A/N: Well, this story is due to my insomnia, so it probably sucks. But I
had nothing better to do, so I wrote it. It takes place in the future, and
is sort of AU. Melinda and Wyatt don't know about magic, and they don't
know that Leo is a whitelighter, only that he works a lot. This fic will
probably only be about two parts long.
Part 1/2
"Leo, you said you'd be home by dinner and you never came!"
"Piper, I was called away, you know how important my job is!"
"More important than your family?"
Wyatt sighed and crept slowly away from the closed door that led to his parents' bedroom. He wished desperately his parents would stop fighting and just love each other like most normal parents. He hated hearing his mother crying at nights, hated seeing his little sister crying when she heard her parents yelling at each other, hated hardly ever seeing his father.
"Wyatt?" came a soft voice from the next door. Wyatt crept over to it, and peered in. There sat little Melinda on her bed, surrounded by stuffed toys. The small nightlight that sat on the nightstand beside the bed glowed softly, illuminating the small child's worried and scared face.
"It's okay Melinda, I'm here," the ten year old boy said, entering the room and hopping lightly onto the bed next to her. He put an arm protectively around her shoulders. "What's the matter?"
"I heard mommy and daddy yelling again. And before that mommy was crying," replied Melinda, sniffling a little. "It makes me sad when she cries."
"Me too Melly, me too," said Wyatt. He reached down and pulled up the blanket, making sure his sister was warm. The two sat in silence, until Melinda began to speak.
"What does divorce mean?" she asked, gazing up at her older brother. He looked at her surprised, why would a five year old be asking what divorce was?
"Why do you want to know? Who said it to you?" he questioned her.
"Well, no one said it to me, but Mommy said it to Aunt Paige yesterday. But I don't know what it means," she said, her innocent brown eyes wide with curiosity.
"Well," began Wyatt, trying to think of a way to explain it. "It means that two people don't live together anymore, and stop being married. Did Mommy say she was going to get a divorce?"
"I don't know. But I don't want Mommy and Daddy to stop being married, I want us all to live together and have Daddy play with me," she told him. A tear slowly slid down her cheek, which was then followed by another.
"Aww, Mel, its okay, Mommy and Daddy might not be getting a divorce," Wyatt reassured her hurriedly. He wiped the tears away with his sleeve. "Anyway, I have an idea. Remember a few months ago when we were playing hide and seek, and I hid in the attic? And when you came and found me, we found that big book, and we read from it and the lady who said she was our Aunt Prue appeared, like magic, but she said we had to keep this a secret from Mom and Dad?"
"Yeah," sniffled Melinda.
"Remember how nice she was? Well, maybe, lets go up to the attic and read from that big book again, and she might come again and help us," said Wyatt, warming to his idea. Melinda was a little hesitant first.
"But its too scary up there! What about the monsters that Mommy said lived up there, and we shouldn't go up there?" she asked, shivering in fear.
"Mom was only kidding. Monsters aren't real. And nothing happened last time.you can bring Maddy the bear if you want," he added, knowing that his sister loved that bear, and would be more willing to go somewhere if she had the bear with her.
"We-ell, okay, but if we get into trouble it's your fault!" said Melinda. The two hopped off the bed quietly, and Melinda slipped her feet into a pair of slippers by the bed. Wyatt was already wearing his.
"Okay, now we have to be quiet," he instructed as they tiptoed out into the cold, vast hallway. They crept towards the attic hallway, but as they passed the door to their parents room, a floorboard creaked. They paused and worriedly glanced at the door, expecting one of their parents to burst into the hallway and catch them, but the door remained shut.
Wyatt and Melinda both breathed a sigh of relief, and continued on their journey until they had reached the door to the attic, the door that hopefully led to the answers to their problem.
Her hand shaking, Melinda slowly reached out and grasped the cool, rusty doorknob in her hand. As gently as she could, she eased it open, and the two Halliwell children entered the attic.
Part 1/2
"Leo, you said you'd be home by dinner and you never came!"
"Piper, I was called away, you know how important my job is!"
"More important than your family?"
Wyatt sighed and crept slowly away from the closed door that led to his parents' bedroom. He wished desperately his parents would stop fighting and just love each other like most normal parents. He hated hearing his mother crying at nights, hated seeing his little sister crying when she heard her parents yelling at each other, hated hardly ever seeing his father.
"Wyatt?" came a soft voice from the next door. Wyatt crept over to it, and peered in. There sat little Melinda on her bed, surrounded by stuffed toys. The small nightlight that sat on the nightstand beside the bed glowed softly, illuminating the small child's worried and scared face.
"It's okay Melinda, I'm here," the ten year old boy said, entering the room and hopping lightly onto the bed next to her. He put an arm protectively around her shoulders. "What's the matter?"
"I heard mommy and daddy yelling again. And before that mommy was crying," replied Melinda, sniffling a little. "It makes me sad when she cries."
"Me too Melly, me too," said Wyatt. He reached down and pulled up the blanket, making sure his sister was warm. The two sat in silence, until Melinda began to speak.
"What does divorce mean?" she asked, gazing up at her older brother. He looked at her surprised, why would a five year old be asking what divorce was?
"Why do you want to know? Who said it to you?" he questioned her.
"Well, no one said it to me, but Mommy said it to Aunt Paige yesterday. But I don't know what it means," she said, her innocent brown eyes wide with curiosity.
"Well," began Wyatt, trying to think of a way to explain it. "It means that two people don't live together anymore, and stop being married. Did Mommy say she was going to get a divorce?"
"I don't know. But I don't want Mommy and Daddy to stop being married, I want us all to live together and have Daddy play with me," she told him. A tear slowly slid down her cheek, which was then followed by another.
"Aww, Mel, its okay, Mommy and Daddy might not be getting a divorce," Wyatt reassured her hurriedly. He wiped the tears away with his sleeve. "Anyway, I have an idea. Remember a few months ago when we were playing hide and seek, and I hid in the attic? And when you came and found me, we found that big book, and we read from it and the lady who said she was our Aunt Prue appeared, like magic, but she said we had to keep this a secret from Mom and Dad?"
"Yeah," sniffled Melinda.
"Remember how nice she was? Well, maybe, lets go up to the attic and read from that big book again, and she might come again and help us," said Wyatt, warming to his idea. Melinda was a little hesitant first.
"But its too scary up there! What about the monsters that Mommy said lived up there, and we shouldn't go up there?" she asked, shivering in fear.
"Mom was only kidding. Monsters aren't real. And nothing happened last time.you can bring Maddy the bear if you want," he added, knowing that his sister loved that bear, and would be more willing to go somewhere if she had the bear with her.
"We-ell, okay, but if we get into trouble it's your fault!" said Melinda. The two hopped off the bed quietly, and Melinda slipped her feet into a pair of slippers by the bed. Wyatt was already wearing his.
"Okay, now we have to be quiet," he instructed as they tiptoed out into the cold, vast hallway. They crept towards the attic hallway, but as they passed the door to their parents room, a floorboard creaked. They paused and worriedly glanced at the door, expecting one of their parents to burst into the hallway and catch them, but the door remained shut.
Wyatt and Melinda both breathed a sigh of relief, and continued on their journey until they had reached the door to the attic, the door that hopefully led to the answers to their problem.
Her hand shaking, Melinda slowly reached out and grasped the cool, rusty doorknob in her hand. As gently as she could, she eased it open, and the two Halliwell children entered the attic.