Legends and Heroes_War of the Gods
Page 14
Everyone laughed, then raised their glasses to toast with him. “To family and kicking ass!”
“May I have everyone’s attention please?” a loud voice sounded off from the stage.
Strobe lights bounced from the ceiling and a familiar tune began to play. “Introducing our Queen for the night: Candy!” The strobe lights stopped all at once and a spot light shone on Candy’s smiling face, she was standing in the middle of the stage. The music thumped loudly and she broke out singing, It’s Raining Men in perfect pitch. The entire bar erupted in applause, singing and dancing along with her.
She took that stage like she owned it, dancing in rhythm with the music as she belted out the lyrics. She waved her hands around and high-fived patrons from the audience. She looked like a superstar, completely in her element.
Once Candy finished her performance, she made her way back to the gods and goddesses table. “Athena! Scoot over Thor. We need to have some girl talk,” she told him and winked.
“Hey Candy! You were amazing!” Sharalyn beamed and everyone agreed, shaking her hand.
“Thanks guys. It’s so much fun, but Athena!”
“Yes,” Athena answered with a wide smile.
“Girl, come here. I need details. I knew you were the one for my boy over here. I tried to lift that damn hammer and just, no.”
Both Athena and Thor laughed at Candy’s dramatics. “Oh, that old thing? It’s just a mallet.” Athena fanned her hand, then nudged Thor with her elbow.
Thor grunted and glared, then kissed her nose.
“I read the inscription, Athena. Then when I found out you could lift that thing? You two could fight all you want, but I knew it was meant to be,” Candy said, patting Thor on the shoulder.
“My woman knows a good thing when she sees it,” Thor said, then chuckled.
“Right,” Athena snorted. “Keep it up, buddy. Eternity is a long time.”
“Hush you two. So, Thor. What happened?” Candy asked propping her hands under chin.
Thor went into the entire sordid story, leaving nothing out. Ares and Poseidon jumped in here and there to add additional details and Candy was blown away. She couldn’t believe what had transpired and that Athena had actually died.
When Thor was finished, Candy breathed a sigh of relief. “I need a drink after that shit. You do realize you effectively halted another war of the gods before it began, right?” she asked everyone at the table.
They all shrugged and Sharalyn poured Candy a glass of beer from the pitcher. “We’re glad everything turned out the way it did. I just hope we never see Loki’s trickster ass again,” Sharalyn said.
“Here, here! I’ll toast to that.” Athena brought her glass to Candy’s then Sharalyn’s.
“All right guys. I have to get back on stage in ten minutes. I’ll see you after,” Candy said.
Before Candy exited the table, Emma doubled over in pain. “What the? Holy hell! Son of a bitch!” she screamed.
“Emma!” Ares shouted, touching her face, then her stomach. “What is it? What can I do?”
“I think my water just broke and I’m in fucking pain. It’s all your fault!” she cried, rubbing her stomach, feeling another contraction coming on. “My pants are soaked! Oh god, everyone’s gonna think I peed my pants!”
“No they won’t,” Sharalyn promised, visually inspecting her friend.
“What’s going on?” Candy asked, moving closer to Emma.
“Her water broke,” Sharalyn said calmly.
“Oh shit!” Candy shouted. “My show can wait. We have to get her to the hospital!”
“No, we have to get her home. She’s giving birth to a god or a goddess.” Ares replied, then looked to Emma. “I’m sorry?” Ares gave her his best apologetic look, scrunching up his face. He thought he had more time. He thought he would be able to break it to her gently but, he now it was too late.
“What in the actual... Argh!” she wailed out again. “You lied to me!”
“Well, not really a lie,” Ares said, taking her hand into his own. “I just didn’t make it a point to tell you. Things were crazy and you were so emotional. I thought…”
“Whatever. It’s a baby and it’s ours and we need to leave. Now!” Emma screeched at him as another wave of pain washed over her body.
“Everyone move!” Athena ordered, throwing out her hands. She was tired of waiting for them to act. If they waited much longer, Emma was gonna drop that baby right there in the bar. “We need to create a barrier so Ares can ghost her out of here without anyone seeing. Stand up! For the love of… Thanatos! Stop staring and get the fuck up!”
