Epilogue to "The Courtship of Wyatt's Father"

[Esmeralda]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: During S7, I came up with an idea. I'd do a novelization of S6, but include fanfics that helped turn the Chris on S6 that I hated into the Chris of fanfics that I love. Much like my "Charmed by Love" fanfic, I'd do it as a letter written by Phoebe, but this one would be written to her nephew Chris, telling him all about that mysterious whitelighter from the future, Chris Perry.

Well, I wrote and got the permission from a number of authors to use their ideas, however, for various reasons, that fanfic died--to put it mildly, I bit off a *lot* more than I could chew. But I still love portions that I wrote, because they *are* what show the changes in Chris, scenes that should've been part of S6, but weren't. Had they been, I may have actually liked, maybe even love the kid.

Of those, this is my favorite. It starts near the end of The Courtship of Wyatt's Father. As one of the authors put it:

I wanted to show how Piper and Chris came to having that relationship they have in later episodes. I found the series just skipped over that much too hastily and it disappointed me.

I agree totally and I think you might, too, after you read this.


Disclaimer:

I don’t own any characters from Charmed--they are all owned by Spelling Productions and The WB, now The CW. This story was not written for sale, but is meant only for the visitors to websites for fans of the show Charmed.. This story is based on Fan Fiction found in this forum and is used with permission from their authors. It features characters, plotpoints and/or conversations based on ones from the following stories:

"Understanding" by Valkyrie Doll

"Do I Know You?" by Charmed LitWitch

and is dedicated with lots of love and lots of gratitude to those two *very* talented writers.

[Esmeralda]

PART ONE: Shock

Note from Es: Most of the dialogue in the beginning of this comes from the end of "The Courtship of Wyatt's Father"

Now that Paige and I knew that Piper was pregnant with Chris, we were sitting on Piper's bed, waiting for her to come in, eager to share our news with her. When she walked in, she was very surprised to see us, saying, "Oh, hi," before warily asking, "What's going on?"

I patted the bed between me and Paige. "Here," I urged. "Maybe you'd better sit down..."

I didn't mean to worry her, but I did. "Uh-oh," she remarked even more warily. "That doesn't sound good."

I led her over to edge of the bed, telling her, "No, it is, I think--" and I turned to Paige, asking her, "Don't you?"

She nodded tentatively. "I think," before adding, "It depends."

Now Piper was now more worried, and starting to get a bit impatient with us. "Okay, now that sounds worse."

"No, no," soothed Paige, before adding. "It's just -- complicated, that's all."

Now Piper was becoming very impatient and demanded that we just come out and tell her.

I looked at Paige, who nodded for me to continue, so I tried. "Okay, well, uh, we sorta know what happened in the Ghostly Plane, I mean between you and Leo."

She stared at me in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Not because anybody told us or anything!" Paige quickly explained, "It's just because of, well, uh, Chris."

That confused her worse. "Chris? How would he know what happened?"

"Because he wouldn't still be here if it didn't happen," I told her matter-of-factly. She gave me a look of utter confusion, so I tried to explain it more clearly. "We've known for a while, but we weren't sure how to tell you, how to tell Leo."

"Tell us what?" she demanded.

So Paige just came right out and told her. "That Chris is Wyatt's little brother. And that if you and Leo hadn't, uh, gotten together in time, he'd never be born."

Piper was absolutely stunned, staring at us in disbelief, obviously unable to accept any of this. "Wait a minute, what?" she cried. "What are you saying?"

"I know this is huge --" I started.

"Huge?!" she yelled, now in total denial. "Are you kidding; it's crazy! In fact, it's, it's not even possible for a very simple reason -- I'm not pregnant!"

And both Paige and I very firmly, very emphatically nodded, letting our actions tell her in no certain terms that, yes, she was.

"But, how can that be..." she asked, still shocked. We watched as it slowly sank in, then she asked in a small, scared voice, "What am I going to do?"

"Maybe you oughta talk to Leo about it," I suggested, since I was determined to tell him if she didn't.

