Chapter two

Oh Little Halliwells

Leo and Piper thought it would be sweet to greet Wyatt first thing in the morning. They crept to the bedroom Wyatt and Chris shared not wanting to wake their daughter and opened the door. The happy smiles left their faces the moment they walked into the room. Chris was standing in a mountain of clothes both dirty and clean, including all of his big brother's clothes. He was in his underwear and was jumping into the pile when his parents came in. "Christopher Halliwell," Piper hissed. Chris looked at his parents and orbed out before they could scold him. "If he orbs out one more time-" Piper stopped herself from finishing that sentence. Leo sighed. "I'll call around. See where he ended up." Piper nodded and Leo left the bedroom.

Recalling what day it was: February second, 2008, Piper's smile reappeared. She walked over to the bunk bed and leaned over the railing of the top bunk to kiss her sweet little son's head. Wyatt opened his eyes and smiled at his mother. "Good morning. Happy birthday," Piper whispered to him. Wyatt didn't respond. He swept his blonde hair out of his eyes as he continued to look at his loving mother. "Do you remember how old you are now?" Wyatt nodded his head and lifted up one hand, all five fingers standing straight. "That's right. You are five now." She planted another little kiss on his head. "Is Auntie Paige here?" The child asked sheepishly. "No, honey. She'll be at the party though." Wyatt sat himself up. "Can I call her?" Piper nodded and reached out her arms to pick him up.

Leo handed Chris the green plastic plate and the yellow plastic cup as the toddler sat at the table and Piper came in with Wyatt in her arms. Chris was having one piece of toast drowned in jelly and apple juice to drink. Piper placed Wyatt down and he ran over to his dad for a hug. "Can you hand him the phone? He wants to call Paige." Leo nodded and retrieved the cordless home phone from the counter as Piper seated herself at the table. Leo dialed the number and handed the phone to his son. "Have you heard sound from the nursery?" Leo asked. "Nope. She must be up by now though." Leo nodded and made his way past Wyatt and out of the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"AUNTIE PAIGE!"

"Hey, there birthday boy!"

"I'm five now!"

"I know. That's exciting isn't it?"

"Huh huh."

"Are you excited for your party?"

"Yep. Austin and Darryl are coming."

"They are?"

"Yep."

"Well, that's going to fun huh?"

"Yep."

Piper smiled at her son as she got up. She scruffed his hair as she passed him. Now at the counters and cabinets, Piper began preparing Wyatt's breakfast. (Wyatt favored Paige while Chris and Melinda both preferred Phoebe. All three of the children loved both of their uncles but they were in agreement that uncle Coop was their favorite uncle. Tamora and Kat were also fond of Phoebe. Baby Prue wasn't old enough to have a preference in her aunts and uncles. Wyatt was a momma's boy while Chris was a daddy's boy. Melinda appeared to be a daddy's girl but also loved spending time with mom. Tamora and Kat both seemed to favor their father over their mother. Again, Baby Prue was too young to have a favorite parent.)

The party was about to begin. Before that could happen, Piper sat her boys down on the living room couch to remind them of the rules. "We must be kind and let everyone join in on games. Wyatt, you need to say thank you to all your friends when they give you your presents. What is the most important rule?" Wyatt and Chris looked at their mother and said it at the same time. "These guests are mortals and that means we can't use our powers or talk about magic." Piper nodded. "And why is that an important rule?" She then asked them. "Because mortals can't know about magic," Chris responded. "It's against the rules," Wyatt added. "That's right, and if you see Melinda using her powers what do you do?" The kids had to think about it for a second. "Shout baby," Wyatt answered. Piper nodded her head and the sound of the doorbell rang into their ears.

"Hey dad," Piper said once she had opened the front door. They shared a quick hug before Piper stepped aside to let him into the house. Victor placed his gift for Wyatt on the present table and walked into the living room. His grandsons ran over to him for hugs. He then took his granddaughter into his arms. "Why do you kids keep getting bigger every time I see you," he said. Melinda giggled in response to his voice. Coop then beamed in with Phoebe who held baby Prue in her arms. She handed the baby over to her husband when Chris came running up to her. She got down to her knees and greeted her little nephew with a hug. Wyatt came over for one too. She then got back up and took Melinda from Victor.

