripping the screaming baby. Fortunately, the book jumped away from the demon.
"Mommy!" Prue shrieked once more, but this time she disappeared in a cloud of blue and white lights, reappearing in her mother's arms. "Mommy," she repeated, a little more relaxed, but still crying.
Piper was still standing in shock at what Prue had just done and Phoebe knew she wasn't planning on letting go of her daughter to blow up the raven-haired demon any time soon.
WHACK! Phoebe kicked the demon hard in the back of the head and sent her to the ground. She dodged a fireball and thrust an athame into the demon's chest, causing it to erupt in flames.
"Woah." She exclaimed, "What the hell just happened?"
"I have no idea." Replied Piper, who was still holding Prue protectively against her chest, smothering her with kisses. "LEO?"
Phoebe, only just noticing the curious absence of their whitelighter, quickly made her way back down to the living room, where they had last seen him. Piper followed suit. When they reached the living room they saw Leo sprawled out on the floor.
"Oh my god!" Gasped Piper, "LEO WAKE UP!"
"Wha- PRUE?" He said panicking as he came around, "Piper the demo-"
"Daddy!" Giggled an excited Prue, before orbing to Leo's side. She poked his eye and stared curiously at the bruise that was appearing on his cheek. "Bang?"
Leo's face spread into a wide grin. "Did daddy's little princess just orb?" He asked picking up his daughter and placing her on his knee. "Are you okay sweetie?" he asked her.
Prue just replied with a loud giggle "weee!" She squealed, once again orbing to her mother.
"I think you might have to do something about that." Said Phoebe who was making faces at her niece.
"Very probably!" Replied Leo, and then he suddenly remembered what had happened. "Did you get the demon?"
"You mean demons!" Phoebe corrected him and seeing the look of shock on his face she added, "There were two."
"What? Two? Do you think they were working together?"
"Well honey it's hardly likely that two demons of absolutely no connection decided to steal the book at exactly the same time? And if you wouldn't mind explaining- who the hell were they and why did they try and kidnap our daughter!"
Leo pulled himself up from the floor and began to explain. "Well this morning I got a call from the elders." He said and went to hug his daughter. He hesitated slightly and shot a worried glance at the picture of Paige, Mark and Laura. "There's a bounty out for any demon who can kidnap the daughter of a charmed one."
"WHAT?" Piper screamed "What kind of sick son of a BITCH-"
"Bitshhh!" Prue squealed and Piper couldn't help but laugh.
"Prue, honey- don't say that- it's a very very bad word."
" Bad Mommy." Prue giggled, trying to tell off her mother.
Suddenly Phoebe remembered something she had read in her sister's email and raised an enquiring eyebrow. "I don't think that demon Paige vanquished was just a coincidence. Leo, you have to orb over there and warn her."
"Can't you just call her?" He said, slightly irritated. The elders had kept him 'up there' all morning and he wanted to spend Christmas Eve with his daughter.
"Yeah," Piper agreed. She knew how happy Leo made Prue. "She doesn't need us to protect her. I mean she's in a house full of witches!"
"Okay," Phoebe finally said. "But if she's pissed, I'm blaming you!"
"Tie Pay piss!"
"Okay. From now on we just won't speak around her!"
Piper, Phoebe and Leo were so preoccupied by Prue at that moment that they did not notice the tall, dark man step up behind Phoebe. Only when Phoebe felt his warm breath on the back of her bare neck did she react. She turned and swung her foot into the man's stomach and sent her fist at his eye. She pulled back when she realised who it was and looked incredibly guilty.
"Oh my god! Cole I am so sorry!" She gasped as she helped him up off the floor.
"It's okay." He said, wincing as he sat down on the armchair. "Just remind me to knock next time."
"Well you should know not to sneak up on people in this house!" Phoebe told him, giving him a playful smack on the arm.
"Yeah, sorry dude, but you got yourself into that one." Leo agreed.
"Dude!" squealed Prue and she orbed out of her father's arms into Cole's. "Unkie Co piss!"
Once again, the room erupted into laughter. Cole looked slightly bemused, but nevertheless found it funny. He started to bounce Prue up and down on his knee and remembered what he had come to do.
"Do you wanna see what Uncle Cole brought you for Christmas?" He asked the happy toddler.
