Disclaimer: We do not own Charmed in any way, shape, or fashion. If somebody were to suddenly hand it over to us, though... yup, we'd take it.
Summary: Piper reminisces about her three boys, remembering how each of them grew up with the most normal life possible while still being inherently magical until the time that they each left the house, leaving to experience life on their own.
Authors' Notes: There are two people writing this fic, first of all! There is O' Tuachair and Kaye (which explains our name, of course). This is Kaye typing right now. O' Tuachair has gone to bed already, considering it is already past midnight. She is sane. Kaye is not. Which is me. I'm not sane. Right.
A few things... here is a quick list of who writes for which characters. Any characters not listed are written by both of us just for time sake.
Kaye: Wyatt, Leo Jr, Leo Sr, and Phoebe.
O' Tuachair: Chris, Piper, Derek Jr, and Michael.
Also, Derek Jr is the demon baby that was seen in the season six episode "Nature vs Nurture". We plan on this being a grand epic filled with 23 episodes, just like the regular season. Enjoy the prologue and have fun meeting the characters. The cast list is on our bio page, in case you were wondering.
Constructive criticism is welcome!
Enjoy!
The Phoenix Trials
Prologue
It was a long day. Piper looked down at the sleeping babe in the cradle as she realized she needed a name for this last child. It was a boy as well, notifying Piper that the future had changed for the better.
What should it be? She had already gone through Leo's family names, for the most part anyway. Should she go for the P-names? No, there's no point, not anymore at least, she had already violated that rule long ago.
Blue eyes stared up at the eldest charmed sister as she gazed down at her new son lovingly. The blue would probably fade in a few weeks – Wyatt was the only son who had kept Leo's blue eyes. Beautiful eyes, to be sure, but she knew with her son's dark head of hair that the boy would most likely take after his mother and his aunts.
A sigh fell past Piper's lips as the weariness of the past week settled upon her like a blanket. The stress of giving birth and recovering had taken a toll upon her body; she was just happy to be safe at home with her baby. And as a hand snaked around her waist and a strong jaw settled upon her shoulder, she knew she was not the only one.
"He's so beautiful – just like his mommy," Leo breathed into her ear.
"Beautiful doesn't even begin to cover those gorgeous eyes, Leo." Piper had sudden inspiration. "Leo."
Leo lifted his head slightly, turning to look Piper in the face. "What is it?"
"Huh?" Piper stared at Leo blankly. "Oh-nothing."
Nine and a half months ago, Piper would have never thought that this day would come. Piper and Leo didn't even know that she could get pregnant, or even that it would be a boy. She could remember the day perfectly, as if it were just this morning.
---
"Piper, honey, are you okay?"
Leo's voice was muffled through the door, but Piper still caught the concern in his voice. She guessed that he was wondering what she had been doing in here for the past thirty minutes; there was no water running and no sounds of her doing anything. Truthfully, she had just sitting there, staring straight out ahead at the bathroom wall, trying to let the news sink in.
It was her husband's voice that prompted her to finally stand, the bathroom door swinging open as she unlocked and opened it. Leo was standing right outside the door with a sleeping Chris draped across his chest, the little boy sucking on his thumb as he dreamed.
"Piper," Leo repeated gently. "Is everything okay?"
"It depends."
Leo's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "On what?"
"On your reaction to the news..." Piper said in a gentle but serious undertone as she tried to find a way to answer his next question.
"News?" The way Piper had said that word made Leo shift uncomfortably as he adjusted Chris in his arms. Now he was really worried. "What news?"
"Leo, I'm..." her brows furrowed, the scar in between one of them slowly splitting the eyebrow in two as she attempted to tell him. It was, after all, their first surprise. Surprises don't tend to happen in a world where your sister is a psychic and Angels tell you what your future is..."I'm pregnant."
Leo's eyes widened.
"Now don't get too excited, it might not be true as of yet. I just...I missed a period, that's all…Leo?"
Piper waited for a moment as stunned Leo stood in silence.She took Chris from him, as he seemed to be getting restless, and walked away. Leo never moved an inch.
---
Leo, Piper thought. Leo was the perfect name.
---
Wyatt's prattle had been going on nonstop for the past thirty minutes, but the seven-year-old seemed to have no interest in stopping what he was talking about. Right now, the subject was his friend Charlie's pet snake. Who exactly Charlie was and how Wyatt was friends with him, Piper was not sure as she had tuned him out over twenty minutes ago.
From the way that Chris was idly poking at his lunch without really reacting to what Wyatt was saying showed that he had also tuned his brother out and was somewhere far off in dreamland. Even if her eldest son could go on for hours talking about nonsense, she loved him anyway. She was just so glad that he had grown up to be a happy, healthy boy just like she – and her second eldest son from the future – had always dreamed.
"…Mom, where's Dad?"
Wyatt's sudden question caught Piper off guard for a moment. She glanced toward her husband's empty chair and toward the empty highchair reserved for her last son and frowned. She had sent Leo to go grab their youngest about the time that Wyatt had started talking and they had not arrived yet. Where could they be?
Piper followed the route to the nursery as usual. Whatever happened to her husband... Well, she would deal with that after little Leo ate. He was probably starving by now. He was teething, and she had a carrot ready for his poor new tooth. Poor Leo had probably been crying nonstop if his father didn't show up...
Piper's thought process melted when she entered the nursery. Even though the circumstances were a little worrisome, Piper felt the need to be proud of her youngest at the moment.
The picture in front of her was of her husband, her grown husband, bending down to pick up her son... only, something wasn't quite right. Leo Sr. was frozen.
"Leo, that was a very bad thing to do young man. What are you doing, freezing your daddy? Now, when we freeze people, they need to be bad men. Very bad men, okay, Leo?"
The toddler looked up at her and smiled. Piper picked him up and flicked her wrist. Leo unfroze.
Leo stared at her blankly, confusion written on his face, as she answered his thoughts, "Leo froze ya."
She proudly smiled a large smile and walked off, as Leo continued to look confused before following his witch.
---
"Wyatt, watch Chris while I'm putting Leo to sleep."
Wyatt glanced up from his homework (a worksheet of addition problems) and pouted. "But he's watching the baby channel."
"I don't care. I have to put your brother to sleep. Finish your homework and keep an eye on, Chris; I'm trusting you."
Wyatt's pout deepened into a scowl. "Fine," he muttered gathering his homework and joining his little brother in the living room.
Piper picked up the fussy two-year old and walked away. For some reason, Leo was being more difficult than ever. The first time she tried to grab him for a nap he got up and ran away from her. She waited for a couple of minutes, knowing that his small legs would tire and she could easily get him then. He was kicking as she took him to the room, but she could easily stop that.
"Leo Victor Halliwell, you stop that right now. Do you want to make mommy mad?"
