Chapter Four:
"Apollo, you and Cre are going to room together," Temperance told her boys as they looked around Cole's penthouse. Cole stood behind the three of them with a smile carelessly placed upon his handsome face.
"There is more than enough room for all of us," he commented. "Everything you'll need, you'll have, just let me know."
"And you aren't to take advantage of that, Apollo," Temperance looked at her oldest son. "Is that understood?" Once Apollo nodded, Cole moved to stand beside him.
"Strict…" Apollo commented under his breath.
"Apollodorus," Temperance warned.
"Got the hearing of a demon too," Cole added under his breath.
"I heard that, Cole." Cole raised his eyebrows as if to say 'I-told-you-so,' and motioned for Apollo and Cre to follow him to the nearest door.
"I had this room furnished specifically for the boys," he explained as he walked into the large room. "Bunk beds, two desks, a computer, complete with internet and the works, two dressers full of clothing." Temperance looked at Cole as the boys went to claim a bed. Cre looked at her when he sat down on the bottom bunk. Temperance nodded her approval.
"Cole," Cre looked at his father, "I still can't bring myself to call you father, but I appreciate what you are doing for us. I also wanted to apologize for my behavior a couple of days ago. It was uncalled for." Cole smiled.
"It's okay, son. I completely understand. I resented my father for a while too." Temperance gave her son a huge smile. Cole turned his eyes on Temperance and point toward the door. "Your turn. Out," he pointed toward the door. Temperance did as she was told, leaving the boys to argue over who got the top bunk.
"You shouldn't have gotten them all of that," Temperance chided Cole, when Cre and Apollo where out of earshot. Cole looked down at her.
"Are you saying that I can't spoil my own sons?" he asked defensively, arching an eyebrow.
"Of course not, I'm just saying that you shouldn't have gotten them so much. A room that they could share is one thing, but a computer with the works is quite another," Temperance frowned when they stopped in front of another door down the hall from her boys.
"This is actually another penthouse. One that you can have all for yourself. It's magically masked, so Darius can't find it," Cole explained as he unlocked the door. "The law firm gave it to me weeks ago for Paige, but she didn't want to be that close to a demonic brother-in-law who hated orbing as much as she hated ruining her Gucci boots. It's yours for the taking." Temperance watched as Cole opened the door and moved to the side, allowing her to walk in at her leisure. Inside, the walls were white, the purest white that she'd ever seen. There was a fireplace to the left, and a table to the right. The immaculate furnishings alone were enough to floor Temperance.
"I couldn't possibly…" she started, but Cole stopped her.
"You can, and you will," Cole replied. "I won't take no for an answer." Temperance didn't have the heart to deny him. She walked further into the room and sighed when she looked around. There were soft pale colors; just the way Cole knew she liked them. Pictures of children were on the walls, along with pictures of the boys on the mantle piece. That was the most shocking focal point.
"How did you get these?" Temperance turned to Cole, her eyes carrying a look of betrayal in their deep depths. Cole looked sheepish. He'd had the pictures taken at various points in his boys' lives.
"I had them taken," Cole answered. "I figured that you would want something to decorate the mantle with, so I had them developed and framed for you." Cole walked toward the couch that sat in the center of the room. "You have everything you need. Food, water, bathroom, clothing. Anything else, you need only ask."
"That's the problem, Cole. I ask and I get, without having to work for it. I'm half-demonic, not crippled," Temperance replied bitterly. "I don't need you to support me and the boys, Cole Turner. I've done that perfectly for the last fifteen years."
Cole's blue eyes flashed with hurt. He was only trying to prove to her that he was man enough to be a father to Cre and Apollo. Something he wanted more than anything in the world. He lost fifteen years of their lives. He'd never know what it was like to watch them learn to walk, never know their first word. He never got to share in the joys of parenting.
Not that it stopped him now. Cole wasn't going to let them slip away without a fight. He was already attached to the boys, after a few short days.
"Cole?" Temperance's voice reached into his thoughts, dragging him back to the real world.
"Yeah," Cole looked across the room at her.
"I'm sorry for the last fifteen years," she replied quietly. "It was wrong to keep the boys from you. I shouldn't have run out on you, nor should we have been together." She turned away from him then, and walked toward the bedroom to explore, leaving Cole to contemplate her parting remark.
Temperance spent the rest of the day in her rooms. Apollo and Cre had settled in quite comfortably, getting into a routine that would allow them to spend time with both her and Cole. They were, for all intents and purposes, a divorced couple, living together for their children.
After she'd worked to make her new home a little homier, Temperance sat down and began to think over a way to destroy her brother and his hold upon her. She sighed as she sat down on the soft cushy couch and tucked her feet under herself, reading a book on witchcraft.
"Still reading on how to get rid of me are you?" Dare's voice filled her head. Temperance looked up and sighed again.
"What are you doing Dare? You can't get me to listen to you," Temperance replied back. Dare and Temperance had been able to communicate telepathically since they were children. It was another demonic trait that they had inherited from their mother.
