Who: Hestia, Demeter, and Cato What: Reunions (again) Where: Hestia's Cafe When: This Saturday, around noon Warnings: None
Cato sat back, ignoring the risk of his chair tipping over; at just the right angle, he could feel his face in the sun, and it was delightful. The sounds of content customers eating, drinking and talking all around him was comforting as well, leaving him in a state of peace he enjoyed. College life, while more educational and stimulating than he'd dreamed, was also exhausting; he'd offered to have lunch with his aunt Demeter, and he was glad she'd accepted. The fact that she was happy to know him still shocked him a little, but he hoped that would pass with time, leaving only the good feelings.
... And, well, he couldn't resist Hestia's baked goods on a Saturday afternoon. Who could, really?
After Zale's birthday, Demeter was enjoying a rare case of high spirits. She was feeling happy, confident, and completely in control of her own destiny. As she walked down the sidewalk towards the cafe that Cato had told her about, she carried a wicker picnic basket full of food she was going to be giving to him.
She stopped in front of the cafe and stood there for a moment to make sure she had the right place, looking around the exterior and through the windows to see if she could spot her nephew before going inside.
The movement of a new person caught his eye; sitting back in the proper position, Cato waved eagerly, trying to catch the goddess' attention.
A bright smile lit up Demeter's face as she spotted Cato. She hefted up her basket and made her way inside. "Cato!" she greeted warmly as she reached his table. "I'd offer you a hug, but my hands are kind of full." It was true.... the basket was so overfilled that she literally needed two hands to carry it.
"I noticed!" He took it carefully from her hands to place it on the table so he could give her a proper embrace. "I'm glad you made it."
Demeter returned the hug in kind, and placed a kiss on his cheek as well. "I needed a break anyways. Been working a great deal at home on the land. There's still much to do." She ruffled his hair a little bit before setting herself in a chair across from Cato.
Cato blushed at the gesture. It felt to have gestures usually reserved for children bestowed upon him... but he was, in a way, the youngest of them all, despite the date of his conceivement. Taking his own seat, he offered her a plate. It held a small offering of macaroons and sugar cookies in differing fall shapes. "Try some. They're delicious."
"Thank you," Demeter said as she took one of the macaroons. "How have you been? I'm sure we've both been busy since we last saw each other. What have you been up to?" As she waited for his response, she started taking a bite out of the cookie.
"Not much different than usual," he replied with a shrug. "School is keeping me busy. My roommates drag me around campus, too; they're very social, and kind enough to bring me along. Yourself?" As he waited for an answer, he grabbed a cookie himself. Mmm. Sugar.
Demeter gave the cookie she'd just bitten a curious look. It tasted familiar. But she put it out of her mind to answer Cato. "Ah, well just recently was Zale's birthday and I was able to spend a day with both him and his sister." She smiled at the memory of that day. "It went well." Much had happened that day, but they certainly weren't in a place where she could speak openly about it. "Aside from that, I've just been working with planting trees in the Grove before winter arrives. I'm almost done, I think."
Cato’s head perked up at the mention of the birthday. “Was it really? I didn’t know...” Ack. He felt a small stab of guilt. He knew what day it was, but he’d forgotten. He’d amend that.
Demeter nodded. “Yes,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve missed so many birthdays and holidays in the past two years with him. I want to make things up to Zale, but sometimes I wonder if anything I do will ever be enough.” Thoughtfully she took another bite of the macaroon.
“I don’t think he’d hold that against you,” Cato commented. “He’s way too nice to hold that sort of grudge, especially against his own mother.”
“That’s sweet of you to say. I hope it’s true,” Demeter said with a grateful smile. She’d finished the macaroon, but now took up another one not to eat, but to closely examine. “These are delicious. They taste familiar, like a recipe I know.” The goddess turned the cookie over in her fingers, trying to figure out exactly where she’d tasted them before.
“They’re hand-made! And you’ll like who made them, too,” he said, attempting to go for a sneaky wink, but it mostly came off as rather obvious and cheesy. He nodded his head to someone behind Demeter’s seat, off behind the service counter, where a short red-haired woman was putting the newest batches of confections into the display case cheerily.
Demeter gave Cato a confused look, definitely caught off guard by the wink. Had her nephew set her up? She glanced over her shoulder towards where he nodded and gasped when she recognized the woman behind the counter. Ever since returning to Miami, she’d thought long and hard about going to see her sisters, especially Hestia, but had been unable to work up the nerve. Feelings of delight tangled up with feelings of nervousness, and the warring emotions showed on her face.
The younger immortal chuckled at Demeter’s obvious emotion. “Want to say hi?”
“I... I don’t know...” Demeter stammered out softly, turning away from the counter and fidgeting with her hair, tangling up the ends in her fingers. “Does she know I was coming? Was she expecting me? Oh Cato!” She whispered at him, thinking to herself how this was very much like a thing his father would’ve done. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it did make her squirm when she was caught so off guard.
