Sons of Sparta - A Story of the Spartans, Book 3
(inspired by the story 'Spartan' parts 1 through 4)
by argouru
Note: All credit for the creation of the Spartans and Amazons, as well as the Spartan mythos belongs to the author 'CF', to whom I owe special thanks for his allowing me to write about these incredible people.
WARNING: Portions of this installment of the series includes a section regarding mental illness.
The next morning, John awoke in pain with a grimace. "Ow!" he moaned, opening his eyes to see Henry staring at him with a look that was a mixture of emotions. John saw sympathy warring with residual anger and hurt. Henry reached over and stroked his husband's brow soothingly. "That feels good," John said quietly. When Henry took his hand away, John looked at him sadly. "Are you still pissed with me?"
"Yes," Henry replied quietly.
"Please don't hate me," John begged in a near whisper.
"I don't hate you, John. As mad as I am, I still love you."
"I love you too." Then John's faced changed to an expression of wonder and confusion. "I -do- love you. I love you so much... What's happening to me?"
"I think I know," Sam said from the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to see if you guys felt up to some breakfast. I didn't mean to spy on you guys. But to answer your question, John, when you transformed, your partner bond reset itself, for lack of a better term. You're becoming bonded to Henry all over again. Do you guys need some alone time? I can bring some food in to you if you want."
"Thanks, Dad Sam" Henry said. "That sounds good."
"John, just so there's no surprises, do you mind if I contact the senior staff of the temple and let them know the basics of what happened? I won't go into the reason why you sacrificed yourself, but the head staff should be aware to help squash any rumors."
"Yeah, I suppose that would be best."
"Okay," Sam said. "John, I want to talk with you later. Help you to understand what all has happened to you and all of the changes you need to be aware of now that you're Spartan, okay?"
John nodded and Sam left to get them their food...
Two days later, John laid in bed at Sam and Daniel's house with Glenn laying in bed beside him, staring at his siring father with interest. "Hey Glenn," John said, looking at his son with a muted smile. "I'm sorry I said what I did to you the other day. It was wrong of me to say it. I don't ever want to hurt you. I love you, Son."
Glenn smiled at him, making John tear up with joy at the look of love and happiness his child gave him. He reached over and tapped Glenn's nose playfully, making the infant giggle and laugh. After a few minutes, however, Glenn made an inquisitive sound and looked around, then slowly made sounds of distress until he began to cry in the manner that meant he was hungry again. He looked at John hopefully.
"Oh no! No way, Glenn. Just because I'm physically capable of doing so doesn't mean it's alright for you to nurse from me! You go to your other dad for that!" he said firmly. Glenn began to cry at that, causing the new Spartan to sigh with annoyance. "Glenn, you're almost as big a pain as these filaments." John groaned with pain as he sat up, wincing at the sharp stinging in his stomach region. "Henry!" he called out.
"I hear him! I'm coming!" the birth father said, calling from the kitchen. He walked into the room and sighed with disgust. "You're going to be fat as a house if you keep this up!" he said to his child with disgust as he moved to the bed, removed his shirt and took his son into his arms before guiding him into place. Glenn went silent as he began to feed, making Henry shake his head sadly at his son's frequent need for sustenance. "This kid's going to end up draining me to dehydration at this rate," he grumbled.
John laid there, watching his husband nurse their son for several minutes. Henry looked at him and tilted his head. "What are you thinking about?"
"That if you're willing, I'd like to become a birth dad too someday."
"You have filaments now. We could make use of them. By the time he's born, Glenn here will be old enough that we should be able to take care of them both."
John shook his head. "No... Now's not a good time. I'm still getting used to all of this and I think it would be better if we wait until my next Emergence."
"We'll Emerge together, next time. When both partners are Spartan, their Emergences are simultaneous. But if you want to gestate, then I'd be glad to sire our next son." He saw John staring at Glenn as the baby nursed. "What?"
John sighed. "Before I told Glenn I wasn't his real dad, I let him try to nurse from me after he tried it through my robe while I held him close. I only did it to prove to him that I couldn't feed him that way, then he started crying and that's when I said it."
Henry mulled that over, then pulled Glenn away from his chest, making the boy begin to cry in protest. "Prop yourself up against the backboard," he instructed John, who did so painfully. Henry reached forward and grabbed John's pec with his fingers.
"What are you doing?" the former human asked.
Henry squeezed carefully as John watched, only to get a shock as a thin stream of white fluid squirted forth from his nipple for a moment. "Yep, you're lactating. Okay then. With your filaments, you can't hold Glenn, so I'll hold him in place for you from the side." He moved Glenn forward and positioned his face at John's chest.
"What are you doing? You're his birth dad, so you should be the only one nursing him. Won't he get confused?"
