Chapter 17: I Freak Out
LEO'S POV
Based on his luck, Leo almost expected Calypso to start giving birth on the dragon during their ride back home. Thankfully, she didn't.
The two sat in silence for a little while after taking off and leaving Aaron on the island. Leo wished he could've killed that guy, but perhaps the fate he'd doomed him to was even worse.
Leo noticed Calypso examining her ring and decided to break the silence. "You like it?" he asked.
"It's beautiful."
Leo grinned. "That's what I was doing in my little shack. While thinking of a genius escape plan, of course."
"Of course. Where'd you get the diamond, though?"
Leo blushed. "Um, that's not a diamond. It's a crystal from your cave. I thought it'd be nice, you know, to have as a sort of souvenir. I hope you don't mind I didn't... You know, buy something expensive."
"No, Leo, this is awesome," Calypso assured him. They sat in silence for another moment until Calypso spoke again. "Leo, I'm afraid."
"For what? The baby?" Leo furrowed his eyebrows in concern and looked back at her.
"No, it's not that. I, well, I actually had two sons with Odysseus," she looked embarrassed. "But that was a long time ago."
"What are you worried about, then?"
"I'm worried about us, about getting married and becoming so close to someone."
"Did I do something wrong?" Leo asked in concern.
"No, that's the thing. I love you, Leo, but... Well, when you've lived for thousands of years, sixty or so doesn't seem like all that much, and... that's probably as long as you'll live."
Leo's heart fluttered. He hadn't told Calypso yet.
"Yeah, about that, I've got something to tell you."
"Oh?"
"I'm becoming a god."
Calypso's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yep. Me and the other seven from that prophecy I told you about."
"That's awesome! Oh my gods... I can't believe it! You're becoming immortal?" She exclaimed.
"That usually happens when you become a god."
"I wish I was having your baby," Calypso said suddenly. "I just hope he or she won't have any of Aaron's powers."
"Yeah," Leo said sadly. "But... he or she will never have to see Aaron."
"I know."
***
Calypso fell asleep soon after, though Leo wasn't sure how she managed. He decided not to stop this time because he really wanted to get Calypso back ASAP, especially since she could go into labor at any minute.
The sky lightened up and the sun rose as they sailed over the Atlantic.
"Morning," Calypso said sleepily when she finally woke up.
"Morning," Leo replied, chewing on a granola bar for breakfast. "Should just be another hour or two."
"Are you... I mean, is Percy going to be there?"
Leo stiffened at the mention of his friend and Calypso's past love. "Yeah," he tried to sound casual about it.
"Oh."
"Yeah, I live with him."
"That'll be awkward." Calypso stated.
"Just a little," Leo muttered under his breath.
"Don't worry, though, Leo. I got over him when you came," Calypso assured him and Leo had to admit that that made him feel a lot better.
"That's good," he grinned back at her.
As they crossed the sparkling ocean, Leo told her all about New York and Camp Demigod and his friends. They tossed baby names back and forth, but didn't come up with anything quite right. Leo kept suggesting Leo junior, though Calypso didn't seem to like it as much as he did.
Before he knew it they were flying over North America. He brought Festus lower and lower until he spotted the green valley of Camp Demigod. Festus touched down on Half-Blood Hill near Thalia's pine. He jumped off of the dragon and held to his hand for Calypso. He figured that she was the type of girl who usually wouldn't want help, but her pregnancy changed things. She took his hand and stepped down.
Leo had done it. He had found Ogygia, saved Calypso, and brought her back. Oh, and he had become engaged along the way.
She gazed around in awe at all of the campers and buildings in front of her.
"Oh Leo..."
"You okay?"
"Of course! I just haven't seen anything like this in so long. Really, I've never seen anything like this. Ever." He grabbed her hand and together they walked through the city, Leo pointing our landmarks and explaining things while Calypso remained stunned at everything around her.
"And here is our house," Leo concluded as he placed his hand on the door and it unlocked and opened.
