Forever

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me and so on.

AN: The next chapter may take some time since I have some exams to study for. But in three weeks I’ll be free for some weeks, then I’ll write regularly, I hope. And I’m sorry to say that because there will be quite a break at the end. Enjoy it.


Chapter 7

Chris entered the manor and closed the door behind him. “Hello?”

He heard giggles in the kitchen and went over there just to see his cousins Penny and Patty with their best friends Mary and Susan.

“Hey girls”, Chris greeted them. “What’re you doing?”

“Nothing”, the four of them answered at once trying to look innocent.

“Okay”, Chris nodded, not beliving their act for a second. “Just try not to get caught whatever you’re NOT doing.”

The girls giggled and Patty grinned at him. “Sure, Chris.”

The brunette smiled and left the kitchen to go up to his room, when he met his mother at the stairs.

“Hey sweetie”, Piper greeted her son. “Great to see you.”

“Erm, sure”, Chris nodded. “That’s great. So what’s going on?”

Piper looked at him and seemed to hesitate for a second before she nodded to the living-room. “Let’s sit down, okay?”

“Okay”, Chris nodded while following his mother. He watched her shifting around in the seat and got more and more confused. Before he could ask another question his mother started to talk.

“Okay, sweetie. This is very difficult for me to tell, so I’m just gonna tell you everything and then we can talk about it like adults, okay?”

“Sure”, Chris nodded getting more uncomfortable by the minute.

Piper folded her hands in her lap. “When I told you that your father left us because of another woman, it wasn’t really the entire truth.”

“What?”

“He didn’t really have a choice whether to leave or not. He had to leave because we had a lot of extremely dangerous and cruel demons after us at that time and we thought it would be wise to seperate and live far away from each other in order to guarantee your safety. And the safety of your brother.”

Chris stared at his mother in shock. “My what?”

Piper swallowed hard before answering. “Your brother Wyatt, who’s two years older than you.”

“Oh my god.” Chris stared at his mother as if he didn’t know her at all. “Why... Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Piper sighed. “We thought that if you knew of each other’s existence you’d try to get in contact and that would have been too dangerous for you.”

Chris stood up from his place on the couch and walked to the window where he looked out and watched his cousins play in his aunt’s garden on the opposite side of the street. “Wow.” He took a deep breath. “Why did you suddenly decide to tell me?”

“Your father, Leo, and Wyatt moved back into the city because they got visited by a demon and since their cover was obviously blown they thought it for the best to be near the charmed ones.”

The younger Halliwell nodded. “Logical.” He turned around and looked back at his mother. “So am I gonna meet them?”

Piper sighed once again. “If you want to.”

“I...”, Chris started before looking out of the window once again. “I don’t know yet. Let me think about it, okay?”

“Yeah, of course, sweetie.”

Chris turned to leave the room but stopped in the doorframe once again. “What’s he like? My brother?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him for over ten years.”

Chris nodded and gave his mother a shaky smile before leaving the living-room to go up to his room and think about all the revelations of the afternoon.

---__---

“Matthew?”

The blonde looked up from his dinner and met the eyes of his dad across the table. “Yeah?”

“Let’s talk about your mother!”

Matthew blinked. “What?”

“I want to talk to you about your mother.”

“Okay”, Matthew nodded slowly.

“This is going to be really difficult.” Leo sighed. “Okay, the real reason why we moved away from San Francisco ten years ago is that there was a bunch of demons after you and we thought it would be more safe for you to be in another city.”

The younger one nodded. “Yeah, seems logical to me since mom died and all.”

Leo shifted on his seat umconfortably. “Well, the truth is that she didn’t.”

“Didn’t? Didn’t what?”

“She didn’t die.”

Matthew looked at his father horrified for what seemed like an hour before his mouth got back to functioning again. “What?” He looked at his father like he grew another head. “Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“No, Matthew, I’m afraid, this isn’t a joke. It’s the truth.”

“But... What... How...Why...” Matthew didn’t seem to be able to form a coherent thought.

