Joy & Happiness

Persephone could immediately see change in her husband's facial expressions. His eyes widened in shock, his eyebrows pulled into a confused frown and his lips parted slightly, as though he meant to speak but could not find any words to come to his tongue.

Her heart became overwhelmed with anxiety then. All she could see on his face was shock and confusion, but other than that she could not read what he truly felt in his pitch black eyes. Was he angry? Was he upset? Was he glad? She did not know, and it worried her immensely. She was even more worried that he might get disappointed at the fact that she was pregnant with his child. She could only wish that it would not be true.

"You're… pregnant?" he breathed, his voice turning into a soft whisper when he said the last word.

Persephone pressed her lips together nervously and nodded her head.

"How did you know?" Hades asked, his voice still holding that tone of disbelief.

"I went to see Hecate today, thinking that she could help to find out what was wrong with me," Persephone explained. "When she checked me, she discovered the truth. All those times when I felt ill, it was not because of a sickness. All the times of nausea and fatigue; it was all actually symptoms of pregnancy."

Hades remained silent, slowly absorbing the information. He knew that if it was Hecate who told his wife that she was pregnant, then it could be no lie because the witch had pledged upon Styx her complete allegiance to him and the oath of being absolutely honest to both him and Persephone. Her immense loyalty to her lord and lady proved that. Furthermore, Hecate was a close friend of Persephone's, so there surely could not be any reason for her to lie.

Slowly and wordlessly, he pulled his hand out of his wife's hold and placed it gently on her belly. And to his complete surprise, he could instantly feel a new aura radiating from within her. This aura was new and it felt small, but he could immediately feel the strength of new life. And thus, that confirmed the truth that Persephone was pregnant.

Hades could not believe it. He absolutely could not believe it. In his wife's beautiful form was a child. And not just any child. It was their child. A child that was born out of their love. Finally, after years of blissful marriage, they were about to have a child.

Persephone shyly placed both her hands on top of his and asked somewhat nervously, "Are you happy?"

Hades looked up from her belly to her amber eyes and she was slightly taken aback to see a grin on his face and a new brightness in his fathomless black eyes.

"Persephone, of course I am," he said with breathless joy. "Why would I not be happy that you are bearing our first child?"

Hearing the happiness in her husband's voice made Persephone smile immediately. Hades stood up and she followed, her head tilted upwards slightly to look at him in the eye. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. They stood there and hugged each other for a while, with Hades pressing small kisses to her sweet-smelling russet hair.

"I'm so glad that you're happy," she said with gladness and relief into his ear. Then, her tone became quizzical. "I wonder who would our first child be? A boy or a girl?"

"It doesn't matter what the gender is," he told her as he pulled back to hold her at arms' length. "It's our child and I would still love it with all of my heart."

Suddenly, Hades knelt on one knee and placed both his hands on her waist with a gentle and tender touch. Persephone kept quiet and watched as he leaned forward and kissed her belly through the silk of her cream-colored dress. She could feel the warmth coming from both his lips through the silk and from deep within herself.

Hades peppered soft and light kisses all over her belly and Persephone felt her heart turning warm with happiness at the sight of her husband already showing so much love for their unborn child. She also felt relieved that Hades did not turn out disappointed as she had feared. Now, her fears seemed so silly. Why would she think that Hades, who loved her so much, would be angry and or disappointed at the fact that she was carrying his first child?

She brought a hand to cup Hades' cheek and he lifted his head up to her, gazing at her with a warm and loving smile on his lips.

"Persephone, my love. You really do not know how much joy I feel right now," he said joyfully before planting another soft kiss to her belly.

Persephone's own smile turned wider as she brought her hands to Hades' and beckoned him to rise to his full height. When he finally stood tall, towering over her by just a few inches, she placed her hands on his chest and gave him a kiss to his lips, to which he returned the kiss eagerly.

When they finally parted, Persephone wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. As she felt Hades embracing her, she was filled with excitement at the thought of telling everyone else about the pregnancy. What's more, she couldn't wait to tell...

"I think that we should also tell her," she said suddenly, pulling away to look at him.

At first, Hades became confused as to who 'her' was, but he finally realized who 'her' was just seconds later. Suddenly, his expression changed again. His eyebrows pulled into a frown, his eyes became stony and his lips pressed into a disapproving line.

Persephone knew why he was like this and heaved a heavy sigh.

She then said, "Hades, you know we have to tell my mother."

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for all the favorites and follows, you guys! I'm glad that many of you like the story so far! To be honest, this might be one of my favorite projects :)

Aww... Hades being the happy new daddy! How cute! And Persephone's so glad that he wasn't mad! But how would Demeter react to this?

See you Friday!

Muse of Fanfiction