Chapter 23: Unsteady Alliances

Monday. As Xena got dressed for work, she stared at her beautiful ring on her finger. She clutched at her chest and smiled. Wow, Ares, my husband, who would have thought. She then touched her belly. Our baby. Her life was changing so fast. She needed to tell Ares about their baby, but she hadn't given it a thought yet as to how or when. Xena's phone went off, bringing her back to earth from her distracting thoughts. It was a text message from Ares:

Sweet, I have to make a run with Apollo. Gods business. I should return within 2 weeks. I let the gym know I was going on vacation. I swear on the Styx I am going to miss you dearly. Also, this phone is not going to work where I am going and I'm going to be so far away, my powers will be limited. You can call Aphrodite for anything. Love you my Queen. -War.

She immediately felt sadness wash over her after reading his message. Two weeks! What was she going to do without seeing him for so long?! They'd seen each other everyday for the last 3+ months. Well, at least that gave her time to think of a way to tell him about their baby. She actually needed to tell everybody. She wanted Ares to be the first to know but with his sudden absence, he may end up being last. After letting his news settle in, she began to finish getting ready, moving much slower, as she suddenly lost ambition to go to work today.

~XA~

Xena sat in her office organizing her schedule. She walked in with her left hand in her pocket, as she didn't feel like everyone gawking over the news and her ring. Her ring. She stared at her hand again. She smiled inwardly. She couldn't wait to be his wife, even though she felt as if she already was, now that he'd propose. Her stomach churned hard. She knew what was coming next. Everyday, it was the same occurrence. She would wake up feeling ok. As soon as her feet touched the floor, nausea would take over. The smell of food, nausea. Brushing her teeth, nausea. The smell of any scent, nausea. Drinking anything other than milk, nausea. If the nausea didn't let up soon, she didn't know if she would be strong enough to make it through and keep working. She grabbed the trash can to empty her stomach's contents. She wanted to go home and curl up in bed, but she wanted to be here, for Ares. Emma knocked on her door. She laid her head on her desk. It was too early for all this. Emma opened her door and spoke,

"Xena, Ares first client is here. He is a new member...do you hear me? Are you okay?" Emma didn't care for Xena; however, when she found her lying helplessly on her desk, slightly clammy, genuine concern washed over her. She touched her back lightly.

"Emma, transfer all of Ares clients' information over to me so I can manage them while he's away. Send the new member to the lounge area. I'll get them shortly. And yes, I'm okay," she replied, raising her head slightly to meet Emma's gaze. Her left hand was on her belly, ring hidden underneath her desk.

"Right away." Emma turned to leave to work on Xena's request. Xena pulled herself together and headed towards the lounge to get her first client.

~XA~

She pushed the doors open and there was only one person inside. She assumed this was the member waiting on her. It was a male, fairly muscular. The lounges were usually kept dimly lit, to promote relaxation. His back was towards her. She walked up to him and spoke,

"Hi, my name is..."

"...Xena?!"

"Hercules?" She couldn't believe it was really him. He stood up and hugged her tightly. They pulled back from each other's embrace. Hercules touched a strand of her hair.

"Xena you look as stunning as ever," She smiled, cheeks flushed.

"Thank you. You look well too. Gabrielle will be so happy to see you. You must come by our house." Hercules saw the massive diamond ring on Xena's finger. He assumed since she was inviting him to her and Gabrielle's house, they were married.

"I would love to."

"Great, put your number in my phone and I'll text you our address." She handed her phone to Hercules. Emma quietly pushed the doors open to the lounge. She noticed Xena hadn't come down with the member, so she wanted to make sure everything was okay. Once inside, she saw Hercules and Xena wrapped in each other's embrace. She took a quick photo and quietly left out.

~XA~

Xena arrived home and slowly walked into the house. The workday was fairly slow and she was grateful. It was early afternoon. Clouds covered the beautiful blue sky. Gloomy days were so relaxing. She opened all the windows in the house to let the refreshing breeze sweep through the atmosphere. Her nausea had finally calmed down and left her drained. Gabrielle wouldn't be home for a few more hours. She changed into a lounge set and wrapped up in her throw on the couch. She couldn't wait to tell Gabrielle about Hercules, which reminded her to text Hercules their address. She heard her phone go off but she lazily tucked it under the couch pillow and drifted off to dreamworld.

