A Charmed Story - Part Twelve:
A Halliwell Christmas Carol
Chapter 11

The family-Christmas-dinner went on in a very happy and relaxed way. Everyone enjoyed each other's company on this special day. Piper was floated with compliments for the wonderful meal, and a little later again a second time when the other bird was served. Then everyone giggled when Wyatt decided to eat his mashed potatoes with his fingers... Oh yeah, this was fun. Through the boy quickly took the spoon again, when Leo reminded him that Santa was probably still watching him... And all the time, Christopher and Hope were playing in the playpen near by (since they had been fed already).
"So," Cole then looked over at Michael, "what is it with the sword you brought with you?"
Chris sighed: "I don't think that's the right time to discuss." And his friend nodded in agreement.
"Oh come on," Angela encouraged her husband, "just spill it..."
"Well," Michael started, hesitating. He knew it wouldn't end up good if he explained it all. But his wife kept asking. "It was the sword of Gareth and... Amy gave it to me."
"Amy?" Bianca asked confused.
"That girl from the Middle Age?" This was Victor, and Chris nodded.
"And why?" Angela then asked.
Michael shrugged: "Well... she said, I'm supposed to be Chris' knight and therefore I need something to defend myself."
For a moment everyone fell silent, just looking at the man and at Chris in turns. "NO!" Angela exclaimed then, looking straight at Chris. "I won't allow you to take him with you when you go after a demon or something. He's just a mortal! Got it?"
Chris rose his hands in defense: "Don't look at me, I already told him that this whole idea is crazy!"
"It's not," Michael gave back. And suddenly all the peace seemed to slip away and even Wyatt looked up from his plate. "It's logical," the man went on, "you are the owner of Excalibur. And as Arthur did, you'll need people to trust and to rely on. Your knights. And as your friend I'll be one of them, I already am. And I don't plan to go after a demon with you, or something. I will just be there for you whenever you need me, as I already do... And if that puts me into danger, then now I'll be able to defend myself! Not more, not less."
After this was said, again silence filled the room. No one really knew what to say to this. Chris looked seriously at his friend suddenly understanding that he was absolutely right. Then smiled, shaking his head: "Thanks."
Leo, Victor and Cole shared a look, and then smiled, too, while Angela's face still showed all her worries. But Bianca assured her, that she would have an eye on her husband and winked.
"So," Paige then asked, "who will be your other knights?"
The Elder-witch looked at her wordless. He didn't know what to answer to this, because he had never thought about that... Therefore he shrugged and admitted: "I have no idea..."
Leo sent him a calming smile: "Don't worry son, you will know it when it's time..."
Cole giggled about this 'so-typical-Leo-comment' and said with a wink and a gesture to the Elder: "Absolutely, but I guess we all know who his Merlin is..." And everyone started to laugh while Leo blushed.

