When Prue stepped out of the circle she became solid. She looked at Piper with very much affection in her eyes.
"Don't I get a hug?" She teased.
"Prue!" Piper called out again and rushed forward to hug her big sister. Tears of joy were streaming down her face. For years she had hoped to see Prue again. And now suddenly she was here.
Piper squeezed Prue tight and whispered, "I missed you so much."
Phoebe picked herself from the floor and flung herself into the family hug.
There were mutterings of "I missed you" and "I love you" going back and forth. The three sisters hugged and kissed each other. Prue relished in the feeling of being close to her sisters. When the excitement turned down a bit, Leo approached them. Prue entangled herself from her sisters. They were clinging to her like little puppies.
"Prue! I'm so glad to see you again." They hugged tightly and Prue patted Leo on the back.
"You did well Leo, protecting my sisters and nephews. I'm very proud of you."
Leo beamed at her praise. Prue was hard to please and she never said anything she didn't mean.
"Thank you," he said genuinely, "I'm just sorry I couldn't rescue you too."
He had to get this from his soul. He still had a bad consciousness about saving Piper and not Prue.
"I understand now, Leo. It was meant to be that way. I'm at peace with my destiny," Prue assured him.
Then she looked at the people standing at the back. Paige and Cole with Grace.
"Paige," she said softly, "I'm very sorry we didn't get to know each other earlier."
She approached Paige and offered her hand. "Thank you for accepting your destiny as a Charmed One and saving my sisters. They wouldn't have made it without you."
Paige took the offered hand awkwardly. She had always wondered how Prue was. Now she was standing in front of her and Paige felt intimidated. She looked into clever blue eyes that scrutinized her in the same way. Prue was not as tall as she was but Paige felt the power emanating from her being. Prue was in total control of the situation. Would Prue take back her place at the Power of Three? Would she take away her sisters from her?
"I always wanted to meet you too," Paige said honestly. Prue was a legend. According to her sisters she was the strongest and best witch that had existed.
"We will have time to talk later," Prue assured Paige, "I want to get to know you better." She winked at Paige.
"How long will you stay?" Piper asked hopefully. Prue turned to her sisters.
"I came here for Grace," Prue said sadly, "I can't stay for long. I don't belong here anymore."
"But…" Phoebe threw in.
She felt safer when Prue was around. Prue was her big sister. She had raised her. Prue always knew what to do. If only Prue had been there when her relationship with Cole had gone down the drain. Maybe Prue would have known a way to save him, them, their baby. Phoebe blinked a tear away. Prue misinterpreted the tears in her sister's eyes.
"I know," Prue appeased, "I'd love to stay and catch up on things. Maybe another time- this time I'm here on business." She squeezed Phoebe's hand shortly then turned to Cole.
"You," she said with an accusing undertone in her voice, looking at him, but not approaching.
"What?" Cole shot back irritated, staying at his place just as good.
"They never got on very well with each other," Leo whispered to Paige.
"She just grew on me," Paige smirked, and caught an angry glance from Phoebe.
"I could never get rid of you," Prue continued, a smile starting to twinkle in her eyes, but the others were oblivious to it.
"May I give back that compliment," Cole said tensely. He still held Grace tight. "What did you do to my daughter?" he demanded from Prue, his voice rising.
"I have given her her birth right," Prue said coolly, not the least disturbed by his angry behaviour.
"Could you make this a little more precise? What do you have to do with her? She is MY daughter. She is a Turner. There is no drop of Halliwell blood in her, thank the spirits for that," Cole growled.
"You are not completely right," Prue corrected him and this time approached him, "May I hold her?" Prue looked at the small girl adoringly.
"No." Cole yanked Grace away from Prue and stalked to the other side of the room.
"Still, you wanted Piper to be her godmother. How come?" Prue asked, following him.
"I was concerned for her safety," Cole answered unnerved, "I didn't think she had to fear anything from you, from the side of good," he clarified and looked daggers at Prue.
"She hasn't. And I think that's just part of the truth," Prue stated firmly and threw a knowing glance at Cole and then at Phoebe.
Phoebe looked uncomfortable to the floor. "It's not like that," she muttered but couldn't hide the regret in her voice, "not anymore."
