A/N: Thanks to Thunder903 and Smart One 17 for reviewing.
Chapter 2: Dining In Hell
"Lynette, it would be nice if you would explain why we are all here." Bianca Castigliaono told her daughter.
Lyn sighed and rubbed her forehead her mother really knew how to push her buttons and she was not in the mood for it right now. "Mom, I'll let B explain that to you."
"Bianca, I would like it if you could explain yourself." Bianca told her namesake.
B shot her mother a look and Lyn gave her a sharp glance in return. "Nonna, I'm getting married." She said flashing her engagement ring at her.
"So, you finally got smart and you're going to settle down with a nice Italian boy like Dante?" Bianca asked her granddaughter.
B cast a look a Henry who was biting the inside of his lip so hard that he drew blood. "No, I'm marrying Hank, I love him."
"I had hoped that you would get over your infatuation with him, you saw what loving him did to your sister." Bianca replied.
"Mother," Lyn barked out with a sigh. She didn't know what to say to that woman sometimes. And it didn't help that her father didn't keep a handle on her either.
"B, I think that it is great." Johnny Castigliaono told his granddaughter.
"Thanks, grandpa," B replied giving him a small smile.
"B, how many times did he have to ask you?" Brennan asked her.
"You know, I expect that coming from everyone else but you. For your information he only asked me once you old drunk." B teased him.
"There is no need for the name calling, I was just asking a question." Brennan retorted putting his hands up in a sign of surrender.
"Henry, it's not too late for you to run." Rose told him reasonably.
"I'm not going anywhere I love her too much." Henry replied with a smile.
"I don't know why you love her, I don't see what so great about her." Chase said and he smirked when his sister glared at him.
"Of course you don't understand she is your sister." Tyler pointed out to his brother-in-law.
"I don't understand what Chris sees in blondie either." Chase came back with.
"Francis the ice you're on is so thin that you're seconds away from falling through." Rachel warned her younger cousin. The boy just didn't know when to keep his fucking mouth shut.
"I like living on the edge it gives me a little bit of excitement." Chase replied like it was no big deal.
"Chase, I feel the need to warn you that either B or Rachel is going to kill you." Chris cautioned him.
"Chris, the boy doesn't have any good sense." Maria pointed out to him.
"Sophia, you older sisters are a pill to deal with." Angie Hoyt told her niece. She was Lyn's little sister.
"Angie, don't start. Francis and Michael are in the room they will only make some off the wall comments that aren't needed at the moment." Lyn warned her sister.
"Hank, have you guys decided on a date yet?" Mickey asked him just to prove Lyn wrong and show that he was capable of behaving like an adult.
"March the seventeenth, we wanted to get it over with as soon as possible." Henry replied.
"Only you two would get married on a drinking holiday." Mickey laughed.
"Bianca Lyn, are you two at least getting married in the church?" Bianca asked she was a devout Catholic.
"Well, we're getting married in a church." B replied lamely.
"Lynette, can't you do something about your daughter?" Bianca pleaded with her daughter.
"You're in trouble now, B." Oriana smirked at her sister. B just glared at her in return.
"Mother, she is a grown woman I can't do anything about her." Lyn said throwing her hands up in the air.
Bianca turned her gaze on Henry. "Tell me that you have at least one redeeming quality." She said looking him over.
"Nonna, he is a good guy and he loves me that is all that should matter to you." B argued. Henry put his hand on her arm to calm her down.
"I need to know more about him if I'm going to let him marry you." Bianca replied undaunted.
"Dude, she really hates you." Chris sent to his cousin telepathically.
"I'm not a big fan of hers either." Henry replied.
"Mom, please, I just can't." B begged her mother.
"Mother, they are in love leave them alone." Lyn scolded her mother.
"Claire, at least tell me that you managed to do better than your cousin." Bianca said turning to her other granddaughter.
"Chris is a pretty great guy at least I think so anyway." Rachel said while staring adoringly at Chris.
"Is he a witch too?" Bianca went on with her inquisition.
"I'm half witch half elder actually." Chris reported.
"I don't think that there is any hope for you girls." Bianca sighed in disgust.
"Henry, Bianca, I need you two to help me with something in the kitchen really fast." Lyn said getting up from the table and motioning for those two to follow her.
"What mom?" B asked once they were safely in the kitchen.
"I am very proud of you both right now, you haven't taken your grandmother's bait. I know that she can be a bitch and you are both handling yourselves very well." Lyn told them.
" I get that she is never going to like me, Aunt Lyn, I don't guess that there is anything that I can do about that." Henry replied with a shrug.
"She doesn't hate you as much as she hates Frank and Mickey though, if it's at all possible I think she hates Mickey worse than Frank." Lyn shook her head.
"Mom, you look like you could use a drink." B observed.
"I've damn sure earned one." Lyn agreed.
B went rifling through the cabinets and came up with a bottle of whiskey and three glasses. "It just so happens that I know where dad likes to keep his stash."
"You two have earned a drink more than I have." Lyn sighed she didn't know why her mother had to be so damn complicated.
"I think that I've earned a damn drink too." Frank said coming into the room because he knew that his wife was up to something.
"She is driving me nuts, Frank, I honestly can't deal with that woman when she gets in one of these moods." Lyn groaned.
"Honey, she is your mother." Frank reminded her putting his arms around her.
"Do me a favor, don't remind me that I'm related to her." Lyn said with a sigh.
"Here, mom, drink this trust me it helps." Bianca said handing her mother a glass of straight whiskey.
Lyn threw it back and cringed. "How you do that all the time I will never know." She said coughing.
"It's a gift," Bianca replied with a smirk.
"Or a curse, here B." Henry said handing her a shot.
Bianca threw that shot back like it was nothing. "Thank you for keeping your temper, I know how hard that is for you." she said throwing her arms around Henry's neck.
"I just go to my happy place, it's not easy, but for you I can handle it." Henry replied pecking her on the lips.
