Falling Backwards (A Heroes of Olympus AU and Fanficton)

Chapter 26

It had been quite a while since the nice lady Miss Vanessa had come over to talk to Mommy and Daddy. Leo didn't know how long it had been, but it felt like forever. 

Now, he had no idea where his Mommy and Daddy were. They had said that they would be home soon, but that was three days ago! Leo missed them both so much, and Uncle Frank had face-timed with them a few times so Leo could see them before bed, but Leo still missed them so much. 

It was just a little bit before lunch time, and Leo was playing with his Aunt Hazel as Uncle Frank finished fixing lunch. They were having grilled cheese sandwiches, and Leo was quite excited. 

He didn't, however, expect the doorbell to ring. Aunt Hazel stood, brushing off her skirt. 

"Leo, I think there's someone here. I'll go and get the door, okay, buddy?" Leo nodded, not really wanting to stop playing with his toys. 

He wasn't paying very much attention until he heard a familiar voice say, "Hey there, Little Man!" Leo's head whipped around to see his Daddy, looking more tired than he had ever seen him look before, grinning. He was carrying a basket of some kind. 

"DADDY!" Leo shouted, running over to him, grinning widely. His Daddy scooped him up with his free arm and began to pepper his face with kisses, making him giggle. 

"We've missed you so much, Little Man!" 

"Missed you too!" Leo snuggled into his Daddy, just happy to have him home. 

"Hey, buddy, Daddy and Mommy have a surprise for you." Leo grinned excitedly. He LOVED surprises. 

"What my surprise?" Daddy smiled. 

"Well you gotta sit on the couch. Then we can show you." Leo nodded, squirming to get down. Daddy set him on the ground, and he raced over to the couch, sitting down. "Alright, Little Man." Daddy and Mommy (who Leo was just now seeing) came over, both of them carrying a weird looking basket. 

"Hey, sweetheart." Mommy smiled at him, looking just as tired as Daddy. "Mommy and Daddy have a surprise for you." Leo grinned, trying not to bounce up and down. He LOVED surprises, and he wanted to know what it was right now. Could it be a toy? He hoped it was a toy. Or a movie. Or a cookie. 

But it wasn't a toy or a movie or a cookie. Mommy and Daddy set the weird baskets on the ground in front of Leo. They looked at each other, smiling excitedly, before taking off the cover. 

Leo was confused, to say the least. 

What were these weird little blobs? They looked like Zoe had when she was really little, except these ones looked ever littler. 

One had thin blonde hair, and was sleeping peacefully with a pink binky in its mouth. It also wore a black onesie that had mittens on it that had daisies all over it, and a little black and white striped hat. 

The other had thick brown tufts of hair and was blinking sleepily, revealing big electric blue eyes. It had a blue binky in its mouth. It wore a black onesie, black and white striped sweatpants, little black mittens, and a grey hat. 

What were these weird-looking things? These definitely weren't a toy or a movie or a cookie. 

"Little Man, these are your new brother and sister. Their names are Helena Rose Grace and August Tristan Grace." Leo looked at Daddy, still confused. What did he mean?

"What brother and sister?" 

"A brother and sister are friends that you can play with for the rest of your life." A friend forever? That sounded good. All Leo really had who would be his friends forever were Charlotte and Zoe, but Charlotte was bigger than him and Zoe was littler. 

"But buddy, you're gonna have to be a good big brother. Helena and August are too tiny to do big-kid stuff like you. They're gonna be littler than you for the rest of your life, and they might need your help. Now I know that you'll be a good big brother and help them, right?" 

Leo considered for a moment. These were tiny little people. They were even littler than Zoe, and Zoe was little. He didn't know if he wanted to play with somebody so little. 

He looked at August, who was moving around a little. August almost seemed to look right at him. This was his baby brother. He was too little to do big-kid things like Leo could. That meant that he was gonna have to help him do big-kid stuff. He looked like he might be fun to play with, once he got bigger. 

He looked at Helena, who was still fast asleep. She was so little. She looked so fragile. She was absolutely the tiniest baby Leo had ever seen ever. She was even littler than Zoe had been. But she looked so content sleeping there, and Leo wanted to make it so that she was that content forever. She looked so peaceful and happy. 

Leo looked back up at Mommy and Daddy, nodding.

"I be good big brother and take care of August and Helena." Mommy and Daddy turned to each other again, smiling even wider. 

"You're gonna be such a good big brother, baby." Mommy looked so proud of him, and so did Daddy. 

Maybe being a big brother was gonna be okay.