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 :)
Hateee Exams. At least I get to visit home next weekend.
April 11th, 2028.
Alana appeared immediately after hearing the explosion, "Emma! Are you okay?"
Emma was still laying in bed. Emotionless, she asked Alana, "Has he contacted you?"
Alana was taken by surprise, but shook her head, "He won't respond to my calls. He sent Chris a receipt yesterday, telling him that he was okay, but nothing directly to me."
"Why did he leave, Lana?" Emma asked her.
Alana climbed into bed next to her sister-in-law, "He needs time to think."
"To think about what?" Emma demanded.
"He feels horrible about what he did. He could never purposely hurt you, Emma. We know that, but because he did, he's worried that he is going to become evil."
"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard!" Emma snapped, "Wyatt is one of the best people-" she frowned, looking sad, "And I never told him that."
"Don't feel bad," Alana said with a slight smile, "He knows how much you love him."
"How can you just let it be? You're really pregnant and you already have Matt and you're a social worker and a whitelighter." Emma asked her.
"Wyatt and Chris are my only charges," Alana explained, but still looked sad too, "I guess the truth is that I'm hoping he'll come back."
"What if he never comes back? Would you let him abandon Matt and your future baby?" Emma asked, trying to get a rise out of Alana.
"I can't force him to be with his family, Em. He has to come on his own." Alana didn't seem to believe her own words.
"How can you just let him leave?"
"Wyatt loves us. He loves your parents, your brother, you, me and especially Matthew. So I know he won't stay away for long." Alana repeated.
"Lana, I love you." Emma began, "But your idealism isn't going to get you anywhere."
"He'll come back." Alana said, squeezing Emma tightly.
"Wyatt should have talked to us, explained what he was doing." Emma mumbled.
"Would you have let him go?" Alana asked.
"No," Emma shot bitterly, "But at least I wouldn't have all these questions."
'Well I've done it.' Wyatt thought to himself, 'I've made her hate me. The more she hates me, the easier it will be for her to let go.'
But Wyatt knew he didn't want his sister to let go. He wanted to go home and to make fun of her. Provoke her and watch her yell obscenities at him.
He missed his sister and he knew how much he had hurt her by writing such an insensitive letter, but it had to be done.
He missed his son so much. He wanted to orb home and tell his son a bedtime story.
'It's nine am, get a hold of yourself.' He told himself.
Wyatt felt depressed when he thought of all the time he was missing with his family. As a resident at the hospital, he had already lost half his week to his heavily-demanding work schedule.
Then there was the obvious required time dedicated to sleeping. Now, he was living in a hotel without his wife and without his son and to be honest he was miserable.
He missed his brother. His brother had been his best friend since they were young children.
Wyatt had been at school for most of the day, but finally his long day was over.
He walked into the manor, dropping his heavy bookbag on the ground. It hit the tile with a thud.
Wyatt anticipate his mother's chastising remarks, telling him not to leave his things lying around.
Instead, Wyatt walked into to the kitchen to find Chris making out with Bianca. He cleared his throat.
Chris flushed, breaking away from his kiss, "How were classes, Wy?"
"Bianca, Chris is seventeen. What are you doing?" Wyatt asked, ignoring Chris's question.
"We're going out." Bianca said, shrugging, "I thought you knew that."
"Actually," Chris said nervously, "I didn't tell him, because I didn't want Mom to know." the end of the sentence came out more like a plea.
"Chris, you're underage. What she is doing is illegal." Wyatt said, opening the fridge.
"Actually, it's only illegal if we're having sex." Bianca corrected. Wyatt glared at her and she tried to smile, "I'm a Criminal Justice major."
"Right, then you know that what you are doing is wrong." Wyatt said to her.
"Well there isn't a clear distinction between 'Mala in Se' and 'Mala Prohibita'." Bianca explained to him, distracted from Chris, who looked clearly confused.
"Please, explain away." Wyatt said dryly.
"Mala in Se refers to crimes that are morally wrong, while Mala Prohibita refers to crimes that are legally wrong." Bianca smiled, "So, really, if it's not illegal, it's up to the person to decide whether what they're doing is wrong."
"It doesn't matter." Wyatt said, still glaring, "He's too young for you."
"Wyatt!" Chris snapped, "My eighteenth birthday is in a month and honestly, my love life isn't your business."
Wyatt cooled down, "I'm trying to protect you."