"Hank, I can't believe I'm going to tell you this, but I want you to make her shut her mouth in only a way that you can." Lyn told him.
"Sarcasm?" Henry asked with a smile.
"Do what you must, but know that I didn't put you up to this." Lyn replied.
"Oh, Aunt Lyn, you have no idea how much fun I'm about to have with this." Henry said rubbing his hands together.
"Mom, you have no clue what you just did, you're talking to the jokester here." Bianca pointed out she couldn't contain a smirk though.
"This I am looking forward to." Frank laughed; he hated his mother-in-law almost as much as she hated him.
"Henry, what exactly is it that you do for a living?" Bianca asked him when they were seated back at the table.
"On paper I'm a cop, but I make more money reselling the drugs that I take off of the people that I arrest." Henry replied seriously. Chris was taking a drink at that moment and he choked he couldn't believe that his cousin had just said that.
"What kind of drugs, Hank?" Mickey asked more than happy to play along.
"Mostly coke, I don't bother with anything else there is no money in it." Henry said dead serious.
"Hank, knock it off." Chris warned his cousin.
"Just watch and learn, Peanut." Henry retorted.
"Do you two plan on giving me any great-grandchildren?" Bianca asked next.
"Maybe someday, we just can't afford for B to give up her second job as a stripper right now." Henry said like he had given the subject serious thought.
"Alright, Hank, that's enough you can let up now." Lyn knew that he could hear her thoughts even though she wasn't telepathic.
Henry shook his head and smiled. "Ok, all joking aside now, I am a cop and I work in the plain clothes division. I mostly work narcotics, but I do other things too. I'm also a marine reservist I joined up before I started college. B and I do plan on having kids once we're both a little bit older, right now we're happy with the way that things are. I'm an open book if there is anything that you want to know all you have to do is ask me."
"Do you have any offensive powers? I need to know that you can protect my granddaughter in case a demon attacks." Bianca asked him.
"I have telekinesis and molecular combustion, I also have the ability to freeze, that is in addition to my whitelighter powers. All of my powers are a little bit stronger because I am the son of a Charmed One." Henry explained.
"Hank, don't forget that you are one of the Charmed Ones for your generation." B reminded him.
"Right, I'm also one of the Charmed Ones for my generation. I'm more than capable of protecting B from a demon attack, however she can take care of herself and she doesn't need me to protect her." Henry replied winking at his fiancé.
"I guess you're not so bad." Bianca said begrudgingly and then she turned to Chris. "I suppose that you have to have a redeeming quality too, young man."
"I'm a cop too, like Hank I work in narcotics. Because I'm half elder I have electrokinesis and invisibility. I have telekinesis and telepathy as well." Chris explained himself.
"How is it that you're half elder and half witch?" Bianca asked him.
"My father was an elder when I was conceived, my brother is actually the first child that the elders approved of between a witch and a whitelighter. Hank's mom is the first half witch half whitelighter ever." Chris replied.
"Chris, don't forget that you're one of the Charmed Ones too." Henry reminded his cousin.
"Hank, our cousin Prue, and I are the next generation of Charmed Ones. We're not our mothers by any stretch of the imagination, but we're still pretty damn good. We're also still learning who we are a witches." Chris said rambling a tad bit.
"I didn't realize that you two were related." Bianca told both young men.
"Chris is the older brother that I never had or wanted for that matter." Henry replied smiling.
"Someone has to look out for you, you've got more courage than you've got sense sometimes." Chris pointed out to him.
"Bianca, you and Claire do realize that you're just like your mothers don't you?" Bianca asked her granddaughters.
"Nonna, I'm begging you for the last time don't call me Claire, I don't like it." Rachel pleaded with her grandmother.
"Good luck, everyone knows that I don't answer to my given name either but that doesn't stop them from calling me by it." B said rolling her eyes.
"Mother, you know that those two are their fathers made over." Lyn pointed out to her mother.
"I don't see that as a bad thing." Mickey protested mildly.
"Michael, I shouldn't have to tell you why it is a bad thing for anyone to be like you and Frank." Angie told her husband.
"Son, when she kills you, I'm not going to blame her." Brennan laughed at his younger son.
"Dad, don't be encouraging other people to kill him, I want the pleasure for myself." Frank joked with his dad.
"Don't be like that Frankie, I just love you so much big brother." Mickey teased knowing that it would piss Frank off.
"Don't call me Frankie, Frankie is a twelve year old fat kid." Frank protested.
"You got the twelve year old part right." Lyn muttered.
"Hank, I would fully understand if you wanted to run away now." B told him.
"B, you've met my family we're not normal. I assure you I'm not going anywhere." Henry said taking her hand and kissing it.
"Nor are we sane, a certain pain in the ass from the future comes to mind when I say that." Chris was of course talking about Paige.
"Chris, don't talk about my baby that way." B warned him.
"I'm sure that she would object to being called a baby." Chris chuckled.
"She objects to everything." B said just thinking about that girl made her shake her head.
"B, if I were to ask Paige to do me a favor, would it bother you?" Mickey asked his niece.
"Yes, she does enough dangerous things on her own she doesn't need your help to do something stupid." B replied.
"I don't know what you're talking about she has been good lately." Chris jumped to his daughter's defense.
"She just hasn't been caught doing anything, I would hardly classify that as being good." B corrected him.
"Hell, of course she hasn't been caught doing anything. She is the best of both of us, we wouldn't get caught." Chris pointed out to her.
"Point taken," B agreed nodding her head.
"B, do you think that daughter of yours is busy right now?" Lyn asked her daughter.
"Probably, but I can call her if you really want me to. I warn you that I have no control over her though." B replied.
"I'll call her," Frank said. "Hey Paige, I need you to come over to the house." He called out.
Paige orbed in a second later, she took one look around and shook her head. "Grandpa, if you want to talk business call me later I can't be here right now." she said. There was no way she was sticking around this insanity if she could help it.
