Part 6:
"Dinar for your thoughts," Jett said softly to Melody shortly after their dinner was served to them. "You look a little distracted."
Melody put her spoon down and looked up at her husband with a beautiful smile. "I was just thinking what a lucky woman I am. I've got a wonderful husband and a beautiful son... Jett, would you like to someday have another child?"
Jett's dark brown eyes opened wide at his wife's query. "Melody, are you trying to tell me you're going to have a baby?" he asked, his voice skipping up an octave.
Melody blushed prettily in the candlelight as she shook her head. "No. I was just asking."
"Are you kidding? I want lots and lots of kids - five boys and six girls."
Melody's eyebrow rose as she gazed at her husband. "Oh. Only five boys, Jett? Why not six or seven even?"
Jett's eyes started twinkling. "Well... If you want to have that many..."
Melody made a face. "No way!" she exclaimed.
Jett laughed, leaned over the table, and gave Melody a kiss. "If we do have another child and it's a girl, I'd like to name her after me if that's all right with you - Jetta."
Pierre banged on the locked door of his and Jace's bedroom. "Jace, please open the door!"
Jace lay on their bed and hugged a pillow against his chest, a tear occasionally falling down his cheek. "Go away, you brute!" he shouted.
"Jace baby, what's wrong? You can tell your Cuddle Buns."
"You know what's wrong, you beast! You let Jett and... Oh, I hate you!" Jace threw the pillow against the door and lay back down on the bed in a fetal position, choking back a sob.
"Jace, please open the door so we can talk!"
"Go away!" was the muffled reply.
Pierre heard another pillow hit the door with a loud thwack. "You've got a class to teach! The students will be coming in a couple of hours!" Pierre said desperately.
It suddenly got quiet inside their bedroom. Pierre could hear footsteps, then he heard the sound of the latch that locked the door being lifted, and a moment later, Jace slowly opened the door and stood before the threshold. His eyes were rimmed red from crying and his face was still a little wet from his earlier distress, but he stood in front of Pierre with a haughty expression on his face and equally haughty posture. "Ah, art beckons. The teaching must go on." He then stared at Pierre coldly. "I can no longer trust you. I want you to leave."
Pierre's heart fell. "Jace, you don't mean that. I love you!"
Jace walked over the threshold and into the hall. "Love me? Love me! Then why did you allow my brother and his friend to embarrass me like that?" he asked, glaring angrily at Pierre. His nostrils flared as he crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his booted foot on the floor as he impatiently waited for an explanation.
Pierre shook his head and frowned, trying to remember why he didn't try to stop Jett and Autolycus from dumping Jace in the town fountain, but his mind went fuzzy as he went over the events from earlier in the day. "I don't know why," he said finally.
Jace's dark eyes grew even colder at Pierre's response. "See? You have no answer. I want you out of my house now," he said in a deadly soft voice.
Aer giggled. She was having fun playing around with these two mortals. Suddenly, she felt another God's presence and she sighed. Rolling her eyes, she turned around and saw that it was Taranis.
"Leave those two mortals be. You're not here to play. You have work to do. Now take that hate spell off that mortal," Taranis ordered as he pointed at Jace.
Aer scowled but did as she was told. "You're nothing but an old fuddy-duddy!" she whined as she pointed her finger at Jace and a white-hot zap shot from her fingertip, hitting Jace squarely in the forehead.
"Just stick to what you're supposed to do," Taranis replied sternly then vanished.
Jace gasped as the invisible zap hit him, putting a hand to his forehead for a moment when a sharp pain shot through it. He blinked several times while the pain slowly subsided and then raised his head to gaze at Pierre, who returned the gaze with worry in his blue eyes.
"Oh Pierre, why are we fighting? I'm sorry," Jace apologized, reaching out to touch Pierre's cheek.
Pierre hung his head and sighed. "No, Jace. I'm sorry I didn't help you earlier. I don't know what came over me... I don't deserve you."
"That's not true." Jace drew Pierre into his embrace, leaning his head against Pierre's chest and closing his eyes. "I love you, Pierre."
Pierre's strong arms encircled his husband. "And I love you," he whispered in reply. He kissed Jace and hugged him tightly.
"Oh brother! I'm out of here before I puke from all this lovey-dovey mush!" Aer gagged as she rolled her eyes and disappeared.
