Laur is here, only one day late this time! This chapter is kinda sucky, but…I'm Sorry! I have a couple of really good ones coming up chapter 28/29 though. Please forgive me! Thanks for your reviews!
Powerof4- This update didn't take so long :D And don't worry, you'll be seeing some of TTC's personality sooner than you expect… hah. Cryptic is fun.
.elementbabe. – Thanks for the review.
Cherry7up- Thankles :D
Cutleryismyfriend- Strawberry flavoured bitch? Coool beans! And dude, I'll never ignore they review! They always rock!
BlueOrbs998- Wow! That must be the most spectacular review in the history of reviews ever! And needless to say, but you rock too! I made you cry again? Sorry! Yep, Paige's son will be a powerful dude. Hehe. Look forward to the flashback of their first meeting in Chapter 29 (I think). And you're getting your wish for a Piper/Paige sisterly moment! Enjoy.
Money makes me smile- LMFAO! Jess, you rock! Can you be sure it was Mark? I promise I didn't steal the idea for TTC taking over Paige! It was actually supposed to be like when the Source baby took over Phoebe in Season4…but you haven't seen that… Thanks for the review!
Prince Halliwell- Never fear dude, I have another, more Piper based chapter which I plan on dedicating to you:p And how can you be sure the orbs were Mark? Thanks for the review!
RJF- Thanks for the review! I'm still only on chapter seven of your story, but I'm getting there slowly but surely! Lol. And yes, you'll be seeing more green orbs… :p
Moonfirefairy- Thanks for the review.
Fanmania- Thanks for the review.
Charmed1s-Halliwells- Thanks for the review.
Chapter26- Watching Stars Without You
Piper knocked, for the seventh time, on the door of her youngest sister's apartment and she let out an aggravated sigh.
"Paige, I know you're in there!" She yelled. Piper and Phoebe had neither seen nor heard from Paige since Mark's memorial service over a week ago. Piper's worry over her sister was making her sick- more so than her pregnancy was already making her. Paige had left the service in such a distressed state that her sisters had almost been scared to go after her. When they had however, Paige, Laura and Rachael had been nowhere to be found. Apparently Paige had cast a magic cloaking spell over herself and daughters- one, which had now clearly worn off. But going for a week without so much as a phone call from Paige had Piper more worried than she had ever been. "If you don't open this door Paige, I am going to blow it from its hinges!"
The muffled sound of footsteps and voices lightened Piper's heart a little, but when the door was opened, surprise was the feeling most prominent in the oldest charmed one.
"Cole?" She asked, surprised to see the teary eyed face of her friend in her sister's apartment.
"Hi," He replied. It was clear he had been close to tears. "Paige is in the kitchen."
"What are you doing here?" Piper asked, lowering her voice as she walked into the shabby apartment. Her eyes widened in shock. The waste bins were overflowing with tissues and clothes, both dirty and clean, were strewn over the back of the red leather suite. Piper could see that her youngest sister had net even made an attempt to clean since her husband's death.
"I made Mark a promise a long time ago." Cole said in answer to Piper's question. "I promised that if anything were ever to happen to him I'd look after Paige and the girls." The sorrow in Cole's voice was enough to bring tears into Piper's eyes. Of course, Mark's death, on top of her pregnancy, had left her without dry eyes for quite some time, but the fact that Cole was being of more of a help than she was only added guilt to her grief. "I've got to pick Mel up from Phoebe's." Cole said. "Tell Paige I'll be back tomorrow."
"Okay…" She watched Cole exit the apartment before turning and making her way across the littered floor towards the kitchen. When she reached it, however, she was beginning to regret ever coming.
Paige was slouched over the small, wooden kitchen table, her frail form shaking as she ran her clammy hand through her tousled and unwashed hair. Her other hand was placed firmly on her gradually expanding stomach and although it was clear she knew her sister was there, she kept her reddened eyes fixed on her half drunk cup of coffee. Rachael sat on the chair next to her mother, wearing the same sullen expression. She appeared not to have touched the rice crispies in the bowl in front of her, and a rim of ice was beginning to form on the section of the table in front of the redhead. Laura was the only one who looked up when Piper entered the cluttered room. Her blue eyes, glazed with tears, met her Aunt's and she ran, from where she had been standing in front of the fridge, straight into Piper's embrace. She appeared to be too weak to cry anymore. Piper had never seen her niece like this. Not even after the woogy incident.
