Nico sat in his room, his head buried underneath the blankets. He was scared, really scared. He could hear Bianca crying, could hear his dad crying, could hear strange men talking in the hall. Nowhere could he hear his mother.
At four years old, Nico was still small for his age but more healthy than he had been. His clothes were made by his mother, his hair and body were always clean. The day the sun didn't look like the sun but more like a silver disc, he cried for the first time in years. He cried his small eyes out because his little heart couldn't quite take the sadness, the sadness of losing a parent.
Four years old, an important age. An age that was supposed to be full of growth and learning and love. For him, it was wrecked with sadness. The day his mother died brought hatred into his father's heart. It introduced the need to blame someone. And for Hades, that blame went to his only son.
"Nico?" Bianca ran into Nico's room and moved under the blankets so that she was cuddled into his side. Her own tears moistened her cheeks and filled her eyes with a sparkling light. "I'm really sad."
"Bianca..." Nico cuddled against his older sister. "I'm scared..."
"It's okay." she wrapped her small arms around him. "It's okay. Daddy said mommy is just sleeping. She's gonna be sleeping for a long time." Their Italian had English mixed into it, but most of their words were their native language. "He said not to be sad."
"I want momma." Nico whimpered. "I want momma. Why she sleep?"
"She got sick," Bianca explained. "Daddy said she got really really sick."
"Is she ever going to wake up?" Nico hiccuped.
"I don't know..." Bianca admitted. "Let's just snuggle, okay? Let's snuggle like momma's here to snuggle with us."
Nico nodded his small head, keeping close to her. He gripped onto her as if she was his mom, as if all that responsibility and emotions fell onto her. With his eyes closed, he could almost believe that he was laying with his mother instead of his sister.
But Bianca was smaller than Maria and her hair smelled different. Maria was always clean. Bianca, however, played outside and explored the large house. She smelled like dirt and dust. She didn't smell like Maria, nor did her touch feel like his mother's. She was different. So different.
He just wanted his momma.
"Bianca." Hades voice broke their small bubble of comfort. "Are you in here?"
The dark haired girl stuck her head out from the top of the blanket but couldn't stop crying. "Daddy... I needed someone to snuggle with."
"Come snuggle with me." he held his hand out to her. "Let's go lay down. We need each other now more than ever." He was crying...when had they ever seen their father cry?
Bianca jumped away from Nico and ran to meet her father, her dress as dirty as her hair. "Daddy...I want momma..."
Hades picked his daughter up, his sad eyes closed. "I know. I want her, too. I know."
"Can Nico come lay with us?" Bianca asked. "Can we all snuggle together?"
"Not Nico." Hades walked from the room, keeping her in his arms. "I don't want Nico there."
"But why not?" she demanded. "He misses mommy, too."
"He was one of the reasons she was sick," Hades explained. "He helped hurt her, Bianca. It's his fault."
As they moved further and further from Nico's room, they were unaware of his sobs, of his heartwrenching cries. They were unaware that at four years old, he tried to think of a way to see his mother again.
