With a snap of her fingers, Demeter conjured a fresh bag of popcorn. Grinning with excitement, she bounced a little on her throne as she started to read, but before she did, she was interrupted.
"You are getting way too into this," muttered Hades with a shake of his head.
The Goddess of Harvest merely scoffed at her brother, "I wouldn't expect some like you to understand." Clearing her throat, she began the new chapter.
The silence was slightly unnerving. In the millennia that the Goddesses had known the Mother of the Gods, the Titaness of Motherhood and Beauty, she had never seemed so amused.
Rhea giggled to herself. "Oh, if only this would happen in this world. I've been so bored lately."
Instead of her usual warm and comforting eyes, she was gazing upon them like they were enacting a puppet show and she was the puppeteer. Even Athena, who was no stranger to using manipulation, felt very uncomfortable as she sat beside her sister in the small dining room; she had no idea why her grandmother decided to involve herself in the situation or knew what she was thinking. Overall, it was quite intimidating.
"Oh relax. I'm just having a little but of fun," chirped the Mother of the Gods.
Thena frowned, "It was a bit out of the blue."
"So," started Aphrodite as she cleared her throat. "This sure is an unexpected pleasure."
Artemis and Athena nodded along, with the latter with a slightly forced smile. "Indeed, but if I may ask, why did you come here, Grandmother?"
Rhea was sipping on her cup of chia tea and merely smiled kindly at the girls. "I felt inclined to be closer to family, so I decided to move here along with Tia. It's quite the convenient location seeing how little Athena, Aphrodite and Artemis would all visit the next house at the same time." Rhea gently placed her porcelain cup on its plate and winked at the Goddesses with a sly smile, "And just between us women, the owner next door is so very sexy."
Almost in sync, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades flared their power and the world shook. The skies thundered, the seas clashed, and the earth rumbled.
"This little fucker," growled the King of the Gods, "Is it not enough that he's corrupted my favourite daughter?! Another dimension or not, I will find him and kill him if he so much as thinks about Mother that way!"
While the demigods shivered at the power, the younger gods sighed and Rhea laughed, "Oh, don't be so temperamental, boys. I'm certain my other is only saying that to tease the girls." The throne room did calm a little, "Although, I have to admit that he is quite the handsome fellow and an amazingly caring father."
The throne room started to shake again, and Hera had to intervene. "Mother, stop or they'll all have brain aneurisms."
Dite nodded along, "Yeah, you're scaring my baby!"
Still giggling, Rhea nodded, "Okay. Calm down, boys; I'm only kidding."
Demeter sighed before continuing.
Loud clatters could be heard as Athena, Aphrodite and Hestia simultaneously dropped their cups onto their plates, almost shattering them. Hestia stared at her mother in shock as her eyes widened considerably, utterly horrified at the idea of her mother pining over a mortal man; then Athena and Aphrodite, in a very rare moment, actually thought along the same lines – both wondering if Rhea would be competition.
Aphrodite smirked, "That would be interesting."
The Big Three cried out in unison, "NO!"
Rhea giggled again.
"W-What in the name of Order, Mother?!" cried Hestia loudly.
Rhea couldn't hold in it anymore and burst out a laugh, her delicate features shaking as she brushed away tears from her eyes. "You should see all your faces!" All three Goddesses sighed in relief and calmed down, but Rhea's laughter was still strong. "Don't worry; I'm not interested in taking your little boyfriend."
Finally, the elder God Kings relaxed and calmed, saving millions of lives from dying down on Earth.
Artemis sighed as she finished her tea, "If we're only going to be chatting about some boy, I think I'm just going to go back to my hunters."
"Oh no, you won't." Rhea gave her granddaughter a pointed look, "The two little girls saw you with us this morning, so you're coming with us later."
"But Grandmother?!"
"No buts!" Rhea crossed her arms and sternly stared at Artemis, "It's been a very long time since I've spent time with my little granddaughters and step-daughter, so we're all going to stay for the day and have a nice time." The Titaness smiled as Artemis relented and rested back on the seat, a tiny pout on her face. "None of you have to worry about the others seeing all of us here and become suspicious; I've taken care of that."
Zeus frowned, "Mother…"
"Shush, Zeus!"
"How?" asked Athena, who had been worried that the combination their godly energies in one place might have attracted Olympus' attention.
"Zeus gives me my own circle of privacy, so as long as I allow it, I can completely shroud all of you within my personal domain. I've been hiding all of you since this morning; if I hadn't, I have no doubt that Zeus would have already questioned all of you." Rhea smiled as a strange glint appeared in her eyes, "And you are very lucky that no one but me noticed you coming here two nights ago, Aphrodite."
