"Hi, Dad," Evadne greeted Jupiter the moment he stepped into Hades' office.
She immediately stood and walked over to him. Jupiter welcomed her at once, wrapping an arm around her in a brief hug and pressing a kiss to the top of her hair.
"Hi, sweetheart. Junesa told me you dropped by my office," Jupiter said, looking at his goddaughter... and future daughter-in-law... with open fondness.
"I bought your favorite tea and wanted to bring it to you," Evadne said, looping her arm through his. "And I visited Hades too. I decided to wait for him until dinner because I was dying of boredom at home."
Jupiter smiled and affectionately ruffled her hair.
"Why don't we call your Daddy Romos, your Mommy Cielo, and Mom Angelina, and let's all go out for dinner tonight?" he suggested. "It's been a long time since all of us had dinner together, with all the chaos of this past week and your one-month road trip."
"Yeah, I'd love that, Dad," Evadne said immediately.
"Great. I'll have Tyla arrange it," Jupiter said. Then he looked at Hades. "Have you finished reading the contract? We can talk about it on the way to pick up your mother."
"Yes, sir," Hades replied.
The three of them then left Hades' office together.
Evadne took Hades' hand so they could walk hand in hand, while her other hand remained linked through Jupiter's arm.
She completely took over the conversation while they rode the elevator down, talking about anything and everything she could think of... so long as both Jupiter and Hades could be drawn into it.
In the end, they all rode together in Jupiter's limousine, while one of Jupiter's bodyguards drove Hades' car behind them so it could follow.
They headed first to the Ceres and Zeus Foundation, where Cielo and Angelina were still busy with preparations for the upcoming month-long annual celebration of the Foundation. They only waited for them briefly, and then the whole group went straight to Tokaido, an exclusive Japanese restaurant, where Romos... who had also just come from a meeting... joined them.
"Your Mommy Cielo told me you've been complaining about being bored staying at home, sweetheart," Angelina said during dinner.
"So we talked about it," she continued, exchanging a look with Cielo, "and we thought... if it's all right with you... why don't you help us prepare for the anniversary of the Ceres and Zeus Foundation?"
"Yeah, I'd love that, Mom," Evadne said to her godmother, Angelina. "Just tell me what I need to do."
"Well, hon," Cielo said, "we were thinking… why don't you come up with the activities for the children in the orphanage and for the employees of the Foundation and the shelters as well?"
"Wait... you mean I'd take the lead?" Evadne asked, looking genuinely stunned. "Mommy, Mom, I can help, of course, but leading something that big for the first time? What if I embarrass all of you?"
"What do you mean, embarrass us?" Hades cut in at once while placing more food onto Evadne's plate. "Baby, did you forget? You spearheaded the community immersion project and Clubs War Week at NYE last year, and both were huge successes."
The parents immediately backed him up.
He had a point.
"Would you go to the orphanage if I lead the activities?" Evadne asked Hades quietly, knowing full well that he had not stepped foot in that place since he was ten years old.
"Of course, baby," Hades answered without hesitation. "You don't even have to ask me that. I'll be wherever you are."
Then he leaned over and kissed her temple, earning soft smiles from all the parents around the table.
Finally... after such a long time... they could truly see their two families becoming one someday.
Dinner continued warmly after that, moving from business conversations to discussions about the Foundation's anniversary, then drifting to lighter topics and everything else in between.
By the end of the meal, as they were all heading out of the restaurant, Evadne turned to her parents.
"Mommy, Daddy, I'm spending the night at Hades' penthouse," she announced.
"What about your meds?" Romos asked immediately.
"Don't worry, Dad, I already have extra stock," Hades answered before Evadne could.
"Of course you do," Evadne muttered, making a face at him and sticking out her tongue.
Romos first looked at Cielo, who only smiled at her husband.
"Okay, okay," Romos said at last. "But make sure she's never left alone, Hades."
"And before you go to the office tomorrow, drop her off at the Foundation so she can start helping us," Cielo added.
"Yes, Mom. Don't worry," Hades assured them.
Romos and Cielo were both completely at ease leaving Evadne in Hades' care.
Soon after, they all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
"Casadin had a crazy suggestion," Evadne said to Hades once they were inside his car and already on the way to Aurivale.
"How crazy?" Hades asked, one hand steady on the wheel while the other rested possessively on top of Evadne's knee.
