Crystal Tears
Writer's Note: This fic marks either the last or the penultimate fic in this series, and a prelude to a follow-up series. It takes place roughly a year and 9 months after the birth of Sky. Wyatt has been born and has displayed the same amount of power as he did in the TV series and has warranted quite a lot of attention from the demonic world, but not a visit from Future Chris as the future in my series is different. Sky has achieved less attention, as he has become somewhat of a legend in the Underworld for the massacre of several hundred demons.
Chapter 1: Double Whammy
Nobody was sure if it was fate, the fulfilment of a prophecy or just an incredible coincidence, but one thing was certain: when Phoebe and Piper were rushed into hospital to have their respective children at roughly the same time, everyone was surprised.
The Halliwell Manor had been a whirlwind of chaos the moment Piper's water broke, which fast evolved into a hurricane of frantic activity when Phoebe complained of the same thing. Husbands, aunts and uncles scurried around the two powerful witches, fretting over whether to take a conventional route to the hospital or to orb over there. At the very last minute, it was decided that Paige would have to stay behind and babysit Wyatt and Sky and before she had a chance to protest, the house was empty of all her sisters and brothers-in-law.
Paige sighed with disappointment; it wasn't that she disliked looking after her nephews, it was just that she had missed the birth of Sky, barely managed to catch Wyatt's and now she was losing out on the chance to see the births of two more family members. She wanted to be in on all the excitement! But as it was very much a couple affair and husbands' attendance wasn't negotiable, the duty fell to her and she simply had to deal with it.
She walked into the nursery and saw that Wyatt was still fast asleep in his cot and that Sky was still very active in his playpen. How Wyatt slept through Sky's loud exclamations to everything he did, she did not know.
"Bah!" Sky announced as Paige approached him. He held up a large plastic duck for her to inspect.
"Duck," Paige replied, stepping into the playpen and reaching for the toy. She gently took hold of it and Sky released his grip. He was sometimes very defensive with his toys. "Duck," she repeated, trying to get his word count from six to seven. He was developing at a slightly faster rate than normal, but considering all the intelligence he'd displayed whilst still in the womb, this did not surprise her.
"Mamma?" he inquired.
"Mamma has gone to collect your new…" she paused, unsure of what word to use, seeing as Cole and Phoebe had wanted the gender to be a surprise.
"Sibling," she settled. Sky gave her a confused look and pointed insistently at the duck.
"Bah! Bah!"
"Duck," Paige gesticulated at the plastic animal.
Sky flopped down on his bottom and stared thoughtfully at her, wide, blue eyes glinting in the morning sunshine.
"Dah…"
Paige gasped. "Duck!" she reiterated hopefully.
"Da-dah!"
"Du---ohh, you want to know where daddy is, huh?"
"Dadda!"
"Daddy went with Mommy to collect your sibling. They'll be home soon, sweetheart."
Paige picked up another toy, this time a cartoon-esque purple car. "Can you say Car? Car?" she kept trying.
Sky shook his head in disapproval.
She lifted a toy aeroplane. "Plane? Aeroplane?"
Sky started to look bored.
A little frustrated, she picked up a toy dog. Before she had a chance to state the object's name, Sky exclaimed enthusiastically: "DUCK!"
"No, no, DOG."
"Duck!"
"Doooog."
"Duck duck duck!" He fell over, erupting into happy giggles. Paige flopped down from her crouching position and sat somewhat dejectedly. "Great, now he's going to be calling all canines ducks for the rest of his youth. Way to go, Paige. Way to go."
* * * * * * *
By the afternoon, Paige had received word that both her sisters had had their babies and that there had been no complications with Phoebe but some difficulty with Piper's son. However, both children were born healthy and Phoebe was well enough to come home that night, while Piper was kept overnight for observation. Leo stayed with her.
That evening, Cole and Phoebe, who had been keeping Paige in suspense as to the gender of their newborn, came home with a baby girl. Paige felt as if her heart was melting the moment she laid eyes on her.
"A girl! A beautiful little girl! Oh, Phoebe, well done!" she cried, cooing over and gently touching the forehead of the tiny person. Cole was cradling the child while Phoebe watched both tiredly and lovingly.
"What do I need a congratulations for? This was such an easy pregnancy: no morning sickness, little pain and a quick birth. Not to mention it was planned, too. She's the one who needs to be praised!"
