Chapter Twenty-Three
Marty’s tears were of absolute relief. Although his raccoon had been so very definite that they were expecting at least one child, in Marty’s head, that sort of thing just wasn’t possible. Yes, he had caught the briefest glimpse of a large burly man who had a very rotund stomach, but even when Ares said words that associated that bulk with carrying a child, there was a disconnect in Marty’s brain that couldn’t comprehend it.
There was even one point when he wondered if the lovely Athena or beautiful Aphrodite had somehow infected him with pregnancy dust when they touched his raccoon’s paw. His mind was whirling in so many circles that he thought anything was possible with gods. I’m so glad I didn’t mention that to Ares.
There was still just one tiny issue. While Marty was glad that he had told his mate, because he definitely didn’t think getting pregnant was even possible, and he’d now confirmed it was and he wasn’t going crazy, he also felt more than a little responsible, because it might have been him with that accidental intent.
Be fair, his raccoon warned.
All right, there was no might about it. It was very definitely him who might have been thinking about adorable little raccoon pups at one point when Ares was being particularly thorough checking that his dick and Marty’s ass still fit with each other - something he liked to do at least once a day.
Marty could feel Ares’ shock. Through their bond, it resounded like a huge bell. But Marty was overwhelmingly happy. He had the answers he wanted. Now it was up to him to help Ares feel the same way.
“It won’t be so bad having a baby, will it?” he asked when Ares really didn’t seem to want to say anything else.
“No, hon,” Ares said quickly, but when Marty glanced up he could see Ares was just staring at a point on the wall. “I was just thinking about where we can find some resources about how to be parents.”
Oh, no, poor Ares. There was a definite quiver in those words, but his mate was doing his best to hide it.
“It won’t be a problem, I’m sure. There’s the internet, and there are lots of other gods who have had children and will be able to help us in coping with kiddies in these modern times.”
Marty wasn’t sure if Ares was trying to convince him or himself. “Didn’t you have anything to do with your children at all when they were growing up? Your last lot?” Marty asked. He had hoped that Ares would have some experience, but Ares was shaking his head.
“I was the God of War. I was always out…warring. It was up to the people that I left behind to raise the children. That was never seen as men’s work. But…it’s so weird. I remember chatting with Hermes, the messenger god, about male gods finding male mates, just after I’d seen you for the first time. It was him that said the reason it was happening is because of the children.” Ares was encouraging him closer, and Marty figured his mate needed a hug, which he was happy to give.
“It’s quite strange thinking about it,” Ares said as Marty heard his heart rate start to slow down. “I mean all the regular things like feeding and clothing and teaching them to walk and what have you. Babies can’t walk when they’re born, can they?”
Oh, no. Marty suppressed his giggle. “No,” he said quickly. Marty’s experiences with little ones were limited to when he still lived at home, but he did remember how dependent babies were on their parents. “Most don’t start to take their first steps until they are about a year old, but then ours will be half god, so it might be different for them.”
“You know so much more than I do already,” Ares said. “But it’s like baking, right? I can learn.”
“We’ll learn together.” Marty was determined Ares wasn’t going off warring again, leaving Marty at home alone with their newborn. Speaking of which…
“Babe.” Buoyed by his success at being able to tell Ares his problem in the first place, Marty was aiming for the next step. Babies needed love, food, clothing, and warmth, not necessarily in that order, but they were all equally important. The pool house wasn’t going to be suitable, especially with that darn fire that still hadn’t gone out.
“Babe, I think we need a new house. The main house has floors that are too cold, and that house is just too big. We could easily lose a baby in there once they start moving around on their own. And I know you wanted to go to Hawaii for the surfing, and you said you had a house in France, but I need somewhere where the people speak the same language as me, and I need a house that’s not the big one over there. So, how do we go about getting another house suitable for little ones?”
