So…I decided to do the first week of school for second grade, because I like writing elementary school stuff for this FanFic. The next chapter will focus solely on the high school side of things, so get ready!

CHAPTER 29

"When you wake up in the morning at a quarter to one,

And you want to have a little fun, you brush your teeth!"

Eurydice usually sang this song every single morning…and it was driving Leto nuts!

"Honey," said Leto kindly, "how about a different song?"

"But it's the only teeth-brushing song I know," Eurydice retorted.

"I'll have to ask Rhea if she knows any other teeth-brushing songs," said Leto.

At Bellerophon's house, Eurynome was sitting on the couch, feeling like she couldn't do anything. She didn't know when the labor would begin, but she and Glaucus were trying to find people to take care of Bellerophon while they had the baby.

Bellerophon ran down the stairs, kissed his mom on the cheek, high-fived his dad, then ran to the pantry to get some breakfast.

Cinnamon—who followed him everywhere—was sitting next to him, wagging his tail excitedly.

The doorbell rang, just as Bellerophon was putting on his shoes. He opened the door and was surprised to see Jason standing there.

"Hi," Jason said. "Orpheus is meeting us at school, so I get to go to school with you!"

"Cool," Bellerophon said. "But you'll have to deal with Phaethon."

"Phaethon's okay," said Jason. "C'mon. I don't want to be late. I met Miss Ramirez-Arellano last week, and she doesn't play around."

Once Phaethon got there, Glaucus drove the three boys to school.

"Have a good day!" he yelled. "Make good choices!"

When the three of them entered Ms. Hecate's Academy, they found all their friends putting stuff into their lockers. They quickly found their lockers and began putting stuff into them.

The classroom door flew open and Reyna stepped out. She was wearing a purple dress, but that didn't make her look any less scary.

"Good morning, class!" she shouted, and the kids froze in terror. "I am Miss Ramirez-Arellano, your second-grade teacher. Please come quietly into the classroom so I can take attendance!"

The kids didn't know what to think of that, so they all headed into the classroom.

Reyna's classroom was set up like the freaking Roman Senate—there were desks in rows that faced the whiteboard. Reyna's desk sat front and center, and everything in the classroom looked to be a shade of purple. When Hedone looked at the purple colors, she decided that purple was no longer her favorite color.

"Good morning," Reyna said again. She went to the board and wrote her name…in cursive. "My name is Miss Ramirez-Arellano. Welcome to second grade! I hope you all had a nice summer. Does anyone want to share what they did?"

The kids—who were all in their seats by this time—looked up at Reyna like she'd eat them. Reyna put her hands on her hips and looked at the class.

Perseus, the brave soul that he is, said, "Miss R, my Uncle P had a heart attack over the summer, and we threw a big celebration party when he did."

Reyna looked up from her scary teacher clipboard. "That's awful. Who else wants to share?"

Andromeda raised her hand, too. "Miss R, I fell off my bike and broke my arm. And on the way to the hospital, I threw up all over Mommy."

Reyna was about to say something Roman, when the door flew open.

"Hi, Ms. Psyche!" yelled Hebe.

"Hi, Hebe," said Psyche. "Miss R, I'm sorry for the interruption. Could I borrow Hebe for a few minutes?"

Reyna nodded curtly.

Hebe ran to Psyche, took her hand, and the student and nurse headed to Psyche's office.

Reyna continued to take attendance. Once she was done, she ordered everyone to stand up. "Our first unit in social studies is to learn about Ancient Rome. I'm a Roman demigod, so I naturally know everything about Rome. Yes?" she said, pointing to Atalanta.

"Usually we label our supplies on the first day of school, Miss R," Atalanta corrected.

Reyna glowered at her. "We're going to jump right into today's history lesson, Atalanta."

Atalanta looked down at her folders dejectedly.

Reyna asked the class to move their desks so that they were sitting in clusters of four. Then, she ordered one of the students from each cluster to sit in a chair with their neighbors, so that it looked like the desks were surrounding an empty desk. When the class was finished, Reyna smiled at them.

"This is called a triclinium," she stated, writing the word on the board. "And pay attention! There's going to be a quiz later on vocab!"

Reyna proceeded to teach the class about how Romans used to eat their food. Then, all the rich Romans would puke when they were done, and they would continue to eat! All the kids were staring at Reyna like she had pickles growing out of her ears.