"Uhu!"
Cole walked out of the room to the front door where he had laid his bags full of presents down. He walked back into the living room holding Prue's hand. She was clutching a large stuffed reindeer and was smiling broadly. In Cole's left hand he held a bag full of presents, which he handed to Piper.
"Thank you." She said "You'll get your presents tomorrow. Right now I have to get the camera!" With that Piper exited the room to go to the kitchen. The threat her daughter was under was still playing on her mind, but she was determined to have a good Christmas.
When Phoebe eventually got round to phoning Paige, she certainly regretted doing so. Paige was definitely pissed! She yelled for at least fifteen minutes about how they should have told her as soon as they found out; about Decron being behind it and how she was going to kill any demon that came within a mile of her daughter. It startled Phoebe slightly when Paige's ranting came to an abrupt stop.
"By the way? Did I tell you that my powers have advanced?" The youngest sister asked overly happily.
"No." Phoebe said, sounding slightly confused but it didn't take her long to understand what Paige meant. The spot she had been standing on in the living room was suddenly very cold and without any notice a cloud of orbs entered the Manor and a large pile of snow fell on Phoebe's head. "You are so dead!" Phoebe shrieked.
"Well from where I'm standing, it doesn't look like you can do anything to stop me…unless you plan on premonitioning me to death!" Paige laughed down the phone and another pile of snow orbed itself around Phoebe. "I'll see you on the second of January!"
When Paige hung up the phone, a curious looking Piper and Cole came rushing into the room. Piper looked at the pile of snow that was slowly melting into her carpet and shot Phoebe and angry and confused glance.
"Paige." Phoebe said dryly, "Her powers advanced!"
Although Piper was annoyed at the mess that was appearing in her carpet, she fell backwards laughing.
"Well," Started Cole and then he burst into song "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..."
That night, Phoebe slept soundly in her old bed. Piper and Leo had moved Prue's crib from the nursery to their bedroom, so no demons could attack during the night. Cole had fallen asleep on the couch and Phoebe had refused to wake him.
"Santa?" Phoebe asked groggily as she sat up. She had been dreaming about being a small child on Christmas day and was still half in the land of nod. She had been awoken by a noise and in her sleepy state of mind Santa was the first person that popped into her head.
"Not quite." Growled a cold voice, which shocked Phoebe back into reality.
She opened her mouth ready to scream, but she was silenced by a large hand slipping over her mouth. "Don't even think about it." The demon growled and Phoebe knew who it was- Decron. "My attempts to kidnap the babies have been unsuccessful." He snapped and hit Phoebe hard across the face. "So I figured that going after the unborn child would be a better idea."
"Wha-" Phoebe started. She wasn't pregnant…was she? Then it hit her. That night with Cole…they had not used protection. "You can't have my baby!" Phoebe mumbled through the blood that was dribbling out of her mouth.
"But what are you going to do to stop me?" Decron whispered back. He picked Phoebe up by the shoulders and threw her against the window. It was a miracle it did not break. "Premonition me to death?"
The comment Phoebe had laughed at whilst talking to Paige no longer seemed funny as she felt a shooting pain in her chest after Decron's large boot made contact with her ribs. She tried to scream, but all that came out of her mouth was more blood. Tears began to fall from her eyes and she knew Decron was going to win- but not without a fight.
"Leave." She choked "Now!"
Decron just laughed. He towered over his prey forcing her into the corner of the room, cowering. "Poor defenceless witch!" He spat "No half-breed sister here to save you now!"
Phoebe just sat back against the wall cowering. Nothing but fear pumped through her body and she was scared for her unborn child above anything. "Oh, do remind my dear Paige that it was all her fault you lost your baby will you? I'm sure she'd be thrilled to know..." Decron smiled an evil smile and pulled an athame out of his coat pocked. He was ready to strike when he jumped backwards in shock. Phoebe had formed a fireball in her hand.
Phoebe was just about as shocked as Decron when the ball of fire appeared in her palm. She noticed the large, charcoal-black demon stumble backwards and took her opportunity. The fireball hit him in the side of the head and he was knocked back onto the bed. Phoebe used all her strength to stand up and yell, but she managed.
"Help!" She screamed, loudly, and within seconds Cole and Piper stood in the doorway of her bedroom.
