Falling Backwards (A Heroes of Olympus AU and Fanficton)

Chapter 5

Frank set Leo back down in his stroller and buckled him in. Leo whined a bit, but he got comfortable relatively quickly, still holding on tightly to Banjo.

"There we go, buddy." Frank gave Leo a quick kiss on the top of his head. "Should we go look at some of the antiques?" Frank turned to Hazel, and she smiled, giving Frank a quick kiss on the cheek.

"That sounds good. Do you want to push the stroller?" She asked.

"Sure. I've got him." Then they set off towards the less crowded part of the market where the antique vendors were set up.

There were all kinds of different things. There were a few stands that had old jewelry of various metals and gems, and Leo had to be reminded a couple of times that he wasn't supposed to touch the jewelry. There were stands selling old vases, trinkets, books, paintings, clothing, silverware, china, mirrors, boxes, and all sorts of other things.

While Hazel was busy paying for a pretty-looking vase that had red and blue flowers painted on it, Frank leaned down to talk to Leo.

"Hey, buddy. I was thinking about getting Aunt Hazel a special ring to ask her to marry me. Do you wanna help me pick one out?" Leo grinned. He could hardly believe that he was getting to help someone pick out an engagement ring, much less that it was Frank he was helping out! "Alright, I'm gonna tell Aunt Hazel that we'll be right back, okay?" Frank turned around and told Hazel that he and Leo were going to get a snack and that they'd be right back. Hazel just smiled and nodded before turning back to continue browsing the antiques.

Frank pushed the stroller over to a totally separate antique vendor that was far out of Hazel's line of sight before he unbuckled Leo from the stroller and picked him up, making sure that Leo could see the different rings easily.

"Alright, buddy. I'll show you some rings, and you tell me if they're any good." First, he held up an intricately-designed gold wedding band, but Leo shook his head. "Okay, how about this one?" This ring was a much simpler silver wedding band, but again Leo shook his head. "Alright. This one?" This ring was a pretty silver ring that had a fairly large opal in it that was surrounded by much smaller diamonds, but Leo shook his head once again.

Ten minutes and several rings later, they found the perfect ring. It was simple, yet elegant. Just like Hazel. It was gold, with an amethyst sitting beautifully in the center of it, and the gold surrounding the jewel was made to look like vines and leaves. It was perfect.

"I'd like this ring, please." Frank gave the ring to the vendor, grinning like an idiot.

"A very nice choice. That will be $75. Would you like a box for it?" She asked, her voice silky and sweet. And familiar. Leo studied her seemingly perfect features that showed no real age, her long wavy golden-blonde hair that was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and her beautiful sky blue eyes.

Leo's eyes widened in shock when he figured out who she was. It was Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and beauty. And Piper's mom.

"Thank you, ma'am." Frank said as she handed him the small velvet box with the ring in it.

Aphrodite winked before saying, "What a lucky young lady. I wish you both the best."

"Thank you." Frank began to push the stroller back towards Hazel, when he remembered that he had told her that he and Leo would be getting a snack. "Well, buddy, what should we get for snack?"

They ended up getting some blueberries, and Leo only ate a few before Frank made him stop, due to 'him still being too little to have so much grown-up food', which Leo was not happy about.

Actually, Leo was starting to get pretty tired. Crying and picking a ring out had really taken a lot of energy out of him.

When Piper, Jason, Annabeth, Percy, and Nico joined them once again, this time their arms full of bags of fresh produce and other things.

Leo took out his pacifier before babbling on and on to Piper and Jason (while getting drool all over Jason's shirt) about the blueberries and about the ring that Frank was going to propose to Hazel with and all about the other cool stuff that was being sold here, and Jason and Piper just nodded along, smiling. Leo knew that they probably couldn't understand what he was saying, but it was just nice to talk to them.

But as Leo rambled on, he started to get frustrated that he couldn't form very many coherent words, and he began to get cranky, starting to whine and cry.

"Uh-oh." Piper said. "It looks like my little Leonidas is getting tired."

Leo wanted to tell her that he was just fine, and that all he needed was a little time to himself, but all that came out were pathetic-sounding whines and grunts, which made him even more upset. He hated this. He hated being this little. He hated not being able to do very much. He hated having absolutely no control of his surroundings. He hated that he couldn't tell them how much he hated this. But most of all, he hated that he was stuck here, unable to continue working on a way to get back to Calypso and to his REAL friends.

Leo hadn't even realized that he was crying until he felt himself being buckled back into his car seat. But he couldn't seem to stop.

While Jason drove home, Piper sat in the back seat with Leo, trying to get him to drink a bottle.

It took her a good five minutes, but Leo eventually gave in.

"There we go." Piper cooed, smiling down at him. Leo was quiet for a few minutes, but then he felt something around his nether regions get warm, and he realized that he had just wet himself. He spit the bottle back out and started wailing again, unable to believe that he had just peed himself in front of his best friends. It was bad enough being this small and having to have them feed him a bottle, but to wet himself in front of them was too much. It was humiliating.

By the time they got home, Leo's throat felt raw from all of the crying, but he couldn't seem to stop. Piper unbuckled him from his car seat, picked him up, and carried him into the house, heading straight for the nursery.

She sat down in the rocking chair, maneuvering Leo in her arms so that his head was in the crook of her elbow, and she gently pat his bottom while she put the rubber nipple of the bottle up to his lips. Once again, instinct got the best of Leo, and he latched on, letting himself be soothed by the gentle rocking motion and the rhythmic patting. When he finished, she burped him, and he spit up some of the milk on the cloth she had put over her shoulder, which made him start to cry again. And it didn't help that he was still in a wet diaper.

"Oh, sweetheart." She cooed. "What's the matter? Are you wet?" She checked his diaper, and she cooed again. "It looks like you could use a change. Let's get you all cleaned up, baby." She set him on the diaper changing table, and though he squirmed and kicked, not wanting her to change him, she changed his diaper and dressed him in another light blue onesie (except this one had white stripes on it). She popped a new pacifier into his mouth and picked him back up, grabbing the soft light blue blanket from the crib, and sat back down in the rocking chair, once again rocking back and forth, patting his bottom to calm him down.

Then, she began to sing.

It wasn't any song that Leo knew, but it was beautiful and gentle and soft, making his eyelids feel heavier than they had ever felt. He cuddled up into her, burying his face into her shoulder, and letting her warm presence soothe him. He was exhausted. He just wanted to stay like this forever, feeling protected and loved and cared for as he was rocked in Piper's arms.

It wasn't long before he fell asleep.