Megara didn't know how long she slept, lulled by the presence of her family and the sense that they were all safe together. Safe, for the moment. They were in the same bed where she had awoken when Hercules brought her back to life, where they'd created all their children. It was sacred, especially because it wasn't where they spent every night anymore. She peeked one eye open and found Hercules with his head resting on her chest.
His ear was pressed against her heart, seemingly out of fear that it would stop if he weren't paying attention.
While she found his concern incredibly adorable, Megara knew he had well-founded grounds for concern.
Tired as she was, she lifted a hand to his hair and trailed her fingers through it.
When her mind had a chance to catch up with how long it must have been, her stomach growled.
Hercules laughed softly and lifted his head. "Been too long since we fed the beasts, hasn't it?"
"I thought you were a monster fighter, not a monster maker."
"You can't blame me if they're monsters. It was clearly your plan all along."
Megara rolled her eyes.
Somehow, Hercules had restrained his laughter until that moment. His laughter stirred Harmonia, who was happily wedged between them and curled around the curve that contained her brothers.
Harmonia opened one wide violet eye to peer at her parents as if she suspected them of mischief that she had to supervise.
"Are you hungry, Moni?" Hercules asked. "We can get something for Mama."
"And me," Harmonia replied, not at all as groggy as Megara had expected her to be. "I'm not hungry like usual, but I like food now that I have all my teeth."
Megara snorted. "That's the best time for food."
"I agree." Harmonia sat up and patted her mother a few times. "You be good and don't think bad thoughts."
"Easier said than done, honey cakes," Megara drawled. "The bad ones are easiest."
"We do hard stuff in this family," Harmonia said sternly.
"Yes, ma'am, little Moni," Megara replied and gave a fake salute.
Harmonia narrowed her eyes and leaned in. "You're funny, but don't make the funny to lie."
"I would never," Megara drawled.
Harmonia looked suspicious for another moment before she started to laugh again.
"Mama gets away with a lot because she's cute and funny, doesn't she?" Hercules asked, lifting Harmonia off the bed. "Let's go get her some food so she doesn't get crankier, all right? A cranky Mama says hilarious stuff but it's mean to make her feel that way."
In a fit of giggles, Harmonia flailed her arms and legs around. "I wanna see funny cranky Mama!"
"I can still be cranky if you want," Megara said. "I can get cranky over something else."
"Please don't," Hercules said, settling Harmonia under his arm like a jar of oil he was dragging out of the storeroom. "I miss your smile."
His admission could break her heart if she allowed it to. No, she wasn't herself and could only pretend otherwise in short bursts. She hid her foreboding behind the shadow of that smile he missed so much. He knew as well as she that there was a significant possibility that she would not live beyond the next two months.
Harmonia, however, did not. "No, no, Mama! The sadness! Get it away!" She covered her ears as if she could hear her mother's distress.
"I'm sorry... sorry..." Megara lifted the blanket over her head. "Go get some food, and then you two can return." If you still want to, her mind echoed.
Something thudded hard on the bed, and Harmonia yanked the blanket away from Megara's face seconds later. "No. Stop it." Harmonia's demand left no opening for argument.
Even though Megara smiled at her daughter, she couldn't smile with her whole heart. She weakened by the day, and there was no hope that she would reverse that trend by the time she needed to call upon her stamina. This was one major failing of the fact that she and Hercules were such polar opposites physically.
None of these thoughts produced feelings that her daughter was interested in humoring. The displeasure and redness on her face made Harmonia resemble her father when he was about to rip something apart.
"Oh-kay, Moni!" Hercules grabbed the little goddess by her sides and hoisted her onto his shoulder. "We'll get Mama some food so the bad thoughts will disappear. It'll be fun, promise!" He jogged out of the room with their daughter still on his shoulder, looking thoroughly miffed the whole way.
With her two divine gingers out of the room, Megara noticed her twins were on the move. She wanted to be excited for the day she'd meet them. She tried to envision herself raising them or seeing them join the League with their father and sister. If she could do even one of those things… what would she sacrifice?
She knew that answer.
She'd give up everything for the ones she loved. She'd done it before. She'd do it again. There was no question, even though every time the moment arrived to sacrifice it all, she had to give up more than the last time. This one had to be the last. If she survived this chokepoint that would demand a sacrifice, she hoped there would never be another challenge of its kind.
Megara's weary eyes drifted closed, only to reopen quickly at the sound of a familiar divine jingle.
"Aphrdite, Aphrodite, Aphrodiiiiiteeeee…."
That telltale hot pink pillar of light illuminated the corner of the room closest to her side of the bed.
"The goddess of love!" the jingle ended, and the statuesque goddess stood over her.
"Oh, dear! It looks like I arrived just in time!" the goddess exclaimed. "I know you've been tired, but your hair has so much potential, girl!"
"Did you come here to roast me for being tired and mortal?" Megara grumbled.
Hercules had been right. She was getting cranky.
"Don't worry about it, honey," Aphrodite said, clapping her daity pink hands over Megara's head. Golden light surrounded Megara's hair; she felt the tangles and matting resolve into her ordinarily luxurious curls. "Now that's a good day's work!" Aphrodite exclaimed. "Well, for the average stylist. For me, it's a good few seconds."
"Please tell me you dropped in for something other than a makeover… not that I don't appreciate it, but I feel absolutely gross, and I don't do so well with honored guests when I feel like trash."
Far off in the kitchen, she heard Harmonia make an irritated noise.
"Truth is, I'm here to give you a bit of a spirit boost," Aphrodite said. "Remember how, on your first night in this villa, I told you I was on your team?"
