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.
Seven months later, Giorgos woke up to find Steven missing. He got up and wandered around groggily in search of his partner, finding the man in the kitchen with a pained look on his face. Looking down at the Spartan's bare stomach, the Greek man saw something to make his mouth drop open in shock. "Giorgos..." Steven said with a pain-lanced smile. "Guess what...?"
They spent little time talking before they agreed that they were going to go ahead and have a child, then called around with the good news. No one was more thrilled than Kosma and Inna, who said they couldn't wait to become grandparents. Sam and Daniel were also very happy for them. The twins accepted this gracefully, saying that it was only a matter of time before they too became fathers. Fred, Ash and Will were also highly supportive, as were Matthew and David, Nathan and his partner Howard, Walter and Dennis and the Amazons. Henry and John couldn't be happier for them, offering their congratulations enthusiastically.
Over a week later Steven and Giorgos arrived for the monthly family dinner, the Spartan wearing faternity clothes in the form of low rise pants and a shirt with an open front that were both designed to allow the man to wear clothing that did not disturb his growing womb of filaments. David was overjoyed at the prospect of becoming a great grandfather for the second time, although he loved Glenn deeply, wanting to hold him as much as possible during every family get-together.
Steven returned to his job the following Monday. Sadly, his dreams of designing vast skyscrapers, museums and parks had been sidelined by his lack of actual work experience, so he worked for a local construction company as a general planner for their various building projects. The job was decent, but many of the construction workers were very nervous around him, only becoming more so when he returned to work with the beginnings of a womb visible on his bare stomach. The secretary Louise was very supportive, however, and refused to let him strain himself on any in-office task. To ease the concerns of potential clients, Steven was kept in the back office rooms where he grudgingly worked, meditating three times a day to deal with his hormone-laden emotions and resentment at being 'hidden away' for the good of the company. His boss seemed rather ashamed of the need to do so, which was something. Also, he was able to keep his job, if not much else... Such as his dignity...
Giorgos found that having a gestating Spartan for a partner and husband was taking some adjusting on his part. Steven grew incredibly protective of his stomach region, always afraid of anything coming into contact with it. The Greek man longed to touch it to feel the child growing inside, but Steven refused, saying that doing so would be far too painful and jeopardize the life of the child. It helped Giorgos to know that not even Steven himself touched his growing womb. They couldn't cuddle in bed at all and could only do so when awake if Steven leaned his back against Giorgos and the human avoided bringing his hands close to the Spartan's abdominal region. Steven also took to wearing low-slung pants or shorts and oddly-designed shirts that had the section over the stomach removed. He had warned Giorgos of this, but as practical as the clothing was, it still seemed somewhat foolish to the human to have his husband dress that way.
They laid in bed one morning, three months into the gestation after having awoken for the day, both gazing gently at the womb of filaments. Giorgos looked at the translucent mass of nerve endings with a closed expression, not wanting to hurt Steven's feelings by making a face. The Spartan still sensed his feelings and spoke softly. "It -is- kind of gross, isn't it?"
"It is... Different," the human said diplomatically.
"I look like spiders had a field day on my abs," Steven grumbled, thinking that the mass looked like wet spider webbing.
"I would say that it is a strange gel," Giorgos replied slowly, trying to figure out what the mass most reminded him of. "Like transparent Jell-O, or some such."
"It's gross is what it is, not to mention being a colossal, literal pain!" Steven grumbled sourly.
"It hurts again?" The Grecian asked with pity.
"It ALWAYS hurts!" the Spartan nearly snapped, then realized his temper was getting the best of him and sighed. "I need to meditate again."
"Want company?" Giorgos asked gently.
"No," Steven replied gently, touched by his partner's willingness to stay with him. "I'll be up in a bit."
"Alright. We are still to move into your parents' home month after next?"
Steven nodded. "I refuse to stick you with all of my care by yourself. Besides, taking care of a gestating Spartan is a family affair and the dads are eagerly looking forward to us arriving."
"Mama will be irritated that we do not move in with them instead," Giorgos said thoughtfully.
"No offense to your parents, but they don't know the first thing about taking care of a gestating Spartan. If they did, then I'd be more than happy to stay with them. The dads have successfully had seven kids of their own, making them the single most fertile Spartan couple on record. If they can't help take care of me, then no one can. Besides, I did help them with Ash and Will."