& & & & &

Later that night Cole, Chris, Michael, Phoebe, Angela and Bianca were sitting in the living room, talking, while Paige and Kyle were in the kitchen, cleaning the chaos. Phoebe and Bianca had wanted to help, but the other two insisted to do it on their own... most likely to have some more private time. Leo, Piper and Victor were meanwhile busy with getting the kids ready for bed.
"So you really burnt down your Christmas tree?" Cole asked laughing.
Michael nodded: "Yeah... I mean, no one planned it, but the crash let the tree fall a little to the side and the candles lit up the branches."
"Well, you shouldn't have hunted your cat around the tree then..." Chris laughed.
Michael looked at him with faked anger: "Hey, I was five!"
At this Angela took his hand and caressed it lovingly. Then she took his face in her other had and made him look at him: "Well... I'm sure your parents forgave you... such a cute boy, I'm sure no one was able to be angry at you..." Again everyone laughed at this.
Right that moment blue lights appeared on Cole's lap and formed into Wyatt: "Uncle, help me... Don't wanna go to bed!"
"Oh.... But why?" Cole asked.
The boy looked seriously at him: "I wanna see Santa... Wanna wait for him and say thank you to him for my gifts."
Cole grinned at Wyatt, like everyone else in the room. Then he said: "But you know... only good kids will get gifts... and I don't think that he'll see you as a good kid, when you stay up all night."
Wyatt frowned, then he looked at the others before he looked at Cole again: "But isn't it also a bad thing to not say thanks?"
Now everyone laughed heartily about the boy's cute innocence, while Chris got up to kneel by his brother's side. He smiled at him and pulled a blond curl out of his face. "You know," he said, "that's why you and me made the cookies earlier, that's why they are on that plate over there by the stairs, together with the milk... to thank him. Because he loves good cookies above everything... and our's are good, right?" Wyatt smiled and nodded.
This moment Piper came down the stairs. When she heard what they were talking about she smiled: "Wyatt... come on, it's time for bed..."
The boy again looked at his uncle: "Promise me that no one else will eat this?"
Cole smiled and nodded: "I swear, I will let no one else than Santa himself have it!"
The boy sighed like an old man and then nodded: "Ok." Then his uncle kissed him on his forehead and sat him down to his feet. Wyatt then hugged Chris tightly before he ran over to his mom, who picked him up.
Piper turned around to the others and mouthed a "Thank you" before heading up the stairs again.
Bianca chucked as Chris sat down next to her again, pulling him into her arms.
"You are really good at this, buddy," Michael said and Angela nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but you are, too," Phoebe said to her husband before kissing him.
Cole then looked at his watch with a sigh. It was time to go. "Well," he said turning to Chris, "I guess we better get going... Maybe you could just orb us down and come back since... I mean, since we have guests."
Chris looked at Michael and Angela, an "Oh" escaping his lips.
"What?" Michael asked.
"Well, actually we planed to pay another friend of us a little visit... you know..." he looked to the hallway, "without them knowing..."
Michael looked at Cole and then back at Chris and said: "Oh..." Then he looked at his wife again and smiled at her before turning back to Chris: "Then go, before they come down again... We'll cover for you."
"Really?" Cole asked.
"But what will you say?" This was Bianca, who had been informed about all of this earlier.
"Well," Angela said, through she wasn't so sure what they were talking about, but trusted her husband's decision, "we will say that Chris and Bianca looked after that girl he'd saved."
"Yeah, and you two," with this Michael looked at Cole and Phoebe grinning, "you were just 'tired' and went to bed."
"Thanks..." Chris said. Then he turned to his wife: "So I suggest you bring them down and I follow in a second... because I really need to check on that girl and her mother... I promised it."
Bianca nodded and so all four left the living room by orbing and shimmering respectively.
Angela sighed and snuggled closer to her husband, who held her close, watching the lights on the beautiful Christmas tree.

