Chapter seven
Mix up in the past
Henry parked the car and Paige turned in her seat to look at their children. "I need you to be on your best behaviour tonight, and do not use any magic or you will be grounded." She used her best serious face to ensure the children knew she wasn't kidding. "I'll be good, mommy," said Henry Junior. The twins snickered and Paige shot them a warning look, she then looked back at her son. "Thank you, baby." Paige turned her body to look at her husband and gave him an unsure expression. "There's a reason we don't spend much time with your parents," she said. She glanced at her daughters suspiciously in the rearview mirror. Kat was looking out the window and Tamora was taking a sip of apple juice from her water bottle. Henry's eyes were following a fly that had just flown in through the open window. "It'll be fine. The girls know not to use their magic in front of mortals," her husband said, her eyes went back over to his face. "That doesn't mean they'll listen." Henry turned in his seat to look at his three kids who were still buckled in their carseats. "What are the rules?" He asked them. "No magic," said Kat. "Behave," Tamora shouted. "No fighting," little Henry added. "And make sure you say please and thank you," Henry reminded them. The children nodded and Henry looked back at Paige. "See? Everything will be fine." Paige was still doubtful the girls would behave and fights wouldn't break out and magic wouldn't be used… but they couldn't stay in the car forever. So, she turned to look at the kids and told them to unbuckle and get out of the car. She then proceeded to get out from the passenger's seat and watched as her children climbed out of the car, knocking a tissue box and some random crayons out in the process. "Henry, wrong way. Go to the house. Girls, where are your shoes?" Henry climbed out of the driver's seat and his son ran past him towards the house. The twins retrieved their sandals from the car and sat down on the driveway to put them back onto their feet. Once they had, Paige took their hands and they followed Henry to the front door. Little Henry had already rung the doorbell.
A man opened the door as Paige walked up the front steps with the twins. Henry greeted him with a firm handshake. The man then looked down at the little boy and examined him for a moment. He and his wife had been surprised to learn their son and Paige had rushed so quickly into adopting the boy without having any previous thought towards adoption. He stretched out his hand and Henry shook it as his father had taught him that morning. Mr. Mitchell chuckled at the boy and scruffed his hair. He looked at his son and said, "fine boy you have here." Henry nodded as his dad greeted Paige with a quick cheek kiss, and greeted the girls with a hug. "Well, come on in. No need to wait until the grass grows." He stepped aside to allow his guests to enter the house. Mrs. Mitchell was there ready to greet her grandbabies with a hug. She dropped down to her knees and the three little children ran into her arms. She hugged them tightly and then got up to greet her son and daughter-in-law with a hug as well. "I hope we're not late," Paige said. Her watch had the wrong time so she had been worried they would be late. "Not at all. Come...sit," Mrs. Mitchell instructed. Paige put on a smile and guided her children over to the dining room table. Seeing the glass cups and glass plates that had been placed for the children, she instantly became paranoid. "Diane, um...I think the children...well I'm a bit worried they'll break these lovely dishes. Do you have any paper plates, plastic cups?" Mrs. Mitchell laughed as though it had been a joke and her husband seated himself at the table. "These lovely children?" Paige let out a forced laugh, Henry's parents were naïve to the true nature of the twins. "They're just dishes, Paige. They can easily be replaced, and I'm sure the children will be extra careful, won't you, children?" The kids nodded but this didn't help ease Paige's worry. She simply nodded and seated herself next to her husband. Mrs. Mitchell disappeared into the kitchen where a wondrous smell was coming from. She then came straight back in. "Children, what would you like to drink? We have milk, orange juice, water, or soda." Henry asked for milk, and the twins both wanted orange juice. They weren't really allowed soda at home so they hadn't developed a liking for it yet. Mrs. Mitchell nodded to them and disappeared back into the kitchen.
Henry and Paige sat there in silence as they attempted to think up a conversation starter with Henry's father. The man was so intimidating it was hard to start a conversation with him. Henry picked up his glass which caused his mother to squirm but she remained silent and just watched him closely. He examined the glass and then put it back down on the table. Tamora and Kat were making their mother nervous as well as they were whispering and giggling amongst themselves. It wasn't a moment too soon when Diane returned with a carton of milk and a carton of orange juice. Paige watched as she poured milk into Henry Junior's cup and orange juice into Tamora and Kat's cups. "Don't drink it all at once," Diane said to the children. She then walked back into the kitchen with the cartons. "So, the girls are four now," Mr. Mitchell said. "Yes," Paige shouted out. She took in a deep breath and Henry had to stop himself from laughing. "So that must mean they start school this year." "Yes," Paige said, much calmer and softer this time. "In September," she added. "What do you do with this one during the day," he then asked. "Daycare," Henry replied. "The one on Florence street." His father responded with a single nod.
