Chapter four.
Paige's turn
Piper stood in the doorway of the room her sons shared, one hand on her tiny baby bump as she smiled at the sleeping boys. (Since magic school had shut down, Wyatt would be attending a normal daycare, something Piper had worried about the entire summer. Chris wasn't quite old enough yet for Wyatt's class as he had to be two-years-old and Chris was a month shy of his second birthday. So, he'd be in the early care class until his birthday and would then be transferred to Wyatt's class.)
The moment passed and Piper walked into the room, flipping on the lightswitch. She walked over to Wyatt first and bent down to kiss his forehead. This gentle touch was enough to wake the excitable toddler. "Morning baby. Do you know what today is?" Wyatt didn't respond as he lay in his bed, his mom sitting next to him. He sat himself up, his longish blonde hair in his sleepish eyes. He looked across the room at his brother who was still asleep in the crib. "You're going to school today!" Wyatt looked at his mom and a bright smile formed on his face. He clapped his hands once. "Olivia Emily be too?" Wyatt asked excitedly. "Um, I don't think they will be there honey, but I'm sure you're going to make lots of new friends." Wyatt did look a tad disappointed his camp friends wouldn't be in the same daycare as him. "Chris going," Wyatt asked as he pointed at his little brother. "Yes but not in your class." "Why?" "He's too little." "Oh." Wyatt crawled out of bed and walked over to his brother's crib, he pressed his face against the bars. "Chris, you go school now." However, Chris was still asleep and didn't even stir in response to his brother's voice. Wyatt turned around to look at his mom who now stood behind him and let out an adorable little laugh. "He sleeping, mommy." Piper nodded to him and approached the crib herself, she looked down at the child inside and began rubbing his tummy with her hand. Chris's brown eyes slowly began to open and a big smile came on his face the second he saw his mother. "Mama." A soft giggle came from Piper as she reached both arms into the crib to retrieve the toddler. Chris lifted his arms and Piper pulled him up, lifting him into her arms. She placed him on her right hip, keeping one hand under his bottom to hold him in place.
"Excuse me? Where's my hug," Paige called out from the doorway. Wyatt laughed and ran into his aunt's arms as she dropped down to her knees. She gave him a tight squeeze before releasing him and getting back up. "Auntie Paige, auntie Paige, auntie Paige. I go to school today, Chris too, but not but not but not my class," Wyatt excitedly said, stumbling over his words. Paige put on a big smile. "You're going to school today?" Wyatt nodded his little head happily. Piper giggled and walked over to Paige, handing her Chris. "Good morning my little bedhead," Paige whispered to the younger toddler. She gave him a quick little hug while Wyatt repeatedly tugged on her shirt. Paige bent down low enough to scoop Wyatt into her arms and lifted herself up holding both her nephews. "I've got one arm for each of you," she said. Her eyes then flashed over to her sister's stomach. "But mommy just had to have another baby." Knowing this had been meant playfully, Piper laughed it off and followed Paige and the boys out of the room.
Mid-hallway, Paige suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. "Paige? Are you okay?" Phoebe asked as she walked up the last step of the staircase. Paige didn't respond. She let Wyatt gently slip out of her arms as Phoebe approached her and took Chris from her. Paige then bolted to the nearest washroom. Piper walked up to Phoebe, and Wyatt just stood in place like a robot waiting for its next command. "Pheebs, give me Chris. I'll take the boys down to the kitchen, you wait up here and make sure she's okay." Phoebe nodded to her sister and handed Chris over to her. Piper took Wyatt's hand and they walked down the staircase. It only took a moment before Paige emerged from the washroom.
"Were you sick?" Phoebe asked.
"Yea, I don't know why. I feel know what, it was probably just something I ate."
