**Nothing from Charmed or Supernatural belongs to me.**

Chapter Six

*Six Days Until the Wedding*

"Aunt Melinda, we're down to six!"

Melinda smiled as she closed the computer, setting her glasses aside and pulling Kate into her lap. Melinda ran her fingers up Kate's sides and the little girl giggled.

"Can you believe it, Katie?"

Kate shook her head and Melinda laughed. Kate sat up, moving to sit near Melinda's knees, and Melinda brought Kate's hairbrush to her. Kate had just had a bath, and since she had so much hair, she needed some help brushing it out. She quickly discovered that Melinda was the most gentle when it came to brushing, and would usually fix it for her, too. Melinda gently ran the brush through Kate's hair, and the little girl crossed her little legs.

"Have you gotten the flowers?"

Melinda smiled.

"Yes, I just ordered them about ten minutes ago."
"What did you settle on?"

Melinda bit back a laugh, shaking her head as she continued brushing.

"Well, Peyton is carrying white roses, lilies, and irises, to match her dress. And we got some very special purple rose petals for you to carry. Well, to throw."

Kate was almost shivering with excitement. Melinda gently braided Kate's still-wet hair, glancing around when she reached the end.

"Oh, shoot. I thought I had a ponytail holder up here."
"I can get one."

Kate held out her hand, and small blue lights flashed in her hand, leaving behind a ponytail holder when they dissipated. Melinda smiled, taking the band from Kate.

"Look at you, using your powers. Very good."

Kate beamed as Melinda wrapped the band around her hair, finishing up.

"There we go. Simply beautiful."

Kate hopped down from her lap, moving back to let Melinda kiss her forehead. She skipped away, crossing paths with Chris as he entered the room.

"Hi, Uncle Chris!"
"Hey, shortstop."

Melinda heard Kate's giggles as she walked down the stairs. Chris turned to Melinda.

"Okay. Tuxes have been ordered."
"I knew he'd make you do it. What did I tell you?"

Chris shrugged, smiling, then holding out his hands.

"The man knows how to delegate. What can I say?"

Melinda rolled her eyes, opening her laptop again. She slid her glasses back on her nose.

"So the tuxes are done?"
"Done."
"So we can cross those off the list. Oh, hey Did you—"
"Mel, have I ever let you down?"

She smiled, shaking her head.

"And I'm not about to start now. I got it."
"Thank you."

Chris smiled at her, walking over to ruffle her hair.

"Anything for my favorite sister."
"Your only sister."
"Therefore, my favorite."

Melinda rolled her eyes again as Chris looked up, then sighed.

"Duty calls, Mel."

He orbed away, and Melinda scrolled through the rest of her To-Do list. She checked off flowers and tuxes. Peyton's, Kate's, and her own dresses were hanging in their closets. Well, Melinda's dress was hidden, since they had discovered Dean was a bit of a snoop. Piper was in charge of the food, and Phoebe and Paige had decorations. And they had roped in all the males in the family, and their daughters to help them. Melinda rubbed her eyes, and stood up, walking up to the attic.

She stepped inside and walked to a box, and slipping it open, she pulled out a napkin. She smiled at the silver "W", and their names engraved underneath. A shiver ran through her. Six more days. God, she wanted those six days to hurry the hell up. She heard a noise behind her, and she turned around, smiling.

"Hey, we almost forgot about …"

Her sentence trailed off when she noticed someone standing before her that she'd never met before.

"Who are—"

The man closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were red. Melinda tensed up, moving to throw up her hands, and she screamed as she was thrown backwards instead. She crashed into the dresser, hearing a horrible crack before feeling pain shoot through her back. She tried to pick herself up on her arms, but she just collapsed down. All she could focus on was the pain radiating through her spine, as the demon walked closer to her. She tried to move her hands, but she groaned instead. She thought of Dean, praying he had heard her scream, that he was coming for her, as she laid her head on the floor. She heard a scream, looking up in time to see the demon going up in flames. When he was gone, Melinda looked to the door, and saw Kate standing there with her eyes wide.

"Daddy! Daddy, come help!"

Kate was calling for Wyatt as she ran to Melinda, and Dean ran into the room, kneeling beside Kate as Melinda looked up at him.

"My back."

He nodded.

"I can see it, babe. Hang on. Wyatt! Chris!"

Melinda groaned and Kate squeezed her fingers. Dean winced as he let out a breath, feeling Melinda's injuries himself. Sometimes he really liked having that bond with her. Now was not one of those times.

"Did you see who it was, Mel?"

She shook her head.

"He had red eyes. That's all I noticed."

Dean nodded, and Melinda let out another groan.

"Damn it, Chris! Come on!"

Melinda's eyes were drifting close and Kate laid a hand on her face.

"Stay awake, Aunt Melinda. Don't go to sleep yet."

Melinda smiled at Kate, weakly squeezing her hand. Dean let out a groan.

"Damn it, Wyatt, if you're not here in two seconds, I will kick your ass so hard—"
"Dean, honey. Language."

Dean sighed as he reached in his back pocket, opening his wallet and pulling out a ten dollar bill. He handed it to Kate.

"That should cover me for this."

Melinda laughed, the sound drifting into a pain-filled one. Kate looked up to Dean with worried eyes, and he sighed. Melinda whispered, making both of them turn to look at her.

