Counting Stars at Dawn

30: Where's My Pregnancy Glow?!

"I'M WHAT ALREADY?!" Artemis shouted in surprise and stared at Hades dumbfounded.

"Sorry?" Hades laughed awkwardly and shrugged.

"Is it normal for me to get pregnant this soon? I didn't even have time to wrap my head around the idea."

"What do you mean? You said you were ready."

"To try to conceive, I didn't think I'd actually get pregnant on the first try and the night after!" Artemis pressed a hand to his forehead.

"I guess my sperm are just that strong, just like me." Hades smirked proudly. 

"Yeah, that or we have the luck of two teenagers having sex for the first time without protection."

Evidently, Artemis was feeling better tonight. He had actually taken a full day to recover, but he still had awful morning sickness that never failed to scare the daylights out of Hades. 

"I've been in bed for too long. I need to go to Sapphire." Artemis tried standing up, but Hades stopped him.

"Woah woah there, Mr. Workaholic. Hold it." Hades shook his head. "You can't go to Sapphire in your condition. You have to stay here, in bed, and rest up."

"Hades I have a job to do! I have to go!"

"Alright, if you're so set on going then I'm coming with and sticking to you like glue."

Artemis opened his mouth to fight back but Hades pointed a finger at him and said:

"Save it beautiful, it's doctor's orders, you can go ask him if for some reason you don't believe me. I have to be with you all the time. You physically depend on me now and for the next nine months. Also, you have my baby inside you, so no I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Hades went to get a change of clothes for Artemis, leaving him sitting on the bed. Artemis cursed Hades and the doctor under his breath, but Hades heard him.

"I heard that!" Hades shouted from the walk in closet. "My sperm did nothing you didn't want!"

Artemis changed into his clothes and Hades notified the guards he'd go with Artemis to Sapphire. Of course, that meant a free day for them as Hades was more than capable of protecting Artemis alone, perhaps even more than the five guards could. 

Outside the palace, Hades picked up Artemis to fly to Sapphire, but almost as soon as Hades rose a meter into the air Artemis gagged.

"Artemis!" Hades worried and set him down.

"I don't think I can do heights Hades." Artemis had his hand over his mouth. He didn't throw up, but it was a close call. 

"Hm, let's see. How do we get you to Sapphire then?"

Hades snapped his fingers when he thought of an idea. He ordered the guards to summon a carriage and they obeyed.

This was a good alternative since foot would be too tiring and take too long to arrive. By carriage, their trip would be thirty minutes long if you account for the forestry road.

One of the first orders of business Artemis and Hades placed was the building of a bridge to directly connect Sapphire and Lamia, since traveling through carriage or foot was too exhausting because of the trees.

All throughout the ride, Artemis couldn't tear his eyes off his husband. Hades suddenly seemed to be ten times as more attractive than he already was in Artemis's eyes.

He became entranced with his muscular build, the way his midnight purple tank top hugged his chest muscles and accentuated his strong, oh so strong arms. Below his waist, his black jeans and belt made his crotch appear mouth-watering and enhance his height. The way his hair fell over his sexy eyes in a tangled mess.