The Epilogue begins approximately ten years after the last chapter ended. Paige has just given birth to she and Cole's fifth child, a little girl . . . . . .
"She's beautiful." Paige says in a somewhat weak voice, holding the newborn baby in her arms. Cole is sitting on the bed with her, his arms wrapped tightly around Paige.
"She certainly is." Cole replies, giving Paige a kiss on the cheek. Leo and Piper are in the room with them. Leo is letting his healing powers enter Paige. "Is she gonna be okay?" Cole asks.
"She'll be fine -- you'll need to stay in bed for awhile Paige, I didn't expect a breach delivery." Leo tells her.
"Neither did I." Paige says. "You and your sisters are destined for greatness, Sara. Did you know that?" Paige kisses the little girl on the forehead.
"You really think they'll continue the Power of Three into the next generation?" Piper asks.
"I don't think so -- I know so. The elders say it's their destiny." Leo tells them. "Speaking of the elders -- I just got word from them today that they're making some changes. With you and Cole having so many kids, it's just too much for both Paige and I to handle. So they're sending us another whitelighter to help look after the children."
"I don't want some stranger taking care of my kids." Cole says, not liking the idea.
"They said it's not a stranger -- that's all the information they'll give me. They said it's -- someone who's part of the family." Leo tells them.
"Maybe it's Prue." Piper suggests.
"Bite your tongue." Cole replies. "I'd shoot myself. Like they'd really make PRUE a whitelighter."
"Well, stranger things have happened. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Leo says.
"Hey -- I am SO sorry I wasn't here -- are you okay? Piper said the delivery was rough when she called." Phoebe says, rushing into the room and sitting down next to Paige.
"I'm okay -- just a little sore. How are the party plans going?" Paige asks.
"Fine -- Nick will be back in three days, I just talked to him this morning. He loves England so much, but he can't wait to come home." Phoebe says. "I miss him."
"We all do, but we're SO proud of him -- spending his senior year on a scholarship Oxford University. Is he gonna go back?" Paige asks.
"I don't know -- I'm hoping he'll attend Berkeley, I'd rather have him close by." Phoebe says. "Look at her, she is so beautiful -- Cole, she has your eyes, and your nose."
"And hopefully not your powers -- I caught Stella making a fireball the other day." Piper says.
"Hey -- lay off of Stella, she's a good kid, she's just -- adventurous -- like her dad." Cole says.
"She's a holy terror, and you encourage it." Piper says.
"Oh, I'm sorry Piper, I forgot -- your kids are perfect, right?" Cole remarks.
"Stop it, please -- I just had a baby, I'm not up for dealing with your little squabbles right now." Paige says, upset.
"I'm sorry baby." Cole says, giving Paige a kiss. "How are you feeling, you doing okay?"
"Just a little tired." Paige says.
"Why don't we let them have some time alone for awhile -- plus we should check on the kids, hopefully they're behaving." Leo says.
"Hopefully they haven't tried to burn the house down." Piper remarks, and Cole just glares at her as the three of them leave the bedroom.
"Do you and Piper always have to argue about the kids?" Paige asks.
"Hey -- I'll stop arguing with her as soon as she stops making judgments all the time on my parenting skills. Like her kids are so wonderful. Wyatt is always teasing Caleb and I'm sick of it." Cole says. "It's not Caleb's fault that his powers aren't as strong as the other kids, he's lucky to be alive after that demon attack when you were pregnant with him."
"Well, she is right about Stella. You do encourage her, Cole. She's gonna be a nightmare when she hits her teens if we're not careful." Paige says. "You coddle her, you spoil her rotten -- I know she's the most like you of all our kids, but -- I just don't want to see her turn evil."
"She won't -- her powers may be the same as mine, but -- she has a spunk and spirit about her that's just like you." Cole says, giving her a kiss. "And this young lady -- I guess we'll find out what we're in for with her soon enough." The little girl grasps Cole's finger tightly. "The one I'm REALLY worried about is Elena -- she's too much like her father. And NOT in a good way."
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"What do you mean, you don't know where they went?" Phoebe asks.
"They said they'd be right back -- but that was like an hour ago." Ben tells Phoebe.
"I bet they went to go blow stuff up. That's Stella's new thing now." Melinda remarks smugly as she floats near the top of the stairs."
"Get down from there!" Piper yells at her.
