Chapter Eight

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs whenever they come out to play. Everything else belongs to ether Disney or the Greek Myths.

Smh, guys, how is it almost May? I swear this year has just been going by in a flash! Before we know it, it'll be September (which is not that bad for me since I'll be on vacation and that's also the month of my birth so favorite month of the year!)

Also, can you believe we're 18 reviews away from 100? Seriously feels almost surreal when I type it out like that! Thank you all so much for your continued support and I hope you guys continue to enjoy the chapters!

Also also my kitty says hi! Well more like she says she hopes you all appreciate her sacrifice for you since she wants to sleep on my laptop's keyboard but I use it to type lol!

OceanBlueSeaEyes: Definitely something more! At least in the future!

danifan3000: Hey, love sprouts early in Disney! :D

AmethystDragon14: Yay! Yep the little pirate pair got to meet each other for the first time! And yeah Hook might think in terms of crew structure but that doesn't mean he's wrong :D Hopefully Hook'll be able to hold Harriet or Jess soon!

LotusQuil: I hope you know that you inspired a bit of this chapter with your review! :D

twilightgirl587: OUAT Hook does and since honestly that Hook looks closer to Harry in looks than classic Disney Hook does, I combined OUAT Hook and classic Hook.

IWantColouredRain: So glad you enjoyed the chapter! :D

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

Hades sighed as he heard the cries of his infant guests. It had been a…strange time he'd admit, having to get used to the thought of infants in his Underworld.

Sure Panic had his son but the sunspot was rarely if ever in the Underworld. Granted, the Underworld wasn't the most child friendly of places so Hades didn't blame Panic for the lack of sunspot.

Especially since that would have only led to questions that Hades wasn't entirely sure he wanted answered. Like how did Vanessa of all people decide to have a child with Panic? And more importantly, why did the Fates insist on providing circumstances where Hades was forced to ponder that?

Still, having the sunspot around might have made adjusting to three infants in his Underworld a bit easer.

"Seems someone's unhappy about something?"

Hades' head sprung up from the reports he had been working on as he heard the new voice whisper in his ear. It couldn't be…

"Steph?"

"I thought I'd come down here when I noticed that you weren't at the portal," Persephone said with a small smile. "I already put my bags in our room so you don't have to worry about that."

"Your arrival was today?" Hades asked, shaking his head. "I could have sworn I told Pain to put it on the calendar…"

"Even if you did, you're not going to yell at him or maim him for not doing it," Persephone said. "You've got three babies in the Underworld now so there's no sense in making them afraid of you."

"Steph, chances are the babies are going to leave the Underworld sooner or later. What does it matter if they're afraid of me?"

Persephone gave her husband a look, as if asking if he had truly just asked that question. "Hades, you and I both know that you would never purposefully make a child afraid of you. You didn't even try to scare Hercules when he was a child, you wouldn't try to scare a child not related to you. Especially a child of the Isle. The adults are one thing, as you've said they've made their bed."

Hades sighed and held Persephone close to him. He didn't want to argue with his wife, not when she'd been gone for so long. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Persephone said, almost melting into his touch. "Ariel says hi by the way. I saw her during a royal function at the sea."

"Why the sea?"

"One of her sisters had a child with Jim Hawkins. You remember, one of the 'possible' Isle residents until he got a royal pardon," Persephone explained and Hades nodded. It made sense though, Ariel would want her little niece or nephew to make sure their father was around after living her life without her mother.

Besides, acting up as a teenager wasn't exactly something that deserved to condemn the man to a lifetime on an Isle of villains. Though, the ringmaster was on the Isle as well and all he was guilty of, in Hades' mind, was running a circus.

Note to self, find a way to ask Posideon if either Ariel or Eric have something against circus folk, Hades thought.

"Andrina wanted to make it clear that the sea would always be a part of her life," Persephone added, pulling Hades out of his thoughts.

"…I thought Ariel was the first of the family to fall in love with a human? Shouldn't she…?"

"From what I've heard from both the Auradon and Olympus gossip grapevines, Queen Ariel and King Eric are waiting to produce an heir until Ariel's spent a bit more time as a human. Andrina is still opting to live as a mermaid so her daughter Jamie will have the ability to switch, a gift from Triton."

"But Ariel and Eric are waiting?"

"Exactly. Auradon's only a year old after all."

"So's the Isle."

"Oh…right, so it is," Persephone sighed and shook her head. "I guess I still need to make the transition from Auradon to the Isle."

Hades smiled and kissed her temple. "As long as long as you never need to make the transition from 'my Queen', I think you'll be fine."

"That will never happen," Persephone assured him as she brushed some of her brown hair out of her eyes. "No matter what, I'll always come home. Auradon might have sun and plants but the Isle has something more important. My heart."

Hades couldn't help but smile again and he kissed her once more, this time on the lips. He wasn't going to lie, that was always a fear of his whenever she was over in Auradon. That the lure of Olympus and her family across the bridge would convince Persephone to stay.