Prue raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Phoebe's statement but remained silent. Phoebe not hopelessly devoted to Cole? Who would buy that?
"Yeah Prue, what did you do and why?" Piper joined the conversation. She had seen the energy going into her goddaughter, despite how she didn't think Prue would do anything bad to Grace.
Prue breathed hard. "Ok this will take some time. I suggest we all sit down, I have quite an announcement to make." Piper could tell Prue was almost bursting with the news.
"Of course," Phoebe said happily. It meant Prue was staying for some time more.
Piper, Phoebe and Paige settled down at the couch next to each other. Leo sat on the armrest next to Piper, Prue in the armchair. Cole refused to sit down. He leaned against the attic opposite the others, watching them suspiciously. He was clutching Grace tightly, fearing whatever new kind of disaster Prue was bringing onto him.
"Ok, so where do I start?" Prue knew she would throw a bomb on her family. "Didn't you ever wonder why Cole could have a daughter with a mortal?"
"I did," Leo confirmed, "I talked with Piper. It's very rare that a human can conceive from a demon. Normally not without magic intervention."
"And?" Prue asked.
Why didn't they think such thoughts to an end? That was what was missing in the family. Cool logical thinking. Chris had done it. Paige did it sometimes. But as she was youngest in the house and relatively new to the craft, her sister rarely heard her out. Phoebe and Piper had become used to rushing at things with their hearts not their minds.
"He did some spell on the woman!" Paige called out disgusted, "but you," she looked at Leo and Piper, "told us he was totally surprised by the paternity claim. Looks like he set you up. Again."
Piper looked at Cole and he held her gaze. She was sizing him up.
"I don't think he lied to me," she said uncertain.
After some time when she had met Cole repeatedly with his daughter she had accepted him back into the extended family. Especially after he had put his life at risk again in helping vanquish Zankou.
Cole just shook his head. They were unbelievable. "I didn't plan on being a father of a child. Not then. Not ever. Not with any woman." Cole looked at Phoebe. Other than her, he thought.
"It wasn't him," Prue got between them, before the situation got out of hand. There were so many emotions running high in the room, Prue wondered how they managed to vanquish demons at all in that state.
"So who was it?" Phoebe asked. She hoped that the future of Grace wasn't a grim one.
"Me!" Prue disclosed smiling proudly.
The confession sent the family in a spin. They were all talking at the same time, bombarding Prue with questions. Prue had to stand up to get their attention.
"One question at a time, please?" she asked.
Cole hadn't said anything. He tried to digest the information and while he did, anger started to boil inside of him.
"You set me up," he spat at Prue, "couldn't you find another stud for your twisted mind? Why me?"
"I didn't set you up." Prue wouldn't allow him to make her lose her concentration. "You met her all on your own. I just took advantage of you making out with that woman."
Phoebe pinched her eyes. She didn't like the thought of Cole in the arms of another woman. He is not yours anymore she called herself to order.
"Why him?" Paige repeated Cole's question, "I mean Prue, there are other men out there. Good men, humans, even male witches."
"I needed HIM to father a child," Prue persisted, "since Phoebe didn't manage to get pregnant."
"Excuse me!" Phoebe yelled jumping up, "you make me sound like some bloody loser." She had forgotten how Prue's nature had driven her up the wall all her life.
"My God Phoebe! Don't be so touchy." Prue slightly lost her composure. "The fact is, the chance of you getting pregnant any time soon was near to nothing. Still IS near to nothing."
"You could try to be a little bit more tactful Prue," Piper chimed in as she pulled Phoebe back on the couch. Prue was back and she was back at making peace between her sisters. Funny how some things never changed.
"And why would that be your problem?" Phoebe shot at Prue.
She didn't like the direction this was going. She herself craved for a baby and now her big sister told her she was a failure at keeping a man and getting a baby. It hurt so much hearing that from Prue when she tried so hard.
"I don't know why we talk about that," Phoebe said with a husky voice, "I lost my son to evil," she looked at Cole. And my husband, she added in her thoughts.
The dark shadow covering her heart was mirrored on his face but disappeared quickly. Cole was better than her in hiding his feelings.
"I know that was 2 years ago, but I wasn't ready to replace him with another child."
