“So, where are Phoebe and Paige?” Victor asked.

“Boyfriends,” Piper answered as she made faces to a giggling Wyatt who was in her lap. Leo and Piper had joined Victor and Chris at the kitchen table and where having their own snack.

Chris looked horrified, “They aren’t coming here are they?”

“I think not,” Leo frowned and Chris sighed relieved.

“Why? I’d like to meet them,” Victor said.

“Jason is okay, but I can’t stand the whiner,” Chris moaned.

“I know,” Piper said sympathetically.

“That’s not nice,” Leo said frowning

“But he is,” Piper moaned. “I love Paige, but she has got to change boyfriends ASAP,” she said making a face and Chris nodded. Inwardly she was ecstatic at him agreeing with her.

“I can’t understand her being with him?” Chris said. “He’s such a whiner, “oh poor me I can’t use magic”, “oh my family feud”, “oh my toe I just bumped”. Uncl- I mean her husband was nothing like that. He was strong and brave.”

Piper had eagerly brought her head up hoping to catch a slip but was disappointed. Oh, well, at least the whiner would be gone soon.

Leo did have to agree with Chris. From the memories he saw, Henry had been a very brave man. He had faced the challenges his magical family had come up with nothing but courage, especially for a mortal who could have done nothing against magic. And he remembered the sight of him dead, his gun in hand, obviously he had tried his best to defend his family against all odds.

“What did you find?” Chris asked.

“Gideon gave us a bunch of books where we can find more information on those demons on your list. We might see something new. Leo vetoed the ones he remembered you’d already seen but you might just want to take a look to make sure we’re not looking in any books you’ve already looked,” Piper explained. “And he had an idea about using your bond with Wyatt to find out who is after him but he didn’t elaborate much.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Gideon alright. Once he has all the facts he’ll tell his idea,” Chris nodded. “I’ll check the books before I go back to P3,” he said getting up and Piper startled crying:

“Stay!”

She didn’t want him going away. She wanted him to stay there where she could take care of him. Where she could get to know him. She might have only known he was her son for a day but that changed everything.

“Uh,” Chris asked. “Didn’t you want me to check them?”

“No, I mean,” she started awkwardly. “You don’t have to go back to P3. You can stay. We can put a bed in the attic for you or maybe move Wyatt’s crib back to our room and put a bed in the nursery so you can have some privacy.”

Chris looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He fumbled with the too large t-shirt he was wearing, the one his father had dressed him in when they rescued him. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to say yes, to come home, and be with mom. But she wasn’t mom. She was Piper who had threatened to blow him up so many times.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said instead. “I’m fine at P3.”

“You’re my son,” she said quietly hugging Wyatt. “I can’t allow my son to sleep in some wore down couch in the back room of  a club.”

“Then he can stay at my place,” Victor said. “I have an extra room. And you won’t have to worry Piper, and Chris can still have his space.”

Chris sighed wanting to hug his grandfather. Yes, there wasn’t any history with his grandfather. He could stay there and not be awkward. He nodded eagerly.

“That’s okay,” Leo said. “Thank you Victor,” he finished and gently took Piper’s hand squeezing it to stop the protest that was forming in her mouth.

“Okay, then. The books,” Chris said darting from the room as quickly as he managed.

“I wanted him here,” Piper whispered.

“I know,” Leo said putting his arm around her and pulling her close. “Me too. But he needs space. At least this way he is going to be taken care of and when he is ready we’ll have a room ready for him.”

---

And that is how the next couple of months went by. Chris had to admit that with his family helping him instead of hindering investigations were going much smoother and so was their daily demon vanquishing. 

To Chris’s and Piper’s immense relief Paige did end her relationship with the whin- er Richard, after a very short stint of living with him. They were very careful to being very sympathetic of her situation of course and never really dance in joy in front of her.

Phoebe had also ended up things with Jason, or more like he had with her after finding out, in a way that only a Charmed One could have managed, that she was a witch. And though Phoebe was sad Chris and Leo weren’t overly worried knowing she eventually did end up with her soul mate.

Piper had tried again to bring Chris home when Phoebe and Paige had moved out by decorating one of the rooms to be his, but though he had been extremely compelled to accept and had been very touched she did that, he still felt awkward around them. They were trying very hard to get him to forgive him but this nagging voice inside of him said that they should have given him a chance even if he wasn’t family. He was there to save Wyatt. It had looked as if he had saved Paige, so yes, he didn’t change anything there, just told Leo what he had done the first time around and made it look as if the idea was his. But shouldn’t that had been enough to at least treat him decently?

