Chapter 4
It was weird what he was feeling. He felt so light yet he could not budge from where he is. The space was so bright yet he could not see a thing. It was awfully quiet yet his ears cannot stand the noise. Chris could not figure out what was happening. His head seemed confuse yet he felt calm.
*******
Piper laid her new born daughter in her cot and sat down beside her husband. "Was it me?" She asked. Leo, who was reading put down his book and looked at his wife. "Did I make him that way?" she questioned. "Was it my fault that he is like that?"
"Oh, Piper. It's not your fault. It's not your fault at all. You know how Chris is. How stubborn he can be. He would do it anyway, even if you never taught him to do so." Leo caressed his tired wife's hair gently as he spoke. "He's just exhausted. He will be fine."
Piper just nodded as a little smile cracked on her tired lips. "I just wish he could be like any other kids, and not bear this burden on his shoulders."
"He is way beyond his age, Piper. He loves, this child more than anything in this world. He loves her more than his own life." Leo spoke. "There is nothing we could do about that. As long as he is breathing, Andrianne would be protected. Andrianne would be safe from any harm. But, he will always be in danger."
"You're saying like that is a bad thing." Piper said suddenly straightening her position. "You're saying that, like you know something about Andrianne that I don't. That he doesn't." Piper said raising her voice.
Leo sighed. He shook his head. "What makes you think like that?" He questioned. Piper moved away from him as she rose towards the door. "Piper. Wait." Leo called. "Andrianne could change. She's starting over from zero. She doesn't have to know about the past life she had been through."
"That is not for us to decide, Leo." Piper's voice laced with resentment and disappointment. "Her life is not for us to decide."
"We are her parents." Leo stressed.
"Yes we are. We are her parents. Now." Piper said. "But where were we when she was sick? Where were we when she was in pain?" Piper's tear brimmed eyes were no longer able to hold the over flowing tears now streaming down her face. "We were fighting demons, warlock and protecting witch craft instead of our child." Piper said as her knees sank into the floor boards.
Two cold hands wrapped her from behind. "It's was all fate mom. Everything is going to change now. Everything is going to be different." The soft voice whispered in her ears. "Everything is going to be different." The voice said before it went and left only the essence of her strength with her.
Piper held the little hands tightly as she shut her eyes to take in the scent of the person. Her lips cracked upwards a little forming a smile and gradually, the little hands slipped away from her and being replaced by her husband's. Gently Leo escorted her to their bed and wrapped both his arms around her. "Everything is going to be fine. Andrianne is not Lea. Things are different now." Leo whispered softly.
"Everything is not fine, Leo. Look around us. We are not fine." Piper said between her sobs. "She is not Lea. I know that. I neglected my own child. It was my fault that she was even here in the first place. I neglected her. I left her all alone to fend for herself. You might not feel it because she was not your child. She was not a part of you."
Leo stood stunned by Piper's word. Never had he expected his wife to have felt that way about him. Never had he treated her little girl badly or ever felt like she was not a part of his family. He had given her the same treatment he had been giving his sons. The same, but he knows that what he gave was not nearly enough.
The cold silence between them created a shuddering effect on Leo. "I never differentiated her. She was my daughter as well. Maybe not by blood, but she was my daughter. I loved her just as much as I do to my own children, to Wyatt, to Chris." Leo said softly before he shimmered away.
Piper quickly wiped the streaked created by her tears and slowly made her way to the room where both her little boys shared. She stood by the window frame and looked at Chris and Wyatt in turns. She is proud to have them as her children. She is even more pleased to have Chris, her savior, her little angel.
"You shouldn't have done what you did, Chris." Piper said as she moved towards the younger boy. His pale face starting to gain a little color. Softly she removed his soft brown fringe from his damped forehead. His temperature was a little elevated, but there was nothing to worry about.
A slight movement caused a creaking sound on the other bed beside her younger son's bed. "Mom, what are you doing still up?" Wyatt questioned his mother. His darker brown hair clings on his sweaty forehead as he sat up on his bed.
"Nothing dear. Go back to sleep." Piper said quietly while she moved to Wyatt's bed. Wyatt just shook his head. "Why dear?" She questioned.
"Why are you crying mom?" Wyatt questioned. Piper just smiled as she shook her head. "Mom, I'm 13, I'm not stupid mom. Why are you and dad in a fight? Is it because of me? Because of what I did to Chris?" He asked naïvely.
Piper just shook her head. "No dear. It's not you. It's about me and your father. But everything is fine now." She said as she laid her eldest son's head back on the pillow.
Wyatt hesitated and shut his eyes. "Mom?" He said softly as he reached for Piper's hand with his eyes still closed. "Chris is going to be fine, right?" He asked, almost pleading. "He's not going to die is he?"
Piper cracked a smile at his son. "No dear. Chris is very exhausted. He will be fine in the morning. Why are you so worried? What did you do?" Piper asked.
"You know this morning," Wyatt started but he paused and opened his eyes to see his mother. "This morning, I knew he was going to suck my anger. I don't know how I know but I just do." He said hastily. "I hate it when he does that. It always made me feel spaced, like I forget the lapse of time while I'm saying something or doing something." Wyatt said groaning and sighing as he speaks.
"What did you do Wyatt?" Piper questioned as she rose into a standing position. Wyatt kept quiet except for sighing a few times. "Wyatt Matthew Halliwell. You better tell me what you did to your brother."
Wyatt frowned, regretting his words. If he had not said anything, no one will ever know. The pain Chris was enduring was too much for him just to see and not do anything. "Well, dad told me that some witches can pull the bad things or bad emotions from other witches, but dad said there is also a down side to it. They can't control the bad things they are taking, they just take it all." Wyatt explained. Piper just nodded and waited for her son to elaborate more.
