Note: I have discovered how anyone can view the Greek language that appears in places in this book. Go to "View" on your browser and choose "Encoding" on internet explorer (Windows 7 version and might be the same on older versions of ie) or "Character Set" on Mozilla Firefox browser, then choose "UTF-8" from the list. This will allow the greek writting to appear as normal.

Sons of Sparta - A Story of the Spartans, Book 3

(inspired by the story 'Spartan' parts 1 through 4)

by argouru

Note: All credit for the creation of the Spartans and Amazons, as well as the Spartan mythos belongs to the author 'CF', to whom I owe special thanks for his allowing me to write about these incredible people.

3.

Giorgos met Steven at the park and they walked side by side. "Did you get your results?" Steven asked nervously.

"Yes," the Grecian said, pulling forth the page from his back pocket as Steven did the same. Feeling apprehensive, they exchanged pages and read the results. Giorgos read the results of Steven's STD test and sighed with relief. Steven had been given a clean bill of health. He smiled and looked up to see the deep relief on the Spartan's face as he saw the same results displayed on the receipt of Giorgos' own test.

Steven had been holding the page nervously, deeply afraid that Giorgos had somehow contracted SRV or HIV, but the human was completely healthy. He let out the nervous breath he had been holding slowly, wanting to sob with relief. He looked up into Giorgos' smiling face with a grin and hugged his partner. "Sorry, but I had to be certain."

"I understand," Giorgos replied quietly into his ear. "I too wish to make sure we are safe together. Now we can be together in bed without fear."

"I want to be with you," Steven said.

"But there is no place where we could have privacy. We both live with our families, so I do not know... I suppose if we rent a motel room, but that is not what we deserve. I want our first time together to be special... Right."

"I know... I want it to be a bit classier than a wild romp in some sleazy motel, too... I'm glad you're clean. I was worried."

"Mama raised me right. She made sure to tell me to always be safe."

They began to walk along as they talked.

"I'll have to thank her... Giorgos... How do you feel about me?"

They reached a spot in the grass and sat down side-by-side. The human looked him in the eye and bit his lip as he thought it over. He smiled. "I want to say that I love you, but do not wish to scare you away. We have not dated long..."

"I love you too," Steven breathed, his heart swelling with joy. "Giorgos... Someday, not today or even soon, mind you... Would you like to be a father?"

"With you...? Yes, I would like that." They smiled as they stared into each other's eyes. Suddenly, Giorgos began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Steven asked with a grin.

"As I have said before, Mama is always after me to find a nice girl, settle down and give her grandchildren." He laughed harder. "I suppose she can get part of her wish if not all of it!"

Steven, seeing the humor of that, laughed as well. After awhile, they calmed down. The Spartan looked at his partner for several minutes before making his decision. "Giorgos... I have a confession to make. There's something I know about us..."

"What do you know?" he asked Steven, looking puzzled.

The Spartan sighed. "When we first met the day I first came into the bistro, did you feel anything unusual the moment we first met?"

"There was something... It was as if I already knew you... Like we had met before somewhere, although I cannot recall where from... Like we had met long ago and I had forgotten until we first looked into each other's eyes."

"Giorgos... I felt the exact same thing. I know why we felt that way..."

"Tell me," the human asked when Steven trailed off.

"We Spartans have something special. We can't just have kids with any man we like. There's only one man we will ever be able to have children with and once we meet that man, whether he's Spartan or human, we love him with all of our heart for the rest of our lives... Kind of like soul mates. Also, that man is the only one we can ever have children with. No one else can make us become Emergent. When we meet them, it's like we both suddenly know each other deep down inside. For some of us, like my dads, it can hit pretty hard, but for others, it's more subtle. That feeling of familiarity we both had when we first met was a signal. Giorgos... For me that man is you."

"This Emergence you speak of. That is when those feathers come out?" Giorgos asked, gesturing at Steven's navel.

"They only look like feathers, but yes. You are the only man who can help me to have kids of my own."

"What is the process?" Giorgos asked, feeling curious. If he was going to eventually help Steven have children, he wanted to know how that would happen. "Tell me all of how it works."

"Well..." Steven began, laying back in the grass and sensing Giorgos laying beside him. "It's initially triggered by prolonged contact over time, about... Ten to fourteen months I'd say. Touching, kissing and sexual activity over a prolonged time... Once it happens, I'll wake up one morning in pain from my stomach as the filaments begin to come out through my navel. Over the course of the following week, they'll form into a circle over my belly with my navel in the center. They'll look like a plate made of overlapping feathers. I'll have to be really careful once they start to come out... That's what we call Emergence. Once the week ends, we either conceive or I let them fall out unused, which will happen over the next two days or so. If we go through with having the child, I lay back and you masturbate while you stand on your knees over me. Then you cum onto my filaments and over the course of an hour or so, they all curl inwards to bring your semen to my egg to fertilize it. Once that happens successfully, the filaments will have reformed into a proto-womb over my belly button and the baby will start to grow.

