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Artemis is about a year old here, slightly on the older side. It's not required, but I suggest you read my other Aglaea/Anaxa fic (Little Angel) before you read this one♡
<< — – ~..I fall to pieces when I'm with you..~ – — >>
Beauty...
Most people cannot see it.
Some don't even consider the miracle of pregnancy to be beautiful.
They must be blind, for what other than beautiful would you call a pregnant demigoddess sinking into the warm water of the golden baths in Okhema?
Lovely, gorgeous, breathtaking... perhaps heavenly. perfect. perfect.perfectperfect—
She was relaxing peacefully, her daughter clinging to her tightly while she sat in her lap — the best they could manage with twins growing inside of Aglaea's swollen womb.
Absolutely perfect. That is it.
...
Until her threads sensed his presence in Okhema.
All relaxation from the warm bath was immediately counteracted by the horrible, terrible thought of Anaxa.
Yes, perhaps it was Valentine's day.
But perhaps she just wanted a day away from her husband as well. Can't a woman have a bit of alone time with her little girl?
Apparently not.
Luckily, he doesn't make too much of a scene entering the bathhouse. He is rather calm, unusually so, as he comes up to the second floor to see them.
The whole time, her threads had been just a little bit more focused on him than they were on everything else. That, however, does not change the fact that she turns her nose up and ignores him.
Artemis, their little one, was sleeping. Thank Kephale, for otherwise she would likely be making a big deal — reaching for him and squealing excitedly because she was happy to see him.
He didn't seem to mind Aglaea's little temper tantrum. He takes off his socks and shoes so he can approach her as she lounges on the couch submerged in the water.
How terrible he was for bringing his pregnant wife and his beloved child flowers on Valentine's day.
At least, she must see it that way.
He sat down next to her in the warm water, his pants now soaked up to the waist. He didn't care that he wasn't supposed to be wearing outside clothes in the bath. He didn't plan on staying so long that he would need to put on the robes meant for the baths.
He brushes the back of his hand down her arm, his knuckles gently gliding across her skin. “Aglaea.”
Despite the tender touch, she remains firm in her defiance.
He sighs, his fingers now tracing up to her stubbornly set jaw so he could tip her chin towards himself, making her look at him.
“Aglaea,” he says, this time with more authority. “I did not trouble myself with looking for a place to purchase your favorite flowers for weeks just for you not to look at them.”
Artemis' eyes slowly fluttered open, sleepily, looking up to see her father. Her golden yellow eyes brighten the moment she sees him.
Aglaea looks at him reluctantly, her expression as flat as ever. “And I assume you also went out of your way to make your tone ever so affectionate?”
To that, he simply sighed. He wasn't going to argue with her while she was over five months pregnant with twins, holding a one year old on her lap.
He hands the bouquet of flowers to Aglaea, then gives Artemis a little pink rose flower crown. He had picked the roses and taken the thorns off of them carefully, making sure each one was perfect.
“I made a concoction that I fed to the flowers previously that should make them live just about three months longer than they usually would. They'll last just about until your due date, if all goes well.” he says with no particular tone to his voice this time, gently tracing one of the delicate petals of a pink rose absently.
“When they begin to wither, we'll know to be prepared. I do intend to deliver them myself, as I did with Artemis. Once the petals have withered, I will crush and dry them to keep.”
All while he's talking, Artemis giggles and touches the flower crown curiously. Aglaea pretends not to be listening to him, but he knows she is.
Artemis looks down at Aglaea's baby bump, having felt a faint kick. “Oh..! Mama, μωρά¹?” she asks softly, looking up at her with wide eyes as she pats her little hands on her mother's pregnant tummy.
Aglaea doesn't seem too bothered, her hand moving to smooth her dress down over her bump.
“Ah, the kicks are noticeable now, hmm?” Aglaea sighs deeply, closing her eyes for a moment while she holds one hand on her stomach.
“These two have been beating me from the inside for quite some time. I'm glad to have some proof, now that it can be felt by others.”
Artemis beams up at Aglaea happily before looking down to speak to the babies inside her.
“Don't hurt mama...one finger. Να είσαι...ευγενικός².” She says slowly, trying her best to say her words properly. She holds one finger up, poking her mother softly with one finger to demonstrate to them like they could see. In return, one of the babies kicked again, making Artemis gasp as though she were offended by the action.
Anaxa melts at the sight — but then again, he would sooner die than let Aglaea see that.
...
..Not that she can see anyway.
