Prue sat by her window, staring out at the busy street. Her thoughts were all jumbled together, and she was finding it hard to focus on just one. She was pregnant, with Chris, who also happens to be Andy's. She was going to raise yet another child on her own. Yes, she had her sisters, and she couldn't deny the help that they gave her with Andie, but things were different now.
Piper had a family and a child of her own to care for, Phoebe had a career to focus on, and Paige was really pursuing the whole full time witch thing. She had the occasional temp jobs, most of which ended up being magically related, which meant that her schedule was even less reliable than her own. She had her job back at the magazine, and a little girl of her own to care for. It's true that all of them had been raising Andie after she was taken, and she saw how attached her daughter was to each and every one of them, how she still calls Leo 'Daddy', but she still didn't want to add to their burden.
This caused yet another thought to pop in her head, how was she going to tell Andie? How was she going to explain it all? She still hasn't told her that Chris was the future version of her yet to be born baby brother. The little girl was three for Christ's sake, how was she supposed to understand something like this?
And Chris. It's true that he already knew of his father's true identity, but he wouldn't tell them if he was around in the future or not. He did mention that this wasn't how he was conceived in his future, but refused to say anything else. He had opened up to her the night before about many things. The day Wyatt finally showed them his true colors, how he killed and tortured many people in an effort to get to Chris. How many of his other cousins were either dead, or full on whitelighters because of Wyatt and his demons. How the world was plunged into darkness, and how no one was safe anymore, not even mere mortals who didn't stand a chance against him. How he they never got a chance to morn any of the losses because of how fast things spiraled out of control, how the fate of the entire world fell on him and Andie. How he spent almost an hour apologizing for not having the nerves to kill Wyatt, even though he had more than one opportunity but couldn't.
She had assured him that whatever Wyatt did, was not his fault. That she would never have the nerves to kill her own nephew if she had the power and opportunity, but she still saw the hesitation in his eyes and the guilt. It pained her to know that his reluctance to believe her stemmed from the fact that he had been on his own for so long, that he doesn't know how to allow someone else to think for him. How he had been in charge of so many things at such a young age, that he forgot how to let go of the control.
He had clung to her neck, and buried his face so deep into its crook that she wasn't sure how he was able to breathe. She was glad that he was finally letting go of all the pain and anguish that he had been bottling up for so long, that she didn't even bother to try and calm him. She just held him, stroked his hair soothingly, and rocked them both gently from side to side as he let it all out. Once he calmed down, she led him to her room and tucked him into bed without any resistance from him. He snuggled up to her once she lay next to him, and she spent her night trapped between both her children.
She hadn't even realized that she was rubbing her still flat stomach subconsciously, until she looked down at her hand in thought. She couldn't be happier that she was finally going to get her baby boy, and hopefully fix the future so that he doesn't end up with all the emotional baggage his future self has, but she really wasn't looking forward to the nausea and turmoil of the first trimester. She was hoping that with the second time around, things will be easier, but she wasn't really counting on it.
Her trail of thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door, and she turned towards it in time to see Phoebe peeking through.
"Hey Pheebs" she greeted with a soft smile.
Phoebe gave her one in return, "Hey, can we talk?" she asked tentatively.
"Sure" Prue assured her, and Phoebe closed the door before walking further into the room, watching how Prue slid down from the window sill, and they both sat on the couch.
"What's on your mind sweetie?" Prue wondered lovingly, and Phoebe smiled.
"I'm sorry" she apologized sincerely, but refused to meet Prue's eyes, which narrowed in confusion from her sister's words.
"What for?" she asked.
"For what happened to you at Zara's hands" Phoebe whispered, as she fought the tears that were threatening to escape.
"Phoebe, what on earth do you mean by that?" Prue asked incredulously, "Honey, this wasn't your fault" she said sternly.
"If I hadn't gone to the Underworld to look for Cole, Leo wouldn't have been in the Underworld when Piper got shot, we wouldn't have needed Tempus to turn back time, and Zara would've never been able to get his hands on you" she rambled, as the tears now made their way down her cheeks, but she was holding back the flood of emotions that threatened to crush her heart.
Prue stared at her sister in shock, her words caught her off guard and Phoebe was talking so fast, that Prue didn't get a chance to interrupt.
"Phoebe, what happened to me was not your fault. Even if Leo had been here to heal Piper, chances are the Source would've made Tempus turn back time anyways to erase the exposure aftermath. Zara had been planning to grab me for months, and he just saw an opportunity. If it hadn't been this time, he would've come to the house, and it would've put all of you in danger. I very much prefer it this way. And besides, if I hadn't disappeared, we would've never known about Paige, and I know you can't imagine living your life without her" she lectured firmly.
"So you really don't blame me for what happened?" Phoebe asked dejectedly, and Prue's eyebrows hit her hairline.
"No, of course not. I never did, what gave you that idea?" she almost shrieked.
"Because of what you said the day you told us Chris was your son" Phoebe answered, and Prue still looked confused.
"The jab at me still trusting Cole even though I knew he was a demon, but refusing to trust Chris, giving him hell and doubting him every step of the way, even though he said he was trying to protect Wyatt" Phoebe elaborated, and Prue nodded.
"I was making a point that it was hypocritical, not that it was your fault that I got taken" Prue retorted, "Phoebe, even when I was down there, it never occurred to me once that it might have been your fault, and I still don't think of it that way. But what I do hold you responsible for, are your actions" she deadpanned, and Phoebe scoffed.
"Prue, I had to vanquish my husband" she said incredulously.
