Hercules kept checking over his shoulder to ensure Harmonia kept up with him. She'd gone through her first obstacle course like it was nothing- that had to be Meg's influence, as far as he was concerned. He'd always been so clumsy! Megara had the grace of a cat, and now Harmonia did, too. Unless he would've had automatic grace, if not for the super strength, it would be best not to get lost in those thoughts right now; his family needed him.
"Close the door behind us, will you, Moni?" Hercules asked while he set Megara on their old bed.
It'd been a long time since they'd been there last... almost eight months if his count was right.
Harmonia shut the door and ran up to join them.
Before she got to the bed, Hercules scooped her into his arms and tossed her toward the ceiling.
Megara let out a yelp of alarm, but Harmonia giggled like crazy.
"That's my brave little girl," Hercules gushed at his daughter and cuddled her to his chest when he caught her. "You stood up to all those big guys having bad thoughts about your Mama, and you didn't let them hide it. You're such a good daughter, aren't you?"
Harmonia laughed once more, pressing her cheek against her father's shoulder.
"We're a loyal family, and we look out for each other," Hercules continued. He kept a hold of his daughter as he fell like a log backward onto the bed. He landed next to Megara and grinned up at her. "We made the best little girl."
Harmonia looked hopefully at her mother for more approval, and Megara didn't disappoint.
She ran soft, slow fingers through Harmonia's curls. "I'm so glad I've been allowed to hear your voice, Moni. And to see how brave and kind you are. Having you in my life has been such an honor and a privilege."
The joy in Harmonia's face dissipated the longer she heard her mother speak. "Growing myself up didn't give me all those words."
"I love you and you are so special that knowing you makes me happy," Megara told her.
Hercules scooted higher up the bed so he could wrap both his girls in his arms. He rested his head on Megara's shoulder and grinned at their daughter. "I agree with her because she's always right." He rubbed Megara's back and drank in her scent. She always smelled so sweet and gave off more warmth than usual. He missed being able to lose himself in her the way he'd done when she wasn't so tired, but that had been how he'd gotten them into this mess in the first place. All of this was his fault. He may have doomed her because he couldn't keep his desires in check...
Megara jostled him with her shoulder under his cheek, and that's when he noticed how Harmonia looked at them.
"Papa...?" Harmonia tilted her head at him like she was trying to read a big word in a lesson scroll.
"I'm sorry, Moni... And I'm sorry, Meg." He could never express how sorry he was. He kissed her cheek and wished he could will immortality into her. He'd give anything to know she'd be safe.
Harmonia crawled closer to her parents and curled up between them. "Why are you two always so sad when you say you're happy? You always say you're happy the most when you're extra sad. Are you liars?"
Megara burst into a fit of uneven cackling laughter. "Yes, I am, but he doesn't know how!"
"Don't call yourself a liar. She'll think you're serious!" Hercules protested.
"Sometimes lying is fun and helps you get what you need," Megara told Harmonia.
"Whoa! Don't tell her that, either!" He covered Megara's mouth. "Moni, heroes don't lie, and we're heroes."
Harmonia giggled. "Mama wants us to laugh when she says that!"
"But you don't think Mama's a liar, right?"
"No, never. Mama likes to joke, tell stories, and play games. Mama's really fun."
Memories of the times Hades and Phil had tried to convince him Megara was unfaithful and dishonest still cut him. They couldn't cut him deeper than the idea of their daughter getting a negative opinion of her and then undergoing a final separation.
Megara was still laughing behind his hand. He recognized this kind of laughter. She was laughing so she wouldn't cry.
Even though neither of them was in a position to say it, Harmonia patted Megara's belly. "It's okay, Mama. I like your stories."
"You remember when I told you stories?"
"I don't remember what they were, but I liked to hear your voice anyway, and I liked the feeling you got telling them. I got the same feeling you did from listening to you."
Megara nodded thoughtfully, then turned her shadowed violet eyes to Hercules. "We should tell her our story. While we're here, I think it's extra special."
"Our story?" Hercules repeated. There were lots of pieces to their story he didn't think his daughter ought to hear about.
"I'm sure she'll hear it from all sorts of people, but we're the ones who lived it, and she's our firstborn. She's the first jewel in the crown of our legacy."
Hercules's brows rose. "Oh... that's... a good way of putting it..." He rubbed her back a little harder, then slid his hand around her side to give her a squeeze on her hip. He had to suppress the feeling that he especially liked the feel of her so warm and soft under his hand. She wouldn't like mentioning it right now, and he wouldn't in front of Harmonia.
"What kind of jewel am I?" Harmonia was asking Megara, oblivious to her father's spark of desire for her mother.
"A very sparkly one, with bits of gold and purple stuck together," Megara told her.
"Oh... I'm really pretty, huh?"
"Of course you are. You're made of every pretty thing your father and I ever were."
Hercules's heart felt like it might burst. He didn't hear this sort of thing often enough. This must be one of the things smothered under the blanket of her perpetual exhaustion. He kissed Megara's cheek and then her neck. "All right, we'll tell her our story. Our precious gem needs to know."
Harmonia glowed a little brighter when she heard that, her aura responding to praise and affection the same way Hercules was sure he did himself. "What's first?"
"One day, I was out in the woods doing work for my nasty, horrible boss because he said he'd make me work for him longer if I didn't," Megara said.
"Who was your boss?" Harmonia asked.
"You know that scary man from my dream?" Hercules asked.
Megara raised a brow. "From your dream?"
"Moni is very special. She can commune in dreams like I did for you when we were expecting Moni. Maybe it's because I did that for the two of you when she was still being made."
