A/n: just in case it has gotten confusing about the order of events here is a little table of contents...

Ch. 1- Intro (Mel is about 15)

Ch. 2- Maybe (Mel is about 19)

Ch. 3-December Baby (Mel is about 28)

Ch. 4-Black and Blue (Mel is 19)

Ch. 5- Breakable (Mel is 28)

Ch. 6-Giving up (Mel is 16)

Ch. 7-Little Romance (Mel is 16)

Ch. 8-Keep Warm (Mel is 16)

Sables and wine till the end of time; you give me much more than that . Diamond rings and beautiful things , oh you give me much more than that when you smile

"What's going on," Luke was stunned. He hadn't expected to see Mel's parents walk in with her.

"Well," Phaenna replied in her best Piper tone, "when we realized what Melinda was up to we followed her to make sure she didn't do something she would regret."

"But," Phaedra stepped in as Leo, "we realized there's no way we're going to be able to prevent you from doing something like this. And there's no way we were going to miss the chance to walk our little girl down the aisle."

"Sir, the officiant is ready for you," the organ player announced.

"Places," Phaenna said and watched Luke walk up to the altar while she and her sister closed rank around their cousin.

"I'm really happy for you," Phaedra whispered as they walked Mel up the aisle.

"I'm proud of you," Phaenna responded. "But how are you going to be married in Scotland and go to school in California?"

"We'll talk about it at the reception," Mel said and reached her destination. Luke took her hand and the ceremony began.

"Prudence Melinda Halliwell, what have you done," Piper yelled at her teenager.

Mel held it together; barely letting herself cringe t her mother's tone. She had stayed with Luke for the weekend before heading back to California. It had been a beautiful honeymoon in the highlands of Scotland and she and Luke had spent that time in bed; in between bouts of intimacy they had talked over how they were going to make things work.

Although Melinda had wanted to stay in in Scotland, Luke had talked her into going home and finishing her last year of high school. She had more than enough credits to graduate early so she would be done right before Christmas break. She would start at UCSF during the spring semester and would move into his apartment off campus.

All she had to do was get her ducks in a row, starting with her parents. "I did what I needed to do," the teen stood her ground.

"This can't be legal, can it," Phoebe asked.

"Oh, it's legal," Paige said as she put the phone back on the hook. "I just got off with our attorney. Apparently, sixteen is the legal age to get married in Scotland. Not only that, but when Jackson was looking over the paperwork he had faxed from Gretna Green, it seems that Melinda had full parental consent," she said in a seething tone. "Which means someone posed as Piper and Leo in order to act as her witnesses."

"Who the hell would be stupid enough to do something like that," Piper demanded.

Phaenna and Phaedra walked through the manor doors with their backpacks over their shoulders as their aunts and uncles turned to stare at them. Looking to their twin, each girl suddenly tried to orb out when their mother grounded them and cast an anti-orbing spell.

"I should have known you two would be complicit in this," their mother stared them down.

"What did we do," Phaedra tried to pretend ignorance.

"Oh save it," Piper told them. "We know about your involvement in Mel's elopement."

"There's got to be another way to undo this," Phoebe said. "Clearly they used magic for personal gain, we should be able to undo that."

Leo finally stood from his seat to go directly to his daughter. Staring in her eyes, Mel saw all of the disappointment in his as she stared back. "Except that our daughter is smarter than that. She's heard the stories of how we tried to get married in secret so she knows that a holy ceremony can't be undone. 'What God has put together, let no man put asunder.'"

"Daddy," Mel finally let a tear fall as she felt the full weight of her actions. She didn't regret what she had done, just that it hurt the people she loves most.

"Are you telling me there is no magical way to undo what she's done," Piper asked.

"It's a bond that cannot be undone," Leo said. Still looking into Mel's eyes he told her, "I hope it was worth it," before making his way outside. The aunts called after him and Paige sent Henry and Coop after him.

"Mom, I know how you feel but—"

"—but you just didn't care," Piper droned; no emotion left in her voice. "And now you have to live with what you've done because you were smart enough to make sure your father and I couldn't do anything to change this. I can't look at you right now," and she left the house; Phoebe and Paige going to their niece's side as she cried.

