Chapter one

New beginnings

"What's the point?"

Paige Matthews and her husband Henry Mitchell were seated together on the end of their bed discussing Paige's least favourite topic... her estranged father. Henry had just suggested to his wife that she invite her father to attend the New Year's eve party her half-sister would be hosting that night. Piper Halliwell had already given permission to Henry to invite Sam Wilder to the party. He had attended the party she had hosted the previous year but Paige not spoken to him since.

"You can deny it all you want but I know the truth," Henry said.

"Go on, tell me this so-called truth."

"You want a relationship with your father. You are angry he didn't come meet the twins when they were born but you want him in their life, and in yours.

Paige looked away knowing her husband was right but she would never admit it out loud. Her two half-sisters: Piper and Phoebe had a loving and supportive father in their lives, one who loved spending time with his grandchildren. She did find comfort in the fact that she had given her own daughters, Tamora and Kat, a father who'd always be there for them and would never abandon them.

"Victor treats me like his own," Paige said.

"But he's not your dad."

"Yet he acts like my dad more than my real dad does."

"Paige, I think you should invite him. If not for yourself then for the girls."

The image of their eight-month-old twin daughters Tamora and Katalina Mitchell popped into her head. She didn't want them growing up without their grandfather. Especially not when they'd grow up seeing their cousins spending time with their grandfather. Though Victor did treat them like they were his grandchildren too. They also had Herny's parents. They would also get to see their maternal grandmother when she was summoned from great beyond.

"Okay, fine."

Paige looked up at her ceiling as Henry got up and left the room. "Dad!" Paige called out. She hadn't expected him to show up but he did, in a swirl of blue light. (Sam Wilder was a white-lighter, a guide, and protector of witches.) Paige got up and shared an awkward hug with her father. "I know you're mad that I haven't been around." Paige looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry. There's no excuse." Paige looked up at him. She was confused over how she could hate this man so much yet love and need him just as much. "Piper's having her annual party. I want you there," She mumbled. Last year it had been awkward for Sam since Paige's mother Patty and Patty's ex-husband had also been in attendance. He assumed they would both be present this year too.

"You don't have to go. I won't be mad."

"But there will be hard feelings."

"Can you blame me? You say you'll be around but you don't visit or keep in touch."

"I know."

Paige looked at him with a painful expression on her face. "You're never around. You don't know me, and I don't know you. You have no idea what is going on in my life." Paige stopped herself from crying. She refused to shed tears over this no matter how much it stung. The sound of a crying baby sounded in the distance. Sam took a step back and listened for a brief moment. His face turned white when he made the connection. His daughter was right. He truly knew nothing of her life. Paige shook her head at him and turned towards the bedroom door ready to leave. "Paige." Paige turned around but could not look him in the eye. "Can I meet... her/him/them." Paige took one step towards him. "Them. Two girls." She then turned back around and left her bedroom leaving her father behind.

At first, Sam thought he was no longer welcomed here and almost left, but then he decided it was best to stick around until Paige told him to go. It turned out he made the right choice as Paige returned a moment later with a baby in each arm. Sam smiled and took a few steps forward. He reached out his arms towards one baby but then took a step back wondering if he even had the right to hold his granddaughter when he hadn't even known of her existence due to his own arrogance. However, Paige stepped forwards and handed him Tamora. "I'm doing this for them, not for you." She took a few steps back.

Piper Halliwell walked into the nursery to find her tenth-month-old daughter Melinda levitating a few inches above her crib. The baby smiled and giggled adorably at the sight of her mother smiling back at her. "Hi, baby. How was your morning nap?" Piper asked cheerfully as she approached the crib. She reached up and took her daughter into her arms. Melinda orbed herself and her mother down to the kitchen where her big brothers were colouring at the table. Wyatt and Chris both looked up and gave their mom and baby sister a smile. Piper placed Melinda in her high chair and went about making her a bottle of milk. Leo sat at the table opposite his sons.