The Goddess of Love looked over at her step-mother and bit her lips, "I'm not breaking any rules coming here; love is my domain, and my being with Naruto is a part of it."
"Technically, yes, but we all know that it's stretching it a little."
"It doesn't matter; I'm not going to leave Naruto again." Aphrodite crossed her arms and closed her eyes, "This is something that I am extremely committed to and no one can change my mind."
Dite nodded, hugging Lace close to her chest. "Yep, not giving this up for anything."
Once again, Aphrodite reminded herself to speak with her counterpart alone as soon as possible.
"Yes, you were quite clear on that…" muttered Artemis softly, still a little uncomfortable about Aphrodite's threat to her and her hunters.
Apollo and Artemis shuddered at the thought.
Athena couldn't help but frown at her words, 'If only I have the same determination as her in love…'
Athena turned golden again and turned away from her snickering brothers.
Dite laughed, "Oh, it took you a while, but you eventually got there."
Thena gave her a scathing glare, "Shut up before I shave you bald!"
Hestia sighed and shook her head, "I never thought you'd actually go this far. You are abandoning your temple, your immortal children and most of your duties just to be with Naruto. Far be it from me to say anything about committing to family, but this is a little too extreme, Aphrodite."
"As the Goddess of Love, I am only pursuing what I deem as real love. I've never loved anyone like I love Naruto and I'm sure that I know better than anyone else that this is something extremely rare, especially among us immortals, so don't even bother trying to convince me otherwise."
Hestia frowned, but Rhea placed a hand on hers before she could continue. "Let it be, Tia, we should respect Aphrodite's own choices; it's her life and she alone should make the decisions." Aphrodite smiled and nodded, and Rhea gave her a knowing look. "If she somehow managed to convince Hera to stand on her side, I'm sure that this is truly something special."
Hera nodded, "I expected Mother to notice it right away."
Rhea winked at her youngest daughter with a smirk.
Aphrodite's eyes widened as the other Goddesses grew interested. "What do you mean, Hera, mother?"
Rhea smiled at her eldest daughter and winked, "If I'm not wrong, I think I smell the distinct aroma of the Hera's sacred bath on Aphrodite, and if Hera allowed her to use it, I'm sure the reasons behind this relationship are quite strong."
"W-What?!" cried the three Goddesses in shock!
Athena shakily turned to Aphrodite and stuttered, "Y-You mean you actually regained your v-virginity and gave it to N-Naruto?!" Aphrodite merely turned to the side with her eyes still closed, answering the question. "I-I never thought-"
"You'd go this damn far!" Artemis was seriously wondering if someone had replaced the Aphrodite she knew. The Love Goddess she knew would switch between lovers every single day and would have more demigod children than Apollo; she would have never even imagined that she would do something so extreme.
Aphrodite frowned, but one look from Dite made her feel better. She was sure that her counterpart could tell her precisely why she felt to let down, as if she was robbed of something precious. She needed to know what such strong and determined love felt like.
Something was seriously wrong with her and the man she loved. "Alright, who in the name of Hades is that man next door?! What in Order did he do to you?!"
"Nothing, we simply love each other!"
Hestia gently reached for Aphrodite's hand and gave it a light squeeze, "Please tell us this, Aphrodite: how is your relationship with Naruto different from the ones you've had before? What is so special about him that you are willing to go so far? I doubt even Adonis or Ares would have such an effect on you."
Dite scoffed, "Doesn't even begin to compare."
Aphrodite scoffed at the ridiculous notion and crossed her arms, "There's no doubt; Naruto is the only person I would do this for."
"I'm really interested!" Rhea smiled as she rested her chin on her hands, "He is handsome enough and seemed like a cute father, but give us details. How did you two meet?" Before Aphrodite could speak again, Rhea stopped her. "Wait, Athena met him first, so you tell us first." Everyone looked over at Athena who sighed and crossed her arms. "Come on, little granddaughter, tell grand-mommy about you little boyfriend."
Rhea sighed, "If only you girls had more sense like your counterparts. I like having girl talks with my girls." She looked at Athena, Artemis and Hestia, all of whom looked away quickly. "Maybe if I find this mortal's counterpart in this world, I'll introduce him to you three."
Zeus growled, "Not if I kill him first!"
"No, you're not going to." Rhea gave her youngest a stern glare, making him shiver.
Unknowing to most, Athena and Aphrodite were really hoping Rhea could find Naruto's counterpart in their world.
With a roll of her eyes, Athena spoke. "Well, we met at New York State University…"
"Daddy, can you change the cat-litter?!" Annabeth held Einstein in her arms as she brushed its grey fur into a shining luster. "It's Lacy's turn but she won't do it!"
Hestia smiled, "I love the scenes with the girls."
