Chapter 34: Sleep tight

Xena POV

"Full?"

"Yeah...sorry."

It sure looked like we had to find another inn.

"Lady...wait..." she added quickly once I started to leave. "… if I think now we do have a room, but a very small one. Do you want it?"

Me and Ares in a room….and a small one too?... The mere idea sounded as dangerous as Tartarus, but then again I was really tired so I had no choice than to accept…

"Miss?"

"Yeah…I'll take it."

"Are you sure?...It's not precisely a room, you know...it's rather…"

"I will take it." I stressed the words.

She bent under the table and took the keys and gave them to me.

"Here you go! What a beautiful child!" she added while looking at Adam. He was sound asleep in my arms.

"I'd also need two portions of soup."

My mother was right. Our food was finished way too soon, after all it hadn't been as much as I had initially thought and my appetite was just about the same as when I was pregnant, so my stomach kept asking for more.

"Two portion of soup." the woman yelled to the cook from the top of her lungs.

"Right away! " somebody answered back.

"A minute." She said, her eyes fixing Adam again.

"Fine, I will wait."

"He surely has his father's eyes." the innkeeper added, taking me by surprise.

I stared at her in awe. How could she have known?

"Well, they're obvioulsy not yours, so…" she cleared up for me with a smile.

"He does have his eyes." I said more to myself, looking at my wide awake son who was now playing with a strand of my hair.

"Xena...I'm back." Ares said, putting a hand on my shoulder and abruptly waking me up from my reverie.

"Here is the soup miss."

"I'll take it."Ares whispered, kissing the top of my head.

In the meantime, I made my way to the corner, towards a table that was luckily free.

I took a seat and Ares put the bowls on the table and then sit in front of me.

"I've thought Cyrene had packed too much for us." he said while sarcastically quoting me. I just chuckled at his poor imitation of my voice despite the fact that his stupid habit of always using my own words against me was rather infuriating.

"Sorry Xena...but you look as if you hadn't eaten all day long!"

"Could you please shut up…?" I retorted angrily, now glaring daggers at him.

"Now I can enjoy my food." I added when he stopped talking and began eating too.

"Me too…But if you need my portion too I will gladly share it with you."

That ironic smirk again. I got up from the table, my stupid anger rising up from minute to minute. Maybe he wanted to sleep outside that night.

"Xena...come on…it was just a joke...Xena!"

I heard him screaming my name but I didn't look back.

I entered the room that was way too small for 3 souls….The furniture was close to zero. Just a bed on one side of the room, a window….and some space to move. And when I say some space it was no more than max one yard….

How can we sleep in such a small bed? As I was thinking about a solution, Adam began moving and fussing in my arms and then crying because he was hungry.

"Everybody's hungry huh, my little one?" I kissed him on the forehead and started feeding him.

Finally when I found myself enjoying my baby's touch and began to relax, the door cracked open and Ares came in, standing still on his steps in the doorframe when he saw what I was doing.

"Sorry...I..."

He turned his back and wanted to leave but my voice stopped him.

"We're almost done..." I answered, pushing my leather braces back up and placing Adam in the middle of the bed while he smiled at me. He looked so much with his father when he smiled.

"Aaa...do we have just one room...this tiny room…? The woman said…" he asked while approaching us.

"Yeah...it was just this one..."

"Here's Adam's basket." he said after some weird seconds, and boy, was I relieved that he decided to change the subject to diminish the tightness of the room!

"Put it there." I said, showing him an empty place where the basket fitted perfectly.

We bumped into each other several times afterwards, and the tension in that room gradually began to rise at impossible heights. To distract myself, I began taking my armor down until I finally remained in my dark shift and took a place in the bed near Adam.

"That's done." he said when the basket was finally in its place. "It's so warm in here isn't it?" he inquired taking his shirt off.

I just nodded trying with all my will not to look at him too implyingly. It was almost impossible to resist though, so a few glimpses I took: his perfect chest, those strong arms...I was sooo lucky that Adam was with us, now that I could feel my walls breaking and even if I tried so hard to keep them there, they were dissolving with every second that passed and without my consent.

"Maybe you should sit while I put Adam to sleep because we don't have enough space to move both in here." I added, but he stopped me getting up from the bed.

"No...I will do it." I stared at him in utter astonishment. Was he serious?

"Ar..." but he silenced me with his fingertips.

His hand was so warm…. It sent shivers down my back and his proximity only made me wanna stay glued to that bed forever, my eyes never leaving his.

"He is my son...I need to learn at some point, don't I?" he said, taking him from my arms.

"You can sleep Xena...you are tired."

"Are you sure..? I mean you don't know how..."

"I'm sure. Now go to sleep."

He almost commanded me but I didn't take it as an order. It sounded more like an expressed concern….or an advice.

I waited for Morpheus to come for me and transport me straight to Dreamland but he never came because of the multiple thoughts playing tag inside my mind. His shooting voice, intended only for our son to hear might have had something to do with it too

…. He thought I was asleep.

"Adam...you are so perfect…just like your mommy...isn't she beautiful? …..Don't worry my three eyed sister would never stand a chance with you or Evie...that's why is Daddy's here for, right?"

His words found very fast the bottom of my heart and struck there mercilessly.I had almost forgotten that he could be so sensitive at times.

It always felt as a non-ending battle between my heart and my mind but this time I felt that pressure as being even more unbearable…..The enormous impact that any decision I was to take would have had on both me and the others around me was hard to endure….. I mean…how could I drop such bomb on Gabrielle for instance? That was the main question….

"Now…to bed my son…Do you want to hear a song? Do you? Well let me think...Here's one you might like…I've heard your mother sing it so many times to your sister that I know it by heart. What was the beginning?...Ahh here it comes….just promise you won't start crying, ok? Mommy really needs her rest…

Hush, now, my little one.

Please don't you cry,

Lay your head down

On my shoulder and sigh,

Sun's gone away, and …well , Daddy will pray

Silence will keep all the while you're asleep.

How about that? Am I a natural or what?...Sleep tight my son! I love you!"