A/N: And there is a baby!

Small reminder that you can still vote for the Solangelo rewards 2021 on solange-lol! My fic is nominated too!

Dionysus teleported us to a pretty nice apartment block in the middle of New York. 'What number?' I asked.

'32.'

'Alright.' I walked to the door and hovered my fingers over the bells, but when I found it, I did not ring it.

'Is something wrong?'

'I am a little anxious.'

'A little?'

'Okay, quite. Quite anxious.'

'Hm. Does that get better if you don't ring the doorbell, even though we have an appointment?'

He had a point. I pressed the doorbell, which felt like quite the achievement.

'Who's there?' A male voice asked through the intercom. I took a deep breath.

'Uh…Nico. Nico di Angelo.' I swallowed. 'Um, Mary invited us…'

'Of course! Come on in!' The door opened with a soft click. I shot a look at Dionysus, before we walked into the building.

'How come that you are so nervous all of a sudden? Usually, you talk to people quite easily. I am assuming you did not talk to the troglodytes like this when you first met them.'

'I don't know. Something about the fact that Mary has a baby makes me nervous. I am afraid I'll hurt them.'

'It'll be okay. Try to calm down. His name is Ernest, by the way.'

'Because you are such an authority on names.'

'Now, we are not getting your mouth too big.'

I tried to laugh, but it was higher pitched than usual. 'Of course not.'

The door was already open. A man in his late twenties was standing in the doorway. He looked like he was perpetually on a pink cloud.

He stuck out his hand. We both shook it. 'You must be Nico,' he told me. 'And are you Dio? I don't hear that name often.'

Dionysus shrugged. I assumed Mary had not told George his full name. 'Oh well.'

'Come in,' George said, with stars in his eyes, 'Ernest is just awake!' He led us into the apartment, which looked cozy. They had a fluffy couch in the living room, and Mary was sitting on that couch, and she was holding the tiniest human I had ever seen in my life.

I mouth fell open a little. Mary smiled. 'Look, Nico, this is Ernest.'

'He's… he's so…' I took a step backwards. My anxiety went throught the roof.

George looked at us with a huge smile, seemingly unaware of how I was feeling. 'He is beautiful, isn't he!' He sighed. 'Do you want anything to drink?' Dionysus looked at Mary and at me. 'I think we could all use a cup of tea. I'll help'

'That's not…'

'No, it's okay.' Dionysus looked over at George, who went quiet, turned around and walked to the kitchen. Mary raised her eyebrows and shot Dionysus a look. 'Don't give him a heart attack.'

'Of course not.' Dionysus walked after George, so that I was left alone with Mary and Ernest.

She turned back to me. 'Come, you can sit down.' I stayed where I was.

'He… he is so small.'

'Yes. It's okay, Nico.' My heart rate increased. I didn't want to hurt the baby, but I did not want to upset Mary either.

Slowly, I walked over to the couch and sat down. Mary pushed the blue, fluffy blanket aside a little. 'Look.'

I looked at the small bundle in her arms. The baby was wearing a jumper and a small hat. He looked adorable, but all I could think to say was: 'Why… why is the hat pink? Not that it matters, but...'

'We didn't really think about it when we bought it,' she said, with a small shrug. 'After he was born, we did think that it was a little unconventional. But as you said, it does not reallt matter. It is just a hat!' I slowly nodded.

'I mean, it fits, pink is Aphrodites' holy colour.'

She chuckled. 'Yes, it is.'

Ernest' little eyes were open. They turned to me for a second. 'He sees, but he doesn't really see me, right?'

'No, he is too small for that.'

'Ah.' Then I need to be even more careful with him.

Dionysus and George came back with a platter of tea and biscuits. George was non-stop talking about the new baby. To me, it seemed like a miracle that Dionysus managed to look interested in what he was saying.

He put the platter onto the table. George kept talking while making all of us a cup of tea, without thinking to ask whether we wanted sugar or milk. We just got it. I didn't mind, though, I kind of liked tea with milk.

When he was done with his story and with his tea, George sat down next on the other side of Mary. Dionysus sat down in an armchair slightly further away.

For a moment, we all just looked at the baby. 'He's beautiful, right?' George asked. An even bigger smile grew on Mary's face, while she looked at her boyfriend for a second.