Thena and Dite both hugged their daughters closer, smiling at the scene.
But Annie gave her sister a look, "You always try to push your chores onto me."
Lace just smiled. "It works most of the time."
"Toothless didn't even use the litter!" Lacy glared at her sister as she finished getting dressed, "Your giant grey ball of fur did all that and I'm not cleaning it! It's disgusting!"
"Your dragon left a huge mess last time and I changed it!"
Naruto sighed as he walked into the girl's bathroom with a garbage bag and new litter. "Stop fighting, girls. Lacy, it's only fair that you change it this time; you both agreed upon the schedule and must follow it. It's your responsibility." Naruto handed his pouting daughter the garbage bag and patted her head, "Come on, princess, I'll help you with it."
"Fine…" muttered Lacy as she stuck her tongue out at Annabeth.
Annabeth and Lacy both couldn't resist looking over at their counterparts, marvelling at their innocence. When they were at that age, every day was about evading monsters and trying to figure out a way to hide. But with only one simple change, one different father, their counterparts only had to worry about chores and doing homework.
Jealousy was an ugly work in their minds, but they couldn't deny that it was that they were feeling.
Annabeth scoffed and ignored her, but couldn't stop the smug smile from appearing on her face.
"Oh, that's Athena's hereditary smug face."
Athena and Thena both turned to Hermes and glared at him, "Silence, Hermes!"
She turned back to her kitty and combed through its soft fur; its shade of grey was beautiful and very close to her own eyes. 'Grey eyes...' the thought of her eyes reminded her of one of the beautiful ladies that just moved in to the house next door. She had the same shade of grey in her eyes and she gave off a warm aura. Annabeth thought she might have imagined it, but she saw the woman's eyes soften as she looked at her; her made Annabeth feel warm and cozy, not unlike her dad's hugs. 'I should talk to her later.'
Thena smiled and kissed Annie, who smiled and snuggled deeper against her mother.
"Aw, she can sense who her mother is." Rhea smiled at the thought.
Annabeth sighed, but smiled when Athena smiled at her.
"Annie," said Naruto as he looked back at his princess. "Einstein looks fine, go get dressed."
The girl was still in her blue pajamas and nodded at her father, "Okay."
Lacy, who had just finished with the littler, smiled and followed her sister. "Wait, I'll come with you!" The girl grabbed onto Annabeth's hand and grinned up at her, "I won't let you dress the same as usual; Percy is coming over later and you should at least try to not look so boring!"
Percy smiled and sat up tall in his seat, "Play date?"
"Sounds like it," replied Annabeth, leaning against her beau with a dazzling smile.
All the while, Lace giggled into her hand as she sneaked glances at Annie, who was busy hiding her face under her mother's arms. "I knew it," she whispered to Dite, "Annie likes Percy~"
Dite giggled and kissed her baby girl, "Oh, I know."
Thena sighed and held her daughter closer, "Be quiet, you two."
Annabeth sighed as she left the room, "I do not look boring."
"Nope, not boring at all." Percy was all smiles as little Annie squeaked and avoiding looking anywhere near his direction.
Annabeth smiled, but still smacked her boyfriend on the arm, "Hey, I said stop teasing her!"
Thalia chuckled, "I really missed little Annie."
"You keep wearing only grey and blue; that's really boring!" Lacy pulled her sister along as Toothless and Einstein trailed behind them. "Come on, daddy bought you that green sundress right? Let's go try that out!" The little girl giggled, "You need to look pretty to get Percy to like you!"
"I'll say this for the last time: I DON'T LIKE PERCY THAT WAY!"
Percy held his chest, "That hurts me right here."
"Silence, Percy Jackson," ordered Athena and Thena in unison, making the teenage hero conceded with a small smile, leaning back to cuddle with his grown-up Annabeth.
"I'm your cute baby sister; you don't need to lie to me!"
Aphrodite laughed, "Very cute indeed." The Goddess pulled her own Lacy close and kissed her soft hair, making her daughter snuggle closer to her.
"I know, right?" Dite did the same her to Lace.
Naruto shivered at the conversation and just walked back into his living room. He had cleaned up a few days ago, but he was still fiddling around, trying to fix everything. If his assumptions were correct, four Goddesses and one Titaness were coming to his home to help with Halloween, as ridiculous as that sounded. He still couldn't fathom the fact that Artemis and Hestia were at his front porch, and he was still in shock that the Mother of the Gods had moved into the house next door. He swore, when he heard Artemis call the gorgeous blonde woman "Mother Rhea", his heart almost stopped.
Rhea smiled at the compliment, "He is a sweetheart."
Once again, the Big Three flared their power, making the world shake again.