"No. Milk is milk, regardless of the parent he takes it from. This way you now have an option when he fights the bottle too much. We'll work on weaning him off to formula slowly, but this way you can bond with your son more thoroughly. And don't worry about mixed messages or anything, both dads nursed Steven, Fred, Ash and Will and they all turned out fine... Well, most of them. I have no clue what Fred's problem is, but it's definitely not from having been nursed by both dads."
Glenn latched on and John felt the same sensations as before, only now there was mild flowing sensation mixed in with the tugging. He looked down at the baby feeding from him and smiled as tears came to his eyes. After awhile of silence, he looked up and his husband. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Henry said, smiling and misting up as well. "You are just as much Glenn's father as I am, John. You always were. If this will help to prove that to you, then you can nurse him too. Actually it'll give my nipples some much needed rest!"
The couple began to laugh. Finally after they calmed down, John reached up carefully to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Please tell me I'm not going to be all emotional like this all the time!"
"It's just the hormones from your Emergence. When your filaments start to separate and fall out, your hormone levels will return to normal and your emotions along with them. I'm going to teach you how to meditate, though. You'll need to know how to do so on a regular basis to keep your warrior's instincts under control, as well as your temper. I'm not sure how your normal mindset will be once the emergence ends, but better safe than sorry."
"Okay," John said, agreeing readily before smiling down at their baby once more...
Early the next morning, John was in the kitchen when Daniel entered. "Hi John. Feeling a little better today?"
"Sort of," he grumbled. "Man! Emergence is such a pain! No wonder Henry always acted like he was on the rag during his. Just a few more days left before these things fall out, according to Apollo, though, so I'll live. If you guys can put up with this then I can too, I suppose."
"Well you're handling it very well. Have you been meditating?"
"I'll do it in a bit," John said dismissively.
"It's important for you to do that first thing in the morning. It'll help you keep in control."
"I'm fine," John said, walking over to the cupboard for a mug. "I'm in control, alright?" he added, yanking open the cupboard door and accidentally ripping the handle off the door itself. He stood there, staring at the loose handle in his hand for several seconds, looking stunned. "I meant to do that," he said weakly.
"John!" Daniel moaned as Sam entered the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" The bearded man asked, then stopped as he saw his transformed son-in-law holding the handle of the cupboard door in his hand. His mouth spasmed with amusement. "John," he said with a smile, "you need to start being more careful. You're way stronger than you were before and need to learn how to gauge your strength better."
"I'm sorry. It was an accident," John said, hanging his head and looking very guilty.
"It's alright John," Daniel said, seeing how much breaking the handle off bothered his son-in-law. "Accidents happen."
"Yeah," Sam added. "It could have been worse, like the time Fred broke the refrigerator door clean off the hinges. We ended up having to buy a new one!"
"Ouch!" John said with sympathy, then tried unsuccessfully to reattach the cupboard handle, but it was a lost cause. The corner of the door had been broken clean off and there was a large chunk out of the particle board that made up the door where the upper bolt hole had been. "Fuck," he muttered, then sighed with disgust and set the handle down on the countertop as Ash entered the kitchen.
"What happened?" the boy asked, seeing the wrecked door.
"Just a little accident, Son," Sam said.
Ash looked at John and shrugged, then looked him over. "You look good as one of us."
"Thanks," John said with a weak smile, still put out over the accident.
"You're taller now," Ash added slowly. "Maybe even taller than Henry. You guys taking him clothes shopping again?" he asked his parents.
Daniel looked horrified at that. "Oh no," he groaned. "Shit! That means that all the money we spent to get him a new wardrobe is cash down the drain."
"Sorry," John replied weakly...
That evening, Sam pulled Henry aside. "Glenn's starting to get a little big there. Are you planning on Confirming him?"
"Yes," Henry answered.
"What about John? He's never been to one and I don't know how he would react."
"I know. I feel the same way... But Glenn is his son too. He has every right to be there, especially seeing as how he's Apolline too."
Sam thought it over for a moment. "Look... There's a couple who want to do a confirmation for their son next week. I can call them and ask if they'd allow John to be a witness to it. If you and Walter are there to hold him back in case he tries anything, then maybe they'll allow it. I call them tomorrow and ask."
"Thanks, Dad Sam," Henry said, feeling slightly better...
The trio spent the entire week at the dads' house and John awoke Monday morning over a week after his transformation to find that the last of his filaments had broken off. He sighed in relief, feeling pain-free for the first time in over a week and found the last few of the filaments in the bed with him. Only one of them was still intact, the others having been broken by them moving around in the night during sleep. John picked up the last intact filament and examined it closely. Funny to think that something that looks like a feather could cause so much pain, he thought. He sighed, and went to shower, then put on some of the clothes Keith had donated to him so he'd have something to wear. He tucked the filament behind his ear and went to join the rest of the family for breakfast.
