Patricia L. Bryans: Thank you for reviewing! Update soon, please!
Lucy Knight/Onii-Gil: That's it. And you'll see more Shax soon...
Kings Lioness: Thank you. I'm glad you like it! Update yours!
Catreddick4: I'm so excited to post the ending that I want to just skip all the next chapters! But then it just wouldn't be right!
-26-
They were now in the dining room of the Halliwell's mansion, but it was years before the present now, though the present Halliwells could see that not muhc has changed. The table was the same, but now it was covered in crisp white linin sheets, with pillows scattered over its top. As the Millers and Halliwells looked around, Piper took Prue's arm and pointed silently. The others looked and were astonished. A small dark-haired girl stood to one side of the room, her small hands clutched on the banister of the large staircase behind her. She had high cheekbones and a pretty face, but she was young; the younger Pruedence Halliwell. She stood silently away from the table as she watched her father, Victor Bennett, helping her mother towards the kitchen table. Patty was quite pregnant and from the look of it, within a few hours of giving birth to her second child. Her jaw was clenched in pain and her forehead dotted with sweat, and she was breathing heavily as she leaned against Victor.
"Prue, sweetie, get mommy some pillows from the couch please?" Victor asked the girl quickly, brushing her cheek with his hand. The girl dashed off immediately, a look of smug anticipation on her young brown face.
"Augh!" Patty sank to her knees suddenly as a strong contraction hit her, and she yelled out in pain, the nails on her clenching hand digging into her husband's arm.
Victor winced as nail entered flesh and tried pulling his wife to her feet, encouraging her as much as he could. "Come on, honey! Only a few feet left, then you can lay down! Come on, Patty, you can do it!"
It took a few minutes for her contraction to subside before Patty was able to struggle to her feet and stand and with Victor's support, she wavered over to the dining table, where he helped her to lay on top of it. As Victor shuffled pillows and blankets aoudn his wife to make her more comfortable, the young Prue Halliwell scampered into the room once more, her small arms full of two squishy pillows. "I's has the pillows, daddy! Where I put them?"
Victor's large hand patted the table by Patty's head. "Right here, sweetie."
Prue lifted the pillows to the table, helping her father arrange them so that her mother could lay her head down. The young girl looked at her mother with innocence and wonder filling her large brown eyes. "Mommy gonna have baby today?"
A weak smile crossed Patty's damp face and she put a hand to Prue's head. "Yes, Prue. Mommy is going to have the baby very soon." She turned her head to Victor, who was looking nervous as he handed Patty a cup of ice. "Victor, you need to call someone! You need help here. You know you can't do this alone. Call Mom, or someone!"
Victor seemed releived that his wife had brought up his worries and he hurriedly left the room, looking pale himself. Prue took a few steps closer to the table, climbing up onto a vacent chair and slipping a small hand into Patty's. She squeezed it tightly as she assured, proudly, "Don't worry, mommy. I's here to help."
"I know, sweetling," Patty whispered to her, then cried out again as another contraction hit her, leaning forward and breathing hard.
"Mommy, you hurting my hand," Prue whimpered, trying to pull her hand from Patty's grip as Patty goraned and gasped thorough the contraction.
Blue and white lights suddenly caused the room to shine radiantly. Patty came out of her stupor and raised her head as Prue turned around to see the equally pregnant Laurel Miller and her whitelighter, Mindi, appear on the threshold. Laurel was also sweating profusely, clutching onto Mindi's arm as Mindi struggled to support her up. As they arrived, Laurel gasped, her hands suddenly clamping onto her lower abdomen, and she let out a yell that echoed around the manor. As soon as the contraction had subsided slightly, Mindi helped her charge struggle to the vacent couch and lay her down before looking up at Patty with flustered eyes. "This day just keeps getting more interesting."
"Laurel! Don't tell me you're in labor too!" Patty called over to her friend, unbelievingly. Laurel nodded as she grasped the couch arms in pain and concentrated on breathing through her contraction. "Oh my God," Patty breathed, her head falling back to the pillows in limp shock.
"She started about an hour ago, and she insisted on coming here. A demon attacked the her other day, and she wanted to be safe in your home, Patty," Mindi gasped out, wiping her brow on a shiny, silver handkercheif.
"A demon? Laurel, honey, are you ok?" Patty asked frantically, but it was all Laurel could do to keep another scream in her mouth as the contraction continued. All she could do was nod.
"Aunt Laurel! You having baby too?" Prue asked, now stroking her adoptive aunt's sweat-soaked hair. The woman could still only nod as she tried to regain her breath, now between contractions. Her face was pale and her mouth was slack, but her eyes shon deeply with determination. "Pretty soon?" Prue asked her, but it was Mindi who answered, brushing up to the couch and lightly nudging Prue away, pishing her towards Patty.