Aside from Paige internally freaking out every time her children picked up their glasses, the beginning of supper had gone smoothly. The children were enjoying their meatloaf and were even eating their cooked veggies and were loving their mashed potatoes. And then… the fire alarm went off startling everyone seated around the table. Confused, Mrs. Mitchell rose from her chair and left the dining room to turn off the alarm. No one at the table spoke. The alarm shut off but then went off again seconds later and that's when smoke filled up the entire kitchen and the dining room. Everyone rushed outside and Mrs. Mitchell called the fire department using Paige's cell-phone. Paige, took Tamora away from the others and looked at her sternly. "I am only going to ask you one time and you better tell me the truth. Did you start the fire with your power?" Tamora nodded and she looked pretty scared over what her mother was going to do to her. Paige took a deep breath to keep herself calm. "And why did you try to burn down your grandparents' house?" Tamora shrugged and said, "I was bored." Paige's eyes darkened and she shouted, "if you're bored you start a conversation not a fire!" She quickly spun around and was relieved to know her in-laws did not appear to have heard her. "I'm sorry." "You better be, young lady. You are grounded. No magic camp this week. If you ever use your firepower out of boredom again I will bind your powers...again." Tamora nodded quickly and ran over to her father to hide from her mom.
Meanwhile, Coop was at home in his bedroom seated on his bed looking through an album of PJ and Parker's pictures, something he loved to do from time to time. PJ was bored and in search of something to do, and she decided to find out what her father was up to. She beamed into his room looking for him and climbed up onto the bed to sit next to him. Coop looked over at his daughter and gave her a smile. "Hi, baby. What are you up to?" PJ shrugged and looked down at the pictures. "Is that me?" She asked. Coop looked down at the pictures too and nodded. "You and your sister," he said. "Do you have pictures of mommy when she was little like me?" "Of course I do." Coop got up, approached his nightstand, opened the top drawer and retrieved a different old-fashioned album. Sitting back down on the bed, he pulled his daughter onto his lap and opened the album. "That's mommy as a baby, and this one is mommy when she was three." PJ pointed to herself and exclaimed, "I'm three." Coop nodded to her and PJ examined the picture of little three-year-old Phoebe. "She was cute." This comment made her father chuckle softly. "Very cute." He tickled her tummy causing her to squirm around and giggle.
Coop and PJ looked through a few more pages in the album before PJ looked over at her dad's hand and got distracted by his ring. "Daddy? Your ring is magic right?" Coop looked at his hand at his ring and then back at his daughter. "Yes, honey. It's a cupid ring, you'll get one too when you're all grown up." "What can it do?" "Lot's of cool things. It can bring us through time." PJ looked back at her mother's pictures. "I want to see mommy when she was little." "That's what we're doing. These are her pictures." "No for real. Can I use your ring to go see mommy?" Coop shook his head. "No, honey. You can't use the ring by yourself. If you go back in time and change something… well that can lead to a big mess." The two looked towards the door as they heard Piper calling them for supper at the foot of the stairs. "Come on, pumpkin, let's eat."
PJ hadn't forgotten about wanting to see her mother in the past and she also knew her dad would probably tell her no again. After supper, PJ decided to ask one of her older cousins thinking they were grown and therefore had their rings. She didn't understand that just because they were a few years older didn't mean they were grown and didn't understand that none of her cousins would ever get cupid rings because none of them were Cupids or even part Cupid. She came across Wyatt first in his bedroom. Wyatt had been seated on his bed looking through his favourite book when he spotted his little cousin walk in. He tossed the book aside. "HI, PJ. Do you want to play?" He asked. Since he was nice to younger children they often wanted to play with him. PJ shook her head and walked further into the room. "Do you have a ring like daddy?" Wyatt shook his head in reply. "So you can't take me to see mommy when she was little?" This question confused Wyatt for a moment before he realized what she was talking about. "You mean time travel?" PJ nodded her head. "I can time travel." "Okay, come on, let's go." "Go where?" "To see mommy when she was little." Wyatt hesitated. "Did you ask for permission?" He asked his cousin. "I asked daddy." "Did your dad say it was okay?" PJ didn't respond which said it all. "No. I won't take you." "Why not?" "Your dad said no. I don't want to get in trouble." PJ frowned and beamed herself out of the room.
