A/Note: I'll be brief. Today (July 19th) is the one year anniversary of this fic since I first premiered it and I wanted to make sure I celebrated that with a really important chapter, so please review, even if you're a stranger to reviewing this fic. It'd mean a lot to me to help celebrate the occasion. Enjoy reading.
Chapter 18- Twitchlighters
May 21st 2007
Paige moaned in pain as she sat on her bed. The twins were due any day now, but the pain was overwhelming. Sweat was running down her porcelain cheeks as her hair began to stick to her face. She looked down at her stomach and said, "Don't you two just wanna orb out for Mommy? I will buy you your own cars when you're older if you orb out for Mommy!"
Henry walked in with a glass of water and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Paige took two breaths and said, "I'm hot as hell." She thought about it, "Maybe not as hot as the actual Hell, but pretty damn close to it." She took the glass of water and drank it all in one shot. "These babies are just trying to make this their home for another nine months." She rubbed her stomach and harshly whispered, "But Mommy is going to evict you by the end of this week!"
"Honey, calm down," Henry said, moving over to her and sitting by on the bed. He rubbed her back in gentle circles and said, "You just gotta breathe until it's time for the girls to come out."
"And when will that be?" Paige reasonably whined. She was suffering from huge cramps, mood swings, her feet suffered from all the body weight they had to carry, and she feared it would take a long time to gain back her original figure.
"You just gotta keep it together," Henry suggested. "Have you tried reading that book I bought you?"
"Yeah, I have," Paige answered, wiping her face with a tissue to absorb the sweat. "You know me too well. It's a really great book, but I've hardly been able to get past the second chapter because of all the pain." She took a deep breath and asked, "What is Peter up to?"
"He is playing with Billie in the conservatory. They're just playing catch with that rubber ball of his," Henry informed, taking the glass from Paige.
"I'm glad to hear he's having fun," Paige tried to sit up a little further and said, "I think we need to leave him here with Billie and you need to take me to the hospital. My due date was a week ago and the girls are just sucking their stubborn thumbs. I understand that there is more chance of birth delay when giving birth for the first time, but I'm going insane here! I miss walking."
"Paige, you're going to get through this. You just have to hang in there a little while longer," Henry said, hoping to calm her down.
"You do know that I'm a witch, right? So in the case that I am just beyond annoyed, I can cast a spell to make you carry these babies and then I'll be the one telling you to hang in there! How does that sound?" Paige threatened with gritted teeth.
Henry's eyes widened. Him and Paige were officially married for a year a couple of weeks ago and were going as strong as possible, but he knew that Paige's threat was serious in her current condition. She would happily pass over her pain for a few minutes of pleasure. "Alright, if you want to go to the hospital, we'll go."
"Thank you," a relieved Paige said. "When the twins are older, I'll be sure to have them thank you because I was five minutes away from just orbing them out before they were ready. Can you just pack my book into the bag?"
"Of course," Henry obliged, getting off of the bed and getting Paige's bag in order. "Do you have to use the bathroom before we go?"
"Henry, I'm carrying children, I'm not one," Paige snapped, letting the temper of her pregnancy get the best of her.
"Paige, all I meant was that you won't be able to orb out of the car if you need to go and your accuracy with orbing lately hasn't exactly been taking you to where you want to go," Henry reminded.
Paige pouted, remembering her previous attempt to orb to her bathroom and ended up appearing in Phoebe's kitchen. How she got the two mixed up was beyond her, but she assumed it was because of her magic acting up. Pregnancy brought about mixed emotions and the standard lesson of powers being tied to her emotions strongly applied here as well.
"You're right and if I'm being honest, I really do have to use the bathroom real quick," Paige began to move off of the bed and muttered, "Damn bladder."
Henry rushed to her side and assisted her. Once she was on her feet, he held his very pregnant wife's arms and slowly walked with her to the bathroom. He closed the door behind her and hurried to pack the rest of her belongings for her hospital stay. The mortal had been very hesitant on taking Paige to a hospital to give birth with the possibility of their daughters appearing in orbs, but maybe it wouldn't happen. Deep down he believed it would, but minor hope kept him sane.
He packed Paige's book into a black gym bag with Paige's pajamas, tissues, favorite magazines, extra underwear, and a pillow. They were set. The twins' room was finished with the help of Billie and now all they needed were the twins themselves. The room was cool in Peter's eyes, but he liked sleeping in the same bed as Henry and Paige. He didn't care about his own room for now and in the end, the girls would end up sleeping in cribs besides their parents' bed, so the family would all be in one room for a while.
He zippered the bag close when he heard Paige murmur, "Uh oh."
"Uh oh?" Henry asked. "Are you alright, Paige?" He walked over to the door and slowly opened it, "Can I come in?"
"Yeah," Paige answered.
The mortal entered and saw Paige standing with a puddle of water under her. Shock was written across Paige's face and he stated, "Your water broke."
"Good call, Doc," Paige replied, beginning to shake. She took a deep breath and exhaled, "Now we really have to get to the hospital."
(X)
Both Paige and Henry came down the steps and Billie and Peter noticed they were in a rush. They walked towards them and Billie spotted the big bag over Henry's shoulder.
"Oh, my God, is it time?" Billie asked, excited.
"Yeah," Henry simply responded, ushering Paige at a reasonable pace.
Peter smiled and understood that Paige was finally going to give birth. "So my sistahs is comes-ing out? Cans we go?"
Henry turned to Peter as he reached the door and said, "It's not definite right now, but as soon as Paigey gives birth, we're going to call you guys. Just hang out here right now." Henry grinned as he opened the door for his wife and closed it behind them.
Billie bent down and picked up Peter, "Don't worry, little guy, they will definitely call us when your baby sisters are born. Until then, why don't we go and call your aunts and cousins so they know?"
"Yeah!" Peter shouted, raising his fist in excitement.
The witch turned with Peter still in her arms and moved towards the phone to alert the family.
(X)
Henry sat in the driver's seat with Paige beside him in the driveway. The engine was running, but they weren't moving. Paige turned to Henry and stared at him, "What's going on? Did you just forget I got two girls who are finally eager to come out?"
"Paige, when we come back home life won't be the same," Henry stated. "We caught Peter at a decent age, but the girls are going to be keeping us up every night and..."
