A/N: Okay, so back to Chris's POV. All is right with the world.
"Chris, come on eat faster." Aunt Paige pretended to complain, "I want to get a head start on the cleaning." We both knew she was kidding and tried not to laugh. Aunt Paige and cleaning did not get along and I don't think they ever will.
"I'm coming," I yelled, my mouth still half full of cereal.
"Chris, swallow your food before you talk," My mother said, setting another pitcher of orange juice on the table.
I swallowed, and said, "Sorry, mom." Then I pushed the cereal bowl away before she could put more food in there and delay Aunt Paige and me even more. "I'm full," I added, seeing the look she gave me.
"Paige I hope it isn't too much of a problem taking Chris along," My mother said, walking back over to the coffee maker to get more coffee for herself. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
"Not at all," Aunt Paige answered, surprisingly free from laughter as well. But the smile on her face and the twinkle in her eye told me that there was not going to be any actual cleaning done by me or her today.
"Mommy, I can't find my hairclip," Katie wailed, running into the kitchen.
Aunt Paige leaned over and pulled a sparkly clip out of Katie's messed up hair, and held it up for her, "This one?"
Katie smiled and nodded, "Uh-huh."
"Turn around," Aunt Paige said softly. Katie did so and stood amazingly still while Aunt Paige redid Katie's hair. "There." She announced, snapping the clip and turning Katie around. "Perfect, now go find your jacket." Katie nodded, and ran from the kitchen. It was another one of those times when I wished that my own mother was as doting and spoiling as Aunt Paige was with Katie. Of course, I never wanted her to fix my hair and would never let her but it was the thought and love behind it that really mattered to me. Aunt Paige turned to me, "Ready?"
I nodded, and said quick goodbyes to my parents and the silent Wyatt. Wyatt was in a weird mood and hadn't said a word since he came down this morning. Of course, my parents didn't notice and I don't think they would have cared if they had.
Magic school was the same as it had been the day before when I was sent home early. Katie was bugging Aunt Paige about when she could get to go to magic school as well and I could tell Aunt Paige was getting tired of the constant question.
"Hey, Katie," I said, prying her away from Aunt Paige, "You know if you wait to go to magic school when you're ten, I promise that I'll take you to the zoo and let you stare at the tigers all you want." I smiled, remembering the last trip to the zoo the Halliwells had taken. Katie had refused to budge from the tiger exhibit for well over four hours.
Katie's face lit up, "Really?"
"Really," I confirmed and she hugged me. Aunt Paige mouthed a silent 'thank you' to me before looking around a messy classroom, one of the disadvantages of not having a janitor at the school.
"Let the object of objection/ Become but a dream/ As I cause the seen/ To become unseen." The mess before us disappeared and I assumed the rest of the classrooms were also cleaned. Aunt Paige turned to me, "As always, not a word to anyone because this is very personal gainy."
I smiled again, "Not a word," I promised. She knew I wouldn't say anything. We had been 'cleaning' the classrooms like this for a very long time. "So, now that we have 'cleaned'," Aunt Paige quoted the word cleaned. "What do you want to do now?"
"The park!" Katie blurted out instantly.
"And ice cream," I added.
Aunt Paige laughed, and grabbed both our hands, "The park and ice cream it is," She announced, orbing all three of us to the park. Hopefully no one had seen us orb in but since no one ran screaming 'witch', I assumed we were safe.
We finished the ice cream and then Aunt Paige stood up and turned to face Katie and me on the bench, "So, now that we have eaten ice cream, do you know what we are going to do?"
"Something really painful," I offered, the memory of the last time I went for a run with Aunt Paige making me shudder. She went for a long run that time and it wasn't pretty.
Aunt Paige pretended to think about it, knowing how much agony she had put me in, "Um no, we can do that tomorrow morning." I shuddered again, and she laughed, "Today I was thinking about tag." I tried not to laugh. My own parents never played tag or they hadn't since I was at least four. Another reason why Aunt Paige was more fun than the people that call themselves my parents.
Katie and I exchanged glances and jumped off the bench. "You're it!" We both yelled, tagging her and taking off in two opposite directions.
When you're running around the park, screaming and laughing you forget all the troubles that you have at home. Or I do at least. I felt more 'at home' playing tag with Aunt Paige and Katie than I do at the manor. I forget all that was bothering me with my forgotten existence. I forget that my father doesn't admit to actually being my father. I forget that my mother is too busy with her life to really pay attention to mine. I forget that my older brother was almighty and perfect and I wasn't. All that I remembered was here at the park with my aunt and cousin I was loved and wanted.
A/N: Okay, so I'm having trouble thinking of where this story should go in the next chapter. Stupid writer's block. It will rot in hell just like Brad Kern(because he killed Chris). Until that time, I would appriciate ANY help in what to do with this story. Any suggestion will help, anything. And you know how you leave suggestions? You press the really pretty purple button and review!
A/N 2: Also, I want to add that this story is in no way connected to my other story, Running to the Past. I used a few of the same names but that's because I suck at coming up with character names. Okay, just had to clear that up so no one got confused.
A/N 3: Thank you all for the great reviews. It makes me so happy when people love my stories!