THE BEST LAID PLANS

SPOILERS: May contain spoilers for It's a Bad Bad Bad Bad World (Season 6 finale).

Chapter 2

"What do you think happened, Piper?" Phoebe asked as Piper tried to calm baby Chris down again.

"I don't know." Piper said, gently rocking Chris.

"But what if it happens again?" Phoebe said as she and Piper headed out of the bedroom to go back downstairs.

Crossing the foyer, Phoebe and Piper hear Paige call out "Crib!" Phoebe and Piper walk into the living room in time to see Paige telekinetically orb the crib out of the ceiling. Paige gestured at the orbing crib and placed it on the floor.

Phoebe put Wyatt down on the floor so that he can play with his favorite blocks. Piper put Chris on the floor nearby so that he can watch Wyatt float the blocks. Chris reaches out his arms and some of the blocks float over above him. Piper coos at her youngest son's display of magic. But Wyatt snatches the block back telekinetically. "Mine."

"Wyatt, that wasn't nice." Piper said to Wyatt.

"He's almost two. That's how toddlers act, Piper. He's got a new brother to adjust to. Give him time." Paige said.

"I want to know what happened to you, Piper. How did you end up stuck in the ceiling?" Phoebe butted in, demanding to know.

"Well, I…" Piper began, but stopped when she heard someone orb in. Leo appears in the living room wearing his usual street clothes instead of a gold Elder's robe.

"Leo, where have you been? Things have been crazy here all morning." Piper exclaimed, still sitting on the floor.

"Up there with the Elders. They wanted to discuss Gideon again." Leo said, smiling at his sons. Leo walked over to his family and sat down.

"Hi, Wyatt! Chris, how you doing, buddy? You ready to be blessed by the family?" Leo said, picking his youngest son up off the floor. Leo was determined to be a good father to Chris this time around. It was strange for him to think that he hadn't been a good father to Chris before. His adult son had so many issues with him; Chris was full of hurt and anger. Leo apparently hadn't been there for his youngest son, just for Piper and Wyatt. And, as Chris had literally pounded into his father's head, Leo didn't even know who his son was.

"So, what's been going on?" Leo asked. "And why is Chris's crib in the living room?"

"Because, apparently it fell through the floor." Paige said, pointing upwards at the holes in the ceiling.

"What?" Leo asked.

"I came home for lunch and found Piper and Chris stuck in the ceiling" Phoebe added.

"What? What happened?" Leo asked again.

"I don't know what happened." Piper said, standing up. "One minute I was putting Chris in his crib for a nap, then I suddenly felt lightheaded so I grabbed onto the crib for balance. The next thing I knew we were falling through the floor."

With a sigh, Piper went to sit down on the sofa. But instead of sinking into the couch cushions she fell through them. It was a terrifying experience for Piper: the sensation of falling and not being able to stop it. She could see the cloth, the padding and the framework of the couch as she fell through it. Instead of hitting the living room floor, though, she went through it. After having fallen through the living room floor, Piper was surprised as she painfully landed on the basement's concrete floor instead of going through it. "Crap!" she exclaimed.

Upstairs in the living room, Leo, Paige and Phoebe stare in shock at the couch.

"Oh my God" Phoebe said, kneeling down to peek under the couch. "Where did she go?"

"Piper?" Leo called out. He stood up and put Chris in his crib. "You'll be okay here, buddy." He said to Chris. Turning to Wyatt, Leo said "Stay here, Wyatt. I'll go find your Mom. She must have fallen down to the basement, or…" The last was for the sisters. "Phoebe, stay here and watch the boys."

Paige and Leo hurried through the kitchen to the basement. "What if she fell through the basement floor too? Where would she end up?" Paige asked.

"I don't know." Leo answered, frantically.

They met Piper, who was just coming up the stairs. Relieved to see that Piper was alright, the trio went back to the living room.

"Leo, go ask the other Elders what's going on." Piper said.

"I can't. They uh… They clipped my wings." Leo replied.

"What? Why?" Piper exclaimed.

"I can't believe they did that to you." Paige chimed in.

"Well, it was the better than the alternative. Some of them wanted to send my soul back to Earth for recycling." Leo admitted.

"WHAT?" shouted Piper, which caused baby Chris to start crying again. A chastened Piper went to calm her son again.

"Recycling?" asked Phoebe. "What does that mean?"

"Have my soul be born again. Start my life over as an infant, with no memory of my sons or any of you."

"WHY would they do that to you?" Phoebe asked, confused.

"Elders aren't supposed to kill. Not only did I kill someone, but it was another Elder." Leo replied.

"That's not fair! He kidnapped Wyatt and he ki… uh, he uh, did other things too. Bad things." Phoebe said. Paige smacked Phoebe's arm for what she almost revealed in from of Piper. However, Piper was already distracted.

Chris was still crying. Piper was leaning over the crib, but hadn't picked him up. She was careful not to touch the crib, also. "Leo, can you see if you can calm him down?" she asked.

"Piper, is everything okay?" Paige asked.

"I'm afraid to touch him." Piper admitted, angry tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Piper, honey, it's going to be alright." Leo tried to console her as he picked up his crying son.

"Don't you tell me that it is going to be alright. I can't control this. One second I'm falling through the floor the next I'm landing on one. What if I was holding one of the boys when this happened? It's bad enough I was touching Chris's crib the first time. I pulled him with me. I could have hurt my baby!" Piper cried angrily.

Leo was trying to calm down baby Chris again. Paige and Phoebe tried to console Piper. Suddenly they heard the sound of someone orbing. Looking around, they saw Wyatt orb out from his place on the floor and reappear inside the crib.

"Mine." Wyatt said as he orbed out again, crib and all.

Piper sighed heavily and headed back upstairs, followed by Leo (who was carrying Chris), Phoebe and Paige.

"Wyatt?" Piper called out. She looked in his bedroom, but he wasn't there.

"What's the matter with Wyatt?" Phoebe called out, peeking into the other bedroom. No Wyatt there either. "Could we have gotten him away from Gideon too late?"

"No. He's fine. I'm sure of it." Leo said as he walked into Piper's bedroom.

"He's just jealous of the baby. He sees the baby getting a lot of attention and he's acting out to get your attention." Paige said, following Leo.

Leo and Paige found Wyatt and the crib in Piper's former closet, now Chris's nursery. Leo laid Chris against one shoulder and picked up Wyatt with the other arm. "Hey, buddy. What's the matter?"

Piper came into the nursery. Paige left to give the family some privacy.

"Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?" Piper asked, not daring to touch her sons.

"Baby go." Wyatt said, reaching out to push Chris.

"Hey, easy there buddy. Chris is your little brother. He's going to stay with us from now on." Leo said, trying to keep the boys apart. "A little help, Piper?"

Piper hesitated, unwilling to endanger either child. Leo sighed and gently laid Chris in the crib. Wyatt frowned down at his brother. "Mine."

"Wyatt," Piper said, reaching out to but not touching her son, "you have a big boy bed now. Paige is right. We need to pay more attention to him. But Grams and the rest of the matriarchs are coming to bless Chris. And I could fall through the floor again any second."

"Not until you call them. We can postpone the wiccanning until things are a little calmer." Leo tried to reason with Piper.

"No, no, no! My son is going to be welcomed into this world with love and grace if it kills me!"

TBC…