& & & & &

Chris materialized in front of a door at magic school and immediately knocked. It took a moment but then the woman opened the door.
"Hey," Chris greeted shyly. She smiled and let him in. "How are you? Did you get everything you need?" he asked then when she had closed the door behind him.
"Oh, we're fine... thanks to you," she replied. Right that moment the young girl came running into the room. She ran over to Chris and hugged his legs.
"Annie, didn't I say to you, you should stay in bed?" the mother said seriously, but still smiled a little bit.
Annie looked at her: "But Mom, I have to thank him..." Then she looked up to Chris and said: "Thank you angel. I knew you would save me."
Chris smiled at the girl and then knelt down to her level: "I'm not an angel, sweetie. I'm just human, ok?"
"But you are shining," the girl insisted, "I can see it."
"I know," Chris said, but I'm still not an angel... I'm just..." He stopped unsure what to say. He looked at the girl's mother, but she just shrugged. So he turned back to the girl: "I'm just someone with a gift... a gift to help people. And that's what I do..."
Annie sighed and looked down: "Ok..." But then she looked up and him again and asked: "But do we have to stay here?"
"Yeah, I guess it's saver for now..." Chris answered. "Why? Don't you like it here?"
"I do," the girl said, "but I'm afraid that Santa won't find me here..." Now her mother started to sob softly, through she still smiled.
Chris grinned but then he remembered something...
"No, actually they had all been there... everyone who was on our list. But as it seems we bought one doll too much," Jeremiah had said.
'Maybe Santa really exists,' Chris thought. Then he looked at the girl again seriously..."Hmmm... you know what? This is a special place, and here usually Santa arrives a little earlier... You do know that in other places Santa arrives at a different time right? I mean he can't be everywhere at the same time, right?" The girl nodded and the mother looked at the Elder-witch interested. But he just went on: "So... Santa had already been here yesterday..."
"Yesterday already? Oh no... I missed him," Annie was close to tears now.
Chris just smiled at her: "No-no... Ok, he was already here, but... he left something for you."
"He did?" both daughter and mother said in union.
Chris nodded and held his hand behind his back to orb the remaining gift from the show to his hand, which the mother registered astonished but the girl couldn't see. Then he gave the gift to the girl, who looked at it with wide opened eyes.
"Can I open it?" She asked.
Chris looked up at the woman who nodded and then said: "It's up to you... if you want you can open it, or you wait until tomorrow."
Annie frowned and then said determined: "I'll wait until tomorrow..." Then she hugged Chris again.
"Ok young lady," her mother said, "time for bed." The girl nodded and then said good night before she heeded back to the bed room.
The woman meanwhile turned to Chris: "You really didn't have to buy something for her."
"I didn't," Chris answered. And when she looked at him questioning, he explained: "We had a school play yesterday, and we gave gifts to the kids... the gifts were counted, but still... after the play there was one doll left." Chris smiled at the woman who didn't know what to say to this. Then he added with a smile: "Seems Santa knew this all along... Good night. I'll come back tomorrow afternoon." Then he orbed away.

& & & & &

"This is so amazing... and weird... but mostly amazing."
Leo chuckled as he watched his father in law rocking little Hope who was weeping softly, while he himself changed the diaper of baby-Chris.
"You know," the man then went on, "it's hard to believe that this here is actually my great-grandchild."
Leo now nodded: "Yeah, I now... I'm wondering about that fact, that I'm grandfather already, nearly every day..."
Now Victor looked at the Elder: "Really? I thought you would be used to it by now."
"Well, I doubt I will ever get used to this... It's too weird."
The other nodded: "Yeah, I guess... But a good weird..."
"Absolutely, a weird good family..." Leo agreed as he closed the sleepers and picked the boy up to his arms. Then he turned to the other man and smiled: "And it's good that you are a part of it."
Victor smiled back at him, understanding: "Thanks."
Right that moment Piper stepped through the door, Wyatt on her arms with his head on her shoulder and his thump in his mouth.
"Ah see who's there, Hope..." Victor said looking at the girl, "you're uncle is here now... and he's going to sleep right now, too."
Wyatt looked up when he heard his grandpa say this. "I'm a big boy," he said, making the other's chuckle.
"Yeah and the big boy will go to sleep now, right?" Leo asked after he had laid the already half dozed off Christopher into his little bed.
The boy nodded and as soon as his mother put him to the ground he ran over to his own bed and crawled under the blanket.
Victor shook his head: "What have you done to him that he's so easy to get into bed?"
Piper sighed: "I've no idea... usually he isn't like this, but maybe it's because of Christmas..."
"I'm sure he's just afraid that Santa won't bring him anything if he doesn't behave..." Leo chuckled.
"No!" Wyatt exclaimed pulling the blanket over his head. And then they all heard a muffled: "I'm sleeping..."
Piper laughed and went over to him, pulling the blanket back a little. "Ok, boy... Good night, sleep well," she said and gave him a kiss. Then she said good night to the other two kids, too.
Leo then did the same and they both stepped to the door, while Victor lay down Hope into her crib. She finally had fallen asleep, too. "You coming?" Leo asked.
Victor looked at the girl and then at Christopher and then at Wyatt, before he turned to his daughter and son-in-law asking: "Do you mind if I read him a story or something?"
Immediately Wyatt sat in his back again, looking at his parents expectantly.
"Ok..." Piper said with a serious voice, "one story... But that's it, alright?" Both Victor and Wyatt nodded. So the smiling parents left the room, closing the door behind them.

