You have to fix this 2: Afterwards

Chapter 1

By teal-lover

Summary: After her trip to the future, Piper vows to build a better relationship with Chris. Things are going well, or so she thought—and she just has to make sure.

Rating: PG13, T

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, just borrowing, promise to give them back when done, don't get any money for this.

AN: This is a sequel of sorts to 'You have to fix this'. It's meant to be a short little story that I wrote during the adventures of invisibaby—sorry, I meant the season premiere of charmed. I'll give Piper the benefit of the doubt before I watch the tape—that just maybe—they'll learn how to treat poor little Chris. If not, then I'm doing another story and turning her (and her accomplice sisters) into the wicked witches :)

By the way, thank you to everyone who reviewed "You have to fix this." You guys are fabulous! And made me want to write this one. So this is for you:)

Emma15
da-DnA-dude
Nikki14u
connor
Martina
Nathy1000000
Sparkling Cherries
Victorious Light
Stony Angel
Alyssa Halliwell
IcantthinkofaFnick

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One year later…

Piper was sleeping deeply with her husband's arms wrapped around her. The unusual thunderstorm outside did nothing to rouse her from the peaceful slumber.

But it did arouse one of the manor's occupants who had never seen the likes of such a storm. Curled up in his toddler's bed, three-year-old Chris darted his terror-filled green eyes around the room as the lightening illuminated objects, creating menacing looking shadows. He clutched the blanket tightly and watched his brother's chest rise and fall in the telltale signs of sleep.

A thundering clap outside of the window startled him to no end, and he immediately orbed out. He arrived at the foot of his parent's bed looking from one figure to the other, finally deciding on the safety of his mother's arms. Running to her side, his tiny hands felt around in the dark to get her attention. He whispered lightly, "Mommy? Mommy?"

Piper thought she was dreaming when she heard the soft voice calling her, that is until she felt the tiny hands brush against her face. Instantly alert, she sat up to find the source of the voice. She stroked his hair back, "Baby, what's wrong?"

He fidgeted nervously as he lowered his head, but his eyes gleamed hopefully. "I'm scared, Mommy. Can I sleep with you?"

She smiled invitingly as she reached down to pick him up. "Of course you can, Sweetie." She couldn't help the smile that remained on her face as he settled in closely, clinging to her tightly while he finally relaxed and fell asleep. She watched him for another hour as she stroked his back and listened to him sighing contently as his breathing evened out. The way that things had turned out in the future, she couldn't believe that she could have missed out on things like this. And from the moment that she returned from her quick jaunt, she had done everything in her power to make certain that he knew how much she loved him.

He was extremely close with his father, but the fact that he chose her to comfort him when he was afraid, made her heart soar.

Before she drifted off, she noticed another set of blue-green eyes watching them both intently with a ghost of a smile. She returned the look before reaching over the little boy and linked her hand with his.

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Another year later…

Leo grabbed the dishtowel and dried his hands off after fixing the sink. He wandered into the sun room where his now six and four year old were playing rather quietly. Too quietly, he surmised. Wyatt was laying on the floor practicing his numbers for homework. He began to get nervous when he saw the open coloring book beside him, but no smaller child using it.

He scanned the room quickly, "Wyatt? Where's your brother?"

The small blonde looked up momentarily and closed his eyes in concentration. When he opened them again, he frowned in puzzlement as he answered his father. "Don't know. I can't sense him."

"WHAT! He was right here! I only left him for a few minutes." He turned around in a circle pulling on his hair and finally shouted for his sister-in-law. "Paige! Hurry, please!"

"What's wrong?" she answered before her orbs even began to reform.

"Chris is missing. I only left him for a few minutes while I fixed the sink, and Wyatt can't sense him."

Paige tried to sense him but was interrupted when the phone rang. She signaled for him to answer it while she tried once again to focus.

He picked up the receiver absently while his eyes were still glued to the younger woman. "Yeah?"

"Yeah? Is that any way to answer your dear wife?" she spoke into the phone with amusement.

