Chapter 3

August

Paige Matthews opened her brown eyes and her bedroom ceiling looked exactly the same as it had the night before. The open window was pouring in sunlight and warmth proving San Francisco was in for a hot day. A creak of a door sounded, catching her attention. Paige sat up, her sheet slipping off her body revealing her white tank-top. Her braid barely kept her brown hair intact. She smiled as her husband approached her in his blue t-shirt but yet he still wore his grey pajama bottoms. His brown hair had already been brushed through. "You're not dressed for work," Paige commented as she pulled up her sheet slightly, letting it rest on the bottom of her stomach. "Day off. Didn't I mention it?" Paige shook her head and let out a yawn. "What time is it?" She then asked. "A little past 7:30." Paige nodded as she let out a second yawn. Henry now sat on the edge of the bed he and Paige shared. "We don't usually have our days off at the same time." A brief silence filled the room. "Let's not waste the opportunity," Henry suggested. Knowing exactly what he meant, Paige smiled. Henry positioned himself on top of his wife and their lips connected.

"Okay, we're here," Piper said, looking down at the little boy who held onto her hand. She was dropping him off at magic-camp. Wyatt looked around at the other children running around. Piper got down on her knees and pulled her distracted son into her arms. She hugged him tightly for a few seconds before releasing him and getting back up. "Have a good day sweetheart," she called out as Wyatt ran off towards the other children. Piper stood in place watching her little guy interact with some nearby kids, he seemed so grown up yet still so little. She smiled as a single bittersweet tear slipped down from her right eye.

"Excuse me, are you Wyatt's mother?" Piper turned around. A woman stood there holding the hands of two identical little girls about Wyatt's age. "Yes, I am. Do I know you?" The woman shook her head as she said, "no not really." "I'm Natalie. My girls have been asking me to have a playdate with your Wyatt." Piper smiled and Natalie freed her hands from the girls, using one to shake hands with Piper. The girls ran off having spotted Wyatt. "Awe, isn't that sweet," Natalie commented. Piper smiled at her son then looked up at Natalie. "I'm free Saturday at noon, does that work for you?" Natalie looked up at the sky as she envisioned her upcoming schedule. "Sounds fine." "Do you happen to have some paper and pen, I'll write down my address." Natalie waved her hand in front of her face. "No need. Everyone knows where the Halliwells live. We'll see you Saturday." Piper nodded though was a little taken aback, Natalie wandered off to say farewell to her daughters. It hadn't occurred to her that all of her children's magical friends would immediately know where he lived as well as everyone else in the magical community. This didn't sit right with her, there wasn't much security in that, was there?

Leo was in the kitchen seated in a chair in front of the highchair where Chris was buckled in. Apple sauce all over his tray, face, hands, and floor. He didn't care, he was laughing. "Oh my.." Piper said as she entered the kitchen. "Don't stress, I'll get this cleaned up. He was just having fun," Leo promised. Piper looked around and sighed. "We shouldn't let him do this!" Leo got up and approached his wife, leaving the bowl and a green baby spoon on the tray, both of which Chris immediately threw onto the floor and let out a high-pitched sequel. "Piper, don't start a fight. It's not that big of a deal, I'll clean this up." Piper looked over at her son who now was banging his hands on the tray and screaming out of frustration, he wanted his spoon back. Piper shook her head and walked over to Chris, removing him from his high chair which distracted him from his spoon. "Guess who has a playdate this Saturday?" Piper said, placing Chris comfortably on her right hip. "Hmmm, Phoebe?" Piper couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Wyatt's first little friends," she said proudly. She began walking away from the high chair heading in the direction of the exit that led into the living room. "Okay, let's give you a bath and if daddy's smart, my kitchen will be all clean before we're done," Piper squeakily said to her toddler as she carried him out of the kitchen.

