Chapter 12: Mommy and Mama

Got some more Aphrodite and Artemis bonding for ya. I figured that I'd do these two as they need bonding far more than Percy and Aphrodite, since it's already been established that they have feelings for each other. Percodite will come later, and Pertemis will just be all over this damn story, as it should be. Also some wholesome family time.

Chapter 12: Mommy and Mama

"A B C D E F G..." The goddess of wisdom recited in a relatively melodious tone so as to help the young girl sitting in front of her. Selena stared at the board in Athena's hands with all the letters of the alphabet, and tried her best to memorize which sounds went with the letters she pointed to.

"A B C D... E... G..." She struggled, being unable to remember them all as she went along in the song. Athena shook her head. "F, Selena, F. It comes after E. A B C D E F G." She corrected her.

Selena furrowed her eyebrows a bit, going over the song in her head multiple times. When she thought she'd gotten it, she nodded at her aunt, who gestured for her to go again. "A B C D E... F... G." She stressed, somehow sounding like she struggled to pronounce the sixth letter.

Athena smiled at her success and clapped her hands. "That was good, Selena. You've done well today. Now," The goddess said, checking the time on the clock. Selena smiled at the praise. "Your mothers are picking you up early today. I believe they want to take you out for some family time or something of the sort." She told the girl.

Selena stood up, still only coming to the neck-height of Athena, who sat on a wooden chair. "Thank you, aunty!" She said politely, hands innocently behind her back. The goddess smiled and waved her off. "Have a good day, Selena." She bid her goodbyes, and Selena left their little 'education corner' in Athena's personal library.

She passed the many looming heights of bookshelves, containing practically every text known to mankind. Not even Athena herself had read everything in this collection, and being that she barely knew the first line of the alphabet, Selena didn't much feel up to attempting it either.

She left the library and found her way downstairs, where she put her boots on and sat by the front door with her arms wrapped around her legs. She stared patiently at the stained glass on the door while she waited for her moms, wondering what they were gonna do that day.

Finally, the stained glass became slightly darkened, and there was a loud knocking from the other side of the door. Ready at a moment's notice, Selena shot up and yanked open the door to be met by her two mothers.

Artemis smiled as the little girl leapt forward and wrapped her arms around her waist in a hug. "Hey, monkey. How was school?" She asked, and Selena moved on to hug Aphrodite, who hugged back tightly. "It was good, Aunty taught me how to, uh, count letters!" She exclaimed enthusiastically.

"A B C D E... EMF... G." She recited, proud of her work. Artemis and Aphrodite looked at each other and tried to stifle their laughs, and Aphrodite brushed her daughter's hair as a form of praise. "That's real good, sweetie. We're gonna go out for lunch, where do you wanna go?" She asked.

The little girl thought for a moment, but it ultimately didn't take much for Selena to know where. "The waffle place where daddy takes me sometimes, with the funny chairs." She told her mom eagerly.

Aphrodite looked up at Artemis. "I know where that is. It's a diner in Phoenix. Let's go." She said, holding out her left hand. Artemis took it gently, while Selena wrapped her hand around Aphrodite's other fingers, and the three girls flashed out to 'the waffle place'.

The second they landed, Artemis felt like Thanatos had slapped her across the face, and it was hard not to fall to her knees. "Holy shit, it is hot." She said, frantically pulling off her hoodie and tying it around her waist, leaving her in a black tank top and skinny jeans.

"Mama." Selena frowned at the vulgarity, and Artemis smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, honey. Let's go inside and hope they have air conditioning." She said, taking Selena's hand and rushing inside the diner.

Aphrodite trailed along behind as Selena was practically dragged up the steps and through the door, where Artemis immediately sighed in relief. "That feels so good." She almost moaned, making the goddess of love giggle. "That's what she said." She whispered as she walked past them towards an empty booth.

