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The Truth of Consequences
By Doug
DISCLAIMER As usual, none of these characters who appeared on the series are mine. This story is written for the enjoyment of the Internet reader. Print it out if you like, but please don't reproduce it or post it on your site without notifying me first.
Prue ran frantically around the
house. "They have got to
be somewhere. I have to be down
at Fisherman's Wharf in
thirty minutes." she thought to
herself. She had dropped
her camera bag in the hallway as
usual, but it was nowhere
to be found.
"Phoebe, have you seen my photo
bag? Someone must have seen
it!" she yelled up the stairs.
Down the steps came a sandy haired
teenager boy with blue
eyes. He kissed Prue. "Bye, Mom.
Don't forget my lacrosse
game at six! Love ya." he said
heading out the door.
"Uh, uh!" was all that Prue could muster.
Phoebe came down the stairs snickering
trying not to laugh
out loud. "I'm sorry. I couldn't
help it. In all the years
I never saw you a loss for words,
Prue. Who was that kid?"
She asked sipping her morning juice.
"I haven't the slightest. He seems
to have made himself right
at home." Said Prue scratching
her head.
A girl dressed very punk, about
eleven years old passed by
Phoebe. "Later, Ma. I may be late."
She said waving but not
looking at Phoebe.
"Wait a minute." said Phoebe.
"I'm late. Bye, Ma." She said headed out the door.
"Who are you?" Phoebe cried after her.
"So are you as confused as I am?" asked Prue smiling shyly.
"Did she call me, "Ma"?" said Phoebes scratching her head.
"I believe she did." Said Prue.
"Hi guys!" called Piper from the
kitchen. "When did we add on
to the back of the Manor? We have
an extra room upstairs
literally hanging off the back
of the house." said Piper.
"That's not all that's weird. According
to the two kids that
just left the house, Prue and I
are their mothers!" said Phoebe.
"Whoa, Ummm. That's impossible!" said Piper.
"Can you look me in the face after
the last two years and
say that anything is impossible?"
said Phoebe.
"I have to agree with Pheebs." said Prue.
Piper blinked twice and ran up stairs.
In the back of
the house that used to be a blank
wall was a door to
a large room obviously decorated
by kids. By one
of the beds, sat a girl with long
brown hair. Piper
swallowed hard and approached her
cautiously.
She turned around and was the splitting
image of Piper as a
pre-teen.
"Whoa! You snuck up on me. Hi, Mom!
Sorry, I'm late. Ahhh,
could you give me a ride to school?
Pplleeaassee?" she
pleaded.
"Ah, yea." Piper agreed without thinking.
"Mom, you're the greatest. I really
love you." she said hugging
her tightly. Piper gave a light
hug unaccustomed to the mother
role. "Let me grab my pack. I'll
be down in a minute."
Piper walked downstairs in shock.
"Well, Piper. What did you find?" asked Prue.
"Come on, sis!" said Phoebe jumpily.
Quietly Piper said, "I have to go.
My daughter needs a ride
to school."
"What daughter?" asked Pheebs.
"AH, ha-ha." said Piper with a fake
smile. "There!" she said pointing
to the lovely girl running though
past them.
"Bye, Aunt Phoebe. Bye Aunt Prue."
she said giving them both a
peck.
Phoebe just stood there while Prue
waved. Piper followed her
out to the car. Still in a daze,
the phone rang and Phoebe
picked it up. Looking perplexed,
she hung it up.
"Prue, that was Claire. She wants
to know why you're late.
Things are not right here." said
Phoebe.
"Claire? Upstairs!" said Prue.
In the new addition the sister found
beds and dressers and a
studying area for three children.
"My child's name is Andrew. Oh,
my! He must be Andy's boy. Just
look at him! He's so cute." said
Prue breathlessly.
"My kid is named Madonna, but she
seems to be called Don. Her place
is a mess. She seems to be into
every fad there is. She's eleven
years old" said Phoebe. "Piper's
kid is named Patty. Oh my! After Mom,
of course. Her sleeping area is
as neat as a pin. She is also eleven
years old. Look at these pictures.
They all grew up here at Halliwell
Manor. But where, when? How did
we get kids these ages? It's still the year 2000." asked Phoebe.
"He's into lacrosse, swimming, drama, photography! He's quite a bright boy. He has done me proud." said Prue.
"Hello, Prue! We have to find out
what happened. We do NOT have any
kids, yet that is. I don't see
any evidence of husbands around here either!" Book of Shadows!" said Phoebe
heading to the attic.
"Oh, right. Sorry Pheebs. He looks
so much like Andy! And Piper's
daughter..." said Prue.
"...is definitely Piper through
and through." said Phoebe. The attic
was full of old kids toys, clothes
and maternity things. The BoS
was hard to find, but they did.
"We know the results of the change,
but what was it that triggered
it?" said Pheebs starting to peruse
the book when it began to
flip again. It settled on the Demon
of Consequences. "According
to the BoS, this demon can only
change the outcome of events that
the victims initiated themselves.
The demon can upgrade or downgrade
the consequences of your actions.
Fine."