He stopped instantly. Piper still had it. She took him to the nursery and changed his clothes. His fidgeting was getting worse again, but she knew he couldn't do any harm, he was just tired.
She took him to the rocking chair and held him for a moment. He was a sucker for the rocking, and fell a sleep instantly. She put him down in the crib gently, before hearing voices from the other room. "What on earth?"
Piper left Leo's nursery, making sure to close the door behind her to block out the noise of her other two sons arguing (so her ears told her as she neared the living room). She entered the room, hands on hips and fire in her eyes, ready to stop the argument immediately… except that neither of her sons even seemed to notice her entrance.
Chris was standing with his back to his older brother, his small body guarding something from him that Piper saw was the remote. Wyatt was standing over him – already towering over his littler brother as he tried to grab for the object of their argument.
"C'mon, Chris! Sesame Street is a baby show. It's meant for babies."
"No it's not!"
"Is too!"
"IS NOT!"
"IS TOO TIMES INFINITY!" Wyatt grinned smugly as if he had just come up with the cleverest thing to say ever before his expression turned into a pout-filled one. "You're such a baby, Chris! Remote!" Then, with a little dash of magic, the remote easily orbed into Wyatt's outstretched hand.
"Hey! That's not fair! Stop TAKING MY STUFF!" In a moment of flurry, Chris's five-year-old temper flared up. His eyes glared directly at his older brother with contempt, and with the flailing of his arms, he sent Wyatt flying through the air.
"CHRISTOPHER PERRY HALLIWELL! What did you just do?!" Piper shouted from her seat in the audience.
Chris, frightened by his mother's anger, began to cry while Wyatt wailed from the other end of the room. She knew Chris had just come into a new power, one that she had been expecting but had to remind herself that the green-eyed boy did not know how to control, but she couldn't help the yell. It was a natural reaction to her children fighting, and a quick flash to a time when grown Chris and Wyatt were literal enemies.
A sigh fell past her lips as regret started to settle upon her. She knew she should not have yelled, but she was just so frightened…
Wyatt's tear-filled blue eyes looked up at his mother as she knelt down beside him to inspect his scratched knees and palms. Luckily, Chris had not thrown his brother with much force and that was the worst of his injuries. The mother of three looked over her oldest son's head to pin Chris with her gaze.
"Chris. Apologize to your brother."
The green-eyed boy hesitated.
"Now."
"I-I'm s-sorry, Wyatt…"
Hearing those uncertain and frightened words made Piper's heart break and whatever anger she still had toward either son for their previous display vanished. At least nothing was broken. And at least they were both okay. And at least she knew they would be okay.
---
"Paige? You couldn't sense him or anything? HOW COULD YOU NOT SENSE HIM?!" Piper paused for a moment to breathe. "I'm sorry, I'm just so...yeah, well, thanks for looking. No, no, Chris doesn't know where he sent him. He says that he wasn't really paying attention when he 'orbed' him… I don't know how you can orb somebody and not be concentrating when you do it, but I don't think he's lying… Yeah, he's pretty worked up over this… Yes, we will find him. Thank you again, Paige. Call me if you hear anything…. Thank you, bye."
The phone shut off with a click as Piper returned it back to the base. A shaky sigh fell past her lips, her hands shaking even as she tried to calm herself. There were just too many unknowns this time, too many things that could have happened – could be happening right now. And there was nothing she could do about it from right here.
She strode across the living room toward her purse, intent on driving around town for the fifth time in the past two hours, when she heard the front door open. Pausing in mid-motion, she turned toward her husband and oldest son who did not look at all victorious.
And Leo was not with them.
"You didn't find him."
It wasn't a question. Her husband simply hung his head, and something in Piper snapped.
"Leo! I don't know what to do. Where could he be? He's five years old and anybody could have him, and I don't know what to do!" Piper covered her face for a moment. She looked at Leo, scared of the next negative thing. "What if Leo's in a ditch somewhere! What if he's dead, or raped, or just plain hurt? What if demons found him and they kidnapped him? What if-"
"Shhhh," Leo hushed as he pulled his wife to him, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting embrace even though he knew that she would receive none. Piper was far too worked up over this and the only thing that would calm her down was for her youngest son to suddenly waltz right back into the Haliwell manner as if nothing had happened.
"Everything will be fine. We'll find him," he promised, even though he could not guarantee any such thing.
Wyatt looked up at his mother guiltily. "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry that I can't sense him… I just don' know where to look for him and since I don't even know where Chris sent him…" He trailed off as he bowed his head again, feeling useless for probably the first time in his life. "I'm sorry."
The eldest brother did not blame Chris at all for what had happened. Leo, he knew, could be annoying at times, and if Chris had not snapped first, Wyatt was pretty sure that he would have. After all, it used to be a game with him, sending Chris all over the place through orbing. It used to drive his parents insane… but Chris always had the ability to orb back.
Leo didn't. And therein lied the problem.
A noise from above caught all of their attention and they turned toward the staircase where they could just see Chris peering over the banister near the top of the stairs down at them, riddled with guilt. He had been hiding in his room since the incident, unable to face his hysterical mother, worried father, and overprotective brother. And now, he had just heard what Wyatt had said.
This day was just getting better and better.
"Chris, honey? Come down here. You're not in trouble, I promise."
Chris walked slowly down the stairs, like a stray dog going to a hand held out for him. He was timid, but Piper was not going to punish him. When he was fully down the stairs, he began to cry. "I'm sorry, Mama. I'm so sorry, I don't know where he is, and I thought and thought, but I can't...I don't..."
"Shhh, you're not in trouble, sweetie. We'll find him, I promise. Just, stay in my sight, okay? We're going to go look for him together, okay?"
"Okay…"
She grabbed his hand in her left and grabbed her purse with her right. Maybe driving around with Chris would help – it was a long shot, but she couldn't just sit here and do nothing!
Before she could even get out the doors, though, all four of them heard a jingling of orbs and turned to see a flurry of blue sparkles that disappeared to reveal Little Leo as he stumbled backwards and fell on his butt. This did not seem to faze him one bit, though, as he was looking around the house with large hazel eyes and a wide grin on his face.
"I did it…" he breathed out, completely unaware of the turmoil that his family had been under for the past two hours. He looked up at his mother and father with an even wider grin, completely proud of himself. "Mommy! Daddy! I did it! I orbed!"
---
Piper already knew that it was about time for the "witch" talk. The boys were plenty old enough, Wyatt being fourteen years old already, while Chris followed him at twelve, and Little Leo being nine years. It was time for the talk about personal gain, a concept that had taken herself and her sisters several mistakes to finally grasp.