Artemis glared as the two followed her to their seats, which were 'funny' like Selena described them. They were red and plastic, but were designed to look cushiony. "That's a joke worthy of Hermes, class clown of Olympus." She mocked, and Aphrodite giggled again. "I know."

When they sat down, Selena immediately started playing with the salt and pepper shakers, leaving Artemis and Aphrodite to talk. "So how have you been, Arty?" The love goddess said, resting her chin on one hand and fluttering her eyebrows.

Artemis in turn raised an eyebrow. "I've been good. We haven't lost any hunters since the war, me and Percy are getting closer, this little one is a godling now so I can't lose her. Things couldn't be better." She said satisfactorily, patting Selena on the head who looked up at her giggling.

Aphrodite hummed as she played with her wedding ring, the one made by Hephaestus with no love or care in it. "And how are you and Percy?

Romantically, I mean." She questioned, making Artemis blush.

"Uh, we're doing good. He wants to take me out for dinner tonight, as a... date." She said, struggling to get the word out. It would be her third real date with Percy, and the first two had been absolutely wonderful. A nice dinner at some New York restaurant and a fun day out playing mini-golf. She didn't know what he wanted to do that night.

"And have you..." Aphrodite bit her lip. "You know." She left it there, and Artemis immediately caught her drift. "Oh, oh no, no we have not. I still want to at least wait until the wedding night before that." She said.

Aphrodite looked around the diner and smirked at her, leaning forward. "You know, if you want me to help you practice, or to teach you to be ready for your first time, I'm always available." She suggested, and Artemis sputtered.

It was no secret Aphrodite was beautiful, and no secret that Artemis swung both ways, if any ways. But still, the idea of sleeping with the closest thing to her immortal enemy, her polar opposite, was terrifying, like it went against her morals.

The goddess cleared her throat. "Can we change the subject?" She asked, and Aphrodite shrugged.

Thankfully, the waitress came over to take their orders. She looked like a stereotypical diner waitress. 50 year old with too much makeup, blonde hair, pink shirt with an apron, notepad pencil in hand. "What do you want?" She asked rather rudely and impatiently.

Artemis' eyes widened and she quickly looked for the menu. The other two knew what they wanted, having been there before. "Yes, please. I'll have the vegetarian burger with extra cheese and a strawberry milkshake." She told her. The waitress wrote that down and turned to Selena.

"And what do you want, Doll?" She asked with a southern drawl. Selena looked up from her shakers and grinned. "Waffles! With bacon!" She exclaimed with severe enthusiasm, before remembering her manners. "Please."

The waitress nodded and turned to Artemis, who was still skimming the menu. "Uhhhh, nachos, thanks. And we'll both have strawberry shakes too." She said, pointing a thumb at herself and Selena. The waitress nodded and left to go place their orders in the kitchen.

"I needa pee." Selena declared, jumping up from her seat and bounding off for the ladies' room. "Have fun." Artemis called as the girl ran off.

Aphrodite looked past her. "She's hyper today." She said, and Artemis nodded. "Percy gave her an extra cookie this morning. I guess it hasn't worn off." She smiled.

Aphrodite leaned forward. "So, you and Percy on a date, huh?" She smirked, making the younger goddess blush. "Yeah, it's our third one. I don't know where he wants to take me, though. Hopefully it's somewhere nice though." She said, and Aphrodite hummed.

"Artemis, I didn't know you were one for high-class living?" She gaped with a smile, and Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Uh, never said I was. Just don't want him to take me behind Wendy's to eat with the raccoons." She clarified, and Aphrodite's face fell.

"Well, uh, how've you been?" Artemis asked, and Aphrodite perked up a bit."Well..." She began, and Artemis sat up to prepare herself for the goddess' infinite chatter. It'd be a good way to pass the time while their food was prepared.

It was nearly five minutes before Selena returned to them, and she cradled something in both hands. "Look! Mama, mommy! Look what I did!" She said, showing them. Artemis looked at her and her eyes widened, before her head snapped down to look at Selena's hands.