The fact that they only changed their mind because they found out who he was still bothered him, even though he understood what his grandfather had said about them not wanting to believe they failed. He truly did, and he wanted to just forgive and forget, but all that time he had forced himself not to get close, to pretend they weren’t getting at him. All the time he had had to learn to depend only on himself was hard to just throw away and start anew. He couldn’t just go back to being Leo and Piper’s baby boy and let them take care of everything. And that was where he and his mother butted heads most often. Maybe because Leo had his memories and therefore had not only seen him fight since he was fourteen but seen him fight next to his father and aunt, so he didn’t try to coddle him, but Piper would always start fretting. Like the first time he was about to just orb into the underworld to get information:

“But it’s dangerous,” she had cried.

“I’ve been doing this all along. I know what I’m doing!” he had cried back. “You never complained before!”

“Before I thought you were a twenty-something Whitelighter from the future who could only get killed by a Darklighter’s arrow, now I know you are an eighteen year old boy who can get killed and just so happens to be my son!”

“That doesn’t change anything!” he cried.

“That changes everything!” she cried back.

Chris was getting frustrated. He was ready to blow something in front of him when his father intervened and in a very calm manner explained to  Piper that Chris was right, he did know how to take care of himself. He wasn’t blocking Leo anymore so if something happened Leo would know and he already had the contacts in the underworld that they didn’t so it was best to just let him go. Piper had huffed but had reluctantly accepted.

And in that front being with his grandfather was easier. His grandfather didn’t treat him like a small child. He was there when he needed to talk but didn’t ask where Chris was every second of the day.

But at the same time Chris was tempted to accept that room. Especially after Phoebe and Paige moved back and started sharing a room.

“So that if you ever stop being stubborn you know you have a place here,” Paige had winked at him.

The fact is, that in this particular morning Chris was still living with his grandfather, when at breakfast he had gotten up from the table to get more coffee only to feel dizzy and stumble back toppling the chair backwards and falling to his knees. Victor ran towards him immediately.

“Chris! What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly trying to help Chris back to another chair.

Chris couldn’t concentrate very well, he felt lightheaded.

“I don’t know,” Chris said faintly. He tried hard to remember if he had been hit with something but couldn’t for the life of him. Orbs formed behind Victor and Leo was soon kneeling in front of him.

“What happened?” he asked Victor going straight to Chris, his hand glowing but stopping. He tried again and frowned. “This should work if he was injured or sick.”

“We don’t know,” Victor said frowning as well. “He was fine but when he got up to get more coffee he just lost color and balance.”

“I don’t feel so good,” was the lame explanation Chris was able to give.

“Let’s get you home first, then we can figure this out” Leo said and he took Victor’s and Chris’s arms orbing them to the manor where Piper was pacing.

“What? Where did you go? You can’t just orb- Chris!”

She ran to them as she saw both Victor and Leo helping Chris onto the couch.

“Was he attacked?” she asked worriedly.

Chris shook his head but stopped abruptly as the movement only made the room spin more.

“Why don’t you just heal him?” she asked Leo.

“I already tried that but I can’t feel anything wrong with him. No, that’s not right,” Leo shook his head, “His presence is fainter, lighter but he isn’t injured.”

“Maybe this is some side effect of the time travel,” Victor offered.

“I don’t know,” Leo frowned. “I don’t remember seeing anything like that on his research but maybe he missed something. I’ll get Paige and Phoebe to go to magic school with me so we can see if we find something. You two stay here and take care of him.”

As Leo orbed out Piper sat next to Chris smoothing his hair. She bit her lip worried. He was completely out of it.

“Would you like to lie down  a little?” she asked gently.

“Uh,” he asked dazed. “I don’t remember any attack.” He said and Piper exchanged a worried glance with Victor.

“We know,” she said. “That’s not what I asked. Would you like to lie down a little? Dad and I can help you up to your room.”

He shook his head again but halted abruptly closing his eyes as if to stop the dizziness, “No,” he said in a woozy voice. “Don’t want to move.”

“Okay,” she said worried. “Why don’t you just lie down here then?” she finished by getting up and helping him lie down on the couch. Victor took off his shoes.

“Can you get one of the blankets from upstairs dad?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said and stopped to kiss her head. “Don’t worry honey. We’ll figure this out.”

Piper nodded but her heart was tight all the same. What was happening?