Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13
Title: Asphodel
Author: Ace
Pairing: Ares/Xena, Hades/??, Cupid/Strife with mentions of
Joxer/Ares…
Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me except the plot.
Summary: Joxer gets his heart ripped to sheds and stomped on by the
God of War, who will be there to pick up the pieces?
Comments: Uuuhhhh... Joxer is a god with two fathers. You will find out
later who the daddies are.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Part One.
Joxer felt his heart break, as Ares lowered his head to kiss the
woman in his arms.
"Ares…" he whispered brokenly, "No…" before turning and breaking into
a run. He ran away, didn't know where to go, but he had to go away.
His Ares, his beloved Ares, in Xena's arms! What had he done to
deserve this?
He reached a temple, he wasn't sure if it was Aphrodite's or Cupid's,
but it didn't matter. His Aunt and Cousin were always nice to him.
Once inside, his knees gave away under him, and sobbing, he fell to
the ground, pounding his head against the rocks, crying his heart
out. He felt someone's presence, but didn't care to look up. Then a
pair of leather clad arms wrapped themselves around him and a soft,
loving voice said softly somewhere above his head:
"Oh, son, what happened?"
"Ares!" Joxer sobbed. "Dad he loves her!" And Hades didn't need to
ask whom, he simply held the boy closer, wishing he could take the
pain away, though he knew he could not. But he did know someone who
could. *Dite. Please come. My boy's heart is breaking.*
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Aphrodite flashed into her temple, worried about what Hades had told
her. His son? Did he even have a son? She saw the God on the floor,
rocking, softly whispering soothing words to someone in his arms. She
walked closer and saw who it was crying his heart out into Hades'
chest. Joxer. She stopped thinking immediately and wrapped her arms
around him too.
"Oh, Joxie, what is it?"
"He loves your brother. And look what he got for it."
"My brother?" Dite asked confused.
"Ares" Joxer whimpered. Dite realised why he was so broken.
"Oh, poor thing, he's with Xena…"
"I know!" Joxer wailed and clutched harder to his father. "Dad, I
wanna go home!"
"Of course, son. Let's go home." He held his boy to his chest and
flashed them out of the temple. Dite sat on the floor a long time
after they had left, lost in thoughts.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Xena smirked. Gods, was Ares stupid or what! Tartarus, he thought she
loved him! Zeus, he disgusted her! But as War's consort and wife she
would be one of the most powerful women on the Olympus, who would say
no to that? At least she wouldn't. Psyche had had a good idea; she
was just making it slightly better. Ares wouldn't know what hit him…
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
The pain of a broken heart hit Cupid with full force. He whimpered,
swayed on his feet and collapsed on the floor. Strife, his husband
immediately rushed over.
"Oh, Gods, Strife!!" he moaned.
"What is it, hon?"
"It hurts! Oh my God it hurts!" he sank down to the floor, Strife
wrapping his arms around him and holding him close until most of the
pain had subsided.
"We must go see Joxer. I have to know what broke his heart."
"Jox? Jox is heartbroken? I'm sooo gonna kill whoever hurt him!"
Cupid shook his head.
"No, love. Stay here with Bliss. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Strife nodded, and Cupid flashed out, leaving the worried Strife
behind with his son.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Flashing into Hades' throne hall, he saw Hades sitting on a small
couch with a sobbing blond in his arms.
"Oh, Hades," the blonde whimpered. "He hurts so much! He's so broken!"
"Hush, my love. Hush, my sweet little love." Hades murmured into his
hair. Cupid walked over.
"Unc' Pol?" He asked. The blond looked up, wiping his eyes. "Oh, I'm
sorry we're not
welcoming you in a better way but…" He sniffed and wiped his
beautiful blue eyes.
"Yeah" Cupid said. "I feel it too. Can I see him?" Apollo, Joxer's
other father, nodded, before once again hiding his face in the crook
of Hades' neck.
Cupid slowly made his way to Joxer's bedroom. Even at the other end
of the corridor he could hear the heartbroken sobs, and he sped up
his movement.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Joxer felt strong arms wrap themselves around him, and reacting on
instinct he clung to the warm body, sobs wracking his own. When the
sobs finally subsided he looked up and into Cupid's tear-strained
face.
