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Sally Jackson clutched her baby tight in her arms. Her little baby boy. She didn’t know it was possible to love someone this much, and this hard. Another tear rolled down her cheek. This baby was her miracle, a part of her, and now she’d need to give him up.
She ran her fingers through his hair, thicker than she thought possible for a newborn. Raven black, just like his father’s. And his eyes, of such a brilliant green, reflecting the color of the sea. It was impossible not to notice his connection to the god. Her little baby even smelled like an ocean breeze.
Poseidon had told her of the oath. The oath he had broken by being with her and by giving life to this precious child. A child that shouldn’t exist. And because of that, her little baby would live a life of danger if he was ever discovered by the other gods.
Sally liked to think she would be able to hide him from the wrath of Zeus. To protect him at least until he was able to protect himself. She’d find a way, any way. And maybe she could. If it wasn’t for that one little detail.
Someone knocked on the door and the young mother was quick to open. She’d been waiting for him, after all.
“Sally, my love, how are you? Has anyone discovered you here? Have my nymphs assisted you properly?” Asked Poseidon worriedly as soon as he entered the room. His eyes scanned every corner of the apartment as if expecting to find a threat that could harm the beautiful woman next to him. The woman and the child, he remembered. His eyes found their way down to the baby in her arms. His baby.
“Everything is fine, darling.” She said, though her eyes were downcast and red with tears. She noticed his gaze. “Do you want to hold him?”
He nodded before exclaiming: “So it’s a boy?”
“Yes,” she smiled faintly. “A beautiful baby boy. He looks just like you.”
She passed the child to his arms. Poseidon was filled with such love in that single moment, and yet with such fear of anything ever happening to this child which he held with such care, the product of the purest love. Some people think gods aren’t able to love like humans do, not in such a selfless way. And maybe that’s true. But it doesn’t mean they’re these cold, insensible creatures, incapable of love. They’re definitely capable of it, Poseidon thinks as he holds his child. There hasn’t been a single demigod of his that he hasn’t loved dearly once he’s held them; he’s a father, after all. But it is hard to stay close to your children when you know their time with you is bound to be oh so fleeting compared to your immortal years. Aside from the fact that they literally cannot spend much time together. Gods shouldn’t spend much time caring for demigod children. It’s an unspoken law. “Do not intervene, do not get attached”. They grow up with their human parents, that’s just how it is. Or at least how it’s supposed to be.
“His name is Perseus.” Sally said, coming closer. “Perseus Jackson.”
“Little Percy…” Poseidon whispered, stroking the infant’s hair.
His eyes flickered back to her. “What did you mean, Sally?” He asked hastily, remembering the message the nymphs had delivered to him earlier at dawn. “When you said it was urgent that I came?”
She gestured for him to follow her and led him to a baby bathtub on the corner of the bathroom, filled with water. “He takes a lot from you, darling. More than we could’ve thought.”
Sally took the child from him and put him in the water. Poseidon shot her a confused look. A look that turned into understanding as soon as he saw the baby’s legs give way to a small fish tail after a few moments in the water. The infant seemed excited at the change of environment and limbs and immediately started splashing his fins in the tub in a contented manner. A merman. Their baby was a merman.
The god scanned through the shining blue scales and extended his hand to touch the delicate tail fluke. It’d been so long since he’s had a merbaby. Since one of his demigod children was so powerful as to inherit the gift of the sea. It was mesmerizing to see again.
He knew Sally was special, he knew their love was something else. But for her baby to have inherited a tail! He couldn’t help the small smile that graced his features as he saw his son playing in the water with his hands and fins.
“Poseidon? You do realize what that means, don’t you?” Sally sounded worried and tired as she interrupted his train of thought.
He locked eyes with her and seemed to notice for the first time that hers were streaked with red, as if she’d spent the night crying.
