Cole hadn't slept for quite a long time because of Phoebe and now his reason for being awake in the middle of the night was still Phoebe, but only because he wanted to make sure she was okay. He didn't close his eyes even for a second in fear of all this turning out to be a dream or in case something bad happened to her. He watched her sleeping, breathing in and breathing out, her chest going up and falling back down again, her heart beating, everything seemed to be back to normal.
Suddenly, she stirred in her sleep and mumbled something Cole didn't quite catch. He noticed her breathing changing and she looked to be in distress tossing and turning.
"No. Please. Noooo!" Phoebe screamed.
"Phoebe! Honey! You're ok. Wake up!" Cole panicked and tried to snap her out of this.
"Oh, my God!" Phoebe said in agony and jumped up.
"It's ok. You're ok." Cole held her.
"Cole. Thank God." Phoebe said and hugged him.
"You're ok." He whispered embracing her and kissed her head. Sweat dripping down her face. "It was only a nightmare."
"It felt real." Phoebe choked back a sob.
"I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise, you're ok, honey." Cole said tightening his embrace, "What did you see?"
"The Elders tried to take my baby." Phoebe cried.
"It was only a dream." Cole whispered to her and held her face.
"I hope so." Phoebe sniffed.
"I promise, no one will lay a hand on you or on our baby ever again." Cole said firmly.
"Ok." Phoebe nodded and he kissed her temple. "Cole..."
"What?" He asked, caressing her hair.
"I have something to tell you." Phoebe said.
"Ok." Cole waited impatiently for her to continue.
"I never told you why I took that sudden trip to the beach." Phoebe said wiping her tears and tried to talk normal again.
"Yeah..." Cole said looking in her eyes.
"Well, the night before, remember how I threw up?" Phoebe asked him.
"I remember." Cole nodded.
"After I left your place, I went back to the manor and I..." Phoebe trailed and looked down searching for words.
Cole touched her jaw and gently lifted it up to look at him.
"I took a pregnancy test." Phoebe uttered and Cole's jaw dropped.
"And?" Cole said breathless.
"It was positive." Phoebe gave him a small smile afraid of his reaction.
Cole just stared at her. She couldn't read his face.
"I'm pregnant. Again." Phoebe told him.
"Ok." Cole simply said.
"Ok? That's it?" Phoebe asked confused.
"Why did you go to the beach?" Cole asked her.
"Because I needed to think. I was scared. I didn't want what happened before to happen again." Phoebe told him truthfully.
"So, you thought it would be ok to ask the Elders to bring back our son and kill you and your baby?" Cole asked hurt.
"Cole, I didn't know what to do. Do you think I liked that? Do you think it was easy for me? I was dying inside, well, both metaphorically and literally." Phoebe said.
"That's not funny." Cole told her.
"I know, it's not funny." Phoebe furrowed her eyebrows.
"You left me." Cole said.
"Cole, what did you expect me to do?" Phoebe yelled.
"I expect you to choose you. I expect you to choose me. I expect you to come back to me and tell me about our baby, so we can find a way together and fight to bring him back. I expect you to tell me about this baby." Cole pointed at her stomach. "I expect you not to go and screw the first guy that hits on you." Cole yelled and stood up.
"I can't believe you're saying that." Phoebe said, as tears threatened to come out.
"What do you want me to say, Phoebe? Congratulations? This baby might be Jason's." Cole said frustrated.
"What? No. It can't be. This baby is yours." Phoebe stood up, as well.
"You can't be sure." Cole said emotionally.
"Cole, come on." Phoebe said.
Cole shook his head and left the room. He didn't want her to see him crying.
"Cole, please." Phoebe said following him into the living room and he shimmered away. "I can't believe this." Phoebe shook her head.
She still hadn't told her sisters she was back. She felt too tired and emotional. After regaining her memory, she just spent the night in Cole's embrace and fell asleep. She glanced at the clock of the living room. It was almost 6 in the morning. She decided to take a shower and get ready to go to the manor. She wasn't sure how her sisters would react. She just hoped they wouldn't totally freak out. Cole told her that they knew that he would bring her back, but he didn't want them to intervene. He didn't exactly tell her how he brought her back and she didn't like what he did to her sisters, but maybe it was for the best. At least, everything worked out, until she dropped the baby news on Cole.
"Phoebe!" Piper screamed and hugged her.
"Piper!" Phoebe smiled hugging her.
"You're back. Oh, thank God." Piper started crying.
