Hercules returned to the palace at Thebes in a blink. He'd been away from Megara and Harmonia for too long already. He hoped that being part of Cassandra's laboring process might give Megara some resolve and hope for herself, just before he heard an inhuman scream. He was rattled down to his bones.

He'd never heard Cassandra scream like that, not even when she envisioned kissing Icarus at a festival.

Perhaps he could've stalled a while longer. Still… He paced the palace courtyard, where sccreams and encouraging voices filled the air. He lifted prayers to his mother and paced the courtyard, hoping Moni and Megara were doing all right.

Something changed in the air when a baby's howling joined the chorus of cries. Hercules grinned at the sky and whispered, "Thank you."

Less than an hour later, he was welcomed into an audience chamber where Megara, Harmonia, and Ambrosia stood near the center of a large noble gathering. Tempest was also there, and so was Electra, but thankfully neither of them seemed all that bothered by him.

While smiling at his new nephew, he mainly focused on his immediate family. Megara had never seemed more worn out, but she still wore a smile. Harmonia was also tired, but it was the sort of tired he was after a good workout. Ambrosia sat at Harmonia's side as if she was ready to do anything her mistress ordered her to.

Hercules immediately went to Megara and wrapped both arms around her, hooking one arm under their twins to ease their weight for her. "How was it?" he asked, kissing Megara's hair just above her ear.

Megara shrugged. "It was what it was."

Either she was just that exhausted or seeing another birth had unsettled her.a

He shouldn't have let her be here, even if she thought it was necessary to support a friend. He pressed his nose into her hair, closing his eyes. How would he handle the rest of his existence if this was the last time he could enjoy her comforting, familiar scent like this?

"Papa, where did you go?" Harmonia asked.

"I went to get presents." Hercules gave Megara's cheek a lingering kiss, then approached Megarion and Cassandra. He produced a golden apple from his bag. "A golden apple comes with a wish," he said, smiling at his old friend. She could ask for anything. He was beyond trying to predict what she'd choose. He only waited to hear it.

Cassandra held the apple in a shaking hand and looked down at her son, a small red creature Hercules could envision becoming a handsome young Theban boy someday. "My wish has to wait until I feel more like myself, but thanks, Herc. This was… beyond unexpeeccted."

"There's supposed to be some celebration downstairs now that a prince is here," Megarion said sheepishly. "Cassandra knew what we'd have, so she made me make all the preparations…" His eyes wandered to Megara. "Nobody is required to go, of course…"

Harmonia made a low hissing noise. "I don't want to stay in the same palace as the man with the gray face."

Gray face? Did she mean Hades?

"That's your grandfather, Moni," Megarion explained.

Harmonia wrinkled her nose. "Ew."

"What's he feeling right now?" Megara asked, a little more interested in that question than Hercules had expected her to have.

"He feels like he won something," Harmonia said. "But also annoyed because there are people here he doesn't like." The little girl folded her arms as if she would teach her grandfather the meaning of family with the harshest kindness humanly possible.

"Forget I asked," Megara sighed and rubbed her belly while Hercules noted that their sons were squirming around, skewing it to one side and creating multiple bumps along it.

Hercules was careful to support her as much as he could. "I'm taking you four home soon, honey. Once we're done paying respects.

"I feel pretty respected," Cassandra remarked. "I'm a queen, and my best friend, a god who is my brother-in-law, brought me a golden apple to celebrate the birth of my heir. I think it's time I had some time alone."

"I get it," Hercules said and looked around the room. "Let's give the queen some space, all right? You can check on her later, but she needs some space." While the others filtered out of the chamber, Hercules noted how Megara slumped, relieved by the decreasing crowd.

Even while the nobles were filtering out, the peace was instantly broken when Creon appeared. He was older, his dark violet eyes sunken into his head and his head leaning forward as if to get a better look at anything he could deconstruct in front of him.

Before he could say a word, Harmonia said, "Grayface, don't bring the bad thoughts here. The baby won't like them."

Creon stopped short, furrowing his brow at the child. "Who are you?"

"Don't talk to him, Moni," Megara said, tugging Harmonia's arm so she'd stand behind her.

"Why not?" Harmonia asked. "He can't hurt me."

"You make me sound malicious," Creon noted.

"No, the deep, cranky voice did that," Harmonia told him.

Creon frowned. "There is only one person I know who speaks to me like that." His eyes flickered to Megara. "And she isn't doing too well of late."

Harmonia leaped in front of Megara before Hercules could even muster a response other than a frustrated growl. Ambrosia ran up alongside Harmonia, barking threats at Creon. "Guess what, ugly gray man! It doesn't matter if you don't like me, and you're still my grandfather! You won't be around too long, and I'm immortal! But you know what does bother me? You're bullying my Mama! I will make you sorry and I won't be sorry back!"

