Chapter 8

August (Getting ready for the baby)

It was a hot day, and the family had gotten up early. This was because once Parker woke she wouldn't go back to sleep. Parker was too excited for her birthday party. She was officially three years old.

This party was also a birthday party for Piper and Paige. Plus it was a baby shower for Prue. The usual guests: Victor, Billie, Darryl, Sheila and Elise were attending. As well as Alyssa, her mom Rebecca, and Parker's friends from pre-school.

The part started at one, by 1:30 all the guests arrived. Since this was a mixed party, there was no theme. The children played while the adults talked.

"So what's the update on Parker" Victor asked.

"She is sneaky but usually well behaved" Phoebe said.

"She sleeps better at night" Coop added.

"She's always energetic" Phoebe stated.

Around four Prue got to open her baby gifts. Prue sat in the middle of the living room on a kitchen chair. Andy sat beside her on another chair. The others sat in-front of them on the ground, with their gift in-front of them.

"This is from Leo and I" Piper said giving Prue a gift.

"Oh what a nice mobile, thanks guys" Prue thanked.

"Ok this is from Coop and I, for the baby's first picture" Phoebe said.

"A little tux, I love it" Prue stated.

Prue opened the rest of her gifts. She got clothes, toys, diapers, bottles and books. After Prue opened all of her gifts, it was supper time. For supper Piper and Phoebe made Parker's favorite meal, pancakes.

After supper of course it was time to bring out the cake. Phoebe and Coop sang as they carried the cake to the table. They placed the cake on the table in-front of Parker, who blew out the candle.

Like always, after cake it was time for presents. Parker got: clothes, new running shows books, toys and a blue music box. Piper got: a new toaster, a new alarm clock because she blew up hers, clothes, novels and a necklace. Paige got art supplies, a brief case for work, clothes, a pair of high heels since the twins broke her old pair, and an I pod.

Parker's friends went home by seven, the adults except Billie and Rebecca stayed until 10. The kids were in bed by 8. After the kids went to bed, the adults watched a horror movie.

A couple of days later the adults were sitting in the living room with nothing to do. They all had the day off, the house was mostly clean, most of the kids were at magic camp, Parker, Henry Jr. and Payton were upstairs napping. Belle, who was much bigger then, ran into the end table, knocking everything off it. Piper, who still wasn't a fan of Belle, rolled her eyes and picked up the mess.

"I was wondering where this went" Piper stated holding up the baby name book.

"Hey that's a good time passer, let's pick a name for the baby" Andy suggested.

Piper picked up the rest of the mess, that was caused by that clumsy stupid springer spaniel puppy then joined the others with the baby name book. For the first time they flipped to the boy P names.

"How about Peter" Henry suggested.

"No reminds me of a bully from school" Andy said.

"Do you like Patrick" Phoebe asked.

"Not really' Prue stated.

"How does Perry sound" Leo asked.

"Like a pet, so no" Andy said.

"How about Petro" Paige suggested.

"No, I'm not found of that name" Prue responded.

"Percy" Coop suggested.

"No, my jerk of a cousin is named Percy" Andy said.

"Palmer" Piper suggested.

"No that doesn't sound like a name to be honest" Prue stated.

"Hey about Preston" Henry suggested.

"Preston… I like that it's unusual" Andy stated.

"Me too, Preston it is" Prue agreed.

They were then all bored again. Then Prue realized they still needed to get her and Andy's room ready for the baby. Andy and Coop retrieved little Henry's old Crib from the attic and put it together in Andy and Prue's room.

Phoebe and Piper put all the baby's toys and clothes in bins and the baby's dresser. Prue and Paige washed all of little Henry's old bottles, baby spoons and baby plates. In Prue and Andy's room, Andy, Coop, Leo and Henry placed all the furniture to make everything fit nicely.

By the time they were done, Payton, Parker and Henry Jr. were up from their naps. So Piper took them into the kitchen for lunch. After lunch little Henry was sent to clean his messy room.

Andy helped Payton clean her messy room, and Coop tried to get Parker to her clean hers. Parker refused to clean her room, even when Phoebe and Coop offered to help. Parker was a stubborn child.

"Why don't you want to make your room all nice and clean" Coop asked.

"I did not make all of this mess, PJ did too so she should help" Parker yelled.

"Don't yell at me, and PJ is not home. So how about you clean up your part of this pig pen, and PJ will clean the rest once she's home" Coop suggested.

"Well…ok" Parker agreed.

PJ and Parker's room was a huge mess. Their beds and the floor was covered in toys, books and clothes. Parker put away her toys and books. Then she put all of her dirty clothes in the hamper. Next Parker cleared off her bed, and Coop helped her place the sheet and blanket on the bed. To finish, Parker placed her pillow on her bed.

When the kids got home from magic camp, they all had to clean their room. The twins threw a tantrum which was ignored. So since they didn't get any attention, they sucked it up and clean their room.

The living room, kitchen and bathroom were cleaned up every day. The adult's rooms were never messy. The kid's rooms were cleaned twice a week because they were always messy so eventually the adults stopped cleaning them every day. Laundry and dishes were done four times a week or every day depending on much there was. Moping and booming was done every Sunday.

That night once the kids were in bed, the adults had an idea. They wanted to make a collage with the children's baby pictures. In the middle of a Billiton bored they wrote Halliwell babies, using big letter stickers. The all over was the pictures in birth order. Wyatt, Chris, Melinda, Kat, Tamora, PJ, Henry Jr., Parker and Payton, with room left for Preston picture and then rest of the extra room was filled with baby stickers.

On labels at the bottom of each picture was the names, so they would always remember who was who. Either written in pink permanent marker for the girls, or in blue permanent marker for the boys.