“Thank you, Athena,” Emma breathed with sweat rolling down her face, then Ares ghosted them out.
Epilogue
Emma held her baby in her arms, content to let the men in the house fret over her. Ares was making her breakfast, Poseidon was doing the laundry, and Thanatos was in the nursery cursing the crib for all he was worth. She bit back a laugh when she heard him shouting obscenities at it for the tenth time. “Why does it have instructions for a high chair?” he shouted from the other room. The God of Death, felled by a crib. It was wonderful.
“Here ya go, Love,” Ares said, bringing a plate of fruit and raw vegetables to her. “You gotta eat right so the little one gets the nutrients she needs.”
Emma smiled at her husband. He was trying so hard, but what she really wanted was a steak. “I need protein,” she reminded him, hoping he would get the point.
Ares ghosted away and returned in the blink of an eye. “Here you go,” he said with a proud grin. In his hand, he held a peanut butter sandwich.
Emma shook her head and took it from him. “Thank you,” she said, taking a bite out of the sandwich.
Two knocks on the door had Ares rushing to answer it. “Oh hey, everyone! Look! It’s our favorite asshole power couple!” He held the door open wide so that Thor and Athena could come in.
“Congratulations,” Thor said, taking Ares hand and shaking it. They continued to talk but Athena went straight for Emma and the baby who were sitting on the sofa.
“How are you feeling?” she asked Emma.
“Be careful,” Emma told her, “someone might think you care.”
“I don’t,” Athena quickly answered, taking a seat next to them.
Emma looked at her once nemesis and smiled. “I’m tired and my boobs hurt. All the time.”
Athena nodded. She couldn’t imagine breast feeding and the commitment it required. She looked to the bundle in Emma’s arms. “How’s the baby?”
“Do you want to hold her?” Emma offered.
Hold it? Athena was shaking her head and scooting away but before she could make her escape, Emma had already placed the baby in her arms, leaving Athena no choice but to hold it. “Support her head,” the new momma told her, positioning Athena’s arms in the proper way.
It was fairly easy to hold the child, she found. It weighed so little. It was so tiny, so precious, and so much in need of protection. When the little one opened her eyes, the Goddess of Wisdom knew she was lost. Athena gazed down into the baby’s sapphire blue eyes and couldn’t help but smile. The child was likely the most beautiful being she had ever witnessed in all of her centuries of life. Her curly auburn hair and porcelain skin were those of a goddess, as was her name, and Athena couldn’t help it; she loved the little one. With all of her heart.
“That’s good practice for you, woman,” Thor said, watching Athena and the baby with a proud smile.
“Oh no,” Athena answered. “I don’t need any of my own.”
Thor grumbled something about “we’ll see” under his breath but Athena ignored him. “What did you name her?” she asked.
Emma grinned and said, “Rhya, after the Goddess of Fertility.”
Oh shit, Athena thought as her heart hammered in her chest. Because, why not? Gods and goddesses chose their own names as an infant based on their specific abilities. It came to the parents as if it were their o
wn idea, but Athena knew better. And there she was, holding a tiny Goddess of Fertility.
It didn’t scare her as much as she thought it would. In fact, the thought of having a family with Thor made her insides all warm and fuzzy. Not that she was going to tell anyone. Athena had been human long enough to understand feelings like love, sacrifice, happiness and even fear. Now that her powers had returned to her, she kept those feelings as well. Perhaps that was what the Creator had intended for her to learn. To love, truly love another soul. She looked at these people that she now called her family. It wasn’t so bad after all and if she were honest with herself, she wouldn’t want it any other way.
“You know,” Emma said, brushing the baby’s hair back while Athena still held her, “I still don’t like you.”
Athena smiled at her sister-in-law. “That’s okay, I don’t like you either.”
“As long as we’re on the same page,” Emma said.
“Are you fucking kidding me? It’s a fucking crib!” Thanatos shouted from the nursery.
“I will help you conquer this monstrosity.” Thor announced, rushing to the God of Death’s aid.
Athena and Emma laughed together. Yes, this was what she wanted. The war of the gods could wait for all eternity. Athena was home and for the first time in her long life, she was happy.
The End
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