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“Orpheus! Can you get me some tea please! The nausea is coming back.” Eurydice yelled to her husband who was in the kitchen.
“Alright, it’s coming!” He responded back. She could almost see Orpheus trying to speed through the process of making tea to get it to her quicker. Her thoughts were confirmed once she heard the crash of brass and a quick “I’m fine!” from the kitchen.
A wave of sickness crashed over her again and this time she couldn’t hold it back. Eurydice quickly made her way to the bathroom and spilled her guts out into the toilet. After a moment, she felt a hand on her back that rubbed soothingly up and down.
It had been almost four months since they found out they were expecting and the nausea had only gotten worse. Eurydice might not know a lot about the logistics of pregnancy, but what she had heard was that the sickness was supposed to balance out after a month or two. But yet here she was, throwing up the small breakfast she had eaten just hours before.
She sat back on her knees and wiped the bile from the side of her mouth, not caring that it was disgusting and unsanitary. Orpheus gently wrapped his arms around her waist, slowing lifting her up as not to upset her stomach with excessive motion.
“Let’s get you to bed, baby girl.” He whispered on the skin of her forehead while giving it a light kiss.
The two made their way back to the bedroom as Orpheus set her down on the soft homemade comforter. He left the room but came back a moment later with a hot cup of tea.
Once word made it out that she was pregnant (Hermes is nearly incapable of lying about this kind of stuff), many of the wives of her husband’s friends told her about this special tea that just completely stopped nausea. And to their credit, it worked like a charm, but the downside was that it smells absolutely disgusting.
Eurydice wrinkled her nose at the scent but gulped it down anyway.
“God, this baby better be worth it.” She laughed, lightly tracing the dark line running vertically down her stomach.
Orpheus reached over and rubbed her stomach soothing, “They will be, believe it.”
They sat together for a little while, just enjoying each other’s company until the brown haired boy broke the silence.
“Have you been thinking of any names yet?” He asked.
The girl shrugged and tapped the back of his hand before stopping, “Well actually, I was kind of thinking Leto for a boy?”
“Mmhm, any reason? Or just ‘cause?” Orpheus hummed.
“Just ‘cause. I remember hearing it once and it just...stuck. Anyway, what about you? Anything for a boy?”
“Not for a boy but I like Melita for a girl.” He glanced out the window, watching the snow fall slowly outside. Subconsciously, he wrapped the comforter tighter around the both of them, which made Eurydice smile.
“Then I get to push the same question back on you.” She teased, “Any reason for Melita?”
Orpheus looked down at their intertwined hands, “It means ‘honeybee’.”
Those three words said more than anyone could.
Brother, I’m as free as a honeybee in the summer time frame of mine.
To anyone else, Persephone was just good family to Orpheus but Eurydice knew she was so much more. Calliope, Orpheus’s mother, was constantly off performing and left him with his father, Apollo. Besides the lyre that was a gift that was given to him when he was eight, he knew nothing of the woman
An aunt turned nurturing figure for the young boy, every summer she would invite the young boy to stay with her and because most of the gods don’t have a good track record of caring about their children, Persephone filled that role for him for six months a year.
She was the one who helped grow his love for music, who turned the shy, scared demi-god into a strong performer who wore his heart on his sleeve. The goddess of spring helped breath new life into Orpheus. Naming their child Melita would provide a way to be honoring the closest thing to a mother he had.
“I love that. It’s perfect for us.” She whispered.
“Do-do you have anything for a girl? We could still get ideas.” He stuttered slightly.
Eurydice shook her head, “No, no. I don’t think anything could top that. Do you have a name for a boy?”
“No.” He whispered, and terribly tried to hide a smile on his face.
“Perfect. Melita and Leto. We should probably-“
Something cut off Eurydice too quick for Orpheus’s liking, which made his eyes widened with concern.
“Songbird, are you okay? Are you feeling sick again?” He asked, grabbing her hand, preparing to quickly whisk her away to the bathroom.
Her eyes were wide and mouth agape. Her hand flew down to her stomach and reached under her shirt to touch it gently.
“The baby’s kicking.” She spoke quietly as if the universe would snatch the feeling away from herself to leave her empty if she spoke too loud.
It wouldn’t have been the first time the gods have done something like that.
Of course, Eurydice had felt the baby move although it was hard in the beginning to identify what was movement and just general anxieties giving her an upset stomach.
But this was different. Here she could feel the small foot push the skin out leaving a lump for a few seconds before going back to normal.
Orpheus looked down where her hand rested and saw the movement which made his eyes damn near bulge out his head. He reached out his hand to feel but stopped before he got too close. He didn’t want to touch his wife without her permission, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.
Eurydice grabbed his hand and placed it on top of her stomach, nodding with a small smile on her face. That smile not only gave permission but also spoke of the comfort, joy, and domesticity of the situation.
“It feels like they’re making a beat.” He laughed with tears in his eyes.
“Well, it makes sense, they are related to the greatest musician of all time.” Eurydice teased, kissing his cheek.
“This kid is gonna have a lyre in their hands the very first day, I tell you.” Orpheus wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders, allowing her to lean her head on the crook of his neck,“We’ll do concerts every day, I’ll give them lessons. They will be spoiled to death by Grandma ‘Sephone alone . They’re going to grow up surrounded by love.”
Eurydice thought about how different their kid’s childhood was going to be compared to her own. The seasons had been shifting back to balance after their journey to the Underground, leaving longer summers and shorter winters. They would never have to worry about an empty stomach or watch their family wither away before they fled themselves. They would never have to loot an empty home for a single match.
“Yeah, they really are.”
There would be bumps in the road, nights where money was tight and the room cold, days where nothing seemed to go right. But as long as they have each other, they knew everything would be okay.