Phoebe stared blankly at her computer screen. The traffic outside her office window seemed ten times louder than it was as she put too much focus on it. A few seconds passed before Phoebe sighed in frustration with her task and she rose from her chair, walked over to the window and shut it. Sitting back down, Phoebe unintentionally pushed a finger down on the "L" key on her keyboard causing L's to be written across her screen on the word document over and over until a whole page was covered in the letter L and Phoebe finally noticed. She sighed and pushed the backspace button on her keyboard until each L had been erased. That's when a knock sounded on the closed door and Elise came in. "How's it going? You need to turn it in by tonight." Phoebe looked at her blank document on her laptop and decided to lie to avoid her boss's head from exploding. "Almost done. You'll have it by closing." Elise nodded and looked towards the window. "You must be boiling in here, you should open your window. Maintenance is still working on getting the air conditioner fixed." Phoebe looked towards the window too. "I'm fine right now." Elise shrugged and left Phoebe's office, closing the door behind her. Phoebe looked back at the empty document. "Elise is going to kill me," she muttered to herself.

Piper plopped her son onto her lap in the living room, Leo sat next to them. Chris looked around the room and started fussing after seeing a toy truck nearby. So, Piper let him down. Chris waddled over to the toy as his parents watched him. "I can't wait to start showing. I don't know why." Leo laughed at his wife's comment. "What?" "When you were pregnant with Wyatt, you hated the weight gain and having to wear maternity clothes." "Only because they were all pink and frilly." "You think this time around is going to be any different?" Piper shot him a look that told him he needed to shut up. "You know, this might be our last baby, so I get why you want to enjoy every minute," Leo said. "Yeah, it is getting crowded in here, even with Phoebe and Coop gone."

Paige sat down at her small round kitchen table. A white plate rested on the table in front of her holding a bologna sandwich. Henry was seated next to her, already halfway done his bologna sandwich. Paige gazed at the empty chair across the table from where she was sitting as she drifted off into a daydream. A small girl occupied that chair, peanut butter all over her face, grape juice spilled on the table from her squeezing the box. Her brown hair tied in two pigtails. The room was quiet, it was just her and the girl. She watched her in admiration not caring about the mess she'd have to clean up after lunch. The girl finished the last bite of her PBJ sandwich and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her white shirt, staining it with peanut butter and strawberry jam. She looked up at Paige with a bright smile on her face.

"Paige."

Paige quickly tuned back into reality, the chair across from her once again empty. She looked over at her husband. "What's so interesting about that chair?" Henry asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. Paige looked back at the chair and shook her head. "Nothing really." Henry nodded in her direction and finished off his lunch. "Hey, out of curiosity, how do you know when you're ready for a child?" She looked at him awaiting an answer. "I don't know, honey. Have babies been on your mind?" Paige looked away for a second and shrugged. "Sometimes I think about it but we've never really talked about kids before aside from that both want them." Henry nodded to her. "Well we haven't really been using any protection most of the time, so I just assumed we were letting nature take its course." It was Paige who nodded this time. "I guess so. I guess I was thinking if it happens it happens, but how do you… how do we really know if we're actually ready?" Henry shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe we should ask Piper and Leo or Daryl and Sheila?" Paige finished off her sandwich. "I suppose," she agreed.

Piper arrived at magic camp to pick up Wyatt and spotted Wyatt sitting alone on a bench which was unusual. She approached him and dropped down to her knees. "Hey, honey. Why are you sitting here all alone?" Wyatt looked into her eyes and shrugged. "You know exactly why you're in timeout," a male counselor stated as he approached them. "You're in timeout?" Piper sternly asked her son. Knowing he wouldn't get away with it, Wyatt nodded his head. Piper looked him right into the eye but didn't say a word, and Wyatt knew that meant she was waiting for him to explain why he had done wrong. "I orbed a doggy here and he took a big pee on Suzie's shoe. Suzie cried." Piper stood up and looked at the counselor. "Sorry about that. My husband and I are working on teaching him when it's appropriate to use his magic." The counselor simply nodded. "But this is magic camp and you said magic is okay at magic camp," Wyatt whined. Piper turned to her son, realizing her mistake. "Yes but not all magic, honey. We'll talk about it at home." Wyatt nodded and got up from the bench, Piper took his little hand and they started walking away.