Down in the kitchen at the table, the boys were taking forever to eat one piece of toast each. Piper sat across from the boys in Prue's chair drinking her morning coffee, and Leo sat next to her reading the newspaper. Wyatt and Chris' attention went over to the entrance as Phoebe and Paige danced in. "Paige?" "All good now. Bad breakfast I guess." Piper nodded but by the look on Phoebe's face, felt Paige wasn't telling the complete truth. Yet, she let it go knowing her sister wouldn't spill unless she wanted to. She instead turned her attention to her sons. "Come on boys, hurry up." This had no effect. "Can we name the new baby candy cane?" Wyatt randomly asked. Phoebe and Paige both got a chuckle out of that. Piper and Leo were surprised Wyatt had even remembered there was a new baby on the way, they had only mentioned the baby a few more times since telling the boys three months prior. "That is a very cute name Wyatt, mommy and I will think about it," Leo answered before Piper could say anything. "Chris? What do you want the baby's name to be?" Piper asked. Wyatt's eyes looked over at his brother. Not knowing what his mom was talking about, Chris held up his toast. "Bread!" All four adults plus Wyatt laughed which caused Chris to giggle. He then took a final bite of his barley-eaten piece of toast before chucking it on the floor. "Bread!" Piper jumped up from her chair and sternly scolded her son. "No Chris! We do not throw our food on the floor!" Startled, Chris started to cry and Piper sat back down feeling bad about frightening her toddler. Paige approached the small child and took him into her arms. He calmed down almost instantly. "I'll take Chris upstairs. Get him changed and dressed." Piper nodded to her sister and watched her leave. Phoebe watched her leave too and then looked at Piper. "Did you notice how pale she looked just now? I better go follow her." Wyatt got off his chair as his aunt walked out. "Wait for me auntie Weebe!" Wyatt called out. He ran out after her. "Wyatt! You didn't finish your toast," Piper called out after him. "Not hungry!" Wyatt shouted in response, already near the staircase by the front door.
"I'm bored," Wyatt complained. He had been dressed in his baby-blue button-up and black jeans for a good ten minutes while Paige was struggling to dress her fussy nephew who kicked and screamed. She had just managed to put a fresh diaper on him. With one hand holding Chris on his changing table, Paige turned to look at Phoebe. "I can handle this on my own, go get his hair and teeth brushed or something." Phoebe stood in place looking unsure. "I'm not going to drop him, Phoebe, I'm fine. I promise." Paige turned back to the screaming toddler and it hit her. "Take him! Take him, take him, take him!" Phoebe hurried over and Paige darted out of the room headed for the bathroom. Wyatt ran after her thinking she was going to brush his hair. Phoebe turned her attention to Chris who in the commotion had stopped crying wondering what was going on. Due to Chris being distracted, Phoebe was able to quickly get Chris's brown long-sleeve shirt over his head and his arms through the armholes. She had started working on getting him into his pants when Wyatt returned to the room to make an announcement. "Auntie Paige made a yucky in the toilet." "You mean she pooped?" Phoebe asked, her body still facing Chris. "Nope." Phoebe quickly finished getting Chris in his pants and turned to Wyatt, using one hand to keep Chris in place on his changing table. "Not that kind of yucky," Wyatt added. "She was sick?" Wyatt nodded his little head. "Can you tie my shoes?" "You're not wearing shoes." "Can you put my shoes on?" "Go ask your mother." Wyatt nodded and orbed out of his room.
Phoebe turned back to Chris and gently took him into her arms. "Look who's handsome today," she said to him. A big smile on her face. Though he hadn't understood the meaning of what Phoebe had just said to him, Chris let out a small giggle anyway. He stuck three fingers into his mouth. With Chris comfortable in her arms, Phoebe walked out of the kids' room and headed towards the bathroom. She knocked on the door once. "I'm fine," was Paige's immediate response. "Wyatt blabbed. You're busted baby sister." For a second there was silence, then the sound of the toilet flushing was heard, followed by running water from the sink, and then the sound of a turning doorknob. Paige opened the door and emerged from the washroom. "Okay fine. I was going to surprise you and wanted to wait until I know for sure," Paige said. "I think I'm pregnant."
A sqeaully scream was heard. It was Piper.
"Paige! This is wonderful news," Piper exclaimed as she threw her arms around her youngest sister. Phoebe and Chris joined in on the hug.