"We'll adjust to it, Henry. No one said having a child is easy, let alone twins, but I like to think that we're going to find the strength to handle this all," Paige said. "I don't need you having doubts now."
"I'm not necessarily having doubts, but I'm just... Forget it, you're right. I guess I was having some doubts, but I think I got that off my chest now. Uh, we should get a move on," Henry said, looking at the rearview mirror to confirm he had the proper space to exit the driveway.
Paige put her hand on Henry's and asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Henry answered, beginning to turn the steering wheel as Paige removed her hand. "Let's go and deliver our daughters." He backed out of the driveway, leaving the quiet house with the knowledge that when he returned, silence would be rare.
(X)
Deep in the Underworld, a familiar demon walked into his lair, welcoming the scent of dead witches which happened to pass by the air. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his black suit and casually walked further into the lair and reached a cauldron. He sniffed the cauldron's bubbling aqua essence and poked one of the purple bubbles which were rapidly rising from the potion.
He looked up at the small demon who happened to be making the potion and said in his accent, "You're doing very well. I can already feel that urge of power rising within me. How long does it need to fully settle?"
"Not long, sir," the demon with slimy black teeth responded. "Not long at all." The minion adjusted his thick robe and asked, "Are you sure you'll be able to take in all of these abilities? You've killed many witches and there is a slight chance that these powers won't be able to rest within the same host without having some negative effect."
The first demon smirked and turned around the lair to eye his handy work. Four witches in gray rags concealing their bodies hung from shackles on the filthy brown walls. Scorch marks trailed along each witch's body with slight detection of extra marks as well against the walls. It was clear that these witches were hung up from the shackles and killed in those very spots.
The cocky demon stated, "The male witch hanging up there was the toughest to kill, but after I hit him with a hypnotic wave, he was too easy to slaughter."
"But, Nomed, I don't think you're understanding-"
"I understand the risk, clearly," Nomed replied. He turned around and his dark brown eyes gazed upon the lower level demon of sorcery. "I believe I've built up a strong enough exterior to withstand these witches' abilities. Just have the potion finished by the time I return. I'm off to gather the other clan members."
Nomed's body began to quickly shimmer within the air, resembling a steamy current breaking the air barrier, and he vanished in a matter of seconds.
(X)
Paige was sitting in her hospital bed in a white gown and her hair was now in a ponytail. She was no longer sweating excessively and actually found herself relaxed. This was all because of the medication they had given Paige roughly twenty minutes ago. She was currently reading the book Henry bought her about the story of two sisters named Pandora and Panthea who travelled the world together fighting off many monsters from Greek Mythology.
A knock at the door caused Paige to look up and she saw the nurse enter. Jackie was fair-skinned and had striking blue eyes. She wasn't the type of nurse who just stuck with her standard white outfit, but felt the need to express herself with a vast amount of jewelry to go along with her uniform. Jackie smiled at Paige and looked down at a clipboard, "Okay, Mrs. Matthews, how are you feeling?"
Paige chuckled, "I feel like kissing you for all these magical drugs you gave me." She folded the top corner of her page and closed her book. "Don't worry, I won't though."
Jackie grinned, "I can't tell you how many mothers-to-be offer to kiss me after getting drugs. So you're comfortable, right?"
"Very," Paige answered. "Thank you."
"Okay, well your husband is outside meeting the doctor at this moment and filling out some forms. How are your contractions coming along?" Jackie asked with her pen out, ready to record down Paige's answer.
"I haven't really been keeping track, too be honest," Paige admitted, tapping her book. "Are they hurting less because of the medicine?"
Jackie nodded as she wrote down Paige's response on her chart, "That's right-o, but do your best to keep track. It's necessary," Jackie placed the clipboard under her arm and said, "I should be back in about ten minutes or so to see how you're doing." With one last smile, Jackie turned on the heel of her white shoe and left.
Just as Paige was about to return to her book, Phoebe walked in with her laptop bag slung over her shoulder. Her brown hair rested on her bare shoulders. A white Visitor label was pressed against her lime green top and she was also wearing white capri pants. She ran to the end of Paige's bed with a smile, "Any news on my nieces?"
The Witchlighter smiled, "Your stubborn nieces are just fine, I'm sure. Where's Coop?"
Phoebe pulled out a chair besides Paige and put her laptop bag on the floor before she sat down, "He's out there with Henry. Why he couldn't come in here first to greet you is beyond me, but that doesn't matter. Do you need anything?"
Paige nodded, "I'm fine, Phoebs. I got a great nurse waiting on my hands and feet, so you can just stay parked right there. How's everything going?"
"I charged out of work so I can get my rear over here to see my nieces being born," Phoebe replied with a smirk. "Piper's on her way as well, it's just taken her a lot more time to get the kids together."
"Good, because if these two come orbing out I'm going to need her to freeze the room," Paige commented. "I know that I'm extremely eager to give birth to these two right now, but once they're out there is going to be no putting them back in when, which I'm sure I'm going to want when they're screaming their little lungs out at four in the morning."
The middle sister grinned, "I'm the exact opposite. I'm so eager to give birth that I'm promising myself that I won't mind my little girl disturbing my beauty rest." She stared at her younger sister and took her hand, "I understand that things are going to be rough, but you'll adjust. You learned how to be a sister and with us introducing you to your Charmed heritage, that was a task in itself. So if you can handle demons for all these years, what are two infants and a one year old compared to that?"
"Um, a lot," Paige replied. "When I engaged with demons, I was intending to kill them, but with three kids, I have to kinda preserve their lives. Big difference."
"My point was that if you could adjust to that lifestyle in the time you did, you have it in you to adjust to raising two baby girls," Phoebe explained. "Sure, you helped Piper out with the boys and you've been with Peter for months now, but I'm sure that you can say you've felt more protective over Peter than Wyatt and Chris, right?"
"Well..."
"Paige, I'm not going to run to Piper with this and frankly, she'd understand. Peter may not be your blood, but he's your son and you treat him as if he came from you and Henry," Phoebe said with a smile, placing her hand on Paige's. "I greatly admire that about you. It shows that you can open your heart to lengths you would've never really imagined."
"I never even saw myself as a mother, let alone the mother of a child that wasn't mine," Paige admitted. "I do love Peter so much though and I hope he knows that even when the girls are born that we won't automatically love them more."
