Chapter Two - Daddy Dearest

"Okay. I put Chris in the playpen with Wyatt in the kitchen. He struggled, but I got him in there," Phoebe explained, joining her sisters in the living room.

"What are we gonna do?" Piper asked, holding her hand loosely over her mouth.

"I don't know. We have to reverse the magic. Do you think we can break it with our own spell or...?" Paige asked.

"No. I think that's too risky. If we don't word it just right, we could get him stuck at the wrong age or... or even kill him, if we're really unlucky," Phoebe warned.

"Well maybe we should call Leo," Paige offered. "He could help us out."

"No. Not yet. Not until we need to. He's already in trouble with the other elders." Piper shook her head, dropping her hand to her stomach.

"Well then what are we gonna do?" Paige asked.

"Well.. Chris seems to recognize us all... except Wyatt, but I think he might make the connection soon. It seems like he was just... rewound in time to when he was a happy little toddler," Phoebe said, shrugging.

"Chris was a happy child?" Paige asked skeptically. Piper kicked her from her spot on the couch. Paige winced. "Not saying you're a bad parent!" she defended. "He just doesn't seem like a 'happy childhood' kinda guy!"

"Cause that makes me feel so much better," Piper replied sarcastically.

"Guys!" Phoebe called them to attention. "I mean 'girls'. If Chris thinks he's, what, 3 or 4 years old?.... he's not going to know how to help us or keep us on track. We have to concentrate here. We haven't got a lot of time," she warned.

"How do you know how much time we have left?" Piper asked. Phoebe sighed and sat on the arm of the nearest chair.

"Didn't you hear the witch's spell? Chris is going to re-age really fast. Then she said he'll age 'until all around you are in tears'," Phoebe quoted. "Don't you get it? He's going to just keep getting older until he finally dies!"

Piper gasped and Paige's eyes widened. Apparently only Phoebe put that together. Piper looked at her sisters, who were starring at each other. Then she looked straight ahead and, in a nearly panicked voice, yelled.

"Leo!"

Phoebe jumped to her feet in shock, and Paige nearly jumped two feet off the floor. In less than a second, everyone's favorite elder appeared, answering his wife's hysterical call. He knelt by her instantly, one hand on her shoulder and one on her stomach.

"What is it? Did something happen?" he asked, as always.

"In the kitchen," Piper ordered, standing up as quickly as she could.

"What's in the kitchen?" Leo asked, confused. Paige sighed.

"A witch attacked Wyatt and cast a spell on Chris," she explained while her sister marched out of sight. "It's a little hard to explain in the time limit Piper gave us so why don't you just go see for yourself?"

"And remember one thing!" Phoebe called as Leo began to walk. She quickly stood to follow, joined by Paige. "If we don't reverse it soon, he could die."

Leo, spurred on by worry, nearly slid as he stepped into the diningroom. He could see the playpen from here. He could see Piper bending over it and talking sweetly to the child within it... but it wasn't the child he was expecting. Piper held her hands out and Chris smiled and reached for her. Then she lifted him up into her arms and kissed his cheek.

"What-?" Leo tried to ask but found himself at a loss of words.

"Yeah...," Phoebe agreed. Piper walked over to them, Chris on her hip. Chris stared at Leo for a moment, as if trying to figure out who it was. Then a smile lit his face and he reached forward.

"Daddy!" he cried in joy. Piper was a little surprised by the emotion on Chris's face, but held Chris out for Leo to take anyway.

"I thought he didn't like Leo," Paige muttered to Phoebe in the background. Piper nodded, close enough to catch the comment.

"Me too," she agreed. "Maybe he still liked him at this point?"

"Obviously," Paige pointed out.

"Oh yes," Phoebe said, a big smile on her face. "He's feelin a lot of love right now."

"You can... sense Chris's feelings?" Piper asked.

"Oh yes. Quite strongly," Phoebe replied, the happy smile never leaving her face.

"How.. How odd," Piper murmured, turning to watch her husband and son.

"Hey there..uh.. Big guy," Leo greeted his son, unsure what to do as he held him.

"Hey Daddy.... Where is Wyatt?" Chris asked, tilting his head to the side, hands on his father's shoulder.

"Hm? What do you mean? Wasn't he in the playpen?" Leo asked.

"No," Chris shook his head. "That not Wyatt. Silly daddy. You know what Wyatt look like."

