“Where are the kids?” Celene asked, surprised not to hear shouts from the twins.
“My father and aunt have them for the week. They're probably being spoiled rotten as we speak.”
“It's quiet here.”
“I know. It doesn't feel like my house. So what exactly is going on with Adam?”
Celene filled Jason in on what Penny had told her the night before. Astin had a second, very useful ability, and Adam knew about it.
“Then it's time to bring him in,” Jason said. “Maybe we need to ask him outright if that dog-throwing trick was a fluke of adrenaline or an actual ability.”
“He trusts Devon. Devon should be the one to talk to him,” Celene said. “We don't need to freak him out by revealing all fifteen of us straight away.”
Jason nodded and sipped his coffee. “I'm a bit worried about the kids. I mean, fighting in public? They're going to expose you all if they're not careful.”
“I have no doubt what Peter and Teddy were fighting about,” Celene said.
Jason knew exactly what she was getting at, and he didn't disagree. Everyone in The Pantheon knew that Peter was in love with Penny, and his temper was notorious. “People say they wish they could go back and be a teenager again. Forget that. I'll take twenty-five gratefully, but I never want to go back to fifteen.”
“Hormones, anger, acne,” Celene shook her head. “I did it once. I paid my dues.”
Jason laughed.
“I have a hard time imagining you as a wild teenager,” Celene said. “You always seem so... mellow. Like nothing can get you riled up.”
“You didn't know me three years ago,” Jason said, his smile fading.
“When your wife died?”
“I had a bit of a come-apart. I did some reckless things, lost my job. Most people with a license to practice medicine don't become school nurses.”
Celene set her mug down and folded her hands in her lap. “So it wasn't just to spend more time with the kids?”
Jason shook his head. “Right after my wife died, they brought me on to help with a study for an experimental treatment, a new drug to shrink tumors. It was too late for Felicia, but this woman I was working with, who had kids to think about, she was perfectly qualified. She didn't have great insurance, they refused to cover the treatment and the hospital sponsored trial was full, so I brought her in and started treating her anyway. Her tumor shrank and she went in to remission, but when the hospital realized nobody was paying for it, they came down on me.
“Legally you have to treat everyone, regardless of whether they can pay. You can't refuse a gunshot victim because he's not insured. But the law isn't so righteous when it comes to experimental treatments, and hospitals aren't too keen when they get stuck with a bill for that kind of money. I kept my license but no hospital will take me and nobody would give me insurance for my own practice. So now I'm a school nurse.”
Celene didn't know what to say to that. It had been a foolish move, risking his job with three mouths to feed, but she knew he had done the right thing. She knew that being a school nurse couldn't pay that well. “Did she survive?”
Jason nodded. “She sends me a Christmas card every year.”
“Well, you're her hero, at least. And some day your kids will know what you did.”
Celene was certain that she saw Jason blush. He finished off his coffee and set his mug down close to Celene's.
“How old was Penny when you lost your husband?” he asked.
“Nine,” Celene said. “Richard was there for her birthday, and then, the week after, he went downhill fast. I think he was holding on so he wouldn't ruin her day.”
“Haley wasn't really old enough to know what was going on. She kept telling people that Mommy would come back when she felt better.”
Celene closed her eyes. “Penny knew and she dealt with it as healthily as you can expect a nine-year-old to. I held on to my stony face for over a year before I dealt with it.”
“Have you been out dating?”
Celene shrugged, “A little. I went out with one guy three times, which was the record. It's just not so easy to get back on the horse.” Her eyes opened again, locking with his. “Have you?”
Jason shook his head.
“This is depressing,” Celene said. “I usually don't get this sentimental without a glass of wine in me.”
“I have a bottle of red. Nothing fancy.”
“If you pour a glass we can talk more about that book.”
“Like a ladies' book club?”
Celene laughed. “Just like that.”
Jason got up and went to the kitchen. He came back with two glasses and a bottle of local wine. “It has a bit of a tart aftertaste, but the first sip is sweet.”
He poured two small glasses and sat back on the couch. “Do you know what the best part about my job is?” he asked.
“What is that?” Celene took a tentative sip of her wine and nodded. It was good.
“Summer vacation. Haven't had that since my undergraduate studies. I get to spend summer vacation with my kids instead of shipping them off to day care.”
“I've enjoyed having the summers with Penny, even if she's dating and babysitting and going off on her own, now.”
“I don't think I'll ever be ready for Haley to start dating.”
“I still don't think I'm ready, but I have to accept it.”
“Penny brings up a whole host of never-before-seen parenting questions, you know, with The Pantheon,” Jason said.
“Do you feel guilty that none of the other kids have told their parents?” Celene asked.
“A little,” Jason shrugged, “But all it takes is one well-meaning parent to not believe it and haul their kid in for testing. Some people are very good at denying what's right before their eyes.”
