"Piper, what are you doing over there?" Paige inquired of her sister. "Scrying," came Piper's reply. "Oh." Paige answered as she went back to the home-birthing book she had borrowed from Piper. The silence in the room was broken a few minutes later by the sound of Garrett's crying in the dining room.
"Paige, can you get him, please?" Piper called distractedly. "Sure," Paige replied. She laid the book aside, extended her arms, and said. "Garrett." Seconds later, the baby orbed into her waiting arms. Piper turned and gave her baby sister a horrified look.
"Oops." Paige said sheepishly. "Don't kill me," she pleaded as she rose from the couch. Then it was Paige's turn to look horrified as Piper's expression changed to one of fury. "Oh, my God!" Paige gasped. She turned and ran from the room with Garrett in her arms and Piper tailing her, screaming. "What the hell were you thinking, Paige?!" Piper shouted. "Garrett is a human being, not the Book of Shadows! Yeah, you'd better run, 'cause when I catch you, I'm gonna blow you to pieces!"
As Paige got halfway up the staircase, she found herself surrounded by Garrett's protective force field. She glanced back over her shoulder in time to see Piper's explosive power bounce off of the barrier and take out the window in the stairwell. Piper shielded her face with her arms while growling angrily. "Dammit, Paige! You get your ass back here right now!"
"Uh-oh. Mommy's pissed!" Paige said to Garrett as she began to climb the staircase faster.
Paige made it safely to her room with Garrett before she had to stop and catch her breath. She laid Garrett on her bed and then turned to look into Piper's brown eyes, which were flashing with anger. "Piper, I'm sorry." Paige began quietly. "I just wanted to see if I could actually orb him to me."
"Just don't let me see you do that again." Piper warned. "No fair doing field practice on my kid."
"I promise, Piper." Paige vowed. "I just wanted to see if I could orb something other than an inanimate object... I wanted to start out small, and since we don't have any pets, I tried it out with Garrett, because he's small."
Piper got a slight grin on her face as she saw the humor in the situation. "I don't know where you get your ideas, Paige." She stated quietly. Garrett chose that moment to remind his mother and aunt that he was still there by letting out a loud wail. "He's got a messy diaper." Paige announced. "Yeah? Well as punishment for your little orbing trick, you get to change it." Piper stated. "I guess that's fair." Paige sighed resignedly. "Come with Auntie Paige, Garrett. I've been elected to change your diaper." Paige smiled at her nephew's happy cooing as she picked him up from her bed.
"You love your Auntie Paige, don't you, my little Wiccan angel?" Piper asked as she chucked her son under the chin. At the sound of Piper's voice, Garrett rewarded her with a wide, toothless grin. "He's such a happy little guy." Paige commented to Piper as they walked to the nursery together. "I only hope my baby is this happy... Cute would be good, too, but I'm not holding my breath."
"I wouldn't either, considering it will be your kid." Piper teased. "At least with Dave's genes, my niece or nephew will have a prayer."
"Listen, Peeper," came Paige's retort. "The only reason Garrett's cute is because he looks like Leo."
"Ooh, touché." Piper replied with a smile. "You remind me more and more of Prue as time goes by, Missy Paige. She and I were like this; we could royally insult one another and still laugh about it. Phoebe gets offended too easily because she worships at the altar of the literal."
"Amen to that." Paige giggled, as she laid Garrett down on the changing table. She'd be swearing at you and/or crying by now."
"I think you and Prue would have gotten along really well." Piper commented. "Both of you have Mom's stubborn streak, or she had." Piper corrected herself. "I still miss her sometimes... Mom and Grams, too."
"I still miss my parents, too." Paige replied softly. "A part of me always will; especially now that I'm going to have a child of my own... I realize we can summon Mom to be here like she was when Garrett was born, but I'd give anything to have my adoptive parents there. After all, they're the ones who raised me. It would mean so much."
"I know, honey." Piper replied gently as she rubbed Paige's back. "At least I know you'll be there." Paige stated as she closed the tapes on the clean diaper and turned to face Piper. "You can count on that." Piper promised as she embraced Paige tightly. At that moment, Paige's baby kicked within her. "She moved." Paige breathed in awe. "She?" Piper asked with a slight grin. "Are we getting our hopes up, Missy Paige?"
"Yes." Paige admitted in a whisper. "I even have a name picked out if it truly is a girl."
"What about if it's a boy?" Piper questioned. "I'll think of one before then." Paige stated defensively.
"So what will my niece's name be?" Piper inquired. "Are you sure you're ready for this one? It's a "P" name." Paige said.
"Hit me with it, sis." Piper answered with a smile. "Peyton Gweneth." Paige answered. "Peyton Gweneth Matthews." Piper repeated. "Or will it be Matthews-Halliwell?"
"Just Matthews." Paige stated. "Since I have a different last name than you and Phoebe, I don't want her questioning me someday if I give her the last name of Halliwell."
"Makes perfect sense." Piper stated quietly. "I like that combination of names, with or without the 'Halliwell' anyhow. Last name or no, you'll forever be one of us, Paige. We love you."
"I love you guys, too," Paige whispered.
After clearing her throat, she continued speaking. "I was going to call her Phaedra Elen, but Dave vetoed that one when I asked him. Peyton was the one name we agreed on for a girl. I chose the middle name of Gweneth because it means 'white, blessed one.' Since she'll be part witch and part whitelighter like Garrett and me, I thought it was an appropriate choice," Paige finished. "If I'm not mistaken, Phaedra means something similar, correct?" Piper asked. "Yes, it means 'the bright one,' and Elen means 'light.' " Paige answered.
"For your baby, that would be very appropriate, I have to say, Paige." Piper replied. "You have to start thinking of the consequences before you act, though; your brains will get all of us killed, otherwise."
Paige rolled her eyes in response to that and made a face at Piper. "You should talk about thinking of consequences, Piper. Now I'll have to cast the vanishing spell I've gotten so good at to fix the window you blew up with your temper."
"Fine, turn it around on me, Paige. Be stubborn and don't listen to your wise big sister who's trying to help you." Piper remarked over her shoulder as she turned and left the room. "I will!" Paige muttered under her breath.
She turned to Garrett, then, and said quietly, "Your mommy's nuts sweetie." Garrett cooed and kicked his feet in response. "I love you so much, little guy." Paige said as she scooped him up and kissed him. "Come with Auntie Paige, buddy. I'm going to show you at an early age to clean up your Mommy's messes, 'cause believe me, there's going to be a lot if she keeps letting her temper get in the way of things."
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"Okay, here we are, sweetie. " Paige said as she stood with Garrett in front of the gaping hole where the window had been. Now listen carefully...hang around Mommy awhile, and this will probably be the first spell you learn to cast on your own. " Paige paused for a breath and then spoke. "Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to be unseen." Garrett looked on wide-eyed as the window repaired itself. "See little guy? That's how we clean up after Mommy's temper gets the best of her." Paige remarked as she kissed the top of Garrett's head. "Very funny, Paige," came Piper's reply. "Well, it's true." Paige stated.
"Gimme my kid. It's time for his bath." Piper said with a snort, as the humor in Paige's words overcame her. "See, you're laughing." Paige pointed out as she gave Garrett to his mother. "Yeah, yeah. Find a new hobby, other than picking on me, huh?" Piper retorted over her shoulder as she went up the stairs. "But it's such a fun hobby!" Paige called in protest to her sister's retreating back. "I don't know how I'll be able to give it up."
"Learn how, and do it quickly, if you know what's good for you!" Piper's voice floated back. "Big sisters... They take the fun out of everything!" Paige moaned to no one in particular.
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