Chapter 29:

“Did you have fun today, munchkin?”

“Yes, daddy, I had a lot of fun,” Melinoe replied as her father was tucking her into bed.

“Care to tell me more?” he asked.

“Yup, before Triton came, Hilly and I went to play with Cerberus. I thought she would be scared of how big he was, but she wasn’t; I was also afraid of how Cerberus would take to her, especially with how he is with new people, but he was actually nice. He just sniffed her a little and then went back to lying down.”

“It seems that Cerberus gained a new friend too, huh?”

“Yea, so we pet him a little bit, but he was cranky from being interrupted from his nap, so we left and went to my treehouse where we talked and swung on the swings. I was nervous about how Helia would like being down here since it’s like being in the dark all the time, but she liked it. She said the lights from the city reminded her of when she and grandmother Rhea would go outside at night and stare at the stars.”

Hades listened intently to his daughter recollect every little thing she remembered from her day, laughing when she thought she was finished just to remember something else.

“Well, I am glad that you had a great time.”

“Daddy?”

“Yes, munchkin?”

“Could I have a sister?”

The question threw Hades off-balance; he wasn’t sure how to answer it, though he was pretty sure why it was being asked.

“Melinoe, sweetheart, do you want a sister because of Helia?”

All Melinoe could do was nod her head. She really likes Helia, and she didn’t like anyone, or rather no one liked her. She always stayed to herself in a corner or vacant room whenever the family got together, or a council meeting was going on, on Olympus, and she had to attend. Sometimes, Triton would come to talk to her, but he was more interested in boy things. Helia, she liked boy things too, war, fighting, weapons, etc. However, she also liked girl things; most importantly, she liked Melinoe. They got along great, and Melinoe had actually wished that she could have had a sleepover with her; that may be something to bring up to her mom later on.

“Munchkin, I can’t say if your mother and I will be able to give you a sister. We haven’t talked about having another child,” at her sad look, he added, “what I can say is that I’m pretty sure if we were to give you a sister, she wouldn’t be exactly like Helia. So, why not just pretend that Helia is your sister, for now? I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t mind it.”

“Are you sure she wouldn’t mind? She has siblings of her own now that are way cooler than me; I’m sure she would just like to stay friends.” Hades wanted so badly to tell her that she and Helia were, in fact, sisters, but he held his tongue. He saw the similarities between his daughters and their self-esteem. One struggled because she had abandonment issues, though she was coming around, and the other because she is a child of the King of the Underworld and no one wanted anything to do with him or his domain, which included his spawn. ‘Gods, I have really messed my children up,’ he thought.

“Melinoe, my darling, listen to me carefully, okay? I am positive that Helia would like to be your sister too. I am aware that she has other siblings, but they are much older than her, whereas you two are much closer in age and can grow up together like sisters would.”

“Okay, daddy, if you say so,” Melinoe answered, though she still wasn’t convinced.

“I know so, my munchkin. Now, how about a bedtime story?” She perked up at the sound of her getting a bedtime story. She loved it when he told her bedtime stories, especially when it gave her more time to spend with him.

“Now, this is the story of….”

***

Hades walked into his shared bedroom with Persephone after the bedtime story. He never got the chance to finish one because she always fell asleep, but he didn’t mind because he would stay and watch her sleep for a while. He loved it, but he hated it; loved it because he got to spend more time with her, whether she realized it or not, but hated it because it reminded him of Helia, and one of the things he could no longer do with her since he had to leave her.

“Is she fast asleep?” Persephone asked once she saw Hades come into the bedroom already in her sleepwear.

“Yea still didn’t get to finish the story, though,” he added with a small laugh. He began undressing, going about finding his sleeping wear as he normally would.

“You never do,” she chuckled. Not one to sit in uncomfortable silence, Persephone started a conversation.

“Uhm,” she cleared her throat, “you know the storm yesterday, right?”

“Yea, did Hera tell you what had her pissed?”

“Yea, well, actually, she told us it wasn’t her; it was Helia.”

He turned to look Persephone square on. He wasn’t sure if she was joking with him or not. The storm was pretty powerful, so powerful that the Underworld felt and reacted to it.

“You’re kidding, right?” came his shocking reply.

“Nope, not at all. Hera showed us the video Ares took, and Helia wasn’t even aware of what she doing or what was going on around her.”

“What caused her to get so upset? Do you know?”

“Some goddesses that were at the ice cream shop were sitting behind them, and one, in particular, made some comments about Hera and well, let’s just say I’m pretty sure that table of goddesses has created a new enemy in a mini Hera form,” Persephone chuckled lightly.

“Wow, she is pretty powerful for such a small thing.”

“Yea, she is.”

Hades wasn’t sure how he wanted to tell Persephone about the conversation he and his daughter had but felt he should bring it up to her.

“Well, it would seem as though I have some news, as well,” Hades informed Persephone as he made his way over to their bed.

“Oh, and what would that be?”

“Our daughter has grown very fond of Helia and wanted to know if we could give her a sister.”

Hades could’ve laughed at the dumbstruck look on Persephone’s face if it weren’t for the fact that this was a serious topic.

“And what did you tell her?”

“That we hadn’t planned on having any, and even if we did, she wouldn’t be like Helia, so she should just be ‘sisters’ with her instead.”

“How did she take that answer?”

“She was apprehensive because she said Helia already had siblings that are cool, but I told her that they are the same age, and because of it, they would grow up together, like sisters.”

“Hmm, well, hopefully, that will take her mind off wanting siblings from us for a while.”

“Yea, hopefully, well, I guess we should get some sleep,” Hades said as he turned over to turn off his bedside lamp and go to sleep, “goodnight.”

Persephone did the same, following his lead, and turned to sleep with her back away from his, “Good night.”