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And so what, if everyone is talking about my womb? It’s something I am talking about too. This isn't personal -- this is conception.
I roll back my shoulders, adjust my dress, and leave the restroom. And I run directly into two gods as I do.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," I say, stepping back and regaining my balance.
"Are you lost, sweet one?" a voice asks. I look up and find that I am staring into the clear blue eyes of Zeus.
"No, I'm just... looking for a friend."
"Can we help?" Poseidon asks. His eyes are like milk chocolate, creamy and delicious. I feel myself melting into them.
Then I get a grip. Blink. Shake my head. "No. I'm fine, Poseidon."
"Ahh, so you know my name, Persephone?"
I tap my chin, a smile on my lips. "Sounds like you know my name as well." I give them both a small shoulder shrug, trying to downplay my absolute ardor for both of them. "Truth be told, everyone seems to know about you brothers: Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus."
Zeus smiles as if this is a game. "And what do you suppose everyone seems to know?"
"I know that you are all very handsome, very different, and very arrogant."
This causes the gods to laugh raucously. "Oh, darling, you are a treat," Zeus says, taking my hand in his.
I let him take it but tell him, "I heard you are a bit cockier than the others. If I remember correctly, Ares said he was willing to fight you if you took a dance with me before he had."
"Ares says lots of things."
I bite back a smile, loving the ease with which I can speak to these gods. My nerves quickly fade in their presence. "And you, Poseidon, what do you say?"
"I say let those two throw punches if they want. Meanwhile, I'll be on the dance floor with you, my love."
"Love!" I laugh. "See, you are arrogant."
Poseidon doesn't push me on that, instead, he just leans close, planting a soft kiss on my cheek. "No, I just know what I want and don't like to wait."
"Not a patient god, then, are you?" I ask, my body stirring with desire. His lips were warm on my skin and the knot in my belly -- the one stemming from indecision at which god I should lie with -- begins to unfurl.
"No. Not patient at all. I ride my desire the same way I ride the waves, with force and with purpose. Relentlessly."
Our eyes lock on one another and I feel my knees weaken and my body begins to hum with a song I've always wanted to sing. My body was made to carry a child into this world, and even now, as I look at these two gods, my ovaries seem to come to life. It might sound vulgar, to say it so plainly, but it's the truth.
I am awakening.
"Can we get you a drink?" Zeus asks, waving a server over and taking a flute from the silver tray. "You look parched."
I wrap my fingers around my throat. "Maybe that's it."
But inside, I know it isn't that at all.
As a flute of nectar is placed in my hand, I see Ares and Hades walking toward us swiftly.
"There you are." Hades' eyes are intense, and he rakes a hand through his hair. "You scared us."
My shoulders stiffen. "Your words surprised me is all."
"What did my brother say to you?" Zeus asks, enraged on my behalf.
"We told her the truth," Ares says. "That every god on this mountain covets her and her fertile womb."
"I feel like you shouldn't talk that way about my womb. It's kinda--"
Gaia manages to show up just then and inserts, "Creepy?"
"Yeah." I bite back a smile. "Kinda creepy. We don't even know one another." Then I turn to my best friend, who poorly conceals a smile. She knows I have been talking about my womb the exact same way.
"Did you know the things some gods were saying about me?"
Hades chimes in. "What all of them were saying. Don't single us out."
"Fine," I snort. "All of them. Did you?"
Gaia reaches for a glass of nectar from a nearby server, and she drinks the entire thing in one fell swoop before cringing. "Sorry. I knew. I just didn't see the need to tell you, considering you already had your own plan."
"Plan?" Zeus demands. "What plan."
I take a deep breath. Maybe I should just come out with it... say what I want.
Before I answer, Poseidon cuts in, "It's not wrong to want to make a child with you," he says. "It's beautiful."
I sip my nectar, trying to work through my feelings. "And it's very direct." I bite the side of my cheek. I want to be just as direct with one of them. But how can I choose which one?
"All gods are direct," Zeus tells me. "We don't play games. We see what we want, and we go for it."
