Mini Stories and One Shots

Maybe Hades Isn't So Bad After All: Epilogue

Cameron, Elle's husband of three years, wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. "I read it..." he started, kissing her cheek. "And it was amazing."

Elle turned around, her face lost and sad. She would never forget that day. Cameron tightened his arms around her, seeing her face. He knew all about that day, and he never once questioned himself in believing. He knew his wife. She would not make something like that up. "It's ok," he said, smiling lightly. "You have me," he said jokingly, causing him to get punched in the arm.

When Elle was twenty five, she wrote down all her frustrations. Her mind was blank, but her memory was vivid. She still remembered the scared look in his eyes, the way he let her go, not once, but twice. She wrote it all down: she wrote about the car crash; she wrote about her life growing up; she wrote about Hades; she wrote about the medical help she was issued; she wrote about him coming back. She wrote about everything. Cameron was always there for her, kissing her cheeks and joking around with her. He believed everything she told him, and he encouraged her to publish this book. Elle wouldn't let him read it until she got it published, and now she had, Cameron truly loved it.

"You really liked it?" Elle asked, her big brown eyes were shining. Her beauty was something Cameron sincerely admired. He loved looking into her chocolatey eyes and getting lost in their kisses.

"I loved it," Cameron confirmed.

Elle beamed up at him. "Great!" she said brightly before her mind frazzled. She was going to have to break some news to him, and she knew she had to do it now.

"What's wrong?" 

Elle looked up into his dark green eyes and sighed, leaning into his touch. "I have something to tell you," she said in a daze. Cameron stiffened. Elle rubbed his arm soothingly, telling him it wasn't that kind of news. His worries melted away, and he smiled.

"What is it?" His dark eyes were glistening with wonder. Elle had no idea how to say it. And, knowing she would feel like this, Elle wrote a card in advance. She dug into her back pocket before handing him the small home-made card. Cameron looked at her curiously, one eyebrow raised, making him look gorgeous.

Cameron's heart stopped. He stared at the card, and then at Elle, and then back again. The words twirled off of the paper in a pink blur. Elle watched him eagerly, waiting for his reaction.

Suddenly, Cameron dropped the card and scooped Elle up into his arms, twirling her around. "I'm going to be a dad?" he asked in disbelief. "I'm going to be a dad!" he shouted in amazement.

Elle giggled at his actions. "You're not...?" she started.

Cameron shook his head before she could continue with her sentence. "We're going to have a little baby!" he said in pure glee, his mouth affixed in a big proud grin -- big and wide.

Elle smiled herself, "Let's put the past behind us," she said seriously. "Let's not tell the baby about this, but don't forget him," she whispered. "Don't forget Hades, and what he did for me."

Cameron knew this. If Hades never had let Elle go, she wouldn't be there with him now, celebrating the soon to come birth of their child. He couldn't imagine a life without his Elle, his other half. "Never," he whispered back, leaning his forehead against hers.

Elle pulled a red deflated balloon out of her pocket before taking a black sharpie and scribbling on it, 'Goodbye, Hades. We will never forget you. :-)'

Cameron took the balloon out of her hands and blew it up. He pressed his hand against the small of his wife's back and led her to the door. "You ready?" he asked.

Elle nodded, wiping a single tear from her cheek. She grabbed one side of the balloon, whilst Cameron grabbed the other, and they let it go into the sky.

_________________________

Hades wiped his tears. Watching Elle grow up had been an amazing experience for him. It made him feel like a proper father.

He was sitting on his cloud in the sky when he caught the balloon and read the message on it. He looked down to earth and saw Cameron wrap his arms around Elle, pulling her in for a long kiss. Hades knew it was time for him and Elle to move on. Hades looked at the balloon, smiling lightly as he stood up, casting one last glance at the couple.

Elle was in good hands, he reminded himself.

And then he walked away.

And looking back... Hades knew he had done the right thing.