Disclaimer: I don't own anything Charmed.

Thank you all so much, for the lovely reviews.

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! Review!

Chapter 9

The three Halliwell men drove in silence to Henry's and Paige's house. It wasn't a big building but it gave enough room for two twin girls and little Henry jr. and they had a really nice garden, with perfectly cut grass (Henry's hobby), a few trees and a sandbox for the kids. When they climbed out of the car, Chris asked: "Will grandpa be there, too?"

But before Wyatt, at who the question, was directed, could answer, Leo replied: "Why should Henry and Paige invite Victor? He's not part of their family." Leo and Victor had never been the greatest friends but since Piper was gone, it seemed like they couldn't talk one proper sentence with each other. Really similar to Chris and Leo's relationship.

"But grandpa treats them like family," Chris murmured. Wyatt nudged him lightly.

"Don't think, I don't know, that you orb over to Victor's whenever you have a chance," Leo said.

"And what's wrong with that? He's my grandfather," Chris replied getting angry now as well. Since this moring Leo was nothing but annoying again.

"Nothing's wrong but the fact that you tell him lies about what a bad father I am," Leo answered. "And who's he to tell anyway. He was never there for your mum and aunts."

Wyatt took a deep breath. He took Chris' arm and pulled him into the garden, where the other family members were already seated.

"Just let it be," Wyatt whispered.

"Hey, boys," Phoebe greeted them and came over to her two nephews and hugged them. Wyatt hugged her back grateful to see someone else of the family again.

Chris didn't really returned the embrace. But he also was glad to get away from Leo for a while.

Paige greeted them the same way. "How are you doing?"

Wyatt shrugged. "Okay."

His two aunts smiled at him reassuringly. Leo came into the garden a second later. He carried the bowl of salad Wyatt had fixed for them. Paige took the bowl out of his hands and placed it onto the table. "Thanks, Leo. That wasn't necessary."

"It's from Wyatt."

Phoebe gave her oldest nephew a surprised look. "Really? Are you going to be the next Chef Halliwell?"

Wyatt laughed. "Maybe. It's mum's famous sweet potato salad."

"Oh, yeah. That's great. Come on, sat down, guys. Have a drink," Paige said.

Coop was already sitting there, playing with his three daughters. Pru, the oldest, was 11 now; Patty was 8 and little Penny was only 3. Wyatt sat down next to his uncle, opposite of Leo and Chris. Phoebe decided to take the place between father and son, just in case. Paige gave them all a drink.

Coop really easily started a conversation with Leo. The three girls got unsettled now that they hadn't their father's full attention anymore.

"Chris, can you go and play with your cousins?" Phoebe asked.

Chris wasn't too happy about playing with his little cousins, but it was okay. They treated him like a hero. That was cool.

"Junior plays in his sandbox but I get the girls. They hide in their room," Paige said. The three girls were rather happy to spend some time with their older cousin. That was fun. "Okay, come on."

"Paige, I need a lighter, please!" Henry yelled.

"Maybe Chris has one," Leo replied.

"Why should he?" Phoebe asked.

"Because your nephew smokes."

Wyatt sighed. "I'll go over to Uncle Henry." He really could do without his father nagging.

Paige's twins came running outside as well and the kids started to fool around in the grass.

"Hey, Wyatt," Henry greeted him, as the teenager came over to him. He loved his new grill really much and played around with it since this morning. "Do you want to learn how to make the best steaks of the whole city?"

Wyatt smirked. "Sure, why not?"

Henry leant against the grill.

"Well, what are we waiting for, Uncle Henry?"

"A lighter, nephew Wyatt."

Wyatt flicked his wrist and started a fire. He looked at his uncle expectantly.

"Well, thanks. But keep the magic down. We have neighbours."

Henry showed Wyatt the amazing art of barbecuing.

"How is it going at home, Wy?"

"Okay. Well, not so good. It's realy bad, that Dad an Chris are always fighting."

"I can hear that."

"And don't dare to mention grandpa's name. Dad explodes."

Henry smirked. "Don't worry. They'll be fine."

"You know, yesterday they even spent some time together and this morning dad was having a fit, because he found a cigarette butt in the garage. He yelled at Chris. And my friends were there. It's not cool."

