THE BEST LAID PLANS

Chapter 11

Grams entered the attic carrying baby Chris, followed by her family. Grams smiled at her granddaughters and handed Chris to his grandmother, Patty.

Grams stepped forward into the attic and faced the giant window. She recited the spell she knew by heart:

"I call forth from space and time
Matriarchs from the Halliwell line,
Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends,
Our family spirit without end,
to gather now in this sacred place
and help us bring this child to grace."

A whitish gold light flared as the spiritual forms of all of the family Matriarchs appeared wearing the clothes of their own time periods. Matriarchs young and old all stood before Grams to bless Chris, the newest member of the Halliwell family.

Patty stepped forward, holding her grandson proudly, as she addressed the Matriarchs. Her mother had led Wyatt's blessing, but this time it was her turn. "A new child has been born into our family, our legacy. We pledge to be with this child, this brave and beautiful boy, always. Apart, but never separate, free, but never alone. He is one of us and because of that, we will bless him with all the goodness that we are. Welcome to the family, Christopher Victor Halliwell. Blessed be."

"Blessed be." Grams said, leaning over to kiss her great-grandson on his cheek.

As one, the matriarchs called out "Blessed be."

Standing together, with Leo carrying Wyatt, Chris's proud parents said "Blessed be."

Next Phoebe and Paige chimed in "Blessed be."

Though he didn't understand most of his daughters' wiccan ways, Victor did understand the importance of this ceremony to them and said "Blessed be."

Another voice chimed in, "Blessed be." A familiar voice to the living people standing in the attic. Piper's breath caught in her throat as she saw a face she had never thought to see again.

"Oh my God." Piper heard Phoebe exclaim, but she couldn't do anything but stare at the person who gracefully walked from the back row of matriarchs to the front and stopped by Grams, Patty and the baby.

"Prue." Victor whispered, unable to believe that his oldest daughter was actually standing only a few feet away from him.

"He's beautiful, Piper." Prue said, as she raised a hand to stroke the baby's soft hair. But as she was still incorporeal, her hand passed through him. She smiled sadly at her sister. Prue looked at Wyatt, who was in Leo's arms watching the ghostly woman in front of him. "They're both beautiful. You've been blessed, Piper."

"I've missed you so much." Piper whispered as she stepped forward, wishing she could hug her sister.

Phoebe moved forward also, followed by a suddenly shy Paige.

"Prue." Phoebe said.

"Phoebe. I've missed you." Prue admitted.

"I've missed you too. I am so sorry…" Phoebe started.

"No, Phoebe. It was no one's fault." Prue said.

Prue looked over at her youngest sister, Paige, whom she'd never had a chance to meet in life. "Hello, Paige."

"Hello, Prue." Paige said. After all these years, Paige still felt that she didn't measure up to Prue.

"Thank you for taking such good care of my… of our sisters." Prue said with a smile.

Victor stepped forward to see his daughter. "Hello, Prue."

"Hi, Dad." Prue smiled at her father. She'd spent years being angry with him. They'd had only a few months of actually getting along before she'd died.

"I'm sorry… about a lot of things." Victor said sadly.

"Don't be. I'm okay, Dad." Prue said, wishing she could hug her family.

Prue turned back to Piper. "I brought a gift for you." Prue said.

"You didn't have to bring anything, Prue. Just you coming here was gift enough." Piper said, startled.

"What did you bring, Prue?" Grams asked, startled. It wasn't like the afterlife had a shopping mall. She couldn't imagine what Prue could have brought with her.

"Not so much a what as a who. Look." Prue said, gesturing toward the back of the group of matriarchs.

The women parted to reveal the person standing in the back of the room, nearest the window.

"Chris…" Piper breathed, shocked.

"Hi Mom." Chris said as he moved forward.

Piper rushed forward to hug her son, but realized that he was incorporeal, like Prue.

Piper turned to her mother and grandmother. "Please" was all she had to say.

Grams and Patty exchanged a look. Patty nodded in silent understanding. She handed baby Chris to Phoebe and stepped towards the matriarchs. At the same time Chris stepped forward. As they passed, Patty became incorporeal and was surrounded by a soft hazy glow and Chris became solid again. Prue took her place beside her mother. Patty smiled at her daughters and grandchildren, then she, Prue and the other matriarchs faded away, leaving only Grams and Chris behind.

