Don't Be a Baby

9. Am I Happy?

Thanatos sat on the long end of the couch, his legs stretched out in front of him with Perseus curled up against his side. His arm rested on her back in a slightly protective pose. They could hear Hypnos rattling things around in the kitchen, getting ready for the sure to be awkward dinner that was set to happen that night. It had been a month since Perseus had discovered her brothers' hidden relationship and they hers and Than had decided that it was time they meet Holly. Hypnos had suggested a private setting would be much better than a restaurant considering the kind of things they would most likely talk about and Perry agreed, not wanting to break the 'don't tell anyone' rule anymore than she already had.

The buzzer ran and Perry let Thanatos get up so he could press the button that would unlock the downstairs door so Holly could come up. "The door is unlocked when you come up so just come on in." He spoke into the speaker and a female voice replied but Perry couldn't hear what was said. Than came back to the couch and let Perry snuggle back into his side. It wasn't long before the door opened and Holly entered the room. Perseus jumped off of the couch and ran to her, wrapping her arms around her waist in an eager hug.

"Mommy!" She cried out happily, immediately slipping into her littlespace. She tugged on her hand, leading her over to the couch where Than was already standing. "This is my big brother!"

Thanatos held out his hand with a stiff smile. "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Thanatos, little one here calls me Than most of the time."

Holly smiled and shook his hand before looking down at Perry who had sat on the edge of the couch and was watching them. "Why did you call me 'mommy,' Perseus?" She asked in a pointed tone. "That probably sounds strange to your brother."

Perseus looked down at her lap in shame but Thanatos answered for her. "It's alright, Holly. Hypnos and I know about your relationship with Perseus and we are both very understanding about it." He glanced down at his little sister, his tone becoming firmer. "I had thought she would have explained to you what happened before you came here tonight as she was supposed to but I can see that she told you nothing."

"I'm sorry!" Perseus exclaimed, looking up at the both of them. "I really didn't want to tell you until you were already here, Holly, because I didn't want you to think this was too much or that I'd broken the rules and you didn't want to be with me anymore."

Holly's stern gaze softened and she sat down next to Perry on the couch, pulling her into a half hug. "It would take a lot more than you telling your brother that you live with about us for me to leave you, Perseus. Now tell me the rest of the story, I can see in your eyes that there is more."

Perry nodded and decided to summarize the entire situation. "The night you first braided my hair when I came home I caught Than and Hyp, um, doing it. They told me that they had been together for awhile and so I told them that I couldn't judge them because I was also in a relationship that I probably shouldn't be in and I told them what we do sometimes and then they said that they are in a different kind of relationship too." She paused, taking a deep breath then continued. "It isn't just incest, they love each other a lot, and Than is the dominant one because Hyp is really submissive. Like me!" She said the last part with a smile, her eyes sparkling.

"That all makes sense, Perseus, but what did you mean when you said 'a relationship that you probably shouldn't be in?'" Holly asked, focusing on her as if Thanatos wasn't even there. Her eyes were full of worry and a little bit of hurt. "Do you still think that the way you feel is wrong? Are you still ashamed of what you are to me?"

Thanatos coughed awkwardly. "I think I'll head into the kitchen to check on Hypnos' progress with dinner. Let me know if you need anything." He said, excusing himself out of the conversation.

Perseus waited until he was gone before she began to try to answer Holly's question. The sadness she felt combined with worry and fear had quickly brought her back and when she spoke there was no trace of childishness. "It isn't whether or not my feelings for you are wrong that bothers me anymore. I'm not ashamed of what you've shown me about myself." She bit her lip and tossed her hands up, letting them fall back onto her legs with a clap. "I'm sad that I cannot share you with the rest of my family and even the whole world because most people wouldn't understand, they would think it was weird or gross or wrong!" Tears began to slide down her cheeks and Holly fully embraced her, pressing her face to her chest to try and calm her down but Perseus went on. "I'm afraid of what would happen if the rest of my family were to find out about you. I'm afraid they wouldn't love me anymore. I got really lucky with the way Hypnos and Thanatos found out, it could have gone so much worse, they could have kicked me out!"

"Perseus, I already told you that if that had happened you could have come and lived with me." Holly reassured her. "You are worrying about things that you don't need to worry about, driving yourself into a tizzy. There's really only one thing you need to worry about. Are you happy, Perseus?" Holly finally asked and the question was easy to answer unlike the million others in Perry's mind.

"Yes."

"Then be happy and don't worry about anything else."

A/N ONE CHAPTER LEFT!!! To the future nuggets reading this, be happy that you aren't depending on me to update. To the current nuggets reading this, I'm really, really sorry. I said I'd finish it all the way back on the 16th and it's been almost a month. Have no fear, your last update will soon be here.