"I see."

"And now, there's this field trip with school and I really don't know if I should go or not."

Henry frowned. "Of course, you are going. That's out of question. You can not worry about everyone else all the time. Your dad is an adult and he has to know what to do." Henry put some hamburgers and hot dogs onto the grill.

"He should know." That was the moment, when they heard the cries of a little girl. Penny sat in the grass holding her knee and crying like there was no tomorrow. Chris bent down next to her and tried to comfort her, but she kept screaming for her mum.

"Chris!" That was Leo. "Can't you pay attention?"

"It's not my fault."

"You were supposed to watch over them!"

"That's okay, Leo. Penny always wants to do the same things as her older sisters and then falls, because she is still to little. It's not too be, I bet," Phoebe said as she stood up to go to her daughter.

"It was Chris' who should have looked after them!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Chris repeated. But Leo just went on about him not having paid attention and so on. Chris turned around angrily and stepped over little Henry's sand castle.

"Hey!" the little boy pouted and started to build a new one at once.

Chris left the garden and stepped onto the sidewalk.

Wyatt and Henry looked at each other.

"Alright, Wyatt. The most important thing is, that you keep the fire steadily…" Henry explained trying to keep Wyatt's mind out of his brother's and father's problems.

After a few more moments the meat was ready. "Everyone get their plates ready! Food is coming!" Henry yelled. "You take the plate, Wy. I get your brother."

Wyatt nodded. He took the plate filled with hotdogs, steaks and hamburgers.

Henry came a second later with Chris trailing behind him.

The whole family sat down and began to eat. It was like in old times, when they had family dinners. Everyone was joking around and eating. It really wasn't a quiet situation, but it was fun.

"Henry, I take everything back I said about the grill. This steak is amazing," Paige said.

Everyone had to agree.

"Yes, and Wyatt the salad is exactly like Piper's. It even looks like hers."

"She draw a picture next to the recipe so you can see how it should look like," Wyatt replied.

Phoebe smiled. "That's so Piper."

"Chris, you want some more?" Paige asked her second nephew. The brunet boy always was the most quiet at the table, but today he hadn't said one word yet.

"No, thanks." Chris hadn't eaten much of the food his aunt had put on his plate before but only picked at the things. He didn't feel well today. No that wasn't true. He didn't feel well, since Leo started scolding him this morning.

"You need to eat more, sweety," Phoebe told him.

"Yes, you need to be in form for the next football game," Coop said.

Chris frowned at this uncle. "Why?"

"Because we want to see the winner play."

Phoebe coughed. "Coop, Wyatt is in the football team. Not Chris."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I remember," Coop took another bite of his foot. Why was it always him that put his foot in it? "What are you doing again, Chris?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah, but he does nothing with enthusiasm," Leo replied. "And stop playing around with your food."

Chris put his fork down and leant back in his chair. He wasn't hungry anyway.

"But it's not completely true. Chris does something," Leo went on. "Sneaking out of the house, and partying in a club until the early morning. That's what he does."

Chris sighed. The whole family tried to seem busy in eating.

"How about some more burgers?" Henry asked.

"What was this strange band called again? Or do you only remember the name of the drinks you had?"

This was really not fair. Why couldn't his father stop it already? He knew he'd done something wrong and he got punished for it. Why telling the whole family?

"Leo, I think, we got it," Paige said.

"Really? That's great, because, Paige, I don't get it at all. Why does a kid go into a club, where God knows what people hang around?"

Paige sighed and drank some more water.

"Really, Leo, you should know when to stop," Phoebe said. She was surprised how Leo could act like this.

"Wyatt, didn't you want to ask something?" Henry asked him. The perfect opportunity to change the subject.

Wyatt gave his uncle an angry look. This really wasn't the best time. But now it was too late to turn back. "Yes, I do. Well, my class makes a field trip to Washington for 10 days. Dad, you have to sign the letter of agreement."

Leo looked at his son. "A field trip? How much does it cost?"

Wyatt was surprised, that this was his father's first question. He would have imagined, Leo to tell him, that he was needed here and couldn't go.

