Disclaimer – Charmed is nay mine which makes me very very sad!
Because I abandoned this story for ages I'm updating a lot quicker for y'all – hope you enjoy!
With a groan I opened my tired eyes, wishing more than anything I could go back to sleep – maybe, just maybe, Chris was right – I really was knackered. An arm tightened around my waist and I turned my head and saw Chris looking down at me, smiling lopsidedly. He was propped up on the pillows, his head resting in his hand, his hair ruffled.
"Hey" He greeted, his hand slowly making small circles on my stomach, "Sleep okay?" He asked and I nodded tiredly, resting my head against his chest.
"Hmmm mmm" I said "It was good" And I felt his chest vibrate with chuckles, "And what were you dreaming about might I ask?" And my eyes snapped open – oh… now he mentioned it I was dreaming.
"Nothing" I replied, trying to keep the smile off my face as I stared out at the dim room, feeling Chris rather than seeing him as my back was to his chest.
"Oh really? Cause the noises you were making say otherwise" He laughed and I smiled in the dark.
"Just imagining our honeymoon… complete bliss, no demons, no problems… just us" I sighed contently, closing my eyes and smiling when Chris' lips landed on my neck, dancing across the skin like delicate little butterflies.
"Wait why are you dressed?" I inquired, feeling the coolness of his belt buckle on the small of my back "Did you go on another demon hunt?" I asked, trying to sound normal and not slightly possessive. I got why Chris was neurotic about these things – living where we did for all those years, running from constant threats did make a person worry about every little thing but I was seriously beginning to worry A LOT about him.
"I was going to but I changed my mind; thought some time alone with my beautiful fiancé was better than doing it with the demons" He said and I let out a snort at his choice of words, "Well didn't that come out wrong" He laughed, burying his head into my shoulder, "But you know what I mean" He continued and I let out a sigh.
"Chris… you don't have to go looking for trouble – you get into enough as it is" I said, again, trying to sound more light-hearted than I felt. I could actually feel my heart beating wildly in my chest at the idea of Chris, alone in the underworld, battling demons that somehow got the upper hand on him, imagining him lying there, bloody and broken, where no one could help him. I shivered at the thought.
"Nothing's gonna happen and anyway… it's just hunting demons, it's not like I haven't done it before" He replied offhandedly, not sounding even a little bit worried about his wellbeing. I understood when we were in the future – it was something everyone had to do to survive – but we weren't there anymore, there was no need for it.
"Y'know I'm starting to think you're addicted to demon hunting, it's all you seem to do" I grumbled, feeling myself frowning. Chris stopped with the circular motions on my stomach and I could literally feel his whole body tense.
"What?" He asked in shock and I turned around so I was lying on my back, peering up at him.
"It's just… it's always demons this and demons that and even when there's no demonic activity you go out looking for it" I explained and Chris was frowning, his forehead crinkled in confusion.
"I don't go out 'looking for it' I just want to protect my family" he stated, his voice a little harder than usual.
"I understand that, I do, but how's your family going to feel if you get hurt, or worse, killed looking for unnecessary risks?" I questioned, my voice a tad higher pitched than usual. His expression softened somewhat and he leaned down slightly, brushing away some stray hair from my face.
"You're not gonna lose me" He all but whispered, stroking the side of my face.
"I almost did" I croaked back and Chris furrowed his eyebrows, "With Gideon… I thought… I thought you were gone and it was the worst few hours of my life" I explained, suddenly feeling my eye sight getting suspiciously blurry. "And I don't want our baby growing up without a dad Chris" I added and Chris reached out and slowly wiped away a lone tear running down my cheek and I cursed my stupid pregnancy hormones – I was never usually this emotional, dammit.
"Okay" Chris said, staring deeply into my eyes.
"Okay what?" I asked, running one of hands up and down his arm.
"I'll lay off 'danger quest' for a bit and only hunt if it's necessary" he promised and I felt my mouth gaping open – when was Chris one to agree so quickly without at least a little restraint? The answer to that was never – he was so stubborn it was a surprise he did anything anyone told him.
"Seriously?" I gasped, "You mean it?" And Chris nodded, giving a small audible laugh.
"Of course" He laughed and his face got more serious, "I know how hard it is when someone you love almost dies and you could do with as little stress as possible right now, especially after yesterday" He explained and I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down so I could kiss him gratefully. Then I hitched my leg up and flipped him over and rolled on top of him, making the duvet twist around us so it was like wrapping us in a cocoon.
I pulled back and rested my chin on his chest, giving him a small smile.
"Thank you, it means a lot" And Chris chuckled, running his hands up and down my bare back leaving tingles in its wake.
"Oh and that reminds me, dad spoke to the elders and they suggested, well, rather instructed us that it would be a good idea to stay here – in 2004 – until our baby's born" and I froze in playing with Chris's bangs.
"Why? Has something gone wrong?" I questioned, already fearing the worst.
"No, no, nothing like that it was just… it would be dangerous for you to travel through the portal, being pregnant and all, so they've arranged it so that we can stay here for another six or seven months" He explained and I just stared at him blankly, my tired brain not processing it all.
"Is that alright or..?" He trailed off, frowning in worry.
"Yeah its fine, just came as a shock and all" I chuckled nervously, "Putting our baby first is our top priority so if that means buying another ticket home I can handle that" And Chris grinned, running his slender fingers through my long hair. When our lips met again Chris gently rolled over so he was hovering above me and my hands immediately went to his belt buckle.
