A/N Sorry for the long wait. School was crazy but I'm on break now so no excuses.

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. Sadly.

Piper groaned softly as the throbbing in her back increased as she rolled over in bed. She was now 8 months pregnant. It had been 6 weeks since she and Paige had had their girly night and 5 weeks since Leo had left.

"Paige?" Piper called out as she gazed at the bright red numbers on her bedside alarm clock. 4:53 AM. "Paige I need you!"

"Pipe is everything ok?" Paige asked rubbing her eyes groggily.

"I think it's time." Piper stated and gave her sister a small smile. She was slowly coming to grips that this baby would never know his big brother and that she wouldn't have two sons to care for. She was trying to live because that was the only way she could honor Wyatt's memory – by making every minute of every day count.

Paige grinned excitedly "Do you still want to go to the hospital?" She asked moving quickly to Piper's side and helping her into a sitting position.

Piper winced and hissed as a sharp contraction cut across her torso. She nodded and moved gingerly to stand. "My bag's in the closet"

Paige moved quickly and surely, grabbing the bag and returning to her sister's side. Together the pair made their way to the stairs and into Piper's waiting SUV.

Paige maneuvered to the driver's seat and pulled out of the driveway in the still dark morning. She pulled her cell phone from the purse she had hastily grabbed from the chair in the foyer. She dialed the familiar number knowing she was waking their sister who was probably asleep in her lover's arms.

Phoebe hadn't been home in almost 3 days. And before that she hadn't been home in a week. Almost all her belongings were moved to Jason's apartment and both Paige and Piper knew the next move would be to Japan.

After being sent to voicemail twice a tired voice answered "Paige. It's four in the morning go back to bed and call me when the sun rises."

"Piper's in labor." Paige said "Will you meet us at the hospital?" She wasn't sure if Phoebe would come. She hoped so for Piper's sake but since her nephew's death and her brother in laws abrupt departure Phoebe had wanted very little to do with her family. Paige knew it was her method of coping but it hurt and she wasn't sure if Piper could handle the loss of another sister on top of everything else she was dealing with.

"I'll be there" Phoebe said after a moment's silent debate. Paige could hear her rustling as she began to move around the apartment.

"Piper do you want to call Leo?" Paige asked tentatively. Since the divorce had been fast tracked and finalized the pair had nothing to do with each other.

"It's his son."Piper shrugged. She wanted Leo to be there but not because he had to be. She wanted him to be there because he wanted to be there, because he wanted to meet their new son. She had a niggling feeling that he wouldn't be there. Not for Chris's birth and not for much else in his life either. She just prayed that for once she'd be proven wrong. Her child deserved an amazing life. With two parents even if they didn't live together.

The contractions had progressed rapidly now coming only 6 minutes apart by the time the pair had parked and made their way to the Maternity Ward on the hospitals fourth floor. The nurse sat Piper in a wheelchair and handed her a stack of forms to fill out which she did while trying to breathe through each contraction as they got stronger.

Phoebe arrived just as they were moving Piper into a bed so that her doctor could come and see how close to giving birth she was. Phoebe and Paige each grasped one of Piper's hands allowing her to squeeze for dear life every time a contraction hit. Phoebe whispered soothingly into her elder sister's ear telling her how proud she was of her and how great she was doing. When the doctor came both left the room momentarily.

Paige slipped quietly into a supply closet near Piper's room and called softly "Leo! Leo please come here."

"What is it Paige?" Leo asked annoyance tingeing his voice.

"I thought you'd want to be here for the birth of your son" She said disheartened by his distant stare.

"I was there for the birth of my son" Leo said his voice suddenly as distant as his stare "He's dead and he's not coming back" With that Leo departed in a swirl of orbs.

Paige snuck out of the closet and slide down the wall letting a small sob escape her body. She noticed that Phoebe had already returned to Piper's room and that she should do the same.

Piper looked at her hope filling her chocolate eyes which quickly welled with tears when Paige gave a gentle shake of her head. Paige quickly moved to her sister's side.

"It's ok Piper" Phoebe said gently "You have us. You don't need him"

Piper nodded.

"How far gone are you?" Paige asked lightly trying to dispel the tension in the room.

Piper laughed softly "Doctor says maybe another hour before I can start to push."

The sisters spent the next hour and a half curled together in almost a ball the two 'babies' in the family coaxing their eldest living sister through her pain. Anyone who looked into the room would have been hardpressed to figure out where one sister ended and another began.

When the doctor gave the all clear for Piper to push things moved just as quickly as her labor. She had no difficulty and although she was tired she knew that at the end of this road she'd have her sweet son in her arms.

Piper was disappointed that Leo was missing this but she couldn't force him to be here. She was just glad that both her sister's stood by her sides the entire time. Neither left, neither grimaced and when a clear cry filled the room both hugged and cried happy tears.

Piper's own tears were a mix of happy and sad. She was happy that she had a healthy baby that at 6 pounds 2 ounces and 18 inches long Christopher Wyatt Halliwell was small but strong. She held him close to her chest reveling in the feel of his tiny figure under her hands. She was sad that her older baby wouldn't ever get a chance to partake in an event he had so desperately craved and that Chris's father wanted nothing to do with the event.

After Piper and baby Chris were cleaned up Phoebe and Paige left with promises to be back soon and Piper was alone with her newborn son for the first time.

He gazed at her with wide dusky blue eyes. Unlike Wyatt's which had always been the crystal clear icy blue that she loved. Wyatt had had light curls while Chris's hair was darker and his complexion fairer.

Piper gently pressed a kiss to her son's head as he suckled eagerly at her breast.

"Chris this is going to be hard but we have each other. We have Auntie Phoebe and especially Auntie Paige. We'll get through it and figure it out. I will always love you and protect you." She vowed brushing her fingers through his downy hair. She wasn't going to lose him. He was her only reason to keep learning to live. With him she knew she could take on the world because she would do anything to make him happy and keep him safe.