Piper rushed forward and hugged her son tightly. Victor took Wyatt from Leo so that he could hug his son as well. For a few moments no one said anything, they just watched the family reunion.

"How?" Paige asked when she found her voice.

Chris smiled. "Clarence, one of the angels of death, came to me when I was dying. He said that mine was a special case because I was dying outside my own timeline. He brought me to Prue and she's been watching over me, helping me adjust ever since."

"Clarence? As in It's a Wonderful Life?" Victor asked, confused.

"I'm okay, Mom. Dad." Chris said, wiping the tears out of his mother's eyes. He looked at his father. "You saved Wyatt. Thank you."

"I'm so sorry, Chris. I…" Leo started.

"I'm okay, really. I changed the timeline so much that I don't know if I could have gone home anyway." Chris admitted. He looked over at Paige, who was holding his baby self. "Wow. It's weird seeing myself as a baby."

As Chris stepped back from his parents, Phoebe moved in for her hug. Laughing, he embraced her.

"I have a bone to pick with you." Paige said with a smile. "You went off and died and left Abaddon the loud looking for vengeance."

"Damn, I forgot about him. He hasn't caused too much trouble, has he?" Chris asked, concerned about his family.

"Not as much as I could have." Abaddon said as her and six of his remaining demons shimmered into the already crowded attic.

The sisters, Chris, Grams, Leo and Victor turned to look at the intruders. The sisters stepped in front of Chris, blocking him from Abaddon's view.

Abaddon called out "Give me the betrayer and I will let you live." He was disconcerted when the sisters started laughing. People did not laugh at Abaddon and live to talk about it. It was bad for his reputation.

"This is your raiding party?" Paige asked incredulously.

"I'm insulted." Phoebe said contemptuously.

"Leo, Dad, get the boys out of here." Piper instructed, as she raised her hands and blew up the two nearest demons. "This won't take long."

Leo took baby Chris back from Paige and he and Victor headed for the attic door.

Grams tried to fling Abaddon across the room, but nothing happened.

"That amulet protects him." Chris said. "Remove it and you can kill him. And the rest of his demons will die with him."

Grams went after one of the other demons, flinging him around the room.

As the demons conjured fireballs, Paige was calling them to her and using them against the demons. She vanquished two of them quickly.

Phoebe kicked the demon nearest her in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Abaddon was conjuring fireballs as fast as he could and throwing them at the betrayer. Chris ducked behind the much abused couch, dodging the fireballs. He tried telekinetically sending them back at Abaddon, but they bounced off of him. His amulet was protecting him.

Piper stood in the attic and tried to manipulate her molecules so that she could pass through matter. The problem was, she didn't know how to do it on command yet. Seeing her son in danger, Piper tried to blow up Abaddon, but nothing happened. At first she figured it was because of the amulet, but then she realized that she was feeling a little light headed, a feeling she was beginning to associate with her new power.

"Hey! Get away from him!" Piper called out angrily. Abaddon turned and threw the fireball in his hand at Piper.

"Mom!" Chris cried out, coming out from behind the couch and running towards his mother.

But just as she hoped, the fireball passed through her and destroyed an antique breakfront behind her.

Chris ran up to Abaddon, intending to stop him from throwing any more fireballs at his family. Seeing that Abaddon was distracted by Piper, Chris snatched the amulet from around Abaddon's neck.

Piper, who was realizing that her new powers activated when she felt light or light-headed, did her best to think heavy thoughts. Seeing that the amulet was gone, she through up her hands and a shocked Abaddon was blown apart. The remaining two demons were vanquished with him.

"Well, that was fun." Grams said. "But it is time for us to go."

Leo, Victor and the boys came back into the attic.

"Do you have to go?" Piper asked, looking at her son.

"They only gave me a few minutes, just to let you know that I'm alright." Chris said sadly.

His parents hugged him tightly one last time. Chris and Grams walked back towards the light shining through the attic window. Within moments they were incorporeal again.

"Good bye." Chris called as he faded away again. Grams smiled at her granddaughters and great grandsons, proud of her family before she too faded away.

Piper began to cry quietly. Leo embraced her, rubbing her back. Victor and the sisters took the boys back downstairs to give the grieving parents some time alone.

TBC…