I spend the rest of the day with my baby. I love him more than anything else in the universe. I don't know if or when Helios will tell my husband, so I distract myself by coming up with games for Eros and me to play. Still, my ears are hypersensitive to any noises that might indicate that my husband has returned.
When he does come back, Eros yells "Daddy!" and runs to hug him. My husband scoops him up into a big hug. I don't like it when he picks up my baby. It's an irrational worry; I know he'd never hurt Eros, but seeing him with him reminds me of how wrong everything is. Eros should be with his real dad.
I hug my husband too, because I have to. He holds me close to him and kisses me. He doesn't seem upset. We make small talk, and I decide not to tell him about my conversation with Helios. It will only make him suspicious if Helios doesn't end up telling him, and if he does, my husband will think I lied about him threatening me. I act like everything's normal.
I go see Ares the next day. "Helios knows about us," I tell him, sitting in his lap, his arms wrapped around me. "He threatened me."
Ares strokes my hair, making the permanent knot in my stomach shrink just a bit. I lean against him, bathing in his warmth. This is how it should be.
"He came to me too," he says. "He wanted me to..." His voice takes a harder edge. "talk to you about making a deal with him. I told that smug asshole I had no idea what he was talking about." He squeezes me tighter.
"I did the same."
He looks down at me with his beautiful, chiselled face. His vibrant red eyes peer into mine from beneath his thick lashes with a look of concern. His face is so close. I want to kiss him. "Are you safe?" he asks.
Never, I want to say. Not when Eros and I are stuck living with Hephaestus and not with you. But saying that won't change anything, so instead I nod and give him a kiss.
One morning, around a week later, I wake up to find that my husband hasn't gone to his forge. When he notices me staring at him, he pulls me into an embrace and plants a sloppy kiss on my face. "I'm going to take Eros on a father-son trip to Lemnos. I've been so busy with work that I haven't been spending enough time with him. That's okay with you, right?"
I feel my body tense up. I can't say no. There's no reason for me to say no. Why is he doing this? Why did he decide to take Eros all of the sudden? I wish I could tell him to stay the fuck away from my baby. I wish I could tell him to let go of me. I wish I could take Eros and run until I was so far away that he could never touch me again.
But I can't, so I nod and hope that he won't take my baby for too long. He loves my baby and my baby loves me. He wouldn't keep him away from me.
He tries to kiss me again, but I bow my head. "Thank you, my love. We won't be gone long, only for a few days." He pauses, before grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. "You know you can always talk to me, right? If anything happens, please don't be afraid to tell me. Please. You know I love you, right? You know I'd never be angry at you for telling me about something serious, right?"
You're what's happened to me, I think. Helios must've told him. I look into his eyes. He doesn't look mad, just worried. He must not believe him. Hephaestus waits for me to tell him my side of the story, but I say nothing, so he kisses me again, grabs some bags, and leaves with my baby.
Barely any time passes before Ares comes over. "Where is Hephaestus taking our baby?" he asks, sitting beside me on the couch.
"Lemnos. He said he wanted a father-son trip. I'm sorry. I didn't know what to say," I reply, looking away and wringing my hands.
Ares pulls me into his lap and I snuggle into him. "Hey, it's okay," he says. "He'll take good care of him. It gives us some time together too."
His lips brush my earlobe. My eyes meet his and he smiles. I love his smile. I love how he looks at me. I lean forward and kiss him. He pulls me closer to him and runs his hand through my hair.
I can feel how badly he wants me. I want him too. I deepen the kiss and he starts to touch my body through my clothes. I touch his too. We start to undress each other, before he pauses, a glint in his eye. He whispers "Do you want to do it in his bed?"
I hate that bed. I hate that room. Only bad things happen there. I nod. This will be my way of making my husband pay for everything he's done to me. My secret revenge.
Ares carries me to my husband's room and lays me down on his bed. I block out my surroundings and focus on him. "Wait, Helios can't see us right now, right?" I ask.
"No," he breathes. "This is just between us."
I wake up with a start to the feeling of being watched. I wiggle out from under Ares' arms and make eye contact with my husband. Fuck.