A/N: You know about "the hand that rocks the cradle," right? Well, this is about the Halliwells, so take it from there. ;) Gotta love 'em. (When Kern isn't in charge of things.)

Change Happens

Chapter 27: The Halliwell That Rocks The Cradle

"Put her down." Pearl's voice had taken on a new tone that not even she knew she had. It was low and menacing, and liable to send chills of the spine of almost anything. She placed her hands in front of her, much in the way Piper did when she first got her power to freeze, and squinted in the way that Prue used to when she first got her power.

A bright burst of white light began to glow between her palms, forming into the largest exploding light ball that she'd ever created. It was double the size of normal light spheres. Without warning, it sprang from her hands and crashed into The Source head on. On contact, his entire body spun into swirling particles.

Paige slammed against the floor, instantly released from The Source's grip as he exploded. Her face contorted as pain rocketed through her stomach from the fall, and the impending labor. "Oh Goddess!"

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe charged at their sister. Piper slunk to her knees to wrap her arms protectively around her baby sister's shoulders. Prue and Phoebe each laced their fingers with Paige's, both for comfort and for the sake of the spell that they were about to cast.

As the particles swirled together, reconnecting before their eyes, Paige threw out her hand. "Crystals, circle!" Several clouds of orbs deposited crystals in a circular formation around The Source, the moment he materialized.

Persia scooped Prissandra from the group, entwining their fingers and holding the little girl close. "Patricia, Penelope, Prudence, Melinda!"

Pearl motioned for her fellow Blessed cousins to gather around her. They took hands, forming un unbroken chain next to Persia and Prissandra. Each of them opened their mouths to speak, all talking as if they were one person. "Astrid, Helena, Laura, and Grace!"

Prue and Phoebe each squeezed Paige's hands reassuringly. Piper rubbed Paige's shoulders. Paige winced as another contraction raked over her body. However, in that moment, they each put their own feelings aside and began to chant in time with each other. "Halliwell witches stand strong beside us!"

A mystical air fluttered throughout the Halliwell attic. Then a shimmer of visible, unadulterated magic seemed to spread over everything, including through the very bodies of the living Warren witches. There was a pale pink sheen above the Charmed Ones' heads.

Within the glow, faces began to emerge. All of them had beautiful features which could be seen within the faces of each Halliwell in the room, including high cheekbones. Then the face of Patricia Halliwell appeared, followed by Penelope Halliwell, a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Prue, and then a face very familiar to the family. The last face was young and sweet. Golden blonde hair draped down the sides of her face, and her eyes sparkled. Melinda Warren.

Melinda's gaze hardened as she locked her gleaming eyes on the trapped Source of All Evil. Unlike the faces, the ancestors, which had appeared before her, she did not fade away. Instead, her hair began to ruffle around her shoulders as she directed her attention at Paige. "Now."

The murmur of countless ancestors filled the room, including Melinda Warren's. Their voices had melded together to form a symphony of chanting, literally combining the powers of the Warren line.

With the help of her sisters, Paige rose to her feet. Sweat droplets ran down each side of her waxy, pale face and her dark hair was plastered to her skin. Despite her current state, she still held a deadly gaze. The whitelighter-witch placed a hand to her bulging belly and opened her mouth to finish the last line of the spell. "Halliwell witches stand strong beside us. Vanquish this evil from time and space!"

A golden light burst from the pink glow above the sisters heads and projected to a spot on the floor between them and The Source. When the blinding beauty of the light vanished, Melinda Warren stood proudly in all her glory. Her arms extended as far as they would go, and a wall of telekinetic energy instantly separated her descendants from The Source.

Within the crystal cage, The Source was screaming in agony as the full power of the Warren witches hit his body. Flames were erupting around him, charring his deeply yellowed hands. Suddenly a pile of ash fell to the floor of the cage, all that remained of his black cloak. His entire body was charred, and his insides were flashing with fire. His actual skeleton could be seen as he burned alive.

The force field from the crystals wavered as explosions of fire rocketed against it. Without warning, it expanded to the size of a hot air balloon and like a sonic boom, it exploded. The white crystals flew in every different direction, and a cataclysmic fireball ripped through the entire half of the attic that the Halliwells were not on. It was like an explosion inside of a silo.

