July, 2016, New Orleans
"This has got to be some new level of Tartarus that I have not been to before." Phobos said as he looked around in utter horror.
Standing 6'6" with short brown hair striped with red, black pants tucked into black combat boots and a black sleeveless shirt that showed off the tribal tattoos running from his shoulders to his wrist, the Greek god of fear definitely looked out of place as he wandered the aisles of Babies R' Us.
"Perhaps I should mention that to Hades after I kill you." Deimos snapped back at his twin brother. Unlike Phobos, Deimos had learned to dress a little less standoffish when walking in the mortal world. His black hair was just long enough to have the top and sides pulled into a ponytail and a short, well kept beard. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Over all, he looked like the owner of some bar, unlike his brother that looked like he was about the be kicked out of it for starting a fight.
Phobos glared at Deimos. "Why are we here again?"
Deimos sighed. "Because I don't understand this stuff. I can't conjure up a nursery with my powers when I don't know everything that I need. It's easier to come here and buy it then materialize it into the room."
"And why is your wife not with you? You don't need me here." He grumbled and looked around.
Deimos was losing patience with his brother. It had been three months since he was released from imprisonment by Zeus. And it had been a crazy three months.
Deimos and Phobos were the leaders of the Dolophoni, the children of the Furies whose jobs it was to track down and bring people to justice by the order of the gods of Olympus. Of course, that justice most often times was bloody if not fatal. In short, they are assassins. And as the personifications of fear and terror, the twins were very good at their jobs.
Yet, despite all of the rules against the Dolophoni having relationships, Deimos had found a woman that not only loved him, but managed to strong arm Zeus and their mother, the goddess Alekto, into permitting their marriage without interference. The only thing they got out of the deal was to keep Deimos away from his wife for a few months of Olympus time, which was ten months on Earth. The couple just didn't tell the king of the gods that Jenna, could visit Deimos in his dreams during his imprisonment.
So, by the time he was released, she was already three months pregnant. Yeah, there were perks to being a god or demigod.
However, since Jenna is not permitted to live with him on the Vanishing Isle and Olympian gods can't live on Earth for long without giving up their immortality, they have been busy renovating the house that Deimos bought for her, some place he would feel safe to leave her when he is not there. Not only is the home an older, Antebellum mansion to start with and needed updating, but given the wide range of preternatural threats in the world that humans don't know about, Deimos was having a ton of added security measures added to the home.
Their friend, Acheron was kind enough to make a few calls and arrange for some of the Squire contractors to help with the remodeling.
The Squires are human security and assistance to the Dark Hunters, a group of immortal warriors who are charged with hunting down daimons that feed on the souls of humans. Since Dark Hunters have some unique difficulties, such as spontaneous combustion in the sun, the Squires have developed a whole network of resources that are all sworn to absolute secrecy in regards to the requested 'extras' for the house. And as, Acheron is the defacto leader of the Dark Hunters, he has a little pull.
That, and because Jenna does some work with the Dark Hunters, the Squires reluctantly agreed to the request. However, Deimos paid them very well for the efforts.
While Deimos could not be there in New Orleans as often as he would like, Jenna took care of most of the detail work. That included the decorative decisions as well as many of the security precautions. As she is a former Marine with Special Forces training as well as the granddaughter for two war deities, she has a feel for risk assessments and security measures.
That left her handling most of the renovation challenges while she was attending graduate school and now six months pregnant. It was a lot. So, he wanted to do this for her. He wanted to surprise her with a completed nursery for their son. She had already picked out the room and the colors. He was going to do the rest. That is, if he could figure out where to even start.
"This is seriously overwhelming." Deimos mumbled under his breath.
"I heard that!" Phobos scowled at him.
Phobos loves Jenna as his sister. He was not opposed to doing just about anything else in the world for her... fight for her, kill for her, protect her, even get her pizza and ice cream at 4am. But this was beyond his scope of understanding. How can there be so many things made just for babies and kids and all of the gross things they do?
There are thousands of types of diapers, wipes, nose bulbs, bibs, burp cloths, covers, washable this and reusable that. Just thinking about the messes that required such things made Phobos's skin crawl. It would be a miracle if he could even be in a room with his nephew before he is fully house broken. Definitely planning on passing the little monster back to his parents for any clean up duties.
