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"Smart birds," I say softly. Together, we move toward the hawks and Gaia, mesmerized by them.
"I'm so sorry," he tells me. "I have hurt you so much. Wronged you so deeply."
I swallow, looking up into his clear blue eyes. "I wronged Gaia, too. For the longest time, I thought Gaia was the one who took my girls from me. And of course, she was, but it's for different reasons than I assumed. She was trying to protect me. And I hated her for it."
"Still, I have no excuse for ruining your life," he says, his voice breaking.
"You didn't ruin my life. Just changed it."
"How can you say that?"
"Because I'm only forty-two years old. I have a lot of life to live. I don't want to spend another moment hating anyone or anything."
"You choose love," he says.
"I'll always choose love. From here on out."
"And what if love lets you down?" he asks, his voice trembling. His heart on his sleeve.
"Then we try again."
"I love you, Persephone," he says, wrapping his arms around me and I bury my face in his solid chest. His embrace feels so good and so right.
And I would stay in it forever, if Gaia wasn't beginning to stir on the floor.
22
Persephone
I run to her, dropping to my knees, and clasping her hand in my own. "Gaia?" I ask. "Are you there? Are you still here?"
She sits up, the flowers still in her hair and the hawks circling her. This run-down cottage suddenly seems like a magical place, pulled from the pages of a fairytale.
But this isn't make-believe.
It is real. It's our story.
It certainly isn't like anyone else's.
"Oh, my God," she says standing, disoriented, shaking her head, and steadying herself. "I was gone, and it was light, and it was dark, and I was dead." She laughs, her eyes scouring the room. "Where are the Fates?"
I explain what happened and her face breaks into the largest smile.
"Sephy," she exclaims, bursting into laughter. "Can you believe it? You're about to become a grandmother!"
"The timing is perfect," I say. "I think Harlow needs the Goddess of Fertility and Mother Earth at her side right now as she delivers." I take Gaia's hand, my best friend, and we walk toward my daughter, standing by her side.
Together, we assist Harlow as she brings four healthy boys into the world.
Making me a grandmother.
And making all of our hearts fuller.
* * *
Gaia and I spend a few hours after the babies are born helping them settle in as everyone else cleans up the cottage. Around us, our family begins to use their special talents to help make it cozy and comfortable for the new mama and her babies.
The cottage isn't the ideal setting for their first night as a family, but they're not ready to move anywhere tonight.
Harlow is exhausted. Her four healthy baby boys are swaddled and in the arms of their fathers and she looks like she could sleep for a few days straight.
She's not alone. It looks like everyone needs to rest after such long days.
"How long do you have?" I ask Remedy. When I carried my girls the pregnancies only lasted a few days, but the girls chose mortals to father children, and so their pregnancies last a more typical timeframe.
"A month or so," she says rubbing her belly. "But I'm hoping not to go into to labor earlier."
"Why not?" I ask, walking with her outside to get some fresh air. We will all be heading out soon, the plan is to let the new family rest here alone tonight.
"I've never had a family. No mom or dad growing up. I don't exactly know how to do this."
I rest my hand on my daughter's arm, squeezing it. "I understand. I don't have a lot of experience being a mother myself."
"That's not true," Remedy says fiercely.
I fight a small smile. I love that my girl carries the same fire inside her that her father does.
"What's not true?" I ask. "I lost you when you were a day old. I have no experience raising anyone."
"Maybe that's true," Remedy says, holding back tears. "But I think even when I was lost and felt so alone in the world, you've always been looking out for me. I felt you," she tells me. "I didn't know what it was, but now I see. It was you pushing me to keep fighting. Your voice told me to never give up. Even though I didn't know what real love was, it's like my soul did, because of you. It's why I waited for my mates the way I did. I felt your love for me before I even understood what it was."
Her words are a balm to my broken heart and I pull her close, my arms wrapping around my daughter. Now that love has softened her edges, I see that she has the kind of fire that will burn for a lifetime. She and her mates are lucky indeed.