"Consider it a favor to me?" Frank asked sticking out his bottom lip.
"Paige, come sit by me we can discuss things." Brennan said when it looked like she was trying to make her mind up.
"Alright," Paige agreed she really liked the old drunk. "You owe me," she told Frank.
"Anything you want it's yours." Frank agreed with a smile.
"Paige, behave yourself." Chris growled at her mentally.
"I plan on it daddy." Paige replied sweetly.
"I mean it, Paige, if you're not good I'll sick both your grandmas on your ass." Chris threatened her.
"I said I'd be good." Paige reminded him.
"That is an unholy alliance that I think I should object to, that last thing I need is for you and grandpa to join forces." B said shaking her head.
"We get each other on a really deep level mom." Paige joked with her.
"I'm sure that you two do, you drink almost as much as he does." Lyn told her granddaughter seriously. Of course she worried about Paige becoming an alcoholic because of what B had gone through.
"I take offense to that Lyn, there is no way that she can drink as much as I can. It has taken me years to build up my current tolerance to booze, she couldn't hang with me if she wanted to." Brennan said like his daughter-in-law was talking crazy.
"Of course, I don't know how I could have thought such a thing." Lyn agreed shaking her head. This was what she had to look forward to Frank turning into later in life.
"Mom, don't encourage either one of them. They both need professional help." B said shaking her head.
"Do you really want to do this right now, mom?" Paige asked her mother with an arched eyebrow.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I was just making an observation." B replied with a smirk.
"I make no promises about what I will say if you wish to start this war with me." Paige informed her very seriously.
"Chris," B said turning to her daughter's father.
"Don't look at me on this one, you started with her." Chris said throwing his hands up helplessly. "Paige, behave yourself, young lady." He said pointing at her.
"Daddy, I do behave, it's not my fault that my mother refuses to leave me alone." Paige replied innocently.
"Paige, you are just so damn innocent." Rachel said rolling her eyes.
"I am innocent, I don't start anything unless I'm provoked." Paige said defensively.
"Lynette, I would appear that your daughter got the child that you have always wished on her." Angie pointed out to her older sister.
"Angela, I don't know how many times I have told you not to call me Lynette. And yeah, Paige is quite a little pill when she wants to be." Lyn agreed.
"B, let's agree not to fight anymore for a while, because it occurs to me that we sound like mom and Aunt Ange when we fight." Oriana suggested.
"You've got yourself a deal, kid. The last thing I want is to sound like those two." B agreed nodding her head.
"That will last for all of two minutes before Oriana does something to piss B off." Maria commented.
"I say that it lasts less than two minutes, you know how those two are." Chase corrected his oldest sister.
"I'm just going to keep my mouth shut I enjoy living." Tyler chimed in.
"Ty, you're the only one of the idiots that gets me." B told her brother-in-law.
"That's because you and I came to that agreement about being misunderstood and we're ok with that now." Tyler reminded her.
"Do I want to know what you two are talking about?" Maria asked her husband.
"When we all lived together B and I used to have heart to hearts about all sorts of things. One day we came to the consensus that we are both misunderstood. It was a very emotional day for us." Tyler informed his wife.
"I have to ask, was this when she was drinking?" Maria asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Nope, that was us both being bored to tears." Tyler replied with a smile.
"Don't be like that, Ty, you know that you miss the meaningful conversations that we had." B teased him.
"I do long for your company sometimes, like the times when Chase and Oriana are both over at the house. I would gladly take you over them any day of the week." Tyler agreed with her.
"That's because Maria and I are the sane ones, I wasn't lying when I told you that those younger two are the reason that I moved out." B pointed out to him.
"Trust me, I don't doubt that anymore. Though I won't complain about Chase too much, he does keep Lyn occupied." Tyler laughed.
"The girl abuses me just like her mom used to." Chase protested.
"I never abused you I just treated you like a dress up doll, Oriana is the one who abused you." Maria corrected him.
"That's right, now I remember, B is the only one who didn't torture me." Chase said rolling his eyes.
"That's because you two are both like your father." Lyn pointed out to her oldest son. Neither Chase nor B could say anything about that because it was true.
"Puck, stop we're both supposed to be studying." Penny complained removing her boyfriend's hand from her thigh. They were sitting in his living room; they were supposed to be studying. That wasn't happening because he was doing everything in his power to distract her.
"Pens, you don't need to study because you are so damn smart and I never study because I don't have to either." Huck pointed out to her running his hand up her leg again.
"Puck, knock it off and I mean it." Penny told him firmly.
"I can't help it that you get me going." Huck teased her.
"Puck, I'm serious, if you don't stop there is no way that I'm going to be able to stop myself from making a move on you this time." Penny warned him. It was all she could do some days to keep her hands off of him.
"I don't see where that's a bad thing." Huck replied. It sounded damn good to him; he had gone longer than he cared to think about without having sex.
"Trust me it is a bad thing. I don't want our first time to be something that happens on the spur of the moment and I'll regret it later because I let my emotions get the better of me." Penny explained to him.
"Ok, that's fair, I'm backing off for now anyway." Huck said throwing his hands up in a sign of surrender.
"I just want you to know that I really appreciate you being so patient with me about the sex thing." Penny told him rewarding him with a kiss.
"It's not always easy, but you're worth it." Huck gave her one hell of a charming smile.
"I'm really working on it, I just don't feel like I'm ready yet." Penny leveled with him. They had had this same conversation many times and he had always been very understanding.
"I told you I'm willing to wait for as long as it takes, there is no rush here." Huck reassured her. He really didn't mind waiting for her to be ready.
"Just think if you hadn't pursued me then you could still be having fun with my sister. You wouldn't have to wait around for me to stop being a freak and decide that I'm ready." Penny spit out bitterly.
