#i guess selina is the mom but i cant see her as a stay at home

[charmedbitches]

Melinda Patricia Wyatt & Roland’s Relationship: Part 3; Moving Forward

part 1 & part 2

Death

Melinda closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh, crisp mountain air, why was it that places like this just seemed so much purer than any place back home? Even when she went hiking and there were no city buildings for miles it never seemed as relaxing as this. It was the third time in the last two months that she and Roland had been to Mt. Fuji, orbing back to their last point each time to continue their trek upwards. She leaned back towards him slightly when she felt him walk up behind her and rest a hand on her shoulder, before realizing that something felt off.

She turned towards him and the look on his face told her she was right and she almost went into a panic, Roland didn’t worry for no reason. “What is it? Is something wrong?” Quickly she let her sensing power switch back on and she felt it or rather didn’t feel it. Her mother had vanished, had she been kidnapped by a demon? It wasn’t unheard of, and if she was in the underworld it would explain not being able to sense her. But if she had just been kidnapped then...why was Roland giving her that look, like he had no idea what to say to her. “Why can’t I sense my Mom? What's happening?”

“Kyle just sent me a message, Melinda your mother...a demon her and your Aunt Paige were fighting managed to get the upper hand...” Everything he said after that seemed far away and she felt like she was looking at him through an endless tunnel, this couldn’t be happening. They always made it through, Halliwell’s were survivors. She couldn’t...they hadn’t even talked yet about the argument they had during her graduation celebration, she hadn’t been able to tell her that she’s sorry she knows that she just wanted to protect her from heartbreak.

“No.” “Melinda” “No, she’s not. You're wrong, Kyle’s wrong. She can’t-we haven’t--” She sank to her knees and didn’t even know how else to react, how was she supposed to face her family? They all knew that the last real conversation they’d had ended in her yelling at her mother and orbing away, she didn’t want to feel either judged or pitied because of it and she couldn’t fathom bringing herself to accept her mother being gone knowing how they had left things.

Roland didn’t say anything else but she saw him kneel down from where she was staring at the ground and felt him wrap his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her; it didn’t make her feel better, not really, but she wrapped her own around him and squeezed her eyes shut in response as her tears began to fall and her body shook with sobs. At least his arms it made her feel grounded and gave her tangible proof that she wasn’t alone in that moment, even if it didn’t really make her feel better.

Grief

Melinda had been on autopilot for almost three months after she moved back into the refinished basement of the manor for the first time since she graduated High School to help Dan and her Grandfather with her younger siblings, more so fourteen-year-old Charlotte than seventeen-year-old Chris and nineteen-year-old Wyatt. She was doing her best to not let anyone see just how much her Mother’s death was affecting her and just trying to help them get through it themselves. It wasn’t until twenty minutes ago when Wyatt had snapped at her about not caring that she had died that she finally let herself register how much her loss was still hurting her.

It had caused her to destroy the oven she’d been using with her power and now here she was, her knees curled up to her chest as she cried again over her Mother’s death in her and Roland’s place. She didn’t call for him though, she knew that when he wasn’t busy he would probably sense her there and honestly? She just wanted to be alone for a little while to cry in peace. She felt a gentle hand on the back of her head though and froze, holding her breath and watching silently as her mother knelt down in front of her. If she moved would she vanish? “Hunny, don’t cry. I know it’s hard but you’ll be okay.” Finally, she risked it.

“Mom.” Melinda didn’t know how or why she was here right now, she had tried a summoning spell at least five times since she had died. None of them worked, and at one point? Her Aunt Prue had appeared, she recognized her from the framed photo of her holding her in the hospital, and told her that she wasn’t going to be able to summon her Mother. She needed to grieve and move forward with her life before she’d be able to see her again. But here she was. “I’m so sorry Mom, I never should have left angry like that. I never should have avoided talking to you afterwards, I should have tried to talk to you about it. I--”

“No. Melinda I’m sorry, for trying to tell you who you should and shouldn’t love. It turns out that...Roland isn’t so bad. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be able to talk to you right now, to help you get through our unfinished business.” Despite still being slightly overwhelmed by what was happening, Melinda felt an almost airy feeling fill her chest.

“That’s all I wanted you to see, he--I know that we’ve had issues with the Elders, and I know what Dad did to us was horrible but Roland...He really loves me, and I love him. It hurt knowing you didn’t approve, and I knew you wouldn’t. That’s why I waited so long. I didn’t know how to make you see past him being an Elder.”

“I should have trusted your judgment, your strong and smart and you know how to listen to yourself. But please, don’t shut down again the way you have been. It got bad enough that your father helped Roland to petition the elders into letting me talk to you. You cant live your life in a daze like you have been.”

“It’s not fair.” She knew that what she was saying was selfish. “Our family--we’ve done so much for the magical world, we’ve always taken care of threats that The Elders asked us to. We shouldn’t have to lose you, can’t you stay? Can’t we just not let them take you back? If we all fight it, they wouldn’t be able to take you back, Mom.” She reached forward to put her hands on her mother's forearms, almost clinging to her as she spoke of defying the most universal law. What dies has to stay dead. Not even a Halliwell could change that.

“No, Melinda my time’s done. It’s your time, your brother and sister’s time. I have to go back, and you have to keep going just like any child does when their parent dies. You’ll be okay though, your surrounded by people who love you.”

New Beginnings

Today was the day, marriage, a family of her own. Neither was something Melinda was ever sure she would have for herself, but here she was at twenty-three years old marrying someone she loved more than she could express. She had been engaged now for six months and she was almost two months pregnant, even though no one except for her Aunt Phoebe knew that last part yet. “You look amazing Melinda.” Selina told her cousin, she couldn’t help but beam a smile at her sixteen-year-old cousin.

“I feel amazing, I didn’t. After my mother died I didn’t know where I would have been in a month, let alone been able to guess I would end up here at this point two years later.” She couldn’t help but feel elated, even though a part of her was always worrying about Wyatt these days with how recluse he had become the last few months? She was doing her best to brush that away now for at least today, if only for today.

“Well, we aren't’ quite there yet, Melinda! we still need to actually get to the wedding. So why don’t one of you get orbing us to the mountain top, Paige just called to tell me everyone is there and ready. We gotta get this show on the road.” Phoebe couldn’t help but be a little on edge about the wedding, even if it was being concealed by a web of fairy magic? The fact that all of the Elders were going to be in one place put her on edge and made her fear the worst would happen.

Luckily everything went off without a hitch, Dan walking Melinda down the rows of her family members to where Roland waited. She had decided that since he had been there more as a father than her Dad? She wanted Dan and not Leo walking her down the aisle, but had agreed to her father presiding over the wedding. After it was done everyone moved on to the reception where it was being held in the ballroom in Magic School.

At the end of the night, the two of them made an announcement. They let everyone know that she was two months pregnant, and in the same breath, Roland informed the elders that come their child's birth he would be stepping down from his position. He understood and accepted that fact meant that his wings would be clipped, but said that he could sense that there would be someone who would appear to take his powers and place on the council before then.