"Now then," Persephone said as they parted. They may not have needed to breathe as often as mortals would have but she also knew that they couldn't just spend the entire day down in the Underworld locked lips. No matter how much Hades would prefer that. "You can't stay down here all day. I think it's time to see who's crying and if they want any of the gifts I brought back from Auradon."

"You…you brought them gifts?"

"Of course I did Hades! You asked me to bring supplies did you not? They're kids of the Isle and more importantly they're kids of our allies. What kind of a Queen of the Underworld would I be if I didn't bring some toys for them?"

"…they're infants."

"They make toys for infants Hades," Persephone said, shaking her head. "Plus I brought something that might help Hook with holding his daughters. You'd mentioned how the cork board irritated Harriet's skin?"

"Yeah," Hades nodded. "So what? Did you just get him a new hand from Hephaestus or something?"

Persephone chuckled. "Somewhat. I got a baseball mitt for us to try. King Milo had one he'd been willing to donate but most of the kids in Auradon play Tourney or R.O.A.R. so it was mostly gathering dust until I was able to talk to him. The leather should be more soothing on Harriet's skin and he'll at least be able to hold his own child if nothing else."

"…I feel like you should come with a warning label of terrifyingly brilliant."

"Flattery will get you everywhere Hades. Now come on, let's go. You can't hide from our guests forever you know."

Hades sighed. "I wasn't hiding from them. But…you know my tendency to shout. With infants, especially three of them, this is really the only place I can yell at Pain and Panic for being moronic. Though they haven't been as moronic as they've been in the past."

"Probably because they can figure out that when they're 'moronic' as you put it, you yell at them and that in turn upsets the kids. Now come on, are you going to hide down here in the Underworld all day?"

"…I've gotten a lot more work done than I have in the past."

"And now you get a break," Persephone chuckled as she gently tugged Hades out of his chair. "You can yell at the depraved souls all you want after you take a break."

"Is it a fun break?" Hades asked with a small smirk.

Persephone shook her head. "Maybe if you behave while I meet the new residents of the Underworld, it can be a 'fun break'. Now come on Hades. You're dragging your feet more than when you have to send a report to Zeus."

"Because he's got no business sticking his nose into the Underworld. Bad enough he moved the Underworld to the Isle so even if I tried petitioning my great-niece to get off this hellscape of a rock, I can't because my job which was so generously assigned to me by my 'loving' brother, is here. I don't even get my Cerberus with me though maybe that's a good thing. He'd be miserable on the Isle."

"Have you eaten today?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You're more kvetchy when you're hungry," Persephone said as they made their way into the den. "Please tell me you haven't been running yourself ragged while I've been gone."

"I'm a God—."

"Don't care. You still need to eat Hades. What would you do if we had a kid and I was in Auradon?"

Hades paused and looked at Persephone. "Please tell me that's not your way of telling me you're pregnant?"

"What?" Persephone asked, looking at Hades for a moment before her eyes went wide. "Oh, no, no. Trust me Hades, I would have told you much sooner than now if I'd been pregnant while in Auradon. Besides, you're the only one I'd want to be the father of my children and if I was pregnant now…"

"Right, right," Hades sighed and nodded. "Sorry Steph, I guess hearing you say that, my mind just went…"

"I get it," Persephone said with a small smile. "But would it be so bad if we did have a child together?"

"…only if they'd be able to get off the Isle with you. I don't want our child, should we ever have one, to be subjected to the Isle permanently for only the crime of being born under their belt."

Persephone sighed. "Hades…"

"I mean it Steph," Hades said. "If we do ever have children, I want a guarantee in writing from Zeus and Ariel that any kids we have will at least have the sun in their lives for half year."

"But is that fair to you?" Persephone asked. "You're already going six months without seeing me. If we had a kid, you'd miss out on half their life."

"Steph, you'd also miss out on half their life and the kid in question would be stuck on the Isle permanently," Hades said with a small sigh. "But we're wasting time talking about what if's. You said you had gifts for the little sunspots?"

"Right, right," Persephone nodded and the two of them made their way up to their room where Persephone grabbed the bags she'd brought.

"What about—?"

"The food is already in the fridge," Persephone said. "And the non-perishables are in the cupboard above the fridge since you're the only one tall enough to access it. Makes for a great pantry."

"Wait…if I'm the only one tall enough to reach it, how'd you put the non-perishables in there?"

"I bought a step stool while in Auradon of course. Acts almost like a ladder only it only has two levels."

Hades grinned. "I love having another intelligent person around the Underworld."

"Come on now, surely Panic has a brain cell or two rattling around," Persephone teased and giggled at the look on Hades' face. "Come on love you know I'm only teasing. Now let's go, before you get me distracted as to the reason why we're in our room in the first place."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Hades said, shaking his head.

"Because right now it is," Persephone chuckled and shook her head. "I know you Hades and I know it's been a long six months because it's been the same for me."