"Paige. Try Paige."

Kate yelled at the top of her lungs for Aunt Paige, and to their relief, Paige orbed in about a second later. Sighs went around the room, until Paige knelt beside Melinda.

"Honey, what happened?"
"Less talking, more healing."

Paige sighed, elbowing Dean out of the way. He picked Kate up into his arms as Paige held her hands out over Melinda's back. As her hands glowed, Paige groaned quietly.

"This is worse than I expected."
"No kidding."

Melinda and Paige shared a sigh at Dean's statement, and he ran his hand down Kate's braid as she laid her head on his shoulder. After what seemed like an eternity, Paige sat back. Melinda pushed herself up, with a little groan, and sat on the floor. Dean, still holding Kate in his arms, knelt in front of her.

"Hey. You okay?"

She smiled over at him and nodded.

"Yeah, you know how it goes."

He smiled, closing his eyes for a second. The smile on Melinda's face grew as she reached out her hands, Dean easily passing Kate to her. Melinda hugged her, closing her eyes until she pulled back. She held Kate's face in her hands.

"You are amazing, sweet girl. You saved me."
"She did?!"

Melinda hugged Kate again, looking up and nodding at Paige and Dean.

"He threw me back here, and I couldn't move. I looked up to see him go up in flames, and this little one was standing at the door. She saved me."

Paige knelt down, taking Kate in her arms.

"Good job, baby."

Kate smiled, looking down at the ground until Dean knelt in front of her.

"Hey, shorty. High five."

Kate smiled and slapped her hand against his, and Melinda laughed as Dean leaned over and kissed Kate's forehead, before leaning to kiss Melinda. Paige and Kate wrinkled their noses at each other, and spoke at the same time.

"Yuck."

Melinda and Dean laughed, and Dean grabbed Kate, pulling her in between him and Melinda, tickling her while she screamed and giggled. Just then, Wyatt and Chris orbed into the attic. Kate sat in Melinda's lap as Dean glanced at his watch.

"Little late to the party, boys."
"What did we miss?"

Melinda smiled, pushing some flyaway hair back from Kate's face.

"Oh, not much. Just this little girl, showing you both up."
"What are you talking about?"

Melinda smiled at Kate, then stood up, groaning as she popped her back, then lifted Kate up.

"We're going to get some ice cream. Talk to you boys later."

Melinda and Kate left the room, and Dean turned to face Wyatt and Chris.

"Where the hell were you two?"
"We had—"
"Busy."

Dean looked to Chris, shaking his head.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick both of your asses right now!"
"Because wedding pictures are in six days, and I will be damned if anyone has a black eye for them."

The boys turned, seeing Piper in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but frankly, we have bigger things to focus on. Everyone is fine?"

Dean nodded his head, and Piper smiled.

"Good. We'll talk about it later. In the meantime, you have things you are supposed to be doing, and you two, my darling sons, have an arch to build. Let's get the lead out, shall we?"

The boys sighed, trudging down the stairs, heading to the jobs they had been assigned to. They walked through the kitchen, and Dean bent to kiss Kate's cheek, then Melinda's, before he stole a bite of Melinda's ice cream, sending Kate into a fit of giggles.

That night, Melinda and Dean tucked Kate in. Melinda helped her into her nightgown, and Dean read her a story. Goodnight Moon was a favorite for both of them, and Kate's eyes were drifting shut by the time Dean was saying goodnight to nobody. By the time "Goodnight noises everywhere" came around, Kate was slumped against his side, breathing slow and even. Dean looked up at Melinda from the rocking chair and she smiled. Dean moved around, standing up with a sleeping Kate in his arms, before laying her in her bed. Melinda pulled the covers up, putting Wyatt's old bear right beside her, and Dean flipped on the nightlight. They walked to the door, both turning back to look at the sleeping girl. Dean ran a hand up Melinda's back.

"She had a long day."
"We all have, Winchester."

Dean smiled, stepping back and pulling Kate's door closed behind him. Melinda took his hand, leading him to their room. Once they were inside, Melinda shut the door with a flick of her wrist and Dean wrapped her in his arms.

"Are you sure about this waiting thing?"

Melinda smiled, closing her eyes as she ran a hand through his hair.

"We agreed on it, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. I remember."

He moved to kiss her, holding her face in his hands.

"Don't scare me like that anymore, Mel. Please."
"I don't do it on purpose, babe."
"I know. Just … Be more careful. Please."

Melinda looked up at him.

"I will if you will."

Dean sighed, reaching behind him to take off his shirt, unbuttoning his jeans, climbing into bed in just his black boxer-briefs. Melinda smiled, rifling through her drawer until she pulled out a short silk nightgown, and slipped it on while keeping her back to Dean.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?"

Melinda laughed, moving his clothes over to the basket in the corner as she climbed in bed beside him.

"Two can play at that game, sir. But you are doing a bang-up job."

Melinda snuggled under the covers and turned to face him. He rolled onto his side, facing her.

"It's going to be so worth it on Saturday, Dean."
"I am going to rock your world."

Melinda laughed as he leaned over, kissing her before pulling her to him.

"I love you, Mel."
"And I love you, big spoon."

Dean laughed, kissing her hair.

"Little spoon."

And Melinda's laugh was the last thing they heard before they drifted off to sleep.