"Well, I'm sure you and Henry will have to devote more time to the twins, but he and Billie seem to be a fun pair," Phoebe commented, removing her hand. "I'm sure she'll help you out with him and the girls."
Paige pushed herself up along the bed a little higher and responded, "Yeah, Billie will, but with this new information on her possibly becoming a sorceress, she might have her hands full if it entails her to do something special."
Both Henry and Coop walked in and Coop instantly waved to Paige. He grinned at her and asked, "How are you feeling, Paige?"
Paige looked slightly annoyed, "I'm feeling like I'm going to orb the next person into a desert that asks me that." She posed a smile and feigned a chuckle.
"Sorry I asked," Coop replied, the grin still across his face.
"Paige, your doctor should be coming to see you in a little bit," Henry informed, moving over to her side and taking her hand. "Are you thirsty? Hungry?"
Paige nodded and lied, "Yeah, I'm actually a little bit of both. Can you guys possibly go and get me some yogurt and a water?" She tapped away at her book as she moved out from Henry's hand and the three others looked at each other.
"I'll go and get the water," Phoebe said, walking out of the room.
"We'll go downstairs and get a couple of yogurts for you," Henry said, kissing his wife on the forehead before leaving with Coop. He understood that Paige just wanted to return to his book, because getting yogurt certainly wasn't a two-people job.
"Finally," Paige whispered, lifting her book to resume her reading. She loved her family, but she was never one to assume her role as the baby of the family and preferred working everything out on her own. She knew that her independence would ultimately suffer with having sisters, getting married, and having children which was a prime reason she felt she wasn't ready to be a mother, but her destiny of almost one year assured her that she would always have a part of herself to tend to alone.
(X)
Nomed returned to the Underworld in instant shimmers and moved towards his minion. "The rest of the clan are patiently waiting outside the lair on my orders. Is the potion ready? If I'm to make a move on the Charmed One, I'll need to be within the best of my abilities."
The minion grabbed a group of branches from an Underworld tree that were wrapped with straw. He spat on the branches, black saliva staining the straw and tossed it into the bubbling cauldron. The potion exploded with purple steam ascending and dispersing with a quick wave of the minion's hand. He grabbed a wooden ladle from the table beside him and dipped it into the cauldron, pulling out a cup of potion. "Here you go, Nomed. One fusion potion."
Nomed walked over and grabbed the ladle, grinning at the minion, "Cheers." He put his lips to the ladle and slurped the potion, feeling a rush of magical energy pour down his throat as his minion witnessed a silver glow wash over the demon. Upon finishing, Nomed walked over to the cauldron, refilling the ladle, "I'm here for seconds."
"Nomed, no!" The minion cautioned. "You're already putting yourself at risk by having one serving. These powers may not have a positive effect on you. You might be bringing an early death upon yourself."
Nomed slurped the second serving and threw the ladle into the cauldron where it fell to the bottom, not to be seen again. "I'm aware of the risk, minion. I asked you to make a large batch so my taste for power will be replenished with each serving until I ultimately gain enough power to destroy this Witchlighter and with that, eliminating two witches who are bound to be as powerful as their mother. If I can prove myself successful of this task, I'll have enough power to take on the Twice Blessed Child and his brother who's power is feeble when compared."
Nomed took a couple of steps back and spun around in a slow circle, allowing his small greasy black curls to bounce with the motion. "Now, I'm off to kill the witch..."
As the demon began to shimmer away, streams of fire danced around his feet, showing a mixture of teleportation abilities. He vanished, but this side effect concerned his minion.
(X)
Paige reached the end of chapter three in her book when Nomed appeared before her with his strange teleportation. He waved at the Witchlighter as her eyes widened.
"You..."
"Yes, me," Nomed said, raising his arm as Paige did the same. The demon was quicker though and a clear hypnotic wave glided off of his fingertips and stunned the hybrid to an early sleep. He grinned and rubbed his fingers against his palm, causing purple friction and when he opened his hand fully, a purple sphere rolled around his palm and he cockily said, "I make this way too easy on myself. Your wretched children better not interfere with the kill." He was unsure if her twins ever showed signs of abilities from the inside and didn't want to be delayed so early on.
Phoebe walked in with a water bottle and saw the back of Nomed, not realizing it was a demon. She turned to Paige and saw she was unconscious. She listened closely and heard the purple sphere giving off a quiet buzzing and shouted, "Hey!"
Nomed turned around and both Phoebe's jaw and Paige's water bottle from her hand dropped when she saw who it was. Without wasting time, she leapt into the air, kicking Nomed square in the chest. Nomed stumbled back and the purple sphere returned within his stored power.
Phoebe swung her right fist at Nomed and managed to hit him in the jaw. She swiftly spun around, elbowing Nomed in his chest again and backed him into a wall.
The witch took a step back, catching her breath and when she charged Nomed again, the tables turned. Nomed gestured towards Phoebe with two fingers and sent her flying into the door. He grinned as she slammed against it, closing it. "You should've stayed outside, Phoebe."
Phoebe rubbed her head on the floor and groaned. "And you should've stuck to your word with leaving us alone."
The demon saw her getting up and he released another stream of forced hypnosis upon Phoebe, dropping her back to the floor. "I suppose I can play more with my food before the main meal." He gently motioned his wrist at Phoebe and sent her sliding across the floor and she slammed into a monitor.
Nomed turned back to Paige, feeling cockier than usual. "I have you right where I want you."
Six spheres of gold and white light begans to dance around the room, forming two silhouettes and ultimately produced two brunettes. The eldest of the two held out her hand and a lightning bolt quickly shot out from the core of her palm and against Nomed's shoulder.
Nomed flew off of his feet and slammed into the same door he tossed Phoebe into. He stared up at the identical women and snarled, "How?"
"Don't try to touch our mother," Sarah, Paige's eldest daughter, warned.
Samantha folded her arms and smirked, "Finish him off, Sarah. Didn't Mom teach us to mock the demon and then attack before they can vanish?"
Nomed's eyebrows narrowed and he snarled, "This isn't over."
Sarah held up her hand, ready to attack, but her foe vanished in shimmering flames. "Damn it."
"Told you to speed it up," Samantha said, turning to her elder sister. "Now we gotta chase a demon in the past." Samantha began to claw at her long brown hair, something she generally did when nervous.
The door opened and both Henry and Coop walked in, each holding a different flavor yogurt. They first spotted the twin women in front of them and Coop turned his attention to his fiancée.