"Sorry. At least I don't set things on fire." Melinda says, coming down to the ground. Phoebe sighs in exasperation.
"Piper -- she's gonna drive me insane." Phoebe says. "How am I supposed to counsel my patients if I can't even figure out what to do with my own KID! Nicholas needs to get back here, he can reason with her much better than I can." Just then, two girls about nine years old pop into the house, giggling.
"There you are! Didn't I tell you no blinking? If you want to go somewhere young lady, you ASK me first." Phoebe says angrily.
"You're too busy for me to ask you. All you care about is your work and Nicholas and his stupid 'welcome-home' party." one of the girls says -- she resembles Phoebe quite a bit. "You weren't even here for Aunt Paige when Sara was born -- you just got here, didn't you?"
"That is not the point. Ben said you left over an hour ago." Phoebe says.
"Tattletale." the little girl says, sticking her tongue out at Ben. "We just wanted to go get something for Sara."
"See -- we got her this little toy. Elena and I put our money together and went to the store." the other girl says, pulling a little stuffed teddy bear out of the bag she's carrying. "We were just trying to do something nice."
"Stella -- that WAS very nice of you, but you girls cannot be going off on your own like this, it's too dangerous." Phoebe says.
"Everything is too dangerous in this stupid family." Elena says. "And anytime something bad happens, Stella and I are always the ones who get in trouble for it."
"That's because you two are usually the ones CAUSING the trouble." Melinda remarks.
"That's not true. Wyatt is always teasing Caleb and he NEVER gets in trouble for it." Stella says.
"Wyatt is only five years old, you girls are big enough to know better." Phoebe says.
"Oh sure, take their side. You always do anyway. And you make such a big deal about blinking -- Stella shimmers, and Ben and Wyatt orb, and Melinda floats all over the place -- why can't I blink?" Elena asks.
"Because I said NO, that's why." Phoebe says in an angry tone.
"You say no to everything I want to do! I HATE you!" Elena screams at Phoebe, and blinks out of the room.
"That's it -- I've made up my mind -- I'm binding her powers." Phoebe says. "She probably went home to pout -- I should go deal with her. Sorry about this, you guys." Phoebe leaves the house.
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Later that evening . . . . . . .
"Mom, can I hold her, please?" Stella asks Paige. Ben, Stella, and 6-year old Caleb are all sitting on the bed as Paige holds Sara in her arms, and Cole is sitting on the bed too with 3-year old daughter Skye sitting on his lap.
"Just be careful, honey -- like you used to hold Skye when she was a baby." Paige says, as Stella takes the little girl into her arms.
"She better not bite me like Skye used to." Stella says.
"Mine!" Skye cries out, and the teddy bear that Stella and Elena bought for Sara orbs into Skye's hands.
"Hey, give that back! That's Sara's!" Stella says angrily. She hands Sara back to Paige and starts to pull the teddy bear away from Skye!
"No! It's MINE!" Skye insists.
"Stella, let her play with it, she's not going to keep it. Sara will get it back." Paige says.
"She better not rip it." Stella says, glaring at the little girl. Cole sighs.
"ENOUGH with the fighting. This is not what your mother needs right now." Cole finally says.
"Does it still hurt, mommy?" Ben asks.
"Oh, come here Ben." Paige says, pulling the little boy close. "Don't you worry, I'm fine."
"I don't like it when you're hurting." Ben says.
"Ben, don't worry, your mom is okay. Having a baby hurts, but she'll feel better soon." Cole tells him.
"I can make you feel better, mommy." Ben suggests.
"Sweetie, no -- that's too hard on you. Besides, I'm counting on you -- I'm gonna be really busy with Sara now; I'm really going to need your help with the other kids, okay?" Paige tells him.
"How many more are you and daddy gonna have?" Ben asks.
"That's up to your mother -- when we were expecting YOU, she said she wanted seven." Cole says.
"SEVEN! I don't want any more -- Ben is a tattletale momma's boy, Caleb's a pest, and Skye is a spoiled brat. I'm gonna make sure Sara is just like ME." Stella says.
"I'm not a pest!" Caleb says.
"No, of course you're not, honey." Paige says. "Stella, you and your FATHER need to have a long talk about your attitude -- right, Cole?" Cole sighs, knowing that she's right.
"Yeah -- we are going to sit down and have a LONG talk, young lady. Now you apologize for what you just said." Cole tells her.
"Okay, I'm sorry." Stella says in a whiny voice, as Phoebe storms into the room.