"So why can't we be together and not interact with anyone?"

"Because it's rude."

"This is the Isle babe. No one cares about rudeness here."

Persephone chuckled. "Okay, okay. Well maybe after I meet our guests we can be alone. How's that sound?"

"Sounds perfect," Hades grinned and sprung to his feet as if he'd been made out of rubber and springs. Quickly gathering up the bags from Persephone's hands, he began to walk out of the room before she could protest.

"Honestly," Persephone shook her head.

"You know I can hear you right?" Hades called.

"That's the idea Hades," Persephone called back but quickly caught up to him. Before long the two of them were able to track down their guests and allies, who'd set up a baby play area in the Smee's room.

"Lady Persephone!" Mollie exclaimed upon seeing the Goddess. "I…we didn't know you were arriving today—."

"There's no need for that," Persephone said as the new mother had tried to scramble to her feet. "I only wished to introduce myself as you're our guests and give the girls some toys for them to play with."

"Toys? From Boreadon?" Hook asked.

"No from Neverland," Hades said with a small shake of his head as if he was wondering how the pirate could have been so idiotic. "Yes from Boreadon."

"Now Hades, it's a valid question," Persephone said, giving her husband a look. "But yes Captain, the toys are from Auradon if you want to look them over. Oh! And I've got something for you as well."

"Me?"

"Hades told me about your dilemma and how the cork board didn't work with Harriet," Persephone said as she brought a baseball mitt out of one of the bags. "So I thought that this might work better. It's smoother than cork board so there wouldn't be any irritation and it's thick so your hook won't poke through."

Milah smiled. "Brilliant! Oh James, we should give it a shot at least."

"It definitely can't hurt but I really won't be able to help with anything else while I'm wearing it," Hook said.

"James that won't matter. You''ll be able to hold Harriet and Jess, and even Sammy if you wanted."

"It's true cap'n," Smee nodded.

Hook paused and looked over at his daughters, who were looking back at him in interest, before looking back at Persephone. "Well like what has been said, it can't hurt to try, Lady Persephone."

"Oh none of that now," Persephone said, shaking her head. "You're our guests for however long you wish to be here. You can just call me Persephone if you wish."

"Knowing James, he won't do that," Milah said, chuckling slightly at the look on Hook's face.

"That would be a fair assumption," Mollie nodded.

Hook rolled his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with respecting rank and titles," he said as he slipped the mitt on his hook. "Huh…not bad. At least I won't impale the lassies while I wear this."

"Which is always a good thing," Milah nodded. "Do you want to hold one of them?"

"Maybe in a bit. They seem comfortable where they're at."

Milah shook her head and gently placed Harriet in Hook's arms, having been holding their daughter the entire time. "There," she said softly. "I think this baseball mitt might just be the way to go."

"You know I won't be able to help with much else right?" Hook asked. "Changing's for instance."

"James if you all you can do is hold our child, that's all I will ask of you," Milah said. "But you deserve a chance to hold our daughter too. I shouldn't get to hog her."

Hook shook his head but smiled as he looked down at Harriet, who was a bit too big to fit comfortably in the baseball mitt but it was a lot better than the cork board they'd tried before.

Meanwhile, Persephone was busy pulling more items out of the bags. "I went a little toy crazy, apologies," the Goddess said with a sheepish smile.

While Auradon had been providing the bare necessities for babies (cribs, diapers, formula, and onesies) unfortunately toys were rather low on the list. The Isle was still a prison after all.

"You didn't have to do all of this Lady Persephone," Mollie said as Persephone brought out toy after toy.

"You really didn't, Steph. I think we'll be tripping over most of these toys," Hades said, chuckling slightly as Persephone gave him a look.

"I might have gone a bit overboard but I wanted to be a gracious hostess, especially since I wasn't here for a chunk of their stay," Persephone said as she pulled out the final toys. "What kind of pirates would be caught without their swords?"

Hook grinned as he saw the red foam swords come from Persephone's bag, and Milah just shook her head in amusement.

"Oh! And I've got one for Sammy as well," Persephone said, pulling out a blue foam sword. "I figured it'd be safer than giving them actual swords right now."

"That is definitely the better idea your Ladyship," Smee nodded.

Persephone shook her head and looked over at her husband. "So how long did it take you before they stopped using your title?"

"Who says they've stopped?" Hades said but even he couldn't hide the small smile of Jess and Sammy waving their foam swords around and little Harriet still in Hook's arms wrapping her little fingers around hers.

Damn…I'm going to miss them when they're gone aren't I? Hades thought. How'd this happen? I…do they have to leave? Wait, what am I doing? Of course they do! They've got their own lives and Frollo won't be a pain. In fact I doubt he's still looking for Jess. Soon the Underworld will be just me and Steph again—and the morons.

He nodded to himself, ignoring the slight tug he felt toward the thought of his Underworld being empty once more.