When Pearl opened her eyes again, the opposite half of the attic was completely black. Dark smoke was swirling off the walls and floor, but The Source was gone. Not even a pile of ashes remained. She exhaled, not even realizing that she'd been holding her breath. She also noticed that Melinda Warren was gone. She protected us from the blast! It surely would've killed us all!

She moved away from her cousins, inspecting the floor. There was a distinct, black smoking line that separated the two halves of the attic. She realized that her mother and aunts were just inches from where the line was. Pearlinda's heart gave a little jolt. He's really gone!

Dropping back to her knees, Paige howled in pain. "Aaagh!"

"We've got to get her to the hospital!"

----

Four rocky walls surrounded Destine, as he stood waiting in one of the most secretive chambers known to magic. The room was relatively dark, except for spaced out burning touches along the walls, which had obviously been placed there recently. Most likely for whatever purpose the Angel of Destiny had for being there.

Destine was leaning against one of five marble pillars that seemed to be carved directly from the cave itself. The top of the pillar was as smooth and shiny as polished marble, and bore calligraphic engravings: 'One shall have the power to move things with her mind; one shall have the power to freeze time; one shall have the power to see the past, present, and future; and one shall have the power to orb things with her mind...The Power Of Four.'

The Angel of Destiny held up his wrist and lifted back the cuff of his gold trimmed robe. A golden watch rested on his wrist. He groaned, and began to tap his foot incessantly.

"Are you bored, Destine?"

Destine looked up, flashing an irate glare in the direction the voice had come from. He couldn't see her, but he knew she was there.

A violet outline began to move in mid air, forming the outline of a slinky woman. Once the bright purple outline had connected at both ends, it filled with a flashy purple light that blinded the Angel of Destiny. As it faded away, it left a female in its place.

She was about six feet tall, and supermodel thin. Her skin looked like dark, polished oak with a bronze glaze. She was dressed rather ancient Egyptian themed, with a thick golden breast plate and a golden, jewel encrusted head dress in the shape of a semi sun, with five points. Gold bands ringed her upper arms and wrists, and she wore a scarlet red, silken skirt that began just below her belly button and ended at her ankles.

The woman's bare stomach was dotted with colorful dots of purple and silver paint. And although it should've clashed with her flashy red skirt, they seemed to compliment each other. Her hair was long and silken. It appeared pitch black from afar, but as she moved under the light of the torches, it gleamed a coffee bean brown.

Destine moved away from the pillar, striding towards the female being. "What took you so long, Akasha?"

It was true. Akasha. The creatress of the legendary Akashic Records. She was a Goddess, without a doubt. Like the Angel of Death, she was also a neutral being. In fact, it was why she chose only mortals to be her Prophetess or Prophet Guardians, because they were not good or evil.

Being the ultimate psychic, she purposefully choice beings in which she knew would have no greater purpose in the world. Forgotten beings. It had been why she'd chosen Nicolette's child, for she knew the young mother had been destined to give the child up for adoption. That was where Akasha would've stepped in and taken the child, raised it and trained it as the Prophetess Guardian. The Akashic Heiress.

"Visions," she replied simply. She held out her hands and an ancient tome appeared. It was about as twice as large as the Warren Book of Shadows, and was marked with a pentagram. Unlike the Book of Shadows, Akashic's tome looked brand new. In actuality, however, it had been around since the beginning of time.

"Lets skip the small talk," Destine replied irritably. "I need to know what you've brought me here for. This is the second time in two weeks!"

"And it's for a good reason," Akasha assured.

"A good reason? Am I supposed to save another mortal being that is set to be taken at the hands of Death?" The Angel of Destiny glowered. "Oh, wait, I can't very well do that now, can I? We haven't found a replacement since you instructed me to banish Death." He crossed his arms angrily. "And now I'm forced to act out both my job as the Angel of Destiny, and take up helping souls to the afterlife until we find the new Death."

"She'll come soon enough," Akasha promised. She held her hand over the top of her book, and the pages began to fly open under her hand. "Today is about Prudence."

"Prudence? As in the Charmed One, Prudence?" Destine's eyes flickered. "The dead Charmed One?"

"She's not dead anymore," the Goddess replied. The pages of her book stopped, and she carried the heavy tome over to the Angel of Destiny. "See? You have to let her stay alive."

"Let her stay? How did she come back in the first place?"

"That's another story altogether."

Destine frowned. "You're supposed to be a neutral being, not siding with good."

"You know, it's ironic that you say that, being that you are the giver of destiny for the side of good. I would think you'd want me to be handing out favors to your side."