"Is Elena here?" she asks worriedly.
"No -- Phoebe, what's wrong?" Paige asks.
"Elena's not at home -- we got in an argument earlier, she blinked out of here and I haven't heard from her since. Stella -- you're not hiding her, are you?" Phoebe asks.
"No." Stella replies. Cole looks at her suspiciously. "Dad, I SWEAR I'm not. I haven't seen her since she left, either. I'm sorry if I got her in trouble, we just wanted to buy a toy for Sara, we didn't mean to be gone so long."
"I've looked everywhere -- she's been gone for about three hours now. I've tried scrying for her -- she must be really angry with me, because I'm not getting a read on her anywhere. It's like she doesn't want me to find her." Phoebe says worriedly. "Stella, is there anywhere you think she might go?"
"We go to the beach over by the pier sometimes -- she said you and Uncle Eli used to like to go there." Stella says. "And she misses him alot lately because of the picnic coming up next week."
"What picnic?" Phoebe asks.
"The girls in their class are having a father/daughter picnic, didn't she tell you about it?" Paige asks.
"I offered to let her come with me and Stella, but she didn't want to." Cole says.
"She never told me, why didn't she tell me about this?" Phoebe asks.
"She figured you wouldn't care -- you're too busy planning Nicholas' graduation party. She figured you wouldn't think it's important." Stella says.
"Cole -- it's getting dark outside." Phoebe says, trying not to cry. "She doesn't know how to control her powers yet -- she can blink herself somewhere, get all upset and scared, and not be able to get back." Cole sighs.
"Call Leo -- we'll find her." Cole says. He give Paige a kiss and hands Skye over to Ben. "You gonna be okay here?"
"We'll be fine, Piper's right next door if I need anything, I've got the phone right here." Paige says.
"You are in charge, young man." Cole says to Ben. "You do whatever your mom tells you."
"I will." Ben says.
"And YOU listen to your mother and your big brother." Cole tells Stella.
"He's only a year older than me." Stella says in a bratty tone of voice.
"LOSE the attitude, I'm getting tired of it. And we're having that talk when I get back." Cole says. "Come on -- let's go find Elena before she gets herself into trouble." He puts his arm around Phoebe and they shimmer out of the room.
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Elena is walking along the beach, alone, as the sun begins to set. She is picking up pebbles and throwing them into the water, crying the entire time. "Hello there, sweetheart. What are you doing out here alone at night." a man's voice says from behind her. Elena turns around.
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Elena says, and she starts to run away.
"I'm not a stranger, honey." the man says, blinking in front of her to stop her. "My name is Rex -- I'm a friend of your dad's. You just saw me blink, right? You can do that too, can't you?"
"I can't right now. Did my mommy send you?" Elena asks. Rex starts to laugh.
"Oh, your mommy and I go WAY back, too. I even dated her a long time ago -- before she met your dad. She has something I want -- would you like to help me get it? If you do, I'll show you how to control your powers better. Don't worry, when I was a kid I had trouble with blinking too, it just takes practice. And I can tell you all about your dad. You want to know more about him, don't you?" Rex asks.
"My mommy has told me lots of things about him." Elena says.
"Oh, but your mommy doesn't know some of the things I know." Rex says. "And like I said -- your mommy, and her sisters, have some things that belong to me. I've waited a long time to get them back -- and for just the right person to help me. And I think you're the right person. Your mommy's not always very nice to you, is she?"
"No." Elena says, very unsure of him.
"She wasn't very nice to me, either. I guess she hasn't changed much, you can't trust her to save your life." Rex says, just as Phoebe, Cole and Leo appear on the beach.
"Hello Phoebe. Long time no see." Rex says.
"You -- we got rid of you years ago." Phoebe says angrily.
"I was given a second chance -- your little girl here, she wants to get to know what her daddy was really like. Don't you sweetheart?" Rex asks, as he wraps his arms around Elena.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Cole asks.
"Rex Buckland -- we dated a few times. Until I found out he was a scummy warlock who tried to force us to give up our powers." Phoebe says.
"I told Elena what good friends I used to be with her daddy. We were alot alike." Rex says.
"You were NOTHING alike." Phoebe says. "Eli rejected his entire past and you know it. You're just playing with her mind, like you did with us. Elena, honey -- Rex is a bad man. Don't trust him."