"And I love both of you," a soft voice interrupted the pair.
Both men broke the embrace and turned around to see Adora standing in the doorway of the studio with a gentle smile on her face, broom still in her hand. "I've finished everything, Uncle Jace, Uncle Pierre."
Jace walked over to the doorway of the room where class was to be taught and looked around. He nodded in approval and turned back to face his niece. "You did a great job, Adora, and thank you. You better go home now, okay? I'll see you tonight for class."
Adora's smile disappeared as she handed the broom to her uncle. "Yeah. See you tonight. Bye," she mumbled.
Jace and Pierre watched the teenager leave for home and Jace sighed. "I wish we knew what was bothering her so much," he fretted. "I hate to see her like this, my love."
"It's just Dorie being a teenager, I suppose," Pierre said.
Jace shook his head. "That's part of it, but I don't think that's all that's bothering her. I hope that Joxer and Gabrielle can figure out whatever it is, though." He turned to Pierre and smiled. "Come. Let's have something to eat before the students arrive. I can't feel the rhythm on an empty stomach!"
"Good idea," Pierre agreed as he returned the smile. Together, they walked into their kitchen for supper.
Adora walked inside the door of her home and greeted her friend, who was sitting at the table reading the scroll that
Gabrielle had gotten earlier in the day. "Hi, Eve. What are you reading?" she asked curiously as she got her scroll from music class, sat down across from her friend and opened it up.
Eve looked up and smiled. "It's from Mom. She's coming home in a few days."
Adora scowled as she gazed down at her own scroll. "Oh, that's good. I've missed Aunt Xena," she said distractedly. She picked up a quill, dipped the end into an inkpot and started making notes on the parchment.
Eve's eyebrow rose in astonishment. "Are you actually doing your homework?"
Adora rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am. What makes you so surprised?"
Eve shook her head. "Sorry, Dorie. Didn't mean to get you upset," she mumbled. "It's just that..."
"Just what?"
"Uncle Joxer won't change his mind about grounding you and not letting you go to the dance because you did your homework," Eve replied.
"Maybe he won't, but maybe he will," Adora said as she made more notes on her parchment.
"I guess so," Eve said dubiously.
"I guess so what?" Joxer asked curiously as he walked into the sitting room with his lute.
"It's nothing important, Papa," Adora said softly before Eve could answer Joxer's question.
"All right," Joxer said with a nod. He put his lute down on a nearby chair and gazed at his daughter for a moment. "Eve, could you go and help your Aunt Gabrielle with putting the dishes away?" he asked.
Eve looked up and saw the worried expression in her uncle's eyes. "Sure. I'll be right back." She rose to her feet and walked into the kitchen.
Joxer watched as Adora sunk down in her seat. "I suppose I'm in trouble again," she grumbled sullenly. "What did I do this time?"
Joxer shook his head as he sat down next to his daughter. "No, Dorie. You're not in trouble," he said reassuringly. He gazed at his daughter for a few minutes before he said, "Neither one of us like having to punish you for something you've done, y'know."
Adora nodded, not daring to look at Joxer. "I know that."
"I want you to know that whenever you feel like you need to talk to someone about something that's bothering you that you can talk to your mom or me," Joxer continued, reaching out and putting a hand on Adora's shoulder. "Okay?"
Adora did look up then and saw the genuine worry and love in her father's face and she smiled slightly. "Okay," she agreed. She reached out and hugged Joxer fiercely. "I love you, Papa."
Joxer smiled as he returned the hug, following it up with a kiss on her cheek. "I love you too, Dorie." He broke the embrace but kept both hands on her shoulders as he gazed at her. "I'll let you finish your homework then, all right? I'll see you over at your uncle Jace's for class."
Adora nodded as she watched Joxer rise to his feet. "Okay."
Joxer smiled as he picked up his lute and walked over to the door's threshold and turned around. "Oh, and Dorie?" he said, raising his eyebrow.
Adora looked up from her scroll. "Yes, Papa?"
"Doing your homework is not going to change my mind over you being grounded and allowing you to go to the dance on Saturday. I'll see you in class shortly." With those words, Joxer stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him.
Adora sighed loudly and scowled as she turned around and began scrawling more notes on her parchment.
