The smoothness of the chocolate cream was blissful and the chocolate sponge was so fluffy and moist that it was easy to tell that the birthday cake had been made by Piper.
I smiled as I ate my mouthful of cake slowly, savouring the taste as I continued to look out into the garden from where I was sat on the chair in the conservatory. The house had quietened down a little as everyone went home but I could still feel the energies of my family wandering around the house though I wasn't sure where Chris had disappeared to.
Today was November sixteenth and marked my sixteenth birthday along with Chris's. Piper had given us a small, family filled party to celebrate which apparently hadn't been just her idea as Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coop had wanted everyone to get together to see how I was doing. The day after Dolton had been resurrected, a family meeting had been called and during this meeting was also when Evaline and Harry were introduced to the Halliwell family.
It had been a long few weeks and Halloween was just a distant memory. Since that night, we'd all tried our hardest to find Dolton, including both generations of the Power of Three going to the Underworld to see if we could find Dolton anywhere. That idea hadn't worked and no matter how much Aunt Phoebe, mom and Aunt Paige had found demons and tortured them, none of them seemed aware that Dolton had returned. I knew then that we had been asking the wrong demons. The only demons who would be aware would be those within Dolton's group and until he was ready, the rest of the Underworld wouldn't be aware of Dolton's resurrection unless he wanted them to know. I had yet to understand the dynamics of the group. Apparently Dolton had still maintained control somehow, even though he'd been in the wasteland by giving his orders through a proxy. This proxy had been the only one to have interacted with Dolton face-to-face according to the information I'd found out through Drogba and I couldn't help but to think about the fact that the Source who had been the ruler before Cole had only let a select few see his face as well. Anyway this proxy had been the next in line if anything had happened to Dolton, which meant that the proxy must have been extremely powerful. Of course, if I'd joined in that time then I would've been made the leader instead but that would never happen. Hopefully.
Other than the Dolton issue, I'd had to deal with the introduction of my long lost younger brother and grandmother. I'd handled the news quite well, or at least mom seemed to think I had. It wasn't until after everyone had gone home after the family meeting that I realised just how much everything had bothered me. I'd broken down in tears because of the range of emotions that finally made themselves known and Piper had had to console me with how I was feeling.
I hated Evaline for leaving me in the way that she had and I hated her for how she'd treated my mom throughout the first few years of my life. I hated that her words had broken my mom's soul just a fraction that Dolton had clawed his way through and coerced her into performing her purification ritual to hopefully cleanse me, when in fact I would've died either completely, or my witch half would've been destroyed in trying to protect me. I also hated that it felt like Evaline had chosen Harry over me and as I'd gotten to know them over the last few weeks, I realised that even though we had the same father, Harry's demonic powers were tiny compared to mine. He'd only shown basic demonic powers of shimmering and energy and fire balls. He wasn't pyrokinetic in the slightest, whereas I had been from the womb. I guess that showed the difference in power between the firstborn and the subsequent siblings that followed.
On the other hand, I was grateful to Evaline for looking after Harry all of this time and grateful for the love and family I'd gotten from the Halliwells. I couldn't be sure that I would be the same person if it wasn't for them. I couldn't be certain how I would've turned out if I'd known everything from the beginning. I was also grateful that Evaline had helped my mom in her moment of need after she'd conceived Harry and had helped her create a plan for what would happen to us after her death.
Then there was Harry, who I couldn't help but feel protective of and love already, knowing that he was my brother. I didn't feel as strongly about Harry as I did for Wyatt but I knew that that would come with time because Harry was a wonderful young boy. Dolton had been correct when he'd said I was ahead of my time because Harry didn't seem like a normal ten year old boy but then where was the fun in normal?
Anyway, I'd started crying tears of anguish, sorrow, pain, happiness and joy and I wasn't sure how to handle all of these emotions. Piper had just wrapped me up in her arms and said that it was okay to feel unsure and to not understand how I felt because I'd had a massive shock. Even Piper herself had thought that Evaline was dead because my mom had never told Piper anything, though we both understood that she probably did so in order to keep Harry safe. Piper just rocked me in her arms and let me cry out my emotions before sitting me down so that I could talk through my feelings in order to better understand them.
