Chapter 27:

Triton grumbled the whole time they were getting ready and the entire walk from the driveway to the door. Amphitrite knocked on the door, ready to have a couple of drinks and let loose, and when the door opened, they were greeted by Hades.

“Come on in guys, Hera and Helia have just arrived. They are out back on the lanai.

“Thank you, Hades.” Amphitrite looked down at her son, “What do you say, Triton?”

“Thank you, uncle Hades.”

“You’re welcome,” Hades turned to his right as he was walking them down the hall to where everyone else was and asked Amphitrite, “I’m guessing he didn’t want to be around a bunch of girls, huh?”

“And they say Zeus is the clever one,” she chided.

“That’s what they say,” he joked back.

Triton was walking silently, still upset that he even had to be there, wishing that he could be at home playing games or swimming around the ocean.

“Oh, there you are,” Triton heard his aunt Hera say.

“Yes, we are a little late because someone took forever to persuade just to get here.”

“Ah, I see. Hello there, Triton.”

“Hi, aunt Hera, hi aunt Persephone.”

“Hi there, sweetie, would you like a cupcake or some brownies?” Persephone asked. He wanted to keep up the charade that he didn’t want to be there, but he could never resist his aunt Hera’s brownies or Persephone’s cupcakes. He couldn’t resist eating any of their desserts, for that matter.

“May I have one of each?”

“Sure, sweetheart, here you go.” Persephone handed him a small plate with both items on it.

“I will go get the girls so that I can introduce you to my daughter,” Hera informed him before she left the small crowd.

Triton had sat down in the last seat available that was turned away from where his aunt left to retrieve her daughter since his mother took the one on the left side of Persephone. Once he got comfortable in the chair, he began to eat his treats while waiting for his aunt’s return. He had just put half the brownie in his mouth when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned around and couldn’t believe what he saw. There, in front of him, was the most stunning girl he had ever seen. She had pretty long black hair that framed her face perfectly, she had two dimples instead of one like Melinoe, and she had eyes the same color as his father, grandmother, and aunt Hera, and even had the latter’s freckles. He wasn’t sure how long he was staring but figured it had been quite a while.

“Triton, this is my daughter, Helia,” Hera introduced, suppressing a laugh at her nephew’s stunned expression with a mouth full of brownie showing.

Same with Melinoe, Helia reached her hand out for a handshake, and he gladly took it.

“It’s nice to meet you, Triton.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” he replied slowly, still in a daze from her beauty and a mouth full of un-eaten brownie.

“Would you like to play with Melly and me?” Helia asked as she laughed.

“Ye… yea… yea sure,” he stammered, trying to swallow the brownie, and jumped out of his seat, forgetting his desserts on the table, as he followed Helia and his cousin to the spot where the two had been playing moments earlier.

“Well, well, well, it would seem that Triton is already infatuated with my daughter now, wouldn’t it, Amphi?” Hera lightly joked.

“Hey, you wouldn’t let me have her. The least you could do is let her be my daughter-in-law,” all three of the queens laughed out loud at the idea and began their Queen’s date with no further delay.

Out, further away from the adults but close enough that they could be seen, the children began getting to know each other, well that is Triton and Helia were since Melinoe already knew them both.

“So,” Triton started, “where are you….” but before he could finish, Helia interrupted him and answered.

“I don’t know where I am originally from, nor do I know my biological parents, and I’m okay with that. My grandmother Rhea and aunt Tethys raised me until recently when they asked Hera to care for me after turning eight. Hera is my mom, and now I have brothers and sisters and live on Olympus with them. Did that answer the questions you were going to ask?”

The son of Poseidon nodded his head, “Uh-huh.”

“Good, now we can act normal and get over the awkward first set of questions,” Helia stated.

Both girls laughed at Triton and his dumbstruck face, he wasn’t sure what happened just then, but he was okay because he got to look at Helia.

“So, Triton, what do you like to do?”

“Annoy me and play video games,” answered Melinoe laughing.

“Hey, I’m not annoying. You are.”

“Nuh-uh you are,” retorted Melinoe with her tongue stuck out.

Helia just laughed, relieved that Triton had somewhat accepted her and hopefully would accept her friendship as well.

“Hey Helia,” Triton called to get her attention, “which of us is more annoying, Melinoe or me?”

“Honestly, both of you are right now, but because I am a girl, I will say that you are,” Helia jabbed at him.

“Wow, and the battle of the sexes continues,” Triton laughingly added. ‘Hmm, maybe these playdates weren’t going to be so bad after all,’ he thought to himself.

Back on the lanai, where the queens were talking, laughing, and drinking, Persephone had thought about the storm that happened yesterday and wanted to know if Zeus had pissed Hera off again.

“Hera, the storm yesterday, was that you? It seemed a little different, darker. The shades seemed more ‘spooked’ than usual when it came to the storm, though we couldn’t see it, we felt it, and it was pretty strong.”

“Yea, Poseidon was having a hard time controlling the ocean’s currents. We just figured that lug-head Zeus had done something again,” Amphitrite added with disdain in her voice at even saying Zeus’ name.

“Actually, that wasn’t me. It was Helia,” Hera replied nonchalantly while taking a sip of her tea.

“Wait, what? She caused a storm like that? How?” Persephone was very curious.

Hera couldn’t tell her the truth of how she obtained such mighty powers. How could she? What would she say? That Helia was actually Hera’s biological daughter, and oh, by the way, she happens to be Hades’ as well. No, she definitely could not say that.

“She was upset at the ice cream shop because she heard some goddesses bad mouthing me. Actually, here,” she handed over her phone to show them the video that she had Ares forward to her, “it is the video that Ares took while we were there.”

The two queens watched the video and were amazed at what they were seeing. They had never seen anyone, let alone a child, show so much passion for Hera, not even her own children. The two mothers were crying by the end of the video.

“Oh, Hera, you must be so proud of her. I mean, she defended you with such love,” Amphitrite said, wiping the tears that had fallen.

“I am. I had told Helia that she didn’t have to do that, and she knew that, but it still felt great to have someone on my side. That child has brought so much happiness back to me and our home. I even got a chance to talk to Zeus’ other children, except Dionysus, and told them how I felt about them when they asked, and they actually listened, understood even. Ares even defended me when Dionysus accused me of doing something to her, which shocked me. I mean, it’s not that we hated each other or anything, we just drifted apart, but since Helia has been here, everything is looking better.

“I am so happy for you Hera, you deserve this happiness more than anyone, and I am glad the Fates are finally turning things around for you,” stated Persephone truthfully. She really was happy for Hera and wished her well, for it gave her hope that the Fates would show her the same kindness one day.

“How about a toast to the Fates,” Amphitrite suggested, “here’s to hoping they continue to reward those most deserving.”

“Here, here!” They all yelled and laughed while they drank to their toast.