She shook her head firmly, still scared. "No, I can't."

"Why not?" asked Paige, and I was about to tell her that if she didn't, I would, because he deserved to know.

But Piper answered Paige. "Because, well, because it's hard enough for him to move on, to let go. I don't want to make it any harder."

Paige and I exchanged looks, not understanding, but before we could ask, Chris stepped into the doorway. Seeing the way Paige and I stared at him, he asked self-consciously, "Is this a bad time?"

Hearing his voice, Piper turned, and because I was sitting next to her and happened to look back at her, not Chris, I watched as she saw him for the first time as her son.

He must've noticed the difference in her glance, because he looked scared, unsure.

I looked at Paige and she looked at me. We both knew that this was a private moment between mother and son, neither of us certain how they would handle it, but knowing that it was up to them to figure it out. So we stood up and walked out, me patting Piper reassuringly on the shoulder, Paige patting Chris. She headed for her room.

Not snoopy Phoebe! I started to head towards mine, just to throw Paige off, but then after Piper led Chris into her room and closed the door, I had to quickly go stand on the other side, so I could hear what was going on.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I heard Piper ask.

[Esmeralda]

PART TWO: Hurt

Believe it or not, Christopher Halliwell actually apologized! I guess there‘s a first time for everything! “I'm sorry. I should have,” he admitted, “but, uh, it's complicated. I didn't do much planning before coming back here. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision," and I could hear the typical self-depreciative shrug in his voice. "We thought it was going to be a quick and easy thing to jump back and change little things to alter the course of history."

"How's that working out for you?" she demanded, before quickly adding, "Don't answer that; it was uncalled for. Sorry," and I grinned, knowing that like me and Paige when we first found out, she was having a hard time dealing with the difficult transition between thinking of him as a nuisance and thinking of him as a son. "Who's ‘we‘?" she asked instead.

"Well, Bianca, for one, and, well, I probably shouldn't get into the specifics."

She sighed impatiently. "This is really hard for me, Chris."

"I know. I'm sorry," and now he truly sounded contrite, and I knew that of us all, the last one he wanted to hurt was his mother.

"You have made it incredibly difficult to get to know you and even trust you!" she accused, and I couldn't disagree with her, even though I knew he had his reasons. "Tell me the truth, you were the one that sent Leo to Valhalla, weren't you?" Before he had a chance to reply, she demanded, "And the inhibitions demon, you helped him, too, didn't you?" Again, before he could say a word, she started to yell, close to screaming, pain in every word. "Why? Were you trying to punish us? What happens in the future that warrants you coming back and treating us this way? And don't even try to hand me that crap about future consequences, buster, coz I've had it with that nonsense!" and I could tell she was working up a full head of steam and almost felt sorry for him, even though I knew he deserved every word.

Chris' voice was small and soft, but I could still hear his answer. "I had to get Leo out of the way so I could be assigned as your Whitelighter. I thought that would be the perfect way to be close enough to all of you to see if I could figure out who turns Wyatt. As far as the inhibitions demon goes, I'm sorry. That was a really bad mistake. I was hoping he would teach you a lesson to stop focusing on the trivial things and to start focusing on saving Wyatt -- and yourselves."

"Why do you hate Leo so much?" and I wanted to know, too. “He’s your father!”

There was a long pause this time. "Let's just say he wasn't around much in the future that I know," but somehow I didn't think he was telling the whole truth, and I wondered why not.

C'mon, Piper, I was thinking. Give him what-for for blaming our Leo for something he never did, and for something he might never do. If he'll listen to anyone, he'll listen to you!

[Esmeralda]

PART THREE: Fear

But Piper didn't. Unlike me, maybe she realized that he was holding some stuff back in order to protect us from information we didn't need to hear and wouldn't want to hear, and now wasn't the time to push. She was simply quiet for a very long time, before asking, "You know I'm pregnant, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's kinda weird thinking that you're carrying--me."

"Well, it's kinda weird for me to be thinking about that, too." she retorted, and I had to bite my tongue to hold back my giggle.

