A/N: Wow, thanks, you guys! I'm glad you liked it so much! This one's about nine months on from the last, so Chris is getting close to one. As requested, I've got an interlude from Piper POV. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I'm a scrawny, ginger British kid. Do I really look like the sort of person who would own Charmed? Well, even if you think so, I don't. Nuh uh.
Summary: The first time Wyatt saw his little brother, his nose wrinkled in distaste. But he learned to like him. Actually, he learned to love him. brotherly love fic
Enjoy!
3.
When the wind blows
"Aiee-at! Aiee-at!"
Wyatt blinked as a brightly coloured baby's rattle was waved under his nose, and put his toy truck down as his baby brother continued to babble nonsense to him excitedly. He smiled. He liked listening to Chris' mindless chatter; it made such a change from the constant struggle to understand Mummy and all the grown up's, with their big words.
"You wanna play with me, Chrissy?"
He asked, and although Chris obviously did not understand him, his baby brother cocked his head to the side, his dark brown hair falling in his large green eyes. Chris immediately struggled to look at the offending strands, reaching up to bat at them. Unfortunately, he lost his balance and toppled over backwards.
Wyatt gasped and crawled over to where his brother was blinking in surprise, afraid he had hurt himself, but Chris only made a rasping noise with his lips and giggled. Wyatt frowned.
"You're very silly, Chris-o-fer."
He enunciated clearly, folding his arms sternly. Mummy always called Chris that when he had done something silly. Chris rolled over onto his stomach and struggled up onto his feet, standing unsteadily. He had only recently begun to walk about, and Wyatt wasn't entirely pleased about it. He found himself bound to follow his wayward brother whenever Chris wandered off, making use of his newfound legs.
Chris blinked up at him, wide eyed, then his brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth hesitantly, jabbing himself with a single chubby finger in the chest.
"Cessfer?"
Wyatt blinked, looking from his baby brother pointing at himself, babbling the phrase over and over, to his confused little face. Then he understood.
"Yeah. You're Chrissy, but Mummy says Chris-o-fer when you've been bad. And you worrie-ed me, so you were bad. So I called you Chris-o-fer."
Chris clapped his hands together, a wide grin splitting his dimpled cheeks, and he plopped himself down on the floor, still repeating the phrase over and over. Wyatt grabbed his truck, and sat down beside him, feeling slightly proud that he had taught Chris a new word. So far, the only recognisable phrases in-between baby-talk had been 'Da-da' and 'Ma-ma', with the exception of the occasional odd word, like 'teddy', and sometimes vague questions.
Satisfied that Chris was content to watch, Wyatt went back to his game. Over the floor of the conservatory, he had created a mini town for his fire truck to roam around in, including brightly coloured block houses and buildings in the form of cushions. He rolled the little red truck along, making 'nee naw' noises as he went.
"Aiee-at!"
Wyatt was interrupted once again as he found Chris toddling unsteadily over to him, having apparently grown bored with the discarded rattle. He clutched his favourite book, 'Cluck the duck & friends', carefully to his chest with sticky fingers.
Once he had reached his brother, Chris reached out a hand to point up at Wyatt, a frown of concentration on his face. Prodding Wyatt gently in the chest, he proclaimed proudly:
"Aiee-at!"
Before pointing at himself, and stating:
"Cessfer!"
Wyatt's mouth fell open. Oh, so that was why Chris had been babbling that word to him all morning! Truth be told, Wyatt had always been a little upset that Chris could say Mummy and Daddy's names, but not his. He knelt down so that he was at the same eye level as Chris.
"Wyatt? You mean me, Chrissy?"
He said quietly, pointing at himself, as Chris nodded his head vigorously, his brown hair tossing about his head. Chris clenched his fist nervously around his book, opening his mouth, then closing it, then opening it again and saying hesitantly:
"Ay…ee…at…?"
Wyatt smiled excitedly, reaching down to take his baby brother's hand in his, emphasising his next words by shakingChris' hand up and down as he spoke.
"Wy-att, Chrissy. Wy-att. Can you say Wyatt?"
Chris seemed to listen hard and watch Wyatt's lips intently, hesitated, then opened his mouth and said slowly:
"Wy…ee…at? Wy-ee-at?"
"Yeah! You di'd it, Chrissy!"
Wyatt laughed with joy, and lifted his baby brother up under the arms, swinging him around on impulse. Chris giggled and squealed in pleasure, all the while chanting breathlessly, continuing to do so even when Wyatt set him carefully down and they both collapsed in a flushed and giggling heap.
"Wy-ee-at! Wy-ee-at!"
