Chapter Five:
The next morning, Temperance didn't see the sun until early afternoon. Cole had run them ragged; showing them everything there was to see in San Francisco. Cole had mainly doted on the boys, with bits of Temperance and Phoebe thrown in. Overall, the night was a huge success.
Temperance and Phoebe had held back a little, letting the men do their thing while they talked about gossip. They giggled every now and then, causing Cole and the boys to look back at them and roll their eyes, muttering under their breath about women and gossip.
The night had been good. Nothing with Darius had happened. It was as if he'd disappeared for the time being. Not even the Source had made an appearance.
A soft knock on her door had Temperance out of bed and into her robe as she went to answer it. Cre stood there, smiling and holding out the Bay Mirror, along with a cup full of strong tea on a tea service platter. "I figured that we could have a mother--son bonding moment," he explained with a smile on his fifteen-year-old face.
"And where's that rascally brother of yours?" Temperance asked with a smile, moving so that Cre could enter the room.
"He's with Cole at the office," Cre replied with a smile as he set the tea service on the coffee table. "He asked, and Cole said yes."
Temperance smiled. "It doesn't surprise me. He's always wanted to be like Cole, no matter what the consequences are to anyone else around him." Cre seated himself on the couch beside the fireplace and looked at his mother.
"How are you feeling today?" he asked. Temperance smiled and sat down beside him on the couch, putting the paper on the coffee table and sipping her tea.
"Better," Temperance replied. "I'm still not sure what to do about your uncle, though, Cre. And that frightens me."
"You'll figure something out, mom," Cre reassured. "You always do, and it's saved us all millions of times."
"There may be no saving us this time, love," Temperance sighed. They sat there in easy silence for a while, each alone to their own thoughts.
Cole sighed as the elevator dinged, leading him into his penthouse. Apollo stood beside him, smiling and looking up at him. "We had a good day, didn't we dad?" he asked in youthful exuberance. Cole nodded at his son.
"We sure did," he replied, smiling. Apollo was eager to learn, and it pleased Cole. Cre, on the other hand, he was a wild card. He could go either way; he could go good or evil. He could choose to be good, or he could refuse. No one would ever know what he was going to choose.
Apollo walked to his room, talking to himself as he went, leaving Cole alone to his thoughts. Pouring himself a glass of hard whiskey, Cole sat down on the couch.
Temperance smiled at him as she walked down the hall toward him, dressed in pair of jeans and tube top. "Good day?" she asked, standing against the doorjamb.
"Very," Cole replied with a smile. "We may have an ADA on our hands in the near future." He moved over to the other side of the couch, and patted the seat beside him. Temperance came forward, sat beside him with a sigh, tucking her feet under her and faced Cole.
"Cre and I had a mother-son bonding morning," she told Cole, hoping that it would start a conversation with him. "I doubt there will be a way to save me, Cole."
Cole looked at her, confusion clearly written in the lines of his handsome face. "What do you mean?" he asked, looking into her eyes.
"Cole, I'm putting you at risk, along with Leo and the Charmed Ones, not to mention little Wyatt and baby Chris. Every moment of every day, I put you and them at risk to die." Temperance sighed as she wrung her hands in her lap over and over again. "I can't take that, Cole. I can't have that agony on my conscience."
"You aren't taking a risk, Temperance. Believe me, I've know you forever it seems like, and I've never known you to put anyone around you at risk willingly." Cole took her hands in his gently. "You're not going to the Underworld. You'll stay here, with your family. We'll fight like a family." Temperance looked into Cole's eyes, saw the trust, the confidence, but most of all, she saw the determination to keep their family safe. She felt her confidence begin to come back; but she also felt hope erupt in her heart that he still loved her.
"Thank you," she whispered, bringing her hand to touch Cole's face softly. "Thank you so much."
"That's what family is for," Cole whispered back, his gaze lingering on her lips. "We stand together or not at all."
"United we stand, divided we fall," Temperance smiled. "United."
"United," Cole repeated with an affirmative nod.
Over the course of the next few days, Cole and Temperance fell into a routine. Temperance trained the boys to use the powers that they had developed, while Cole trained them to fight physically. Every so often, both would train the boys together, and it would become a family bonding session. Yet, sometimes, Temperance felt that the family bonding was about to come to an end. Everyday, the fear of losing the few happy moments she had left ruled her mind.
Apollo threw an energy ball at her, barely missing her right shoulder. "Very good Apollo," Temperance awarded her son with a wide smile. Cre looked at his mother and then to his brother. He was reluctant to show any sort of power. Sometimes he feared what he was and sometimes he reveled in it.
"Cre?" his mother's voice reached inside his mind.
"Mom, can you not do that? It's a bit creepy," Cre told her aloud. Temperance looked at Cre and sighed.
"Pay attention then, son, and I won't," she admonished sternly and looked at him, hands on her hips, awaiting his attack. Cre formed a fireball and tossed it at his mother. Temperance deflected the ball and rerouted it toward Apollo.
The fireball caught Apollo off guard, and knocked him to the ground. "You have to be ready for everything, Apollo," Temperance told him, walking over to help her son to his feet. "Had you have been human, you'd be dead."