"Mommy, can we go to the park please?" Wyatt asked.

"Sure but just for a little bit. Chris, would you like to come?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, go put on your coats and shoes."

The four and three year old boys got up from their chairs and began walking away, only to be stopped by their mother. "Push your chairs in." Wyatt waved his hand from the chair to the table causing the chair to move into place. Chris attempted to use his newly found power of telekinesis and accidentally sent the chair flying across the room. Piper ducked to avoid being hit then spun around just in time to see it smash into the wall and break into pieces. She turned back to her son looking very annoyed. "Oops. Sorry, mommy." Piper closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to remain calm. "Boys...please go put on your coats and shoes."At once, Wyatt and Chris scurried out of the kitchen. "Five more days. Five more days and then they're back in school and daycare," she told herself. Leo got up from his chair at the table. "Do you want me to drop by the store and pick up a new chair?" He walked over to his daughter and removed her from the high chair. He then retrieved her bottle and handed it to her. She stuck it into her mouth. "If you have nothing else to do," Piper replied. "I'll keep Melinda with me," Leo decided.

Phoebe sat in the rocking chair perfectly contempt and happy as she rocked her precious angel in her arms. Baby Prue was one month, two weeks, and four days old. She'd be three months old on the thirteenth of January. The nursery was still and quiet, only Phoebe's gentle hum could be heard. Prue-Johnna was asleep comfortably and safely in her loving mother's arms. A subtle stream of light shinned into the room through the closed curtains. Phoebe was a witch and her husband Coop was a Cupid, he was out at the moment helping people find love. Their daughter, who was known as Prue, Prue-Johnna, or P.J., was a cupid-witch hybrid but didn't currently have any witch or cupid powers. This didn't bother her parents in the slightest for Prue was the sweetest baby girl. Powers or not, she was perfect in the eyes of her mother who had longed so long for a child, and her father who had longed for so long to have a family of his own.

Leo got home from the store and let Melinda down. The happy baby started crawling about still wearing her coat and shoes. Leo let her be and walked into the kitchen where he orbed the new chair from the car to the kitchen table. He then walked back into the living room to remove his daughter's outside clothing and found her in the arms of an Elder. Another Elder, both of them male, stood beside him. Leo retrieved his daughter from the Elder and took a step back. (The Elders were a series of chosen white-lighters who were pretty much in charge of all good magic.) "Adventurous this one. Orbed up to us. Thought you might want her back," the Elder who had been holding Melinda said. He chuckled finding it amusing.

"We wanted to discuss a matter with you anyway," Elder one informed.

"About what may I ask?"

"Your children, specifically Wyatt. He is of school-age now, correct?" Elder two asked.

"Yes, he started kindergarten last fall."

"As new rule states, I assume he also attends afternoon classes at magic school," Elder one assumed.

"He does."

"Wyatt has the potential to be one of the greatest most powerful witch and white-lighter, but he needs proper training to reach his full potential."

"What are you suggesting?"

"We think it will benefit Wyatt to attend magic school full time," Elder one stated.

"Piper and I feel differently. Piper strongly believes it is important for all our children to attend a mortal school along with magic school."

"Well, it is up to you, of course. We also suggest Wyatt and Chris get some magic training at home as well, especially in demon vanquishing."

"Piper and I don't believe our sons are old enough for that yet."

"Again, just a suggestion. Think about it, talk to Piper."

Sam had left after promising to attend the party, which Paige took lightly. She and Henry were now in their living room watching television while the twins were playing on the floor. They hadn't noticed that one little red-headed baby had wandered out of sight. Out of nowhere, the fire alarm sounded which was weird since they hadn't been cooking anything. Still, Henry got up to investigate and Paige went to find a towel she could use to wave under the alarm to get it to stop beeping. It took a few tries before Paige got the damn thing to shut up.

