I know, I should be working on my incomplete fics, 'The Watcher's Crypt' and 'Chaos Theory', but I'm kind of stuck on those two. I have both the stories planned out to the end. I'm just having trouble filling in the details to my satisfaction. Rest assured, I will not abandon my stories.

In the meanwhile, I couldn't help but share this one. The idea had been floating around in my head for some time. I finally decided to put it on paper. I hope you all like it.

Summary: Familiars are spirits that guide, assist and watch over Wicca witches in a manner that is subtler than a white-lighter. This is a fluffy one-shot about how a beautiful Savanah cat named Mason became Chris and Wyatt's familiar. And also, how Chris got his nickname 'Kitten'.

Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed or any of its characters except the ones I make up. I do not intend to make profit out of this story.

Kittens

Seven-year-old Chris knew well that he wasn't supposed to be here but he simply couldn't help it. No more than half an hour ago he had visited this very grocery store with his mom and Wyatt. They had picked up all the ingredients for the tres leches cake his mom had promised to bake for his birthday. Piper had also promised him that she was going to let him help her with it. Chris might be the only kid in the world who was as much interested in baking the cake as in eating it. Piper was delighted that her peanut was most likely to inherit her cooking jeans and become a gourmet chef like her, one day.

But the cake would have to wait. Chris was here on a more important business. While returning to the car with his mom, he had heard some suspicious noises coming from the ally behind the grocery store. He had urged his mom to investigate. But Piper had flat out refused. She was definitely not going to wander into some back alley, looking for trouble (possibly the demonic kind), when she had her two kids to look after. She felt a pang of guilt, as it was possible that she was ignoring her duty as a good Wicca witch to help the innocents; but her family, especially her kids, came first. She had stuffed the groceries in the trunk of her car, made sure her kids were secure in their respective seats and driven off.

"What are you doing here? Mom is going to be so angry at you!" came sudden exclamation from behind and made Chris jump with a start. Fortunately, he had gained better control over his orbing and didn't instinctively orb on the spot.

"Shhh! Mom doesn't have to know. And it won't take long," Chris shushed his big brother and proceeded towards the ally behind the grocery store. He had to investigate the strange noise coming from there.

"But…" Wyatt tried to argue but Chris waived his hand and told him to keep it down. He knew they would get in huge trouble if any adult found out a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old sneaking around in dank allies. He had told his mom that he was orbing over next door to aunt Paige's house to play with Junior. He wasn't expecting his mission to take more than five minutes and his mom was not likely to go looking for him during that time. He had every intension to go to aunt Paige's to play with Junior, which meant, technically, he hadn't lied. If only Wyatt could mind his own business for once and not get them in trouble.

"Chris…" Wyatt hissed as the two came face to face to a homeless man. He had shaggy black hair that seemed to stick out at odd angles. His pale skin was covered with dirt and filth. He seemed to be the same age as uncle Henry but without the friendly smile. On the contrary, the man sneered at them. Wyatt wanted to orb the two of them home but he knew exposing magic to mortals would get them in even bigger trouble.

"What are you two squirts doing here?" The man hissed. Before Wyatt could speak, Chris stepped closer.

"What's that noise?" Chris ignored the man's question and asked his own. The man's green eyes seemed to sparkle from behind those weird round glasses. Wyatt was almost certain that he was a demon or something. But the man slowly turned around and moved one of his filthy boxes out of the way. The sight that greeted the boys was enough to make them forget the weird man and bring a smile to their faces.

"Her name is Helena," the man said as Chris approached. Lying there, on a dirty old pillow, was one of the most beautiful cats they had ever seen. She could have been almost twice as big as any regular cat and reminded them of some show they had watched on discovery channel with their uncle Henry. More importantly, She had four kittens snuggled up to her, apparently drinking milk. Fifth one, however, was much smaller and was struggling very hard to reach its mother. As Chris stepped a step closer, the smallest kitten looked up at him with its beautiful green eyes, not quite unlike Chris's own.

"Why's it not with his mommy like the rest?" Chris asked curiously.

"He's the runt of the litter. His name is Mason. He's not as strong as his brothers and sisters. He probably won't survive," the man answered carelessly. It was a rather morbid thing to say to a seven-year-old. Chris scowled at him.

"Why don't you help him?" He asked a bit angrily. He could see Wyatt was getting restless but he couldn't just ignore Mason. His little heart broke at the sight of the lonely kitten.

"If you are so worried about him, why don't you take care of him?" the man asked gruffly.

"May be I will," Chris said as he carefully picked up the little fur ball and held him close to his chest.

"Chris, you can't…" Wyatt's protest was cut short by Chris.

"Mason's my innocent, Wy. I'm going to help him," the half elder said resolutely and walked away with the kitten. Huffing with exasperation, Wyatt followed. The two orbed home with Mason as soon as they were out of sight of any mortals. The homeless man smiled and dissolved in golden lights along with his cat as soon as the three were gone.

"You can't keep him. What if Mom finds out?" Wyatt was still trying to convince his brother that it was not a good idea to hide a kitten in their room. Their mom would hear the kitten meowing and they'll be in big trouble. He was sure he was going to get part of the punishment even though he had absolutely nothing to do with Chris's plan to raise the kitten. Well, not absolutely nothing. Chris had convinced him to get some milk from the kitchen. Piper had been happy that her eldest was asking for milk and not some sugary drink. If only she knew that the milk was for a kitten and not himself. Of course the thought of tattling on his brother never crossed his mind.

"I'll make sure he's quiet. He's a good boy," Chris said as he placed the small shallow plate filled with milk in front of mason. Instinctively, Mason began licking and slurping the milk offered to him.