From what started out to be such a simple morning, it had certainly turned into the most stressful afternoon. With everything that had happened, Naruto's mind couldn't help but recall back to how Athena reacted to Aphrodite's words and how angry and passionate Aphrodite became when they wanted to take her back. Two of the four most important females in his life were coming back into his life, and it was crazy exciting and frightening. Hopefully, the other two females – his two little princesses – would be happy that their mothers were back into their lives.
Looking at how close Annie and Lace were snuggling against their mothers, everyone in the room knew that they were beyond happy. Most immortals in the room had never seen demigods so close to their divine parents.
'I should vacuum the living room…'
"So daring!" exclaimed Rhea with a grin. "A university professor having a child with her own student: that is so controversial."
Athena blushed, "A Brain Child, Grandmother."
"Mind-fucked him," sniggered Apollo.
Hermes scoffed, "Then really fucked him later on."
A golden Athena and a flickering Thena glared at their brothers, but before they could even yell at them, a bolt of lightning blasted at the feet of the gods' thrones. Hermes and Apollo yelped and jumped onto their thrones, shrinking under the murderous glare of their father.
"One more word," muttered Zeus lowly, making everyone but his siblings and mother shiver, "And I blast the both of you to Tartarus."
Demeter rolled her eyes at her dramatic brother before continuing.
Athena blushed and sent her grandmother a slight glare, "Don't say it like that!" She had been mocked more than once by Aphrodite saying that she liked to have kids with her students; it was not her fault that most of her top students were very intelligent. "He was my student, but he graduated before Annabeth was born!"
"How boring Naruto must have felt," muttered Aphrodite, "What did you two even do outside of school?"
Athena huffed and turned away, "None of your business."
Dite crossed her arms before looking at Thena, "I still don't know what they two of you did back then." Thena was still ignoring her and didn't even look at her, "If it were now, I would expect you to make-out or something in the library, but back then, I really don't know."
Athena's blush, if possible, turned even more golden; it certainly didn't help that everyone in her family was smirking at her, except her father who was covered in anger-roused electricity.
Dite was determined to rouse a response from Thena. "Maybe you two found some erotic novels in the library?" The Goddess of Love inwardly cheered when Thena's face started to go gold. "I think for educational purposes libraries keep copies of the Kama Sutra. Maybe that's why you seemed so flexi- ", she was swiftly cut off when a golden spear was stabbed into her seat, right above her head.
"I really will kill you."
Dite just smirked, "There, was that so hard?"
'Flexible? How the Hades does Aphrodite know this?!' thought Athena, not knowing that many were wondering just how Thena and Dite shared their lover.
Hestia sighed and rubbed her temples, "Girls, don't fight."
Hestia sighed along, "Wishful thinking."
Artemis, seeing how the situation was once again turning into a spat between War and Love, decided to speak up and intervene. "So what kind of course were you teaching at the time?" The Huntress didn't really care, but any subject would be better than Aphrodite hounding at Athena about her dates with men. "He must have been a good student if he managed to gain your affection."
Athena actually smiled and nodded. "I was teaching Historical Warfare as well as Military Tactics at the time, and Naruto was the top student in both classes." She fondly thought back to the brilliant strategies her love had developed all those years ago before she continued, "He was a Business Major, but took my classes as options, so I was skeptical about him at first. As the class went on, he managed to achieve full marks on every single paper and exam I assigned, and absolutely crushed every one of his classmates in a war simulation."
Artemis crossed her arms and nodded, "That is impressive; it's not common for such a young human to be so adept at warfare tactics."
"Indeed," said Athena. "In the many years I have been teaching such classes, Naruto ranks among the top five students."
Still with a golden face, Athena was impressed.
Rhea snacked on some potato chips and smiled at her granddaughter, "So I'm guessing you made a brain-child with him right after he graduated?"
"Yes, I did."
"Naughty professor~"
"Shut up, you damn pile of foam!"
Hestia shook her head, "How hard is it to just be civil?"
"So what else do you know about the man?" asked Hestia, trying to deter the group from descending into pointless insults. "From what we all saw, he only lives with his daughters and doesn't seem to have any contact with his parents or other family members."
Athena rested back on her seat in thought, "I've never met anyone from his family." Aphrodite nodded along; she hadn't met any of the either. "What I should add here is that Naruto cannot remember anything before his sixteenth birthday; he had an accident right before it and after he awoke from a coma, all of his memories were gone." The Wisdom Goddess crossed her arms, "I have tried on several occasions to rid him of his amnesia, but no matter how thorough I search his brain, I couldn't find any hidden or lost memories."
Apollo nodded, "Ahh yes, back to the amnesia motif."
"It really is strange that you can't scavenge even some stray memory from his brain. Even the most serious memory loss won't be out of our reach." Athena gave her counterpart a look, "I assume that this will be explained later?"
