Unexpected Love

Chapter 9

Ava
Rolling over, I reach my hand out for Hades, only to touch an empty bed beside me. Opening my eyes I look around, only spotting Cerberus in the bedroom with me. Sitting up I stretch before climbing out of bed and walk over to the closet, where I hang my shorts up, and put my pants, socks, and underwear in a few drawers that I found empty. Hades clothes hung across from where I had put mine, before my eyes land on some clothes hanging in the far back. Putting my empty duffel bag on the top shelf on my side, I walk further into the closet running my hand along the dresses, and shirts. They must have been Persephone's, I think as I look at the shoe rack full of high heels, and dress flats.
"They were all hers," Hades says from the closet doorway, making me jump and spin around.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have touched them. I was just curious," I reply instantly fidgeting with my hands. Hades walks up to me taking my hands.
"You have a bad habit of fidgeting with your hands and nails," he says kissing both of my hands, "you have nothing to apologize for Angel. I want you to feel at home here, you can do whatever you want. After this is all over, I would love it if you would choose to stay here with me, but that is something we can discuss later. As for Persephone's clothes, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them after I lost her, but it hurt seeing them so I moved them back here. I am ok with letting them go now, and have been for a while, but I forgot they were still back here. If you want to get rid of them you may." He smiles at me, as he squeezes my hands gently.
"I'd like to stay with you, but I'd have to think things through, because of school and my friends. Like you said we can talk about it later. I'm not trying to replace Persephone's spot in your heart, I just want to share it. Are you sure you're ready?" I ask looking back at the clothes.
""I'm sure I'm ready. If you don't want to keep any of it, we can donate it," Hades replies cupping my cheek," Anyway, I have breakfast waiting for us out on the back patio. You may want to put some pants on," he says winking at me before leaving. I look back at Persephone's clothes once more before throwing a bra and leggings on, and joking Hades with Cerberus on my heels. I walk out onto the back patio to find Hades sitting at a table sipping his coffee, looking up at me with a smile.
"I like seeing you in my shirt," he says as I take a seat, reaching for the cup of coffee by my plate.
"I like wearing it, it's comfy," I reply taking a sip, and looking down at the plate of fresh fruit, bacon, toast, and eggs.
"I know I went overboard with how much I put on your plate, just eat what you want," he says biting into a strip of bacon. I nod my head as I pop a strawberry in my mouth. As I chew I look around the backyard to see a large in ground swimming pool with attached, I also noticed a large hammock off to the side, and a fir pit with a few adirondack chairs.
"Do you like swimming?" hades asks noticing my eyes return to the pool.
"I do, I enjoy it a lot. I might take a dip later," I reply, before recalling that I don't have a swimsuit.
"Well you are free to anytime Angel," He says finishing his food.
"Hades, can I ask you something I don't understand?"
"Yes of course, ask whatever you would like," he says swiveling his chair towards me.
"Ok, well we're in the underworld where souls go after we die. So where's Persephone's?" I ask after swallowing the limp in my throat.
"Oh um, ok. So yes people's souls do come here after they perish, but it's only human souls. When a god or goddess passes, we don't know where they go. Some believe their sounds just extinguish and disappear, but others, like myself, believe we go to a different afterlife," he explains, running a hand through his hair.
"Ok, what about their children? Do they come here?"
"If one of their parents was human then yes, if both of their parents are gods then no."
"Ok, thank you for telling me," I say, reaching out to out my hand on his.
"You're welcome my Angel, now eat up," he replies kissing my hand, before giving me a wink.
I eat all of the fruit and the bacon, and can only manage some of the eggs before I'm full. I help Hades take the groceries in, and I start loading the, into the dishwasher, as he scrapes the rest of my eggs and toast into Cerberus's bowl.
"What would you like to do today?" Hades asks handing me the empty plate.
"I don't know exactly, but I'd like to use the gym. I'm not keeping you from work?" I ask closing the dishwasher.
"I guess I should probably get some work done to keep Rebecca off my back. I hope you have a good work out Angel," he says checking his watch.
"Go get some work done. Don't worry about me," I tell him giving him a gentle shove towards his office. With a chuckle he kisses my forehead and goes to his office, leaving the door open a crack. I go back to the bedroom, changing into a pair of exercise shorts, a sports bra, tank top, and finish off with some sneakers before going to the gym. I shut the gym door most of the way, before walking over to the stereo system and plugging my phone in with an auxiliary cord. Selecting my playlist and hitting play, I start with the stationary bike.
Two hours later I'm cooling down with some yoga, and am in the downwards dog pose when Hades rushes in, pausing as he watches me. He walks up to me as I come down into a sitting pose, holding a hand out to help me stand.
"First off, I just gained a whole new level of respect for yoga," he says, as I take his hand, letting him pull me up.
"Oh yes, yoga should be respected," I reply giving him a wink.
"Hun, I need to talk to you about something important," he says handing me my towel and a bottle of water.
"Ok," I reply, taking them and following him to the living room. He waits for me to take a seat on the couch, before he sits next to me.
"Zeus attacked my domain earlier today. It was a declaration of war. As much as I wanted to stay out of this ridiculous war, I have no choice now. I know I just ripped you from your life and brought you here to protect you, but I have to go now," he says, worry showing through his eyes.
"Hades, I understand,you have to go. Go and put an end to this, I'll be here when you get back," I tell him, taking his face in my hands.
"I won't leave you unprotected," he says staring deeply into my eyes.
"I have Cerberus, he will protect me from anything that may try to hurt me. Won't you boy," I says looking at Cerberus as I finish, who barks in agreement.