"Paige," Piper began quietly, standing with the curly haired little girl still in her arms. "You should have called…"
Paige slowly looked up from her coffee and glared daggers at her sister. Her face, where it wasn't raw from tears, was paler than usual and here eyes were bloodshot. "Why?" She spat. "So you can sit there and tell me you're sorry and that everything's going to be okay before you return to your perfect life with your perfect family?"
"Paige-"
"Forget it Piper! Everything's not okay! Everything will never be okay!" As Paige spoke her voice cracked and the dishtowel, which was lying on the table burst into flames. Rachael lifted her hand and let a shower of ice extinguish it effortlessly, as if she had done it a thousand times before, whilst Laura rushed to her mother's side and began stroking her arm in a bid to calm her down. It suddenly dawned on Piper what her nieces had been dealing with for the past week. As well as grieving over the death of their beloved father, they had the burden of stopping their mother from slipping into a chronic depression and setting the apartment on fire using her unborn baby's powers.
The eldest Charmed One had to use all of her will power to stop herself from crying as her youngest sister continued speaking. "How can it be okay?" Paige's defensive stance slipped as she dropped her self-protecting barrier and fell to the floor. "He's never coming back…"
Piper dashed to pick Paige from the floor, but instead just remained on the linoleum as a shoulder for her sister to cry onto.
"Oh Missy Paige," Piper whispered as Paige's arms wrapped around her and her hands clung to the back of the eldest Charmed One's brown suede jacket in an extremely tight grip, as if in fear of letting go, encase Piper left her too. To see Paige like this broke Piper's heart. Paige had always been strong and determined. Never had Piper viewed her sister as dependent but now all she wanted to do was comfort her baby sister like she never had been given the chance to do as a child. "You can make it through this." She continued, stroking Paige's hair comfortingly, rocking her sister back and forth as she continued to cry. "I know you've been hurting… but you don't have to go through this alone. You're my sister Paige. I love you and you know I'll be there helping you out whenever I can."
"But…" Paige sniffed, still not loosening her grip on Piper's jacket, "I need him. How can anyone help me?" She sobbed. "He's gone. He's gone and he's not coming home..." As Paige said this she fell backwards against the table and pulled her knees up to her chin. Laura and Rachael stood by their mother, wrapping their small arms around her, remaining silent, but looking at their Aunt with one pleading message in their huge blue eyes: Help my mommy.
Piper wanted to help her more than anything in the world, but there was nothing she could do. It took time to grieve. She knew this from experience.
"I... I can't do it by myself." Paige continued through muffled sobs "I need him here. Why couldn't they have taken m...me? Laura and Rachael need a father. I c... can't have this baby without him. It's my fault he's gone..." Paige's words had barely been understandable but Piper had heard it loud and clear. It was obvious that the youngest charmed one had been bottling all of her emotion up for the past week. Perhaps, Piper thought, letting it all out would help. She put her arms around the Anderson's and soon all three were leaning on her for some well-needed support.
"I'll always be here for you, okay?" Piper whispered. Paige nodded gratefully. "I Promise." She was almost relieved to have been of some help, but what the Andersons really needed was a clean bed, a hot meal and a lot of loving support from their family. "How about you guys come and stay at the Manor for a while, okay?" She asked, brushing away Paige's tears with her thumbs.
"Okay." Paige replied, squeezing both of her daughter's hands. "Thank you."
xxxxx
A month and a half slowly passed. Paige, despite being a lot less secluded, was still dreadfully quiet and clearly still not over her lost husband. All of the Andersons had changed dramatically. Laura in particular had become the complete opposite of her usual cheerful and outgoing self, but on the morning of her fifth birthday, the Halliwells hoped she would be brought back to normal.