Piper could not count how many times the boys had gotten themselves into trouble. Sooner or later, that trouble would bring the Cleaners into the mess, and she already knew what would happen then... And if not that Cleaners, then the Elders would surely intervene, and frankly, she wanted to see them even less than she wanted to see the Cleaners.
The house was eerily quiet as Piper walked through the hallways, a frown on her face. Where were those boys? It was not very often that they could remain this quiet for this long. Even worse, the last time that the house had been this quiet, it had ended with an explosion of demon guts – something that the eldest Charmed Witch would prefer not to relive.
Piper poked her head into Leo and Chris' room – one side messy as always with all of Leo's toys strewn about, the other side immaculate and clean, much like its owner, both of which happened to be nowhere in sight. She continued down the hall and looked into Wyatt's room, the mess being almost worse than the one on Leo's side of the room, but what made her frown even deeper was the way that the three boys who happened to actually be present and seemed to jump as she entered.
She raised a single eyebrow in question.
"Hi, Mom!" Leo flashed a very innocent smile as she walked in.
An innocent smile that he could usually not pull off at all. What was going on?
Piper looked around suspiciously. "What's going on?"
Wyatt looked to his with a smile on his face. "What do you mean, Mom? Nothing's going on."
Chris grinned a grin that lied against any innocence that the three supposedly had. "Yeah! Nothing!"
There was no way that Piper was going to buy any of that and her eyes just narrowed more in suspicion, but she could see nothing amiss and the connection that she felt with her boys did not feel off at all. More than likely, it was a small prank that they were playing or planning… but she could never know around these boys of hers.
The suspicious glances that Piper gave were enough to le her boys know that she knew something was up, she just wasn't sure of what it was. The boys suppressed their giggles and side glances to the best of their abilities.
"Now, boys, it's time for me to give you the talk."
Leo's eyebrows skyrocketed. "The talk?"
Chris blinked up at her confused. "What talk?"
Wyatt looked up at his mom, "Isn't that Dad's job? No offense, but you're a girl; this is a 'guy thing'."
"What's a 'guy thing'? Mom, what are they talking about?" Chris asked, head cocked to the side, his green eyes blinking up at her with innocent confusion.
Leo, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly where this was going as he shifted uncomfortably with a slight grimace. "Mom, is this really necessary?"
Piper laughed, knowing exactly what they were thinking. She looked at each of the boys. Before she spoke, however, she eyed each of her boys very carefully. They were sure responding to her very oddly, almost out of character.
Brushing that thought aside, she continued, "No, boys, not that talk...although your father should be giving that one soon enough. I think he's already talked to you, Wyatt. And if he hasn't, he should. But no matter; I mean a talk that your father wouldn't know much about... the 'witch talk'."
Piper stopped though. She thought about Leo's suddenly 'all knowing character', and Chris' ignorance of everything, and Wyatt's professional, middle ground attitude... She knew her boys better than to think that they hadn't switched character somehow... someway. She still didn't have any way to prove it though...
Piper decided to continue her long monologue for the boys, just the same old stuff: using the powers properly, the golden rule of witchcraft, "an ye harm none, do what ye will." The boys knew the gist of the Charmed Ones' story, but she brought the book down anyway. Or, she had Wyatt bring the book down. The boys had a moment of confusion as to which one was Wyatt... but that only added to her knowledge that they had switched... something...
She only pretended not to notice.
Chris squirmed where he sat. All of this talk of consequences and how even if his mother did not find out then the Powers that Be would and he would be punished was sending him on edge. His mother was already scary enough without the whole group of Elders up there backing up whatever punishment she came up with that she deemed a worthy consequence. That thought alone sent his green eyes wide with fear.
Maybe this whole thing that he and his brothers were doing – not such a good idea.
"Mom… w-would we get in big trouble if we played with magic?" he asked, his bottom lip trembling pathetically.
That was the clue... Chris was definitely Leo. But she refrained from letting them in on the fact that she knew the truth.
"Chris, let me let you in on a little secret. There are these people... well, Beings, to be more exact, that are called The Cleaners. If you ever play with magic in a bad way, even if it is in the littlest way possible, they will erase you."
Chris's eyes, if possible, went even wider at that. "E-erase m-me?"
Piper nodded gravely, while on the inside she was just waiting for her youngest – for now she knew that there was no doubt that Chris was actually her youngest – to crack. It didn't take more than another second before Chris's physique melted into that of Leo, trembling lip, watery hazel eyes, and all.
He threw himself at his mother, little tears leaking from his eyes, as he sobbed, "I don't wanna be erased, Mom. I'm s-sorry!"
Wyatt morphed back into Chris, scowling. "Ugh, stop crying. I can't believe you ruined it!"
Piper looked at Chris, surprised at the scowl in his voice. He was usually the mediator.
The extra Leo slowly changed back into Piper's eldest son who was wearing a perfect 'It wasn't my idea, I swear!' expression on his face. She shot him a disbelieving look, and he winced, knowing that he wouldn't get out of the punishment, no matter what he said.
"Er, hi, Mom! No personal gain, right? Yup! Great lesson. I heard every word."
He grinned sheepishly up at the stern look that his mother was wearing. Leo's small hiccups punctuated his statement and Wyatt sighed. Sometimes, being the oldest wasn't that much fun.
"Leo, calm down. You're not going to be erased," said Wyatt.
"I-I'm not?" Leo asked, avoiding looking at Chris who was still scowling at him.
"No. You're not," Wyatt promised. The blonde looked up at his mother hopefully – maybe he could earn some brownie points before she grounded them for using their powers so uselessly. Or maybe he could just get brownies! "Hey, Mom, guess what? We all got a new power!"
Wyatt grinned.
"Yeah, I noticed. Glamouring, huh? So, whose idea was it to pull the switch? If you step forward now, I will punish in the same respect as your brothers, but if I find out and you didn't tell me... be warned. Your father will hear about this."
"Awww, come on, Mom. He'll probably think this was funny anyway."
Piper thought for a moment. This was true. Leo Sr. did seem to find the humor in most acts committed by their sons...
Wyatt shared a grin with his oldest younger brother. "He'll probably take us out to celebrate, knowing Dad."
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Piper knew that her oldest son was telling the truth. Sometimes, it really sucked being outnumbered four men to one woman. Putting her foot down routine hardly ever got through and every time she adorned the black hat, the boys would go crying to her husband who would fall for it every time.
Despite all that, though, Piper was overwhelmingly proud of her sons. Maybe just this once, she'd let them off.
---
Piper glanced at the clock while her hands continued to move with expert ease. The double-dip chocolate fudge cake (Chris's favorite) was almost done being mixed and only needed to be popped into the oven to bake. From the time, she estimated that it would be done and iced just in time for her boys arrival from their various after school activities. With the whole family and several of his friends getting together later that night, this, Piper decided, would be one of Chris's best birthdays yet.