"Not if it tips the balance of power, and therefore affects the very thing I'm entrusted to protect. Destiny isn't something to be toyed with."

Akasha rolled her pair of piercing, purple eyes. "You know, Kumani never fights with me when I have to instruct her to bring back evil, per destined laws."

"That's because Kumani is Demon of Destiny," Destine snapped. "Of course she doesn't care about the balance of power, only that her side wins."

Akasha flicked her wrist, obviously tired of Destine's ravings. "I can never have a polite conversation with you. You complain too much, Destine."

Destine tapped his nails on one of the shiny pillars. "Are you going to get to the point?"

"Oh! That. Right." Akasha flipped her book closed. "Because Prue intercepted Prada's 'package,' there has been a ripple effect in destiny ever since."

"Wouldn't you, being the great psychic that you are, have seen that coming?"

"I see the destiny that is supposed to come," the Goddess explained. "When destiny is interpreted incorrectly, as Phoebe's premonition was, it can cause side effects for years to come. Thus my visions that would have and should have happened, are now obsolete. Which means I have to invoke the help of the Angel of Demon of Destinies, to help me try and repair the damage. That's you and Kumani, okay?"

"Please humor me, and get to the point. What is it that I'm supposed to do?"

"Paige has gone into labor. I need you to relay a message from The Elders, telling the sisters that They've decided Prue can stay because she and her sisters successfully vanquished The Source of All Evil. Then you'll have to fix the spell, sending my Guardian from Paige's womb to her mother's. You'll also have to erase all the memories of her death, just as The Elders' spell did when Andrew came back."

"The Elders won't be pleased about this."

"They never are." Snapping her fingers, her ancient tome full of the Akashic Records vanished. "Spit spot, Destine. We haven't a moment to waste." No sooner had the words left her mouth, did her body begin to glow a mystifying lavender, before fading into a purple outline, and finally disappearing all together. "Chop chop!"

----

"Breathe, Paige, breathe!"

The youngest Halliwell sister gripped the arms of her wheelchair in anguish. After a few strained breathes, Paige latched onto Phoebe's arm and yanked her down so that their faces were mere inches apart. "Breathe? Breathe? Does it look like I can breathe right now?"

Phoebe jerked back. "Oh, don't start with me, Paige Matthews. I've already given birth to two girls, thank you very much! Long before you had Pearl, mind you!"

Paige's eyes flickered dangerously. "Phoebe!"

Piper smacked her precognitive sister upside the head. "Phoebe, you had better not start anything while Paige is giving birth to our niece!" She waved her hand threateningly. "Believe me, I will find a way to send you to oblivion!"

Ignoring her sisters' feud, Prue knelt down next to the wheelchair as they stopped it at the front desk. "Thank you, Paige. Thank you for doing this for me."

Paige blinked back stinging tears. She grabbed at her big sister's wrist with a clammy hand. "Can you stay with me?" Her voice was small and pleading.

Prue's blue eyes bore into Paige. She placed her hand over Paige's forehead and leaned close to her ear. "I will."

Piper yanked her cell phone from her pocket and shoved it at Phoebe. "Speed dial three."

"What's this for?"

"Call Andy, and tell him his daughter's on the way!" Piper flicked her wrist in the direction of the waiting room. "Hurry, go!"

"Okay, okay!" Phoebe snapped, turning to head off. As she did, she stopped in her tracks. Looking around, she realized everything and everyone had stopped moving. Time stopped. She whirled on her heel. "Piper, why did you-"

"It wasn't me!" Piper held up her hands in defense, looking just as confused as Phoebe. Then her eyes widened. "Whoever you are, show yourself!"

"The Charmed Ones. It's a pleasure to meet you." A plump, older gentleman walked out from one of the hospital's corridors. He was clad in flowing white robes, trimmed in gold and he had a clear air of authority surrounding him. He smiled warmly at the sisters.

"Who are you?" Prue asked threateningly. She held out her arm, ready to fling the man into the nearest wall if need be.

The man held out a welcoming hand. "I'm Destine," he introduced. "The Angel of Destiny."

Piper and Phoebe exchanged astonished looks.

Never missing a beat, Prue stood her ground. "Why are you here?"

"To fix things," Destine announced. He pointed to Paige, who was still struggling in the wheelchair. "I have a message from The Elders.