"You were so good to your mommy!" Paige informed her niece. "How are Piper and her son?"
"They're doing fine. Piper's should be out tomorrow evening," Phoebe said, punctuating her sentence with an uncontrollable yawn.
"Would you like to hold her, Paige? I need to get Phoebe to bed. She's exhausted," Cole said.
Paige nodded enthusiastically. As she took the infant carefully, she asked: "Does she have a name yet?"
Phoebe and Cole exchanged knowing glances. Phoebe smiled warmly at her sister and said: "Crystal."
"Crystal," Paige whispered, staring adoringly at her niece. She wandered off back to the nursery in a daze.
"Paige is unbelievably good with our children," Phoebe said to Cole.
"Can't argue with you there. She's been terrific, although I do wonder about how much babysitting eats up of her time. She has expressed on more than one occasion that she misses working and is finding it hard to see Gareth."
"Ah yes, handsome Gareth," Phoebe mused, recalling an image in her mind of Paige's charming boyfriend.
"Has handsome become his first name?" Cole questioned playfully. She batted him on the arm softly. "Oh, quiet you. In any case, I do agree. Paige needs to have time to have a life of her own. She cannot be expected to be a fulltime nanny. Maybe we should consider hiring one."
"Maybe," Cole muttered, small fears and worries tickling at the back of his mind at the suggestion. Aside from Phoebe's sisters and Leo, he simply did not trust anyone else with his children, and with good reason, he thought.
"Let's get you to bed. You've had one heck of a day," Cole insisted. Phoebe nodded sleepily. "I wish I had more energy. I just want to hold her forever and never let her go."
Cole smiled and took her upstairs. She lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately. He then went downstairs and relieved Paige of her babysitting duties. Three hours after Paige had gone to sleep, Cole finally left the nursery. He was feeling so protective of his children, particularly his daughter, who all throughout Phoebe's pregnancy had showed no power at all. He wondered if she was going to develop like a normal witch and if his demonic powers had not affected her, since they were, technically, add-ons and not the powers he was born with and had stripped. He mostly viewed this as a good thing, although at times like this, he rather wished Crystal had something with which to protect herself.
Before he went to bed, he tucked in Sky, whose cot was right beside his sister's in an attempt to get him used to her. For the next few days, they intended to stay in the Manor, for safety reasons. The nursery had proven an excellent place for Sky and Wyatt to bond.
"Goodnight little sir," he whispered and kissed Sky on the forehead. "Duck," he mumbled sleepily in reply. Cole frowned, puzzled, then shrugged and went upstairs to bed.
* * * * * * *
The Following Day:
The sun had just sunk behind the houses opposite the Manor when Piper and Leo returned home with baby Chris. Paige sprang on them the moment they set foot inside and eagerly took hold of the baby when Piper offered. "He was reluctant to come out, but now he's here I'm sure he'll realize it wasn't such a bad thing that he finally did, especially with an aunt as cool as you, Paige," Piper said, thoroughly enjoying watching her sister pamper the newborn.
After dinner, the family gathered in the living room for a talk about the two new additions to the family and how that was going to affect their schedules.
Cole couldn't get enough of his new daughter and was bouncing her lightly in his arms, whilst Leo was playing with Wyatt and Paige was still clinging to Chris.
"This feels like a day-care centre," Piper said, watching Sky warily while he ran by making loud noises as he pretended to be some sort of animal, she assumed.
"Sky, come here," his father called to him. "Come meet your little sister."
Sky paused in his play and the family fell silent. He tilted his head to one side, curiously and a little shyly.
"Come to daddy, come see your sister," Cole encouraged.
With hesitant steps, the infant made his way to his father and peered down at the baby.
"Duck!" he suddenly exclaimed.
"Oh no," Paige muttered.
"Duck? No, no, Crystal. Her name is Crystal," Cole insisted.
"Duck duck!" Sky exclaimed and then paused abruptly when Crystal yawned and blinked up at her brother. Sky placed his hand on her torso and smiled. "Baby."
Cole smiled and patted his son on the head. "Baby will do."
"It's better than duck! Why does he keep calling everything a duck?" Phoebe asked.
Paige groaned and mumbled something, but Piper was growing impatient to change the subject to more important matters and interjected before anyone else could question further.