"Shhh... It's ok. I'm ok."
"I'm sorry for everything." Piper cried.
"It's ok."
"God, Phoebe. We were all devastated. I must wake Paige up. Are you ok?" Piper said.
"I'm fine," Phoebe smiled, "Is Paige mad at me?"
"No. She is ok. Don't ever scare me like that again." Piper hugged her again.
"I promise." Phoebe whispered.
"When did you come back?" Piper asked.
"Last night." Phoebe told her quietly.
"You could have called." Piper said annoyed.
"When Cole brought me back, my memory wasn't working very well." Phoebe chuckled awkwardly.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
"I didn't remember anything." Phoebe said.
"Cole could have brought you back here. How did it come back?" Piper asked.
"Just being with Cole, it came back after a couple of hours."
"Ew. I don't wanna know what you guys did."
"No, it wasn't like that," Phoebe laughed, "I just started remembering little things and then I kissed him and it all came back to me."
"Huh. True love and all?" Piper commented.
"I guess so." Phoebe smiled.
"Phoebe, I'm so glad you're back. I'm sorry about everything." Piper told her again.
"I don't want us to fight." Phoebe told her.
"Let's go find Paige." Piper told her and they went upstairs.
"OH, MY GOD!" Paige screamed and ran to hug Phoebe.
"Hi!" Phoebe laughed and hugged her.
"You're back, thank god." Paige said.
"I'm back. Paige, I'm sorry." Phoebe told her.
"It's not your fault." Paige said.
"I can't believe he is inside you." Phoebe looked at her stomach.
"Yeah... Well, join the club." Paige chuckled.
"I can't believe what the Elders did." Piper said.
Phoebe filled Paige and Piper in on how she came back and what happened with Cupid and Cole earlier and the girls were shocked to find out about everything.
"And he left? Just like that?" Piper asked.
"I'm going to kill him." Paige said.
"Can you blame him?" Phoebe said.
"Phoebe, don't do this to you. You didn't do anything wrong. I mean, I'm mad at you for dying," Piper said, "but I understand. I'd choose my baby, too." Piper caressed her stomach gently. "And when you slept with Jason, you were broken up."
"Yeah, but Cole and I kinda slept together before that." Phoebe said awkwardly.
"Oh." Piper said.
"What are we going to do about this?" Paige pointed at her stomach.
"It's the Elders' mess. They have to make this right." Piper said.
"I want to kill them." Phoebe said seriously.
"Phoebe... We'll try and talk to them and..."
"Piper, how can you say that after telling you what they did to me?" Phoebe yelled.
"I'm not defending them, but they are going to have to put this baby back inside you." Piper said.
"Oh, they have to, otherwise..."
"We are."
The girls jumped up and looked behind them.
"You!" Phoebe screamed.
"Phoebe, I am very sorry about everything."
"Really? That's what you've got? You are sorry?" Phoebe asked.
"I am aware that what happened wasn't the best or easiest way, but in the end, it was your choice." The Elder said.
"How can you say that? You made me choose between my babies." Phoebe screamed.
"I am sorry. I truly and genuinely am."
"No, you are not. You don't care about me or us or anyone really. You only care about power and how to defeat evil. We are only tools to you." Phoebe said.
"I suggest you do this fast and get the hell out of here." Piper threatened.
"Very well." The Elder said and approached Phoebe.
"How will you do this?" Paige asked.
"Now that both babies are alive, I'm just going to tranfer Phoebe's baby back in her womb.
"After you do that, will both babies be healthy? Will that make them twins?" Phoebe asked.
"No, the babies are... different." The Elder said.
"What does that mean?" Phoebe asked.
"They were conceived under different circumstances, but their nature is good and they are healthy." The Elder said.
"Just do it." Phoebe said.
The Elder placed her hand on top of Paige's stomach, closed her eyes and whispered something and Paige's stomach glowed and that glow was transferred into Phoebe.
"Ah. Finally." Paige sighed relieved and patted her now flat stomach.
"Phoebe are you ok?" Piper asked.
"Yes. I can feel him." Phoebe said with eyes closed.
"Do you want to sit down?" Piper asked again.
"No, I'm fine." Phoebe smiled to her and then turned to the Elder, "You. Get out of here and stay away from me and my family." Phoebe threatened.
"Take care." The Elder said and orbed out.
"I need to find Cole." Phoebe said.
"No need to search for me." Cole said.
"Cole." Phoebe said.
