A Charmed Story - Part Twelve:
A Halliwell Christmas Carol
Chapter 10

Chris had orbed with Annie and her mom to his office at magic school. As soon as they had fully reformed, the woman had to fight a huge dizziness, while Chris checked again on the girl.
When her stomach finally stopped turning she looked around and asked scared: "What was that, where are we and... WHO are you????"
Chris who had just felt for Annie's pulse again, which was getting weaker with ever second, looked up: "No time for that, you need to get the arrow out!"
"What?" the woman just shrieked, holding closer to the little girl.
"I can't do it, because that damn thing is poisoned. It will kill me same as it is now killing her, so if you want me to safe her you have to get that thing out of her!" Chris yelled back at her, since calm reasoning seemed not to work with the woman anymore.
Annie's mom had a look of panic on her face. She was like frozen unable to do anything. She was so scared, she couldn't lose her daughter, not her, too.
"Damn it!" Chris exclaimed, grabbing the woman by the shoulders to look her in the eyes. "Listen to me, and listen carefully. YOU-NEED-TO-GET-THAT-ARROW-OUT! NOW!!!!!!"
The woman just looked at him, not moving. Chris could tell that she was in shock, but that didn't help the situation. So he sighed and looked around. He would use his telekinesis, but after what happened earlier, he didn't trust this power right now. Therefore he needed something to protect himself... a towel maybe or a piece of...
He spotted the pillows on his sofa. That would do it - hopefully. He quickly grabbed one and tore off the pillow case. Then he went over and wrapped it around the end of the arrow, carefully, not to touch it.
"What are you doing?" the woman asked scared, her voice sounding like it wouldn't belong to her.
"Saving her," Chris replied matter of factly. Then he took a deep breath and grabbed the arrow where he had wrapped it in the pillow case. He closed his eyes, hoping that the girl wouldn't feel the pain because she was unconscious. And with one quick move he tore that damn thing out of her shoulder. Annie didn't move.
Chris threw the arrow into a trashcan and fried it with a flash so that no one could get hurt by it anymore. This made the woman jump a little in fear, making her let go of the girl, so Chris immediately picked Annie's small body up to his arms and placed her on the sofa. Then he put his hands over the now heavily bleeding shoulder. Only a moment later the golden glow appeared, but first nothing seemed to happen.
Chris was a little worried that the arrow could be poisoned with that new improved poison. Then he would need Odin's help, since he is one of the few who by now were able to heal such a wound - and somehow he didn't want this story to make its way to the upper world. But then he noticed with relieve that the wound slowly closed and he could feel the life returning to her body. 'Thanks God,' he thought.
When it was done Annie didn't wake up right away. But he hadn't expected that, since she had been pretty close to death. She would need a moment to recover fully. So he rose and turned around to the woman who stood behind him. "She'll be fine," he said calmly.
The woman just looked at him, then she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Thanks... Thanks so much," she muttered against his chest, crying because of her relieve. "You are truly an angel."
Chris smiled embarrassed and separated her from himself so that he could look at her: "No, I'm not... Special, maybe... But I'm not an angel." She nodded, through he was sure she would always see an angel in him. So he sighed and went on: "Annie should wake up soon, until then you can stay here in my office. I'll make sure that someone will get you a room later, because I think it's better you stay here tonight. It's the safest place you can think of. But I have to go now, since I have to check on a friend of mine."
The woman nodded lowering her eyes. But then she looked up again. "I... I don't want to be rude, but... Can't you stay? Because I guess Annie will be pretty sad, when she finds out that you have saved her and she couldn't thank you herself."
Chris smiled at her, nodding. "I promise I'll come back later. You're sure you're ok here?" The woman nodded and when she did, Chris orbed away to pick up Michael.

