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Piper was furious.
She’d been on the phone for the past twenty minutes, trying to solve an issue with the newest delivery to P3. She paced back and forth in the sunroom, wildly gesticulating with her hands and spitting curse word after curse word at the poor employee on the other end of the line. A popular band was doing a gig at the club tonight, and Piper was expecting a packed crowd. Unfortunately for everyone involved, someone had messed up the delivery and now all hell had broken loose. If things weren’t sorted soon, heads would be rolling! And this time Piper wasn’t referring to demon heads.
While pressing the phone to her ear and listening to the explanation on the other end, Piper checked up on her boys. Wyatt was sitting on the floor, surrounded by a bunch of marbles that had belonged to Piper’s dad. While he shoveled them into the little plastic bucket in front of him, he was happily babbling to his beloved little brother. Chris was in the playpen right next to Wyatt, watching his brother with big curious eyes while he chewed on a wooden toy block. Piper smiled widely at the sight of them and shook her head fondly.
Baby Chris put everything in his mouth these days. He crawled all over the house as soon as anyone turned their back on him, digging his fingers into the soil of potted plants or emptying out the content of cupboards. Half of the time, they had to remove things from Chris’ mouth that didn’t belong anywhere near a baby. Piper had nearly had a heart attack one day when Chris had taken off on another adventure and she’d found the baby sucking on a vial of the latest vanquishing potion.
That’s why they placed Chris in the playpen most of the time - so they at least knew where the baby was and could keep him safe. In this house, you never knew when a demon might show up. Piper preferred to keep her boys near and together as often as she could. Chris didn’t have a forcefield but if anything evil showed up, Wyatt’s forcefield could protect the both of them. Her oldest son didn’t even need to be told at this point. Wyatt was very protective of Chris, and it brought such joy to Piper’s heart to see how close her boys were at such an early age. The two of them shared a special bond, and sometimes it even seemed like they communicated with each other without sharing a single word.
“Yes, I’m still here.” Piper replied to the person on the phone, reluctantly tore her eyes off her sons and started pacing yet again. “You better make sure they show up with the missing items before six o’clock… No, not seven! Six! And no excuses! … Alright hold on, I’ll get a pen.”
The oldest Halliwell sister opened a drawer and started rummaging inside it for a pen. When the one she found didn’t work, Piper went to the kitchen in search of another one.
“I’m ready.” She said into the phone when she’d finally found a working pen, and then started scribbling on a piece of paper.
Leo, who had been working on unclogging the sink, stood up from the floor and ran the water a couple of times. Seemingly satisfied with his handiwork, Leo washed up and then walked up behind Piper. She released a content sigh when she felt her husband gently begin to rub her shoulders. She hadn’t even realized how tense she was until Leo started massaging the knobs away. Piper loved how easily he could read her these days – despite the hardships they’d had to go through for quite some time. She shot Leo a grateful smile over her a shoulder and leant back to give him a kiss. Just before their lips met though, they were interrupted by Phoebe as she came bursting into the kitchen.
“I’ve tried to call you like a million times!” Phoebe shouted. She looked a bit sweaty and sounded out of breath – as if she’d been running to get there. Piper glanced at the clock, frowning since her sister was supposed to be at work at this time of the day.
“Phoebe, I’m on the phone.” Piper hissed in a hushed breath while covering the speaker of the phone with her hand. “Can it wait?”
“No, it can’t wait! Where’s Chris?” Phoebe continued to shout.
Piper lowered the phone immediately and a worried frown appeared between her eyes. Phoebe had her full attention now.
“He’s in the sunroom with Wyatt.” Leo replied. He suddenly looked wary by the mention of his youngest son. “Why? What’s going on?”
“I had a premonition!” Phoebe yelled as she rushed towards the sunroom.
Piper’s heart sped up in alarm, and she quickly dropped the phone as both she and Leo sprinted after Phoebe.
“Oh my god, it’s happening already!” Phoebe yelled with evident fear in her voice.
When Piper rounded the corner and took in the sight in front of her, she released a loud gasp and covered her mouth with her hands in shock. Leo had already run past Phoebe and picked up Chris from the playpen. The baby was in obvious distress. He wasn’t crying or making any noises, but Chris’ face was completely red and puffy, and he seemed unable to breathe.
“What’s happening to him?” Piper shrieked, frantically looking around in search of something evil she could blow to pieces for hurting her baby - but finding nothing out of the ordinary.
