The gods granted Hercules and megara the peace which had been denied them at the start of their marriage. The next two months were an incredible experience for Hercules, who'd never experienced such tranquility in his life.
Through letters that flooded in from their contacts across Greece, they learned that Medusa had established a home for monsters who didn't want to hurt anyone on her island, and she was working on integrating them to whatever degree was possible. It was a new venture, so it remained to be seen how well she would succeed.
Theseus and Galatea announced that they, too, were expecting a child and suggested that it was fate so that both children could be lifelong friends.
Icarus had nothing to say to them, and Hercules silently grieved the loss of that friendship. Nobody had seen him, even Daedalus, and Hercules didn't feel it was appropriate to will himself to a friend who didn't want to speak with him.
Cassandra sent them the occasional vision she'd had about their child, stacked with remarks about how she'd look and questioning what the name they'd choose for her would be. They didn't have an answer to that question. They included a list and asked if Cassandra could foresee anything to do with one of the names on that list. They had narrowed their options down to a few categories: flowers, family, and features.
The flowers category was ultimately dominated by the name Iole, which would mean lumping all purple flowers into one name.
In the Family category, only the names Harmonia and Ismene remained, though Megara was hesitant to use the name of a cousin who might be alive out there somewhere. Harmonia, as the founding mother of the Cadmean Dynasty, had existed before the curse and never truly fell under it until she sacrificed her freedom to live with her husband. Megara was uncomfortable with setting their daughter up with a legacy like that, but Hercules reminded her that their daughter had been conceived mere hours after her parents did the same for one another.
Harmonia also qualified for their virtues list with Arete, a catch-all for all virtues. They fit Melina and Melete on that same list on a technicality, as they both referenced honey. That list ended with Makaria, which meant blessed. It was a bargain with the Fates to please let the name come true after the legacy of Thebes.
Assembling the League of Heroes eliminated some names as the trainees who'd wandered to Phil's island were both male and female and to avoid a show of favor toward strangers, they created a list of everyone who planned to join the league and decided not to use any of their names.
Despite their inability to pick between the names, Megara reassured Hercules that many families didn't even name a child until the eighth birthday. In the meantime, they celebrated their freedom and the ability to spend all their time together.
Hercules reveled in the chance to share everything with Meg on their terms. He could bring Meg to the amphitheater and show off, even teach her a few things, but with his new powers, he could also escape with her before anyone caught up with them.
There were no impromptu fan meetups the day he waited out her morning sickness, plied her with Herculade, and sat her on a cushioned VIP seat at the stadium's ringside.
"I might even join you if I wasn't so nauseous," Megara told him, leaning back under the shade of a blue banner that bore his lightning bolt insignia. She wore an easy smile, and the ease of her presence could've fooled anyone who didn't know she was suffering.
"Heh… sorry," he said, though he didn't erase his grin. He was stretching, winding up for the stunt he planned to pull. "This is a pretty advanced technique."
"Then be careful; I'd hate to be too shocked and amazed."
Hercules would never get tired of showing off to his wife. All he really wanted out of life was to impress her… and a load of their babies.
If that meant pulling a bunch of wild stunts for her, then so be it.
He felt so full of giddy delight that he had to do something with all the excess energy coursing through his blood. He couldn't spend every waking minute making love to his wife; she'd get tired.
An added bonus was his ability to stay fit as a fiddle for his girl. Phil had put him through constant, grueling exercises. Even as a god who could will himself never to change, Hercules was convinced that discipline was indispensable.
He vaulted from atop a pommel horse onto a set of parallel bars, then swung in quick circles around the top one.
"Don't break that!" Megara called to him.
"I won't!" he called back and squatted in place atop the bar. "I'll see you soon!" He vaulted into the sky. He was feeling so… up. He had a wife and a daughter. It didn't hurt that his daughter was helping fill out his wife's curves, either. He'd have to compliment her again when he landed.
Hercules caught hold of the bar on the way back down, swung into another circle, and then landed in a pose he hoped Megara would find impressive.
Megara clapped for him. "You went so high; I'm surprised you need Pegasus for anything."
