Chapter Three

"I see your face with every punch I take, and every bone I break, its all for you. And my worst pains are words I cannot say. Still I will always fight on for you. Fight on for you. Fight on for you..." Yellowcard, "Gifts & Curses"

Magic School, 2029

The next morning Jordan was again awakened by someone colliding with her abdomen. This morning, however, her son was not the culprit; today it was her husband's head burrowed in her stomach, his blond hair rustling against the thin fabric of her tank top.

"Wyatt," she managed through a few yawns, eyes focusing on the earnest face resting on her stomach after momentary blurs. He looked tired and dusty, but less worried than she had seen him in a very long time. "Is everything okay, darling?"

"It's going to be. Finally, it's going to be," Wyatt promised, raising up on his arms and capturing her lips in a kiss more gentle and sensual than any they had shared recently.

When Jordan eventually broke it off, her hands cradled her husband's face, thumbs rubbing away the black smudges spotting his face, his two-day stubble rough against her soft fingers.

"Where have you been?" she asked, smiling gently as she met his eyes and continued to brush away the grime.

"The Underworld… Fixing a few things…"

Jordan opened her mouth to inquire more, but Wyatt silenced her with another kiss.

"I'll tell you more, later, I swear… Now, I just want to hold you, beautiful," he said in a near-whisper, pressing his forehead to hers.

Tears pricked Jordan's eyes as Wyatt slipped his hands under her back, burying his face in her chest in almost desperation.

"Where's Phee?" she asked as she began to run her fingers through her husband's dark blond hair, sliding the ever-growing curls apart from the tangles they were tending to recently.

"I had Chris take him to the Manor. Did my brother take good care of you last night?"

His voice was sweetly muffled by her breasts, and there was something innocent in his over-protectiveness this morning.

"Of course: he always does. He stayed up with me most of the night and let me worry without judging or telling me I was crazy. I do worry about you, you know."

Wyatt shifted so he could look into her green eyes.

"I know," he affirmed, "And I worry about you. That's why Chris is the only one I will trust to take care of you and Phoenix."

"I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself. I did it for about twenty years before you came into my life."

"I know that, too. But having Chris keep you company, and be here just in case, makes me feel better," Wyatt explained, laying his head back again.

"Alright… I don't mind having Christopher around. You can win this one."

Wyatt's face popped up. "Whoa. Really?"

Jordan laughed, tickling Wyatt's chin with her body's vibrations.

"Yes, darling. I'm so sick of fighting."

Wyatt pushed himself up to kiss her forehead. "I love you so much, Jordan."

"I know, Wy," his wife grinned, leaning forward to kiss him again. "I love you, too."

"There is this one thing, though," Wyatt started while entwining his fingers with hers and peppering light kisses on her neck and face. "That really bugs me about you."

"Oh really?" she questioned, pulling back slightly.

"Yep," he began to grin, their fingers continuing to wrestle. "It's totally unfair how you are forty-nine years old…"

"Shush, you!" Jordan objected, elbow connecting gently with his chest.

"Forty-nine!" he continued in a shout, a mischievous grin (one quite similar to their young son's) spreading across his face as he lowered his voice back to its previous volume. "And you still look nineteen, while I am twenty-seven and definitely look it. Very unfair."

Jordan laughed again. "Oh, you love it. Makes everyone think you've married some sweet young thing. It's good for your male ego."

"Yeah, but you're really the one who married a 'sweet young thing'."

"Ah, yes. You caught me. I'm a cradle-robber," she teased.

Wyatt chuckled. "I knew it!"

"Okay, okay, Your Excellency. Go wash up and change into something clean. Then you'll be allowed to come cuddle up under these sheets."

"Awww, but Your Majesty!"

"Those are the rules, darling. Seilya just changed these sheets, and I won't have you getting dirt all in them. Now, scoot… And hurry."

Oh, shit!

The same thought repeated over and over and over in Chris's head as he held said head in his hands.

His mother looked up from the napping boy on her lap.

"Are you alright, Chris?"

"Yeah, fine," Chris lied, "Just a headache."

'Cause I just realized I was head-over-heels for my sister-in-law! Oh shit!

"Chris…"

"It's nothing, Mom," Chris replied, standing and going over to the wicker couch where his mother and nephew sat. "I guess I'm just frustrated by the way Wyatt's been treating Jordan recently."

He doesn't deserve her: he does nothing but take her for granted.

"I'd advise staying out of your older brother's marital issues," Piper laughed gently, hands softly combing Phoenix's blond curls.

"I know," Chris answered, sitting on the coffee table and looking up at his mom. "But he leaves her home alone every night, worrying about him, not telling her where he is. Then he shows up in the morning like everything is fine, expecting her to be happy to see him."

"Where was he last night?"

"The Underworld," Chris sighed, "Searching for some demon named Zankou. I don't know what he wants with him. He never tells me anything except "Go stay with Jordan and Phoenix." Like I'm his personal family-sitter."

"That's a lot of trust he gives you, though. He doesn't let anyone else from the Round Table look after his family. You're his baby brother, and he trusts you."

"Not enough to tell me what the hell he's doing down there," Chris grumbled.

"Hey! Watch the language around the baby," Piper smiled gently, trying to cheer her younger son up as she placed a hand on her grandson's ear.

