Chris' phone started buzzing in his pocket breaking their awkward moment.
"Yes, mom. I told them about it. They'll all be there at 7, yep. K, bye" he hung up.
"Wanna fill me in?" said Wyatt.
"Chris had originally come to tell us Piper and the aunts want to have a meeting tonight at the manor to bring everyone up to speed on what happened yesterday… you know… to all of us" she signaled to Chris and herself.
"Are you up for it?"
"Sure" she sighed and hugged him tighter. "Considering we can't share everything, which makes me a little nervous" he kissed the top of her head.
"Umh… gotta let the other you know, cause we kinda need his expertise…" said Chris hesitantly, making air quotes. He knew talking about his other self was a touchy subject at the moment.
"Why don't you tell him, Chris?" said Sam not letting Wyatt dwell on it too long.
"We don't even know where he is" added Wyatt slightly annoyed.
"Umh… we do… actually. Michelle, my manager, told me a cousin of us had asked to stay. That he told her, she could check with us…"
"How do we even know it's him?" he said still in a poker face.
"Who else can it be? Demons don't usually ask for asylum" answered Chris. Sam stared at him wide eyed. "But I'll be happy to check it out for ya"
"Drive, please! I kinda need my manager not having a heart attack. I need her to run the store while we're… elsewhere" Chris nodded. He was in no hurry being this early in the day.
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Chris arrived at Sam's store, Brightest Blessings, to find Michelle, her manager, pulling back the curtains.
"Good morning, Chris. Long time no see, how are you?" she greeted him with a smile.
"Good. Good. Umh… Is my… cousin, around?"
"Oh yes, he's upstairs. He really hasn't come down since he arrived this morning"
"OK, cool. I'll go talk to him…. Nice to see you again though" Chris said going through the bead curtain behind the counter and up the stairs to the small apartment on top. The door was shut so he knocked. It had been a while since he was there last.
"Yes?" Future Wyatt opened the door. "Chris. Whatcha doing here?" he took one peek behind his brother and then walked back leaving the door ajar. Chris went right in after him. The bed covers were undone, and there were some papers shuffled around the table next to the window, but other than that it was easy to tell the place had been empty for months now. There was dust everywhere and stuff like the couch were still covered by sheets as they had left them last time they used the place, which was about the time Edward, Sam's brother, was living there, before Elak killed him.
"Michelle said you arrived this morning, but…" Chris pointed at the undone bed.
"Oh yeah, I didn't know where else to go. I didn't want to go to mom's, too much explaining to do; So I crashed here, but this morning when Michelle arrived, I kinda re-entered to avoid giving her…"
"… a heart attack. Yeah, Sam mentioned something like that" Wyatt smiled at the sound of her name.
"Yeah, I take it they told you I left"
"It came up"
"Did they tell you why?" Chris gulped awkwardly.
"Sorta…"
"I knew she would"
"What makes you say that?" Chris wondered.
"Once Edward got married, in my time, she would usually turn to you to talk"
"Really? That's odd since you guys are so close" said Chris unable to imagine them apart if not by death.
"Yeah, well. There was a time I… lost track of what's important and… pushed her away…" Chris didn't know what to say to that, so he stood there in silence. "Anyway, why did they send you? I can't imagine why, if you already know what I did"
"Actually, mom sort of sent me" he said going over to the other side of the table where Wyatt was sitting. "She wants all of us at the manor at 7 this evening to discuss everything that happened"
"What are Wyatt and Sam planning to say?"
"I'm not sure. I'm in the dark on what happened to Sam as well"
"I meant between us…"
"Please, don't. I feel for you all, but don't wanna know any kind of details about it. Please…" Future Wyatt nodded in agreement, somewhat laughing. "You know. Avoid the TMI and all"
"Sure" he continued to chuckle.
"What are you up to?" said Chris trying to change the subject away from his brother having sex at all.
"I…was trying to remember some spells I've used in the past, maybe one of these would help with Elak" Chris picked up a couple and scanned them. "To yourself, please" Now Chris smiled.
"Yes, I learned my lesson"
"The hard way" added Wyatt.
"You have no idea"
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By 6 o'clock, parties started to arrive at the manor. Phoebe and her crew got there first and helped set everything up, even though Piper and Leo had already gotten almost everything ready by the time they arrived.
Paige and Henry walked through the front door carrying a couple boxes of pizza.
"We're here!" Paige called out, taking the pizza boxes from Henry. "Sam here yet?"
"Not yet. What's with the pizzas?" said Phoebe setting down plates.
"What the hell?" said Piper coming out of the kitchen. "I specifically said I was cooking"
"Now, now, before you blow anything up. Sam said she was in the mood for pizza and so was Henry so we got a couple on the way. A couple slices won't ruin their appetite; I promise" said Paige.
Wyatt and Sam orbed in with the kids just then.
"Did you get the…" asked Sam as soon as she saw Henry.
"They did" said a grumpy Piper. "Care to explain why, you two?" Wyatt and Sam exchanged looks and decided to share the first piece of news of the evening; maybe leaving out quite a few details.
