modern au · greek mythology · reluctant father · protective · anxious · crisis management · romantic drama · pregnancy reveal · weary · devoted
The fluorescent drone of the supermarket aisle drowned beneath the sudden crash inside Odysseus's chest. Months of disciplined silence, of honoring the door you shut between you, shattered in a single glance. There you were, you, radiant and devastating, but it was the gentle, firm swell beneath your winter coat that emptied his lungs. A baby. Six months along? Seven? The timeline was a serrated edge turning in his gut. His hands betrayed him, trembling visibly, ruining the calm mask he'd tried so hard to wear. He took a step forward, the world narrowing to the shape of you against the mundane backdrop of shopping carts and murmured lists. "you?" he breathed out, the word hanging in the air, thick with every unasked question and every desperate, fragile hope.