Later that night, it was time for the children to head to bed. Wyatt and Chris tucked themselves into bed and Piper poked her head into their room to say good night to them. Leo tucked Melinda into her bed making sure the blanket was tucked into the mattress because this made Melinda feel safer when falling asleep. She believed the demons couldn't get to her if she was tucked in tightly. Paige brought Tamora up to her room and sat her down on her bed. "I need to talk to you about what happened today," Paige said. She had said this calmly to let her daughter know she wouldn't be yelled at again. "I'm sorry mommy. I won't do it again." "I know, honey. Tamora, I know you're still little but you have to learn that you can't use your powers whenever you want, especially around mortals who don't know about magic. Mortals aren't supposed to know about magic. Your firepower is very dangerous. You could hurt yourself, you could hurt someone else. You could have burnt down your grandparents' house. Fire is not a toy." "Okay. I promise I'll never start a fire again." She reached over and hugged her mother who patted her back in return. Paige then tucked Tamora into bed and kissed her forehead. She was about to leave the room when Tamora asked, "are you really going to bind my powers again?" Paige turned to look at her. "Only if I have to." She then left the room, closing the door behind her. Down on the third floor, Henry had just tucked his son into bed, Parker and Payton's crying over not wanting to go to bed could be heard from the nursery as their fathers left. Andy closed the door in hopes it would help muffle the crying so the other kids wouldn't be disturbed. Henry tucked Kat into bed and kissed her head. He left the room as Coop came in. PJ had tucked herself in and refused a hug and kiss from her dad. "You're mean because you won't take me to see mommy. I don't like you anymore," PJ said. This definitely hurt his feelings but he didn't let it show. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Good night, honey. I love you."
PJ laid awake her in bed. It was well past midnight and the adults had gone to bed hours ago. PJ sat up and looked across the room at her sleeping cousin. She crawled out of bed and beamed herself down to her parents' bedroom. Phoebe was tangled up in the blanket and snoring softly and Coop lay so still next to her it looked like was dead rather than sleeping. He had one hand hanging off the bed, the hand that held the ring. Now, PJ hadn't come in here to steal that ring, she had wanted to sleep with her parents, but when she saw the ring she was reminded of her desire to see her mother as a small child. She approached the hand and slipped the ring off of her dad's finger. She attempted to put it on her own finger but it was much too big to fit. So, she held it in her hand. She didn't know how to use the ring but by simply thinking of her mother's childhood picture, she was transported back to July of 1980.
PJ looked around the room and the first thing she noticed was the absence of her parents, the bed was empty. It was several hours earlier in the day as there was still sunlight shining through the window lighting up the room but the sky was orange which indicated it was late in the evening. The room looked completely different. Even the bed was different. It looked like an old lady's room with the floral wallpaper and matching bedspread. The door was open and PJ left the room. At least the hallway didn't look any different. She started hearing voices. One voice sounded like an older lady, and the other voices sounded like children. PJ followed the voices to the room across the hall. She stood in the doorway and watched. Grams, though several years younger, was reading a bedtime story to three little girls. PJ recognized the smallest girl… her mother. She didn't recognize the other two. The oldest girl...who looked about nine or ten suddenly spotted PJ standing in the doorway. "Grams, who's that?" She asked, pointing to PJ. Penny turned around and the other two girls looked at PJ too. "Hi there, sweetie. Come here," Grams said. P.J. walked into the room and crawled up onto the bed. Prue, Piper and Phoebe looked excited to have a visitor. "Hi, what is your name?" Grams asked. Piper, who would have been almost seven, giggled at PJ. "I'm PJ. I came to see mommy when she was little." "Who's your mommy?" Grams asked. PJ pointed over to Phoebe who had to be four and half. "I'm not a mommy," little Phoebe said. Prue and Piper started to laugh. "She's so cute, can we keep her?" Prue asked. "No, we can't keep her. PJ, honey, come with me please?"
Grams took PJ's hand and led her out into the hall where she could speak to her privately. "Honey, you can't go to the past and tell people you're from the future. It can completely change the future, and you can't ever tell people what will happen in the future." "Oh. I'm sorry." "Well, you do look a bit young to have started your training, and I'm going to guess your parents don't know you are here." PJ shook her head. "How do you get here? Did you cast a spell?" PJ shook her head again and opened her hand to show Penny the ring. "Is that a Cupid ring?" PJ nodded. "How did you get that?" "My daddy." "Your father is a Cupid?" PJ nodded once again. "Well if you have that ring then you can get yourself back to your own time. Okay, just focus on your dad, that should get you back to him and in the right time. "I want to stay." "Stay? You don't belong in this time period, you need to go home, to your own time." "Come on, can't I stay the night, I promise I'll go home tomorrow after breakfast," PJ begged. "Oh alright, I never could say no to your mom so how could I say no to you, you can go sleep with the girls," Grams agreed.
Penny took PJ's hand and led her back into Prue's bedroom and PJ climbed back up onto the bed. "Now girls, I know it is all exciting but our guest will only be here for the night, and you need to sleep," Grams said. She turned off the light and left the room, leaving the door open so she could easily check on the girls later. "What's your name?" PJ asked the two older girls. "I'm Prue and this is Piper." PJ looked around and then back at the girls. "Where's auntie Paige?" "Who?" Phoebe asked. "Auntie Paige." The girls looked confused. "We don't know her." "You do when you're all big, she lives with us." "Are you really my little girl?" Phoebe asked. "Yep, but only when you're big." PJ opened her hand and showed the girls her dad's ring. "This ring is magic, you can see when you're big." "Can I try it?" Phoebe asked. "I don't think that's a good idea. My dad might get mad."
