Chapter Two
Paige was sitting in the dining room of Richard's home. It was she, Richard, and his brother and mother. She ate in silence while they talked about family things. Richard looked over to Paige. She looked up at him.
"Paige, what's wrong?" he asked her quietly. She shook her head and set down her fork, wiping her hands on her napkin and looking back at him.
"Nothing is wrong Richard. I am just really tired," she told him back in the same tone. He nodded and looked at his mother and brother.
"Well, Mom, didn't you have something else you needed to do tonight?" he asked, hinting that they should leave. His mother and brother stood up to walk out. They looked at Paige and Mrs. Montana smiled at her.
"It was so lovely to see you again, Paige. Come back soon," she turned and walked out of the door. Richard's brother walked out after his mother after nodding at Paige and shaking Richard's hand. Richard looked back at Paige.
"So," he said, not really sure what to say to her. He walked over and sat back down next to her. She was looking straight into his eyes.
"Richard," she started, sighing deeply and standing up. "What's been going on? I mean, what made you give up magic for me?" She started to walk around. He stood up and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"I love you, Paige. I always have and I always will," he sighed. "I guess after a while I just missed you so much that I couldn't bear it. I tried everything to make it better. I tried using magic to make the pain go away, but nothing worked" She turned around and looked at him. She didn't know what to say to him; she knew exactly how he felt. After all, part of the reason she summoned her Mr. Right was because she was lonely from Richard being gone. She leaned over to him and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close to him as he could.
Piper had just finished her shower and she was getting changed to have dinner with Phoebe, Jason, Leo and Jessica. She was thinking about how Chris had acted around Jessica. It was like he liked her or something. She shook her head. That was why she told him something about it. She looked at herself in the mirror. For the first time in a long time, she looked good. She has lost all of the weight after having baby Chris and she was now fitting into clothes she had since before Chris was concieved. She smiled at herself and headed downstairs. She saw Phoebe and Jason sitting at the table and she walked into the sun room. Chris was still asleep and Wyatt was still playing with his toys. Leo orbed in by Piper and smiled.
"Hey, you're finally back, now all we have to do is get dinner served and everything will be okay," she smiled, leaning over to him and hugging him. "Watch the boys while i go and get the rest of the food to serve." She walked through the dining room, saying hello to Phoebe and Jason and she walked into the kitchen. She grabbed plates and silverware. Jessica walked into the kitchen from the backyard.
"Piper, let me help," she said, kneeling down. "Colette, go see Nannie, okay?" Colette nodded and ran off to the dining room where Phoebe and Jason were. Jessica helped by getting some of the food and following Piper to the table. Phoebe looked at Jessica.
"Jess, this is Jason, Jason, this is my best friend, Jessica," she said, smiling at them both. Jessica nodded at Jason and he had stuck his hand to shake hers, but she had stuff in her hands. Leo walked in, holding baby Chris. He looked at Piper.
"I think I am going to put Chris to bed now," he said, turning to walk upstairs. As he was going, big Chris orbed in behind Leo. Jason jumped; he still wasn't used to it.
"Hey Mom," he said, looking at Piper and turning to Leo. "Hey dad, where are you going?" Leo turned around and adjusted a sleeping baby Chris on his shoulder.
"To put you to bed, son," he said, turning back around and heading upstairs. Chris looked at Jessica, who turned around and walked into the kitchen to fnish getting the food. Piper sat down at the table. Chris looked around, try to act like he hadn't been looking at Jessica.
"So, where is my loving older brother?" he asked. Piper motioned to the sun room and Chris walked to it. Phoebe looked at Jason, who seemed to be confused about everything.
"Let's see. He's my nephew from the future and he has no idea when he is going back or even if he is going back," she smiled at Jessica as she walked back in. Colette was in the sun room with Wyatt, playing with his toys with him.
"Pheebs, where's Colette?" she asked. Phoebe looked around. "She must have gone to play with Wyatt." Jessica laughed and walked to the sun room. Piper looked at Phoebe.
"What?" Phoebe asked her older sister. PIper shook her head as Leo came back downstairs. He sat next to Piper and kissed her cheek. Jessica walked back in, holding Colette's hand, with Chris following her, with Wyatt. Jessica sighed.
"Wow, full house tonight," she laughed, not looking at Leo. She knew Leo knew her from past times. She didn't want him to recognize her. Leo had been the one to tell her that she needed to bind Colette's powers before Colette was old enough to use them, but Jessica didn't listen. Jessica looked at Phoebe.