"I'm not sure. It's all written down in the letter." Wyatt gave his father the paper.

Leo read it and then took a pencil out of his pocket. "You need to hand it to your teacher on Monday, why haven't you given it to me earlier?"

"Ehm… well, I forgot."

"Oh, Washington will be great," Phoebe said.

"Yes, you'll have lots of fun," Paige agreed. "And think about all the great stuff you can do with the rest of your class mates."

Wyatt smirked. Yeah, that will be great

Chris stood up. "Hey, were are you going?" Leo asked, stopping him with a firm grip around his waist.

"To pee. You wanna come and check on me?" Chris asked.

Wyatt could tell, his brother felt like he'd leave him alone. And somehow, he was right. Wyatt should have told Chris that he planned on going on the trip before.

"I go look for him," Henry whispered towards Wyatt.

Wyatt nodded. His family was now all talking about Washington and how much fun Wyatt would have. And so on.

Henry heard noises in his living room. He went there and saw his nephew kicking against the book shelf again and again until a few books fell down on the floor.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Henry called. He hold Chris back on the shoulders. "If you want to smash something, then do it at your home. In my home only I'm allowed to smash my things, got it?"

Henry led his nephew over to the sofa and made him sit down. "What's going on? Come on, tell me!"

Chris didn't answer.

"Why are you so mad?" Henry asked. His skill as a social worker once again becoming handy. "Is it, because Wyatt goes on the field trip?"

Chris still stayed silence.

"Is it Leo? He's not really nice to you, right?"

"I hate him," Chris said. "I wished, he had died instead of mum."

Henry rubbed Chris' back. "You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do. If mum would still be here, everything would be fine. With dad it's hell."

Henry took a deep breath. "Chris, you know, he is really trying. And your dad loves you."

"Really? I didn't noticed."

"Of course, he does and you know, that you know it, too. Just give him a chance."

"Why isn't he giving me a chance? Everything I do, is not good enough. Or he doesn't acknowledges it anyway. This perpetual nagging, is driving me crazy."

"I can understand that."

"And now, even Wyatt is leaving."

"Wyatt needs this time out, believe me. And you should not begrudge him. He does a lot. It's not easy for him, too."

"I know. It's just… he's all I have. There's no other person I can talk to but him."

Henry pulled his nephew closer to him. "Hey, am I nobody? Or Paige? Or your Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coop? And Victor? Listen, there are a lot of people caring for you. All you have to do, is let us help you and tell us when something is wrong. Okay?"

Chris nodded.

"Good, then pick up the books and come back outside. And if you don't try one of my amazing steaks, I sent Leo after you."

"Okay," Chris answered smirking lightly.

The rest of the barbecue was more or less a happy event. That was because, Chris kept silent and Leo only made small talk with Henry and Coop.

Wyatt felt bad that he even mentioned the school trip. Of course, he was happy, that he could leave for a while but he could see the dark glances his little brother sent him from time to time. It seemed like, Leo could not be happy, when Chris was. And Chris could not be happy when Wyatt was. And Leo was happy, when Chris was not. And Wyatt was only happy, when both of them were happy. It was weired.

"I think, we better leave now, Coop," Phoebe told her husband with a nod in the direction of their youngest daughter, who had her head resting on the table, almost asleep.

"Yeah, you are right."

"We go too, boys," Leo said. "Or shall we help you cleaning up?"

"Oh, no that's fine. I pack you some leftovers," Paige replied.

When everyone left and Paige had managed to calm her kids down enough so they would stay in the living room, she fell down into a lawn chair. She started to collect the napkins. One did catch her attention. A beautiful bouquet of flowers was drawn on it. Paige smiled. She knew it was the work of her youngest nephew. Chris was really talented. She took the used napkins and some plates and carried it into the kitchen. When she passed the kitchen table, she looked twice at the flowers standing there, then again at the napkin. She could swear the flowers were the same.

Paige shook her head. Chris must have used the flowers in the kitchen as a sample.

The dark haired woman walked over to the sink. She turned around once more. But, where did these flowers come from? They hadn't been there, this morning, had they?

Important ending. Don't forget about it! ;-)