April, 2022


Three weeks early. Three weeks. This was not supposed to happen yet. No one had prepared him for this. Leo usually prided himself on his ability to take the unexpected with ease, but today he was absolutely terrified.

Machines he knew. They were logical and consistent and predictable. With machines, Leo was in full control of how they behaved and could fix any problem that might arise. But a human body? May the gods help him understand that. Biology was out of his realm and seemed to him like complete, irrational nonsense. How a human being could come out of another human being was beyond what he could fathom.

So here he sat in the waiting room of New Athens' Apollo Hospital, a building he helped construct, tapping his knee impatiently while the love of his life was going through surgery in order to give birth to a daughter he had only ever dreamed of having. That alone was enough to have Leo hyperventilating. He was doing everything he could to not think about every possible thing that could go wrong in this situation. He was failing miserably.

Reaching into his toolbelt, Leo pulled out the pieces of metal he had been playing with earlier in an attempt to keep his hands busy. He had twisted them into several different 3D animals, though he didn't really know why. Small children on the brain, he supposed.

It seemed like a lifetime ago that Leo had been working in the shop that morning, building a remote control airplane for Jack's seventh birthday. He hadn't even told Jason and Piper he was making it because he wanted it to be a surprise. The Grace child was obsessed with flying these days (what more would you expect from a Zeus legacy), and since Uncle Leo loved spoiling his nephew with gifts, he had been waking up early to work on this project.

They had come to the hospital for a check-up, just like they had been doing for the past eight months. The doctor took one look at the x-ray and told them the baby had to come out. Now. ASAP. Next thing Leo knew Calypso was being brought into the surgery room and Leo barely had a chance to process what had happened until he was back in the lobby trying not to burn up or have a heart-attack.

That about summed it up: an overtired, flipped out mechanic unexpectedly about to become a father. Styx.

"Leo."

He jumped to his feet at his name, only to see Piper coming into the hospital with Jason following closely behind. She had a huge smile on her face. "We came as fast as we could."

"You excited?" Jason chuckled as he came over, slapping Leo on the back. He felt like he might vomit.

"Leo, breathe," Piper said as she sat down across from him. The charmspeak allowed him to let out a long breath.

"How are you staying calm right now?" He said in exasperation. "What if something happens? I mean what if the doctors, you know, mess with the wrong organ or something? Do you have any idea how many things could go wrong right now? What if the baby gets stuck? What if, like, her titan genes make her body not work normally? Or what if - "

"Relax," Piper soothed. "The doctor's have done C-sections many times and know what they are doing. She was going to have this baby soon anyway. Its just happening a little sooner than expected."

"Too soon," Leo mumbled under his breath.

"Giving birth is totally natural," Piper continued. "Her body will be able to take it."

The charmspeak was effective at calming him, but not entirely comforting. Leo sat back down and rubbed his bloodshot eyes with his palms. "I don't like nature," he complained.

"When you meet your child you might change your mind," Jason replied.

"When I meet my child..." he murmured back, linking his fingers and leaning his elbows against his knees. Leo's lips curved upward at that thought. If he had told his 15-year-old self that at 28 he would be having a daughter with a beautiful woman that he rescued from a deserted island, he would have laughed out loud. Somewhere along the way he must have done something right, or else he was just incredibly lucky. He didn't care which, so long as his wife and child got through this safe and sound.

"Mr. Valdez."

Leo looked up to see a smiling nurse. Smiling. That was a very good sign.

"They're okay?" He stood up again. It was supposed to be a question, but it came out more like a demand because he was not going to accept any other answer.

The nurse nodded. "They are wonderful," she told him. "Come right this way."

Letting out a relieved sigh, Leo glanced at Jason and Piper who gave him encouraging looks. He shakily followed the nurse down the hallway. Adrenaline pounded loudly in his ears. As they turned a corner his gut suddenly clenched in a weird mix of nerves and excitement. He had a daughter. Holy Hephaestus, he had a daughter.

He was on the verge of literally leaping for joy when the nurse stopped in front of a door. Leo had definitely stopped breathing as well.

There she was, sitting up in the hospital bed with a little bundle of blankets in her arms. As he entered the room she looked up at him, her tired eyes bloodshot like his and wet with tears. In that moment his heart swelled with an overwhelming combination of immense love, joy, relief, fear, and disbelief. She mirrored his emotions exactly.

"We have a baby girl," she choked, simultaneously laughing and sobbing. He had never seen her so happy.

"We have a baby girl," he echoed, his voice cracking as tears filled his eyes as well. Still shaking, Leo moved over to the side of the bed and squeezed his wife's shoulder. He looked down at the baby's face.

She was absolutely tiny. Her scrawny little face was scrunched up, red, and blochy; her eyes were closed tightly as her lips sucked reflexively in her sleep. There was nothing beautiful about her, but Leo thought she was the most perfect, most gorgeous thing he had ever seen. For someone whom at one point in his life believed he would never have a chance to experience this moment, he didn't care what the baby looked like so long as it was his. He knew Calypso felt the same way.

Leo reached over and placed two calloused fingers gently against her warm, soft cheek. He sighed in awe. "Hi Anza, baby," he said quietly. Instinctively, his fingers began tapping a familiar pattern that he had learned long ago. I love you, they tapped in Morse Code. I love you, I love you, I love you...