The Other Melinda
Disclaimer: Still no luck; I am not the proud owner of Charmed.
A/N: Thanks so much to all of my lovely, fantabulous, exceptional, stellar, wonderful reviewers! You guys are my inspiration to keep at this.
Answers to a few questions:
ethereal girl: Coop's no idiot; there's a reason he doesn't realize what's going on; that will actually be the focus of the next scene...
AnimeAlexis: Don't worry; there's no way on God's green earth that I'd be cruel enough to just erase little Melinda! Besides, I need her for the sequel!
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(The Manor, night. Paige, dressed in pajamas and a bathrobe, opens the door to her and Henry's room, walks out. As she walks down the hallway, she notices that Piper and Leo's door is open. She peeks in, and smiles when she sees that Wyatt and Chris are snuggled between them; Chris is lying spread-eagled with his head on Piper's arm and his feet on Leo's shoulder, while Wyatt has his legs propped up on Piper's large stomach. Paige shakes her head and keeps walking. Cut to Paige reaching the landing of the stairs. She stops and looks around. A lamp is on, and a window has been opened. She cautiously continues down, freezes when she hears a noise coming from the kitchen. She orbs up to her room, and shakes Henry awake.)
Paige: (whisper) Henry. Henry!
Henry: (groggy, sits up) Paige, it's one in the morning, what's—
Paige: (impatiently) There's an intruder in the house!
Henry: (sighs) So go wake up Piper and vanquish it.
Paige: (through gritted teeth) No, Henry. A non-demonic intruder!
Henry: (brightens) Really?
Paige: Yes, really!
Henry: Great! (he jumps out of bed and runs silently to the closet)
Paige: Great? There's a stranger in our house in the middle of the night and you say "Great!"?
Henry: (emerges from the closet holding a large Louisville Slugger baseball bat.) Paige, you like vanquishing supernatural evil. (takes a practice swing with the bat) I like vanquishing the natural.
Paige: (ponders it for a second) Good point. (she gets up to follow him. Henry stops, looks at her)
Henry: What are you doing?
Paige: Um, following you. Duh. (Henry gives her a look. Paige smirks) Don't worry, he's all yours; I just want to watch my big strong policeman husband kick some normal evil butt.
(Henry smiles, they exit the room)
(Camera to the dining room. A light is shining through the kitchen door, and someone can be heard moving around. Henry turns to Paige, motions for her to be silent. She nods, they burst into the kitchen)
Henry: (tough voice) Freeze! Don't move if you— Phoebe?
Paige: Phoebe?
(camera to Phoebe, who is standing in her pajamas at the refrigerator door, a cookie in one hand, a jug of milk in the other.)
Phoebe: (curious) Are midnight snacks a crime now?
Henry: (to Paige) This is your intruder?
Paige: (defensive) The light was on, and a window was open— (to Phoebe) Why did you open the window?
Phoebe: I didn't.
Henry: I opened the window before I went to bed.
Paige: Well thanks for telling me!
Henry: I didn't know you wanted me to!
Phoebe: (distractedly) Has Wyatt been sneaking cookies and orbing them back into the cookie jar again? This one looks like it's been chewed on.
Paige: What kind of policeman leaves a downstairs window open at night anyways? In San Francisco, no less!
Henry: One who thinks that this old house need air conditioning!
Phoebe: Guys!
(Henry and Paige stop bickering and look at her.)
Phoebe: Okay. That's better. Now, is this milk still safe to drink? It smells kind of funky— (Melinda makes a noise. Phoebe, Paige and Henry look over to the kitchen table, where Melinda is propped up in her car seat.) Mommy'll be with you in a minute, honey.
Henry: (puts the bat down and walks to Melinda, picks her up) Well, you girls have a nice chat. Melinda and I are going to go watch early morning infomercials since our Charmed ones are keeping us up all night. (He starts to leave)
Phoebe: Actually, (she stops Henry) Could you just take her upstairs and rock her to sleep? You can put her in the baby's room when she nods off.