“No, no, I didn’t tell her anything.” He had laughed a little at first, but seeing that she really was this nervous, he sobered up a bit. “Aunt, you look afraid. Why? You didn’t have some sort of fight with her, did you?”
“No,” she said quietly. “It’s just... When I left, I hadn’t told her... or anyone else in the family besides my children and Z--” She almost said his name, but shied away from it and continued. “...about why exactly I was leaving Miami.” It wasn’t that she was afraid of Hestia... It was that Demeter had no idea exactly what to say to her to explain her two year absence.
“Ah... Two years isn’t all that long, though. Not for us,” he pointed out with a small shrug, nibbling on a cookie thoughtfully. “We’ve had decades between us. Centuries, even.”
Demeter sighed and buried her face in her hands. Two years really was a drop in the bucket for their family, but it really had be an excruciatingly long pair of years for her. “But what do I say?”
Cato frowned. He hadn’t meant to upset her... only surprise her. But it was clear this was not going to plan. Reaching over the table, he gently took her wrists in hand, though he didn’t pull her hands away from her face. “If this really bothers you... I am sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you!”
After taking a deep breath, Demeter lowered her hands and wrapped her slender fingers around Cato’s much larger hands. “It’s alright. I know you meant well.” She took another measured breath and tried to recompose herself. “Perhaps this is just what I’ve needed. If you hadn’t done this, I might not have worked up the nerve to go and see her.”
Cato’s face flushed. “I doubt it. But thank you.”
Demeter smiled at Cato reassuringly, then patted his hands. “Guess... It’s now or never.” Slowly she rose from her seat and turned to go towards the counter. Though she tried to remain outwardly calm, inwardly her mind was whirling with worst-case scenarios. Was she still in the dark about Zeus’s child, or had someone let it slip to her? Would she ask a lot of questions? Would she treat her coldly for just leaving without a word to nearly anyone? Would she be rejected? Would she be scolded? Of all her remaining siblings, Hestia was the only one she was on consistently good terms with, and if she lost her support, Demeter didn’t know what she’d do.
Surprised at the sudden action, Cato stood and followed, hoping for the best.
Hestia had her back turned to them as they approached, carefully arranging some scones on a tray, but she heard the footsteps. “One moment! They’re fresh out of the oven,” and then she turned, a smile wide on her face, “and they’re...” The smile slid slowly from her lips. “They’re...”
Demeter watched her beloved sister quietly, feeling her heart drop a little at the sight of her smile fading. Was she upset? Angry? “I... I’m home, Tessie,” she said quietly, her head dropping a little, like a child expecting a scolding. “Sorry I was away for so long.”
The hearth goddess’ usually rosy face was pale with surprise. “Dem-- Madeline? What on earth...”
Demeter lifted her head and tried to speak, but her nervousness made it hard to find the words. “I... That is... What I’m trying to say... is... that... I... I...” She silently berated herself. Demeter could feel the eyes of the other customers starting to take notice, and it added to her discomfort. She didn’t want to cause a scene here in her sister’s shop. “I’m sorry... You’re obviously busy, so I’ll come back another day.” She started to turn towards the door, scolding herself inwardly for her cowardice. Why did being around her siblings make her so spastic?
Before she could take another step, Hestia reached over the counter and snatched her wrist. “No you don’t!” Cato stared as Hestia pulled the younger sister along the counter until the two of them reached the little door that let Hestia out; she quickly unlatched it before pulling her sister into a fierce hug, refusing to let her go.
Demeter often forgot exactly how strong her elder sister could be when she wanted. She had to backpedal to follow Hestia’s lead and only just managed to do so without tripping over her own feet. “What are--?” She lost her voice again when her sister pulled her into that tight embrace, choked by the flood of warm emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. With a sigh of relief, she wrapped her own arms around Hestia and buried her face in her shoulder.
After a moment of silence, Hestia held her out at arms length, tears visible in the corners of her eyes. “Two years! No, almost three now! What... what happened?” she asked, clearly relieved though concerned, but happy too. Behind her, in Demeter’s sight, Cato visibly relaxed and offered Demeter a smile.
Demeter was reassured by Cato’s smile and though she knew she had a lot of explaining to do. “I would like to tell you, but it’s not something I can talk about in public.” Public being within mortal eyes and ears. “I can wait to talk later, after your shop closes, if that would be better for you.”
Hestia glanced to the other customers, some watching as subtly as possible, and nodded. “One second.” She turned to a young man wearing an apron and gave him instructions to watch the register. Once he was gone, she took both Cato and Demeter by hand, leading them into the back of the bakery until they were in her little office. The door was shut securely behind them.
