Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 22:42:10 -0600
From: J Wolfstone <argouru@gmail.com>
Subject: Sosn of Sparta, Book 3 - Chapter 15

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.


15.


The following Friday morning, Marcus Samson awoke at three am to sharp
pains in his stomach.  Gasping, he reached down carefully to check and
grunted as his hand came into contact with a delicate and painful
substance...  He sighed with regret.  Normally, this would be a time of joy
because this could only mean one thing, both he and his partner, who was
also Spartan, were Emergent and they could have children.  But there was a
problem.  His partner bond was very different from that of other Spartans.
He reached out with his mind to feel for his partner and found the man
talking on the phone.

"Yeah," Jason said as he stood there, frowning slightly from pain.  "Look,
I'm really sorry, but Emergence always hits without warning...  Yeah, I'll
have to be out about nine or ten days until they fall out...  Well I
personally don't feel ready to be a gestating father yet...  I don't know.
...Mark and I haven't discussed it yet.  Maybe he'll carry, but I don't
know...  Ok, thanks.  Sorry I couldn't give you more warning than this...
Okay, thanks...  Later."

Jason sighed and hung up the phone.  He hated having to keep his partner's
identity secret by altering his name, but there was no way the world would
understand.  He felt a wave of invisible love and support wash over him
from Marcus and walked back to the bedroom where his partner waited for him
in bed.  He climbed in carefully, trying hard not to wallow in despair.
The partners pressed their foreheads together and shared their pain with
each other, feeling the other's love and comfort as well as their pain.

This was the third time in their lives that the couple had become Emergent,
but they knew that once again they would let the chance pass by untaken.
They wanted to be dads very much, but it was impossible.  They had no fear
of any complications with the baby...  It was that the world wouldn't
understand.  They'd never accept the child for one simple reason...  Jason
was Marcus' identical twin brother as well as his bonded life-partner.

Neither of them hated or resented their bond.  Other then the fact that
they had to keep the truth about their bond from everyone except family,
both blood-related and extended, such as Uncles Walter and Dennis, as well
as Aunts Tracy and Alice and cousin Sally and her fairly new partner
Rachel, life wasn't too horrible.  Jason would never give up Marcus for
anything and Marcus felt the same towards Jason.  It was only the rest of
the world who would judge them harshly and that was why they remained
childless by choice.  The boy would never be able to have an open and happy
life.  He would be treated like a freak for being a child of incest, even
if the boy was perfectly healthy.  They were already twenty six and wanted
desperately to have children, but couldn't.

Instead they held each other and cried at the cruelness of the world.  *I
don't want to go without children Jason,* Marcus thought, his mind wide
open to his brother/partner, who could hear and feel everything that went
through his mind.  It also worked in reverse, allowing Marcus to experience
everything that Jason did, thought and felt as well.

They had been like this since age eight, when Lord Apollo, sensing the
strength of their bond to each other both as twin brothers and as bonded
partners, had forged a mental link between them so that they could be
together even when apart physically.  Their bond was the strongest that
Apollo had ever seen and was so strong that when they had even been apart
physically for a few minutes, it became emotionally painful for them until
they were together again.  The link had given them telepathy which only
worked with each other, but seemed unlimited by distance.

They rarely had to speak aloud except when around others and mainly only
strangers.  All of the family knew the truth about them, both blood
relations and extended.  The only family who didn't know the truth were the
humans Giorgos and John, who were still new to the family.

Everyone else, even the rest of the temple staff, were ignorant to the
truth that the twins were partner-bonded to each other.  The mental link
and being able to be open around their family was all that kept them going.
They both knew that sometimes their birth father Sam worried for them, as
well as blamed himself for the hardships they had to endure, which the pair
both thought was silly.  Dad Sam hadn't even known that he had been
carrying twins, let alone that they would be an incestuous couple.  But the
bonding process knew no bounds and was always involuntary.  Not only that,
but ALL sets of Spartan twins would end up being an incestuously bonded
couple.  The bond itself ensured that their children would be free of any
birth defects, so that concern was moot...