& & & & &

Wyatt giggled when Tom held him up to put the last branch into the snowman. Once Wyatt was back on the ground, Tom took a step back to look at their masterpiece. "What do you think, Wyatt? Did we do a good job?"
"Yes! Yes!" The little boy answered with glee, a big smile crossing his face. But Tom felt like something was missing. 'Eyes, check. Nose, check. Mouth, check. Arms, check. Heck, we even have buttons down the front! So what's missing?' Tom thought, as he stared hard at the man of snow. And then it hit him. "Hat and scarf!" he said, and then turning to Wyatt, asked, "Do you know where we can find a hat and a scarf for our nice snowman?" Wyatt thought for a moment, and then blue orbs appeared around his hands. And sure enough, they formed into a hat and a scarf.
"Perfect!" Tom exclaimed. Then he picked up Wyatt again, so that the little boy could place the black hat on the head, and then the multicolored scarf around the neck. "Now that's one handsome snowman!" He said as he placed Wyatt on the ground again.
"Another one?" Wyatt asked, looking up at Tom with a big grin.
"Sorry, Sport. It's time to go in. But maybe later..." The man said, as Wyatt's grin turned into a pout. Tom looked at the little boy sympathetically, and held out his hand. Wyatt took it reluctantly, and the two went inside.
"Did someone say 'food'?" Tom joked, as he closed the door behind him, even though he hadn't heard anything.
"No, but I thought I heard something about setting the table." Veronica said as she came to check on who came in.
"Close enough." Tom said, then turned his attention to Wyatt. "Let's get you out of that snowsuit."
"Did you have fun making your snowman, Wyatt?" Veronica asked, as she helped Tom peel the suit off of the little boy.
"Yes! Lots of fun!" Wyatt said, as happy as any child should be at Christmas time.

& & & & &

"Don't worry Piper," Angela tried to calm down the angry woman. "Michael knows he will have to sleep on the couch for at least the rest of this year when he doesn't show up on time... So be sure they will be here!"
Bianca chuckled: "That's a good idea. I have to try that one on Chris, too, someday."
Piper just rolled her eyes, still pissed. But she knew those two women wouldn't understand her anyway. Because if they would they wouldn't have let them go at all...
She went over to the oven to check on the turkey again which would need about 30 more minutes. So it was time to cook the potatoes. While she did that she thought back to the last two Christmas they had... those with Chris, or better, those without him.
The first year when he was in the past, they hardly had seen him on Christmas. It was before they knew who he was, around the time when there had been a lot of trust-issues in the air. And to be honest, back then she had been glad that she didn't have to deal with him those days. She still didn't know where he had been those days and now she wondered if she should ask. But then she thought that this would probably just open old wounds, so she threw this thought away.
The following year they did know who Chris is... But still Christmas was anything else than perfect. There had been this trouble with the school, where a lot of stuff needed to be settled, so Chris was hardly home. And there had been that clan of demons who had been after Paige. They had the habit to spit acid at their targets which – in the end - meant the death of the Christmas tree. Not only did these demons ruin a good part of it... Piper, in order to blow those guys back into hell, sentenced the remainings to a quick death on her own. This was also the reason why they hadn't invite Victor back then, it had been too risky.
But this year things should be different. This should be the Christmas Chris deserved, the one they all deserved. But no, her oldest has to go on some trip an hour before dinner.
Still angry she left the kitchen again, to see if Wyatt was back in the house. She passed through the dining room, this time not caring about her father, who still talked to her husband. Entering the hallway she heard Veronica and Tom talking, while they undressed her little boy who was smiling over his whole face. Piper had to smile, too. She was happy for him, since snow was more than rare in San Francisco, and that enlighted her own mood.
Then she turned her attention to the other two people: "You know, you can also stay for dinner if you want."
Veronica looked at her and smiled: "No, thanks... But we are supposed to eat with my parents, and Steve and Nicki will be at the school with their parents... so, thanks but no."
"Yeah," Tom agreed, "as much as I would like to stay and taste your wonderful meal, we have to go... we would be gone already, we're only waiting for Chris. Do you know when he'll be back?"
Piper's smile faded and she turned on her heels and marched back into the kitchen grumbling.
Tom turned to his girlfriend, while Wyatt - finally freed from his snowdress - ran into the living room: "Did I say something wrong?" Veronica just shrugged in response.