& & & & &

An hour later, Belthazor looked at all the stuff Cole and the other had brought and smiled. The tree and the decorations, and all this little useless but still beautiful things. There were candles and angels and Santas and even a nutcracker... All this stuff had turned this place into a warm and cozy home. And the food, Piper's delicious work, which they had warmed up already again... And they even had bought some gifts for Julian, too. "Thanks," he said, "thanks for all of this."
Cole looked at his brother and smiled: "You're welcome."
"Yeah," Phoebe added, "I love Christmas shopping and this gave me the opportunity for another round."
"Uhhh... don't remind me," Cole exclaimed, gaining a playful slap from his wife, and a chuckle from Chris. Even Belthazor laughed about this.
Then an alarm sound was heard. "He's coming," the demon said.
"Turn of the lights," Bianca commanded. And so they did. And then they waited in the dark... patiently.
Soon the door to the cave was opened and a figure stepped into the dark room. "B.? Are you here?" Julian called closing the door behind him before he switched on the lights with a move of his hand.
But when he did, he was startled to the bones when five voices screamed "SURPRISE!"
"Wha... What's going on here?" Julian exclaimed looking around confused. Then he noticed the tree and the candles and the loops and the mistletoe and the reindeers and Santas and other stuff, the food on the lovely decorated table and... the smiling faces of Belthazor and their guests. And he almost choked out his next question: "What is this..."
The red demon stepped closer and put an arm around his friend. Then he gestured to the stuff and said: "This is for you... Merry Christmas Julian!"
"Yeah, Merry Christmas," the voices of the others were heard, too.
"That... that's amazing," Julian whispered, close to tears now. "I... I can't believe it."
"Just do it," Bianca said, as she hugged her husband close.
"Yeah," Cole said, "this is all for you... well, and him." With the last words he gestured at the demon.
"Belthazor told us that you wouldn't have a Christmas this year, so we thought we help you out," Phoebe explained.
And Chris nodded agreeing: "Yeah, everyone deserves to have a Christmas... Or something similar at least."
Now Julian began to laugh: "This... this is just unbelievable. Thank you so much!" He hugged Belthazor tightly, and then went over to the others, to give everyone a hug, too.
Chris smiled brightly when he hugged the demonic witch back and said: "Come on, let's sit down and eat, before it gets cold."
Julian nodded and so they did. They enjoyed the leftovers of the Halliwell-dinner, they chatted, they laughed... And Julian thought it was all he needed. Sure it was sad that his family had kicked him out, but now he realized he had found a new one. He had Belthazor, who was a great friend... no, who was like family for him. And as he now knew, Cole and Chris and their wives cared, too.
Later, when all food was gone and they sat just there, talking, Belthazor asked his friend: "Won't you open your gifts?"
But the demonic witch shook his head: "No... not before tomorrow."
"Yeah, you can't open them now... it's against the rules," Phoebe agreed.
Belthazor shrugged: "Ok... I guess I can wait this long to see your face." Julian grinned about this.
"Well... I hope you'll like your gifts, too," Cole said then, directed at his brother.
The demon looked at him surprised: "You got something for me, too?" And as Cole nodded the demon smiled. "Thanks." And this really came from deep inside his heart. He had just wanted to make his fried happy, but what he got was even more.
"You're welcome," Cole replied with an understanding smile
Julian then turned silent, staring into the nothing for a moment, thinking. First no one noticed but then Phoebe asked: "Hey, are you ok?"
Julian looked at her: "What? Oh, yeah... I was just thinking."
"About what?" Belthazor asked.
"Well," Julian sighed. Then he turned to Chris: "Are you still searching for a job?"
Chris frowned: "Yeah, why?" What was this all about?
"Because, when I visited my grandma today, she made me a gift. But I can't take care of that on my own, since I don't live up there anymore."
"What are you talking about?" Bianca now asked.
Julian grinned: "I'm talking about the 'Silver Spoon'."
"The restaurant at the bay?" Chris asked, wondering if he was really talking about that famous little restaurant, where he, too, liked to eat now and then.
The demonic witch nodded. "Yeah, I thought you could be my manager... or - if it's too much for you with all your responsibilities - together with Piper, maybe, if she wants to. You can have half of the profit... So, what do you think?"
Chris looked at Bianca, who squeezed his hand, then he turned back to Julian. "If you're really serious about that, then yeah, of course I'd like to work for you. But please, think through this again first. I mean, that's your gift. You just got it, so please... sleep over it first, ok?"
Julian nodded: "Ok, I will... But I doubt I'll change my mind, since I can't think of anyone better for this job."
Chris blushed: "Thanks."