"You need some time to get used to this; so do I," and I heard the bed rustle as he must've stood up. "Thanks for talking to me,--"

The word "Mom" seemed to hang in the air. Then I heard him sigh as he simply finished, "Piper. Good night." Then I could hear him walking away, so I ran as quickly as I could for my own bedroom, so I wouldn't get caught snooping.

---

The next evening, Paige, Piper and I were all at P3. None of us had seen Chris since the previous evening, obviously keeping his promise to give Piper time to absorb. Both Paige and I expected her to ask us something about it, but she never brought up the topic, so much as we were going nuts wanting to ask, neither did we.

As usual on the weekend, P3 was crowded with people, dancing to the great band. Both Paige and I were dancing with guys we had just met, and Piper was back behind the bar. I kept looking for Leo, wondering if Piper could really keep such a secret from him--wondering if *I* could, now that he was the only one who didn't know--but he never showed and neither did Chris. Then, while looking around for Leo, I saw Piper flinch.

Following her glance, I saw Chris making his way through the crowd towards the bar, towards her. Although I kept dancing, I slowly but surely moved towards the bar, my partner following my lead. As I did, I also kept watching Chris as he avoided colliding with several other dancing couples, his eyes never leaving Piper. I could feel the apprehension radiating off him like waves, but I could also feel it radiating off Piper. Even though I was now certain that he had also taken an empath-blocking potion, I didn't need my power to get an idea of what they were both feeling, thinking.

Glancing back at Piper, I saw her lightly touch her belly. How strange must it be to think that the man who was walking towards her was also her son, the baby who was growing inside her. He must've seen her do it, too, because when he stopped at the bar, he was hesitant, nervous, afraid. Again I didn't need my empath-powers; his eyes reflected it all. I knew she'd have to make the first move and wondered if she knew it, too.

I shouldn't have. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he returned, leaning on the counter.

"You want a drink? she asked casually, obviously willing to pretend that everything was okay between them.

For now.

"Yeah, sure," and he seemed to perk up slightly at the gesture, glad that she seemed to be in a good mood tonight, not quite as ready to blow his head off.

She handed him the glass of amber liquid. He took a sip. There was a moment of awkwardness before she turned to serve another customer then back to him again, first telling her bartender to handle the customers for a while. She placed her hands on the countertop, as if bracing herself for the worse.

"Am I -- horrible?" she asked hesitantly, and now I knew why she hadn't discussed it with me or Paige. "Is that why you didn't tell me, tell us?"

[Esmeralda]

PART FOUR: Understanding

Warning!! Be sure to bring a tissue!! These are the parts that got to ME!!

He inhaled sharply, obviously not quite expecting such a question from her. Neither had I. I was sure she would ask about his older brother, the future, anything but that, but knowing Piper the way I do, I shouldn't have.

Suddenly his eyes went blank, and I knew that although he had decided to answer her truthfully, he was very carefully keeping his emotions in check, and I wondered why.

"No, you're wonderful in the future," he replied with the smallest of smiles. "A great mom. The best."

Oh, you should’ve seen the look of relief on her face, and I almost laughed, thinking about all the times she wondered if she'd turn into a dreadful mother

Then she simply asked "Why?"

"I told you yesterday. I can't let you know too much about the future," he said softly, gently, trying to dissuade her from asking any more. "It might change the timeline, for better or worse, I can't tell."

"But you came back here, to save Wyatt, to save us all. Shouldn't that have changed something in your future?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." He smiled at her sadly. "I don't know how much I've changed the timeline."

She nodded, understanding, not wanting to press him any more than necessary. But she had to know something. A lot more gently than the previous night, she admitted, "I've been thinking about it all day, all night yesterday, all day today. I still don't understand. I want to. Truly I do, but I can’t. All those lies ..."

"I had to," he said in a pained tone. "Believe me when I say that I never meant for everything to go out of control. I never wanted to hurt any one of you, especially you. I'm so sorry, Mom," and now he sounded so pitiful, so near tears, that for the first time, my heart went out to him.