"Leo!" Hazel exclaimed when she saw them. She got up from the table where she was eating breakfast and came over to them, the rest of his friends right behind her. "We were getting worried about you!"
"Jeez guys, I was gone, like, two days!"
"Two days?" Hazel looked at him oddly. "It's been two weeks."
Leo glanced at Calypso and she shrugged. "I told you time passes differently in Ogygia."
That's when everybody's eyes focused on Calypso. Leo noticed how Percy averted his eyes to the ground. It was Annabeth who spoke first.
"You're... pregnant."
"Yeah," she smiled dryly.
"With...?" Annabeth prompted.
"Later," Leo said firmly.
"No, it's fine," Calypso said. "I'm looking forward to meeting your friends."
"I'm Annabeth," Annabeth said and Calypso's eyes darkened.
"Percy's girlfriend," Calypso muttered.
"Percy's wife," Annabeth said somewhat defensively.
The rest of them introduced themselves to Calypso as they all sat down around the kitchen table.
Suddenly Calypso gripped the edge of the table.
"You okay?" Leo checked.
"I'm... Fine."
"So... If you don't mind mind me asking again, who got you pregnant?" Piper asked kindly.
"There was... A boy named Aaron..." She trailed off and grabbed the table again.
"Calypso?"
"Oh Gods Leo, I think I'm having the baby."
In an instant, Leo was out of the chair and at Calypso's side.
"Do you, um, want me to carry you? Or I get Festus? Or-"
"Calm down, Valdez," Calypso said.
"But you're-" he started.
"The baby is coming but it's not like she's going to have it this second," Annabeth explained. He decided to trust the wise mother-to-be.
Leo helped Calypso out of her chair as she held her stomach. He slipped his arm under her shoulder and around her belly as they walked out the door. Leo hoped Calypso didn't feel how hard he was shaking.
Piper ran in front of them and held open the door.
"The hospital's not far, but are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," she grunted and Leo looked at her in admiration. He was sure she was in pain, but she kept going anyways.
Finally they arrives at the hospital. Everyone except Nico had trailed behind them, and Leo wasn't really sure what to think of it.
The receptionist took one look at Calypso and directed her to a room with a bed and a few pieces of technology. A doctor, most likely a child of Apollo, rushed in.
He told everyone except Leo and Calypso to leave, and instructed her to change into a hospital gown. He asked her a few questions about contractions and pain and stuff that Leo didn't really understand as she lay down on the bed.
"The baby won't be coming right away, but soon," he told the two as he felt Calypso's stomach.
That's when Piper knocked on the door and peaked her head in. "Um, Leo, there's... Someone who wants to see you."
"Now's not a great time..."
"Well, um, it's my mom..."
"Aphrodite?" Leo said incredulously.
"Yep," Piper confirmed.
"You better go," Calypso told him.
Hesitantly, Leo left his fiancée's side and followed Piper down the hall to the waiting room.
Leo knew instantly which woman Aphrodite was. She looked like a combination of Calypso, Thalia, Khione, Hazel... Every girl that Leo had ever thought was pretty.
"Do you mind if we go outside?" She asked in an almost hypnotizing voice. "Your friends may come too."
Aphrodite lead them outside and she caught a few guys in the waiting room staring at her as she left.
"This isn't a great time..." Leo muttered.
"I am well aware that your fiancée is about to give birth," Aphrodite assured them as she sat down on a bench outside and motioned for Leo to do the same. His friends all looked as confused as he felt. "I just wanted to say that you showed true bravery in the name of love, Leo Valdez."
"Um, thanks."
"Your story is a very unique one, and I must say that I truly enjoyed watching it unfold. For this, I will grant you a wish."
"Any wish?"
"I will grant you the wish that you Calypso said aloud on your way home."
"Which is?"
"Goodbye, Leo Valdez." With that, she disappeared into thin air.
Leo tried to ignore the way that it seemed like she was just giving an award to a romance movie she enjoyed watching, not to a living, breathing human. Still, it wasn't like he was complaining.
What was it that Calypso had wished though? He sifted through what he remembered of their conversation on the way back.
