Chapter 2

"Mommy"

The word resounded in Piper's head. Since Piper met Leo, she knew immediately that he was the one; the one that she had been searching for her entire life and would willingly spend the rest of her life with him. But of course at that time she did not knew who he really was-a whitelighter and it was highly prohibited for witches to fall in love with their whitelighter let alone marry them. And of course being the Piper that she was, she did just all of the above. And after marrying Leo, she always dreamt of having kids of their own and how loving their family would be. When Wyatt came along after much waiting, she devoted her time to being a good mother and enjoyed the happiness that her precious bundle of joy brought along.

Watching Wyatt grow bigger everyday, Piper couldn't wait for him to say his first word which she hoped would be "mama". But now, little Chris had stolen the very word that she had reserved for her baby when he mistakenly thought her to be his mother, Piper thought.

However, Piper had to admit, though that sacred word had not come out the way she had dreamt of it to be, the word that came out of Chris's mouth was also very fine. It stirred up a lot of emotions too; it struck a chord in her heart and somewhere in the recesses of her mind told her that the word sounded very right. The word just seemed as if it belonged and had a sense of familiarity attached to it though it was impossible.

Piper pushed those impossible thoughts out of her head and felt a bit of sadness and betrayal that it was her neurotic future whitelighter and not her angel that had offered the word.

"Mommy, my head hurts." Chris said as he was reeling from the side effects of the potion that the demon had thrown at him. He looked over when he got no response from his mother and saw that she was in daze. Worried, he went over and gently shook his mother. This snapped Piper out of her thoughts.

"Huh, what?" Piper asked, still in a daze.

"My head hurts, mommy" he repeated.

There, he said the word again

"I think you're mistaken but I'm not your mommy."

"No, mommy you're my mommy did a demon do something to your head too?"

"No, listen Chris I know you may not understand but maybe it had something to do with the potion the demon hit you with. You're not my son, I only have one son and his name is Wyatt, ok?"

Chris, being the young boy that he was, of course could not understand what Piper was saying. All he knew was that his mommy had just said that she only had one son, Wyatt.

With a sad and rejected look, his big green eyes which were welling up with tears looked into Piper's eyes and he said "Kay, I underand". Immediately after finishing what he said, he orbed out, leaving a very shocked Piper behind him.

Piper was shocked as well as confused. If Chris was reverted to a kid, he shouldn't have his powers. Then, how was it that he was able to orb? Unless he was a half-whitelighter too but except for Paige and Wyatt, Piper knew of no other half-whitelighters or any whitelighter in a relationship in the world. Could he really be my son, piper thought, she really did not want to think that it was true especially after how they all had treated him.

Well, I guess there could other half-whitelighters in the future, Piper thought trying to find a logical answer to counter what her instincts were telling her and after all Chris had told many lies so he couldn't be trusted, maybe what happened between Leo and me brought out the passion in those rule-abiding pacifists. Well, whatever the case I have to find my little whitelighter back. Piper couldn't risk a little kid with whitelighter powers running amok in the city. It was not safe and he might get into trouble.

Meanwhile, on the golden gate bridge where Chris had orbed out to:

He was sitting on one of the beams and couldn't contain it any longer and started crying. With the falling of his tears, the wind howled back in response. Chris couldn't believe what he had just heard. His mother did not want him anymore. Nobody wanted him anymore. He rarely saw his father; he was always busy and only came on special occasions or when Wyatt called for him. Aunt Paige and Aunt Phoebe were both busy and he bet that if his mommy didn't want him, neither would his aunts. Of course there was always Wyatt and grandpa but what could Wyatt do: hide him under his bed? And even if he went to grandpa, grandpa couldn't take care of him since he had recently fallen sick. Not knowing what to do, Chris cried even harder and the howling storm intensified. Chris knew he shouldn't be doing this but he was feeling really lost and couldn't really care about using his magic in public.

"Leo, get down here this instant"

"Blessed be, Piper, I was just coming to see you."

"Really, why would that be?"

"Well, we sense a new Power surge like that freak storm out there"

It was only now that Piper realized that there was a storm.

"So, why did you call me for?"

Piper updated Leo on what had happened. "So can you sense Chris, we have to bring him back."

"I sense him. Here" he said as he offered Piper his hand.

They materialised on the Golden Gate Bridge and strong wind was howling all around them.

"Whoa" Piper exclaimed. She had never been so high before and the freak weather was making her feel even more uncomfortable. Her fear soon dissipated as she saw her little whitelighter sitting on one of the beams crying and shivering in the cold. She suddenly felt sorry for the little boy and went into motherly mode.

"Chris, come on, we have to get you out of here, and you will catch a cold."

"No"

"Come on"

"No"

"Stop being stubborn people may see you up here and they will call the police"

"No they won't"

"Why not"

"I covered myself"

"You what?" Piper said distracting him as she motioned for Leo to get Chris

Leo managed to get the boy who was struggling against his strong arms. Leo refused to budge and orbed all of them back to the manor.

Once they arrived back at the manor, Leo released the boy after Piper said a spell that prevented anybody from leaving the manor.

"Well that was weird and what was it about covering himself"

"I don't know why don't you ask him and what is it about being weird" Piper asked.

"When I sensed Chris, it was like sensing for Wyatt"

"What!"

"That's why I said it was weird"

Both Piper and Leo turned to the little boy sitting on the couch with his chin rested on his knees, he was shivering badly. When Piper saw his state, she hurried to her room to get a towel and blankets for the poor boy. He refused her help and wanted her to leave him alone and let him go. She on the other hand wanted to keep him warm. Their eyes met for a minute, his eyes blazing with defiance but behind that defiance, she could see rejection, confusion and sadness, before he lost consciousness. It took a minute as Piper stared the unconscious body of the little boy, before she realized how familiar those eyes were.

TBC

A bit draggy, I know, but you know, at the suggestion of some that I do a longer story. I was actually planning to stop at the Chris orbing out part. So wad'ya think? And thanks for the reviews, they were very encouraging esp since I had a lousy school day that day.