A/N: My first (and probably last) Chris revelation fic.
Piper is walking down the stairs when it happens. A basket with clean clothes rests on her hip, freshly washed and still warm. Normally, she folds the shirts and jeans in her bedroom, but Wyatt is playing downstairs with his toys and she doesn't feel like tearing him away from them just so she can watch him.
The short walk from the laundry room and back to her baby boy gives her the time she needs to ponder the chaos of the last few weeks.
The stranger that had been more or less living at the house was far more complicated than any of them had suspected. He was young, younger than any of them had guessed, but very much involved in the war against her only child.
That part hadn't really sunk in yet. Wyatt, who was arguably the most powerful witch in the world would somehow turn into the evil force that rules the planet in the future.
Would she really fail as a mother, or was she not around in the future? Would she go with death without a fight, leaving her son behind like her mother did to her? And where was Leo? The guy was immortal and an elder, not really material for the father of the source.
Chris, who was barely out of his teens, was the one sent back to save the world. What adult would be stupid enough to sent a boy to rescue Wyatt from himself? Couldn't they have sent someone the sisters at least knew, someone with experience?
That was not right. Chris was many things, but inexperienced wasn't one of them. He was scarily resourceful, with witches and demons alike. The boy seemed the weave a social net with every magical creature that he encountered on his trips to the underworld and upstairs.
That was probably Bianca's influence she pondered. The sister's time with Cole had definitely helped with their never-ending battle against evil. Funny, she thought only Halliwells fell in love with demons.
The thought stopped her in her tracks, the laundry basket slipping out of her grip and rolling down the last stair. Only Halliwells…
Piper shakes her head with a smile on her face, scolding herself for being so silly, sighing at the scattered clothes.
Once everything is back on her hip she makes her way to the kitchen, stopping by Wyatt's spot on the carpet to place a kiss on his head. He smiles at her and shows off his brand-new firetruck.
"I just had the weirdest idea," she tells Wyatt, "that Chris was family."
Her son looks at her and reaches for her offered hand. Piper is not sure what the look is supposed to mean, but she knows that Wyatt trusts the time-traveler. Somehow, she trusts his judgement more than her own these days.
They walk to the kitchen together, and she lets Wyatt help her take the cookies out off the oven. Piper takes the time to babble on and on about every subject she can think up. From their trip this weekend to the last time they saw his father, making sure to banish Chris out off the conversation.
It's a good thing too, because the man in question orbs in behind her and moves to the sink to wash his hands. Piper refuses to ask him what kind of slime that is, offers him a cookie instead.
"Thanks, Piper," says the time traveler. He is already grabbing two pots and opening the potions cabinet with his unoccupied hand, munching on his snack with the other.
He is getting scarily thin, she notices. She knows it's because he is working harder than ever, trying to distance himself from his fiancee's death. Her family has been letting him do his thing, watching their Whitelighter closely, but assisting as little as they can get away with.
She suddenly feels guilty for leaving him alone. Her idea might have been ridiculous, but he does know her family in the future, and from the way he already knew his way around the house, he knows them well.
She grabs the left-overs from breakfast, which he missed, and gathers them on a plate. Piper shoves him onto a chair and hands him the food, snatching a croissant for Wyatt.
"Piper, " he protests, rising and moving back to his potions.
"Listen, young man," she says, shaking her finger in the most threathening way she can, "You need to eat before you faint while you're vanquishing demons. So eat the food and let me finish this."
She doesn't think she'll actually get away with ordering him to do anything, but he looks properly chastised and turns to his lunch.
She looks at the potion, familiar with the recipe. "You just finished step six, right?" she asks for confirmation. He nods.
They work and eat in pass while the food disappears from its plate and the potion bubbles noisily. The time traveler eventually stands up to retrieve the milk from the fridge and pours a glass for her son without being asked.
She washes her hands and lets the potion rest a couple of minutes, folding her clothes while she waits for the last step. She gets carried away, and forgets her last ingredient, but sees Chris throw it in instead.
Normally she would let this go, after all, Chris seems to be brilliant with potions, but there is a catch this time.
The last ingredient is not part of the original recipe, and only exists in her head. It is not written down anywhere, and the first piece of the puzzle clicks in her mind.
"I taught you how to make potions, didn't I?"
Chris looks up, only slightly startled. He doesn't bother covering this one up, knowing he's been caught. "Yeah, how did you know?"
"The last ingredient is my recipe, I haven't told anyone else yet."
He considers mentioning that she should assume that she actually added her step to the Book of Shadows in the future, but knows it to be untrue. He's the only one she taught that step, even Wyatt doesn't know it. Chris doesn't know why that is, but he likes sharing this secret with his mom, just like he knows every secret cooking recipe she ever thought up.
Piper's youngest son is the one that takes over cooking for the whole family when she dies, and he itches to ask her to cook with him sometime. He doesn't though, knowing that getting close to her again will get them all killed.
So he nods in defeat, a part of him wants her to know this, wants her to realize that they were close in the future, feel a little bit more accepted.
He bottles the potion and looks ready to orb away, stopped at the last moment by Piper's voice.
"Stop by for dinner, alright?"