"Phoebe, listen I think it would be best if we went to my mom's house tonight. You seem like you have a lot going on and I don't want to intrude," she said. "I will go and get my things and we will be gone." Jessica wanted to stay, but she couldn't with Leo there. She turned to walk towards the stairs; she and her daughter walked up to Phoebe's room. Phoebe looked at them and got up, she walked after Jessica.
"What is it, Jess?" she asked, walking into her room. "I mean, why won't you stay. You haven't even been here a whole day and you are ready to leave?" Jessica was packing her things.
"Look, Phoebe, I just think that I should go to my mom's house. I really don't want to intrude on everything, your date and stuff mostly. From the way you talked about Jason, you seem to love him very much. I am very happy for you," she closed the suitcase. "Call me at my old number, if you still have it. If not, its on the dresser. Later, Pheebs." She walked past Phoebe in the doorway and headed downstairs and out of the door.
It was still raining. Phoebe was talking to Jason over coffee and Piper and Leo were with baby Chris and Wyatt upstairs. Paige orbed into the dining room where Phoebe and Jason were. Paige looked happy. She smiled at Phoebe.
"Hi Jason, hey Phoebe," she said cheerfully. "I will just be going upstairs." She didn't want to be rude while Phoebe was trying to have her date. "Wheres the big nephew of mine?" Phoebe laughed.
"He said he had some business to take care of. Don't ask me what, you know that he is very quiet about his 'business'," she said, looking at Jason and smiling. Paige nodded and walked upstairs to Piper and Leo's room. She knocked on the door and walked in
"Where is Phoebe's friend?" Paige asked Piper. Piper sighed and set Wyatt on the floor. She stood up and pulled up her jeans, which were falling slightly.
"Jessica left. She felt out of place so she and her little girl left about two hours ago. It's getting late. So, how was the date?" Piper asked smiling. Paige smiled at her older sister.
"Well, we had dinner, and we talked about us and stuff," she shrugged. "But I am going to bed now." She turned and walked to her room.

Back downstairs with Phoebe and Jason, they were talking about where their relationship was going. Phoebe was thinking about Jessica. She didn't get why Jessica had left in a hurry. She looked at Jason who was talking about one of those meetings he had had with a Chinese Senator who was very nice, but come to find out he was a drug dealer. Phoebe laughed at all of his jokes and she continously smiled at him.
"Jason," she said, smiling brightly. He looked at her. "I love you. I don't care what happens, but I love you more than anyone that has ever come in to my life." He smiled at her and leaned over to her.
"I love you too, Phoebe," he kissed her. She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. She knew from her Empathy power that it was true, but she wanted him to see it in her eyes that she was being truthful. He smiled at her. She had never stopped loving Jason; there may have been a time when she thought that things weren't going to go anywhere between them whenever he had left, but she loved him now more than ever. Phoebe rested her hand on his and smiled at him again.
Phoebe and Jason continued talking for a long time, but they, nor Piper, Leo and Paige, knew that Chris was with Jessica. Colette had been put down to sleep in the bedroom upstairs and they were sitting in the living room of Jessica's mother's house. They were drinking coffee. Chris was talking to Jessica about the future and such, and it seemed to him that she was revealing more about herself.
"Well, let's just say, I come from a very interesting family tree," she said, gazing over at the fire in the grate. "My mother is a witch, my father is a demon. Very interesting match. My father left after finding out I was conceived. He left my mother to go back to the Underworld and live out his demon life. My mom and Gram raised me until junior year then me and Gram moved to L.A., where I lived until a week ago." Chris looked at her from the other side of the couch.
"Yea, very interesting. Well, mine isn't all that interesting. Piper's my mom, Leo's my dad. I came back from the future to prevent my older brother Wyatt from turning evil on us. Things now are just now settling down. There is no telling what will happen to me whenever I have to go back to the future," he sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. "I don't even know how much the future has changed. I mean for all I know, I could be evil in future times." He shrugged. Jessica looked back at the fire.
"I miss Colette's father. He left right after she was born. He held her once in the hospital, and the next day he got an assignment from his job. Two weeks later, everything that he had had at my place was gone and he left me a note telling me he would never forget me and he would always love me. He went after some other witch. From what I hear, they got married and he's dead now," she sighed. "He had some down sides though. He used to have these crazy attacks now and then. I am glad he's no where around Colette, she doesn't need him there to teach her his ways." She looked down, realizing she had said something wrong.