“I think he’s choking on something!” Leo exclaimed. He started slapping Chris’ back, and Piper’s heart dropped.
As if he could sense the trouble his little brother was in, Wyatt was crying his heart out on the floor. Phoebe bent down to swoop him up before she stepped a bit away, trying to shield the kid from the seriousness of the situation. Meanwhile, Leo had pried open his son’s mouth and attempted to remove whatever was blocking Chris’ airway with a couple of fingers. It didn’t seem to work though.
“Paige!” Piper called when she was finally able to form words again. Leo was mortal now and couldn’t heal or orb. She needed Paige there in case they had to quickly orb Chris to the ER.
Leo abruptly sat down on one of the chairs and lay Chris face down on his forearm and thigh. He then started giving Chris sharp back blows between the boy’s shoulder blades, using the heel of his hand.
“I’m calling an ambulance.” Piper announced in a choked voice.
Now where did she put the damn phone?
“Piper, I don’t think they’ll get here in time.” Phoebe said while bouncing a sobbing Wyatt on her hip. Like Wyatt, Phoebe had tear tracks on her face.
“Chris!” Wyatt cried and desperately squirmed in his aunt’s arms. The sight of her distressed son, sobbing his brother’s name, broke Piper’s heart even more.
“Paige!” Piper called again. “We need you here! Now!”
“Come on, Chris. Please.” Leo begged brokenly as he kept up the sharp blows to his little boy’s back.
When it didn’t work, Leo turned the baby over, put two fingers on his chest and proceeded to give Chris sharp chest thrusts. Piper started sobbing uncontrollably as she watched her husband desperately trying to rescue their youngest son. Chris had turned completely slack by now, and Piper was terrified when she saw the blue color of her baby’s lips.
“Leo, it’s not working! It’s not working!” Piper cried. She dropped to her knees beside her husband and stared at her fading baby in despair. “PAIGE! You get your ass here right now! It’s Chris…”
Piper’s voice broke on her youngest son’s name. She couldn’t lose her baby. Not now. Not ever.
Not again.
“Piper, we need to take him to the ER.” Leo said tearfully, before he put down Chris’ unresponsive body on the table, placed a hand on Chris’ forehead and gently tilted his head back. With his other hand, Leo used his fingertips to lift Chris’ chin before he started blowing air into the baby’s mouth.
“PAIG-!” Piper started screaming again but was interrupted by the swirl of blue and white orbs as Paige finally materialized in the room.
“Sorry, I was -” Paige started when Piper interrupted her.
“I need you to orb Chris to the ER now!” Piper shouted.
“Oh my god! Chris! What happened?” Paige exclaimed and rushed towards the three of them.
But then something unexpected happened.
Wyatt, who’d been struggling to get closer to Chris, suddenly orbed out of Phoebe’s arms and reappeared right next to his parents and brother. Hiccupping, and with tears still rolling down his cheeks, Wyatt looked at Chris and then clenched his eyes shut in concentration.
All four adults stared in shock as Chris’ lips suddenly parted and a bundle of blue orbs ascended from his mouth and flew into Wyatt's hand. The baby sucked in a deep gasped breath, and then immediately started crying at the top of his lungs. It was the most beautiful sound Piper had ever heard.
“Oh god.” Leo said with obvious relief, picked up his bawling son and hugged him tightly to his chest. “You’re okay, Chris. You’re okay. Shh, Daddy’s got you.”
Piper tore her shocked gaze away from Leo and her crying baby - and gaped at Wyatt. The kid opened his clenched fist and the sisters gasped in unison when they saw the round marble on Wyatt’s palm.
“Chris was choking on a marble?” Phoebe gasped.
“Did Wyatt just orb that out of Chris’ throat?” Paige added in obvious wonder.
Piper didn’t answer either question. Instead, she reached out, wrapped her arms around her sniffling oldest son and pulled him into a warm embrace.
“Good boy, Wyatt. You’re such a good boy.” She cooed into Wyatt’s blonde hair as she rocked him gently. “You saved your brother. He’s okay now. You’re both okay.”
Piper peered up at Leo who returned her look with watery eyes. He had managed to calm Chris a bit, but he didn’t look like he was ready to let go of their youngest anytime soon. Chris – or at least the future version of him – had already died in Leo’s arms once. Piper could only imagine what was going through Leo’s head right now as they’d almost lost Chris a second time. Or no, actually, she knew exactly how he was feeling ‘cause she was going through similar emotions right now. Losing a kid was a parent’s worst nightmare. Piper couldn’t think of anything worse than that.
