A/N: sorry for the wait , life and all that jazz. I seem to have lost quite a few people, which is a shame as the end is so close and I was quite happy with the way the last 2 chapters turned out, but that's life. Thanks to those who are still hanging in there. This chapter was originally supposed to be part of chapter 13, but 13 was so mamouth that I decided to leave it out.

Disclaimer: Do not own charmed

Chapter 14: Is it too much to ask?

Cole, Chris and Piper appeared back in the manor with their motley crew of children in toe. The wedding guests had dispersed with the exception of Darryl who had been waiting patiently for their return. After reassurances that Poppy would be fine, and thanks for the start he had made on the clearing up, Darryl went, Cole settled the children into bed, leaving Piper and Chris alone downstairs to talk.

"so what do you want to know?" Chris asked, slightly peeved at being cornered by his mother

"many things, what is the meaning of life?, which are the winning lottery numbers? Whats the secret to youthful looking skin? But right now I'll settle for, what's wrong with you?"

"nothing's wrong with me"

"No? Then why have you had a face like a slapped arse for the past few weeks. I can almost see the thunder cloud above your head."

" I haven't.." Chris began to argue then gave up. "alright so I may have been a little off lately"

"Care to tell me why?"

"Not really"

"Yeah Chris, that was a rhetorical question, you have precisely 10 seconds to spill the beans'

'or what?'

'or the veritus potion comes out of storage'

'that's a low blow, mum, using the truth potion on your own son'

'yep. But don't think that I won't'.

'right…'

'so..?'

'I've been thinking a lot about Jenny recently'

'oh for the love of god! You're not honestly thinking of getting back together with that little tart are you? Twice she has run away from you, I don't really think that is grounds for a serious and stable relationship. Besides, it's getting a little repetitive isn't it.."

"Gee, mum, why don't you say what you really feel! But, no I am not thinking of getting back together with her, thanks for your concern"

"Then why..?"

"I wasn't thinking about her necessarily, I was thinking about the whole situation. Her reaction to the big bad magical secret was fairly standard, she got her head around it, like most people do eventually, well except perhaps for Jason.."

"well Jason was a bit of himbo, he barely had enough brain cells to get himself out of bed in the morning, so any attempt to understand magic was just too much exertion for the poor man…"

"anyway….it's not the magic thing that is the problem. It's the time travel thing. No matter how it is explained, between me, and Leona, and 'Victor' I really don't think that any girl will ever truly understand it, or come to be completely at ease with it"

"Chris, you shouldn't let yourself get weighed down by worrying what some possible girlfriend might think. You have much better things going on in your life at the moment, like your daughter for one."

"and that it my point mum. Leona. She deserves a mother figure in her life. Of course I'd like to be in a relationship, but not just for me, for her to experiance the same kind of family unit I had. Is that too much to ask?"

"No, ….but where is all this coming from?

"I was speaking to that woman, Julia at the party today, and we were having fun, and she made some off the cuff comment about how she loves weddings, blah blah, and I suddenly realised, that I will never be able to get married, or doing anything like that"

"Aren't you exaggerating a little?"

"No, if I ever want to get close to someone without it being awkward, I 'm going to have to keep the time travelling thing a secret…and I can't keep something like that away from someone I love…"

" Chris…."

"and there are other things too…while I was thinking about all this recently, I realised that I miss Wyatt, really and truly miss him, we used to talk everything through back before he went evil. I thought I would be okay without that in this timeline…but I know really I wasjust winging it"

"Chris, sweetheart, what are you trying to tell me?"

"That I may have made a mistake in staying here…"

TBC