'They always are,' Dionysus commented. I only nodded, still a little fearful.

Mary looked up at me again. 'Do you want to hold him?'

'What?' I swiftly shook my head.

'It's okay, Nico. I am here, and Dio is too...'

I looked at my hands. I mean, I did want to hold the baby, but…

Ernest gave a little cry. George jumped up. 'I'll go see what's wrong,' he said, sounding slightly panicked. He carefully took Ernest from his mother, before walking to the next room. Mary gave Dionysus an angry look. He was playing innocent.

She sighed. 'Nico, it really is okay,' she reassured me.

'What if I hurt him? I don't want to hurt him. He's so small.'

Dionysus scraped his throat. 'Nico, why do you think you'll hurt Ernest?'

'Sometimes I feel like I'll lose control.'

'Have you ever lost control the past few months?'

'No. Not since the monster attack on Denny's.'

'So why would you lose control now?'

I shrugged. 'Logically, I know that the chance is basically zero. Yet, that does not make the fear go away.' Dionysus was quiet for a moment. Mary laid a hand on my shoulder.

'Do you want to hold him? As in, just want it, if you don't think about your fears for a second?'

'Yes.'

'Then you can just come back when you feel better about it. That's okay, I know you, after all.'

I looked at the couch. 'I really like the baby, it is not that.'

Mary smiled, as if it truly did not matter. 'Do you want to see him again, though? Otherwise, you can just leave now, before George comes back.'

I shook my head. 'I want to see him again.' I looked at Dionysus, who gave me a single nod.

A few minutes later, George came back with Ernest. 'He has been cleaned up.' He gave the baby back to Mary. I looked at Ernest. For a moment, I could imagine that he was looking back.

We sat and talked for a few minutes, but I did not really listen. After a while, I took a deep breath. 'Eh… can I still hold him?'

Mary gave me a surprised look. 'Of course.' Slowly, she handed me Ernest, until I was holding him on my own. He looked sleepy, with his little blanket and his little hat. He was warm, tiny and his small eyes were looking, or trying to look. I cradled him slightly closer and smiled.

'He's so soft.'

George sighed. 'Yes.'

'I think that is mostly the blanket,' Mary commented. George shook his head in the background. Mary turned around. I laughed.

The baby gave a small cry when my arms shook. With a start, I looked back at him. Oh, he was already calm. Was he already calm?

'Shall I take him back?' Mary asked.

'Yes,' I said, a little freaked out. With utmost care I gave Ernest back to his mother.

After that, I picked up my tea and took a sip. George decided it was time to begin another story, but now I was happy to listen to it.

After half an hour, Ernest had fallen asleep. Mary looked tired.

'I think it might be time to leave,' Dionysus commented. I nodded, and so did Mary. George got up and showed us out.

After he closed the door, Dionysus put his hand on the wall next to it. He whispered a few words in Ancient Greek. When he was done, he beckoned me down the stairway. 'I had to bless them,' he explained, 'Mary should have a healthy, happy baby and Ernest should have a happy, healthy mother.' I completely agreed.

'Nico?'

'Yes?'

'What made you suddenly think that you could hold Ernest?'

I shrugged. 'I don't know. But I did it.'

'Are you glad you did it?'

'Yes. I am very happy I did it. On one hand because I liked Ernest, but on the other hand because it feels like I am closer to defeating that fear. I really did not hurt him. So next time, I probably won't either.' I sighed. 'Thanks for coming along.'

'Hey, I wanted to see the kid too.' He looked at me with a small smile.

'Ah.'

He sighed deeply. 'Don't listen to me, Nico. I think you did very well.'

A/N: Hand-shaking,,,,, it feels like a century ago that that was considered polite,,,,

Btw why is there no celebratory food for when a baby is born in the USA? In the Netherlands, you get 'beschuit met muisjes' when you visit a new baby. It is a sailors biscuit, but with butter and little anise dots (the muisjes), usually blue for a boy and pink for a girl, although there has been a new trend of gender neutral 'muisjes,' which are red for example. When a royal baby is born, for a small period of time the stores will sell orange anise dots.

This is the end of the (Admittedly rather short) Parent arc! Of course there will be way more content with Hades and/or Persephone, but I think that falls under the new arc that will begin after a bonus chapter...