"Right, we have two infants and two babies. So far, Wyatt has exercised a lot more power than Sky, but then, I suppose, he's had to considering all the demonic attention he's been receiving. Now we have Chris in the Manor, this attention could increase. We need to figure out what to do with these kids when the rest of us have to go to work."
"And a regular daycare is definitely out," Phoebe said as Wyatt telekinetically played with his toys.
"I could take care of them, although I don't know if I'm really all that good at the job," Paige said.
"No, no, Paige, we don't want that responsibility to fall on you all the time. You've been a wonderful help for all of us, but at the cost of your job and social life. We can't expect that of you all the time," Phoebe said gently.
"It would be nice to have a job again," Paige mused.
Leo piped up, "I'm around most of the time, but I do frequently and suddenly get called 'up there' or have to answer the call of a charge. It's times like that when Paige's help has been indispensable."
"Maybe we should consider getting a professional babysitter, then? One of the magical type," Phoebe suggested.
Piper looked at her husband. "Do such people exist?"
Leo nodded. "Yes, but I wonder how many will be up to the challenge of looking after these four."
"And they'd have to be tough enough to stand up to a demonic attack. Whoever takes the job has to be trustworthy, good with kids and good with magic," Paige said.
"Considering half the Underworld are after Wyatt and that the Elders aren't especially keen on his existence either, finding someone we can trust is going to be the hardest thing. I'm not prepared to leave my children in the care of anyone I don't trust completely," Cole said with a defensive edge to his voice.
"I have maternity leave for a while," Phoebe reminded them. "But eventually I will need to go back to work. I should use the time off to teach the new babysitter about the kids and also watch her and suss her out. That way, when the time comes for me to return to my job, I'll know for sure whether or not she's a good person."
There was a thoughtful silence. Piper broke it: "Phoebe's got the best idea. We can hire a magical babysitter, or at least try a few out and she can assess whether or not they're good for the job. We continue what we've been doing: leaving the kids at the Manor during the day under the care of one of us, but with additional help, if we can only find it."
"I can find a list of good magical babysitters," Leo offered.
"That'd be great hunny, assuming we all agree?" Piper looked around the room. Phoebe nodded, Paige shrugged and nodded once but it was Cole who looked reluctant.
"Cole?" she pressed.
He sighed and looked at his wife. "Well, if Phoebe's going to be the judge on who we hire…then I guess I'm fine with it too. I trust her judgement."
Phoebe leaned back in the sofa and uttered: "Good! All settled. Leo can find one and we can test her!"
"It has to be a her?" Paige said.
"YES," everyone else said in unison.
"Okay, okay, was just trying to be politically correct," she muttered.
Phoebe glanced over at her son, who was still staring intently at his little sister, gently stroking the wisps of black hair on her head. She was staring equally intently back at him, rich green eyes alight with alertness. She wondered if on some level they were communicating with each other.
Wyatt broke her reverie when he fell after running after his telepathically flown aeroplane. He cried a little, rubbing his eyes and beating the ground a little crossly.
"Okay mister, time for bed," Leo said as he got up from his sofa and scooped up the child.
"Yeah, it's best we get back home. We can't keep sleeping in Wyatt's room and forcing him to stay down here in the nursery!" Cole said. They'd been doing as much only for a few days as a precaution; during such a vulnerable time for the sisters, it was considered best everyone stay together until both the babies were born.
The family bade each other good night and Cole and Phoebe left with their two children.
After Leo had put Wyatt to sleep in what used to be Phoebe's room, he moved Chris's cot upstairs too, feeling happier that the brothers were together. He was warned by doctors that there may be some sibling rivalry, especially from Wyatt who would be jealous of all the attention Chris was getting, but so far Wyatt had displayed little interest or awareness of his sibling, unlike Sky who seemed quite taken with his sister.
As he and Piper got into bed, he said: "It will be nice that Crystal and Chris will be growing up together."
"Yeah, it will. I wonder about Crystal, though. She hasn't shown an inkling of power."
"Neither has Chris, but we can assume it's there, it's just latent. Neither of them were twice-blessed children like Wyatt," Leo pointed out.
"Or born from one of the most powerful demons in history," Piper noted as she turned out the light.
"Sky is nearly two and he's been really well-behaved. It's…quite puzzling, in some ways. You'd think after all the power he exhibited whilst Phoebe was pregnant, particularly the sort of power, he'd be more of a challenge to them."
