Part 4:

"Now, let's see... I think you can move that piece over there," a tall and pretty blonde-haired woman said as she put her hands on her hips and gazed around the room with a frown.

Her husband of six years stared at her, the muscles in his arms straining as he and another man held the heavy table up. "Melody, sweetheart, this is really heavy! Where do you want this thing?" Jett asked, grunting a little from the weight.

Melody looked at the two men. "Yeah! Wouldya make your mind up already? I'm not cut out for this kind of work. I don't mind keep myself in top condition, but moving furniture's not the way I like to do it!" Autolycus complained.

Jett glared at Autolycus. "Listen, thief..." he snarled.

Melody's eyebrow rose. "Jett, none of that please! I want you and Autolycus to get along."

Both men looked at her. "Sorry Melody, but could you hurry up? This is REALLY heavy!" Jett exclaimed.

Melody looked around the large room again. "Oh, okay. Place it over there in that corner. I think it will look good over there," she said, indicating the spot where she thought the table could be put.

"Thank the Gods!" Autolycus muttered as he and Jett carefully walked over to the spot that Melody had indicated.

"Coming through! Gotta get this place swept," Adora said, brandishing her broom before her. She immediately put it down and began sweeping.

"Dorie, can't you do that somewhere else? We've got to finish the set up for tonight's class."

Adora stopped her sweeping to look at Melody. "Sorry, Aunt Melody, but I've got to get the rest of this done so I can run home and do my homework."

Jett wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and gazed at her, his eyebrows rising up in surprise and then suspicion. "Since when do you like doing homework?" he asked.

"I don't, but maybe if I do it, Papa will let me go to the dance Saturday," Adora replied briskly.

"I wouldn't count on it, kiddo. Once Joxer's made up his mind, he can be very stubborn about changing it," Autolycus observed. "I should know!"

"I wasn't talking to you! I was talking to my uncle and aunt!" Adora said coldly.

Autolycus was taken aback by the teen's rude reply. "But I'm your uncle too!"

Adora began to sweep again, ignoring the adults. They all looked at each other. "Did you act like that when you were her age, Melody?" Jett asked.

"Of course I was mouthy at that age," Melody said. She then lowered her voice so that only the two men could hear her. "But then again, I didn't have the ability to..." she made a gesture with her hand.

"Joxer and Gabrielle better find out what's bugging her before it's too late," Autolycus mumbled, watching Adora finish sweeping the room and leave with a worried expression on his face.

Jett nodded in agreement. "Yeah. For once, I think you're right. Come on, let's get this finished up."

Melody smiled. "I'm going to go home and change. I'll see you when you get home," she said. She leaned over and gave Jett a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Okay. See you then," Jett replied. He smiled as he watched her leave and then turned back to the handsome thief. "C'mon, back to work, doofus-brain!"

Autolycus rolled his eyes, but he picked up a chair and walked into the next room with it. With the two of them working together, the room was set up for the evening's class in a short period of time. Having finished everything, both men sat down and admired their work. "The place looks great... Eh... Thanks for helping out," Jett said.

Autolycus nodded as he handed Jett a mug of water. "Well, you know me. Always there to help a friend... We are friends, right?" He took out a clean white handkerchief from his vest pocket and mopped his forehead with it.

Jett took a drink of water then gazed at Autolycus for a long time before he spoke. "Yeah, we're friends."

"Sheesh! Took you long enough to answer. I've seen people get their teeth pulled faster than that!" Autolycus exclaimed. He leaned back in his chair and stared at Jett. "Say... How did you and Melody meet, anyway? She doesn't exactly look like the type to get hauled off to the hoosegow."

Jett took another sip of his water. "We met ten years ago while I was still in prison - shortly after Jox and Gabrielle got married. Melody was part of this group of women who called themselves The Age of New Life. It's a group that tries to help reform prisoners."

Autolycus' eyebrow rose in surprise. "I've heard of them, but don't they usually try reforming relatively model prisoners - preferably model non-dangerous type prisoners?"

Jett cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. "Yeah, they do," he admitted. Autolycus watched in silent amusement as Jett's eyes softened as he continued speaking. "But there was something about Melody that I just had to get to know her better. Her voice... The way she moves... Her hair..."