& & & & &

When Bianca and Chris orbed home later - Phoebe and Cole had decided to stay a little longer - Piper, Leo and Victor had still been awake, sitting in the living room, talking quietly.
"Hey," they greeted. And then Bianca asked: "Where is the rest?"
"Michael and Angela already went to bed about half an hour ago." Piper explained.
Leo chuckled: "And Paige and Kyle are upstairs, too, through I doubt they are sleeping."
"Uhhh," Chris grimaced, "I really don't need that picture.
"So, how are the girl and her mom?" Victor asked then, when the newcomers finally had sat down.
"They are fine for now... But after the holiday we should try to find out what this is about..."
Piper nodded: "Don't worry, we will..." Then she slapped her hands on her knees and stood up. "But now I guess I call it a day, too... Since I'm pretty sure Wyatt will wake us up early."
"Oh yeah... I guess he'll be up before sunrise," Leo agreed chuckling and stood up, too. Then he waved his hand and all the gifts appeared under the tree.
Chris looked at all the boxes and smiled: "Wow, that's a lot."
Piper grinned: "Yeah..." But then she turned serious. "Don't you dare to look at them before tomorrow morning, or I'll ground you for the rest of your life!" she stated and then had to smile again, when she saw the scared expression on her oldest son's face. She gave him a kiss on his forehead and said: "Good night sweetie. Don't stay up to long..."
Chris just nodded and said good night to Leo, too, same as Bianca and Victor did. Then the Elder orbed himself and his wife up to their room.
But as soon as they were gone, Bianca yawned. "God, I guess we should go to bed, too, don't you think?"
Chris was about to answer when Victor said: "He'll follow you in a minute, there just one little thing we have to talk about.
Bianca looked at her husband who shrugged, since he had no idea what this was about. Then she nodded and left the room. But not before saying: "Don't let me wait to long, baby..."
Chris grinned as he followed her with his eyes, then he turned back to his grandfather and asked: "So what do you wanna talk about?"
Victor's answer was simple: "You."
"Me?"
"Yeah, I wanna know what happened today. Because you seem to be so different since you're back from wherever you had been with Michael this afternoon."
Chris sighed, understanding what his grandpa meant. He remembered the talk they had had earlier. But how should he explain all those things he had seen this day, all those things that had happened? "Well," he started, "I guess I just remembered some... good things, from my past." Victor nodded. So Chris went on: "Well actually it was just one thing, but that must have triggered something inside me, like someone switched on a big neon-sign saying 'Hey buddy it's Christmas for God's sake'... "
At this Victor had to chuckle. Then he said: "Well as long as it helped you, it's fine."
Chris nodded: "Yeah..."
Then they both kept silent for a while before the older one asked: "I don't want to be insensitive but... Do you like to tell me what it was that you remembered?"
The Elder-witch smiled a 1000-watt-smile: "I remembered how Leo played Santa Clause when I was two and a half years old."
Victor looked at his grandson with wide opened eyes, since Chris had once told him about 'his' Leo. "You're kidding?"
"No," Chris replied, "I guess he wasn't as bad as it seemed, at least at the beginning."
Victor just nodded, what else could he say to this. They again kept silent for a moment, each of them following his own line of thoughts, until Victor stood up, too, saying: "Come on buddy, it's time for bed..."
Chris nodded. So they turned of the lights and went both up the stairs.
"What about the cookies?" Victor then asked. "Don't you think we should..."
"No... those are Santa's cookies..." Chris said and playfully pushed his grandfather to move ahead. On the first floor their ways parted and Chris turned to Victor for one last time this night. "Good night Grandpa," he said. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you, too, Chris," the man replied with a bright smile, before he moved on to his own room.

