Disclaimer:

"Charmed" and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.

Author's Note:

So this has been so much fun to write. It's insane how a little filler piece blossomed, but here we are on the sixth chapter. Actually this will be a prequel. Every time I watch my DVD I spot nuances that can be creatively exploited. At the top of HSR Piper has to be at least 3 months pregnant. Three months not consumed with demonic matters, which I believe gives me some time to play the puppeteer in their lives on paper. If you take the time to read and enjoy it please review it for me. If you take the time and don't enjoy it please tell me why, writers only improve with constructive feedback.

Hello Mother

Epilogue to Courtship of Wyatt's Father, Prequel

So Chris is back and Paige is off to take Piper and Leo to Gideon for healing. Chris and Phoebe are left alone. There are clearly questions and quick decisions to be made yet we we're never privy to the happenings. Leo had to say goodbye to Piper and Wyatt before he left magic school to head to the bridge. Just what did those unwritten scenes look like? Here's my best guess!

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"Come on. You're my ride I guess." Phoebe walked over to Chris after the departure of her sisters and brother-in-law.

He was mostly stunned by the last few minutes. Feeling like he was floating or outside of his self seemed to go as quickly as it came and all of a sudden he was in this alley. Thrilled of course to be "back" at all he still had plenty of questions. But he guessed they could at least wait until he was safely at the Manor.

Orbs smoothly filled the conservatory and when they were fully formed Chris began pacing back and forth in front of Phoebe's motionless body. She was exhausted and in a great deal of pain. Getting her pain prescription filled was priority one after a hot shower and a nap. She would have gone to get healed too, but there was a pesky record at the hospital and if she didn't show up to get her stitches removed there would be too many questions. Thinking about questions she figured her nephew had a slew. And she wasn't in the right frame of mind to deal with his particular neurosis.

"Look I know you have questions and frankly so do I, but the fact that you're here certainly answers some of the more pressing ones so can we please just be happy about that for now."

"I don't think we can. Sure I'm in no danger of disappearing or being half-fireman, but there are a lot of holes in this story." Chris sat down at the wrought iron table in the corner of the room. Phoebe joined him hoping against hope that this conversation wouldn't be too long. But she gave up on that idea when she heard orbs followed by her baby sister's voice.

"Phoebe. Chris. There you are. For a minute I thought you might still be in the alley. What's up?" She sensed the energy in the room and being a quick study deduced an issue… present or brewing.

Chris started right in. "Well for one thing is my mom really pregnant and is that the reason I'm back or is it something else?"

"Sweetie I think your parents are the only ones that can answer that for you. Speaking of which any idea how we're gonna tell them about this." Paige was in a very practical frame of mind.

"Why start telling them now? You didn't want to tell them when I was in the midst of fading away yesterday and what now you're burdened by too much knowledge?" Suffice it to say Chris was feeling some resentment about a great many things. He couldn't believe that his parents were still gone. Healing did not take that long. Why weren't they back from magic school with Wyatt? And why did his aunts assume so much about everything. When would his parents start to think of him and treat him as a priority? Okay, the last one was unfair, he figured, only because technically he was still just their white lighter and wouldn't warrant that much consideration.

Phoebe rotated her neck and rubbed her head. "You're kidding me right? We're getting attitude from the kid who single handedly decimated his parent's marriage only to decide in the eleventh hour that, oh, that was a bad idea because now I might not be born! Look I need some sleep and some aspirin, at least, before I can deal with anymore of this." She got up and headed toward the stairs. Pausing to look her wayward nephew in eye she said, "be back this afternoon. Your mom puts Wyatt down around three. We are going to tell her the truth you can be here or not the choice is yours."

Paige and Chris just stared at one another neither saying a word. A decision had been made only the details of how were left and Chris figured they didn't need him for that, so without further comment he orbed out to shower, think, and hopefully sleep.

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"You can come closer you know. There's no need to hover." Piper was watching Wyatt in the nursery play with little Abby, the psychic. Leo was standing in the doorway watching them both, his face reflecting every bit of the agony he felt about what he was going to do.

"I just wanted to burn this image in my mind one last time. This picture will be one of my happiest memories. Knowing you and I found each other again and that together we watched our son playing. I'll always cherish this Piper."

Finally turning around, Piper did so with an ominous sense of foreboding. "Why would this be the last time Leo?"

"Come out here." He extended his hand to her and led her into the hallway. Unbeknownst to them Gideon was lingering cloaked in his invisibility shield.

"I meant what I said earlier. I have to leave. My holding on has put you and Wyatt in direct danger that was intended for me. How would I live with myself if either of you got hurt again? I couldn't." He pulled her into a tight embrace. "Tell the girls how much I love them too and how much I'm going to miss them both. I'll always be watching, but Chris is your white lighter now. I finally trust him to do the job and I have to let go."