"Hmm," Piper mumbled sleepily. Leo ceased any more discussion about their children and let his wife doze off to sleep. Before she was completely asleep, though, he whispered, "I'm so proud of you."
She smiled and drifted off peacefully.
* * * * * * *
That same night, a thirty-five year old witch named Cassandra Vallo was in her kitchen when a demon attacked her. She had been making vials of powerful potions, a job she was particularly good at, when he shimmered right beside her just as she took a step towards her cupboard. In the second it took for her to swivel and gasp at him, he had grabbed her throat. In that same instant, she smashed the bottle of potion she had been holding, newly made, onto his side. It burned an acidic hole into his lower ribs and he screamed out and let her go. She called for her whitelighter. The trap was set, and when the whitelighter came onto the scene, two more demons and a darklighter appeared and destroyed them both.
Cassandra's body was incinerated, but the whitelighter's was kept in tact.
When the Elders sent someone to investigate later that night, they found the dead body of their colleague and a weeping witch at his side. She looked like Cassandra, spoke like Cassandra, but was not Cassandra. Only, they did not know this. They believed her story about an attack that took them both by surprise and offered her protection. She declined, saying that the demons who attacked were comrades of an old enemy of hers and that she had vanquished them all. After much questioning, she was left to grieve while they took the body of the whitelighter away. Once they were out of sight, she wiped the crocodile tears from her face and carefully stashed away the potions. She was going to need them.
* * * * * * *
A week later, when Cole got home from work, he found Phoebe on the couch looking tired and frazzled. Her hair was a mess and her clothes dishevelled. For a moment, Cole wondered if she'd been in a fight with demons.
"Are you…okay?" he asked as he put his briefcase down.
She did not look up at him, but instead gestured at the ceiling. Cole looked up and let out a small cry. "What the hell?! What's he DOING up there!"
"Ask him. Every time I try to get him down, he shimmers somewhere else and then levitates to that ceiling," Phoebe replied wearily. "Like he has been all. Day."
Sky looked down at his father and greeted him with a broad smile. "Da-dah."
Cole blinked, surprised. "I guess his powers have finally kicked in again."
"Yep." Phoebe replied.
"Sky, come down from the ceiling and give your dad a kiss," Cole coaxed gently.
Sky hesitated and looked over at his mother. Cole sussed out what was going on.
"Phoebe, you mind leaving the room for a minute?"
She looked at him and scowled. "Why?"
"Just…wanna try something."
With a hefty sigh she stood up and walked into the next room.
"Sky, mommy's left the room now. How about you come down now and give daddy a kiss?" he tried again.
With a cheeky grin, Sky relaxed his levitation and descended gently into his father's arms. Cole smiled and tickled him and Sky erupted into giggles. He wrapped his tiny arms around his neck and cooed happily. "Okay, you gonna stay down now?" he asked. Sky looked at him and simpered.
"Come back in, Phoebe."
Phoebe walked in and Sky began to struggle. "No, Sky…stay he---agh," Cole grumbled as Sky shimmered back up to the ceiling.
"See?" Phoebe threw up her arms in frustration. "He hates me. He's been tormenting me all day."
"That's weird. He's usually so good."
"Yeah, well today he's been a right little demon!" Phoebe responded crossly. Her frustration was evidently very large as Phoebe normally flew into rages when anyone else called her son a demon.
"Well something must have triggered it. Did you try to do anything that seemed to irk him?'
Phoebe shrugged. "I dunno. He kept toddling over to Crystal's cot and trying to play with her, even when she was sleeping. I kept putting him back in the corner and the process would start again, until I put him in his cot and bam! Powers switched on. Since then, he's been trying to escape me all day."
"Has to be hungry, then."
"No," Phoebe said lightly. "When I bribed him with a bottle of milk, he simply telekinetically took it from me."
Cole gaped. "He what?"
"Oh yeah. Not only have his previous powers returned with a vengeance, but he has displayed a brand new one, taken after his aunt Paige. What baby wants, baby gets. The novelty of this new power of his has worn off pretty quickly for me."
"I wonder what has kick-started everything. Why now? Why the power-surge?" Cole asked no one in particular.
Phoebe rubbed her temples. "I don't know, but I also don't believe in coincidences. He's become magically active at about the same time his baby sister has arrived into the world and he's obsessively interested in her. I think there's something to that other than curiosity."
"You could be onto something. We should call Leo and ask."