"Elena -- did you know you have the power to destroy your mother if you want to? All three of them, actually -- if you go home with them, you'll be in trouble, and they'll bind your powers, and you'll never know what your father was like. And you're alot like him, Elena." Rex says.
"I am?" Elena asks.
"Oh, very much -- now, if you'll just help me out I can tell you all about him." Rex says.
"Elena, he's lying, don't trust him." Leo tells her. Elena looks at everyone, and then finally blinks herself out of Rex's grip and onto the pier. Cole forms an energy ball and tosses it at him; Rex blinks out of its path and the fireball hits the pier, as Elena screams as the pier catches on fire and she runs away from the flames. At the same split second, Rex blinks himself behind Cole.
"Interesting -- demonic powers, but not really a demon. You know what that makes you? Useless." Rex says, and he tosses Cole against a lifeguard seat on the beach. Cole hits his head and is knocked out. Rex disappears.
"Leo! Do something!" Phoebe says, as the flames move closer to Elena.
"Elena -- jump in the water, you'll be safe there." Rex whispers into her ear, astral projecting himself to do so. Elena goes to the edge of the pier and jumps before Leo can get to her and orb her to safety.
"Elena! NO!!!" Phoebe screams.
"MOMMY!!!" Elena screams, and the water's currents pull her under.
"I'll find her." Leo says, orbing back onto the beach. He take off his jacket and dives into the water.
"Now, Phoebe, we used to be friends. Friends don't take back gifts that they've given them." Rex says, appearing once again.
"Our powers were never a gift for you -- you FORCED us to do that." Phoebe says. "And what, you've been skulking around all this time waiting for a chance to get revenge? You sleazebag. Taking advantage of a scared little girl like that." Phoebe says, grabbing her athame and throwing it at Rex, but he blinks away before it hits him. He appears behind her and grabs her hand, pulling it behind her and putting her in his tight grasp.
"I'm evil. Sue me. Now -- I'll save your little girl, if you'll give me your powers." Rex says.
"Okay -- okay, fine, you can have them -- just don't let my baby die." Phoebe says, crying.
"That's more like it." Rex says, grinning, loosening his grasp on her.
"No -- this is." Cole says, grabbing Rex from behind and choking him. He forms a fireball in his hand and sets fire to Rex, then pushes him away as Rex screams, engulfed in flames, and then vanishes. "Who's useless now?" Cole asks. "Jerk." Phoebe runs into his arms.
"Oh, Cole, are you okay?" she asks.
"I'm fine -- where's Elena? Where's Leo?" Cole asks.
"Rex forced her to jump into the water. Leo's trying to find her, I haven't seen either of them in awhile." Phoebe says worriedly.
"Phoebe! Cole! I found her!" Leo calls out, landing on the beach with Elena in his arms. Both Cole and Phoebe rush over to them. "She's not breathing -- I can't heal her if she's not breathing, one of you needs to give her mouth-to-mouth." Leo tells them.
"I'll do it." Cole says, and he starts to try and revive her while Leo allows his healing powers to enter her. After several minutes, Elena begins to cough and spit up water. "It's okay, honey -- you're okay now." Cole says to her.
"Mommy." Elena says, coughing.
"I'm right here, baby." Phoebe says, taking the little girl into her arms and giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"I'm cold." Elena says, trembling.
"Here -- wrap my jacket around her." Leo says, handing Phoebe his jacket that's lying on the ground. Phoebe covers Elena with it.
"Mommy -- that man was scary. Is that what my daddy was like?" Elena asks.
"Oh, no honey -- your daddy was nothing like him." Phoebe says.
"Your daddy was a very good man, Elena -- you should always be proud of him. He was a hero -- he saved our entire family." Cole tells her.
"Really?" Elena says.
"Really." Phoebe tells her. "And I miss him every day -- just as much as you do."
"Phoebe, we really need to get her home and into some dry clothes before she catches pneumonia." Leo says. "Come on -- let's get out of here." Leo puts his arms around them and orbs them away.
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Cole is sitting on the sofa in Phoebe's living room, when Leo and Phoebe come downstairs. "Is she okay?" Cole asks.
"Yeah -- she's asleep. Leo said she'll be fine, she's just a little traumatized right now." Phoebe says.
"Here -- let me heal that cut." Leo says, reaching out toward Cole's forehead.
"I'm fine." Cole says, pushing his hand away.
