Epilogue
“You’re here. You must be Marty, I’m so happy to meet you.”
Ares was a bit taken aback by the effusive meeting the young man gave his mate at the door of Hephaestus’ home in Montana. Marty, tired of Ares’ dithering, finally asked the Paulie app to connect him with Landyn, Hephaestus’ mate, introducing himself and sharing congratulations to their new daughter while mentioning he’d just given birth to a son of his own.
Apparently, numerous messages were exchanged – Landyn and Marty forging their own friendship outside of their godly mates over pictures of their children and giggles about their mates. By the time Marty informed him they’d been invited for dinner, Ares could hardly refuse.
“Come in, come in. Don’t mind the dogs. They are perfectly safe around little ones. Ares, it’s a pleasure. Hephaestus is down the hall – second door on the left – putting our little Jasmine down for her nap. There’s an extra crib in there if you’d like to put Ari down for a bit. My gods, isn’t he adorable? Marty, come on with me into the kitchen.”
I want to hang onto my adorable son and go home, taking Marty with me. But as Marty was already walking with Landyn deeper into the house, Ares inhaled slowly, resting his hand on Ari’s back. His son was strapped to his chest in a front pack. I’m doing this for you.
It was easy to find Hephaestus. The god’s power thrummed through the house, and almost everywhere he looked, Ares could see examples of the god’s incredible workmanship. Even the dogs, who’d accompanied Landyn to the front door, were made of gold. You haven’t lost your touch, old man.
Another one of Hephaestus’ automatons was present in the nursery, standing motionless by the door. “Don’t mind, Chloe,” Hephaestus said, bending over a cot as he put his daughter down gently. “She keeps an eye on our little Jasmine and alerts us the moment Jasmine wakes up again.”
“She?” Ares moved slowly into the room. “I didn’t realize your machines had gender.”
“They didn’t until Landyn came along.” Hephaestus chuckled as he straightened again. “Now I have six automatons – three with male names and three with female names - who have their own leisure room which includes plenty of seating, a table for them to play cards, and a television, would you believe. And don’t get me started about the dogs – I built two of them when we moved here to guard the front door. Landyn worries they’ll get cold, lets them in the house and on the furniture, and plays fetch with them in the yard. What can you do?” He looked Ares in the eyes.
“Love them, I guess.” Ares wanted to fidget. “Er…Landyn suggested I could put Ari down for a bit?”
“Landyn set the crib up with fresh linen this morning.” Hephaestus moved aside, and Ares saw another crib. “Do we have to talk about the past at all? Only if we do, I’d prefer we did it where Landyn can’t hear us. As far as he’s concerned, the past is in the past.”
“Marty feels the same way.” Moving across the room, loosening the straps that kept the front pack secure, Ares thought about it. “I do feel I owe you an apology about that business with Aphrodite,” he said, keeping his focus on his son as he gently eased the sleeping baby from the front pack. “That was a shitty thing to do.”
“Bah. If it hadn’t been you, it would’ve been someone else. I hate to say it, pretty boy, but you weren’t anyone special to her.”
Shocked, Ares burst out laughing. “I know,” he said as he carefully laid Ari down. “She dumped me soon enough after that Olympus embarrassment. Still a dick move on my part, though.”
“Meh, I was hardly Mr. Agreeable back then, either. Landyn’s been a blessing, he really has, and now we have Jasmine…”
Hephaestus trailed off, but Ares understood what he meant. “I feel the same about Marty. He…er…this was his idea. Coming here, I mean. I’ve always wanted to reach out, but what was I going to say?”
“It was all a long time ago,” Hephaestus agreed. “Hell, we had Zeus and Paulie here for dinner at one point. Zeus was actually nice, can you believe it?”
“Mating changed him, too?” Ares turned to his fellow Olympian.
Hephaestus nodded. “It seems like it. You could’ve blown me over with a feather when he turned up, sitting at our table, behaving as though he hadn’t thrown me down a mountain.”
“Strange times.” Ares wasn’t sure he was ready for that just yet. “Have you seen Aphrodite recently?”
“Once, and that wasn’t by choice.” Hephaestus huffed. “The cyclops complained to her about Landyn, said I was neglecting my craft and a whole bunch of other shit. She sent Eros to summon me to her glade. I sent her a summons to get her ass down to my house, because I wasn’t jumping just because she said so. You know…” He wagged his finger in Ares’ direction.
“There was a moment there when I actually felt sorry for her. Landyn hadn’t known I’d been married, so he was already upset, but she spoke to him, and then she genuinely congratulated us on our mating. She seemed sad when she said she’d never feel a bond like Landyn and I share. Can you believe that?”