The two gods wandered around the store rather aimlessly. Neither had any experience with children at all, let alone modern human children. What little exposure they had with their siblings and cousins had been thousands of years ago, and there were servants to help with all of this stuff.
Deimos had tried to flag down one employee who scurried away in fear of them. Another tried to swallow the unease in their chest to sell them on something that Deimos was not sure he needed. As his frustration grew, at the whole situation and lack of assistance, it only made things worse. The women in the store avoided them and even quickly pulled their children away.
"See, I could have gone the rest of eternity without seeing breast pumps." Phobos pointed at the shelf next to him. "Breasts, more than happy to look at those. Just not the pumps."
"Wow. This is not a strip club. If you want that kind of talk, you can go back to the one you crawled out of. This is a family store." A young woman bravely walked up to the twins.
"My apologies for my brother." Deimos hit Phobos in the arm. "Say you're sorry."
"What for? I was honest. And she is the one making assumptions."
The woman rolled her eyes. "What is it you are looking for? Maybe I can help get you out of here faster."
"Do you work here?" Deimos asked.
"Na. I am just here a lot." She replied.
He contemplated it for just a moment. "Then maybe you could give some honest input instead of sales pitches. I am looking to stock an entire nursery to surprise my wife."
Stef was shocked. These two are seriously here for a nursery?
"Oh buddy, that is a whole day." She paused as the man looked around with panic in his eyes. Then she sighed. "Good thing that I take pity on lost souls. My name is Stephanie. Everyone calls me Stef." She reached out and shook Deimos's hand. Then Phobos's.
Phobos scowled at her. "You are not too scared to help us?"
"Scared of your chauvinism? Hardly. Scared of you Mr. tall, dark, and intimidating? Ehh, I help deliver babies. Women in labor could skin you alive. I have learned to build up a thick skin to protect myself from venomous words. I think I can manage being around you for a few hours."
Stef walked the men over toward the furniture section to start with. As she walked, Phobos ogled her round backside. He had to admit, she was attractive. She appeared to be in her late 20's, maybe 30 and stood around 5'9 with tawny skin. Her eyebrows showed that she had natural dark hair, though her hair was dyed a dark burgundy red that fell in a wild mess of fat curls just past her shoulders. Her eyes were light blue that stood out even more when framed by her red hair. Her tight jeans and black t-shirt hugged her curves exquisitely. And her breasts! He was always a sucker for a nice rack. She wasn't a slender woman, but rather, curvy and well proportioned. Perfect for filling his hand with her soft flesh.
Phobos wondered what those curves would feel like against his body. He could smell her apple scented shampoo in the air as she walked ahead of him, and he wanted to bury his face in her neck to smell her better. His body was on fire.
He had always appreciated feminine curves, though few women would test the waters with the personification of fear. That was certainly one hell of a cock block. He never had a stomach for rape, so he never wanted to feel like he was forcing himself on a woman. Even if she verbally said yes, it's just not all that stimulating when you know the woman would rather be screaming in fear than screaming in pleasure.
But, Stef was different. He could still feel her unease, but she pushed passed it. She engaged with them. That certainly caught Phobos's attention. But, her wit is what warmed him. He had always loved to push a woman's buttons. Even better, if she could push his. No matter what he said to the contrary, he truly loved wicked, sarcastic banter with an attractive woman.
Stef was uncomfortable with the two men that she just met. But, there was something about them that made her stop and help them, despite her head yelling at her to leave and never look back.
The one brother who was there for his wife was scary. There was no other word for it. He looked more cleaned up and pulled together, and the man obviously had some social skills to find a woman to marry him and have his baby. But, Stef could feel that he was like a tiger, still in training… ready to go back to feral killer in the blink of an eye. A man like that was unpredictable.
The other brother, he seemed every bit as dangerous. And he was definitely not house broken. But, Stef felt different about him. She could not understand why. He was really tall, so much so that he made her feel tiny. He was gorgeous and edgy. Like the kind of man that you would want to have a hot and furious sexcapade with. His electric blue eyes, muscles and tattoos seriously added to his whole bad boy vibe. Yet, Stef wondered what it would be like to run her hands over every curve? Better, yet, her tongue?