"Oh, but I can, sister dear, I can," his voice was filled with amusement. "I know what you'll do, and I'll still be here. You can't defeat me. You're not strong enough, and Cole can't help you."
"That's where you're wrong, Dare. I can defeat you, and I have my family to back me up," Temperance snarled back at him.
"We shall see, sister. We shall see," with those words as his parting remark, Temperance felt a pounding at her temples, indicating that Dare was leaving her a parting gift as well. A migraine, something that she couldn't possibly afford at the moment.
"Cole, you've got to have strong medicine for migraines," Temperance murmured under her breath as she went through his medicine cabinet. So far, all she saw was some strong aspirin. Strong aspirin wouldn't work on her demonic constitution, for she had a higher tolerance of drugs than the normal human being.
"Mom?" Cre peeked into the bathroom and gave his mother a questioning look. Temperance smiled at her son.
"Migraine medicine, Cre. Your uncle decided to leave his calling card again," Temperance explained as she resumed her search for a strong pain pill.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Cre asked, concern playing in his voice. Temperance looked at her son again.
"No. I'm fine, except for the ear-splitting migraine," her sarcasm made Cre smile.
"I'm sorry mom, but, with Uncle Dare coming after you and us, I don't think that we could afford anyone being injured," Cre replied calmly. "Cole told me to tell you that he'd be back later and that he wanted to take us and Phoebe out for dinner."
"He did?" Temperance asked, closing the medicine cabinet and sighing heavily. It wasn't like Cole to take his ex-girlfriend and children to a dinner with his current girlfriend. "Did he say why?"
"No, only that he'll call to let us know when to be ready."
"All right Cre. I appreciate your telling me," Temperance smiled and moved past her son. "I'm going to go the drugstore and see if I can get anything that is a bit stronger than aspirin. I'll have my cell; call me if something goes wrong."
"Yes mom," Cre answered and turned toward his room. Temperance went to her rooms and gathered up her purse and car keys, trying to ignore the pain in her head. She immediately shimmered out of her rooms and down to the car garage, looking for her car.
The drive in downtown San Francisco was horrible. People cut people off, trying to hurry to their families. Temperance heard more horns honked in ten minutes than she had ever heard in Sunnydale.
Temperance pulled up to a stoplight, and drummed her fingers on steering wheel, waiting for the light to change to green again. Once it did, Temperance found herself lost in a myriad of raging cars, fighting for the spot that would give them the quickest route home. Pulling out of traffic and to the drugstore that she'd seen, Temperance parked a relatively large distance away from the doors, allowing her to walk and clear her mind. When she reached the front doors leading into the store, Temperance walked in and immediately went to the medicine aisle. She browsed the aisle, looking for a strong pain killer. Once she found one, Temperance made her way to the front counters and smiled at the cashier.
"Good afternoon, ma'am," he smiled back. "Did you find everything you needed?"
"Yes, thank you," Temperance replied and smiled through the pounding in her head. The boy looked at her again, and Temperance studied him. His eyes, a hazel green, held an element of mystery. His features were almost cherubic. He wasn't human. He looked at her, and Temperance saw his eyes flash red, then black, and then they went back to normal.
Gasping, Temperance stepped back. "What's the matter, Tempest, can't stand the sight of your intended?" the young man asked in a booming voice. Temperance looked around. No one had seen him.
"Source," Temperance whispered, clutching her hands to her chest. She didn't get the chance to reply. Temperance rushed outside the drugstore and to her car, barely missing a beat. Once inside her car, Temperance allowed herself to calm down. She took deep breaths and calmed her body, hoping that the adrenaline would leave her body.
Turning the car on and throwing it in gear, Temperance raced out of the store's parking lot and raced back toward the penthouse, fighting off the fear to leave her boys and run back to Sunnydale.
Temperance shimmered back into her rooms a moment before Cole knocked on the door and walked in. Temperance glanced at him before plopping on the couch and dragging in a shaky breath.
"You just shimmered in," Cole stated matter of factly.
"You aren't my keeper, Cole," Temperance snapped, her fear giving away to fury.
"I was stating a fact," Cole snapped harshly. "What has you running circles?"
"I had a migraine, I wanted to get some strong medication, because I'm a half-demonic entity and thus I can't use a normal pain pill because it isn't strong enough. I went to the drugstore and saw the Source himself, Cole. Broad daylight, playing the cashier. I've been gone longer than I thought, because in my life time, the Source has only been above the Underworld once. I didn't even hear the gargoyles."
Cole nodded his head. "It isn't unusual in the fact that he only appeared to you, but you not hearing the gargoyles is entirely unusual," he commented. "What did he say?"
"He asked if I had found everything okay and then, once I knew it was him, he asked if I could stand the sight of my intended," Temperance replied. "Cole, I seriously don't understand where he got the idea that I came to San Fran to take the throne in the Underworld."
"Let him think what he will, Temp," Cole smiled. "We'll take care of him soon enough."