It had helped because I did understand them now and after crying them out, I was able to work through them in my own time. I'd gotten over my anger and mostly just felt sad at the moment. I knew that after spending time with Evaline and Harry that that sadness would morph into something different, probably happiness or some form of acceptance. Until then, Harry was happy to spend time with me when I had free time and Evaline was happy to join the both of us as well as explain more about my heritage to me.
She'd been surprised when I'd told her about my control of the elements as she'd asked me to outline my abilities to her so that she could decide what I was good at and what I wasn't so good at. She'd focused on working more with Water, as my ability with this element was limited and had started helping me to scry with my element. Water had been ecstatic about this because I was finally learning to use her in the way that she was meant to be used. Fire was happy as well because once I'd gained control of scrying with Water, I would then be able to scry with Fire. Evaline was also teaching me how to use the best of Water, including using her to encourage healing so that I wasn't relying on Spirit all of the time. I was getting better at it but it was quite difficult because healing required a lot of power and so I had to make sure that I had a source of Water nearby to use to heal otherwise it didn't work.
She'd also been surprised to hear of the dream I'd had where I watched Harmon connect with Electric. She'd said on Halloween that she'd believed that Harmon would've been outraged at demon genes being part of the Melvyn line and that was why she'd told my mom to have an abortion, however I'd known differently. Cassandra Wentworth had foretold my arrival and so Harmon had known that at some point, one of her ancestors would be born with connections to every element but would be half demon.
Speaking of, my demonic powers needed a lot of work as well but Evaline wasn't comfortable teaching me about those, so instead Leo and Piper were stepping up and helping me when we had time, but of course training at Magic School was still about our powers in general. Cole also helped whenever I trained with my demonic powers at home and it was quite nice having him there, even though he was a ghost, to talk to about worries I was having about my demonic powers.
Over the last few weeks things had changed a lot. I'd found family in more ways than one since the Halliwells were now truly my family after the revelations about my demonic half. I was learning about my Melvyn heritage and had even seen the Melvyn family Book of Shadows. A lot of the spells were from Harmon, Evaline and my mom. Mostly the biggest difference were in the relationships in the Halliwell household. I was becoming more comfortable with Piper and Leo every day and was happy with how we were with each other. Wyatt and I still had our usual sibling relationship and we still had each other's backs while also teasing each other endlessly. Chris and Mel still argued but they still remained as close as ever. Mel had always been closer to Chris, while I'd always been closer to Wyatt and so those bonds hadn't changed.
However Wyatt and Amy were even more in love. They were difficult to separate when they were together and when they were apart during the week, they never stopped talking to each other on the phone. Piper had mentioned that the phone bill was going to be through the roof. Wyatt apologised over and over but Piper said that it was okay. Amy still had support from Wyatt because her dad was still struggling after Cathy's death as he found it difficult to grasp the reality that she was gone and still not coming back. Amy still struggled as well with the death of her mom and I gave her as much support as I could but it was never easy, especially when the one who passed was as loved as what Cathy was in life and still was in death. I was just grateful that Amy had been able to say goodbye.
Then there was Mel. She'd brought her new boyfriend along to our family get together today since she'd decided that today would be the day where the family met her boyfriend. His name was Caleb and I could see why Mel would find him good looking. He was thirteen, like she was, and had tanned skin with dark brown hair but the most beautiful, soulful blue-grey eyes. He dimpled when he smiled and was quite lean, suggesting that he was athletic. He seemed friendly enough, if a little embarrassed to be here when it was obviously a birthday celebration. He'd bought a gift of flowers for me- my favourite which I was sure that Mel had told him- and he'd bought root beer for Chris- also Chris's favourite which I was sure Mel had told him. Piper had found Caleb to be delightful and gentlemanly and I had to admit that he was definitely thoughtful, caring and considerate where Mel was involved, but I wasn't sure what to make of him. He seemed harmless enough, but then again so had Josh. Although I realised that I'd always had a strange feeling in my stomach around Josh. I didn't have a strange feeling as such around Caleb but I got the feeling that something was a little unusual with him. I just hadn't placed my finger on it yet.