"Thanks for the tip, mom," Apollo replied, and looked at his brother. "You pack a lot of punch for such a little man."
Cretien smiled at his twin. "Comes from Cole," he explained. Apollo looked at Temperance.
"Do you think that it's true, mom? That Cre is stronger than I am because he's more like dad?"
Temperance looked from one son to the other. They looked at her expectantly. "Apollo, Cre, it's not who your father is and who he isn't. It's how you use the power that you have. How you wield the power is what makes you powerful."
"I still don't understand it, mom," Apollo told her. Temperance sighed.
"When you're older you'll understand," she sighed again. "Hit the showers, boys. We're going to the Halliwell's tonight for dinner." Both boys nodded and walked off in different directions, leaving Temperance to her own devices. Forming a fireball, Temperance threw it at the nearest glass vase feeling frustrated.
"You've been training the boys?" Paige Mathews asked Temperance with a smile. They were in the kitchen at the manor with Piper, preparing dinner and having girl time. Phoebe had yet to show up.
"Good Lord, Paige," Piper smiled. "This isn't twenty questions. Cre and Apollo do need to understand their power." Temperance looked at Piper sharply and shook her head no. "What?"
"Apollo was touchy today about his powers. I don't understand where he gets it. I can't explain to him that because he doesn't take after Cole, his powers aren't the same as Cre's. I mean, I've never heard of it working like that, not even in twins. Dare and I certainly share the same powers, even if there is a little variation in how they work." Piper nodded her head, understanding, as she tossed some more garlic into the spaghetti sauce.
"You and Darius?" Paige asked. "I mean, you're both half-demonic, and have your mother's powers. One is bound to be less powerful than the other."
"You'd like to think that," Temperance answered as she tossed the salad in front of her carefully, mindful not to get the lettuce all over the countertop. "Dare and I have had decades to grow into our demonic sides. The boys are still young yet."
"Then why explain it to them?" Piper asked. "Be the avoidy parent and change the subject in a hurry."
"I can't do that to them, because then they'll just go and ask Cole. You know how he is when it comes to answering questions the boys have," Temperance sighed heavily, dropping the tossing tongs on the countertop. "Gods, why does parenting have to be so hard? It's a nonstop battle to preside over your kids."
Piper smiled. "You make me wonder what I am going to be like when Wyatt and Chris turn fifteen. Not to mention what Leo is going to be like," she told Temperance.
"Leo is going to be wonderful. You are going to be wonderful," Temperance replied to Piper with an affirmative nod. "Paragons of good raising a couple of very powerful children, what more could you ask for?" Temperance turned sharply toward the kitchen door and ran toward it when she heard the sound of glass shattering. Paige and Piper looked at each other, confused, the followed closely behind.
Temperance stood in the center of the sunroom, staring at the mess around her. Apollo and Cre looked at her sheepishly. "Boys? Care to explain this to me?" Temperance indicated to the mess around her. Paige and Piper sighed.
"I think we'll go back into the kitchen," Piper told Temperance from behind. "I'll send Cole to you if he comes in through the back."
"Don't worry, Piper, he'll sense what happened and be angrier than hell itself when he gets here," Temperance replied. Piper quirked a brow, grabbed Paige and headed back toward the kitchen.
"Apollodorus," Temperance looked at her son, "what the hell is the matter with you?"
"Cretien and I had an argument, that's all," Apollo replied, looking down at the ground before him.
"I didn't quite hear your explanation, son," Temperance said louder. "What?"
"Cretien and I had an argument. It kind of escalated into violence," Apollo snapped back.
"Cretien, what do you have to say for yourself?" Temperance stood there, arms crossed over her chest, staring angrily at her boys.
"I don't have anything to say about it, mom," Cre stated angrily. "Apollodorus is a bit jealous that I am stronger than him and that I'm the youngest. He says that it's not fair."
"You're both still on this? I thought we took care of this earlier this afternoon," Temperance exclaimed in exasperation. "You're both grounded. Apollo, you're not to go anywhere with Cole. No shimmering to see your father in the middle of the afternoon, nothing. You try anything, and I will strip you of your shimmering power until I see fit. Is that understood?"
"Yes, mom, it is understood," Apollo answered and looked up at her with tears in his eyes, obviously hurt that she had punished him so harshly.
"Cretien, you're not to play your gameboy, no computer. No talking to Dawn on the phone. All of this is to continue until I see fit. No pleading to your father for me to relent either. Also, you're not to shimmer your brother anywhere; if you do, you'll be stripped of shimmering as well. Is this in anyway unclear?"
"No mother, and while you're at it, can you make this place any less boring? I sit at home all day," Cre replied sarcastically, not caring if he got grounded or not.
"Watch your mouth, young man, or I'll make your grounding indefinite," Temperance snarled at her son. "Clean this mess up, and when you're done, sit in the living room until your father gets here. He can deal with you then and add his punishment onto mine if he so chooses. You're not getting off the hook this time, boys." Temperance watched as both boys went about cleaning up the glass and broken wood that surrounded them with grim expressions plastered all over their young faces. "No arguing or there will be more punishment," Temperance told them as a parting remark and turned to go back into the kitchen.