Thena pursed her lips and nodded, "Yes, just read on."
"I've tried the same thing," said Aphrodite with a frown. "I tried to find any linger feeling of love – be it from his parents or old lovers – but I couldn't find anything. His mind was void of any information before his sixteenth birthday and no matter how much power I use, nothing would surface."
"That is certainly interesting," said Rhea with her head resting on her hands, "A case of amnesia that both of you can't fix is quite rare and unexplainable."
Athena nodded, now deeply interested in the true reason behind Naruto's amnesia.
"Yeah, when I have time I'll try to bribe Apollo to come heal it for me." Aphrodite wondered if she could offer even more glamourous sex lives to the Sun God's children.
Artemis scoffed, "Don't give him too much credit; he may be the God of Healing, but I'm sure his skills have dulled greatly after so many years of doing nothing."
Artemis smirked, "Exactly.
"Hey, I work just as much as you do!"
The Huntress was about to retort, but was stopped by her Aunt, "Please, stop arguing." The slightest hint of flames flared from Hestia's usually warm and loving eyes, making everyone in the room shiver. "Keep reading, sister."
Demeter nodded, "O-Of course."
"Do you know what kind of accident he was in?" asked Hestia with interest. "It must have been something serious."
Athena shook her head, "When I checked the hospital database, all it said was someone found an unconscious young man in the middle of the university campus. He was transferred to the hospital and stayed there until he woke up a month later."
"He sure is mysterious for a mortal."
Hestia nodded at her mother, "I agree; this is certainly interesting."
"But anyway, we can get back to this later." Rhea smiled at Aphrodite, "I think it's our Goddess of Love's turn to tell us how she met this nice young man."
Aphrodite grinned, making Athena roll her eyes, "Well, it all started when I walked into his adorable Candy Store!"
According to a list Aphrodite had written for him, Naruto had brought home three boxes of chocolate to hand out to the children. It was most of the cheaper stocks of his company, but was still quite good quality. The Goddess had insisted that they get rid of all of it so they would have more space to place the new inventory she had ordered from France. Naruto wasn't about to argue with the mother of his youngest daughter, so he did as he was told.
Dite grinned, "He always listens."
Ares scoffed, "Man-bitch."
"Ares," said Aphrodite with a sexy smile, making the War God shiver in delight. "Please slap yourself."
Most roared with laughter as Ares slapped himself hard in the face. "Ow, you bitch!"
"Now punch yourself in the groin," added in Dite, winking at her counterpart.
Ares fell off his throne as his fist smashed into his precious, godly jewels. "Fuck you…" he managed to wheeze out.
Aphrodite smiled at Dite before they both said, "Never again."
Placing the boxes next to the table, Naruto refocused and started to fiddle with the pumpkins on the kitchen countertop. He had bought three of them, so it was enough both his girls and would still have one for backup. Though now he might have to give it to some of the Goddesses to carve for themselves.
"Daddy, come here for a second!"
Naruto wiped his hands before walking upstairs to his girls' bathroom. His nerves were getting a little better, but his eyes were still trying as hard as they could to spot any specs of dirt of food on the ground; the last thing he wanted was for a Goddess to find a piece of chocolate stuck to her feet. Thankfully, his staircase was perfectly clean, and he walked up to his daughters with relief.
"What is it, princess?"
Lacy grinned, looking adorable in a pink sundress. "We're done dressing, now it's your turn!"
Hestia and Rhea smiled, "Really is cute."
Dite nodded proudly, "Of course."
Annabeth, who was dressed in the new green sundress her dad had bought for her, shook her head with a sigh.
Percy smiled, "Very pretty."
Annie looked like a tomato while Annabeth sighed, "Shut it, Seaweed Brain."
As if it was not enough that her little sister forced her to dress up like a doll for a simple Halloween preparation day, she was going to force their dad into the clothes of her choice. Frankly, Annabeth would prefer her dad to dress as he usually did; he already had enough women attracted to him, so looking more handsome would just be more annoying.
"Nonsense, Annie." Dite smiled as she ruffled her step-daughter's hair, "With us around, none of those women would even attempt to flirt with Naruto."
Naruto sighed and patted Lacy's head, "I'm already dressed."
His daughter shook her head and poked him in the stomach, "No, you look like you always do! You can't always wear the same black shirt and grey jeans; sometimes you have to change your image so other people will not get bored!"
The elder blond looked scandalized, "I don't look boring!"
"You look good, daddy, but if you keep looking the same way every day, it will get boring!" His daughter dragged him by the finger and pushed him into his room. "I picked out some clothes for you, so get changed already!"
"You know I'm the parent, right?"
