Chapter One

Love. Such a complicated emotion. Probably one of the most powerful, next to anger and rage. Love has been known to bring people and families together. It can also tear them apart. It has been known to win wars, even start them. Love. For all of its wonders and achievements, for all that it has been known to do, we know little about it. Is there a cosmic being that controls the mechanics of love? Someone or something that decides that these two people should fall in love? Then there are the different levels or departments of love. There is the love we have for friends and the love we have for family. There is the love that we have for our other half and then there's that forbidden love. But what separates these different levels of love? There are countless romantic stories where the love of friendship turns into that romantic sort of love. Are the lines of love sometimes blurred a bit? Where the type of love you should have for someone isn't necessarily the love that you do have for them?

My name is Alex Russo and I've dealt with these questions all my life. From the moment I was born, the distinction between familial love and romantic love was blurred for me. When I was young, I didn't think anything of it. But as I got older and began to realize the way of the world, I knew how I felt for my brother, to others, was taboo. It was wrong. But to Justin and I, It was right. Perfect in fact. Not many people can say that they found their soulmate the moment they were born. This isn't one of those unrequited love stories where one person pines after another. Justin felt for me the way I felt for him, so that wasn't the issue. But when it feels that the whole world is against you, add in the stress of growing up in a wizard family and the goal to be the family wizard, it can make love a bit more complicating. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

I was born with my eyes wide shut. Sure, everybody is born with their eyes closed. But mine were closed so tight, they formed wrinkles. I remained with my eyes closed for more than two weeks. My mother, contrary to expectations, didn't worry. She always said that when I was prepared and when I was ready, I would open my eyes. It was like this, in the very first days of my life, I learned the true meaning of free will.

Justin was used to that ritual but that day was different. While he stared at me through the thick, soundproof nursery glass window I, without any reason opened my eyes and looked straight into his.

Time passes as it usually does. Justin was only a little over a year older than I was. But before our little brother, Max, was born and before the the pressures of social norms pressed against us, Justin and I had a great childhood and we were happy. We were inseparable. Wherever Justin went, I was always right beside him. And at first glance from an unsuspecting eye, nothing was amiss. Justin was the 'Playful and protective' older brother. Always teasing me. Whether it was threatening to throw my favorite stuffed animal into the pool or tickling me mercilessly.

He would always put me to bed every night and lay with me, arms wrapped around me, until I fell asleep. Every night, without fail, he would always fall asleep next to me. Justin and I had the most supportive and loving parents ever. At first they didn't suspect a thing. There was this one time that Mom had taken Justin and I to the local pool so Justin could learn how to swim. As we were getting ready to leave, Justin did one last lap around the pool and right as he got out, he walked over and handed mom his goggles and kissed me on the forehead and I reached out and stroked his cheek. Mom didn't think anything was amiss but if only she could have seen the look that the swimming instructor gave us.

We used to take baths together and when something was said to our mother, her reply was that it wasn't any harm until we got older and realized the difference between sexes. Until then, she didn't see the harm.

There was this one morning, before school, as Justin was making sure I had everything as usual, these two birds flew through our kitchen window. "Look at this!" I had exclaimed with glee. The excitement was contagious because Justin came over. "Look! Look! Your little friends are here" He had teased me. "Why don't they sing?" I had asked him. "Do you think they're deaf and dumb like I was blind?" He had explained to me that some birds don't sing and that I was never blind, that I just simply didn't want to open my eyes. The conversation that followed, our mother said, was amusing. I made the comment that I thought I remembered that. "Impossible. Nobody remembers when they were one month old." Justin had said, matter of factly. "I remember!" I had argued back. "Impossible." Justin countered. "I remember! Period!" Mom always said that I had to have the last word in any argument and that Justin had always let me. Apparently I had him wrapped around my finger.

We had let the birds fly away and as little kids tend to do, I turned to my mother and asked her the most off the wall question. "Mom, you won't let anyone put us in a cage, right?" My mother had chuckled but Justin spoke before she could respond. "I won't let it happen." I looked him in the eyes and replied. "Me either." Mom stood and studied us for a moment before handing us our backpacks and getting us off to school.

It was later that day that our parents would begin to realize the intimate connection that Justin and I shared. That is was more than a protective older brother and an idolizing little sister. Our parents had just started a business, Waverly Sub Station. They were getting things ready for the grand opening when they got the call. Justin and I were in the hospital. Justin had broken his leg and I refused to be left at school without him. The Doctor had come in and informed my parents that Justin had broken his tibia and after stating that Justin would need to be in a cast, our parents had followed him out to sign papers. I had, of course, stayed in the room with Justin. As the adults were walking out the door, I had stated, to no one in particular, "I'll take care of him." Our mom stopped for a moment, looked at us and said, "You'd better." Our parents later said that when they started back towards our room, they saw us through the window and stopped and watched us. How playful I was, pretending to listen to Justin's heartbeat and how, even though he was the one in pain, how tender and delicate Justin handled me. How he stroked my hair and planted kisses on my head. They said that after watching us for a few moments, they realized everything.

My mom needed some time after that to come to terms with everything so after dropping Dad, Justin and I off at home, she went to the park. Somewhere between the time she dropped us off and the time she got back, I had fallen asleep but Justin later told me that when mom had come home, she saw the two of us on the couch. My head was in Justin's lap and he was stroking my hair (as he usually did when showing me affection). Mom had sat down beside the two of us and looked at us a few minutes before speaking. "How is my first born?" She had asked Justin. "I wish I could take this cast off soon. It's itching alot." Mom looked sympathetically at his leg. "Only a few more days. Is it getting annoying?" "Now it is. But at first it was fun." Justin explained. "That's the way it is in life." Mom had replied. "Everything has two sides" Justin looked at her puzzled. "What do you mean?" He asked. "The good side and...the other" Mom answered. But that just sparked further curiosity from Justin. "Is everything like this?" He asked her. "Almost. Sometimes we choose if we pay more attention to the good side...or to the other side." "Can we do it?" Justin asked. "Yes we can, but we don't always manage to do it." "I don't understand. If we can choose the good side, why would we choose the other one?" Justin asked. "It's true." Mom paused for a moment. "It's hard to understand...hard to explain. And sometimes hard to identify."

Mom and Justin sat in silence for a few moments while Justin stroked my hair as I continued to sleep. Justin said mom watched us during those few moments before speaking again. "Is your sister taking good care of you?" She had asked him. "She said she wants to be a loving mother, just like you." Another few minutes of awkward silence before mom asked, "Is there something you would like to tell me?" "What do you mean?" Justin asked in return. "I don't know." Mom replied with a shake of her head. "Maybe something you don't understand very well." "Something from school?" Justin asked, unsure of what she was trying to ask. "Not exactly. Something about you and your sister...about things of life" Justin looked at her but didn't respond. Finally mom said, "If someday you feel like talking to me...If there's anything you don't understand...you don't need to be ashamed. Ok?" "I know, Mom. And I love you alot." Mom leaned over me, took Justin's hand in hers, kissed it and replied, "I love you too."

I was asleep during this entire exchange and had awoken to the three of us on the couch. It wasn't until we were much older that Justin told me about this exchange. It was a conversation he'd never forgotten and had followed him every day growing up.