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I pulled on my favourite light blue silk dressing gown that reached to just above my ankles and tied the rope around my waist, the material showing the beginnings of my baby bump. Letting out a yawn I dragged my feet to where Chris was pulling on his T-shirt and he took my hand.
"Can't I just go back to bed?" I asked, longing to be back in the warm duvet, curling into Chris' side and falling asleep. I was just so so so tired, whether that was from the sleepless night the night before or our 'horizontal mombo' I didn't know.
"After dinner – you're eating for two now remember?" Chris said cheekily, smiling lightly and pulling me from the room. Immediately the smell of roast beef dinner wafted up my nose and I forgot all about sleep – I just wanted food, all the food, every single bit of it.
When we made it through to the kitchen the three sisters looked up from whatever they were doing and gave us a small smile – and suddenly I felt very subconscious. I was dressed in nothing but a thin dressing down, my hair was an absolute mess from rolling around in bed and I'm pretty sure I was blushing like crazy.
"Hey guys, you're just in time for dinner" Phoebe chirped out, smiling widely whilst she plated up the food. I had to stop myself from drooling because damn it smelt amazing. Chris and I sat down next to each other and Wyatt was sitting in his high chair, giving a small frown at his food on his plate.
"Hey Wy" I said, leaning over and playing with one of his chubby hands. "You're not being fussy again are you?" I asked in playful shock, pulling a weird face. Little Wyatt looked up at me and I could see a small smile forming on his face.
"How can you not like brussel sprouts? They're delicious" And just to demonstrate I took a small bite out of the Brussel sprout and almost gagged – god they were absolutely horrible, but as I was trying to get my point across to Wyatt I put on a fake smile and held out the vegetable.
"See? All the adults like them and when you eat them you grow up big and strong" I told him, slipping into the 'baby' voice. Wyatt, bless him, with his cute little chubby hands took the Brussel sprout out my hand and was looking at it with a thoughtful expression on his face, a look that seemed too old for someone so young.
I started pulling some weird faces and Wyatt started giggling and I was laughing too – it was so weird - yet cute, seeing Wyatt as an adorable little baby (there was so much teasing material for when we got back to the future)
"So do we have a deal? Do you wanna grow up big and strong so you can kick your little brothers butt?" I asked and Wyatt stuffed the vegetable in his mouth – at first it looked like he didn't like it but he gave a small smile and a gurgle and reached for another one and I felt so proud at myself – it was a small victory but it was still one.
"See? What a good boy" I praised and started tickling his stomach, making Wyatt laugh loudly and to squirm in his chair with delight. It was then I realised how quiet the kitchen got. I looked around and everyone was staring at me, each with different expressions on their face.
"I've been trying to get him to eat those for ages" Piper exclaimed, smiling wildly, "Thank you" She exclaimed, staring at Wyatt, "Were you just being fussy to annoy mummy?" She questioned and was watching Wyatt in fasciation as he ate. When I looked over to Chris he was staring at me thoughtfully, his lips slightly upturned.
"What is it?" I questioned, leaning into his side. As if automatically, his arm wound around my waist, his fingers playing with the ends of my hair.
"You're great with kids" He stated, his bottle green eyes gleaming.
"I love kids, I dunno if that has anything to do with it or…" I thought out loud – I guess I'd always been the maternal type, I had always wanted a family since a very young age and when I found out I was pregnant I was very shocked at first, mainly because we were in the middle of a war and Chris wasn't around, but practically instantly I loved her and couldn't wait to be able to hold her in my arms for the first time.
"You'll be a great mom" Chris whispered, slowly leaning down just as Phoebe placed two plates in front of us, smiling slyly. Just before his lips touched mine I placed my finger on his lips to stop him, the smell of the delicious meat overtaking all my other senses, including my need for Chris.
"Right now, if I had to choose between you and the food… it would be the food" I said bluntly, hearing Phoebe let out a snort of laughter and Piper chuckle. I smiled apologetically before digging into the mountain of food on my plate, moaning occasionally at the heavenly taste.
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It was now the early evening of November the fifteenth, just a day before Christopher Perry Halliwell's due date and everyone could tell he was nervous. He paced, he worried, he acted like a completely different person. When Piper came plodding down the stairs, aided by her ex, Leo, carrying her bags, Chris began biting his lip, his bright green eyes clouded by worry.
"Your mom's gonna be fine Chris, don't worry – it's just childbirth, it's completely natural" His fiancé assured him, rubbing his back soothingly.
"I know but… I just can't get over the feeling that something's wrong y'know" He said nervously, watching his mom rubbing her belly at the occasional kicks.
"Nothing's gonna go wrong, your mom's gonna have you and then everything will go back to normal" She told him in a soft voice, leaning up and kissing his cheek to try and ease his worry. He looked down and tried to give a reassuring smile as he didn't want to worry his pregnant fiancé.
"Yeah… yeah I'm sure you're right – it's just my neurotics showing" And she laughed, letting go of his hand to pull a cardigan around herself.
"Is it just me or is it really cold in here all of a sudden?" She asked and Christopher Perry Halliwell's blood ran cold.
Unbeknownst to the people inside, a lone figure stood across the street, smirking, its mangled face pulled into a smirk as it watched the targeted building suddenly explode – like an atomic bomb except instead of fire and heat ice broke the windows and the cold – practically - freezing air drifted up from the roof like smoke and even from where the lone figure stood, he could feel the ice tickling his skin, making him come alive.
Leaving you lot on another cliff-hanger? Oh how evil I am! Ha-ha! So please please please review, your thoughts and comments are very much appreciated and if I get enough reviews I shall update in the next day or two, and that's a promise!