AT THE HOSPITAL…
"Hey, mom" said Wyatt holding some flowers for Piper the next morning.
"Hey, kiddo" she smiled and opened her arms wide to hug her son. Chris and Leo were sitting by the window on the other side of the bed.
"Where are the aunts?" he asked holding his mother's hand.
"They were here earlier. Henry and Paige are staying at the manor with the babies" said Leo.
"I know. I orbed in earlier to check on them. They were cranky, but alright. Didn't see aunt Paige"
"Your aunts must have been here when you checked on them then" added Leo.
"Told Uncle Henry to thank Aunt Paige for me… for taking care of them while… we're away" he paused and gulped, trying to force his way back into a smile as fast as he could.
"How's Sam?" Piper asked. "Your father told me" Leo came to hold her hand.
"She's… stable. No better, no worse" his eyes dropped to the floor as he bit his bottom lip.
"She'll pull through. She's a tough one"
"You both are" Chris said lovingly. Piper smiled at her youngest son, then turned to see Wyatt still wearing that forced smile on his face.
"Would you give us a minute?" Piper asked Leo and Chris.
"Sure" Leo kissed her. "We'll get some coffee"
"Make your father eat something other than just coffee" she instructed Chris.
"Yes, ma'am" he said smiling, steering his dad out the door by the shoulders.
Once they were left alone, Wyatt felt his throat tighten.
"Mom… I'm…"
"No. Do not be sorry" she said anticipating his words. "This wasn't your fault, nor Sam's. We'll figure it out, ok?" she squeezed his hand and he bowed his head down, like a child reaching for his mother's touch. Piper caressed his head as she used to do when he was little and had a bad dream.
Wyatt wasn't ready to share what had happened with Elak yet and was thankful his brother had kept it to himself. Things were overwhelming. He would buy his time concerning his daughter's fate. Partially, he wanted to know exactly what had happened first before even considering breaking the news to everybody else, but he wouldn't do anything of the sort; not till she was OK… not till she was safely back by his side. Everyone and everything would just have to wait. The world simply couldn't keep turning, not for him.
"I'm really scared, mom" he whispered.
"I know. It's alright to be scared"
"I don't wanna lose them. Neither of them" Wyatt felt strength stripped out of him every time he thought about Meghan or Sam two floors down. "My wife… or my daughter"
"You're not gonna lose them, baby" Piper took a deep breath, pain free thanks to morphine, before speaking to her son again. "When we found out you were going to grow up and terrorize the world, me and your father were wrecking out brains thinking what could possibly cause that? Where could we go so wrong that it would effectively destroy you?" she smiled gloomily, her memory painfully setting in her heart as she thought of her granddaughter. "We finally accepted it didn't matter" Wyatt lifted his head and stared into his mother's eyes. "Whatever it was, we would never stop looking, we would never stop fighting for you, not ever…"
"Mom…" his voice broke.
"Whatever you do now" Piper took him by the chin. "it'll be only part of the battle. That little angel has a mother and a father whom I know will never let anything get to them"
"Something already did"
"Like it did you" she said. "But you managed to find your own way in the end, as I'm sure you'll help your kids find theirs"
"Am I interrupting?" said Samuel knocking on the door before coming in.
"Of course not" smiled Wyatt still tightly holding his mother's hand, trying to wipe any trace of sadness from his face with his other hand. "How's she doing?"
"She's doing very well actually. Ate your breakfast?" Piper nodded. "Have you been feeling any discomfort?" Piper shook her head. "Alright. A nurse will come soon to change your dressings once again, but if you keep doing as well as you have you should be discharged by tomorrow morning"
"Great. Can't take much more of this bed" Piper said playfully.
"Oh no, none of that. You need to continue bedrest for a few days longer" Piper gave an exasperated grunt, which brought a much easier smile to Wyatt's face.
"Mom…"
"I know, I know. I'll behave" Piper smiled rolling her eyes.
"Wyatt" Samuel addressed him now. "Dr. Lockhart told me it was time to change Sam's sheets, asked me to let you know in case you wanted to help"
"Absolutely" Wyatt stood up from the bed. "Gotta go, mom. Get some rest" he kissed her hand.
