The manor had not changed much in the past nine years since the defeat of the ultimate power. The building blocks were replaced with play stations and dolls lay beside discarded game boys. The pictures of small boys now showed young children and a girl joined the pictures. Only Piper and her family lived in the manor now.
Piper herself moved from the kitchen where she had just finished a fresh cup of cookies and sat on the couch with a cup of camomile tea in one hand and her eight year old daughters school essay in the other.
Melinda attended magic school just like all the other Halliwell children and had recently been asked to write an essay entitle "My heroes" for her homework. As headmaster the essay had eventually found itself on Leo's desk and he was so moved by it that he brought it home for Piper to read.
She heard orbs jingle in the kitchen and shouted out to one of her sons about personal gain. Chris's voice hollered back that is wasn't personal gain but survival instincts and Piper simply rolled her eyes.
The essay was well written for an eight year old apparently and Piper was curious as to who Melinda's hero was. Part of her wanted it to be her.
My heroes by Melinda Halliwell
I think most people will say their heroes are their mum or dad or maybe even my mum and my aunts because they are the charmed ones. I know my they have cool powers. Mummy can blow things up and aunt Phoebe can levitate and see the future. Aunt Phoebe always knows how you feel and I think that is magic too. Aunty Paige was super cool powers! She can orb things!
I am not like most kids in my class though. My heroes are not the charmed ones.
My heroes are my brothers. Wyatt and Chris. They have super cool powers too. Wyatt can do almost anything and one day he will receive Excalibur. Everyone says he is twice-blessed but I am not really sure what that means. I just know that Wyatt is super cool. Even though he is way bigger than me and a whole thirteen years old he still helps me with my witchcraft and any homework I get stuck at. Mum recons Wyatt is moody but he never snaps at me or Chris.
Chris is awesome too. He plays with me if I really hassle him. It's so cool. I love Chris's main power. Telekinesis. He can do lots of cool tricks and can even float because he has so much control over it! He can also freeze stuff, blow stuff up and do lots of other cool stuff. My favourite thing is when he shoots lightning from his hands. He can do that because dad was an elder when Chris was born.
My brothers can both orb and I can't. That used to really upset me but now it doesn't because the boys spoke to me about it. They said it didn't matter because I can control ice and neither of them can do that. They promise it won't matter when we take over from the charmed ones because mum and aunt Phoebe can't orb or teleport in anyway. I hope they are right because I want to be a great witch.
Wyatt says I am really talented at spell writing which is great because the boys suck at it! He says that will be my job. My brothers always make me feel important even though I am not as strong as them and I know that. They know that too but they make sure it never matters. They never ignore me because they have more power. Wyatt never ignores Chris because he is the most powerful. He says that's not what's important. Love it.
I love my brothers and they are my heroes because they don't try to hide me away or protect me. Wyatt says it doesn't matter that I cannot orb because he or Chris will always be there to take me wherever I need to go. That's why they are my heroes, because they love me so much. They don't say it that often but we are so close that they don't have to.
When Piper had finished the essay their were tears flowing from her eyes. It was so beautiful. When Melinda was born Piper knew that she would never come close to being as powerful as her sons because she was only inheriting magic from her. She was scared that would stop her being close to the boys but from the minute she had brought her little angel home the boys had been enamoured with her.
The only sibling she had ever known to be closer where her and her sisters. It warmed her heart to know that this future was clearly so much different than what could have been. She slowly eased herself up and went up the manors old stairs to the second floor. She could hear voices coming from Chris's room and quickly determined that all three children were in that room.
She peeked her head around the doorframe to see the children playing a game of, what looked like, cludo on the floor. They were all smiling happily and playing together. The only sign of magic was when Chris orbed his glass of juice over and then Melinda's at her protest. The scene was so sweet that Piper refrained from telling them off.
The scene playing out before here was not exactly normal but it was as close to normal as Piper and her family would ever get and as she felt Leo's arms circle her hips she couldn't help but realise that it was all she ever truly wanted. Happiness.
Leo smiled down at her and then called out to their daughter.
"Mel?"
The little girl looked up threw her chestnut locks and smiled at her dad.
"Yes daddy?"
"We read your essay you wrote for Miss Clark. It was very good sweetie."
The little girl blushed scarlet in her place on the floor. Her brothers looked at her curiously and Wyatt asked what the essay was about.
"My Heroes.", Melinda muttered.
Chris smiled widely and ruffled her hair.
"Who did you write about?"
Melinda found the courage to look up at her brothers but immediately looked at the floor again when she opened her mouth.
"You and Wyatt."
It was softly spoken but both brothers heard her. Both of them blinked for a moment before jumping on her and hugging her tightly. They fell to the floor in a heap and mumbled of "I love you" could be heard from all three children.
Piper and Leo smiled and were about to leave the room when the felt themselves being orbed into the huddle by, they assumed, Wyatt. At that moment it didn't matter that her children would have to grow up to fight demons. It didn't matter that her children had different levels of power or that Leo was mortal. All that mattered was that they were together and they were happy.
