hurt Chris’, so I tried to hide it from you. I-I know it was w-wrong to take your things and hide ‘em, but I didn’t know what else to do, you wouldn’t stop….”

 

“Oh, Jeffery,” Melissa sighed, picking Jeffery up off his feet and hugging him to her chest, her cheek brushing against his. “It’s not entirely your fault, dear; I led you to it, if only I took fewer pictures. And as a former nurse, I should’ve realized that Chris was flinching to every flash, but I thought he was just camera shy and didn’t want his picture taken.”    

 

“Mommy, I feel so guilty, I knew it was wrong to take your things and hide them. I promise I’ll never do that again.” Jeffery proclaimed

 

“Jeffery dear, I appreciate that and I forgive you, baby.” Melissa said, kissing Jeffery on the cheek. “Now, quit being so hard on yourself, we all make mistakes, dear, that’s how we learn.”

 

“Your Mom’s right, Jeff. I've made my mistakes too.” Kit said, at this, Chris looked over at his brother in shock.

 

“You, big brother?”  Chris asked incredulously, as if he thought Kit could do no wrongs. “What mistakes have you made? It’s not like you were a pirate or anything…”

 

“Chris, I'll explain it all to you one day, I promise you.” Kit said, accepting his brother's comforting words.

“Aw, does this mean I have to wait?” Chris asked, sounding thoroughly disappointed. When Kit nodded, he pouted, crossed his arms and grumbled. “I hate waiting… I hate waiting till I’m older….”

 

Kit watched Chris sadly, he really didn’t want to tell the tale, but he didn’t want to disappoint his brother either, at the same time, he feared that Chris wouldn’t think so highly of him once he told his story.

 

“Chris dear, if you’ll lie down on the couch, I’ll apply the eye drops to your eyes.” Melissa said gently.

“Does it stings?” Chris asked, eying the eye drops in Melissa’s hand through his sunglasses with apprehension.

“Don’t be silly, dear,” Melissa said with a slight chuckle. “I wouldn’t be using it if it did. Now come over here, sweetie.”

Chris went over to the sofa and lay down on his back, staring up at the ceilings.

“Kit, be a dear and dim the lights, please.” Melissa said, sitting down next to Chris.

“Sure, Aunt Melissa.” Kit went and turned off a few of the lights. And then, Melissa lifted the sunglasses off of Chris’ face and applied the first drop.

 

Chris’ entire body jerked as the eye drop made contact with his eyeball, and now he was blinking like crazy. It didn’t sting like he assumed it would, it just surprised him and he never had eye drops applied to his eyes before. It was a strange feeling that he couldn’t even describe to himself.   

 

“Are you alright, dear?” Melissa asked.

Chris hesitated, he wasn’t sure if he was alright or not. Was this how he was supposed to feel? Since he couldn’t describe the sensation of having eye drops applied to his eyes to himself, he doubted he could explain it to Melissa. Finally, he decided to dismiss it as nothing and lay perfectly still for Melissa to apply the next drop.  

 

“I’m okay, Aunt Melissa, I just—just never had eye drops before and—”

 

“I understand, dear. It’s a kind of ticklish feeling.” Melissa said kindly.

 

“YEAH!” Chris exclaimed, glad for a name for this feeling. “Yeah, that’s what it feels like.”

 

“Chris, I don’t mean to rush you,” Jeffery said, “but—hurry up! We’re supposed to be practicing before we go to Jason’s.”

 

Kit frowned at Jeffery in disapproval. “Jeffery, his eyes are more important than our practices.”

 

“Yeah, I know…” Jeffery said, turning scarlet with embarrassment as he hung his head. “’m sorry.”

 

“Alright, hold still, dear.” Melissa said kindly to Chris as she dripped the last drop onto his eye. Once again, Chris felt that ticklish sensation in his eye and he blinked rapidly, before Melissa pushed him into a standing position beside her. “Now, go on and help Kit with practice,” she said, patting him on the back.

 

“Okay, Aunt Melissa.” Chris said brightly, and he went to join Kit and Jeffery climbing up the stairs. “Guys, wait for me!”

 

“Hurry up, Chris.” Jeffery said without slowing down. Kit however, stopped in his tracks and waited for Chris to catch up.