"What about Fred?" Giorgos asked.
Steven shook his head. "I was only about two years old when he came along and was too young to help out with him then. Gestation and birthing aren't easy for us. I'll be bedridden the last three months of gestation and won't even be able to leave bed to use the bathroom or bathe. I'll be entirely dependent on everyone else to take care of my needs."
"Having a child is that difficult for you?" Giorgos asked, looking his partner in the eyes with a mixture of shock and pity.
The Spartan nodded. "It'll be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I want this boy," he said, stroking the side of his torso, which was the closest he could comfortably get to petting his womb. "It'll all be worth it if he comes out alright."
"-If-?" the Grecian asked nervously.
"I won't lie to you, Giorgos. Spartan gestations are very fragile. If I were to move wrong, or something hits my filaments, there's a chance the baby could abort. I have to be more careful that ever... For his sake." Steven's eyes became damp with unshed tears. "I don't dare do anything that will jeopardize the life of our son. We can't become too attached to him, either, just in case... But still... It's hard not to."
"When will we know that he is safe to be born?"
"About half way through the last month. Once that time comes, if all has gone well, we'll know he'll be okay. Then you get to go out shopping for his things. Dad Daniel loves shopping, so he'll most likely be the one to take you," Steven finished with a smile.
"I will look forward to it. For now, however, I will give you quiet to meditate," Giorgos said, kissing Steven gently before he walked from the room, thinking about the future.
Steven took a deep breath, let it out slowly and cleared his mind...
Two months later, they moved into Sam and Daniel's home, where they, Fred, Ash and Will helped to take care of the burdened member of the family. In his spare time, John came over to help out with taking care of Steven, spending more time with his brother-in-law.
"How you feeling today?" John asked sympathetically.
"Like shit," Steven sighed. "Par for the course, I guess."
"Sorry, but I'm not one for golf," John joked mildly. "But other than that?"
"Well enough, I suppose. How about you? How's married life treating you?"
"Pretty good," John said, twisting his wedding ring on its finger and smiling down at it.
"And how's life as a Spartan treating you?"
"It's good... Now that I know to meditate every day, that is," John replied slowly with a wince.
"Oh?" Steven asked, arching an eyebrow with interest.
"Henry didn't tell you?" John asked, surprised.
"Uh uh," the gestating man said. "I guess Henry felt it was too personal to share."
"Well that's good," John said, sighing with relief, then sighed again in exasperation about how he had behaved that day and answered Steven's silent question. "I uh... Learned the value of meditation... The hard way."
"What happened?"
"Well, I felt that meditation was a waste of time and started skipping it."
Steven winced. "For how long?" he asked in a pained tone, dreading the answer.
"A week," John answered with regret.
Steven's jaw dropped in shock. "A week?!? Are you crazy?!?" He stopped at the amused smile on John's face, one laced with a wince of regret.
"That's what Henry said when he found out too. It's not like I knew. Things that you all take for granted are still new to me, remember? Don't worry, though... I definately learned my lesson. No more skipping meditation unless I want to go on a psychotic rampage." His face fell then at old and painful memories. "I grew up around people who were crazy and vicious. I don't want to be that kind of person."
"It must have been really bad," Steven said softly.
"That was a good part of what made me suicidal..." John answered quietly. "But I'm all better now. My job's a great one, I have a real father now, too. People treat me with respect, I have a great guy who loves me, one child already and hopefully more soon."
"Are you really going to gestate yourself?"
John stared at him as if he was deranged and answered slowly. "I don't think that it's even remotely possible for a Spartan to gestate himself, but I do want to become a birth dad someday soon."
Steven groaned. "You sure love word puns, don't you?"
"Well, I do have a dream..." John said, looking off into the distance with a smile of anticipation. "One day I'll take three specific types of people with me into a retirement home and approach a nurse leaving the room of a resident with chronic diarrhea holding a filled porcelain bedpan. I want the antiques dealer to examine the bedpan and exclaim 'What a crock... Of Shit?!?' Then I want the black man to say 'Man! That is some sick shit there!' ...And lastly, I want the priest to bless it."
Steven stared at the man in shock for a moment before the implication of the priest's action hit him and he began to laugh, wincing as he did so. "Eww! That's disgusting! What's wrong with you?" he said, still laughing.