Paige, as usual, had gotten very little sleep on the camp bed in what was now her daughters' bedroom in the Manor. She stared at the Mickey Mouse clock realising it was half past seven and tried to will herself to stand up. The moment she did so she looked to her eldest, who was groggily awakening for her big day.
"Happy Birthday Pixie." She said with a small smile as Laura sat up sleepily.
"Happy Birfday Mommy…" Laura replied, too asleep to realise that she wasn't replying to her usual 'good morning' and just repeating what her mother had said. When she realised what she had done, she gave a small giggle and shuffled down the bed. Rachael, who was sleeping next to her, slept through it. She could sleep through anything in the same respect as her father could.
Laura jumped off the bed and ran to her mother's side. She wrapped her arms around Paige's waist and buried her face in the youngest Charmed One's chest. Love radiated from the hug, but Laura said nothing. Paige placed her hand on Laura's bouncy curls and let out a sigh. Laura was growing up fast. She was only five but it was already as if she was wise beyond her years. She could read her mother like a book. Sometimes you just needed a hug, and Laura always knew when to give Paige one.
The bittersweet silence was broken by a small voice in the hallway. "Aunty Paige?"
Paige turned to the door to see Andy who was dressed in his oversized, blue and red Spiderman Pyjamas. His sandy hair stuck up at odd angles and his small, freckled face was looking confused at the two females sitting in the corner of the room. Paige quickly wiped her eyes free of the trace of tears which had appeared so that Andy would not worry.
"Yes sweetie?"
"Mommy wants to know if you want apple pancakes?"
"I DO!" Came Rachael's voice from her bed, a mass of red hair emerging from beneath the duvet. Her ears had obviously perked up at the sound of her favourite breakfast.
"Me too." said Laura quietly. "Can I Mommy?"
"Of course you can Pixie. Andrew? Can you tell your Mommy I'm not hungry?"
"Okay," he said with a curt nod, "Laura, do you wanna come get the cawd I maked you?"
Laura gave Paige a quizzical look as if asking 'will you be okay?' but when Paige nodded she jumped up and sleepily walked out of the room with her younger cousin.
"APPLE PANCAKES!" Rachael shrieked excitedly, crawling from under the covers and standing on the bed to reveal her lime green, polka dot pyjamas. "Yummy!"
Paige looked at her youngest daughter and couldn't hep but roll her eyes with a smile. She remembered being a young girl, living with her foster parents and getting that excited over apple pancakes herself. It was odd that although Rachael shared neither of her parents looks, that her personality traits were so similar to both.
"Yep, very yummy! Especially when Aunty Piper makes 'em!" Paige replied trying to hide the melancholy feeling she had in her stomach, picking Rachael up from the bed.
"No- betta when Daddy make dem!"
It was odd how such a simple sentence could cut through Paige like a knife. She knew that Rachael understood her father was never coming home, but the redhead's optimistic innocence was as strong as the stubborn attitude she had inherited from her Aunt Prue. Paige kicked the bin in an attempt to stop herself screaming. Talk of Mark still didn't go down well at all with the youngest Charmed One.
The hug between mother and daughter was cut short by Leo's call of 'breakfast' from downstairs. Paige was grateful for this and she let her daughter run downstairs herself so that she could get into the unoccupied shower. As soon as she did so, however, the voice she least wanted to hear came through the door.
"Paige, are you okay?" It was Piper. Paige was going to be eternally grateful for everything Piper had done for her in the past month, but since she had broken down in front of her sister in her apartment all those weeks ago, she hadn't met Piper's eyes. Other than Laura and Rachael, Piper was the only person to have seen Paige break down and the youngest charmed one felt ashamed of burdening all her emotions on her sister. She did know that Piper was trying to help but she knew her big sister would never understand. The youngest Halliwell sister responded to Piper's question by turning on the radio and putting the volume up full blast. She didn't care that it was another of those dreadful dance remixes of a song that had once been good and was now completely ruined. All she cared about was being left alone.
