Chapter Eleven

Piper and Leo were sitting at the kitchen table drinking hot chocolate. Chris and Matt had disappeared about an hour ago and Piper was starting to worry. Leo had already tried sensing for their sons but had no luck. They had come to the conclusion that Chris was blocking his father, so that he and Matt could talk uninterrupted.

"Do you think their alright?" Leo asked Piper concerned.

"Yeah. Probably having a brother bonding moment," Piper answered smiling. It was funny she had always wondered what her children who be like as growing up together as teenagers. It pleased her that Chris had formed a friendship with Wyatt, before finding out who he really was, yet she was also sad, thinking of all the years that she wished to see them grow up as brothers, yet it had never happened. But things could be different now. Sure he had another family, one she had no intension of tearing him away from. That wouldn't be fair to them or him. Plus he'd probably end up hating her and that was the last thing she ever wanted to happen.

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of laughter as the boys orbed into the kitchen.

"You two seem quite happy," she observed with a smile.

"Yeah," Chris grinned "I've been showing Matt some of the upsides to being Magical,"

"Yeah, like orbing up to the top of the Golden Gate bridge," Matt told them.

"You what!" Piper cried, "You have any idea how dangerous that was. What if you had been seen? What if you had fallen?"

"Chill mom," Chris answered trying to stop his mother hyperventilating "I cloaked us, nobody saw us. And if we'd have fallen, we would of orbed to safety,"

"I suppose," Piper relented feeling a little silly for worrying. She looked over at Matt feeling slightly awkward. It was silly really, here stood her son and she had no idea what to say to him. This was the same boy she carried for nine months, yet standing here in front of her was a complete stranger and that broke her heart.

Matt sensed her feeling of awkwardness, it mirrored his own. How was he supposed to act around these people, they were his parents yet they too where strangers.

"So Matt," Piper broke his thoughts "Can I get you anything? Juice? Sandwich?"

"Thanks that would be great," Matt answered sitting down next to Leo.

Thanks for offering get me something mom, Chris thought sarcastically. He turned his attention to his father who was watching Matt with fascination. "Dad," Chris called. Yet Leo didn't hear him "DAD!"

"What?" Leo asked finally noticing that Chris was in the room.

"You're staring at him," Chris pointed out noticing how uneasy Leo was making Matt feel.

"Sorry," Leo blushed slightly embarrassed "It's just… I've been searching for you for so long, imagining what you looked like all grown up and well I suppose it just feels surreal, like I'm going to wake up and find it's all dream,"

Matt felt a bit overwhelmed by Leo's emotional speech. "Yeah I know what you mean about the surrealness. This morning I was just Matt Turner, a normal kid and now I'm Wyatt Halliwell, super witch!"

"I know it's a lot to take in," Piper sympathised sitting down the other side of him. She handed him his sandwich and juice and he began tucking in. "We understand if this is too overwhelming. Were not going to push you honey. But we want you to know that we will always be here for you. We wouldn't want to replace your parents, but I know both Leo and I hope that sometime soon you will feel ready to let us be part of your life, but we won't push you on the subject,"

"Thanks Mrs Halliwell," Matt answered grateful that she wasn't expecting too much from him at the moment.

"Please call me Piper," She smiled.

"Thanks Piper," Matt corrected himself.

Chris stood viewing the scene from the corner of the room. He was feeling guilty because watching this moment between his parents and brother gave him an unwanted feeling of envy. All his life he had wanted both of his parents around at the same time doting on him, yet it never seemed to happen. But Matt had been in his life for less than twenty-four hours and he seemed to have a more emotional connection to his parents than he did. What's wrong with you? He shook himself out of his self-pity. You've got your brother back, you should be happy. So why did he have a feeling that everything wasn't going to be as great as he imagined.

It had been three months since Chris had found Wyatt or Matt as he was now known. Paige and Phoebe had fussed over him no end as soon as they had been given the chance, both spoiling him rotten, they were using the excuse that they were making up for lost time. Matt had grown incredibly close to both Leo and Piper as well. They were both instructing him of how to use and control his magic properly. They were also filling him in on the Halliwell family heritage, which he found interesting. Leo had moved back into the manor in the last couple of weeks to be close to his family again. He was of course sleeping on the sofa. In his heart of hearts he knew that the chances of him and Piper making another go of their marriage was highly doubtful. But given that Matt was spending most of his time at the manor it gave him the perfect opportunity to spend time with his son.

Chris however was spending as little time as he could at home. Always finding an excuse to be out of the manor as often as possible. He had been lying to his mother about joining the drama club at school. Of lately he had been telling his family that he needed to stay late and help with scenery more and more often.

He didn't know how long he could keep his excuse going for but it was working for the time being. When supposedly staying late at school, he would really orb to the beach and watch the waves softly hitting the shore. Doing this calmed him, which was something he didn't feel that often anymore. It was something that he didn't feel at the moment. Anger was what he felt right now. Anger and resentment! He had gotten through half a bottle of cider and he wasn't feeling any better for it. He had orbed it out of an off licence. His mother had always taught him that stealing was bad, but there was no way the shop keeper would have served him, so he did what he had to. He was celebrating; today was a day to celebrate! They didn't seem to think so though, they had all forgotten. Not one of them had remembered that today was his fifteenth birthday.