"What did you do, Wyatt?" Piper asked again a little more sternly. Wyatt's frown turned into a worried expression. "Tell me why did you do." Piper said more softly as she touched her son's shoulder. "So, I can fix him and I can make things better."
Wyatt looked upon his trembling hands as he spoke softly. "I let the black widow's venom flow in me. I know it could be dangerous but it could not kill him. I know that he have a resistance to spiders." He reasoned. "I never expected it could be this bad. I just want him to know what it feels like to lose a fraction of the sense of time." He continued as tears brimmed his eyes. "Will he die?" he asked as his eyes rose to meet Piper's.
"He's your brother Wyatt." Piper's voice filled with disappointment. "He did what he did to you because your father asked him to. He hated the very thing he did. He never would want to do those things to you if it was not for the greater good. If it was not for your father's order." Piper said as she rose and moved to Chris's bed.
"Leo." She called softly as she knelt beside her younger son. Dapping his sweaty forehead with the clean towel and caressing his hair gently. "Leo." She called again a little louder. A soft cold hand touched hers.
*******
The soft, warm hands touched him. He hears voices but he could not make out the words. The voice was near yet it was distanced. A soft glow lights the path of his vision. His eyes, though it could not focus on anything, it was good enough that he could see. A familiar smell overwhelms him. There were no words he could describe how he felt. He was not sad but he was not happy. He was angry but he was glad. He was just confused and content.
"Chris, Andy needs her brother. Her protector, her savior. You can't give up." The soft familiar voice whispered in his ears. He wanted to answer but there was not a word he could say. "I'll always be with you. With mom, dad, Wyatt and Andrianne. I'll never leave you if you wouldn't let me. I'll always live in your heart." Lea's voice was almost smiling.
Chris forced himself to be awake. It took all his strength. It does not matter. It wore him out. It does not matter. As long as he could be with his sister. As long as he could make her life better. As long as he could keep a promise he had made to both his late sisters. A promise that he had made to himself.
An almost blinding slit of light enter his eyes. He fought the pain that stung his eyes, just to force it open. "Mom." His voice croaked. "Mom, I'm sorry." Chris said barely a whisper.
"No. No. No. Chris, none of it was your fault." Piper said softly caressing his hair as a droplet of her tear grazes Chris's cheek. She heard him. A smile formed on Chris's face. It was worth the pain. It was worth the effort. But still he could not make where she was.
"I can't see." Chris said calmly. Still fighting to get his vision, creases formed between his brows as he frowns. "Why can't I see or move? Mom? Can you still hear me?"
"Shh…" Piper hushed her young son. "It's going to get better soon. You just relax, Chris. Your father is coming." She said hesitantly. A fact that she did not even know of. "Leo." She spoke sounding surprise, finally after a moment of silence. "He's getting weaker. The venom. It was black widow." She said before she broke down crying.
"He's going to be fine. He will be." Leo's strong voice said calming Piper down and getting nearer to Chris. "You're going to be fine." He said softly as a deafening glow hovered over him and a pain he thought he does not have to endure other than the stripping moment coursed through his body.
Chris felt too tired to scream. He just ignored the aches and pain that are eating his body. The next thing he knew was the heat from the sun kissing his sweat covered body waking him up. Getting him ready for the day. The sweet scream of his little sister was like music to his ears. A smile curved on his face.
"Someone's glad to hear the baby cries. Go shut her up please…" Wyatt whined as he saw Chris sat up on the opposite bed. Chris rises as he made his way to the door. "Oh, Chris, I'm sorry about yesterday." Wyatt said before placing a pillow over his ears to block the cry.
"She said its fine big brother." Chris said as he sat on Wyatt's bed with the crying baby in his arms. Wyatt groaned.
"Go away. You have slept the whole night. Chris…" Wyatt groaned pushing his younger brother away. "And bring her to mom. Or make her stop crying." He said.
Chris just laughed as he made his way to his side of the bed and hushing the little baby. "Hey, its fine you know. We grew up in a much different world than this, and we survived it. This one is much better. Just I hope she don't have the same fate as mine." He said as the little girl stared smiling at him as if she understood what he had just said.
Wyatt sat up on his bed sighing defeat. He was never going to get his morning nap now. "Okay, let me get this straight." Wyatt spoke as he cleared his throat. "You remembered every detail of your dream or memory or whatever you call it?"
"Not every detail. Every single scent, feel, voices and sight." Chris answered. "It doesn't matter though. Everything is different now right?" Chris sighed as he spoke. Not even looking at his brother. "You know, I really hope this memory would not be in my mind, somehow, I can't forget. But sometimes I'm glad that memory is in my mind. Just that, it hurts sometimes."
Wyatt looked straight searching for his brother's eyes. "What did I do?" He asked. "What have I done or what will I do? Chris, why do you hate me?" Wyatt asked bluntly.
Chris fell silent. He turned his head slowly to meet his brother's. "I don't hate you. I never hated you. I could never hate you. Why do you think that I do?" Chris questioned his elder brother carefully. Never that the thought crossed his mind.
"You wanted to kill me in your dreams. You love me that much?" Wyatt questioned.
"That is exactly what they are. Dreams. Just that." Chris spoke softly. Not wanting his emotion to come out and not wanting the dreams leaked to reality.
P/S: Recently I was reading, trying to do some background search on Bianca and found out that Chris and Wyatt does have a little sister by the name of Prudance Melinda Halliwell. Although, Andrianne is not and was not at all based on her character. Just to clear things up. Also, I'm truly sorry for the awfully late update...