& & & & &

It was long after midnight when Cole and Phoebe appeared in the hallway. The empath was giggling uncontrollably and Cole had a hard time holding her upright.
"Shhhhh..." he whispered to her softly. "Be quiet, you don't want to make Santa angry, do you?"
"No..." Phoebe answered serious, "but I doubt Santa would because we had some fun, would he?"
Cole smiled and kissed her. "No... I don't think he would."
After Chris and Bianca had been gone, Julian had the nice idea to prepare some mulled wine. And yes, Phoebe definitely had one cup too much. But Julian wasn't doing much better, at least not when they had left...
Julian lay heavily against Belthazor's shoulder, the cup with the mulled wine clutched tightly in his hand. "Shou know what?" he asked the demon.
"What?" Belthazor asked back with a smirk. A drunken Julian really was funny.
"I'm really thankful that shou are here..." And after a deep sigh he pulled the red demon into a hug saying. "Shou're my family... and I love shou sho much..."
Cole couldn't help giggle, same as his brother did, who was hugging Julian back none the less. Phoebe on the other hand giggled: "Awwwwwww this is so cute..."
Cole than turned to Belthazor saying: "I guess it's time for bed now, for those two, don't you think?" Because even through Phoebe was still not really drunk, she was already in the state of giggling and he didn't want her to have a hangover the next day.
The demon nodded: Yeah... give me a moment to get this boy into his room and then I'll shimmer you home."
And here they were now, standing in the hallway.
"We really should go to sleep, Chris and Wyatt will wake us soon enough..." Cole said.
Phoebe nodded. Then she gave him a kiss before she pulled him into their bedroom.