“We moved to Seattle in order to guarantee your safety which we couldn’t do here. And to really keep you safe we had to break every contact between us and your mother.”

“So, what? You just decided to tell me that my mother is dead? I mean, there were other possibilities, weren’t there? You could tell me she left us, or that she abandoned me on your doorstep, why did you tell me she’s dead?”

“Because some day, you would have started looking for her and we couldn’t risk that.”

Matthew kept quiet and looked around the room. He didn’t want to look at his father. He just couldn’t bring himself to look at the guy, who lied to him his whole life. He felt the anger slowly rising in him.

“Why did you suddenly decide to tell me?” The blonde finally asked. “Hell, why did we even move back here?”

“Because after that demon found us in Seattle I realized that we’re not safe there anymore. That we may need the Charmed Ones to keep the demons away.”

“The Charmed Ones?”

Leo nodded. “The three most powerful witches on earth: Your mother and her two sisters.”

“What?” Matthew stuttered out. “I... I have aunts, too?”

“Yes”, Leo admitted. “Yes, you have.”

“And they’re powerful?”

“Extremly powerful.”

“So if my mother and her sisters are the most powerful witches on earth, shouldn’t I have any active power, too?”

“Well, actually, you have.”

Matthew lifted an eyebrow. “I do?”

“More like you did”, Leo answered feeling quiet uncomfortable. “We bound them.”

“You did what?” Matthew asked getting really angry now. “You stole them?”

“No, we just kind of hid them and with a good reason, I might add. Since the demons were after you because of your powers it was clear that we had to bind them if we wanted to even try to keep the demons off our trace.”

“So I can get them back? My powers?”

“Yes, theoretically, you could.”

“Well, that would be good, wouldn’t it? I could defend myself if a demon would be anywhere near me again.”

Leo nodded slowly. “Yes, maybe.”

They fell silent for a while, Matthew trying to comprehend everything he heard from his father.

“So, my mother, can I meet her?”

Leo hesitated. “Of course, you can. But there are some more things I have to tell you before we talk about setting up a meeting.”

“Like what?” Matthew asked getting really annoyed with all this secrets coming out at him at once.

“Like your brother.”

“My brother? What, you wanna tell me he’s not dead either?”

Leo nodded. “That’s about right.”

Matthew looked at his father in shock. “Are... are you kidding me? Because I seem to remember all the time I complained to you about wanting a big family and you didn’t even think once about mentioning my living brother, mother or aunts?”

Leo sighed once again. “Matthew, I’m sorry.”

“Well, you should be.” He got up from the table and went over to the window looking out of it. “Is that everything you kept from me?”

Leo stayed silent causing Matthew to turn around.

“What? What is there that you could probably still be keeping from me?”

“Your brother”, Leo started to explain. “His name’s Chris.”

“And?” Matthew asked not realizing what the problem with his brother’s name was.

“The same Chris you made friends with since we moved here. The same Chris, who was over when that demon attacked. The witch, who saved your life that day. I mean I should have realized sooner that he is your brother since he has the same powers your mother has and he looks so much like her.”

Matthew didn’t even blink anymore. He had started to turn out his father’s voice after the first two sentences. He just stood in the room so deep in shock he couldn’t even think anything. Without another word he left the room ignoring the calls from his father and ran up the stairs into the bathroom.

He locked the door behind him just before he vomitted his lunch into the toilet bowl. He breathed heavily as he wiped with the back of his hand over his mouth and stood up. He washed his shaking hands and got to leave the room, when he stopped with the handle in his hand. He turned around and slowly sank down onto the floor leaning against the bathroom door.

He was still shocked. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

Matthew let his head fall into his hands and tried to clear his head when suddenly his cell phone started to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the display. It was Chris.

Matthew stared at the mobile for a whole minute before Chris gave up phoning and the mobile was quiet again.

The Wyatt let the phone fall onto the floor and took a deep breath.

They were absolutely screwed.

---__---

Chris slowly put the phone down after trying to call Matthew for over a minute.