Just a few minutes before, Selena had been finishing up her business in the bathroom. When she was done, she flushed and left the stall, walking over to the sink.

As the tap ran, the little girl put the plug in, needing a nice little pool to properly wash herself up. The water was warm, and so a little bit of steam rose up from the sink and fogged up the mirror.

Selena saw this, and quickly drew a smiley face in the glass as she often did when the windows at home condensed on cold days. Upon realising how much fun she could have with this, she giggled and leaned over to the sink to draw some more.

While she did this, the sink continued running, and not long afterwards the basin began to fill to the brim. Selena was too focused on drawing a Brontosaurus to notice there was water trickling down, so when she leaned forward even more to get a higher reach, her foot slipped.

The little girl yelped as she tumbled forward, seeing a big flash of metal before a large bout of pain ran over her. It took her thirty seconds to lift her head off the ground, but when she did, she saw the puddle she was sitting in was red and there was a small object sitting in it.

The girl clutched at the white enamel-covered object enthusiastically and got on her knees. With blood dripping from her mouth, she stared down at the front tooth in her hands. "Coooool." She whispered in awe

"Hades, Selena! Are you okay?" Artemis gasped. She grabbed a napkin from the table and yanked the girl over to her, scrunching the napkin up and shoving it in the hole where her tooth had once been.

Aphrodite slid over on the seat closer to her daughter. "Oh come here, what've you got?" She asked sympathetically. The four year old proudly showed her her work, and Aphrodite covered her mouth.

"Her first baby tooth!" She gasped, picking up the tiny object and examining it. "Hold it there." Artemis told the girl, and she nodded, grabbing the tissue and jamming it into the gum. Selena ran to Aphrodite and was immediately engulfed in a hug.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you!" Aphrodite squeaked, kissing her forehead. Artemis smiled at the interaction. "How did you do that, anyway?" She inquired, and the little girl giggled. "It just fell out!" She told her mama.

The waitress came over with their food, and Selena wasted no time in digging into her waffles. Artemis told her to wait a while since she was bleeding, but Selena would have none of that. The two goddesses silently ate their food while the four year old scoffed down her brunch noisily.

She finished before the two of them and burped, making Aphrodite giggle. Artemis couldn't help but crack a smile as she wiped the girl's face with a napkin. Selena couldn't contain her manic laughter as her adoptive mother assaulted the mess on her face. "Gods, if your father could see you now." She said with fake disappointment.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You know as well as I do that Percy is even worse than her when it comes to that blue food his mother hooked him on." She told her peer. Artemis couldn't find a comeback for that, and so continued to crunch on her nachos.

Selena's attention was caught now. "Blue!?" She yelped excitedly, and Aphrodite chuckled. "Maybe later, sweetie. I don't think this place has blue waffles." She told her.

Selena blinked once. Twice. "That's dumb." She said, going back to sipping her strawberry shake.

Artemis suddenly grew a smirk on her surprisingly clean face. "You know, you can make money with that." She said, and Selena's neck snapped around to look at her. "What?"

Aphrodite nearly choked on her shake. "That's right! You take that tooth home, put it under your blanket and the tooth fairy will come and take it away in the night. In return, she'll give you a little bit of money." She taught her daughter.

Selena looked down at the small tooth in wonder. "Woooah. How much?" She asked, and Artemis was about to answer with something reasonable like a drachma or a dollar, but Aphrodite piped in. "Truckloads." The love goddess told her.

Both Artemis and Selena's eyes widened. "Like... a hundred?!?" She asked, as that was the biggest number she knew. Artemis gestured to Aphrodite to cut it out, but she didn't listen. "Yep. A hundred bucks will be under your pillow tomorrow morning." She told her.

Artemis sighed, knowing the damage was done. "It is only a first time bonus. Usually you get one, or two dollars. But the tooth fairy is very generous for your first time." She said, forcing herself to play along with the lie.

