Epilogue

January 12, 2033 – late morning

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Penny cradled her mother's bloody and broken body. "Daddy's dead…I don't understand," she cried as she buried her face in her mother's neck, "why didn't you warn me?"

"Penny?"

Penny's head jerked up. "Daddy! You're okay? You're alive!"

"Of course I am, sweetheart. It's been ten years since your mother last tried vanquishing me," he chuckled as he sat on the bed and wrapped her in his arms. "I think that was the day we announced that you were finally going to be a big sister. I'm not sure who was more surprised that day, you or your Aunt Piper."

But her heart was pounding and she could barely comprehend that she was safe in her bed much less what he was saying. Her father's arms around her, she burrowed into him as if she was five years old instead of eighteen. "Mama! She's --"

"Shhh," he soothed, all amusement having left his tone, "Mama's fine. She's over at the --"

"But the demons…Trish, Prue!"

"Your sisters are fine. I just spoke to Trish. She's picking up the twins from the mall." He brushed the matted hair from her forehead, "You're still running a slight fever. Demons haven't attacked anyone."

"The twins are alive?" Penny's voice cracked and she scrambled to her feet trying to push past her father. "Everyone? Uncle Henry? Aunt Paige? Bianca?"

"Must've been some nightmare," he commented as he easily scooped her up and carried her back to bed as he'd done ages ago when she was a little girl. "Want to talk about it?"

To her surprise, Penny shook her head and snuggled close to him.

"Whenever you're ready then," he offered despite already knowing the gist of it. "Now," he suggested as he gently pried her free and settled her back in bed, "why don't you close your eyes and --"

"Uncle Cole? Hey, you up here?"

Cole kissed Penny's forehead and muttered as he stood, "Pardon me, sweetheart, while I kill your cousin. Get some rest, I'll check on you in a little while."

"Don't go…"

"Hey, there you are, I've been orbing all over town looking for you," Chris interrupted. "Wow, squirt, you're not looking so good. You're almost as green as Bianca."

"Let me give you a piece of advice kid. Don't let your wife ever hear you tease her when it comes to morning sickness."

Taken aback, Chris stared at him, "But she's the one who --"

Cole clapped him on the back and chuckled, "I've been there four times, kid. Trust me when I say you'd better watch --"

"Daddy?"

He focused on his tearful daughter and sat on the edge of the bed. Again, he quietly encouraged her to get some sleep. "It was only a nightmare, not a premonition."

"You can't be sure," she whispered. "I've had it," she confessed, "twice already this week."

"Anxiety," he reasoned, "because it's only a nightmare of a reality that never happened."

"You don't --"

Cole placed his index finger to her lips. "Four years ago, I was with Ryan when he tried to protect Bianca from that faction."

"You saved her," Chris gratefully acknowledged.

"Saved Ryan too," Penny considered. "You changed history, Daddy."

"Because you'd gone back in time to warn us," Cole offered. "We've talked about this before, sweetheart. You're just stressing because deep down you know this is that point in time. But it hasn't happened and it never will." He kissed her forehead again and gently pushed her back into her pillows. "You and your incorrigible cousin here are more alike than you realize." He still saw doubt cloud her eyes and he smiled, "The Warren line isn't down to only either of you. The Charmed Ones and their families are all very much alive and well and still," with a wink to his nephew, "growing."

"Get some rest, squirt," Chris suggested with a grin. "You don't want to be missing the party later tonight."

"Party?"

"My surprise birthday party, as if you didn't know," Cole rolled his eyes.

Penny grew nervous, "You know?"

"I've got my sources," Cole grinned. "But don't tell your mother I know. It was clever of her to try this a week early and I want to see her face when she "surprises" me."

"Can't wait to hear what she's plotting for a few years from now. The big one-five-o's looming on the horizon, isn't it?" Chris teased.

"You're lucky you're my favorite nephew," Cole growled, "or you might find yourself --"

"I need to see her," Penny tugged on his shirt. "Please, Daddy, I need to see her!"

"She's fine, sweetheart, she's at the manor with your aunts." Disturbed by her growing panic, Cole was unwilling to leave in order to bring back Phoebe. "Chris?"

Chris immediately complied and his voice echoed as he orbed out, "Be right back."

A few minutes later, Phoebe was orbed into the bedroom but before she could say anything, Penny had burst into tears. Rushing to her youngest daughter's side, she looked to her husband in confusion while she comforted Penny. "She's pretty warm," she mentioned to Cole. "She had the nightmare, didn't she."

He nodded and turned to Chris, "Didn't Ben ask you for some help with potions?"

"Make sure he doesn't blow up the kitchen this time, please," Phoebe requested distractedly as she rocked Penny. She felt Penny shudder. "Don't worry, honey, your brother's getting better. You should've seen when your Aunt Paige started."

"Oh Mama…"

"Shhh, sweetie, it was just a nightmare…"

"It was too real…"

"Do you want to show me?" Phoebe asked as she pulled back slightly. "It might make you feel better," she added after Penny shook her head.

Penny glanced nervously at her father who nodded encouragingly. After a moment, she grabbed her mother's hands and squeezed her eyes shut as the images replayed themselves.

Phoebe absorbed the horrific vision with the grace she had perfected over the years. She didn't say anything for a few minutes as she continued composing herself. Finally, she pressed her lips to the top of her daughter's head. "I know you're scared, Penny, but it's over now. You're safe. Daddy and I are here."

"But --"

"No buts," she smiled using a gentle but firm tone. "The Charmed Ones have lived through demonic factions before and we've got too much good and too much power on our side now to let a little faction or two destroy our lives. Okay?"

"Close your eyes," Cole requested. "We'll stay right here."

"I love you both," Penny desperately told them.

Phoebe kissed her daughter's forehead. "We love you too, sweetheart. Now close your eyes like Daddy said. We'll be right here."

Cole waited until Penny was asleep for a good ten minutes before questioning his wife. "Well?"

In an effort not to jostle the bed, Phoebe carefully stood. Gazing at her daughter, her back to her husband, she shrugged. "It's hard to say."

Cole gently turned her around, "I told her it was merely her subconscious offering her a vision of what that other reality was like, the reality she helped prevent from happening. Was I wrong?"

"I don't know," she honestly replied. "The timing is certainly right and we have been under attack far too frequently these days. But so many of those pieces aren't in place and she is running a fever so it could very well have been simply a nightmare. Too much about our lives was different. For one, I was married to a Cupid and for anoth--"

"A what?!"

"Shhhh," Phoebe hissed, pushing him back slightly. "I told you it was different."

"I didn't expect to hear that," he grumbled.

She couldn't suppress a grin at his jealousy, "Don't worry, I'm strictly a one-demon witch."

"And don't you forget it," he pouted even as he pulled her into his arms for a deeply passionate kiss.

When her heart began beating again, Phoebe continued in a slightly dazed tone, "Maybe you and Wyatt could do some reconnaissance Down There just to be sure." When he nodded, she hesitated to ask, "Do you remember Kyra's warning about us cheating fate twice?"

"We'll make sure we don't need a third time to set things right," Cole promised. "I love you too much, Phoebe, to let anything destroy the life we've built together."

Phoebe gazed into his eyes as her own welled with tears, "I'm so glad I didn't give up on you. Maybe I would've been blissfully happy with a Cupid and three girls but I know it wouldn't have come close to the magic we have."

"Damn right," he smirked, pulling her close.

"Match in heaven," Penny murmured in her restless sleep.

"Not exactly," her parents simultaneously retorted before Phoebe's giggles were smothered by Cole's lips finding hers.

The End