Nothing would ever be the same. I would never be the same. I never knew I was capable of such immeasurable love.
Epilogue
“Did the cake arrive?” I asked Cronus as Theia helped me hang the last two pink and green balloons over the dining table.
He nodded. “And I’ve asked Rhea to clean Hound’s dog poop and fix up the yard before the party.”
I grinned. “I love you.”
Rhea and I were cool. She came over to play with Tallie often, but Cronus and I liked to keep her humble. Dog poop duty was definitely going to do that.
Hyperion walked into the room as a sleepy Tallie clung to his arms. She was up from her nap, which I’d had to plan her party around so that she didn’t have a meltdown and explode all the lightbulbs in the house. Cronus had tried to cap her power, but her brain was developing so fast he worried it would hinder her growth.
So I didn’t let him. Obviously.
Which meant my baby was turning one today but was cognitively in line with a five-year old … with the maturity of a toddler. It was a daily adventure.
“Hello, Mommy.” She reached for me; her linguistic skills were incredible. She spoke twenty languages, albeit from a five-year old vocabulary bank. We trained her not to speak too much in public or at playdates with her human friends.
As she got older, we wouldn’t have to hide it so much.
“Happy birthday, baby girl.” I let Hyperion deposit her in my arms and then took her to the sink so that I could fix her crazy nap hair.
“Is Josie and Alexis coming?” Tallie looked up at me with those bright blue eyes and I nodded. Crius and Koios had both impregnated humans—shocker—and were bringing their six-month-olds to the party. They weren’t powerful like Tallie, but she loved to play mommy with them and pretend they were her babies.
“Food is here!” Cronus called out.
It turns out that even having a five-star kitchen hadn’t urged me to take up cooking. So for today we’d ordered from Tallie’s favorite Indian food place. Her palate was rich and refined, and she was a vegetarian like her momma.
She looked up at me. “Grandma’s coming?”
I frowned, catching Cronus’ gaze across the room. Tallie had been traveling more lately. Cronus had Narida put a magical tracker on her so that no matter where she went, including off-world, Cronus could always find her. But lately she’d been asking about her grandmas. I’d shown her a picture of my mom and then a photo I found of Selene in a history book. I tried to explain in a non-morbid way that they were off-world, living in different bodies. Otherwise, they would want to see her.
“Honey … no, they can’t come.”
Her face scrunched up like she’d sucked a lemon and I knew a tantrum was hovering close by.
“Cronus,” I said softly.
He was able to shield her tantrums from blowing up the house or anything serious. “I want grandmas!” she screamed, and thenpoof, she was gone from my arms.
My heart lurched in my chest, and one by one all of the Titans started popping out of the room. Cronus crossed the room quicker than lightning and zapped me to wherever she was.
The second we landed in the underworld waiting room, my stomach lurched.
Oh my gods. She came here!
Cronus, half a dozen Titans, and myself, pushed through the crowd and burst into Thanatos’ office to find Tallie sitting on his lap, smacking his face lightly. “Daddy’s friend!” she cried happily.
Thanatos had visited us a few times and she clearly remembered him. I sagged in relief and crossed the room quickly to scoop her up.
“No zapping without telling Mommy!” I scolded her.
She frowned and reached for the white veil. “I want grandmas.”
I looked at Cronus, unsure what to do. How did she even sense that they were here?
“I think I could arrange something … if you wanted,” Thanatos offered. I wasn’t surprised. For all of her toddler tantrums, Tallie, with her black ringlets and blue eyes, captured everyone she met.
