Philip came back the next morning to examine Alexander. Hephaestion was up and about, and so let the doctor into the room. Quietly, he told him that Alexander was still asleep, even though it was nine in the morning. Suddenly, they heard Alexander call from inside the room and Hephaestion reentered the room, Philip following him.
Having been put on a certain regimen of herbs and teas, as well as bedrest for the rest of his pregnancy the night before, Alexander needed more help than usual to get what he needed or wanted. Hephaestion had patiently accepted this, as well as Alexander's seemingly unending need for attention. He knew from many years of experience with the man that a single moment of inactivity could drive Alexander mad. The night before, after Alexander had fallen asleep for the final time that night, Hephaestion had prayed to the gods for patience to deal with Alexander at this time.
Alexander did not waste any time requesting what he wanted once he saw that his lover had come at his call, "Phai, could you get me-" he paused when he realized that was in the room as well, "Oh... Hello, Philip."
"Joy to you, Alexander," the physician smiled and bowed slightly in respect, "And how is the little prince doing today?"
"He's absolutely starving... Oh yes! Phai, can you please, please get me some sturgeon fish in a honey glaze? Please?"
Philip gave a great belly laugh when he saw Hephaestion pull a face of disgust as he turned slightly green around the edges, "The prince is demanding his first delicacy! Oh, Alexander, you should be proud!"
Alexander grinned while Hephaestion muttered, "Yes, but in a honey glaze?" and Alexander noticed that he had a hand over his mouth and a arm wrapped around his tomach as he left to go to the kitchens.
"Is he all right?" he asked the doctor worriedly as he watched Hephaestion go.
Philip smiled, "He will be fine. He is just not used to such strange demands."
"My request was strange?" Alexander looked at him, innocently confused.
"To him it is, but these demands for certain combinations of food are the babe telling you he needs them. These feelings are called "cravings." You both will get used to them as time goes on and the prince grows inside you. Now, I came by to see how the babe was doing after your pains last night," he stood up and moved down the bed a little, away from Alexander.
Alexander startled a little, "Why? Is something wrong? WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY BABY?!" tears began to leak from his eyes.
Philip was quick to console him, "Nothing is wrong with the prince as far as I can see. I am just being cautious. This is not a normal situation, after all."
"MY BABY WON'T BE NORMAL?! I NEED MY PHAI!" Alexander had taken to full out sobbing now and Philip looked around quickly, not quite sure what he had said or how to calm his king.
By this point, Hephaestion had retrieved his love's needed meal and was making his way carefully back to their shared rooms, when Ptolemy almost barreled into him as he came running in the opposite direction, looking beyond panicked.
"Oh Hephaestion, thank Zeus above! Alexander's gone mad!"
"Mad how?" Hephaestion inquired skeptically yet calmly, for he had dealt with many times Alexander had gone "mad" for many different reasons over the years.
"He's sobbing and calling for you! I have no idea what Philip did, but-" he watched as Hephaestion's faace darkened with rage. The rest of his explantion was lost as Hephaestion stormed off down the corridor still holding the tray, swearing and cursing Philip under his breath as he went. Before he got too far off, Ptolemy followed, wanting to see what would happen.
"PHILIP! WHAT IN HADES DID YOU DO?!" Hephaestion roared as he rounded the corner near their room, finding Cleitus and the obviously worried and frightened doctor standing outside while a clearly distraught Alexander wailed beyond the open door.
Without waiting for an answer, Hephaestion pushed his way between the two men and into the room. The first thing he noticed was that the room was just as he had left it; there was not a drop of blood anywhere. The only thing amiss was that Alexander was wailing as if the world was about to end. Hephaestion hurried to his side and took his hand, hoping that the gentle pressure of his hand on Alexander's would be enough to let his lover know that he was there with him and that he was safe.
Apparently it was, because Alexander turned to him and leaned into his side, his tears quieting just a bit. Hephaestion moved him over on the bed before helping himself to the space Alexander had allowed him. When Alexander offered no explanation of what had happened on his own, Hephaestion decided some gentle prompting would get him to open up.
"What did Philip do, Love? Did he hurt you?"
Alexander flinched against Hephaestion at the mention of Philip and Hephaestion held him tighter, not speaking but instead waiting for Alexander to tell him in his own time. It took a good while for Alexander to speak, but when he did Hephaestion was ready.
"Philip, he, he... He said something was wrong with our Little Hektor, Phai! He said that our baby wasn't normal!" and he began to sob again.
Covering Alexander's exposed ear with a hand, Hephaestion twisted toward the door and bellowed, "PHILIP!" The elderly physician shuffled into the room, the look on his face telling Hephaestion that the man knew he was in trouble, "Did you tell your king that the babe he carries will not be normal?"
"No, General..." his voice shook, "I only meant that the babe was begotten under circumstances that were not of the norm."
"But you also said that there was something wrong with him!" Alexander reminded him.
"Hush, Xander. Calm yourself. We can not do with another one of your fits, Love," Hephaestion told him quietly before turning again to the doctor, "What did you mean by that?"