He turned and stared at the receiver, "Oh, thank goodness, Piper. Chris is missing and Paige is trying to—"

"Uh, no he's not. He's here with me. Ask Paige to orb you guys over here—I'm at the club."

When he arrived, he stared in awe as Piper held their youngest son, tickling him while he giggled and tried to squirm out of her grasp.

Leo remained still, clearly upset. "Piper, what happened? I only left him for a few minutes."

"Well apparently, Chris went looking for more colorful crayons upstairs. But he couldn't find what he was looking for, so he started thinking about Wyatt's powers and how he could just make them. Somehow, in the logical mind of a four-year old, that led to him deciding that it would be 'cool' to have some of Wyatt's other powers and—"

Chris finally freed himself from Pipers arms and ran to his father, interrupting her explanation with one of his own excitedly. "And Daddy, guess what happened!" he said jumping up and down while he tugged on his shirt.

Leo's sour mood at having been scared out of his mind soon vanished as he stared down at the beaming bright-green eyes. He couldn't imagine how in the original timeline that he could ever forget about his youngest son and not have time for him, because at that moment, he realized that the little boy truly had him wrapped around his finger. He would just have to do his best to look stern when he reprimanded him for running off and scaring him half to death. He knelt down to eye level and asked him. "What happened, Champ?"

"I made a bubble!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Paige looked at the boy oddly as she cocked her head inquisitively, "A bubble?"

"Um hmm. A bubble like Wy's."

Her eyes lit up almost as much as his, "Wait, a shield?"

"Uh huh," he nodded as he stood back, squinting his eyes tightly in concentration. "See, watch," he added as a shield surrounded him suddenly, though unlike his brother's, his was tinged slightly green.

The little boy beamed proudly as everyone clapped and cheered, including his older brother, who he looked up to. As soon as he lowered it, Leo gathered him into his arms, his grin matching the wide one of the four year old.

They made their way over to Piper who sat on one of the chairs and continued her earlier explanation. "When he found he could do that, the first thing he thought of was coming to show mommy. Then he insisted I call you. I figured I'd better anyway since I'm sure he took off without telling you."

"Chris," Leo admonished warningly.

"I won't run off without telling you again, Daddy. I promise. Mommy said you'd be too worried."

Leo ruffled his shaggy brunette hair, "Ok, sport. Just don't ever do that again. You almost gave Daddy a heart attack, and now that Daddy's human, Daddy can't take the stress."

Though Chris didn't fully understand what his father meant, he got the feeling that he was making a joke out of something serious, so he giggled along with the adults.

Paige tilted her head in confusion as she watched the two boys run off to play together. "I don't get it, why couldn't Wyatt or I sense him?"

"Because neither of you were looking for him inside of a shield," Leo offered, then laughed as he observed the two boys continually running into each other with their shields up, then laughing heartily when they both bounced backwards off the other 'bubble'.

"Well, I guess that's one more thing they've got in common."

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Eight years later…

Piper yawned as she padded to her bathroom, wrapping her bathrobe around herself snugly to shake off the early Sunday morning chill. She couldn't believe she had slept in so late, but with all of the hard work she had put in this week at the club, she figured she had earned a bit of a break. Glancing at the clock, she frowned and wondered if her family had managed to scrounge up breakfast yet, but if not, they were just going to have to get a late start.

She headed downstairs, but the sounds and smells from the kitchen stopped her in her tracks.

"You think mom will like the breakfast?"

"She'll love it just because we all made it."

"No, Dad," her youngest continued, "I cook with Mom all the time, and that's not how she makes the pancakes."

"Yes it is," he argued with a hint of frustration. "I've watched her plenty of times. Now give me back the flour."

Chris shared a grin with his brother before turning to his father innocently. "Oookkkaay," he drawled out before flinging it toward his father 'accidentally', causing the bag to open and cover the man in the thick white powder. "Oops. Sorry, dad. It was an accident."