While Artemis is fussing over the babies not listening to her and Aglaea is trying to comfort her by explaining that it's okay, Anaxa stands up to leave.
As soon as he stands up, it catches Artemis' attention. Using Aglaea's shoulder for support, she stands up slowly on the cushioned seat. “Dadaaa..!” she whines, reaching out for him with a chubby little hand, her other hand still on her mother's shoulder.
Anaxa grins to himself, pausing his steps to look back at her. He offers his hand out to her, gesturing for her to follow him. “Come along, then. You can walk on your own, Άγγελε³.” He encourages, now turning around fully.
She huffs and sniffles about it, but she slides off of the couch with Aglaea's assistance, waddling over to take his hand.
He takes her little hand gently, her fingers only managing to wrap around one of his. It's the most endearing thing in the world to him.
She stops to look back at Aglaea for a moment before looking up at Anaxa again.
“Mama up? Up?” She repeats quietly, looking up at her father and pointing at her mother with her free hand.
He pats her head gently. “She'll join us in a little bit. She wants to stay here for a little while longer,” he explains, helping her out of the water and grabbing a towel for her to then help her dry off.
He wraps her in the towel after she's mostly dried off, picking her up and holding her on his hip while he gets a towel for himself.
Drying yourself off while holding a child on your hip is no easy task. Does he give up? Yes. They will be heading home while their clothes drip everywhere.
He kisses Artemis' cheek gently, then he looks back at Aglaea.
He can't help but silently fall in love with her over and over again every time he sees her. She was looking at her flowers like they were subpar, but he knew she liked them. She would never settle for less. “We'll be back around...hm. Action Hour, give or take? We won't keep you waiting long. If you need anything, we won't be far.” He says as he looks away, already headed to leave.
She waves a hand at him almost dismissively, smiling softly to herself like she always seems to. “I'll be here.”
Anaxa takes Artemis home, helping her get changed into dry clothes before he did anything else. Though, what was there to do after doing that? He knew what he wanted to do, but he didn't even know where to start...
He would only call Hyacine as a last resort, but he didn't want it to come to that. First, he decided, would be to feed his hungry daughter.
He brings her out to the kitchen, putting her in her highchair so he can look through the options of what to her. He didn't have time for this.
He gives in and asks her what she wants instead of trying to guess. “Would you like carrots or peas?” he asks, barely turning to look at her. Asking her a simple "what would you like to eat" would get them nowhere, so he gave her choices.
She must be thinking because she doesn't say anything for a moment, weighing her options in her head before answering confidently: “Banana.”
Admittedly, he hadn't been paying much mind to her, his brain and his body simply moving on autopilot while he thought of what he was going to do before Action hour.
Her answer effectively made his mind focus back on her, his head turning back to look over his shoulder at her.
“That...was not an option.” He says slowly, though he seems to almost doubt what he had just said. She sounded so sure of herself, so he might as well just act like banana was an option, and get her the banana.
And that he does.
Feeding her the bananas was not guilt-free, since bananas have more sugar than other things like vegetables, but she hadn't had any for a while so he didn't mind indulging her a little bit.
He pulls his chair up next to her highchair so he can feed her. Usually she could feed herself with assistance, but from the looks of it she was feeling a little devious today. That means he would be the one feeding her.
However, even though he was the one feeding her, she still managed to make a mess all over her own face and...why are her hands sticky with banana?
“Did you just grab a handful of banana and use it like lotion..?” He puts the spoon down to get up and grab a wet wipe for her face and hands.
Artemis hides her hands behind her back and shrugs noncommittally, looking away from him.
He sighs as he wipes her face and hands, but she is mostly obedient, so he didn't think much of it.
Until her hands were sticky again, somehow.
After she finished her food, he goes on thinking of what to do for Aglaea. He sits quietly on the couch, not paying much attention to Artemis anymore.
Luckily, she only seems interested in sitting next to him. After a moment, she tugs on his sleeve, looking up at him.
He looks down to see her, moving his arm to wrap around her and pull her into his lap. “Τι συμβαίνει⁴?”
She cuddles up to him, nestling into his warmth. “Help Dada,” She says shortly, not looking up at him. She was offering to help him, since she could probably tell that he needed it. She is barely over a year old, but she was well aware that her father was a total wreck.
He sighs, looking down at her while she got cozy. There's no harm in at least trying to explain what he was doing.