Fourteen. It was such a good age.
As the cake was put into the oven, the last thing the mother of three expected to hear was the opening of the manor door closely followed by the sound of her son's voices. She frowned in confusion that quickly turned to concern as the raised tones floating into the kitchen reached her ears. Piper set the oven's timer before rushing out into the living room to see what was up.
"Chris, are you going to tell us why you insisted we come straight home, or are we going to have to play guessing games all day?" Wyatt growled, obviously annoyed.
"Yeah, Chris, what's going on? I was supposed to make up my spelling test today, remember?" Leo whined, his reddened nose being the only left over signs of the cold that he was just recovering from. (Piper had threatened Wyatt with a grounding if he healed him - having a cold was a normal part of life, therefore there would be no healing for something as small as that. That, of course, didn't mean that she couldn't keep her youngest home and baby him to death, however. That was a mother's prerogative, after all.)
Chris paused, trying to find the words to say. He finally gave up on finding the right wording when he noticed Wyatt's annoyed look turn into one of anger. "I... came into a new power today. It was a premonition. I saw -" Chris stopped abruptly at the sense of his mother's presence. Powers or no powers... when one's mother is near; one has the sense to be able to tell. "I'll tell you more about it later."
Piper heard her middle-child speaking of his newest power. It was a moment of excitement for a mother of three witches.
"Happy Birthday!" Piper shouted. "New power, huh? Premonitions... Watch out for your Aunt Phoebe. She might attack you."
Chris cringed at the thought of Aunt Phoebe's large, lip-stick imprinted kisses that usually arrived with her, and this time he had no choice but to grin and bear it. That was the rule on birthdays, after all.
Wyatt glanced over at his younger brother, a small frown on his face that he hid from his mother. There was obviously something on Chris's mind, but he was not going to push his brother to talk in front of their mother. He was smarter than that. But later, when they were alone, he was going to find out what was up. There was no way that his little brother was going to pull him from hockey practice without an explanation. His coach was going to kill him - especially when he showed up tomorrow without a note.
"We're banned from the kitchen for the time being while you get ready for Chris's party, am I right?" he said, forcing a careless grin. The last thing he wanted to do was make his mother worry. The stern look that was shot his way made Wyatt hold up his hands in surrender. "Say no more; we'll go make ourselves scarce and still pretend to be surprised when we see the cake."
With that, Wyatt tugged on Chris's sleeve, pulling him toward the staircase as he muttered, "Come on."
Piper watched as her two oldest boys disappeared up the stairs quickly followed by her youngest. There was something going on, but as her boys got older, it got harder and harder to get them to talk to her. Leo, her dear sweet husband, called it a phase. She sure hoped that he was right about that. But as long as they weren't going into the underworld without her permission or something equally dangerous, she knew she could not punish them for it. They were just being normal teenagers... just like she always wanted.
Not knowing what else to do about her boys for the time being, Piper wandered back into the kitchen, intent on finishing that cake.
It was half an hour later, after her husband's arrival home from Magic School, that the buzzer for the oven finally went off. She gave Leo a quick kiss on the lips - God, she loved that man - before hurrying from the den into the kitchen to cut off the oven and pull out the cake to cool. As she carefully placed the hot pan on top of the stove, she heard the jingling of orbs behind her signaling the entrance of one or more of her sons.
Piper turned, ready to chew them out for using magic unnecessarily, but Wyatt spoke first, cutting her off.
"Is it now?"
He wasn't speaking to Piper; his attention was on Chris. Piper watched, confused, as Chris glanced at the clock on the wall with a tight expression and nodded. Before she could even ask what was up, the air in front of her shimmered.
"Mom! Get down!" Leo's voice rang through her ears, and trained after more than fifteen years of demon fighting, she ducked without a second thought.
The wall behind her exploded from the energy ball that had been meant for her heart.
With equally fast reflexes, Leo froze the enemy in his tracks. It was only one, for now. There had been the normal small, insignificant demon attacks in the past, but this one certainly wasn't one of them. The three brothers gathered around their mother, intent on protecting their matriarch, that woman that had protected them for so many years.
Demon after demon arrived. Piper knew it was coming. She always knew it was coming... Ever since that day, so many years ago, when she was allowed to see her middle child as a grown man, afraid of losing her. She knew that she would be attacked. Piper rose. It was not the time to crouch on the ground, it was time to fight.
"Boys, duck." The three did so as Piper threw her arms up and watched as two demons exploded in front of her. It was a good thing her range expanded as she grew. Five were vanquished. More were coming.
Chris was terrified. It was his birthday. His FOURTEENTH birthday and he was expected to sit and watch his mother die? That was something he would not accept. It was a good thing his new power came in so quickly. Every time he turned around he had to wave another arm. He was getting tired but anything to help his mother.
Leo Sr. watched the battle in anticipation. While everyone else was busy with demon guts and battle wounds, he watched in fright as he realized that two darklighters arrived in a preemptive strike. Before he could even yell for the boys to look out, the rest of the family arrived. He should have known that they would have some knowledge of the demon attack sooner or later. Between Paige and her enhanced Whitelighter abilities (since she began training with them) and Phoebe's premonitions, not to mention their connections in the magical world, it was no wonder that they would arrive sooner or later.
"BOYS! Orb somewhere else, now! Your aunts and I will take care of this!" Piper screamed. She saw the darklighters aim their crossbows at her sons, and in slow motion, she saw their fingers move their way to the trigger.
"But mom, what if-" Chris began.
"NOW!" Piper screamed as the darklighters pulled the trigger. The boys stood in defense of their mother, not realizing that they were targets as well. They had already defeated every demon other than the darklighters, and had not known of their endangerment to their poisionous arrows. Piper rushed towards her children and pushed them out of the way, taking both hits at once. "Son of a-" Piper yelled, feeling that familiar annoyance towards battle wounds before blowing up both darklighters.
After all of the excitement was over, Leo Sr. rushed to his wife. "Honey-"
"Leo, love, just get these arrows out of me without the pep talk."
Leo Sr. sighed with a slight smile on his face. Damn Valkyrie. "Anything for you. Leo, Wyatt, when I pull the arrows out, be ready to heal." Leo Sr. pulled both of the arrows out of Piper, and Chris watched, defeated, as both of his brothers healed Piper, while he had not acquired the power as of yet. His dad, as if he had telepathy, put his arm around Chris and whispered, "You'll figure it out soon enough, son."
Piper got up and looked at everybody in her usual, 'What are you staring at?!' face. "We have a BIRTHDAY to celebrate. Geez, you people act like I haven't died and come back to life before. Plus, we have a new power to celebrate."
"Powers? You mean your normalkids have powers, Piper?" Paige asked in a mocking tone.
