Athena Grows Up

Athena released him, and his head slowly raised to look at her. With an exaggerated motion, she swallowed.

Flint's eyes closed, and he was shaking his head. "If Cole hadn't needed spark plugs for his MR2 five years ago, this would never have happened. Serendipity is a wonderful thing."

Athena remembered when her sister, Freya, had gone to the auto parts store and accidentally met Cole there, admiring his Ducati as they left and eventually getting a ride that led to Athena meeting Flint.

"We were different people then," she suggested. "Very different."

She looked at him and realized it was the first time she had been able to see all his tattoos. They were fascinating. There were celtic crosses on each shoulder, a flying eagle on his right breast, a heart on his left. He had a beautiful compass-rose on his back along with other things that were colorful and intricate, but that she didn't recognize. She'd have to find out what each one was and its meaning.

She ran her finger over some of the figures, his eyes watching very carefully.

"You need to tell me about each of those," she said. "I bet each one has a story that goes with it."

"Not always a story but just a reason."

Soon they were dressed again and back in the living room.

"What's today," Flint asked.

"Friday.'

"Shit, and pardon me. I promised dad I'd go with him to the cabin tomorrow and Sunday. We won't be back till late Sunday evening. I was kind of looking forward to ..." A big smile to Athena.

She signed. "Me too. But it's only two days. I can make it if you can," she giggled.

"I'll try," he responded.

Athena had just gotten home when her cell phone rang.

"Whatcha doing tomorrow?" Freya asked.

"Ugh. Flint is off for a weekend with his dad, so all I have is studying."

"Grig is teaching a special seminar, so why don't you come over for breakfast. I haven't talked with you in a while."

"Umm. Cinnamon rolls and coffee?"

"Sure. Nine okay?"

"See you then."

Athena knocked on Freya's back door at five before nine, then opened the door and went in. She helped with the rolls and the coffee, and they sat and talked, updating each other on what was happening.

"Okay," Freya said suddenly. "Give."

"What?"

"You've had that big smile on your face since you walked in the back door. Something's going on. Tell, or I can guess if you want."

"Guess?"

"Yeah, want me to tell you what I think?" There was a pause. "Athena, you're blushing, and you don't blush." She giggled. "How was it?"

Found out, Athena could only close her eyes and say, "Perfect." She got a hug from her sister, who then just sat and stared at her.

"I didn't realize what I was missing," she said softly.

"You only found out how good it can be because you have the right guy."

"Oh my gosh, Freya. I can't believe it. I love him more than ... than anything, everything." She laughed. "I can hardly think."

"You know," Freya confided, "at one time, I thought it might be me with Flint."

"You've never told me that before. Thank goodness for Grig."

"It's worked out, hasn't it? Did you tell him you love him?"

"That's scary, Freya."

"Why?"

"It's like opening yourself all the way, laying it all on the line, you know.?"

"You're not willing to do that with Flint?"

"Freya, I'm —"

"I'm just being mean, sis," Freya interrupted. "I wanted so badly to say it to Grig, but it just wouldn't come out ... until he told me I was the woman he loved."

"I guess it's a family thing."

The two sisters nibbled cinnamon rolls, sipped hot coffee, and shared stories of falling in love. Athena had never been happier.

With Flint gone, she spent the entire weekend studying. It was good to be able to dig in and catch up. She studied at Flint's house on occasion, and he was good about letting her work free of distraction. She wasn't nearly as good at that despite his insistence that she stay focused.

On Monday evening she texted Flint that she'd be over in thirty minutes. She received a return text that the door was unlocked.

She was there right on schedule and walked in.

"Hey," she called out, not seeing Flint in his usual spot.

"Hi," he replied from a corner chair where he was gazing aimlessly out a window.

She could immediately tell that something wasn't right.

"What's wrong, babe?" she asked, very concerned.

He nodded toward the laptop sitting on the table.

She sat down on the bench and checked the screen — an email. She began to read it.

My dearest Flint,

I have missed you very much since you returned to the United States, even though we had separated before that. But that's why I need to talk to you. Surprisingly, despite everything we did, I'm pregnant.