"His ways?" Chris lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" He sat up, resting his elbow on the arm of the couch. Jessica looked like she didn't want to talk about it, but she figured that maybe she should, after all, she could trust him.
"Colette's father was a demon. He and I fell in love after I failed in college. He was at a bar one night and he asked me to dance. I didn't know he was a demon until it was too late. Had I not fallen in love with him, I wouldn't have had Colette, so I don't regret it. He was the last man I was with. I am sad that he is no longer here, but he ruined many lives, and he deserved to die, as much as I love him," she looked down at the floor. Chris nodded and put a hand on hers.
"Well, I am here now, if it matters. I don't want to see you so sad, Jessica. If he left you for some other woman, he isn't a man," Chris said; she looked up at him and he smiled at her. "Don't let the past hurt you. He's gone now, and you need to let him go." Jessica nodded and looked back at the floor; she knew he was right, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to let him go just yet. He leaned over and they shared their first kiss.
The next morning, bright and early, Paige was up in the attic looking through the Book of Shadows for something. Piper walked in, carrying baby Chris. Paige continued to flip the pages as Phoebe came in. She had a very content look on her face. Piper and Paige both looked at the middle sister.
"What are you so smiley about, Phoebe?" Paige asked. Phoebe looked at her sisters and rolled her eyes jokingly. She sat down on a box. Piper laughed.
"I heard noise from your room last night, Pheebs," Piper commented, laughing. Phoebe looked at her older sister and laughed with her.
"We just talked all night. I told him losing my powers and stuff and he thought it was quite interesting," she smiled. "And if you must know, yes, we did kiss, but that's as far as it went Piper." She laughed with her sisters. Paige went back to flipping the pages of the book. Phoebe looked at Paige.
"What are you looking for, Paige?" she got up and walked over to her sister, placing a hand on her hip and pulling down her shirt in the back.
"The truth spell. I want to use it on Richard to see if he is telling me the truth or not. I need to know so I know where to go with this relationship," she sighed, finding the spell. She grabbed a piece of paper and started to copy the spell. Piper shook her head.
"Paige, do you remember what happened last time you used this spell?" she asked. Paige looked at her older sisters and sighed.
"Yes, but Piper, I need to know, you know that," she replied. Phoebe sat there, not saying anything. She knew that Paige wanted Richard to be truthful, but using the truth spell was something they had to avoid.
"Come on, you know that this spell leads to bad things," Piper commented. "Whenever Prue was alive, she used it on her boyfriend Andy, and then they broke up. I don't think you should use it." Paige finished copying it.
"Don't worry, I know what I am doing," she put the paper in her pocket and walked out of the attic. Phoebe walked over to Piper and took Chris. Piper looked at Phoebe.
"She doesn't know what she is doing. I really don't think that she should," Piper said. Phoebe nodded and looked at baby Chris. Phoebe smiled at her nephew.
"When it big Chris going back?" she asked. Piper shrugged her shoulders. "I don't want him to go. I mean, we are just now really getting to know him, but he needs to return to his time." Piper nodded in agreement. They both walked out of the attic
Jessica woke up in her own bed. She heard noise from downstairs. She didn't feel like getting up, she was way too comfortable. She heard the noise heading upstairs towards her. She rolled over towards the window. Today would be her mother's funeral. The next thing she knew, Colette was jumping on her bed.
"Mommy, Mommy, Chris fixed you breakfast," she said, sitting down. Jessica looked up and saw that Chris was carrying a tray of food. She smiled at him.
"How nice of Chris to do that," she said, looking at Colette. "Do you want some?" She took a sip of her orange juice. Colette bounced and shook her head.
"No, I already ate, he fixed me pancakes," she smiled. Colette loved pancakes. "And now I am going to go and play with my toys Mommy." Jessica continued to smile after her daughter had walked out. Chris sat next to Jessica.
"You fell asleep on the couch, and I didn't want you to get too cold, so I orbed you up here, I wasn't sure if you would have minded me sleeping in here, so I slept on the couch. I fixed breakfast for Colette whenever she woke up and I watched her cartoons with her," he smiled. Jessica shook her head.
"You are unbelievable Chris Halliwell," she smiled, looking at the food. "This looks great. Thank you. I really appreciate it." He nodded and waved his hand.
"It was nothing. I just put my hands to work. I guess I take after my mom, she's a great cook," he said, thinking of his mom. "And she is probably going to kill me for not going home last night when I should have." He sighed. Jessica took a bite of the food and sipped her orange juice again.