"Quite soon, Prudence. Come on, dear. Come stand over there by your mom's head so she can see you. Keep talking to her, ok? She's going to have to concentrate in a few seconds and you just tell her to keep breathing!" Prue obeyed the whitelighter without fuss, going back to her mother at once and resting a hand on a pillow.
Laurel yelled again, and Mindi circled the couch before checking her charge's dilation between her legs, grabbing a sheet to cover her with for a slight bit of privacy. Her eyes widened as she said, quickly, "Ok, Laurel, you're fully dilated and ready. Your baby's coming very soon. You need to be ready to push!" She added, peeking over her charge's knees to look into Laurel's brown eyes.
"Oh, man," Laurel moaned, coming out of her contraction, her head rolling to the side as she fought back tears of pain.
"Laurel, honey, you can do this!" Patty called to her from the dining room. "If I can do it you can!" She was hit with another contraction just then and stopped talking to breath.
The lone whitelighter dashed back and forth between the two witches, valiantly trying to wipe each brow and squeeze each hand, fighting to keep both awake and breathing correctly. It had seemed that Victor had run off to his car in a panic, hysterically trying to find Penelope to bring her back for help. "I need more help!" Mindi finally said to herself, throwing up her hands helpessly, trapped between the two laboring women.
"Please, Mindi, don't call Sam," Patty breathed, struggling to sit up. Mindi looked at her oddly as Prue tried to push her mother back down on the table again. "Don't ask. Just get Beth or someone! But not Sam!"
"Beth!" Mindi called to the heavens, obeying Patty's wishes. "Beth, get down here! I need delivery right now!"
Another whitelighter descended from the ceiling at once. A female dressed in a light golden robe with long, red hair that was pulled out of her eyes in a braid touched down on the carpet. She was tall and slender with a loving light in her green eyes, and she carried a small handbag in a no-nonsense way. "Mindi, why? Ah," She began to ask, then spotted the two pregnant witches in the room. "Right." Businesslike immediately, Beth bustled over to Patty, throwing down her bag at the foot of the table and peeking under her gown. "She's nearly ready," she pronounced, drawing a harsh laugh from Patty.
"It's been all day. It's about time. Prue didn't hurt nearly this much."
"This baby's crowning!" Mindi called from across the room, her voice mingling with Laurel's sobs of pain. "Come on, sweetie! You can do this! You need to push for me, Laurel! Come on, push!"
Grunting with effort, Laurel screwed up her mind, contracting her muscles as hard as she could and pushed, her hands clenching so hard that her knuckles were white on the sofa arms. As her strength weakened, she yelled in frustration, and at her whitelighter's command, she relaxed gratefully, taking in a deep, shuddering breath as tears slid down her cheek.
"Ok, good! Good," Mindi said, nodding encouragingly to her charge as she shifted her weight. "You're gonna have to do this again, another good push! Ok? Come on! Push it hard! Push! Push, Laurel!" Her hands skillfully guided the baby's head as it emerged, pushing her charge even more, her voice rising to a squeek of excitement. "Come one, sweetie! Come on, Laurel! Here's the head! Ok, relax! Get ready for one more push!"
Tears streamed down Laurel's face as she shook her head, her face screwed up in pain and her hands twisted on the blankets on the couch. "I can't. I can't."
"Yes, you can!" Mindi said firmly, still holding the crown of the baby's head, ready to help the baby out.
"Mindi! I need your help here!" Beth was also grasping the head of a baby, but she looked worried. "It's blue and it's stuck!" She shouted.
Mindi looked incredulous. "I'm a little busy here!" She almost screamed at her colleguge, her hands still ready.
At Patty's cry of pain, Beth called again desperately. "Mindi! I need you!"
"Shit," Mindi panicked, looking around hurriedly for anythig that would help her, and her eyes rested on Prue. Beckoning the girl over, Mindi instructed her, "Prudence, come here! Quickly, now!" When Prue joined her at a run, skidding to a halt on the carpet, Mindi gently pushed the girl in front of her and placed the girl's hands against the baby's head. "You need to help me, dear. Hold the baby's head--gently, dear--just like this, and when Aunt Laurel pushes again you have to keep holding it until it comes out of her stomach. Don't drop it, because it'll break. It's very fragile. You have to catch it and then call me right away, ok? Will you do that for me, sweet girl?"
Prue, her eyes wide, nodded and stood firmly in front of Laurel, her jaw set. Mindi gratefully kissed the girl on the top of her raven head, then bustled to Patty in order to help her fellow whitelighter pry the baby from Patty's womb. "Come on, Patricia. You need to keep pushing! It won't come out if you just stop! That's it! That's it, push! Here it comes! Out you get!"