Girl, you need to stop thinking that way. You have had enough problems with men in your life. And this one seems every bit as deplorable as all of the other jackasses you have been hurt by.
By the time they stopped by the cribs, she turned around and saw just where Phobos had been staring. "Hey there, monkey brains, I am up here." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.
Deimos hit him again.
"I will rip your arm off if you do that again." Phobos growled.
"Then stop being a dick."
Stef rolled her eyes. "And whose bright idea was it to make either of you a father?"
At that, they both turned on her. Deimos really had to get his anger under control fast. This was for Jenna.
Stef at least had the good sense to take a step back. But, she would not budge on the attitude. "Do you really think that violence and swearing are appropriate around young children?"
Deimos scowled, but did not answer.
"Yeah, exactly. Its best to start practicing now, before they are born."
Shaking her head at the two men, returned to the topic at hand. She explained that most people start with the furniture choice first, then bedding, and work their way down to the smaller items. Stef asked lots of questions and gave lots of specific suggestions.
In the end, Deimos was pretty happy with the purchases that he made and he arranged for delivery while Jenna was at school. The only part that really gave him a headache was keeping Phobos and Stef from killing each other. Stef had a strong feminist streak to her that seemed to just rile up Phobos's need to push her buttons, and vice versa.
Stef was appalled. "What do you mean that childcare is women's work?" As the conversation continued after the purchases were made.
"Just what I said. Women birth them. Women care for them while the men go off to fight wars and such. That is how it has been for all of history, with few exceptions."
"Oh, so I suppose that if you managed to actually find a woman willing to have any kind of relationship with a chauvinist like you, and she actually got pregnant, you would what? Leave her to fend for herself?" Stef's voice was increasing in pitch with her indignity.
"I didn't not say that. But, yes, that is the expectation that I was raised with."
"What? Where you raised by wolves? No, sorry, wolves have more family responsibility than that. I would not want to insult the wolves." Stef snarled.
Phobos chuckled at her anger. Damn, she can be fiery. And, that only whipped her up even more. However, his humor died when when she finally pulled up the last word on the subject.
"Then, I guess the world is grateful that you are so arrogant that you will always be alone." Then Stef stormed away.
That hit Phobos harder than he expected. He had always been fine being alone. That was what he was supposed to be. Those were the rules that he had to live by. The Dolophoni were never allowed to have emotional relationships, certainly not marry or have families. If they got a woman pregnant, they could not claim the child. It was the rule. And in their world, breaking the rules could mean torture or even death. It was all he knew.
But, since Deimos found Jenna and together they managed to find a way to break those rules, he wondered if he could have that kind of a life as well? Have someone to share himself with? He really was jealous of his brother.
At the beginning, Phobos had even joked about trying to steal Jenna from Deimos. The twins had a long history of stealing each others conquests. But, Phobos never would have acted on it, not with Jenna. He knew that what they had was special. He would never do anything to hurt either of them. And, he also knew that Jenna was not the right woman for him anyway. For as much as the twins were alike, the biggest difference was in their anger.
As their mother, Alekto, is the goddess of unceasing anger, both men inherited a significant amount of that anger. Yet, they did not get an equal share. Their split was somewhere around the 60/40 divide. Deimos got the lion's share. So, he needed someone that calmed his anger, helped him control it. Whereas, Phobos, he had some room to rile things up before losing control. It was a huge reason that he liked to push Stef's buttons.
She was the first woman that Phobos had ever met that made him wonder if there could be something more than just banter or a one night stand. She was intoxicating. And the way his body reacted to her, it was almost unnatural. That woman really got to him and as irritated as he was, he loved every minute of it.
But, damn it, he went too far.
Now she hates him.
He sighed. It was probably for the best. He did not want to scare her with actually letting her get to know who he really is. Hell, she never would have agreed to help them at all if she knew that they were Greek gods that worked as assassins.
"I seriously wish that I was an only child now." Deimos scowled.
"Too late. And it was your fault for making me come here in the first place." Phobos retorted as they left the store.