& & & & &

Michael jumped up as soon as he saw the first orb lights enter the room, yelling at the bundle of lights: "Where have you been?"
When Chris finally reformed completely he chuckled at his friend's behavior, saying: "Will you let me arrive first...?" But Michael just looked at him with his arms crossed in front of his chest. So Chris sighed and explained: "There was someone I needed to save."
"Someone?" Michael asked.
Chris nodded: "A young girl of maybe 5 years... I'm not sure. She was shot by a darklighter."
Immediately Michael's expression changed from angry to worried: "Oh my God... is she fine? Are YOU fine?"
The Elder-witch smiled and nodded again: "Everyone is fine, don't worry... But mom was yelling for me, and through she has stopped by now... Finally!" The last word was directed to the ceiling. Then he looked at his friend again and continued: "We should go home..." He looked around. "Where is Jack?" he asked when he didn't see the man.
"Gone," Michael said. "He couldn't wait any longer, since he is supposed to meet with his own family. But he told me to send you some greetings..."
"He left you alone, unprotected?" Chris exclaimed.
Now Michael laughed: "I'm not a baby, ok? What shall happen to me here, huh? It's not like this is the underworld or something... Plus, I got this." And with those words he held the sword so that Chris noticed it.
"What's that?" Chris asked frowning.
Michael chuckled: "A sword." But when he saw his friend rolling his eyes he added: "It was Gareth's sword. You know? The one who married Amy. She put a spell on it to let it deflect also energy balls and fire balls... isn't that cool... She said, I'm supposed to be your knight."
Now Chris rose his eye brows: "Yeah sure... In your dreams..."
"But..."
"No! I surely won't take you with me when I fight demons, got it... I'm not going to risk your life!"
Michael nodded: "Thanks, but... from what Amy said, I'll need it someday, though she hasn't clarified for what exactly."
"You talked to her?"
Michael just nodded and then said: "But I'll tell you about that later... First we have a dinner to attend."
Chris nodded and then all of a sudden his eyes started to sparkle and he smiled. He thought about the dinner, the delicious turkey his mom had made every year when he was little and he had no doubt that it would be just as good as that, this year. And he also thought about the tree, and the gifts for Wyatt... and he wondered if there would be a gift for him, too. Suddenly he felt so excited about it, like if he would be still a child...
"What?" Michael asked seeing that weird expression on his friend's face.
Chris shook his head: "Nothing... Come one, before Santa takes our gifts away, because we're late." And with this he orbed them both home...

& & & & &

When she stormed into the kitchen again, Piper headed straight for the oven. As she opened it to check on the turkey, she heard, "It's not going to cook, if you keep opening the oven."
"Huh?" Piper said, turning around to find Bianca and Angela still in the kitchen.
"The turkey. It won't cook if you keep opening the oven." Bianca said again. Piper stared at her for a moment before turning back and slamming the oven door shut.
"If I could, I'd blow him up as soon as he gets back!" Piper said, out of frustration, as she looked at her daughter-in-law.
"No, you wouldn't. He's your son. And you love him. He'll be back soon." Bianca said, as she walked over to Piper, and put both hands on her shoulders.
"He shouldn't have left in the first place! This is all for him!" She said irritated, as she shrugged Bianca off, feeling like she was repeating herself. She walked over to the stove to check on the potatoes, trying to keep herself busy, so she wouldn't have to think about Chris. Which was all she could think of. She knew how simple, innocent little trips could turn deadly, especially for this family.
"Piper. Piper!" Bianca said, taking the fork out of Piper's hand, before she mashed the still boiling potatoes with it. "Why don't you go play with Wyatt, or Baby Christopher?"
"No time. Too much to do before dinner." She said, distracted, then catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she looked out into the dining room and saw her father still setting the table. "Paige!" She said under her breath. Before Bianca could say another word, Piper was out of the kitchen and in the dining room. Leo and Victor looked up as she came in.
"Dad, step away from the table!" Piper said, pointing at Victor, as she walked past. Victor put the utensils back on the table, and backed up. He slowly turned his head toward Leo, and shared a wide-eyed look with his son-in-law. Piper walked out of the room on a mission, and failed to see the orbs forming behind her.