"Hey!" John said in his defense with a serious expression. "I'm not the person who made up those sayings... I'm just the person who makes them live up to their names!" Then he smiled with humor.
Finally, once they calmed down, Steven gave his brother-in-law a serious, yet happy look. "But still... I have to admit to being rather jealous of you and Henry," Steven admitted calmly.
"Well it won't be too long until you give birth, you know. Just try to hang in there a couple more weeks and take it easy, then you'll be a dad. You know what to expect for the birth, right?"
Steven nodded. "I told Giorgos what to expect as well. Kosma and Inna are giving him the last two weeks off from the bistro so he'll be here when I go into labor."
"We'll all be here for you, even if it's not in person."
"Thanks," Steven said, smiling at John with gratitude...
Giorgos found that Steven's prediction about Daniel being the one to take him shopping and enjoying doing so to be accurate. One thing, however, he was uncertain of, but Daniel educated him. "Trust me," the Spartan said. "Having cloth diapers for home will save you tons of money in the long run. Only put him into disposable diapers when you guys leave the house. When you know you'll be in for awhile, you'll be glad you used the reusable cloth diapers instead."
Giorgos nodded, seeing the wisdom in this. Then he endured the trauma that was trying to assemble the crib back at their apartment on Saturday, Sam helping him to unravel the mystery of which parts went where, the priest having taken the day off to help his son-in-law.
Late the next Thursday morning, Steven went into labor. Giorgos handled the event with admirable composure and once the baby was dressed and Steven had been returned to bed once he had regained consciousness, the Grecian gave their new son to his birth father, the baby beginning to nurse greedily. "What will we name him?" Giorgos asked.
"How about something Greek?" Steven replied slowly.
"Such as?" Giorgos asked again.
"How about Thomas?"
"But he is not a twin," Giorgos teased gently.
"What?" Sam asked, looking up from picking up the damp towels.
"Thomas means 'a twin'," Giorgos explained to his father-in-law.
"Shit!" Sam swore. "THAT'S what I should've named Marcus!" He threw up his hands in exasperation. Everyone either groaned or frowned at the man, who looked at them with a furrowed brow. "What? It would've been the perfect name for him if I'd known back then."
Sighing with smiles of suffering, the others returned their attention to the baby and after a few more moments of mild sulking, Sam got over himself and came over with a genuine smile to greet his newest grandson.
Four weeks later, Steven, Giorgos and baby Thomas moved back to the apartment to begin their new life as a family...
Steven and Giorgos watched with smiles as Kosma and Inna gushed over their new grandson while Giorgos' siblings looked on, the girls making sounds of adoration. Lysander was keeping his distance, yet staring at his new nephew with interest. Abdias, however, was eyeing the child suspiciously. He kept glancing over at Steven, then sighed. "So he came out of your belly?" he asked the Spartan bluntly in his moderate Greek accent.
"My womb, yes," Steven replied calmly.
"Yes, that gross, whiteish thing that was on your guts!" the human added.
"Abdias!" Giorgos growled. "Behave!"
"I am," the teenager said defensively. "And it was disturbing to look at."
The Spartan sighed at Abdias' thoughtlessness. "It's gone now, though," Steven retorted, seeing the human staring at his stomach under the t-shirt he wore.
"Where?" the teenage asked bluntly.
"It grows in during gestation, then falls apart and detaches afterwards."
"And what happens to it then? You keep it?"
Giorgos groaned with revulsion. "Abdias! Do not be disgusting!"
"Me disgusting? You are the one who put his hands inside of it!"
"Abdias!" Kosma said loudly. "Leave your brother and his husband alone!"
Thomas was startled at the outburst and began to cry. "Kosma!" Inna said reproachfully. "You have upset the boy! Calm yourself!" She turned to the baby and held him close. "Hush, baby. Do not cry." She kissed Thomas' brow and rocked him gently until he calmed down and grew quiet. "Alright everyone," she announced to the family. "New house rule... No yelling when baby is here. If you try, I will punch you in mouth!"
Steven laughed at that, until Giorgos tugged at his sleeve, then leaned in close to whisper to his husband. "Do not laugh too hard. I have seen Mama keep such promises many times!"
Steven paused then, thinking back on how the woman tended to behave and realized that his partner was probably right about that...