"Paige, get in here!" Henry called out from the kitchen

Paige dropped the towel down to the floor planning on putting it away later and made her way into the small kitchen. Her mouth opened in horror at the sight of a small fire on the stove that had been magically frozen. The same way Pipers' power of freeing works. "Tamora set fire to the stove and then Kat froze it. Our twins have come into their active witch powers," Henry informed. "Why on earth did she have to get the power of starting fires," Paige complained. Henry looked to the entrance of the kitchen from the main hall. "Um Paige, I think Melinda just orbed in," Henry said pointing to Melinda who was levitating a few inches above the ground in the entrance. Paige was about to collect her niece when Leo came in and took her into his arms. "Sorry, Melinda has been taking some adventures today... um...you do know your stove is on fire, right?" Henry and Paige looked towards their stove. The fire had unfrozen and was growing. Paige acted quickly. She orbed the fire into the nearest ocean.

"The twins came into their powers today that explains the fire," Henry explained to Leo who nodded and orbed out with his daughter.

Coop had come home for a quick lunch break, but instead of eating, he and Phoebe had started a game of peek-a-boo in an attempt to make baby Prue laugh. It was a failed attempt as the infant just stared up at her parents clueless. "Come on Prue just give mommy and daddy a little smile," Phoebe asked a little disappointed. The infant did not respond. "She will smile one day, Phoebe," Coop said. He rubbed her shoulders. "I know. Piper's kids all knew how to smile by this age. The twins too when they weren't screaming at the top of her lungs," Phoebe recalled. She sounded a little concerned. "Maybe she's just stubborn like her mom," Coop said jokingly. Phoebe playfully slapped his hand for his comment and got off her bed and went into the kitchen to prepare P.J. a bottle knowing she was probably hungry by now.

(Phoebe and Coop had not yet gotten used to life with little P.J., but they were taking it one step at a time and following Paige and Piper's helpful advice. Although she would never admit it, Phoebe was a little bored since P.J. didn't do very much, and she missed going to work. She planned on going back to work in April when P.J. would be five months old.)

Phoebe had decided to take her younger sister Paige out for lunch. They agreed on Quakes for lunch, a restaurant their sister Piper had once worked at. They had just received their meals when a young teenager ran past them heading for a table where a man and a woman sat. Paige shrugged it off and looked at her sister to start a conversation and was puzzled by the look of concern on her face. "That girl that just ran by us. She's really scared," Phoebe whispered. She and Paige looked over at the teen girl who had just arrived at the table where the man and woman were seated. "Mom, dad, some creep was following me but then he was stopped by this other guy who just came out of nowhere. I want to go home." The man and woman nodded and rose from their chairs. They quickly hurried their daughter out.

Phoebe looked at Paige and shrugged not knowing what was going on. "We should follow," Paige advised. Phoebe nodded and the sisters got up. That's when Leo came in, spotted them, and walked over. "Did you see a young girl? Light-brown hair, purple shirt. Looked sixteen?" Leo asked them. Both Phoebe and Paige nodded. "She came running in terrified and left with her parents. Why are you looking for her?" Phoebe explained and asked. "She was being chased by a dark-lighter, one I've crossed paths with before. The Elders, they assigned her to both of us." Paige's eyes opened in alarm. "Both?" Leo nodded. The Elders rarely assigned a charge to more than one white-lighter. "Who is she?" Phoebe asked. "Her name is Kristina Peters. She's sixteen and pregnant. The Elders believe either she or the baby is to be a future white-lighter. No one knows who the father is, she won't tell anyone." A brief silence came over them as a waiter walked past. "The Elders figured two white-lighters plus your status as a social worker could keep her from him until the baby's born, they think the father may be supernatural," Leo added. "Well, can I have my meal and call my boss to be excused before I go with you to find her?" "Meet me at 3456 Pine lane once you're done work."

Paige had forgotten she had a lesson with Emma Benson, a young tween witch she was training. It was a potion lesson and once again Piper had offered her attic. Normally Paige taught Emma on her own but Piper was the best at potions aside from Grams, so Piper was accompanying them this lesson. The three of them were standing in the middle of the attic in front of a boiling cauldron and Emma was holding a leaf. Piper and Paige had just finished explaining the last step of the potion she was making. Emma dropped the leaf into the cauldron and a small explosion occurred.

