Heaven's Mistaken Gift
by: Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell
Co-written by: That70sShoLova
Chapter 7: Visions of Danger
Phoebe rolled over in her sleep still clutching the teddy-bear. Her expression changed from sad to fearful in an instant…
She was standing in the living room waiting for something…or maybe someone. She jumped when she felt something move inside her, but looking down she laughed realizing her feet were indeed under her body, but being able to see them? Well, that was long gone.
She rested her hands on her swollen belly, suddenly feeling a sharp pain on her ankle. She limped over to the couch, putting her leg up to see what it was when she realized it wasn't only her ankle that was hurting.
Looking at her arms, they were littered in deep purple bruises. She noticed her eye was nearly swollen shut.
What happened, she wondered. Who hurt me?
She heard footsteps along with Jared's slurred yell. "PHOEBE! GET THE FUCK OUT HERE!"
She didn't know why, but she knew if she didn't go out there, something worse than a sore ankle would happen.
She woke in an instant, sitting up. Tears streamed down her face, she could feel the panic that lingered from the dream and, even worse, the pain of the wounds. She pushed up her sleeves and checked for the bruises. They weren't there.
She replayed the dream in her head. She'd been scared out of her wits when she heard Jared's drunken voice carry through the house. An insane thought came in her head. Did Jared put those injuries on my body? That was crazy. He loved her and would never lay a finger on her in a harmful way. She was just homesick.
Yeah. Homesick. A tiny voice in the back of her head told her that the dream meant something more. It was an omen, it had to be. She ignored it though.
She pet the matted hair of the old stuffed-bear. It had a musty smell and she had an urge to spray the perfume on it, but she didn't. Instead, she got up on shaky legs and walked out into the living room. She sat on the couch, her cell phone in one hand and the ugly bear cuddled in her other.
Her sister's number sat on the screen. All she had to do was press send and the burden of the dream would be lifted. Her thumb pressed the green button and Prue flashed on the black background.
"Hello?"
"P-Prue?" she sobbed. "I need your help."
"Phoebe, what's wrong? What's going on?"
She shook her head, unable to speak.
"Do you need us to come over?" Piper asked.
Phoebe could tell Prue's phone was on Speaker. "Uh—uh-huh," she cried, pulling her knees to her chest.
The door creaked shut and Phoebe heard her sister's car start up. "We're on our way. Don't worry, Pheebs," Prue said.
"Everything'll be okay. I promise," Piper said.
"Wait! Don't leave yet!" Phoebe said.
Prue stopped the car. "Why? Do you need something from the house?"
"Yeah, the ingredients for that herbal tea. I don't know what it is exactly, but since I haven't been drinking it, I've been so sick, please Prue?" she asked.
She smiled. "You got it. Be right back," and she got out and ran into the house.
Piper took the phone off of speaker and put it up to her ear. "So…how are things going?"
She wiped her eyes. "Pretty good, I guess." She sighed. "Miss you guys."
"We miss you too," she replied. "Do you guys need anything for the nursery?"
"No, most of what Prue packed in that box covers it. This bear sure needs a good wash though."
"What bear?"
"I think it was Mom's when she was a kid. There's no mold on it, but it needs to be clean and as I'm not sure how sturdy it is, I'm kinda afraid to put it in the washer."
"Yeah, I can see why you wanna take good care of it," she said as Prue walked back out, setting the box in the back seat and getting in the driver's side. "Well, Prue's back, so we should be there in no time at all."
"Okay, see you then," Phoebe said, closing the phone.
Phoebe sat for a couple of minutes staring into space before Prue slammed the front door open, barging in. Piper followed glaring at the older sister.
"Be careful, Prue!"
She didn't reply and instead ran to Phoebe and pulled her in her arms. "Are you okay, sweetie?"
Phoebe shook her head. "No."
Piper walked to the couch and sat on Phoebe's other side. "What happened?"
"I-I had a dream," she answered hesitantly. "Before you tell me how ridiculous this all is, hear me out! It all felt so real. As if...as if-as if I was seeing the future."
"The future, Phoebe?" Piper asked. "That's crazy."
"No, it isn't! Abraham Lincoln strongly believed in omens when he was alive. He had a dream of him in a coffin before he died," Phoebe explained earnestly. "What if this is a sign that something bad is gonna happen?"
Prue held her hand up to stop Phoebe's rambling. "What exactly was this dream about?"
"I was sitting in the living room, my body was aching. I had bruises and cuts littering my arms and legs. My baby bump was bigger than it is now, and Jared's voice yelled at me to 'get the fuck over here'. He sounded like he was drunk." Phoebe started to cry. "Does that mean that he's going to start beating me?"
Prue shook her head rapidly. "Phoebe, I don't want to be on Jared's side, I would much rather side with you, but I honestly think he loves you. He would never hurt you, or the baby. The way he looks at you Phoebe shows that he cares."
"Besides," Piper cut in, "I think Cole is pretty protective of you too. If Jared touched you in a harmful way, he would kill him."
Prue rolled her eyes at Cole's name. She had a feeling that they wouldn't have a very good relationship in the future.
"But if anything did happen...?" Phoebe trailed off doubtfully.
"You would call us," Prue said.
"And we'd be there in a heartbeat," Piper finished.
Phoebe hugged her sisters. "Thank you guys."
Cole knocked on the front door and walked in. "Hello?"
Prue got up and glared suspiciously at Cole. "Come on, Piper, let's go."
Piper got up and gave Phoebe one last hug. "Call us if you need anything!"
After the two left, Cole sat next to Phoebe, "What did they want?"
"I called them." she answered. "Homesick."
"Ahh." he nodded. "Feeling better now?"
She looked at him with a little smile. "Better now."