Piper stood in the hallway looking at the bathroom door in immense frustration. She wondered what was going on in her sister's mind and felt a sudden anger towards herself for not being able to help. On many occasions she had been tempted to not drink her daily dose of telepathy blocking potion just to allow her to know what Paige was feeling. Every night Piper had heard her sister's restlessness and every night she had longed to comfort her. The problem was, Paige did not want her comfort. Phoebe had felt the same helplessness when she had stayed the first few nights. They had lost Mark too, but the pain they had felt would be nothing compared to what their baby sister was feeling. Even a month and a half later, when they attempted to speak to her about it she would simply leave the room or ignore them completely.
She gave up on shouting through the bathroom door and decided to take Laura's birthday presents downstairs with her as she slowly trudged down them. She found Prue in the sunroom, entertaining Andrew and Rachael. She noticed that Laura was not in the room and her guilt over not being able to help her sister doubled. Her niece was suffering too- even on her birthday. Leo stood behind his daughter and smiled when he saw Piper enter the room. Even when stress was etched into her face she looked beautiful. He crossed the room and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek.
"What's up?" He asked.
"Paige," Piper replied quietly.
Leo sighed and gave his wife's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It's just weird y'know? I look at Prue and Andy and I'm so glad I'm gonna be here to see them grow up. Laura and Rach aren't gonna have that and…" He stopped to smile at his cheerful daughter who was giving him a happy wave, blissfully ignorant of the melancholy vibe which had settled on the household. "And I just wish there was something I could do for Paige…"
"You could stop talking about me behind my back." Snarled a frustrated voice. Paige angrily pushed past the couple and hurried towards Rachael. She was wearing her bathrobe and had her was still dry, indicating that she had not yet entered the shower. It had been the first time in two days she had spoken to Piper and the first time all week she had been without bloodshot eyes.
"Come one Snowflake. We're gonna go have a bath." She said, placing her hands under Rachael's arms and raising her into the air. "You wouldn't want to be stinky now would you?"
Rachael at her mother and shook her head causing her long red hair to swing in front of her face. "Stinky like Uncle Jay?" She asked with a cheeky smile, which Paige could not help but return. Mark had obviously showed his dislike of Phoebe's husband to his daughter and Paige found it rather amusing. The redness was once again creeping back into her eyes but before Piper could notice she had rested Rachael on her hip and scurried into the kitchen where her eldest was sitting at the table staring into space. She had a fork in her hands and was absent-mindedly prodding and playing with the half eaten pancake on her plate. When she noticed her mother walk into the room she immediately jumped off her seat and ran to Paige with her arms open. She gripped tightly onto Paige's leg and started sniffing.
"Come on Pixie." Paige said, ruffling Laura's curls with her free hand. "I'll race you to the bathroom."
At this comment Laura looked up grinning through her sudden burst of grief. Orb-racing was her favourite game to play with her cousins. Her Mother was usually against it so she took it as a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"One Two Three GO!" She shouted, disappearing in a swirl of blue lights before she had even reached two. She was closely followed by Paige, who had Rachael in her arms, but Paige didn't give her the 'no cheating' lecture. It was her birthday. Cheating was allowed.
"I win!" She announced when Paige arrived in the bathroom.
"You always win." complained Rachael irritably in a fashion so much like Phoebe it was unbelievable.
xxxxx
When the Andersons appeared downstairs half an hour later they seemed a lot happier. Laura, dressed in an orange pinafore decorated with purple flowers, was giving her grandfather her trademark cheeky grin- a grin nobody had seen since January. Rachael, dressed similarly to her sister but in blue and green, immediately ran towards her Aunt Phoebe who had arrived just moments before hand. Even Paige, although she still looked distant, was smiling.
After a chorus of 'Happy Birthday' led by Sam, who had a surprisingly good voice, the present opening began and it seemed that, for the moments Laura unwrapped her birthday gifts, everything was back to normal. The curly haired five-year-old giggled and laughed, thanking her family members for their presents. Paige watched her daughter, a smile never leaving her face. Her girls could always cheer her up. And the innocence and purity which shone from Laura's huge blue eyes melted the youngest charmed one's heart. Until now, Laura's eyes had been filled with hollow grief, but things were slowly turning back to normal.