"Here you are! I was wandering where you'd disappeared to" Chris stated behind me and I blinked before looking up at him and smiling before swallowing the final mouthful of cake that I'd just eaten and placed the plate and fork on the space next to me as Chris sat on the little coffee table and grinned at me. I grinned back.
"Well, you found me!" I stated and he nodded before humming and sitting down next to me. I turned my body and placed my legs on his lap. He grinned and rubbed my shin comfortingly.
"Are you enjoying the day?" I asked and Chris nodded as he wrapped his arm around the back of me, resting his arm on the chair and rubbing the back of my neck.
"Of course. I get to celebrate the day with my best friend and girlfriend. How can I not enjoy it?" I grinned at this and blushed as little at his words. Seeing me blush only made him smile sweetly as he caressed the back of my neck.
"Besides we're sixteen now. We're getting older of course but this is the first birthday we'll be spending together as a couple and it definitely won't be the last." I smiled at this and nodded in agreement as Chris tilted his head and frowned in thought.
"And you? Have you enjoyed your birthday?" he asked and I smiled and nodded.
"Of course. How can I not when I get to have you by my side all day and I get to spend it with everyone who I love?" I replied and Chris grinned before nodding.
He shifted his weight before taking out a box from his pocket which made me frown at him and he shrugged, seemingly embarrassed.
"I haven't given you your birthday present yet" he stated and I frowned at this before shaking my head at him.
"But your birthday present was from Wyatt and Mel as well as myself?" Chris just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah but yours had a lot more thought in it than mine and so cost a lot more. Besides I know Wyatt and you planned it together because you found the perfect one for me." I smiled at this, glad that Chris was happy with his birthday present.
The three of us had all put money together to get Chris a watch for his sixteenth. Wyatt, Mel and I had talked about what to get him and we'd had two ideas, before settling on getting a watch for this birthday though we'd already decided what we might be getting him for his eighteenth. Anyway the watch was a black leather strap with a dark blue clock face. It was elegant and sophisticated and we'd even engraved 'Happy 16th Birthday' on the back which had cost more. Chris had seemingly been ecstatic with his present and the three of us had been happy.
Along with his watch, Chris had gotten a new pair of sneakers from mom and dad. Amy had bought him a wallet but because Chris was a big Marvel nerd, she'd gotten him a Deadpool wallet. I personally hated that film and while I liked Ryan Reynolds, I hated the character. He was annoying, but Chris loved Deadpool and Amy had been happy that he liked his present so much, especially since she wasn't sure what to get him but had been determined to think of something herself rather than asking me or Wyatt or Mel. Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige had given him money while Uncle Coop and Uncle Henry had gotten Chris a collectible car figurine. Chris loved cars and had been collecting them since he'd turned twelve. Every year, Uncle Henry and Uncle Coop bought him a new one. This year he'd gotten an Aston Martin styled car. He already had a Ferrari, a Rover, a Mercedes and a BMW. It was something he shared with Uncle Henry and Uncle Coop and while I didn't understand it, I thought it was sweet.
On the other hand, I'd also been spoiled this year. Piper had replaced my favourite sweatshirt and had also bought me another while Leo bought me a new pair of Converse since mine were a little old and battered. My Converse hadn't been as expensive as Chris's sneakers though. I'd gotten money from Aunt Paige and Aunt Phoebe while Uncle Henry and Uncle Coop had bought me martial arts lessons. I already had some experience of martial arts but I had mentioned that I wanted to better my fighting style so I was excited about that. Amy and Mel had both found an ornament that they believed I would love and they had been correct. I loved ornaments and I had a thing for cats, though I wasn't sure why, but I also loved Egypt and always had done for as long as I could remember. They had found a set of three black, Egyptian cats in various poses. One cat was lying down, another was standing up and facing the observer head on, while the third looked at the observer from the side. It was the same black cat and every statue had Egyptian jewellery on as each cat wore a large necklace painted in blue, red, purple and gold. They were beautiful and finished so that they were smooth and shiny. I already knew that I would be placing them on my desk to look at while I was working. Wyatt had bought me the necklace that I'd seen in Evaline's shop which I'd put on the moment I'd gotten it and hadn't taken it off. It nestled comfortably alongside my locket and it felt right having it there against my skin. Finally Evaline and Harry had given me the scrying bowl that I'd seen in her shop as a present which I'd been grateful for because I knew it would help with me using Water to scry.