Athena gasped, snapping her head around, looking intently at Flint.

"Flint?" she questioned.

"It can't be," he said, shaking his head. "We were always super careful. At least I was. There were no accidents. No accidents!" he repeated, slamming his hand on the arm of his chair. He rose and stomped across the floor, then back. Athena jumped up and stepped in front of him, not sure what to do.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, fighting the tears.

A deep breath. "I need to straighten it out."

"How?" was her simple question.

"You didn't finish reading the email, did you?" Seeing her shaking head, he continued. "She wants me to come to Italy."

Athena's eyes instantly widened.

"No!" she exclaimed. "You can't go."

"Athena, I need to —"

"No," she interrupted. "I love you, and I won't let you go." She threw her arms around him, her tears soaking into his shirt. "If you're sure, then you can just ignore it." She took a deep breath. "I'm begging you, Flint.. Don't go. Please don't go."

He squeezed her against his body. She'd said it. Three words. Hearing them made him want to ignore Italy. He wouldn't be extradited there if he did. But he'd always wonder. He kissed the hair of the terror-stricken lady in his arms. He understood the source of her terror.

Athena couldn't stop her sobbing. She knew Flint. She knew why men trusted him with their hundred-million-dollar deals. He was the epitome of the straight arrow, and it was why she loved him. It was also why she was overwhelmed by fear and foreboding. Her heart was telling her that if he went to Italy, she'd never see him again. Somehow, they'd confiscate his passport, and he'd be trapped; he'd have to marry whoever it was that sent the email. It was the most pain her heart had ever experienced.

He kissed her head again and turned her face toward his.

"Athena, you said you love me. The most meaningful words I've ever heard. I love you more than you could ever imagine." He brushed the tears off her cheeks. "Trust me," he pleaded softly. "I need to take care of this. Can you do that, trust me?"

"Oh, god, Flint, this is awful," she choked out. Their eyes were locked together. "If I love you, I have to trust you."

"Athena, you don't have to —"

"If I love you," she interrupted, "and I do, then I have to trust you. I do, Flint, I do."

He closed his eyes. It was the most overwhelming challenge he'd ever received, and he was not about to betray that trust, whatever it took.

"Listen," he said, dragging her to the couch and sitting down, pulling her onto his lap. Nothing is going to happen quickly. I'm not considering jumping on a plane tomorrow morning. There's a way to fix this. A proper way but one that ..."

Her pleading eyes swept across his face, nearly shattering his heart. This was his dream, his life, his future sitting here on his lap. He could only hope that his past wouldn't prey on his future, devouring it with something stupid he'd done then.

"Who is she?" Athena asked softly.

"It doesn't matter," he replied, gently kissing her cheek.

"Flint." She knew enough about him to know that whoever she was, she had meant at least something to him. He wasn't the kind to be bedding random women.

He closed his eyes and took a breath. He wasn't sure that he wanted to discuss that time that seemed so long ago now ... and her with Athena. He did know that he had no choice. Helping him along, Athena turned her head and met his lips in a long, warm, and very comforting kiss.

"Her name is Gianna Bernardi. She's twenty-eight years old and a pretty lady. Dark hair, like yours, but not tall like you. She was very friendly and seemed like a lot of fun when I met her. She, well, she wanted to move along much more quickly than I did, and I should have resisted rather than relented."

"Do you think you should have done that with me too?" Athena asked, nearly in tears again.

"Athena, I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Forever and longer, if I can work that out. I never felt that way about Gianna, even though I thought I might eventually. I realized that she wanted a man, and I met that criterion. I had sex with her, but I made love to you."

Athena's heart was pounding. Without saying the words, Flint had just proposed to her, and she knew she had made love to him as well. But still, dangling between them, was Gianna.

"This has made things happen, babe, and happen faster than I had anticipated or wanted. You deserve better."

"I'm not sure what I deserve, but I know what I want. Just you. I trust you now and forever."

Flint slid her off his lap, stood, and offered his hand. She stood and kissed him as he led her toward the bedroom.