"Oh, Cupid, I'm so sorry I didn't wanna hurt you I…" Cupid smiled
reassuringly.
"It's okay Jox. Just tell me what happened. Tell me what's wrong."
"It's Ares" Joxer whispered in such a pain filled voice it tore at
Cupid's heart.
"What is it with dad?"
"He's with Xena and…and…" Joxer swallowed. Cupid urged him on.
"Yes?"
"And I'm…I'm… he's made me… I'm…" Stammering and fighting his tears,
Joxer managed to choke out: "I'm pregnant, Cupid. And Hera said its
twins." Before he once again before he once again burst into tears.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
When Cupid got home that night he was in a very deep shock. After
putting his son to sleep, he and strife cuddled together on their
bed. Strife waited a little while for Cupid to speak. When he
didn't, Strife decided it was time to gently pry.
"What is it, Cupe?"
"It's Jox. He's pregnant."
"No shit! You're kidding me!"
"I wish I were. The kids are Ares'." Cupid sighed deeply.
"Oh, bloody `ell." Strife said. Then he looked strangely at Cupid.
"Kids?"
"Yeah. Twins." Strife blinked. Then he blinked again. Then he opened
his mouth. Then he closed it. Then he opened it again - and squeaked.
"*Twins!?*"
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
It was a very beautiful day and everyone was celebrating… err, okay,
so not everyone. The house of Death, the house of Music and Healing
and the God of Love with husband and son were all very sullen and
somber. They were *not* happy at the sight: Ares marrying Xena.
Joxer, God of Strange Beings, son of Apollo and his husband Hades,
were not happy either. Because godly pregnancies are twice as fast as
mortal pregnancies, and because Joxer was having twins, the poor man
was as big as a house. Strife shivered a little as he saw Jox and
wondered if he would be as big later… he was pregnant too, but only
two weeks along. That didn't stop him from having food cravings.
The wows were spoken and Joxer cried softly when Ares said, "I do".
His beloved was forever lost for him now.
At the reception, Joxer wasn't eating much. His stomach hurted and he
was tired. Suddenly he felt something wet between his thighs.
"OH HOLY SHIT!!" He screamed and made a desperate try to get on his
feet. Everybody stared at him, but it didn't matter.
"Hera!" he called out, on the verge of panic. The queen of the gods
got on her feet and rushed over.
"Jox? what is it?" she asked worriedly.
"Um... my water broke. It's time." He said honestly, looking at her
with terror in his eyes.
"HOLY SHIT!" This time, it was the queen herself that said it.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Fifteen hours later it was finally done. Joxer was exhausted but oh,
so happy. His beautiful little twin girls were finally born. The
firstborn, Tamara, was a blonde with brown eyes, looking just like
her grandfather Apollo, if you didn't count the eye-colour. Her
younger sister, Raven, had black hair and the most incredible green
eyes, a inheritance from her great, great, great-grandma Gaea. They
both had wings, black like their father's, but Tamara with purple
streaks and Raven with green.
Joxer was so happy his heart felt like it would burst, and it got
even better when the doors opened and in came…
"Jett! Jace!"
"JOXER!!" His two brothers shouted in chorus, ran over and hugged
him. Hard. Then they went all eyes for the girls.
"So small."
"They've got wings!"
"They're so pretty!"
"Look at their pretty little wings!" Jett was all nuts about their
wings. He was the only one in the family except their dad Apollo that
didn't have any. Jace was blowing raspberries on Tamara's neck and
stomach and telling her what a heart breaker she would be, while Jett
was busy touching Raven's wings. Both baby girls were giggling
hysterically, and Joxer smiled tiredly at them. The doors opened
again, and Strife, Cupid and Bliss came in.
"Hey, Jox!" Strife said smiling. "How are ya?" Joxer smiled back.
"Thanks, I'm good, just fucking tired. Hey, Bliss!" Smiling he hugged
the little boy.
"Tam and Rae out of tummy now?" He asked, drawing smiles from
everybody and giggles from Jace.
"Yeah, Tam and Rae are out of Jox's tummy now" Jett said smiling
broadly, hugging the little boy hard. It was a quite interesting
sight, the leather clad God of Murder and Assassins kissing and
hugging the little godling of joy. But, Jett loved his family, and he
*adored* kids. All kids. His only problem as far as he was concerned
was that he couldn't find anyone who wanted to have kids with him.