She lifted Wyatt up on her hip and then walked straight into Leo’s waiting arms. From the corner of her eye, Piper saw Paige drag Phoebe with her out of the room – probably to give the little family some space. As she and Leo hugged each other and their two boys, Piper placed kisses all over Chris’ face and hair and held him close.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again, peanut. You hear me?” She whispered, smiling through her tears as Chris looked up at her. His bright green eyes were still a bit teary too. “I love you.” She kissed his forehead, then turned to her oldest and kissed his forehead as well. “And I love you, baby.”
Wyatt responded by burying deeper into Piper’s embrace and then rubbed at his eyes. Chris blinked drowsily in Leo’s arms. Both boys were quiet, and Piper figured the stressful situation must have taken its toll on them.
“I think it’s naptime.” Leo said as if reading her mind. Piper couldn’t agree more.
A bit later, when Wyatt had been put down for a nap in his room, the sisters and Leo were gathered in Piper and Leo’s bedroom. Piper was sitting on the couch, Leo right next to her, and Chris was sleeping peacefully against her chest. She had one hand underneath the baby’s butt to keep him in place and she used her other hand to caress his back with gentle circling motions. The feeling of the steady rise and fall of Chris’ chest against hers, and the warm puffs of air against her neck, felt more than a little reassuring to Piper.
They were far enough away from Wyatt that they didn’t have to worry about waking him, but close enough to hear if he needed comfort. Even with the baby monitor on, Piper didn’t want to be too far away from her son. She didn’t want to even leave Chris by himself in the nursery. She was still completely rattled from the events of the day, and Leo didn’t look like he was faring much better either.
“I honestly don’t give a shit about the club right now.” Piper said, feeling Leo squeeze her arm reassuringly. “They can close it up or burn it down for all I care. All I wanna do is stay home with my boys tonight. I’m not letting them out of my sight.”
“Do you think they’ll remember what happened?” Phoebe mused from the edge of the bed. “If there’s something I’ve learned in my psychology classes, it’s that kids can be traumatized by a lot of things. Especially near-death experiences.”
“Oh, so you mean - like every single day in this house?” Paige said, raising an eyebrow.
“You know what I mean. Trauma can change a person – like it did to Wyatt in big Chris’ timeline, remember?”
Like any of them could ever forget.
Piper noticed how Leo winced by the mention of their future boy. It had been nearly a year since they’d lost Chris, but the pain still felt fresh. In addition to that, Piper didn’t like to think about the evil version of Wyatt either. That was a variety of her oldest son that she hoped to never hear of or see again.
“I think they’re too young to remember.” Leo said, answering Phoebe’s question. “Chris hasn’t even turned one yet.”
“Maybe not Chris, no, but Wyatt might.” Phoebe said, and suddenly a memory got triggered in Piper’s mind.
“Oh… He’ll remember it.” She mumbled to herself and, when everyone turned to look at her strangely, she added: “Do you remember what Future Wyatt said when we summoned him here? When he saw Chris? He asked us if this was before or after Chris swallowed the marble.”
“Oh my god, you’re right! He did say that!” Phoebe sucked in a breath as realization dawned on her.
“But hey, that also means he’ll be okay, right? Wyatt seemed fine when he was here.” Paige said.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Piper said and nodded her head thoughtfully. Then she sighed. “I wish he would have told us a little bit more about that marble though. I feel like I aged a couple of years today.”
“I wish we’d asked him more about Chris. I want to know if he’s alright in the changed future… if he’s happy.” Leo chimed in with a sad look in his eyes as he stared at his youngest son. “I wanted to ask Wyatt about it, but I wasn’t sure whether or not he knew about Chris time traveling – whether or not we decided to tell them about it in the future.”
“I’m sure Chris will grow up to be a much happier young man than he was when he came here.” Piper reassured her husband. “And you know why?”
“Why?” Leo asked.
“Because he has a very protective and good older brother who will do anything for him. He has a loving dad who is present and caring every day of his life and, if all goes well, a mom who lives way past his fourteenth birthday.” Piper said, blinking back tears.
“And don’t forget he also has two amazing aunts who will spoil him rotten!” Paige added while Phoebe eagerly nodded in agreement next to her.
Leo nodded his head slowly – then the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile.
“Maybe we should put the marbles away though. Just until the boys are a little older.”
Piper huffed.
“They’ll never be allowed to play with those deathtraps ever again!” She swore.