Seconds were misery, minutes were torment, hours were hell, and days were agony ... except when she was with Flint. Those were the only times when she was sure he was still there, when he was beside her, was holding her, or making love to her. They had become Jane and Peter Fonda, the masters of acting as they'd chosen not to tell anyone about this horrible situation. Flint had decided not to share with Athena his manipulations and efforts to resolve the issue with Gianna. He knew it would only upset her further if what he was working on didn't come to fruition. It tore at his insides and hers, but it was what they had decided.

"Flint, I have an idea, she said, several days later, an ignored physics book on her lap.

"My idea is that you should be studying your physics."

"I know, I know. I'm keeping up pretty well. But I think we need to share this with someone."

"We decided not to."

"I know, but I think we should. Not our parents, but how about Dom and Brianne and Freya and Grig?" She eyed him hopefully.

"I don't know," he answered, shaking his head.

"Flint, they love us. They're my family and ..."

He smiled at her. "And mine too, right."

"As close as it gets. Plus, Dom and Grig are knowledgeable guys and might have ideas that you've missed. Plus, Freya and Brianne ..."

He saw the tears sparkling in her eyes and soon on her cheeks. He quickly realized he'd been unfair to Athena, burdening her with whatever this was, using his embarrassment to block out the rest of their world.

"I love you, and sure, let's share with them."

Athena smiled, blinked to clear her eyes and, before Flint could imagine it, her cell phone was in her hand, and she was talking.

"They'll all be here within fifteen minutes," she said, snuggling up to him. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry. It was thoughtless. Maybe you need to throw me away and get a new one."

"I love you, but I've never believed you were perfect," she giggled.

Soon there were six of them sitting in Flint's living room, four very expectant faces locked on Flint and Athena.

Flint began and quickly related the details of Gianna and her accusations, including his being certain that there had been no accidents or mistakes.

"If you're positive, just ignore it," Dom said with a shrug. Brianne nodded her agreement.

Freya knew it wasn't that easy for Flint. He had firm convictions about right and wrong and how things should be done, and merely bailing on this one was outside his ken.

"What about a DNA test?"

"That sounds like a simple solution, but I suspect she'd want five supreme court justices to certify my results," Flint frowned. "It might be our last resort."

"That doesn't sound very reasonable under the circumstances," Brianne suggested.

"There's a reason I walked away from her," Flint declared.

Grig broke the tension by noting he still had friends in Russia who could go to Italy and take care of things. Since only Freya knew most of the details of Grig's dissident past, she was the one who smacked his shoulder.

"Grig, be serious," she laughed.

"I will think about this," he said solemnly.

More discussion, suggestions, and reassurances followed. Finally, with hugs and pats on the back, the four new insiders left for their homes.

Athena wished home was right where she was standing.

"I'd better go. I still need to study. Thank goodness Grig didn't ask about my physics." A quick kiss for safety's sake, and Athena headed home too.

Despite Flint's assurances that he was working things out, she lived on pins and needles, anticipating the answer she so dreaded. She observed him, analyzing his moods, reading between the lines of everything he said. She just wanted it to go away so they could be "normal." In the past two weeks, she wasn't sure how many times she had cried herself to sleep. She worried endlessly, and it was getting harder and harder to keep it from her parents. They had begun questioning her health, her school work, if there was a problem with Flint and didn't seem fully satisfied with her answers. She was afraid that one of these days, she'd just break down and tell all.

Even after sharing everything with the two couples, she didn't feel any more confident of a good outcome and had cried herself to sleep once again. This was unusual for Athena as she was always the ultimate optimist. This thing with Flint and Gianna was too close to home and could change her life entirely, and that was a little more than she was ready to handle. Not only that, but she was in the dark about what was happening to resolve it.

It was a new day and, this evening, when she went to Flint's house, she was going to ask him to share with her all that was happening. He'd resist, she was sure, but she knew she had ways to get him to do it.

It was all she could think of at school, and she might as well have skipped classes as the only benefit she got from them was not having an absence marked beside her name. She texted Jessica that Fint had invited her to dinner, not true yet and that she'd be late.

When she knocked on his door and then opened it, she'd steeled herself to be forceful and determined in her quest to uncover all the details. She knew he'd gotten another email from Gianna asking when he'd be arriving so she could have things ready for him. Athena wondered just what she might be getting ready for him.