Many smiled and laughed at the adorable girl.
Lacy stuck her tongue out at her daddy, "But I'm better at these things!" She closed the door and turned away, "Ms. Hess and her sisters and mom will be here soon, so hurry up!"
Naruto smiled and chuckled as he shook his head, 'Lacy is so much like Aphrodite, it's crazy.' He looked down at the clothes his daughter chose for him and smiled again, 'But this isn't so bad, way better than that weird underwear Aphrodite bought me.'
"Oh, what did you get him?" asked Aphrodite, ignoring the slight grimacing of the others.
Dite smirked, "Maybe you should ask Thena." The Goddesses of War squawked as the Goddesses of Love laughed, "She really enjoyed it."
Zeus' Lightning Bolt was shaking in anger, reflecting its master's mood.
It took a worried look from Annie to stop Thena from stabbing Dite with her spear.
Outside of the room, Lacy grinned and gave her sister and thumbs up.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Why are you doing this, Lace?" Her grey eyes were oddly intimidating as she stared down at her younger sister, but the girl just smiled back at her. "You're trying to make dad dress up for the ladies next door."
"I know we both don't like it when the moms at school look at daddy, but I think that red haired lady next door looks great with him!" Lacy giggled and jumped up and down excitedly, "Did you see her? She's beautiful and I think she will make a great girlfriend for daddy!"
Dite smiled, "Rooting for your mommy."
Lace grinned exactly like her father would and nodded. "Yep!"
"We don't even know her; what would we do if they do get together and she turns out to be a bad person?" Lace gave her a blank look, making her sigh, "Besides, I am more interested in the lady with the grey eyes." Annabeth leaned against the wall and thought back to the lady, "She seemed really smart and is also very pretty, so if dad were to choose one of them, I would prefer him choosing her."
Thena kissed Annie's head, "You're on my team, aren't you?"
"Of course," replied Annie, looking up at her mother.
"No way, the red haired lady is much more beautiful."
"Fairest of them all~" Most glared at the innocent looking Apollo.
"It's not all about looks, Lace." Annabeth smiled and poked her sister's forehead as she grabbed her hand, "Come on; let's go watch a movie or something before those ladies come over."
"Can we please watch How To Train Your Dragon?!"
"No!"
"Annie never lets me watch anything I want!" Lace pouted at her sister, who smirked.
Unknown to them, Naruto was standing quite close to his door and had heard everything his daughters said. Not only was he shocked, but he had to wonder if they subconsciously felt some sort of connections with their mothers; Lacy wanted him to be with Aphrodite and Annabeth clearly preferred Athena. He sighed and combed his fingers through his hair, wondering what would happen from that point on.
'This is going to be very unique day…'
"R-Right in the middle of a restaurant?!" muttered Hestia with a scandalized expression and a killer blush.
Rhea chuckled as she snacked on some potato chips, "That is daring, I must say."
"Disgraceful."
Dite glared at Thena, "Don't knock it before you try it!" She scoffed, "I give you one year before you try to get Naruto in a library or a classroom."
Thena glowed gold, "Not going to happen."
The Olympians stared at Thena, all thinking. 'This is so weird'
Aphrodite laughed and nodded, "You should have seen Naruto's face when the waiter caught us. His face was so red and hot it was like it was glowing! He pull his pants up as fast as he could and just pulled me out of the restaurant; most people in the lounge were staring at us and the waiter didn't know if he should follow after us or not." The Goddess clutched her stomach and wiped some tears from her eyes, "I swear, he was fidgety for the two weeks and wouldn't even drive anywhere near that restaurant!"
Rhea was chuckling and nodded, "That's certainly understandable."
"I can't believe you tried to seduce Naruto in public…" Athena glared at Aphrodite with her arms crossed with a disgusted look on her face.
"Hey, there is nothing wrong with having a little fun while waiting for a meal, and he was really enjoying it until the waiter caught us!"
"Can we please talk about something else?" Artemis was rubbing her temples and sighed for the hundredth time in the past hour, "This subject is tedious, repulsive, and would make most of my hunters want to shoot you."
Aphrodite huffed, "You and your virgin girl scouts will never understand."
Rhea chuckled, "Three out of five here will never understand."
"Now it's only two out five." Dite winked at Thena.
Thena was starting to flicker again.
Hestia rolled her eyes, "Really, Mother?"
Rhea kissed her daughter's cheek before she turned back to the Love Goddess. "But going back on subject: Aphrodite, I think it is time for you to tell us why you love this man so much."
