The Power of Four

Written by Sammi: [email protected]

“The Fourth Charmed One.” Piper said.

“Is my daughter.”  Prue finished.

“Wha…you…huh…daught…huh?”  Phoebe was completely lost for words.

“Let’s go downstairs and talk about this, kay?”  Prue led them all out of the attic and into the lounge room.

“OK spill.”  Phoebe said as soon as they had sat down.

Prue took a deep breath.  “Alright, well when I was fifteen, I lost my virginity to Andy.”

“But I thought you lost your virginity...”  Phoebe interrupted, and Prue silenced her with a glare.

“The next month I missed my period and I was really scared that something had happened, but I didn’t do anything about it.  When my next period came, I was so relived.  But then my health teacher told us that you can be pregnant and still have your period, and I got extremely scared.  I went to see a doctor, and he told me that I was twelve weeks pregnant.”

“Why didn’t you have an abortion?”  Phoebe asked.

“Could you kill an innocent child just because it was unwanted?”  Prue asked, fixing Phoebe with a steely gaze.

“Well, when you put it that way…” Phoebe trailed off.

“Anyway, I didn’t have an abortion.  I was terrified of the baby for a few weeks.  I didn’t know what to do.  Then I had my first ultrasound, and I started to get excited.  I couldn’t believe that there was a human being growing inside me.  I told Andy about the baby two weeks later.  He allowed me to cry for the first time since I’d found out.  He just held me, and didn’t say anything while I cried.  Then we talked, and he said that he was going to help me through the pregnancy, but he never said if he wanted to keep the baby once it had been born.  He told me that I should tell an adult about it, but I didn’t know who to tell.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”  Piper quietly said.

“I knew that you would have no idea what to do.  Your were only 13 Pipe, and I couldn’t put a burden like that on your shoulders.  So Andy and I carried the burden together, until I told Grams.”

Phoebe was incredulous.  “You told Grams?”

Prue smiled, for the first time since she had started telling them the story, “Yes, I told Grams.  I knew that she’d be disappointed in me and everything, but I had no other adults to tell.  She was surprisingly calm about it.  She didn’t yell or anything, just asked me how I felt about all of it.  Then she asked me questions.  You know – ‘who’s the father’, ‘how far along are you’, that sort of thing.  She told me not to tell you guys, and we arranged for me to go away for the last three months of my pregnancy.”

It dawned on Phoebe, “that was when you went to San Diego, to stay with those relatives we never hear from.”

“Yep.  I stayed there for the eleven weeks before the baby arrived.  Andy and Grams rang me every week, but I was so homesick.  I missed you guys soooo much.”

“We missed you too.” Phoebe said, hugging her older sister.

“And then, on September 23^rd, the baby was born.  It was a beautiful little girl.  I held her once, and then she was taken to the nursery.  I never held her again.”  Prue eyes started to mist over as she spoke.  “Later, when I was cleaned up and dressed, I went down to the nursery and I saw the couple who were going to adopt my baby.  They were staring through the glass, staring at my baby.  Their arms were wrapped around each other and they looked so content.  And I felt so alone.  I walked up to them.  When they turned and I saw their faces, I knew I’d done the right thing.  They would love her and take care of her as their own.  But they could never love her as much as I love her.  Even though I was really only her mother for a few minutes, I know that I’ll always feel like her mother.”  By this time, tears were falling freely down Prue’s face.  “And it’s July 23^rd.  Today’s her fifteenth birthday.”  Prue added, then collapsed into sobs.  Piper joined Phoebe as they hugged her tightly, trying to make her pain go away.  Leo just sat back, allowing the three to have a sister moment.

When Prue finally calmed down, Phoebe turned to Leo.  “Why are there spells in the Book that need the Power of Four?  What is it anyway?”

“The Power of Four is only required once in every generation of Charmed Ones.  It is the Charmed Ones plus the first born child of a Charmed One.”

“So you knew?”  Prue said hoarsely.

“Well, I knew that one of you had a child who would turn fifteen this year.  I didn’t know who.”

“What’s so special about fifteen?” Phoebe cut in.

“When the first born is fifteen, that’s when the Power of Four will be required.  I don’t know why, maybe it was coz you guys are the first Charmed Ones, and you had your first born when you were fifteen, Prue.”

“But how are we supposed to find Prue’s daughter?”  Piper asked.  “We only have 48 hours.”

“Less now.  Our desires started last night.”  Phoebe stated.  “By the way Prue, what was your deepest desire?”

“That mom could meet her granddaughter.  Mom came and told me this morning.”

“But, how can that be, mom stayed with me all night.”

“It’s a demon, a powerful one.  She could easily produce illusions…”  Phoebe opened her mouth, but Leo continued before she could say anything.  “…that can be felt.”

Piper looked down.  “I guess that means you aren’t only our whitelighter.”

“Piper, you guys may not be my only charges, but you three are the only ones I love as family.”  Leo lifted her chin with a finger.  “And you are the only one I love as a wife.”  Piper smiled, then Leo kissed her.

“Piper’s right, how are we going to find my daughter?  I can’t remember the name of the people who adopted her.”

“You could always look up her birth certificate.  Wouldn’t that say her adoptive parents?”  Piper asked, after breaking her kiss with Leo.

