A/N: Sorry for the delay! Thanks for being patient, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter! -Jess
Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah…
The next several moments passed in near silence, with the only sound being Melinda's muffled crying as she hugged her sons. She didn't notice the looks on her family's faces as they all took a few minutes to think about everything that had been revealed in the past few minutes and what all it meant.
From his place beside Piper, Leo watched Cole a little warily, wondering how his daughter had ended up with the apparently former demon. Though he hated to admit it, it was obvious Cole cared for Melinda a great deal. Even when he'd been married to Phoebe, Leo had never seen such devotion in Cole's eyes. He felt a pang of sympathy for the centuries-old man/demon/witch- whatever the hell he was. Sure, he and Piper had had their rough times, and yeah, they'd separated for a while there, but she'd never been completely out of his life. He didn't want to think about what it would be like to lose her, and promised himself that he'd do everything in his vast power to keep that from happening.
Piper was just as confused about the whole Cole and Melinda thing as Leo, but after her daughter's outburst, decided maybe it was best not bring that up again. And, if she couldn't talk about how weird it seemed to her, then she really shouldn't think about it, lest she be tempted to talk about. Instead, she focused on the more important issues at hand- like how horribly she'd treated a little boy who had only been nine when he'd first arrived in her time and who also happened to be her grandson. She wondered at the courage it must have taken him to make that journey alone, knowing that he'd be meeting people he'd never had the chance to know, and seeing people he'd lost so tragically. It was no wonder he'd been angry at Leo since arriving- though he'd been disguised as a twenty-two-year-old, he was just a child and hadn't learned to cope with his powerful emotions in other ways yet.
Sandwiched between her two older sisters, Paige watched her niece with her family. She, too, was amazed by the strength and courage both of her great-nephews had shown, and how cleverly thought-out their plan was. Though she was more than a little weirded-out with Melinda's marriage to Cole, she didn't need Phoebe's powers of empathy to recognize the love between the two, nor the love they both felt for their sons. She'd expected Cole to be angrier at Chris and Matt for binding his powers, at Chris for putting himself in such danger, and at Matt for helping come up with the plan. But, though he'd been mad when he'd first come through the portal- that had been clear to see- what he felt for his family was even more powerful.
Penny was smiling- for the first time since Melinda's death, Matthew and Christopher seemed like the children they were. Oh, Matthew would argue that he was a teenager, not a child, but she knew better. Of course, to her, he'd always be a child. Of all her great-great-grandchildren, and she had several of them, Matthew was her favorite. She'd never let anyone else know it, of course, but he was. He'd be horrified if he ever found out, too. She wondered what the family members gathered around her would say if she ever revealed what she knew- that Matthew was the reincarnation of Andy's spirit.
Andy's reincarnation and his brother were telepathically passing thoughts back and forth as they clung to their mother. As happy as Matt was to see his mom again- and to be able to hug her, nonetheless!- he was concerned for his younger brother. He and Chris had been communicating with Grams' help for the past year, and he knew how hard things had been for Chris. From the moment Chris had first telepathically spoken to him from their mother's womb, Matt had protected his baby brother. Since Melinda's death, he'd taken that role even more seriously than before. Maybe it was because Chris reminded him so much of their mother, not just with his looks but with his temperament.
Chris was trying to understand his own emotions, and was thankful for his older brother's presence in his mind because Matt would help him. He'd fought so hard for the past year to put aside his feelings that had bombarded him the moment he'd first seen the his aunts and grandmother- and grandfather. Leo had always been there for him, a rare constant in his Future, and it had both comforted him to have Leo with him, though he'd still missed Matt and his dad terribly, and it had pained him deeply to have to see him day in and day out, as well. Now, to have his mom back for whatever reason… He felt like an emotional wreck. Having his dad and brother, along with Grams, though, made him feel better- just like it always did. As he hugged his mom, he finally admitted to himself what he was fighting for here in the Past- the family that had started falling apart years ago, in his Future at least, with his grandmother's death, not just to save his uncle from becoming the Source.
And though they didn't know it, Melinda was sharing her sons' thoughts- literally. Sure, they knew she had the ability to do it, but they couldn't always sense her presence in their minds. At the moment, she was glad of that. She was so proud of Matt for always wanting to protect Chris and for always being there for him, and of Chris for making this trip. The easy trust between her sons made her realize that not everything that had happened since her death was horrible- Matt and Chris were still her little boys, despite having grown up far more than they should have in the past few years.
Phoebe rested her hand on Piper's abdomen. It must have been as though she was touching Melinda, making a connection to her, because she had a premonition. While her sisters and brother-in-law were wondering how on Earth Melinda and Cole had met and fallen in love, Phoebe saw it… and almost burst out laughing when it ended. Not everything in the Future was bad, she realized, though she desperately hoped that it would still get better…