Lover, Divine

by A. Star

  He lowered his mouth to my ear. "My brother, Dionysus."

  "Dionysus? As in the god of Wine?"

  He handed me the glass of water. "That would be him."

  I gaped across the pub. Dionysus winked when he caught me looking, then turned to a female patron and began chatting her up. He must have dumbed his essence down more than Apollo had because he hadn't been on my radar at all.

  "Wha's he doing here?"

  "In the pub or on Earth?"

  "Both."

  He smiled. "Well, it appears he's been doing more flirting than anything. But he is also helping me search for the treasure trove of Chaos."

  I gasped. "Chaos!? As in the creator of Myth, Chaos? The father of the Cosmos, Chaos?"

  Apollo seemed amused by my freak out. "Yes."

  "Why in the bloody hell would you be lookin' for him?" From what I knew, Chaos remained in deep slumber and only the most dire and unpleasant of circumstances could awaken him. But this was not something anyone would want to happen. If Chaos ever awakened, destruction and death would soon follow. Not even the gods would be safe.

  "I didn't say I was looking for Chaos," Apollo said. "Just his trove."

  "Why? Wha's in it?"

  Apollo grinned. "Just another pawn in the game."

  I frowned. "Wha' game? Wha's going on?"

  Apollo quieted me with a kiss as he pulled me up and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Forget about it, Siobhan. Forget about everything I just told you."

  "But—"

  "Shh, I just want you to concentrate on you." His hand rubbed my belly. "I want you happy, healthy and stress-free for the birth of our twins."

  I felt the blood drain from my face. "Tw—Twins? As in, two babies?"

  "Yes." He chuckled and pressed his forehead against mine. "Surely you were aware there was a good chance that they would be."

  "It had crossed my mind..." I felt myself sway in his arms. Now my larger than normal belly made sense. "How do you know for sure?"

  "Is that a serious question?"

  I supposed it wasn't. "This jus' changes so much."

  "I know. But you do see this as a blessing, right?"

  "O' course. I jus'... I don't know. I guess I'm jus' scared for them, tha's all." I forced a smile. "But I trust you and I know you will keep them safe no matter wha' the Fates have in store for them."

  Apollo beamed. He looked truly happy. "I love you, Siobhan Law."

  "I love you, too."

  "Are you two done givin' each other the googly-eyes yet?" Vicky questioned as she and Rupert approached the table carrying their billiards sticks.

  I giggled. "For now, I guess."

  "Good. Come play with us then. You want in, Liam?"

  He shrugged. "Only if you're prepared to lose."

  Vicky laughed. "Not gonna happen because we're playin' teams. Marie and I against the two of you. Hope you've got skills, Liam, because Rupert is terrible."

  "Sometimes I can't even remember why I'm still with you," Rupert sighed.

  She grinned. "'Cause no one else wants you! Now come on and let's play. I'll break."

  XV. A LOVER'S GIFT

  "You can't go to a mortal doctor when the babies are demigods, Siobhan. So I've arranged for Lucy to take care of you from now until their birth. She will be here within the hour."

  I set aside the book I had been reading to Apollo. "It would be nice if you consulted with me before makin' decisions tha' concern the babies and I."

  He frowned, but apologized. "Forgive me. But you do know that I'm right. Mortal doctors are not qualified to care for the offspring of gods."

  "I can believe tha'. But who is Lucy exactly?"

  "Dr. Lucy Life, a healer. An immortal descendent of the great healer, Asclepius."

  "Wasn' Asclepius your son, accordin' to the myths?"

  "At one point, yes."

  "Wha' does tha' mean, at one point?"

  "It means that Lucy will take great care of you and our offspring."

  "Don't say it like tha'. Don't call them offspring."

  "Why not? It's what they are."

  I groaned. "You're such a god. They're our children, Apollo."

  "I know what they are, Siobhan. I helped create them." He smiled devilishly and ran a hand up the inside of my thigh. "Speaking of procreation..."

  "Oh no you don't," I said, pinching his arm. "You jus' said the doctor will be here soon. I don't want her to catch you with your hand up my skirt."