"I will, honey. Kiss them for me" Wyatt left the room heading for the elevators. "How is she doing, Samuel?" Piper asked fully aware that was his daughter they were talking about.
"Physically she's fine… but…" Samuel sighed and shook his head.
"How are you holding up?"
"I'm OK. He has barely left her side so… I know she's as safe as she can be right now"
"She'll come around" Samuel nodded unconvinced, a disconsolate frown upon his face, before he walked out of the room.
AT THE MANOR…
"I'd forgotten what it was to feed small children" said Henry wiping apple sauce off his sleeve.
"Well, I haven't" laughed Paige wiping some off her blouse. "Lost some good blouses that way"
"Not what I meant" chuckled Henry offering another spoonful to Melinda. "I mean how nice it felt" Paige smiled widely.
"Do you remember when Henry and Patricia were born?" Henry smiled. "We weren't all that different from where we stand right now" she said giving little Angie her last bite.
"I wonder if we'll be doing this when our grandchildren come?"
"Totally" Paige reached to kiss him without letting go of the now empty bowl and spoon. "Something to look forward to"
"Bianca's ran away with her boyfriend!" Phoebe burst in thru the front door.
"That too" smiled Henry to Paige who puckered.
"OK, honey. Walk us through it" she said leading Phoebe to a chair by the table, which had been oddly put together for the time being, after being broken in the attack. Phoebe kissed the babies one by one before reaching a seat beside them. Then she slammed a letter on the table, which startled Meghan and Julian. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry" she told them and smiled at them, kissing Julian's little hand, trying to pretend everything was alright even though it clearly wasn't.
Paige reached for the letter and after scanning it passed it on for Henry to read.
"Where's Coop?"
"He's talking to Praline and Paddy about it. I just had to… walk it off" she said putting her head against the table.
"Want me to put an alert on her? She's 18 but I can make some calls" offered Henry putting down the letter Bianca had left her parents.
"No. She said she'll call so… I'll give her a day to check in and then we'll send a search party on her ass" Phoebe put her head on her hands.
"Sweetie, she'll be back. She just needs to see this through I guess" Paige told her sister reaching for her hand.
"I know. Can hardly blame her for being this impulsive. Her father is a cupid"
"Plus, the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree" Paige stared at her sister who laughed guiltily.
"I know" Phoebe had always been about love and passion. It wasn't that big of a surprise her daughter would do something like this, but she couldn't help but worry. "She's gotta make her own choices and do her own life, but how am I even supposed to… How does Piper make it look so easy?"
"Doesn't she always?" Paige held on to her sister's hand.
"When did she leave?" asked Henry coming back from the kitchen having gone to leave the dirty dishes and was now holding the box of wipies to clean the girls' faces.
"Probably sometime last night. Her sister and Penelope went to talk to her and talked her into coming home for the evening"
"Yeah, Penny told us" Paige was now picking Meghan's and Julian's plates, starting to clean them up too.
"We had dinner and then she locked herself in her room. Her father and I thought she might need some space so… that worked" said Phoebe sarcastically.
"This is not you messing up, this is her making her own choices like you said. She'll be fine. Got a good head on her shoulders"
"Apparently not that great" Phoebe still sulked, picking up crummies from the table with the tip of her finger and onto the empty baby plates.
"What does Coop think about all of this?" asked Paige as Henry took the plates away and put the kids in the playpen in the solarium.
"He says she loves him… and I'm not questioning if she does. I'm just saying she's young and…"
"In love" Phoebe dropped her forehead on the table again, exasperated.
"I know. He's right, but I'm still her mother. I'm allowed to freak out over this" Paige laughed. "There are a million ways we could get her ass back home right now but… she'll hate me for it… and I'll hate me for it" Phoebe confessed to herself.
"She needs to figure this one out on her own, honey"
"I know. It sucks" they both chuckled. "We were planning to come and help you guys…"
"Don't even worry about it. We got it covered. You guys got enough to deal with"
"You sure?"
"Positive. We'll call if we need anything" Paige reassured her. "Besides, the kids will be at our back and call so we're good"