"From what?" Chris asked, confused.
"From the demon." Wyatt said, as if it was obvious.
"I am not a demon, Wyatt. I'm a Phoenix witch. We are neutral." Bianca shot at him, "You should know that. Demons don't attend magic school."
"That's right," Chris reminded, "That's why Derry didn't go to magic school with us."
"Just remember your age, Bianca." Wyatt said.
"I remember my age, Wyatt." Bianca said dryly.
Wyatt smiled slightly.
"I knew you were home!" Alana said, unable to hide her excitement as she orbed in.
"Hey." Wyatt said, smiling at his girlfriend. He kissed her quickly.
"Hey Lana, how old are you?" Bianca asked.
Alana frowned, looking confused, "You've been one of my best friends for over ten years and you don't know how old I am?"
Bianca rolled her eyes, "Answer the question."
"I'm seventeen." Alana answered, annoyed.
"Hey Wyatt, how old are you?" Chris asked, playing along.
"Chris." Wyatt growled.
Chris smirked, "How old are you?"
"I'm nineteen." Wyatt said, now equally annoyed.
"Hey Alana, how old is Bianca?" Chris asked his best friend.
"What is this?" Alana questioned, still irritated.
"Just answer the question." Chris said sharply.
"She's nineteen." Alana hissed.
"And you're seventeen," Wyatt muttered, "We get it, alright?"
"Good." Bianca smirked.
April 14th, 2028.
"Why didn't you go with Mark?" Leslie asked Emma as the entered Prom.
"I don't want to go with a date, I wanted to go with my best friend." Emma studied her dress.
"You look great, stop worrying." Leslie said, forcing Emma to move forward. Emma stood, frozen, "You need to move forward, you're blocking the entrance." Leslie shrilled.
"I should be at home, mourning." Emma said bitterly.
"No. No more mourning! You're going to lose your mind." Leslie argued.
"Em! come hang out with us." Rachel said, waving to her cousin.
Rachel looked ravishing. Her normally curly hair, was straightened and pulled back into a complicated hairstyle. She was wearing a stunning red dress.
The dress was silk, sleeveless and flowed nicely.
'I bet I would get a headache if my hair was pulled back that tight.' Emma thought to herself.
"Come on, Em!" Rachel said, pulling Emma and Leslie closer to her group.
Jacob gave Emma an uncomfortable wave, 'You're not making a good impression.' Rachel shot telepathically to Jacob. He cracked a grin, "Why didn't you come with a date, Emma?" he asked.
"She turned down Mark." Leslie said in a tattling tone.
Emma glared at Leslie.
"Mark Wallace?" Kaylee asked. Kaylee's waves had been tamed, she was wearing light makeup and had on a classic white dress.
Emma had to admit that Kaylee looked quite nice and not overdone, unlike most of the other girls at the dance.
"Yeah." Emma squirmed, thinking of him, then shuddering.
"That guy is a jerk." Chad agreed. His black suit was nice, and his bow-tie was red, matching Rachel's outfit.
Jacob, Kaylee and Rachel suppressed a knowing expression.
Emma smiled, glad someone had her back.
"But is that worse than being dateless?" Leslie joked with Chad.
"I hate that guy, so I think she made a solid choice." Chad said, arching his brows slightly, "Funny, Leslie, You never liked me, but you support the only bully worse than I am."
"I'm trying to let bygones be bygones? Who knows? Maybe he's a super-genius guardian too." Leslie said, grinning easily.
"That was a compliment." Chad said.
"I was generalizing." Leslie defended.
"Nope. You called me a super-genius. That's a compliment." Chad challenged, a grin on his face.
Leslie sighed, but gave up, "Is he a guardian?"
Chad looked unsure, "Actually, I don't really know. The only guardians I know are Rach and Jake."
"Not yet. Not for five years. Uncle Leo promised." Rachel said, her happy mood deflating.
"Carter told Aunt Paige that he wants to go into training sooner." Jacob remembered suddenly, "Aunt Paige told Mom."
"Have fun with that, guys. I am not being anyone's moral guardian until after college." Emma smirked slightly.
"Agreed." Rachel said immediately afterwards.
"But you love the elders." Leslie teased.
Emma made a disgusted face, "Ugh. Don't remind me of them. I can't even think about the horrors of interacting with those suits."
"Time to vote for class of 2028's prom queen and king. Cast your ballots now!" A voice announced over the speaker.
