Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Charmed. Or Phantom of the Opera. (looks around) Erik, get back in the closet before someone finds you! (looks back at readers) Nope, don't own Erik at all…
AN: Here's chapter one of my story. I hope that people will review and let me know what they think. Thanks!
Chapter 1: The Search:
"MAMA!"
The cries of a small child jolted Piper Halliwell out of her pleasant dreams, her sleep-clouded eyes searching the room in case her oldest son had come in. The room was empty, meaning that it was her toddler who was up. Wonderful.
"It's your turn," Leo muttered to her, rolling away from her before going back to sleep.
Muttering curses under her breath, Piper pushed her long brown hair out of her face and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Luckily, her hair was straight and simple, making it easier to keep out of her face. Pulling a hair-tie off of the table next to her, Piper wobbled to her feet, shook herself into full wakefulness, and proceeded to the nursery, her fingers clumsily tying her hair back.
Down the hall, second door on the left, and she was there, looking at her son, Chris, standing up in his crib, a broad grin on his face as he saw his mommy standing in the doorway. Like most toddlers, Chris instantly held up his arms in a plea to be held. His blue-grey eyes, so like is father's, looked up at her from beneath brown bangs as he giggled. His smile was infectious, as Piper found herself smiling back, despite her crankiness at being woken at such an early hour.
"You naughty boy," she gently scolded as she approached the crib, but didn't pick him up. She looked at him with her own warm brown eyes and shook her head. "Daddy and I know you can sleep through the night. Why can't you be like your big brother, huh?"
Her older son, Wyatt, was three-years-old, and long past the age of waking up in the middle of the night, crying. Well, except for nightmares, that is, and Leo was always the one who helped him deal with those. Chris, however, had just turned a year old, and should be sleeping longer than he had these past few days. Piper had no idea why, but it wouldn't surprise her if her magical little boy could sense something unusual was about to happen to them.
'I just wish he had that magical bubble-shield that Wyatt has,' she thought while picking Chris up and laying him back down in his crib. Thankfully, Chris didn't get up again; instead, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
It was a pity that Chris lacked the astounding powers that his older brother had, but he was still very young. Both Wyatt and Chris possessed the usual Whitelighter powers, such as the annoying tendency to teleport themselves to other places with a mere thought (also called 'orbing'). Wyatt had just come into the power of healing others with his magic, but Chris was far too young for that. Besides, there was still time for them to develop their witch-powers, if they had any.
Despite the two boys having Whitelighter powers, it was obvious that Wyatt was the more powerful one. As the oldest son of Piper and Leo, meaning a Charmed One and her Whitelighter husband, Wyatt possessed incredible powers. In the three years of his existence, Wyatt had managed to make his toys come to life, shrink his parents down to doll-size, and vanquish demons with a mere thought. He'd also saved Piper's life while still in the womb, which had astounded his aunts and parents alike.
Sighing, Piper turned and went back to her room, intent on getting a few more hours of sleep, but groaned when her eyes landed on a nearby clock. It was almost 6:00 am, which meant it was time to get up anyway. Wyatt would be waking soon, and so would Leo, who had to get to work at Magic School before the morning bell rang at eight o'clock.
Shaking her head, she headed back to the master bedroom to wake her happily dozing husband.
Wiping her forehead, Piper was able to finally relax into a chair. Wyatt and Chris were at daycare until noon, Leo was teaching at Magic School, and now she had the house to herself. All was quiet and now she could get some work done.
The problem was she didn't have any work to do. Thanks to her being a cleaning fanatic, the house was spotless (except for the play area for the boys), the breakfast dishes were done, and since she would be alone until after noon, there was nothing left to occupy her hands or her mind.
'I need to get back to work,' Piper thought with a sense of longing.
Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. With the boys out of the house for most of the day, and Leo not coming home until dinner, it was very possible for the oldest Charmed sister to go back into the work force. But before she did, she'd better consult her sisters, considering it was a rather big decision.
An hour later, Phoebe and Paige were seated at the dining room table, cups of fresh coffee in their hands and smiles on their faces as they relished being together again, given that it had been a week since they'd seen each other. Seated at the head of the table, Phoebe on one side and Paige on the other, Piper couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic. The Manor just wasn't the same without her sisters.