"Phoebe!" The cupid dropped the yogurt and charged over to her, sliding onto his knees to check on her. He cupped his hand under her soft honey brown hair and felt her heart beating with his own. "She'll be fine."
The moment Henry entered, Samantha was prepared to call out to him, but due to Sarah's hand clasped over her mouth she couldn't. They both stared at their father, trying to look as innocent as possible.
Henry continued to stare at them, finding a slight resemblance and asked, "Who are you two?"
"Us?" Sarah asked cooly. "You know what, we're not going to pull a 'Chris Perry' on you and we're just going to come out with it." She turned to her sister, presenting her the option to spill the secret.
"We're your daughters," Samantha informed with a smile and a bounce of the shoulders.
Henry looked closer at the two. Both Sarah and Samantha had their mother's cheekbones and bone structure. Also sharing Paige's eyes, he knew that their light brown hair came from him when he was younger. His hair tone darkened over time, but it was apparent that their hair was staying the color.
Sarah was in a black long sleeve shirt with golden sparkles running along the sleeves to match the buckle on her belt which held up her black pants. Her sandy brown hair was straight and flowed over her shoulders with her brown eyes still gazing upon her father.
Samantha's hair was in several curly locks with bangs falling over her forehead. She was in a sky blue sleeveless top with white buttons falling down the middle. Hugging her legs were ordinary blue jeans with two navy blue pockets on her rear with matching patches on her knees. She dug her hands into her pocket and shrugged her shoulders again, "So, you just going to stand there, Dad?"
Henry's jaw hung open and he wasn't sure of what to say. This was his first time meeting with someone from the future and even if it wasn't, it wouldn't have been an area of expertise. What was he allowed to ask? What if they revealed something about the future that made him change his ways? Was he a good parent to them?
Sarah smirked, "Apparently he is. I think we should let him get his act together as we wake up Mom."
This reached Henry's ears and he turned to see his wife was unconscious. He ran past his daughters, where they both smelled a cologne they weren't used to smelling in years. Henry grabbed Paige's hand and asked his daughters, "What happened to her?"
"Gee, what a way to say 'hello', Dad," Sarah quipped, folding her arms against her chest. "A demon just hit her with a little sleeping spell."
"She's okay though, she should be able to come out of it all on her own," Samantha informed. "If need be, we can always force her out of her slumber with a quick spell."
"Well, do it!" Henry exclaimed.
Sarah turned to Samantha with a knowing grin, "I can't tell you how good it is to be parented by you." Sarah moved closer to her mother and told her sister, "Why don't you go heal our fallen aunt as I wake up Mom here with a spell? You're much better at the healing thing than me."
Samantha scoffed as she walked over to her aunt and bent down, holding her stretched out palms above Phoebe's unconscious body. "You've gotten better at it, sis. Maybe if you didn't doubt yourself so much, you'd be taking on charges of your own."
"Hey!" Sarah exclaimed. "You got your charges and I got my Innocents. I'm not too keen on switching things up anytime soon." She placed her hand over her mother's forehead and closed her eyes, preparing a spell as her sister healed Phoebe.
(X)
Paige's eyes slowly fluttered open after her subconscious heard chanting from a gentle voice. Her eyes opened and fell back down, but she could've sworn she saw a young woman who looked very similar to her. The next time her eyes opened, they remained open and gazed upon Sarah.
The Witchlighter looked around and saw her husband who happened to be blocking Samantha from sight and tried to figure out what happened with Nomed. She turned back to Sarah and figured she wouldn't discuss this in front of a stranger. Paige eyed Sarah's clothes and her assumption of this being her doctor was crossed out, so she asked, "Who are you?"
"Me?" Sarah asked, grinning. "I'm one of two."
"Excuse me?" Paige asked, turning to Henry. "Who is this crazy lady?"
"Funny you call her crazy, Paige," Henry grinned. "Apparently, she's our daughter." He watched as her wife shot a quick glance at Sarah. "It must run in the family."
"But... She's one person," Paige obviously stated. "Where's her sister? Did something go wrong?" She turned to Henry, who stepped out of the way, revealing Samantha.
Blood rushed to Paige's pale cheeks and provided an instant blush. She stared at Samantha, turned to Sarah and looked down at her stomach. Without looking up, she asked, "You're from the future, aren't you?"
Samantha walked over to Sarah and told her mother, "We sure are, Mom."
Paige stared at her daughters, only having seen Piper's children come from the future. This was an experience of her own. She grinned and asked, "Well, what are your names? Speak now or forever hold your peace."
The eldest twin grinned, "We like our names and you will come to them on a natural course, but we're here to make sure that you give birth to us today."
"What do you mean? What's supposed to happen?" Paige asked, frightened. She took her husband's hand and gripped it tightly.
"Well, we're supposed to be born today, but Nomed has other plans," Samantha informed. "So we're here to make sure that we can put a dent on his plans, just like the Book of Shadows instructed us."
With her free hand, Paige placed it against her forehead and shook her head. "Wait, the Book told you to come here?"
Sarah turned to her younger sister, "Wow, this future stuff is pressing. Never again."
Samantha smirked and turned back to her mother, "Well, you wrote in the Book of Shadows that we're supposed to come on this day to ensure our lives. So basically the you in our time wrote that entry when we were born and now we've come from our time to make sure that we are born in this time. So after all this is done, you gotta make sure that the twins growing inside you are left with instructions to go back in time in twenty-two years to make sure the next set of twins are born." The Whitelighter-skilled twin inhaled a well-deserved breath after explaining the process.
Henry looked from his daughters to his wife and shrugged his shoulders, "They lost me at coming on this day to ensure their lives."
Paige nodded at Samantha, "Yeah, surprisingly, I understand what you're saying. I appreciate you not being so cryptic though. Where's Peter?"
Sarah waved her finger and said, "Nope, we can't go talking about him now. When we chanted that spell to leave the future to come here, there was a promise that we made to the cosmos that we wouldn't reveal much." She shrugged her shoulders, "Okay, technically, we didn't promise the cosmos anything, but it's the whole burden of time traveling; if you come from the future, you don't talk about the past."
"Yeah, we get it," Phoebe said, rubbing her forehead at all this time-travel talk. "So have you guys served your purpose by letting us know about Nomed?"