"So as the result of our sleeping with someone we ended up pregnant!" said Prue.
"Three up, three down! We're single
mothers. But not just any time.
Prue, Andy is thirteen. You were
only fifteen when you and Andy, uh."
stammered Pheebs.
"When I first slept with him. It was with Andy at the Manor when no one was around. But nothing happened afterwards." said Prue.
"Nothing till some demon has changed all of ours fate!" said Phoebe.
"Piper told me that she lost her
virginity on a date with Mickey
Lawson, when she was fifteen. And
that would account for Patty. But you once told me you were fourteen when.."
said Prue.
"Actually, I was thirteen and it was behind the bleachers in the school gym on a Saturday morning. It was so quick, I never counted it. At least not when I was a teenager. So now we have to reverse it. But we need Piper." said Pheebs.
"And I need to call Claire." said Prue. "Why didn't I quit?"
"Probably because it was a much
steadier job. All the responsibility
of motherhood, you know. I'm going
to find out what I'm doing. This is very weird." said Pheebs shaking her
head and heading downstairs.
In her room Phoebe found numerous
pictures including one of a fourteen
year old Phoebe and a sixteen-year-old
Piper both eight months expecting. She also found that she had finished
school and was working
at a local advertising agency.
Motherhood had straightened her out
quickly, but it didn't seem to
be the same for her daughter, Don.
Prue came in while Phoebe was going
through Don's baby pictures.
"It seems I was still engaged to
Roger who dumped ME and I have been
working at Bucklandís for two years.
Piper still has her club, but
it's called PAMPís after us and
the kids. I can't see any other
changes. Grams must have helped
us raise our kids. It must have
been awfully rough on her." said
Prue.
Pheebs looking at an early shot of her and Piper with their two girls. "Imagine how rough it was on us. I was fourteen with a baby girl! But boy she is cute!" said Phoebe.
Piper walked into the room in a daze.
"Earth to Piper." said Phoebe
"So how did it go?" asked Prue.
"She's just wonderful. Her name
is Patricia Louise Halliwell. She is
eleven years old. She has the most
loving disposition and she's in the top of her class! She likes to draw,
write and cook. Oh, she likes to cook! She's just a beautiful child. I'm
so proud of her!" said Piper
crying in Phoebe's arms.
"She just a cookie cutter copy of yourself," said Phoebe.
"And what's wrong with that?" said Piper wiping her eyes.
"She's not supposed to be your daughter at all. We all have other lives! Remember?" said Phoebe.
"This is the result of a demon." said Prue.
"Then being a witch has brought
me something good. I have got to
get to the club." said Piper.
"You mean Pampís?" said Prue.
"Whatever. I HAVE a daughter to
support. You guys better get use to it
too," said Piper as she headed
out.
"Piper!" cried Phoebe.
"Let her be. Let's look further
into this demon." said Prue.
Later at Pampís, Phoebe showed up with Don and Patty greeting Piper behind the bar.
"HI, Mom. Gee you look great." said Patty.
Giving Patty a very big hug, "You're
the one who is so beautiful.
Come here, Patty. How was school?"
she asked sitting next to her
daughter.
"Well, the science test was easy,
but Sarah was giving me a hard
time. What would you do..?" continued
Patty as Piper listened very
contentedly to her taking in every
word. They got matched each other's expressions and modes exactly.
"Boy, if Piper has a twin." thought Phoebe.
"Mom, my girlfriends are going to
the mall in hour an hour!" whined
Don.
"You are going to get your homework done first. And then, if it's not too late you can go out." said Phoebe firmly.
"What's with all these rules crap?" snapped Don.
"Hey, you want to be grounded all
weekend? And what your language,
Miss Halliwell! Homework first!"
said Phoebe.
Don looked up mocking her a bit,
pulled out her books and started
studying. Patty started doing the
same.
Piper coming over to Pheebs about
ready to burst said, "She wants
me to demonstrate my quick and
easy pizza in her Home Ec class on Monday. I'm to be the teacher. That
will be so much fun. She is just
great." gushed Piper.
"What about the Demon of Consequences? We need to do a little vanquishing here. " said Phoebe.
"I don't know what you're talking
about. If Patty is the result of a consequence, then I'm fully willing
to take my medicine. We have seen so much death and destruction and have
had these icky consequences.
Now life has been produced. I'm
finally happy with being a witch."
said Piper.
"Piper. Sweetie. This is NOT your life! Neither is it Prue's or mine. We have all our lives ahead of us. I want kids, but not when I was fourteen. And this is probably meant to distract us from our demon chasing duties." said Phoebe.
"Change anything you like. Just keep Patty and me out of it. Please get the kids home. I have a CLUB to run!" said Piper.
Sadly Phoebe rounded up the girls,
got in her new minivan and headed back to the Manor.
Prue got back from the lacrosse
game with Andy in tow. She had obviously had a great
time.
"Phoebe, you should have the block that Andy made. The crowd went wild." said Prue.
"Ah, Mom. Come on." said Andy.
"Hey, you deserved it.í said Prue.
"I have got to get my homework done. She you later, Aunt Pheebs." said Andy.