"Don't worry," Phoebe assured her. "We'll fix this."

Paige handed her niece a flute of champagne. "Every bride deserves to be able to toast to their wedding."

Piper and Leo were nowhere to be seen and the cousins had either been sent home or confined to their rooms. Phoebe and Paige had stayed behind to watch over their niece.

"Thanks, aunt Paige."

"So, does he know you're a witch," Phoebe asked. The three of them were sitting in the conservatory by the fireplace as it warmed the house and purified the negative thoughts from the air.

"No, I haven't told him yet," Mel answered. "I mean, he knows that I'm a solitary practitioner but he doesn't know about the powers or the demons."

"How long do you think you're going to be able to hide it from him," Paige asked. "It's not fair to him to keep something like that from him."

"I know, but the way I figured it we have years before we even think about kids. We want to wait until we're finished with grad school and have jobs and since my powers are under control there's no need to tell him right now."

"You think that because you see things so far in advance that you can hide the demon hunts from him and keep him out of danger," Phoebe inferred, "but you do eventually have to tell him."

Melinda had officially been married for three months. During that time she and Luke had Skyped every night, texted during the day and spent every moment wishing they were with each other.

She had moved into his apartment earlier than planned due to the hard feelings between her and her parents. In the meantime she had set up her schedule and would be starting school in a month. She was just excited for Luke to come home in two weeks.

Her mother still wasn't talking to her but her aunts assured her they would make sure her parents respected her decision to not say anything to Luke about her powers.

During those months Melinda had taken the time to get the apartment just perfect for them and Luke's parents had been more than willing to help them. His mother, Camille, had taken every opportunity to invite Mel out to lunch and shopping; purchasing new furniture for the apartment as her wedding gift to them, and in two weeks time it would by Camille, or Cami as she liked to be called, whom the couple would be spending Christmas with.

Cami and Mike were the best in-laws you could ask for and though they had very conservative backgrounds, they knew about Melinda's religious practices and had gone so far as to plan a Yule event for her. Some of the cousins –the ones who were still talking to her—and her aunts would be joining her.

Once upon a time it had been inconceivable that the Halliwell family would be able to celebrate openly for fear that they would be exposed as witches, but Melinda had desperately wanted to be able to balance having a normal life with the responsibilities that came along with being a witch. It was just too bad that being normal wasn't always a happy occasion; the tension between her and her parents being evidence of that point.

As she looked around the room, Melinda smiled. Although her brothers weren't here, the Phaes and Aunt Phoebe's eldest daughter were. The Aunts had joined them and so had Uncle Coop. Uncle Henry, although he still talked to her and sent his love, was spending much more of his time with Leo.

Cami and Mike had put together an amazing party. The drinks were flowing, the Yule log was burning in the fireplace and beautiful orchestra music was playing through the speakers. It was warm, inviting and cozy, and as Melinda watched them smile and laugh she knew that she and Luke had two great relationships to model theirs after.

"I still can't believe he missed his flight," Mike huffed. "Our first real family get together, and the Groom is M.I.A."

"Just be glad he was able to get a seat on the next one out," Cami responded. "The first flight was late and he missed the connecting flight; I told him not to book flights so close together."

"He'll be home soon," Melinda said and glanced at the clock. "It won't be much longer," and with that the door opened and everyone turned.

"Wyatt," Mel laughed and ran up to her big brother. "I thought you weren't coming!"

"So did I, but I thought about who needed me most; my pseudo girlfriend or my little sister and here I am," he laughed.

Mel dragged him over to introduce him to everybody. She was so happy to see him. Although most of the family had stood by her side, her parents and brothers hadn't been able to forgive her manipulations so easily. The fact that Wyatt showed up was just proof that in time everyone would forgive her. She had to believe that.

"Well, you met just about everybody except for June," Mel looked around but couldn't see her sister-in law. "I guess I'll have to introduce you at another time—"

"Lucas!" Cami ran for the door and hugged her son, only letting go so he could put his bags down.

"Mom," he greeted before his eyes found Mel. Kissing her, he held her tightly in his arms. "I'm so glad to be home."

You are mine to keep warm and it's cold outside but I'm just fine; you are mine to keep warm