Henry's Little Hunter

Back where I grew up (whatever that means), there's a saying that goes, "The only difference between men and boys, is the size of their shoes and the price of their toys'. In Paige's experience, those words (for the most part) rang all too true. As you and I both know, magic is no toy, however fun it may seem. Unfortunately for Henry, he would learn this the hard way, before the night was through. But, we'll get to that later...

As for Henry's Charmed wife, Paige was, in that moment, learning why Lee had been so insistent that Henry must be touching Baby Hunter when she herself touched him for the first time. What happened then was, in every sense of the word, magical.

"Wwwwhoa!" Henry was positively awestruck. "Can we do that again?" he asked, as he gently took his finger out of Baby Hunter's tender grip.

"Sorry Dad," said Hunter. "It's a onetime ride."

Henry's eyes were full of stars as he inspected his still tingling hand. "Well, that bites," he said casually, "because that was awesome!"

"What just happened?" Paige asked dreamily. "The last time I felt anything like that was..."

"When you became a Charmed One?" There was a warm knowingness in Hunter's comfortable voice.

Paige gave a dazed smile as she nodded slowly. "We must've had this conversation before."

Hunter grinned as he nodded.

"Riiight," said Henry, a cordial impatience in his tone. "We should probably review it anyway. You know, just for the hell of it."

(Chris is right; this is fun!) Hunter thought. "Well, I'll give you the foofee woofee answer."

Henry raised an eyebrow. "The who-ee what-ee answer?"

"It's a scientific term," Paige coyly replied.

Hunter grinned back at her. "Mom's right," he said, then looked back at his adorably clueless father. "Which part's gotcha stumped? The foofee or the woofee?"

"Oh! You mean foofee woofee answer?" exclaimed Henry. "See, 'cause I thought you said, the poofee woofee answer!" He pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. "Phew! Okay, I'm with ya now."

Hunter felt like he was back at the dinner table in his own time; it was a very common occurrence for his mother, his younger siblings, and himself, to enjoy a chuckle regarding Henry's relative cluelessness, where magic was involved.

As for Henry, he was still waiting to wake up.

"Well Pop," said Hunter, "Put simply, you and I were just Charmed."

When Hunter stopped, Henry replied, "You are planning on following that up with something I hope."

Though Paige intuitively understood what Hunter was saying, she looked forward to a more detailed explanation herself.

"Basically, it means that you're now protected by the same magic that protects the Charmed Ones."

(Is this kid putting me on)? Henry was tempted to pretend that he at least had a clue as to what Hunter meant, but that would've only made him feel more foolish. "Still not following."

"Well..." Hunter looked at his mother for inspiration. (Let's see... What is it that makes Mom 'charmed'?) "Oh! I've got it!" he exclaimed. "Have you been thrown down the stairs yet?"

Henry shook his head stiffly. (Yet?) he wondered. (What does he mean, 'yet'?)

"So then, that's a 'no' on the stairs," Hunter said to himself. "How about up the stairs?"

Henry's eyes widened; he continued to shake his head. "Uh, nope."

"Through the stairs maybe?"

Paige put in, "He hasn't had his staircase initiation ceremony."

Henry grimaced. "What the hell do the stairs have to do with being Charmed?"

Paige and Hunter looked at one another, pondering what both considered to be a fair question. Paige knew exactly what Hunter meant, but neither of them could figure out exactly how to articulate it.

"Well, when you do," said Hunter, "You'll..."

"What?" Henry interrupted. "What d'ya mean, WHEN?" ... "Do I fall down the stairs at some point?"

"Oh Honey," said Paige. "I get thrown down those stairs at least twice a month... Sometimes twice a week, it just depends on the work load."

"Work load?" Henry echoed.

"But that's the thing," Hunted said quickly. "Now that you're protected by Charmed magic, you won't even have a scratch."

Paige then added, "You may get knocked out every once in awhile though."

"But not usually," said Hunter. "Depends on which demon throws you." ... "The same rules apply with getting thrown into furniture and through windows."

"And mirrors!" Paige quickly added. "Can't forget the mirrors."

Henry frowned heavily. "HOLD it, you... " he said to Hunter, but stopped himself. "By the way, what is your name?"

"You've already picked it out," said Hunter, who'd been looking very much forward to this part. "You just wanted to run it by Mom before you gave it to me."

Paige amended, "Along with that whole, 'Honey, can we keep him?' thing."

Henry sent his wife a very Paige-like smirk. She smirked good-naturedly in return. "Well, Mister Sorting Hat?" she teased. "What's the chosen one's name?"

Hunter lightly tapped the corner of his frosty blue eyes, lending his self-conscious father a hand.

"Maaan," said Henry, slightly above a whisper, "that's downright spooky."

Paige and Hunter both leaned their heads slightly forward, anticipating Henry's coming response.

"So Papa," said Paige with a chiding smile, "What's it gonna be?"

Henry was familiar enough with his wife's facial expressions to know that one of two things was happening: Either A: he was being set up to be teased mercilessly, or B: he was being set up to be scolded ... and then teased mercilessly. "Well, ya know how they say that babies' eyes can't focus?" he began. "Well, I swear this little guy's already beat me in at least ten staring contests." He gulped silently, preparing for the 'big finish'. "So, I thought, since he has the sharp eyes of a... You know, eyes like a..."

"Like a hunter?" said Paige.

Henry flinched slightly. "Right," he said in disbelief. "Like a Hunter."

As Hunter grinned back, Henry felt like he'd finally been let in on the joke that his wife and son seemed to share. The sense of family was already beginning to grow.

Paige looked back down into Baby Hunter's carrier, and then back up at Hunter. "Does he look... I mean, do you look different to... ya know, you?"

"Actually, yeah. That's part of the whole Charmed thing," said Hunter. "It was decided that, since Dad would be helping to raise a new generation of Flashlighters, the Charmed magic would be given to him through the first-born child."

Henry asked, "And this decided by the Olders?"

"You mean, the Elders?" said Paige.

"Elders, Olders, whoever?"

Hunter nodded.

Henry let slip, "Even though you're not really ours?" He suddenly regretted that he'd ever been taught to speak, and the subtle scowl from his wife and the somewhat shaken look from his oldest child further solidified this feeling. "That could not have come out more wrong."

"It's okay, Dad," Hunter said. "One of the best things about Halliwell magic is that, when it's between the heart and the blood, the heart wins almost every time." He squirmed a little at the mushy sentiment. "...as corny as it sounds."

"Good save, Gretzky," said Paige.

As Henry gave a sigh of relief from narrowly escaping the stern repercussions of his verbal goof, he took comfort in knowing that Hunter had turned out to be such a decent, considerate, and most of all, happy young man. You see, Hunter was the biological son of a man named Grey Sexton, Henry's former parolee and the convicted murderer of Hunter's magical mother. It was the 'anonymous' tip that Hunter was a magical child that first inspired Henry to adopt the parentless, newborn witch. Henry knew better than anyone how rotten the foster care system could be, and he could only imagine how much harder it would be for a magical child.

"I've gotta say, I'm pretty relieved," he said. "I've known you for about ten minutes, and I can already tell that you're nothing like your real father."

Paige sighed deeply. Henry had done it again.

(What the hell is my problem?)

Hunter grinned sympathetically. "Actually, I'm a lot like my real father," he said. "It's that biological creep I'm nothing like."