Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Charmed.

Thanks to my beta Crime Scene Fairy! ^_^

Chapter 2

She fiddled aimlessly with her straw and started in on her second mango tea. Phoebe ran a hand through her short dark hair and resisted the urge to bite one of her manicured nails. She was waiting for Garrett at a nearby sandwich shop a couple blocks from the high school that he and Wyatt attended together. When she had arranged for this meeting she let him pick out the spot. She wanted him to be as comfortable as possible to ensure this could go smoothly. This would be the first time she and him truly met aside from the one time at Wyatt's party two weeks ago. A party that she was sure that she had ruined by having a near breakdown in the middle of it, but her nephew had assured her that most of the guest hadn't noticed and the ones that did weren't overly concerned once she had went upstairs to the bedroom.

She checked the watch on her left wrist. She was 15 minutes early. She had chosen a table outside because of the nice weather. She wondered what he would be like, would he be like her even though he didn't grow up with her? Wyatt had said she would like him even though she hadn't yet explained why she wanted to meet him. So far none of the children knew, only the adults. She wanted to keep it that way until she was sure he wanted to be a part of her life. When 3:00 pm rolled around he was right on time.

"Hello." He greeted as he slid into the seat across from her. She smiled brightly.

"Hey!" she greeted with a little more enthusiasm than was probably necessary. "Order what you like, this lunch date is on me, no arguments." She instructed and held back a small laugh when his cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. He nodded and smiled.

"Thank you." His voice was deep but very quiet. She looked him over as he ordered a glass of water to drink and a Rueben with extra sauerkraut. His hair was a dark brown almost black color and cut short with a slight spiked style. His skin was a healthy tan and he looked like he stayed outdoors more than indoors unlike herself. He was dressed in dark navy cargo pants with a black and blue striped polo shirt. His eyes were a bright blue. His blue. She ordered a grilled chicken salad and another mango tea.

"You sure you only want water? Their flavored iced teas are actually very good." She commented.

"You're already paying for me so I got a water. It's free." He explained with a blush.

"If you want to drink something else, don't worry about it, just order it."

"I'm fine really. Thank you though."

"If you're sure."

"I am." He laughed and it warmed her heart. "Really." He assured. They sat in a comfortable silence for second before it started to turn slightly awkward. "Um…well…what exactly did you see at Wyatt's party?" he asked and winced at how tactless it sounded. "Sorry." He apologized.

"No need to apologize, Garrett." She grinned. She cleared her throat before starting. "Well, I only touched you for a brief second but I saw you when you were younger, perhaps six maybe, and you were talking to a person I couldn't see. I couldn't hear what the person was saying but he or she was showing you a picture of me." She recounted a little uneasily. Now that she had said it out loud it made her seem that she was jumping to conclusions about this young man being her son. She knew that she wasn't but she didn't have much to go on to really convince anyone else otherwise either. She just knew that he was. He didn't look surprised at her explanation as if he already knew what she would say.

"That's the same that I saw. I've never shared a vision with anyone before especially a memory of my own." Garrett said in wonder. "I think this would go easier if you just asked me what you wanted to know. I can try to answer to the best of my ability." He scratched his nose sheepishly. "Thank you." He said politely as the waitress brought their food. She waited until the waitress was gone before she spoke.

"I guess the obvious question would be…am I…your mother?" Phoebe asked hesitantly. She knew and she thought that he knew but what if he really didn't and this scared him away? He didn't look surprised.

"As far as I know, yes, you are my biological mother." He smiled.

"How though? Forgive me but…" She bit the inside of her cheek lightly. "I don't remember you or giving birth to you are anything like that." She tried to say as gently as possible so as not to offend him. Here he sighed.

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" he quipped with a playful smirk.

"Short version for now." She decided. "I'll save the long version for another day."

"Ok, well, technically I'm your and Cole's child, I was given a second chance at life, basically. After the Source was killed, the evil was separated from my soul and I was returned to my original form. Granted I didn't get a chance to be born yet so I guess original form as in what I was going to be." Garrett shrugged a broad shoulder. "That's how I understood it anyways. Cole only really explained it to me once and as you saw I was six. I didn't really understand it much." Her heart speed up. Cole?