"Do you want to go home and explain to your wife, who just gave birth and really doesn't need the stress, why you're hurt?" Leo asks. Cole sighs.
"Fine -- heal it." Cole grumbles, as Leo heals the cut on his forehead. "Damn warlock. You seriously dated that guy, Phebes?"
"Temporary lapse in judgment." Phoebe says. "Nothing really happened -- I can't believe he was lurking around, just waiting for the right moment to take advantage of our family again. I wonder if he really was friends with Eli."
"Well, if he was, it was a long time ago -- ancient history. So when is this new whitelighter gonna get here? Obviously our family needs him or her more than I thought." Cole says.
"Soon, from what I've heard." Leo says.
"New whitelighter, what are you talking about?" Phoebe asks.
"The elders think that Paige and I need help -- they're sending us another whitelighter. I don't know who, all I know is it's someone who's part of the family." Leo says.
"Piper thinks it could be Prue. Lucky me." Cole says in a sarcastic tone.
"Actually -- it's not. I did find out that much." Leo says. "Prue can't be a whitelighter -- because she's already here, with us."
"What?" Phoebe asks.
"Prue had some unfinished business in her last life -- she was told she had to be reincarnated once again. And once she found out she had a sister she didn't know, she decided if she had to live another life, she wanted to get to know her little sister. Prue's been with us for the last nine years. She was reincarnated -- as Stella." Leo informs them, as Cole gets a look of astonishment on his face.
"What? You mean to tell me that my little girl is --" Cole begins.
"Prue. Born again." Leo says.
"Oh, you're making this up just to torture me." Cole says.
"No -- I'm not. Apparantly Prue actually got a kick out of the idea of coming back as your daughter -- I think she figured it would be a good way to annoy you AND get to know her sister. The thing is -- Stella is her own person. She has Prue's spirit in her, but -- she's Stella. I guess Prue didn't bank on her new incarnation absolutely adoring her father." Leo says. Phoebe can't help but laugh.
"You get to raise PRUE all over again. And it's going SO well up until now. Yeah -- good luck with that." Phoebe teases.
"Excuse me -- who's runaway kid was it that we had to rescue tonight? NOT mine." Cole says.
"Give it time." Phoebe teases. "I remember what Prue was like as a kid -- alot like Stella, now that I think about it." Cole just glares at her.
"I need to go home. I'll see you later." Cole says, and he shimmers out of the house.
"Well -- that's an interesting newsflash." Phoebe says. "I wonder how Cole will handle it, he and Prue never liked each other."
"He'll manage -- he adores that little girl more than his own life." Leo says. "So -- you're okay here?"
"Yeah, we're fine -- I'll call you if I need you." Phoebe says. "Thank you, Leo." Phoebe gives him a hug.
"I'll see you later." Leo says, and he orbs out of the room.
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Cole shimmers into Stella's bedroom -- she's in her bed, asleep. Cole walks over to her and tucks her in a bit, and sits down on the edge of her bed and touches her face gently. "Daddy?" Stella says, waking up.
"Hey, princess -- I just wanted to say goodnight." Cole says to her.
"Did you find Elena?" Stella asks.
"Yeah, we found her." Cole says.
"Is she okay?" Stella asks.
"She's fine."
"Daddy -- I'm sorry we get in so much trouble all the time. We're just trying to have fun, we don't mean to be bad." Stella says. Cole looks at her closer than he ever has before and really notices her eyes for the first time -- she has Prue's eyes.
"I know -- we'll talk about it later, okay? You go back to sleep."
"I love you, Daddy." Stella says, sitting up and giving him a big hug. Cole sighs.
"I love you too, sweetheart." Cole says, and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Heaven help me, I do love you." he whispers to himself as he holds her in his arms.
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"No honey, she's okay, you don't have to come back tomorrow, you'll be back in a couple of days." Phoebe says, talking on the phone. "I'm sorry I woke you up, I know it's late over there. I just thought you should know what happened. I'll have her call you tomorrow, okay? Alright, you go back to sleep. I love you, Nick. Bye." Phoebe hangs up the phone and heads upstairs. She opens the door to Elena's bedroom, and is shocked to see a man sitting on the edge of Elena's bed, gently touching her hair as she sleeps. "Get away from her." Phoebe says angrily, and reaches for her athame. The man turns around.
"She's beautiful -- she looks just like you." the man says.
"Eli?" Phoebe says, a look of shock coming over her face.