Broken Heiress

Hadlee James | 17 | Heiress | Daughter of Ares |“Like them you are tall and taciturn, and you are sad, all at once, like a voyage.”

[intellxgencearchive-blog]

“Me too.” Alex nodded as she spoke, smiling all the while. He’d never imagined himself having these kinds of conversations, but here he was. “JJ? That’s cute, what does it stand for? –Yeah? If you do, can I meet him? Sure Kyra would wanna meet him too.”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

Of all the people she’d been in camp with. Of all the people she’d known since childhood, Alex was one of the last ones she’d expected to have this kind of chat with. Let alone this young. But life handed you what it chose, and she knew that better than anyone. “Um, Jasper James. --Yeah, definitely. I’m sure he’d love Kyra.”

[elisekent-blog]

“It’s fine, looks worse than it is,” she managed a smirk through her cut lip.

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

“You go up against a Minotaur or something?”

[indigncntarchive-blog]

“Kyra’s good. Like. Really good.” Alex turned to Hadlee with a smile, “Oh, totally. Half the camp. Did I see on Twitter you’ve got a…son?”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

“Yeah? Good. I’m really glad to hear that.” She shoved her hands into her pockets and nodded. “I do, yeah. JJ. He’s with my mom right now, but I was thinking about bringing him up for a bit in a few weeks.”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

“So uh, how’s Kyra?” Hadlee cracked a smile, making her way towards Alex Edrickson with a grin she couldn’t suppress. “Still got a plethora of babysitters on standby?” 

@indigncnt

[watryxshka-archive-blog]

“Of course. Yeah - yeah, of course.” He hadn’t been isolated, per se, recently - it was mostly a self-imposed thing. Winter was the hardest. The sun was gone, the gods were stirring for the solstice; it was just…hard. He’d forgotten about his friends. Or…he’s forgotten the comfort they could give him. “Together. I’m really glad you’re back, Hads.”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

“Me too. I really missed it here.” She gave him a slightly less sad smile, in favor of a joke rather than continuing the somber conversation they were having. “Maybe not quite as much as sleep, but to be fair, I don’t think I miss anything as much as I miss sleep. Babies don’t have much of a concept of time, and JJ is no different.”

[watryxshka-archive-blog]

“We did this together, Hads,” he told her. Maybe it was everything that had happened with - with Mal and with Jo, but he was feeling everything more and more deeply. Maybe he’d missed her. Well, there was no maybe about that. He definitely missed her. Hearing about her son - it had been his breaking point, and little JJ’s name had been icing on the cake.

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

Hadlee chuckled, tearing up a bit herself as she pulled back from his embrace to look in his eyes. The distance between them was minimal, but that was hardly unusual, and the smile twisting at her lips was even less so. “Yeah, we did it together. And that’s not over--together is never over. I’m always here for you, you know that, right?” 

[watryxshka-archive-blog]

“I…” Jasper was a lot of things; speechless was usually not one of them. He had no words right now, though, so he just crushed her in a hug. The Locklear name would likely disappear with him, but his name, Jasper, would live on in Hadlee’s son. It was - it was touching, but it was oddly fitting. Almost poetic. “Thank you,” he whispered, “thank you.”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

“Oh, Jasper.” Hadlee said softly, holding onto him as tightly as he was to her. She had known that naming her son after him would mean something, but she’d had no idea the scale of it all. Honestly, she’d never been more glad of any choice she’d made in her life than she was right then, holding onto a dear friend and burying her face in his hair. “Thank you. I wouldn’t be here without you.” 

[watryxshka-archive-blog]

Jasper grinned at the picture. He was a beautiful boy, that was for sure, and Jasper flipped through a few of the others around it before settling back on the one she’d originally shown him. Then she told him his name, and Jasper’s head snapped up, his eyes wide. “You…you named him after…?” Me. She named him after…me. “I…Hadlee.”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

Her features softened as Jasper looked back up at her, shock written clearly on his face. Again, she reached out to cup his cheek in the palm of her hand, thumb brushing gentle strokes across his skin. “You’re one of the most important people in my life, Jasper. Of course I named him after you. There’s no one I’d rather have him share a name with.” 