"Okay, thank you but save it for later, besides, I don't even know for sure yet. Henry and I are going to the clinic today."
Leo and Piper arrived in the hallway of the daycare. The building consisted of the main office at the front of the building and three classrooms. One classroom for children under two, one classroom for kids ages two and three, and one class for school kids whose parents were still at work when school let out. Of course, there were a few bathrooms as well. Leo, who held Chris in his arms, and Piper who held onto Wyatt's hand, stopped in front of the door leading into the "Babies room." Leo opened the door and the four of them walked inside. One of the caregivers came over. "Hello, I'm Miss Hathaway. Who's this little guy?" The small toddler let out some sequels, he wanted to go play with the other babies and mere tots who were wobbling around. "This is Chris Halliwell. I don't believe you were here when we registered Chris," Leo said. Chris began to wiggle trying to free himself from his father but this had no effect. "Mr. Lanson over there took care of the registration." Leo nodded. A loud scream filled the room causing some nearby toddlers to look up in Chris's direction. "Okay okay," Leo said to him. He scruffed his hair and Piper leaned in for a kiss. "Bye honey," she said to him. "Bye bye Chris," Wyatt said, simply because his mother had said goodbye. "Eye eye," Chris replied. Leo set him down and he waddled off towards some blocks without a second thought.
Leo and Piper made a second stop, the classroom Wyatt was in. The three of them walked in. The room was filled with sounds of children's laughter, and the sound of children playing. Wyatt's teacher walked up to them. "Hello, Wyatt." Wyatt moved himself behind his mother and Leo shook hands with Wyatt's teacher: Mr. Givens. Piper pushed Wyatt in front of her to encourage him to say hello but Wyatt remained quiet and wouldn't even look at his teacher. "He was so excited this morning to come here," Leo told the teacher. Mr. Givens looked at the young child. "It's probably just first-day jitters. Has Wyatt ever been to a daycare before? If not he may just be a little weary about being apart from the two of you." Wyatt attempted to hide himself behind his mother again but Piper pulled him back in front of her. "Actually Wyatt spent most of infancy and early toddler years at a daycare, but it shut down which is why he's now attending this class." Mr. Given nodded in response and then got down on his knees. "Do you remember how much fun you had in your other class?" Wyatt nodded his little head. "Magic school," he said happily. "Oh um, we used to call it magic school to make him more excited to go," Piper quickly explained, though this wasn't true. "Well, you are going to have fun here too. You see that little boy over there? That's Austin. Why don't you go say hello?" Wyatt looked over at the little boy and was unsure if he wanted to go. He decided to stay with his parents. "I'll get you a minute to say goodbye," Mr. Givens then said as he got back up. He walked away. Leo and Piper got down on their knees in front of their son.
"Now Wyatt, what are the rules?" Piper asked.
"No magic."
"That's right. Okay, big hugs." Wyatt smiled and gave his mom a tight squeeze.
"My turn," Leo said. Wyatt gave him a tight hug.
"Austin looks like a nice boy, I think you should go say hi," Leo encouraged.
"Okay, daddy."
Meanwhile, Paige and Henry were in the waiting room at the clinic awaiting the doctor to call them back in for the results of the pregnancy test. Finally, after what seemed like forever though was just a few minutes, the doctors came into the waiting room and called out the name "Paige Matthews." Henry and Paige got up from their chairs and followed the doctor back into his office. "So should we be celebrating?" Henry asked. He and Paige were excited and hoping she was pregnant. "The pregnancy test came back positive. Congratulations, Paige. You're pregnant." Henry and Paige's faces glowed up in delight and Paige let out a happy sequel as Henry wrapped her up in his arms. "I recommended you set up an appointment with your regular doctor first chance you get. You'll need to know how far along you are amongst other things."