"Not exactly," Sarah answered. "Mom here is a bit tied up at the moment, so we're here to fill in. Two Witchlighters for the price of one." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Wait, you girls are Witchlighters, too?" Henry asked, eyes widening.
"Well, yeah," Sarah answered. "We're the daughters of the destined Witchlighter herself. Although there may be others..." she turned to her mother once more. "... You're the one that will be remembered throughout time, Mom."
Paige's grip loosened on Henry's hand and she placed both palms on her stomach. "And to think I was pissed off after learning about all of this. I now have a reserved seat in the history of the world." She grinned. "Pretty damn cool, if I do say so myself."
Sarah unfolded her arms and clapped her hands, "And now we have a demon to chase after. Who's up for it?" She scanned the room and turned to Phoebe. "You look like you want some revenge after, don't you?"
"Yeah, I could go for a battle. It's been a while," Phoebe said, stretching her arms behind her back to flex the muscles she gained over the years. "Aside from today, of course."
"Take Billie with you," Paige advised, ready to send her daughters off into battle knowing it's the nature of a witch. "But just one of you bring Peter to me. I don't want him in the house if you're inviting demons over to play."
"Of course," Samantha said. "I'll orb the little guy right on over." She held out her hand to Phoebe and the witch willingly grabbed it. Samantha rested her hand over Sarah's shoulder, preparing to orb off.
"Wait, I want to help too," Coop offered.
"Coop, this demon took me down. No offense, honey, but that means he'd be able to take you out as well," Phoebe said. She waved her hand and showed her the ring on her finger, "I still have you with me, and this alone will keep me safe. Just help watch my baby sister and get her out of here if anyone comes."
Coop nodded, knowing there would be no talking his way into going with her. He just watched as his future nieces and fiancée orbed out of the hospital room.
Henry spotted Coop's inner frustration and said, "It's not easy watching them orb into battle, is it?"
"You would know," Coop commented, putting on a small grin for the Mitchells.
(X)
Samantha, Sarah, and Phoebe appeared in the foyer of the Mitchell-Matthews manor in three separate, yet joint columns of orbs. When they were clearly visible, they instantly spotted Billie who was holding Peter's hand.
"Whoa!" Peter exclaimed in a loud whisper. He smiled at Phoebe and ran over to her, hugging her legs like he did when he first met her on his birthday. This had become his traditional ambush hug with his aunt. "Aunt Phoebe!"
Phoebe picked him up from under his arms and balanced him on her hip, kissing him on the cheek. "How are you doing, Peter Pan?"
"I'm fine," Peter answered, surprising her with a kiss on the cheek. He looked at Samantha and Sarah and asked, "Who's dey?"
"Yeah, good question," Billie sharply responded. "I'm going to assume friend as opposed to foe right off the bat by those orbs."
"They're more than just friends, Billie," Phoebe explained. "They're family. Check out the resemblance and put that with the fact that they're twins and what do you get?"
Billie's eyes widened and she pointed at the twins, "You're Paige's twins?"
"Ding, ding, what's her prize?" Samantha quipped, raising friendly eyebrows at the witch. "I'm just kidding."
"No worries," Billie replied, grinning at the two girls in front of her. "This is so bad ass." She looked at Peter, who was now staring at her, understanding the bad word. "Sorry, sweetie. Just don't repeat me or tell your parents."
"Dey too big to be my sisters," Peter commented, unsure of magic's possibilities with the future. "Paigey gives birth, alweady?"
"Oh, how should we explain this?" Phoebe said, letting an awkward silence follow.
"We should've asked Chris the best way to go about this," Samantha admitted, eyeing her older brother at his younger age.
"Too late now," Sarah said, stopping to think. "Or would that be too early since we're-"
"Hey!" Samantha interjected. "We promised ourselves that we wouldn't get caught up in all this time travel lingo." She turned to Peter and said, "We're just your sisters, but much older. Do you know what the future is?"
Peter nodded side to side, "No."
"Well, the future is a little bit hard to explain, but it's a moment in time that follows this moment. It's..." she stopped, rolling her hands around in a circle to find the right words as her mother commonly does when winging a spell. "What lies ahead. Do you kinda understand what we're saying?"
Peter gently nodded, still confused for the most part. He shrugged his little shoulders and innocently replied, "I think so."
"You don't have to understand it all right now, Peter, but know that your Paigey is still getting ready to give birth to the sisters you are going to live with," Samantha explained. "Do you understand that?"
"Yeah," Peter honestly answered. "What is your names?"
Sarah turned to Samantha and asked her, "Do you think we should make that exception for him? He is just a curious mind after all."
"Yeah, I guess," the youngest twin agreed. "I'm Samantha."
"And I'm Sarah," the eldest said. "You should probably go and take him to the hospital to be with Mom."
"Definitely," Samantha agreed, taking ahold of Peter. She grinned, "So, I hope you're a fan of orbing at this stage of your life." She brushed his hair back and vanished in a culmination of orbs.
"So what do we owe this visit?" Billie asked. "And what am I like in the future?" She grinned, eager to get knowledge from the future.
"You're dead," Sarah bluntly said. She noticed the complete shock in Billie's face and chuckled, "I couldn't help myself, I'm sorry."
Billie squinted her eyes and pointed her finger at her, "I could just slap you right now."
"No touching your elders," Sarah said, making her way past Billie and towards the stairs.
"Um, I'm twenty-one and you're not even born yet," Billie replied, following.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm currently twenty-two, making me a year older than you," the Witchlighter from the future proudly stated.
"And you're not even going to have an age to boast about if we don't make this potion, so less chatter and more plotting," Phoebe said from behind.
(X)
"Damn witches!" Nomed shouted in the Underworld lair where he received his new powers. He paced in front of members of his clan, all in black attires, along with the demon who created the potion. "They came from the future to stop me."
"That must mean you didn't succeed, Nomed," one demon assumed.
"It must," Nomed said. "No one turns them either. Not an ounce of evil could be detected within their blood. They must be as powerful as their Witchlighter mother. I knew that twins being produced would lead to some definite power, but when I tasted that lightning bolt against my chest... It was unlike any other. We must see if we can eliminate these witches all at once now."
"What do you suggest we do?" another asked. "Perhaps we can take in some of the power you now have within you."