No longer did The Charmed Ones live together under the same roof. Phoebe had been the first to leave, and she had only done so after Wyatt had been born, giving the new family more space. Besides, it left her free to focus on her job as a love advisor at the San Francisco newspaper, The Bay Mirror. Personally, Piper thought that it was Phoebe's skills in love advice that caused The Elders to send Coop down to her sister.
Coop was from the race of beings known as cupids, who brought couples together by helping them fall in love. To reward Phoebe for all of her work and sacrifices as a witch, Coop had been sent to her to "help" her find her true love – which turned out to be Coop himself. He had married Phoebe only a few months ago, and moved into her apartment downtown. It seemed that married life agreed very well with the two of them.
'It would figure that a cupid would be Phoebe's one true love,' Piper thought with a hidden smirk.
Meanwhile, Paige had been married to her husband, Henry, only a few months longer than Phoebe, and lived in a nice apartment in the city. Henry Mitchell was a parole officer, and was keen on helping his charges become better people after they got out of prison. Henry's dedication to his charges was probably what attracted Paige to him; as half-Whitelighter, Paige's desire to help others tended to be overwhelming.
"So, what was so important that I had to orb over here so early in the morning?" Paige asked over her coffee. "Please don't tell me a demon has attacked since then. I prefer quality time together."
Phoebe looked over at Piper. "Please tell me you brought us here for a social call," she begged her older sister. "I mean, it seems that we deserve to get together for coffee without a demon attack being the reason we're here."
Piper laughed and shook her head. "No, you guys, I promise that this is a social call," she said. She looked down at her cup as she brought it to her lips. "Sort of."
"Ah ha, I knew it," Paige said, slapping the table top with her palm. "Okay, spill it, sister."
Piper sighed and put her cup down. "I was thinking of going back to work."
Phoebe blinked at her. "That's it?" she asked, amazed. "That's why I called in late for work today, so I could come all the way over here for you to tell us you want to go back to work?"
"Oh, please, we both know you don't head into work on Tuesdays," Paige said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Phoebe said with a wave of her hand. Turning back to Piper, she continued. "Okay, so you want to go back to work. What's the big deal?"
"Yeah, why do you need us, anyway? Isn't this more of a "personal" thing?" Paige asked.
"Well, yes, it is, but I need to talk to you because it involves magic," Piper explained, her right index finger tracing the top of her steaming cup.
Both her sisters groaned. "And here I was, thinking that we could have at least one conversation in this house without the mention of magic," Paige grumbled.
"Hey, hey, hey, can we get back to the topic here? Mainly that of my going back to work and magic being involved?" Piper said, raising her left hand and pointing towards herself in an attempt to redirect the conversation.
"Okay, sweetie, what is it?" asked Phoebe as she sipped her coffee.
Piper huffed. "Finally," she said while tossing some of her loose hair over her shoulders. "Okay, technically I still work at P3, the club I own, but I never get to spend much time there."
Paige quirked an eyebrow. "And the problem is…"
"The problem is that, when I'm at the club, unexpected things tend to come up, and I tend to have to stay there longer than I'd planned," Piper replied. "The boys are in daycare, but that's only until noon and Leo's at Magic School until dinner time or later; I can't just take off in the middle of one thing or another to pick up the boys, drop them off at Magic School, then get back to the club and find a dozen work-related disasters waiting for me." She took a deep breath. "I need a babysitter or a nanny."
Silence followed. Finally, a few minutes later, Phoebe spoke up. "Um, Piper? Remember when you and Leo tried to find a magical nanny before, when you were still pregnant with Wyatt?" she asked, giving her a slight grimacing smile.
"Yeah, it didn't turn out to good," Paige said with an emphatic shake of the head.
"Well, then, what am I supposed to do?" By now Piper was becoming exasperated. "I need to get out of this house, but I can't do it without knowing that the boys are in good hands. I need a nanny who's from the magical world or is at least familiar with it, because after she sees what Chris and Wyatt can do, she's going to have to be pretty used to seeing unusual stuff."