"Oh yeah, maybe Leo will have an easier time getting him DOWN," she glared up at her son, who smirked back.
"Why not put Crystal's cot right next to his? I know we've been keeping her in our room for protection, but if his powers are in swing again, he can do the protecting. It also will give him what he seems to want, which is her company."
Phoebe mulled it over and then agreed. "Okay, but I'm gonna keep the baby monitor against my ear all night. I still feel really worried about her being so vulnerable."
Cole understood and gave his wife a cuddle. "I know, but we've got to be able to give our children space to be, well, children. Otherwise they'll grow up stifled."
When Phoebe glanced up from the embrace, she noted Sky was gone. "Sky?" she called out. A happy giggle greeted her from her bedroom and she groaned. "There he goes again."
* * * * * * *
Leo answered the phone with Wyatt balanced in one arm and a shopping bag in the other. "Hello?"
"Hi Leo! It's Phoebe. Erm, quick question…"
Wyatt flailed impatiently and smacked Leo in the mouth with his hand. He grunted. "Y-yeah?"
"Sky's powers just…came online…today and I was wondering if that may have had anything to do with the birth of his sister?"
Leo thought for a moment and Wyatt exclaimed, "Fifi!" his attempt at saying Phoebe's name. He recognized her voice even on the phone.
"Aww," Phoebe cooed.
"You know, you and your sisters are connected to your powers emotionally, and you're also linked to each other by them. Maybe some of that connection was passed onto your son in terms of his relationship with his sister. Maybe her presence gives him…emotional strength and a boost in powers. In fact…"
"In fact?" Phoebe pressed and heard Leo putting Wyatt down and shouting, "Don't run!" He stifled a sigh before replying. "In fact, I've heard of sibling relationships where one is the booster for another's powers. They work at their best when together, as one works as a magical amplifier to the other's strengths. It's possible that that is what Crystal's power is. She's an aide to her brother."
"Which would explain why he's been so obsessed with being near her all the time. Huh."
Leo frowned. "So how much have Sky's powers come into action?"
"Oh, he's shimmering and using telekinesis and-and levitating to the ceiling! He's a nightmare to control!"
"Welcome to our world. Piper and I have our hands full with Wyatt conjuring up stuff that amuses him from TV and books. Piper's worried he's going to conjure up a dinosaur or something one day."
Phoebe would have laughed were it not so strong a possibility. Instead, she grumbled: "Well I suppose it's our own fault having kids when we're all so magical. Now we've got to deal with the consequences---whoa!"
"Phoebe, are you ok?" Leo asked with concern.
"Oh…oh…oh yeah, yeah I'm fine. But Cole… ha ha! Cole's covered in baby food. Okay, um, thanks Leo. I'll discuss it with Cole and if there are any more developments I'll let you know."
"Keep a diary or something. It's important to track changes in them," Leo advised quite seriously.
"Gotcha. Thanks Leo."
"Bye."
* * * * * * *
Situations did not improve for the Halliwells. One evening when they all went out for a family outing to a show in town and left their kids in a magic day care center for two hours, they came back to find the nannies covered in paint, the play area a complete wreck and scorch marks on the walls. Apparently, Sky had burped out a flame, which delighted Wyatt, who then responded by blowing spit bubbles that made loud bangs when they popped. The carers told off the parents soundly that they were never babysitting their offspring again.
Every day it seemed the children were developing new powers or at least figuring out creative ways to use their existing ones. And word quickly spread in the magic world what little headaches they could be and soon babysitters were putting the phone down before Phoebe or Piper could get past the first sentence. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
"Ok Leo, you have GOT to find an Elder-approved, tough-as-nails, loves-kids-no-matter –what, magical kick-ass nanny soon before we go out of our minds! Paige has just gotten accepted for a job and won't be able to look out for the kids and Phoebe and I are exhausted twenty-four seven."
Piper was ranting in their bedroom as she got ready for bed. Up until fairly recently, Wyatt had been troublesome but only occasionally. Now he was constantly getting up to mischievous, particularly when Sky was around; it was obvious that they encouraged each other. Teaching infants to use their powers wisely was proving to be far more difficult than they realized, not helped by the knowledge that now they had two more ticking magic time bombs in the forms of Chris and Crystal.
"Piper, we've gone through every babysitter and nanny I know! I just don't think there are any more out there who are…" he trailed off when he saw the familiar look of explosive "I'm fed-up!" rage creeping into his wife's gaze. "I'll look again."