It had taken until today for me to remember that I had other jewellery and objects that I'd bought from Evaline's shop that I hadn't gotten around to using yet because everything had been so chaotic ever since I'd bought them.
On the bright side, Terri had appeared today after I hadn't seen her for a week. She looked happy and healthy and had given me a box with a friendship key ring for my keys or handbag. I was strange because I loved key rings and so had thanked her, even more when I saw how beautifully crafted the dreamcatcher keyring was as it had used Celtic knots to make the frame and there were different coloured beads nestled within the dreamcatcher. Nothing was said about her absence from school and I didn't pry, knowing that she would tell me when she was ready to talk. Instead she just enjoyed being around us again and helping herself to Piper's cooking because my mom had cooked a wonderful array of buffet foods for everyone to enjoy today, though it wasn't anything as fancy as what we'd served at Halliwell's.
"Here" Chris urged, giving me the boxed present and I smiled at him before taking it from him and I unwrapped it before revealing a white box, decorated with silver swirls on the edges. I blinked, seeing that the box was from Pandora, a shop that I adored but hadn't actually bought anything from. I glanced at Chris and he smiled, his cheeks turning red.
"Open it already!" he pushed and I smiled before lifting the lid and gasped at the beautiful, silver bracelet nestled on the black cushion beneath.
"It's beautiful!" I gasped and Chris smiled. I was being truthful. The bracelet was silver, elegant and polished to perfection and I saw that it was one of the popular 'Moments' charm bracelets that they sold. I smiled as I gently lifted the bracelet from its box, before realising that it wasn't just a bracelet, there was also a safety chain and a charm on the bracelet ready for me.
The safety chain was also silver but there were golden hearts on the rounded barrel which made me smile before I focused on the charm. It was a silver heart charm made with little silver crystals, but inside of the heart there was a smaller, fully gold heart that dangled a little. I smiled at Chris and he grinned back.
"It's beautiful Chris! I can't believe you bought me this for my birthday!" He just shrugged his shoulders and gently took the charm bracelet from my fingers before fastening it around my left wrist. I grinned at him.
"Thank you!"
"From now on, every birthday and every Christmas present will be a new charm for your bracelet. We'll build it full of charms that you love and charms that mean something to us so that we'll always remember." I smiled and nodded quickly, happily which made Chris laugh a little at my eagerness.
"Best birthday ever and best boyfriend ever" I stated which made him blush again as I leaned forwards, pressing my lips lightly against his. Chris responded and trailed his fingers up and down my neck softly. It made the skin on the back on my neck tingle and a pleasant shiver to travel all the way down my spine, my entire body vibrating at the touch.
"I love you" I pulled away from Chris and he smiled at me.
"I love you too." I grinned at his words.
"Come on you two!" Wyatt called and I rolled my eyes at him before we both stood up and walked into the living room.
"What?" I asked, seeing that Wyatt, Amy and Mel were stood with Piper and Leo and they all grinned as Piper held up a camera.
"Time for the annual birthday photo!" Leo cheered and I laughed before shaking my head and glancing up at Chris who just laughed and shrugged down at me. I hated photos and everyone in this family knew that, but every year I still took the photo because not only did it make my family happy, but it did make me happy as well at having a way to make these birthdays into memories.
Chris and I took our usual seats on the couch, however instead of just sitting next to each other and grinning, or looking at each other as we spoke telepathically about Piper being her usual perfectionist self about the picture, we sat next to each other. Chris's right arm wrapped around my shoulders and I tangled my fingers in his as his left hand held mine on his lap, my new Pandora bracelet glinting under the lights in the living room.
"That bracelet is gorgeous Lila!" Amy gasped and I grinned at her as Piper and Leo fumbled with the camera. It looked like a new one this year. I didn't know why they didn't just use their cell phone and print the photos off themselves to put into the family photo album. Walmart now had specialist printing hardware in their shops to print off photographs. It wasn't expensive to do either, but Piper and Leo liked tradition.
