As it turned out, the 'San Francisco Showdown' between the two bandits, Paige and Hunter, and the two sheriffs, Henry and Lee, was a draw (Get it? 'Draw'?), largely due to the skills of the two youngest participants and their familiarity with each other's tactics. Still, even though Hunter and Lee were in the "driver's seat," Paige and Henry insisted on doing the 'pistol swingin'," or, in their case, 'finger-pointin'."
The showdown was promptly rescheduled for the following sundown, primarily due to the persistence of the proud pair posing as passenger participants, Sheriff Henry and Paige: the Beautiful Bandit.
The game gave Lee the good laugh that he needed, even though his spirits had already begun their steady, upward climb, and though Hunter had noticed the mild dimness of his youngest cousin's usually bright spirit, he decided it best not to address the issue in present company. But let's discuss that a bit later. After all, there was a brand new family springing right up before their very eyes, and their story deserves its turn in the spotlight.
As the midnight hour set upon the Manor, Hunter guided his parents down two flights of stairs, through the large Common Room that connected the four lower wings, to the nursery. Impressively sized in its own right, the nursery was on the middle floor of the Manor's Westerly wing, behind the first door on the left. Since the room was shared by all three of the childbearing families, this (nearly) central location seemed the most sensible place in which to build it.
With the possible exception of the 'Dream Room', which mirrored Magic School's protection against death, the nursery was the safest room in the entire Manor. This was largely due to Paige's many hours of studying the three-dimensional placement of certain crystals and other magical stones, and the effects they have on those who dwell inside their protective shield. She hypothesized that the right shape and combination of various crystals, when strategically placed within the room's four walls, would saturate the room's interior with an energetic frequency so pure that no amount of dark magic could enter.
I'll spare you the technical details regarding the harmonious blending of the Wiccan 4-element-philosophies with Chinese 5-element-theory and how that relates to crystal placement (mostly because I haven't the foggiest idea how it works myself), but I will tell you that, as was often the case when Paige thought 'outside the box', her discovery was a great success, inspiring a shared sigh of relief among all the parents of magical children.
As the three (and ½) travelers arrived at the nursery door, Henry thoughtfully suggested that Paige have a moment alone with their new baby. After all, he'd already had ten staring contests with the little tyke. The least he could do was offer his wife a moment of her own. Plus, it gave Henry's eyes a chance to visually inhale the many pictures that decorated the warm, golden, hallway walls. And even more, it gave the two "fellas" a chance to give their one-on-one "chemistry" a second chance.
"Those are the twins, Holly and Heidi," said Hunter, pointing to a family photo, taken just after Henry Junior's Magic School graduation ceremony. "And this is Arrow."
"Arrow?" asked Henry, "That's his name? Arrow?"
"Henry Junior, actually," said Hunter, the corners of his mouth turned ever upward. "But we call him 'Arrow'."
Henry said his son's nickname to himself several more times, hoping that the repeated exposure would help him warm up to it. "I dunno," he said, scratching his head. "I mean... Arrow?".
"Yup," Hunter said with a light shrug, "you started calling him that when he was little and... it just sorta stuck."
"Arrow," Henry said yet again, followed by a rehearsal. "Hello, I'm Henry Mitchell, and this is my son… Arrow?"
Hunter wished his younger brother could've witnessed that moment, though Arrow's endearingly awkward social nature would've doubtlessly pushed his sing-songy falsetto laughter right on up the scale, making Henry even more nervous than he was already.
"Usually you introduce him as 'Junior'," said Hunter, "mostly 'cause he hates it."
Hunter's words were as a gathering of echoes, a peripheral soundtrack for Henry's newly ignited imagination, as his mind's eye crept nearer and nearer to the image of his younger son. Still, Hunter took no offense at his father's unresponsiveness. Indeed, he was just happy to be the host of 'Henry, This Is Your Life'.