"This was a common practice for the Ancient Romans," Reyna continued. "And—are all of you taking notes?"

"What are notes?" asked Makaria.

"Notes are important facts that you'll need to study," Reyna replied angrily. "I'm not going back over this again, so if you don't have notes, then you'll fail the quiz later on."

Well, let's just say the first day of school could've gone better. The kids were terrified of their teacher, and Reyna wasn't getting the teaching experience she wanted.

While the kids were at recess, they all ran around for some well-deserved playtime. Reyna and Psyche sat on a bench together and talked for a while.

"When's the baby coming?" asked Jason.

"I think he's coming…today," said Bellerophon.

"Cool," Jason breathed. "Did you name him yet?"

"Nope," said Bellerophon. "Mommy and Daddy have a name, but they won't tell me."

"Hey, what do you guys think of Miss R?" asked Phaethon.

"This year's gonna suck," said Bellerophon. "She already gave us homework. I don't even remember getting homework from Miss Levesque last year."

"She gave us a bit," said Phaethon, "but we could get it done quickly. Miss R wants us to read a chapter, and I don't even know what that is!"

"It's like a longer picture book," said Jason. "But there's no pictures and it's just a bunch of big words you won't understand anyway."

When the first recess of the year was over, Reyna blew her teacher whistle, and the kids lined up at the door. Reyna did a quick head count, made sure everyone was facing forward, then told them to go into the classroom and sit on the carpet.

"Okay," said Reyna, "I was just kidding with you all before recess. There's no homework, but I just wanted to see if you kids were paying attention. We'll learn about history later. Today before lunch, we're going to read a story about the first day of school. Then, we're going to lunch, recess, we're going to label our folders, and go to PE with Ms. Aethra."

The class cheered, because Miss R didn't seem like a total scary teacher lady anymore!

"This story is called Typhon Goes to School," said Reyna. "It was written by Apollo and illustrated by Athena." And she began to read. "It was a bright, sunny morning and Typhon was getting ready for his first day of school. Mother Gaea was very proud of her son. She said, 'What would you like for breakfast?'"

As Reyna was going through the story, she did all the characters' voices in a silly way, made the story fun, and asked the kids questions during the thing to check their comprehension. When the story was done, the class stood up and Reyna taught them some songs about school.

At lunch, Andromeda, Perseus, Theseus, and Phaedra all sat at the same table. Lunch today was cheese pizza with salad, fruit cups, and brownies for dessert. Miss Hestia had prepared a delicious meal!

"Guys," said Theseus, "I heard Bellerophon's mommy's gonna poop out a baby."

"Is that where babies come from?" asked Perseus. "I thought mommies peed them out."

"No, I think they poop them out," said Andromeda. "I'm not sure, though. What do you think, Phaedra?"

"I don't know. I have a big sister, but I would feel awkward asking her that."

"Maybe Miss R could tell us later," said Theseus. "I think we can ask my mommy, too."

After a delicious lunch and an energetic recess, Reyna came back to get her class. "Did you all have a good lunch?" she said.

"Yes," the class said.

"Great! So, we're going to label our folders now. Can everyone take out their take-home folders for me? This folder will be for letting me and parents know if something needs to be done."

Reyna walked around, inspecting everyone's take-home folders. "Good. Now, take out your yellow folders. This folder is for math." She wrote MATH on the whiteboard and the kids copied her. "The green one is for language arts, the red one is for science, and the blue one is for social studies." Reyna wrote down all the words on the board so the kids would spell them correctly. "Make sure your names on your folder somewhere so we'll know it's yours.

"We have an orange folder left, and that will be used for specials. If you get to take home something for art or mythology, you'll use this folder."

After the kids finished labeling their folders, Reyna told them that they could play games with their friends until it was time for PE.

"Time for PE!" yelled Reyna over the gentle hum of the classroom.

Fructus and Hebe were in the middle of playing a letters game, but they put it away sadly and went over to Reyna so she could take the class to PE.

"Okay, you guys have fun," said Reyna. "I'll see you in an hour."

Ms. Aethra was playing some dance music when the kids entered the gym. "Hi, everyone! Did you all have a good summer?"

"Yes," said the class.

"Great! Today, we're going to play kickball," said Ms. Aethra. "Everyone remembers how to play from last year, right?"