And I wasn't able to replace the father I wish to have for my child either, she thought to herself.
Cole looked up surprised at Phoebe's statement. Maybe he had misjudged her and she had cared about their child. Maybe she hadn't vanquished his son willingly and his resentment towards her was unfounded. He would have to ask her privately about that.
"Don't get me wrong, Pheebs." Prue tried to calm down, she had forgotten how she and Phoebe got off sometimes, "I'm really sorry for you that you lost your child, but it was inevitable, it was poised by evil."
Prue noticed that Cole glowered at her, but didn't stop. "That's why I tried to make it right."
Phoebe looked confused at Prue. What was there to correct? Her child was gone. Her marriage to Cole had failed. How could Prue rectify anything of that?
"Could you come back to what you did to my daughter?" Cole said impatiently, "I'm not interested in your cat fights or Phoebe's fertility. I just want to leave as soon as possible."
"You will have to sit it out, Mister," Prue said stridently.
"I don't think so." Cole started to shimmer out. He was furious. He had enough of the Halliwells. All four of them were way too much to take.
"You stay!" Prue's voice was peremptory.
Cole found himself in the attic again. Prue smiled at him victoriously. "I can block your shimmer. Now be a good boy and listen." God they are all so stubborn, Prue groaned in thoughts.
With a heavy sight Cole sat down on a stool defiantly. Grace had fallen asleep in his arms. She wasn't bothered by the shouting. The Halliwell household had never been a quiet one.
"I'm confused." Piper summed up what all thought, "What does Phoebe's lost child have to do with Grace? And why did you arrange for Cole to father a child? I don't see the connection."
She furrowed her brows and looked helpless at Leo. He just shook his head. He had no idea what Prue was up to. Paige looked as blank. Phoebe had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. This was evolving too much around her, Cole, and her lost baby. It couldn't be good.
"Time was running out for Grace to be conceived by Phoebe. An unborn soul can just stay there so long before it is recycled. So I decided to check if Cole was doing better than Phoebe and luckily he met this woman. I jumped at the chance." Prue shrugged.
The silence that followed Prue's statement was heavy. There wasn't even breathing audible. The family stared at Prue in total shock.
Cold fear crept up Cole's spine. If Prue had set up all of this, the Halliwells surely would want to take Grace away from him. He took some deep breaths to cool down and ponder his options.
Prue looked at their horrified faces compassionately. "I know this is big news. But Grace is the child Phoebe lost. Her soul wasn't lost, she was an innocent. It came up to the heavens again."
Phoebe was shaking all over her body. "That can't be, it can't." Her eyes glued to Grace as she whispered repeatedly. Paige and Piper took her in their arms, talking to her soothingly.
Leo looked at Prue in amazement. Everything she had told them about the soul was true. "Why did you choose Cole to be the father, again? I guess it's not because you like him so much."
Prue smiled. "Believe me. I would have preferred anybody else. Even you," she teased Leo.
Piper's head shot up. "Don't you dare mess with MY husband."
"I'd never do that Piper," Prue said stung, "It's complicated Leo. You can't just put any soul in any body. Normally there is an order which soul is reborn when."
Leo nodded. "The rules of reincarnation are very enigmatic. Nobody really understands them," he admitted, "gives me a headache every time."
"Exactly. But I found a loophole. A soul can be put in a body if the mother or the father is the same as at the last conception." Prue beamed with pride. She had had a really hard time finding this one out.
"And since I wasn't…" Phoebe's voice trailed off. She couldn't stop looking at Grace and Cole. Cole didn't look happy about the news Phoebe noticed. I have a child with Cole, she realised.
Phoebe got up slowly and dreamlike approached them. Her sisters watched her walking over to Cole on shaky legs. A cyclone of feelings was rushing inside her. Sheer happiness, fear, insecurity, relief, hope, anger. She looked at Cole pleadingly and then at the girl in his arms. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, she just reached out her arms. Tears were slowly running down her cheeks.
Cole looked up at Phoebe warily. Prue's revelation was a real blow. He couldn't even estimate the effects of it. He was angry. At Prue, and fate in general. Just when he had somehow settled in to a good enough life, fate took it away from him again.