"If mom finds out, it was all your idea," Wyatt had to make it clear. He knew he was going to get a timeout if Piper found out but he would like to keep the duration to a minimum. Chris rolled his eyes and nodded in acceptance.

The rest of the day was a blur. Chris had shown his new friend to his cousins, Junior and Prue. The two were just as excited. They had also promised not to tell anyone about Mason. The kids had recently watched a film called 'The Lion King' and they had fun playing and pretending that Mason was Simba. With his spotted fur and almost golden color, Mason resembled a Cheetah cub more than a Lion cub but that didn't really matter.

"Wnaaaw…" The weird combination of hissing and meowing Mason was making, woke Chris up right away. After all the trouble he had gone through to keep him hidden while his mom and dad tucked him in, Chris didn't want them to find out about Mason after being rudely awakened by him screaming like a mad cat.

"Shhh. What's the matter, buddy? Did you have a bad dream?" Chris began soothing Mason as he snuggled him close to his chest. Perhaps he was cold, sleeping on the sheets instead of underneath them. Chris did his best to calm the kitten down but it didn't seem to work as well. He had stopped screeching but was still restless. Chris decided to ask for his big brother for advice. Trying hard not to make any sound, he walked over to Wyatt's bed. Thankfully they shared a room and Chris didn't have to open and close the door, which would have certainly woken up their mother.

"Wy…" Chris said poking his sleeping brother in the chest with his index finger. Being a heavy sleeper, Wyatt had blissfully slept through Mason's hissy fit.

"Go to sleep…" Wyatt grumbled when Chris poked him for the third time.

"Mason had a bad dream," Chris told his big brother. When Wyatt failed to respond properly, Chris shoved him away and made himself comfortable on his big brother's bed, his kitten securely in his little arms.

"mmpgrh," Wyatt made noise of protest as Chris pulled more than half of his sheets to cover himself and Mason. The kitten was still awake and restless but wasn't making any noise. Chris began drifting back to sleep when Mason cried once again. This time, it was loud enough to wake up Wyatt and quite possibly, their parents.

"Oh o," Chris said as the door to their room burst open and Piper entered in a fighting stance, looking for the demon while Leo rushed to the boys to make sure they were OK.

"Christopher Perry Halliwell, what were you thinking? You know better than to go out of the manor without adult supervision…" Piper went straight from worried mom to angry mom in moments as soon as she realized what had happened. Chris winced a little as one of mason's claws scratched his hand. Accidentally, he let go of the kitten, which ran to the end of the bed and tumbled down off the edge.

"Mason…" Chris gasped, worried for his new friend. Thankfully, Mason had instinctively landed on his feet. Chris let out a sigh of relief. This was enough to interrupt Piper's rant. Before she could resume, Leo interjected.

"When did we put the hat rack in the boy's room?" He asked glancing towards where Mason was heading. Piper turned around in confusion as well. At that very moment, Mason scratched the base of the rack. His hiss was turned into a wail of pain as the rack turned into a shape-shifting demon and kicked the poor kitten away.

"Oh no you don't," Piper hissed and in an instant, blasted the intruder with her molecular acceleration. Ignoring the demon's cry of agony, Chris rushed to his injured friend.

"Wy, he's hurt," Chris said, tears welling in his eyes. Without another word, Wyatt rushed to his brother. His hands hovering over the small frail body began to glow a brilliant golden hue. To Chris's relief, Mason was healed within minutes. The kitten nudged Wyatt's outstretched hand once as if to say 'thank you' and settled himself on Chris's lap as if nothing had happened.

"I think he's their familiar," Leo said before Piper had a chance to say anything. She glanced at her husband questioningly.

"Don't you remember Kit? She was your familiar. I think Mason is theirs. Familiars are spirits that guide and assist witches. That's why he saved them from the demon," Leo explained. Piper was thoughtful for a moment. The shape-shifter was probably here to hurt or kidnap her boys. It made sense that Mason was their familiar. He was watching over his charges.

"Are you sure?" Piper asked her husband, a bit worried. For all she knew, this kitten was another demon trying to gain their trust or something.

"I'm almost certain. The homeless guy was probably a white-lighter or, knowing our kids, an angel of destiny. That also would explain why Chris felt he had to go back. It's not a compulsion, more like suggestion, but strong enough to make him go back. I'm sure that's what happened," Leo pulled his wife away from his kids and answered in a hushed voice. Piper was thoughtful for a moment.

"Alright. We can keep him. But remember. He's your responsibility. You need to remember to feed him on time and look after him just like your dad and I look after you. Do you understand?" Piper asked her boys sternly. Chris and Wyatt nodded solemnly.

"And don't think for a second that you're escaping the punishment just because I'm letting Mason stay. You have just lost the television privileges for one week. It was stupid of you to orb off to potentially dangerous places without adult supervision," Piper added seriously. The boys nodded again. Wyatt didn't think he deserved the same punishment, as Chris, but now wasn't the time to point that out.

"Wyatt, are you sure you're OK with the kitten staying in your room?" Leo asked to be sure. It was clear to him that even though Mason was most likely a familiar to both his boys, he was clearly more attached to Chris than Wyatt.

"I'm used to having one naughty kitten in my room. I wouldn't mind another," Wyatt said smiling as he ruffled his baby brother's hair. Chris only gave him an annoyed look but didn't say anything. Leo chuckled. The parents left the room after making sure there were no more hidden demons in the room and Chris and Wyatt were securely tucked in.

"You're going to call me 'kitten' from now on, aren't you?" Chris asked Wyatt in a resigned voice.

"You bet I am, 'Kitten'," Wyatt said with a chuckle. Chris only groaned.

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