I sat a little straighter. “I love surprises!”
His eyes narrowed. “You are very vocal about hating surprises.”
I shook my head. “No, I hate waiting for them. It’s cruel and unusual punishment.”
When his lips lifted into the most perfect smile, I briefly forgot what he'd even been saying, right up until an old crone popped into existence before me and I screamed, knocking over my pineapple and rum cocktail, minus the rum.
The Fate stared down at me, and for the life of me I didn't know which one it was.
“If you're here to tell me that someone I love is going to die,” I said in a rush, pointing my finger at her, “you can just keep on moving. Grab a drink on your way out though, you need to relax.”
Cronus threw his head back and laughed, and if that wasn't worth insulting someone who knew when I was going to die, I had no idea what would be.
“Relax, love, she's not here with bad news. She’s the surprise.”
Oh.
“That would be a nice variation to our normal interactions,” I muttered.
The crone stared down at me. “Your fate has changed.”
Cue the long awkward pause as I tried not to freak out. Cronus said this wasn't bad news, so I would trust him and not sucker punch a Fate. But how the hell did he know what she was going to say?
“The sins changed you,” she said.
Yes, okay. Get to the point.
“The power of this child … is changing you,” she added.
Okay, that was it, I was going to punch her. Cronus held me down when I attempted to haul my pregnant ass up off the chair, fighting hand ready.
“Hang on,” he murmured. “Trust me.”
He was super lucky I loved him.
“You are no longer fully human,” she finished at sloth speed. “And in that regard, your line to death is now extending far into the future, with no actual end.”
I couldn't tell if I was having a blonde moment or not, but was she saying what I thought she was saying? Was I fucking immortal?
Turning to Cronus, I felt the tears well in my eyes as the possibility of not dying of old age hit me. “I'm going to live as long as you and our baby?”
“Babies,” he corrected. “I think I'd like five.”
Some of those tears vanished as I blinked at him. “Unless you can figure out how to grow and birth them yourself, let's say two and we'll go from there.”
His cocky grin was enough to have me propping myself up for a kiss. “I love you,” I told him. “Even on the days you're a total arrogant dick.”
His laughter, deep and rich, drifted out across the party space, and I couldn't help but smile. “I can't believe I'm no longer fully human.”
Cronus shrugged. “You've always been a little more than human,” he told me. “The powers just unlocked dormant DNA that Selene already instilled in your body.”
I'd completely forgotten about the Fate oldie, and turning back to ask her another question, I found she'd already disappeared. No, never mind, she was out there with a cocktail in hand looking absolutely lost as fuck while Titans danced around her.
“Wow, she's probably figuring out how to murder us all in our sleep,” I observed.
The music changed in that moment, and I had an insane urge to try to dance with one large baby on board. Whatever, if those famous people on TikTok could do it, so could I.
Using Cronus as leverage, I got out of the chair, barely even groaning as everything stretched around my body to adjust, and then dragged him onto the makeshift dance floor right before the beach. It was a warm day, and as we headed into the afternoon, I was so ready for a swim as well.