It was the attitude of American society which made it necessary for them to
keep their partner bond a secret.  The public would never accept brothers
as partners.  They knew that some human siblings were incestuous as well,
but any such pairing was always seen as offensive to society.  Because of
that, they had never gotten themselves legally registered as partners and
had avoided having children.  Their offspring would be ostracized by the
public and treated as freaks.  Spartan children had it hard enough as it
was, but their own sons would have it far worse.

*Would it be right to put a child through that?* Jason thought.

*No...  Not really,* Marcus thought in return.

*DAMMIT!!!* Jason swore, making Marcus wince in pain at the loudness of
Jason's thought, as well as the fury behind it.  Jason immediately felt
apologetic, so Marcus kissed him softly.

*It's okay...  I feel the same.*

*It's just not fair! I'm sick of hiding all the time! We shouldn't have to
live like we're fugitives or something!*

Marcus could only nod silently.  He felt the same, but not as strongly.
Jason was the passionate one of the pair, his emotions dictating his
actions.  Marcus, conversely, was the more mellow and reserved of the pair,
always thinking everything through thoroughly before making a decision.
The two complimented each other very well and even after twenty six years
of life, then had never fought even once.  Everyone around them, parents
included, teased them about how repulsively sweat they were towards each
other.  The family was supportive of them and that support meant the world
to the twins.

*I'm tired of having to lie and putting off having sons too,* Marcus
thought.

They lay together and cuddled as much as they could, each thinking long and
hard.  Finally, Marcus realized what tomorrow was.  *What'll we do?* he
thought.

*We'll go,* Jason said firmly.  *It's not like everyone doesn't know.*

*That's not entirely true, you know.  Henry and Steven's partners don't
know the truth about us yet.  It could be pretty shocking to them.*

*Well they'll just have to get used to it!* Jason thought back firmly.
*I'm sick to death of walking on eggshells around everyone just because I
happen to be bonded to my own twin brother!* He sighed.  *Sorry...  I guess
my hormones are acting up again.*

*It's okay.  I forgive you.*

*Maybe I should try meditating as much as you do.  It's unfair of me to
reap the benefits of all your hard work and keep riling you back up all the
time.*

*It's okay, Jason.  Your job is pretty stressful.  I understand.*

Jason felt his love for Marcus spark higher and they began to kiss,
exploring each other's head and torso.  Jason accidentally brushed Marcus'
filaments, making them both reel in pain as they shared the agony from
Marcus' protesting nerve endings.  *Sorry, sorry!* Jason apologized.  He
felt his partner's silent forgiveness as they began to relax when the pain
faded away.  *Shit! Why does this have to hurt so fucking much?!? I swear
if I ever meet Hera I'll punch that bitch right in the face!*

Marcus gasped at his brother's blasphemous thought, but let it go.  He too
wished that Emergence, gestation and birth weren't so painful for their
kind like it was.  They blamed Hera for this, even though it was Zeus who
had made it painful, because he had only done so to appease Her.  All
Spartans suffered agony throughout the entire reproductive process because
of Her.  They prayed to Hera during services, thanking Her for Her mercy
and expressing the wish of all Spartans that one day She would forgive them
their impertinence of breaking the natural order of life by being men who
could birth children.  The twins always considered that part of services to
be lip service, though and knew full well that the queen of all bitches
would NEVER forgive them.  If anyone knew how to hold a grudge, it was
Hera.  Spartans would suffer for all eternity because of Her petty
spitefulness.  They hated Her with a passion and always wished that just
once they could skip that part of their prayers.

They'd asked Lord Apollo about this once.  He sounded just as doubtful of
Her granting forgiveness as they did, but asked them to always speak all of
the prayers.  They got the impression that even Apollo feared Hera.  They
had promised that they would continue to do so, but they always spoke that
part in a bored fashion and full of resentment.

*I feel all sweaty and gross,* Marcus thought.  *Should we shower
together?*

*Yeah,* Jason replied.  *We'll each feel the other's pain, so we might as
well get it out of the way all at once.*

They rose and showered carefully, wincing as the water hit their filaments.
As they showered, they thought more on their lives and made their decision.
They only wondered what their future would be like, but they would face it
together...