Now they were all standing by the book of shadows twenty minutes earlier. "What on earth? All the ingredients are back on the table and the cauldron is empty," Emma pointed out. The adults were just as confused until Piper made the connection. "Time just rewound. Billie must be here. She probably dropped a plate or something," Piper explained. (Billie had the power of projection which allowed her to travel through time.) "Guess again," Leo said, as he and Wyatt entered the attic. "Wyatt knocked over your flower vase and didn't want to get into trouble." Piper and Phoebe looked at him surprised. "I have a new power!" Wyatt announced happily. Piper rolled her eyes up at the ceiling. "Of all the powers it just had to be projection." Leo shrugged. "Could be worse. He could have the power control like his friend Olivia." Piper nodded, she hadn't known that power existed until she had met little Olivia. It was definitely the last power she wanted her children to have. Chris orbed in and wrapped his arms around his father's legs. Leo lifted him up into his arms.

"Guess who else has a new power?"

"Seriously? He just got a new power right before Christmas," Piper whined.

"Well, this one is a white-lighter power. He can sense now."

"Daddy wanted to know where you were and I saw you in my brain, here," Chris explained.

"Congratulations boys," Paige cheered.

"Thank you, auntie Paige," the boys replied.

It was finally time to summon the deceased guests for the party as the live ones would soon be arriving. It was around ten at night and the boys were still full of energy as they had taken long naps in order to be able to stay up late enough for the count down to the new year. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige paced three candles in a circle, lit them, and chanted the summoning spell together. Their grandmother Penny aka Grams, the mother Patty, and their oldest sister Prue, all emerged in the circle. Upon stepping out of the circle they took on their physical forms and shared hugs with Piper, Phoebe, and Paige.

Victor Bennett was the first living guest to arrive. (He was the mortal father of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, and their only living parent.) He shared a hug with his daughter, including Paige, and the one with all the grandchildren. Next came Elise Rothman, Phoebe's mortal boss who had just recently learned about magic. She was followed by Billie Jenkins, a witch and close friend to the Halliwell family. A few minutes later, the family's closest friends, Darryl his wife Sheila, and their two sons arrived. (Darryl, along with his family, was mortal. He was an inspector for the Sans Francisco police department. He was happily married to Sheila and they had two sons. Mikey was nine and Darryl Junior was just about to turn six in a week.)

The party had started but Sam had not yet arrived. Assuming he wasn't coming, Paige walked into the kitchen to herself a glass of wine. She shouldn't be surprised though. The last time Sam had said he was going to come around he hadn't. "Sorry I'm late," A familiar voice sounded from behind her. Paige turned around. Her father was here. He hadn't gone back on his word again. Paige smiled and gave him a hug that actually said, "I'm happy to see you," rather than, "I'm hugging you because you're family but it's awkward because I never see you." She led him into the living room and the two found spots on the couch next to each other. She looked over at her husband happily. Wyatt and Chris were running around with Darryl Junior. Mikey was ignoring the party as he sat beside his mother playing on his GameBoy. Melinda was levitating in mid-air next to her mother. Tamora and Kat were crawling around. P.J. was asleep in the playpen.

"So Wyatt now has the power of projection. Chris has the power of sensing, and Melinda can now orb. Is that all?" Victor asked. It hadn't been that long since he had last seen his grandchildren as he had been around at Christmas but he had sure missed a lot from today's events. "Tamora can start fires and Kat has Piper's freezing power," Paige revealed. Phoebe laughed. "That sounds like fun." Paige crossed her arms. "You wouldn't find it so funny if it was your daughter starting fires." Phoebe looked away. It would not be funny.