“I guess I don't know their parents very well,” Celene said. “Aside from meeting at parent-teacher conferences.”
“None of them have ever asked if they could tell their parents.”
“And none of them have ever wanted to tell non-Pantheon friends,” Celene pointed out.
“Then we cross that bridge if we come to it.” Jason shook his head, “Not sure what good it would do to tell their parents anyway. It's not like anybody has experience with this issue. It just feels irresponsible, as a fellow parent.” Jason swirled his wine around in its glass before taking a long sip.
Celene rested her head back against the couch. She let herself relax so rarely that any break she took had to be a conscious effort. She breathed out and let the tension fall from her shoulders. “I'm worried about the kids,” she said after a while.
“About a new Titan?”
“No, about how equipped they are for this kind of power. Look at the trouble they've gotten in to. Teddy and Peter were arrested and Devon's gotten herself pregnant.”
“Sounds to me like they did that without the help of their powers.”
“Maybe,” Celene sighed. “Would it make me the bad-guy if I forbid Penny from dating anyone who has been arrested?”
Jason smiled. His eyes crinkled with that smile, lighting up his whole face. “Probably. But give it time. I think they're a horrible fit. Once she gets over how cute he is and how purple his car is, she'll figure it out, too.”
Celene turned her head to look back at Jason. “You think so?”
“I guarantee it. Penny's a smart girl. She's also a good girl. Teddy's a good kid when he tries, but he functions at a higher pace. More action, less thought. Penny will find someone she can talk to. Besides, how many people ever meet their soulmate when they're fifteen?”
“Do you believe in that, soulmates?”
“Well, I guess if I believed there was only one, that would be pretty depressing.” Jason sipped his wine and thought about it for a minute.
He continued, “I think that we all have someone who is a perfect fit for us, if we can let ourselves fall and learn to l
ove their flaws. And if we lose that someone, there is someone else out there. Call it God's plan, fate, destiny, a horse...”
Celene didn't laugh. Jason decided that he needed to stop quoting his daughter's movies.
“Right, so I think that we can find a perfect fit again, but it works out that nobody can ever find two soul-mates against their will. We have to choose to fall.”
“I like that. You put it much more eloquently than I ever could,” Celene nodded. “It's nice to hope that we could find that feeling again.”
Jason looked back at Celene, his thoughts wandering. It was pretty surreal that this woman sitting with him, talking about fate, was actually an ancient goddess. Jason had managed to reconcile his faith with The Pantheon's existence. Maybe she wasn't the creator of his universe. Maybe she wasn't a deity to be worshipped. That aside, she was still a powerful immortal being, someone far beyond him. He was in awe that she could sit here, beautiful and graceful, and still seem so accessible.
“We're lucky Astin turned to you at the beginning of all this. A lesser man might have taken advantage of us.”
Jason never knew how to respond to compliments of character. “Thank You” always seemed pompous, like a Han Solo “I know,” but nobody liked that guy who talked down on himself to feign humility. Jason didn't say anything. He just looked back at Celene, hoping that he wasn't blushing.
Jason's core twitched, as if he'd had the impulse to move but thought better of it. Celene read the minute movement and responded with a curious raise of her eyebrow. His thoughts raced between the realization of what he had wanted to do and the fact that she had noticed it. Jason was busted. If he didn't react in some way, it would turn in to an awkward moment. Jason made the snap decision to go with his gut.
He leaned forward, holding his breath as he moved, and kissed her. Celene closed her eyes and sighed. Relieved, Jason relaxed. He brought his hand up to cradle her jaw. Her lips slowly parted, inviting him to deepen the kiss.
They spent a long time sitting on the couch, lazily kissing and getting used to the idea of romance again. Eventually Celene broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his.
“I just crossed a line...” he said, worry present in his voice.
“It's a good line,” she replied.
Jason sat up. Her tone was encouraging. It was tough, getting back in the game after losing the mother of his children, but he was ready and he was determined not to let a chance at happiness pass him by. He could never know how much time they had. “What are you doing Friday night?”
“Watching something off my DVR. Why?” She asked, a smirk playing on the corners of her lips, “What should I be doing Friday night?”
“Acknowledge sacred things.”
-Greek Proverb
xvi.
When the people began their worship of him,
Dionysus, bringer of wine and drama,
Pentheus, King of Thebes, rejected this rite
and even banned it.
Hearing this, Dionysus was furious.
He drove the women of Thebes into frenzy
and unleashed them all on their blasphemous King.
Pentheus took off.
He ran until he came to a wide fig tree
and sought to escape by climbing its branches.
But the women, like ravenous dogs, chased and
pulled him from the tree.
In their grasp, King Pentheus was torn to scraps
and left in pieces outside the walls of Thebes.
Dionysus was content with his revenge,
and worship commenced.
“You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.”
-Epicurus
XVI.
