I don't own PJO.
The way Aphrodite was beating on the door of Cabin Six you would have thought they were having a shoe sale. However, that was not the case.
She was not searching for clothing, but it was spilling out of her arms. "Liv!" she yelled almost rattling the doors. "Let your best friend in!"
Athena opened her door quickly. "Lorelei? What are you doing?"
The love goddess walked in the room and threw the clothes onto one of the beds. "Is anyone else here?"
"No," she responded. "They're at sword practice. I'm not allowed to go, because of my...condition."
"Great," she said. "I come bearing gifts, Thee."
Her friend sighed slightly. "Why am I scared?"
"Please, it's perfectly fine. I ordered some maternity clothes for you from that shop on Olympus I love to shop at."
Looking them over, she was forced to admit that her friend did have good taste in clothes. They were nothing short of what she would have picked out for herself. "I appreciate it Aph, I really do."
"What else are best friends for?" She asked with a small smile. "C'mon. I bet you haven't heard any bit of what happened this morning."
"I don't like gossip, especially when I'm sure it's all about me."
Aphrodite shook her head. "Trust me; you'll want to hear this." She told her of every little thing she knew about the various people of camp. Like how everyone though Hermes and Artemis were dating, and how Apollo was getting rejected by every girl in sight. She also told the story of what happened to the one boy when he tried to flirt with Hera. "Seuz was so furious with him, that if he wasn't already injured I would have thought that mortal would be dead."
"Injured?" Athena asked. "Who the mortal?"
"No, actually. Zeus was."
The wisdom goddess blinked in mild confusion. "Why was my father injured?"
"You didn't hear?"
"Hear what?"
She laughed. "Oh isn't this delightful? Your little boyfriend and your father got into a little scuffle early this morning." Aphrodite looked to see if she still had that picture she had taken with her iGod. "Apparently, Zeus accused Poseidon of seducing you and Poseidon told him off."
"Really?" she asked quickly.
Aphrodite smiled knowingly. "Yep, I heard some of it myself. All I know is now Poseidon has a sore hand and Zeus has a broken nose." She looked at the changing emotions on her friends face, and chose to take pity on her. "C'mon let's try on these clothes. I want to see if I got the right sizes for you."
Athena didn't like putting on clothes, but she did it to appease her friend and to get her mind off of what on earth was going on with her father. Some of them fit perfectly, but others were a bit loose for further in on the pregnancy.
"I didn't know how big you'd get," the love goddess said quietly.
"Apollo's giving me an ultrasound after lunch," her friend replied.
Aphrodite clapped. "Bring me a pic!"
"Okay."
The love goddess looked at the time. "Speaking of lunch, we should be heading down there anyway." The pair walked together until Athena noticed two figures sitting by the fire, one of a teenager and one of a small girl.
"I'll catch up with you later, Aph." Then she jogged over to the pair who were in what appeared to be intense conversation. "Hestia, Elle, what are you talking of?"
Elle blushed slightly. "It's nothing important."
Athena noticed the flowers at her daughters side, but chose to say nothing of it. She chose to address her aunt instead. "Hello Hestia, what has you here? I thought you were watching over Olympus while the rest of us are gone."
"Good day, niece. I came to see you, actually."
"Me?" she asked quietly.
Hestia nodded. "You've grown."
She sighed. "So you heard, I take it?"
Her aunt nodded again. "I'm frankly not surprised."
"You're not?" she asked.
Elle snorted. "I swear, everyone but the pair of you and grandpa can see that you're hopelessly in love."
"Hush, child," Hestia beckoned. "Unless you wish to speak of your own love life." She looked towards Athena. "I am also on a mission to find your brother; I'm convinced he's at the root of this."
Athena laughed bitterly. "I would not be surprised. Dionysus always has had an affinity for creating his own vacations and trouble."
Hestia nodded and the three of them were silent for a moment or two. Then the goddess of the hearth broke the silence. "Come, you two and lunch with me. You shall both forget all your troubles; one of an unwanted suitor and the other of her struggle between duty and desire."
Both the girls blushed, but said nothing.
By the time Poseidon had found the group their lunch was finished, and they were having a nice chat about little things. "Hey," he said sitting down next to Athena. "How are you?"
She looked at him with an odd expression. "I might as well enquire after your hand. I heard it connected with my father's face."
"I didn't want to."
She nodded. "I know, my father merely pushed it too far."
Poseidon's face clouded slightly. "He always does." His fist was clenched slightly as he spoke. "My brother speaks long before he thinks. If he were not my brother, I would not put up with him any longer."
Athena hushed him. "He'll get used to the idea in time."
"We should probably get going to see Apollo," Poseidon stated.
"We?"
He nodded. "If I remember correctly, you were not solely responsible for creating the child." Her face grew a deep red color. "So, I should get to participate in the other parts of their life."
"I've heard that most guys don't participate past the fun part."
He laughed lightly. "I can't exactly shirk my duties; I will see you for all eternity."
"Doesn't stop my father," she replied thinking of her sister Persephone.
Poseidon stood up briskly, obviously not comfortable with discussing her father. "We should go, before Apollo gets impatient."
Elle, who along with Hestia had been silent, was curious. "What are you going to do? Get an ultrasound?"
"Exactly," Athena replied with a small smile. "Would you like to come?"
Her daughter moved to nod yes, but stopped suddenly. "Where are you going?"
"The infirmary, where else would the equipment for an ultrasound be?"
Her daughter's face changed to an unreadable expression. "I'll just stay here then. I have no desire for the company in that place."
Athena looked at her curiously. "Company?"
"It's nothing mom." She looked off to the right and cursed lightly under her breath. "Oh Zeus, I have to go."
She bid her goodbyes and ran off, looking for her hiding spot. Poseidon and Athena exchanged a confused glance, before bidding goodbye to Hestia.
As they walked away, she vanished in a swirl with the smoke of her campfire, off to find the renegade wine god.
Poseidon linked his hand with Athena's, much to her surprise. "Have you been thinking much of the baby?" he asked.
"No, more of my own mistakes in life."
He scowled slightly. "Mistakes? You have made no mistakes that I'm aware of; unless that is I am considered a mistake."
She shook her head. "This, even though not planned, is not a mistake Poseidon." She sighed. "My mistakes are old and irreversible. They have nothing to do with this."
He shook his head. "I don't believe it. You are no more capable of mistakes than my good sister Hestia. You make the rest of us look bad in comparison."
"Believe it."
They were silent for a moment.
Poseidon broke through the silence after a pause. "Could you tell me what these mistakes are?"
"One," she said. "I let my father control me for years. Two, I let my fear control me more. And thirdly, I let these two stupid things guide me and cause the situation I'm in now."
"Oh," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. I know this is tough on you."
"That's not what I meant!"
"Sure," he stated.
She blushed. "I meant, not necessarily the avoiding the situation itself, but how everyone interacted to it."
"What does that mean? You don't regret this at all? You don't regret me?"
"Of course not."
"Then what…"
"I love you; that's final."
A/N:
So I've been busy. I don't know what to say to you. Hi, I guess.
Man I'm bad at author's notes.
Anyway next chapter's the ultrasound. Mel's off limits, as well as any of the other children I have ever written for this pair.
So tell me, boy or girl? Twins or one kid? What do you think?