" but I don't want to eat them daddy they're icky" Phoebe moaned as she pushed her plate away.
"look daddy I've eaten mine" Piper smiled smugly at her younger sister. " I'm a good girl aren't I?"
Victor was at a loss. He was an accomplished business man, he had negotiated contracts, sweet talked investors and held the floor in hundreds of board room meetings. .His verbal reasoning skills were perfectly honed, yet he could not get a 3 year old to eat her dinner. He and Patty had decided to divide and conquer, she was upstairs attempting to give Paige a bath, and Victor had been assigned what had originally appeared to be the easier task, giving the older girls dinner, however he hadn' t realised that carrots could be such a bone of contention.
"just one more mouthful honey please?" he pleaded.
"nuh-huh" Phoebe shook her head vigorously
"Phoebe" Victor warned, as he stole a quick glance at his watch, it had been 3 hours since Chris and Wyatt had run off to work at the club and Leo had orbed up to elder land. There had been no sign of any of them since.
"yeah Pheeeebeeee" Piper stuck her tongue out.
"Aghnhhh" A scream came from upstairs.
"Phoebe" Victor continued " I'm just going to run upstairs and check on your mother ok? When I come back down I expect to see that plate empty"
"Yes Daddy" Phoebe beamed, busily shovelling her meal into a nearby plant pot.
Victor took the stairs two at a time landing with a thud at the top, relieved to have escaped carrot-gate for a moment. He entered the second floor bathroom to find his ex-wife not looking dissimilar to a drowned rat, water was dripping from her hair and face, and a large damp patch had turned her white shirt transparent. Baby Paige sat in the tub, a devilish grin on her tiny face.
"what's going on here?" he asked taking in the tableau. "I thought you were giving Paige a bath?"
"No," Patty spluttered, "She's giving me a bath, she keeps orbing her rubby ducky at my head every time I go to shampoo her hair, I may as well get in the tub with her…its as if she's deliberately attention seeking…I don't know why she's only a baby…."
Victor shrugged "beats me" he bent down so that he was eye-level "hey cutey why are you acting up huh?"
"Dadda?" Paige asked quizzically.
" Um , no" he coughed, blushed slightly and stood back up. "w w what was I saying again" he asked slightly flustered.
Patty stood to face him, attempting to wring some of the water out of her top in the process. "Any sign from Leo or the boys yet?"
"No, I'm not to worried about the boys yet, when Chris came back to the past the first time he seemed to have a pretty sensible head on his shoulders. It's Leo I'm worried about, I know they say no, news is good news, but this is seriously taking the piss"
" I agree, perhaps we should " Patty was interrupted by a spray of water hitting her. "Paigey!"
"I think I'd better leave you to this" Victor made for the door " I need to mediate in the vegetable crisis"
"now what did you do that for" Patty asked the baby, attempting to sound stern, but failing miserably as Paige grinned and handed her a rubber duck with a big grin on her face. Tears welled up in her eyes and Patty felt strangely emotional. "My darling baby girl" she sniffed as she stroked Paige's head. "if I could only have done this with you the first time round."
Down stairs Victor arrived in the dinning room to find anarchy brewing. "Phoebe emptied her dinner into the plant pot" Piper informed him, the second his foot stepped over the threshold.
"did not"
"did too"
"did so"
"so did not!"
"you're just a big fat liar"
"yeah well I'm rubber and your glue so whatever you.."
"GIRLS" Victor roared, deciding that on retrospect he would much rather have given a magical baby a bath than enter into a battle over food, but he had made his choice. He also felt his respect for Penny treble by the hour, not that he would ever, not even under pain of torture admit that, especially not to her face.
His daughters turned to look at him. "Phoebe" he began, " you need to eat all your vegetables so that you grow up big and strong"
"hah" Piper shot her younger sister an I-told-you-so-look.
"And Piper" Victor continued " It is not nice to tell tales"
"hah to you too" Phoebe retorted.
"Now apologise" Victor insisted.
"But Daddy" Phoebe whined "you told us to always speak the truth"
"and..?" Victor was not sensing the problem.
"I not sorry, I lie if I say sorry to Piper" She explained patiently
Fortunately Victor was saved the need to reply, but the familiar sound of orbs, as his son-in-law materialised in the room.
"Leo" Victor cried "What did they say?"
TBC