"Yes he'll be here, but he's not a strong in this form on the property," Hades replies looking between me and Cerberus. Cerberus growls pulling my attention to him as well, and I almost scream as Cerberus suddenly shifts to his true form.
"Cerberus you scared me with that," I say clutching my chest. Cerberus barks an apology before shifting back.
"You're telling me you choose to be in this form on the property!" Hades shouts jumping up from the couch.
"He's stronger than you think Hades," I say as Cerberus walks over to me laying his heads in my lap.
"I can't believe this. One hundred and fifty years you've hid that from me," Hades says sitting back down.
"Wait you're one hundred and fifty years old?"
"No that's how long I've had Cerberus's I'm one hundred and seventy years old. Is that ok?"
"Ok, we'll discuss your age later, right now there's more important things. Cerberus is more than capable to protect me, you have to go. End this war and come back to me, ok," I say taking a deep breath and his hand.
"Ok, I'll have my phone on me at all times. You call me the minute anything happens. Are you going to be ok with just Cerberus?"
"I mean I wish I had Brit and Nancy here, but Cerberus and I will be fine." Thinking of my friends, I wonder how they're doing.
"Ok, I'm not leaving you till tomorrow morning when I have to leave with my soldiers. I don't know how long this will take, but I will be back as soon as I can possibly be."
"I know you will. Let's just enjoy tonight before you have go," I say, smiling at him. He wraps his arms around me pulling me closer and kissing the top of my head.
"Ok, you go get changed into something comfortable, and I'll find us something to watch. We'll just relax and enjoy out time together," he says letting me go.
"Ok, I'll take a quick shower and be back out!" I reply getting up.
After my shower I changed into a pair of leggings and grabbed one of Hades hoodies, that fell to my knees. I finished the outfit off with a pair of fluffy socks, before walking into the living room. Hades had gathered blankets and pillows, making a little nest on the floor, but I didn't see him anywhere.
"Cerberus," I say, bending down to so that only he could hear me, "can you please find Hades for me?" Cerberus wags his tail at me before sniffing the air and bounding of towards the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen I find Cerberus jumping on Hades, while one of his heads looks back at me, wagging his tail.
"What the heck?" Hades says, trying to push Cerberus down.
"Good boy, thank you for finding him for mama," I say, giving Cerberus pats when he walks back to me.
"Did you send him to find me?"
"Yes I do," I reply with a grin.
"Ok then, mama," Hades says with a chuckle.
"Oh don't start," I tells him rolling my eyes.
"Hey you started it when you sicked him on me," he says walking over with a grin.
"True, but I'm not done," I reply, tickling his sides.
"Oh no you didn't," he laughs reaching for me. I take off running out of the kitchen, only to be tackled from behind onto the blankets and pillows. Hades laughs as he starts tickling me, while I laugh as Hades jumps on Hades.
"Oh two against one huh," Hades says trying to pin me under him as he try's he get Cerberus who keeps just out of reach, giving me an escape. Quickly sliding out from under him I take off into the back yard, hiding behind one of the chairs by the fire pit. I listen as Cerberus barks when Hades runs after me. I cover my mouth trying to keep from laughing as I hear him come outside. I peek around the chair, but don't see him, only Cerberus sitting at the sliding door Hades must have closed. The next thing I know a pair of strong arms yank me backwards and up. Squirming in Hades arms, he laughs before leaning forward and kissing me.
"That's my prize," he says as he breaks the kiss.
"I guess you earned it this time,. I reply, earning a chuckle from him. He carries me back inside, and sets me down in the slightly messed up nest he had made. As he sits down beside me Cerberus lays down across my lap, earning a slight glare from Hades.
"Backstabber," he mutters as he grabs the tv remote.
"Oh don't you listen to him Cerbie," I say petting Cerberus.
"Cerbie?"
"Yea, it's a cute nickname for him," I say looking up at Hades.
"Wow, first my dog claims you, then you give him a nickname," Hades states with a lighthearted chuckle.
"He likes it," I reply.
"How can you tell?"
"Cerbie do you like the nickname?" I ask Cerberus, all three heads give me an adorable doggie grin and wags his tail.
"Ok, I guess you're right," he replies shaking his head, making me laugh.
"What are we watching?" I ask changing the subject.
"What would you like to watch?"
"Can we watch The Big Bang Theory?"
"Yes we can Angel," he says punching it in with the remote and hitting play. We watch two episodes, before Hades pauses it and makes us popcorn.
A few hours later we had watched most of the seasons, when we paused for a bathroom break. Walking back into the living room I hear Hades talking at the front door. As I poke my head around the corner, he shuts the door holding a pizza box, and a six pack of glass bottles.
"Hey, I thought you might be getting hungry and ordered this about half an hour ago," he says carrying the pizza into the living room.
"Oh they deliver in the underworld?" I ask going to sit back down.
"We do, but Rebecca, my assistant, picked this up and delivered it for me," he replies heading into the kitchen. He returns with the pizza box, the drinks, and paper plates, setting it all down on the coffee table. He puts two slices on one plate and hands it to me and gets his. He also opens two of the bottles, handing me one, sitting down beside me.
"What's this?" I ask looking at the bottle in my hand.
"I know how much you love root beer, so I thought you might like this. It comes from earth, and it's a beer that tastes like root beer," he explains taking a sip. I give it a quick sniff before taking a sip, and am pleasantly surprised that it does taste like root beer. We settle in enjoying our pizza and beer as we watch tv, and I find myself hoping that this war will end quickly. After I finish my pizza, I curl up against Hades, who wraps his arm around me. An episode later, I find myself struggling to keep my eyes open laying with my head on Hades chest, as his heartbeat lulls me to sleep.