"Yeah, I've noticed that about you three. You're all attached to blonds," Autolycus snickered.

Jett's eyes lost their soft focus and he scowled at the handsome thief. "Do you want to hear this or not?" he growled.

Autolycus gulped when he saw the scowl appear on the oldest triplet's face. "Yeah. Sorry 'bout that. Please go on," he muttered.

"I had to start becoming a good prisoner to at least get a shot at getting into the program. It took time, but I was lucky enough to manage to get in. I was told I would never be able to get parole whenever I became eligible for it because of my past, but Melody kept coming to see me anyway," Jett said quietly.

"I didn't understand the way I felt about Melody at first, but I figured out that I had fallen in love with her and I wanted to change - not just for her, but for me, too. Eventually, I was able to work outside the prison, but I never tried to escape - and believe me, I was really tempted to do it at first. Two years later, I was up for parole again, and this time I got it. I moved in with Melody, and two months after that, we were married." Jett leaned back in his chair and took another drink of water.

Autolycus grinned as he lifted his mug towards Jett's. "Here's to happy endings then," he said, and the two hit their mugs together in a toast.

Jace walked inside then and looked around the large room with a frown. "Hey, you two! I've got a class to teach tonight. Get off your butts and get to work!" he complained, putting his hands on his hips.

Both men stared at Jace for a moment, exchanged glances, put their mugs down next to the chairs they were sitting in, got up, and began walking towards him. Jace backed up, not liking the grins he saw on their faces. "Hey... What are you doing?" The two reached out and grabbed an arm. "Hey! Let go of me! Pierre, HELP!"

Pierre walked inside the room, quietly munching on an apple. He calmly watched as Jett and Autolycus took a struggling Jace outside and then he followed them. The two men finally came to a halt in front of the town fountain.

Jace's eyes grew wide when he realized what the two were planning on doing. "No! No! Jett! Autolycus! Please, guys! I've got a new outfit on! Water will ruin it," he pleaded as he tried to free himself from their combined grasp.

"Jace, I think you need to cool off because the heat's getting to you," Jett said as he and Autolycus pushed Jace into the water. As Jace surfaced from his forced dip, spitting and coughing up water, Jett turned around and placed his arm over Autolycus' shoulder. "Well, I've got to get home to Melody and change for tonight," he said.

Autolycus laughed and nodded. "There's a lovely lady just waiting for me to steal her heart at yon tavern," he replied, pointing towards it. "Maybe there's more than one," he continued as they walked away.

Jace stared at Jett and Autolycus, both of them laughing and joking as they walked away, his mouth open in shock. He then turned to Pierre, who was just finishing up his apple. "Why didn't you try to stop them?" he asked. "You just let them do this to me! Why?" Jace's bottom lip started trembling when Pierre didn't say anything in response. "Could you at least help me out of here?" he asked finally.

Pierre took a final bite of his apple and carelessly threw the core away. He gazed down at Jace with a distant look in his blue eyes - a look that made Jace's heart fall to the pit of his stomach. He slowly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and his left eyebrow rose. "You're a big boy. You can get out of there yourself. I have things I need to get for tonight's class." With those words, Pierre turned around and walked off in the same direction Jett and Autolycus had gone earlier before turning into the street that the marketplace was located in.

Jace stared at Pierre's retreating form until the taller man turned towards the marketplace. Finally, he slowly rose to his feet after retrieving the curly wig he had worn and got out of the fountain. He walked towards his and Pierre's home with his head hung low, dripping wet and wiping away the tears that streamed from his eyes as he ignored the shocked stares of his neighbors. He stomped up the stairs, walked over the threshold, and slammed the door behind him.

Aer, keeping herself invisible to the mortals that were in the area smiled wickedly at the trouble that she had just created between Jace and Pierre. "Now that was fun!" she exclaimed, laughing heartily. Her eyes narrowed and she licked her lips in anticipation. "Ahhh... What fools these mortals are! Tomorrow's going to be even better!" she finished with a high-pitched giggle as she disappeared into the ether.