"Not to mention that she's going to have to be able to fend off any demons that come after the kids," Paige said absently, still in thought.
"Oh, great, another thing to worry about," Piper said, clapping a hand over her eyes. "I can't believe I forgot about demon protection!"
Phoebe reached out and pulled the hand down. "Relax. If we put the protection crystals around the house, demons won't be able to come inside," she said in a 'duh' tone of voice. "The problem is finding someone who'll be willing to take care of two unusually magical little boys."
For a moment, the three women were quiet, silently contemplating what to do. An ordinary nanny, man or woman, was out of the question; the caretaker for a Charmed Ones' children would have to be able to deal with any sort of danger that could present itself, and would have to be good at defending against whatever was thrown at them. Or, if Piper chose someone magical, they would have to be good with kids and willing to put up with any sort of magical pranks or tricks.
"Wait, what if Wyatt and Chris don't like who I pick out as their new nanny?" Piper asked her sisters in a fit of panic. "What if Wyatt does something horrible to the nanny that it chases them away and I don't find out about it until it's too late?"
Right now, all of Piper's plans were caving in around her, and she needed some family help. Although she was now the oldest sister and usually the calmest in a dangerous situation, Piper tended to overreact when it came to her children's welfare. Her motherly instinct tended to kick in when she thought something bad could happen to her sons, and the only thing that could calm her down happened to be her sisters and her husband.
Phoebe's hands reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Piper, relax," she said. "We'll figure something out, we always do. Let's just handle this calmly and logically."
"Yeah, maybe we could put out an ad in the local paper for a good person to look after my magical sons," Piper said sarcastically. "It could say, 'applicant must be used to strange and unusual things, such as demons, warlocks, evil witches, and other bad creatures. Should also be prepared to fight whatever evil beings walk through the door.'"
"Okay, okay, forget that idea." Paige looked thoughtful. "Maybe the three of us could cast a spell to bring us a good nanny?"
Phoebe shook her head. "Nope, that counts as 'personal gain.' We aren't allowed to use our powers to help ourselves with anything, especially when we can probably find someone on our own."
"Fine." Paige chewed her lower lip in thought. "Well, let's get Leo to try and find someone, like he did last time."
"Let's just hope he can, since he's not a Whitelighter anymore. Last time, he was a Whitelighter, and most of the applicants were willing to help out because of that." Piper sighed and took a sip from her cup, even though the coffee had gone cold by this point.
"Wait, doesn't Magic School have a daycare?" Phoebe asked. "Why not send the boys there until you get home? Or Leo could take them there when he goes to teach and back when he comes home."
"Because I want them to grow up in this world as much as the magical one," Piper explained. "I can't give them a normal life, but I want them a chance at it. They have to learn to live in the mortal world, too, since it's mortals they'll be protecting when they grow up."
They all grew silent again, and Piper lost herself in her thoughts. Perhaps she could ask her father, Victor, to help out with the boys? After Prue's death, the sisters managed to make amends with their dad, and Victor had even developed a soft spot for Paige, though she wasn't his daughter. True, Victor had been upset and bitter at his ex-wife, Patty, for her affair with her Whitelighter, but he had managed to overcome it, if only for his daughters (and later, grandsons') sakes.
'No, Dad tends to travel at odd times, so I can't count on him to be there 24/7 to take care of the boys,' she thought. 'It'll have to be someone else.'
"I guess we'll try and see what Leo comes up with," Piper grudgingly told her sisters. "If that fails, we'll use the newspaper or something."
With that settled, the three began planning a time for the whole family to get together, preferably for a barbeque. They settled on a date for next week, and after hugging each other goodbye, Phoebe headed off to work and Paige back to her apartment, leaving Piper to worry in private.
Three weeks later, things were not going as well as Piper had hoped. As she expected, Leo had not been able to convince many magical creatures to interview to take care of his sons. The truth was, much of the magical community felt that, between the two, both Chris and Wyatt were able to take care of themselves and didn't really need someone to protect them.