Coop placed baby Prue in the playpen so she could nap. Leo came down from the second floor and Paige orbed in with Henry. She had Tamora in her arms and Henry had Kat in his. They let the twins down as Wyatt and Chris ran over for hugs. Phoebe placed down Melinda who crawled off towards Tamora and Kat. The doorbell rang for the second time. This time it was Billie who had arrived. Wyatt greeted her with a hug. (Ever since Billie had moved out of the manor the previous year, her relationship with the children had changed. They didn't see her as a caregiver anymore, just a friend of their mother's.) Wyatt took Billie's hand and led her into the living room. The doorbell rang again. This time it was Darryl dropping off little Darryl. (Darryl Junior was easily Wyatt's best friend.)

"Hi," Darryl Junior greeted him.

"Hi," Wyatt replied.

"Happy birthday."

"Thank you."

Once Austin and ten other children from Wyatt's class had arrived, Piper had them gather in the living room. "Okay kids, were are going to play pin the tail on the donkey." The children cheered happily. "Wyatt's the birthday boy, so he gets to go first." Wyatt approached his mother who put the blindfold around the top of his head covering his eyes. Wyatt took the donkey tail from his mom and walked forward. The other kids watched in anticipation, a few guiding him in the right direction. He pined the tail and removed his blindfold to see how he did. He had pinned the donkey tail on the donkey's back. He smiled as his friends cheered and clapped for him. "Okay, Darryl, why don't you go next since you were the first to arrive?"

Darryl took the tail from Piper who put the blindfold on him. She spun him around and he ended up walking in the wrong direction. Wyatt started backing up as his friend approached him, the other kids were laughing. "No! Don't pin me! Go the other way!" Darryl stopped just inches away from Wyatt and turned around. He managed to pin the tail next to the donkey on the wall. His friends laughed at him and he laughed at himself.

Chris watched all of his brother's friends take their turns before he got to have his. He started walking forward but then stopped. He stood in place ignoring the children who were telling him to keep going. Piper didn't catch right away what her son was doing but she froze the room when she did. All the mortal guests were frozen but everyone with magical blood wasn't. "Chris, no cheating." Chris turned around, still blindfolded. "I'm not cheating." Piper crossed her arms, Leo laughed when he figured it out. The others then caught on. "You're sensing. That's cheating." Chris turned back around and sighed. "Fine," he said. Piper unfroze the room and Chris started walking forward. However, he suddenly decided to turn to his left and walked right out of the living room and into the kitchen. The children followed him in laughing and Chris pinned the tail on a kitchen chair. As the other's had, Chris took off the blindfold to see how he did.

The next game was freeze dance. However, it wasn't the song stopping that caused most of the children to freeze. Wyatt looked up at his mom. "Why did you freeze the room now?" He asked, a slight whine in his voice. "I didn't." Paige looked around for her daughters only to realize they weren't in the room. She walked into the kitchen to find the nearby a table that was in flames. "Guys, in here." The adults quickly gathered into the kitchen. Piper looked as though she was about to faint at the sight of her kitchen table and kitchen chairs in flames. "I am so sorry," Paige immediately said. She scooped up both of her daughters. Wyatt and Chris came around to see what was going on. The fire unfroze but Piper quickly froze it again. "Paige, get a fire extinguisher. There's one in the basement," Piper instructed. Paige nodded and orbed down to the basement. She orbed back a moment later with the extinguisher.

"My table," Piper cried out. The entire table all the chairs were burnt to ashes by the time the fire had been put out. Meanwhile, the mortal children had been unfrozen and continued to dance in the living room completely oblivious to the events happening in the kitchen. "I'm really sorry, Piper. I'll bring Tamora home." Feeling embarrassed, horrified, ashamed, and guilty, Paige orbed home with her daughter, after handing Kat to Henry. "The children. We still have to feed them. We haven't even done the cake yet. The party doesn't end for another two hours," Piper pointed out. Leo wrapped his arms around Piper in an attempt to comfort her but she pushed him away. "I will orb in a new table, new chairs. It'll be fine. We do the cake, do the presents, then tell the parents we have to end the party early." Piper looked over at her son and felt so bad for him. "Let's just make the best of this party. For Wyatt," Piper agreed.

Piper walked into the living room and announced they were doing the cake. The children all gathered around the new table, seated on the new chairs. The adults gathered by the back wall. Leo and Piper removed the cake from the fridge, put in the candles, lit the candles, then approached Wyatt as everyone say the traditional birthday song. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Wyatt, happy birthday to you. Leo and Piper placed the cake down on the table in front of their son. Wyatt leaned forward and blew out the candle. His friends and family clapped and cheered for him. Leo came with a knife and served the cake.