Having just received the best news of their lives, Henry and Paige were filled with excitement and couldn't wait to tell their family members. First Phoebe. They entered a washroom in the clinic and locked themselves in a stall where they orbed right into Phoebe's office unnoticed. Phoebe, of course, was so used to orbing that she didn't even flinch when her sister and brother-in-law suddenly appeared in her office in a swirl of blue orbs. "No warning didn't use the door, that can only mean two things. Demon or you're pregnant," Phoebe stated. She looked at them eagerly. "I'm pregnant!" Phoebe jumped up from her chair and hurried to her sister, wrapping her up in her arms. "Oh my gosh, congratulations!" With both Phoebe and Paige jumping in joy and Henry just standing there silently enjoying the moment, Elise came in curious what all the noise was about. "What's going on, Phoebe, and when did you two come in here?" "We just got here, you must have not noticed us," Paige said. "Sorry about the noise Elise, Paige just told me she's pregnant," Phoebe explained. "Oh, well that's great news. Congratulations Paige." "Thanks. Do you mind if I steal Phoebe from you for the day so we can celebrate?" "No problem. I'll see you tomorrow Phoebe, and again, congratulations Paige."
Leo had gone to run errands but Piper had stayed behind in case Paige came looking for her. She had been in her bedroom watching a romantic comedy when Paige orbed in with Phoebe. "Hey your bright orbs are blocking my view," Piper complained. She then remembered why she had been waiting for Paige and jumped off her bed. "So?" Paige and Phoebe were both beaming which gave it away. "I'm Pregnant" Paige confirmed. The sisters jumped around and screamed. "I can't believe there are two little Halliwell's on the way," Phoebe exclaimed. "When are you going to add one yourself?" Paige asked. Phoebe shrugged. "Coop and I have talked a bit about it. We plan on waiting till at least next year before we start trying. We want to be married first." "You need to get pregnant early next year. My baby will be born sometime in March, Paige probably not more than three months after. How far along are you Paige?" Paige shrugged. "Not sure yet, but Henry and I assume I'm not more than six weeks along."
"Hey, that's my toy!" Wyatt had been playing with a stuffed zebra when it was stolen from his hands by a little girl. "It's my Zebra now," the girl replied. Wyatt screamed but the little girl didn't care, she just toddled off holding the toy. Wyatt really wanted the zebra and knew exactly how to retrieve it from the girl. Of course, it would go against his most basic rule: no magic at school. At this moment, Wyatt simply didn't care about the rule and orbed the zebra back to him. The little girl looked around all confused and started crying when she couldn't figure out what had happened to the zebra. A teacher walked over and asked her what happened but the girl simply said she didn't know. "I had the zebra and now it's gone."
A few hours passed and Leo and Piper arrived to pick up their sons, starting with Chirs. "How was he?" Leo asked as Mr. Lanson passed Chris over to him. "Fine. He behaved nicely, played with the other kids. He seemed to have fun." Piper sighed out of relief. "I was worried. He's been developing some unwanted behaviors lately." Mr. Lanson didn't reply while Leo and Piper walked away towards the door and Chris began to cry because he didn't want to leave. His behavior was ignored but he was still crying when his parents entered Wyatt's classroom. Seeing another room full of children and sights he hadn't seen before, Chris started screaming and kicking his legs trying to free himself from his father, so Leo had to carry him out and wait for Piper and Wyatt outside the classroom. He put Chris down and let him run back and forth across the hall which put him back into a happy mood.
"Mrs. Halliwell. Wyatt is currently on a timeout," Mr. Givens informed Piper. She looked over at her son who sat in a plastic chair facing the wall.
"Oh, what did he do?" Piper asked though she wasn't all that surprised. Wyatt's behavior was unpredictable.
"He threw a block at a little boy after the boy stole a truck from him."
"Well, why is that boy not in timeout too?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Well, he stole from my son and is not on the chair."
"I think the block to the head taught him his lesson."