Chris sighed heavily, knowing he was not going to get anywhere with his mother; she had a hard time seeing any faults in the son she had raised.

Phoenix stirred, bright blue eyes flickering open and locking on his uncle's

"Hey there, buddy," Chris softened his voice, filling it with the affection he felt for the boy.

Phee yawned, picking his head up to see his grandmother.

"Morning, handsome," Piper smiled as he climbed up her and burrowed his head in her shoulder. "Not a morning person, are you, Phee?"

Chris chuckled despite himself. "He gets that from his dad."

"And Aunt Phoebe," Piper laughed.

"G'ams," the boy's small voice started. "Where Mama?"

"She's at home. With Daddy," Piper answered.

Phoenix's face screwed up in concentration, and Chris knew he was about to orb home. With a morose smile, Chris realized that that would not be the best course of action right now.
"Hold it, mister," Chris said forcefully, "You have to stay here with Grams and Uncle Chris until Mama and Daddy come to get you. Got it?"

Phoenix pouted, but nodded in agreement. "Want Mama."

"I know, sweetie," Piper soothed. "She'll come to get you soon. How about you go build me something with your blocks?"

She set her sleepy grandson on the ground, and he toddled over to his wooden blocks.

"Jordan says he won't stay in the nursery at Magic School," Chris told her. "He just keeps orbing back to her."

Piper grinned. "Wyatt was the same way."

"You should give her some tips… I think she's a little bored."

Just then, the front door opened, and his cousin's voice reached into the sun room.

"Knock, knock."

"Hi, Casey. How was dinner with your dad last night?" Piper asked as Casey Halliwell bounced into the room.

Chris and Casey did not agree on many things and rarely get along. For Chris, raised Up There, magic was a very serious matter. For Casey, raised in a world where magic was forbidden until she was eighteen, magic was new and exciting, something to be explored to its fullest possibilities and used as often as possible. Wyatt loved her, loved her confidence and spunk, and with her levitation and telekinesis, she made a more than capable right hand. Chris, however, thought she was too reckless and irreverent, more focused on expanding her powers than the greater scheme of things.

"It went alright, I guess. My brothers and sister are crazy kids. They kept me up all night telling jokes. Speaking of crazy kids, hey Phee!"

"Hi," Phee grinned, looking up from his blocks with a slight wave.

Casey joined Phoenix on the ground, helping him construct his high tower.

"Where's Wyatt?" she asked. "I'm a bit peeved with him… Seems he didn't think an expedition into the Underworld was a big enough break to call me."

"He's with Jordan. Enjoying some alone time," Chris answered, trying not to cringe.

"Ah," Casey grinned knowingly. "I guess I'll beat him up over it later. Know anything about what happened down there, Chris?"

"No. I was on family-sitting duty. He got back this morning, said hi to Phoenix, and rushed in to see Jordan. He seemed better than recently, though."

"He'll probably want to hold a meeting whenever he emerges," Casey commented as she placed the finishing touch (a triangular yellow block) atop her and Phoenix's masterpiece.

"Yeah, he will," Chris responded distantly as Phoenix toppled their creation.

"Hey there, Godzilla!" Casey cried, mock-angry. "We worked hard on that building!"

Phoenix shrieked with laughter as Casey grabbed him by the waist and tickled his tummy.

"That wasn't very nice, Phee," Piper scolded playfully.

Chris sighed again. He was not going to get anywhere with either of them. They'd been with Wyatt as he had grown up and now saw him as some sort of god, Casey especially. In their eyes, if Wyatt was behaving poorly to his wife, the woman with whom Chris was now in love, he must have a good reason. Maybe they were right, and Wyatt was without fault, and everything would work out all right. Maybe Chris was just jealous. Since he could not discuss the matter with his usual confidant Jordan, he made it his goal to bring at least part of it to his father for advice.

Later that night, after enduring a meal (at Jordan's insistence) of the King and Queen laughing, flirting, and doting upon their son, Chris joined Wyatt for coffee in the dining room while Jordan put Phoenix to bed.

Wyatt leaned over conspiratorially. "First thing tomorrow, I'm calling together the Round Table. I think Drax and I've found the demon who's threatening Jordan and Phoenix."

"There's a demon after Phee and Jay!" I exclaimed, immediately on the defensive.

"Shhh! I don't want Jordan worrying about it, alright? You can't tell her."

"Is it Zankou?"

"No, no. A mutual enemy of Zankou's and mine. I'll explain it all tomorrow. Gotta catch Case up too."

"She's really pissed about last night."

"Nah, she's just annoyed that she missed out on a trip to the Underworld and some demon vanquishing. She loves me too much to stay too mad."

He was right about that, Chris knew. About all of it. Casey was extremely trigger-happy, but Wyatt always laughed it off, saying that is what made her such a great right hand and that she would calm down with age. Chris hoped his brother was right.

"Alright, boys, you have to keep it quiet now," Jordan smiled, emerging from Phoenix's bedroom.

"I was just headed back to the Manor, anyway," Chris said, rising to his feet. He nodded at his brother. "Just tell me when and where."

"Got it, little brother."

Jordan kissed his cheek farewell, and Chris stifled the heat rising within him as the touch of her lips.

"Don't let him give you too hard of a time," was all Chris could manage before he orbed out as Jordan settled into her husband's lap with a laugh at whatever he had said in her ear.

Oh shit.