Creon's mouth fell open, and he leaned away from the child goddess. "You… you are–"

"I am Harmonia, and I'm not happy with you! I'd try to punish you with never being happy, but bad men like you can't be happy anyway! Now you get away before I goddess you!"

Ambrosia punctuated Harmonia's words with proud little barks.

To emphasize her mistress's point, Ambrosia lowered her head, got into a low position as if she mmight pounce, and growled.

There was a brief pause filled only by the howling of the little prince before Megara spoke up. "Ah, so she finally shows the side she got from me."

"I think you made your point, Moni," Hercules said, even though he was now brimming with pride.

"Uh-uh! I'm not done! I'm also going to be the best cousin ever and he's going to like me and every time you see he likes me better than you, remember it's because you're a nasty jerk that nobody likes!"

"All right, good, wonderful, but let's go before we get punished for interfering in mortal affairs," Hercules said at first, but then he paused. "Wait. My father's the one who punishes that, and he's not around."

Realizing what that meant, Creon's eyes widened and he took several steps back. "I finally have a grandson! This is the peak of my life. I know that my legacy lives on. You do not have to–"

"One of your grandchildren is a goddess!" Hercules roared, and his nephew roared just as loudly along with him.

He was going to like this kid.

"I'm not going to wreck his birthday by making it all about you," Hercules said. Hec collected Harmonia into the crook of his arm. "We're going home."

Ambrosia ran circles around their feet, and when they vanished into their home, she was still running that circle.

Megara let out a heavy breath. "Malaka. I'm going to sleep for… who knows how long… it's… been such a long day."

"I'll take care of you," Hercules promised and gave her a squeeze. Encoutnters with her father always darkened her day. Today she was especially stressed and exhausted, so it must be worse. "Moni, can you–"

"I'm playing with Ambrosia," Harmonia said and gave him a serious look. "Go."

"Go and do what?" Megara asked.

"You feel bad," Harmonia shrugged. "Go feel better. I'm happy with my dog." She picked up a ball from beside the courtyard fountain and threw it toward the back garden. Then she followed Ambrosia, running out of the house.

"I still can't believe we made her," Megara remarked.

"Of course we did, the way she stood up for you can only mean she's ours." Hercules picked Megara up as if she were weightless and took her to their bedroom.

"Are you sure we should leave Harmonia alone like that?" Megara fretted. "She's never been alone like that."

"She's a goddess," Hercules reminded her, and eased her onto the bed. "We can let her run around for a few hours. She will be all right."

"What if someone kidnapped her, though?"

Hercules shook his head. "I need you to lie down and stop being so stressed out. All of us do. You, me, Moni and our sons. So." Without further elaborating, he ducked down and untied her sandals, then carefully rubbed her feet. "You walked around too much today. I thought you were going to sit when you could."

"I did sit, but I was one of the experts in the room, so they needed me a lot…"

Hercules shook his head. "I'm proud of you. How was your brother during the whole thing?"

"He was sweet… sometimes he'd sing for her, sometimes they would joke… the other women were a little awkward around him, but he never made himself a problem."

"I'm gald to hear it. Cass deserves someone like that to be there with her when she's vulnerable and in pain." He didn't mask his concern for her in any way.

"I know." Megara forced a smile. "Hey, Herc. I made a sort of keepsakes jar for you and… everyone. In case we're living the half of my fate where I don't make it out of this."

"And you're telling me now?"' Hercules raised a brow at her.

"Of course, I'm waiting until we're almost to the point where I can't fill it anymore. So now you can't argue with me or complain about it. I've written letters, and I put that scroll from Aphrodite in there. If you wanted to rummage around in there–"

"No! Thank you. Once you're out of this, once you're a goddess… then we can take all of it out and display it. But thank you for putting it all together. Which jar is it?"

"You remember the one from a couple of years ago when we secretly exchanged letters?"

Hercules's face lit up with a blush. "Meg, that's not… we shouldn't reuse that jar, it's special…"

"And full of memories, right? Of all the times we'd go to check if there was a new message waiting? We didn't pass too many, but it's ours. So… I decided it was the most fitting vessel."

He wanted to argue with that, but he shook his head instead and pulled another golden apple from the bag he'd brought. "Meg. You're going to live. You need to make a wish."

Megara accepted the apple, turning it over in her hands. "I'll wish for the immortality of our sons." She'd said it so quickly that the apple accepted the wish, and Hercules had no time to stop her.

When Megara checked his face for disapproval, he only smiled.

