Christmas 2006 happened to be the first year that both Chris and Wyatt were old enough to get excited about the holiday. Needless to say, Piper and Leo were excited to celebrate with them, despite the late stages of her pregnancy and endless exhaustion running the club and chasing after two exuberant magical children. Leo wrapped an arm around his wife, watching in amusement as Wyatt snagged another cookie. "This sugar rush is your fault," Piper joked.
"You're the one who made the cookies in the first place so this is technically your fault. They'll crash soon," Leo replied. At least they hoped so because the boys had a lot of energy on a normal day.
The door opened, and Paige and Henry stepped in, the latter carrying a few presents. "Surprised you didn't just orb in," Piper told her sister.
"Somebody didn't want me to break the presents, and I had to admit he was right." Paige's powers were on the fritz lately thanks to her own pregnancy. The fact that she was having twins wasn't helping matters.
"Aunt Paige! Uncle Henry!" Wyatt screamed joyfully, and the adults all winced.
"Inside voice, buddy," Leo reminded his oldest son.
"Sorry!" Wyatt cheered excitedly before orbing out of the conservatory, presumably to his bedroom.
Chris crossed his arms, glaring at the spot his brother formerly occupied. "No fair!" he yelled, stomping his feet before he too orbed out of the room.
"I see we're in for a long night," Henry observed. Whatever, he loved this chaos just as much as the rest of them. Once he spotted the tree, he set the presents down under them before joining his wife and in-laws in the dining room.
Phoebe and Coop arrived about ten minutes later, excitedly joining them. "Did I miss anything?" Phoebe questioned.
"Just the boys on a sugar rush. I'm sure they'll be back down to terrorize us soon so don't worry." Piper grinned at her, her hand going to her stomach as her unborn daughter kicked.
"Baby playing soccer tonight?" Leo guessed. He figured she was just as excited as the boys, even if she wasn't aware of what was happening.
"She really likes my kidneys," Piper confirmed.
"Hey, I have two little hellions inside me right now. I don't get a moment's peace," Paige shot back, sighing when both babies chose that moment to start kicking her. Took her breath away sometimes.
Both boys chose that moment to orb into the dining room, and the adults figured out why when Victor rang the doorbell just seconds later. Chris and Wyatt ran to hug their grandfather. "How's my favorite little guys?" he asked them.
"Are you staying?" Wyatt asked, even as he eyed the plate of cookies on the table.
"Don't even think about it, Wyatt Matthew. You and your brother have eaten enough cookies tonight," Piper scolded. They couldn't wait until the boys went to bed.
"Are we sure?" Henry tried, wanting to see if this could get any worse.
Piper and Leo shot him a glare but nodded. "We're sure," Leo confirmed with a laugh.
"They need to save room for dinner. It's almost time to eat," Piper explained. With Leo's help, she stood up and headed towards the kitchen to check on their meal.
"You sure you should be going to this much effort when you're this far along?" Victor couldn't help but worry about Piper, especially since she didn't tend to take it easy during her pregnancies and after the complications she suffered during both.
"Dad, I'm fine. Go sit, talk with the others." Piper tried to shoo her father out of the kitchen but Victor wasn't going for it.
"Let Leo and I help," Victor offered.
"Yeah, we can take up most of the slack. Get off your feet," Leo ordered as he pulled the ham out of the oven.
Piper hated giving up control of the kitchen like this but gave in and headed back into the dining room. She was trying to be more careful this time around.
"Do the boys believe in Santa?" Victor asked Leo as he stirred the mashed potatoes. He didn't want to put his foot in his mouth.
"We feel a little weird about letting them believe in Santa because of the magical community but yes, they do." Leo and Piper weren't sure how long they were going to keep this going but figured it couldn't hurt Wyatt and Chris to let them believe this year.
With Phoebe, Coop, and Henry's help, Leo and Victor managed to finish up in the kitchen and presented the dinner to the rest of the family. They all dug in excitedly, although Chris and Wyatt managed to sneak in one more cookie each afterwards.
"Good luck with that," a laughing Paige told Piper, Leo, and Victor (who was spending the night because it didn't make sense to go back to his apartment).
"Better you than us," Phoebe added.
Piper, Leo, and Victor scowled at them. "We'll remind you of this later, once you have your own kids. Good luck to you," Piper shot back.
Coop jolted excitedly but Phoebe put a hand on his arm to calm him. "Not yet?" he mouthed at his wife.
"Not yet," Phoebe mouthed back, which a curious Paige caught. She didn't call her sister out, however.
The boys were down for the night by seven, finally crashing once they were done stealing cookies. Leo and Victor picked them up and walked upstairs to put them in bed for the night. After they made sure Wyatt and Chris were asleep and would stay that way, the men got started on putting the boys' presents under the tree.
"Can you believe it'll be even more chaotic next year?" Piper murmured after she and Leo exchanged a brief kiss.
"Looking forward to it," he earnestly replied.
"I can't wait." Phoebe was definitely looking forward to seeing their growing family in action - the holiday had become more fun in general after Wyatt's birth.
"Neither can I. Massive amounts of fun," Paige agreed.
"I'm getting used to it." Henry embraced all of this with glee - even his magical nephews on a sugar rush.
"The older the kids get, the more fun it'll be," chimed in Victor.
The party soon ended since they had presents and more chaos to look forward to in the morning. Piper, Leo, and Victor headed to bed and only complained a little when the boys woke them up at the crack of dawn.
Leo groaned. "Can you boys wait a little?" he tried hopefully.
"Presents!" Chris responded.
"Lots of presents," Wyatt informed them.
"We'll be down in a minute. Go get Grandpa - I'm sure he can't wait to watch you open presents either." Piper groaned when the boys bolted out of the room.
"Hey, we'll have a seven month old next year. At least the lack of sleep will be built in again." Leo knew trying to find the bright side wouldn't work and he laughed when his wife threw her pillow at him.
Phoebe, Coop, Paige, and Henry just barely made it in time to see the boys start tearing into their presents with glee.
Christmas 2006 was definitely one of the most exciting holidays the Halliwells had celebrated in recent years, and they already couldn't wait to see what 2007 was like.