I'm back and with some 1930s stuff! Some more Maria di Angelo because that lady was awesome. Hope you enjoy!

All credit to Rick Riordan (do we even have to do this anymore?).

Maria smiled to herself. Watching him trying to tie their daughter's hair made her feel a sort of pride she wasn't used to.

She was glad he could visit. Not because of her, not really, but because Bianca would grow up knowing her father. She knew many people in her situation, unmarried women with illegitimate children, and she had to admit, she was real lucky her boyfriend hadn't left. Or not for good, anyhow.

She was aware that he couldn't stay all the time, she was aware that she was the other woman, she was aware of the nasty things the people spoke of her. She couldn't care less.

She looked at him, a proud man... a proud god -she reminded herself-, trying and failing to grab a strand of hair and join it with the others, and thought that there wasn't a single person who was more privileged than her.

"Mio caro, do you need help with that?" she wondered, sitting in the sofa next to the one where Hades was frowning at his daughter's hair.

"I can do this!"

She gave him a look.

"It cannot be that complicated," he insisted. "I can manage the Underworld, I can definitely manage a bunch of hairs."

One-year-old Bianca smiled a toothy grin, then tried to grab his father's hand between her chubby ones.

"I have to tell you something," Maria said.

Hades grumbled, distractedly, finally having managed to grab the hair with the little purple ribbon.

"I found out just yesterday, actually," she continued. "I thought I had to tell you before you left."

He raised an eyebrow. She couldn't help but enjoy the regret she saw in his eyes. He didn't want to leave for six months, she could see. He ought to return, if they wanted to keep this quiet from prying eyes, mainly his wife's.

"I'm pregnant."

Hades dropped the ribbon and stared at her, his face impassive, like a statue's.

She looked at him expectantly. It was his turn to react, she had been very surprised already.

"How...?" he stuttered.

"You know how, mio caro," she offered him a smile, if a bit of a tight one.

He sat there, Bianca -who had managed to take hold of her father's hand- on his lap, gurgling cheerfully.

After half a minute of awkward silence -at least on Maria's side- a wide grin broke into his face.

"You're having another baby!" he said.

"That's usually the definition of pregnant, yes."

Hades stood up, careful not to drop Bianca, and squeezed her into a hug.

Maria allowed herself a few tears, what with her hormones and whatnot, and composed her expression. She loved him, and she hoped he was at least fond of her, but men were unpredictable with these sort of thing. Especially powerful men.

"I'm a lucky god," he whispered into the hug. He loosened his grip, and sat again with Bianca. "Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?"

Maria wanted to tell him that while he wasn't angry because of it, non gli importava niente.

Of course, that was a tad aggressive, so she said, "I already have a daughter, I would like a son."

Hades gave her a smile full of earnest happiness, almost hopeful, "A boy? I like having daughters," he admitted.

"Wait until they become teenagers," she shrugged. "Mio papà must have wanted to disinherit me a thousand times!"

"That's because you followed your sister into her suffragette meetings," he deadpanned. "Hopefully by the time Bianca is older, it won't be necessary anymore."

"And he did always forgive me," Maria said. "I think he must've been in agreement deep down."

Hades nodded, "Yes, that, and because he spoils you."

Maria made a face. She was the youngest, she had the right to be spoiled. Elder siblings got attention and praise, and she got her father to forgive her for having a child with a man who wasn't her husband. If she played her cards right, he wouldn't make too big a scene when she told him she was expecting again. Her mother on the other hand... Maria shivered.

"Are you all right?"

"Do you think they will be mean to them?" Maria asked. Hades looked confused, so she said, "In school, in life. When they figure out their father isn't always around."

Hades looked down, Maria detected an ounce of shame seeping through his impassive face, "I hope they won't, then again, you know they will be different. I..."

"You told me so before," she finished. "Yes, you did."

"You're a strong woman," Hades stated. "Their classmates will be too afraid to make fun of them, I'm sure."

"My reputation shall precede me, 'that pazza suffragette with the bastard children and the inconsistently present man'," Maria suggested. "I should write that in a banner and hang it outside my window."

Hades rolled his eyes and sat down again to resume his battle with Bianca's untamable hair.

"Have you thought about names, yet?" he wondered without looking at her.

"Names?" she said. "It hasn't been twenty four hours since it was confirmed!"

"But women suspect way before they're told," he insisted. "You told me that last time."

"That was a very smart of me, especially since I had never been pregnant before," she said.

"So you made it up?"

She shrugged, "What I know, I say, what I don't, I invent."

He smiled, "I like Vittoria, for a girl."

"I like Antonio, for a boy."

"How about Pietro?" he suggested.

"Urgh, no," she scoffed. "The neighbour's boy is called that, a nasty piece of work, that boy is."

"I like Giovanni."

"Giovanni's good," she admitted. "Perhaps as a second name. Eleonora, if it's a girl. After my sister, the original di Angelo suffragette."

"Fair enough, the rest of your family would be spiteful," he said. "You could call her 'Nora' so that there's no confusion. If it's a boy, won't you name him after your father?"

"Benito?" she asked. "Sure, his second name can be Adolf."

"Ha, ha."

"I'm certainly not naming my daughter after my cold-hearted mother, either," Maria said. "Before you even ask."

"I liked Eleonora, for a girl," he remarked. "It's a nice thing to do, name her after someone you care about."

"And who would you name him or her after?" she wondered.

"No one in my family," he guaranteed her. "They're all intolerable, and we have weird names."

"Certamente," she agreed. "I like Niccolò."

Hades tilted his head to the side, as if weighing the value of the name.

"I like it," he said. "A bit old fashioned, but elegant."

Maria put a hand on her tummy, which had yet to show anything at all, "You hear that, Niccolò? Papà likes your name!"

Hades looked up from Bianca's hair, "I still think it will be a girl. But I like Eleonora, so papà likes your name either way."

Maria sat on her sofa. Her hand was still in her tummy and in less than a second, everything felt suddenly real.

She was having another child.

Her hand felt warm, she imagined the lump of cells inside of her and wished that her baby would grow faster.

"Is everything all right?"

Hades' voice brought her out of her reverie. He took out a handkerchief and carefully cleaned the tear trails she hadn't even felt off her cheeks.

"I just got a little overwhelmed, that's all," she reassured him.

He studied her, "But you're happy, right?"

His voice betrayed nothing, but there was a glimmer of anxiety in his eyes that Maria took to mean he was just as afraid of her reaction as she had been of his.

"Yes," she smiled. She felt new tears roll down her cheeks and cursed the emotional mess she was in. "These are happy tears, I promise."

Hades knelt in front of her and hugged her.

"One thing, though," he said as he sat back on his couch and picked up Bianca. "That's the second time you made me lose my concentration, you tie her hair."

Now, Uncle Rick is never too clear about dates. This has got to be around the early 30s, because Nico's supposed to have been born in January of 1933.

These stories have all been in the canonverse, but I was thinking of writing a one shot, or a multichapter story where Hazel doesn't die in 1942 and instead goes live with Maria, Nico, and Bianca. If you have any suggestions, I'm totally open to them :)