You didn’t want to push him away. Gods, no.

You loved your father. He’s been home in Ithaca for about a month now, and it was like he was attached to your hip whenever he wasn’t with your mother, Penelope. You hadn’t minded it much, you had never gotten to grow up as his child.

You were twenty years old now, not the infant he had held before he went to war. So of course he’d never want to leave your side; you didn’t want to leave his side, either.

But after nearly five weeks of being pestered and swarmed, you were getting slightly annoyed. Not in a rude way, no. You just needed some time to yourself, yeah? And he was treating you like a child, like you couldn’t do things on your own.

Today was no different.

You were walking down the halls of the palace, finally alone for a moment. That was, until, your father came up behind you, hugging you tightly. Odysseus grinned, “Gotcha!” He laughed.

He tried to lift you up, but struggled in the process. Gods, he was getting old.

You gently pushed your father off of you, stepping back. Odysseus reached up, messing up your hair a bit. You were taller than him, so he struggled doing that as well.

This was your chance to tell him you needed some space.