Saturday morning had been spent by Wyatt running around the manor like crazy and him asking every five minutes when his friends were coming over. Finally, noon had arrived and a knock sounded on the front door. With Chris in her arms and Wyatt right behind her jumping in place, Piper answered the door. Natalie stood there holding the hands of her twin girls. "Hi, Natalie, hi girls, come on in." Piper stepped aside and Natalie came in with the girls. "Wyatt, show your friends to the living room please." Wyat jumped one last time and ran into the living room, the twins let go of their mother's hand and ran after him.

"So who's this little cutie?" Natalie asked looking at the toddler in Piper's arms.

"This is Wyatt's little brother Chris. He'll be twenty-two months on the sixteenth."

Natalie smiled and Piper led her into the living-room. "This is my husband Leo. Leo, this is Natalie and her daughters...um, I don't think you mentioned their names." Natalie laughed awkwardly realizing she hadn't given their names. "Emily and Olivia. Emily's the one in the pink dress, Emily's in the green dress." Piper nodded to her as Leo got up from the couch. He and Natalie shook hands then the three adults seated themselves on the couch, Piper placing Chris down on the floor next to Wyatt beforehand.

"So, do Olivia and Emily have any other siblings?" Piper asked.

"No, these two are quite enough for my husband and I."

"So Leo, you're a white-lighter correct?"

"Yes but only part time now."

"Well, I'm a witch. My active power is super speed. My husband is also a witch and so are the girls."

"Oh, cool. Wyatt has all the orbing abilities as does Chris. What about the girls?" Piper asked.

"Well Olivia has the power of control. She can control all magical creatures and humans and animals. It can be hard to deal with her sometimes."

"I can see how that would be challenging," Leo agreed.

"Emily's active power isn't that different from yours, Piper. She can speed and slow time but can't stop it. Although, her powers don't affect good witches."

The adults watched Wyatt and the girls play, noticing them use their powers on and off. As much as Piper would prefer Wyatt not to use his powers, she allowed him knowing it wouldn't be fair to keep him from his birthright. Leo enjoyed watching his sons use their powers, it gave him high hopes for their futures. Natalie seemed carefree about her daughters using their powers. This probably meant she grew up allowed to use her powers when she pleased. Most likely she was raised in the magic realm.

Meanwhile at the Bay Mirror, Phoebe was again having trouble with her advice column. Thankfully had managed to turn in her last assignment on time. She taps her pen against her desk frustrated, desperately trying to think of the right words to use in her column. She decides to re- read the ask phoebe letter she's trying to answer. "Dear Phoebe, I have a secret I can't tell anyone, not even my parents, it's nothing bad but I'm scared. I think it must run in my family but I'm sure, how can I talk to my parents about it without scaring them. They had me meet with a social worker who's really nice, her name is Paige Mathews." Phoebe cleared her mind to think of nothing but the letter.

"She must be young, probably in her teens, could be a health condition, maybe teen pregnancy, maybe I should put myself in a parents point of view" Phoebe thought to herself. Phoebe then suddenly felt a feeling of fear, needing help, feeling alone. Phoebe instantly let go of the letter and watched fall onto her desk, once it touched the desk the feeling left her. There was no confusion, Phoebe knew she had just got her power of empathy back, and she had just felt the girls cry for help.

She suddenly knew what to write, so she opened her lap top and opened a word document. Phoebe looked down at the letter for a moment before beginning to type and noticed the girl had written her name and email address, there was also an arrow pointing to the side of the letter, which usually meant, look on the back. Phoebe flipped over the letter and sure enough, "email me your answer" was written on the back. Phoebe then began to type her response,

"Dear Emma, I believe you should talk to you parents, no matter what they love you and nothing could change that. Paige Mathews happens to be my sister, that's the truth, and I know you can talk to her about anything, believe me she's seen a lot, nothing can scare her. When I was a little girl I had a journal, and it helped me, maybe it would be a good idea for you to have one and write down all your secrets. By the way Paige always keeps secrets, so you can trust her. I wish you best of luck, and I hope I helped."

Phoebe ended the letter with her name and sent it to the email written on the back of the letter, hoping she didn't make a mistake by telling her Paige is her sister.

(I am sorry this chapter isn't longer. I just wanted to get it posted to alert you guys that I am continuing the series.)