"Cole? Is he alive?" Phoebe couldn't help but ask. Garrett's smile seemed to fade a bit.

"I don't think so, I'm not exactly sure. I've only ever seen him when I'm asleep or unconscious." He admitted. "Where ever he is, he was able to show me your picture. He told me all about you." He said warmly.

"How come I've never seen you before now?" She asked biting and chewing her food thoughtfully. "If I had known about you…"

"Well, You had a family. I had a family." He looked away from her. "I was content with how things were. I didn't see a need to seek you out."

"Trust me, I get it." She laughed. "I do." She emphasized. "So how old are you exactly? We assumed you were Wyatt's age." She decided not to dwell so much on the how or why and focus more on the here and now.

"Yeah, I'm 16. I'm older than him by only a month. I was born January 19, 2003. We've been friends since freshman year but we didn't really become close until this year."

"Tell me about your family." She sipped her tea contently starting to really relax. He seemed to brighten even more.

'Well, I'm an only child. I live with my mom and my dad lives in L.A. They separated when I was 10, but I go stay with my dad every summer. It's not bad. They were both really great to me." He had a distant look in his eye as if he were witnessing a fond memory. He focused on her again. "I was adopted by them when I was 2. I don't remember the orphanage at all, so I guess I was one of the luckier ones. What about you?" he asked and then blushed. "I mean, I saw that you had kids at the party." He added quietly. Now, it was her turn to brighten.

"Yes, I have three wonderful girls." She tried not to gush. "Ladybug, I mean, Cassidy, is my eldest, she's 13. Adelphie is 11 and Rowena is 7. They are going to love you! I can tell you that. Especially Adelphie she has always wanted a brother instead of sisters." Here she rolls her eyes. "She knows she wouldn't know what to do with herself without her sisters." He grinned at the joy that came over his mother's face as she talked about her girls.

"I would love to meet them." He agreed whole-heartedly.

The pair talked for another hour before Garrett had to be home. Phoebe learned that her son's full name was Garrett Connor Washington and he did in fact possess powers. He had premonitions like her but he only currently possessed retrocognition, oddly enough. He had yet to tap into the power of precognition. She offered to help train him with that. He had the ability to shimmer, superhuman strength, and could control energy balls. He told her that Cole had told him in theory how his powers worked and because Cole could only reach him in his dreams or in an unconscious state, they would practice mentally in his dreams. He only ever came across a demon once. Other than that the only abilities Garrett used were the ones he got from her and shimmering on occasion. He explained that his ability to see the past is the reason he wants to be a lawyer in the future. He wanted to be able to pick out the innocent from the guilty. Phoebe had to wonder if the real reason wasn't because Cole was a lawyer. She wondered if he knew that about his father. She found out that Cole used to come to him every night when he was younger but as he got older it became less frequent. She couldn't help the part of her that wondered if Cole could visit her too.

Phoebe met the mother that had raised her son when she dropped him off. Her name was Claire Washington and she was really nice and very open to the idea that Garrett would meet his biological family. In fact she had even suggested that they work something out with his father, Thomas, so that Garrett could split his time between Phoebe and Thomas' place during the summer months. Garrett had told Phoebe before hand that Claire didn't know about his other powers other than the premonitions. Instead of knowing that it was because he was half-witch she thought it was just a simple clairvoyant ability. Phoebe made sure not to let it slip, everyone knew she was the wrong Halliwell to keep a secret, but she welcomed Claire into her home. Phoebe wanted her to be apart of the family as well as Garrett.

"Thanks for today." Garrett said as she was leaving. "I really enjoyed it."

"It was my pleasure, Garrett." Phoebe squeezed his upper arm gently. "Next time I will introduce you to the rest of your family. I haven't told Wyatt that you're his cousin yet. I bet he will be thrilled. Unless you want to tell him?"

"No, I want it to be a surprise." He laughed that deep laugh of his. "I'm excited though."

"Until next time." Phoebe couldn't resist hugging him. "I'm so glad to have found you." She whispered.

"Me too." He whispered back, and with that she left. There was a smile on her face and a smile within her heart.