& & & & &

It was early in the morning when Victor was awakened by a tapping sound... like little feet running over a carpet. Then he heard some swearing from someone that sounded a lot like Paige.
He smiled and got up. Christmas was finally there.
He put on his bathrobe and stepped out of the room, just to see an exited Wyatt running in his pj out of the other guestroom, from where he heard laughter.
When the smiling boy saw his grandpa, he came over to him and hugged his legs. "'s good that you're wake, so I don't have to wake you," he said. Then he smiled even brighter saying: "Santa was here, tonight! The cookies and milk are gone!!!"
Victor grinned at the boy and ruffled his hair. Then the boy let go of him and ran to the next room he found and the man followed him.
Meanwhile a sleepy Piper came now out of her room, too. And when she saw her father already awake she asked: "Did Wyatt wake you, too?"
Victor turned to her and smiled: "Good morning, Piper, merry Christmas. And no, he didn't. I was already up."
The woman grimaced: "Lucky you, because that little monster jumped on us while we were far away in dreamland..." Victor laughed and then Piper grinned, wishing him merry Christmas, too.
Meanwhile Wyatt had entered Chris's and Bianca's room and used their bed as trampoline saying again and again: "Wake up... Santa was here, Santa was here!"
Victor chuckled even more as he saw his one grandson so excited, while his other slowly woke up. But when Chris was fully awake he hugged the boy and said with a huge smile: "Did you wake the others so that we can go and open the gifts?"
Wyatt nodded.
Chris looked hurt: "What? You did this without me?" But then he smiled: "Good so we can get the gifts faster..." And he jumped out of bed, too. First he circled his bed to the side where Bianca was just half awake and gave her a very intimate kiss, before wishing her a merry Christmas. Then he took Wyatt's hand and left the room, wishing Victor merry Christmas, too, on his way...
Bianca meanwhile shook her head, smiling. Then she noticed the man standing in the doorway, and said: "Good morning."
"Good morning," Victor replied, then asked, "have you ever seen Chris like this?"
Bianca shook her head: "No... But really, I don't mind, I like him this crazy and excited."
The man nodded: "Yeah, me too."
Meanwhile Wyatt reached the stairs, followed by Chris, but they both didn't get far because Cole just came up that moment and grabbed the small boy in his run on the small middle landing of the stairs and lifted him over his shoulder. "Not so fast young man," he said.
Wyatt giggled, and Chris did, too, saying: "See Wyatt, this is the advantage of being a grown up." And he tried to get passed Cole.
But the man wouldn't let him. Laughing he let go of Wyatt, who tried to run but ended up in Phoebe's arms. Then he grabbed Chris around his waist with one arm and started tickling him with his free hand, simply guessing he would be as sensitive to that on his sides, as baby Christopher was... and he was right.
Chris was laughing so hard, trying to get free, but at the same time enjoying this so much. Still he needed air... "Please... Cole... Ok... I... I surrender..."
Meanwhile Michael and Angela had also climbed out of their beds and they watched this scene played in front of them with amusement. Cole then let go of his nephew and smiled widely while Chris caught his breath. The Elder-witch just shook his head, and started to laugh again, when he saw Wyatt's face who was smiling brightly.
Then he turned to Cole: "So what? We have to wait here...?"
Phoebe nodded: "Yes, none of you will go down there as long as not everyone is awake and here..."
It took about five minutes then everyone was awake. Even Christopher and Hope who were carried by Leo and Bianca respectively were looking excited, through it was probably more because of the chaos and all the people at one, than because of Christmas, since they both were too small to really understand this.
"Nice necklace," Bianca remarked, spotting the expensive jewelry around Paige neck, who stood by her side.
The witch-whitelighter smiled pulling Kyle – who looked more than sleepy – into a loving embrace. "Yeah... Got it from my amazing boy," she said before kissing him, making the Phoenix chuckle.
Finally Cole stepped aside to let the others pass him on the stairs and within a millisecond both Wyatt and Chris were on their way again. They ran into the living room to see what Santa brought and both stopped right at the door as they saw the tree and all the gifts... even more gifts then it had been when Chris went to bed... The most eye catching thing through was a model railway in garden-size which was doing its turns around the tree.
"Wow," Wyatt breathed out and Chris just nodded, feeling again like he was just a kid. Then both went over to take a closer look at the train. It was lead by a classical steam locomotive and had four wagons in dark purple. It was really beautiful.
Meanwhile the others reached the living room, too. And when Michael and Kyle saw the train they immediately joined Chris and Wyatt. Angela and Paige meanwhile had the same thought in mind: 'They're just huge kids...'
"Surprised?" Leo asked as he slowly went over to 'his boys'.
Chris looked up at him: "More than that, dad. Much more..."
"Well," this was Piper who had sat down on the sofa, "why don't we open the other gifts then, to see if there are more surprises."
Wyatt and Chris looked at her with a huge smile, then they both crawled over and pulled out some of the boxes, handing them to the persons they were meant for. And within minutes the whole room was filled with abandoned loops and ripped colorful papers. Then Chris found another gift with his name on it. Smiling he opened it to find...
"Lollop?" Chris exclaimed as he pulled out a fluffy toy in the shape of a bunny, looking confused at his parents.
Piper and Leo looked at each other while the rest of the family was kind of confused now. Leo then asked: "So you know this little bunny, do you?"
Chris nodded: "I... I got one at my first Christmas... This one..."
Piper smiled: "Thought so..." Then she explained: "I was searching for a gift for mini-you and came across this bunny. And I bought it. But then I thought about you, and that maybe in your timeline you had one, too. So I decided to give this bunny to you and buy for Christopher the cat instead." With this she gestured to the baby who was sitting in the playpen, shaking a fluffy cat by holding it on its tail.
Chris looked at the bunny again, and then held it close, saying: "Thanks mom... This is great..."
"You're welcome, sweetie."
Leo then turned to his father in law and whispered: "Have you eaten Santa's cookies?"
The man shook his head: "No I haven't. Chris wouldn't let me."
Leo frowned: "But when I went down tonight to add the last gifts they were gone... That's mysterious."
Cole, who sat a little in front of them on the ground, turned to them at that moment: "Santa will have eaten them, of course..." Then he grinned, when he saw the confused looks on the others' faces: "Tell Chris they were delicious..."
Leo laughed at this: "Ok, Santa, I'll tell him."
Victor meanwhile leaned back in the armchair, smiling. He watched all his family, who were so happy and relaxed and... He couldn't help thinking: 'Yeah... that's probably the best Christmas I've ever had.'