& & & & &

Their shirts lay in a pile on the floor, near the door, as Paige and Kyle lay in each others arms on the bed, kissing passionately. It felt so good, so right, that everything else was forgotten. The world around them just disappeared. It was just them, the bed and a perfect moment in time. The kind of moment everyone wishes for, but fewer and fewer people can find in this day and age. And a moment that is easily broken.
Just then the door burst open, and Paige looked up ready to orb Kyle to safety, only to see Piper standing in the doorway, and not a demon. Though from the look on Piper's face, Paige would have preferred a demon.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Piper said, arms crossed, glaring at her little sister.
"Forgetting?" Paige tried, wrapping herself in her arms, and playing the innocent.
"The table! You are supposed to be setting the table!" Piper said, aggravated.
"Okay, okay. I'm coming. But could you..." She said, making a turning motion with her hand.
"Oh, please! Like I've never seen you in your bra before. Here!" Piper said, as she tossed Paige her shirt. Paige pulled it on, and got up, looking apologetically at Kyle. He smiled back at her, understanding her plight.
"Okay, enough of that! You can get back to it after dinner, when the kids are asleep. Now move it! Come on!" Piper said, as she motioned Paige out of the door, and started to usher her down the hall toward the stairs.
"Yes, mom." Kyle heard Paige say, as he picked up his shirt, and after buttoning it, correctly this time, followed. He smiled, because somehow this whole situation was pretty amusing.