Normal?
What was normal? How could anyone define the word? It seemed impossible to Paige that 'normal' had any meaning at all. Normal was different for everyone…but, in that case, it was not normal, was it? Normal had once meant coming home from her five-hour reception duty at South Bay Social Services to two smiling, beautiful little girls and her happy husband cooking a fabulous dinner for the family before heading to Quake for his daily shift. Now normal was…well, it had no definition. Sleeping for thee hours a night, heart aching with loneliness and a longing for love- a longing for Mark- and then spending her days in the Manor obsessively searching through the Book of Shadows, looking for something-anything- on The Third Child Prophecy. Giving up her job to look after her children had meant giving up her apartment. Now she lived in the manner, guilt ridden for taking Piper and Leo's charity. What was normal now? Normal was something Paige despised.
In the alternate universe she, MJ and Laura had been pulled into not that long ago, her alternate self had had two men after her heart, but in this reality she now had nobody. She wondered what had ever happened between the alternate Paige and Kyle…at least she thought that was his name… Was she cursed in love in every reality, or just this one?
"Look what Aunty Phoebe getted me!" Laura said happily, showing her mother the seventh instalment of Harry Potter on DVD with a cheeky grin. "Harry Potter!"
"That's great Pixie," Paige replied, having jerked out of her chain of thought, "Maybe we can watch it later, huh?"
"Yeah! And we can have poppy corn!"
"Toffee poppy corn!" Andy agreed enthusiastically.
"If Aunty Piper says it's okay." The youngest charmed one said with a nod.
"And cake!" Andy continued. "CAKE!"
"Oh!" Piper suddenly jerked her head upwards, "I forgot to put the cake in the oven. I'll be two seconds." As she left the room, Prue and Melinda-Jayne followed her, hand in hand. They stopped at the door and the eldest of the two turned to the other with a very serious look in her eyes.
"Melly Jay," Prue said as a smile formed on her face, "Laura's happy again!"
"Yup." MJ replied happily, "So is Rachy." Her smile faded and her face hardened as she turned her head back towards the living room. "But Aunty Paige ain't."
Prue looked lost in deep contemplation for a moment, but turned to her cousin with a glint of inspiration in her huge brown eyes. "Maybe we could do a spell…"
"A spell?" MJ gasped excitedly, "Yeah! To make Aunty Paige like Laura and be happy too."
"Okay…um…Her heart is hurting and her face is sad. This ain't personal gain so we ain't being bad. My Aunty Paige needs to smile, so make her happy like Laura for a while…"
"Did it wok?" Melinda-Jayne asked hopefully.
"I dunno…" Prue replied. They waited for a moment but Paige's expression remained the same. Giving up on it working, the cousins re-entered the living room, where Jason and Leo were picking up the loose wrapping paper and putting it in the bin. "Let's play hide and go peek!" Prue suggested excitedly. A cry of agreement rose in the children and the eldest cousin turned to her Aunt Phoebe, "I'll take Charlie." She said. Phoebe passed her one-year-old daughter to Prue and nodded giving her niece a look which suggested 'be careful'. And then all the kids disappeared in orbs or shimmers, which didn't please Phoebe but she just smiled t off.
"I'm gonna make tea, do you want some?" Phoebe asked her sister, husband and brother-in-law.
"That would be good, thanks." Leo replied with a smile "I'm going to make sure the kids aren't running loose in the attic." And then he too disappeared in sparkling blue and white lights.
"Does anyone use stairs in this house?" Jason asked sarcastically. Phoebe and Paige just rolled their eyes.
Paige was left alone in the living room as Phoebe and Jason headed into the kitchen to help Piper, and Sam went to put the paper into the recycling bin outside. She slowly rose to her feet, her hip still weak after her battle with Decron. She had refused to let anyone heal it. When she got to her feet, however, a strange sensation hit her stomach and she tumbled backwards, landing with a much lighter thud than she had expected.