She didn‘t even flinch at his using that word. Like me, her heart must‘ve gone out to him in his pain. She reached out to touch his hand. "It must have been a pretty desperate mission for you to risk everything," she said softly, newfound pride in her voice. “And it must be painful for you, too."

He looked down at the countertop, closing his eyes, now unable to hide that pain, muttering, “If you but knew.”

[*Sammi!*]

Tis good!

I think you have a brilliant imagination Esmerelda!

The story line for this is hopefully going to be a lot better than what we were given, and it already looks as though it is!

Are you going to continue with it? I hope so! Lots more stories to come! Yey!

[Esmeralda]

PART FIVE: Love

A firm hand cupped his chin, bringing his head back up. She was now looking at him, a myriad of emotions crossing her face. She reached up with the hand, fingertips light against his skin, almost gentle as she traced his features. From forehead down to his jawline, the bridge of his nose down to his full lips, her thumb over his eyebrow. I could tell that she could see it now, what she had never notice before. Looking at the two of them, it totally amazed me then the way it still throws me now that none of us had realized it sooner. His expression mirrored hers. The same shade of hair, the wide eyes with their conflicted emotions held in check, the facial structure, the firm chin. Only his height and his Whitelighter powers came from his father. The rest were hers alone.

I've wondered since then if that's part of the reason why he was such a brat before we knew who he was--if by keeping us angry and irritated at him, that we never tried to find the good in him and thus never saw the Halliwell that was truly such a strong a part of him.

We just never saw it.

But she saw it now.

She cupped his cheek with her palm in a gentle manner that shocked me and seemed to surprise even her. Very softly, very, very gently, she said his name, the name she had given him--the name she would give him. For the first time she said it as the name of the son she knew was a part of her, the name of the son she loved. And, oh, if the way she said his name didn’t bring tears to my eyes, the way he leaned into her palm with an almost sense of longing certainly did as I realized that he had been away from home far too long now, and been far too alone in a different time than his own, and I found myself desperately wanting to give him a hug.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered again, almost a whimper.

"Don't," she ordered, sounding rough. "Don't be. You don't have to be sorry for anything. Your actions justified what you believed was right, I suppose."

"Does it?" He let out a hollow laugh, pulling his cheek away from the comfort of her hand, staring down at the countertop. "You always taught me that wrong things done for the right reasons are still wrong. And look what I’ve done. I barge right into all of your lives, turn them upside down. I've lied. You’re right. I've lied to all of you every single step of the way. You’ll never be able to trust me. Never know if I’m lying or telling the truth. Just look what I’ve done! I split you and Leo apart much sooner than you should‘ve been, almost negating my own existence! I caused the death of my own fiancée! All for one lousy mission that I'm no longer sure will even succeed! I should have never come back."

"Look at me, honey," she said firmly, and when he did, surprise in his eyes at the sentiment, she spoke even more firmly. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, and it sounds like you were desperate. You did the right thing, sweetie, you did. And you will succeed because you came here not to just save Wyatt but all of us, to save your future, our future. You’re a Halliwell.” Her face softened, a smile on her lips just for him. "And you know how we always beat the odds."

"Yeah, I do," he whispered as for just a second or two, absolute heartbreak crossed his face as memories of his future past must've come unbidden at her words.

I realized that at some time or another, he hadn't beaten the odds. I wondered what had happened, and if that--being a member of a family who would try anything to beat the odds, especially to beat the odds that had beaten him--was part of his reason for coming back.

Piper must've seen that look, too. "Something happened, didn't it?" she asked, sympathy and a question in her voice.

[Esmeralda]

PART SIX: Accepting

He shook his head quickly as if trying to banish the thought from his mind, turning his full attention to her, forcing a smile on his face. And I knew that none of us would ever hear from him about that time when the Charmed Ones hadn't beaten the odds.

"Of course not," he answered glibly. "Like you said, we've always beaten the odds.."

She appeared doubtful but then nodded, as the song came to an end.