  Apollo rolled his eyes but withdrew his hand. "Lucy would hardly be surprised, believe me." I frowned at that statement, but didn't respond.

  There was a knock at my door.

  "Come in!" I called out.

  The door to my suite opened and in walked a beautiful black woman wearing a white lab coat over a pretty blue dress. She smiled when our eyes met and she approached the bed.

  "I'm Lucy," she said, reaching out to shake my hand. "You must be Siobhan."

  "Yes. Nice to meet you."

  "Likewise." Lucy curtsied to Apollo. "My lord."

  "Lucy," Apollo said with a yawn. He stretched out beside me and closed his eyes. Lucy only smiled then began to remove instruments from the bag she carried and laid them out on my vanity.

  A girl who looked to be about my age, maybe younger, walked in a moment later pushing a small machine on wheels in front of her. Emmaline came in behind her carrying a cup of herbal tea, which she brought to me.

  "Hello," the girl said once she and the machine came to a halt. She smiled and curtsied to me. "I'm Helen. Dr. Life's assistant."

  "Hello, Helen," I said, sipping my tea. Emmaline stood beside my bed, observing what was going on.

  The girl shifted her brown eyes to Apollo. "Hello, Father."

  "Father!?" Emmaline and I exclaimed at the same time. I saw Dr. Life smile and loop a stethoscope around her neck.

  Apollo didn't even stir. "Helen."

  I handed my tea off to Emmaline, who quickly made her escape, closing the door behind her.

  "You're Apollo's daughter?" I questioned.

  Helen bobbed her brunette head. "Yes. I hope that won't be a problem for you."

  I elbowed Apollo as hard as I could.

  He still didn't open his eyes. "Yes, Siobhan?"

  "You could have warned me abou' your daughter comin'."

  "I could have, but what would have been the point? Helen is an excellent healer who was more than willing to assist Lucy today because she understands how I feel about you and that I never had those same feelings for her mother."

  "Apollo!"

  "It's okay, Siobhan," Helen said with a smile, pressing a few buttons on the machine. It whirred to life and I wondered how since it wasn't plugged in anywhere. "His lordship is right. My mother and I both know that he never loved her."

  "See?" Apollo said. His eyes were still closed.

  "You didn' have to say it like tha' though," I said, eyeing Helen. "She's your daughter."

  "One of many."

  "Apollo!"

  "It's fine, Siobhan. Really." Helen sat down on the edge of the bed. I didn't understand how she could still be smiling at this point. "I hear I'm going to have a new little brother and sister. I'm very excited!"

  I stared into the girl's glittering eyes. She really was excited. "We've decided to name them Strafford and Isolde."

  "Beautiful names. Are you excited?"

  "Very," I replied, rubbing my protruding belly. There was something about Helen that just put me at ease, despite her being Apollo's daughter and quite possibly the same age as me. "I'm sort of scared too. This whole mother thing is comin' at me kind of fast."

  Helen reached out and rubbed my arm. "I'm sure you're going to be a fantastic mother, and my father will be there to help you out every step of the way. Isn't that right, my lord?"

  Without opening his eyes, Apollo stuck his tongue out at his daughter. Helen giggled like a little girl who thought the world of her father, then rose to help Dr. Life finish setting u
p. I smiled because despite what Apollo felt for Helen's mother, he cared about Helen. It was obvious in that small interaction. Gods were blunt and crass, and they didn't butter up their words. Helen knew that and didn't take offense to the way in which Apollo spoke to her. It was I who had yet to come to terms with the ways of the gods. But then I thought that maybe I didn't really want to.

  "We're ready," Dr. Life said as she and Helen gathered around me.

  I nodded. "Wha' do you need me to do?"

  "Well, first, I'm just going to check your vitals and then we'll move on to the twins. Their heart rate will be significantly faster than yours. A mortal doctor would freak out, but you don't have anything to worry about."

  "The twins will have accelerated heart beats at only three months?"

  "Three months? Oh no, you're much farther along than that. I'd say at least four to five months from looking at you."

  I frowned. "Tha's impossible. Apollo and I weren'...together until abou' three months ago, so I can't be tha' knocked." Dr. Life and Helen shared a nervous look, which in turn made me nervous. "Is somethin' wrong?"