[watryxshka-archive-blog]

Jasper couldn’t help but smile at her smile. He was glad that she was happy. She deserved what he - what he hadn’t been able to give her. “No, I don’t think I ever heard. Do you have a picture handy? I’d love to see him.” This baby was not his baby - he’d made that very clear, but Hadlee was still his friend adns he was important to him. He wanted to be able to be a friend to her despite everything that had happened.

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

“Are you kidding? I have at least fifty.” Hadlee reached for her back pocket, pulling her phone free and unlocking it. Flipping through the dozens upon dozens of pictures she’d taken of the young boy just before she left, she finally settled on one. The boy was grinning up at the camera, hand outstretched like he was making a grab for his mother, in a little blue onesie with a teddy bear at least twice his size in the corner. Passing her phone to Jasper, she murmured, “His name’s Jasper.” A short pause. “Well, JJ, to avoid confusion when I bring him to camp. Jasper Logan James.”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

@gabrielslullaby: @unnotchedarrow Honestly, I spent so much time sleeping when Ben wasn't here like it's kind of ridiculous

@gabrielslullaby: @unnotchedarrow That'd be great! I'd love to catch up sometime

@unnotchedarrow: @gabrielslullaby I still have Circe, but I think I can handle my dog. So yeah, sleep is my #1 priority.

@unnotchedarrow: @gabrielslullaby perfect! We should definitely do that

[watryxshka-archive-blog]

“I’m okay. I didn’t know her too well-” which was true; Jo hung out in the Apollo cabin, Jasper didn’t hang out in the Hecate cabin - “But. Um. Yeah, there’s…not much anyone can do now. It’s just been a - uh - heavy week.” He fell silent for a moment, but he was tired of talking about the heavy things. “How’s, um, how’s the baby?”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

Hadlee was honestly very confused--Jasper hadn’t quite specified what exactly had happened, and she obviously hadn’t been around recently--but she didn’t push it. It was pretty clear that he didn’t want to talk about it, and she was in no way going to force that. She brightened a bit, tucking some hair behind her ear. “He’s amazing. --Did I ever tell you what I named him?” 

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

@gabrielslullaby: @unnotchedarrow Oh, Morpheus only helped me sleep when I got the chance that's the only part of my father that helped me

@gabrielslullaby: @unnotchedarrow We're fine. He's here permenantly now, I moved rooms because toddlers take up a lot of space.

@unnotchedarrow: @gabrielslullaby ah. yeah. well. I'm just generally screwed on that front, I think. Though he's staying with my mom right now, so maybe I can get some sleep while I'm gone.

unnotchedarrow: @gabrielslullaby oh good!! I'd love to come by and try to see you soon?

[watryxshka-archive-blog]

“A - um - a Hecate girl is…she, um…yeah. Jo’s really upset - yeah. Hey, Hads.”

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

“Hey--Jasper, are you okay?” Her brows contracted, hand reaching up to cup his cheek. It was a classic case of Hadlee--gone too long, back at the wrong time. “What can I do?” 

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

@gabrielslullaby: @unnotchedarrow By the will of my father only, I'm pretty sure

@gabrielslullaby: @unnotchedarrow Um, honestly, support. It's hard to do by yourself. let people in, you'll need the support. Especially as they start getting older. Babies are hard, but toddlers are worse

@unnotchedarrow: @gabrielslullaby i'm 96% sure I was built more for war than child-rearing.

@unnotchedarrow: @gabrielslullaby is Ben okay? Are both of you okay?

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

@gabrielslullaby: @unnotchedarrow This is the realest thing I've ever seen

@unnotchedarrow: @gabrielslullaby how did you survive? because i'm not thinking i will

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

@unnotchedarrow: my sleep pattern has gone to hell, i'm tired all the time, and constantly worrying about a tiny human that isn't around.

@unnotchedarrow: gods help me.

[unnotchedarrowarchive-blog]

@ravi-ravioli: @unnotchedarrow RIBBON IS HARD OK U M

@ravi-ravioli: @unnotchedarrow i got tangled up in ribbon yesterday it was a mes s jack was being mean

@unnotchedarrow: @ravi-ravioli hey no judgment, it's all good

@unnotchedarrow: @ravi-ravioli when is jack not being mean?