Chapter 2
"Hi Paige," Kyle greeted from across the table. She simply stared at him. She hadn't seen him in years.
"How…?" she trailed off.
"I figured it was you. How many other Ms. Matthews do you know," he commented, giving her a smile. Paige thought for a moment. His name did seem to make sense now that she thought about it.
"So you're back in San Francisco then?" Paige asked.
"Yeah. I have a few charges in the area so I bought an apartment downtown," Kyle answered.
"This is…definitely not what I was expecting," Paige muttered more to herself than to her companion.
"What? What were you expecting?" Kyle pressed, tentatively placing a hand on top of hers.
"Well…for one thing I wasn't expecting you," she began.
"And…I only agreed to this little meet up to tell whoever you were that thanks for the offer but I'm not really interested," Paige explained. Just then Kyle caught sight of her wedding band.
"You're married," he stated and pulled his hand away.
"Yeah…about a year. And we have…a six-month-old," Paige affirmed, looking embarrassed.
"Wow…this is really awkward," Kyle muttered, scratching the back of his neck.
"Just a little," Paige agreed.
They fell into silence as the world passed them by on the busy street. Paige rested her forehead on her hand and Kyle averted his gaze. Finally he cleared his throat, making Paige look up at him.
"Well…we came for coffee so do you…want some coffee?" he asked.
"Yeah…I'd like that," she answered and Kyle signaled for a server.
Once they'd ordered they fell back into silence. Paige opened her purse and began to rummage through it until she found her wallet.
"Hey, I'll pay,' Kyle stated as he saw her extract it from her purse.
"I was actually going to show you a picture of Henry and the baby," Paige snickered.
"Right," her companion murmured, blushing. She pulled the picture from one of the photo protectors and handed him the picture. The trio smiled up at him happily.
"You look very happy," he commented, taking in every detail of her husband and son.
"Yeah…" Paige affirmed.
"He's very cute," Kyle stated offhandedly as he handed the photograph back.
"Excuse me?" Paige asked, looking very confused.
"You're son. He's cute," Kyle clarified.
"Right…I knew that," Paige giggled.
"It's really good to see you, Paige," he sighed as the waitress brought their coffee out to them.
"Yeah, you too. It's been…a long time," Paige admitted.
"Is something bothering you?" he asked after he took a sip of the hot liquid.
"I'm just half expecting the Elders to show up and drag you away," Paige murmured.
"Hey, look at me," Kyle ordered, lifting her chin in his hand.
"We're not breaking any cosmic rules, here. We're having coffee, that's all," Kyle assured her.
"But they just…took you away last time," Paige sniffled, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
"Yeah…and that wasn't fair of them to do. But we can still be friends," Kyle muttered, his free hand reaching out the take hold of hers.
"Friends…right," Paige sighed and looked at her watch. It was already almost two thirty.
"It was great to see you and I really hate to cut this short but I told Piper and Leo that I'd pick Henry Jr. up by two," Paige stated hurriedly. She downed her coffee and stood up, pulling her purse onto her shoulder.
"Paige, wait," Kyle called, jumping to his feet. He grabbed a clean napkin and snagged a pen from a passing waitress. He quickly scribbled something on the napkin.
"Here's my address if you ever want to stop by," he mumbled, holding out the napkin for her to take. She took it with a smile.
"Thanks," she said as she tucked it safely into her purse before pulling out her car keys.
"It was really great to see you," she repeated as she walked away, waving over her shoulder. Kyle stared after her, coffee cup in his hand, pen in the other.
Paige pulled into the driveway of the Manor at 2:45. She jumped out as fast as she could and raced inside. She was greeted instantly by two-year-old Chris.
"Aunty Paige," he squealed, trying to climb up her pant leg.
"Hi sweetie," she greeted as she picked him up.
"Where's Mommy?" she asked and he pointed in the direction of the sunroom. Looking a little rattled, Paige carried Chris into the sunroom. She found Piper rocking Henry Jr. in her arms. A half-empty bottle sat on the table before her.