  "No," Helen said with wide eyes. "You're just a little bigger than we expected for three months, even for twins."

  "Wha' does tha' mean then?"

  "Nothing," Apollo said, finally opening his eyes and sitting up. "It means nothing. Get on with the examination, Lucy." His expression said none of us should try to argue with him.

  With a curtsey, Dr. Life went about checking my heart rate, blood pressure and other vitals. The doctor declared me in perfect health, then she told me to lay back and push up my shirt. Helen pressed a few buttons on the machine while Dr. Life slid on a glove covered in little sensors.

  "This is our version of an ultrasound machine," the doctor explained. She wiggled the fingers on her gloved hand. "These sensors will allow us to see into your womb and the machine will provide a real-time avatar of your babies."

  My heart flipped over at the thought of seeing my babies for the first time. "Okay, I'm ready," I said, taking Apollo's hand.

  "Everything will be okay," he said. "Lucy is very good at what she does."

  "Thank you, my lord," the doctor replied. "Now just hold still, Siobhan. The glove will give off some heat, but it is only his lordship's essence, as that is what gives the glove its magic." I nodded and squeezed Apollo's hand.

  Dr. Life laid her gloved hand over my abdomen and indeed, I felt heat radiate from the glove. The doctor nodded at Helen and the demigoddess flipped a switch on the machine. A light beamed from the top of the machine and from it, a viscous-like bubble formed in the air. It bobbed around for a few seconds before starting to take shape.

  I saw their little legs form first and immediately, tears filled my eyes. The rest of their bodies took shape, including their tiny little hands and fingers. But when I saw their precious faces, the dam broke and my tears spilled from my eyes and down my cheeks.

  The viscous bubble started to fade until I was looking at a real-life version of my babies. My children. My little demigods. I was completely beside myself.

  "Isolde's awake," Dr. Life said, pointing at the baby lying on top of the pile in their cramped quarters. Isolde's tiny baby bum was sitting right on Strafford's head while she kicked me in my side over and over again. Strafford was lying on his side, completely wrapped in the arms of Morpheus and oblivious to the awkward position they were lying in.

  "She's so lively," I said, smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

  "Yes, demigods are quite rambunctious even before birth," the doctor replied. "Helen, start monitoring their heart rates. Let me know if anything seems off."

  "Yes, doctor."

  "Are all demigod babies this well-formed so early on?" I asked. I could tell my babies still had a lot of growing to do, but at three months I could already make out their faces and other distinguishing features. That just didn't seem normal to me.

  "Demigods develop at different and abnormal rates," Dr. Life said. She glanced at Apollo. "Besides, the avatar is a magnified image even if it is in real-time." She smiled. "You have nothing to worry about. As you can see, they're doing wonderfully. How are their heart rates, Helen?"

  "Perfect," the girl replied. "Would you like to listen, Siobhan?"

  "I'd love to," I said. Helen turned a knob on the machine and the sound of my babies' heartbeats filled the air. The tears came in rivers now. "It's the mos' beautiful thing I've ever heard. Isn' it, Apollo?"

  "Yes, it is." He'd been silent the entire time and I turned my head to find him staring intently at the avatar. I turned back to see what he was so focused on and realized he was staring at Strafford, the baby who was content to sleep through the entire show.

  "He's beautiful, isn' he?" I said.

  "Yes," Apollo breathed. I swore the deity seemed as though he was in awe, like he was a new father and this was his first child.

  I put a hand against his face to gain his attention. When his eyes found mine, I said, "Thank you."

  Understanding what I meant, he kissed me. "No. Thank you, Siobhan."

  "You two are just so cute together!" Helen cooed. I smiled at her and wondered if Strafford and Isolde would be as accepting of Apollo's other children and their mothers as Helen was. Would they understand that this was just the way things were and that they were going to have to share their father?

  I looked at my babies and saw so many things. Truth and love. Courage and victory. Honor and loyalty. If they were truly going to fight in the war that Apollo said was coming, then I hoped they embodied all of these qualities and more. They would need them all to survive. But I hoped most of all that they never forgot how much I loved them, and that they would always have my heart, even when the bloody thing stopped beating.