It was now a few days later. Henry was just finishing up work for the day when Paige came in with the twins in their double stroller. Henry smiled at them and greeted his wife with a kiss. Passing parole officers said their hellos. Kat was asleep but Tamora was wide awake. Tamora giggled catching her parents' attention and they saw the garbage can next to her in flames. Henry looked around to check if anyone else had noticed but no one had. Paige quickly orbed the trashcan out.

Once at home, Henry sat his wife down on the couch. The twins were now both down for a nap. Henry took his wife's hands into his own. "Paige, you know I love you, every part of you. I know how important magic is to you and our family. I just think Tamora's power is too dangerous for her to have at this age. Is there a way we can take it away?" Paige looked offended but admitted the truth. "We can bind her magic. It can be undone later on, but It wouldn't be fair on her. Seeing her sister and cousins have fun with their powers but not have any of her own." Henry considered his wife's point. "She is a baby. This power could expose the secret or get her into trouble, serious trouble. She could hurt someone, she could hurt herself. She can't control it, Paige, she's too little." Now it was Paige's turn to consider her husband's point. "I will think about it."

"No Leo. That is final." PIper stated.

"I think it's a good idea. What if the boys come across a demon and help isn't available."

"Wyatt is still learning his ABC's and Chris can't even dress himself yet, and you want them vanquishing demons?"

"No. I just want them prepared in case they're put in a situation where there's no other choice."

"When would that happen? You think a demon is going to waltz into Wyatt's kindergarten class?"

"A demon did disguise herself as room mom at Wyatt's daycare once, and she did kidnap Wyatt and she used him to summon a source," Leo pointed out.

"I guess you do have a point."

"I don't want our children to vanquish demons but Wyatt already has. Remember when he had to save his sister from the sleep demon?"

"Alright, you made your point. We will set up a few training sessions and see how it goes. But we'll need someone who has their powers to teach them how to use and control them."

"Prue for telekinesis, Billie can train Wyatt on his projection power, and Piage and I will deal with their white-lighter powers. You can teach them other magic like scrying, setting traps. Phoebe would be best at teaching them self-defense."

"Okay, fine."

The following week, Prue was summoned from the great beyond and she took her nephews to the park. She had to be careful not to be seen since she was dead. "Okay, boys. This is very easy. I want you to pretend these basketballs are demons. Use your telekinesis power to make them go flying, and do it fast like they're about to attack you," Prue instructed them. The boys nodded. Prue put the balls on the ground and watched. Wyatt made his fly to the other side of the park, and Chris made the other go a few yards. They were then instructed to bring the balls back using telekinesis.

"Great job guys," Prue said giving them both a high five.

"Can we do it again?" Chris asked

"Go for it," Prue said.

This time, Prue tossed the balls at the boys to mimic a demon attacking at fast speed. Wyatt easily managed to get the ball to change directions and fly across the park. Chris on the other hand wasn't fast enough and the ball smacked him in the face knocking him flat out on his back. Prue and Wyatt ran over to him. He was conscious and was able to sit himself up. His nose was bleeding tough. Wyatt held his hand in front of his brother's nose and used his healing powers. "Okay, maybe we should use ofter balls," Prue realized. Wyatt turned to look at her. "Much softer," he said.

After the hour had ended, Leo orbed in to take his turn with the boys. Prue seated herself on a nearby bench. "Paige is hiding. Chris, can you find her. Sit down and think about her, find her in your mind." Chris nodded and seated him in the cool grass. He closed his eyes. Wyatt ran around the parking kicking around the basketball. Leo looked at his eldest son. "Wyatt orb home. Take Prue with you. Billie is waiting for you in the attic." Wyatt nodded, ran over to his aunt, took her hand, and orbed them back to the manor. Chris opened his eyes. "She's in her office." Leo nodded and took his sons' hand. "Orb us to her then."