"Piper," Paige called softly, not wanting to wake her son.
"Paige…you're forty-five minutes late," Piper stated, sounding annoyed.
"I know…we lost track of time. How's Wyatt feeling?" she asked, sitting down next to her sister.
"He's taking a nap," Piper replied just as Leo walked in with a thermometer.
"His fever's started to go down," Leo informed his wife, giving his younger son a smile.
"I'm really sorry that I'm late, Piper," Paige tried again.
"Yeah just…don't let it happen again," her older sister muttered. Chris climbed out of his aunt's lap and toddled over to his box of toys.
"Ok…it won't," Paige murmured and took her son. She picked up the bottle and headed for the hallway, grabbing the diaper bag on the way.
"Paige," Piper called and rushed after her baby sister.
"Who were you having lunch with?" her sister asked. She knew her sister didn't stay out late for lunch with her charges.
"What?" Paige asked, turning around just as she had her hand on the doorknob.
"Who did you have lunch with?" Piper reiterated, arms over her chest just as Leo brought the baby carrier out from the kitchen. He saw the stern look on his wife's face and disappeared quickly back into the kitchen.
"What does it matter?" Paige asked, situating her son in the carrier. Remarkably he was still asleep.
"Well there must be a reason you're not telling me," she retorted. Paige rolled her eyes at Piper.
"I sort of…got asked out," she mumbled.
"Paige…you realize that you stop dating after you get married," Piper lectured.
"Yes, Piper…I know that!" Paige snapped.
"I went to tell the guy that thanks but no thanks. I forgot to cancel my subscription with the online dating site," she continued.
"But…it turned out to be…Kyle," she admitted, muttering into her sleeve.
"Who was that?" Piper pressed.
"Kyle," Paige stated, looking her sister straight in the eye.
"Kyle….as in…Agent Kyle Brody…?" Piper trailed off.
"Yes, that Kyle. We had coffee. Is there something wrong with that?" Paige hissed.
"No," Piper answered. She watched as Paige gathered her things and left the Manor, not even bothering to walk out the door.
"Everything ok?" Leo asked, wrapping his arms around his wife.
"I don't know," Piper replied, resting her head on his shoulder.
"She seemed to storm off," he commented.
"Yeah…I don't think she liked me prying," Piper answered.
"Prying? What were you prying about?" he asked.
"Now who's prying," she teased.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"She…had coffee with Kyle," Piper explained after a long pause.
"Kyle…I didn't know he was in the area," Leo stated.
"Yeah, apparently neither did she," Piper added.
Back across town Paige was placing Henry Jr. in his play pen when the front door opened. She looked up to see her husband striding through the door.
"You're home early," she commented.
"Yeah, I know. I left some files on the desk in the den. I'm going to work from home for the rest of the afternoon," he answered.
"Oh…ok," she murmured.
She watched him head for the den before darting into the kitchen. She pulled her purse off the back of one of the chairs and sat down. She pulled out the folded napkin and stared at the address. It wasn't too far away and she could always bring the baby, right? They were just friends. There was nothing wrong with being friends. She was sure Kyle would love to meet Henry Jr.
But as Paige sat there, memorizing every pen stroke on that napkin a familiar feeling began to tickle her consciousness. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time, a feeling only associated with Kyle. It was that familiarity with magic that had first drawn her to him. He'd known it existed for years. Somehow she felt that made it ok to trust him with her own secret. It wasn't that Henry didn't understand, after all he was ok with it, even offered to watch the kids if the sisters had a demon to vanquish. With a sigh she put the napkin back in her purse and poured herself another cup of coffee.
"I really need to cut back," she grumbled to herself.
"Honey," Henry called, drawing her from her thoughts.
"In the kitchen," she answered. He appeared, looking a little frantic.
"Where are the baby wipes?" he asked.
"Same place they always are," Paige replied, giving him a smirk.
"Right," he muttered to himself and disappeared. As she watched him go, she wondered whether it would be wise to tell him about Kyle.