However, before he opens his mouth to speak, he has the greatest idea for what to do. He grins to himself, his hand gently playing with Artemis' hair. “I think we should make a yummy dinner for mama. I'll get her some chocolates too. Does that sound good?” He asks as he tilts his head to look at her.
She seems to understand a word or two. Dinner...Chocolate...
It was enough.
He stands up with her on his hip now. He walks to the kitchen, looking through the ingredients they have. They would have to take a trip to the Marmoreal Market.
The market is busier than usual, everyone out with their partners and spouses for Valentine's day. He holds Artemis the whole time, even when she fussed about wanting to walk. It was too crowded at the moment.
When they get to a less crowded spot, he caves and put her down, her chubby little hand holding onto one of his fingers while he looked through the things they needed to get.
He held a basket on his arm, full of ingredients for dinner, and a few things to decorate the kitchen and the dining room.
He had trusted Artemis with holding a little bouquet of roses, so she held them carefully, one hands still holding his finger.
She gets tired eventually, whining and reaching up for him to carry her. “Up...up..”
He adjusts the things in his arms to be able to bend down and pick her up, letting her continue holding the roses.
He finishes up his shopping quickly, heading back home to be able to set everything up so they could get to cooking.
She takes a little nap while he decorates, gold and red garlands with little hearts hanging on the ceiling lights, and some draped along the edges of counters. Candles are placed around carefully, not yet lit.
Fancy table mats are placed, roses are put in a vase in the center of the table, and the decorating is mostly done.
Artemis wakes up sooner than she usually would from a nap, conveniently around the time he was finishing decorating and starting on cooking.
She wobbles over to him in the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her eyes with the back of her little hand while her other hand tugs at his shirt.
He glances down at her so she knows he noticed her, but he looked back at what he was doing, trying to chop mangoes and pineapple. Trying.
After she was a little more awake, she tried to see what he was doing a little better, holding the edge of the kitchen counter to keep herself up.
When he saw her straining to watch him, he put down what he was holding and wiped his hands off so he could pick her up and hold her on his hip.
He had just about finished chopping fruits, so he didn't have to handle a knife while holding a child.
He adds this and that to a little pot, heating the contents to thicken a sweet pineapple and mango sauce.
Washing rice with a child on your hip is not something for the weak. He might be a frail scholar, but he is not weak; evident in the fact that he manages to cook while Artemis rests on his hip with his arm around her little body to keep her squirming little form from falling.
He manages to finish the food — plates of rice with small cubes of mango and pineapple with chicken and a sweet sauce on top. He let Artemis try a little bit of everything to see how she likes it, because her opinion is very important.
“Is it to your taste, little one?” He says with an undertone of affectionate sarcasm, something she did not pick up on.
“Mm...yummy. Like banana,” she declares matter-of-factly, nodding her little head.
...
He doesn't question it.
Now they have to do the finishing touches then go get Aglaea.
He puts Artemis down so she can go get her shoes by the front door while he makes sure everything is in line.
Once he's sure everything is set up properly, he helps Artemis put on her shoes, picks her up, and they leave to return to the bathhouse.
It isn't too far of a walk. When they get to the second floor of the bathhouse, they find Aglaea having barely moved, her eyes closed blissfully as she relaxes in the warm water.
He puts Artemis down, helping her take her shoes off so she can then wade through the water to get her mother's attention.
The little girl does just that, making her way over slowly so she can pat Aglaea's leg gently with her little hands.
Of course, Aglaea had her threads on them the whole time.
She opens one eye to look down at her daughter, a subtle hint of a smile forming. She might not be able to see with her eyes, but Artemis doesn't quite grasp that concept yet. No matter.
“You've been soaking for quite some time, Aglaea. I've told you before to take it easy on the long periods in the baths, since you're pregnant,” he scolds her lightly, but he knows he won't get anywhere with her when it comes to shortening her time in the baths.
She ignores him. Instead, she showers Artemis with kisses, making the little girl giggle and squirm.
He sighs, but he smiles slightly despite himself. “Let's go home, love.”
In front of their house, Artemis holds her mother's hand while Anaxa opens the door and goes in first to put their plates on the table and light the candles. It only takes seconds, as though he had been prepared to speedrun it.
Artemis leads Aglaea in carefully, whose eyes are closed so she "can't see." It was a surprise, obviously.
“Bit more, mama...” Artemis says slowly, holding her mother's hand tightly. She looks up at Anaxa, who smiles slightly and shakes his head.
He knew his wife could tell what was happening and what they had done already.