"After that, the womb will continue to grow over the course of nine months, with my filaments growing into a webwork to support the growing structure. Basically, it'll look like I have either a huge amount of rubber cement over my stomach, or maybe a jellyfish that's latched only my belly. I'll still have to be incredibly careful though, as the womb and filaments will also be made entirely of raw nerves that will be very painful to have. I can't let anything come into contact with it once it starts to get big, not even cloth, so we'll have to keep the house pretty warm for the comfort of both me and the baby. Once I reach my fifth month, I'll need to take medical leave from work, assuming I'm working at the time... And I definitely want to work, mind you," he said with emphasis. "Then when I reach month seven, things will get worse for me. By then, the womb will be rather large and can be damaged easily. Even walking around can cause stillbirth by the womb tearing open prematurely. That means I'll become entirely bedridden for the last trimester of gestation."

"Wait," Giorgos said, looking worried. "You will be unable to leave your bed?"

Steven shook his head sadly. "Not even to use the bathroom." He saw the human pale. "But you won't be stuck doing everything by yourself for me. My whole family will chip in to help. Anyways, once I go into labor, a vertical split will begin to form down the front of the womb. I'll be moved to the floor to stand on my knees with you to support me and I'll lean forward and use the weight of the baby to widen the tear. Once it's big enough, you'll reach inside the gap and take hold of him and pull him out of me gently. Once he's free, the umbilical cord that'll run from my navel to his needs to be tied off at both ends, then the baby's end is cut first, followed by my end. That way the baby suffers as little pain as possible."

"Why would that hurt?" Giorgos asked.

"Like the filaments and womb, the umbilical is also made of raw nerves. Cutting it will cause enough pain to most likely make me pass out. I'll feel both cuts. If my end was cut first, the baby would be the one to feel the pain twice, which would be very cruel to him, so his end is cut first so he won't feel the second one. After that, you as his siring father will clean and dress him to keep him from getting sick while the birth coach will clean as much of the filaments from me as they can and help me back up into bed once I come around. Then you hand me the baby, I start to nurse him, seeing as how he'll be very hungry at the time, and we name him and welcome him into the family."

Giorgos sat there numbly, absorbing what he had just been told. It seemed unbelievable. "And this is how you came to be?" he asked weakly.

Steven nodded. "I watched my younger brothers be born the same way I was. It's really painful, but well worth all the suffering."

"Why does it hurt so much?" the Grecian asked with concern. "So much pain seems unnatural."

"It's a bit complicated..."

"How so?"

"It's a religious thing, basically," Steven said timidly, not wanting to bombard his partner with everything at once.

"What do you mean?" Giorgos asked, looking at Steven with confusion.

"Well... What kind of religious beliefs do you have?" the Spartan asked nervously.

"I was raised Greek Orthodox... But I only go because my family insists. I am not what you would call a 'true believer'."

"So you're not a Marvel fan?"

"What?" Giorgos asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"Stan Lee, who created many of the Marvel superheroes comics called dedicated readers 'true believers'. Sorry, but I take a bit after my Dad Sam in terms of my sense of humor. If you think I'm bad, just wait til you meet him, and my brother Fred is far, far worse!"

"If we are to be serious, I think it is proper for us to meet each other's family. Maybe we can have them meet each other at the same time?"

At this, Steven balked. "I don't know if that's a good idea... Some of my family are a bit odd..."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well my Dad Sam is a very unconventional person, as are my twin brothers..."

"In what way?"

"My Dad Sam is a priest and my brothers-" Suddenly, his throat constricted and the muscles seized up as an intense pressure bore down upon him. Not enough to restrict his breathing or cause pain, but it caused him to instantly lose the ability to speak. For a moment he panicked, wondering what was happening, then calmed down as he recognized it for the warning it was. He had been a mere moment away from violating the sword oath he had taken as a boy in regards to his twin brothers. The oath literally prevented him from speaking about the forbidden subject to anyone who did not already know.

"Steven? What is wrong?" Giorgos asked, looking both shocked and worried.

*Ok, I get it. I won't talk about it,* he thought within his mind. With that, the sensations let up, freeing his throat muscles. "I'm okay," he said aloud to ease his partner's concerns. "Sorry. It's just that my family is odd. I don't think it's polite to go into details. Nothing really bad, mind you, but well... It's hard to explain. Sorry I can't say any more than that. I want to, but it's not right to speak about them behind their backs. Please try to understand."

"Is okay, I suppose," Giorgos replied slowly, wondering what had just happened to the Spartan. It looked as though he had suddenly lost his voice for a moment. "I would like to meet your family, if they are willing."

"What about your family? I'd like to meet them, too."

"I must speak with them first... They do not know who I have been seeing."

"Sounds reasonable," Steven shrugged. "So... Are you okay with being bonded with me? ...Being my partner?"

Giorgos stared into Steven's eyes and smiled. "Yes. I am happy to be yours."

They leaned in towards each other and kissed. It wasn't their first kiss, but this was their first as confirmed partners... And Steven reveled in it...