Demeter took a seat once they were in Hestia’s office. Her knees felt so weak that she might’ve just collapsed to the floor if there hadn’t been any chairs. She sighed as she looked up to her sister. “[So... Where should I begin?]” she asked softly.
“[From the start, maybe,]” said Hestia, taking a seat on the edge of her small desk, gesturing for her sister and nephew to take similar ones in the wicker chairs facing her.
Demeter nodded. “[Do you remember back when I’d exchanged myself for you and Zale when the Subrosa had captured you?]” She started her story from there, explaining how close she and Zeus had become after he rescued her, and the resulting child. Then she explained leaving Miami in order to protect the child, only to miscarry a few months later. She paused for a moment in her tale, her emotions choking her up a little. It was still very hard to talk about.
Hestia listened quietly, a grave look on her face, sometimes letting out small clucks or gasps of worry. At the end, she waited. It was so hard, not to hug her tight again, but she clearly needed a moment for breath and peace. So she paused a few minutes, letting the silence rule over them until she murmured, “[Who knew? That you’d left, I mean, and why?]”
“[Zeus did, of course. Persephone knew the whole story, and though he didn’t know who the father was, Zale knew I was pregnant. I kept it a secret from everyone else.]” Demeter wrapped her arms around herself tightly.
Cato shuffled in his seat, watching Demeter with a look of guilt he couldn’t help. Zeus had known, he knew that much. He wondered if Zeus could have done something. Anything to keep her from leaving and suffering the way she had... He peeled his hands away, focusing on non-existent dust on his knee.
Not noticing the youngster, Hestia’s eyes were still focused on her little sister. “[Hera doesn’t know, does she?]” she murmured.
The earth goddess shook her head. “[If she does, she doesn’t know it from me. I never even saw her after Zeus rescued me, and I moved out of the city as soon as I was able.]” She glanced over at Cato and met his eyes for the briefest instant before he turned his gaze towards his knee. She felt badly for him, if the look meant what she thought it did, but even she didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t his father, after all.
Hestia noted the glance between the two and winced. Oh. This must be awkward for the two of them... though they seemed to be getting along. For that, she was glad, at least. She shook her head and sighed. “[Demeter. I am so sorry. When you left, I... I never suspected... if I’d known!]” She pushed herself off of the table and took Demeter’s hands into hers. “[But looking back solves nothing, does it? Whatever your past, with Zeus or otherwise, I’m glad to see you back with us.]”
Demeter nodded and squeezed Hestia’s hands back. “[I’m sorry to have worried you so. I should’ve told you at least.]” She placed a kiss atop her fingers. “[And I’m sorry to have been gone so long. I never intended to be away for years...]”
Hestia gave her a warm smile. “[You had your reasons. I don’t blame you. My only worry now is Hera... She may not be so forgiving, and I really don’t wish to see any further family drama.]”
Though she may have been uncertain about seeing Hestia again, Demeter was absolutely certain of feelings regarding Hera. A number of things ran through her mind that she could say about Hera, none of them positive, but she kept them to herself. “[I’d rather not see her anytime soon,]” she said simply. “[If she never learned about Zeus’s child and mine, then more’s the better.]”
“[I doubt she does; she has never spoken a word about it to me, not even since our engagement. And you know how she can be about letting something go... easier to pry prey out of crocodile teeth,]” sighed Hestia, not spitefully, just as a matter of fact. “[It might be best that it remains that way. It would only upset her if she knew that before he died, her husband had created another child out of wedlock. She’s still recovering as well.]”
“[Only upset till she learned the child’s fate. Fates did what she could never accomplish herself in the past,]” Demeter spat out bitterly before she could censor herself. She could never forgive Hera for that violent, murderous streak of hers back then, especially towards the bastard children of Zeus. Then she sighed. “[I’m sorry, sister... I didn’t mean to say--Wait.]” She looked up at Hestia with surprise. “[Did you say engagement?]”
Hestia’s face colored at the insult, though she’d expected it, and she would admit there was an unfortunate truth to it. She wanted to say ‘she’s gotten better’ but, really, that was only because Adam was an adult rather than a child and, well, Hera wasn’t as strong as she used to be. Hestia dreaded to think of how badly she may have reacted if Demeter’s pregnancy had remained, and if she had chosen to stay in Miami with the infant. Augh.
The question caught her off guard, though, and it showed. In her silence, Cato offered, “[Hestia and Hera are married. Hera is the goddess of marriage... and she had become a widow.]” He paused there, assuming Demeter could fill in the clues from there. It would be as if Demeter were to be thrown up into the sky, to never see a plan or soil again... or Hestia into the ocean, far away from any warmth or hearth. To be separated from one’s domain was unbearable. And Zeus had been the embodiment of Hera’s.
Demeter started at Cato incredulously, then looked to her sister face for confirmation. She was torn between saying any number of things, none of which would’ve gone over well with Hestia. Ultimately, she only asked, “[Are you happy?]”
