Page 54 of Conquered Obstacles

So they more than deserved it.

The factories too. They would have to work to make their own food, and I made sure they had what they needed for some nice Easter hams or whatever they wanted to smoke but yeah, we were all taking a much-needed break.

We brought Jamie with us to run for the full moon which was normally just the twins and me. They gave me a look that they weren’t a fan of him intruding, but they understood he was on the outs with his family—his pack.

I was glad I got the chance to meet Jamie’s wolf. He was just as handsome as his human and was very snuggly after his run. He wanted belly rubs and ear scratches, totally playing up his cuteness.

He even used his paws to cover his eyes when the twins came back and changed forms. We realized he needed more time in his wolf form than they did. He wasn’t like the infected wolves where they had to be in that form until they basically passed out from exhaustion and their wolves took over, but he needed more than a couple of hours.

Probably because he was on the outs with his pack. They were more understanding then, and when I made food appear, they were tossing him slices of pizza.

Mary simply shrugged. “He’s like a cute little brother.”

“Please change that mindset some when he’s in my bed,” I drawled.

“Yeah, that’s weird,” Kary drawled. “I mean, it’s weird you’re with someone so young, but—”

I threw a garlic knot at her, but she caught it in her mouth and winked at me. Brats. They were such fucking brats.

Jamie ignored it and just showed me his belly and wanted more cuddles. He really was my golden retriever and I adored that about him.

The next day, we had a huge Easter brunch for our family. More nephews showed this time and a few nieces. The one that shocked me most was Ares. He had always been Zeus’s most beloved and hated me for ever arguing with his father, saying I was a beast for demeaning the god of the gods by showing my disrespect.

He looked almost like the little boy I remembered when he showed up with a huge bouquet of flowers in varying shades of yellow. “I’m sorry, Aunt. I was very, very wrong. About so much. Dion told me the truth and—I’m sorry.”

It was hard, but I let him inside. He had been as brutal to me at times as his father had and always believed his mother’s lies even when the truth was right in front of his eyes. I could forgive that when he was a boy, but when he was older… It was harder to excuse. If he was old enough to be a man with his own designation as a god, he had to do better and see the truth.

“Have you apologized to your uncles as well?” I asked quietly.

“I’d like to, but Uncle Hades said I was just as responsible for chasing you from Olympus and should die as well as my father,” he mumbled. “I have lived in your realm for many centuries in fear of them both.”

I nodded, accepting the flowers. “Not today then, but we should discuss what all happened and try to fix our mistakes.”

“I’d like that.” He blinked back tears. “My own mother tried to kill me when I said she was undeserving of being the queen of gods when she was so jealous of you and chased you out. It was like the truth was so apparent to me then, and I hated myself for being a fool.”

I kissed his cheek and dropped it for the time being. I wondered if Hera had done something to her own children as she had Zeus.

I glanced over and saw Hades watching our discussion and saw in his eyes he was thinking the same. We needed more answers, and he would probably get them from Hera since he still had her in his custody.

But not for much longer.

Another day. Today is about joy.

We had a great time and everyone simply got to have fun, eat too much, and not have the past burden us. We still felt it and things were strained, but it was better.

We could hold onto the days when things were just better and keep going.

I took Sunday night after everyone left to deep clean everything—the bakery, the factories… My head? It felt cleansing and cathartic. Even the new place that had been purchased in Vermont that was going to “make” the meringues.

Oh, and the three other new factories that would be handled next in Nashville for our scone production, Charleston for cake donuts and donut holes, and Knoxville which would be brownies.

There was a lot on the horizon and everyone was excited.

So why was there such a knot in my stomach?

I found out the answer the next day when I had a group text from my three high school workers asking me to meet them at the bakery. They went to public school but still got the Monday off after Easter even if it wasn’t their spring break.

Fair enough.

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