But now Jox had kids, *two* of them, and he was going to spoil the
brats like hell!
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Fifteen years later
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Ares was fuming with anger. Once again he had had a loud fight with
his consort, Xena. She just couldn't accept that he was the war god;
she talked all the time about how wrong War was. She, as his consort,
should understand!! Fuming, he decided to spend the night with
someone who accepted him with open arms. It was time to visit Joxer
again.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Joxer hung over the bowl, emptying his stomach for the third time
that day.
"Not again" he thought. "Not morning sickness again!"
A small blonde girl, followed by her dark sister, came in.
"Daddy?" The blonde asked.
"Are you sick?" The dark one wondered.
"No, daddy is not sick." He answered and took a deep breath.
"Tam, Rae, daddy is going to have a baby. Your little sister, in
fact." The girls squealed, leapt at him and hugged him.
"Weee!! A..." Tamara started "...baby sister!" Raven finished. He smiled
tiredly.
"Yeah..." and he was vomiting in the bowl again.
"Poor..." "...Daddy" The small twin girls said, looking worriedly at him.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Ares was fuming and destroying practically everything in his temple.
He was sick of Xena!! Sick of her whining about how evil he was,
about how he didn't care about all the children that lost their
parents and the women who lost their husbands. How he had to stop the
wars! STOP THEM!! He WAS War; he was supposed to be making them! And
she *knew* that! Besides, he was starting to think that she was
cheating on him. Then, suddenly, a voice rung all over Olympus,
startling Ares out of his anger.
"Behold Pilar, Goddess of Messages From the Dead, daughter of Joxer,
God of Strange Beings, Other Father Unknown, Granddaughter of Apollo
God of Healing and Hades God of the Dead!" Hera's voice declared. The
deafening silence after her announcement was almost louder than the
announcement itself.
Ares quickly decided to go and see the baby, and maybe he could get
some time alone with her father…
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Joxer was smiling at his friends, who all were ooh-ing and aah-ing
over the baby girl with the brown hair and brown eyes that was
currently fast asleep in her little bed. His father, Apollo, had
taken the older children, Tamara, Bliss and Raven, outside to play,
because they were so bored.
"She is adorable!" Aphrodite squealed happily, and the next second
she had gotten her eyes on Jace, and she was grinning and licking her
lips. Hephaistos sighed deeply as he saw it. Looked like his wife had
gotten her eyes on a new lover… if it wasn't for the fact that young
Jace simply refused to sleep with the love goddess, saying it wasn't
fair to Heph. He smiled down at the little girl and said softly:
"Isn't it time to bless her?". The twins had also been blessed when
they were newborn, so this was something everyone had prepared
himself or herself of. Hermes spoke up.
"Jox, who's her Godmother?" It was custom; every newborn Olympian got
a Godmother or father, who would always look after them, kinda like a
Guardian Angel. Raven's Godfather was Cupid, God of Love, and
Tamara's godmother was Eris, Goddess of Discord.
"The answer to the question is he who asked" Joxer answered smiling,
and everybody cheered and applauded and congratulated Hermes, who was
beaming at the young God and the little Godling, his new – and only -
goddaughter. She fussed a little, and he lifted her up. When she was
in the arms of her new Godfather, she immediately calmed and it was
time to bless her.
Aphrodite gave her beauty, Cupid gave her a loving heart, Strife gave
her humour, and Hermes told her she would be almost as quick as he.
Hephaistos promised to make her a pair of winged shoes, Demeter
promised her that whatever she planted would grow, Zeus swore that he
never would hurt her or her family, and Hera promised her many
children. Hestia promised her a loving home, Morpheus promised her
ability to send mortals dreams, Moira (Mother of the Fates) granted
her the gift of Prophecy, and Apollo made her an excellent lyre
player. Athena gave her wisdom and Hades promised her that he would
protect the mortals she loved the most from death. And finally, Eris,
Goddess of Discord, swore to protect her from harm for the rest of
her life.
Almost all of these things above were the same thing as her sisters
had been granted, but it didn't matter. They were wonderful gifts.
After all houses on Olympus had given their gifts, Joxer put his
daughter to bed and they went into the other room to party.