Wyatt sat up, a wide grin plastered to his features, still laughing, while Chris jumped up and down clapping his hands as he continued to chant. Quite suddenly, Chris, dizzy and swaying on his feet, collapsed into Wyatt's chest, wrapping his short arms around his brother's waist and squeezing tightly, beaming up at him.
"Cessfer luv Wy-ee-at!"
He exclaimed, and Wyatt stared, blinked, then smiled a little in return, blushing. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around his brother in return, managing to mutter out an embarrassed:
"Um...I...loves you too, Chrissy."
Chris pulled away, still beaming, face alight with happiness and cheeks still flushed from the exhilaration of being spun around. He bent down, and retrieved his dropped book, presenting it almost shyly to his brother with a muttered:
"Wyee-at wed?"
Wyatt sat back against the conservatory table, pulling a cushion up to sit on, his truck forgotten. He took the book from his brother's hands, shifting around until he sat comfortably, cross legged on the floor.
"You...wan' me to read to you?"
Chris nodded, and without invitation, sat down in Wyatt's lap, leaning back into his brother's chest and pulling the book in front of him, opening it to his favourite page. It was in the middle, where all the characters were depicted ina farmyard.
Wyatt put a hand over his brother's to hold the book steady, and began to point out the different animals, struggling to remember their names from when Daddy had read him the book last night.
"Look, Chrissy, here's Cluck the duck! Quack quack!"
Chris squealed in delight at the funny noise, his hair tickling Wyatt's nose, and mimicked his brother's voice enthusiastically.
"Wack! Wack!"
Wyatt felt a strange feeling, like something warm growing in the pit of his stomach, as his brother squirmed in delight and continued to make 'quack quack' sounds. He felt so much smaller than him, his baby brother. And Mummy had said, since they had taken Chris' powers away, he had to protect him.
He had been annoyed at first. But if felt sort of…nice, now. To be needed by somebody. To be big and brave for his little brother, just like Daddy and Mummy were always big and brave for him.
"Wy kay?"
Wyatt started, glancing down to find Chris staring up at him worriedly with those big green eyes. He was biting his lip, brow furrowed. Wyatt smiled, and lightly tickled his brother's sides, making him giggle again.
"Yea, I'm 'kay, Chrissy. Look! There's...uh...Farmer Fred's tractor! Brrm brrrrrrrm!"
Chris bounced up and down in Wyatt's lap, clapping his hands once more, making brrm brrm noises before exclaiming:
"Wy wy unny!"
And so Wyatt continued to tell his brother about the lives of Farmer Fred and his animals, and once he had finished that, they moved on to 'Noah's Ark', and other stories Wyatt could remember Mummy or Daddy reading him. Piper Halliwell, arms filled with clean washing from the dryer, peeped into the conservatory to a sight which warmed her heart.
"Lookie, Chrissy, tha's a race car! Can you see it?"
The sun was spilling through the paned glass windows, shining off her eldest son's hair, and bathing the two brother's in an ethereal glow. She leant against the doorway and listened for a while, drinking in the sight, feeling more at peace than she had ever done in her life.
"See, the big red one is the fastest, so it goes whoosh and zoom instead of just brrm! An' this blue one…"
Wyatt's face was alight with happiness, as he eagerly showed his little brother all his favourite cars in the book he was reading to Chris. Chris, however, seemed more intent on blinkingcontentedly up at his brother's face, and although he didn't understand all Wyatt was saying, it seemed he was happy just to sit and listen to the sound of his voice.
"Woosh, boo, zoo!"
She had been concerned, initially. After the whole business of Wyatt orbing his brother away, in order to gain attention…but it all seemed forgotten now, in the warm, brightly lit sun lounge on a beautiful April morning.
"…an' when Daddy comes, we'll show him how you learned my name, an'…"
Suddenly a mild breeze blew up, gently caressing the lace curtains which hung at the window, mingling with Wyatt's soft, eager tones and Chris' joyful babbling. They carried on the breeze, and seemed to swirl all around her, filling her heart with proud joy as she watched her son's for just a moment longer.
For the rest of the day, to the pleasant but rather baffled surprise of anyone she came across, Piper Halliwell bore a contented smile which seemed to light up any room she entered.
A/N: (Gets all mushy) Aw! (Clears throat hastily) A MASSIVE thanks to all who cleared up my queries about Wyatt's age, thanks guys! Next chapter should be a slightly bigger jump in time, to when Chris is about three (and a half) and Wyatt is almost six.
Feedback is love! I couldn't write this without you guys, so please review! Thanks for reading!
