A/N A declaration and a potential change to the family arrangements here. Hope you enjoy.

It was just after 9AM on Saturday morning when Constance put her pen and notebook down and allowed herself a luxurious stretch against the pillows. She had been awake since Imogen had risen to go for a run an hour beforehand. How her wife had found the energy was slightly beyond her, they had expanded rather a lot between them both the night before and she was still feeling the effects.

Although Matthew's arrival had certainly caused some changes in their routine, the fact that he was a little bit older and tended to wear himself out during the day meant that once he was in bed they still had some couple time, something they recognised was vital. As was some alone time which was why Imogen was enjoying her run while Constance happy to stay in bed and make a note of the happiness she was feeling in her journal, a daily habit she had maintained since seeing a counsellor after the trial.

"Maybe I should get up." The thought had barely floated through her head when suddenly there was no maybe about it.

"Owwwwwwwww."

Matthew's yell of pain had her out of bed and across the hall in seconds.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

"I…. I tripped over and hurt my arm. I'm sorry, please don't be mad"

Constance could already see the friction burn forming where he had scraped his elbow on the rug. She could also see something else, tiny little magical sparks. They didn't worry her, there wasn't enough power to cause any harm but she could see that Matthew was frightened. His magic had not been in effect for weeks now but the shock of the fall had obviously caused a flare up.

She felt terrible, had she gotten up a bit sooner maybe this could have been avoided. But it had happened and she now needed to do what she could to make Matthew feel better- which judging by the panicked look on his face meant dealing with the magical issue first. Kneeling down on the floor she gently took both small hands in hers and guided his fingers into the proper positions

"I'm not mad, not in the slightest, I just want to help you. I'm going to fix your elbow in just a second but first, let's do our breathing, do you remember? Yes? Good boy. Now, fingers together and press. Count to five And again. Again. There we are, all gone."

It seemed that one issue had been dealt with but there was still one more to resolve.

"You wait here with Morgana, I'm going to get the first aid box from the bathroom and I'll get you fixed up."

For a second she debated a magical solution but she and Imogen had already agreed that apart from natural potions or real emergencies, Matthew would be treated like a normal child. Besides, he had probably had enough magic for a while.

There were still some sniffles but Matthew agreed before petting the black cat who was gently pressing against his leg after following her mistress into the bedroom.

Constance was back almost instantly and got to work cleaning the wound. "I know it stings", she murmured on hearing the little hiss. Then she cut some gauze and placed it over the burn as she had learned to do in the practical First Aid course Imogen had insisted she do when they had started trying for a family.

"Does it still hurt?"

Matthew nodded again.

"Well, we can't have that. Let's try something else." Constance bent down and kissed the injured area. "Now?"

"Better." He smiled briefly before his face clouded over again. "I got scared when I fell and then my magic came back. I forgot what you told me. I'm sorry."

It was breaking Constance's heart to hear the unnecessary apologies but she knew it was as a result of prior bad experiences. She adjusted her position so she was sat on the floor and leaning back against the bed before carefully bringing Matthew into her hold.

"You have absolutely nothing to feel sorry about. You got a little fright and your magic flared up. Believe me, I understand that, everyone who has magic does."

"They do?"

"I promise. It's perfectly normal and you did nothing wrong"

There was silence for a moment as Matthew thought about what she had said. He knew Constance would never lie to him about anything, especially magic. If she said it was normal then it must be.

"Do you have any questions?"

Matthew's stomach managed to answer before he could. "Yes, can we have some breakfast?"

When Imogen came home twenty minutes later she found the injured party sitting at the kitchen table eating fruit salad and toast and ready to show off his war wound.

"Constance made it all better. It was like magic."

"Was it?", Imogen asked quietly a little later when Matt had gone to watch some cartoons as a recovery treat.

"No." Constance saw the sceptical look. "I swear I didn't. I helped him stop the sparks, dressed his elbow and then, well, I kissed it better."

Immediately Imogen felt like a complete bitch for having had any doubts. "You did? Oh, that's so sweet. I know you didn't use magic, I'm sorry for even asking. And I'm sorry you were here on your own when it happened, you must have gotten an awful fright."

"I did, I felt terrible but I know that these things are going to happen, especially with an energetic little boy like Matthew around." She moved closer into the arms that were holding her and shared what had been going through her head since the incident had occurred earlier. "I was just glad I knew what to do."

"You always know what to do sweetie and Matty's fine. He feels better about his magic and he knows if he has a flare up again that it's okay, we're not going to send him away because we, you especially, understand what's happening. And as for his elbow, yes, he might have a little scar but I guarantee he'll be showing it off to Jake next time they see each other."

"Are you going to insist on shortening his name all the time?"

Imogen pecked the scrunched up nose and answered with a bright smile. "Yep, I think it's cute but more importantly he likes it, he told me last night. He also knows that you'll always call him Matthew and he's happy with that. He did like it when you called him your beautiful boy the other night."