David Williams sighed, wondering what was taking the twins so long.  His
sons, son-in-laws and all their children were here now except for the last
two.  Growing nervous, he walked over to the phone in Sam and Daniel's
kitchen and flipped through the list of numbers.  *Too damned many people
on this list,* he thought grumpily.  *I'm too old to remember everyone's
number all the time...  Ah! Here they are.  At least I only need to call
one of them, even if they're not together at the moment.* He adjusted his
glasses and dialed the number, shaking his head in wonder.  *It's damned
strange having grandsons who act as broadcast towers for each other like
that, but it does come in handy sometimes.*

"Hello," Marcus answered.

"There you are, Boy.  It's Granddad David.  Are you two coming over for the
monthly dinner?"

"Yeah," he said, grunting.  "We're a bit behind but we'll be there in a few
minutes."

"Well move your butts or the food will get cold!" David grumbled.

"I said we're coming!" Marcus snapped irritably through the phone.  "Shit,
Granddad David, just lay off already! Bye!"

David hung the phone, looking sour.  *He didn't have to bite my head off
like that!* The human sighed with disgust.

"Something wrong, Hun?" Matthew asked, walking in and kissing the side of
David's head.

"Just Marcus acting all moody on me.  Strange though, he's usually more
well-mannered than that.  I don't know what's gotten into that boy."

"Well he'll get over it.  You're getting cranky in your old age," Matthew
finished with a smile, then his expression fell slowly.

David sighed.  He knew that Matthew was worried that David was getting on
in years, but hated the way that Matthew always saw it as a bad thing.
"Stop worrying about me!" he chided gently.  "You know full well that I
passed my physical last week with flying colors!" he said, then sobered as
the human realized that he would be just as sad to live without his partner
as Matthew would.  "Don't worry, Matt.  We still have a good number of
years left to us.  The men in my family are very long-lived.  Who knows?
Maybe I'll outlive you!"

Matthew sniffed.  "Fine, be a jerk!" he teased, then leaned over for a
shameless kiss before they went out to join the family.

Outside, Giorgos and John were getting to know Tracy, Alice, Sally and
Rachel.  Giorgos could tell that Sally was the child of Tracy and Alice,
both Amazons.  Sally had her birth mother's long curly blonde hair with
blue eyes and her brunette mother Tracy's features.  Rachel was a black
woman with regal features and a lean look to her tall, thin body.  Her skin
was rather pale as both of her human parents had pale skin.  Her dark brown
eyes showed a warmth and kindness despite the no nonsense gleam to them.
The broad smile with perfect teeth brightened her expression even more.

"So," Giorgos asked as he sat beside Steven while John and Henry listened
in.  "How is it that you have met?"

"Oh here we go," Fred groaned.

"Oh be quiet!" Sally teased him.  "When you meet your partner, we'll listen
to you rehash your first encounter to your heart's content.  The censored
version, mind you!" She added quickly, pointing an accusatory finger at
him.  Having known Fred all his life, Sally was well aware of the Spartan
lad's shamelessness about sex.  "We all know how perverted you can be."

"You're no fun!" the teenager teased.  "I'm sure every raunchy little
detail will be highly important."

"You're lucky I don't arrest you, young man, for delinquency!" Sally
countered, looking at him sharply.

"I'm used to being in handcuffs," Fred countered loftily.  "Please be
gentle, Officer Mayweather!" he mock-begged.

"Feel free to use excessive force," Daniel told her dryly, glaring at his
son.  Fred stuck his tongue out at the older Spartan, making several people
chuckle.

"Well," Rachel said, "I was visiting my niece who had fallen for a man who
was, shall we say, somewhat questionable of character, so that I could try
to talk some sense into her and help her to see that Tyrone wasn't the best
man for her.  Suddenly we hear screaming from next door and Jessica, my
niece, said that the couple next door was always screamin' at each other
over the least little thing.  A few minutes later we see a police cruiser
pull up and Sally got out with her patrol partner Adrian.  When I saw her
pass by the window, I felt a shock because I felt as though I recognized
her from somewhere, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where.
Jessica saw me staring at Sally with an odd look on my face and asked me
what was wrong.  I asked her if the police had ever come by when I had
visited before, but she said no.  Well, the nagging feeling that I knew
Sally somehow wouldn't go away, then I saw her wrestle the rowdy boyfriend
into the back of the squad car single-handedly and felt my jaw drop in
shock.  The man was built like a brick wall and she met his struggles like
an equal.

