Author's Note:
I love everyone for reading this story and for reviewing.
In case you've forgotten, I've got links to pictures of all the Halliwell children in my profile.
My favorite stories list also has a good selection of Chris stories, if you're looking for one :)
ForeverChrisFan, thanks for your long review. I don't like Bianca bashing either,
like I said, I'm pretty indifferent to her. Which is why I kept Chris with her :]
April 10th, 2028
Chris sighed, reading through the files.
Alice and Adam Cunningham were seven year old twins whose teacher had seen bruises on both of the children.
The elementary school worker had a large case load and had the children referred to South Bay Social Services.
Any minute the twins would be arriving with their older sister.
"Hi, are you Christopher Halliwell?" The teenage girl asked him.
"Yeah, come on in." He gave her a smile. She came in, taking a seat. Two younger children followed her, "Not to offend you, but are you old enough to be their guardian?"
"I'm twenty-one. I attend Berkeley University." The girl explained, "There isn't anyone else to take care of my siblings, so I sort of took on the responsibility."
"Alright, we'll get to that in a minute." He looked at the twins, "What are your guy's names?"
"Adam." The twin boy answered, he had light brown hair and bright brown eyes. He looked at his twin sister.
"Sweetie, you need to answer Mr. Halliwell's question." their older sister encouraged her sister.
The little girl looked scared, instead she buried her face into her sister's sweater, "Ali" she murmured into the sweater.
"Hey name is Alice, I'm sorry, she's a little shy." Her sister answered for her.
"It's alright," Chris responded, "Oh, I didn't even realize I hadn't asked your name yet. Sorry about that."
"I'm Ava," she answered, "Alice and Adam are my half-siblings." She explained.
Chris went over some basic forms. He had to decide if she was fit to become their legal guardian.
He looked over the forms and asked her to come back in a few days.
Wyatt had drank coffee each day for the past week. He hated the fact that it was beginning to grow on him.
He could imagine his wife smirking victoriously when she found out, saying to him, "It's impossible to resist."
He missed her. He missed her laugh, her unfunny jokes and the way she flushed when she became embarrassed.
'How depressing is this. I haven't seen my wife in a week...or my son.' He thought to himself.
He sat in the same seat each time he came into the coffee shop. He was bored. Never being an indoors person, Wyatt had always spent his
time off with his wife and son. When the two weren't around, he always hung out with his parents or his younger siblings.
"Wyatt!" He could hear his brother yelling in his head. Chris was calling him, again.
Chris had called him every morning and every night, he never stopped.
It normally would have annoyed him, but it comforted Wyatt to know his brother cared.
"Wy, How the hell am I supposed to know you're not lying in a ditch, dead somewhere?" His brother's voice echoed in his head.
Wyatt groaned, grabbing a pen from his pocket. He wrote a short note on the receipt for his coffee, 'I'm fine. Stop worrying about me. Wy.'
He looked around, making sure no one was watching him and orbed the note to Chris.
A minute later, Chris's voice was pounding in his head again, "I think I deserve more than a note! I'm your brother for Christ's sake!"
Wyatt had a strong desire to put his family on mute, but decided against it in case of a life-threatening emergency.
Michael was sitting at group tables. It was time, once again, to pick courses for the following year.
Thanks to his older siblings, he was now more nervous than ever about his junior year.
"Junior year is the hardest," Jacob had told him, "Not only are you working on your magical skills, but you need to focus on your mortal skills.
Then there are the SATS, the test mortals take to get into college. Pain in the ass test, just ask Rachel."
Michael penciled in 'Algebra', followed by 'History', 'Human Connections', 'Power Enhancement' and then added his last class, 'Modern Magic: III'.
Zoe sat next to him, "Have you figure this out yet? I don't know what I want to take."
"Yeah, I got it." Michael answered, dissatisfied with the classes he had to take to get into college.
"Modern Magic? Again?" Zoe asked him, "No offense, but that class is such a bore."
"Why would it offend me?" Michael asked her, looking confused.
"It's your family..." Zoe said, then looked at him, "You look distracted."
"I'd feel better if I got a hug." Michael said with a grin.
"Oh yeah?" Zoe laughed, she hugged him, then kissed his cheek, "You even got something extra."
Michael looked back at his schedule, "Have you thought about college yet?"
Zoe pulled her dirty blonde hair behind her, "I've tried to avoid it, but really it's a plague."
"Exactly," Michael agreed, unable to stop looking at sheet, "Aren't we too young to be worrying about it?"
"Well, I'm sixteen and you're getting there." Zoe offered, "Junior year is an important of school. With SATS and other exams."
"Yeah, but why is it such a big deal?" Michael pondered.
"It's the last year on your transcript when you apply to college." Zoe explained.