Piper closed the oven door happily and turned to see Phoebe and Jason enter the kitchen. "Where are the kids?" She asked curiously.
"Playing hide and seek." Phoebe informed her sister. "Don't worry, Leo's making sure they stay out of the attic."
"So that's why Rachael and Andy are in the tree house?" Piper replied. "Where's Paige?"
"In the living room. Do you want tea?"
"Sure." Piper turned to leave the room so that she could ask Paige what colour of icing to put on Laura's cake, but was startled by the appearance of the dark, curly haired little girl in the doorway. "Hey Laura, just the birthday girl I need."
The little girls face wrinkled in confusion and she timidly entered the room. "Who's Laura?" She asked.
"Sweetie, that's not funny in this house, okay? Are you looking for your sister? I think she's outside, but don't tell her I told you, 'kay?"
"Who's Laura?" The girl asked again, a stubborn persistence so much like Paige's that it was unreal, washing over her. "And I don't have a sister!"
"Wha- Prudence!" Piper turned her head skywards, knowing that Prue's heightened whitelighter powers would allow her to hear her mother no mater where she was. She must have erased Laura's memory somehow.
"Prudence?" The girl asked with a childish giggle- one which sounded familiar, but nothing like Laura's booming cackle. "That's a silly name!"
"Um…Piper?" Phoebe asked, "What's the matter with our niece?"
"I have no idea…" The eldest Charmed One replied picking Laura from the floor.
"Paige!" Phoebe yelled, hoping that Laura's mother could break whatever spell had been cast on her.
"Hey!" The girl announced brightening up, "That's my name!"
"Shi…ugar!" Piper gasped, dropping her wooden spoon and looking the little girl directly in the eyes…not blue eyes, but brown. Exactly like Paige's.
Paige, apparently now a five-year-old little girl giggled again. "You're funny," She told Piper, grinning. "Where's my Mommy and Daddy?"
"Uh… Sam!" Phoebe called, he appeared in a swirl of orbs looking panicked.
Little Paige's jaw dropped. "Wow mista, how did you do that?" Sam's jaw dropped in an identical manner. "Hey!" Paige announced again, "You gots a nose like me!" She pointed to her own nose and smiled, "Can you take me home please?"
"Paige?" Sam asked in a happy shock. Never having had the chance to see Paige grow up, this was a miracle for the elderly whitelighter. One which would undoubtedly have to be fixed, but one which he would savour.
"How did you know my name?" She asked, as Piper placed her on the ground. There was no denying that Paige had been a cute kid- so much like Laura that it was almost scary.
"I…uh…"
"You told him, silly." Jason cut in.
"I did?" Jason nodded, "Oh…okay."
"Paige do you want to play a game?" Phoebe asked.
"You're too big to play games!" She said, "Only Glenn is good at playin' games!"
"Um…kids!" Phoebe shouted loudly, "Come here, now!"
Slowly all of the kids appeared in orbs or shimmers looking worried and apprehensive. Laura looked at her five-year-old mother curiously and turned to her grandpa.
"She looks like-"
"Yeah sweetie, we know." Sam replied. "Everyone meet Paige Junior."
"Paigey?" Rachael asked, her brow knitting, "Like Mommy?"
"Yeah, like mommy." Piper said, "Exactly like Mommy. You guys take her outside and play, okay?"
"Okay!" Laura took Paige's hand-It was as if they could have been twins- and led her out into the back garden. The others followed, not really understanding what was happening.
"Ah," Piper stepped in front of Prue and Melinda-Jayne who were looking mischievously guilty, "You wanna explain this?"
"We's sorry…" MJ said, biting down on her lip nervously.
As Prue and Melinda-Jayne began to explain the spell they had cast, the garden was erupting in childish laughter. Sam watched the children play and smirked at what the elders would think of Laura's theory about the higher powers as she tried to explain orbing to Paige.
"And the elder men have really got a queen who's a lady. And she's really pretty and tells the stinky elders what to do, but sometimes they don't listen and are really mean. But the Queen of Elder Land tells them not to be bad."