"I knew you'd say that," he said while he pulled out another apple. "That's why I came prepared. I brought three of them. One for each of you."

Megara's brows rose. "You're sure this will work? Has one persoon ever made more than one golden apple wish?"

"Nobody's husband has ever gone so far to make sure they could try," Hercules said, giving her the second apple. "Let's hear your next one."

Megara held both apples, staring at them as if she couldn't comprehend what she was looking at. "I have to think of something that won't have enough hubris to strike me down on the spot."

"Nobody would dare," Hercules growled and leaned down to kiss her forehead and surround her with his arms. "Meg, you're free. Ask for what you want. What you actually want, not a fraction of it or a lesser choice you think you deserve. Ask for what you deserve."

She drew in a deep breath and pressed her face against his neck, filling his senses with her softness and the scent of her hair.

"Please," he whispered. "Just this once. For all of us. You have to ask for it. You have to. Please…"

"Then, I wish for what I deserve, no more or less," Megara said. "That's the best way I can think of how to word it. If you're so certain I deserve immortality, then the wish has to come true, right? So. If you're right, then we ccan wait for what will happen with some confidence that I haven't been cheated somehow. If you're about to tell me you have another apple for me to try again, I think you should let Moni have one. Everyone else has gotten one, and I won't let you snub her for me."

Hercules wrapped her in a tighter embrace and rocked her as he remembered how it had been to hold her when she was dead. He couldn't go through that again. He'd reimagined it too many times. He couldn't let her die again, and he'd never stop fighting for her. "All right, Meg. You win this round, but I'm grateful you at least did your best."

His thoughts of losing her made his heart ache more and more the longer he allowed them to fester. This was why he never let himself entertain the thoughts of that dark path he'd be forced to walk without her. It would never be enough, even with all three of their children beside him. He'd always think of how much Megara would have loved to be part of every experience or how she was missing the best parts of what should have been their lives.

"I miss you," he whispered, not realizing how his realities blurred between current and foreseen reality.

"I'm still here," she reminded him.

For how long?

His arms tightened around her, pressing his face to her shoulder. "I can't lose you. I can't live without you."

"Your life won't be empty anymore, you'll have Moni and–"

"No! Don't you get it? I'll always be without the person who understans me most and gives me what I need! I give to everyone, including our children, but I can't… I can't ask for anything from anyone else… Meg, you're too important to me. Doesn't that make sense to you?"

She was silent at first, but her arms wrapped around him in return. "I'm sorry… so sorry I can't do more. I'd live for you and only you if I could… but I want to live for everyone. I want to stay here with you… all of you… We've built a whole world for ourselves, so many people matter to me now… nobody was on my mind two years ago… now we're… so interconnected and–"

He couldn't let her paint more of a picture of what they'd lose if she were gone. Somehow, he had to make a final gesture so she would live. His kiss made her tilt her head back, and his composure snapped.

"I'll make you feel better. I'll make you feel like you can do anything, and you'll have to live." He caught one look at her eyes before he'd rolled her onto her side. That was always her favorite way before. He kissed her ear, then sucked on it, his hands wandering over almost fully familiar territory, trying to reclaim her from her hopelessness. "You're going to live," he promised her. "You'll live forever with me."

She didn't argue. Thank every benevolent deity, including herself, she didn't fight it. She even helped him move their clothes out of the way, even though with her current situation, it was an awkward process. The awkwardness didn't last much longer. Despite everything, they knew one another well enough to fall into their regular pattern.

Soon, Hercules trembled with tears of relief as he finally felt the connection he'd been missing with her. How long had he seen her fading and falling but didn't feel he could catch her?

She continued to shake in his arms, moaning softly. The soft, gentle music of her pleasure was already stirring him to begin all over again. That was when her moans of pleasure were interrupted by a small, startled noise of pain.

That shattered the joyful hazze around Hercules's mind. "Did I hurt you?" he gasped softly in her ear.

"Oh, no, it's… it's not you. I just felt… strange for a moment there."

"Strange how? Explain the strangeness."

"Nothing to explain; it was just a little extra pressure."

That wasn't true. He was still connected to her. He knew instinctively that something had changed. He slowly withdrew despite how much he wanted to cling to her.

"What have I done?" he whispered in horror. "You're not... You couldn't be…?"

"I could be."

"It isn't time yet!"

"Do you think that changes anything? I've been warned twins come sooner."

No. No, no, this wasn't happening yet! If it started now, he might be deprived of her within the next day or even the next hours! He couldn't accept it. He wouldn't.

"I'm calling my mother, grandmother, and whoever in the cosmos can do anything about this. We're getting through it, and I'm keeping you alive. This isn't the time for arguments. It's the time for teamwork."