Psyche tugs my arm. “Yes, yes, my sister looks lovely. This one.” She points to the second addition. There, next to the photo of Hades and Persephone, is one of me and Psyche. This one isn’t from the ceremony but from the photos we posed for after the fact. I’m holding Psyche close and have one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand tipping her chin up with the obvious intention of kissing her. She looks soft and happy and perfect.
And me?
My heart’s in my eyes.
I don’t miss the significance of this photo being here among these other happy photos of the Dimitriou women. Demeter might not have welcomed me to the family with open arms and sweet words, but by hanging this photo, she is welcoming me into the family.
I laugh, my throat a little tight. “Well, fuck.”
“What?”
I can’t really put this strange sensation into words. I’ve never had a family before, or at least a family where every interaction isn’t transactional. A warm welcome, even this small, makes me feel strange and awkward, like I don’t know what to do with my hands. “Your mother has a pointed way of welcoming someone into the family.”
“She does, doesn’t she?” Psyche leans against my arm. “Hey, you.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
I press a quick kiss to her bright-pink lips. “I love you, too. Now let’s go down and greet your mother properly.”
We find the entire Dimitriou clan in the kitchen. And Hades, which surprises the fuck out of me. He lifts his brows when he sees me but otherwise seems content to occupy a corner away from the women moving around one another like a terrifyingly well-oiled machine. Psyche gives my hand one last squeeze and joins them seamlessly.
Eurydice stirs what appears to be marinara sauce while chatting with Persephone, who removes hot rolls from the oven. Demeter tips steaming noodles into a strainer, gives it a good rinse, and weaves around Persephone to dump them into the sauce. Callisto is chopping vegetables for a salad with a speed that makes my stomach shrivel up. Psyche washes her hands and then starts transferring the chopped vegetables into the giant salad bowl filled with lettuce.
I inch back until I’m even with Hades, safely on the other side of the peninsula counter. “Are they always like this?” I murmur.
“Yes.”
No one bumps into each other. No one even hesitates. And they manage it while all talking at once. It’s overwhelming in the extreme. Not just the sheer competence; it’s the fact that I can feel their love for each other in every word, every movement.
“So this is what family really looks like.” I don’t mean to say the words out loud. I sure as fuck don’t mean for Hades to hear them.
He huffs out a dry laugh. “Yeah, it shocked the fuck out of me, too, the first few times. You get used to it.” He hesitates. “It’s even kind of nice sometimes, especially when they let you help.”
It strikes me that Hades is another person in Olympus who wouldn’t have much in the way of family experience. His parents died when he was a little kid. I glance at him. “Brave to step into that tornado.”
“Just wait until you’re in the middle of it.”
Strangely enough, I can’t wait.
Within ten minutes, the women have us hauling food to the table. Dinner is just as much a whirlwind as the preparing seemed to be. Psyche and her sisters talk over each other, with Demeter interjecting dry comments at regular intervals. It’s chaotic and more than a little overwhelming.
But Hades is right. It’s…nice.
I can feel the love they hold for each other, even when Persephone and Callisto start bickering over a misremembered instance of sibling injustice. I’m content to pick at my food and soak up the energy. This is what family feels like. What home feels like.
I like it.
Once everyone’s eaten their fill, Hades clears his throat. “We’ll do dishes.”
“Smart boys.” Demeter’s smile is knife-sharp. “We’ll be in the living room.”
Hades heads into the kitchen and the women whisk out of the room. All except Psyche. She glances after her family and takes my hand. “Are you doing okay? I know we can be a lot at first. If we need to leave—”
“I’m good.” The love I feel for this woman about bursts out of my chest. Of course she’d pause to check in on me, to offer to leave early even though she’s obviously enjoying herself. I squeeze her hand. “Better than good. Go enjoy your mother and sisters. We’ll be in once we’ve finished the dishes.”