"Hey," she said, her usual greeting.

Flint was sitting in the chair by the laptop and looked up and smiled. She hadn't seen too many smiles from him lately, other than after they'd made love.

"A nice surprise," he said.

Not one to beat about the bush, she bit her lower lip and began her quest.

"Flint, I know we agreed that I wouldn't know how you were dealing with this Gianna thing, but I want to know. I need to know. I'm going freaking crazy."

"Okay," he answered simply.

"Okay? You're not going to argue about it." This was a surprise.

"I can't argue with you," he said, smiling again. "You're too gorgeous."

"Flint, be serious."

"I am. You want to know? Come over here." She went to him as he gestured to the computer. "Latest email," he said blandly.

Athen's eyes widened. Did she want to see this? She had no idea what had gone before it. She looked at Flint's non-committal face.

"Read it," he said. He stood so she could have the chair.

A deep breath, which she found herself holding. She finally let it go and began to read.

Hello, Flint, and thank you for giving me a chance to check into things for you.

She looked questioningly at Flint.

"It's from Angelo Gentile, one of the men I work for over there."

That rang a bell with her, and she continued to read.

I was able to check on Gianna Bernardi through a friend, and she said she wasn't aware of Gianna being pregnant, but she also said that it would be like Gianna to keep it hidden. She told me she'd check with her and also her father, Lorenzo. The friend later informed me that Lorenzo was not one to be put off about such things, and he pressed Gianna, who admitted to being pregnant.

She told her father that you were the father and he was furious and told the friend to contact me to persuade you to come to Italy. I asked her if I could meet Lorenzo, and we could see what might be worked out. She said he was irate and I might suffer some from his anger. I told her I'd dealt with angry people before, and I still wanted to meet with him.

The meeting was arranged, and Gianna was there as well. Lorenzo was not shy about telling me how he felt about you getting his only daughter pregnant and then running off to the US. I tried to soothe him, assuring him you were honorable and would do the right thing, but I don't think it convinced him. I also talked with Gianna, and I took them to lunch. At that point, something began to awaken my brain. I suggested that, whatever happened, we needed to take care of Gianna and the baby and that perhaps she should start seeing a doctor, have ultrasounds, and all those things that go along with it. He agreed. I volunteered to pay for the first ultrasound if that was necessary.

Two days later, I received a call from Lorenzo. A very different tone this time.

Athena glanced at Flint, who still had a very blank look on his face. He raised his eyebrows, a look that told her to keep going.

They had gone to the doctor, had the ultrasound, and the doctor had explained what they were seeing. Along the way, he mentioned that the baby appeared to be about three and a half months along, four at the most. Lorenzo was —

Athena suddenly stopped reading, her physics-mind shifting into gear. This was April, and Flint had returned at Christmas time. Plus, he had broken up with Gianna six weeks before that. That was about five and a half months ago. If the baby was no more than four months ... She slowly turned her head toward Flint and was met with a colossal smile and outstretched arms.

A quick move and their arms were locked around the other, Athena sobbing once again, but this time through her smile. They held each other for long minutes. Flint leaned back and put his hands on Athena's cheeks. Words weren't needed, the eyes locked together told the story, and the air filled with flying clothing that soon lay scattered randomly about the room. Two naked bodies were entangled on the floor, the sound of kisses and moans filling the air.

"Athena, we need to ..." Flint managed to get out, reluctantly freeing his lips from hers.

"No, we don't," Athena gasped. "I've started on the pill."

Those were all the words he needed to hear, as two weeks of nearly unbearable tension, coupled with a naked woman that he loved, led to the most erotic and satisfying sex of his life. Uncovered windows and unlocked doors were forgotten; there was only one other person in the world for each when they were clinging to each other.

As before the sex, they lay afterward with arms around each other, savoring the relief from the turmoil the email had cleared from their lives. Still breathing hard, Athena spoke.

"Would you have gone?"

"We'll never know," he responded after a few seconds.

"Not fair," she giggled.

"Each time that thought came into my mind, I could only picture a terror-filled face that I adored pleading with me not to leave."