“[I am. She’s a good spouse, and I’m glad to have given her reason to stay.]” She paused and added a little teasingly, “[You’re not very good at hiding your emotions, are you?]”
“[When have I ever?]” Demeter quipped back with a sigh. So the two women she loved most in this world were now married to two people she practically loathed. “[Hopefully it’s not snowing outside.]” It thankfully wasn’t, though the air had become a bit chillier inside the shop. Somewhere in there, someone wondered if the thermostat hadn’t been turned too far down.
Shaking her head, Hestia knelt so that they were on eye level. “[I will keep your secret, because I love you, and because I love her too. Trust me.]”
“[Because I love you, I will trust you,]” Demeter relented. “[Only you. You’re the only one of the any of them...]” ”them” being her siblings. “[...who ever truly treated me kindly with any sort of consistency. You’re the only one I’ve ever been able to trust, and I don’t want to lose you.]”
Hestia’s treacherous mind could have pointed out that Zeus had once been counted among those, but she pushed the thought away and replied, “[I understand. So what are your plans now, little sister?]”
Demeter sat back in her chair. “[For now... Just try and spend as much time mending fences with my children and those family members I’m actually on speaking terms with.]” She glanced over at Cato and gave him a small smile. He was certainly on that short list. Then she looked back at Hestia. “[There’s also a few other things I’m working on at my home, but it’ll be easier just to show you one day when you have the time.]”
Hestia nodded. Looking to their nephew, she said, “Cato, could you go check on my cashier? I caught her flirting with her boyfriend last week over the counter. She needs to keep her attention for customers. Please?”
Cato blinked at the request, but obediently nodded and exited. Once he had closed the door behind him, Hestia looked back to her sister. “[If I may ask... how did you know where to find me? I haven’t had this cafe as long as you’ve been gone...]”
Demeter shrugged. “[I didn’t. Cato invited me here for coffee. I met him a short while ago. He sort of blind-sided me with this reunion.]”
Now it was Hestia’s turn to look surprised again, staring at Demeter for a moment in stunned silence. “[Really?]”
She nodded. “[It was a random chance meeting.... He recognized me when I was on the beach a week or two ago.]”
“Huh. [That’s surprising, from him. He’s so docile... he usually keeps to himself, out of some fear that most or at least some of the family dislikes him. Hades has been acting as a patron for him, and I try to talk to him as much as possible, but he’s been very much an introvert. I honestly wouldn’t have expected him to try and lead you here.]”
“[He’s a sweetheart,]” Demeter said with a small smile, then sighed. “[I see so much of his father in him. It’s hard not to. And he seems to have memories of me that only Zeus could have had. It was a little disconcerting at first.]” The goddess’s eyes teared up, and she brushed them away as quickly as she could. “[Heh... You’d think I’d be out of tears by now.]” She laughed weakly, trying to gloss over her sadness.
Hestia leaned in to brush a runaway tear away before it could go any further. “[It’s more than a little unusual. I’m not sure what to think of him myself, especially given his supposed place in the prophecy about his birth... but he seems to have his heart in the right place. I’m glad to see you like him, and that he clearly likes you.]”
Demeter nodded. “[I couldn’t protect the last child Zeus gave to me,]” she said solemnly. “[The least I can do is look after the last child he left behind himself.]” Though she was trying to remain stoic, tears began to fall from her eyes again. She rubbed them away as best she could.
“[He could not ask for a better matron,]” Hestia agreed, planting a kiss on Demeter’s head.
Demeter returned the kiss by giving one to Hestia on the cheek. “[Thank you. Coming from you that means a lot to me.]” She recomposed herself as best she could. “[There is more I would like to tell you about concerning my absence. However, it would take more time than we have right now, I’m afraid. Can I see you again soon?]”
“[Of course! You’re always welcome to come here, or even call me. Do you have my email still?]” said Hestia excitedly, the joy of her sister being ‘home’ again overcoming her again, making her grin.
“[I think I have your e-mail, unless you changed it,]” Demeter said, feeling her spirits perk up as well at seeing her elder sister so excited. “[I have a different one, and a new phone number, but I can give that to you easily.]”
“[We can take care of that later!]” Taking Demeter by the hand, Hestia started to lead her sister back out of the office. “[For now, let’s have some tea.]”
When Demeter followed her sister out of the office, nearly all traces of her previous sadness had washed away as she smiled happily. The only lingering evidence that she was crying at all in the office was a slight redness around her eyes. Once outside, she impulsively gave her sister a hug. “Thank you,” she said gratefully. “I’m so glad you’re my sister.”
Hestia returned it tightly, smiling from ear to ear. “And I, you.”
Summary: In a surprising moment of daring, Cato surprises Demeter with lunch -- and with her sister.