"Okay, come sit beside me," Billie instructed. Wyatt nodded and seated himself next to her. I want you to close your eyes and think of what you did five minutes ago." Wyatt closed his light-brown eyes and thought back to his lesson with Prue. "Do you see it. Clearly in your mind?" Billie asked. "Yes." "Good. I want you to see yourself going there right now." Wyatt Wyatt concentrated but then he thought of the ice cream truck. Wyatt opened his eyes and found himself and Billie in the mall where a toy ice cream truck was sitting on the shelf inside a store. Billie watched confused and saw herself and Wyatt, along with Chris and Melinda approach the ice cream truck. She then realized this was last Thursday when she had been babysitting and had brought them to the mall. Billie projected them back to the attic to present time.

"Good job we didn't go where we were supposed to but you did travel to the past," Billie told him. Wyatt smiled proudly. "Ok let's try again. See yourself going into the past, back during your lesson with auntie Prue." Wyatt tried again but thought of a movie he had seen a few days before. He projected them not only back in time but inside the movie. "Wyatt, where are we?" Billie asked. Wyatt looked around. "Whinnie the pooh!" Billie looked in the direction he was. Winnie the pooh was walking towards them. Sure enough, Billie and Wyatt spotted Piglet and Tiger approaching too. Billie quickly projected them back to the attic once again where Leo was waiting for them.

'Where did you end up?" Leo asked them

"In a Winnie the pooh movie, right after visiting the mall last week," Billie informed him.

"Sorry Billie," Wyatt apologized

"It's ok, I wasn't excepting you to get it right on your first try, why don't we stop for today and try again in a few days?" Billie suggested.

Piper came up with Chris and Leo left with Billie. "Chris, I want you to orb somewhere. Don't tell us where you're going," Piper instructed. Chris happily abided and orbed out. Piper took Wyatt's hand and led him to the small table where she kept the map of Sans Fransico and the scrying tools. "You need an object that belongs to the person you are looking for. In this case, Chris." Wyatt nodded and orbed one of Chris's toy cars to himself. "Place it on the map." Wyatt did this. "Take the crystal and slowly swing it above the map in a circle. When it finds Chris it will smack down onto the map onto the spot where Chris is." Wyatt nodded and took the crystal which was tied to a strong and did as his mother instructed. Shortly after the crystal fell on golden gate park. "Great, now go get him and bring him home."

"Where is he?" Wyatt asked.

"Look at the map, where did the crystal land?"

"I can't read yet."

"Oh. Right. He's at golden gate park."

Wyatt orbed out and returned just a moment later with Chris. Though Piper realized scrying was useless as long as the boys didn't know how to read a map, or read anything, she had Chris take a turn while Wyatt had orbed out to a mystery location. Chris took longer to find Wyatt making Piper concerned he had left the city. However, he did manage to locate him, and once told the location, he easily orbed there, got his brother, and orbed back with him safely. From then on, one day the boys had lessons with Prue, the next Wyatt had lessons from Billie while Chris had Lessons from Leo and Paige, then the next day they had lessons from Piper, and the last day they had lessons with Phoebe on self-defense. Then it was time to put the boys to the test.

The plan was that Piper told the boys a demon had taken Melinda, but really the demon was Leo. The first step was having the boys scry for Melinda.

"I found her, she's here," Wyatt told Piper

"That's golden gate park," Piper said.

The boys took Piper's hand and orbed her to the park, where Billie had cast some illusion demons. Wyatt was the first one to spot a demon and he sent him flying, who knows where it would have ended up if it was a real demon. Another illusion demon took Piper and Chris used his power to send it flying too.

They walked into the forest and saw Melinda sitting on a log with Leo who pretended to look scared because there were illusion demons all around them. Wyatt used his telekinesis power to get the closer demons away and Chris orbed the rest of them to a volcano. Then together the boys used their telekinesis power to get to ropes around Leo and Melinda to untie.

The boys had passed their test and Piper, Billie and Leo brought them out for ice cream to celebrate. And after a huge house fire that had to be dealt with by fire fighters, Paige agreed to bind Tamora's powers until she was at least five and old enough to learn how to control it. And to be fair to her, she binded Kat's power too.