Stay (I Missed You)

One

TW: family death, dementia. The songs don't really have a connection to the chapter they're featured in, they're just there in the order each song appears in the story. Enjoy! 

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"Are you sure you have to go?"

Hera rolled her eyes, grateful that her back was facing him as she packed her clothing into her suitcase. Zeus leaned against the door a few feet behind, expressionless, watching his wife calmly pack.

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't know what you want me to say. I can't do anything else."

"You could stay." Again, she rolled her eyes.

"She's deaf and has dementia, Zeus. I have to go." This time, it was Zeus's turn to roll his eyes. He couldn't understand why she had to go. Yes, it was her mother, but Hera never seemed so invested in her before. Guess she was changing her mind now that the woman's dying or something.

Hera sighed, placing the last of her mittens and socks in her suitcase. She got up, reaching for her purse and took out about 10 booklets of stamps. "Here, I already went to the post office and bought stamps. You need three of the forevers to send a letter to Canada. Just put your letter and the kids' too in one envelope." She walked over to him silently and placed the stamps in his hand. He furrowed his brow, looking at the different designs.

"There's like 200 stamps here, how long were you planning on staying there?" The more he looked at them, the more he looked nervous.

"I'm not sure, for as long as she needs me."

"That could be years."

"The doctor said she has less than six months." She turned her back to him, sitting on the edge of their bed and spaced out staring at the floor. Zeus took it as a cue to cautiously approach her, sitting down next to her and placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Hera." He kissed her temple, which seemed to do nothing to change how she felt. "So where is this place, Kneebone? Sassy-cat, sass-cat something," he said, changing the subject.

"Kneebone, Saskatchewan. I haven't been back there in years." She sighed, getting up to finish the next step of her packing.

"Are you sure we have to write letters? Can't we just Facetime like normal people?"

"There's no WiFi in my mother's house. And Kneebone is in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, there's a reason why I left, remember? Besides, my mother got rid of the phone when I moved away since she'd lost all her hearing by then, but I'll try to call on my cell phone whenever I can. The rates are high in Kneebone, though." Zeus also didn't understand why they couldn't pay the phone price. He was a powerful executive of a massive airline with tons of money to spend, they could foot the bill. A paranoia in him thought that maybe she just didn't want to talk to him, and that escaping to a rural Canadian town with a thousand residents was paradise for her.

"Oh, okay." An awkward silence permeated the air for a few seconds. "So, when do you leave?"

"On Thursday. It's a 6 hour flight from LA to Saskatoon, and then I'm taking a cab to Kneebone for an hour. I'll let you know when I get there." Which meant a postcard taking four days to arrive at their door. Great.

He kissed her cheek gingerly, which did not faze Hera. It almost seemed like she was immune to his affection. "Come on, let's go to dinner." She got up with him, following him to the dining room where their three adolescent children Hebe, Hephaestus, and Ares were already seated.

"Kids, you already know that I'm leaving for Kneebone soon," Hera announced. Their servant placed a plate of lamb shank with rice in front of her, filling her glass with some white wine. "I have to take care of your grandmother, she's not feeling well." Although their three children were concerned, they had no connection to Rhea. They had never met their grandmother. In fact, Hera barely brought her up all throughout their lives.