If You Only Knew
I slowly walked downstairs, carrying the Book in my arms. I found Grams with Phoebe in the kitchen. I caught the end of their conversation.
"I just wanted to apologize for supposing something that wasn't true. I was not being fair to you," Grams apologized. Phoebe just looked at her and I had to hold back a laugh.
"I forgive you, Grams," Phoebe finally said, wrapping her arms around Grams' neck. It was then that she noticed I was standing there.
"Can you give us a minute, dear?" she asked of Phoebe. She nodded and walked past me.
"Is your mother gone?" she asked once Phoebe was out of hearing range.
"Yes, she left," I answered, sitting down at the table, the Book in front of me.
I watched as Grams paced back and forth in front of me. I would give anything to be telepathic right now. I hate when she just paces like this and doesn't say anything. I never know if she is going to blow up at me or not.
"I want you to know….that despite my….expectations, I love you and your sisters very much," she began.
"We're just kids," I told her.
"I know…I suppose that…after your mother died I have fought harder to keep you girls safe," Grams sighed.
"I know you mean well, Grams. It just gets to be too much," I muttered. How on Earth am I supposed to tell her I'm pregnant when all she keeps talking about is magic?
"I want to apologize for blaming what happened to Piper on you," she said after a long pause.
"I…um have just been…a little out of it lately. I guess it's affected my powers," I admitted.
"So…did you find that demon yet?" she asked, giving me a smile.
"Yeah," I replied, opening up to the page on the Janus Faced Demon.
"I'm not sure exactly to vanquish it. There's a spell in here but it looks like a Power of Three spell," I informed her.
"Well we could rewrite it," she suggested.
"This demon is tough. We need the Power of Three to vanquish it," I countered.
"Well…I may not be Charmed but I am still a Halliwell aren't I?" she said with a smile.
"You want to go kick some demon ass?" I asked with a laugh.
"It's for Piper," she told me and I nodded.
"I'll start scrying," I sighed, heading back up to the attic. I ran into Phoebe on my way up.
"I was just looking for that," she said, pointing to the Book.
"Oh…I found the demon that attacked Piper. What did you need it for?" I muttered.
"Just wanted to look through it. Do you need help finding the demon?" she offered.
"I'd love some help," I assured her, offering my hand to her. I didn't spend enough time with Phoebe. I realize that I have been tough on her….like Grams has been tough on me.
Together we spread out the map and I grabbed the crystal. We watched it swing in a wide circle. It just kept spinning, the circle never narrowing. Finally put my arm down.
"We can't give up. We can find the demon," Phoebe said encouragingly.
"I know…We need some demon blood or something to scry for. But we cleaned up the room already," I groaned.
"Did I hear you say you need some demon blood?" Grams asked from the doorway, holding up a sliver of the demon's flesh.
"I figured you would need it so I kept it," she informed us, causing Phoebe to make a grossed out face.
"That's just a little gross," I commented, taking the bit of flesh from her. I stuck it on the crystal and began to scry again. This time the crystal only swung in large arcs for a few seconds before landing on a spot.
"Found him," I announced.
"What do we do now?" Phoebe asked.
"We go and vanquish it," I answered.
"Well dear…how do you propose we surprise it…something with two heads…" Grams began.
"Two faces, Grams. It has two faces, "I corrected her.
"We could try and distract it…make it confused," Phoebe suggested.
"How?" I asked.
"Well…when it attacked Piper….it only attacked her, right?" Phoebe began and I nodded.
"Well if we give it too much to try and attack, it won't know what to do," she explained.
"That might work. Prue, dear get the spell ready," Grams instructed. I grabbed a pen and piece of paper and copied the smell out of the book.
"How are we getting there? The demon could be gone if we drive," Phoebe voiced.
"We don't really have any other choice," Grams sighed as we climbed into the car. I noticed that she was gripping the steering wheel really hard and her foot was pressed to the floor on the gas pedal. We pulled to a screeching halt at an abandoned lot.
"This is it," she announced and we climbed out. As we moved into the lot, I got a really bad feeling. I could handle Piper being in the hospital, but having both sisters there was just unthinkable.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked after we found nothing there.
"Yes, well this is where the crystal landed," Grams answered. Just then I heard a familiar laugh. I spun around to see the demon.
"Silly, silly witches. Back for more are you?" he spat. I watched Phoebe start running one direction. Catching the idea I started running another.
"Come and get me," Phoebe squealed. He started after her but Grams managed to catch his attention.
"Why run when you don't have to," Grams taunted. He started towards her too, hand raised to send her flying. I was not going to let this two faced creep hurt my family.
"Hey you two faced creep, we have a score to settle," I shouted, his second face turning to look at me. I watched as he looked between the three of us, trying to decide what to do. I caught Phoebe's eye and I pulled the spell from my pocket. I hadn't thought to make copies for them. I sprinted towards Grams and Phoebe did the same. Grams took the spell from my hands and we recited it together.
"Demon so vile we now undo. Banish thee with faces two," read aloud. The demon howled in pain as flames started to engulf him. I thought about reading it again but it was necessary. He blew up finally.
"He won't be hurting anyone anymore," Grams said with a note of finality. I let out a sigh. I did feel better…at least I knew that when Piper woke up she wouldn't have to worry about that particular demon.
"Can we go to the hospital again?" Phoebe asked once we were back in the car.
"Visiting hours are over. We'll go tomorrow. Right after school. How does that sound?" Grams answered.
"Ok," Phoebe sighed. I could sense the disappointment in her voice. It was times like these that I was hit with the reminder that she was five years younger than me. I guess I tried to treat her like I treated Piper; maturely. When we finally got home, my stomach was growling and I could tell Phoebe's was as well. Grams shooed us from the kitchen so she could make dinner. I was going to head upstairs and put the book away when I found Phoebe sitting on the stairs.
"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting down next to her.
"I'm just scared that Piper won't wake up," she murmured.
"Phoebe, everything will be ok. You have to believe that. We can't have gotten this far as the Power of Three just to be stopped now," I told her, holding her close.
"You sound like Grams," she teased. At least it got a smile out of her.
"Thanks…I think," I teased back.
"Girls, dinner is ready!" Grams called to us. I stood up, running up to put the Book away. I found Phoebe and Grams already at the table when I came back downstairs.
Dinner was silent. But for once it was not a strained or uncomfortable silence. I collected the dishes and headed for the kitchen, even before Grams could open her mouth to speak. I set to washing them, trying to get them done as quickly as possible. While I wasn't really excited or anything to admit to Grams that I was pregnant, I figured the sooner I got it over…the better. I heard footsteps and turned to see Grams walk in.
"Thank you," she said, indicating the dishes. I just nodded. It couldn't be that damn hard to tell her the truth. I bit my lip, hanging the dish towel back up and turned to look at my grandmother.
"I have to tell you something," said softly, trying to get up the courage to actually say it. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me.
"Alright. What?" Grams replied. I licked my lips a couple of times, trying to make my voice work.
"I…" I started. Come on Prue, you can do this. It's not that difficult. You said to Mom earlier I tried to remind myself.
"I'm pregnant," I finally admitted.