Piper rescued Wyatt from timeout and brought him out into the hallway. Chris came running up to him and the brothers shared a hug. "Wyatt, do you want to tell daddy what happened with the little boy?" Piper asked her son. "He stole a truck from me." "And what did you do to him?" PIper asked further. Wyatt chose not to respond and attempted to run off only to be stopped by his mother grabbing onto his arm. Chris on the other hand ran up and down the hall laughing. "He threw a block at him, hit him in the head." "Wyatt, that wasn't nice," Leo told him. Wyatt didn't respond as he was too busy watching his brother have fun while he was being restrained. Piper decided to let him go and Wyatt didn't hesitate for a second before running off after his little brother. "Do you think he hit him by hand or by orb," Leo asked. "Knowing Wyatt probably by orb, but he must have been close to the kid, if the teacher saw it as hitting, she didn't seem scared so I don't think she saw him orb it or he really did just throw the block," Piper answered. "Well, we'll talk with him later, make sure he understands violence, whether human or magical won't be tolerated, since it was the first time and he's been punished, let this one slide, but we'll still talk with him," Leo decided. Piper nodded in agreement.
It was around five when Darryl and his family had arrived and everyone was gathered in the living room. "I'm so jealous, first Piper and now you Paige, I hope my turn is soon," Phoebe stated. "Well like I said, you just have to get pregnant early next year and all our babies will be born in the same year, well except for Wyatt and Chris obviously," Piper said. "You already know you will have a baby one day. Remember what Prue told us?" Paige recalled. Looks of confusion grew on Darryl and Sheila's faces. "Prue? How did you- oh right, never mind." His wife still looked clueless though. "They can summon the dead in the form of spirits. I've seen it," Darryl explained to her. Sheila nodded in understanding. "This might be a stupid question but how is she?" Darryl asked. Wyatt and Chris were running around the living room with Darryl Junior who was a year older than Wyatt. Darryl and Sheila's oldest son Mikey, who was seven, was seated on the couch next to his mother occupying himself with his Gameboy. "She's good. She said it had been nice getting to spend time with our mother, catch up on all the years she's missed," Piper answered.
Darryl nodded and Leo came into the living room and announced supper was ready, so everyone entered the kitchen and sat down at the table except Piper who instead served the meal. "So Piper, Leo, have you come up with any names yet?" Sheila asked as she cut off a piece of her chicken. Henry and Coop were both taking sips from their diet pepsi's, Leo was cutting up Wyatt's chicken and Chris had already started eating his. Darryl junior sat beside Wyatt sipping some grape juice. "Yeah, Melinda for a girl, after our ancestors, we haven't thought of any for boys yet, girls are more common in the family," Piper responded. Everyone looked over at Wyatt and Chris. "In the past at least," Leo said. "Melinda Halliwell, I like it," Darryl said. "Just name him Leo Junior," Mikey chimed in, half paying attention. "Mikey, put that away we are at someone's house having supper, don't be rude," Sheila scolded him. She took the Gameboy from and placed it on her lap. Mikey knew better than to complain but he did curse his mother in his head.
By the time seven had rolled around, Wyatt and Chris had started getting cranky. Darryl junior as well. So Darryl and Sheila said their farewells and headed home with their boys. Chris was passed out in the crib but Wyatt was still awake. He was sitting on his bed with his parents seated next to him, Piper on the bed and Leo on the floor. "OK, Wyatt, daddy and I want to talk to you about hurting other people. When someone isn't nice to you, you can't hurt them back, this means no hitting or orb hitting." Piper explained. "That's right, next time someone is not nice to you, tell an adult ok, and let them deal with it. The only time you can use magic to hurt someone is if it's a demon," Leo added. "LEO!" Piper snapped. "Well we don't want him to be nice to demons," Leo said. "No, but he's three, to him, everyone who's not nice could be a demon, wait till he's old enough to tell the difference before letting him vanquish them," Piper sternly ordered. "Alright, you're right, no hurting anyone."
All three sisters had fallen asleep at the manor, their husbands too, but when they awoke, they found themselves on the beach. While Phoebe and Paige were confused, Piper got to her feet and shouted up at the sky, "Wyatt Matthew Halliwell! You orb us back home right now young man!" Nothing happened, Phoebe and Paige actually found it funny, but Piper was not in a good mood about it.
