Chapter Twenty: Birthdays and Would-Be Lies
Paige exited the kitchen, two cups of coffee in her hand as she walked to the stairs where Phoebe stood waiting. Handing her sister the extra cup, the two sat on the last few steps and drank their coffee in silence, glancing up at the ceiling every now and then to see if anyone was coming down.
Today was a difficult day for Piper and both Phoebe and Paige were wondering how she was holding up. Neither one of them had the nerve to go upstairs, each not knowing what to say and knowing that Piper more than likely wanted to be left alone. Knowing that their older sister was going to try and be strong, Phoebe and Paige were only waiting to hear the tears.
The sound of orbing filled the room and the two sisters turned to see Kellan and Kai standing in the living room, Bryn in the middle. All three girls began to speak at once, telling their respective mother that they knew Aunt Piper was upset and didn't want to bother her by walking by the room and making noise. Smiling, Phoebe and Paige said that it was all right and all five went to the kitchen where Jason was making breakfast.
"Hey dad," Bryn said as she walked up to the stove where he was busy slaving over eggs and bacon.
Kellan and Kai both took a seat at the table knowing their father was already at work. Drinking the juice that was placed before them, Kai turned to her mother and asked in an innocent tone, "What is the matter with Aunt Piper? How come she isn't making breakfast this morning?"
"I heard her crying as I went into the bathroom, but I didn't want to bother her so I made sure I was quiet," Kellan added.
Out of the three young Halliwells, Bryn was the only one who knew the truth. The three girls were not allowed to go into Aunt Piper's room and were never really told about their older cousins. Each girl had called the nursery their home and never knew otherwise, except for Bryn who began to put the pieces together when she found the infant boy clothes in the attic, toy trucks and cars packed away in the nursery room, and the picture of two young boys she didn't know in her Aunt's room. After begging and pleading with her mother, Phoebe gave in, never being the one to keep secrets, and told Bryn about Wyatt and Chris.
There were two days every year when Bryn's aunt locked herself away in her bedroom. Each day had once been something special, but over the years the days brought nothing but sadness. Bryn knew that in time her Aunt Paige would tell Kellan and Kai about their cousins, but until then it was a well kept secret that in all actuality was not going to last much longer.
"Aunt Piper just isn't feeling well," Bryn answered, looking at the two younger girls. "You know how when you get sick you get sad? That's all that's the matter, so you just have to remember to try not to bother her."
The little girls nodded, ate up their breakfast and orbed up to the room they shared to get ready for Magic School. Eating slowly, Bryn looked over at her mother who sat opposite her at the table. Phoebe glanced up and smiled, knowing that her daughter had done a good job covering up for her and Paige who had no idea what to tell them. Each year the sisters seemed to run out of ideas, but Bryn was always there to fix things.
"Is it Wyatt or Chris' birthday today?" Bryn asked, breaking the eerie silence that filled the room.
"Wyatt's," replied Leo who had orbed into the kitchen. Had Piper been downstairs the two might have resembled the other. Leo was visibly shaken and his eyes red as if from crying.
"How you holding up?" Jason asked. He couldn't imagine what was going through Leo's mind at the moment. If anything had happened to Bryn as it had to his lost nephews, Jason knew that he would have freaked and might never have recovered from his loss.
"More importantly, how is Piper holding up?" Leo paced around the kitchen. "I still can't believe it sometimes, you know? We did everything in our power to protect him, and his brother and look at what's happened. We lost them both. I know you all loved them and are just as upset, but the pain you feel isn't even half of what Piper and I feel."
"I wish I could have met them," Bryn whispered.
Leo began to leave the kitchen, but stopped when he heard his niece. "So do I."
Walking up the stairs of the Manor, Leo could sense the others around him. Paige was collecting her daughters and orbing them to Magic school, while Jason was gathering up his papers and what not for the newspaper and kissing his family goodbye. Phoebe and Bryn walked passed Leo as he went up slowly, each waving goodbye with a somber smile. Nodding, Leo saw them off then continued upstairs to Piper's room.
The door was shut, as he expected it to be. Hesitating, Leo gave it a soft knock and was surprised when he heard a faint "come in". Entering the room, Leo found Piper sitting on the edge of her bed, a picture frame in her hand. Sitting down beside, Leo wasn't pushed away and he put his arm around her as she laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes still on the picture that was in front of her.
"I remember this day like it was yesterday," Leo said, not knowing what else to say and wanting to end the silence.
"They look so happy, don't they?" she asked.
The picture was of Piper and Leo with their sons. It had been taken on Wyatt's birthday years ago. Phoebe had gone a little too camera happy and was taking picture of everything that was in sight. Just after Leo lit the candles on the cake, Phoebe stood on the far end of the table and took a picture after Piper, holding an infant Chris in her arms, joined Wyatt on the other side. The perfect memory captured in something as insignificant as a photograph, but it was all Piper had left of her boys and she held it as if to relive the memories over and over.
"I miss them so much," she whispered, unable to stop the tears that fell. The frame falling from her hand, Piper turned to Leo and had him hold her.
"I know. I miss them too."
"We never should have stopped looking...but I couldn't bear coming home empty handed anymore. God, I am a terrible mother for letting them be taken from me. Couldn't the Powers that Be have done something else to punish me? Isn't that was this is? I'm being punished for marrying you, for having children that they think will be too powerful...for messing with the so-called grand design. I am a good person and I deserve more than this!"
