Everything has gone perfectly. This day couldn’t have gone better. Here I am with the love of my entire immortal life, celebrating that we are bringing two babies into the world in a few short weeks. Nothing can make me happier. Pink and blue confetti continues to fall slowly from the sky. Looking up at Eros, I smile softly. His hand interlocks with mine as he lifts it, kissing my knuckles.
“I love you,” he murmurs, and my heart swells in my chest.
“I love—” I frown, placing my free hand on my stomach. Something shifts inside, and I feel a popping sensation in my stomach. My eyes widen as liquid gushes down my leg. No, no, no. Not here. Not now. I look up at Eros in concern. He frowns at me, looking down at my stomach. As if he can read my thoughts, he looks over to Eileithyia, who quickly makes her way to me.
Suddenly, I feel a surge of energy rush from my body. It pushes everything and everyone away from me other than Eros, who I am holding onto for dear life. As soon as the energy is spent, my mind goes fuzzy, and I lean against him for support.
“The babies…they’re coming,” I mumble the obvious.
Eros’s eyes widen, and he looks around. “No. No, they can’t come now.”
“They are coming, Lykos,” I say, looking up at him in panic just as the first contraction starts. I groan from the pain. Eros continues to stare at me in shock, his mouth opening and closing as he processes what’s going on. He slowly lowers me to the ground, allowing me to lie on his chest. My breathing becomes heavier as panic settles in. Eileithyia is knocked out, as well as most of the other gods, and the only two standing are Atë and Eris. Letting out a shaky breath, I squeeze Eros’s hand.
“Okay, we got this,” Eros says. He looks over to our friends. “Help, please.”
“Ummm, how?!” Atë asks.
Eris runs to my side. “Atë, just breathe. Eros, get behind her.”
Eros slips out from behind me as Atë takes his place.
“We got this,” Eros whispers, still holding my hand.
“I don’t know what to fucking do!” Atë shouts.
My heart starts racing, and I look around wildly. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I— Eris looks me dead in the eye, and I focus on them.
“Hey, you,” they say. “Look at me, okay? Breathe.”
I take a few deep breaths as another contraction begins. “I can’t do this right now.”
“I can,” Eris says, their voice soothing me. “I know it feels like too much right now…but you know all that confusion you’re feeling? All that panic and frenzy? You give it to me, okay? Just lay it all on me…I can take it for both of us.”
“O-okay.” I nod, and suddenly, I feel a comforting warmth wash over my mind. The anxiety is slowly diminishing.
“Are you sure you want the two people who have never had a child helping you?” Erebus speaks up.
I ignore his comment, focusing on Eris, allowing them to take all the crazed emotions from me. Another contraction, and I groan, focusing on my breathing.
“Doesn’t she have to, like, lift her legs or something???” Atë asks. I jab her side. “Hey! I didn’t do this!! Jab Eros.”
“He is too far right now!” I groan as another contraction hits me.
“Eros, take her gods damned hand,” Eris instructs, and my husband does. My grip on his fingers almost breaks them.
“It’s your party. I can cry if I want to…” Erebus sings in the background. If I weren’t in so much pain, I would smack him.
I scream for the next contraction, the pain becoming excruciating.
“Breathe for me, sweet soul sister, and push,” Eris says, my mind slowly relaxing once more.
“Yeah, do the breathing thing,” Atë adds.
I can’t hear the next words that come from my friends’ mouths as another contraction happens. I close my eyes, screaming as I focus on pushing the first child out. Sweat drips down my brow and back.
“Are you delivering Chucky?” Eros yells, clearly going deaf from my scream. I only flip him off before I feel another contraction.
“I’m used to being the eye of a storm, but now that’s you, Clio,” Eris says. “Center yourself. Push.”
I squeeze my eyes shut once more, pushing and screaming. Atë wipes the sweat from my brow as Eris prepares for the baby.
“Almost,” Eris says. “Breathe.”
I push one more time, nearly collapsing from exhaustion.
“And…” Eris holds the baby in their arms, examining the child. “We have a girl!”
I look up at Eros, smiling at him as Eris hands him our daughter.
“Aurora Amor,” Eros says, looking down at our daughter. His face lighting up as she cries in his arms. My eyes water, and I can hear a few of the other gods cheering.
“That’s it, right??” Atë asks. “Oh, wait, there’s two.”
Just as Atë reminds us about the second, I feel a contraction, and I let out another ear-piercing scream.
“Breathe,” Eris reminds me. “Push.”
“It’s okay, Clio. You got this! You’re one of the strongest muses I know,” Atë says.
I nod quickly, closing my eyes and pushing again.
“And…” Eris smiles, holding the little one in their arms. “A boy!”
I collapse against Atë as Eris hands the second baby to Eros. Closing my eyes, I smile to myself. I am not done yet, but for a few seconds, I can rest.
“Alexander Dinlas,” Eros announces, choking slightly. He takes a fur jacket, wrapping Alexander.
It takes me twenty minutes to get the afterbirth out of my body. Eris continues to help me through the process. I will need to buy them something special for this. Perhaps some more pointy knives for their collection?
“You did amazing, Clio.” Eris pats my shoulder.
“I need a drink,” Atë says.
“Thank you,” I whisper, kissing Atë’s cheek before looking at Eris. “Thank you too, Eris. You really helped.”
Looking around, I thank the other immortals for being there, each of them helping me in their own way. Finally, I look up at my husband, who is still in a little shock. He smiles at me, showing me the twins.
“We did it,” he says.
“We did,” I whisper.
Eileithyia gets up from the ground, finally coming to. She shakes her head, kneeling beside me and replacing Atë. Atë gets up, wiping her outfit off.
“Ew, ew, ew! I am covered in dirt and sweat,” she mutters to herself.
Eileithyia smiles at me. “I’ll take all four of you back to my office, and we can check them over.”
Eileithyia places a hand on my shoulder as well as Eros’s. Together we all pop away from the Garden of Olympus and back to her office.
Clio is portrayed by Alice Callisto. Alice Callisto is a pen-name she goes by to share her fiction writing with the world. Callisto is also a streamer who loves to play games like Skyrim to Call of Duty. She is a big fan of ancient history and enjoys learning new things. Callisto has been writing since the age of sixteen on various different platforms, but only started taking it seriously recently. She is currently working on a project for #NaNoWriMo which involves dragons. Follow her on Twitch and Twitter to make her day.
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