"Yes… and you've been very nice to us this whole time, only that I thought you'd be more active…"
Aphrodite raised her hand, and a large gold dusted purple scroll appeared. "I've taken the liberty of creating a chronicle of all the time you've spent with Hercules," she said, and with a flick of her wrist, she unfiurled the scroll. It unrolled across Megara's belly and the rest of the bed.
Each long leaf of the scroll revealed a new, quite realistic representation of times when she and Hercules had either performed a public feat of devotion or rekindled their love privately.
Megara didn't have much time to examine the contents before Aphrodite spoke again.
"Meg, here's the thing: You've gotta remember that the cosmos is waiting for something big right now. The Fates have woven out a skein just for you and Hercules, and you've done a lot with that thread, even though yours got cut at one point."
Yes. One of her favorite memories.
Megara nodded. "Is this the end?" she asked, nodding toward the edge of the scroll.
Aphrodite leaned conspiratorially down near her ear. "It's never the end."
That was the last thing she said before she vanished, leaving Megara with the scroll.
Megara blinked at the divine gift for a while before gingerly lifted it to her eyes and examined it in detail. Why would Aphrodite treat this gift as if it solved the whole problem of her immortality?
The things she'd lived through had gone by so quickly that she'd scarcely had time to ruminate on some of them. The time she defended Hercules by petrifying Gorgons, and the time after that when she'd initiated their physical relationship instead of giving up because he found her in the darkness.
There were more things, like when they'd exchanged their lives for one another or when they refused to forsake each other. It was making her cry.
It couldn't all end in a shameful, mundane death. Could it? Or was that her lot as the latest in a line of unfortunate Theban women?
She was still staring at the scroll with tears when Hercules and Harmonia returned.
"Hey, honey! I bet you'll love all of—why are you crying?" Hercules dumped the tray he'd brought in and climbed up beside her. He'd curled an arm around her before he even noticed the scroll. "Wow…" he lifted the part closest to him, then exclaimed, "Wow!" again, but this time, the blushing exclamation preceded his frantic attempts to hide the scroll from Moni. "Where'd you get this?"
"What is it? Lemme see!" Harmonia jumped onto the bed, but Hercules lifted the scroll from her head.
"Oh, no, no! I'm not showing you this until…. ever! Do you wanna see my high school yearbook? That's funny, too!"
"Wait, it's funny?" Harmonia bounced on the bed, trying to reach the scroll.
"You can't read, Moni; it's okay; we'll tell you what's funny." Megara grabbed her so she couldn't get the scroll or make a mess.
"Wait, of course, I can read! Right? Big girls can read!"
"Not automatically…" Megara shook her head. "Unless gods…?" She looked to Hercules for the answer. "Never mind, why am I asking you? Moni, I'll teach you how to read. You're brilliant; you'll know all about it right away."
While Megara reassured Harmonia, Hercules rolled up the scroll and hid it under Megara's pillow so her weight would secure it out of sight.
"Your hair smells amazing now," Hercules remarked, stroking her curls. "Aphrodite never passes up the chance to do some pampering, does she?"
Megara shook her head, snuggling her little goddess closer. "Let's get some food. I bet there are many things here that you haven't tried before."
"But what do you really like the best? I'm gonna like it, too!" Harmonia's wide violet eyes gazed at her mother, ready to soak up everything she said.
Megara eyed the options. Scallops in lemon-infused oil, thick yet airy bread. The duo had also brought bowls of briam with whipped feta and roasted vegetables in beef broth… "This one," she said, scooping a thick share of briam with the pita bread. "Look at all those little bits. Some of this is squash, that's zucchini, and this long colorful thing here is bell pepper."
"I need some!" Harmonia declared.
Megara obligingly scooped out some of the briam, stacking the pita wedge high with vegetables and bits of beef. She gave it to Harmonia and watched her take a hearty bite.
It made her own stomach growl with jealousy, but at the same time, she didn't mind so much while she savored the sight of Harmonia enjoying food.
"Okay, Moni, you've seen it done; now you can do it like Mama did so she can get some, too," Hercules said.
"Yeah!" Harmonia stuffed the rest of her pita wedge in her mouth then scooped briam for Megara and held it up for her to eat.
Startled for a moment, Megara looked up at Hercules and accepted the food from their daughter. It wasn't at all expected for her to turn around this caregiving role, but it was making her heart melt. She might even start to cry again.
She trembled a little while Harmonia fed her, then gazed at her in amazement. When she'd finished her share of briam, she asked, "How does someone like me deserve the two of you?" The tears welled up again, but she forced herself not to melt into incoherent sobbing.
"I dunno, you made me," Harmonia shrugged.
Hercules arched himself over them both with an arm on either side of his girls. "Aphrodite gave us a whole list of reasons you deserve us. You have to do nothing more than how deeply you love us. All along, no matter the odds, you've selflessly loved every single person here, even the ones who aren't born yet. That's been more than I ever dreamed of. Even when I fall short, you're there for me."
"You never fall short," Megara retorted reflexively.
"That's true, Papa, you're very tall," Harmonia added with a serious tone as if he should know better.
"Heh, not what I meant, but thank you both." Hercules kissed the top of Harmonia's head, then cupped Megara's face in his hands. "Listen to me, Meg. I can't live without you, and I will fight for you no matter what I have to do. All of us are getting through this because you finally found the people who will give as much heart as you do."
Megara wanted to be practical and remind him that her body wasn't immortal like his, and even without immortality, he vastly outclassed her. But she couldn't deny the power in his eyes, like gazing at the majesty of a cloudless sky.
"Good," Harmonia patted Megara's arm. "You put the bad thoughts away without any reminding."
"I'm glad I lived up to your expectations," Megara said. She left off a name. It applied to them both. Her emotional threshold had been crossed a long time ago. She could use a break. "Let's eat so I don't let down the little ones. All three of us are starving."
