Hera stood in the kitchen, washing the leftover dishes from breakfast. She usually saved the dishes for the last thing to do, because she wanted to get everything else done in the house and dishes often took the most time. She was almost finished when the doorbell rang. She shook her rubber gloves and opened the door to reveal an old time friend.
"Daniel?" Hera asked, quite surprised to see him on her doorstep.
He was dressed in full military attire and had a great grin across his face. His army cap hid the brown buzz cut on his head, but his hazel eyes peeked from under it.
"It's been ages, Hera," he smiled.
They embraced in a friendly hug, having not seen one another since the end of high school.
"When did you get back?" Hera asked.
"I actually got back this morning," he answered, "And you were the first person I thought of."
"Well that is very sweet," She said.
"In fact," he continued on, "There's something I've been wanting to tell you for quite awhile now."
Hera leaned against the doorframe, obviously interested now.
"I had been waiting for a very long time to say this," he said, a bit nervous, "Hera, you and I have been through so much together in high school. You were always there when I needed you and you have helped me in more ways than I could ever imagine."
"Daniel…" Hera tried to say, but he shushed her.
"I have always loved the way your eyes would sparkle when you smiled. The way your cheeks flushed when I would comment on your outfit. I love everything about you and I just realized this. Now I'm just telling you that I'm not proposing, but it was something I needed to get off my chest. So I really just wanted to say that I love you, Hera."
Hera stood dumbstruck. This was the last thing she had expected to come out of this day. They stood in an awkward silence for what seemed like forever.
"Daniel," Hera said in disbelief, "I'm very sorry but…"
She took off the rubber gloves she had been wearing to reveal a white diamond on her finger. Daniel stared at it, now speechless himself.
"Y-You're married?" Daniel was able to muster out.
"Yes," Hera whispered.
"To whom?" he asked curiously.
Hera took a deep breathe, afraid of how he might react if she told him.
"Zeus," she finally said.
"Zeus?!" Daniel half yelled, "The guy who bullied you in school?!"
Hera nodded and Daniel looked away in disbelief.
"He's a changed man now," She tried to explain.
"I can't believe out of everyone you had to marry him!" Daniel said, "What happened to us, Hera? You and me?"
"I never forgot about us, Daniel," Hera snapped back, "But I was tired of waiting. I never heard from you and yes I know that you were doing some top secret thing in the military, but for all I knew you were dead."
Daniel only huffed, not making eye contact.
"I had to move on, Daniel," Hera spoke, "I couldn't hold onto you forever, not knowing if you would ever come home."
He looked down at his feet, now becoming quite interested in them and feeling a bit ashamed for yelling at her.
"Yes I was in love with you before," Hera said, a little heartbroken, "But I have a husband I love and eleven beautiful children. I'm afraid that you will have to put that in the past, because I would never betray my husband."
"From what I've heard, didn't he have an affair with another woman?" Daniel asked.
"Yes that was right after Hestia was born," Hera admit, "But the point of marriage is to work through the tough times. We were in a bad situation then with almost losing our house and Zeus losing his job. It was a very rough patch in our life, but we got through it and I have long since forgiven him for his mistake."
"Yes but…" he tried to say.
"But there is nothing more that needs to be said," Hera said sternly, "I love my husband, my family, and my life. There is nothing that you can say or do that will ever change that."
He just sighed, obviously upset by her answer.
"Is that truly what your heart desires?" Daniel asked quietly.
"Yes," Hera answered, "It is."
"Then so be it," he said, turning to walk away, "I wish you a happy life, Hera."
"Daniel," Hera called out.
He stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn to look her in the eyes.
"You will always be the first man I fell in love with," Hera confessed, "That is something that cannot and will not ever change."
He only nodded before getting in his car and driving away. Hera shut the front door and leaned her back against it, a single tear slipping down her cheek.
"Who was that, mom?" Hermes asked from upstairs.
Hera jumped and looked at her second youngest son, a hand pressed against her heart.
"Hermes!" Hera scolded, "Will you stop doing that!"
He put his hands up in surrender.
"So is this something that you don't want dad to know or…?" Hermes asked.
"It's fine if your father finds out," Hera said, "But I will be the one telling him."
She gave him the look that hopefully send the message If you tell your dad before me you're grounded.
"When did you guys get home?" Hera asked, realizing what time it was.
"We got home like five minutes ago," He answered, "While you were busy explaining to that guy that you had a family."
Hera only nodded her head. She was surprised she had heard no one enter the house, especially Hermes and Dionysus's loud friends.
Hera rubbed her forehead and asked, "Ok...um….where are all your friends?"
"They're in our room," he answered, "I was just coming down to ask if I could make some lemonade for all of us, but you were a bit busy."
She only sighed, not wanting to deal with chaos just yet.
"I'll make the lemonade," Hera said, not wanting a repeat from last time.
Hermes had turned the entire kitchen upside down which resulted into major havoc with the other children. Everyone was screaming and fighting over the littlest of things and the only one who was able to tame it all was Zeus.
"Ok cool," Hermes said, "There's five of us, including me and Dee. Can you make it pink, please?"
He gave her that innocent face he gives when he either wants something or trying to hide the fact that he did something bad. Hera nodded and entered the kitchen to prepare everything. She laid out five glass cups and a big plate. She began to cut cheese and turkey and lay out out crackers for their snack. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until a scream erupted from upstairs. Hera closed her eyes, wishing the boys were still in school.
