Chapter Three

:: Phoebe ::

11:31 pm

11:32 pm

11:33 pm

Keegan spent exactly seven minutes brushing his teeth.

Max was more of a spit-and-go type of guy.

Keegan's hair would be damp, fresh from the shower.

Max perfected the 'day old gel, just rolled out of bed, I'll-shower-in-the-morning (maybe)' look.

Max.

She shouldn't be thinking about Max. She especially shouldn't be thinking about Max fighting Grappling Girl at the top of the water tower. After all, she wasn't really sure that it was even a legitimate plot.

Phoebe grabbed her phone, turning the camera on herself. She ran a finger along her teeth, flipping her hair over her shoulder and then back again. She puckered her lips. She was wearing a flimsy little nightgown. It was the perfect thing for a newlywed to wear.

"Could you turn on the rainforest sounds?"

"What?"

"Rainforest sounds?"

Phoebe blinked in confusion and looked around. Finally, the speaker on the nightstand triggered understanding. She pressed a button and the sound of tree frogs floated through the room. She sank back against her pillow as the most obnoxious bird she'd ever heard screeched at non-lullaby inducing decibels.

"Fantastic. Be out in a minute, gorgeous."

"Can't wait!" Phoebe called over a howler monkey. She turned the large diamond on her left hand a full rotation.

Phoebe had officially been Phoebe Oostergooster for six and a half weeks. Nothing had gone smoothly. The wedding was a fiasco she couldn't bring herself to replay. Her all-expenses paid honeymoon to Australia had been infiltrated by the Villain League. It had taken the entire Thunderman family to get that fiasco under control and it had taken almost a week before Super President Kick-Butt triple-confirmed they had caught every last villain.

Yeah, that's right. She had spent the majority of her honeymoon with her family.

As what sounded like a lizard's tongue lapping a tree came through the bedside speaker, she thought of that night in Sydney Harbor. The last villain had just been flung out of the boat, catapulted to the Hero League submarine waiting to pull him in below, just as a dazzling display of Friday Night Fireworks came from east of the Opera House.

It was just her and Max.

"Remember when I put together the fireworks for our class project?" Max whispered in her ear. She smiled.

"How could I forget? You spelled out PHOEBE SMELLS LIKE A WET DONKEY."

Max just laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders. The sleeve of his wetsuit was ripped to shreds. She leaned into him and glanced at his profile. A droplet of water clung to his eyelash.

"Actually," he said, his eyes locked on the sky. "They really said "Phoebe IS A MULE. You were a pretty big jackass for teaching me a good lesson. I just thought smelling like a wet donkey would make you madder."

She watched him swallow, his Adam's apple bobbing. She swung her eyes to the sky and clasped her hands in front of her. "You were right."

They both continued to watch the show. Max's arm tightened around her. Phoebe's throat tightened. She was struck that this particular moment was perhaps the most perfect moment she would experience on her honeymoon.

And it wasn't with her husband.

"Max-"

"We can't avoid it forever. I don't want to avoid it."

"I-"

But she had been able to avoid it. Just then, just as a dazzling array of multi-colored streaks filled the inky sky, Mom and Dad pulled up beside them in their own boat, Nora, Billy, and Chloe sitting together, looking exhausted, but proud. Dad was grinning ear to ear. Max yanked his arm away.

"THUNDERMANS!"

11:58 pm

Max would certainly be staking out the water tower. Most schemes went down around midnight.

Phoebe closed her eyes. He would be fine without her. Grappling Girl wasn't a genius mastermind by any stretch of the imagination. Actually, she was sure the entire Hero League would be more than fine without her. Dark Mayhem was far from the evil genius he was in his younger days. No other villain in his league had stepped up as a possible replacement. They all were barely a step above the evil that Max exhibited during his bad phase.

Max.

"Hello my Missus."

The bed dipped. Some unidentified animal made a noise that sounded like it was going to rip her limb from limb. Phoebe's eyes flew open and she sprung forward off her pillow just in time for her forehead to make full contact with Keegan's lower jaw.

"SON OF A-"

"I'M SORRY!"

"SHIT, AM I BLEEDING?"

Phoebe's voice came out small. "A little?"

She was a horrible liar. He lowered his hand and blood spilled out over his bottom lip. Her thick skull had broken through his tender seven-minute brushed gums.

Before she could say anything else, the look on her face must have told Keegan all he needed to know. He slid off the bed and ran back to the bathroom.

The minute the door closed, Phoebe released a breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

12:03 am

12:04 am

The water turned on in the bathroom just as the rainforest track settled on the much better 'waterfall' segment. The relaxing tones were interrupted by a series of forceful spits.

12:10 am

Phoebe slid out of bed. She stopped at the bathroom door for just a second before her feet propelled her onward. The lace of her nightgown brushed the back of her legs. She yanked open the closet door, her heart pounding.

12:12 am

Keegan finally emerged from the bathroom. Smiling around a piece of cotton stuck in his mouth, he opened his arms.

"All better. Now where were w-Phoebe?"

He looked around in confusion. The curtain swayed from the breeze coming in through the empty window.

She was gone.