There was much to get on with before they could properly enjoy their new son. For one thing, the only thing they knew about him was his name and the fact he looked like an angel's child. Before they announced the new heir to Atlantis, they sat him down to talk to him about his life.
The prince-to-be looked up inquisitively at his new parents. Joya insisted on him sitting on her lap at every opportunity and while Minos couldn't blame her, he would have liked to feel so close to the child too.

"Am I in trouble?" the boy asked, looking from Minos to Joya in worry.

"Of course not! We just want to get to know you." Joya explained.

"How old are you, little one?" Minos asked him.

"Six years old."

"And when is your birthday?"

"June."

"What day of June?"

"The 30th day."

For some frustrating reason, the young child wouldn't say very much. He said the bare minimum and, with the excpetion of glancing up at their faces, avoided looking at them.

"What do you like doing?" Minos asked, hoping the question would prompt more words.

"I make shapes."

"What ones?" Joya asked.

"Iscoceles, Equilaterals and right angles."

"Triangles?" Minos guessed.

"Yes."

"Why triangles, little one?"

"I don't know. They interest me."

"What else do you like doing?" Joya questioned.

"I like mathematics." Pythagoras revealed.

Minos smiled. He remembered when he, as a boy, despised the gruelling difficulty mathematics had bestowed upon him. He'd always admired people who could not only understand it, but enjoyed it also. "What mathematics do you like best?"

"Geometry. There was a man in Samos who was teaching me it."

'Maybe he could grow up to be a mathematician.' Minos mused as he looked at the child.

"Geometry?" The queen was doubtful. Surely, this boy, wonderful as he was, couldn't be learning geometry already?

Mistaking Joya's repetition for confusion, Pythagoras tried to help her. "Geometry is shapes. You have to find the relations of their points and..."

Minos couldn't help smiling at his wife. Like him, Joya had a phobia of mathematics any more complicated than adding and subtracting. To her credit, she listened attentively, although Minos suspected would forget it by bedtime.

"Do you like Atlantis?" the King pressed.

Pythagoras nodded enthusiastically. Anything was better than the sickening scent of decomposing fish, and sea plants and the sound of drunken men beating their families and each other. Atlantis was peaceful and while it was close to the ocean, the place was not so close that they could smell the sea's produce.
No, Atlantis was a wonderful place. The one bad thing was that he didn't have his mother anymore. He missed her, her gentle brown eyes, her soft blonde hair, the smell of sand and bread that clung to her, the way she always made up stories for him before bed. He loved Joya, she was warm and loving and gentle, but he missed Mama.
He didn't know what to think of Minos. The King was serious, but he had kind eyes and, unlike Father, looked at him like he was...special. Sometimes, when his father had been sober, Mnesarchus would look at him like that. Then he'd get drunk again and Pythagoras would end up getting hit in the throat and being forced to watch as his mother got hurt. He shivered.

The new parents noticed his shivering and Minos placed his arms around his family, cocooning them in his safe embrace. "Are you cold?"

"A little bit." That wasn't a lie. Thinking of his father always had him feeling cold. He rubbed his arms and tried to think of his mother.

"I don't think he likes me." Minos revealed to Joya.

"Don't be a fool." Joya replied. She didn't mean to be curt, but she was doing a particularly fiddly activity involving tiny beads and several yards' worth of string. She didn't want to be interrupted.

"Honestly! When he was cold and I held him, not only did he recoil, but he tensed up."

"Minos, he's probably never been given affection from a man before. Do you think his father hugged him a lot?"

Minos hadn't thought of that. "What can I do?"

"Well, for Poseidon's sake, don't go squeezing him to death to try and get him used to it!"

"Would I do a thing like that?"

"Yes." Joya told him. She looked up from what she was making. "I remember when we first started courting. You found out my brother still hadn't learned to sword fight. And what did you do? You worked the poor boy to death!"

"I didn't work him to death..." Minos protested.

"He was exhausted! He still doesn't like visiting to this day. You'd better not do the same to our son." she warned, before going back to her design.

"I won't. I promise."

"Spend time with Pythagoras." the queen advised. She put away her work and looked her husband in the eyes. "You both need to get used to each other."

"Thank you."

The bed was huge. Not just huge, but gargantuan. Pythagoras wasn't sure 'gargantuan' was a word, but it fit the size of the vast, purple sleeping place like a glove. Not only was the width of it large, but the height of it. It came up to his shoulders, for Poseidon's sake! He hooked his hands onto the mattress* and tried to pull himself up. The soft scrunchy material collapsed under his fingers and he found he couldn't physically get himself up onto the cot. He gave it once last try and... a pair of strong hands lifted him up and deposited him onto the deep amethyst-coloured sheets.
Twisting around, he saw his new father beaming down at him as though he'd seen a humorous play.

"Is the bed too high for you, little one?"

"Just a little bit." Pythagoras was mortified that Minos had had to help him. Mnesrachus would have berated him for needing help.

Minos frowned at the look of guilt that clouded his new son's features. "What's wrong?" he asked, sitting next to him.

"You had to help me." Pythagoras explained.

Minos was puzzled. "That does not matter. Children can't do everything by themselves. Never be afraid to ask for my help with anything."
Minos saw it. A flicker of a mischievous smile at the corner of the blonde's mouth. "What is it?"

"Umm..." Uh-oh. Minos would be sure to be annoyed if he mocked him!

"It's alright, you can tell me." Minos urged. He wanted to know what had made him smile.

"Could I even ask for your help in mathematics?"

"It was that obvious how terrible I am with numbers?" Minos wondered out loud.

The boy had his little mouth covered. His small shoulders shook. Clearly he found his little joke to be hilarious. Minos smiled and ruffled his golden curls. He wondered what else he could do to try and bond with his new child. His eyes wandered and then picked out the bookshelf that stood at the balcony window.

"Would you like me to read to you?"

Pythagoras stopped laughing. He looked awed. "You can read?"

"Yes. Would you like a story to be read to you?"

Pythagoras nodded. "Yes, please."

Minos found his childhood favourite. He didn't know whether Pythagoras would favour it also, but every child from here to Athens enjoyed it. He lay on his side, the book where Pythagoras could see it and recanted the tale he knew so well. The child listened in rapture and Minos told him the tale of lost children, courageous warriors, of Gods who sought terrible revenge on those who had wronged them and smiled brightly at the happy ending the book had within its pages. When the book was finshed, Minos was surprised to find that the boy had, somewhere during the tale, gotten closer. The child's body was so close to his, he could feel him breathing. So this was what it felt like to be close to his child.

"Did you like that story?" Minos asked anxiously.

"It was one of the best ones I've ever heard." was the answer.

Minos smiled. The boy had good taste.

I don't know what else to do! This seems like a bloody midget of a chapter compared to the first one! GAAH! Well, I hope it was enjoyed and I'll try and get up a third chapter soon!

BTW, Joya is Greek for 'Jewel', Maia is Greek for 'Mother' (so I've heard) :)

Love from Shania. xx