"Then again, you never call ANY of us by our real names," said Hunter, watching his father admirably. "The last time I heard the name 'Hunter' come outta your mouth…" He paused until Henry looked his way. "Let's just say you've got one of those voices that reeeally carries... We're talkin' Aimee Mann, "Hush, hush, keep it down now' carries."
Before he knew it, Henry's gaze had bounced from Hunter back to the wall, as though his focus was a tennis ball and Hunter's words were a skillfully swung racket. After that evening's little handcuff incident, he wasn't quite ready to handle a story of the time he scolded his oldest child in raised decibels. Plus, he was still too nervous about improving Hunter's first impression of him to take into account that the young man clearly felt no bitterness about whatever it was that inspired Henry's notable raise in volume."
"So uh…" said Henry, scrambling to fill the dead space. "What do I call you then?"
"Me?"
"Yeah," said Henry. "If I don't call you by your real name, what do I call you?"
A tinge of embarrassment nipped at Hunter; he loathed his nickname. "Blip," he said quickly."You call me 'Blip'."
"Oh yeah?" Henry's face warmed with an inspired grin. "Cause of the way you blip in and out like a..." He snapped his fingers, trying to remember the term. "Strobe light!.. Like a strobe light?"
Hunter grimaced good-naturedly. "Yeah," he said. "Something like that."
Henry. in that very moment, felt something inside him was beginning to stir, though the sensation was far from unpleasant.
Perhaps it was the growing realization that, even though he had no true role model to show him how to be a parent, or, more specifically, how to be a father, he somehow managed to pull it off. Perhaps it was the fact that, for the first time that night, he wasn't the only embarrassed member of his family. In either case, he suddenly found it strangely natural to look his young visitor in the eye, and not only that, but to really "take him in" as he did so. (I wonder if, in some way, he brought part of me back with him) he questioned. (Just the way he looks at me like he knows me… It's like… like he's reminding me of something... or someone...)
Being a parole officer, Henry was already in the business of reading people, and when someone's as close to losing everything as many of his parolees were, the signs were pretty easy to spot. As for his experience of Hunter, the clarity of thoughts and feelings was the same, but they came from a place that was refreshingly centered.
Whether it was from his mother or father that Hunter inherited his love of honorable mischief was a topic of endless debate. But in terms of who Hunter was at his innermost core, Paige would, in time, guide Henry to accept that it was he, as Hunter's real father, who was responsible for the nearly palpable streak of genuine goodness that ran straight through everything that Hunter said and did.
That's not to say that Hunter was perfect, despite what most of the girls and a few of the boys in Magic School would've told you. But the brilliant blend of Paige's spunky enthusiasm (though a bit subtler when expressed through Hunter) and his father's grounded, earthy nobility was what people would remember the most about him. That was especially true of his three younger siblings, and even more so for Arrow.
"Dad?"
The image of Hunter's hand waving up and down in front of Henry's face zipped from a foggy blur, to a crystal clarity, as he 'blipped' out of his daydream. "Huh?" He flinched as the word sprang from his mouth. "Oh, sorry 'bout that," he said awkwardly, though less so than before.
"No worries," Hunter said amiably.
"So, I have a question," said Henry, like a student at a lecture. "Your powers… You're some kind o'…"
"Teleporter," said Hunter.
"Right." Henry suddenly forgot his questioning. "Teleporting," (Come on, Bonehead... say something) "Why didn't it make me throw up, like with the orbing?" (Smooth, Mitchell… Real smooth)
"Well, with orbing, your body literally comes apart in one place and reforms in another," said Hunter. (Hang in there, Dad… You're doin' fine.) "It's just not something the human body, or at least the non-Whitelighter body, was designed to do… So all the jumbling around sends most people running for the nearest toilet bowl."
(Well, at least now I don't feel like such a wuss) "But your power, you…"
"I use portals," said Hunter, feeling like a young superhero.
"Uh-huh," said Henry, trying not to sound too clueless. "Portals… Cool."
"Here, I'll show you," Hunter said encouragingly. "Just stand back-to-back with me."
