Stay (I Missed You)

Six

Zeus and the children had stayed at Kneebone for about two weeks now. Their trip was supposed to last a whole month, and half of their time was already up. The children were getting antsy. Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus had done everything remotely exciting in Kneebone. They already tried fishing (hated it), hiking (there weren't any mountains to go up anyways), and berry picking ("ew! ew! There are bugs everywhere!"). Most days they just took care of their grandmother or slept.

Zeus was getting antsy too. Not only that, Hera wasn't opening up to him and he had to witness some very awkward moments. Last week, Zeus helped Hera with the grocery shopping and a certain individual Hera seemed to dislike was also at the store.

"Hera!" Zeus saw her shoulders slump in discomfort. "Hera! Hera!" An unattractive man about their age with a blonde mustache and a greasy cap was shouting down the aisle. "Heraaa!" Man, this guy can't take a hint, Zeus thought. Hera slowly turned around and offered him a very obvious fake smile.

"Oh my goodness, Ixion! What a...surprise." Hera offered her high-pitched, cheery voice but by the time she finished her sentence, she lost the motivation to keep up the facade and dropped her voice to a blunt tone. "Didn't think I'd see you here."

Ixion stepped over to them. "Heard you were back in town, I was waiting to bump into you! We left things unfinished, am I right?" he winked. Zeus put a protective arm around Hera's waist and pulled her closer. Ixion noticed.

"Um, Ixion, this is my husband Zeus. Zeus, this is a my...ex-boyfriend, from high school."

Ixion chuckled. "Wow, I can't compete with this guy, look at that suit he's wearing!" He pointed a finger at the tan-colored suit.

"Um, it's nice to meet you, Ixion." Zeus shook his hand and subtly wiped his hand on his clothes.

"So, Hera, I heard you're some big shot LA girl now. Can't stick around for good ol' Kneebone?" Hera shook her head silently, and Zeus took it as a cue.

"Sorry, Ixion, but we have a busy day ahead of us and we'd like to just get our food and go." Before waiting for a response, Zeus walked her away from him. Usually, Zeus would feel a bit jealous if he met one of Hera's past lovers, but it appeared that she blatantly disliked Ixion, and there was nothing to worry about. He was extremely curious about their relationship in high school, so add that to another list of things Zeus wanted to ask her about.

Rhea's dementia was advancing rapidly. Everyone could tell. A doctor recommended to Hera that playing music can evoke a response from dementia patients, but of course, Rhea was deaf so that idea wasn't so promising. Nevertheless, Hera took it upon herself to sign all the songs that Rhea would most likely remember.

Today, everyone was eating to "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer. Hebe wanted to choose the music today, and she chose the soft rock tape ("Mom, how could you listen to loud rock like that every day?"). Maybe the kids were more oblivious, but Zeus could tell that Hera was on edge every day. A subtle stress lined her features, but she did a good job of hiding it. Everyone was already done with half of their food, except for Hera and Rhea. Hera, because she was signing every lyric and didn't have time to pick up her fork, and Rhea because she wasn't eating.

This was exactly what Hera feared. She knew that the inability to swallow was a sign of the final stages of dementia. Rhea used to eat two meals a day, and gradually she just got down to one. Her heart lurched at the thought of her mother dying a painful, hungry death. Rhea was signing maybe four or five sentences a day now. Sometimes a bit more if Hera really tried. On some days, if she helped her mother pick up her food, Rhea could eat, but today was not one of those days.

The song switched to "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb, which didn't do much for Hera's mood because it was a depressing song and she was eating a depressing dinner. Her mother's eyes were trained on her, so she'd like to think that Rhea was actually paying attention to what she was signing. Zeus and the kids were watching her, probably intrigued by how fast Hera could sign.