Tears were streaming down Piper's cheeks and she silently tried to catch her breath. Leo was holding her so close it was like he was attempting to absorb her essence.

Looking up at him she managed one word. "When?"

"As soon as we're done here and I spend some time with Wyatt. There are things I want to say to him as a father and so many I'll never get to say."

"This isn't fair." Piper wiped at her eyes and pulled away from him.

"I know it isn't, but it is destiny. And we've never been able to fight or ignore that whether it was for better or worse." Ever practical and ever the angel Piper knew Leo made sense but her heart was breaking. He had taken her pain away the first time he left and it almost destroyed her and a city. When she'd learned what he'd done it ultimately destroyed them, which made what she was thinking the craziest notion ever, because in this moment all she wanted was for him to remove the aching in her chest.

"Go be with your son. I'll get his things together and I need to find Gideon and thank him for all his help, again." Piper pushed away from Leo, wiping her eyes one last time she gently touched his arm and walked away heading for the great hall.

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Back at the club Chris was wrestling with some serious mixed emotions. Phoebe had been both determined and unyielding in her assertion that Piper and Leo find out about him today. But Chris had no idea what he would actually say to them. So much time had passed so many things had been said. When he was pressed for time and had the image of never existing weighing on his mind night and day telling them seemed both practical and necessary. Now, he wasn't so sure. His birthday by all calculations was almost another year away. He just needed to finish what he'd started and be gone before he was born. Yeah, somehow he guessed it wouldn't be anywhere near that simple. Plus, portals were a tricky business, as he had found out months ago rolling down a hill being chased by a dinosaur. If he needed the power of three in the end to get back to his time and then Piper found out about him. That would be a disaster. And there would be hell to pay. So, let them tell mom and dad, he thought, why should I be there, they'll just want answers I can't give. Chris was rationalizing and procrastinating. Both were exercises in futility. He got up off the couch and headed to the shower. He had kept this secret and stayed much longer than he intended and somehow he had lost control of the situation. The best way to get it back was to deal with things head on.

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Paige tossed and turned while Phoebe slept and slept. Just when she had gotten used to the idea of Chris as her nephew and then all the drama with trying to get him conceived now she had to drop all this on Piper. How was it that Phoebe was sleeping? She had showered, written in her journal, read, listened to music and still sleep eluded her. What she wanted to do was pick up the phone and call Richard. But that of course was a no-no. Richard couldn't deal with magic and that's what her whole life was about. Keeping in touch just made it harder on the both of them, so after three false start attempts at dialing she abandoned that thought. Okay Paige, she self talked, close your eyes and concentrate on sleeping. You know how to do this. You've done it before.

Then she heard the door to the nursery close and Pipers footsteps heading toward her bedroom. She was not doing this without Phoebe so if Piper wanted or needed to talk it would have to be after their sister woke up. She pulled the covers over her head and listened as the door creaked open then closed. Paige turned back over lying on her back looking up at the ceiling willing Phoebe to wake up soon.

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Piper went into her bathroom and drew a bath. She had put Wyatt in his room and he was playing and having a bottle in his crib. Both of her sisters were asleep and Leo was gone. Taking a bath seemed like her only choice.

After soaking in the water for half an hour she headed downstairs to make some lunch and clean up the mess that had to be left from Wyatt's birthday the day before. She could only imagine how that chocolate from the strawberries had hardened on various surfaces. Whew! She should have been more tired but every time she sat still or paused for more than a minute her mind was flooded with thoughts of Leo. And that wasn't healthy or helpful.

While Piper took to the kitchen and all its chaos Paige was sneaking to Phoebe's room so they could map out exactly what they wanted to say. It was already one o'clock and time would just keeping moving until Chris was back to say congratulations… it's a boy! Opening her sister's door she found Phoebe sitting at her vanity putting on make-up and affixing a red rose clip to her hair.

"Let me guess you're feeling better." Paige announced from the doorway.

"Come in and close the door. I heard Piper downstairs. And yes I feel much better. I'm still picking up that prescription though. So, have you had any inspirations as to how we should break this news to her?"

"That's what I'm here for. Do you think he'll come back?"

"He better or else." Phoebe sounded more sure than she was actually feeling. Chris had been and would probably continue to be a wild card in this situation.

"Well, for what it's worth I think he'll show. What I'm wondering is where is Leo? Since we know what they did last night I mean I assumed that meant they were going to reconcile."

"I don't know. But Leo or not we tell Piper about Chris today."

"I agree. Delaying it will only make it harder to do. I'm going to get changed."