Nomed stopped pacing. He turned to the demon and said, "You dare ask for a share in my power? You don't have the strength to contain these abilities and I refuse to waste good potion on a demon of your level." He held out his hand as if he was about to produce an offensive attack and said, "But I'll spare you. If you're going to die, it'll be at the hands of one of the witches. I refuse to shed myself of anger on you like all the other idiotic demons who vanquished their allies."
Nomed moved over to the cauldron where he telekinetically stirred the potion, erupting in a sphere of potion that remained elevated in the air. He turned to the minion who gave up on trying to warn him and mentally welcomed the potion to fly into his mouth in a long stream, giving him more power. His dark eyes now glowed purple before returning to their normal color.
"What we're going to do is make another attempt at the Witchlighter," Nomed informed. "We're going to kill three witches with one stone, hopefully. If we can kill them, I'll be able to absorb their powers before they ascend into some other plane, but I have a backup plan as well. If we don't succeed in immediately killing the mother of these powerful twins, we're going to make sure we kill them here to ruin their timeline."
"Just so they won't be able to return home?" One demon asked.
"Correct," Nomed answered with a sly smile. "And, if we can kill them in our time, I'll be able to steal their already grown abilities."
"How is it that they've come from the future with their powers?" Another demon asked, never hearing of this before.
"Witches from the future must have discovered some potion or spell to bear their powers through time travel," Nomed assumed. "Also, technically, they haven't been born yet so they hold all rights to their abilities." He waved his hand over the cauldron, producing a silver cage that kept it from being accessed from anyone else but himself. "But I want the rights to their powers."
(X)
"Coop, take Peter outside!" Henry shouted at the cupid, who immediately acted and walked with Peter outside the hospital room. The mortal rushed to his wife's side as she experienced another painful contraction.
"I need the doctor," Paige shouted, gripping the collar of his shirt and lowering him to her level. "So help me, Henry, if you don't get him... I will orb your ass into the Underworld where you will be forced to fend for yourself!"
"Paige, you need..." Henry started, before being physically pushed away by Paige and he stumbled back a few steps. "Pai-"
"Where are my sisters?" Paige shouted, pressing her fingers inside her bed. "I need Piper! And Phoebe!" Tears from all the pain slid down her rosy red face, clutching onto the bed some more.
"Paige, I'm going to go and get your doctor," Henry informed, making his way to the door.
"Now you want to get him?" Paige shouted. "No, Henry, no, how about we give him another five minutes to get his wits together?" Her face strained as she sensed another contraction not far behind. "Get Piper!"
Henry charged out of the room, looking for both Paige's doctor and eldest sister. The door closed behind him and three demons shimmered in, all holding energy balls.
One sneered as Paige's eyes were closed from the straining and figured she hadn't sensed them. He threw his energy ball and before it could crash into her, it was absorbed in orbs and reversed course. The energy ball smacked into the chest of the demon, blowing him up where he stood. As the flames quickly devoured him, his screams reached Paige's ears.
She opened her honey brown eyes and shouted, "You have got to be kidding me!" Paige threw her arm out, hoping to telekinetically throw the energy balls into the demons, but was only successful in slamming the demons into the walls.
The energy balls of her opponents retreated back into the palms of the demons for reasons of inactivity.
The Witchlighter wanted to scream for help, but she couldn't risk mortal lives to protect her. Besides, it was a possibility that the demon didn't just combust on his own, so maybe there was someone looking out for her. She threw up her hand again and shouted, "Underworld!"
Only one demon was absorbed in a dazzling column of orbs and she had been aiming for both. Her powers were acting up, but hopefully the vanishing demon wouldn't return for some time. The remaining demon stood to his feet and quickly generated an energy ball. He raised his arm to throw it until the door opened and slammed into his back.
The neon blue energy ball flew out of his hands and exploded in the wall behind Paige's head. The demon began to pick himself up from the white floor and turned to see Piper standing over him.
The eldest sister caught sight of the hole in the wall and then the demon on the floor. She turned to Paige and asked, "Demon?"
Paige nodded, sobbing with relief to see her sister come help her. "Blow him up."
Piper looked back down at the demon and saw that he was generating a new energy ball. With a quick gesture, she blew up both the energy ball and the demon, creating a more fiery vanquish. "No need to tell me twice." She rushed to Paige's side and brushed back the strands of her brown hair which were sticking on her forehead. "What was that about?"
Paige shook her head from side to side, "I don't know, Piper, they just came and..." she stopped to let out a painful scream from another contraction, palming her large stomach. "I think the twins are getting ready to come out, Piper! I need a doctor! And my husband!"
Piper took her sister's hand and said, "I saw him on my way in and he's looking for your doctor. You just have to hang in here and break my hand if necessary." She grinned at her sister and said, "I'm sure it's within your abilities to heal my broken bones after. If not, we're in a hospital so all will be well." The eldest looked to the opposite side of the bed and saw Phoebe's laptop. "Where exactly is Phoebe?"
(X)
"Sarah, watch out!" Phoebe shouted, taking caution for herself as she dived behind a knocked over table to dodge a ferocious energy ball. She heard the sphere of energy crash into Paige's wall and was just glad to have avoided it. She felt moisture all over her skin and looked down to find that her skin was stained with red and blue potions. She turned to the floor where she saw a cauldron spilling the contents and she just rolled her eyes, "This better come off."
Phoebe peeked out from the table and saw Sarah with her hand raised, ejecting a blue lightning bolt into Nomed's chest, blasting him out of the altar room. Both twins then chased after him as the Charmed One ran out from behind the table when she saw a demon closing in on Billie with an athamae. With her stained arm, the witch swung it back and quickly slammed it into the back of the demon.
After the impact, the demon dropped his athamae and fell to the floor. He looked up to the ceiling and let out an agonizing scream as he was consumed in violet flames.
Phoebe looked to her arm, figuring that the potion must've rubbed off against him and still had some effect. She tapped Billie on her shoulder and said, "Watch your back a little closer next time." Both her and Billie ran out into the hallway where they saw the twin Witchlighters at the end by the staircase.
"Those two sure know how to clear house," Billie said, jogging after them. As both she and Phoebe were running down the stairs, they saw Sarah with her arms raised.
"So what was it, Nomed?" Sarah asked as a powerful wind began to whistle. "Were you aiming to kill us or take our powers? I gotta say, you picked a real punk time to make a move." A gray gust emanated from the eldest twin's palms and lifted Nomed into the air, slamming him against the wall.