Pegasus looked up from a bowl of birdseed to see if she was serious, then brushed off the comment and went back to snacking.
"I could go even higher, but I didn't want to be too far away from the most gorgeous future goddess the cosmos has ever seen."
Megara snickered. "Keep that up, and maybe I'll let you take me to the theater."
"You'll let me take you anywhere," Hercules snickered. "After I clean up, that is. I knew you'd be the sort of girl I had to work for. I'm willing to put in all the work." Hercules tossed his cape over his shoulder in what he hoped was a debonair gesture, fixed his sweatband along his brow, and set up a few showstopper flexing poses that usually drew crowds.
These shenanigans inspired a fit of uproarious giggles from Meg. "You don't have to pose for me; I already know you're the champion of champions."
"But I got you to say it!" Hercules winked and strode toward Meg, swinging his arms in slow, lazy circles. "You sure you don't wanna try and run a lap with me?"
"Depends. Do you want to see my breakfast again? I could also recite a catalog of which parts of my body are the sorest."
"Aw, I'm sorry, Meg… C'mon, I'll take you to get a massage." He extended a hand to her, but she made a sour face of disapproval.
"I'm not letting anyone touch me," she said and cast her eyes about as if someone nefarious would-be masseuse was creeping around the stadium and waiting to pounce.
"Not even if the message came from the champion of champions?" he winked at her.
"Oh, now that's another proposition entirely." She eased herself off her perch with the same concern as if she worried she might spill expensive wine from a cup.
Hercules watched her with a goofy smile that was never going away. He could see the way her dress shifted around a small but visible baby bump, and he was utterly spellbound. All he could do was watch her and sigh.
"What?" Megara asked, looking up with a blush that said she knew what he was looking at but he'd made her self-conscious.
"It's just so beautiful watching you… You're carrying our child, and your body is so incredible…" He reached out more shyly than before. "Will you let me carry you?"
"My feet are sore…" Megara shrugged and stepped into his arms. "I might as well indulge us both."
As he had many times before, Hercules scooped her into his arms and let her arrange herself. "Comfortable?" he asked as she stretched and squirmed.
"Getting there. Now, where are we going for that massage?"
Hercules raised her into a kiss before he walked her into the back rooms of the arena where athletes would prepare and then wind down after competing.
He missed sharing the arena with fellow athletes, even if it was fun to have the run of the place. Once Thebes achieved an equilibrium, which would hopefully be soon, they could arrange another set of games. But what would they get so many people in one place for?
"What're you thinking?" Megara asked. "You look mildly upset, and I can't have that."
"Oh, no, I'm not… I was just thinking… Do you think we should hold games in honor of defeating the Titans?" Hercules set her down only after spreading a line of linen-wrapped cushions on a bench.
"Sure. You're a god, you should have holidays. Your father gets a Titan Smitin' Day. Why shouldn't you?'
"Mine would also celebrate how your sacrifice made everything possible," Hercules remarked, easing Megara out of her dress so he could have access to her skin.
"Oof, are you gonna drop fake columns on some poor girl every year? I don't think I want to watch that."
"No, but maybe we can have a commemorative statue done."
She made a face.
"Or… you'll be a goddess by then. We ought to share the holiday, and you can pick how you're commemorated." He took a moment as he collected oils for the massage to appreciate the new lines of her body.
"You don't think that's too soon to expect an apotheosis?"
Hercules reflexively shook his head. "Is it too early because you're not comfortable being a goddess, or is it because you don't think we can pull it off so soon?"
"Because I'm a princess, I know how government works. The one thing our fathers have in common is once they make a law, they won't take it back. They're too afraid of admitting they were wrong."
Hercules grimaced. Hades had used that trait of his father's against him enough times that he needed no convincing she was right. He spread oil across the spots he knew made Megara the sorest and got to work while he concentrated on solving the problem presented to him. "I don't know what he needs to see before he understands, but I'll make him see it," Hercules decided. He moved his hands along Megara and sighed. "But let's not talk about my father for now… I'm much too distracted at the moment…"
Megara swung her legs off the edge of the bench and drew him closer. "So am I. I think we could both stand to loosen up."