It took about a month or so before Phoebe started to drop her suspicions and feel more comfortable around Jared again. He pestered her to tell her what was bothering her, but she refused. It might offend him, plus the fact that she was starting to think it was just some sort of silly dream.
She had forgotten about the ultrasound that Penny had scheduled for her a while back. It was just a check-up to make sure the baby was healthy. Phoebe already knew the baby was healthy, so she decided to hold it off for a while, at least until she could go and find out the gender of the little thing.
Phoebe was really hoping she would get her little Melinda. So was Jared. It wouldn't be bad, though, if they got a boy. It would be unexpected since everyone in the Halliwell line was a woman, but, not bad. Definitely not bad.
So, now Phoebe lay on the crackly white paper sheet with Jared sitting next to her. She lifted her white cotton shirt up over her baby bump and the doctor rubbed the cool gel on her stomach. Phoebe shivered at the cold, but stared intently at the screen. She swirled the transducer over the slick area and the three watched the monitor.
A swiveling image formed in black and white. It was hard to distinguish at first, but only at first. The baby came into view. Phoebe started to cry. That was her baby. Inside of her. Growing inside of her.
She smiled at Phoebe who she knew was only crying tears of joy. "Would you like me to print the picture?"
She nodded through bleary eyes and clung to Jared who looked slightly proud. That beautiful thing was going to rule the Underworld at his side. She'd be so dangerous. The most fearsome of all.
The doctor grinned again and plucked a paper towel from the dispenser in the room. She handed it to Phoebe who could wipe off her stomach. She also handed her a tissue and Phoebe murmured a sobbing "thank you".
She left the room and then backtracked to the young couple. "Oh, and, it's a girl." Which, in turn, made Phoebe cry harder.
"Are you…upset?" Phoebe asked, wiping her stomach dry.
He tossed the towel in the trash. "No. Why would you think that?"
She swung her legs over the edge. "Well, just that you didn't seem happy that it was a girl."
He got up on the table beside her, wrapping an arm around her. "No, Phoebe, I'll be happy as long as it's healthy. Though I thought I'd be teaching him about baseball and tackling a football when he was older."
She looked at him. "Hey, girls can like sports too, you know."
He hugged her. "Yeah, I know. I just pictured a little boy."
"But she'll be 'Daddy's Little Girl'," Phoebe countered with a smile.
He smiled, sighing. "Yeah, I guess that wouldn't be a bad thing."
A knock caused them to look to the door as Cole walked in carrying a huge pink teddy bear that was wearing a t-shirt that said "I LOVE DADDY, BUT MOMMY'S MY FAVORITE!" and handed it to Phoebe.
"How did you know?" Phoebe asked.
He shrugged. "You seemed pretty certain."
"Where the heck did you find something that huge?" Jared asked, rubbing its ear.
"Eh, my mom special ordered it off some baby website."
Phoebe smiled, jumping off the table into his arms. "Thank you so much!"
He took two steps back. "You're welcome!"
"Well," Jared replied, taking the bear under his arm and jumping off the table, "I suppose we should get going."
Cole nodded. "Yeah, oh, but uh, Phoebe, you're gonna need to sit in my lap in the front seat."
Jared's eyes narrowed. "Why?" He asked as they exited the building.
"Well, I went to pick up the bear and Mom practically bombarded me with little girl things she thought you guys would use, so all that's in the back seat."
"I could always tie you to the roof," Jared said.
"Hey! You'd tie me up?"
He shook his head. "No Phoebe, not you. Cole."
"Oh."
Cole opened the door and Phoebe stepped in. "Aw come on! Is that any way to treat your best friend?" he playfully pouted as he got in and shut the door.
Jared just grumbled as he took the driver's side and started the car. He could see Phoebe getting cozy with his best friend, but what did he care, really? All they were there for was her baby, and then they'd wipe everyone's memories and leave their lives.
They could get as cozy as they wanted. His part was done. Phoebe wasn't required to love him anyway. She'd never even said it before that night, nor had he.
"So Cole," Jared said as they drove down the highway, "since you got her all this stuff, you're gonna help her set it up, right?"
He grimaced. He hadn't thought of that. He looked at Phoebe. "Do you want my help?"
"Yes, I'd love it! That'd be just perfect!" She sighed, snuggling into his chest.
"Are you tried?" Cole asked.
"Mhm, a little, but I think Melinda had a big day too."
He wrapped his arms around her. "Then sleep. I'll wake you when we get home."
She nodded.
Once he was sure she was asleep, he looked at his friend. "You're not jealous, are you?"
He smirked. "Nope. It's a job."
"Yeah, a 9-month job. Come on, aren't you even a little protective of her? After all, she is carrying your flesh and blood against her family's wishes."
"Aren't you getting a little too attached to her? It's not like you'll ever see her again."
He sighed. "Maybe, but I can't help it. There's something about her."
"Do whatever you want. My part was over 5 months ago. She can be yours as far as I'm concerned."
"You know she'll never go for that. She loves you, not me."
Jared sighed. "Some days I don't know."
Jared claimed that he didn't mind that Phoebe and Cole were getting closer. Most of the time he didn't. Why should he? She was just some petty witch who didn't have her powers and was carrying his child. She was just a toy. There were times though, that he would look at Cole and Phoebe, and this weird feeling would overcome him. It took him a while to figure out it was jealousy…
Author's note: So what do you think?
I know, I've changed the summary three times, but I think this one will stick.
Reviews are much appreciated. Please?
Review thanks to: That70sshowlova, SyndiDowell & HalliwellMB
Thanks to my co-writer: That70sShowLova! You're the sweetest!
Piper Chris Melinda Halliwell & That70sShowLova