Mortals Meet The Demigods

Helen Goldstien - More Solangelo!

Helen Goldstien:

"Maria, come join the class for story time!" I called to the little preschooler that was lurking in the shadows of my classroom. She just sat in the corner reading a book that was two years too advanced for her.

"No!" She replied, not budging from her stop. She went back to her book and wouldn't look up from it.

"Come on Mar-mar!" Her twin sister Bianca called. Only when Bianca went over and practically dragged Maria out of the corner did she give in. The two were identical with blonde hair, and stormy grey eyes, but they dressed and acted completely opposite.

Today, Maria wore a black t-shirt under a grey jean jacket, black pants, and a dark purple headband holding her short hair back, she always stayed alone and kept to herself. Bianca had on a rainbow striped dress with a thin pink belt in the middle and she had her long hair pulled into a high ponytail, she was the brightest and most social little girl I'd ever met.

After I read the story, we started to learn the alphabet. I had each student write down all of the letters they already knew before we started. Maria wrote down the entire alphabet and Bianca only missed a few letters, but the average for the other students was two to four letters, so I was very surprised. I noticed that things like that tended to happen quite often with those two and decided to arrange a parent teacher meeting.

I dialed the phone number that I had and waited for somebody to answer, "Hello? This is Ms. Goldstien! I am calling about your daughters!"

"Hello! This is Will, Maria and Bianca's dad!" The voice on the other end said.

"Yes, Mr. Solace-Di Angelo, I was wondering if you could come in for a parent teacher conference?" I asked.

"Of course! And it's just Will! But may I ask why?" He answered.

"Oh, I just have some questions about your home life. You may bring your wife if you would like because I'd like to speak to you both!" I answered.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have a wife." Will told me.

I instantly felt horrible, "I'm sorry-"

"No! It's- You know what, whatever." He answered quickly and I felt even worse at the fact he couldn't even talk about it. The poor girls had to grow up without a mother. "Does now-ish work?" He asked.

"Yeah! See you soon!" I confirmed our meeting. Now all that I had to do was wait for him to get here and think of a way to say what is on my mind without sounding accusative or rude.

About twenty minutes later, there was a knock on my classroom door and I scrambled to open it. The man I saw took my breath away. He had light blonde hair and pale blue eyes that popped on his muscular, tan figure. His white teeth sparkled as he smiled at me. I had a thought that I immediately felt guilty about, "I'm glad something happened to his wife!".

"Come on in, Will!" I gestured for him to follow me to my desk.

He followed me and had a seat. "So, what's up?"

"I wanted to know a bit about the girls' home life! So, who do they live with?" I questioned, trying to ease my way into what I really brought him here to talk about.

"The twins live with Nico and I. Sometimes our close friends and family will come stay with us on weekends, but that is all." Will answered cooperatively.

"And who is N-" I was cut off by his phone ringing. He looked at me as if asking a silent question. "Go ahead and take it! I'll still be here!" He nodded gratefully and walked into the hallway. I stared at the door, waiting for the man I just met, yet had already fallen for, to come back to me.

"Sorry, my boss just called about a work emergency." Will apologized as he re-entered the room.

"No problem! What is your job?" I replied.

"I'm a doctor." He replied plainly and I smiled thoughtfully in response. In reality, I was thinking about if it would be weird to date the father of two of my students. I decided that it would be fine, I'd only become closer with the adorable little girls.

"Impressive! Let's get back to the twins now, shall we?" I respond.

"Of course!" Will agreed.

"So, I don't mean to sound rude, but are the girls being pressured or forced to do anything at home? Once again, I don't mean to make accusations, but they seem to be way ahead academically and Maria seems very isolated." This discussion would be so much easier with a married, less handsome man. But of course it was a very attractive and single, young man who I was accusing of treating his baby girls wrongly.

"No! I would never do anything to cause any harm to my daughters! The reason for their intelligence is because their biological mother is the smartest... woman... that I ever met. And if that confuses you, yes they were adopted. As for the fact that Maria likes to be alone, I have no idea where she could get that from!" He seemed to say the last bit sarcastically and I was left wondering what he meant. (In case you are confused, they are daughters of Athena.)

"I am so sorry and I am glad I got to meet you!" I was disappointed when I realized he had missed my wink on the last part. "You may go now! Have a nice rest of your day!" I waved as he walked out the door.

Maybe at pick up the next day he'd be the one to pick up the girls and I could see him! I knew that the two usually went home with their best friend Zoe Jackson... but could it be possible he'd want to come see me tomorrow as well? I certainly hoped so!

The next day at dismissal, my hopes were looking up when Zoe left without them. Will DID want to see me! Eventually, the girls were the only ones left and I was worried that Will had gotten the timing wrong.

Suddenly, a black car pulled up in the parking lot. A man in all black stepped out and came towards us. I grabbed the young children's wrists and stepped back. I had no idea who this dark, mysterious man walking to the Solace-Di Angelo children was.

He looked surprised at my reaction and frowned, "Um... I am here to pick up my daughters!"

Now I knew he was lying! "I know for a fact that you are not their father!" I declared. I became less certain when I had to hold back two little girls screaming, "Daddy!", and running towards the man. What was going on here?

"I know for a fact that I AM their father! I am Nico Solace-Di Angelo, husband of William Solace-Di Angelo and father of Maria and Bianca Solace-Di Angelo who are named after my deceased mother and sister!" He glared at me and I let the screaming children run at him. "You must be Ms. Silverstein or something? Don't flirt with my husband or mess with my family!"

I was left standing there shocked. I had nothing against being gay. It was just hard to hear that the man you loved and was sure had feelings back, couldn't even like you if he hadn't been married...