The aroma from Gabrielle's dinner filled the air, waking Xena up from her slumber. She wasn't sure how long she slept but she still felt tired. She hadn't really eaten all day, but she did nibble on a few crackers. She got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to greet Gabrielle and tell her about the exciting news. She sat down at the nearest bar stool. Gabrielle spoke first..

"Hey sleepy head. You looked so peaceful when I got here, I didn't want to disturb you." That feeling came over Xena again. Instead of replying, she immediately ran to the trashcan and puked. She slid down against the cabinet doors and closed her eyes. Gabrielle softly wiped her mouth and sat down next to her. She could tell Xena felt awful.

"Does he know?" she asked her softly and picked up her hand.

"Know what?" Xena let out a breath of air, sighing.

"About you and his baby?" Xena's eyes widened.

"Oh, come on Xena. You've been sick for weeks. I hear you empty your guts every morning. Plus, you're glowing. You look so pretty." She pulled Xena into her embrace.

"No, I haven't told him yet." She then looked at Gabrielle firmly,

"Not a word to anyone, you understand?" Gabrielle smiled and zipped her fingers across her lips. Gabrielle got off the floor to continue cooking.

"We're having a surprise guest for dinner this evening."

"Xena, I've really had enough of your type of surprises," she laughed while preparing their meal. Xena finally rose from the floor and took a seat at the barstool.

"You're going to love this one though. They should be arriving any moment." Right as she finished her sentence there was a knock on the door. Gabrielle looked at Xena. Xena raised her eyebrow to her. Gabrielle huffed and went to the door. She abruptly pulled open the door and gasped...

"Hercules!" She pulled him into a big hug. She couldn't believe her eyes. She turned towards Xena.

"This is the surprise!? Okay, you got me this time." Hercules walked to Xena. He pulled her softly by her wrist onto her feet. Once standing, he wrapped his arms around the small of her back and slowly trailed his hands upwards, taking her all in. Gabrielle wasn't sure of what to make of the exchange, but it seemed awkward. The way Hercules tenderly held her, and Xena just let him. She chalked it up to them missing each other and let it go.

After their first get together, Hercules made it a daily ritual to visit for dinner and stayed until bedtime. Sometimes, he even slept on the couch. Gabrielle and Xena were getting used to having him around everyday. He was a joy to be around and kept them laughing. They occasionally would spend time in the garden, chill on the patio, and just enjoy each other's company. The trio even went places together in their free time. He was quickly becoming Gabrielle's preferred person to be around since there wasn't a constant bickering between them.

Two weeks later. It was the middle of the night. Xena slept soundly as she clung to her pillow. Then she felt it. The familiar delicious tingle in her spine. Her heart leapt for joy. He appeared in bed next to her and pulled her into his embrace. She kissed him passionately and Ares deepened the kiss. She pulled back and ran her finger through his curls. He kissed her forehead as snuggled up within his embrace, sleep overtaking her again.

Xena woke up first, the excitement eating at her. She pulled her neatly wrapped gift out the drawer and thumbed over the paper. She felt so nervous to give him the gift. She almost changed her mind when she heard his voice.

"What's that?" Letting out a deep breath, she turned around to face him with her gift in hand. It was wrapped in burgundy wrapping paper, in the shape of a square. She walked to his side of the bed and handed him the gift. She anxiously bit the bottom of her lip as he accepted it from her. Ares pondered what was in the paper and her nervous expression made his gears turn. Slowly, he tore the paper off. It was the back of a picture frame. He looked at her quizzingly. She placed her hand on top of his and turned over the frame. She sat down next to him. She looked at his face, trying to read his expression. Ares lips parted but no words came out. He looked at her with awe. Her eyes filled with tears. The gift was a framed picture of her ultrasound that said Hello Daddy around the picture frame.

