“Wait—“
“How much do you remember?” There was a look of panic on Aphrodite’s face that I didn’t understand. “What happened to you that day? Why did you leave him—“
“That’s not what happened,” Gavin said, trying to step in front of me.
“So, nowyouremember?” she snapped at her son.
A commotion began, voices talking over one another and arguing. I took two steps back, realizing I had made a mistake by bringing it up amongst others.
Shit.
I felt someone come up beside me then, the smell of sweet pomegranates entering my nostrils, and I turned to find Persephone standing there eating the seeds out of a plastic cup. She was still in pink skull pajamas and fuzzy slippers, her pink hair twisted in a black scarf like Lana usually wore.
She offered me a few seeds and said, “Damn, it’s early for this. What are we fighting about?” as she popped a few into her mouth.
I accepted the fruit. “I fucked up.”
She snorted. “Welcome to the family again, Psyche,” she bantered. “He said he told you?”
“He did.”
“Do you believe him?”
I sighed heavily. “Maybe,” I replied. “I’m hoping this weekend helps my memory.”
“I’m surprised this display doesn’t,” she said, pointing to the arguing group.
Another woman came up on Persephone’s side—a petite woman dressed in a hoop skirt and cat eyeglasses.
A woman that I recognized.
“Oh, you’ve met my mother, haven’t you?” Persephone said. “Psy—wait, do you want to be called that or Chloe?”
I considered it. Since telling me about my past a few weeks back, Gavin had called me the name just to see how it made me feel. I honestly hadn't hated it. It didn't feel awkward or unnatural.
However, it was easier to stick with my usual name.
“Ah… let’s stick with Chloe when we can,” I said. “I’m still getting used to everything.”
Persephone nodded. “Chloe, this is Demeter, my mother. Mom, Chloe.”
Demeter, the baker I had met at the vineyards, gave me a familiar smile and a small wave, apparent that she was also still waking up.
“Where is your husband?” I asked Persephone.
“Coming tomorrow,” she answered. “Mom is leaving in the morning. We can’t have them in the same place for very long, so I try to spread the wealth that is me,” she said with a wide smile.
I resisted smiling outright at her.
“Okay, I’ve had about enough of this.” She handed me the cup of pomegranate and put two fingers in her mouth, an ear-splitting whistle sounding over the arguing.
Silence shuddered over the desert. Each of them stared at her, and Persephone slapped her leg.
“Can we at least wait until we’ve had drinks?” she asked them. “Where is D?”
“Already here,” Aphrodite answered as she calmed herself. She turned her back on the others and looked at her watch, Ares’s arm sliding around her shoulders.
Hermes settled on the front of his station wagon, crossing one ankle over the other as he took his phone out. Gavin sighed and pushed his hand through his hair, coming toward me.