Leo held Piper tight, trying to fight back tears so that he could be strong for her. "This isn't anyone's fault, Piper, or at least it isn't ours. And it isn't that we stopped looking, but as you said, it was just too hard coming home without them. We did everything that we could and believe me, I look all the time when I am confined to a charge or helping the Elders with something. I am always searching and never will stop."
Leaning back, Piper smiled through her tears at Leo. "Thank you."
"I love you Piper, just as much as I love them and that will never change."
Before either could say another word, Leo gazed up at the ceiling as he heard the familiar jingle of the Elders. With a deep sigh, he kissed Piper's forehead and promised that he would come back as soon as he could. Disappearing in a swirl of bright lights, Leo was gone and Piper was left alone feeling nothing but emptiness. She heard Leo's words echoing in her mind and it brought a smile to her face, as she knew that he would never stop looking for their children.
Piper's thoughts were interrupted as she heard the doorbell ring. Knowing that no one else was going to be in the house, Piper got up from her bed and went downstairs. Opening the door she was surprised to find Darryl on the other side.
"Darryl," she said.
"Piper I need to talk to you," he answered. "Is Leo here too?"
"No he has some Elder...he's busy. But, come on in, we can talk in the living room."
The sat opposite of the other and waited for the other to speak first, but it was Piper who broke the silence. "So, what brings you over here?"
"I needed to talk to you about the case I've been assigned to. Now, I know and you know that I really do not want to be involved with magic, but magic seems to keep finding me. It's a murder case, Piper, and I believe the victim was killed by a demon of some kind."
Piper rolled her eyes, not particularly wanting to deal with demons at the moment, but she knew that innocents always came first. "And you want my sisters and I to go out and try and find what demon did this or else it might go out and attack other witches or women like this victim, right?"
"No."
Piper looked at Darryl confused. "There's something you are not telling me, isn't there?"
"Yes and I am trying to find the right way to tell you. You see Piper the victim, Cathy Knight, had a son. An adopted son, as I later found out." Darryl paused, but continued. "Piper, there is no easy way to tell you this...I believe that Cathy's son is Chris, your Chris."
Immediately, Piper stood up and walked out of the living room and into the conservatory. Of all the days that Darryl had to come and tell her something like this it had to be today. Her mind was racing, and though she wanted to believe every word he said, her heart was telling her how Darryl had left her and her family out to dry. Darryl was the one who stopped covering for them and even arrested future Chris.
"Piper," Darryl called, running after her. "You need to listen to me."
"Listen to you?" she shouted. "Listen to you! You listen to me, Darryl, I don't know what I did to deserve to be lied to like this, but you are stooping really low this time. I know you want nothing to do with me or my sisters and our magic, but this is unbelievable."
"Piper, no you have it all wrong."
"Wrong? Darryl, you have been like a brother to me and I would never dream of harming you this way had something ever happened to one of your children. And today of all days you had to show up and tell me that you found my son? Did you know that Wyatt would have been nineteen today? Nineteen, Darryl, and Chris would be seventeen. How dare you come to my home and lie to me about something like this. Get out of my house."
Piper's mind was filled with confusion and pain. She heard what Darryl was saying, that he had found Chris, her baby, but there was something nagging at her brain, telling her that he was lying. Perhaps it was because she was overly distraught due to Wyatt's birthday. Her sons had been gone for over ten years and even though she knew that they were not dead, it was as if her heart had slowly and over time, let them go so that the pain would not hurt as much. Tears were streaming down her face as she moved toward Darryl.
"I said get out of my house," she demanded, throwing out her hands and destroying one of the chairs that sat in the conservatory.
Darryl shook his head. "Piper, you have to calm down and listen to me. I am not lying."
"Get out!" Her voice echoed as she continued to walk toward him and blow up anything that was in her path. Darryl ducked and tried to protect himself as he walked backward through the conservatory and living room. Turning when he reached the foyer, he dropped the picture that he had had in his hand as debris fell all around him. Rushing out of the house, he could still hear the familiar sound of Piper's magical destruction as he hurried to his car. Jumping in, Darryl shut the door and placed his head on the steering wheel, taking a deep breath.
"I am so sorry," he whispered. Darryl told himself that he would give Piper time to think about what he had said and knew that sooner or later she would come to her senses. Driving off, he wondered if she would find what he had left behind.
It was as Darryl was driving off that Piper was shutting the front door to the Manor. Shaken by not only her actions and the words that she had heard, she collapsed in a sea of tears on top of the debris that she had created. The mess would be cleaned up later, she thought, by a spell for at the moment she could have cared less about personal gain. Trying to pull herself together, Piper stood and walked over broken pieces of glass and wood, but stopped when she saw something sticking out through the rubble.
Bending over, Piper gently picked what appeared to be paper off of the floor and read aloud a few words that had been written on the back in black ink.
"Chris, junior year, two thousand twenty-one."
Her hands shaking, Piper slowly turned the paper over and realized that it was a picture. Taking deep breaths, she cried as she looked at the photograph of a teenaged boy. The boy looked familiar and Piper noted how he had Leo's eyes, but also how he had her features. Sinking down to her knees, Piper dropped the picture in front of her, her head falling into her hands, knowing that Darryl had been right.
It was her Chris.
