Chapter Forty-Three - I Parent A Fully Grown Baby
Posted: Friday 23rd August 2024

The cabin was silent apart from the sounds of Will scrambling to his feet.

"What the hell just happened?" Austin asked.

"I think I had the baby," I said, somewhat in a state of shock staring at my fully grown son who just seconds ago had been inside my stomach.

"That's not a baby," Austin said, "that's a - that's a-"

"God?" Caius suggested, "not quite, unfortunately, but thats a good guess!"

"If you're not a god, what are you?" Kayla asked.

"I don't think a word exists for that, unfortunately," Caius frowned, "god-ajacent at least, perhaps Titan-ajacent? I am not sure. I have only just been born after all."

"This is weird," Kayla said.

"Tell me about it," I replied. I sat up, trying to make sure I was fully covered by the robe I was wearing. It seemed that my baby bump had immediately deflated, which, from the baby books Leto had forced me to read, I knew wasn't normal. But nothing seemed normal about this birth, normal people didn't give birth to fully grown men in Greek battle armour either.

"What do we do now?" Austin asked.

I sighed. "I think I'm going to get dressed. Can I borrow some trousers, Kayla?"

*

After I was dressed I stood next to my son, who had been standing in the middle of the room looking around for the entire time.

He smiled when he saw me, "hello mother."

"Nope, this is too weird!" I declared. "I'm leaving!"

I made towards the door but was stopped when Caius and Will both stepped into my path.

"Move," I said.

"Where are you going?" Will asked.

"Alaska," I said.

"Alaska?" Caius repeated, it looked like the word felt strange in his mouth. "The land beyond the gods?"

"Away from Nyx," I affirmed.

"Nyx can't get you here now," Caius said.

"In a few hours it will be night, I need to go," I said.

"You can't go!" Caius said forcefully, "You need to come to Olympus with me."

"Why?" I asked.

"You need to present me to Zeus," Caius said, "It is tradition." I frowned. This boy was just a few minutes old and he already seemed to have knowledge of the godly traditions far beyond me.

"If you do not present me to Zeus he will see it as an insult and consider the prophecy coming true," Caius said.

"The one who could destroy even Zeus," I said, "you?"

"He will think so," Caius said.

"Fine!" I snapped. I couldn't explain it, but I knew I couldn't be the catalyst towards any troubles this boy encountered. Looking into his eyes, I felt a strange feeling within me that I hadn't thought possible. Perhaps this was what Leto had been referring to when she mentioned motherly instincts? I felt fiercely protective over him.

What was the harm in delaying my plans a few hours? I could still make it to Alaska before nightfall even with a stop in at Olympus, then I would have fulfilled my duty to him and the best protection I could offer anyone was for me to be far, far away from them.

The best I could give my son was running to a place even he could not follow.

"I should like to meet Chiron first," Caius said. "Then we will go."

"Let's get this over with then," I grabbed Caius by the hand and pushed past Will, heading out of the cabin and towards the big house.

"Wow," said Caius, "It is beautiful!"

"What is?" I asked, with a slight frown, my sights set on the big house.

"The sky," he offered simply, "the grass, the buildings."

I halted for a moment, realising that despite seeming to know more than he should, this was my son's first experience of the world. I remembered my first time seeing the sky, on the Princess Andromeda all of those years ago. That had been ruined by several volleys of arrows and an angry demigod by the name of Luke Castellan. I didn't wan't to ruin the experience for him too.

"It is isn't it," I replied, "I've always loved the sky."

"Why can't I see," I looked at his face and saw him blinking rapidly to clear his vision.

I laughed, "You looked at the sun. It's very bright. If you look away you'll be able to see again."

Caius did as I suggested and blinked the spots away from his eyes.

"The sun is very bright," he agreed. "I won't do that again."

"You still want to go and meet Chiron?" I asked.

"Yes, but let's walk more slowly?" He suggested. I was willing, realising that this was my son, and despite my own worries about Nyx, I did want to spend what little time I could with him before I had to run away.

We meandered towards the big house at a slower pace. Whilst Caius seemed to be enjoying looking around and waving at people as we passed, I was very conscious of the eyes of everyone on us. Caius, didn't seem to care and greeted everyone who was oagling at us with a hearty wave and smile.

His naivety made me jealous, I wondered if I had ever been that naive, I hoped so, but somehow I doubted it based on the fact that when I had been minutes old like he was, I was already inhaling the noxious fumes of Tartarus.

Somewhere along the way he had discarded his helmet, and now only held my hand in his. Very tightly.

The walk to the big house felt like the longest walk I had ever taken, but eventually we arrived on the porch. With my free hand I pushed the door open and we walked into the rec room.

Rachel Dare and Chiron were sat there, engaged in a card came I did not recognise. They both looked up when we entered.

"Ariadne," said Chiron, "to what do I owe the pleasure? And who is this? A new camper?"

"No, not a new camper," I replied, "this is... well... I guess he's my... son."

"Ah I see," Chiron said.

"I thought you were a centaur," Caius said.

"Unfortunatley the ceilings are a little low in here, young one," Chiron said, "It is a pleasure to meet you. What is you name?"

"And you," Caius inclined his head, "I am Caius, god of life, immortality and mortality."

Rachel wolf-whistled, "you made him with Apollo?"

"That would be correct," I nodded.

"Yes is my father here? I should like to meet him," Caius asked.

"You've just missed him, he left this morning," Rachel said. "I'm Rachel."

"The Oracle of Delphi?" He asked, she nodded, also taken aback by the amount of knowledge he had.

"He's like five minutes old right? You were definitely pregnant this morning?" Rachel asked.

"Yep," I affirmed. "Gods are weird."

"That they are," Chiron agreed.