Scrambled

Piper Halliwell's life was as scrambled as the eggs on the stove. Chris had left his laptop on the kitchen table to grab his binder, while Melinda was shoving her toast in her mouth and completing her math homework at the same time. Wyatt orbed back and forth from the attic to the kitchen to hallway to the bathroom-when stairs could have been more efficient. All at the same time, Piper tried to feed the three of them before going to school.

"Melinda, eat."

Not to mention the hammering and the sawing Leo was doing in the hallway made it difficult to hear. "WHAT?" Melinda was texting and not listening at the same time.

"The EGGS! FOOD! EAT!"

Her mouth was crusty with toasty bits. "Mom, I'm good." She looked at her phone. "I'm meeting up with Tanisha. See?" The phone seemed to be part of her arm.

"But…"

"BYE!" Melinda shoved the math workbook in her bookbag and orbed out of the house.

Chris sprinted in, "Mom. have you seen my lap—oh, there it is."

"Why don't you eat something?"

"Wyatt and I have to pick up Bianca and Trish." He glanced at his watch. "Damn, we're going to be late."

"Christopher! Language!"

"Sorry, Mom. WYATT!"

Wyatt orbed in. "I know. I know." He zoomed passed Piper and Chris to the fridge to grab the orange juice, the entire half gallon. He kissed his mother. "Love you, Mom" and orbed out.

Chris screamed, "YOU'RE SUCH A KISS A-" and stopped himself. "Bye, Mom" and orbed out.

"WHY DO I COOK AT ALL?!" Piper screamed at the ceiling.

Paige orbed in. Piper raised her hands. "Do any of you know how to use doors!?"

"Sorry. A little hectic?" The hammering kept pounding on each of Piper's nerves.

"Wait…LEO!" Hammering stopped. Thank God.

"Hey, Paige. What do you need?"

Piper shoved a plate of eggs at her husband. "Why don't you take a break and eat, while Paige and I talk, okay?" Leo didn't disagree; he just grabbed the food and sat at the kitchen table.

Paige poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned on the island. "Whatcha working on, Leo?"

Leo buttered a piece of toast. "A new banister. All the vertical pieces are up. I'm working on the railing as we speak."

"Well, that will keep you busy." She sipped her coffee, "I'm glad both of you are here. I've got a problem. HJ's birthday is coming up and he…wants…to meet…his mother."

Piper eased next to Leo who just inhaled the eggs. "Did you try the summoning spell?"

"I did. I was up all night trying to conjure her, but I don't have a lot of information about her. I never knew her name. She died before I could ask her." Her sisters were fighting Rennek with his band of demons, when Paige found Henry's mother. She was near death when Paige orbed the infant from her womb to save the baby's life.

"How about the father?" Leo asked as he scraped his plate clean.

"Let's see. I'm going to ask the crime lord about a random teenager he impregnated thirteen years ago. No."

"Maybe it's the power of spell not the spell itself," Leo wondered.

"That's what I thought. Maybe it needs…"

"Wait, sister. You're not going to ask to use the Power of Three Spell?"

"Why not?"

"We summon when we need to—not whenever we want to. You know what can happen when we try to do things that are for personal gain." Paige rolled her eyes. "Paige, I love HJ. He's my nephew, but before we think about a magical solution, can we think about a non-one?"

Paige slumped in a chair. "I just feel sorry for the little guy. He sees magic all around him. Even though his sisters don't have their powers right now, they'll have them soon enough. He's seen us battle demons, warlocks, and every Beelzebub that invade any of the houses. He's never asked for anything…magical. I just want to give him something that's not the latest video game or phone, you know."

Piper put her hand on her sister's. "We've got a week. Let's see what can be done, and if it all fails, we'll try, as long as Phoebe's okay with it."