"Try not to break Mom's stuff," Samantha said. "She hasn't exactly gotten that job yet."
"You witches think you're funny?" Nomed shouted, conjuring a black fireball with gold sparkles occasionally shooting out. He waved his arm and released the strange attack, which was quickly deflected by Billie.
"Actually, I'm the witch that thinks she's funny," Billie commented, raising her hand. "I know I got my hits and misses, but overall, I'm delightfully amusing." She grinned. "You're outnumbered."
"That means nothing, Billie," Nomed snarled, rising to his feet as his eyes flashed purple and quickly returned back to normal. "You don't have the power to defeat me. I hold too much power within me, none that you can match." He conjured up another black fireball and quickly launched it before anyone had a chance to react.
Sarah was smacked in her abdomen by the magical attack and instead of flying back, she hovered high into the air where golden electric currents ran around her body. She screamed in pain, something not familiar with any of the other witches, including her sister.
"Sarah!" Samantha shouted. She reached out for her sister before a black lightning bolt shot into her side, catapulting her into the stair railing and she ultimately crashed through it, landing amongst splintered wood and debris. As she rested on the steps, her breaths became more and more shallow.
Phoebe turned to Billie and said, "Get Sarah down. Figure something out!" The witch charged towards Nomed with no power to defend herself, but with a family to protect; even if that family didn't technically exist yet.
The Charmed One swung her fist at Nomed, luckily making contact with his jaw. The demon only stumbled back and Phoebe's fist hurt since his jaw seemed to be tougher than most demon's. She quickly hit him with a crescent kick in his jaw once more, but her foot didn't hurt as much as her fist did upon impact. She elbowed him in his stomach before grabbing him by his shoulders and falling with him to the floor. The witch fell on her back and she flipped Nomed over her with the great will of her leg strength. She performed an impressive kip-up and returned to a fighting stance.
"How'd it taste to get your ass kicked by a witch with no offensive abilities?" Phoebe mocked, holding her fist up as she was prepared to fight again. She saw the demon wasn't returning to his feet and saw Sarah drop from the air, violently choking.
Billie rushed to the future Witchlighter's side and brushed her now frizzy hair out of her face and asked, "Are you okay? Sarah?"
Sarah clutched her chest, still feeling electric currents run around the inside of her body and she let out a short scream. "Where's... Sam?"
Billie looked up to the staircase where Samantha was still breathing, "She's fine. You just have to hang in there."
Phoebe was about to run past Nomed when she saw him telekinetically lift himself up from the floor, immediately conjuring another black fireball with the golden currents buzzing around it. "Billie, look out!"
The blonde witch was still on the floor when she quickly shifted around to see the attack flying her way. She threw out her hand, forcing the fiery black sphere back into it's sender.
Nomed flew straight up into the air, feeling the same painful effects as Sarah did moments ago. He swung his fists around, trying to battle the electrifying cage and he just let out a painful scream. "I'll be ba-" Nomed couldn't bear to feel the pain any longer and just vanished from his spot in a black cloud of smoke with ferocious flames following.
"I think we got him," Phoebe said. "He got cut off and that looked like a vanquish to me." The witch moved from her spot and began to jog up to the steps to check on her future niece. She brushed the brunette's hair and gently tapped her shoulder, receiving a stronger breath from her. "Hey, we got the demon."
Samantha looked up at Phoebe, her eyes fluttering, "So we served our purpose."
"You sure did," Phoebe replied. "You helped save your future along with a ton of heartache from this family if he would've gotten to you. I just think you need to heal your sister now." She helped Samantha to her feet, being careful not to lose her balance on the steps.
Samantha ran down the steps and when she reached the bottom floor, she slid onto her knees with her hands extended over her sister. The golden healing light glowed from her milky white palms and healed her sister from the near fatal attack. "You alright?"
Sarah nodded, "Yeah. Thanks, sis."
"Nomed's gone," Billie informed. "It turns out he wasn't as tough as he thought he was." She looked at her watch and back at the group of witches. "Shouldn't we be getting to the hospital?"
Phoebe turned to Samantha and said, "Alright, I know you're not supposed to be telling us about the future and all, but I have a question that doesn't regard me having kids or anything. Are you guys going to be born in orbs? Do you know?"
"Oh..." Samantha looked over sympathetically to her sister, "There will be orbs for sure."
(X)
"Paige, push!" Henry shouted, his grip tight around Paige's sweaty hand. He assured her, "You can do it, just keep pushing!"
Piper was on Paige's right side, ignoring the wishes of the doctors and nurses to leave. She was standing by Paige's shoulder, but was hanging a little more at the end of the bed to freeze the doctors if she saw any orbs.
"I... Can't! It hurts!" Paige cried, her face was the reddest Henry had ever seen. Her labored breathing made the experience far worst and her forehead cringed as she felt one girl making her way out.
"We see a head," the doctor announced, reaching in under Paige's hospital gown to palm the child's head. "You're doing excellent, Paige."
Piper proudly looked onto her sister and raised a hand to her mouth. She took a deep breath as her eyes began to tear. She lowered her hand and said, "You're doing fantastic, Paige. You're doing great, you just need to give one hard push."
"I..." Paige was no longer about to say she couldn't. She cringed again; her cheeks rose almost as high as her eyes and her eyelids hid her honey brown eyes with great force. She screamed, feeling her first child slide out of her with the doctor's hands making contact with her body as he helped pull the child out.
The doctor cradled a bloody baby girl who was wailing in her first moments of life. No orbs followed her, but the smiles of two new parents and one pleased aunt did.
Paige cried tears of joy as she threw herself against her pillow, her gaze not leaving her daughter. "Oh, my God. She's..."
"Beautiful," Henry said. The nurse approached him with a scissor. Without having to be told, he took the scissor from Jackie and walked over to cut the umbilical cord. He was even closer to his daughter now and just watched her as she was carried away by Jackie to get cleaned.
"Oh no..." Paige said, discovering she didn't have as much time of a break as she thought. She felt the familiar sensation she often felt with orbing and she turned to Piper, actually making her best attempt to hold the second baby in as opposed to pushing. "Piper! Do it, do it!"
The eldest Halliwell quickly threw up her hands and froze the mortals on the scene. The sounds of a wailing child continued and the gentle jingle of orbs were accompanied with four columns of orbs. The orbs vanished and revealed the quartet that finished battling Nomed.