Ares showed up at the party for Pilar and realised he had missed the
blessing. He immediately went looking for his twin to ask her who had
blessed the child in the name of the House of War.
"I did, of course" Eris said a bit annoyed.
"Good. What did you grant her?"
"Everlasting protection of both you and me." he nodded.
"Good."
"Why didn't you come to the blessing?"
"I was having a fight with my bitch of a wife. She thought I should
stay with her, not go see some – and I quote: `Ugly little brat –
probably done by someone in your disgusting family. Bet it was Hades,
he's never had any problems with family bonds before'." Eris was
fuming with anger.
"She said exactly WHAT about my goddaughter's sister!?" She screamed
making everyone turn. Hermes was storming over now.
"Who the hell said fucking what about Pilar?" he demanded to know,
and Ares sighed deeply and told them. The anger spread, and soon
every god and goddess worth the title was fuming.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Here it is finally, part 7… really sorry it's been so long, but I've
been busy with school and my new boyfriend Kim. He's so handsome, and
he's all mine!! *Drool* Anyway, here's Asphodel part 7. Again, sorry
for the delay. Remade the chapters, made them shorter, otherwise it
would be bloody embarrassing, since the rest probably will be a bit
short….
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Ever since the party of Pilar, Ares had been in a horrible mood. That
is, worse than normal. And that was really bad, since Ares – being
the god of war – naturally had an awfully bad temper. He had started
eight wars just to get some of his anger out of his system. And that
anger was centred on one being. His wife, Xena.
When he came back after getting some Joxer-loving, (i.e., hot, loud
sex) they had had a huge screaming match, ending with her screaming
that if he couldn't keep faithful to her, then she wasn't taking any
responsibility for what she might do to certain …parts… of his body.
But right now, he didn't care. He was sick of Xena. He went to talk
to his mother, and told her that this was it. Xena was going back to
the mortal realm. Without her powers. Hera nodded, took all Xena's
powers away but she couldn't take her immortality, but still.
Satisfied, he went to visit Joxer.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
They dozed afterwards, Joxer's head on Ares sweaty chest, when the
door opened and Tam and Rae came in.
"Daddy and Unc Ares…" "…Done playing now?" Joxer smiled at them.
"Yeah. Come here, darlings, and Ares will tell you a story." Ares
smiled happily. He absolutely adored his cousins' daughters. The two
girls climbed into bed and nestled between them.
"Tell us…" "…A story Unc…" "…Ares?"
"Sure." And so he did. He talked a long time, and he was finished,
Joxer and his daughters had fallen asleep. He leaned over, kissed
Joxer, smiled at the girls, wrapped his arms around them and joined
them asleep. He had a feeling in his heart that made him feel really
great. It felt like home.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
She smirked as she poured the contents of the small vial into the
golden cup on the table. Silly Demeter, letting her come to Olympus
to "pick up the rest of her things"! Oh, well, she was going to make
Ares pay, she wowed. He was hers, no one else's, and especially not
that slut Joxer. The son of a bitch, how dared he steal HER husband!
But now she was getting him back, thanks to the potion she had stolen
from `Dite.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Ares kissed his sweet Jox goodbye, cooed at Pilar, hugged Tam and Rae
and went to work. Everything was fine in his world.
After work, he went back to his temple to change clothes and to drink
from his cup, as he had done everyday since he got his godhood. This
time, he felt a tingling in his stomach, which he hadn't felt before,
and he got an urge to go see Xena immediately. He hoped with all his
heart that she could forgive him for sleeping with Joxer, and hoped
that she could forgive him.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Four years had passed since Ares got back with Xena again and Joxer's
heart shattered for the winds. Little Pilar, his youngest daughter,
was growing and playing with her sisters, completely unaware about
everything bad in the world.
Joxer was doing quite well too, but sometimes he cried himself to
sleep. Jett was visiting practically everyday and playing with the
girls, and so was Aphrodite, although she wasn't interested in the
girls but rather in after poor Jace.
Everything was quite well in Joxerland; if you didn't count the fact
that the man he loved with his soul was married to a whiny bitch,
that is.
It was quite a beautiful day, and Joxer was sitting beneath a tree in
Elysia reading a scroll while his daughters and their cousin… nephew…
ehh… Strife and Cupids son Bliss ran around playing. They were having
a lot of fun, at least they were screaming and giggling very loudly.