And he did look. And he found an available sitter, one who was well known in esteemed circles as being a very good witch and carer. She had saved the lives of magical children for a family of witches she was friendly with and had since then dedicated her time to perfecting her craft to protect the future generations. As luck would have it, she had just relocated to San Francisco and was available on a near full-time basis. When Leo presented this option to Piper she welcomed it and both she and Phoebe agreed to take turns in working with the sitter so that they could help her learn ways in which to deal with their kids and also to gauge how trustworthy she was. Before they left her alone with their babies, they were going to make perfectly sure they had a good apple.
She arrived two days later, neatly dressed and with a basket full of playthings she said were guaranteed to hold the attention of the little ones whilst also training them to use their powers skilfully and not recklessly. She demonstrated the use of these toys and the mothers were impressed. They agreed to take her on for a trial. When asked of her name, she said she preferred her middle name, which was Julia.
Julia was around Piper's age and had soft curly blond hair and petite frame. She had a kind face but a firm way about her and an aura that commanded respect. At first the children played the same tricks on her as they did on their parents, but over time she showed them how to do useful things with their abilities and gradually they grew interested in what she had to say. Julia confirmed that Sky's powers were indeed enhanced by the presence of his younger sister, but that it was part of their combined gift and that the sooner he learned to control and respect it, the better. She helped Phoebe tame Sky's behaviour and tone down his constant need to be with his sibling by taking him out of the room and away from her and distracting him with captivating things. In short, she performed miracles and within a month had transformed the little rebels into obedient, budding magical beings. The Halliwells were thrilled.
* * * * * * *
Paige Matthews, on the other hand, was sceptical. She had gone back to work but not without regretting, to some degree, the relinquishing of her job of raising the most powerful witches in existence. Looking after Piper and Phoebe's children had been, in her mind, an honour and she was somewhat envious and resentful of the new nanny. Just as she had been suspicious of Cole when he joined the family, she was now suspicious of Julia. The carer had done nothing to warrant such scrutiny and Paige had to admit she was faultless in almost every way. But there was something about how she was too perfect, about her convenient relocation to San Francisco that made her wonder. She thought she had something on her when one day she came back from work early and found a strange man standing outside the door talking with her in a very familiar fashion.
"Oh, hi Paige!" Julia called out pleasantly when she approached the entrance to the Manor.
"Julia, shouldn't you be inside looking after the kids?" Paige asked.
"Oh they're all asleep now and Phoebe's home. No need to worry."
Paige eyed the tall man. He had bright green eyes and dark hair and a handsome face. He looked at her with a glint of something strange in his gaze. Paige wondered if it were fear…
"And this is?" Paige asked.
"Oh!" Julia laughed. "This is my friend and whitelighter Valentino. He just dropped by to chat since it's been a while. With no demonic attacks since I came to the Manor, it's been a while since we saw each other."
"Pleased to meet you," Valentino said and stretched out his hand. Paige took it slowly and shook it. "Likewise," she said uncertainly.
"Funny, Julia, you never mentioned you had a whitelighter."
Julia blushed briefly. "I didn't no. I'm sorry, I should have mentioned him earlier."
Paige felt a twinge of guilt at putting such a seemingly nice woman on the spot. She eyed up Valentino once more, quickly, and the pushed past to get to the door. "Well I'll leave you two to it."
"See you tomorrow, Paige. I'm going home now. Leo's going to be back from an assignment any minute now so Phoebe said I didn't need to hang around any longer today."
Paige nodded with a strained smile and entered the manor. She found Phoebe dozing in the nursery, Crystal asleep in her arms.
"Pheebs?"
"Hmm? What?" Phoebe stirred. She saw Paige and smiled sleepily.
"Oh hey."
"Hey," Paige whispered and knelt beside her. "I just met Valentino," she told her sister with an Italian flair to the name.
"Sexy, isn't he? Pity he doesn't actually have an accent to go with the exotic name." Phoebe grinned.
"You've met him? What do you think?" Paige asked.
"He seems nice enough. I didn't see him come in. I just walked in on Julia talking to him in the kitchen but she seemed really relaxed about it and explained who he was. Makes sense, I guess. Most witches have a whitelighter and he's added protection if things go wrong."
"Yeah but he's also a new person, someone we've not checked out and who has had the audacity to come into our home unannounced," Paige voiced her concern.
