Chapter Text
The year is 2004: a mortal man who'd been widowed met a charming lady with brown eyes, black hair, and an affinity for rainbows and tie-dyed t-shirts.
Iris, was her name.
And the man had immediately been enamoured: for months on end, he found himself drawn to her bespectacled beauty, even though she only ever appeared every few weeks at the run down apartment that had a spectacular view of the skyline.
She was enticing, the man could admit- not conventionally beautiful, but enchanting nonetheless, her eyes sparkling like the stars and her smile warm as the sun. And every day, he found himself waiting by his rooftop, aching to speak to her as the wind blew through her black locks.
And the day did eventually come.
"Um, h- hey? Hello?" The man stumbled over his words, trying his hardest to keep eye contact while she watched him amusedly.
"Hmm, hello. You're from Unit 140, right?" She asked sweetly, "I think I recognize you."
"Yeah! Yes, I am! Uh, how did you know, actually?"
"I'm a... mail-woman. Just deliveries." She laughed lightly, gesturing towards the messenger bag that rested by her hip. "My name is Iris. And you?"
"Nice to meet you!" He spluttered out, before introducing himself all the same.
"Well then, it was nice to meet you, too." Iris grinned, "I come here every three weeks. I might be inclined to visit more often, though."
"Um, yeah! S-see you soon, if you want to?"
"Of course." Iris grinned, before disappearing around a corner.
And as she had said- Iris began to appear almost daily, with the same tie-dyed type of shirt and messenger bag on her hip, always greeting the man with a bright smile and even brighter conversation, lighting his days up with colours that he had thought to be long gone after the death of his first wife-
And over the course of a year, he found himself falling deeper and deeper in love, until eventually, they engaged in a deep show of passion and intimacy-
Only for Iris to disappear the next day.
And 9 months, give or take a week, later, a basket with a baby in a swaddle, along with a long, heartfelt letter appeared at the door.
My love,
While I've wholeheartedly and genuinely enjoyed the time we've spent together, while i will treasure the memories we've made close to my heart, I'm afraid that staying with you will leave our child in danger.
It's with my deepest regrets that I tell you I haven't been completely truthful to you in regards of my heritage, and I hope that you'd see to it that our child be brought up to Delphi's Strawberry Farm at a suitable age to keep him safe.
Now, I must tell you the truth...
He had tried ages to get in contact once more- letters and calls and trips across the next few towns, only to be left with nothing but a nameless son.
For what it was worth, he had been excited to raise the child with Iris- they had both expected a girl, andhad settled on naming her after a flower- Violet. A small, naïve part of him wondered if she had disappeared because she had birthed a son rather than a girl, but realistically, he knew she was far better than that.
His son was now weeks old, and didn't even own a name of his own- only a guardian.
Despite that, the baby was just as bright as his mother- laughter as soft as the clouds and his toothless smile evoked a love just as warm as the sun.
"What am I to do with you, son," The man seemed to sigh, rocking the baby back and forth in his crib.
It was a particularly rainy day. Every day since her disappearance seemed to become bleaker and bleaker, and the man could only hope that the seasonal depression wouldn't affect him and his son in the long run.
He hummed a soft tune under his breath, one that Iris seemed to sing back when she had still lived in with the man. It was late in the afternoon, and the energetic child was long overdue for a nice nap- he had already finished an entire bottle of baby formula, after all.
And just as the child began to fall asleep, the clouds parted to show an enchanting rainbow.
The man smiled bitterly, pressing a gentle kiss to the child's forehead.
"Rainbow." He smiled, "You'll be my little rainbow, won't you?"
The baby snored in reply, and the man let out a soft laugh.
"One day, you'll meet your mother once more, and it will all be better, someday." He whispered.
The man figured things wouldn't be so bad. After all, Rainbow had the gods on his side, right?