Chris made a noise, so Piper put a hand on the back of the baby’s neck and gently shushed him. Chris settled down again with a content sigh. Piper tightened her hold of him.
Sometimes she forgot that evil beings weren’t the only things in this world that could hurt her kids. But Piper would do everything in her power - every single day for as long as she lived - to make sure that her boys lived to see another day.
_ CHARMED _
It had been a couple of weeks since Wyatt had returned from the past - after having been summoned by the younger version of his mother. It was still hard for him to wrap his head around it all but, aside from the fact that a demon had tried to turn him evil, it had been very exciting to meet the past selves of his family. And geez, baby Chris had been about the cutest little thing Wyatt had ever seen! He’d told Chris as much the moment he was back by his brother’s side, which had earned him an eyeroll but also a fond smile from his younger brother.
Chris had wanted to know every detail about Wyatt’s trip to the past. Time travel had always fascinated the youngest Halliwell brother – sometimes to the point where Wyatt worried it was becoming an unhealthy obsession for Chris. But his brother had seemed genuinely interested in everything Wyatt had told him, laughing when Wyatt mentioned the shock on their dad’s face when he’d showed up in the past, and showing concern when Wyatt talked about turning evil.
“But you’re okay now, right?” Chris had asked with a pensive look on his face. “No residual thoughts about world domination or anything?”
Wyatt had laughed at that, although the seriousness in Chris’ voice and expression had made him answer sincerely.
“I’m good, Chris.” Wyatt had replied and had put a reassuring arm around his brother’s shoulders. The double-meaning of his words hadn’t been lost on either one of them. “I promise.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re back, man.”
“Me too.” Wyatt agreed and had returned the soft smile Chris had given him.
Speaking of his brother, Chris was currently fast asleep on the old couch in the living room of the manor. His head was propped up on a couple of throw cushions and his hands were folded underneath his left cheek, while his sock clad feet lay spread out across Wyatt’s lap. On the TV screen in front of them, the credits rolled from the movie they’d been watching. A few feet away from them, slumped in an armchair, their dad was snoring lightly.
“It’s always the same with these two.” Wyatt exchanged an amused smile with his mom while she covered his sleeping brother with a blanket. Dad and Chris could never seem to stay awake when they were watching movies together.
“Yeah, and in a second your dad will wake up and claim he watched the entire movie.” His mom said with a roll of her eyes which made Wyatt grin. She turned off the TV and, just like predicted, Leo stopped snoring and blinked his eyes open.
“Did you like the movie, Dad?” Wyatt asked innocently, trying to hide a smile.
“Wha-? Oh yes, yes I did.” His dad claimed, cleared his throat, and sat up straight in his chair.
“That’s very impressive, Leo, considering you watched half of the movie from behind closed eyelids.” His mom said drily.
“I did no such thing!” His dad argued – then cowered a bit under his wife’s sharp look. “Alright, alright, maybe a little bit then. Can you blame me though? I was up at six this morning, blowing up two dozen balloons for your son’s birthday party.”
“I’m sure Chris appreciates the effort.” Wyatt chuckled.
“He better. Well, I’m off to bed. Goodnight honey.” Leo rose from the armchair, kissed Piper on the cheek, and then went on to hug Wyatt. “I’ll see you in the morning, son.”
“Goodnight Dad.”
The former whitelighter slash Elder let go of his oldest – then bent down and placed a kiss on top of Chris’ unruly mop of hair.
“Night, kiddo. Happy birthday.” Their dad whispered. He looked melancholic for a moment as he stared at Chris – then he seemed to shake it off and smiled softly before he walked upstairs.
As always, they had been celebrating Chris’ birthday at their parents’ house. Birthday celebrations were sacred to the Halliwell family and had been so as long as Wyatt could remember. He’d heard the story about how his parents had been forced to cancel Chris’ first birthday party (like a million times) and it was like their mom had tried to compensate for that ever since then. First and foremost, it was mandatory for them to spend their birthdays at the manor where their mother could fuss over them – no matter how old they got. All the aunts, uncles and cousins had been there earlier in the day to celebrate Chris. After the guests had left, they had ended the night peacefully in the living room, just the four of them - watching a movie of Chris’ choice. The movie night had become a tradition whenever one of them turned a year older.
“I’ll orb him to bed in a minute.” Wyatt told his mom.
“To his room, Wyatt – not to the apartment.” His mom reminded him. It didn’t matter that they could just orb in for breakfast first thing in the morning – Piper liked when they stayed the night at the manor.