“Hey Chris, everything all right?”

Chris turned around to look at his aunt Phoebe. “Yeah, sure. I’m okay.”

“Are you sure”, Phoebe inquired. “Because Piper told me that she told you everything, so I’m quite sure that you’re not alright.”

The young Halliwell laughed lightly. “Well, it’s not everyday you find out that you have a brother who left with your dad because there were demons after him.”

“I know.” She looked at him urgently. “Don’t be mad at you mom, okay? It wasn’t an easy decision to break every contact to her other son.But it was necessary.”

“Yeah, I know. But... It’s just...I don’t know, she could have at least told me something. I mean, did she really think, this would never come out?”

Phoebe shrugged. “Maybe.”

Chris nodded and smiled lightly at Phoebe’s worried expression. “I’m not mad at mom, don’t worry. I’m just a bit confused right now.”

“I know”, Phoebe nodded. “And I understand that.”

They were interrupted in their conversaton by blue orbs forming next to Chris.

“Hey”, Paige greeted the two members of her family. “What’s up?”

Phoebe looked at Chris for a moment before gesturing Paige to follow her. “Come on, I’ll explain everything in the kitchen.”

Paige followed her sister after another questioning glance at Chris, who turned back to the phone and dialed Matthew’s number again.

---__---

Matthew was still sitting on the bathroom floor, when his mobile rang again. He looked at the display and quickly put it away without answering it.

When the phone stopped ringing, Matthew got up, left the bathroom and went to his bedroom, where he let himself fall down onto his bed. He put his hand over his eyes and tried to block every memory of the day out.

His life was a mess. It took several hours for him to fall asleep that night.

---__---

When Chris went down to breakfast the next morning, he saw his mother putting the phone down.

“Morning”, Chris greeted her.

“Hey sweetie”, Piper responded and followed her son into the kitchen where he grabbed himself a cup of coffee.

Piper sat down and watched her son carefully before asking: “So, do you still want to meet your father and your brother?”

Chris looked at her astonished. “Yeah”, he shrugged. “Sure.”

“How about tonight?”

“Tonight?”

“Yes, tonight. Your father just called and we thought it would be nice to have him and your brother over for dinner. Is that okay with you? Or do you think it’s too early?”

“No, no”, Chris shook his head. “Perfectly fine with me.”

“Good”, Piper nodded.

Chris grabbed an apple from the bowl and turned to leave the room. “I’ll be over at a friend’s for the afternoon, okay?”

Piper sighed. “Well, actually, that’s not really okay, because your cousins are coming over this afternoon and since I have to go to the restaurant and look if everything’s okay and cook dinner after that, I need someone to look after them.”

Chris sighed. “And that would be me.”

Piper nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry, sweetie.”

“It’s okay. I’ll survive one afternoon with my cousins.”

“Good.” Piper got up and kissed her youngest son onto the cheek. “Love you.”

Chris smiled at her. “Love you, too.” He watched as his mother left the house through the back door and got up to take a shower before his cousins would fall in.

---__---

Matthew had had a headache since he woke up. He entered the kitchen to grab a coke from the fridge when he noticed his father sitting on the table. “Hey dad! What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Yes, I’m on my break.”

“What’s up?”

“We didn’t talk about this yesterday, but would you like to meet your mother?”

Matthew blinked. “Okay, sure, when?”

“How about today?”

“Today?”

“That’s not too early is it? Your mother invited us over for dinner.”

“She did. What about Chris? Will he be there, too?”

Leo shook his head no. “I don’t think so. Piper said something about looking after his cousins.”

“Cousins”, Matthew repeated suddenly remembering the stories Chris told him about his family.

“Yeah, your aunts have six daughters all together.”

“Wow”, Matthew tried to look surprised. “So it will be just the three of us?”

Leo nodded. “Just the three of us.”

Matthew thought about it shortly before nodding. “Okay, sure. Why not?”

Leo smiled. “Great. We’ll leave at six, okay? Try to be ready.” He stood up. “Listen, I have to go back to work. See you tonight?”