The Love Goddess noticed that everyone was staring at her, and she merely smiled. "I didn't really understand it at first; even as the Goddess of Love I didn't know what I was feeling." She looked over at Athena and saw the Wisdom Goddess' widened eyes, no doubt seeing the similarities of their situations. "I knew full well that I loved Naruto, perhaps much more than all my other lovers, but it felt very peculiar. It wasn't solely based on sex or physical attraction; it was also very comfortable and natural. I just feel right when I'm with him, just really happy."
Aphrodite searched her memories and couldn't recollect anyone making her feel like that.
"Soon, you'll find it too."
The two Goddesses of Love smiled at each other.
'That's almost exactly how I feel right now…' muttered Athena inwardly, her mind racing at the speed of light to analyze her situation.
Dite smiled, "She's starting to understand~"
Thena just sighed and nodded, "Yes, I was." Athena looked startled at her other's casual response.
"That sounds really precious," said Hestia with a smile. "I'm happy for you."
Aphrodite smiled back at Hestia, who was probably her best friend, before continuing. "I was deeply in love with him, so you could imagine how difficult it was for me to leave him when Lacy was born." Rhea and Hestia smile sadly and nodded, "I tried to forget about it and get one with my life, but I just couldn't – I have never felt so strongly about someone before. I started to watch Naruto from Olympus and the more I do, the deeper I was falling in love with him, especially when I see him playing with Annabeth and Lacy."
Dite felt a pang of pain in her heart at the reminder that she left her daughter and husband for six years. Almost shakily, she hugged Lace close and kissed her softly on the forehead.
But Lace just smiled and hugged her mother, "I still love you, mommy."
"He is a great father," muttered Athena softly.
"Yeah, out of all the fathers of my children, he is by far the best." Aphrodite smiled warmly and closed her eyes, "I guess that was when I really started to see how special Naruto really is and how irresponsible all the other men had been."
Rhea smiled, "I'm guessing this is almost when you spoke with Hera?"
Aphrodite nodded, "I went to Lady Hera to ask if I could use her bath; I wanted Naruto back and figured that the results of the bath would make things easier. What I didn't expect was for Lady Hera to tell me why I am feeling so strongly for Naruto." Athena stared at the Love Goddess, making sure to listen attentively. "She made me understand that I feel a familial love for Naruto." She smiled at the others sweetly, "I love him as a lover and as a father of my little girl, and that makes all the difference in the world. Lady Hera said that this is what a wife would feel for her husband; it is completely different than what a normal boyfriend and girlfriend would feel for one another. " Aphrodite's smile widened, "And she's right."
Hera smiled and nodded along, "If only things were the same in this universe." Aphrodite and Athena absentminded nodded along.
"Wow…" mumbled Artemis as she stared at Aphrodite, who looked more happy and genuine than the Huntress had ever seen.
Hestia reached for Aphrodite's hand and gave it a light squeeze, "I've never seen you like this."
"Well, I've never felt like this." Aphrodite's smile was perpetual as she looked at the other immortals, "And I really do think this is the real thing."
Rhea's smile grew as she grinned at her step-daughter, "What do you mean?"
"If all things go my way, I'm going to make Naruto my immortal husband." Athena's eyes widened and almost crushed the armrests on her chair. "Hephaestus and I had never been husband and wife, and I'm going to officially divorce him and marry Naruto."
The Smith God scoffed, "About damn time that happened."
"Damn," muttered Apollo, "You really are serious about this."
Dite nodded, absolutely serious. "Yes, definitely."
"A-Are you sure?" asked Hestia with great shock. "An immortal is husband is literally forever; for the rest of your life, which may be eternity, you will always be with him."
"Yeah, do you need to think about it more?" Rhea was happy for her step-daughter, but worried that her decision was still premature. "I know you've had a daughter with him and have been with him for a few months before, but that might be too little time for you to decide."
Aphrodite merely gave the all a smile, "I know full well what I am doing; as the Goddess of Love I can usually predict how long love between two people can last, and I can't see an end to this one." She finished her glass of orange soda and grinned, "This is also the beginning of my life as a mother; Lacy is still young and it's not too late for me to be a part of her life."
Artemis sighed, "So you're really not going back to Olympus?"
"Of course I'm going back; I have to keep Naruto a secret from most male Gods until I marry him." Rhea and Hestia nodded in agreement at her words. "I'm going to be on Olympus every few days and attend the council meetings, but other than that I'll be with Naruto."
"Know that I cannot hide you and the girls forever; I will only shroud your presence for this week, but after that the other Olympians will be able to sense you." Rhea crossed her arms and stared pointedly at her step-daughter, "In the end, you are stretching the limits of your domain and it would be against my personal standards to hide you from the council."
Rhea agreed. "As much as I love to watch you and the girls, I can't see myself deceiving the council for so long."