Harmonia snuggled deeper between her parents. "Why did you work for the bad man?" she asked Megara.
"Oh, because I was tricked into thinking he'd let me save someone, but that person didn't really deserve my help. Then I got stuck still working for him. But that's not important right now. We can talk about it another time. Right now, just know he sent me to make a monster work for him."
"A monster… You talked to monsters?" Harmonia gasped.
"All the time. I worked with them. Sometimes, I even thought of myself as a monster."
Harmonia frowned at that sentiment.
"But I'd been training to make myself a hero for years," Hercules cut in so he could spare Megara from having to degrade herself further. "Then I heard your mother screaming, so I flew Pegasus down to help her."
Harmonia nodded as if that was something she considered fundamentally 'correct.' She was his daughter, after all. "So you saved Mama from the monster."
"I didn't want him to because I was still trying to do what my boss wanted me to so he'd let me go sooner," Megara told Harmonia. "So I was mean to your father."
"No, no, you weren't mean! You were funny! And so brave, I thought you were amazing!"
That made Harmonia throw her head back and laugh with full-throated glee.
"But I was right, she's amazing, isn't she Moni?" Hercules asked.
"Yeah, but I wanna know what she said to you."
"I told him to go away and let me take care of myself," Megara said. "He didn't believe me, though. He thought I should let him help me because he didn't understand I was still trying to do business with the monster. I was on the opposite side from Team Hero."
"But now she's on our team," Hercules was quick to say.
"Yeah, now, instead of resisting and undermining heroes, I make 'em," Megara said, snickering the way she used to. It made Hercule's heart thud harder. "It's a full-time job, but I'm happier with this one."
"Good," Harmonia said. "My brothers are also grateful."
Megara raised a brow and glanced up at Hercules. "Do you know that for sure?"
"They'd better, or I'll make them," Harmonia replied.
Both Megara and Hercules had to laugh at that.
"So Papa definitely saved you, Mama, and then you fell in love with him."
"There were some extra steps involved, and I didn't want to fall in love because I thought it was a bad idea. But at the same time, he has always been irresistible, and I'd been lying to myself."
Even after all this time, Hercules felt himself blush.
"Look at him, this big ox, a literal god, blushing over me, calling him irresistible years after we got married while I'm already carrying his second and third children."
"Because you're doing so much for me, I can't stop blushing!" Hercules insisted. "Moni, back me up on this! Your Mama does so much for me all of the time. I'm always so overwhelmed by how much she does for us."
Harmonia nodded and patted Megara. "Mama is the best."
"Thank you," Megara said. "Well, after I fell in love, Hercules got me away from my bad boss, and we came here. This is where we made–"
Once again, Hercules clapped a hand over Megara's mouth. "Don't tell her!" he gasped.
Behind his hand, Megara started to laugh once again, and he realized this was all part of her game.
"Be careful, Meg, her little ears hear everything!"
Harmonia got up on her knees and turned on her parents, her arms folded and her eyes narrowed.
The sight of this made Megara laugh all over again.
"Okay, stop hiding stuff from me; I'm not dumb; I'm just little," Harmonia said.
"No, you're not stupid, honey," Hercules ruffled her ginger curls. "You're extremely clever! But that's why we have to be careful so we don't say anything you're too innocent to hear."
Megara snorted, and he knew she was thinking of how ironic it was that he was the one making that argument after she'd worked so hard to protect his innocence, and he'd instead fallen into bed with her.
"It's not the same, and you know it," he chided her, but at the same time, he was grinning fondly at her. His annoyance with her could nevver outweigh how charmed he was by everything she did.
"Let her tell me," Harmonia said.
Hercules furrowed his brow. "She was going to tell you this is where we made you."
Harmonia looked around the room with a newfound awe. "Here? What'd you make me out of?" She plucked at the blanket and tried to look under it, but her parents were too heavy.
"Um…" Hercules was distracted by trying to get an idea, so Megara moved her mouth to freedom.
"We made you out of love, trust, and teamwork," she said. "That's why you're amazing!" Having said these things, she shot Hercules a 'see, I'm not crazy' kind of look
"Hmm…" Harmonia tapped her chin. "I know you're lying to me, but it's a good joke because you also mean it. You were both right. Mama is only a kind of liar."
"But we're so proud of ourselves for making you, and I'm proud of making your brothers," Megara said. "The best and most important things are always the most difficult."
"I agree with that," Hercules said. "It took me a lot before I could control my own strength. I used to be a clumsy, geeky loser."
"What do you mean?" Harmonia asked.
"Everything was slippery to him, and people thought he was silly," Megara explained. "But I like him when he's silly, don't you?"
"Yeah!" Harmonia giggled. "I always laugh for Papa."
"For, not at," Megara highlighted to Hercules.
That was a kind thing for Harmonia to express and for Megara to point out to him. Sometimes he forgot how much his family loved him in return. When it really hit him, he felt unworthy of it.
"What happened next?" Harmonia asked, mobing so she could sit on her father's lap while also stretching her legs over her mother's.
"Oh, well, once we made you, other gods were rude about it, and one of them tried to take me from your father, but he was too smart. And then I ripped a lady's head off for trying to take him away."
Hercules gasped as he worried that might finally be too much for Harmonia to hear, but he saw his daughter nodding with a look of flinty danger in her eyes. "Good job, Mama."
"Eh-heh!" Hercules's laughter burst out of him. "And that was when she was still making you, so she made you with extra fierceness."
Harmonia tossed her hair over her shoulder and out of her eyes. "I know."
Now, both of her parents laughed. It was so refreshing to have something to laugh over. Hercules looked from his daughter to his wife, and for just one afternoon, he wasn't so afraid of the future.