"Righttt. I knew there was a reason that Junior Year was important." Michael smiled, "Still... why am I taking Modern Magic? It's not like that's going on my high school transcript."
"Could you imagine an admissions counselor seeing a class called 'Modern Magic'? They would think we were Satanists." Zoe laughed.
"That's pretty much how the world perceives witches to be." Michael shrugged, "It's not their fault that inaccuracies have been spread through history."
"Yeah," Rachel said, sitting down next to her brother, "It's Mom's fault."
"What do you mean?" Michael asked her.
"When Mom went back in time to meet Charlotte Warren, she used a broom and witch hat to scare off a threat." Rachel explained, "Now are you done?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm done." Michael answered, "Do you like being a TA?" he asked his sister.
"You're too smart to be a teacher's assistant. Focus on academics." Rachel answered, leaving her brother and his girlfriend behind.
"I'm finally ungrounded!" Carter said with a grin, as he orbed into his sister's room.
"I'm not." Penny offered, smiling for a moment.
"Come on, Pen. Go apologize to Mom and get ungrounded." Carter pushed.
"Why should I? She was wrong." Penny said, looking grumpy.
"Look, I know we normally hate each other, but I'm really glad you stood up for me. It was nice to have you on my side, but I was wrong." Carter admitted, trying to cheer up his sister,
"I could have gotten Nikki killed...?" He asked.
"And Katie." Penny answered absently.
Carter smiled, "That's right. Come on, You know you agree with Mom."
Penny hesitated, "Want to know what I think?"
"Sure." Carter nodded.
"I think you were being a selfish brat by trying to save Emma and Wyatt. You don't like that people wont take you seriously, so you tried to prove yourself. At the same time, you were worried about Em and Wy, so you had good enough intentions, but your actions were irresponsible."
"Hey-" Carter began defensively.
"Not done here," Penny interrupted him, "Your actions could have resulted in not only your own death, but the death of Nicole and Katie. Still, that's not why I defended you."
Carter eyed her, curiously.
"Our mother is social worker supervisor. Social workers are supposed to be gentle, strong and empathetic individuals. One thing you learn as a social work is not to destroy other people's confidence." Penny completed.
"Penny, you agree with Mom. You just admitted it, now go make up with her." Carter responded, sounding wary.
"We've never fought this horribly before." Penny said, sounding sad.
"That's because you're the oldest. Mom looks at like a partner." Carter smiled, "Never thought I'd want you back on her side, but I do."
"Alright, I guess I have to face the music." Penny caved in.
"Hi." Penny said, sounding uncomfortable.
"Penny." Her mother nodded, "How are you?"
"Can we stop this?" Penny asked, exasperated at the formalities.
Paige smiled, Penny had a lot of her energy. "I don't like this any better than you," Paige said, guiding her daughter to the couch, "We never fight."
"Mom, you're more than a mother to me. While other kids hate their parents, I love being around you." Penny admitted, upset about the conflict between her and her mother.
"Penny, you're a great kid. You're a lot more mature for your age than I was when I was your age," Paige looked grave, "When I was your age, I used to drink a lot and do other morally questionable things."
Penny listened carefully.
"It took the loss of my adoptive parents to fix my life and to stop putting my desires in front of others." Paige explained, "I don't want your brother to lose a family member before realizing how dangerous what he has done is."
"I just think you were a little hard on him." Penny murmured in response.
"I know that." Paige answered, "And I apologized to him the next day."
"You did?" Penny asked, "Why didn't you tell me that?"
"Because we were fighting?" Paige answered her daughter.
"Let's not fight anymore." Penny said with a smile.
"Brilliant Idea, Penelope." Paige said, hugging her daughter, "But you're still grounded for another three days."
Penny looked indignant, "You said I was right!"
"I know," Paige smiled, "But you have to treat me with respect, I am your mother after all."
"You excited for this weekend?" Chad asked Jacob as he sorted through student schedules.
"Prom?" Jacob asked, reading one of the schedules, "Modern Magic: V Honors" Jacob read aloud, frowning, "Some people just enjoy being tortured."
"Hey," Chad said, sounding insulted, "I took Modern Magic: V Honors," He then changed the subject, "So are you excited?"
"It'll be fun." Jacob shrugged, "Spell Casting: III" Jacob laughed, "Remember when we were in that class?"
"Jake, what happened?" Chad asked finally, "Kaylee said yes to going to the prom with you."
"Only as friends though." Jacob answered, "Which is fine, but it bugs me a bit."
"Of course it bugs you. You've liked Kaylee for the past two years."
Jacob looked at Chad confused, "How would you know that? I didn't even know that."
Chad grinned, "You treat her like a porcelain doll."
"We all do," Jacob frowned, "But you know why."