"Mom. Family" Wyatt addressed everybody in the room. "We'd like to start the evening with some good news… we're having a baby" there were smiles and clapping all around. It filled Sam and Wyatt with joy and felt so blessed in spite of it all. They had no idea what was gonna come out of this whole situation but they were glad they had their family, genuinely happy for them, backing them up in their bliss.
Piper came to hug Wyatt and Phoebe hugged Sam.
"Oh yes, we want pizza" she said after a moment and ran to bring Sam a box, taking a slice herself.
Hugs and congratulations came and went all around the house. When it was time to eat, some were seated at the living room and some at the dining table.
"Oh, I wish we could all eat at the same table" said Piper passing dishes here and there. Sam and Wyatt exchanged looks yet again.
"Hold that thought, mom" said Wyatt holding Sam's hand and orbing their dining set into the parlor next to the one they were eating on. "Now we can" Everybody applauded their little magic trick and filed onto the recently set table, joining the others. Piper and Leo had the biggest smiles on their faces.
"Nicely done" said Henry Jr. who had been eating in the living room couch a moment ago, balancing his plate on his knees.
Cutlery clinked and dishes clanked, as the family ate, drank and laughed together. Phoebe kept passing Sam the pizza box eyeing Piper. Cousins talked and joked between mouthfuls of Piper's cooking. Henry and Bianca even started a pea war that Piper ended up freezing in midair. Children were on their high chairs behind their parents, having fun on their own as Julian kept orbing stuff from one chair to the other. Sam looked around the table as if searching for something, a second later she smiled as Wyatt turned to her laughing at something one of his cousins had said. Chris, however, did notice and tapped her on the arm getting her attention.
"He said he'll be here" Sam sighed. Future Wyatt had told Chris he would show but he had decided to skip the meal and not ruin their moment with his presence. Sam was dreading that very thing. If Future Wyatt showed after last night, they would surely end up arguing. She felt the pizza churning in her stomach, starting to feel slightly sick.
"Phoebe, you alright honey?" Coop asked her.
"Yeah, just a little nauseous" she covered her mouth with a cloth napkin.
"That'll be my doing" said Sam. "I'll be right back" she excused herself going to the bathroom up the stairs.
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Meal time was perfect. Wyatt orbed the table back home afterwards and they settled all around the Solarium on the couches and living room chairs.
As they were setting up to start, Future Wyatt orbed in. Sam held on to Wyatt, but he said nothing, trying not to acknowledge his presence.
"Glad you could join us" said Piper.
"You missed a hell of a meal" said Paige smiling.
"Sorry, I'm late" said Future Wyatt still looking at Sam and himself at the corner of his eye. Sam could feel her stomach in such a knot, her nausea was back with a vengeance.
"Oh, sweetie. Come with me" said Phoebe. "We'll get you some ginger cause we'll both end up throwing up and it won't be a pretty picture" she pulled her away from Wyatt and Chris stepped between his two brothers in her place. Sam mouthed thank you on her way to the kitchen.
They took turns describing what they had seen, focusing on the demons they encountered; Praline, Paddy and Bianca (Phoebe's daughters) took notes to write on the Book of Shadows after their conference.
After each testimony, they kept silent for a few moments. In each scenario, they had lost many innocents; Patricia, Penelope and Henry Jr (Paige's kids) described how the news had reported each of the attacks. The girls kept posted on what the media had to say about it all and Henry had investigated along with his dad on the official police reports earlier that day.
"Some of us even discovered we can do stuff we didn't know we could" Bianca (Phoebe's eldest) was saying. "I could always call on mom or dad, but yesterday I managed to transport a whole lotta people out of a building" she said still surprised of herself.
"As time goes by, you'll find more and more how you can use your abilities in ways you never imagined" said Future Wyatt.
"Not to mention, it's a natural process we all go through" said Paige. "We come into more of our abilities when we need them the most"
"I'm very proud of all of you" he went on. "You all overcame your fears to help others" he looked at Praline who cowered down with a smile. "However, do not take this victory lightly. It is only by working together like we did this time if we are to come out victorious from this oncoming conflict on us all" some were nodding along in agreement, some others stared at the floor dreading what was hiding behind his words. "The sooner we find a way to get her out of your time, the better. We can't let her start her war any sooner. She is decided to have things her way even if that means rewriting the whole of history"
"I am proud of being part of this family" said Wyatt now, who was now sitting with Sam on one of the couches. "I'm convinced that our ultimate ability is standing together as one, which ultimately will decide not only the fate of our loved ones, but the whole of humanity as well"
Last, Chris shared where he had been sent and how their bloodlines had crossed, leaving Ama almost completely out; Sam held his hand as he mentioned her. When it was her turn to talk, she told them where she had been, how she had accidentally saved little Wyatt and how she had found out about her pregnancy. As much as Chris, she left some details out of the equation; Wyatt held her hand when she mentioned her pregnancy, but everybody around her just smiled at them again. They were sincerely happy for them. Everyone admired their dedication to their kids, their marriage and overall magic life. Piper and Leo couldn't be prouder of their children. They were a role model they now knew they would follow well into the future.
At the end of the evening, they all went home feeling stronger and more united than ever as a family.