Ares’ smile was beautiful. It was like the sun came out when he truly smiled. “Can you hear yourself? I’m so proud of you,” Ares said. “Apart from the scooter and then when you were telling me off because I had done you wrong, this is the first time you have asked for a big-ticket item and been so confident about it as well. Where do you want to live where people speak English? There’re a lot of countries where English is the main language.”
“Can’t we stay in this country?” Marty asked. “What if those other countries have different rules and different laws and customs that we don’t know about?”
“I’m sure they do, although that won’t bother us much,” Ares said.
“No, no, it will bother us because we’re not going to stay in the house all the time. I don’t want to get confused about things when I go out, and what about our little one? They could get confused as well, and that’s not fair to a baby. I just want things nice and easy, like here. I understand life here. It’s not always an easy life, but I understand it.”
"That’s fine,” Ares nodded. “We can have another house here. I don’t even have to sell this one to buy another one. We’ll just have three houses here in this country.”
“Woah, woah, woah. You can’t sell this place anyway.” Marty sat up and gave Ares his best glare. “You gave me the pool house. This is my house, and you’re not selling it because I like it here. But it only has one bedroom, and we need at least two.”
Ares was laughing, and there was a bit of hysteria in that laugh as well, but given the weighty news Marty had given him, Marty knew it would take a bit of time for his mate to process things. He just patted his mate’s shoulder until Ares could speak again.
“Babe, we don’t have to sell this house. We’re in Boston. How about we move somewhere in the hills or by the beach or somewhere south where it’s warmer? What do you want to do? Where do you want to go? Where do you want to be?”
“Oh, my goodness. Now you’re asking all these questions and I haven’t got a clue. It all suddenly sounds very confusing.” Marty was also suddenly hungry. “We don’t have to decide right this minute, do we?”
Ares grabbed hold of his hands. “I need to find out about this birth business first, okay? Humor me, all right, but I think that’s important. I can go and buy us a house any day of the week. That’s not a problem. I promise you that’s not a problem. You’ll have your house and the nursery for a baby and everything we need whenever you want because I can click those things up - well, not the house because someone would notice a house just appearing where there wasn’t one – but anything else I can click.
“But babe, this is important. I know all these other gods have had babies, but I don’t actually know how they’ve done it, and I’m not sure who to ask. Can’t you see? We have to know that first.”
Marty wasn’t so sure. He always thought anything to do with childbirth, especially among shifters, was mostly instinctive. His body wouldn’t have gotten pregnant if there wasn’t any way for him to get the baby out.
But Ares had been good about everything else so far. “It shouldn’t be too difficult to find out, should it? Can’t you just ask that app of yours? The Paulie app?”
Tilting his head to one side, Marty saw it, the moment Ares had an epiphany. “Paulie gave birth. He was the one who carried Zeus’s son. Yes, yes! I’ll do that. I’ll ask Paulie, and we’ll find out what’s needed for this birth business. I know that once we’ve got that worked out, anything else I can take care of with my clicky fingers. You’re a genius, thank you.”
Marty got a kiss on his head, which was sweet, but when Ares reached for his phone, he quickly grabbed Ares’ hands.
“I’m not giving birth right now, so before you start talking to Paulie, can you use those magical fingers for good and click me up something that’s not cake – I’m hungry.” Marty huffed. “I do hope this sickness business doesn’t last forever because I seriously miss my cake, but for now, I’d settle for a huge hamburger, the biggest one you can imagine with piles of extra bacon… double cheese… oh, and three pickles on the side. Big ones. Can you do that first?”
Ares screwed up his nose, but a plate appeared in front of Marty with the burger and pickles just as he imagined it. “You can talk to Paulie now,” Marty said happily, picking up the burger. “Just don’t talk about squeamish stuff. I really want to enjoy this burger.”
Grabbing his phone, Ares said, “Please brush your teeth when you’ve finished. I’m truly not a fan of pickles.”
Marty gave him a happy thumbs up. His mouth was too full of all that decadent goodness to answer.