The class was silent, so Ms. Aethra assumed they did.

"Great. So—yes, Theseus?"

"Mommy, where do babies come from?"

"Uh…any other questions? Yes, Phaethon?"

"Can I be score keeper?"

"Sure, dear," said Ms. Aethra.

So, the kids played a game of kickball. By the time they had congratulated the losing team, Reyna had come to get her class.

"Okay," she said, "I'm going to hand out a welcome letter from me and the rules of the classroom. Please put this into your take-home folder so you can share them with your parents tonight."

When it was time to go home, Bellerophon got a big surprise. He was confused as to why Mr. Helios was there, and his mother wasn't.

"Bellerophon and Phaethon, you're going back to our house for a couple of days," said Helios. "Bellerophon, Mommy's having the baby."

Bellerophon's heart skipped a beat; this would mean that he wasn't his parents' favorite anymore. This made him sad, but then he thought, Babies are dumb anyway. The baby won't know I'm hogging Mommy and Daddy. So, he shrugged it off and got into the back of Helios' car.

Leto came into the room to get Eurydice. "C'mon, honey. Let's go shopping!"

Eurydice gave Orpheus a hug, then ran over to Leto, who took her hand and let her granddaughter pull her out the front door.

When Bellerophon and Phaethon got home, Helios asked to see their take-home folders. Then, he told them to leave him alone so he could drink his beer in private. Helios showed Clymene the folders, then ran down to the basement to drink in private.

Clymene came up to Phaethon's room, where she found her son and his best friend playing with Phaethon's Greek mythology action figures. "Boys, what should we have for dinner?"

"Can we have mac-and-cheese?" asked Bellerophon.

"And chicken nuggets?" asked Phaethon.

"Sure we can," said Clymene. "You two can watch a movie in the playroom while you eat, too."

Bellerophon and Phaethon high-fived each other and Clymene ran to go make their dinner.

Meanwhile, at the Olympus Medical Center (or whatever the hell it's called), Eurynome and Glaucus had just been admitted. Eurynome was having super bad contractions and Eileithyia had just come in with an epidural.

"Glaucus," said Eurynome, "why do we keep having kids?"

Glaucus shrugged. He was reading a book called Astronomy for Idiots when his wife asked him the question.

"Okay, Eurynome," said Eileithyia. "I just need to check you out before I go see other pregnant people."

"Can I look away for this part?" asked Glaucus.

"C'mere and hold my hand," said Eurynome.

Glaucus shrugged and turned on the TV. A commercial about the funeral home that Hades worked at came on.

"Hello, universe," said Hades. "I am Hades, co-founder of the funeral home Nico and Sons. I'm here today to bring you an urgent message. Last night, some guy walked in here and just, like, died or something. Here's his picture." Hades showed a picture of a fat mortal dude. "Okay, if you know who this is, please stop by Nico and Sons Funeral Home and we'll do lots of paperwork until your brain falls out of your eyeballs. That is all."

"Okay," said Eileithyia, throwing her gloves away, "you're good, Eurynome. Just press the call button if you need anything."

"Let's call Bellerophon," said Eurynome. "He's probably wondering about us."

Clymene was in the middle of making dinner when her phone vibrated. "Hi, Eurynome. How's it going?" She was silent for a bit. "Okay. I'll tell him. He's been a little sad tonight. Something about you guys not loving him when the baby's born. Oh, don't cry, Eurynome! You're okay. It's just your hormones. In a few minutes, you'll forget about it."

Bellerophon—who must've heard Clymene talking to his parents—ran into the kitchen and stood in front of Clymene.

"Sure. Here he is," Clymene said. Then to Bellerophon: "It's Mommy, honey."

Bellerophon put the phone to his ear and spoke, "Mommy? I miss you guys! When can I see you again?"

Eurynome had already gotten over her crying spell and was talking calmly again. "On Thursday, we'll come home, and you'll have a baby brother to meet, dear."

"Yes!"

"Bellerophon, honey, you know that we'll love you just as much as the new baby, right?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Okay. We'll call you when he gets here."

"Okay, Mommy," said Bellerophon sadly. "Have fun with the baby! Don't push too hard so your brain explodes!" He gave the phone back to Clymene and skipped off to the playroom.