"I thought he was asleep."

"I guess he was pretending. Anyway, he heard it and he liked it, especially because he knows you're not a nickname person. I think that makes it even more special for him."

Far from being upset that Matthew had heard, Constance was just happy that her words had caused such a positive reaction, "He is beautiful and very, very special. And he deserves something nice after a not so happy start to the day so shall we see what he fancies doing?"

Even after his fall their special little boy was still full of energy as was Imogen, who even after her run was still up for a walk later that morning. The weather was perfect for a stroll but this time they took another route. This one took them towards a nearby village where they stopped for lunch in a family friendly pub where Matthew used up even more energy in the adjoining playground. His day was really made when Constance did something she hadn't done in years and swung herself high in the air next to him while Imogen helped Matthew do the same.

Despite the amount of energy they all expanded, the levels were still running high when they got home.

"Okay, do you know the rules?"

Matthew grinned at Imogen, "Yeah, the cushions are safe but the floor is too hot so we have to stay off it."

"That's it. Ready? Go."

When Constance entered the sitting room after making a start on dinner she was greeted by the energetic pair who, in their sock clad feet were jumping on the scatter cushions that were distributed all over the floor.

"What is going on?"

"No, don't step on the floor, it's lava." Matthew pointed at the cushion nearest her feet. "That's a safe spot, stand here."

"Lava?" This was an entirely new game to the witch although she was overjoyed at the amount of fun that the duo seemed to be having. "And what exactly caused the floor to become lava? Have you been cooking again love?"

Imogen scowled playfully before picking up one of the cushions and throwing it at her smirking wife. "I'm trying. It's not my fault, it's that oven."

"And the toaster.", Matthew chipped in before hopping to the next safe spot.

"Matty, I thought you were on my side. You prefer when Constance cooks anyway."

"Yeah, you both do lots of great things but she's my mother who cooks and you're my mother who….." Matthew stopped suddenly as he realised one of his secret thoughts had slipped out.

"Hey." Forgetting the game Imogen was immediately in front of him, followed by Constance who couldn't keep the grin off her face.

"I know you're not my mothers, I'm sorry."

"Matthew, we know that this, well, what's happening with us right now can be a little confusing, we feel the same. But the fact that you even think of us that way, that makes us both unbelievably happy."

"Really?", he peered at Constance who was gently stroking his uninjured arm as she spoke.

Imogen answered for them both. "Really. Matty, we wish it was easier but we have to wait before we can do anything more. We have to see what Kerry and the adoption board say but that doesn't mean that we're not doing everything we can to keep you with us. We want that more than anything."

"So do I. I love being here. I, I…I love you." by now he was blushing profusely but needed to get the words out.

"We love you too little man. Don't we Sweetie?" Part of Imogen was scared to admit this, worried that they were jinxing themselves but they needed him to know that his love was returned, more than he could ever know.

Constance swallowed hard before answering, "We do. Very much."

It had been an emotional day but in many ways it cleared a tension that none of them had been aware of. They all knew how they felt about each other, how much they wanted this to be a permanent arrangement. It was just couple of days later, on one of Kerry's routine visits that the subject came up again.

"He's making plenty of friends. Our friends' children have stayed with us a couple of times and he gets on very well with them, especially Jake. He's made some friends in school too, we had some of them up here to play last Thursday which went very well. Apparently they think the castle is "cool" and there's been no sign of any bullying. In addition we're finding that since he's been here with others who have magical abilities he's a lot more accepting of his own powers, in fact he seems rather proud that he has them."

"I'm pleased to hear all of that. And school is going well?", the social worker was observing as Imogen helped Matthew with his homework.

"Extremely. His teacher says he is making great progress with his reading and writing. He struggles with maths a little but we're doing what we can to help him catch up. Imogen is great at trying to make things like that fun and he seems to be responding very well."

Kerry could see that in how Matt was learning different ways to count. Right now he was focused on a calendar and counting the weeks in a year.

"Okay, so we're in May now and you know Constance's birthday is soon don't you? And did you know our anniversary is the day before? Let's count the days."

"One, two….fourteen and fifteen days. Wow, that's soon. I can't wait." Mathew looked at the months that were laid out in front of him and asked a question. "When did I come here?"

"March the 15th.", Imogen pointed at the date. "How many weeks ago was that?."

"Eight."

"How can it have been eight weeks already?" It seems like just a couple of days", Constance pondered to herself, not noticing that Kerry was fidgeting slightly next to her.

Once his homework was done Matthew ran off to say hello to Amelia and Davina while his foster parents had a chat with Kerry. They were both keen to ask her what was next but in this case they were beaten too it.

"I know I said ten weeks.", Kerry bit her lip nervously. "But things have changed slightly and that's what I want to talk to you about."