"Oh, oh! Who has a new power? Who has a new power?" Phoebe gushed as she rushed over to the boys, her bruised knuckles from punching one of the demon's lights out long forgotten.
"Chris... and it's premonitions." Piper winced secretly and said a silent apology to Chris.
Phoebe's eyes went wide as a large, proud grin spread across her face. "Oooooh!" she squealed, running up to him and pulling him into a suffocating hug. "I knew it! I knew it! You are just too great. Just look at you! Premonitions! Ooooh!" She grabbed at his cheeks, leaving great big red pinch marks behind as she cooed over her second eldest nephew.
Standing behind Chris were Leo and Wyatt who were trying with all their might to hold back their laughter at their brother's plight, but they were failing miserably. A stern look from their mother made them bite their lips harder to suppress their laughter.
"We just need to celebrate that much more, now!" Phoebe declared, as she wrapped one arm around her nephew, attempting to lead him away. "And for the rest of the day, it can just be fun and demon-free!"
At her declaration, the air in front of them shimmered. All of the witches immediately bristled, tensing at the sight, before the shimmering air left somebody quite familiar to their eye in its wake.
Little Leo groaned.
"Hey, Kid. Happy birthday. Whoa, what's with all the glares? I feel like I must be the king of all evil or something. You guys seen a ghost?" Derek Jr., best friend of Wyatt for fourteen years, had arrived, obviously.
Little Leo rolled his eyes at the half-demon and flicked his hands, smiling with satisfaction as the older boy froze in mid-motion.
"Leo, unfreeze Derek, now. Didn't we already have this talk?"
The hazel-eyed boy pouted. "But, Mom! He's annoying," he said matter-of-factly.
Wyatt rolled his eyes as he walked over to his frozen friend. "Leo, unfreeze him now or you'll regret it."
There was a pause and then Leo, wilting under his older brother's glare, flicked his wrists in Derek's direction again, making the half-demon stumble out of his frozen state. The built older boy blinked in confusion before turning his glare on Leo, realizing what the "half-pint" had done.
Leo ignored him, instead deciding to wander over to the stove where the cake still sat undisturbed. "So, Mom, can we have cake now?"
---
The manor was decorated with the splendor of the season. There was a wreath on the door, lights were hung along the roof outside, cards lined the doorways, and the tree was lit and covered in tinsel and breakable bulbs. It was a sight to behold, if Piper did say so herself. Leo and her boys sure did a great job on the house - and she helped. A little.
She stared at the handiwork, admiring it with a smile, when she heard a jingle of orbs behind her. Piper turned, hands on her hips, ready to chew out Little Leo or Chris for orbing in the house when they very well could walk, when she saw her oldest son standing there, a travel bag in his hand, and a grin on his face.
"Hey, Mom. I'm home!" Wyatt announced, dropping his bag and opening his arms wide, waiting for a hug from his mother.
She did not make him wait a moment. She fell into the hug with a broad grin. Her college-bound boy who had been hiding out on the East Coast had finally decided to make an appearance.
"Hey, I know you. It's nice to see my oldest... Now, tell me, is it too late to get you to move back here and stop trying to follow in you father's footsteps?"
Wyatt chuckled as he pulled from his mother. He scratched the back of his neck as he shrugged almost apologetically. "Sorry, Mom. It's a little late for that. But hey! I'm here now! Besides... I bet Chris and Leo have kept you busy enough as it is. Am I right?"
"Damn, shot down by my own son...where does this life go? Yeah, yeah, they keep me busy. You would be so proud of Chris; he won a writing contest. Just found out yesterday. Gives him a scholarship of $2500. Oh, I'm so proud of my sons. Leo is doing better in school, too. Go into the living room, the family's waiting for you."
"Okay, Mom. Guess it's time for me to bombarded, huh?" he asked, smiling through the painful idea of being attacked by his Aunt Phoebe's overly happy greeting.
He was going to have lipstick stains on his cheek for the next week, he just knew it. With a grin plastered on his face, he made to walk through the kitchen into the crowded living room. Thank goodness for the intervention from his Aunt Paige. Sometimes.
"Hold on, just let me check on the spaghetti. You go on ahead and I'll be right behind you."
Piper turned around abruptly, knowing that she didn't want to be run over by Phoebe as she was getting to Wyatt. Phoebe and her... cheesy aunt-ness. Oh well, she always made up for it by being a good confidant when the boys didn't want to talk to Piper or Leo about something. She walked into the kitchen and was glad to know that the spaghetti was finished. She was just waiting on the garlic bread to be done.
After checking on the bread in the oven, Piper decided that it was finally time to head out into the living room, where the whole family was waiting. Her dad was there as well. She always laughed a little, remembering a time when Chris had stated that her dad would be used to orbing.
Looking at him now, she knew that this wasn't that time. Chris just brought him in back from Venice, one of his many, new, free adventures thanks to having grandsons with the ability to orb. He didn't mind the orbing; it was just the queasiness that followed that bothered him.
"Well, there's my oldest daughter. Where have you been hiding?" Victor hugged his daughter affectionately.
"Hi, Dad. I've been making dinner, as always."
"I should have known," he said, smiling proudly down at her.
She smiled back up at him before turning her gaze onto the rest of her family who was packed into the manor's living room, each of them in some sort of conversation. Though they often got together like this - all sixteen of them - it was still some of Piper's happiest times. She watched as each of her family members interacted and moved about with each other.
Except for Prudence.
Prue, or Ladybug as they all called her, was pacing back and forth along the far wall as she talked into her cell phone. She looked distressed and as the name "Travis" reached Piper's ears, she grimaced. There was only one reason why the eldest female of the next generation of Halliwells would look that upset while talking to her boyfriend of a year. At that moment, Ladybug slammed the cell phone shut and let her head fall into her hands.
Immediately, Phoebe was at her daughter's side, trying to comfort her. It was obvious that Piper had not been the only one watching. Piper hesitated, wondering if she should head over to comfort her niece as well or not, but then Firefly and Bumblebee were at their sister's side, worrying over her, and the eldest Charmed one knew that the last thing she needed was to be smothered by more family members.
Averting her attention, Piper smiled as she saw Julia and Melody nose to nose in some argument or another. Though they were twins, those two hardly ever got along - but that did not diminish their sisterly bond at all. Besides, it was probably just a phase of theirs. Paige had somehow been dragged into their argument, and she was standing between the two of them, attempting to play mediator, but failing miserably.
Leo, Henry, and Coop were talking about some sport - most likely baseball considering Leo's level of enthusiasm - and gesturing excitedly and smiling widely. Laughter could be heard from their corner, especially as Victor wandered over to their group, adding in his own two cents. Piper was just glad that her father had finally accepted not only Leo, but Coop into the family as well. She knew that he had not been that thrilled to have another magical being in the family, but after seeing what miracles they could perform - namely his grandchildren - he had finally accepted them both with open arms.
