He lifts me into the air, his hands on my hips, and I laugh, the joyful sound escaping my lips, not thinking that I might wake my other lovers.
But they hear me and begin to stir.
Zeus sets me down and I press my hands to his chest. "I was scared once you got me pregnant, you might be done with me."
He shakes his head. "No. When I commit, it is forever."
"What are you committing to?" Ares asks, coming up beside us. He wraps a piece of fabric around his waist, a deep V drawing my eyes to his groin. He made love to me so many times last night, my core quivers at the memory.
"Committing to Persephone, for the rest of our lives. I asked her to marry me."
Ares' eyes darken. "And what did you say?" he asks me.
"I said yes," I admit, realizing now, like a fool, that my answer is going to upset the other three gods. I’d just said what felt right at the time, I realize, not weighing the others’ feelings. I see the hurt in Ares’ eyes.
"Did you hear that?" he asks Hades and Poseidon.
"Hear what?” Poseidon asks.
"That Persephone agreed to marry Zeus."
"You already asked her?" Hades asks, anger in his voice.
"Why would I wait for what I want?" he tosses back.
I cut in. "I'm so sorry. I followed my heart... but I see now--"
"What do you see?" Hades asks, his jaw tight, his shoulders back.
"I see how my answer would have hurt you. I didn't mean..."
"What didn't you mean?" Zeus asks, now turning on me too.
I run my hands through my hair, then press them to my still-growing belly. As my muscles stretch, I let out a soft cry, trying to ease myself through the pain.
"I didn't mean to choose only one of you. I want you all. I want to marry you all." My knees buckle then, and I feel a sharp pain rip through me.
Poseidon falls to his knees, cradling me in his arms. "Oh, love," he whispers. "Your belly is so ripe."
"I know." I wipe the tears from my eyes. "And now you’re all upset with me. It's all happening too fast."
"No," Ares says. "Not too fast. This is the right time. We need it to be urgent, so we don't lose what we have."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"I mean, let us all marry you. We all love you. Want a life with you."
I look up into Zeus' eyes, seeing the same gentleness I saw in Hades last night when our intimate moment was no longer ours alone, but one we all shared.
"I insist," he says.
"You aren't angry?"
"You are carrying our offspring, I can't lay claim to you as my own -- we will share you in every sense of the word."
Tears prick my eyes once more. How am I so lucky? So loved? How have I been given so much?
"I don't deserve all of this," I say.
"That isn't how love works. Your heart is open, you sow seeds of love and you tend to them, that is why you have such a bounty now," Ares says.
"So, what happens now?" I ask, as the fathers of my children gather around me, adorning me with kisses and looks of tenderness.
"Now," Poseidon says, "we get married."
11
Poseidon
It comes together quickly. We want the wedding to take place before she delivers, but we have no idea if that will be in one day or one month. We think it will be sooner rather than later. Even though she is carrying four babies, we can tell they are growing at a rapid rate.
The wedding is today.
I carry a crown of seashells and pearls that the mermaids made in the sea, and head toward her room on Mount Olympus.
She is in her chamber with Gaia and they are speaking in sharp tones.
I pause to listen.
"I just don't understand why everything has to happen so fast. It's only been a few days since you met, and now all of this. I'm scared for you."
"Is that what it is?" Sephy asks. "Because ever since you saw me with child, you've been..." She stops and shakes her head.
"Just say it. We've never kept anything from one another."
"Jealous." Persephone's single word slices through the air. "I know you are. And I'm not angry. I just don't want to lose you."
"It's you who is leaving me. You wanted to get pregnant and do all this on your own. Instead you are allowing four others take control of your life. It was supposed to be about conceiving a child, not becoming beholden to four egotistical gods."
I step into her room and the goddesses stop talking. "That's enough," I tell Mother Earth sharply.
"Exactly," she scoffs, shaking her head, throwing her hands in the air. "Do you hear him?" she asks Sephy. "He thinks he knows you best. But he doesn't. I do."