“She can open her eyes now, Αγγέλε³,” he says with an unusually gentle smile, his hand sliding across the back of Aglaea's chair.
“Oh...Mama, opennn!!~” She says loudly, letting go of her mother's hand to clap excitedly.
Aglaea was thoroughly amused, like royalty being entertained by her two favorite court jesters.
“I was beginning to think that you wouldn't ever tell me to open my eyes..~” She sighs softly, her hand smoothing her dress down over her baby bump as she admires the setting.
“You two are too sweet.”
Anaxa takes her flowers off her hands and pulls her chair out, helping her sit down before he pushes the chair back in, just enough to be comfortable for her.
“It's the least we could've done...I apologize for not being able to do more.”
They eat mostly in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence — it was comfortable. Just them.
Anaxa helped feed Artemis so Aglaea could relax and eat her food without having to take breaks to feed her.
“You don't cook often...I didn't know you could make something like this.” She comments without looking up, admiring the roses in the center of the table.
He's busy wiping Artemis' mouth with a wet wipe, since she had gotten food all over her face. “Cooking is close enough to alchemy. Mix 'this' and 'that' and hope it works out. It's a matter of finding synergies between different foods...and what you like..”
She nods along, but she isn't listening to his words. She can't cook anyhow, so why does it matter?
She looks up while he's droning on about whatever, her cheek resting on her palm, her elbow on the table. He doesn't notice her watching him as he talks and feeds Artemis.
She zones out watching him. After a moment, she leans in and cups his cheek, pressing a gentle kiss to the corner of his lips.
“Thank you, Anaxa.”
His mouth is left slightly open, having frozen mid-sentence. His face turns slightly red, then he turns away and scoffs.
Artemis was busy chewing up a piece of rice, looking between her parents, then laughing particularly hard when she saw her father turning a subtle shade of red.
After they are all finished eating, he gives Aglaea a little heart shaped box containing a few select chocolates.
Expensive chocolates.
He knew she preferred expensive things, so he got these for her. He didn't consider there to be too much thought behind the gift, but she again thanked him with a kiss.
He secretly enjoyed the kisses, but he kept blushing uncontrollably every time her lips touched his, which frustrated him.
Only she could frustrate him so.
He knew Artemis would want chocolate as well, seeing her mother receive them, so he got a chocolate bar to soften and give to her in little bits later on.
Though for now, the little girl seems content to just have a little "dance party" in the family room.
She claps and bends her knees up and down to bounce slightly, the signature way all babies dance before they are capable of actually dancing.
Both of her parents hype her up, clapping and cheering her on gently.
After all her energy was spent playing and dancing, she was taken to be given a bath. Everyone knows that babies sleep better after a bath, and if you didn't know that, now you do.
After she's clean, Anaxa is the one to carry her to her room in her towel. He dries her off and tries to get her dressed, but she starts running circles around him, squealing with delight while Aglaea watches from the doorway, laughing under her breath at them.
After he manages to catch her and get her dressed, she eventually settles down in her little bed.
Before he left, he read her a little story about a princess and a chimera, then he kissed her forehead goodnight.
“Alright, that's enough story for tonight. Go to sleep, little one,” he says as he puts the book away, tucking her covers around her.
She fusses for a moment but then she calms down, too tired to protest. “...Καληνύχτα⁵, Dada,” she mumbles as she settles down, her thumb in her mouth.
He kisses her forehead again gently, brushing her pale green hair out of her face and pulling her thumb out of her mouth. He puts her pacifier next to her on her little mattress in case she wants it at any point, and he left her room.
He returned to his own room to find Aglaea already asleep, her hair fanned out on her pillow like a halo.
She's lying on her side, one of her arms draped over and holding the swell of her pregnant stomach.
Her lips are slightly parted, her cheeks slightly flushed.
She was so beautiful...
He knows he didn't do much for Valentine's day, but he hopes he could've made her day more pleasant.
He lies down next to her, nuzzling into the curve of her neck and wrapping his arms around her from behind.
He sighs softly, closing his eyes and relaxing.
After a moment, he looks down at her baby bump, his lips quirking up into a slight smile as he felt the gentle kicking. He leans down, kissing the fabric covering her midsection.
He lowers his voice to a gentle whisper, not wanting to wake her. “Settle down for your mother while she tries to sleep, little troublemakers,” he says with a little grin, then it softens again. The little kicks calm down, he can feel it.
“Just come out healthy and happy for us...”
“Okay..?”