"Right after you walked by his side as he was coroneted as the new Source of All Evil" Prue shot back, and Phoebe looked hurt, but Prue didn't back down.
"And don't tell me that the baby was poisoning you, because you and I both know that this is not true. You chose Cole over your family, yet again. And the fact that you finally chose your family doesn't entitle you to a medal of honor. If you had chosen Cole, it would've meant vanquishing your sisters and your own niece. You chose Cole once before and let him live, and this time was no different. You need to stop acting like you were a victim, or that somehow you were blindsided. As much as I would love to pin it all on him, I can't. You knew what you were doing, and you made your choice, well aware of the consequences it will have. So either you were stupid and naïve enough to think that you can change them, or you just down right ignored them and only thought of yourself. You saw the warning signs, and you chose to ignore them. Hell, you even ignored Paige's warnings, writing them off as paranoia and that fact that she is too much like me, or maybe even that she was just trying to prove herself and you shunned her out; your own sister. Even Andie used to attack him, the baby who loved him even when I didn't even trust him, used to throw him across the room the second he walks in, and refused to stop screaming till one of them left the room. You turned your back on your family, Phoebe, and it wasn't the first time you had done it. I know that it wasn't easy vanquishing him, and I know for a fact how hard it must've been for you to move past him; but don't kid yourself and pretend like you didn't know that this was how it was going to end all along" she lectured sternly.
"Andie didn't come anywhere near me for weeks" Phoebe confessed tearfully, "She would bury her face in their necks and refuse to even look at me. It was nearly a month before she finally smiled at me, and two before she let me hold her" she continued, and Prue didn't interrupt, "I knew that I deserved it, that if you had been around, you probably would've been pissed at me too. I kept hearing your voice in my head of all the times you warned me about him, and how I didn't listen. I wanted to take it all back so much, but I can't" she lamented tearfully.
"I know you can't, and I know that she shunned you out, and I know you think that I would've shunned you too, and it's probably true, but I won't shun you now. It happened in the past, and you learned from it. All I'm asking from you is that you stop acting like Cole was the one who single handedly ruined your life without your permission; he wouldn't have asked you to stand by him as he's coroneted unless he knew that you would've done it. You made a mistake, admit it, learn from it and stop using it as a sympathy card, or an excuse to treat people like crap just because you had a bad experience before, especially when no other evidence corroborates your suspicions" Prue berated, and Phoebe nodded.
Prue saw the look in her eyes, and knew that her sister was hesitant about hugging her, so she opened her arms in invitation, and Phoebe crashed into them in less than a second. Prue just held her closely, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I love you baby girl" she said lovingly, and Phoebe smiled against her chest.
"I love you too Prue, and I missed you so much"
Unbeknownst to the two embracing Halliwells, the other two sisters were standing right outside the door, and heard the entire interaction. Piper had smiled reassuringly at Paige's surprised expression when Prue gave it all to Phoebe without holding back, and even backed up her own allegations, and used her as a trusted source of information and evidence. They had long forgiven Phoebe for what she had done, but neither had really told her what Prue just said, even though it was what they both secretly thought. They also knew that the part about how they treated Chris was also a jab at them, and not just Phoebe. Piper finally signaled to Paige to enter the room, seeing as how they still needed to tell Prue how they got her back and about Magic School-where the kids were at the moment-per Piper's request. She did have to admit that it was going to come in handy, when they have to go fight demons, and don't particularly want to leave the kids with a mortal where they can be in harm's way.
They locked their arms together, and made their presence known, by walking into the room. Phoebe spotted them first, and pulled back from Prue's hold, diverting Prue's attention towards the door.
"How long have you two been there?" Prue asked.
"Long enough to know that you took a swing at how we were treating Chris" Paige replied, and Prue smiled reassuringly at them.
"We never really apologized for that" Piper chimed in.
"I'm not the one you should apologize to" Prue reminded softly.
"Actually, you are. We already apologized to Chris, but as a mother myself, I know that it's harder on you to forgive us for it. And I know that no matter what we say, it doesn't excuse what we did. We were too selfish, and only thinking about our desires, and gave him a hard time even though he said that he was here to save my son. We were wrong, we wronged him, and for that we are sorry" Piper apologized sincerely, and Prue smiled gratefully at her.
"Thank you" was all Prue said.
"Speaking of Chris, where is he?" Phoebe wondered.
"He went to the underworld to see if he can find out anything more about last night's attack" Paige answered.
"What about Leo and the kids?" Prue asked.
"The kids are with Leo….."Piper trailed off, "at Magic School" she said after a second, chuckling when Prue's eyebrows hit her hairline.
"I'm sorry, at what now?" she chuckled.
"Magic School" Paige offered, "it's a place where the younger generation of witches can learn to control their craft, and about potions and spells and stuff" she added, and Prue still looked too shocked for them to determine if she was actually comprehending what was being said.
"We found about it yesterday" Phoebe chimed in, "we cast a spell to locate you when everything else failed, and it took us there" she explained.
"I don't understand" Prue finally said.
"It's hidden from the outside world, run by Elders and protected from evil" Piper piped up.
"And how come we never knew about it before?" she hissed.
"We weren't meant to" Phoebe hesitated slightly, and she was right to. Prue's eyes narrowed darkly, and she sprang to her feet.
"Take me there" she ordered Paige, who knew better than to argue with Prue when she used that tone of voice. Piper and Phoebe moved closer to Paige without a word, and together they all orbed out.
Let me know what you guys think. Thanks for all the reviews and to all who read, I appreciate it very much.