18. Hermes
18
HERMES
I … froze.
Here we were on a snow-covered hill, away from any signs of civilization, while my mate went into labor.
Sometimes being a god sucked. I had just stuck my cock in him a few nights ago, and he was already about to burst with the life inside him. In fact, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to actually burst with life. He was an Elemental, and I was… well, me. I guess I really was a speedy delivery.
This was…
Sam gripped my hand as he leaned against me. “I might hate you right now.”
“Trust me, I really wanted to hate Eros as my…”
“Syke!” Kitty warned. I knew what she was about to say – as their child burst out of his heart. Eros had to save Syke by giving up a piece of his own soul.
I couldn’t do that. I wasn’t a primordial. Eros would not be able to save Sam. It wasn’t his to give. Sam was not his mate.
“It’ll be ok,” I whispered into his ear. “We’ll…”
“I won’t make it, Hermes. It’s happening now. I don’t know how, but it is. Have I ever told you how much I think I might hate magic? Cause at this time… FUCK! This… sucks. I want my mom.” He seethed in between clenched breaths.
“I can help. Childbirth is part of what I do. But what do we do with her?” Heka looked at the fallen Medea. “She’s bound for now, but not forever.”
“It’s time she goes back to where she belongs. I’ll visit my brother; it’s been almost a thousand years. He hates company and rarely speaks, but he can keep her in Tarturus where she belongs.” Eros sighed. “I’ll be home tomorrow by dinner.” He bent down and threw Medea over his mighty shoulders. “Sam… You can do this. I believe you can do anything. Do you hear me?”
Sam whimpered. “Sure… If you… fuck… say so.”
“Take deep breaths, Sam.” Heka knelt down beside us. I had Sam propped up against my chest. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “That’s good. I want you to do this.” Heka showed him how he wanted to breathe, and Sam began to pant.
“Be careful.” Syke kissed his mate on the lips, and Eros took to the air. He really was a thing of…
“Fuck!” Sam whimpered again. “This is… He’s really ready… Am I gonna die?”
“You stopped Medea. I don’t think that childbirth is gonna kill you, but I have an idea.” Heka stood. “Pick him up gently. Bring him over to where the snow melted. And set him down. Keep him propped up the way you were, for now.”
I carefully removed myself from Sam and gently picked him up in my arms. I held him tightly as I cradled him against me. “I love you, Sam. We can do this.”
“You are not the one pushing a fucking boulder out of your body.” He still pressed his head against my neck and nuzzled in.
Heka placed his hands against the ground, and I watched as they glowed. “Lay him down there. The ground is warm, and the cold will not seep in.”
“It’s cold? Right now I’m fucking on fire,” Sam huffed. “Fuck… it hurts.”
“Breathe, Sam. The way I showed you.” Heka smiled, and Sam began to pant again.
“His contractions are not normal, but I’d expect this with all the magic he yielded today.”
“Not just me… him,” Sam muttered between breaths.
“It’s a boy?” I asked and had to fight back the tears.
“He’s part you and part me and… apparently ornery as hell. I can feel him inside me and his… I hear him like I once again hear the plants.”
“How did Medea know that…”
“She knew Hermes.” Apollo laughed. “The messenger god is very fast.”
“He better not be.” Sam looked up at me, and I stroked his face.
“We have to get his…”
“Just take them off!” Sam yelled. “Get him out!”
Tim came and helped Heka remove Sam’s pants, and he lay there naked for all to see.
“Nothing like being on display,” Hy said. “Let’s give them their privacy.”
“Kitty stay… Please?” Sam begged, and Kitty shifted and laid up against his body. Sam reached down and petted her.
“Fuck… Here it…” He began to pant again. “I’m never having another child. Do you hear me?”
“We will be a happy family of three,” I whispered into his ear.
“Is it too late for me to tell him to go back to being a seed? I am not ready for… all of this.”
“Heka?” The Dark Raven looked grim as she touched him on the shoulder. “A moment, please.”
Heka and Nepthys walked a few steps away and spoke in whispers.
I stroked Sam’s face. “I love you, Sam.
“I will love you when this is over. Right now, I’m…” He panted.
“Alright, we have a new plan. I haven’t done this in… well, quite some time.”
“What delivered a baby?” I asked.
“That too. Here’s what we’re going to do. Sam is of the Earth, and your child, according to Nepthys, has an even more affinitive nature to it. This will not be a usual birth.”
“Is it going to burst out of my head?” Sam whined. I could see the tears rolling down his cheek. “Make sure he’s ok. He’s very strong and will probably play football the way he’s pummeling my insides.”
“You will live, Sam. We’ll make sure of it.” Heka said soothingly.
“We’ll at least do our best,” Nepthys shrugged. “No promises; this is a demigod. It’s what it is.”
“Nestle down in that small chasm with him. He needs the earth around him. Make sure that he’s in the soil.” Heka carefully helped me to pick Sam up. We carried him over, and he went limp. I got down in the chasm, which was about two feet deep. Sam had really done some damage when he woke Gaea up. I had never even met her. She had been slumbering my whole life.
Heka gently lowered Sam to me, and I nestled down into the cavern with him as I was told to do. “Now what?”
“Now we let the earth do what it is it does to the alive things it nurtures. Watch.”
The earth around us began to sprout flowers. Sam reached out and stroked one of them with his fingertips. “Terran… Is that your name?” he whispered as he began to moan.
“It’s about to happen,” Nepthys said way too loudly. “Earth births were a natural way for the elementals back in the old days. The ground will soothe them, and the child will want to put his hands into the dirt. It’s messy, but… natural.”
“Is it safe? I mean… He won’t get sick from this, will he?” Hy sounded terrified.
“He’s of the earth. The earth will help him.”
“I… It’s not as… Oh! Spoke to soon. He’s…” His water broke, and the ground became wet with his slick. “I would have thought my water would have broken much…”
“Nutrients… He wants to flourish and grow. He’s about to come… When I tell you to – push. Not too hard at first. Let’s see what he wants to do. This is not a human baby, Sam. He’s one of you and a little godling. I can feel his raw power inside you. He wants to bloom.” Nepthys knelt down and took his hand. “Heka? Ready?”
“Yes.”
“Good, Sam. Next contraction… You’re ready… push when you…”
Sam yelled. “Fuuuuuuck!” His face scrunched up, and my Sam, my love, pushed. “Grooooow, little one… Come on…” He panted heavily.
“Good… One more time… I can feel it building within you.”
Sam screamed and pushed. I saw his knuckles whiten as he gripped onto the Dark Raven. He sighed and collapsed against me.
Heka held our child in his arms, and in one of his little hands, he held some of the dirt from where he came.
“It’s a boy,” Heka laughed.
“I know,” Sam said, reaching out, and Heka put our baby in his arms. “He looks like you.”
“He looks like us.” I kissed the top of his head. Terran reached his tiny hand out, and I gave him my finger. He held it and gurgled.
“I think I need to… get out of the dirt.”
“Yeah, we’re getting you to a doctor right now. You need to get checked out,” Hy demanded.
Kitty came up and licked Sam’s face.
He laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound that Terran and I had ever heard.