Piper rushed to her sister's side, not noticing the demon on the bed. Cole on the other hand, spotted Decron. He made a dash towards the athame that was lying on the ground and he dug it into Decron's chest. Decron jolted up and knocked Cole backwards into the hallway. He pulled the athame out of his own chest and grinned maliciously as he licked the blood off of it.
"Don't worry. I'll be back." He said and flamed out, leaving everyone in a state of shock.
"LEO!" Piper screamed and he appeared next to her in a cloud of orbs, holding Prue.
"What happened?" He asked and then he saw Phoebe. She was curled up on the floor covered in blood and whimpering. Her eyes were filled with tears and she was clutching Piper's hand.
She tried to speak, but once again only blood came up. Leo healed her immediately.
"Fee Fee..." Prue said sadly, holding her arms out towards her now healed Auntie. Her lip began to quiver, but stopped when Phoebe grabbed her.
"It's okay Prue." She said, "We're okay."
Piper took her daughter from her sister and sat on the bed. Cole shuffled back into the room and sat next to Piper. Leo stood, looking concerned, in the corner. Phoebe knew they were waiting for an explanation.
"It was Decron." She started. "He said he was going to kill my baby..."
"The basta- WHAT?" Cole shouted, jumping to his feet and wrapping his arms tightly around Phoebe and kissing her forehead. "Wait until I get my hands on the dickweed!"
"Cole," Phoebe warned, "It's okay. Baby had other ideas...she seems to take after you."
"What?" Leo asked.
"I made a fireball!" Phoebe said proudly. "I mean we made a fireball."
"Your pregnant?" Piper questioned, slightly shocked, "congratulations..." This came as a slight shock to Piper as only a few nights ago; Phoebe had been saying Cole was evil. But…the baby had made a fireball? "Didn't we strip Cole's powers?"
"Just because his powers are gone doesn't mean he doesn't have demonic genes." Leo said informatively "The baby must still get her powers- after all she is one quarter demon!"
"Woah." Cole said sounding slightly concerned "Does that mean she's under threat of tuning evil?"
"I don't think so. She's half witch, quarter human. The good should overcome the evil."
"Phew." Phoebe said to her stomach, "You know, for something who's only been here for two days you're certainly causing a lot of trouble." Phoebe was now having second thoughts about Cole's nature. He had given the baby demonic powers. Even if Leo was right and Cole did not have his powers, he still had demonic genes, which could sway him to the other side.
"What else did Decron say?" Piper pressed, not noticing Phoebe's worry.
"He said that I had to tell Paige that is was all her fault I lost my baby..."
"But you didn't... And how did he know you were pregnant before even you did?"
"I don't know. I don't know what he has against Paige, and quite frankly, I don't care. I just want him dead." Phoebe said, determination shining through.
"I know honey, we all do." Piper told her. She could see where Phoebe was coming from, but she did care about the grudge the all-powerful demon had against their little sister. However, she was determined that Christmas was going to be perfect. "But today I think we should just celebrate. And I don't know about you, but it's already five thirty and I'm pretty sure that Santa Claus has been already..."
The four adults made there way downstairs to the living room in a way they hadn't done since they were children. They were all still dressed in pyjamas (Cole and Leo in boxers and a T-shirt) and were eying the Christmas tree with awe. Piper, being Piper, brought out the camera and took as many photos as she possibly could of her daughter opening presents. She got a particularly cute shot of Prue placing the stocking on her father's head and a particularly funny one of Prue sticking a candy cane up Cole's nose. They continued behaving like children for an hour when they eventually decided to get dressed.
The day went exactly according to plan- except from the incident where Prue orbed the mashed potatoes onto Cole's head. Paige called halfway through the day to thank everyone for their presents and at the same time laughed hysterically down the phone for about ten minutes- something about Laura blowing up Mark's hideous reindeer jumper. Piper conveniently forgot to mention Decron attacking Phoebe, thinking it would be a better idea to wait until Paige was back home. Everything was perfect.
AN- So…this chapter sort of sucked compared to the last one! I just have troubles writing Phoebe. It will get better again though, I promise! & Be warned, Phoebe/Cole shippers won't like the next chapter! I do though… MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't forget to review! May the Cheese be with you!
Laur xXx