Speaking of the men, the next generation of males were strewn across the couch and coffee table (Piper frowned at the fact that Wyatt and Junior were sitting on the coffee table - didn't they know that the table wasn't meant for sitting?). Wyatt was in the middle of telling some story from college while the other three boys listened, laughing and snickering at the appropriate times. At least, Chris and Junior were.
Little Leo seemed distracted by something. His eyebrows were furrowed together and his eyes were darting around the room as though looking for something, but the lost look on his face seemed to tell that he did not even know what for.
Piper watched her youngest intently, knowing that something was going on. Whether it was some normal, teenage boy problem or some magical one, she did not have the faintest idea. By the looks of it, though, it must have been intense. The lost look on his face slowly turned from frustration, to anger, to sadness, to excitement, all in a five second interval. As Piper thought back, she knew she had seen this face somewhere before.
Then she it hit her; it was the same look Prue and Phoebe had as empaths. Her eyes widened. This was not going to be good, she realized, as Little Leo slowly got up without the faintest idea of what he was doing.
"EVERYONE, SHUT UP!"
Stunned silence immediately followed. Little Leo's widened hazel eyes darted across the room, his expression just as shocked as the rest of the room. He stood there for a moment, not saying a word, with all eyes on him, before he grimaced and grabbed his head. Then, without another glance, he sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Wyatt jumped to his feet, ready to race after his little brother, but Piper was at his side in a flash, putting a calming hand on her oldest son's shoulder. The overprotective nature that Wyatt held over his brothers always made her smile, but she knew that right now Leo did not need the support of a brother - he needed the reassurance of somebody who knew exactly how he was feeling right then. And if she was right, there was only one person with enough experience to be able to offer that sort of reassurance.
"Phoebe, can you...?"
Phoebe looked confused for a moment, her arm still around Ladybug's shoulders even though Ladybug no longer looked upset but more so just baffled at what had just transpired. Then it clicked and her eyes widened as a broad grin spread across her face. She let out a small squeal before bringing her hands together in front of her mouth to try to hide some of her giddiness.
"I'll just..." She gestured wildly toward the stairs as she practically skipped across the room.
Piper rolled her eyes.
Paige muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "Mental".
Big Leo finally shook off his shock enough to ask, "Somebody want to explain what's going on...?"
Phoebe poked her head back out over the banister at the top of the stairs and explained in a breathy but loud whisper, "Another one of my nephew's has one of my powers!" Then, with another wide grin, she disappeared around the corner.
"That is what's going on," Piper agreed, shaking her head at her sister's craziness.
She wasn't worried about how Phoebe was going to approach Little Leo - she wasn't the nation's top advice columnist for nothing after all - Piper was just sometimes blown away by her little sister's hyperactivity when it came to her nieces and nephews.
"Wait... new power?" Wyatt asked. "Would that be... empathy?"
"Yes," Piper answered, distractedly. "That's what I think anyway- Paige, what are you doing?"
Paige had moved from her spot by her daughters to digging around in the drawers in the desks that lined the entrance hall walls. She had a determined look on her face, and from the way that she was pushing everything to the side, she was obviously looking for something.
"Well, do you remember those magical baby monitors that I installed after the Ultimate Battle? We never took them down," Paige explained as she continued to search through the drawers.
"So...?" Piper prodded, not seeing the point.
"So... aha!" She produced a box of crystals and a flat board and dumped them out onto the coffee table. "We're going to listen to what Phoebe and Leo are talking about."
"Paige!" Piper scolded, but not nearly as harshly as she should have as Paige saw through her instantly. Piper was curious, too. It was obvious.
"Shh!" Paige hushed her older sister as she placed one of the crystals down onto the flat board. The entire family was gathered around by now, all of them just as curious as the rest. The crystal glowed yellow and then... nothing. "That must be to Chris's room," she said thoughtfully.
"My room?" Chris repeated, staring at his aunt.
"Do you have these hooked up all around the house?" Wyatt asked, not looking at all pleased with this new information.
"Yup! All around the house," Aunt Paige said, glowing with pride at her creation as she shifted through the crystals trying to find the right one. "But they were mainly set up for Chris and Wyatt's rooms."
The color drained from Wyatt's face. "You know, Mom... those noises that you heard from my room when I used to live here... demon fighting, I swear! That's all it was! Just me vanquishing demons! I never did anything else in there, honest to God!"
A single eyebrow rose on Piper's face as she turned to give her oldest son a look. "Wyatt... we shut those monitors off when you were ten, but what were you saying about loud noises?"
Just as quickly as the color left Wyatt's face, it returned full-force, causing him to go tomato red. He moaned, burying his face into his hands, and muttered, "I should have just stayed at school."
Chris was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
Piper opened her mouth, ready to pursue the subject, but Paige suddenly hissed at them to be quiet, and then voices began to float from the crystals throughout the entire room.
"Aunt Phoebe, will you just leave me alone? I have a headache..."
Leo's voice was the first heard, sounding angered and saddened at the same time, obviously disturbed by his new power. Piper didn't know how to react. She could already tell that this power would be the worst of them all, the hardest to deal with. The worst feeling for her was knowing that this wasn't anything she could help him with, not a cross for her to bear.
"That must be some headache," Phoebe said, lightly.
There was a pause. And then a sigh.
"How bad is it?"
"Better now... but it felt like my head was going to split open a few minutes ago."
"Boy, do I know how that feels!" said Phoebe, and Piper could just imagine her little sister wearing that 'is sucks, doesn't it?' smile on her face. "...I'm not helping much am I?" She sighed. "Leo, I know it sucks right now... and, I'll admit, your brothers will probably end up more than just a little peeved with you for reading them unconsciously one too many times before you learn to control it... but it does it better. And hey! At least you'll have someone around to help you learn to control it!"
There was another pause, this one lasting a little while longer than the last.
"Aunt Phoebe... I don't want this."
The tiniest hint of a quiver could be heard in Leo's voice, and it made her heart break.
---
Piper was no fool. She knew that stupid, goofy grin on her middle child's face meant there was a girl in his life. She also knew that this wasn't just any girl in the eyes of Chris. It was Amanda Christoph. A name her parents had changed when they had the chance to seem more "refined." And Amanda took full advantage of that attitude.
Piper knew the family well. They went to the restaurant often and threw big bills around as tips. They also tended to order things and send them back to her as often as they could, insisting that her Coq au Vin wasn't exactly the way they made it in France. The parents also met in P3, and Piper knew they were made for each other.