“Jeff, if you rush my brother one more time, I’ll be doing the disappearing act sooner than we planned.” Kit said, frowning.

 

“Sorry, cuz.” Jeffery said, stopping in his tracks and looking sheepish, “I’m just so excited, I can’t wait! I just love magic so much."

 

“We know, Jeff, but that’s still no reason to be rude.” Kit said as Chris caught up with them, panting like a dog on a hot day. “Chris doesn’t have strong legs like we do, he can’t run very fast, and it wasn’t fair for you to tell him to hurry up like that.” He then turned to Chris, who was still panting for breath. He put an arm around his brother’s shoulder, looking concerned. “Are you okay, Chris?”

 

“....Yeah.... I’m fine.....big brother.” Chris said between each intake of breath. “...I.... just need....to catch.....my breath…”

 

Seeing Chris like this made Jeffery even more regretful that he had shouted at him, telling him to hurry up. He walked over to Chris’ side and placed a hand on his chest and back.

 

“Chris, calm down and breathe slowly.” Jeffery instructed. “And I’m sorry I made you run like that. Kit was right; it wasn’t fair of me…”

Chris calmed himself down enough to breathe more slowly. When his breathing was back to normal, he threw his arms around Jeffery’s neck.

 

“It’s okay, Jeffery.” Chris said, smiling and snuggling his cheek against Jeffery’s. “You were just impatient; we all get like that sometimes.”   

 

“I don’t mean to be.” Jeffery said; a note of desperation in his voice as he hugged Chris.

 

“We know that, Jeff.” Kit said, joining Chris in hugging Jeffery. “But Chris here is a special case; he requires a little more patience and lots of care.”

 

“Yeah, I know.” Jeffery said, still feeling slightly ashamed of himself, but enjoying the embrace with his cousins and adoptive brothers. “Thank you, both.”

 

Suddenly, Kit and Chris put Jeffery under a headlock between the two of them and gave him a twin-double nuggie.

 

“Hey! Ha, ha, ha! No fair!” Jeffery laughed as two knuckles were rubbing into his scalp. “Ha, ha, ha! You guys teamed up on me!” 

 

“Well, we’re all a magic team, right?” Kit laughed slyly. “Of course we could team up on nuggies to you, Jeff.”

 

“Oh no,” Jeffery groaned. “You two are gonna rub me bald and I’ll have start using hair regrow products that never works.”

Chris patted the top of Jeffery’s head. “Well, be a good boy and we won’t nuggie you so much.” He said in imitation of Melissa’s voice.

 

“Okay, okay, anything as long as I can keep my hair till I’m well over forty!”  Jeffery said, holding the top of his head with both hands, as if to protect his hair from falling out. 

 

Kit chuckled as he let Jeffery go. “C’mon you two, we still got to practice before we go babysit Jason… And Jeffery, if I catch you being so down on yourself again, we’re really gonna rub you bald!”

 

“Yeah,” Chris agreed, casting Jeffery a playfully threatening look.

 

“What, I’m not allowed to be sad?” Jeffery asked, pretending to look shocked.

“NOPE!” Kit and Chris said in unison with sly grins.

 

“Oh, why me?” Jeffery groaned.

 

“We're just kidding, Jeff.” Kit and Chris laughed in unison as they all shared a playful laugh.

 

Chapter Seven

The Three Magician Babysitters  

Kit, Jeffery and Chris shared a humorous laugh at their own jokes, as they entered the rehearsal studio.

 

“So, what should we do first?” Kit asked, looking around at all the tricks and magic items and rubbing his hands together, eager to start work. “A sword box trick? Making someone levitate? Sawing, disappearing? Wow, so many tricks, so little time.” he continued, eyeing every tricks ever so eagerly.

 

Jeffery stared at Kit as though he was thinking: ‘You’ve got to be kidding me…’

 

“We start with the basics, cuz,” he said, holding up a coin. “Like making this coin disappear.”

 

“Uh, sure…okay, Jeff.” Kit sighed, clearly disappointed. He was hoping for something a little more challenging. Nevertheless, he took the coin, closed his fist over it and opened it again, showing that the coin was gone. “Ta-da…” he said half-heartedly. “…You know, Jeff, this is a bit

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