The brunette paced back and forth in the warehouse, Piper standing patiently a few feet from him. Phoebe and Paige were late to a vanquishing, something that had happened for the past four vanquishings they'd done; it was getting annoying, and he was growing fed up with it.

"She's supposed to be here, by now."

"So, she's a little late." Piper spoke, swaying slightly.

"No, she's a lot late." Chris retorted, "Paige used to be the first one to a vanquish. What's wrong with her?" He asked, motioning his arms outward as Piper turned her head slightly, calling over her shoulder.

"She's in love, that's hardly wrong." The woman said, her tone more irritated at the man than at the situation.

"It is when it interferes with her responsibilities as a Charmed One."

He continued pacing, thoughts of how irritating the past month had been for him; the only time he'd get to relax would be when he'd go to the basement to check on CJ and Noah — and even then, his itch for demon hunting would barely even let him relax for more than three hours.

Chris had grown more protective over CJ, doing his best not to let her around any demon vanquishings, in fear that they'll reveal who she is. He'd also grown protective over Noah, despite having dealt with the kid tormenting him while they were growing up, he finally understood why the ravenette was the way he was.

That, and Wyatt had proven to be quite the eloquent speaker.

"Why don't you just let me handle this one alone?"

"Because you've handled the last four vanquishes alone. I swear, you should've never let them move out."

Piper smirked, spinning to face him as the bet that Paige and Phoebe had made echoed through her mind, "Why don't we call CJ?"

Chris widened his eyes, remembering what the woman had told him a mere month beforehand. They won't stop until they get front row seats to my downfall. He snapped his head toward Piper, "No. Not happening, she's not back to her full strength—"

"Chris, it's been a month and a half." The woman cut him off, crossing her arms, "She's most definitely back to her full strength."

"Then what about Noah?" He asked, raising his eyebrows, "Kid's been separated from his mom for two years, been raised by wood nymphs — and she has no babysitter to call. Would you really wanna take a mother away from her child? Again?"

Piper furrowed her brows, "Excuse me! We didn't know she had a kid, either! I wouldn't dream of taking someone away from their son—"

"My point exactly."

...

"Phoebe!" Noah exclaimed, releasing his mother's hand and rushing toward the woman. The brunette smiled brightly, crouching down and hugging the four year old, "How's Thong Kong?"

"Noah!" CJ exclaimed, eyes wide as she looked to her son, "It's Hong Kong, with an H. Where did you even hear that word?"

The boy shrugged, "I heard Chris say it when you guys were arguing over the laundry basket."

She widened her eyes, looking to the sisters. "I'm gonna kill that neurotic talking flashlight," she muttered, ruffling Noah's hair as Phoebe picked him up happily. CJ handed him an Uncrustable from his lunchbox, and he smiled widely as he bit into it.

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome, Pumpkin." She chuckled, "Don't eat too fast, though, ok? You'll get hurt if you do that."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Paige, Phoebe, and CJ walked upstairs, Noah chatting Phoebe's ear off about his first day of pre-school. The ravenette was thankful that she didn't mind it, she even asked him questions about his day; they entered Wyatt's nursery, and Noah practically leapt out of Phoebe's arms at the sight of Chris.

"Chris!" He cheered, running toward the man.

"Hey, buddy." The brunette chuckled, catching Noah as he jumped at him. "How was your first day?"

"It was cool! Mommy spat at a teacher!"

Everyone in the room looked to the woman with wide eyes, all of them fighting back laughs as Chris raised his eyebrows. "Why'd Mommy spit at a teacher?"

"She said some mean things, but I don't know what they were."

CJ approached the two, covering Noah's ears as she looked around at her friends, "She assumed I was a teen mom and called me a whore."

"Oh, yeah, that's understandable as to why you'd spit in her face." Paige chuckled, before CJ removed her hands from Noah's ears.

"Chris? What's a thong?"

The woman took her son from the witchlighter, widening her eyes at his question. "That's something only adults can know, Sweetie."

"Oh, ok." He nodded, happily biting into his Uncrustable once more.

CJ was about to leave the room, her eyes landing on Chris, who was trying so hard not to die of laughter. "You're dead meat." She whispered, exiting Wyatt's nursery and heading back downstairs. They entered the basement, and she almost yelled when her eyes landed on Chris standing in the center of the room. "Jesus! Stop doing that, you're gonna give me a heart attack!"

"You're 130. . . I think you're past that risk." He chuckled, sitting on the couch as he watched her put Noah onto the ground. The little boy ran towards his toybox, pulling out a train and rolling it across the ground as CJ approached the couch. "So, thongs?" He asked, a smirk on his lips as she grew closer; she looked adorable. Her hair was thrown into a messy bun, she was sporting her black Linkin Park hoodie, a pair of black sweats, and black high top Converse.

"Oh, shut up." She scoffed, flicking the Uncrustable wrapper at him, "He threw you under the bus."

"How'd he hear that from me?" The man asked, tossing the wrapper into the trashcan that resided on his side of the couch.

"Remember that day when we argued about me carrying my laundry basket upstairs because of how heavy it was?"

"Yeah."

"Remember how I said I didn't want you touching my underwear?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember when you yelled 'you act like I haven't seen you in a thong, before', referring to you orbing into my room while I was changing?"

"Oh, yeah."

She hit him with a pillow, "If he starts saying that at school, you're dead meat."

"You wouldn't kill me," he smiled, raising his brows at her. "I'm too cute."

CJ rolled her eyes, a smile dancing onto her own lips as she sunk into his side. "Keep tellin' yourself, that, Flashlight."

They sat there, enjoying each other's company, and smiling when Noah would do something cute; a foreign feeling, one that Chris hadn't had since he was fourteen, had begun to bubble in his veins, and then he realized: he truly felt at home with the Cromwell witch, and her son.