"Oh Paige, Julia's been nothing but a saint. It's not like we caught her making out with a secret boyfriend while on duty. He's her whitelighter!"
"When I see him orb, he'll be her whitelighter," Paige muttered and stood up. She looked over at Wyatt, who was snoozing with his arm draped over his eyes. Sky was in the crib next to him, dreaming by the looks of things as his eyes moved beneath the lids. Chris too was soundly asleep. They all looked so peaceful.
"Well, I guess I can't deny that the woman's got talent. They're perfect little angels lately, aren't they?"
"Hmm," Phoebe murmured as she let her eyelids close. The afternoon sun filtering in through the window gave the room a warm glow and cosy atmosphere and Paige could imagine herself falling asleep in here soon of she didn't get back to work. She'd brought home some stuff from the office that she wanted to sort through in the comfort of her house. Quietly, she slipped out the room and went upstairs, but not without casting a glance in the direction of the front door. There were no silhouettes peering through the stained glass and she guessed Julia and her Valentino had gone.
* * * * * * *
For the first time in over a year, a demon struck with intention to get to a Charmed infant. An attack came late at night at Phoebe and Cole's apartment. Phoebe lurched up in bed moments before the attack with a premonition of a demon shimmering into the nursery. She didn't have time to ponder over whether it was a nightmare or not. Instead, she leapt out of bed, cried out to her husband and rushed over to the next room just in time to see a demon leaning over Sky's cot. The little boy was deep asleep and evidently hadn't been given the same premonition. "GET AWAY FROM THEM!" Phoebe snarled and kicked out at the demon. He stumbled back and crashed into the playpen. Crystal and Sky awoke, the former crying while the latter sat up, startled and dazed. The first thing his eyes focussed on was his father as he rushed in, energy ball in hand. The demon shimmered just as Cole's energy ball collided with his shoulder. He vanished, but via shimmer, not vanquish.
Phoebe hurried over to Sky who was still looking really surprised at everything. Crystal was wailing and as Sky turned to look at her, tears started brimming in his eyes too. "Baby!" he cried out and flailed towards his sister. Cole checked the room to make sure no one was hiding in there and then left to explore the rest of the penthouse. "Shh, shh-shh, calm down," Phoebe whispered to Sky but he was still reaching out for his sibling. She set him down in Crystal's cot and immediately they both went silent. Cole came back in, worried by the sudden cessation of cries.
"Did you see anyone?" Phoebe asked anxiously.
"No. Are they all right?" he said and he peered down into the crib.
"Yeah. They are when they're together," Phoebe answered and joined him in marvelling over the tender bond between the siblings.
"Who was that? Did you recognise the demon?" Phoebe said.
"No. I just know he's not dead. We only wounded him. How did you know---"
"Premonition," she replied. "A short-hand premonition, which is strange because I haven't had one of those since I was pregnant with Sky and he was asleep when I came in so he obviously didn't get the same one. I don't understand it. It's like…like someone else knew and tried to warn me."
"But who could, who would do that? Shorthand premonitions are rare powers. I mean, apart from Sky, I don't actually know anyone who has that gift," Cole said with a frown.
"We need to talk to my sisters. Get the phone. They may be at risk, too." Phoebe uttered with rising concern.
* * *
When Cole dialled no one picked up, which was an alarming sign. "No one is answering."
"Leo!" Phoebe hollered. He did not appear and she tried again. "Leo!!"
"Ok Cole, something's wrong. We need to find out what and fast."
"I can get there fastest, but I don't want to leave you here alone when there's a demon after you all," Cole worried.
"No, you go, go now. I'll be fine. Sky's fully awake now. He should be able to defend himself if it comes to that."
"Phoebe…"
"Just go! They could be in big trouble!!"
Cole shimmered away and Phoebe snapped on the light, looking about nervously. If any demon so much as dared to put a foot in her home, she thought furiously, she would send them straight to hell.
Meanwhile, the half-demon had arrived in the midst of chaos at the Halliwell manor. He heard a baby's cries coming from upstairs and Piper shouting, "Leo, watch out!!"
He rushed toward their position just in time to watch Piper blowing up a demon. His scream echoed hauntingly in the room for several seconds after his demise. Leo was rubbing his head and getting up off the floor. The children were nowhere to be seen.
"What happened? Where are Wyatt and Chris?" Cole asked anxiously.