Huck put his arms around her and he brought her eyes up to meet his. "First of all I don't want Val I want you. All Val and I ever did was have sex; we never had the intimacy that you and I have. Secondly, I don't think that wanting to make sure that you're ready makes you a freak. In my book that makes you pretty damn smart. Now I don't want to hear you being down on yourself anymore." He told her sternly. He didn't like it when she started talking poorly about herself.
"I've got it, thank you for being so great." Penny replied melting into his embrace.
"I figure that I waited long enough for you to give me a chance that I better not do anything to mess up." Huck replied kissing her on top of her head.
"Let me just say that you have done a great job so far." Penny joked with him.
"You know me, I do what I can." Huck said a cocky tone in his voice.
"You don't have an ego at all." Penny commented sarcastically while rolling her eyes.
"I take offense to that statement." Huck said pretending to be hurt. "Shouldn't you and Em be with your mom to do wedding planning right now?" he asked her.
"Em and I have the day off from our second job as wedding planners. Mom had a meeting with Hank and B this afternoon and I really didn't want to be there for that. Neither one of them seem to be enjoying this very much." Penny replied.
"Pens, this is Hank and B we're talking about. Of course they don't enjoy this, I'm sure that there are other things that they rather be doing." Huck pointed out to her like she should have thought of that.
"Good call, and then your sister says that you don't have any sense." Penny teased him pinching his cheek.
"You can't listen to everything that Cal says about me. I'm her little brother I annoy the hell out of her so she doesn't have many nice things to say about me." Huck replied with a shrug. He was well aware that he got on his sister's nerves and to be frank about it he was proud of that fact.
"If she kicks your ass I'm going to laugh." Penny informed him seriously.
"Please, my sister can't touch this package, babe." Huck said cockily flexing his muscles.
"You are so full of yourself that it isn't funny." Penny could only shake her head at him. He was a nut and she dated him willingly. She didn't know what that said about her nor did she care to think about it.
"Ricky, I think you and I need to talk." Patty told her boyfriend when he opened the door of his house.
Ricky didn't like the way that sounded. Anytime she said that they needed to talk it didn't end well for him. "Ok, come on in and we'll talk." He agreed. They went to the living room and they sat on the couch facing each other.
"This is about school." Patty said getting down to the reason she was there.
"I figured it might be by the look on your face. You're stressing entirely too much right now, honey." Ricky said with a concerned look on his handsome face.
"Well, this is only my future we're talking about there is no pressure there at all." Patty replied sarcastically.
Ricky would have said something about the sarcasm but he knew how she was. "Have you made a decision?" he asked.
"No, have you?" Patty asked in reply.
"I have it narrowed down between Alabama and Florida." Ricky informed her uneasily he didn't know how she would feel about that and he didn't want to piss her off.
"I'm happy for you, I know how badly you wanted to play football in the SEC." Patty replied tensely.
"I guess you're going to go with one of those Ivy Leagues." Ricky said lamely. If she chose Harvard they could make a long distance relationship work.
"No, I don't think that I'm going to go that route. I want to have some fun in college." Patty told him.
"I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you or anything, but Florida and Alabama both have some pretty good academic programs." Ricky offered.
"I guess Florida does have a pretty great softball team." Patty said smiling a little.
"And the football program there is great." Ricky agreed with her.
"I mean I could always check it out." Patty replied casually.
"I didn't think you got into Florida." Ricky accused her.
"I did, I just didn't tell you because I knew how much you wanted it and you hadn't gotten in yet." Patty explained to him.
"Did you just make a decision about school?" Ricky asked her playfully.
"I think that I did Mr. Bradford." Patty replied in a light tone.
"Good, now I know that I'm going to Alabama. We can be rivals." Ricky joked.
"Oh, that's the way we're playing this." Patty said punching him affectionately on the arm.
"That is the way we're playing this Ms. Halliwell." Ricky agreed.
"Are you going to get in trouble with your pack for this?" Patty asked him getting serious again.
"I don't give a fuck, I have other responsibilities. I didn't choose to be a wolf and I don't have to embrace it. I'm not letting this rule my life the way this prophecy has, I mean look what it did to Mel. There is something seriously wrong with that girl and she denies it." Ricky went on passionately.
"I know I can't help but worry about her sometimes and this is going to make her go through the roof." Patty worried.
"Just tell me that we're not going to have to deal with your twin bugging us." Ricky pleaded with her changing the subject.
"No, Carly got into NYU, I won't have to deal with her ass." Patty informed him.
"Carly, our Carly, got into NYU?" Ricky questioned her in disbelief.
"I know it's hard to believe, but she did. My sister isn't a dumb as she wants everyone to think she is." Patty replied.
"I know that she isn't stupid, I've known that for a long time. I don't know why she thinks that there is something wrong with admitting that you're smart." Ricky mused. He knew he couldn't spend too much time trying to figure out her thought process though.
"I don't understand her either and I don't try to. The girl might be my twin but I don't even understand her half the time." Patty replied with a shrug.
"I just want you to know that we are going to take a lot of shit for going to the same school." Ricky wanted her to be aware of what was going to happen.
"I know that we are, I can hear Carly and Val right now. I could care less though." Patty really didn't give a shit what those two said.
"Our parents are going to kill us." Ricky commented.
"They won't be so bad, they know that we're in love and we don't want to be apart. It's not like either of us is settling for something that we don't want." Patty reasoned with him.
"We've got it all, a good academic program and a killer sports' program." Ricky nodded his head in agreement.
"How is Chuck going to take this?" Patty asked him knowing that he hadn't thought of that yet.
"He'll be proud, but he will probably bawl like a baby. In all fairness he is the one who raised Em and me." Ricky said after thinking it over. "How do you think Hank is going to react?"
"He'll go all big brother on me, but he'll be happy for me. God knows that he acted like Carly going away didn't phase him." Patty replied. She wasn't really worried about what her brother had to say she was more worried about Mel.