"Oh yes," Leo smiled, playing along. "I do believe Wyatt is napping upstairs. Did you want to go to see him?" He didn't know what he'd do if Chris said yes, but the words just slipped out.

Chris suddenly looked away, almost as if ashamed of asking, or perhaps of a thought. Leo bent his head to instigate eye contact. Chris shook his head and hid in Leo's shoulder.

"No. I want to stay with Daddy," he mumbled. Did he sound upset? Was he going to cry? The Chris they knew did his best not to cry, but this was a Chris before all the hardships.

"Alright, alright," Leo cooed lightly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Leo moved to sit down at the table so he could move Chris into a more comfortable position on his lap. Piper leaned in toward her sisters. Paige touched her lips and then pointed indiscreetly toward Chris.

"Is it just me or did he seem anxious when Leo mentioned going to see Wyatt?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a little bit... maybe," Phoebe agreed with a nod. "I definitely felt something there. He was nooot a happy camper."

"You think... Wyatt did something to Chris at this stage in his life?" Piper asked, a little concerned about her other child.

"Well... Chris did say whatever turned Wyatt happened before he was born," Paige reminded them.

"But Wyatt's only like.. 5. How much harm could he do?" Piper asked, trying to keep her voice low.

"Piper... Your son is the master of Excalibur, a doubly charmed child, considered the most powerful creature in existence -," Phoebe began but Piper cut her off by raising her hand.

"Okay okay... Point taken," she agreed. "Still... You think Wyatt would already be tormenting Chris at such a young age?"

"I don't know, sweetie... anything's possible," Paige sighed out, placing a hand on her eldest sister's shoulder.

– – – – – –

"Okay... Leo's gone to ask the elders if they know anything," Phoebe explained, walking into the conservatory. "He suggested we just sit back and - whoa!" she gasped, eyes wide.

"What?" Piper asked, head spinning around to see her sister. The tv was on in the corner for Wyatt and Chris to watch, but it was now being ignored. Phoebe was starring at Chris, who was sitting on the couch in a seat Leo had left him in not five minutes ago. Piper followed her gaze and gasped.

Chris had been hit with the spell almost two hours ago. For two hours, he'd sat with Leo and had mumbled, childish conversations while Paige and Phoebe searched the book of shadows for their mysterious evil witch. Piper had been too worried to leave them alone. Now, as he sat on the couch watching children's educational cartoons, Chris resembled a eight year old. Somehow, in two hours, Chris had aged four or five years. Actually, he probably did it in the last twenty minutes, because Piper swore Chris had just been a baby only moments ago.

"Chris?.. Honey, are you alright?" Phoebe asked. Chris rolled his head to look at her. Then he nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine," he mumbled. Then he looked back at the tv screen.

"You don't sound find. Come on. Talk to me. What's wrong?" Piper asked.

Chris stared at her for a moment. He seemed a little confused by who he was staring at. Then he shook his head and eyed Phoebe. He quickly looked back at the tv as though he hadn't moved before.

"Phoebs, can you go get us something to eat from the kitchen?" Piper asked. Phoebe started to argue about wanting to stay here, but then she paused. She must have sensed something from Chris, because she gave him a confusing pout and quickly removed herself from the room.

"Okay Chris.. It's just us and a baby now. What's wrong?" Piper asked her second son. Chris was silent for a long while, biting his lip.

"You... You can't get mad, okay?" Chris asked, glancing at his mother several times out of the corner of his eye.

"Baby, whatever it is, I swear I wont even raise my voice," Piper promise, putting her hand over her heart while she did. Chris nodded a little bit.

"Wyatt lied to you yesterday, mom," Chris mumbled.

"About what?" Piper asked, unable to recall things from Chris's memory.

"About the Excalibur accident," Chris said. "You know... when you came upstairs and found us by the stone and I was holding the sword... and Wyatt told you I took it from him and that I'd claimed the sword as mine. Remember? He said I was trying to take his place as king... and then you grounded us both for even touching the sword but I also got dish washing duty?"

Chris watched Piper's face for a hint of recognition, which she skillfully added to her expression at just the right time. She nodded, waiting for him to tell her 'what really happened'.

"What about it?" Piper asked when he didn't speak.

"He lied, mom," Chris repeated. He bit his lip for a moment before continuing. "Wyatt wasn't the one who took the sword out of the stone. I was."