"They're with Paige. She orbed them out of here when the demons started attacking," Piper answered, a murderous look on her face, but it was directed at evil in general and not at Cole. "Demons? How many?"
"Wait, how did you know we were being attacked?" Leo asked as he came to his wife's side. The two of them were flushed from the heat of battle and a bit dishevelled, but otherwise looked fine. "We got attacked too. Phoebe had a premonition of someone coming after Sky and got there in the nick of time. I phoned to see if you were all right but when no one answered, well…"
"Thanks, but you missed the action. Are Phoebe and the family okay?" Piper asked.
"For now yeah. But this was co-ordinated. We were both attacked simultaneously to prevent us from being able to help each other."
"Great! Another organized demonic plan very nearly executed to perfection. It was only because Paige was walking to the bathroom that she saw the demons shimmer into the babies room!" Piper exclaimed hotly.
"There were several of them, presumably to overpower Wyatt's force field," Leo explained. "If it weren't for Paige…"
"Where is Paige?" Piper wondered. "Where did she take them?"
Leo closed his eyes briefly. "She's with Phoebe. You must have just missed each other, Cole."
"Ok, well, I'll go back and tell her the coast's clear."
"Is it?" Piper questioned. "I mean, what's to say they aren't just regrouping and preparing for another attack?"
"Then we should stay together. We have strength in numbers," Leo advised.
"Ok I'll just…bring everyone back here, then," Cole said with some distaste. He was getting tired of bunking at the Manor. He felt that the measures they had to take as a collective family to protect their children were impeding on their individual family lives, and it irked him. The irritation was not only his; all of them were vying for a somewhat normal life. Between Wyatt's being the centre of demonic attention and the necessary hiring of a super nanny due to their kids' growing powers, no one had been getting a very good night's sleep lately.
"This is ridiculous! We can't be awake twenty-four seven!" Piper erupted after Cole shimmered out. "And no baby should have to be, either. Wyatt's force field's only going up when he's conscious of danger. Not much he can do when he's unconscious."
"How did Phoebe know about the attack? Cole made it sound like she got it just before."
"Maybe Sky forewarned her. He did that before when she was pregnant with him."
"Yeah, maybe…" Leo murmured, but he knew something was amiss.
"What are we going to do, Leo? We need to find out who's after the kids this time, and maybe we will, but there'll be a next time and another and another and I just don't know how long we can continue in this fashion and not go insane! Or worse, lose a battle to them. I can't…I can't even imagine…" she stuttered, getting emotional as the shock of what had just occurred started to kick in. Leo drew her close to him and sighed. "We'll find a way. We always have done. We're a powerful family and demons know that. I'm surprised it's taken this long for them to go for Sky."
"Yeah but they have less reservations about Wyatt. His reputation as a future threat precedes him, unlike Sky's notoriety of having already performed his scary act of the century." Piper pointed out.
At that moment Paige orbed in with the children and Phoebe and Cole shimmered in with their family as well.
Wyatt tottered over to Piper who scooped him up in her arms. "My poor little boy. What nightmares you must have," she said with tears choking her voice. "It's not fair."
Paige agreed. "No, it's not. This time it came too close. It was pure luck that I checked in on my way to the bathroom tonight. Wyatt and Chris were completely unaware and that scares me."
"Maybe we should start casting protection spells over their rooms," Phoebe said.
"Well according to Cole your short-hand premonition worked just as well," Leo stated. All eyes were on Phoebe. "Well don't look at me! I've no idea how I got it. I presumed it was from Sky but he was fast asleep too when we came to the rescue."
"Perhaps he dreamt it and telepathically transferred it to you? Prue dreamt her Astral form into action. Technically it's a mind power. The mind's active even when the body is not," Leo noted.
"Either that or someone else sent it to me," Phoebe wondered. Crystal began to cry with irritation, evidently over-tired, and in the process set off Chris.
"Okay well, until we figure it all out, we need someone to volunteer a night vigil over all these unhappy babies," Piper sighed wearily.
"I'll do it," Phoebe said. "No way I'm going to be able to sleep again tonight."
"I know what you mean," Piper grumbled. There was an unspoken understanding between the two mothers at just how they felt about raising such high-profile children.
Phoebe pulled up a chair and one by one the others left to get some rest. Phoebe indeed remained alert the entire night and no one else slept soundly either.
To be continued…