"So are YOU falling in this Mother thing, too?" asked Phoebe.
"They are our children. But I know we need to change things back." said Prue.
"Will Mother Teresa, I mean, Piper
has no intention of changing things back!
She wants to be the Mother of the
Year. I checked my calendar and I haven't had
a date in eleven months. Being
a single mother has its disadvantages. I haven't
seen his father since before Don
was born. Oh yes. And Andy called!" said Pheebs,
"He's alive!" said Prue excited.
"Yes. And Andy will be picked up on Saturday. By his WIFE!" said Pheebs.
"Oh, I didn't know. Teenage parenthood
wasn't Andy's thing, I guess." said
Prue sadly.
"I don't know how Piper feels about
it, but LEO is no where to be found in this
time line. It seems we have a female
white lighter to watch over the six of us.
None of our kids have any type
of powers, so we get to do all of the demon stuff.
The kids are great except for my
little beauty. Don is a lot to handle." said Phoebe.
"And so were you at that age. I remember. You were awful young to raise her." said Prue.
"Prue, I didn't choose to. She just kind of showed up." said Phoebe.
"And maybe that's why she is so hard on you." said Prue.
"Forget it. Both you and Piper have obviously decided you're staying. I have to figure a way out of this, myself." said Phoebe.
Upstairs, the children clung to
each other as they heard Prue and Phoebe
fighting.
Late that night, Phoebe awakened
from her sleep. Don was standing next to
her crying uncontrollably.
"What's wrong?" she said brushing the sleep from her eyes.
"You really want to get rid of me?" cried Don.
"Oh no, no." said Pheebs grabbing
her and holding her tight. "You're my
daughter and.. uh.. I do love you."
"But since I showed up I took away
your own life. You always had to
do things for me." sniffed Don.
"No, it's not like that." said Pheebs.
"I'm not even supposed to be here, am I?" asked Don.
"Some demon did change my fate.
Believe me, I always wanted kids." said Pheebs
looking into her eyes.
"Just not me, not now!" said Don.
"You were quite a surprise. But
how can I lose as cute of a girl as you." said
Pheebs doubling hugging her.
"Phoebe," said Prue from the hall. "We have a problem."
Phoebe grabbed Don really tight
and went with Prue to the attic. All six of them
were assembled around the Book
of Shadows.
"The children heard the whole story when we were arguing downstairs." said Prue.
"And these brave and wonderful children want us to return so our lives are back in order." said Piper crying.
"This isn't our time. Maybe you will have us someday, but it's not right for us to be here." said Andy.
"I love you enough Mom to give you
up. You're a wonderful Mom, but you have other
friends and a whole other life
before you ever will have me. I will be there, someday. We've seen you
put your lives on the line so many times that we should be willing to do
the same." said Patty.
"I'm so glad to hear that you love
me, Mom. We've had a lot of issues between us, but
I just wanted to hear those three
words. But like my cousins, we want you three to be able to go home. We'll
still be here." said Don.
"Are you absolutely sure about that?" said Pheebs.
"No, but we'll at least be remembered by you." said Patty.
Each of the kids hugged their Mom and their aunts and went down to their room.
"We have a terrific set of kids there. And we're going to leave them?" asked Pheebs.
"This isn't our place or time, Phoebe." said Prue.
"But I do LOVE Patty so." said Piper sobbing. ë
"And I do the same for Andy.." said Prue now sniffing.
"And Don is a little spitfire, too.
I <sniff> do <sniff> love
HER, too," said Phoebe collapsing
in Prue's arms.
"So.. what.. do.. we.. do?" asked
Piper.
Several minutes later the three
Charmed Ones walked in together
with a "I know something" smile
on their faces.
"Well, it's done. One Demon of Consequences
has been
eliminated." said Phoebe.
The cousins were sitting on Patty
bed in each other's arms.
"But we're still here." said Patty.
"Hey, we have been getting rid of
demons for a long time,
but we don't WANT to loose our
own flesh and blood."
said Phoebe.
"That's right. We're staying!" said Prue
"Whoa, that's ..uh.. wonderful." said Patty.
"MOM!" cried out Don. "Come here, my baby!" said Phoebe.
"Patty" cried out Piper. "Don't ever leave these arms again!"
"Gee. Mom. You gave up a lot just for us?" asked Andy.
"I would have been giving up a lot
more if I had left.
We're still the Charmed Ones and
we still have each other.
AND NOW WE HAVE YOU THREE!" said
Prue.
"But you must remember. We aren't
the three women that
raised you." said Phoebe.
"Those three sisters grew up a different
life and were molded by
different circumstances. Mainly
having to raise you three." said Prue.
"But we're here to love you and
care for you." said Piper
stroking Patty's hair.
"And when the chips are down, we'll
be here to comfort you
and help pick up the pieces. But
you'll have to accept us just
as we are too. Deal?" asked Phoebe.
"Deal!" said Don.
"You bet." said Andy
"Yes, yes, yes, Mom!" said Patty hugging Piper.
"But can we do something about your
name Don? Makes me
keep thinking of Marlon Brando."
said Pheebs.
She replied. "Anything you say..
MOM!"
THE END