"He wants me to ask Mommy and Daddy if I can live with you…"
"Yes, baby, that is a very good suggestion," Hades said immediately, not even waiting for her to finish.
Evadne laughed.
"I wasn't even done talking yet."
"No need," Hades said, already smiling far too much for her comfort. "Should I ask Mom and Dad for you? I'm sure they'll agree faster if I'm the one who asks."
"Do you even know why Casadin suggested that?" Evadne asked, shaking her head.
"I have an idea why, but the reason doesn't matter. I agree. Completely." Hades glanced at her briefly, still smiling. "And you know Casadin and I only agree on rare, miraculous occasions."
That made Evadne smile... but only for a moment. Soon, her expression turned serious again.
"But seriously, hubby, I am not going to live with you," she said. "Besides, no matter how much Mommy and Daddy trust you, I doubt they would agree. And even if they did, I still wouldn't."
"This has something to do with Heavensblade?" Hades asked, though he already more or less knew the answer.
"Yes and no," Evadne said.
That made Hades frown.
Evadne turned her face and looked at his profile while he drove. The city lights passed over his face in warm gold and shadow. She was thinking... carefully, heavily... about whether she should tell him what had happened between her and Casadin earlier.
She and Casadin had already talked about it.
Casadin had suggested that they not tell Hades about the mate bond yet, especially since Evadne still did not understand how she had been able to trigger it in the first place and how she can do it again. She still had no idea what made it possible for her to mark Casadin earlier.
According to Casadin, knowing Hades, if he learned that she and Casadin were now mated, Hades would feel jealous. Or worse... excluded.
Evadne knew there was truth in that.
If it had been her choice... if she had been able to choose which of them she would mark first... she would have chosen Hades.
Not because she loved Hades more and Casadin less.
She loved them equally.
Even if other people insisted that no one could love two people in equal measure at the same time, Evadne would disagree with all her heart, because she knew herself. She knew what she felt. She loved both of them in the same depth, the same madness, the same certainty.
But she worried more about Hades.
Maybe because she could not hear his thoughts.
Maybe because that silence made her more careful with him.
With Casadin, she could always dip into his mind, read what he was feeling, catch his insecurities before they deepened, and adjust her words or actions to reassure him. With him, she always knew where she stood. Casadin also had the confidence of someone who had bonded with her first in ways Hades had not.
But Hades…
With Hades, she could only read his face, his tone, the way he held himself. And because she could not hear the thoughts he did not say out loud, she never knew exactly when something she did became a source of sadness, pain, insecurity, or jealousy for him.
If it were up to her, she would have marked Hades first just to reassure him.
But that was not the reality now.
Until this moment, she still did not know how she had managed to mark Casadin. What exactly triggered it. What in her had responded. What in him had called to it.
Casadin had said that if she told Hades about their mate bond, Hades would definitely ask to be marked too... and with her not knowing how to do that, it would only create another problem. It would make Hades' insecurities grow.
But she also did not want to hide anything from him.
Because he would notice.
Especially once he and Casadin were in the same room again.
Casadin was now taller than him. More solid. More sharply built. There was also the wing-like "tattoo" on his back, and the mark on his neck. Hades would ask questions. And if he later found out that she and Casadin had hidden the truth from him, then all the same doubts about his place in their relationship would return.
"Baby… did something else happen earlier?" Hades finally asked, worry slipping into his voice.
Knowing Evadne, real silence from her was rare.
Not ordinary quiet.
Not comfortable silence.
This kind.
The kind where she became still and thoughtful, like she was carefully weighing the consequences of whatever she was about to say. And whenever she got like that, Hades knew it was serious. Something life-changing. Something that, once spoken or done, could not be taken back.
Evadne remained silent until they reached the Aurivale parking lot.
She did not trust herself to say what she needed to say while Hades was still driving.
Only once the car was fully parked in Hades' designated spot did she move.
"Hubby…" Evadne said softly, taking Hades' hand in both of hers.
The engine was off. The night around them was quiet.
"I need you to know," she said carefully, "that whatever I'm about to tell you… it doesn't change anything between me, you, and Casadin. Okay?"
Hades swallowed hard.
A sudden unease settled in his chest as he looked at her, waiting for whatever truth she had been carrying all this time.