Henry took one large step sideways, into the middle of the hallway, "Check."
"Now then..." Putting his back against his father's, Hunter turned his head back when he spoke. "I'm gonna reach my hand out in front of me…"
"Right?"
"And you're gonna see JUST my hand coming towards you."
"Hold up," said Henry, also turning his back, "Where's your hand gonna be?" he asked nervously. "Over HERE? In front o' ME?"
"Yes sir!" said Hunter, thankful his dad couldn't see his grinning face. "Now, it's gonna look like it's comin' out of thin air."
"Thin air. Gotcha."
"Don't freak out."
"Right." (Easy for you to say) "So that's a negative on the freak-out." - "Gotcha."
With the back of his head touching the back of his father's, Hunter extended his arm directly in front of himself, reaching into the invisible opening to his self-made portal. The further into the portal he reached, the more of his arm seemed to just... disappear.
"JESUS!" Henry exclaimed, as he saw Hunter's hand coming towards him, apparently out of nowhere.
"Howdy!" Hunter looked behind himself and over his father's shoulder, waving 'Hello' to his dumbfounded father. "Uh oh!" Hunter teased "It's the abominable floating hand… Ooooooh… Spoooooky."
To Henry's eyes, that was the reality. There was Hunter's floating hand, sans Hunter, right in front of his face, where the young witch had mentally placed the portal's invisible exit.
"Dude, that is SO wrong." (Oh crap!) Henry instantly scolded himself for, yet again, blurting out something insulting about his son."God Dammit!" (Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! I cursed in front of the boy!) He whooshed both hands to cover up his mouth. After a few seconds of pin-dropping silence, he said with strong but quiet enthusiasm. "Don't tell your mother."
Hunter couldn't help it. He let his chuckles fall out of him like gumballs from a machine. He pulled his arm out of the portal, propping his hand up on his belly as he continued to laugh.
(Now what's so funny?) Henry asked himself, with the wounded pride of a grade-school boy.
"Dad, I swear," said Hunter, as his chuckles settled, "if I had a nickel for every time you said that…"
To his surprise, Henry laughed a few voiceless chuckles of his own. "And do you tell her?"
"Can't say," Hunter said coyly.
"How come?"
Their backs still touching, Henry felt Hunter shrug his shoulders. "I promised Mom I wouldn't."
"Oh, I get it… You're Mommy's little baby boy."
(Oh, Dad… You have SO much to learn about your wife) "Survival tactic," Hunter said automatically.
"SURVIVAL tactic?"
(Jeez, Dad, have you MET Mom before?) "Trust me. Between the two of you, YOU'RE the pushover… No contest. "Hunter turned his head to the side. "I'm just trying to survive with the rest of the fittest."
"That's what YOU think. This time 'round, my boy, you might wanna consider switchin' teams," Henry said lightly, with a smile that just wouldn't quit. "Don't believe me? Just wait… YOU'LL see."
(Oh Dad…) Hunter lifted his gaze toward the ceiling as he shook his head with a playful pity. (Dear, sweet, naïve Dad)
As they continued to chide one another, both Henry and Hunter remained standing with their backs together, facing opposite directions.
Now then... Imagine, if you will, that the following event happened in about the same amount of time that it takes lightening to flash…
Hunter reached forward through his end of his still-open portal and out the other. He grabbed his father by the wrist and yanked him forward (or backward, depending on your interpretation), his entire body vanishing the further Hunter pulled him. And through the invisible door in front of him, Hunter pulled his dazed father, catching him by the waist as he stumbled forward.
"So I'll just have to wait and see, huh?" Hunter propped his father back up onto his own two feet, and with a jester's smile, he added, "I wouldn't mind having a nickel every time you said that either."
CAST of Upcoming Characters
Chris Lowell - Henry "Arrow" Philine Matthews-Mitchell
Jewell Staite - Holly Pennilyn Matthews-Mitchell
Daniele Panabaker - Heidi Petaline Matthews-Mitchell