"I know that you're worried about Mel getting pissed, but don't. She'll be happy for you." Ricky said knowing what she was thinking without reading her thoughts.
"She's going to be hurt and you know it." Patty reasoned with him.
"This is Mel, she won't say anything about it she'll just bottle it up inside." Ricky said he knew how his friend worked.
"I know and that is part of what has me worried. That girl is a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode." Patty replied.
"She's a lot stronger than you think she is." Ricky offered not knowing what else to say to that.
"I have no doubt that she is strong, but I don't know how much more she can bottle up inside before it all comes rushing out." Patty said biting her lip.
"It's sweet that you're worried, but don't worry right now, right now you and I have to celebrate." Ricky said making his eyebrows dance.
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Patty asked him with a small smile.
"I say that we take this to the bedroom." Ricky nipped her earlobe with his teeth.
"I like the way you think." Patty grinned up at him wrapping her arms around his neck. Ricky picked them both up off the couch without any effort and he began the trek up the stairs to his bedroom.
"Hey, Jackass, it was really nice of you to come and help the rest of us out with the research." Troy told his little brother flicking him on the ear. They were in the kitchen of their mother's house.
"I couldn't come, I had to watch Dom for a little bit." Chord defended himself.
"That is a likely excuse." Troy said crossing his arms over his chest as he sat down at the table.
"Troy Timothy, leave your little brother alone. He was babysitting for me." Nicole said from the stove.
"Where's Cole? I haven't seen him around in a couple of days." Troy asked. He didn't like the idea of him leaving his mother alone to do so much.
"First of all Cole doesn't live here and that would be why you haven't seen him, not that you have been home enough to notice. Secondly, he has been out of town for the last couple days doing something for a client." Nicole explained to him.
"So he just left you alone to take care of Dom?" Troy asked he didn't want to see his mother end up with another man like his father.
"Spud, he isn't like your daddy. Cole is coming back, he calls every couple of hours to check on his son." Nicole said. She loved her oldest for wanting to protect her but he didn't need to protect her from Cole.
"Really Spud, not all the men in this world are like our father." Chord replied trying to get a rise out of Troy. There was also a small trace of bitterness in his voice.
"Don't call me Spud, only mom can and only because she won't not." Troy protested.
"I have been calling you that since before you were born you're just going to have to live with it. You're Spud, Dom is Tater, and Chord is Slaw. All my boys have ridiculous nicknames I can't help it." Nicole replied in her charming southern way.
"I love that our sisters don't have to put up with this." Chord bitched.
"Your older sister is married and I barely see her anymore. Then your younger sister is always off doing God alone knows what. Forgive me if I have to put all of my affection on you boys." Nicole defended herself.
"See that Chord, you hurt her feelings doofus." Troy was partially joking. He went and put his arms around his mom. "It's ok, mommy, I love you if no one else does."
"You are so full of shit, but mommy loves you anyway." Nicole said kissing his cheek. Then she turned to Chord. "I can't get no love from my other boy?" she asked.
"Of course you can, Nic." Chord said getting up to hug her. He still wasn't comfortable calling her mom all the time.
Nicole didn't let the hurt she felt show at him calling her by her first name instead of mom. "I love both of you boys so much." She said hugging both of them close to her.
"I have to say that I find this highly appropriate." Savannah said as she shimmered in. she could only shake her head at her brothers and how attached they were to her mother.
"I was wondering when you were going to sleaze back home, you have been with Alan for about a week." Troy teased his baby sister.
"I have not been with Alan for a week, it's only been two days." Savannah defended herself.
"I didn't think that you could genetically inherit an accent, but I was wrong." Chord laughed.
"Make fun of my accent again and I will kick your ass." Savannah threatened him with a glare.
"I'm just saying that you sound like your mother." Chord said throwing his hands up in the air.
"She is your mother too and more importantly she was your mother first." Savannah corrected him.
"I wish you two wouldn't talk about me like I'm not standing right here." Nicole said looking between them.
"Where is your brother?" Troy asked his baby sister to break up the argument she was having with their brother.
"Dom isn't just my brother, I don't like keeping tabs on him. He might be with Phil for all I know those two do go off together a lot. I just know that he isn't with Paige." Savannah replied.
Dom as if he knew he was being talked about shimmered in at that moment. "Oh God, if I had known that all of you were here I would have stayed gone." He groaned.
"Shut up Dom," Savannah said flipping him off.
"Savannah, that wasn't very ladylike." Liz said coming into the kitchen.
"Lizzie has decided to grace us with her presence, I can only take that to mean her husband isn't home." Troy teased her.
"Wyatt, is working at the club tonight and I decided to come over here and check in with mom since Cole is out of town until Saturday." Liz replied sticking her tongue out at him.
"I don't care why all of you are here, I'm just happy to have all my babies under the same roof for a little while." Nicole replied.
"Where's the baby?" Liz asked her mother.
"He's sleeping, he should be waking up any minute." Nicole informed her.
"Mom, you're actually cooking?" Dom asked her.
"Don't look at me like that, I happen to cook all the time. It's your father you should worry about being in a kitchen." Nicole said slapping him playfully on the arm.
"Dom, has Dodge checked in with you lately?" Troy was really concerned for his son. It had been about two weeks since he had heard from him.
"You would have to ask Paige that question, he isn't talking to me at the moment anyway. I think Paige has heard from him but I can't swear to it." Dom replied helplessly he really didn't know what to tell his brother.
"I haven't talked to him recently either, I'm sure he's fine though. Dodge likes to go off on his own without telling anyone sometimes. It's why he and Paige get along so well he gets the job she wants done and she lets him work at his own pace without questioning him at every turn." Savannah explained to her oldest brother.
"Damn it, that kid is more like me than is healthy for either of us. It's not good for him because there is no telling what kind of trouble he will get into, and it's damn sure not good for me because I worry." Troy said with a sigh. He couldn't really say anything because he was where the boy got it.