"I know! It's my birthday present from Chris!" I squealed happily and Amy's eyes widened as Chris held me tighter and we smiled for the camera.
"Thank you so much for all of this again today, mom. I really do appreciate it and I know that Chris does as well. We both love you very much." Piper grinned and nodded at me as everyone left the living room after the picture had been taken.
"It makes me happy to see the two of you happy but my babies are all grown up now. I can't believe you're both sixteen" she sighed and I smiled at her. Time went by so fast. Nearly ten years ago, my mom had been killed in front of my eyes and I'd come to live with Piper. That had been so scary and I wouldn't have guessed that my life would've turned out like this but I couldn't be happier, especially now that everyone knew about my demonic half.
"Lila!" Wyatt called frantically and I frowned before hurrying to find him in the conservatory where a demon was waiting. Piper hurried after me and I watched her blow the demon up which made me smile at Wyatt and he grinned back.
I was in love with a Charmed One and while that thought still scared me because I didn't know what the future would hold for us, it also comforted me knowing that Chris and I would always be together. He was my soulmate and I loved him, just as he loved me and now I didn't have to hide my true self from him, I could love him the way I wanted to and the way he deserved. This had been something I was scared of before because I had been aware of my feelings but worried about them because Chris didn't know about my demonic half and I'd been scared to tell him, worried that the entire Halliwell family would vanquish me for how I'd been born. I'd been wrong and I was so glad that I had been because I was so happy with Chris by my side in the way he'd always been destined to be.
Life would be difficult as we learned how to communicate as a couple and as we grew up and made our way through high school. Life would also be tough as we learned about our witch duties, fought demons, tried to maintain healthy relationships with each other and our friends as well as figuring out what we wanted to do with our lives, but I knew that we would do it together. I would do it with Chris by my side as well as the rest of the Halliwells who I loved. While we had Dolton to worry about, there was nothing we could do until he resurfaced and started creating mayhem in the only way he would and the way I knew he would. Dolton was a pain but more importantly he was dangerous and a force to be reckoned with. We couldn't take his resurrection lightly. That was a worry for another day. Right now I would enjoy the remainder of my shared sixteenth birthday and eat as much cake and food as my stomach could handle.
However I couldn't shake the feeling that Doltonbeing brought back from the demonic wasteland was just the beginning and thatthings would get worse and more difficult before they got better. I had afeeling we were living in the calm before the storm but as long as I had my familyand my soulmate with me, surely there was nothing we couldn't do together.Right?
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Author's Note: So, In Love With A Charmed One Rewritten is officially finished. It was so much fun coming back to these characters and giving them the description and interactions that they needed. Hopefully this added to them a little more this time around so that you could understand and relate to them a little better.
I have also finished the rewritten book of Dating A Charmed One which I will start uploading at some point. However, since returning to university, I haven't done much writing and so have only written the first 3 chapters of Charmed Ever After (Rewritten) so even though the first two books are finished, the third one won't be finished anytime soon.
As usual, I do not own the rights to any of the characters from the original Charmed series, however Lila-Rose is my own character along with her friends and family outside of the Halliwell clan. All rights to Charmed of course stay with the CW and the writers. All lore to do with the Halliwells/Warrens has been taken from the Charmed TV show as well as Charmed fan pages.
The information on Elementals has been taken from the Charmed comics based on information on Charmed fan-sites since I haven't read the comics but would love to.
However, all information regarding the Melvyns and Delaines is completely my own creation. I have not adapted the Melvyn and Delaine lines from any families and so any similarities to any living families is purely coincidental.
The information in regards to ritual/sacred circles has been adapted from a bunch of information collected from websites on Wicca and Paganism and I have tried to adapt it to fit in with the Melvyns as part of the Charmed universe (as this wasn't a thing in the TV series but is mentioned in one of the comics) and so some information may not be completely correct in terms of Wiccan or Pagan traditions but I have tried to acknowledge the correct information where necessary.
This is a rewritten version of my original In Love With A Charmed One and so any similarities between the two are intentional but Dating A Charmed One is a thousands times different to the original version and was so much fun to write. I can't wait for you all to read that eventually.
As always, thank you to everyone reading, commenting and voting. Your support means a lot and I hope you stick with me :)