"Oh come on Piper, it's just a little prank," Paige said
"Not when it happens on a regular basis, orb us back to the manner," Piper told her youngest sister.
Paige orbed them and Phoebe back to the manner where Wyatt was waiting for them in the living room. When he saw them orb in he started laughing, and Piper picked him up and started tickling him making him laugh harder. Then Leo walked into the living room holding Chris and started laughing when he saw the sand In Phoebe's hair. Since everyone else was laughing Chris started laughing too.
"You think this is funny? I'll deal with you later, for now, let's get this kid ready for daycare," Piper told Leo.
The sisters went to the kitchen to make the lunch while Leo got Wyatt ready.
"Thanks for agreeing to go to daycare with Wyatt to see if he behaves today," Piper thanked Paige.
"No problem it's my day off," Paige said.
Piper handed Paige Wyatt's school bag, and after taking Wyatt's hand Paige orbed them to Wyatt's daycare. When they walked in, Wyatt's teacher Mr. Givens walked up to them holding a clipboard.
"Hello Wyatt, and who are you?" Mr. Givens asked Paige
"Paige, I'm Wyatt's aunt, Piper's sister."
"Oh that's right Piper said you'll be joining us today, to keep an eye on Wyatt,"
"In that case, just sign your name here and Wyatt's name here."
Paige took the clipboard from Mr. Givens and signed her name and Wyatt's name. After giving her back the clipboard, Paige and Wyatt went to the cubbies and put Wyatt's bag away. Once that was taken care of, Wyatt brought Paige to the blocks and handed her a handful.
"So what are we making?" Paige asked as she watched Wyatt place his handful of blacks.
"Castle"
"Oh, how do you build a castle?"
"Like this, watch"
Paige watched as Wyatt began to place the blocks to form a castle. Once he ran out of blocks he instructed Paige where to place hers. Paige carefully placed the blocks on top of each other in the places Wyatt told her. As she did this she noticed Wyatt looked happy and he was smiling at her.
Paige was curious to find out what Wyatt was feeling, so during nap time, she orbed to Phoebe's office since she knew she had her power of empathy back. Once she explained what she wanted Phoebe to do, Paige orbed them back to the daycare. Once Mrs. Andrews spotted them she approached them.
"Paige who's this?" Mrs. Andrew asked.
"My sister Phoebe, she's just visiting for a few minutes" Paige introduced.
The sister sat down beside Wyatt and waited for him to wake. When Wyatt woke he smiled and gave Phoebe a big hug. This is when Phoebe used her power to feel Wyatt's feelings.
"Hey, Wyatt, why don't you go get me a juice okay?" Phoebe suggested. Wyatt nodded and approached the snack table.
"So, what is he feeling?" Paige asked
"Happy, happy that we're spending time with him, it seems as though he feels we haven't had much time for him, so he's overly happy to have us here with him" Phoebe described.
"Now that I think about it, we have been pretty busy, we should spend more time with him" Paige admitted feeling slightly guilty.
"You're right, let's take him to the zoo tonight just us and him" Phoebe offered.
"Great idea," Paige agreed.
The sisters watched Wyatt come back with Phoebe's juice box.
"Grape" Wyatt informed Phoebe as he handed her the juice box
"Thank you."
"Hey Wyatt, would you like to go to the zoo after daycare, with just me and Auntie Phoebe?" Paige asked. Wyatt nodded his head like crazy with the biggest smile on his face.
"OK, I'll let your mommy know, but I have to go back to work now, Auntie Paige will be right back ok," Phoebe told Wyatt.
Wyatt nodded and the sister went into the hall where Paige said "Bay mirror" as he waved her hand at Phoebe. In a wave of blue light, Phoebe was orbed out of the hall and Paige walked back into Wyatt's daycare. She was just in time for snack time, so Paige joined Wyatt at a table and gave him a hug which made him smile.
(Hey, I don't know how to communicate with you guys on this website. I just wanted to let you know I do have a Wikia for my charmed characters. Including the four sisters, their husbands, the children, and most of their friends and such. The link is somewhere in my profile.)