"They just need a regular nanny who knows about the existence of magic," a female elf had told Leo when she had answered his summons. "Any minor witch will do. Even a mortal could take care of your boys, if they know about the magical world and how it works."
So, reluctantly, Piper and Leo had decided to spread the word amongst the local good witches that they were looking for a caretaker for their children. To their relief, several quickly sent messages back, saying that they knew someone who needed a good job and knew how to deal with the world of magic. A few of those applicants had already come for an interview, but to Piper's disappointment, neither one of the boys had taken a liking to any of them.
"Come on, sweetie, try and play nice with the other people," she cooed to Wyatt, who had orbed up to his room after one of the applicants (a young witch, in this case) had picked him up.
Wyatt had ignored her, refusing to go and meet any of the other people who were applying for the job. Even Chris had tended to orb away from anyone he didn't like, though the toddler Whitelighter was a tiny bit less picky than his older brother.
Finally, fed up with the whole thing, Piper sent out messages to the other witches in the city, telling them to stop sending people over for the job. A few notes of protest arrived in response, but when Piper told them that her sons weren't taking to any of the interviewees, they stopped. So, as of right now, Piper Halliwell was sitting in her living room, watching her sons play while waiting for her sisters to arrive.
The jingle of soft bells filled her ears, and a second later, the two orbed in, Phoebe's hand clasped in Paige's. Spotting their sister, the two rushed over to her side.
"Hi, honey, how are you?" Phoebe asked, sitting to Piper's right and putting her arms around her shoulders.
"How am I?" Piper said, her voice slightly shrill from anxiety and frustration. "Considering my sons hate every person who's applied for this job so much that they orb away the moment someone touches them?"
"Okay, stupid question," Phoebe stated while rubbing her sister's shoulders. "But really, sweetie, how are you?"
Piper sighed. "Okay, considering the circumstances," she admitted while watching her sons play on the floor with their toys.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it'll be fine," Paige chimed in, the cheerfulness in her voice bringing a smile to Piper's lips. "Ah, see, there we go, you're smiling already!"
Sighing, Piper looked at her two children: Wyatt with his dirty-blonde locks and Chris with his light brown, the two of them with their father's eyes and sweet temperament, along with their mother's impatience when it came to people or things they didn't like.
"They just don't seem to like anybody!" Piper exclaimed in an exasperated huff while throwing her hands up in the air. "It's like…something's wrong with anyone I think would be good with the boys. I can't help but feel that maybe I should just forget what the boys want and just choose someone."
"I wouldn't do that," Paige warned. "Those boys of yours sometimes have better instincts than any one of us, especially when it comes to people."
"Okay, I'll trust their instincts, but what am I going to do?" Piper cried, the desperation in her voice causing Wyatt and Chris to look up at her. Giving them a reassuring smile, she said, "It's okay, sweeties, go back to playing. Mommy's just tired and need to talk to Aunties Phoebe and Paige."
The boys obeyed, playing with blocks. As the sisters watched, Wyatt began to make the blocks float in the air, just out of reach of his baby brother. Chris, sensing that this might be a new game, began to reach out for the blocks, occasionally causing one to orb out of the air and into his hands. Piper, Phoebe and Paige all smiled at the darling sight.
"See? How am I going to find a nanny who'll be able to handle things like that?" Piper said. "I mean, where am I going to find someone who the boys like to have near them?"
Just then, there was a knock at the door. The sisters looked at each other, then in the door's direction.
"Um, does anyone else think that that's a sign or something?" Paige asked while still looking in the direction of the front door.
The three looked at each other for a split second before racing to the front of the house. Paige, being in tennis shoes, arrived first, while Piper, being in boots, was the last to reach the door, which the visitor was still knocking on.
Before they opened it, though, Piper prepared herself; it wouldn't be the first time a demon knocked at the door before trying to kill them, and since Piper could blow up demons with her hands, she would be the best one to vanquish them. On the count of three, Paige opened the door.
"Hi. Sorry to bother you, but I'm kind of lost. Do you mind if I use your phone?" asked a female voice.
AN: Well, what do you think? Erik's in the next chapter, I promise! The whole chapter! Please review! Thanks!