“I wonder if that is the case.” Ares hadn’t considered that before. “She’s the Goddess of Love and Desire, but it’s not like she’s ever been in love before. I took Marty to Olympus for a quick visit – long story, don’t ask – and I didn’t realize she’d be there. But we bumped into Athena, Marty was in his raccoon form, and she called to Aphrodite to come and meet him. She was really nice to us as well. I have to say I was stunned speechless.”
“Times are definitely changing. That’s why, instead of trying to stuff you into my fire pit to see how long you can burn, we’re going to go and have a friendly dinner with our mates with the past put firmly to bed. Agreed.”
Ares’ eyes widened. Hephaestus was offering him a gift and he wouldn’t refuse. “Thank you. So long as you don’t suggest we hug or do anything like that. I think I’m embarrassed enough as it is. But thank you. I know Marty and Landyn are already fast friends.”
“Speaking of which, we should probably go and find them.” Hephaestus patted him on the shoulder as he moved past. “This trying to act like a civilized extended family isn’t always easy with our history, but the rewards are well worth it. You’ll see that for yourself over time.”
“I think you’re right.” Ares followed Hephaestus out of the door. “Hey, what are the chances of me commissioning one of those dogs from you? I know Marty would absolutely love it.”
“You’d have to commission two of them together, and they won’t be cheap.” Hephaestus grinned. “Landyn claims they’d get lonely if there was only one of them.”
“Automatons get lonely?” Ares asked slowly.
“Apparently. According to Landyn. Are you going to be the one who tells him that he’s wrong?”
“I’ll take two.” Ares chuckled as he had another thought. “Can I bring them here for playdates with your two?”
“Landyn and Marty will have already organized that for us,” Hephaestus pushed open a door to the living area. “You just wait and see. They’ll be ready next week. Good luck in keeping them off the couches. I had no chance.”
“I wouldn’t even try.” Ares smiled as he saw Landyn and Marty huddled together on a large couch. They were pouring over their phones, sharing pictures, and giggling. “Marty has never had a lot of luck making friends, but then he spent most of his life living on the streets.”
“Then he and Landyn have something in common,” Hephaestus said. “Let’s head out to the forge and leave them to it for a bit. Landyn will have Marty on a mate’s group chat before the night is over, you’ll see. And don’t worry about Ari,” he added as Ares looked down the hall. “Chloe will let us know when the babies wake up. It’s not like she’ll get distracted or fall asleep on the job.”
“I still can’t believe they have name tags and genders,” Ares chuckled as he followed Hephaestus through the house and outside to the forge.
/~/~/~/~/
“If you could have absolutely anything you wanted, what would it be?” Ares asked Marty. It was many hours later. They were home, and Ari was fed, changed, and sleeping soundly. Marty and Ares were curled up on the bed, but buoyed by the success of the evening, Ares was finding it difficult to fall asleep.
“I already have everything I’ve ever wanted.” Marty rolled over, looping his arms around Ares’ neck. “I have you and little Ari. I have my ideal house and apparently two gold dogs on order from Hefe.” Marty still struggled with the proper name, which Landyn and Hephaestus thought was hilarious. “Why are you asking?”
Ares chose his words carefully. “You…you have given me a life I never imagined. If someone had told me a year ago that I would be in love, that Athena and Aphrodite would speak kindly to me, that Hephaestus and I would be sitting across the table from each other with not a sword in sight…seriously, I would’ve wanted to know what that person had been drinking.
“I have this urge, this need…I feel I should give you an amazing gift, but anything I think of doing seems so inadequate in comparison to what you’ve given me. My whole world has changed because of you – for the better. I want to say thank you.”
“You just did.” Marty chuckled, pressing closer. “Don’t you see, you’ve already given me just as much. I’m not talking about the material things. Clicky fingers are really helpful, and I’m grateful for all that you’ve done. But what’s important, the reason why I love you is because you opened your heart to me. That’s special. I understand how much of a gift that is, and I hug that to my heart more than anything else.”
Ares could feel the truth of Marty’s words, and something settled deep inside his gut. “Before you came along, I wore my hate like a suit of armor,” he admitted quietly. “Everyone I knew seemed to have a reason to hate me. But somehow, a very stealthy and extremely clever raccoon came along, sniffed at my strawberries, and ended up stealing my heart as well.”
“Are you sure that wasn’t my bare ass gleaming in the security camera lights that attracted your attention?” Marty’s lips were like butterflies along Ares’ jaw.
“Hmm, there might have been a bit of that, too.” Ares groaned softly, running his hands down Marty’s back. “I’m just so eternally grateful for you. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Marty hummed, tilting his face up. “Now, kiss me quick. Ari doesn’t care what we’re doing when he’s hungry. If you’re wanting…”
“Oh, I am definitely wanting you, and I always will.” Ares took the kiss offered as he sent his thanks to the Fates.
The End.