Will looked up as John entered and his face screwed up in disgust. "Ew! that's gross!"
Everyone looked to see what had set the youngest boy off and Henry stared at his partner in shock. Daniel glanced at John and paled, looking revolted. "John! Get that out of your hair!" he groaned.
"Dude!" Fred exclaimed with humor. "That's a little too kinky even for me!"
"What?" John asked, looking around in confusion.
"John," Sam said as he winced, "That's like wearing a necklace made of toenail clippings, or something."
"I grew it, so why not carry it with me?" John asked. "I made it so it's my property. Why shouldn't I wear it?" he asked, making himself sound like a crotchety old man as he spoke.
Henry groaned in frustration and snatched the filament off of John's head. "Because it's disgusting, that's why!"
"Hey!" John exclaimed. "Don't throw it away! I want to keep it."
"Why?" Henry asked. "You'll grow more."
"But that was my first batch ever. I want it as a keepsake, you know, like baby teeth, or something."
"Alright," Henry relented, putting it into a Ziploc bag for his husband. "I'll put it on the dresser. I need to get dressed anyways."
"Don't miss breakfast," Daniel called after him as the eldest son left the room.
After they ate, John and Henry took Glenn with them and went out shopping for clothes. "Good thing I still had some of my tax return left," John said as they paid for everything. His transformation had made his height increase from five foot eleven to six foot five, his shoe size went from an eleven to a fourteen, his waist from a thirty two to a thirty eight and increased his clothing size in general by two sizes. They went to Burger King for lunch, John noting as they entered that he felt compelled to look around, noting where the exits were and keeping an eye out for troublemakers. He realized what he was doing with a jolt of surprise... He was acting like a warrior, keeping an eye out for potential threats. Far from being disturbed by this, he found it to be a good idea and felt a slight surge of pleasure in noting that if anything did happen, he would be ready. As they went to order then ate, John discovered his appetite had also increased to the point where he packed away half as much more food as before.
Sadly, they couldn't buy Glenn anything as he was still too young for anything but milk. That didn't stop him from getting hungry, however, as he began to cry for a feeding as they were dining. They sighed, looking at the boy who had been feed only an hour ago. "Your turn," Henry said, reaching into the baby bag for the small privacy blanket as John opened his shirt and picked up Glenn out of his carrier, then moved him into position as Henry draped the blanket over them for privacy.
A man and woman nearby set down their food as they saw that and looked revolted. "What?" John asked them sharply. "Our baby's hungry!"
The humans got up and dumped their half-eaten food in the trash before leaving the restaurant. "Disgusting," the man muttered as they left.
"Assholes!" Henry muttered resentfully as John frowned at the door they had left through...
They returned home to the apartment that afternoon, several of their neighbors staring at John in shock and confusion as they saw him. The next morning, Henry left for work and John took Glenn with him to the temple for the day, leaving him in the daycare ward as he had to work in the armory today. Everyone kept staring at him all day, making him feel nervous more and more as the day went on. His martial arts lesson was interesting, to say the least.
"Just look at you!" Keith breathed in wonder, taking in John's new body with awe. Finally, he recovered. "Alright, I guess we should start by seeing how things are different for you, now that you're one of us. You'll need a bigger practice sword... We should also swap out your worship blade for a bigger one, too." He handed John a larger, heavier blade. John was nervous at first, but the blade seemed awfully light to him. He finally realized that since he was now stronger, he could wield this bigger weapon more easily. "Feel good?" Keith asked.
John made a few practice swings, then nodded. "Yeah, this feels good."
"Alright then," the head of security said, raising his blade as John did the same. When John was ready, Keith lunged and John countered the blow. As they worked more and more, slowly increasing the speed and level of difficulty, Keith grew more and more amazed at just how much better a fighter John was, thanks to his new Spartan abilities. Keith lunged and John countered with an odd flick of the blade that knocked Keith's away, then fast as lightning, John's dull practice blade was at the sensei's throat, who stood there, numb with shock for several moments as he tried to figure out what had just happened. He looked down carefully at the dulled blade edge next to his jugular and felt a slight trickle of fear for the briefest of moments.
He wasn't anywhere near as surprised as John was, however. "How the fuck did I just do that?" John asked, carefully pulling the blade away.
"Let's... Try again," Keith said slowly as he recovered from his sense of shock.
They went at it for two hours and much to Keith's shock, John's innate skill combined with his new Spartan abilities made him a lethal fighter. Although Keith got in a few good hits, he found himself unable to overcome John's lightning fast reflexes. John gave more mock lethal hits than he received and in the end, Keith called a halt to their sparing. It was then that a few people who had gathered to watch without them noticing began to applaud. John was shocked at that and bowed nervously, uncertain as to what else to do...