Piper crossed her arms. "The Elders? Why didn't they just send Leo?"

"Leo doesn't have the power to fix this," Destine explained. "I do." He turned to Paige. "First of all, we need to fix this." He flicked his gaze in the direction of Paige's stomach, which appeared ready to burst. "It is not Ms. Matthews' job to give birth to the Akashic Heiress, it's yours, Prudence. You took that task upon yourself when you got in the way of Prada's duties."

"What're you talking about?" Phoebe asked skeptically.

"I'm talking about this." Destine waved his hand towards and eldest and youngest Charmed Ones.

A pink glow burst from Paige's massive belly to Prue's. It appeared like a funnel; larger on Paige's end and gradually got smaller as it extended to Prue's. Then a tiny white sphere bolted from Paige's stomach and began to beam through the pink light. As it traveled, the pink funnel widened for it until it evened out in the middle, only to reverse and become larger at Prue's end and skinny at Paige's. In a flash, the light was instantly vacuumed into Prue's belly. Prue's stomach expanded like an inflating balloon, at the same time that Paige's stomach began to shrink like a popped balloon.

Paige touched her face. Her hands were no longer clammy, and sweat no longer streaked her cheeks. As she looked over to her older sister, however, she could see that Prue was now under extreme amounts of pressure. As jumped to her feet and shoved the wheelchair behind Prue. "Sit down," she coaxed, lighting pressing her sister into the already warmed seat.

Piper's face was white. "But they'll find out Prue's supposed to be dead!" Piper gasped.

The Angel of Destiny's brows shot up. "Do you really think I'd forget about that little fact? Ms. Halliwell, my power goes far beyond sending a fetus from womb to womb." He held his hand in the air and spread out his fingers, then he began to wave his hand in small circles. Minutes passed, and then he smiled brightly. "All taken care of."

"All taken care of?" Phoebe crossed her arms. "How? How can you take care of all our problems with just a simple wave of your hand?" She moved quietly to her moaning sister, and began to gently massage her shoulders as Piper had done for Paige during their battle with The Source.

"Magic."

Phoebe gaped. "I know that, but-"

"I promise you, it's all taken care of! Death records, memories, grave markers…they're all gone. I swear." As if viable proof, he used his finger to draw in invisible 'x' over his heart. "Cross my heart."

"But-"

"I have to go now. I have other destinies to help out with," Destine interjected. "I'll leave you ladies to yours." With that, the room unfroze and in the blink of an eye the Angel of Destiny was gone.

Prue let out a horrific scream, catching the attention of several nurses. She clutched her stomach.

"How far in between contractions?" One of the nurses asked, moving right past the small talk.

"Five minutes at the most," Paige blurted out without thinking.

The nurse looked rather confused as he stared between Paige and Prue. "Uh-"

"Did you not hear her correctly?" Prue sneered.

"Five minutes," he jotted down on his clipboard. Leaning across the admission table, he muttered something to one of the women and then grabbed a sheet of paper from the desk. "I'm taking you down to delivery room three-ten." He glanced over his shoulder. "Only one person in the delivery room at a time. Who will it be?"

Phoebe glanced at Piper and Paige. She still had the cell phone in her hand, ready to call her unborn niece's father. "It's gotta be one of you two."

Piper and Paige stared for a beat. Simultaneously they exclaimed, "You go! No, you, really."

"Guys," Prue howled from the wheelchair. Her face was bright red as she gripped the arms of the chair.

"Paige," Piper said firmly. "You go. You deserve this. You carried that baby nearly the entire pregnancy. Go keep the robes warm until Andy gets here." Playfully, she smacked her sister on the behind and pushed her towards Prue and the nurse. "I want all the details when you get back!"

Paige wiped away a small tear from the corner of her eye. "Thanks," she murmured. "C'mon Prue, lets get this day over with." She her sister's hand in her own.

"Thank you," Prue whispered. Immediately following came another contraction. She screamed in pain and squeezed Paige's hand, giving it a blue hue. As she screamed, a vase on the check in counter tumbled off and shattered to the floor.

"Oh, oh!" Paige waved her hand towards the delivery room doors. "Lets go! Hurry up!"

Phoebe watched as her sisters disappeared behind the doors with the male nurse. As the doors swung back, she heard Andy's voice on the other end of the line. "A-Andy? It's Phoebe." She gulped, looking to Piper. "The baby's on her way."

TO BE CONTINUED….