“I know, Mom.”
“Atta boy.” She kissed his cheek. “Goodnight, angel.”
She was about to leave when Wyatt spoke up again.
“Hey Mom?” He asked. She stopped and turned around, looking at him questioningly. “Do you remember when Chris swallowed the marble?”
Piper blew out a breath. She sat down on the edge of the coffee table while nodding her head.
“I do. And I’ve always known you did too.” She responded.
“Because I told you about it when you summoned me to the past?”
“Yeah.” She smiled softly. “Did that just happen to you? You didn’t tell us.”
“I know. I’ve only gotten around to tell Chris so far.” Wyatt said, glancing at his sleeping brother. “And I didn’t want his birthday to be all about me.”
“You know, the day I summoned you to the past was the day I realized my boys would grow up to be such handsome young men.” She winked at him.
Wyatt’s lips lifted in a small smile, but it quickly faded away. He cleared his throat.
“Mom, it… it was my fault.” Wyatt said quietly, gaze drifting to his feet while he waited for his mom’s reaction.
“No, it was not your fault. It was that demon… What was his name? Oh, Vicus! It was his fault that you…” Piper started when Wyatt interrupted her.
“No, not that. The marble. It was my fault.”
Piper closed her mouth and looked at her son with confusion.
“What do you mean?” She wanted to know.
“I… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t think it would…”
“Wyatt.” His mom said and he peered nervously up at her caring face. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Wyatt clenched his eyes shut and sighed heavily. How did you tell your mom that you almost killed your little brother? Wyatt’s vision became misty as he reopened them.
“I ah… I gave Chris the marble that he swallowed. I just wanted him to play with me – I swear I didn’t mean to hurt him. I would never – “
“Aw, honey…” Piper crouched down in front of him. She grabbed his hands and squeezed them reassuringly while Wyatt tried to blink back tears. “Have you been carrying that guilt all those years?”
Wyatt nodded. He didn’t know why the memories of that day stood out so clearly in his mind. Maybe it was because he had been the reason why everyone had been so upset that day – the reason why Chris had almost died. Even though his aunt Phoebe had tried to shield him from what was happening, Wyatt could still remember his dad’s desperate pleading and his mom’s cries of despair as baby Chris had lain unmoving, unbreathing.
“Wyatt.” His mom squeezed his hands again. Wyatt shook himself back to the present and stared into his mother’s warm brown eyes. “You listen to me now. You did nothing wrong, you hear me? You were practically a baby yourself – you could not have known what would happen when you gave your brother that marble, okay? The only thing you need to remember about that day is the fact that you saved Chris.”
“But I -”
“No. No buts. You saved your little brother. That’s the only thing that matters.” She gently caressed his cheek and smiled when Wyatt leant into the touch. “You’re a wonderful big brother, Wyatt.”
As if on cue, Chris stirred a bit - mumbling uneasily in his sleep. Two hands simultaneously reached over and settled on top of the blanket until Chris calmed underneath their touch and his breathing evened out once more. Wyatt exchanged a smile with his mom.
“See? A wonderful big brother.”
“Thanks Mom.” Wyatt said softly. “I guess you're right.”
“I am. Don’t ever doubt it.” She said before she stood up and embraced him lovingly. “Goodnight, sweetie.”
“Goodnight Mom.”
They let go of each other. Wyatt watched his mom’s retreating back as she walked upstairs to join his dad. He released a deep breath, and, with it, Wyatt let go of the guilt he’d been caring on his shoulders for so many years. Afterwards, his heart felt so much lighter. Wyatt then looked down at his brother’s sleeping form – smiling as he noticed Chris drooling into his pillow. He couldn’t wait to tease Chris about it in the morning. For now though, it was time for bed.
Wyatt put a hand on Chris’ leg and orbed them to his brother’s old room. After checking the surroundings for any potential danger, Wyatt made sure Chris was properly settled in his bed before he turned to walk to his own childhood room. Wyatt had just cracked the door open and was about to exit the room when his brother’s soft voice stopped him.
“Wy…” Chris muttered sleepily.
“Shh. Yeah, it’s just me. Go back to sleep, Chris.” Wyatt whispered.
“’kay.” Chris mumbled without opening his eyes. Wyatt smiled affectionately. Chris had always trusted him blindly – had always known Wyatt would keep him safe. The feeling was mutual. That hadn’t changed now that they were both adults.
“Sleep tight, Chris.” Wyatt whispered.
Maybe he was a good big brother after all.
THE END