"I understand; I'll make sure to hide my presence to the bare minimum." Aphrodite stood and stretched her arms, "And don't worry about Naruto and the girls; I may not fight often, but I am quite sure that I can defeat most of the council. If Lord Zeus and Lord Poseidon don't come after me, I should be fine."
'Let see if she would still say that when Ares come for them…' thought Artemis while shaking her head.
Thena gave a dark smiled, "Oh, she will still say that."
Ares felt a shiver up his spine, and despite his face and groin still hurting, he tried to speak up. "No matter what, I'll fuck that fucker up…"
Dite giggled, her eyes glancing at the War God. "Keep reading." Her voice sent chills down everyone's backs. "You'll find out what happens."
"Now, I think it's time to head over and carve some pumpkins!"
Rhea sighed, but smiled afterwards. "Okay then, let's go meet my step-granddaughter and great-granddaughter."
Hestia smiled and stood as well, and smiled when she saw the irritated look on Artemis' face. "Come on little niece, I'll bake your favorite peanut-butter cookies and make you Shepard's Pie for dinner." The Huntress' eyes sparkled as she looked up at her aunt, making her giggle.
Thalia and the Hunters smiled at their patron Goddess, who had the decency to blush.
Hestia giggled, "I'll cook for you anytime, dear."
"And if you are willing to help out with the pumpkin carvings, I'll make you Sticky Pudding with Coconut Ice Cream for dessert."
Trying not to drool, Artemis stood up, "Alright, let's go!"
"When Aunt Hestia is around, Arte turns into the Goddess of Gluttony."
Artemis could only glare at her twin with golden cheeks.
Hestia happily pulled Artemis along by the arm and looked back at Athena. "Come on Athena, you can go meet Annabeth!" The Goddess of the Hearth had noticed that Athena had been awfully silent since Aphrodite said she planned to marry Naruto, and she was getting concerned.
The Wisdom Goddess stood with her usual confidence and dignity and nodded. "I know, let us go."
Thena smirked, "It is time." Dite rolled her eyes.
Her grey eyes were determined and focused, as if she was going in war. Hestia bit her lip as she noticed the look on Athena's face; the last time she had seen such an expression was during World War II. "It's time for my daughter to meet me."
As Aphrodite walked through the door, Rhea looked back at Athena, a little surprised at the intensity in her eyes. "Are you okay, sweetie?"
Athena merely smirked and nodded, "Definitely; I haven't felt this determined in a long time."
"What do you mean?" asked Artemis curiously.
"Let's just say that I'm sure of how I feel about Naruto now and I know what I have to do." Athena flicked several strands of her silky hair back as she stepped out of the door. "I'm no longer confused and I'm no longer frustrated; everything is clear now and couldn't be simpler." The other immortals grew concerned at the power flowing from Athena and slowly followed after her, "I know what I have to do and how to do it; Athena always has a plan and victory is always mine."
Athena leaned forward, now interested. "Intriguing." Her counterpart only smiled back at her.
Hestia bit her lip again in concern, "What are you going to do?"
Rhea and Artemis stared along as Athena turned back with her intimidating grey eyes, "Exactly what Aphrodite is going to do, but faster." She gave a soft laugh as she continued her way to Naruto's home, "I think it is time for the Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy to have a husband."
"Damn, you go, Athena!" Demeter was all smiles, "You have no idea how many years I've been waiting for one of you three to break that stupid vow!"
The Three Virgin Goddesses frowned and Hestia spoke up, "Just keep reading, sister."
"WHAT?!"
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, ATHENA?!"
"FATHER IS GOING TO GO CRAZY!
"Yep, you're right." Hades chuckled as he glanced at Zeus, who was now twitching and covered almost entirely in lightning.
Athena just smiled and ignored the others behind her. 'It's on, Aphrodite! I love Naruto just as much as you do and I'm not going to lose to you!"
Thena smirked at Dite, who just scoffed.
Opening his front door had never been so intimidating; when the mothers of his daughters were on the other side, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if his door were to blast to pieces. He could feel the vibrations behind the thin piece of wood and his hand was shaking on the doorknob, but with one final exhale, he opened the door.
"Hello, Naruto."
"Hey, handsome!"
Naruto stared at Athena and Aphrodite with his teeth shaking. When he was alone with one of them, everything was perfect, but when both of them were with him, he felt as if a nuclear bomb had been planted in his home, especially when they were both smiling at him.
The two Goddesses glanced at each other and both crossed their arms.
'All is fair in Love and War!'
Naruto gulped, "Please, come in."
Demeter set the book down and grinned, "So who won in the end."
"It's still going," answered Dite before Thena could, "For now we're just sharing."
'DAMN LUCKY BASTARD!' scream nearly every male in their minds.
Rhea smiled at her daughter, "I'll read the next chapter, Demeter."