"Finally!" Samantha exclaimed. "Does it really take forever to freeze a doctor?" She smiled at her mother, "We got the demon, by the way."
Sarah turned her attention to the crying baby and said, "Aw, I look so cute." She began to walk over to herself and caught sight of her frozen father, "Hey, Aunt Piper?"
"Aunt Piper?" Piper repeated. "Who the hell are you two?"
Sarah glared, "We're twins. Put one and one together."
Piper put her hands to her mouth and turned to Paige, "Did you cast a spell?" She saw how uncomfortable Paige was looking and said, "Oh, you're still giving birth. Sorry."
"Piper, unfreeze Henry," Phoebe instructed.
Billie moved her way over to baby Sarah and put her hands over her mouth, "She's so gorgeous."
Henry unfroze by Piper's release and was confused to see four additional people in the room. "What's going on?"
"I can't hold her in any longer!" Paige cried, pushing her second daughter at with ease as she flew out in swaddling orbs with the umbilical cord flying out from Paige.
Samantha quickly caught herself, smiling down at her baby version, "Oh, this is kinda awkward." Her father quickly ran over and cut the cord, allowing Samantha to see that her younger self was staining her sky blue top with blood when the orbs vanished, but she couldn't care. Magic provided her the miracle to see herself born. "Would it be conceited of me to say that I look great?"
Paige sobbed and stared at her second daughter, "I did it." She grinned, "And I didn't even have to force orb them out."
Henry moved over to his wife and kissed her. He parted lips and rested his forehead on hers, "I'm so proud of you. You did it." He kissed her one more time, before his daughter's future self spoke out.
"Yes, we're very happy to be born, but you guys need to explain to the doctor why your future daughter is cradling her baby version," Sarah informed. "Oh no." She turned to her twin and said, "Do you feel it?"
Samantha quickly passed off her younger self to Phoebe and stood by her sister. "It feels a bit early." They interlocked arms and stared at their parents. She more importantly shifted to Henry and whispered, "I love you."
Before any of the family members could say their goodbyes, the twins vanished in a sea of dancing lights, sending them back to their time.
Piper stared at the frozen doctor, "Unless we hurry this up, their births are going to be recorded minutes apart."
"Fine, by me. We'll know the truth and that's all I care about," Henry said.
"So can someone cast a spell to fix this?" Paige asked. "I'm sorta out of it."
"I'm on it," Piper muttered.
(X)
Paige made room on the bed to allow Henry to sit next to her, each cradling one of their clean babies. The beautiful baby girls were identical, but they hadn't even developed their own personal looks yet. They already had light brown hair on the top of their heads and although they were sleeping in their parents' arms, they had already seen the honey brown eyes and their noses matched that of their mother.
"They look so much like you," Henry commented to his wife.
"Do they now?" Paige asked, grinning with no end. "Despite a demon trying to kill me and my children, this day still feels pretty perfect." She shrugged her shoulders, "I'll admit though I am slightly upset that we didn't get too really bond with our future daughters."
"We have the real thing here," Henry reminded. "We'll get to know those girls later in life." He gently rubbed the cheek of a so far unnamed Samantha and said, "Peter looked pretty excited to see his new sisters."
The new mother chuckled, "He sure did. I gotta say, I did not expect myself to be in charge of three children in this point of my life." She turned to Henry and said, "I wouldn't change it though. I'm glad to be married, I'm looking forward to more journeys of being a mother, and I still have that magical destiny going on for me of course."
Her nurse, Jackie, walked in and knocked on the door gently upon entering. "How are my new parents doing?"
"We're doing pretty great," Henry answered, still gazing at Samantha.
"So do we have names yet for those darling twins?" Jackie asked, waving a clipboard. "I got the birth certificate forms whenever you're ready."
"We haven't really decided yet," Paige admitted. "Do we have to give you something before we can leave?"
"Not at all," Jackie responded, looking down at her clipboard. She began to scribble something down and chuckled. "That's funny."
"What is?" Paige asked.
"Oh, sorry. It's just that I was putting down the date and apparently, today is the first day of the timeline for the gemini zodiac," Jackie explained. "I always find it funny when twins are born around this time because of it being the sign of twins. Funny coincidence, huh?" She smiled and left.
Paige turned to Henry and chuckled, "I think that's what they were waiting for. They wanted to be born on this day."
"What took them so long though? They had all day," Henry replied.
"I don't know," Paige looked down at Sarah and said, "You and your little sister are going to get it when you're older. Extra chores." She jokingly glared at her daughter and the small white tags around her wrist, still without a name. "Now what are we going to name you?"
(X)
2029
Dancing spheres of white and gold lights appeared in the altar room of the Mitchell Matthews manor and the twins immediately saw their foster brother at the Matthews Book of Shadows.
Peter stared at the blood on his baby sister's shirt and said, "Sam, what happened? You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Baby me just got her blood all over me," Samantha explained. "It was such a sight seeing us born."
"And seeing Dad," Sarah said. "It was just so hard to keep up the act to not just hug him fiercely without being suspicious."
"I know how you feel," Samantha said. "I just wanted to warn him that-"
"Me too," Sarah finished with a bowing nod. She found the strength to look at Peter, a man who looked nothing like their father, but shared many qualities with him. "I'm sorry to just talk about him in front of you like this. It was unfair that we were the only ones that got to go back in time. Not really fair for you."
"There's more to it," Peter commented. "How'd your demon hunt go?"
"Billie vanquished the demon," Sarah informed. "Then we witnessed Samantha's birth."
"Nomed's not dead," Peter stated. He tapped on a page in the Book and said, "After you guys left, more of Mom's writing began to fill the page and it turns out that I'm going to be expected soon enough to end him once and for all."
"Hold on," Samantha said with her hand in the air. "Does that mean that you're..."
Peter nodded, "Yeah. I'm going back in time to kill that demon." The tall brown-haired mortal stared at his sisters and took a deep breath. "In due time though. At least I'll get to see Dad."
End of Chapter.
A/note: Thanks for reading, especially to those who have been following for a year. It really means a lot to see your interest hasn't waned and I'd like to thank my other readers as well who have helped build a large fanbase for this fic with all your reviews. Thanks to everyone who has favorited this story as well, although it would be nice to hear from you, I'm honored you at least cared enough to take the time to read.