Atropos clears her throat and continues, "And may you understand that pleasure comes with pain. That love comes with anger; it comes with rage." She must see the worry on our eyes because she adds, "Do not fret, all things must change, but love that lasts takes center stage."
"Now," Clotho finishes. "Raise your glasses and close your eyes." We do as she says, laughing. "The wish is simple; the wish is wise. Love never fails unless it dies."
We salute with our glasses, and we each kiss our bride. I let my lips linger on hers, savoring the moment for what it is. The first day of the rest of our lives.
When I pull back I see Gaia behind a pillar, in the distance, watching, with a hand raised as if indicating no.
I don't know what.
But something seems to wrap around my heart and I know Persephone sees it too. Feels it too.
Sephy points her out as Gaia runs away.
Then I look at Sephy's other husbands and our faces turn to scowls. Something has shifted.
I reach for Sephy's hand, but it's too late. Hades already has grabbed hold of it, clutching her as if holding on for dear life.
Our moment of marital bliss lasts for but a moment before things begin to crack, as if an omen has fallen over us.
But before I can put words to the feeling, Persephone begins to moan. She grabs her belly as her water breaks.
"I'm having the babies," she tells us. "Now."
Part II
Twenty-One Years Later
12
Persephone
"So, then what happened?" Harlow asks me as I finish my story, leading up to the delivery of my four beautiful daughters.
Harlow is so beautiful, her pink hair, the sparkles on her skin and the seashells in her hair. I think of the crown Poseidon gave me on my wedding day, the day she was born. Tears fill my eyes once more as I look at her, the memories flooding back. I pray her men never hurt her the way mine did me.
I was so betrayed by the men I thought loved me.
Looking at her now, she looks similar to me when I was her age, her belly so round and full; she is ready to become a mother.
Twenty-one years is a long time not to see your daughter.
I pray it isn't like that for her or Remedy when they give birth. But where Harlow is soft, even now I see a fire in Rem's eyes, an anger swelling like it did in her father, Ares.
"Yeah," Remedy asks. Lark and Tennyson hold one another's hands, but they look at me, imploring me for answers. "So, you were at the wedding feast, your water broke, and our dads started getting weird?"
"They changed so fast. One minute they were so kind and loving to me, then the labor began, and things began to deteriorate. Words were said... horrid accusations and cruelty... all centered around me. They told me I had to choose between them. And there I was, about to deliver my babies. Instead of coming to my aid, they began to insist I was tricking them, pretending to love them only to get pregnant."
"You weren't, though, were you?" Tennyson asks. "You loved them."
"I did. But it was like the moment Gaia entered our wedding feast, something changed between all of us."
"Are you thinking she is the reason they turned on you?"
I press my fingers to my temples, wanting to explain as best as I can to my daughters. "I know she was to blame for taking you four from me. As I began to deliver you, your fathers were practically seething in anger. You know how I explained how quickly I grew you? Well, that is how quickly their love turned to rage."
Harlow presses her hand on my arm. "Oh, Mother," she cries. "You've been through so much."
I wipe my eyes. It is so freeing to finally be able to share this story with them. "I never wanted you to believe you weren't wanted." My shoulders shake. "I've been so scared. It's Gaia's fault you were taken. And it's your fathers’ I was locked away."
"Gaia?" Remedy asks. "She wouldn't hurt you."
Lark nods. "Everything my hawks have told me leads me to believe the same thing, Mother."
"No. She was there when you were born. She came as I began to birth you. She helped, and I wanted her to know that the conversation before the wedding no longer mattered. That I loved her. I told her as much."
Lark shakes her head. "Then why do you blame--"
"She is the one who took you from me," I tell her urgently. "I gave you life, kissed your perfect heads, and she swaddled you up, told me to rest and then...." I begin to cry more deeply.
"What?" Rem asks, covering her mouth. Her bright red hair shining as sun filters through the window. The sky is taunting us. So bright and beautiful when in here, it feels so dark as I share these hidden truths with my daughters who need to hear their story at long last.