Sally had known; from the moment his legs first touched the water and shimmered, giving way to scales and fins, she´d known. She’d known her baby was not like a normal demigod, and that it didn’t matter how much she wanted, or how much she swore to protect him, she knew he would have to be taken away from her. She understood, rationally, why it would be necessary, but it pained her so much to even think about saying goodbye to that little piece of her, that tiny merbaby splashing his tail around the tub. It was her son! She wanted to take him in her arms and raise him and love him and nurture him. But he was a creature of the sea. He wasn’t human, nor could she pretend he was. Her baby was a merman.
It’s such a weird concept to wrap one’s head around. She probably should have expected it more, knowing he was a son of Poseidon. But Sally wanted to believe he’d be like every other demigod. She did believe it, up until she saw his tail for the first time. So otherworldly and beautiful and mesmerizing. He wasn’t human, but he was her son. He was so special and she loved him so, so much. Which made it even harder to accept the fact that he belonged to the sea. Just like his father. And in the end, it was impossible to keep him with her, no matter how much she wanted it. Especially if they wanted to hide him from the other Olympians.
For a while, Sally thought about hiding this new development. Maybe she would be able to raise him on land, help him hide his tail, keep him away from water, and let him escape whatever mythological destiny he might have. But how could she keep a son of Poseidon away from water? Aside from the practical impossibilities of it, how cruel would it be? To separate her son from such a core part of himself? She knew it was impossible, and that knowledge pained her more than anything in this world.
“You have to take him, Poseidon. He- he can’t stay here…” The young mother said between sobs. She looked up at him, tears once again running down her cheeks. “Say you’ll take care of him, raise him with you in your kingdom. Say you’ll protect him from the Olympians. that they won’t find him. Promise me, please!”
From the moment he looked at her red rimmed eyes he’d understood the predicament they were in, but it took hearing her plead with him for it to really sink in. The tail was a blessing, a manifestation of the great power the baby inherited. But with the circumstances as they were, the tail was a liability. This boy was a secret, the proof of a broken oath. If any of the Olympians found out about him, he would be destroyed mercilessly. And how could they hope to hide the boy on land, where he could accidentally sprout a tail in plain sight before being old enough to defend himself?
Poseidon knew, just as Sally did, that the only chance they had at saving their baby was to hide him in his own realm, for the child to grow up in his kingdom among other merpeople, where no outsider could find out about his existence. It was almost unheard of for a god to raise one of his demigod children. But in a situation like this, what else could they do? Poseidon couldn’t leave the boy out here to die in some horrible way, stranded on land and discovered by a monster or a god. A boy full of such potential and whose sight filled the Olympian with such paternal love already. This baby will make a good prince of Atlantis, he decided. Poseidon would raise him at his palace, at his home. He would have to have a long talk with Amphitrite, that was sure. But it would be done. If anything, the boy would grow up safe, hidden from the complications of Mount Olympus and from their eyes on the human world.
He turned his eyes from the infant to the woman next to him. She looked so devastated, so powerless at that moment. So human. “I promise you, Sally.” He took her hand in his. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power so that he’ll grow up protected and safe, as a merman. No one outside my kingdom shall find out about him. He’ll be raised as my legitimate son in my palace. He cannot venture into the human world before he’s ready. But I promise you that one day, if it’s safe, I’ll get him to meet you.”
The young mother cried even harder than before at the realization that from the moment her son was carried out the door with his father, she had no idea when or if she would ever see him again. She could only hope that it would all be worth it. She’d give up everything to see him reach adulthood safely, and that was their best bet. Even if she wouldn’t be there to see him.
She bent down the tub and caressed his hair, his cheeks. Cupped his face and kissed his forehead gently, not wanting to let go. One last time. “Goodbye, Percy. Your mommy loves you so very much.” She stroked his scales, down to his fluke in one delicate motion. “I love all of you. You’re perfect. Never forget that. I’ll wait for you. I’ll be waiting forever to see you again, my baby.”
After a hasty goodbye and one last passionate kiss, Poseidon took the boy in his arms and disappeared in a mist of sea breeze, leaving Sally Jackson alone in a small bathroom in New York City, thinking about her son taken far away and raised as a demigod prince under the sea. A mother without a baby. What an end to her Montauk summer love.