Piper had been lucky enough to catch Melinda drop her plate on the floor, quickly went to pick it up, but froze the room when Melinda blinked her eyes. "Why did you do that?" Phoebe asked Piper as she got up. "When Melinda drops something and she can't reach it she orbs it back, and I just need to put the cake back on the floor, and pick it up like a normal parent," Piper said as she did just that, while Melinda was looking around at the frozen guests. She took the cake from the high chair tray and put it back on the floor. Piper unfroze the room and picked up the cake. She tossed it into the trash and got Melinda another piece. Leo cleaned up what was left on the floor. Once the cake had been devoured, it was time to open gifts.

"This is from me and Melinda," Chris told Wyatt when he took the present from him.

"Wow, cowboy boots, thanks," Wyatt excitedly said.

After giving his brother a hug, Piper and Leo gave Wyatt his present from them.

"I love this story, thanks mommy, thanks daddy," Wyatt said hugging his parents.

Phoebe and Coop then gave Wyatt their present.

"Thank you Auntie Phoebe and uncle Coop, I love this movie."

Henry then gave Wyatt his present from him, Paige, and the twins.

"A bug cage, thank you"

"No problem, now you have somewhere to put all the bugs you catch so they can't get away, but don't bring it in the house," Henry told him.

Wyatt's birthday had been on a Saturday and it was now Monday. Early morning still but getting closer to noon. Chris tugged on his daycare teacher's arm. She looked at him with a motherly smile upon her face. "Yes, Chris? What can I do for you." "My sister orbed out and Tamora started a fire." The teacher's eyes widened in alarm as she looked over at the almost nine-month-old. Sure enough, a nearby table bookshelf was in flames. She raced over and removed Tamora and Kat from the area. "Children, we are all going to go to another room now. Please follow me."

Leo was in the middle of teaching his second class of the day when a knock sounded at the door. "Excuse me for a moment class," Leo said. He walked over to the closed door and opened it. "Mrs. Middleton?" The daycare teacher was standing there, her hair had been burnt to a crisp and there was ash on her face. She held Tamora in her arms. "Your sister-in-law failed to mention that her child is a fire starter." Leo couldn't think up a reply. He reached out his arms and the teacher happily handed the baby over to him. "Please see to it that this child is returned to her parents and does not return until this power is under control." Leo nodded and the daycare teacher turned to leave but then turned back around. "Also, your daughter is an adventurous sneak. Orbing all over the school these past few days. Don't worry, I found her. Unless she's orbed off again. Funny how Chris always notices yet never stops her." With that said, she turned and walked away.

Leo sighed and turned to his class. That is when his little adventures sneak orbed onto his desk. She looked up at her dad and cousin and giggled. Leo's sixth-grade students all began to laugh. Leo quickly scooped her up before she could orb out again, not that holding her could stop her, she'd just orb out with him. "Class, please practice your spells while I make a quick trip to the mortal realm." Gasps filled the air. "The mortal realm? Can we come?" One boy asked. Most of the children nodded as they also wanted to. A few children didn't care, those children were from the mortal realm. One of those children included Emma Benson, the young witch Paige used to train but no longer did now that she had recently started attending magic school. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in that. It'll just be for a few minutes. We're going to see what an office looks like for someone who works at child services as a social worker." The kids ooohed.

Holding the two babies in his arms, Leo led the class into the social services building and into the department of child services. Naturally, they were greeted by a very confused boss. "I'm sorry. I don't recall a class trip scheduled here for today. THere's one next week though, so perhaps it was a misunderstanding of date?" Leo shook his head. The class became worried but Leo had a plan. "Paige Matthews organized a special event on short notice." The boss examined Leo, the babies, and the children. He pointed to the red-headed baby in Leo's arms. "Isn't that Paige's child?" Leo nodded. "Oh, you're Leo, right? Paige's brother-in-law?" Again Leo nodded. "Our school also offers a daycare program. This baby is my daughter Melinda. This is Paige's daughter Tamora." The boss processed this. "Where's the other? Paige has two." Leo nodded once more. "Tamora has an appointment, I'm dropping her off. Melinda, I just wanted to bring her." There was silence. "Paige is in her office. You hand her the baby while I have some of my guys show the kids around. Next time, I'd prefer it if Paige discussed class trips with me beforehand." Leo nodded and left the kids. He walked into Paige's office.

"Leo? I thought we weren't- what are you doing here with my daughter and yours?"

"It has to be a record. Being suspended from daycare at the age of nine months."

"What?"

"She started a little fire. On her teacher."

"Oh my god! Is she okay?"

"She'll just need a trip to the hairdresser. Maybe some therapy."