“I’m not sure, it might say me and Andy.  Besides, they might have changed her name.”

The doorbell rang, and Phoebe got up to answer it.  Prue followed her.  Behind the door was a teenage girl who looked exactly like a female version of Andy.

“Um, hi is this the home of Prudence Halliwell?”  the girl asked.

Before Phoebe could respond, Prue pushed past her and stared at the girl before her.  “Cassandra?”

The girl smiled shyly.  “Actually I go by Andie.”

“Oh, well would you like to come in Andie?”

“Sure.” Andie replied, following Prue into the lounge room, leaving Phoebe standing in the hall, open-mouthed.

“I’m Prue, by the way.”  Prue said as she and Andie entered the living room where Leo and Piper were kissing.  “Ah, guys?”

Piper and Leo broke apart and saw that they had company.  Piper blushed.  “Sorry.”

Andie smiled.  “No problem.”

“Oh, Andie, this is my sister Piper and her husband Leo.”  Prue introduced them.  “And this is my other sister Phoebe.”  She added as Phoebe entered the room.  “Guys, this is Cassandra, Andie.”

Phoebe sat on the couch with Piper and Leo while Prue and Andie sat in armchairs.

“And you would know her…how?”  Phoebe questioned.

“I’m Prue’s daughter.”  Andie replied.  Piper, Leo and Phoebe stared at her.

Prue whispered in her daughter’s ear. “They just found out about you.”  Andie nodded.

Phoebe was first to recover her voice.  “So how did you find us?”

“Do you want the long version or the short version?”  Andie asked.

“Actually, could we leave the explanations until later.”  Prue cut in.
“Yeah, right now we have a demon to catch.”  Leo finished.

“So how do we find her?” Phoebe asked.

“You won’t need to.  She’ll come to you sometime today.”  Leo answered.

“OK, so Andie, Pheebs, why don’t you guys check the Book of Shadows for more information on Desiré.  Leo, could you check with the Elders, and see if they know anything more about this Demon.”  Prue took charge, as usual.

Andie, Phoebe and Leo went to do Prue’s bidding, leaving Piper and Prue alone.

Piper turned to her sister, “so what do you wanna talk about?”

“How did you…”  Prue shook her head, dismissing the thought.  “Um, I just wanted to know…how did you find out?”

“About what?”

“You knew I had a daughter.  I saw your expression when Phoebe mentioned the Power of Four.  What I want to know is how you found out.”

“Um…” Piper was hesitant to tell Prue that she had read her private diary.  “Well, I found the false bottom in the window seat in your old room.”

“Ohhhh.”  Prue understood now.

“I looked at the photos too.  Do you wanna come up and look at them?”

“Sure.  It’s been so long…”

Prue followed Piper up to her new room.  They were joined 15 minutes later by Andie and Phoebe, who was carrying the Book of Shadows.

“Whatcha looking at?”  Phoebe asked.

“Pictures of Prue, when she was pregnant with Andie.”  Piper replied.

“You took pictures, lemme see!”  Phoebe ran to where they were sitting on the floor by the window seat.

Andie just watched her newfound mother and aunts, realising exactly how much she had missed out on in her life.  She didn’t resent Prue for giving her up for adoption, but she did wonder how life would have been like if Prue had kept her.  How would her life had been with a fifteen-year-old mother and father?

“Andie?”

Andie was drawn out of her train of thought when Prue spoke to her.

“Yeah?”

“Wanna see?”

“Sure.”  Andie joined the three, looking through the photo album, laughing at the funny pictures of Prue with a bulging stomach.

 

That night, as Piper was serving up dinner, Desiré appeared behind her.  Andie came into the kitchen and immediately threw the demon into the fridge with her power.

Piper turned around, “Whoa.  Thanks Andie.”

Andie smiled.  “No prob.”

“You have the same power as Prue.”

“Yep.  Telekinesis.”

“Prue, Pheebs!” Piper called.  “The demon’s here!”

Phoebe and Prue came clattering down the stairs, and reached the kitchen just in time to see Piper freeze Desiré as she came towards her and Andie with an athame.

They joined hands and recited the spell:

Evil that has travelled near
The Charmed Three plus one
Call on you to disappear
And all desires shall be undone

They repeated the spell, and Desiré unfroze.  She writhed and screamed as she melted into nothing.

“Well, there’s another demon that won’t be bothering us again.”  Prue said.

“And she didn’t even wreck my kitchen.”  Piper added.

Prue and Andie went into the lounge room, while Phoebe stayed to help Piper finish serving up dinner.  Leo orbed in behind them, and Piper immediately turned around and froze him.  Then she saw who it was and unfroze him.

“Sorry, but we just got a visit from Desiré, so I’m a little edgy.”  Piper apologized.

“Yeah, I know.”  Leo responded nonchalantly.

“So I guess this means that you have other charges again?”  Phoebe asked.

“Actually, the Elders noticed how happy you were when you knew you were my only charges, and how quickly you vanquished the demon, and they decided that from now on I can take care of the Halliwell family.”

“Really?”  Piper asked.

Leo smiled.  “Really.”

Piper grinned, then threw her arms around Leo’s neck and kissed him.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…

 

Yeah, I finished the Demon of Desire part, but I’m gonna continue this series, I have a lot more in store for the Charmed Ones.