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Chapter 9 - Long December ~*~*~*~ And it's one more day
up in the canyon ~*~*~*~ Phoebe carried Paige into Studio Nine at ten o' clock on Thursday morning. She introduced Paige to most of the people there and then they went to get Phoebe's make-up done. "Hi Charlene, how's it going?" Charlene Libris had been with Phoebe almost since the beginning. Phoebe had been told it was extremely important to find a good make-up artist and she had. "I'm doing good. Who's this?" she asked as Phoebe put Paige into the chair next to her's. "I'm Paige Halliwell." she told Charlene. Charlene laughed and shook Paige's hand, "It's very nice to meet you Ms. Halliwell." As Phoebe was getting ready Paige started to get restless, "Paige why don't you go into my dressing room. There is a lot to do there and I'll come get you when you can get your make-up done, okay?" "Okay Aunt Phoebe." she said. Charlene helped her get down and they watched her go off, "Aunt Phoebe huh?" A male voice asked. Both of the girls looked up, "Cole it is good to see you." Phoebe greeted, "Charlene Libris, this is Cole Turner." The two shook hands. "I'm ready whenever you are." he told her. "She'll be ready in a few minutes." Charlene answered and both girls watched as Cole left. "Cute Phoebe, very cute. No wonder you wanted him instead of Stephan." Charlene teased. "He is good looking." was all that Phoebe would comment. ~*~ After Phoebe was finished getting ready she got Paige and brought her back to the make up mirror and left her with her friend. "Ready?" she asked as she walked over to Cole. He spun around and smiled at her, "Yes." They spent the next two hours taking photographs. He would tell her stories of some shoots that he had done in remote areas and she told him about slime ball photographers. They had a good time. Which scared Cole to his core. He knew that Phoebe was his way into the family, but he never thought he would start falling for her. It wasn't just the fact that she was beautiful either. She had a golden laugh and he knew that she could hold her own against him. Not to mention that she was very close to her sisters. And close families meant that there was added support. As their time drew near they were both very hesitant to let each other go, but when Phoebe looked to see where Paige was she didn't see her anywhere. "Can you hold on a second?" she asked. Cole nodded and Phoebe took off to find her niece. She couldn't find her anywhere and she started to panic. "I'll help." Cole told her. And the two went off in different directions. After a few minutes Phoebe heard people calling for her. She went in the other direction until she found Cole with Paige and another boy. "Where have you been?" she asked Paige. "She's been in the coat room." Cole answered. "How did she get there?" Phoebe asked. "She followed my son." Cole told her. Phoebe stopped for a moment. He had a son? "I'm sorry Aunt Phoebe. Glenn was real nice and I got tired so he said we could play there. That his daddy wouldn't mind." she explained. Phoebe shook her head and looked at Paige, "It's okay Paige. You just scared me is all." "So you must be Glenn Turner." she held out her hand and the boy shook it. He looked just like his dad and was nicely mannered. "Can Paige and I get something to eat?" he asked. "Well Paige and I have to get going." she started to say to Glenn. "You can have dinner can't you? My treat?" Cole asked. She looked to Paige who was nodding her head with excitement. "Okay, but we have to get going after that." she warned. Paige and Glenn jumped up and down and inside both Phoebe and Cole's hearts there was just as much excitement. ~*~ They decided to make it simple and went to McDonalds. As Paige and Glenn left for the play land it gave Phoebe and Cole a chance to talk. "I guess your surprised." Cole said. Phoebe laughed, "Yeah a little. I just never pictured you with a son. I've heard a lot about you, but I had never heard that." Cole laughed, "A few people know, but I don't want him exposed in this world. You know what I mean?" "Very well." "So are you still married to his mother?" And as soon as it was out of her mouth she blushed. She hadn't meant to get so personal quickly, but he intrigued her, "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that." she told him. "No, it's okay. Julie, Glenn's mother, and I divorced about a year after he was born. She has custody of him because of my job, but I try and see him as much as possible." He explained. "That's good. So are you and her still friends?" "I've never believed that after something like that you can still be friends. And since she hates me with a burning passion the answer would be no." "A burning passion?" "Bitter divorce stories are left for later." he teased. ~*~ On the plane Paige was quiet. Which gave Phoebe