But Phoebe looked so lost, it tore at his heart. He got up and laid his sleeping daughter in her arms. Her mother's arms. He felt like he was giving up his future, his salvation. Phoebe took Grace from him and held her tight.
"Now I understand," she breathed more to herself than to anyone present.
"What do you understand honey?" Piper came up behind her and hugged her. She feared that Phoebe would pass out right now.
"The first time I held her, I had that premonition..."
"Yeah about her being good, you told us," Piper encouraged her sister.
"There is something I didn't tell you."
"What is it?" Piper asked softly. When would Phoebe ever stop having secrets from them regarding Cole?
"In my premonition, Grace called me Mommy." Phoebe disclosed.
Piper's eyes grew wide and she threw a glance at Paige, who looked flabbergasted all the same.
"You didn't tell me," Cole said with a raspy voice.
Phoebe holding his daughter had always looked right. Phoebe holding their daughter was simply perfect. He had to smile despite his fear of what that would mean.
"I didn't understand it then," Phoebe said apologetically, "And I was a little bit embarrassed. Wishing that Cole's daughter was mine."
Phoebe looked at Cole, begging with her eyes for his understanding.
"Understandably," Paige quipped. But Prue sent her a warning look and Paige didn't dare say anything else.
"And when Cole almost died, some days ago, I thought it meant I should care for her like she was my daughter."
"You would have done that?" Cole asked searching her eyes. Phoebe just nodded.
Silence fell again over the attic. Nobody knew what to say or do next. All were lost in their own thoughts. How would their lives change with Phoebe and Cole's daughter around?
"What did you do to her Prue?" Leo was the least affected by the events, "when you orbed in."
"Good that you ask Leo, I almost forgot to tell this," Prue said, "I brought her her witch powers. It's her birth right to have them."
"So she really is a Halliwell witch?" Cole asked Prue unbelievingly.
"Yes she is. Not genetically of course but her soul and her powers. That's what counts," Prue said, "And since you took the demonic powers from her, she can be a real champion for good."
Prue smiled cheerful into Cole's shocked face. She was very pleased that her plan had worked out so perfectly.
"You know." Prue went to Phoebe, stroking Graces' soft hair. "You could name her after me."
Phoebe looked at her sister baffled and Cole was simply speechless. "Grace already has a name," Phoebe said evasively.
"Yeah I know, but it wasn't really her mother who gave it to her. You are her mother. And if you take into account what I did for her, furthermore, I was sure the first girl of one of my sisters would have my name," she said a little bit offended, "after my heroic death and all."
"I'll think about it," Phoebe promised. She knew Cole would hate it, but he didn't contradict right now.
Cole looked at Piper, Prue and Paige swarming around Phoebe and her daughter, his daughter, he corrected hastily. It felt like a lost cause to him. They would never give Grace back to him and just play a subordinate role in her upbringing. Not now that she was officially made a Halliwell.
He knew first hand how Halliwell women stuck together. Men were just allowed to trail along the outside of the circle. Still, he had sole custody and no court would give them custody. Magic relationships didn't count before court, they couldn't even bring it up. But they had other ways of keeping him away, he knew that all too well.
"I have to think about all that," he said to them but looked only at Phoebe, "I leave Grace with you for the moment."
"Thank you," Phoebe answered gratefully and gave him a very thankful and happy smile. As blissful as she felt, she had pity for him. Suddenly she had it all and he was left with nothing. Can't we be happy at the same time? Phoebe asked herself.
Cole held her gaze for a moment. She hadn't looked at him like that since their evening out. It felt good. Nonetheless he shimmered from the attic with a heavy heart.
Leo saw Cole leaving. He would take Cole's lead and excuse himself too. The girls needed some time alone. "I need to talk to the Elders," he said, "Now that she is a witch she will need a white lighter."
Piper barely turned round, she was much too occupied with fussing over Phoebe and Prue at the same time.
"Family dinner is at 8 sharp," she told her husband then she glanced at Prue, "do you want to join us? We have to celebrate the arrival of a new Halliwell. And I have to introduce you to Wyatt and Chris."
"I think I can extend my visit until after dinner." Prue smiled impishly.
tbc
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A/N: I'm glad I managed to make Grace Phoebe's daughter. Did you expect that?
Please review and let me know what you think of the events in this chapter.