"I'm sorry for coming here, Piper. Paige." Cole said.
"Cole, whatever happened in the past belongs in the past. You are family now, but just know that this is your last chance." Piper told him.
"I can understand that." Cole nodded. "Can we talk?" He asked Phoebe.
"Let's go to my room." Phoebe said.
"If you need us..." Paige said.
"I'll be all right." Phoebe said. "Thank you, Paige, for everything." Phoebe hugged her and headed to her bedroom. Cole followed her holding the door. Not knowing what to do.
"The Elder tranferred our son back inside me." Phoebe told him.
"So, now..." Cole trailed.
"They won't be twins. Just siblings. I don't quite know how this works myself." Phoebe scratched her head absent-mindedly and sat on the bed.
"Phoebe, I'm sorry about the way I talked to you before. I shouldn't have snapped like that." Cole said honestly.
"I know." Phoebe said weakly and stood up to approach him.
"I'm sorry." Cole told her.
"I'm sorry, too." Phoebe whispered and hugged him.
"You look..." Phoebe told him looking into his eyes, after pulling back from his embrace.
"Like hell?" Cole smiled to her.
"Tired." Phoebe said and caressed his rough cheek tracing the lines of his face. He seemed like he had aged 5 years.
"Yeah." Cole said.
"You didn't sleep last night?" Phoebe asked him and he shook his head. "Cole, you need to rest." Phoebe told him.
"I'll be ok." Cole said and looked at her stomach. "How do you feel?" He asked and touched her stomach.
"Full." Phoebe chuckled.
"So, two babies, huh?" Cole said.
"Yeap." Phoebe said. "I'm scared." She whispered after a short pause.
"I won't let anything bad happen to you or the babies, as long as you don't do anything stupid again. Which I won't let you. I promise you this." Cole cupped her face.
Phoebe smiled and he hugged her.
"You want to lay down with me and our babies for a while?" Phoebe asked him in her baby voice.
"Sure." Cole smiled.
His eyes looked tired, but she could see his love for her. She took his hand and led him to her bed. They laid under the covers.
"Close your eyes." Phoebe whispered to him.
"You first." Cole told her.
"Nope." Phoebe shook her head and smiled to him.
"Phoebe..."
"I am fine, Cole. I promise. Rest your eyes for a little bit, baby. Please. For me." Phoebe caressed his face.
Their heads were laying on their pillows. Phoebe kept caressing him and he wrapped an arm around her.
"Promise me, you'll still be here, when I wake up." Cole whispered to her.
"I promise you." Phoebe kissed him gently.
"Please, keep this up." Cole said referring to her caresses and closed his eyes.
"Oh, as if you can stop me." Phoebe smiled and kissed his temple.
After only a few moments, Cole was finally asleep. Phoebe kept watching him. She couldn't believe what he went through all this time to get her back. She could feel his immense love for her and she was feeling the exact same way. She felt bad for making him go through this, but she had to. Everything appeared to be back to normal, except for the second baby... Phoebe didn't even think for a second that there was even a chance the baby could be Jason's and now that scared her a little, but deep inside, she could feel that this baby was Cole's. She was sure of it. It felt right.
Cole opened his eyes to see Phoebe staring and smiling at him.
"Thank God." Cole said hoarsely feeling relieved to see her next to him.
"I told you, I'd be here." Phoebe caressed his face and he kissed her palm lightly.
"How many hours have I been sleeping for?" Cole asked as he stretched out.
"All day." Phoebe smiled rolling up, as well.
"All day?" Cole asked surprised.
"It's 10pm." Phoebe said.
"What? And you've been laying here all day?" Cole asked her.
"You've been up for a month now, it was only fair I stay up for you." Phoebe told him.
"You need your sleep, too." Cole caressed her face.
"No, I'm fine. I was just a little anxious every time I had to get up to go to the bathroom. I didn't want you to wake up without me being next to you. Plus, it wasn't very easy either. You wouldn't let me out of your embrace." Phoebe told him.
"I love you." Cole told her.
"I love you, too." Phoebe smiled and kissed him.
"Have you eaten?" Cole asked her.
"Yes, don't worry. Piper brought me food." Phoebe said, "You must be hungry. Lemme get you something." Phoebe said and tried to get up, but Cole pulled her back down.
"You're not going anywhere." Cole told her and his lips sealed hers before she could argue.
Thank you for your review Rosawellian1984! I hope this chapter cleared up a few things, if not all of them.