Joxer wondered to himself when Bliss was going to grow up, he had
been a child for almost 100 years now.
It was this scene Ares god of war showed up too. He looked at the
children, and suddenly he swayed on his feet. Little Raven had just
screamed something that sounded very much like "Bloody ponce!" at
Bliss. It was those words, said in that voice, which made Ares sway.
This girl wasn't Eris, she couldn't be, but still… and the look her
little sister Pilar gave her, one of complete adoration, made him
remember Eris even more. Being the youngest twin, she had always
looked up to her older brother. These little girls, well maybe not
Tamara, who was scolding her sister for telling Bliss a bad name,
were so alike he and Eris as children. He could only see one
possibility. Something Jett had said many years ago came to his mind.
*…My brother doesn't love easily, but when he does, he stays true no
matter how many times he gets cheated or lied to. So if you bloody
hurt him Ares I'll…*
He didn't remember what Jett had threatened to do, but it had
included rape, castration and overall humiliation in front of the
whole mortal realm. Those words made him sure. A childlike voice
saying, "I love you" made him completely convinced. These girls were
his daughters. How dared that man keep them from him!? He was so
gonna make him pay…
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Part 09.
Joxer slowly got himself together. He hurted everywhere, but mostly
in his heart. Keeping the pain at bay, he went looking for the
children. He didn't even take time to heal his wounds, or dry his
tears.
"Oh, Ares…" he whispered. "Whatever I did, I'm so sorry…" he found
his little girls swimming in the little lake their Uncle Jace had
created for them. He remembered to heal himself before he walked over
and called for them.
"Tam! Rae! Ila! Come on, we're going in for supper!"
"Aaw dad, do we *have* to?" Pilar whined.
"Yes. Now come on." Obediently they left the water and got dressed.
"Let's…" But Joxer fainted before he had time to say whatever he had
in his mind. Three young voices called out "Daddy!" in terror.
[*]*[*]*[*]
Apollo looked up from his scroll as the door banged open.
"Now, Tamara, what have I said about…" then he saw that she was
crying. He dropped the scroll and got to his feet.
"Sweetheart, what is it?" but Tamara couldn't answer, she cried too
hard. She simply pointed towards the door and whimpered something
sounding very much like `Daddy'. Apollo practically ran outside.
His baby boy, his sweet Jox, was lying sprawled on the ground, and
two dark little girls were holding on to each other crying their eyes
out. Apollo forgot everything in that second, everything except his
beloved son's broken body. Oh, whoever had done this was *SO* going
to pay! Lovingly, he touched a soft cheek, and cried out when it
crumbled beneath his fingers. Terror gripped his heart as he did the
only thing he could think of. He called out for help. "Hera!
Asclepios! Hades!"
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Hera closed the door silently. Seven pale faces turned her way.
"How is he?" Jace asked nervously. Hera signed at Jett to take the
children outside, before she answered.
"He's been severely beaten, possibly raped and he is pregnant again,
which worries me the most." Apollo frowned at her.
"Why?"
"His last pregnancy, when he had Pilar, almost killed him. He will
need extra ambrosia and he must under no circumstances be under any
kind of stress."
"What shall we do then?" Hades asked.
"Make sure someone else looks after the children until he's due. Now
if you excuse me, I need to check up on another pregnant God that
went into labour an hour ago."
"Strife, " the other occupants of the room said and smiled.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
"I BLOODY HATE YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Strife screamed into his
husband's face, making Cupid fall over.
"But, honey…"
"Don't you DARE `But honey' me! Don't you dare! You fucker! You put
her in here so shut the fuck up and get the hell away from me!" An
annoyed Hera turned to Cupid.
"Be a sweetie, " she said calmly, "and get out!" Then she began
screaming at him. "You're upsetting Strife! Get out of here and get
Eris!" Cupid quickly obliged, and Eris flashed into the room.
"Erin, sweetling, mommy's little dagger…" she cooed and kissed his
sweaty forehead.
"It hurts, mom." He sobbed. "It hurts!"
"I know that sweetling, but if you just do as grandma tells you it
will be all over soon." She said, calming him down.
"Now, Strife, I want you too push…"
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Outside, Cupid was pacing. Ares was glaring, Xena fuming, and Jett
doing his best to keep Bliss calm. Jace was at home, looking after
Joxer's daughters.