& & & & &

The next day....
A deep sigh could be heard as another pile of snow flew through the air. Cole stuck the shovel in the snow, then ran his arm over his forehead, letting out another sigh. He rested a few moments more, before picking up the shovel and starting again. "When will it end!?" Cole asked himself, as he wondered for the hundredth time why he had volunteered for this.
At that moment the door opened and Phoebe peeked her head out. "Cole, honey, why don't you come in now?" She asked.
"I'm not done!" He replied as he tossed another pile of snow over his shoulder.
"It's all right, no one is leaving today. At least, not through the front door." She said sympathetically.
"Can you tell me why we seem to have more snow in our yard then anyone else?" Cole asked annoyed, as he put the shovel down and turned to face Phoebe.
"We don't. The wind drifted it into the stairs." She said as she leaned against the door and wrapped her arms around herself.
"The wind! You know, for the amount of wind that's blowing around, you'd think the snowman would start to look a little haggard. Did Tom use magic on it?" Cole said, as he took a look at the snowman Tom and Wyatt had made the other day. Phoebe followed his gaze and saw something colorful flutter in the wind.
"I don't think he did. Is that my scarf?" She asked, as she recognized the multicolored strip of fabric wound around the snowman's neck.
"Looks like it..." He started, but stopped when he heard the sound of the snowplow coming down the street again. "Oh no! Not again! I swear, every time I get the driveway cleared, that damn plow comes by and fills it back in! I'm never going to get this done!"
"Well, why don't you come in and take a break? I'll give you a massage..." Phoebe said enticingly. But Cole didn't seem to notice.
"Not right now. I still have to finish the stairs and re-do the driveway. You know, there has got to be a better way to do this!" He said as he started shoveling again. "Hey!" He said, spinning around to look at Phoebe again. "Why don't we use a little magic? You know, cast a little spell to displace it. Or make it melt?!"
"Personal gain, rings any bells?"
"I knew you'd say that." Cole said, returning to his back breaking work of shoveling the stairs.
"Cole..."
"Aunt Phoebe. We've got it from here." Chris said, coming up from behind Phoebe, all dressed up in his winter jacket, gloves, hat, and scarf, and holding a shovel. Leo, similarly dressed, was next to him. Phoebe moved back to let them by. She watched the scene as Chris and Leo started helping Cole shovel.
"Don't forget, we have the Elder's Christmas party tonight." She reminded them.
"Yeah!" Chris and Cole said in unison as Leo said, "We won't." Phoebe shook her head at them, then went inside to warm up.
"Thanks guys. I really appreciate this." Cole said, taking another small break.
"Any time, Uncle Cole." Chris said, as he patted his uncle on the shoulder.
As the three men continued to shovel, the wind picked up again. To Cole's ever growing annoyance, it blew more snow into the stairs. But this time he had help. He looked over at Chris, his beloved nephew, and Leo, his brother-in-law, and that warmed his heart... But not his fingers. He realized then, that he'd taken off his gloves for a minute. And as he put them back on, a gust of wind blew open the front door.
Chris turned back, and stared at the open door for a moment. Then with a quick flick of a finger, the door seemed to close by itself...


(Chapter 11 written by Chrissy.W.x and Kirianna Ledräen)


Thank you all for your support. You have know idea how much this means to us. We all wanna wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

And the next sequel will begin on Friday January 9th 2009. We hope to see you around then again.