Henry: Okay. (gives Paige a "what the heck is going on w/ your sister" look and exits)
Phoebe: (to Paige) Seriously though, is this milk good or not?
Paige: Phoebe, not that it's not great to see you, but it's one in the morning. Couldn't you have eaten the cookies that Piper brought to your house this afternoon?
Phoebe: (sniffs the milk, shrugs, pours a glass) I ate them all. Besides, Grams left the house to all of us. So technically this is my house too. (she takes her milk and cookies and sits down at the table)
Paige: (sits down next to her) Phoebe, you know what I mean. (gently) Did you and Coop have a fight or something?
Phoebe: (cheerily) No, nothing like that. He just had an emergency meeting, and I needed some rest, so I came over here where someone else could watch Melinda while I caught a few z's.
Paige: You needed a babysitter at one in the morning?
Phoebe: Would you get off the whole "one in the morning" thing?
(Paige sighs, grabs a cookie from Phoebe's plate, dunks it in the milk. Phoebe slaps at her hand; Paige responds by sticking her tongue out at Phoebe. A bleary eyed Piper enters)
Piper: Paige, what are you doing up? Phoebe, don't tell me you ate all of the cookies I brought to your house already, I made at least— Phoebe? What are you doing here? It's—
Phoebe: One in the morning. Yes, yes, I know. (she shoots a glare at Paige, who swipes another cookie)
Piper: Is there a demon or something on the loose? Cause if my midnight—
Paige/Phoebe: One in the morning.
Piper: Whatever, food craving satisfaction session is interrupted by evil, I will be very, very angry. (she walks over to the fridge, opens the freezer, and grabs a pint of Ben and Jerry's, goes and sits at the table and opens it) Spoons. I need a spoon.
Phoebe: I'll get it! (she get up and gets three spoons)
Paige: There's no demon, Piper. Coop had an emergency meeting and Phoebe wanted a babysitter and some cookies.
Phoebe: (returns to the table w/ three spoons) Here's one for Piper, one for Phoebe, one for Paige—
Paige: (gets up) Uh, no thanks.
Piper: What do you mean no thanks? You love rocky road.
Paige: Are you kidding me? Just looking at the stuff makes me want to hurl. I'm going to bed. (she starts to leave)
Phoebe: Goodnight Paige!
(Paige waves a hand and exits)
Piper: Oh well, more for me. (she digs in to the ice cream)
Phoebe: And me! (Phoebe starts eating as well)
(Piper and Phoebe sit eating in silence for a moment. Suddenly Phoebe grows pensive)
Phoebe: (abruptly) Piper?
Piper: Hmm?
Phoebe: Can I ask you a question?
Piper: Now that I have my ice cream buzz, sure.
Phoebe: (fiddles with her spoon, leans back in chair) Do you...do you ever think about her?
Piper: Who, Paige? Phoebe, she lives here and drinks all the coffee. Of course I do.
Phoebe: (shakes head) No, no, not Paige. Melinda.
Piper: Of course I do. She's my first niece.
Phoebe: No, not that Melinda.
Piper: The Melinda Warren Melinda, then?
Phoebe: No! Your daughter. Melinda your daughter.
Piper: (hands to stomach) Phoebs, sweetie, this baby isn't going to be named Melinda. You and Coop asked if you could use it instead, and Leo and I said yes.
Phoebe: (slightly exasperated) I'm not talking about that (points to Piper's stomach) baby. I'm talking about the daughter you saw when we went to the future. The first time.
Piper: (surprised) The one where you got burned at the stake? That Melinda?
Phoebe: Yes! Do you ever think about her?
Piper: Well...yeah, I guess. I thought about her a lot, especially before Leo and I got the Elders' blessing and were married...even more so when I had so much trouble getting pregnant...constantly when I actually pregnant...and then, we got Wyatt instead. After that I didn't really spend much time wondering—
Phoebe: (slightly angry) So you just forgot all about her? Abandoned her? Never thought about how things could be different? Piper, how could you?