Giorgos sat at the dinner table, listening to his mother and father ranting to him in English. Ever since they had moved to America, they tried to use the main native language of this new land as much as possible to be as fluent in its use as they could. His younger brothers Abdias and Lysander, as well as his sisters Carlyn and Daphne ate with him and their parents.

"Giorgos!" his mother cried. "You have been seeing someone behind our backs and cannot see fit to bring here home to meet us?" she asked, using the Greek pronunciation of the word 'her'. "What is wrong with you! Does she even have a name?"

Giorgos had reached the breaking point. He was sick of being badgered on this subject and was sick of hiding the truth from them. "-HIS- name is Steven!" he cried out, drowning out her angry words.

"What?" his papa asked in a shocked tone, his mouth falling open." "Giorgos... You are-?"

"Dating another man, yes!" he replied testily, feeling fed up with both of them.

"What is wrong with you, Giorgos?!?" his mother exclaimed in shock. "You cannot have a future with a boy! You cannot live that way!"

"Giorgos," his papa replied with difficulty. "This... Experimenting of yours must stop. You will never be able to be happy living like this. It is time for you to think of your future, Son. Find a nice girl, get married and have children with here... Think of your family."

Giorgos was furious. Bad enough that his family was judging the man he loved without even trying to get to know him, but once again they were on the same tired old subject of having grandchildren. As the oldest son, they felt that it was his duty to bare them those grandchildren. He exploded as he lost his temper. "FINE! FINE! YOU WANT GRANDCHILDREN? I WILL MAKE YOU PLENTY! I WILL MARRY STEVEN AND PRODUCE HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS OF GRANDCHILDREN IF THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE YOU HAPPY!!!"

His family, especially his parents, were stunned speechless. Finally, his papa spoke with difficulty. "Giorgos, what are you saying?"

His mama was stunned. "Giorgos... Two men cannot have babies! It does not work that way!"

"It does for Steven," the son countered fiercely. "He is a Spartan!"

"One of those he-shes?" his papa gasped in shock. "My son is dating a he-she?!?"

"Do not say such a thing! He is a man... Who can give birth, is all..." the son added with slight difficulty. "Do not call Steven a 'he-she'! It is disrespectful!"

"You will not be involved with such a creature," his papa said firmly.

Giorgos' mouth fell open. "It is my choice, not yours!"

"Giorgos," his mama pleaded gently. "You cannot be with him... It... It is not right."

The son hung his head, feeling saddened. "Do my feelings mean nothing to you? Am I to be miserable, trapped in marriage to some woman I cannot love? Even if I did so, I could not make love to here..."

His parents saw just how sad their eldest son was becoming and hesitated with uncertainty at the depth of his pain.

"Why?" Abdias asked suspiciously.

"I..." Giorgos spoke with difficulty, forcing out the words. "I cannot be aroused by women."

"Why not?" papa asked, looking stunned.

"Women are not attractive to me. I have tried several, but cannot be able to please them..."

"How do you know this?" papa asked slowly.

"I... Experimented... At bars... And at dance club where women take off clothes."

"When did this happen?" papa asked, looking stunned.

"Giorgos! What is wrong with you?" mama protested. "I raise you better then that! Nice boys do not go to such places!"

"I needed to make sure of myself. Doing so has proven what I already knew... I am gay. I can never be sexual with women."

"Not with -those- women, maybe," mama protested.

"Not with ANY woman, Mama! I! AM! GAY!" he shouted, pounding the table with his fist repeatedly to emphasize the point and making the dishes and silverware rattle sharply as he did so.

Everyone was silent for several moments after that. Finally, his mama spoke again. "Giorgos... If you find -right- woman-"

"NO MAMA!" Giorgos exclaimed, interrupting her. "There is no -right- woman for me!!! I am gay! When I try to be with woman, I am limp! Only men make me aroused!"

"Are you sure?" Daphne asked timidly.

"Yes," he said kindly. "I am sorry I shout, but I am what I am."

"You sound like the Popeye cartoons!" Lysander teased, making Carlyn giggle.

Giorgos glared at his youngest brother.

"But why this Steven?" papa asked.

"Because I love him... Steven is my partner." He paused then, mulling that over. He had never said that before, but the more he thought on it, the more appropriate it sounded. "Steven is my partner. I will be with him, but I will not lose you. I will have my love -and- my family! I will accept nothing less!"

"Giorgos," mama pleaded once more. "You cannot be happy with some creature-"

"Do not call him a creature!" he countered angrily. "Look at you both! You judge him without even knowing him! You, Papa, have never even met him and you, Mama, don't know him. You take his orders at bistro and that is all you know of him. That does not give you knowledge enough to judge him! ...So he will come to dinner next weekend."

"What?" mama exclaimed in shock.

"He is my partner! You will get to know him as a person! No calling him 'he-she', or 'creature', or anything else! He will come and you will all be respectful to him! I will call him after dinner," he finished.

The family lapsed into silence for several minutes. Lysander looked thoughtful and turned to his oldest brother. "Does he have a vagina?" the boy asked.

Giorgos grumbled to himself and stabbed at his food with a sour expression...