Moments later, Clymene got off the phone with Eurynome and brought the boys their dinner. "Boys," she said, "after dinner, how about we go out for ice cream?"

"Yes!" the boys squealed with delight.

"Excellent!"

Meanwhile, Eurynome was trying hard not to scream. The baby was definitely coming now; she was having bad contractions that weren't that far apart. Glaucus was sitting in the chair, reading another astronomy book. He thought that if he ignored Eurynome, she would stop screaming, but this wasn't the case. Eurynome caught what he was trying to do, so that only made her scream louder.

Glaucus had seen Bellerophon being born and thought he could handle a second kid. But then he remembered that—just after Bellerophon was born—he passed out and it took three medically-trained gods to haul him back into the chair.

Finally, after what felt like a gazillion years, Eileithyia came back into the room and the active labor process began. Glaucus thought that Eurynome might've broken his hand at one point, but eventually, the baby came out and Eurynome puked all over the bedsheets. By this point, Glaucus had already passed out and was lying in a crumpled heap at the head of the hospital bed.

Eileithyia looked up from her position at the foot of the bed. She saw Eurynome with puke dribbling down her chin, then looked over and saw Glaucus lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. Eileithyia sighed, going over to the phone. "I need someone to clean up puke, someone to get Glaucus back into a chair, and someone to help me wash the baby."

Through the door came Artemis (to help wash the baby), Apollo (to haul Glaucus off the floor), and Asclepius (who got the most pleasant job of all: cleaning up Eurynome's stomach contents).

Finally, Eurynome got to meet her son. They named the boy Deliades. Then, they decided they were going to call Bellerophon and tell him the big news.

It was around ten at night (yeah, this birth took hardly any time at all). The boys were already asleep, and Clymene and Helios were kissing on the couch, when the phone rang. Clymene ran to pick it up while Helios had yet another drink.

"Hello? Hi, Eurynome," Clymene said into the phone. "Yeah, he just went to bed, but he might still be awake."

Phaethon and Bellerophon were—in fact—still awake. They were playing with Phaethon's action figures.

"I'll kick your ass," said Bellerophon. Then, he heard a voice coming up the stairs. "Shit, dude. I think it's your mom."

Phaethon quickly threw the figures under his bed and pretended to be asleep.

The door creaked open and Clymene poked her head into the room. "Boys," she called.

Phaethon rolled over. Bellerophon sat up and looked at Mrs. Clymene.

"The baby's here," said Clymene.

The next day at school, Phaethon and Bellerophon were talking to their friends while they were putting their backpacks into their lockers.

"I haven't seen him yet," said Bellerophon. "I bet he's a big, fat-ass baby, though."

"What did you look like as a baby?" asked Andromeda.

"I don't remember," said Bellerophon.

"I bet you were a big, fat-ass baby, too," said Andromeda.

Bellerophon shrugged. "Yeah. Probably."

After school, the boys went to the hospital to visit the new baby. They found Eurynome sitting up in bed with a little bundle in her arms. Glaucus was texting people because he was totes bored.

"Hi, Mommy!" Bellerophon shouted. "Can I hold him?"

"Honey, shhh," said Eurynome. "Sure. He's sleeping, though."

"Mrs. Bellerophon," said Phaethon, "is the baby a fat-ass baby?"

"Phaethon!" Clymene gasped.

"What's a fat-ass baby?" asked Glaucus.

"A baby that's fat," said Phaethon.

"Knock it off," snapped Clymene.

Eurynome laughed. "No, dear. Here he is. His name is Deliades."

Phaethon and Bellerophon walked up to the baby.

"He smells funny," said Phaethon.

"He smells clean," said Clymene gently.

Eurynome put the baby into Bellerophon's arms. Bellerophon looked down at his baby brother and realized that he might actually have some fun with this kid. He could teach him lots of things, like how to play tricks on Phaethon and how to catch a baseball. Plus, if Bellerophon broke something, he'd have someone to blame it on besides everyone blaming him.

"Hey, Deliades," Bellerophon said quietly as he held him. "Welcome to the world."

I hope you guys liked the chapter. I hope you liked the new addition to the Ms. Hecate's Academy family and everything!

Future plans for the book: I think I'll write two more chapters (all when everyone's in high school), then I'm going to wrap up the story. Please READ AND REVIEW and all that stuff, and if you have an idea for high school, please let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Icy :)