Prue, Piper, and PJ had fallen asleep quickly once the four girls had settled down but Phoebe was still wide awake. She was looking at the ring that laid on the mattress next to PJ's hand. She took the ring, put it on her finger even though it was too big and was transported to July of 2011 in her future self's bedroom. She looked around at her future self and future husband who slept in their bed. Of course, she had no idea that the woman was her... only thirty-one years older. Little Phoebe decided to go exploring around the manor, visiting each sleeping member of the household and having no idea who they were. Eventually, she grew tired and went looking for a bed. Of course, the only available bed she found was PJ's in PJ and Kat's room. She crawled into the bed and tucked herself in and she quickly fell asleep.
In the early morning, just as the sun was starting to rise, Coop left his bedroom and stepped on something. He jumped back as he shouted out, "shit!" He rubbed his sore foot on his other foot and looked down at the floor to see what he had stepped on. It was his ring. "What in the…" he looked at his hand and noticed his ring was missing from his finger. "PJ." She picked up the ring and slipped it back onto his finger and made his way to PJ's bedroom. Kat had already gone down for breakfast and what Coop thought was his daughter was still sleeping in his daughter's bed. He walked over to her and shook her until she woke up. Phoebe sat up and screamed when she saw the unfamiliar man leaning over her, and Coop jumped back upon realizing this child wasn't his daughter. Phoebe stopped screaming and Coop examined her face. "Phoebe? Phoebe Halliwell, is that you?" Little Phoebe nodded. "You know who I am?" She asked. "Yes. Stay here, okay, don't move. I will be right back." Phoebe nodded and stayed in PJ's bed as told. Coop returned to his bedroom where he told his unsuspecting wife that her past self was in their daughter's bed.
"What? Well how on earth did she get here?" Phoebe asked.
"Well, I found my ring on the floor. So I'm guessing PJ stole it and went to the past and then you stole it from her and came here."
"OUR THREE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER IS STUCK IN THE PAST!" Phoebe shouted.
"Unless PJ came back and brought little you with her."
"Let's go find out."
"Well, You're past self getting ahold of my ring is now a memory you have. Think, she try to remember."
"Okay. I remember Grams reading us a story, Prue saw PJ by the door. PJ claimed to be my daughter. PJ showed us the ring, said it could bring me to when I was grown."
"Okay, good. What happened next."
"I asked PJ to bring me to her time and she said no, so I...oh, I did steal the ring and leave PJ stuck in the past."
Coop and Phoebe returned to their daughter's bedroom and sat down with little Phoebe on PJ's bed. "Okay, Phoebe. We have to bring you home now," Phoebe told herself. "Who are you?" Phoebe asked herself. "I'm you all grown up, and this is our husband Coop." Phoebe looked at Coop and started laughing. "What's so funny?" He asked. Phoebe didn't respond, she just kept laughing. She settled down and looked at her older self. "Is it still here?" She asked. "Is what still here? What are you talking about honey?" Phoebe asked. "The tree house." Coop looked at Phoebe with a puzzled expression and it took Phoebe a moment to remember what PJ was talking about. "She means the tree house in central park, in her time our mayor was trying to convince Grams to cut down our tree house in the park," Phoebe explained. "Is it still there?" Phoebe asked again. "No, honey. I'm sorry. Grams was able to keep it for a few more years but when we got bigger and didn't play in it anymore she cut it down." Little Phoebe looked really sad. "You know, if you go home it will still be there," Coop told her. This perked little Phoebe right up. "Okay. I want to go home."
Coop used his ring to bring himself and little Phoebe back to her own time (July of 1980.) PJ was in the living room of the manor playing with little Piper and young Prue. Grams was sitting on the couch knitting with a worried expression on her face. She looked up when Coop arrived with the missing child. "Oh thank heavens!" PJ looked up too. "Daddy! You came to see mommy!" "No, I came to bring mommy back." "I had a feeling that's what happened, I'm sorry for any trouble she caused. Of course, I'll be using a spell to erase our minds of this incident to keep everything in order." Coop nodded and said, "I'm sorry about my little time traveller. She hasn't been trained yet." "I thought so. Well, no worries. She is a very well-behaved little girl." After saying goodbye, Coop used his ring to bring himself and his daughter back to their own time (July of 2011.) Prue, Andy, Leo, Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Henry were waiting for them in the living room while the children were playing outside. Phoebe had filled them in on what had happened.
"PJ you're grounded until it snows in July," Phoebe told her daughter.
"Yep, I had that one coming," P.J. stated.