Matthew nodded. “Yeah, I have to learn for this Math test next week anyway. Bye.”

“Bye”, Leo waved and left the house leaving Matthew to be nervous about meeting his mom after sixteen years of seperation.

---__---

“Chris!” The scream of four girls rang through the Manor as they ran to their cousin, who was standing in the hall helpless as he was hugged by all of them at once.

“Hey girls”, Chris laughed. “Good to see you, too.”

When they let go of him, Chris adressed the oldest one at first, while they were walking into the living-room. “Hey Sarah, how’s school going?”

“Still great”, the girl answered enthusiastic. “I already did all of my homework for next week.”

“That’s good”, Chris nodded. “Because you’ll have no time for school things today.”

Sarah giggled. “That’s what mom told me, too.”

“Really?” Chris asked as he sat down on the couch with Chloe in his lap while Emily and Kate took place on both sides next to him. “So, what else did she tell you?”

Sarah sank into the chair. “Not to listen to anything you say about school.”

Chris grumbled which caused Chloe to chuckle.

“And what are you loving at”, the eldest asked his youngest cousin, who didn’t answer. Chris sighed and brought his attention to Emily instead. “So any news on your boy?”

Emily immediately blushed. “He’s not MY boy!”

“Yeah, sure”, Chris nodded grinning at her, but then changed the subject. “What do you wanna do now?”

“Let’s play Monopoly”, Kate suggested, which caused Sarah to groan.

“Again?” The eldest of Paige’s daughters asked.

“I like that game”, Emily declared and Chloe nodded vehemently.

Chris shrugged. “So Monopoly it is.”

---__---

Matthew stood in front of the Manor and looked at the house dreading to enter it. He had been here before with Chris when his family had been away. His family. Their family. Chris was his brother.

Matthew shook his head trying to get these thoughts out of his mind. He had to concentrate on the important things now. He was going to meet his mother for the first time in sixteen years. He took a deep breath and looked over at his father who looked like he got hit with a truck.

“You okay?” Matt asked him.

Leo nodded. “Yes, of course.” He smiled at his son trying to look encouraging. “Let’s get in!”

The rang at the door and waited until an obviously very nervous Piper answered the door. “Hi”, she smiled at the two. “Leo, Matthew.”

“Hi”, Matthew answered. After a momentary awkward silence Piper gestured towards the living-room. “Let’s get in.”

Matthew followed her unsure of what to do and what to say. “It’s a nice house”, he finally complemented.

“Thanks”, Piper smiled. “It’s been family property for ages.”

Matthew nodded and looked at his father for encouragement.

“Didn’t change much since the last time I was here”, the older Wyatt commented.

“Yeah”, Piper nodded. “A few new fotos on the wall, a new table in the dining-room.”

Matthew looked at the mentioned fotos and felt like something hit his head when he found a picture of Chris smiling at him.

“Dinner will be ready in half an hour”, Piper explained. “We could sit down in the living-room until then.”

“Yeah, sure”, Matthew nodded. He turned towards the mentioned room, when the sound of footsteps interrupted him and he turned back to find Chris jumping down the last part of the stairs.

“Hey, sorry I’m a bit late, I...” He drifted off as his eyes landed on Matthew. “Matt? What’re you doing here?”

Matthew ignored him and looked at his father in panic. “What is he doing here? I thought he wouldn’t be here?”

“Yeah, I know, I thought he would look after his counsins.”

“He did that in the afternoon”, Piper explained.

“What’s going on here?” Chris asked confused looking from one person in the room to the next.

“This isn’t how it was supposed to be”, Matthew stated getting more and more in panic. “He shouldn’t be here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t understand”, Piper started.

“You said he wouldn’t be here.”

“I didn’t know he would.”

“Why is this so much trouble?”

“WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON?” Chris’s voice rang through the hall and got all of them quiet.

Piper went over to where her youngest son stood and sighed. “Well, I told you your father and your brother would come over and here they are.”

Chris blinked. “What?”

TBC...