Piper: (perplexed) Hey, calm down, Phoebe! You didn't let me finish. (she shifts in her seat, addresses Phoebe) After Wyatt was born I didn't spend much time thinking about her...because I felt a sense of peace. I stopped worrying about my Melinda. If she was meant to be born, she would be born. I wasn't going begrudge my son his place in the world.
Phoebe: But your daughter—
Piper: Phoebe! What's with all the interrupting? Now, like I was saying, I was not and am not about to begrudge either of my sons their lives because of a future that we made the choice (Phoebe cringes at the word "choice") to change, and besides—
Phoebe: But don't you ever feel guilty? She was there first, and you just let her go!
Piper: (silent for a moment) No. I really don't. If we hadn't changed the future, she would have grown up in a world where she was despised and hunted simply for being different. There's no telling how long after your execution Prue and I would have been able to stand keeping our secret, or how long Leo would stay safe by organizing the resistance. Melinda would have had a horrible life. I don't regret taking that horror away.
Phoebe: So the solution for fixing her life was erasing it? Killing your own daughter!
Piper: (face darkens; angry, dangerous tone) I did not kill my daughter! (takes a deep breath) Do you want to know how I first found out that I was pregnant with this one? (she rubs her stomach)
Phoebe: You didn't feel well and went to the doctor. I already know.
Piper: (Shakes head) Nope. That was just a confirmation visit. I already knew.
Phoebe: How?
Piper: I had a premonition.
Phoebe: (startled) A what? But that's my power.
Piper: It is. And your niece's as well. (Phoebe's jaw drops, Piper gives a small smile despite herself) I was in the conservatory playing with the boys. Leo came in and kissed me on the cheek, and all of a sudden I saw the Melinda from the future we changed. She turned into a ball of bright light, and flew into the sky. I was waiting there; Leo and the boys standing beside me, and the light settled inside of me. (pats stomach affectionately) Right after the premonition was over I had the first bout of morning sickness.
Phoebe: (eyes on Piper's stomach) So that's... (rests her hand gently on the bump) That's Melinda? The one you saw in the future?
Piper: (nods) Yep. The Elders themselves confirmed it. This baby was going to be born no matter what, Phoebe. That's why I stopped worrying about her. I knew, on some deep, subconscious level, that everything would turn out the way it was supposed to, if I put my time and energy where it was needed: fighting evil, and making the world safe for her.
Phoebe: Why...why didn't you tell me? And why did you let my Melinda take her name?
Piper: Leo and I wanted it to be a surprise. We were going to tell you when she was born; when we asked you and Coop to be her godparents. As for the name...Leo and I figured that she needed a new start. Possibly one that starts with a P.
Phoebe: (tears up) You want me to be her godmother?
Piper: Of course. (she leans forward and hugs Phoebe)
Phoebe: (pulls away from the hug, embarrassed) Piper, I'm so sorry; I just yelled at you, accused you of killing off your own kid, and—
Piper: Forget about it. But Phoebe, (she looks her in the eye) I'm worried about you. You're not acting like yourself.
Phoebe: It's like you said, I just have baby blues. Coop even thinks so. It'll sort itself out.
Piper: Are you sure?
Phoebe: Yes. I'm sure.
Piper: You know you can always come to me. Or Paige. Any of us.
Phoebe: I will. (she gets up) I'm gonna go crash on the attic couch. Eat the rest of that Ben and Jerry's; it's starting to melt.
Piper: Okay. Night.
Phoebe: Night.
(she exits. Piper stares after Phoebe, concerned. Phantom Phoebe suddenly appears behind her, bends and gives her a hug. Piper is oblivious)
Phantom Phoebe: Sweet, sweet, Piper. You always have been the problem solver; you'll understand why we have to do this.
(Phantom Phoebe plants a kiss on the top of Piper's head, and walks through the kitchen door, following Phoebe)
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Okay, once again, sorry about the lack of Cole; he's coming, I promise! Just be patient. In the next episode: Paige gives Henry some frustrating news...Phoebe and Phantom Phoebe talk... Phoebe goes ballistic when Coop reveals a secret. Also, school has started, so updates might be farther apart; but please, bear with me!