  Later that evening after the healers were gone and Apollo had faded off to do whatever gods do, my father called me down to his study. I was surprised to find our entire family gathered there, along with Melissa. I hadn't seen much of her and Garrett lately, but that wasn't unusual. They were getting married at the end of the year and with a guest list that grew longer with every name my mother added to it, I could expect they had a lot to do.

  "Come in, Marie," my father said. "We're all waitin' on you." I hurried in and went to stand by my mother. She smiled at me, like, really smiled, and I got a bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

  "I called you all here because I have an announcement to make tha' will affect all of us," my father said. "Even you, Melissa, but especially you, Marie."

  "Me?" My brother and his fiancé e stepped forward, seemingly more curious than I was.

  "Aye," Da said. "His lordship has ordered tha' I release your inheritance to you, and so I have. You're free to use it as you please."

  "Really, Da?" I couldn't contain my smile. He nodded. "Am I allowed to leave then? Can I finally move out into the city?" If I was to be a mother, then I needed a place of my own.

  My parents exchanged a look. "There will be no need for tha'," Da said. "We are givin' the family home to you."

  "You can't do tha'!" Garrett exclaimed, and I knew why. "The family home is my inheritance! I'm the heir!"

  "Not anymore," Da said.

  The oxygen in the room seemed to dissipate.

  "After my days are over, Marie is going to be the head of the Law Family."

  "Wha' game is this?" Garrett spit. I couldn't say anything. I just stood there.

  "There is no game, son." My father had the good grace to look ashamed. "I have made Marie my heir. His lordship has already sealed my declaration with the Olympian crest." If Apollo had sealed the declaration with an omega, the Olympian crest, then it was official. I was the Law Family heir.

  Garrett turned to look at me. I'd never seen such fury in his blue eyes. "Wha' have you done, you little whore?"

  "Garrett!" Melissa said. She tried to take his arm but he snatched it out of her grasp.

  "Apologize right this moment!" my mother exclaimed.

  "Yo
u heard your mother, Garrett," my father snapped.

  Garrett ignored all of them. His attention was on me. "Tell me, Siobhan! Wha' have you done!?"

  Out of nerves, my hand went to my belly. I realized my mistake too late.

  "You're knocked?" Garrett asked in disbelief. I saw Melissa's eyes drop to my stomach, and I swore to the gods and the heavens above that I saw her smile.

  I glanced at my parents, then back at my brother. "Yes." I'd never heard my voice sound so small.

  "Bloody hell." Garrett's glare was so sharp it sliced my confidence right in half. "So I'm supposed to give up my birthright as head of this family for your little bastard demigod?"

  "Garrett," my mother snapped, looking to the sky as though she expected lightning to strike us all dead.

  "Demigods," I replied, staring him straight on. "They're twins."

  "I don't give a bloody damn if you pop out a fuckin' litter of the bastards, it doesn' give you the right to be the head of this family!"

  "Garrett!" my father tried, but my brother wasn't listening.

  "Bet he's got you thinkin' tha' you're so special to him and tha' he actually loves you, doesn' he?"

  "He does love me!"

  Garrett laughed. "You stupid girl! He doesn' love you! As soon as your bastards are born, he will leave you!"

  "No! You're wrong! He promised!"

  "I'm not wrong and you bloody well know it! He's a god, Marie! He's a bloody Olympian, and you're a fool to believe his promises! I'm tellin' you now, he will leave you!"

  "He won't leave me! He loves me! I'm going to be the mother of his children!"

  "Yeah, you and every other whore in the universe!"

  Eyes blazing with anger, Garrett stormed from the room with Melissa right on his heels. I sank down into a chair, trembling.

  My mother poured me a glass of water and tried to hand it to me, but I waved it away. "He's right," I blubbered. "I'm jus' one of many."

  "Do not listen to Garrett," my father said. "You were chosen by a god. Tha' is an honor to you and to this family. I am proud to have you as my daughter."

  "So you're only proud of me because Apollo chose me to knock up instead of some other Influential daughter?" I asked.

  My father frowned. "You know tha' is not wha' I mean', Marie."