Leo popped open his blue-green eyes, which also happened to be the only part of his face not covered in flour, and glared at both of his sons trying to smother their laughter. "Yeah, sure it was." He grumbled as he moved to the sink to wipe his face off. While they were still behind him laughing, he grabbed the sink sprayer and soaked them both with a smirk. "So was that," he told them smugly with a hint of a challenge.

Piper peaked around the corner and had to cover her own mouth to contain her laughter as the two boys attacked their father with any and—and every--edible and messy object they could get their hands on. The kitchen floor was clearly soaked, as was everything else, as he aimed the sprayer at them in defense.

With a quiet giggle, she shook her head hearing the excited laughter and scurried back up the stairs unnoticed. Though they were clearly having a great time, she didn't want to be the one stuck cleaning it up.

About an hour later, Piper was relaxing in her bed and reading a book when she heard a soft knock. Knowing what her guys were up to, she hid her grin and did her best to look surprised. "Come in."

Wyatt entered first carrying a tray of all of her favorite breakfast foods (well her favorite if she had made it). "What's all this?"

Chris dived onto the bed, nestling himself under her arms as she scooted over and made room for him. He pointed to the tray proudly, "We made you breakfast."

Wyatt added, "Because you work so hard."

Piper cooed, causing the three to beam proudly, "Oh, how sweet and thoughtful. Awe, you three deserve a whole lot of kisses for that!" she grabbed both of her son's and smothered them with kisses as they squirmed and tried to get away. She wasn't offended because their reluctant grins told her that they secretly loved the attention. That and the fact that they could have orbed out at any time.

When they finally escaped her grasp and moved to the other side of the room, Chris insisted that she try the food, declaring how much effort they had put into making it from scratch.

She took a bite as they watched her like hawks for any sign of displeasure. Prepared for the worst, she found herself pleasantly surprised when it wasn't bad. Her youngest had clearly had his way with the ingredients, because the other two couldn't cook to save their lives. Chris was the one who had always helped her in the kitchen, and was becoming quite the little chef.

"It's delicious, thank you my two handsome little angels. Come here and let me give you some more kisses…" she threatened them teasingly, causing them both to whine her name before retreating hastily.

Since they had spent all of their remaining time cleaning up the kitchen, Leo hadn't gotten a chance to try their own handiwork. His was growling a bit as he sat down next to his wife. "How's it taste?"

She shoved the next bite into his mouth that was hanging open in anticipation. "Mmm. That is good. Oh, and Piper?"

"Mmm hmm?" she questioned absently while spooning another mouthful.

"I didn't get mine," he said leaning in with a suggestive wink while she swallowed and pushed her plate aside, muttering a blocking spell to keep any other visitors out…

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June 9th, four years later…

Piper sat in her office at the club while she made out the list for Chris's birthday party coming up in a few days. He was going to be sixteen, and she couldn't help the grin that crept into her features at the thought. It's been years since she managed to wrangle out of her father how old the original Chris was when she had died. And that date had passed two years ago without incident.

But her smile soon faded as she remembered her trip to the future on Leo's insistence fourteen years ago. Her son had looked to be about 19 or 20 then, and the Leo of that time had told her that both she and Wyatt had died 'just a few years ago'. Her heart began beating wildly and she found herself unable to concentrate. It wasn't that she was afraid of death for herself, but she was afraid for the life of her son, and of leaving Chris alone so young.

She had worked hard over the years building a better relationship with him, though once she finally opened her heart to him, it wasn't difficult. But she did have to be wary of any behaviors that could cause such indifference on his part in the future she visited.

One thing she changed immediately upon returning, was the nickname she had issued him as an infant. Everyone else had thought her nickname, 'peanut' was just a cute, affectionate term that she had used to bond with him. In reality, she thought his head was shaped like one when he was born. Years later, she still chided herself for the offensive title. Now, she only ever called him true affectionate terms like Honey, Sweetheart, or Angel. Though he had a fit if she did it within earshot of any of his friends.

She smiled lightly again before her thoughts once again drifted to her possible fate.

Piper stood up suddenly, her mind firmly made up. She was going back to see the outcome. She only hoped that fate would be kind to her and her family for the third time around.

TBC…

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