Paige looked around at her desk that was full of paperwork. "I can't leave. besides, we have Kristina duty after I finish." Leo nodded but looked unsure of what to do with the baby. "Where are you taking Melinda?" Leo approached the desk slightly. "She's going back to school." Paige nodded and concentrated on her phonebook that laid open on her desk. "Drop her off with Henry then. I'll call him, let him know you're on your way." She picked up the corded phone as Leo walked out of the office with the baby girls.

"Children, time to go," Leo called out. Looking disappointed, his students filed into a straight line. Paige's boss came up to him. "Class trips normally last longer than five minutes," he said suspiciously. He looked at the babies. "I thought you were dropping this one off?" Leo looked down at Tamora and easily came up with an explanation. "Misunderstanding, apparently her husband it to bring her to her appointment." At first, the boss appeared to not believe Leo but he quickly shrugged it off. "As for the children. We have a few other stops to make before returning to school." His students cheered. The boss nodded and went back to his own business.

Leo led his class and the babies onto the city bus, which was free for children under thirteen. Luckily, none of his students were thirteen as the oldest were twelve (like Emma) and the youngest eleven. Upson arriving at the building where Henry worked, Leo led them inside, up the stairs into the office. Henry quickly spotted the large group and walked over to them. He took his daughter into his arms as Leo explained what was going on. "I told Paige we needed to bind her powers," Henry complained. Leo hadn't known about this discussion between Henry and Paige. "Leo? Have you and Piper ever discussed bounding your kids' powers?" Leo nodded which didn't surprise Henry as he knew how much PIper wished for a normal life for herself and for her children. "We talked about it for Wyatt. We never went through with it though." Henry nodded and looked at his daughter. She was looking around her dad's office curious like most of the other children were. "In this case however- well I know it's not my place to say but in this case maybe it wouldn't be the worst decision. Paige can always unbound Tamora's powers once she's older. If Paige were to die, heaven forbid, Tamora's powers would be unbound." Henry looked intrigued by this. "It can be undone at any time? Whether the one who does it alive or dead?" Leo nodded. "Piper and Phoebe and their older sister Prue, their powers were bound when they were children. They got them back after their grandmother died."

Paige came home several hours later feeling stressed and defeated by paperwork. Normally she kept on top of her paperwork but since the birth of the twins, Paige had been more exhausted and stressed. Being a full-time mom and having a full-time career was proving difficult. Luckily she had her wonderful husband to help her. Paige walked into the apartment through the front door and collapsed onto the sofa. Henry was in the kitchen making a later dinner for him and Paige. The twins had already eaten but Henry had to chose to wait until his wife had returned home so that they could eat together. Tamora and Kat had just been put to bed a few minutes before Paige had arrived home.

"Sorry I got home so late. Did the girls go down easy?"

"They didn't put up much of a fight but they weren't happy either."

"Well, at least they're sleeping through the night now."

"Paige, did Leo tell you what happened with Tamora today?"

Paige sat herself up as Henry came over and sat down next to her. She nodded in response. "I know how you feel about bounding Tamora's powers but I think it's for the best. She could have seriously hurt her daycare teacher." Paige knew her husband was right but it still felt wrong. "It doesn't have to be forever. Leo said you can undo it at any time." Paige looked at him with uncertainty. "Look at your sisters. Their powers were bound but they're not anymore." A brief silence filled the room. "My sisters grew up without any knowledge of magic." The timer on the stove beeped and Henry got up. "So did you," he pointed out. He disappeared into the kitchen. The sound of the oven door opening was heard as well as a tray being pulled out. A bang indicated something had been placed down on the counter. The tray was pushed back in and the oven door was shut. Henry returned into the living room. "Our daughter will know about the world they belong to. We will explain to them why they don't have their powers when they're old enough to understand." Paige looked down at the floor. The was an ash stain on the carpet from a recent one of Tamora's fires. She looked at her husband and nodded. "You're right. We need to do it. After we eat."

Henry and Paige didn't speak a word while they ate. Paige had orbed to the manor to retrieve the book of shadows while Henry waited for her in the nursery. He looked down at his sleeping daughters and a sense of guilt came over him. Paige orbed in and approached him holding the book. "Paige, it's not fair. To bound hers. What if you bound both of their powers. It wouldn't be fair on Kat but it would make it fairer for Tamora." Paige remained silent as she pondered over this. "Okay," she agreed. "Take Tamora out of her crib. Try not to wake her." Henry nodded and removed his sleeping daughter from her crib. Paige wrapped a piece of string around her daughter's wrists tying them together. She then placed the baby's soft hands into her own.

I take your hands in mine

And with this string, I will entwine

Your powers I'll forever bind

From now until the end of time.