"Why did he have to be so mean?" Cupid whined.
"You call that mean?" Ares snorted. "You should have seen his
mother!" He shuddered at the memory. "SHE was horrible!"
A loud scream pierced the silence. It was the cry of a newborn baby.
Cupid sank down in a chair.
"Thank the gods, it's over." He muttered as Hera opened the door.
"The lucky father may come in now." She said smiling.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Hesitantly, Cupid made his way over.
"Strife?" Strife looked up from the little bundle in his arms, and
beamed at his husband.
"Cupe! Come here, she's adorable!" Cupid hesitated, but walked
over. "Oh, Cupe, you don't think I hate you, right? I'm sorry for
all the things I said…" Strife said unhappily. Cupid's face lit up.
"That's okay, baby. I love you." They kissed. Then Cupid inspected
his daughter.
"She's adorable! What will we call her?" He asked, cooing at the
little one. A child's voice replied:
"Cassandra." The fathers of the newly born goddess smiled at Bliss.
"How did you get in?"
"The door was open," Bliss said, still looking at his sister. "She's
my baby sistah?"
"Yup. Cassandra, was it?" Strife smiled. "I like that."
"Cassandra it is then" Cupid replied, smiling.
Seemingly pleased with her name, Cassandra gurgled at her newly found
family.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
Ares woke up early, but that was an every day occurrence, so it
wasn't very surprising. The reason he woke up even earlier today was
because of a strange sound from the main room. Grumbling, he got out
of bed and thought his leathers on. Who in Tartarus was bothering him
before sunrise on a Saturday morning? He was SO gonna kill whoever it
was, or blast them if it was a god. Ares, God of War, was not a
morning person.
"WHAT!?" he thundered, slamming the door open.
"Your our."
".Uncle Ares?"
It was Joxer's twin girls. What were they doing here? Xena could be
home any moment.
"Yes, now why are you bothering me?" He said, doing his best not to
blow up.
"Daddy is."
".sick, he."
".needs you."
".Uncle Ares."
".or should."
".we say."
".daddy?" Ares jumped backwards.
"D-d-d-daddy?" he spluttered. Raven and Tamara nodded and looked at
him with their big, soulful eyes. They had learned that from Joxer,
he thought. And per usual he couldn't deny anything or lie when
someone looked at him with puppy dog eyes.
"Yes" he said, sighed deeply and sat down. "You should say daddy,
that's what I am." The girls stood silent, then they said:
"Why."
".do you."
".treat daddy."
"bad? He's."
".done nothing..."
"...wrong."
The eyes turned accusing. Ares found himself cringing away from
those eyes.
"I." he was interrupted by a voice from the hall:
"Ares! If you're still in bed your dead! Get up you lazy fool or I'll
make sure you regret it! We've got a guest!" He turned at the twins.
"You've gotta leave. Now. Xena's back and Gabrielle's with her. Now
leave!"
"But."
"I'm sorry, she'll freak if she finds you two here. Now go!" The
girls nodded. Then, in a way that made them seem far more mature than
their years, they said:
"This isn't."
".over yet." Then they were gone in a puff of smoke. Ares took a deep
breath and went to greet Xena and Gabrielle. It was going to be a
long day.
[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]*[*]
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
Pain. That was the first thing Joxer registered. Intense, gut
wrenching pain.
"Aw, jeez, bad timing kid!" He groaned and managed to get himself
into a sitting position. Then he calmly called for his father. The
older one. Apollo wouyld be in hysterics after five minutes, if he
was to help with the birth. The handsome sun god didn't react to
blood and gore or chopped of limbs, but to see his son in labour was
enough to turn him into a babbling idiot.
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
Hades materialised into Joxer's chamber, and yelled for Hera to come
and help.
"This is too soon" he said worriedly as his sister appeared.
"I know. About a month. Help him get undressed."
"Is this bad for the baby?" Joxer asked worriedly as Hades hurriedly
stripped him.
"No, she's ready to be born now. She's fully grown and anxious to see
her daddy, I think. Were are the children?"
"With Jett, they're spending the day."
"Alright." And nothing more was said, except the
occasional "push", "breath", "wait" and the screams from the birthing
father, as he gave birth to his fourth daughter.