"Yeah I do. We all love Kaylee, but not like you. Say someone is rude to your sister, what do you do?" Chad asked.
"Depends on who," Jacob answered honestly, "Rachel can't stand up for herself."
"Say someone is rude to Kaylee, what do you do?" Chad repeated.
"I'd be mad," Jacob didn't like the thought of someone hurting Kaylee, "Kaylee doesn't deserve that."
Chad laughed, "Rachel would kick your ass if she heard you saying she deserved to be treated badly."
Jacob sighed, "That's exactly why I don't have to defend her."
"But you get my point, right?" Chad asked him.
"I guess so. I just wish I didn't like her. I don't want to put her in an awkward position." Jacob admitted.
"So, let things take their course. If you two end up together somewhere in the future, then you'll know it was meant to be. If not," Chad grinned at this, "Then are always plenty more fish in the sea."
Emma sat there, feeling lonely. "Wy... please come home, I miss you." she called softly.
She swallowed nervously, tears streaming down her face, "I never thought I would miss you this much." she whispered.
A piece of paper was orbed into the room, 'Em, I miss you too. More than you can imagine. Keep your head up. Wy.'
She held onto the paper, trying to decipher if there were any hidden messages giving way to his location.
There was a knock on the door, but Emma didn't look up. "I'm not up to talking." she said, choking up.
"I miss him too." Chris said softly from the other side of the door.
Emma didn't answer him, clinging to her blanket.
Chris was silent, leading Emma to believe he had left. A moment later he appeared beside he bed.
"You shouldn't do that." Emma murmured tiredly.
"Oh god, Em" Chris said, taking in her look of exhaustion. He reached down and pulled her into his arms,
hugging her securely, he whispered, "Don't worry. He'll come back eventually."
"I never meant it." She said, trying not to cry.
"Meant what?" Chris asked her.
"I told him I hated him... all the time." She said quietly, "It's my fault he's gone."
"It's not your fault," Chris countered, "He just needs some to think."
"But how long?" Emma asked, wiping her tears, "Is he ever going to come back? Is he going to come to my graduation? to birth of his daughter? Am I going to see him before I move?"
"If he's not back in the next few weeks, I will personally drag him back." Chris answered, "I'm not letting him disappear on us."
Emma nodded weakly, "I know that he is mad at me, but I wish he would just talk to me."
"I don't think that's it. He's fighting his inner demons and unfortunately we can't help him until he's ready." Chris rubbed her back encouragingly, "He'll come back, I promise."
"Wy," Chris said a gentle tone, looking up, "I'm trying to give you your space, but please... Emma needs you. She thinks you blame her.
I miss you too, come home soon."
Bianca got into bed, laying next to Chris, "Sweetie, I know how much you miss your brother."
"But?" Chris asked her, almost annoyed.
Bianca gave him a confused look, "No buts, I know you miss him. He'll come home soon."
"That's what I told Emma, but I'm almost worried he won't come back." Chris admitted, sounding dejected.
"Wyatt loves you guys more than anything." Bianca said, pulling her husband closer to herself.
"But if he's been able to stay away for a week, then he can stay away for even longer than that." Chris was downcast.
Bianca kissed his forehead, "Listen to me: Wyatt will come back."
Chris smiled slightly, "Alright." He laid his head on the pillow and looked at his wife, "You put up with a lot from my family," He said randomly, "Thanks for that."
"Well, they're my family too." Bianca laid next to him, closing her eyes.
Tuesday, April 11th, 2028.
Emma woke up the next morning to a letter. She rubbed her eyes, putting on the glasses she wore at night and opened the letter.
'Emma,
Please know that I don't blame you for anything. I could never blame you. You're my little sister and one of my best friends in the world. That is why I had to leave you,
because I hurt you by turning evil. Because I couldn't fight against the darkness, I will have to put my desire to be around my family aside.
I don't want to hurt you or anyone else. I miss you and Chris. I miss Mom and Dad. I miss Alana and Matthew. Still, it is in the best interest of my family to stay away.
I love you. I miss you.
Try to move on.
Wyatt.'
Emma grabbed a pen from the nightstand beside her bed. She scratched the pen against a piece of scratch paper, making sure it worked.
She scribbled three words onto the notepad and used all the power she could to orb the notepad to Wyatt.
Afterwards, she pulled her knees close to herself. She stared at a picture frame that held a picture of Wyatt and herself.
Angrily, she threw her hands up and blew the photo up.
Wyatt was unnerved when a notepad found its way to him, he looked at the notepad.
Inscribed were three words. 'Fuck you, Wyatt.'
Unable to keep himself together, Wyatt orbed to his hotel room and closed his eyes,
wondering to himself if he had made the right decision.