Even as we clapped, my partner must've realized that he had lost my attention, because he quickly melted away. Too bad. He was awful cute and I never did see him again. Paige's partner must've done the same thing, because she walked up to me, nodded towards the bar, and we both walked towards it, towards our sister and her son. Paige’s eyes warned me, and she began chattering about the band, so I responded in kind--after all, the drummer was really hot and had been making eyes at me all night.

Piper noticed us, and her face lit up--she desperately wanted, needed, someone to break up the tension, and I was glad Paige and I could. Even without Paige's warning glance, I knew that we couldn't let Piper know that we had overheard her conversation with her son, and I made sure that both Paige and I were laughing as we walked up.

"Hey, you two," Paige casually greeted with a grin. "Getting acquainted, are we?" and she nudged me with a knowing wink, while I grinned back.

"So, are you two going to get along now or what?" I asked, showing I could fib as well as my nephew.

My older sister--the most powerful of the Charmed Ones--smiled at us sweetly, and when she and Chris exchanged looks and small smiles, I knew Paige was right that we should let them think that what had been said between her and her future son would remain between them.

"Perhaps," Piper shrugged, acting indifferent. Then she smiled her biggest, brightest smile--one usually reserved for Leo or Wyatt--at Chris. "Let's say that we've come to an understanding," and for the first time ever around us, Chris smiled full-wattage, his smile identical to Piper's.

Even while both Paige and I inwardly marveled at the sight of those beautiful twin smiles, we put on looks that said we were vaguely disappointed at not having any more details but knew better than to press either of them for more, and again I was so glad my little sister had figured out the right thing to do. Had to be the Whitelighter in her.

"Well, that settles it," my little sister announced. "Why don't we have a toast?"

"Toast what?" my big sister wanted to know.

"Our newfound relationship with our nephew!" Paige beamed, as she snagged a couple glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, handing one to me.

I nodded. "What do you say?" I asked them.

"Sounds fair enough," Chris shrugged as he lifted his own glass.

He turned to Piper, questioningly. She gave a "why not?" look and lifted her own glass of ginger ale, and we all clinked our glasses together before sipping.

Chris looked at each of us and softly said, "Thank you."

I wanted to ask, "For what?" but then I noticed that that look of bearing the world on his shoulders that was always haunting his eyes was no longer there. I thought I knew why. He knew he was no longer alone. And because he could now trust us to help him save our family, our future, he knew that what he had done in the past would stay in the past--we would be able to trust him from then on.

I wanted to say, "Welcome home!" but somehow it wasn't necessary.

He knew.


THE END

[*Sammi!*]

Blimey you updated twice while I reviewed and then again now!

I definately like this Chris better than the other one. He's showing emotion, love and regret for the things he has done.
We also get to see some interaction between her and her son, which we hardly ever did in the show too.

Its great Es!

Im just going to modify this post.

Awww! I want to cry. I can just imagine Chris's face knowing that he was now at peace with everyone.
Its great knowing that the sisters are open to anything however strange and wacky it may be!

Great work!

[Esmeralda]

Thank you, Sammi! I'm *really* happy that you liked this that much. As I said at the beginning, the true props go to Charmed LitWitch and Valkyrie Doll who wrote such beautifully emotional tales and let me use them. I simply wrote them from Phoebe's point of view and that was easy, since I could hear her voice in my head and just took dictation.

Like you, I also wish that both Piper and Chris were more like this--I may have actually liked them the way so many fans do. But although I'm sure that Holly could've played Piper this way had she been written this way, I don't think Drew could...he never showed that he could show this type of subtle emotion without seeming too melodramatic and making me sick to my stomach watching him rather than wanting to sob my eyes out like this fic does. I still think the only reason he was chosen to play Chris is that he looks like a Halliwell (just like Rose), which is a rotten reason to me! If they'd only chosen an actor who could ACT like something besides a spoiled, rotten whiney brat!

But that's the fun of fanfics...you can pretend that the actor *could* play it this way!

Again, thank you very, very much for reading...and replying!