Selena cradled the tooth in her hands as the goddesses finished up, and from there they wondered what to do next.

"You know what, let's just go for a walk." Aphrodite suggested after Artemis turned down her ideas. To be fair though, all her ideas were just shopping but at different places.

Artemis sighed, remembering how hot it was outside, but she felt like if she argued then she would come off as picky and fussy. "Sure. Where to?" She asked.

Aphrodite shrugged. "I don't know. We'll just walk. Let's go!" She said, standing up. Selena stood and followed her, leaving Artemis with no choice but to go with them.

The streets were hot at eleven in the morning, and the three girls walked down a smoking hot sidewalk looking at all the buildings and for something to do.

Selena enjoyed skipping along with both her hands grasped onto theirs, somehow not affected by the hundred degree heat. The three turned down a specific street and were met by various crowds.

It seemed to be street performers, and people were standing around watching them. Selena was particularly entranced by some guy juggling flaming bowling pins, but she also stopped to enjoy some of the musicians.

"Is the carnival in Phoenix today?" Artemis asked, and the equally confused Aphrodite shook her head. "I have no idea." She told her.

While Selena was watching the fire man, she looked up to Artemis pleadingly. Having absolutely no idea what that look was supposed to mean, Artemis took a guess and summoned a coin. Selena's face brightened at the sight and she took it, thanking Artemis.

For a second, Artemis thought Selena had gotten the wrong message and was going to pocket it. Thankfully, the little girl knew what to do and chucked it into the guy's hat that sat on the ground.

As the family stood there enjoying the show, a man ran through the crowd and swept down beside the fire guy. The crowd gasped as he snatched the hat and sped off. The three girls themselves were utterly astonished.

"Mama! She stole his money!" Selena cried, pointing in the man's direction. Artemis' head snapped back and forth between her and the man. After a few seconds, she sighed and took the hoodie off of her waist, handing it to Aphrodite. "Hold this." She said, before sprinting off in the thief's direction.

Now, with essentially being the goddess of agility and all, Artemis was fast. Stupid fast. Within seconds she was dead on his trail, and the guy got the fright of his life as he turned his head to look.

He started looking for ways to slow her down, and settled on shoving a woman into the path. Artemis' eyes widened as the obstacle appeared in front of her, and couldn't do anything to stop herself from colliding with the woman.

The two fell over, and Artemis tried to stop her head from spinning, before she realised the thief was getting away. "Shit! Sorry!" She said to the woman, getting back on her feet.

Cars honked as Artemis ran through the street, trying to catch up with the man. He made a sharp turn down an alleyway and Artemis followed him. When she arrived, she found herself standing in front of a dead-end, and a man who had also just realised this.

He turned around and cursed, putting the hat down. "Alright, sweetpea. Come get it." He challenged, bringing his fists up in a fighting stance.

Artemis rolled her eyes and decided to just end it quickly. She stepped forward, and the mortal got ready to take a swing. With one swift motion, she Spartan-kicked the guy in the face, sending him sprawling backwards.

She was hailed as a hero when she returned to the crowd, and had to deal with rounds of applause and thank you's from practically everyone.

She walked over to Selena and opened her hand. Artemis dropped two teeth in her palm, confusing the girl. "More money." She whispered, making Selena smile. The little girl wrapped her arms around her neck tightly, inciting a loud 'aw' from everyone around.

Selena leaned her head over to Artemis' ear and whispered. "You're my hero, mama."

"And that's why you now owe Selena $300 by dawn." Artemis finished her story, looking pleasantly at him as they ate their fancy dinner. Percy spat out his wine all over a passing waiter in shock.

So now that's done. Originally I was gonna update Dark Lord first, but I was on a roll with writing this chapter. Next chapter's gonna be another Pertemis one, so hold your horses, children. Now, my tummy hurts, and my sister keeps telling me to go to my own room, so Au Revoir.

Here's a question, what religion are yall? Or at least philosophy?

Word count: 3198