"Do you have a girlfriend in the future, Chris?" she asked him. He looked down. He had had one, but he wasn't sure if she was still his. He shook his head.
"Not anymore," he sighed. "I did, but she came back here to take me back to the future, and we kind of broke up." Jessica put a hand on his leg.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything about that, I mean, it was insensitive of me," she looked down at her food. Chris shook his head and looked at her.
"No, it's okay, I mean, I haven't been with anyone since her, and I just feel weird talking about her. She was my fiance' before I left, but we just grew apart," he said, looking into her eyes.
"Chris, I didn't mean to bring it up, though. It's just, I can't stop thinking about how you have been talking to me about my problems with Colette's father. And I thought that maybe you would want to talk to me about past women," she looked down. Chris put a hand to her chin and made her look at him.
"It's okay, don't worry about it. Everyone loves and loses. It's no big deal, I thought I loved her and then I lost her. Life goes on," Chris replied, smiling at her. She kneeled on the bed and looked at him. "I care about you, Jess. I don't want you to hurt again. You deserve better than what that guy did to you, and I'm hoping that maybe I can be that person." She smiled at him. He leaned over and kissed her. They lay back on her bed, making out.
Paige was now at Richard's house. She had called him and told him she wanted to talk to him face to face. So, he told her to come over to his place and they could talk. She was sitting in the living room and he was walking in from the kitchen with a drink for her and himself. She set the drink on the coffee table and messed with paper in her hand which was the spell.
"Richard, please don't be mad at me for this. I beg you," she said, standing up. He looked at her like she was crazy. She unfolded the paper and read the truth spell. "For those who want the truth revealed, opened hearts and secrets unsealed. From now until it is now again, after which the memory ends. For those who are now in this house will hear the truth from other's mouths." Richard stood up. He knew that she was using the truth spell."
"Paige, what was that for?" he asked, standing from where he had sat on the arm of the chair. Paige looked down and sighed. She didn't know what to say to him. They sat in silence for a few moments.
"I have to go. We can talk later, I need to see my sisters right now," she quickly orbed out back to the manor. She looked around the kitchen. No one was in there. She walked out of the kitchen through the dining room. She looked at the stairs. "Piper? Pheebs!?" She yelled. Piper came walking down them.
"What is it?" she asked. She looked like she had been in the middle of something. "What's wrong Paige, did the spell go wrong?" Paige looked at her older sister.
"What spell?" Leo asked, walking down the stairs with his shirt a mess. He saw Paige. "Oh, sorry." He quickly went back to Piper's room.
"I didn't know what to say to him. I mean, I stood there. I had it planned how I was going to ask him, and I froze. And you know I never freeze," she sighed.
"Hun, maybe you just forgot what you wanted to ask him," she suggested. "Trust me, guys will do that to you." She laughed. Paige crossed her arms.
"Like you and Leo?" she laughed. Piper glared at her sister and walked back up the stairs to her room. "Where's Phoebe?" She yelled after Piper.
"Work!" Piper yelled, slamming her door. Paige sighed and shook her head. She was happy for Piper, she really was, but nothing seemed to be going right. She had exactly what she was going to say to Richard planned out, and she couldn't believe that she just froze.
Phoebe was sitting behind her desk giving advice to the people of San Francisco. She was sitting there, staring at her computer monitor when Jason walked into her office, holding a dozen roses. He smiled at her and leaned over her desk to give her a kiss.
"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman," he smiled. She stood up and took them from him. She emptied the vase she had had some dead flowers in and put them in there, she put some of her bottled water in it.
"Thank you. They are so pretty," she smiled, hugging him. "So, what's going on Mr. Dean?" She laughed, sitting on her desk. He walked over to her.
"How about lunch?" he asked. Her smile faded. She looked down at the floor and then back at him. She couldn't go to lunch. She had to go to Jessica's mother's funeral.
"Uh, Jason, as much as I would love to, I can't. I have a funeral I have to attend. My friend Jessica's mother passed away and her funeral services are in three hours. I was supposed to be out of here an hour ago to be with Jess at her house," she got off of the desk and grabbed her things. "Sorry. I totally forgot about her. I will call you, maybe we can do dinner later, or something." She hurried out of the office, leaving Jason behind in her office.
Phoebe got into her car and quickly drove to Jessica's old house. It was a really big house. It was nearly twice the size of the manor and at least twice as old. Phoebe got out of her car and headed into the house. She was immediately greeted by her god daughter.