"Wow," Paige said, impressed by Laura's 'knowledge'. "That's cool. I bet Glenn would find that cool too!"
"Uncle Glenn?" Rachael asked, "You are my Mommy!"
"Damn," Sam whispered. For a two and a half year old, Rachael certainly had a lot of common sense. "Um, Paige I think we'd better go inside."
"Do I have to Mista Sam?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry."
She leapt into his arms and he gave the hugest smile anyone had ever seen him give. He had his daughter in his arms, hugging him like he was her father. Something he had missed out on when Paige had been growing up. He knew Prue and MJ would be getting in trouble inside, but he made a note of remembering to thank them later.
"The kids figured it out." He said as he entered the kitchen. "Any way we can change her back?
"We should be able to do it with a spell." Piper informed him. "But a part of me wants to keep her like that- carefree. Just for today…"
"Honey, you know we can't." Leo told her and she nodded knowingly, but sadly.
"Piper, Phoebe…" Sam began almost nervously, "There's something I'd like you to do first…"
xxxxx
A swirling mass of bright white light appeared in the circle of candles, which were marked on the attic floor. Patricia Halliwell stepped out, looking slightly confused, but when her eyes met Sam's a broad grin spread across her face. She ran towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck so lovingly that it almost brought a tear to Phoebe's eye. Sam had clearly been the love of her mother's life and to see them reunite was very touching.
"What am I doing here?" She asked him, after pulling out of a long kiss, which had caused a little voice that Patty assumed belonged to one of her granddaughters say 'eew'.
"I'll leave you alone," Phoebe said quietly, leaving the room, "Bye mom."
"Bye Sweetheart," Patty watched Phoebe leave and turned to Sam with curiosity spread across her face.
"Well…" Sam bit down on his lip in ponder of how to explain the situation. "Paige, come here."
"Yes?" She asked, walking towards the couple she did not know were her mother and father.
"Paige?" Patty gasped, "I could have sworn it was-"
"Laura, yes, I know." Sam said, "But it's Paige…it's our little girl."
"How did-"
"Prue and MJ…you do the math."
"Right…She's beautiful." Patty turned to Sam and smiled, "We missed out on so much."
"That's why I summoned you…Just so you could see what a wonderful child she was- even without us."
"Of course she's wonderful, she's a Halliwell." Patty replied.
"You've been spending too much time with your mother." Sam smirked.
"What are you speakin' about?" Paige asked, tugging on Sam's sleeve. She looked to Patty and awe spread across her face. "Wow, you're pretty."
"Thank you." Patty found herself overwhelmed, but something suddenly dawned on her. "How is Paige holding up? You know, after everything with…Mark…"
"Some days are better than others." Sam told her, "She's getting there."
"Mark?" Paige asked curiously, "I like that name." Then she smiled and took Sam's hand, before she felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach and dizzily fell backwards, landing with a loud thud. "Woah, what am I doing up here?" An adult Paige asked.
"You're back?" Sam asked. He realised almost immediately that the trigger to change her back had been her speaking of Mark without sorrow.
"Where was I?" Paige asked, "Woah, wait, Mom?"
"Hello Paige." Patty smiled. "How are you?"
"…I'm…" Paige looked to the floor, "Confused…in a word."
"Well, let's go downstairs and I'm sure someone can explain what happened because I'm not too sure either."
"Right…" Paige let her parents out the door before her, still curious as to what on earth had happened. But watching Patty and Sam walk down the stairs hand in hand she couldn't help smiling. Sam had had Patty taken from him years ago, yet here they were, still hand in hand and in love. It brought hope into her heart-just a small amount, but hope nonetheless. Perhaps one day she and Mark would be like that…together in the afterlife.
AN- Okay, I know the ending sucked but meh! I updated on time! …kinda! I think the next chap should be up on Sunday but if it's not don't shoot me coz I'm busy next week… :p Thanks for still reading, your reviews mean a lot.
Next Chapter- MJ wreaks havoc on Jason's parents. And the birth of a new Halliwell child…or two.