Though the yelling and gasping surrounding her and the rising noise level in the room, Prue's little eyes focused intently on the child that had only just fallen into her arms, result of her aunt's final desparate push. It's tiny face was screwed up and its mouth was clamped tightly, its tiny hands balled into fists. Tufts of dark hair dotted its soft head and it was covered in blood and resedue. "Mindi," Prue whispered, her face shocked as she stared at the newborn laying limply in her arms. She swallowed the lump that had lodged in her throat, then said, louder, "Mindi!"
"Out you get, baby!" Mindi called to Patty's infant, guiding it from Patty's woumb and lifting it into Beth's waiting arms. "Quickly, suction its airways so it can breath," Midi darted around frantically until Prue's shout stopped her.
"Mindi! I have the baby!"
Mindi whirled around, then sprinted to over the young Halliwell with a scream. "Prudence! Prudence, my angel, you did it! Oh, what an adorable little girl! It's a girl, Laurel!" She gently pulled the child from Prue's shaking hands and sucked mucus from its nose and mouth with one of the tools from Beth's handbag. At exactly the same time as the child in Beth's arms, the tiny girl took a shuddering breath and wailed loudly, causing Mindi to wince. Laurel laughed weakly, choking back a sob of joy. Tears ran freely down her face as Mindi wrapped the child in a soft pink blanket and passed her into Laurel's outstretched arms.
Beth also gave Patty her child saying, with an emotion-filled voice, "It's a girl, Patty! Another beautiful little girl!"
"Oh," Patty sighed, gently pulling her newborn to her chest and staring into the face in her arms. Words couldn't express her feelings as she gazed upon her second daughter with love in her eyes. Beth put a hand on Patty's shoulder lightly.
"Do you have a name for her?"
After several long seconds in which Patty looked from Beth to her child, she smiled and a name brushed off Patty's lips softly. "Piper."
A mysterious smile crossed Beth's face as she bent down to kiss Patty's forehead gently. "Congratulations, my dear." She straightened and then looked at the child that was now crying it's lungs out as she gathered her bag up into her arms, its contents scattered everywhere. "Blessed be, Piper Halliwell," she whispered, and in a swirl of white lights, she orbed away.
Prue's hands pulled down Laurel's arms until she could see the tiny face. She smiled as she stared at the newborn girl, her hands still on Laurel's arm. "A girl, Aunt Laurel? What be her name?"
Laurel stroked Prue's raven-colored hair with one hand as she pondered the question, cradling her new daughter in the crook of her other arm. "Heather," she replied at last, smiling quietly. "Her name is Heather."
"Heather?" Prue repeated and was silent for a few seconds before she quipped, "I like it."
Laurel laughed and pulled Prue into a one-armed hug, planting a kiss on her goddaughter's cheek. "I'm glad you do. Meet your cousin, Heather."
One of Prue's fingers touched the baby's cheek softly, then she leaned over to leave a wet kiss on the baby's face, raising her head to grin at Laurel, casuing the woman to laugh.
Patty had come over to the three now, walking slowly, supported by Mindi's helping arms, and she carefully sat at Laurel's feet, still cradling her new daughter. "Prue, honey, come and see your baby sister," she invited, beckoning to her eldest. Eagerly, Prue did, scrambling over the couch, causing Patty to quickly warn, "Careful, sweetie. Don't hurt Aunt Laurel. Careful! There. Say hi to your sister Piper."
Prue grinned at the sight of another baby, this one in her mother's arms. "Hi, Pipe," she said, not saying the whole name on purpose. She was silent for a long time, staring at her newborn sister, and then, looking up at her mother, Prue asked, "Can I hold her?" She extended her arms hopefully.
At Patty's slightly apprehensive look, Laurel spoke up in Prue's defense. "Let her, Patty. She'll be safe. She delivered Heather, after all. She will be more than gentle with her sister."
Resigning with a smile, Patty agreed. "Alright," she whispered, transferring Piper into Prue's small arms, warning her daughter and giving advice. "Support her head, dear. Be careful. Don't jolt her!"
"I know, Mommy," Prue said, rolling her eyes at Patty, drawing another laught from Laurel, whose finger was in her daughter's mouth. After watching her sister squirm for a minute or two, Prue shifted her knees so that she faced Laurel and leaned in so the two children's faces were only a little ways apart. Patty and Laurel silently watched what happened next with tears in their eyes. Prue held her sister and said, "Look, baby Heather. This Piper, my sister. She baby too. You two be friends?" As Prue held Piper aloft, Heather's tiny hand jerked upward and briefly rested on Piper's before falling back. Prue looked up at Laurel, a wide smile on her face. "See? They friends aweady!"