A few tears streamed down her eyes. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her shirt. Guilt was written across Henry's face. He placed Tamora back into her crib. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her. He moved over to Kat's crib and removed her from it. He looked at Paige as she wrapped some string around their daughter's wrists tying them together. Tears slipping down her cheeks.

It was the thirteenth of February which meant baby Prue was officially three months old. Phoebe smiled at her daughter as she handed her over to Coop. Phoebe had some errands to run and since baby Prue tended to get overwhelmed and therefore fussy when in busy unfamiliar public spaces, it was best to leave her home. Coop was sitting on the couch now holding his daughter when Phoebe bent over and their lips met in a passionate kiss. She planted a quick kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Bye honey, bye baby," she said. She headed for the front door as Coop respond. "Bye, Love you." She smiled to herself and opened the door. Coop looked down at his daughter as he heard the door close. When he looked back up, Pheobe was standing in the middle of the living room.

"Did you forget something?" He asked.

"No. I thought you beamed me back in."

"Nope... wait a minute. You don' think it was P.J.?"

"Very possible. She is part cupid. Awe, Prue got her first power."

After running some quick errands, Phoebe met her sisters for lunch. They had just been served their food and drinks. "Can one of you babysit the twins on Valentine's day. Henry wants to take me out. I think he wants to cheer me up. He feels guilty since it was his idea to... well you know." Piper looked over at Phoebe who shook her head in response. "I wish I could but Leo and I were actually going to ask you if you could babysit," Piper replied. "Sorry sweetie, Coop and I had plans to go out to, we're going to ask you to babysit," Phoebe responded. "What about Billie? She's great with the kids," Paige suggested. "She has a date tonight. Besides, she barely managed my three kids when she was their nanny, I think she'd lose her mind if we had her watch all six," Piper stated. "Well if you guys are willing to celebrate during the day I don't mind watching P.J. then," Paige offered. "Can't do. Valentine's day is the biggest day of the year for Coop, being a cupid and all. Piper, can you and Leo celebrate during the day? I could watch your three then, plus the twins," Phoebe offered. "Yea, I think that can be arranged. Paige, how about you?" Piper and Phoebe looked over at Paige. "Henry's really set on an evening out," Paige replied. "If Leo and I go on our date during the day while Phoebe is watching Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda, then I'm free at night to babysit P.J. and the twins while you guys go out on your dates," Piper figured out. "You sure you and Leo could handle all six kids?" Paige asked. "Yea, it'll be fine." "If you need an extra set of hands though, I know dad's free tomorrow," Phoebe informed.

The next day, as planned, Leo brought all three of his children over to Phoebe's house. Coop had already gone off to work quite early that morning. He gave his children hugs and kisses before thanking Phoebe and leaving. "Ok fair warning, Wyatt's not in the best mood, they've all been fed so they should be good," Leo informed. Phoebe looked at her nephews. Melinda had already wandered off. She hadn't spent much time at Phoebe's apartment so it was still new to her. "Okay, you boys play and let me know if you need anything," she said to them. The boys both nodded.

Wyatt orbed in his toy box and played by himself while Chris played with the babies since he knew Wyatt was in a bad mood. Phoebe tried to cheer Wyatt up while ignoring the feelings of grouchiness she was feeling from him, it was times like this when her power was a curse. Wyatt got frustrated and orbed his aunt to her room. Phoebe came back into the living room but decided not to bother Wyatt again.

Before going to bed, Piper opened the boy's bedroom door just a crack and peeked inside. At the sight of little Wyatt and Chris snuggled up under their blankets, cuddling their pillows and favorite teddy bears, Piper smiled and blew them a kiss before closing their door. Piper then crossed the hall and opened Melinda's bedroom door and peeked inside. She could just barely see her 11-month-old daughter through the bars of her crib sound asleep and so peaceful. She smiled at her and blew her a kiss before closing her door too. Piper then joined Leo in their bed and they both happily fell asleep, well until Melinda woke them up at two.

Meanwhile, Paige and Henry stood in the doorway of the twin's nursery. It was dark in the room but they could still see their nine-month-old twins through the bars of their cribs. Henry put his arm around Paige and she leaned her head against his shoulder. They smiled at the twins and they then went to their room where they shortly fell asleep. Of course, they only slept for half an hour and were woken when the twins started crying.

Meanwhile, while Coop cleaned up the house, Phoebe went to check on Prue who was awake. As she went to pick her up, Prue gave her a big smile, it was her first smile that she chose to give to Phoebe. Phoebe hugged her daughter happily and whispered "I love you" in her ear.