& & & & &

Chris orbed himself and Michael directly to the dinning room of the manor. They appeared right in front of Leo and Victor, startling the latter. Chris immediately cursed himself for being so careless. He put a hand on the man's shoulder and asked: "You're alright?"
Victor grinned. Yes, he was fine, since he had expected his grandson to return this way. Still it startled him, but just a tiny little bit. So he grinned and nodded: "Don't worry... Just maybe I should have bought a cow bell for you for Christmas... to announce your arrival."
Chris looked at him with faked hurt, but then he laughed and pulled the man into a hug.
Victor laughed, too, while he hugged him back. And when they pulled apart he said: "I hope you have a good excuse for staying away that long, because your mother is really 'not amused'."
Chris turned to Michael who smiled at him - and saw the sword in his hands. So he turned back to his grandfather with a smile and winked at him: "Yeah, we have a very good one."
Then Chris turned to his father. He just looked at him for a moment and everyone in the room could see how his eyes brightened. Then, without warning, he pulled the man into a bone crashing hug.
To say the Elder was surprised by this would be an understatement. It wasn't that father and son weren't close... because they really were. Leo and Chris were closer to each other then both had thought would be possible with all that had happened in Chris' past. Still this was something special. And Leo did what felt right that moment, he put his arms around his son and hugged him back.
For Chris this felt good. He wanted to say 'thank you', through it wouldn't reach the person this message really was directed to. But this was all he had now, so he said it anyway. "Thanks dad."
Leo pulled away and looked at his son: "For what?"
Chris smiled brightly and wanted to reply something, explain what he had seen in his vision, but he didn't have the chance.
Because right that moment Paige walked into the dining room, with Piper hot on her heels. She gave Chris a squeeze on the shoulder as she walked past and heard Leo whisper "Good luck" to him before backing away.
"Mom!" Chris said, a big smile crossing his face, arms open for a hug.
"Don't mom, me!" Piper said angrily, stopping short of his open arms, hands on her hips. "What were you thinking? It's Christmas Eve, for God's sake!"
"Mom..." Chris started, but was quickly silenced by his mother.
"No, Chris. You should have known better then to run off! With our family's history, nothing is as simple as 'I'll be back before dinner'." She said, her concern showing through her aggravation.
Paige, having made her way partway around the table, leaned towards Leo, while watching Piper and Chris. "Chris went out before dinner?" she asked quietly, having been too preoccupied to notice Chris's earlier absence.
"Yes. And he just got back." Leo whispered back to her.
"So that's why she's so angry." She said, as she went back to setting the table.
"Mom..." Chris tried again, with the same result, and starting to get a little annoyed.
"Chris, this Christmas was supposed to be perfect. It was supposed to make up for the last couple of Christmases." Piper said, starting to break down.
Paige, half listening, leaned over to Leo again. "How many people are staying for dinner?" she asked.
Leo looked at her, astonished, for a moment, before answering her. "Eleven plus Wyatt" he whispered
Then he noticed that Piper and Chris were drawing a crowd. Kyle was standing in the doorway, watching silently. Tom, Veronica, Nikki, and Steve came into the hallway, when they heard Chris's name, leaving Wyatt to play with his toys, but didn't dare to come closer. Before Steve could say a word, Nikki had her hand over his mouth, so as not to interrupt. And Michael and Victor were standing off to the side, listening intently.
"But why?" Chris asked, not understanding Piper's distress.
"For you. It was supposed to be perfect, for you!" Her eyes started to tear up, just then, for all the frustration that had built up, was finally released. And her worries with it.
"Mom." Chris said again, looking into her damp brown eyes, a sweet smile forming on his lips. As his eyes filled with tears, too, he pulled her into a big hug. "It's all right. All I need for a perfect Christmas is you." He pulled her back to look at her. "You. And Dad, Wyatt and mini-me, and Aunt Phoebe, Uncle Cole, Aunt Paige, Grandpa, and of course Bianca, and Hope." He looked around at those gathered around him, a tear making its way down his cheek. "All my family and wonderful friends. That's all I need. That's all I ever needed."
"That's so sweet." Paige said, brushing a tear from her eyes with one hand, and placing the last plate on the table with the other. Piper let out a laugh just then, realizing that that was all she needed for a perfect Christmas, too. She lightly brushed the tear from Chris's cheek, and smiled up at him. Feeling very relieved and stress free for the first time all day. She looked around at her family and friends, and felt their warmth and love wash over her like a tidal wave, filling her with hope.
Angela and Bianca came in just then, and when Bianca saw Piper and Chris, she knew everything was okay. She made her way over to her husband, and gave him a big hug and kiss. "You all right?" she asked a moment later, as she looked up into his beautiful green eyes.
"Never been better," he said, giving Bianca a little squeeze, and his mother a little smile. Angela, watching all this, walked over to Michael, and after giving him a light slap to the chest, wrapped her arms around him, letting the joy-filled moment engulf her. But she soon pulled back when she realized he only held her with one arm. As she looked down and saw the sword in his hand, her smile quickly turned to a frown.
"What's this?" She asked, worried.
"I'll explain everything later." Michael reassured her, and as he gave her a kiss on the forehead, a little timer went off in the kitchen.
"That would be the potatoes, with the turkey soon to follow." Bianca announced. And the moment was broken. Piper wiped her eyes, and composed herself, and looking at Bianca asked, "Would you help me in the kitchen, please?"
"Of course," she said, then she kissed Chris on the cheek and went back into the kitchen.
"Leo, would you go tell Phoebe and Cole that dinner will be ready in a few minutes, please?" Piper asked, just before she followed Bianca.
"Yes, of course." Leo answered, then headed past Kyle and up the stairs.