"Mels, how much longer do you expect me to be able to lie to mom for you?" Chris asked his baby sister. They were in the storeroom at P3 they were supposed to getting a case of whiskey.
"Tell her, Chris, I don't care. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong." Mel replied rolling her eyes. She could give two shits less what her mother had to say about this one.
"Mom is going to care though, you dropped out of college, Melinda." Chris reasoned with his sister.
"I didn't drop out of college I'm taking my classes online, mom just doesn't know that." Mel corrected her brother.
"Does she know what you've been doing when you're supposed to be in class?" Chris asked her.
"No, and she doesn't need to find out, I like living." Mel replied pinching the bridge of her nose.
"She would kill you if she knew what you had been up to lately." Chris could only shake his head his sister was one of the most stubborn people on the face of the earth.
"I only help Uncle Henry out on the days that I'm supposed to be in class, it's no big deal. You make it sound like I'm breaking some sort of law." Mel rolled her brown orbs again. She was so sick of her brothers thinking that they could run her life.
"Mel, this isn't even about you changing your enrollment status, this is me being worried about you. I know that there is something more going on that you don't want to talk about. Just know that I'm here for you when you're finally ready to talk, I don't guess I can do anything more for you than that." Chris mused pulling her into a hug.
"Chris, that statement you just made did a lot for me. I'm glad that you trust me to work things out in my own time and you're not pressuring me to tell you what's going on. It means a lot that you're treating me like an adult right now." Mel replied hugging him back.
"You are an adult, I can see that even if Wyatt can't. This is your life I just want to make sure you don't burn yourself out. You work pretty intense hours every time you have a shift, I'm just worried about you overdoing it." Chris said like that was his only concern. He had more concerns, but he knew better than to voice them at the moment.
"Just for the record, the work I do for Uncle Hen is for an internship." Mel clarified for him.
"It's not my business, Mels." Chris said making it appear like he didn't worry about her all the time.
"Chris, I know that you're worried, but I promise you I'm fine." Mel said grabbing the case of whiskey and walking out of the room. That was one effective way to end a conversation that she didn't want to be having.
"You have been singing that tune for a year now and I still don't believe it." Chris said to himself after she had gone.
XXXXXXXXXX
"This is wonderful, most nights I don't enough bartenders and tonight I have too many." Parker said shaking his head.
"I'm not bartending tonight, I'm working as a bouncer." Henry replied to that.
"I'm not complaining that means less I have to do." Parker replied with a shrug.
"Why are you working two jobs?" Bianca asked her fiancé.
"Your wedding is breaking me." Henry replied with a smirk.
"You still have the money that you won in Vegas." Bianca reminded him.
"I actually can't touch that money yet, grandpa has it invested for me so I'm making money off of it. I don't have a bunch of cash sitting around like someone I know." Henry teased her.
"Think about my other job and then you'll remember that I have an untraceable bank account so I don't have to have money laying around." Bianca corrected him.
"It's not even normal that those two are having this conversation." Rachel said shaking her head.
"It's a damn good thing that neither one of them never claimed to be normal." Chuck joked.
"No Prue tonight?" Wyatt asked his best friend.
"She went to Aunt Phoebe's to visit with Phil and that is fine by me. If she doesn't bartend then I don't have to knock some guy's teeth down his throat for looking at my wife." Chuck replied with a laugh. "Where's Liz?" He asked wondering what his other best friend had gotten up to.
"Cole is out of town working with a client and Liz is convinced that Aunt Nic can't function without her at the moment." Wyatt rolled his eyes. His wife could be very stubborn when she wanted to be.
"Parker, you're heavy on bartenders tonight." Lilly said coming out of the backroom.
"I know, Lilly, it's not my fault that Piper told these guys to work tonight. I have a feeling I might need them." Parker replied sweetly sarcastic.
"Just send Mel home, she can go spend time with my retarded little brother." Lilly said shrugging.
"I can't send Mel home this is her shift and not only that I'm not telling her to go home. She has a bad temper and I'm not risking provoking her." Parker scoffed at her like she was crazy.
"Really, Lilly, it is best just to let Mel be right now." Chris agreed with his uncle.
"Chris, what's wrong with Mel?" Wyatt asked he knew that something was off with his little sister.
"I don't know, Wy, if I knew then maybe I would be able to do something to help her. I'm really worried about her right now." Chris replied feeling helpless.
"The problem is you two don't know how to talk to Mel." Bianca said standing up she took the towel that Parker had thrown over his shoulder. "Watch and learn." She had the best chance of getting through to Mel because they were so much alike.
"B is about to talk about feelings that should scare the hell out of everyone." Rachel commented shaking her head.
"Not this time, she is the only one that is going to be able to get through that girls thick ass skull. They are essentially the same damn person sometimes." Henry replied. He had faith that Bianca would be able to make Mel see reason.
XXXXXXXXXX
Mel reached under the bar and took out a bottle of pills. She popped the cap off and poured two out in her hand before tossing them in her mouth and chasing them with a drink of water.
"Penny for your thoughts, Mel?" Bianca asked her.
"I'm not really thinking about anything, B, I'm just trying to get rid of the headache that I have." Mel lied.
Bianca took one of the glasses off the bar and started polishing it. "So how are things with Ro?" she asked just making conversation.
"Things are good between us, I don't get to see him as much as I would like to, but things are good." Mel replied.
"I know that feeling, sometimes I get to see Hank for maybe two minutes before I have to leave for work and that's only if he comes by the apartment. I actually get to see him more if he works late because he stops by school before he goes home to get some sleep." Bianca said keeping up the flow of conversation.
"The hours we work aren't very fun sometimes and they're not exactly conducive to having time for anything." Mel agreed.
"Mel, you know that if anything were ever bothering you that you could talk to me right?" Bianca asked her.
