Work Text:
ANTICLEA'S POV
Anticlea scooped the child into her arms.
“But Mom, I don’t want to go to sleep," Odysseus whined.
“Now, Odysseus. If you don’t go to sleep right away, then you won’t be able to see the shepherds off in the morning,” Anticlea replied.
“But the monsters,” tears started to well in the child’s eyes. “The monsters keep coming.”
Anticlea frowned, the young prince had been plagued with nightmares for as long as anyone could remember. And getting the child to bed had never gotten easier.
“Hmm, how about this. I will sing you a song that keeps all of the monsters away. As long as you are willing to lay quiet and still.”
“Will it keep all the monsters away?”
“Yes, all of them”
She laid the child onto his bed, caressing his head.
“Deep in the meadow below,”
“Where the sun doesn’t shine,”
“Where the flowers don’t bloom.”
“I will be waiting,”
“My love, for you I will be waiting,”
“You will be all that I’ll see,”
“Waiting,”
“Waiting.”
She looked over at Odysseus, who was now sleeping soundly. She smiled.
PENELOPE'S POV
The sound of wailing and crying echoed across the entire castle. All of the maids and nurses had tried to hush the child. Every toy imaginable had been given to him, he’d been fed and clothed and yet still Telemachus was still wailing.
“Oh Telemachus, what has happened?” Penelope asked the child, which was probably worthless since he couldn’t even understand her.
She rocked him in her arms and asked one of the maids to call the king.
Odysseus arrived within minutes, running across the halls.
“He still hasn’t stopped crying?”
“No,” she said with a frown.
He gave his wife and child a curious look.
“Let me try,”
She handed him the child, though she was sure there was nothing her husband could do that could stop Telemachus from screeching and crying his heart out.
Odysseus took Telemachus into his arms and sat near the window sill. And to the surprise of everyone in the room, he began to sing.
“Deep in the meadow below,”
“Where the sun doesn’t shine,”
“Where the flowers don’t bloom.”
“I will be waiting,”
“My love, for you I will be waiting,”
“You will be all that I’ll see,”
“Waiting,”
“Waiting.”
Slowly, Telemachus stopped wailing, and eventually the room was quiet except for the slow humming of the king.
Penelope looked at her family, her loving husband and beloved child. She smiled.