Chapter 3

• ~Zeus~
• A baby. Humm. Poor kid, she’ll be an orphan. Sophia wanted a child and loved kids.
• When the girl from earlier comes out of the restroom, everyone looks to find her looking blankly at me and chewing on a stick of gum.
• “My granny’s name was Pearl.”
• Trevor quickly takes the girl’s arm. Rushing her out the door, he acts as if this is big news is something the intern doesn’t need to hear.
• Right now, I’m more worried about the fact I feel sick. I’ve never felt this emotion before. I hate fucking human emotions. They’re pointless. And wait… What is this wetness on my face?
• I reach up and feel something and… “Shit! I’m leaking! What the hell? Is this another part of this damn curse? Now I’m fucking leaking out my eyes!”
• Trevor reaches to hand me the handkerchief from his dress-suit pocket with a roll to his eyes. I hate when he does that. “It’s called a tear, Zeus. You’re crying.”
• “Crying? No. That’s a useless human emotion. Gods don’t cry. Why would I cry?”
• The older woman looks up at me with a curious expression. “Maybe your human side is coming through, telling you the news of Sophia’s death upsets you.”
• “Pfft. Ridiculous. I’m a god. As I said, we don’t cry. Emotions are pointless and just get in the way. Sure, Sophia was great, but she was just a chick I hooked up with…” Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. “Oh! Hell no! This is not my kid. I already have enough kids. I’m around fifty in human years in this body. Sure, I’m still hot as hell and fit like a twenty-year-old in his prime, but I can’t be having a kid.”
• Trevor is covering his smart-ass smirk with his fist, and I know this asshole is getting a kick out of my torment. So that’s what he’s been so smug about the last couple of days. He knew and didn't tell me.
• The old lady pushed her glasses up on her nose, making her look like a grouchy old librarian. “Yes, Zeus. Little Pearl is your child. Miss Garcia put you down as father on the birth certificate. We will need to run a DNA test to confirm this, but she is your child.”
• “I can’t be the dad.”
• “Well, I suggest you spend less time licking honey off your intern's backside and start figuring this out. This little girl needs a father unless you want to put the baby up for adoption. I strongly suggest against that because she will need help to deal with her powers.”
• Did she say powers?
• “She’s a demigod?”
• “That’s what the doctors are telling us. It’s the first demigod child born since the fall of Olympus. The truth is, Zeus, child protective services are not equipped to care for her. Human parents fear the potential of her powers hurting them, or other children, and don't want her in their care. She’s just a baby, and we have seen her do tremendous things. I know very well that you are unfit to care for a child. Your vulgar reputation precedes you.”
• “Unfit? I’ll have you know—”
• “Yes, unfit,” she rudely interrupts. “You’re obviously too immature, and too much of a playboy to care for her. But at this point, we don’t have any other choice. We think…” Suddenly, the lady tried to take a breath, looking slightly panicked.
• Trevor sat across from me with that serious look he always gets. I know he’s worried and both look like there’s something more than they are telling me. “Zeus, buddy, we believe she caused this hurricane.”
• “What? How?”
• “We’re not sure, but she lives in Florida now with a foster family. They said she’s not been resting and had a belly ache when they first started seeing her powers develop. A rain cloud flooded the couple’s home. When this hurricane came up, she'd been crying nonstop, and they couldn't get her to calm down.”
• I sort of gave a half-smile at the idea of little Pearl flooding the place and I let out a light laugh. The poor kid must be sick, and this human form can be hard to control, even for me. If this is true, she’s a daddy’s girl. Oddly, her powers are already showing, but my baby girl is already taking her place on... Olympus.
• Oh no. The witches.
• “I’ll take her!” I blurt out.
• Wait... Did I just say that?
• Trevor and the woman looked at me as if they couldn't believe what was coming out of my mouth. Shit. Neither can I. But if this is true, I must protect her from those damn witches. Maybe even from these stupid humans who probably want to use her as some freaky science experiment. The creeps don’t understand there are others outside of their Earth bubble and want to probe and dissect everything that they don’t understand. I’d just like to see the bastards try that shit with me.
• “Do you understand you will be responsible for her care? Changing diapers, feedings, doctor visits, the works. It will be all on you.”
• “How hard could it be? I had around… Shit. I forget how many kids I had.”
• Trevor just shook his head at me with a chuckle. “From what Hera has said, in interviews with the media, she did all the work. Not including the children that you had on the side with other women.”
• “Bullshit. We had a… What are they called?”
• “A nanny,” the lady said excitedly. “That’s a wonderful idea!”
• “I have the perfect nanny agency. My wife and I used them when my kids were younger. I’ll call them,” Trevor said, grabbing his phone.
• “Hang up that damn phone. I don’t need a nanny. I can handle it. I don't need some woman trying to boss me around and tell me how to raise my child.”
• “I’ll just give them a call and—”
• “I said I’ll take care of it!”
• Yet, he’s still calling and not listening to a word I say. Typical.
• I bang my fist on the desk, and a loud boom shakes the room. I’m so irritated and emotional right now that my thunderclap crashes outside and shakes the whole place. Trevor dropped his phone and grabbed his chair arms in shock, while the woman screamed so loud I think she burst my eardrums.
• “Sorry… Let me calm down. I can take care of this. As you can see, no one can do what I can for this child. Bring her to me.”
• “Taken care of. You’re heading to Florida in an hour. The plane is on standby.”
• Standing to my feet, I straighten my shoulders and adjust my tie, ready to meet this child. If she’s mine, we won’t need a DNA test. She’ll have my mark.