Penny didn't hear from Teddy for two days. On the third day she was surprised to see a video chat request while she was browsing the internet. She knew he was grounded, but she guessed that the self-defense plea got him a lesser punishment.
“Are you free already?”
“Naw, my parents went out for dinner.” Teddy was sitting in a room Penny didn't recognize. She guessed it was his Dad's office. “They locked up my computer for the week.”
“Oh.”
“How are you doing, gorgeous. Miss me?”
Penny picked up a pen on her desk and started doodling purple swirls on some scrap paper. She shrugged.
“What, you don't miss me?”
“I've just had a lot of time to think,” she said.
“About what?”
“About you, me, my fight with Peter.”
Teddy was silent.
“Peter said he hit you because you weren't being very... polite when talking about me.”
“Peter said that, did he?”
“Are you telling me he's lying?”
“I'm telling you he's overreacting.”
“Maybe he's not,” Penny said, looking back up at the camera. “Teddy, I feel like every time I see you, since our first date, you're trying to put your hands where they don't need to be and getting upset when I stop you.”
“You're mad at me for being attracted to you?” Teddy cocked an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“I'm not mad.”
“You sound mad.”
Penny didn't say anything. She put the pen down and sighed. It was a pressing, awkward pause that made Teddy wish he had never sneaked on his father's computer. Maybe if he had given her a week she would have calmed down.
“Are you breaking up with me because of Peter?”
“This has nothing to do with Peter. He's my friend. Well, he was. I don't even think he's that anymore.”
“But you are breaking up with me,” Teddy said.
“We don't want the same thing out of this relationship, Teddy.”
“Right then. Well, thanks for being clear.” Teddy's shoulders shifted on screen as he moved his mouse. He disconnected the call. Penny turned off her computer. With her bed right next to her computer desk, she was able to shift in her chair and flop down across her comforter. After a minute Penny crawled completely onto her bed, pulled her pink throw blanket up over her head, and began to cry.
“He lives not long who battles with the immortals.”
-Homer
xvii.
To share her with the crippled smith, Hephaestus,
was a mere inconvenience of Zeus’ law.
Ares knew that she did not love her husband.
She was his in heart.
When he heard that his lover had born a child
to another rival, youthful Adonis,
his whole body was flushed with crimson anger,
and he was transformed.
From hands came hooves and from flesh erupted fur,
until he was bent on all fours, tusks roaring
and charging towards his unwitting contender,
intending to kill.
A tusk pierced the skin beneath his floating ribs
and hooked up into the rival’s intestines.
Adonis lay, gored, in a pile of his own
hot blood and entrails.
“Love is simply the name for the desire and the pursuit of the whole.”
-Aristophanes
XVII.
Devon Valentine knocked on the front door of Frank's house. The door was painted a kiwi green that matched the rest of the neighborhood's tropical scheme, but the paint was peeling to show that, sometime before, the door had once been red.
When the door opened, a small woman with dark hair and large brown eyes stood in front of Devon. She was dressed in scrubs and holding a cloth purse. Devon had met Frank's mother before, in passing. This woman looked just like her, minus a few scars and a few years on her face. She must have been his aunt, the owner of the house.
“Hi,” Devon said, pulling up the shoulder of her shirt. The t-shirt was an OHSH Athletic shirt with the sleeves and collar cut out
. It hung off of her shoulder, exposing the red tank-top beneath. “Is Frank home?”
“He is,” she said, giving Devon a judgmental once-over. She shouted back over her shoulder, “Francis!” Frank's aunt shouted back at him in Spanish. Devon didn't know any Spanish outside the phrases in Taco Bell commercials. The short and rather intimidating woman turned her eyes back on Devon. “I'm on my way to work and Frank's mother is already out for the evening.”
She didn't have to tell Devon to behave, but the command was implied as she stepped around her and headed out to her car. Devon stood in the entryway after Frank's aunt left for work. Finally, she heard heavy footsteps and Frank appeared across the kitchen, standing in the opposite doorway. He filled the door frame and had to duck his head to pass through.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
Devon shut the door behind her. She dug through her purse for only an instant before pulling out a folded piece of paper. It was an ultrasound. “I thought you might want to see,” she said. This week had been a blessing in so much that the morning sickness had faded, but Devon's temper had been in rare form. She had found a zit two days ago and broken her hand mirror as a result.
Frank crossed the room and took the image from Devon. He looked down at it for a long time, not saying anything. Devon couldn't read his expression.
After what seemed like possibly five minutes, he gave it back to Devon and turned away. “Do you want some water?”
“Yeah,” she said, “Water sounds great. Or... do you have lemonade?”
“No. We have water, milk, orange juice, beer.”
“Oh, I'll have a beer.”
He just stared at her.
“Kidding. God, forgot you don't have a sense of humor.”
The Weight of the World Page 13