"Come on." Kaylee said and pulled Jacob towards the booth. Leslie, Emma, Chad and Rachel on their tails.
"So I was thinking to myself, what better to do on a Friday night than to-" Penny appeared in a mass of orbs, babbling as usual.
Her eyes widened at the sight of Michael and Zoe under the covers. Zoe was topless.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She flushed and orbed away.
Michael cringed, "Oh God, not good."
Zoe was beet red, "You guys still orb into each other's rooms? Aren't you guys a little old for that?!" Zoe sputtered, sounding angrier than Michael had ever heard her.
"Technically, I don't orb." Michael croaked out, "I fade."
Zoe ignored him, grabbing her clothes and getting dressed, "I'm going after her."
"Is that a good idea?" Michael asked nervously.
"She's my best friend! I have to make this right." Zoe said, glaring at Michael.
Michael could feel the embarrassment radiating off of Zoe, he tried his best to calm her down. Instead he made a critical error, "Do you regret it?"
Zoe rolled her eyes, "Michael, Grow up! Of course I don't regret it. I regret my best friend walking in on us."
A knock came on the door. Penny shouted, "Go away Carter!" She yelled.
"It's me." A soft voice answered.
Penny rolled her eyes, opening the door to reveal Zoe, "How did you get here, Zo?"
"I drove here." Zoe smiled hopefully, "Licenses come in handy."
"Alright," Penny answered a moment later, "But what are you doing here?"
"I'm making sure you're okay." Zoe answered, sitting on Penny's bed.
"Oh, I'm fine." Penny said, laughing dismissively, "Just a little shocked."
"So you're not mad?" Zoe asked carefully.
"In case you were unaware, Michael is my cousin... not some guy I have a crush on." Penny commented dryly.
"I wasn't saying you like Michael, Penny. You know that." Zoe responded impatiently.
"It was a little weird. I guess I never thought of Michael being sexually active... you know, because he's my cousin and he's my best friend." Penny admitted,
"But at least he's with you. You're a good couple, Zo."
"I'm glad you think that. I'd be pretty bummed out if you didn't approve." Zoe said, hugging her friend.
"You didn't seriously abandon him, did you?" Penny laughed, thinking of her poor cousin, now alone.
"Nah. He's out in the living room, playing with Nikki." Zoe said a moment later, "I did yell at him."
"God, I'm glad I took that empathy-blocking potion. If he knew what I was feeling, he would have been so embarrassed." Penny grinned mercilessly.
"Come get ice cream with us." Zoe commanded with a smile, dragging Penny out of bed.
"Fine, but only if I get to tease Michael endlessly." Penny smirked slightly.
April 14th, 2028. 9:45 pm.
Wyatt sighed, reading his clipboard. A young girl had been beaten by her boyfriend, as hospital policy, the police were called.
"Dr. Halliwell is over there." He heard a nurse at the desk point.
"It's a sad case, isn't it?"
'F---' Wyatt thought to himself.
"It's horrible." Wyatt agreed, trying to avert his eyes from the officer in front of him.
"Wyatt, I'm not going to tell Chris. I'm being a professional." Bianca said, he could hear the restrain in her voice.
"Thanks." Wyatt said, relieved.
"I still think you should come home." Bianca said quickly.
"So much for being professional, Bi?" Wyatt asked, almost joking.
Bianca glared at him, which normally did nothing to Wyatt. Somehow the confrontation made him feel guilty.
"Well, I'm sorry," Bianca shot angrily, "Your brother is always depressed, he misses you like crazy. Your sister has lost her mind and your wife..."
"Alana?" Wyatt asked, now concerned.
"She's holding everything together. She shouldn't have to do that. She's pregnant." Bianca said softly.
Wyatt gestured to her stomach, "You look like you should have given birth last week."
"You know that I'm not due for three more weeks." Bianca said, trying to converse without getting upset, "Are you going to be there when she's born?"
Wyatt walked away, trying to find a place to sit. He sat on one of the chairs in the waiting area.
"Wyatt, are you okay?" Bianca asked, she sat in a chair next to him, "Should I get a doctor?"
Wyatt laughed softly, bitterly, "I'm a doctor."
"I wasn't saying you weren't." Bianca said defensively, "I'm just worried about you."
"I'm worried about you too." Wyatt admitted.
"Why?" Bianca questioned, confused.
"Your water just broke."