"I was impressed, then noticed her come back inside and got the strangest
notion that I just had to meet her.  Jessica gave me a knowing look then
because she knew that I'm a lesbian and just kinda smirked at me in a
self-satisfied manner while I went to the door to go talk to Sally.  I was
able to come up with a convincing enough excuse by asking if everything was
alright.  Sally turned to me and I know she did a double-take, cause she
just stood there staring at me with a confused look on her face, then asked
me if we'd met before.  When I said I felt the same way, her face just lit
up like the sun...  Then she got all embarrassed and wouldn't look me in
the eye anymore.  Needless to say, I was shocked that such a strong and
capable woman would suddenly act so bashful and asked her what was wrong.
She said it was nothing and left soon after, looking like she was
embarrassed and ashamed at the same time."

"To be honest," Sally added, "I thought I was imagining it.  Then I
realized that it was pretty embarrassing to think that she might like women
as well and walked away.  I spent the next three weeks kicking myself for
not even asking her name.  Then, half way into the fourth week after we
first met, I got called out to the same location, I kept an eye out for
Rachel, but there was no sign of her.  Jessica came to the door while I was
talking to the woman from the argument and she heard us make plans to move
the woman to a safe house.  Jessica knew she'd only have one chance to help
us and invited Rachel over so she'd be there when I came to get the woman."

"Unfortunately," Rachel added.  "I was stuck at work that day and couldn't
get away, so Jessica got bold and asked Sally if she was a lesbian."

"I was so shocked by that," Sally said, flushing.  "I don't know why I did
it, but I said yes and Jessica pushed a slip of paper into my hand, said
'call her' and closed the door before I could say anything else.  It had
Rachel's name and phone number on it."

"I'd talked with Jessica," Rachel said, "trying to get every detail out of
her in regards to that police woman I couldn't get out of my head, so she
decided to play matchmaker.  Next thing I knew, I get a call from Sally
asking if I wanted to meet for coffee sometime and we met up the following
weekend.  One thing led to another and next thing I knew, we'd been dating
for four months and started to toss around the idea of moving in together."

"So naturally, I didn't want any secrets between us and came out to her as
an Amazon," Sally added.

"I was really shocked," Rachel said slowly, "because we had already been
together intimately and since Amazons look outwardly just like humans, I
had no clue until she told me.  I told her I had to think about it and she
looked hurt, but understanding.  It took me about a day of serious thought
before I realized I didn't know much about how Amazon reproduction worked,
so I called her and asked her how it worked.  The process sounded strange,
but she invited me to meet her parents for dinner and the three of them
calmly explained everything to me.  By the end of the evening, I made up my
mind to go through with it.  That was eight months ago now and we've been
very happy together," Rachel finished with a smile.

Sally kissed her lovingly with a big grin.  Fred groaned.  "Fuck! You act
like you're Emergent or something," he teased and Sally shot him a dirty
look which he ignored.

"So," Rachel said, turning to John.  "How exactly di-"

"-Soon will you start working at the temple?" Sally interrupted rapidly,
looking as though she was trying hard not to look embarrassed and guilty.

Rachel glanced sideways at her partner for a second, then turned back to
John with a fixed smile.  "What she said," the black woman added slowly.

John looked at Sally's face, seeing the strained smile there and feeling
resentment.  "I start Monday," he said in a flat tone.

"Oh," Daniel said in a nervous tone.  "The salt's missing.  Henr-"

"No, no...  Let me," John said curtly.  "I want some too.  Hey Henry, come
show me where it is...  I can't remember," he finished coldly.

Henry rose slowly, as if heading for the gallows and followed the fuming
human inside the house.  Sally watched them go, biting her lip nervously.
"Oh shit," she groaned.  "I thought John knew that I was aware of what had
happened to him."

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked.  "Was it something I said?"

Sam sighed.  "John's had a difficult time lately.  It's rather personal and
some people," he said, glaring after his eldest son, should know better
than to go around telling everyone.

"Don't look at me," Sally said, looking embarrassed.  "I knew it was
something private so I tried to steer the conversation away from that once
I realized what Rachel was about to ask."

"Well," the human woman said, looking apologetic, "I certainly didn't mean
to stir anything up."

"It's alright, Rach you didn't know," Sally said sympathetically, patting
her partner's arm consolingly...