"What wish did she make?" Hazel asked.
Suddenly it came to him.
"She wished that she was having my baby. Somehow... Somehow Calypso is going to give birth to my child instead of Aaron's."
Leo didn't wait around to see his friend's reactions. He rushed back inside and into Calypso's room. She was still just laying there, but she didn't exactly look comfortable.
"What did Aphrodite want?" She asked him.
Leo hesitated. He wasn't sure if he should tell Calypso yet or not. Part of him wanted to, but another part wanted to wait, just to be sure he was correct.
"I'll tell you later," Leo promised. "For now I just want you to worry about having our baby." Calypso smiled when he said "our baby," but she didn't know how true it was.
He gently placed his hand on her stomach and then gave her a quick peck on the lips. "You're going to be a great mother," he whispered in her ear.
He sat down in the chair by her bedside and waited in silence for the time to come.
"My water broke," she said suddenly.
"It's time," the doctor told her and Leo grabbed her hand. He smiled at her encouragingly but his heart was thundering."Keep breathing," the doctor commanded Calypso. He used a little walky-talky to call in more doctors. He then placed his hands on her stomach and said,"I'm doing some magic that should help numb the pain."
Leo kept his eyes on Calypso's face. He really didn't want to see what was happening farther below. Two more doctors came in and gathered around Calypso. "Push on the count of three," one of them said. "One... Two..." She sucked in a deep breath. "Three... Push!" Leo could see her face contort with effort as she pushed. She grabbed his hand so tight that Leo thought it would be a miracle if he didn't have any broken fingers by the time this was over.
He thought about his friends outside in the waiting room. Were they as nervous as Leo? He wondered what they were thinking, having just met Calypso and now waiting outside as she have birth.
Leo was glad he wasn't too squeamish. There was a lot of blood.
Calypso kept breathing and pushing and squeezing his hand way too tight, but Leo kept his hand there nonetheless.
"One last push," the doctor told her. "One... Two... Three... Push!" Calypso breathed, pushed and grunted and then... That was it.
Calypso had had the baby.
The doctor holding the baby ran his hand over it and in an instant it was clean. Then he felt around it a bit, probably checking it over. Another helped Calypso to sit up in bed as the baby was handed to her.
Her face was white and her hair wet with sweat, but still she beamed as she held the baby, wrapped in a blue blanket, in her arms.
"It's a boy," the doctor beamed. "Do you have a name?"
Calypso looked up at him expectantly as if he had one. He said the first thing that came to his mind, thought it had never occurred to him before.
"Caleo."
"Caleo?" She asked faintly, looking confused.
"Calypso and Leo. Caleo. Do you have a middle name?"
She thought for a second before saying, "Aidan. Caleo Aidan Valdez," she said, smiling. "I like it."
***
Once Calypso was cleaned up and in slightly better shape, Leo invited the others in. They all crowded around the baby and couldn't seem to get enough of him. Especially Annabeth, which made sense considering her stomach, too, was starting to show.
Calypso stayed the night in the hospital bed, and Leo fell asleep right beside her in the chair by her bed.
Within two weeks he had gone from heartbroken and single to an engaged father.
And he couldn't have felt better.
***
Well! That was an exciting chapter (I hope!) Baby Caleo is born! A few things:
-I did think of the name Caleo before it was suggested, but my castleofbooks was the first to suggest it (I think!) so this dedication will go to them as promised
-The middle name, Aidan, means "little fire" so I thought it was fitting. It was suggested by taygger, so I'll dedicate a chapter to them, too (probably the one after next)
-HaleyOrtner gave the suggestion of Aphrodite changing Calypso's baby to being Leo's instead of Aaron's, so I have to give her credit for that idea. I'll dedicate the next chapter to her
-People are still complaining about the length of chapters/update time, but they always seem a lot longer before I publish them. Plus, I do have a life (believe it or not!)
-Lastly, I'm sorry if the birth isn't really realistic or whatever... I really know nothing about it
Well, thank y'all for the nice comments :D Hope you enjoyed the chapter
-Evelyn