& & & & &

While everyone was busy again, through the atmosphere had really cleared and all was more relaxed now, Victor put his hand on Chris's shoulder and nodded towards Tom, Steve, and the girls. "They want to talk to you before they go," he explained.
"Thanks, Grandpa." Chris said before walking over to the four friends, who were suddenly looking very excited to see him.
Chris shook his head when he saw Veronica and Nicki, hardly able to stand still, and Tom and Steve grinning widely. Smiling he asked: "What are you doing here? I thought you're supposed to be with your own families right now."
"We are," Tom agreed while his girlfriend gave Chris a hug.
"Yeah, but we wanted to give you your gifts before," Nicki explained. Then she hugged him, too.
And Steve added: "We wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas, face to face."
Chris smiled and hugged the men, too, saying: "Thanks, but you really didn't have to get me something."
"We know..." his friends answered in unison and started to laugh again. "Actually it was quite funny to wait for you," Tom said then, "I build a snowman together with your brother."
"Really?" Chris asked smiling.
Tom nodded: "Yeah it's outside in front of your house..."
The Elder-witch chuckled, then he said: "Oh I'm a bad host, won't you come in and sit down?"
Steve sighed: "No... we've been sitting here waiting for you, for a while already... But we really need to go now..."
Chris nodded, visibly sad: "Yeah, if I had known I'd tried to be back earlier. But you see, there was this little girl, Annie. She was shot by a darklighter."
"WHAT?" all four exclaimed.
Chris just nodded: "She's fine, don't worry. Right now she's with her mom at my office at the school... Steve, when you go back there later, can you make sure they get a proper room for the night?" Steve and Nicki both nodded. Chris sighed: "Thanks."
"No problem," Nicki said, "but now you have to open the gifts we have for you." And with this she pulled out a little box wrapped in golden paper, decorated with a big loop.
"Oh, but I don't have anything to give you right now, since I brought your gifts already up there for the party in two days..." Chris said, feeling a little bad about that.
"Oh come one... We know that, still we want you to open those now. We wanna see you reaction... so just do it, will you?" Nicki insisted.
The Elder-witch nodded, took the box from his friend's hand and unwrapped it. Actually he felt even a little nervous while opening it, just like if he would be a 5 year old excited about his gift. He opened the little box which was hidden under the paper and loop. And when he looked inside he grinned: "A mood ring?"
Nicki laughed: "No... It looks like one, true, but no. It's more. This is a ring of the protectors. Wear it left for protection wear it right for strengthen your powers. And the added stone will change the color when it senses evil."
Chris looked at her, then back at the ring, and then back at her with a smile: "Wow... Thank you!"
"Now, mine," Tom said, giving Chris another box, which was a little larger, wrapped in the same style as Nicki's but in different colors.
Chris smiled as he opened it and found an old hour glass. It was large, and made of wood with some gold applications here and there. And the sand inside was sparkling. "Oh my... is this an elf's hour glass?"
Tom grinned when he saw the excitement in Chris' eyes: "Yes it is..."
"So you know about those things?" Veronica asked, since she herself did have no idea until Tom had told her about it.
Chris nodded: "Yeah this hour glass helps you, by showing you things from your past. It reminds you of things when you need to remember them... All you have to do is observe the falling sand..." Then he turned to Tom again: "Thanks. This is an amazing gift!"
The young man smiled. "You're welcome."
"Mine shall be the next one," Veronica said then and gave Chris another little box.
The Elder-witch smiled and opened it. Inside the box, wrapped in cloth was a little snow globe. It showed a couple standing in the snow, holding hands, next to a snowman."
"Don't you agree that those two almost look like you and Bianca?" Veronica said excited. Chris had to agree on that. "And it's a music box, playing a romantic melody."
"Thanks," Chris said, "that's beautiful."
Now it was Steve's turn. "That's from me," he said as he gave Chris a large box.
Chris took it, complaining that they all had spent too much money for him... But when he saw what Steve had bought for him he lost his voice for a moment. "Wow," he muttered as he pulled out a sheath. It was beautiful handwork, made of fine leather and decorated with old symbols. It looked like it was a few centuries old but it was absolutely flawless.
"I though you need something to transport Excalibur in the proper way... in case you wanna take the sword with you," Steve explained.
Chris was still speechless, he just looked at the sheath and shook his head. "Really," he said then, "this is far too much, I don't..."
"Oh no!" Nicki exclaimed. "Don't even think about complaining. Got it? Those gifts are for you... And we want you to be happy about them. So no 'that's too much' ok?"
The Elder-witch nodded smiling: "Thanks so much for all this. I can't even find words for telling you how much this means to me... Thank you, thank you, thank you." And again he hugged them all, truly thankful. Those gifts really were amazing and more than he would have ever expected.
When they finally parted the four friends had to say goodbye, since their parents would be already waiting for them. "Tell the others some greetings," Steve said. Chris nodded and then Tom shimmered them away.
Meanwhile Victor had observed the scene from the door to the dining room, smiling. He didn't know what happened, when his grandson was away, but something did happen, that he was sure of. Chris visibly had relaxed and was more at ease. Plus, he was really excited. It seemed to Victor that the Christmas spirit had finally found a way into his grandson's heart.