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
"Can we go see daddy yet?" Raven whined at her uncle. She added the
puppy dog eyes, too. Uncle Jett couldn't say no to puppy dog eyes.
"I'll check with dad if it's done now." He said, shifting the
sleeping girl with the appearance of a two-year-old in his arms as he
called for his dark father.
~Dad, can I bring the girls over now?~
~Not yet, son, but soon. They're sleeping now, both of them.~ The
pride in Hades mental voice was clear.
~Are they alright? What did he have?~
~They're both fine. It's a girl.~
~I'll tell the girls. They'll be thrilled.~
~Yeah, do that. I'll call you when it's okay to bring them over.~
Jett turned to the twins.
"You have a new sister." Their small faces lit up, and they screamed
with joy. Then they clamped their hands over their mouths, looking at
the little girl in Jett's arms. Daddy always said you had to be quiet
around the baby when she slept. Pilar slept on, unaware of all the
fuss around her.
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
Joxer smiled tiredly at his girls, and they gathered around him on
the bed.
"Baby?" Pilar asked, carefully touching the small girl.
"Yeah. Now you all gotta help me with a name." Tamara frowned at the
baby.
"Daddy…" she started. "…she says that…" Raven continued; "…her name
is…" "…Aniela."
"Aniela, huh?" Joxer smiled. "Then that's what we'll call her."
Apollo flashed in with Jace and Asclepios in tow.
"Hey, love" Apollo kissed Joxers cheek and cooed at the baby. "Ooh,
we're gonna have a hgandful with you, little one!" He said, grinning.
"Why?" Joxer asked worriedly.
"Why, we have a little chaos godling here." Joxer whimpered. *And I
thought three small children was bad!*
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
Ares absently threw his sword on the floor and continued to the bath
chamber. It had been a long day, but now he could finally get some
rest and clean of the dirt, sweat and blood.
The war in Thessaly was proceeding according to plan, and he could
take tomorrow off. Strife could deal with the war for a day, if Eris
kept her eyes on him.
Maybe he could visit Joxer? A soft smile spread over his features as
he thought of him. There was a part of him that was constantly
screaming his cousins name, but he wasn't sure why.
The temple was quiet, and he silently thanked whoever would listen.
He and Xena had had a fallout the day before, and she had - as usual -
run off with someone. He didn't know who she was fucking for the
time being, and he couldn't bring himself to care. As long as she
left him to do his job and visit Joxer and the children every now and
then, he didn't care about what else she did.
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
Joxer looked up at Ares and smiled, as he finished changing on his
youngest daughter.
"Hi"
"Hello, Jox. How's the little one?" He pointed at the baby in Joxer's
arms.
"She's fine." For a second the look in Joxer's warm, brown eyes
turned adoring, then they were back to friendly. "Would you like to
hold her?"
"I don't know, Jox, I'm no good with kids."
"Silly Ares." Joxer declared and promptly dumped the newly-changed
baby goddess in Ares' arms, adding: " You're great with kids."
Ares looked down at the downy head, and the sleepy face. The big,
brown eyes were half closed and she was moviong her lips as if
searching for something to suck on.
"I think she's hungry."
"No, I just fed her." Joxer stepped so close to Ares, that the
later's nostrils filled with that warm, earthy scent that was purely
Joxer. "She's just tired. She always makes that face when she wants
her quilt." He picked up a worn, fuzzy piece of an old wool quilt,
holding it to Aniela's mouth. The little goddess immediately latched
on and startet to suck.
"Time to put this little girl to bed." He softly, lovingly, took the
baby from Ares' arms and put her in the crib, that Pilar had slept in
until Aniela's birth.
"Umm…" Ares started, feeling the need to keep the conversation
going. "Where are the others?"
"Let me see, Pilar is with Hermes, probably playing 'horsie'" Joxer
grinned. "I don't know who enjoys it the most, him or her." Ares
snickered. "Yeah, it's kind of funny. Anyway, Tamara and Raven are
with Eris today, she's teaching them to read."
"Oh" They stood silent, just looking at each other.
"Ares…"
"Yeah?"
"If, you want to kiss me, why are you just standing there, gawking
like a fish out of water?" Ares blushed, but did what Joxer had
ordered him to do. He pulled his younger cousin into his arms, and
kissed him.
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
tbc