Amanda was the oldest in her family. She was the head cheerleader, the one that every guy liked. Why she was going out with Piper's nerd, she had no idea. Not to put down Chris, but girl's like Amanda Christoph didn't exactly go out with intelligent guys like Chris, no matter what kind of girls he was supposed to have dated in the future.
Piper was worried.
She knew that girls like this tended to like Wyatt, and she knew what kind of things those girls did in high school. Not that Piper was bitter about her own high school experience - she wasn't - but the last thing she wanted was for her middle son to be subject to a high school heartbreak.
Chris walked out of his room, smiling as per usual. This time he was wearing a sports coat and slacks, obviously dressed to impress.
"Oh, the sports coat is out," Piper teased.
Chris simply rolled his eyes. "Hey, Mom, can I get a table for two at your restaurant?"
Piper's eyebrows rose considerably. Wasn't it tradition nowadays to go see a movie on the first date?
"Sure, but um... isn't that a little fancy for a first date?"
"Yeah, but Amanda isn't just a first date to me. I want it to be fancy for her. Besides, don't you think she's a little different?"
"I guess." Piper got up and fixed his popped collar. What was it with popped collars these days? "Well, would you like me to prepare something special, then?"
"Well, now that you mention it, could you prepare not being there?"
"Chris, Honey, I own the restaurant. I can't just not be there."
"Yes you can. There are other chefs, and you have managers to manage the place. Just try not being there, please?"
"Chris, I can't promise that. But I will try to stay away from you and your date, deal?"
Chris sighed. "Deal, I guess." Chris looked at his watch obviously disappointed in the answer that Piper had given him. "Look, it's time for me to pick her up. I guess I'm gonna go."
"Alright, have a good-"
Before Piper could finish her sentence, Leo Jr. went whizzing by in his black leather jacket and typical eye liner. For some reason, he was no longer her baby, but her typical bad boy teenager. Not the angelic boy that she was hoping for.
"Leo, where are you going?"
"Out."
"You're grounded. I caught you smoking, remember?"
Leo kept walking through Piper's words.
"Leo, where are you going? I'm warning you-"
Before Piper could finish talking, Leo orbed out.
"LEO VICTOR HALLIWELL!"
"Mom, give him a break."
"Oh, Chris, I'm sorry. I just – I don't know how to deal with him lately."
"I know." He paused. "Mom, do you need me to stay?"
"No, no, go on your date. I'll try to stay out of your way, okay?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"Just remember not to do any magic."
"I know, I know. You tell me this every time I go out with people. I can handle it. Anyway, Mom, I gotta go."
"Okay. Be good."
With that, Chris left to pick his date up, and Piper was left to an empty house. It just wasn't one of those things that she was used to. Living in a house with three boys and a husband, not to mention her two sisters and their families who tended to visit quite often, made a moment of piece and quiet quite rare to find. It was almost unnerving.
Before she forgot, Piper picked up the phone and called into work.
"Hey, Mike? I have couple things I need you to do. One, will you prepare a table for Chris and his date? He should be there shortly. Yeah, I know. It is good. Do I want anything special for the table? Well, I don't know. Just whatever you can come up with. Wha-? No wine! Oh – you're just joking… Hm. Funny. Well, anyway, then could you call one of the other chefs and have him come in? That would be great, thanks." Piper hung up.
Leo Sr. was stuck at Magic School for the rest of the night, taking care of the end-of-term progress reports, so Piper was alone for the rest of the night. She thought about calling her sisters, but then she remembered that Paige was babysitting Phoebe's kids while Phoebe was having her special night out with Coop.
"Maybe I'll go over there later," Piper thought aloud.
For now, she was too worried about Leo to think about anything else. What had been wrong with him lately? She thanked God for Chris' attitude and patience everyday, but he would only be at home for a little while longer, and then it was only the two Leos and Piper. She just didn't know how to handle him and Leo Sr. was at as much of a loss lately as well. Ever since that new power came... Piper's heart tore just thinking about it.
Absently, she put on a kettle of water onto the stove as she pondered over her youngest child. She tried to tell herself that it was just a phase, but even if that was true, she had no idea how to deal with it. Neither Chris nor Wyatt had gone through the "rebellious" stage during their teenage years, so this was relatively new territory for her.
Wyatt had the reputation of having been the Perfect Child. He had not actually been perfect, but the reputation had stuck to him. He was the blond haired, blue-eyed, hockey-playing, Prom King that kids at his high school had envied and loved. He was the kid that either people hated because they were jealous or did not hate at all.
His grades only dropped to failing once in his high school career (it was History, and he was going to be a doctor anyway, so who cared?), and besides the fact that he was messier than any other person Piper knew - she could only count four times during his teenage years that she had actually seen the floor of his bedroom - he could also be seen as the perfect son. Almost.
It was not as though he never lied to her or did anything that was considered "inappropriate" for his age, because she was quite positive that he did. It was the fact that he always did everything with a sense of maturity that she never worried about where any of his stunts might lead him. She never worried that he would end up digging himself into a whole that he could not climb back out of. She did not even worry for him when it came to demons.
Then there was Chris. Sometimes, she worried too much about him even though he was just as self-serving, if not more-so, than Wyatt. He had always been her little walking encyclopedia. When he had been seven years old, a demon had attacked and gotten away before he could be vanquished. Piper had said something about going to get the Book of Shadows, but there had been no need. Chris had been able to rattle off who the demon had been and what potion was needed in order to vanquish him.
And it was not only in magic that he excelled in, though that was always his personal preference. In school, he was a nerd through and through, earning the title of Valedictorian as of right now, and Piper doubted that would change by graduation day which was only a few weeks away.
At times, though, Piper saw the reason that she worried for Chris so much, especially lately. She would walk into the attic and there would be Chris standing over the Book of Shadows, staring intently at some passage or another. And to Piper, it would not be her son. It would be a man from the future that had saved thousands of lives by sacrificing his own. Everyday, Chris looked more and more like this man, but he was still her son. And sometimes it frightened her that she had to remind herself of that fact.
Leo, however, was a mystery all together. She remembered a time when every wish he would make would be, "I wish I could orb!" just so that he could play Orb and Go Seek with his two big brothers, who he loved more than anything. She remembered him running up to greet his daddy and beg him to tell him what he taught in his class today, because he wanted "to be as good of a witch as Wy and Chris!" She remembered him crying big salty tears over the first time that Wyatt had refused to play with him, because Wyatt was a big boy and Leo was still a little baby. Looking back at these times saddened her; they seemed so far away now.
Everything had changed overnight, it felt like. One day, he had been her little boy, the baby of the family, and admirer of his two brothers. The next day, he was this rebellious teenager who pushed his family away with every fiber of his being. He ignored his parents every chance he got, going against their authority. The fights between Chris and Leo were more often than not started by Leo, who used to be the one that got sad whenever Chris was angry at him. And he would not talk to Wyatt, no matter how much the concerned older brother prodded.