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A couple of minutes later all the family and their guests were seated at the dining table. The Halliwells did own a huge table, already. But for this dinner they had enlarged it a little - magically. "God, this family has really grown a lot," Phoebe had complained earlier, when she saw all the mess. But in fact she knew that this family was better then everything she could have wished for.
Now they all sat there, talking lively and waiting for Piper and Bianca to come in with the turkey. In fact they had two of them. One wouldn't have been enough for all of them. But the other one was at Chris' apartment at the school, and they would pick it up 15 minutes later, since they started that one a little later, too. This way it would be fresh when it was needed.
Then finally Bianca came in with a bowl of sauce followed by Piper who carried the turkey on a plate. Everyone cheered when they saw that wonderful and absolutely delicious looking bird, congratulating Piper even before they had tasted it.
"Oh wait until you had the first bite... I'm afraid I used a little too much pepper," Piper warned smiling.
Cole then grinned. "Well then better give us something before we starve," he said, earning a slap on his arm by his wife.
"Ok.... who shall spread the turkey???" Piper asked then. And when everyone looked at her she added: "Oh no... I had all the work today, now it's MY time to relax." And with this she sat down to underline her point.
Chris grinned at her and offered to do it, but Victor interrupted him: "I guess it's a family tradition of ours... well back before Patty and I..." he interrupted himself, he didn't want to go there right now, to be honest. "Well, what I wanna say, it's tradition that always the oldest has to cut and spread the turkey..."
Piper laughed and agreed enthusiastically. Chris and Bianca started laughing, too, when they saw the faces of Michael and Angela after they told them what this meant. Paige and Kyle also agreed, not that it really mattered to them who gave them their food... not that the food mattered at all since they almost only had eyes for each other. Leo also nodded and then took care of Wyatt again, who was about to play with the salt on the table. So Piper finally took the knife and gave it to Cole.
The man - who had been a little distracted by the woman by his side - turned to her questioning: "Me?"
"You're the oldest," Piper said. "Not even Leo can beat your age..."
"Awww.. you make me sound so old..." Leo complained, laughing.
Cole still hesitated: "I don't know if I'm... I mean... it's your turkey I..."
"Oh come on, it's just a turkey... And it will get cold if you don't get your butt to move," The oldest of the sisters explained.
Cole grinned the nodded: "Ok." Then he stood up and went around the table to the huge turkey. And when he ceremoniously cut in the bird and the stuffing came out the whole place smelled like onions, like apples, like cinnamon... like Christmas.

(Chapter 10 written by Kirianna Ledräen and Chrissy.W.x)