"I did not say that there was something wrong with the Prince for certain. I only meant that with His Majesty's recent fits, I wanted to make sure they hadn't hurt the babe."
Hephaestion took this in before waving Philip away and turning back to Alexander, "Thank you, Philip. You are dismissed," The doctor bowed quickly and then the door opened and clicked closed again, "You see, Darling? He meant you nor the babe any harm."
"He frightened me, Phai," Alexander whispered, trying to find comfort in his soulmate's closeness.
"I know. Every is all right. Would you like me to feed you your meal now?"
"I am not very hungry for sturgeon at the moment, although I thank you for bringing it to me. I am sorry to put you through all that trouble, Phai. The babe still does not know the value of everything his father does for him Mama."
Hephaestion gave a half smile at Alexander's sad tone, "It's all right. I will just leave it here and you can have it later if you wish. But Love, I thought you said you weren't Hektor's Mama, although I love that you've changed your mind."
"Yes well, I've decided that the title couldn't hurt, at least not in private with you or Hektor. Any one of the soldiers says it though-"
"I will permanently banish them personally, Love. Mama," Hephaestion tried the new title for his beloved out on his tongue, grinning as he watched Alexander blush heatedly.
"Stop it."
"Won't it be beautiful though, hearing our baby boy call, "Mama!" whenever he wants you to hold him or kiss him?" Hephaestion had taken to kissing Alexander's neck, an activity that usually led to something of deeper meaning for the both of them.
"Stop-!" suddenly, Alexander gasped aloud and then curled in on himself.
As soon as Hephaestion heard the mutters of pain from his beloved, he did pull away, although not completely, a hand on Alexander's arm letting the man know he was near.
"Ow, ow..." Alexander had his head down and his hands cupped his belly from underneath.
"Love? What hurts?"
"Can I get up? I need to get up," before Hephaestion could move a muscle, Alexander sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, throwing back the covers.
"Wait, wait, Xander!" Hephaestion hurried out of bed and to his lover's side, "I don't think getting out of bed is such a good idea. Wait here, and I'll go get Philip."
"I don't want Philip, Phai! I need the toilet, I am going to shit-!" suddenly there was a muffled sound in the bedsheets as Alexander's body released, "No! No, no, no!" Alexander, knowing what he had just done, was horrified, and so hid his face in his hands and began to weep.
Hephaestion stood there stunned for a moment. It was not as if he and Alexander were not used to such things from one another; indeed, as younger boys they had often challenged their friends to vulgar games such as to see who could piss the straightest when drunk and so on. But for Alexander to not have control- Hephaestion shook his head to clear it as he reminded himself that Alexander was with child, and that his body, while still his own, often did things of its own accord because of it. There had even been a few nights recently where Alexander had wet himself because he had not asked for help in getting to the toilet.
"Love, it's all right. We will get you clean and back into bed soon, I promise."
"You're not mad?" Alexander looked at him, his eyes swimming with tears.
"Why would I be mad? This is your body's doing, you're not doing it consciously. Let us get you in the bath and then I will call a page to bring fresh sheets so that I can clean the bed. Oh, Deaest, I promise you I am not angry with you in the slightest. Now let me just get the chamberpot and a wet cloth- Do you think you can get to the washroom without my help?"
"No..." Alexander moaned.
"Okay..." Hephaestion paused, thinking of how to handle this situation in the most discreet way possible, "Let me call Demetrios, all right?" referring to one of Alexander's older pages, a boy of sixteen.
Demetrios came at his lord's call, readying the bath while Hephaestion sat with Alexander, soothing his fears every once in a while. Having been with them since he was ten years of age, Demetrios was done with readying the bath quickly and didn't flinch when Hephaestion requested help in getting Alexander into the washroom. They soon had Alexander somewhat clean and into the bath, and then Demetrios did away with the soiled sheets and replaced them with new ones before announcing that the bed was clean and going back to his own chores.
"You see? I knew we could trust Demetrios. He won't breathe a word of this to anyone unless told to, I promise," Hephaestion ran his hands through Alexander's shoulder-length, sun-kissed hair, causing him to tip his head back just a little with a content sigh.
"I am so tired, Phai..." he murmured.
"I know, my Love. We only must get you clean and then you can sleep once more."
"I feel like I have no energy... I can't even get out of bed to get to the toilet..."
"That is why I am here, Love. You must only ask and you shall receive whatever it is you wish for-"
"Can I not be with child anymore then?" and he dropped off to sleep even as he lay in the warm water, missing Hephaestion's shocked and hurt expression. Seeing that Alexander had fallen asleep, Hephaestion sighed deeply and lifted him from the dirtied water, taking him back to their bed and toweling him dry as gently as possible so as not to wake him from a very well deserved sleep. But as Hephaestion lay beside him once more, he found that sleep had abandoned him to his thoughts.
AN: I realize how long this chapter is. I'm sorry. Because it is so long, it may seem like it didn't fit all together or that there were several ideas here instead of one that was easy to follow. I'm sorry for that too. Can you guys ever forgive me? That said, I hope you all enjoyed this extremely long chapter!