Piper was lost.
The kettle whistled. Sighing to herself, realizing how long she had been lost in thought, she stood and moved the kettle off of the hot burner. Pouring the boiling water into her teacup, she tried to move her thoughts elsewhere, but they kept straying back to her youngest son. She had the strangest feeling that something was wrong.
But he would call for Chris or Wyatt if something was wrong, and she trusted her sons to watch out for each other. At least, that's what she kept telling herself as the clear water slowly turned into a calming copper color of tea. Adding sugar and lemon, she took the relaxing drink back to the couch in the living room. Perhaps she would get a little reading done before going over to Paige's to spend time with her nieces and nephew...
The doorbell rang.
That sinking feeling suddenly came rushing back. Piper started to set her tea cup down, but she missed the table and the cup started to fall to the ground.
"Oh!"
Piper's hands went up quickly and, instead of the result that she had hoped for, the cup exploded, spraying everything in the vicinity – herself included – with scolding hot tea.
"Damnit!" she hissed as she quickly put an apron on. "This better be good." Piper muttered, walking briskly to the door to open it only to be surprised by the face of a son of an old friend. "Oh, Michael, what are you doing here?"
The tall black man, son of old friend Darryl Morris, standing in front of her did not have the face of somebody dropping by for a friendly visit. Instead, his thick dark colored eyebrows were knitted together in concern, making his muscular frame seem to sag in uncertainty in front of her. He had his arms crossed across his chest, hiding his police badge from sight, though his uniform was easy to make out. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, so thin that they almost disappeared into his goatee that was settled around his mouth.
In a way, he reminded Piper of Henry just before the man had to go write some kid up for another offense of some kind. It was as though he was the parent and disappointed in the child even though that was not the case.
Michael stood there for a second, not saying anything, and then a sigh worked past his lips.
"Mrs Halliwell..." he began, uncertainly.
"Please, Michael, just call me Piper." Piper shifted her weight, trying not to fidget as the officer in front of her tried to find the words.
"We found your son," he finally worked out.
"Really? And where exactly did you find him?" Piper tried to bite back a scream of frustration, knowing that good news was not following that statement.
"We found him with this," Michael held up a bottle of Jack Daniel's finest, "on his way out of the liquor store on Main."
"I see," she said, slowly. "Where, exactly, is Leo?" She did not even have to ask which son it was that had been found. She knew. And Piper was pissed.
"Hold on." Michael went back to the squad car and talked to his partner, some 40-year-old up for a promotion.
First smoking, then he decided to leave the house without her permission and now theft and drinking? New power or not, this was not the son she raised, and she was going to have a talk with him. But not without the rest of her boys.
Leo came sulking up in handcuffs. Part of Piper's heart went out she saw him cuffed, but she had to stay hard. She couldn't be sympathetic, because then he would just walk all over her.
Michael uncuffed him. Piper gave Leo one hard look and he went inside.
"Thanks, Michael. I hope this doesn't happen again."
"Look, Mrs- Piper. I'll try my best to cover this up, okay? I know he's a good kid, and it's the least I could for all you've done for my family and all..."
"Thank you, Michael."
Piper closed the door. When she turned around, she saw Leo slowly and quietly making his way up the stairs, obviously hoping to avoid any confrontation that his mother had planned. Gritting her teeth slightly with hands on hips, she cleared her throat loudly as a subtle sort of warning. Leo paused on the sixth step. He stood there for a second before turning at a sickeningly slow pace before finally looking at her. The look on his face, the half-defeated, half-"I don't give a rat's ass what you think" look that was spelled out across his expression, almost broke her resolve. Almost.
"Look, Mom," he said suddenly, before she could even open her mouth, "I know what you're going to say, so don't even bother, alright? Because... I don't care."
"Leo, we need to have a long talk. And I know you don't want to hear it. At least not from me, so would you be willing to hear it from someone else?"
"Mom, I know you're pissed. And I know you think I'm going to want to hear it from my father or my 'loving' brothers, but I don't. So, I'm going up to my room to, I don't know, shoot myself."
And with that, Leo stomped upstairs.
"Wyatt!" Piper yelled at the sky. It was time to bring them all home. With a few blue sprinkles of bright light, her eldest appeared dressed for a party... Piper was glad to know they spent so much money on a party school.
"It's not a party school, before you say anything," he said, cutting her off. Since when could all of her sons read minds? "Now, what's so urgent?"
"Leo... your brother… he was caught…" She was so angry that she could not even get the words out correctly. They kept stumbling in her mouth, almost as though she did not want to say them. When had things gone so wrong?
"What did he do this time?"
"Wyatt, will just go get your father, please? We'll talk about it when everyone is home."
And with more lights, he was gone. It was time to call Chris. Who was on a date. Who was going to be pissed when she called him.
"Chris!" There was no immediate response. In fact, there was no response.
"Chris!" He jingled back. What the hell was she supposed to do with jingles?
"Christopher!" More jingles.
"Christopher Perry Halliwell, get your ass back home!" Jingles galore. Oh, the joys of raising whitelighters.
Piper grabbed the house phone, nearly sending the handset crashing into the floor, and called him. What was happening when mortal technology was more prized than their own powers?
She was forced to leave a message on his answering machine. "Christopher, it is time to come home. I am sorry to disrupt your date, but things aren't going so well here, and we need to talk. The whole family. Chris? I just-I don't know what to do here. Come home, now."
Piper waited a minute or two and could wait no longer. She thought about just driving to the restaurant, but she knew that would only piss him off. "CHRISTOPHER!"
Without any warning, he was there. There was a moment of confused silence. Where were the orbs? The blue lights? The godforsaken jingle?
"Mom?" He looked around the manor, confusion written on his face.
"Chris, how did you get here? There were no orbs."
"Well... I think I maybe... astral projected?"
"What?!" Why was everything happening at once? "Go back, go back!"
"What did I do?!""Go back! Then come home... the NORMAL way!" she cried, thinking that the last thing she needed was for people to think her son was a narcoleptic.
"Since when is driving normal in this family?" he muttered.
Then he disappeared just as quickly and quietly as he had appeared. Piper let out a sigh as her head fell into her hands. She always knew that raising magical children would be a challenge, but sometimes she just felt so lost and unsure of how to react to things. Sometimes, she felt like the worst mother in the world, though she knew she was doing the best that she could. There was only so much a woman could do without a "How To" manual to help them along.
I could really use that "How To" manual right about now, she thought painfully as the sound of orbing reached her ears. Her husband and eldest son were home. Her middle child was on the way. And her youngest was up in his room going through something that Piper would probably never be able to understand.
She could only hope that she tackled each thing that was thrown her way correctly. Just like Grams did, and just like every witch before her.