"Nannie!" Colette yelled, running to Phoebe and giving her a big hug. Phoebe picked her up and walked to the kitchen where Chris was putting dishes in the dishwasher.
"So this is where you were last night," she commented. "No wonder. Don't worry, Piper didn't even say anything. She and Leo spent time together." She smiled at her nephew. "So what are you doing here?" She adjusted Colette.
"I just came to be supportive of Jessica. She needed a friend, and I took the liberty of coming over here and talking to her. We talked for quite a while," he said, smiling at Colette.
"Chris, you do know that Jessica is 28 years old. She's too old for you to be messing with," Phoebe said, her face getting serious. She set Colette down. Colette ran out of the kitchen to find Jessica.
"Aunt Phoebe, look, I like her, and I think she likes me, is there something so wrong with that?" he asked, wiping his hands on a dry towel. Phoebe sighed and put a hand on her hip.
"Listen, you stay away from her. You don't need to be mess with her.She's gone through enough, and you don't need to bring her hopes up because you are supposed to be going back to the future soon," she said. Chris threw the rag on the counter.
"Look, I don't care what you say, I care about her, and I am going to do whatever is in my power to keep her," he said. Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"What are we arguing about?" Jessica asked, walking in, wearing a long black dress, her hair pulled back into a neat bun. Chris shook his head and walked over to her.
"Nothing, we were just talking. Listen, I'm going to go home and take a shower, I will be back at the funeral home in a little while, okay?" he asked, hugging her quickly and orbing out. Phoebe looked at Jessica.
"What?" Jessica asked Phoebe. Phoebe sighed. "Pheebs, what is that look for? Did I do something wrong?" Colette walked in; she was wearing a little dress.
"That's my nephew, Jessica. You can't be messing around with him," she said, sighing. She shook her head. "Nevermind, but don't complaing to me whenever he has to leave. Can we get going? I need some fresh air." Phoebe walked back out of the house. Colette looked up at Jessica, who picked her up and carried her outside.
Paige was now sitting at her job at Bucklands, once again answering the phones. She saw Richard come in, but she ignored him, acting as if he wasn't there. He stood right in front of her to get her attention. She sighed and told the person on the phone to hold.
"What?" she asked him, aggravated. He sighed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap. Just this business is crazy. I don't know how dear old Prue did it."
"What was that spell about earlier?" he asked cautiously so no one could hear her. "I mean, what was it for? You just said it and left like I did something wrong?" Paige sighed and looked around.
"I want the truth Richard," she said, looking down and writing a little note. "I want to know if you really aren't using magic. I need to know that, so I can decide whether or not to give you another chance." Richard looked down.
"Paige, you know I would never lie to you about something like that," he commented, looking up. "I really do love you, and no matter what happens, I always want to be with you, but if you feel you can't trust me enough to where you have to use a spell to get the truth out of me, then this won't work." Paige sighed.
"Just tell me, are you still using magic or not?" she asked, looking him dead in the eye. He sighed and stared back at her. He couldn't lie.
"Yes. I am Paige. I've tried to stop, but I just.... can't," he said. Paige shook her head at him and saw that there was another call coming in.
"I have to get this. Bye Richard," she said, picking up the phone, answering in her friendly voice. "Bucklands Auction House, this is Paige, how may I help you?" She watched as Richard walked out.
"Yes, I am looking for a Prue Halliwell," said a male voice. "I hear that she is an expert at pricing things for their values and I would really like to speak with her." Paige shook her head.
"I'm sorry, sir, but Miss Halliwell passed a few years ago," Paige said calmly. She felt sad that she never got to know Prue. She heard silence on the line and then a phone put down and then the dial tone.
Piper was in the living room now. She and Leo were watching the television while the boys took their nap. Leo looked like he wanted to say something to Piper, but he couldn't get the words out. He was staring at her while she looked at the television. She turned to him.
"What?" she asked, smiling at him. He smiled back at her. "What is it?" He looked down, laughing a little uneasily. Piper sat up and turned down the volume on the tv.
"Well, I know that things between us are getting better, and I just wanted to see if you could answer a simple question for me," he said, rumaging in his pocket on his shirt.
"Sure, what is it?" she asked him, wondering what he was going to ask. Leo stood up, making her stand with him, and then he knelt down on one knee, looking up at Piper.
"Piper, will you marry me, again?" he asked. Piper stood there, speechless.