Multi Fandom One Shots And Short Stories

(PJO-REQUESTED) Little Leo

No TW's!  First one!  This was a request by sigh100 a while ago, before I mashed all my works into one book.  Thanks again, this was fun to write!

Word count: 536

Some days Hera wondered why she had been so sure that this little Latino boy was destined to be a hero. Today was one of those days.

Leo was 3, almost 4 years old. Hera looked down at him from across the table. The tiny elf looked up her, meeting her eyes steadily, and grinned. There was a strange glint in his eye that Hera didn't necessarily like.

"What?" she asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Little Leo giggled. His small hands clapped before he let out a tiny burp. Leo stared at Hera expectantly, as if he were waiting for something.

Hera shook her head and raised her flask of Nectar. She gulped some down and placed it back in her pocket. But when she looked back at Leo, he was still watching her.

Hera sternly shook her head at him. She was not going to humiliate herself in the way this child wanted. It just was not going to happen!

Leo would not take his big brown eyes off of the goddess.

"No!" Hera told him. "I won't do it. I won't!"

Leo smiled widely, his little hands slapping at the table.

And then, Hera felt it. A small bubble travelled up her throat, and no matter how hard she tried to stifle it, she couldn't...

A small, minuscule burp escaped her. Leo began giggling and clapping even louder than before.

Hera was mortified at herself. What had just happened?! Had she really just done that? Her hand slapped over her mouth, making an audible thud.

But then... Hera looked at Leo's face. How he was smiling, how his eyes crinkled when he laughed. her heart swelled and this alien urge came over her. She wanted to see this little baby laugh. She needed to make him happy!

Her motherly instincts were kicking in. They were overwhelming! For the first time in eons, she wanted to hold a baby and see that smile. She wanted to see pure joy that she had caused. She missed the days when she could hold her own child without them scowling at her, or yelling horrible things at her (even if she did deserve it).

So, caught up in this surge of emotions, she reached into her pocket and grasped her nectar. She unscrewed the top, hesitated, took a large gulp, and swallowed a mouthful of air with it.

A moment of silence... Leo looked at her expectantly... Then it came out.

Hera, the Queen of the gods, the mother of Olympus... let out a rather embarrassingly loud burp.

Leo laughed even harder, and Hera may or may not have joined him. It was a good feeling that she had missed. Seeing a baby happy; she was astonished that after everything she had done to her own family, she had caused this! This baby was happy because of her!

Hera smiled a little bit wider. This was what she was made for!

She was a mother, after all, and nothing could ever change that.