a chance to think. Which she really didn't like, but it was impossible to stop the thoughts. She thought of Cole. About how good looking he was, how mysterious. The fact that he had a son. And for some reason she felt somewhat betrayed by the fact that she hadn't known that. There was something about him that made her want to know every inch of him, inside and out. Her thoughts drifted to Piper and Leo and the fact that she was going to be an aunt again. She was the first to meet Leo. He was at the same photo shoot she was at and she had quickly struck up a conversation with him. He had all the qualities she looked for, except that he wasn't very dark or tall, and to be honest wasn't that mysterious. At least not the mysterious kind that made her blood boil. And at the time that was what she had been craving. It didn't matter anyway the moment she started speaking to him she knew that he would be perfect for her sister. She still liked to do victory dances at Piper's expense. Her thoughts drifted to Prue. She had always admired her older sister. She was the strongest person that Phoebe knew. How she had raised her daughter without Andy, how she had kept up moral for the sisters, how she looked after them even though she said she wasn't, and for just being herself. Her thoughts drifted back to Cole. Soon it was an hour and her and Paige were making their decent into SFO. ~*~ The manor was quiet hours later. Paige had been exhausted and with relations between Andy and Prue somewhat strained mother and daughter had retired to bed early. Andy had taken the couch near the door "for the girls protection", Phoebe had retired to bed with her thoughts still swirling and left the resident couple to take their leave as well. Now comfortably ensconced in the bed Piper was restless. She turned to face Leo and he turned to look at her, "Can't sleep?" he asked. She nodded her head and he moved his arm to allow her to snuggle up to his side. She rested her head on his chest and threw her right leg over his body and stretched up for a second to give him a kiss on the underside of his chin. "Tell me something you haven't told me before." Piper whispered. "Piper we've been together for six years I'm sure you've heard all the good stuff." he replied. "Probably but tell me something anyway. If it's boring I can fall asleep." She implored. He sighed which meant he was going to tell her a story. "Have you ever wondered why Natalie is the way she is?" He started out. He had actually been thinking about Natalie for the past few days and now seemed like a good time to tell his wife. "Sometimes but then she says some comment and I tend to not care." Leo laughed. How he could love such two different people was beyond on him. "Natalie wasn't always so..." "Anal retentive?" Piper suggested. "That really wasn't the word I was thinking of but we can use it." he told her. She laughed, "It was the only word I could think of." He shook his head but continued with his story. "You know my parents died when I was fourteen. Natalie was sixteen and it effected her far more than it did me. Her and my grandmother hadn't been that close and now she was forced to live with her and take on new rules. And Grandmother Lillian was not Mom and Dad. I had a hard time, but Natalie made sure that I had everything I needed. She took care of me as if she were my mom. Which I was thankful for, but I didn't know what it meant to her to give up her teenage years. Finally when she turned seventeen she had had enough of everything and she fell into the wrong crow and so on. That February she came home and told us that she was pregnant. Of course it shocked us, but it was actually a shock we all needed. Natalie wouldn't and couldn't give up her baby and Grandma was forced to deal with the problems that we had been having. So after Nathan was born Natalie wanted to give him a good life. Which is why she's the way she is now. She's been trying for a long time to make up for her mistakes that one year." Piper was stunned. She had known that Natalie had Nathan early in her life. Something she had wanted to throw in the woman's face every time Natalie said something to her, but something inside her had always told her not to. And now she was glad that she hadn't. "Why have you never told me this?" she asked. Leo turned to his side, "I don't know. I just haven't." he answered. It really wasn't the response Piper was looking for, "Is that the truth?" she prompted. He shrugged, "I don't know, but enough about me what about you?" he asked. She shook her head, "We can do me later..." and stopped though when she saw the leer in his eyes. "Leo Wyatt!" she admonished. And they both laughed and she lifted herself up to where she was over him and gave him a kiss. "You read my mind." he muttered. ~*~*~*~ End of Chapter 9 * "Long December" by the Counting Crows. |