"Xe, are we..?" the words got stuck in his throat. She shook her head yes. He looked back at the picture. The tears fell from her cheeks.

"That's our baby, Ares," she sniffed as he pulled her into his embrace. He stood up with her and spun around in a circle. He placed her on her feet and hugged her so tight. She felt so protected and relaxed in his arms. That feeling hit her again. She pulled back abruptly from his embrace and charged to the restroom, Ares on her heels. She puked as he held back her hair and gently rubbed her back. Once she was done, he cleaned her mouth and helped her back to bed.

"Is this how you've been feeling every day?" Ares stroked through her hair deeply concerned. Heart ache set in thinking what she must have gone through trying to work during his absence. She shook her head yes.

"Xe, you're not coming back to the gym until you feel better, I don't care how long that takes." She wanted to protest but the comfort of her bed felt so relaxing, she just agreed with him. She was glad she didn't have to push herself with the way she felt now. He picked her laptop up and began making the updates. He cancelled all her client's appointments, allowing them to reschedule with him, if they chose to. Afterwards, he removed the option to schedule with Xena.

"I'll be back after work," he kissed her forehead and disappeared.

~XA~

Xena knew Ares would be appearing at any moment now and she needed to tell him about Hercules before he showed up. She frantically pranced in the room awaiting his arrival. He materialized directly in front of her, and she immediately spoke...

"Ares, we need to talk, right now." Ares hung his head down and flopped in her recliner. The we need to talk were never good in his book. He looked at her finger and saw she still had her ring on, so that was a positive sign.

"We ran into someone while you were away. Now, I know you might not be happy to hear this name, but I want to be on your best behavior tonight, please."

"WHO is it?" he lowly asked. Xena sighed, dreading to say his name.

"Hercules." Ares' mind began to spin. Hercules. Hercules. Hercules. That's all he heard over and over again. Her voice saying his name. His chest tightened. Was this a beginning sign of his nightmare? A strong knock at the front door interrupted his thoughts. She knew she had to answer the door since Gabrielle was in the tub.

"Stay here and let me talk to him for a moment. I'll come back and get you." She kissed his forehead and walked out the room.

When she answered the door, Hercules pulled her into his embrace, like he always did. He let his hands rest right about her ass cheeks, so temptingly close to touch it. Ares immediately appeared in the room.

"Get your filthy hands off of her." He threatened. It had started. Hercules protectively pushed Xena behind him. Hercules slowly stepped towards Ares. Xena knew this wasn't going to end well. She stepped from behind Hercules and ran to Ares, halting his steps.

"Now, wait just a minute, both of you." She advised as she pointed her finger at them both.

"Hercules, Ares and I are engaged to be married." She spoke softly to him and wrapped her arm around Ares' waist. Ares lifted her hand up, showing Hercules her beautiful ring. Hercules huffed.

"And why would you want to marry a dirtbag like that?" Ares stepped in Hercules' face, forming fireballs in his hands.

"I bet you won't call me a dirtbag in my face." He wanted to kill him. Zeus was dead! That was his only protection that kept him alive so long. But no, he couldn't kill him. Xena would never forgive him for that.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on here?" Gabrielle asked as she walked speedily from her room. She pulled Hercules out of Ares' face. She knew they were going to end up fighting. They always did.

"Hercules," she walked to him and took his hand in hers, looking him in the eyes... "I am having Ares' child..." she placed his hand on her flat belly... "and this child will be your niece or nephew. I want you in their life, Uncle Herc." She looked at him with the softest eyes. He drank in her beauty and softly caressed her belly. He looked behind her and saw Ares' smug face. He was still fuming.

"Uncle Herc huh, I kind of like the sound of that."

"Good, because you're on diaper duty," she playfully smacked his back. Hercules approached Ares with a hard face. They stared at each other. Hercules spoke first..

"Even though I don't approve of this union, I am going to be here for Xena and her child. So I'm prepared to do what I have to do to keep the peace." He reached his hand out towards Ares. Ares looked down at his hand and then back to his face. He saw Xena's eyes burning a hole in him. He reluctantly shook his hand.