"I know that B, we're the only two people who really understand each other. If something were wrong I would come to you, but everything is fine. I just have a few issues to work out and even those are no big deal." Mel replied smiling brightly.
"So my daughter hasn't done anything that can be deemed remotely dangerous?" Bianca made it sound like she was concerned for Paige.
"Way to butter me up just to find out about your hell spawn. I'm shocked at you, B. I thought you and I connected on a really deep level." Mel said pretending to be hurt. "All joking aside though, Slick has been behaving herself lately. There is really nothing for her to do with Greg being gone."
"I just worry about her, she is more like me than is good for her sometimes." Bianca sighed.
"She's bored out of her mind right now since she has nothing to do, but other than that she's actually being good." Mel assured her.
"Thanks, for relieving my stress, Mels. And know that my offer to talk stands whenever you need it." Bianca replied.
"I'm good right now, B, but I'll keep that in mind." Mel said before the older woman walked away from her.
"Well?" Wyatt asked Bianca when she walked back over to them.
"That girl is anything but fine, I don't know what's wrong yet, but I know she will tell me soon." Bianca replied.
"Thanks for trying, B." Chris said throwing his arm around her shoulders.
"Chris, I owe you." Bianca reminded him.
"You don't owe me and besides that even if you did, you making Hank so happy more than pays me back." Chris informed her.
"By the way you might want to have a talk with your daughter, she is bored and that can't be a good thing." Bianca gave him a word to the wise.
"Why does she always have to be my daughter?" Chris asked with an incredulous look on his face. The others all got a pretty good laugh out of that.
Val was sitting on her living room couch painting her toenails when her son hearted into the room. "Jesus Christ, Dean, make a little noise next time so I know that you're coming." She scolded him after she jumped slightly.
Dodge chuckled at the look on his mother's face. "Sorry mom, I just figured that I better check in before you started to worry."
"That was a good idea, it's been two weeks since I heard from you, young man. Your father is going out of his mind with worry." Val yelled at him.
"Dad wouldn't worry so much if I wasn't just like him." Dodge replied with a smirk.
"Watch yourself, you're not too old for a spanking." Val teased him.
Dodge just rolled his eyes. "Really, mom? I will have you know that I'm bigger than you." his brown eyes danced with mirth.
"You may be bigger than me but I'm still your mother." Val cringed when she heard how much she sounded like Phoebe.
"You sounded just like grandma when you said that." Dodge teased her.
"Don't push your luck with me tonight, Troy Dean." Val warned him.
"I'm not only a Halliwell, I'm a Shane man we're known for pushing our luck." Dodge replied seriously.
"What have you been up to that you haven't been able to come by for the last two weeks?" Val asked him while glaring at him.
"I've been busy hanging out in the underworld. I have to make the Triad think that they can trust me or you guys won't have a way in." Dodge replied he really was being serious this time.
"Well, in the future it would be nice if you could come by every couple of days and let me know that you're ok." Val said crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'll come by as often as I can and you'll be happy with that." Dodge replied calling his mom on her bullshit.
"I'm telling you that you better watch your mouth boy." Val couldn't help the smirk that she felt forming.
"You know you want to laugh right now because I sound exactly like you." Dodge called her out.
"I swear I must have raised you to be such a smart ass." Val said shaking her head. This kid was an unholy combination of her and Troy.
"I came by it naturally." Dodge couldn't help making that quip.
"You've got that right, you wouldn't be mine if you didn't have a smart ass mouth." Val had no other choice than to agree with him on that one.
"Where's dad?" Dodge asked out of curiosity.
"I don't know where your dad is right now, with him there is no telling. For all I know he got a wild hair up his ass and decided that he needed to go dig up some relic that will make him more money than he can possibly spend." Val replied. She knew that Troy wouldn't run off without telling her she was just talking for the sake of talking.
"That's what he has you for you can spend whatever he doesn't." Dodge joked he really thought that he was hilarious.
"You've got that right son of mine." Val agreed with him.
"Mom, do you have any food in here?" Dodge asked hopefully but he knew who he was talking to.
"The take out menus are on the counter, order what you want and I'll pay for it." Val said as she went back to painting her nails.
"Do you want anything?" Dodge asked looking through the take out menus.
"It depends on what you're ordering." Val replied.
"I'm ordering a burger from the diner that delivers." Dodge replied.
"Order me a burger too, that sounds pretty good." Val told him.
Dodge made the call and as he was putting the menu back he came across a brochure for an internship. "Mom, what's this?" he asked holding it up.
"That would be a fashion design internship in New York. I applied for it I don't know if I got it yet or not." Val explained to him.
"Oh, I was just wondering." Dodge replied not knowing what else to say.
"It's just something that I'm toying with, it's not a big deal." Val assured him.
"I didn't say anything it's your life. I was just thinking about the Triad." Dodge said. He really hoped that they succeeded in killing the Triad this time. He knew that he couldn't go back to the future knowing that his mom wouldn't be there.
"I don't understand why everyone has to act like I get on their nerves." Phoebe bitched to her sisters. They were sitting around the living room at the manor having sister time.
"It can have nothing to do with the fact that you make a complete and total pain in the ass of yourself." Prue told her younger sister rolling her icy blue orbs at her.
"Hank is pretty patient most of the time and you had him in quite the mood this afternoon." Paige informed her sister.
"He is the one who was being difficult and I swear the boy is color blind." Phoebe replied defensively.
Piper shook her head. "Phoebe, you're damn good at being a wedding planner you're just a little intense when you want to be." She said holding her thumb and index finger inches apart.
"You try dealing with Hank and B, those two aren't the most cooperative people in the whole entire world." Phoebe objected.
"You do have a point there Pheebs," Paige agreed reluctantly.
"Today it took me forever to get out of them what kind of food they wanted at the reception." Phoebe bitched.
"You don't leave things like food up to Henry, he is a picky eater when he wants to be." Piper pointed out to her.
"That was almost as bad as the day I had to get them to pick their damn colors." Phoebe sighed.
"Shit, I'm sure that was a chore. I was there when Lyn told B not to think about picking any dark colors or she would kill her. That was the day that I became thankful that my daughters' mouths are nowhere near as smart as B's is. Hank just shakes his head at her half the time." Paige laughed.
"Just be thankful that you don't live with Mel and Paige, those two could give anyone a run for their money. I swear that they feed off of each other and that is dangerous because they are both bad enough on their own." Piper said. She loved her daughter and her granddaughter but they could both be a handful at times.
"Speaking of Mel, what is that girl up to these days? I hardly every see her anymore." Prue asked about her second oldest niece.
"Mel has work and school to keep her busy, if she isn't either of those places or sleeping then she is with Ro. I barely see her anymore so don't feel like the long ranger." Piper replied.
"The girl really doesn't learn does she?" Phoebe asked.
"No she doesn't. I know that it's only a matter of time before she ends up in the hospital again. I look for it happen anytime now really, it wouldn't surprise me." Piper sighed her daughter just did too damn much sometimes.
"Piper, she's gonna be fine, this is Mel we're talking about. She just has to get her bearings again." Paige assured her older sister. She was worried about her niece too though.
"Paige, I would be inclined to agree with you if it weren't for the fact that she has been like this for over a year now. I'm really starting to think that she is never going to pull out of this funk that she is in. I've tried talking to her I don't know how many times and I never get anywhere with her because she gets pissed off at me for asking." Piper stressed.
"Piper, I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but you don't talk to Mel, she has to be the one to come to you. She is not going to admit that there is anything wrong until it becomes a problem for her." Prue pointed out to her sister.
"Maybe I should get Paige to talk to her, those two are basically the same person when they want to be." Piper mused out loud.
"Paige is the last person in the world that you need to have talk to her, that girl has enough issues of her own to deal with." Phoebe snorted.
"Watch yourself Pheebs, don't make start talking about your grandson and his obvious daddy issues." Piper snapped at her little sister.
"He's Val's son nothing that boy does surprises me." Phoebe said with a shrug.
"You guys seriously need to do something other than worry about the kids." Prue threw out there.
"I do have some good news where my oldest daughter is concerned." Paige said smiling.
"What did Carly do this time?" Phoebe asked a little scared to know the answer to that since if she had done something Val was likely involved.
"Actually, she didn't do anything bad for a change. Carly got into NYU." Paige reported proudly.
"How proud are you right now?" Piper asked her little sister smiling.
"I am so proud of her that it isn't funny. She is actually the twin that has her shit together for a change. Charlie has gotten into every big name school you can think of and she can't make her mind up." Paige replied.
"It is to Carly's advantage that she isn't as attached to Jason as Charlie is to Ricky. I'm telling you that you're going to have a hard time separating those two. They have gone all through school together, they are best friends, and most important of all they are madly in love." Phoebe pointed out to her.
"I'm afraid that Charlie is going to do something that is Carly stupid and follow him to whatever two bit school he wants to play football for." Paige sighed. Really she had more faith in her daughter than that, but she was just worried about her.
"Paige, I don't think you have to worry about that. You have to remember that Ricky is just as smart as she is. Whatever school he picks he is going to base it on academics as well as football." Piper said trying to make her sister feel better.
"Deep down I know that, but I just don't like the thought of my daughter following after a man. I always thought that she was smarter than that." Paige sounded just a little bit like Grams when she said that.
"Grams would be thrilled if she heard you say something like that. Paige, she isn't going to follow him anywhere if anything he is going to be the one that follows her. Ricky will pretty much let her decide and then he'll go where she wants to go. You have nothing to worry about." Prue assured her with a sigh. She didn't know what to do about her little sisters sometimes.
Paige had to smile at that. "Prue, you of all people have no business comparing me to Grams. You act like her a hell of a lot more than I do." She retorted.
"Well then, don't say things that sound like something Grams would say." Prue shot back at her playfully.
"Alright you two break it up." Piper said playing buffer between her oldest and youngest sister.
"Prue started it." Paige protested sticking her tongue out.
"Really mature Paige," Prue said flipping her off.
"Elizabeth and Alexandra both of you knock it off right now." Piper ordered calling her sisters by their middle names.
"Don't make me kick your ass, Piper Grace." Prue threatened her sister.
"There is no way that you two are going to get into a fight without Hank and Chris here to be commentators." Paige said stopping them in their tracks.
"I know those two are funny, but you can't have a fight without the Shane brothers here to take bets." Phoebe chimed in.
"I don't even have the desire to finish this conversation now." Piper shook her head.
"I know what you mean, sis." Prue agreed with her.
"What is this gang up on Phoebe and Paige day?" Phoebe asked innocently.
"Yes," Piper and Prue answered in unison while rolling their eyes. There were just sometimes when their younger siblings could really get on their nerves.
A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it. I should have warned you last chapter that this episode is going to be filled with a lot of fluff after the angst of the last few episodes. I mean they all need a break or they're going to end up in the nut house. I have to say that Lyn's mother reminds me of Grams and that isn't a good thing at all. Hank did manage to put her in her place a little bit though. I had to throw a Penny and Huck scene in here I feel like we don't get to see enough of their relationship sometimes. It looks like Patty and Ricky finally decided which school to go to and I can't say that Mel is going to be very happy when she finds out about it. I had to throw in the scene with Nicole and all her kids. Chord is still a little unsure of his standing with his family and that is why he is having a hard time calling her mom. Dodge is too much like both his parents to be able to function. I wonder what the hell Mel is up to now, that girl hasn't been in a good place for a really long time. It makes you wonder what kind of pills she was taking. If anyone can get through to her it will be Bianca. You have to love when the Halliwell sisters get together because they are so damn funny. Until next time please review.