“i know i did, aphrodite. and i’m reminded each and every day that i wasn’t there.” persephone said with a heavy sigh. “i wanted to be there but…you don’t even know the half of what your grandparents put me through, i couldn’t be there. and honestly, you were both better off not being around me back then.” she said with a shake of her head. and that much was true. because she spent the first ten years of the twin’s life being an absolute mess. she was touring the world, getting into trouble and can’t remember a single time she was sober that entire decade. she was a kid - a messy, destructive kid, in no universe was she fit to parent. she was grateful in a way that she was barely around her kids at that time, grateful that they didn’t have to see the kind of person that she was back then. lord knew that that would’ve been a whole different kind of trauma for them to carry with them and it was a side of her she never wanted them to see, ever. “honey, your brother is an actor, a very good one. just because he puts on the ‘everything is fine’ act, doesn’t mean it is. he…he has his own demons.” she said as she rubbed her forehead, remembering the times she had to pay the tabloids not to blab about his dui’s, the times she picked him up from the back of a police car drunk out of his mind. he had inherited her addictive tendencies and her heart absolutely broke because of it. she never wanted her kids going through anything remotely similar to what she did. “i think the same thing sometimes about myself too, you know.” she admitted quietly as she looked over at her daughter. “i think once i came back into you and your brother’s lives i just…i tried my best to be the polar opposite of her, i tried to give you both your space, i tried to be your friend instead of your mom, i tried to let you figure things out on your own without my input because i was terrified of either of you thinking that i was trying to control you the way i was controlled and that was wrong of me, because you didn’t need a friend, you needed a parent.” she said, biting down on the inside of her cheek as she gave her daughter’s hand a squeeze. “but we both have a common goal, neither of us want to be like her and we don’t have to be. being a bad person is not something that’s genetic, it’s a choice. and i think if we both make a conscious effort to not be like her, we won’t be, i know it.” she said with a nod. “then stop fighting and just let yourself be happy, aphrodite. you’re at the prime of your life, you should be enjoying everything and anything that life has to offer. i don’t want you carrying this pain with you anymore.” she said with a shake of her head, giving her hand another squeeze. “it’s late.” persephone said, looking down at her watch before looking back up at her. “i have some leftovers from my dinner tonight, why don’t you heat that up and i’ll get your room ready for you, you can stay here tonight so you don’t have to drive back to l.a in the dark.”
❛ she told me , you never wanted me . ❜ she finally admits ❛ she told me that you didn’t want to bring a girl into this world because she would turn out just like you , that even the day that kaiden and i were born , he was in your arms most of the time and I was just crying because you wouldn’t want to carry me . ❜ now of course she knows that her grandmother might not have been telling the truth but she wanted to hear it from persephone mouth , to reassure her that she held her and kissed her and they shared a moment , even if she can’t remember it . she hated this , being so weak and looking for answers somewhere where she didn’t need them , with someone who she never thought that she would need reassurance from. ❛ it’s different for him , there isn’t anything that I don’t know about kaiden mom, we don’t hide secrets from each other . ❜ it was the honest raw truth , kaiden and her were the closest two people could get , she loved her brother to death , she would do anything for him. ❛ you never had any control over that , let’s be real . ❜ she says with a small smile on her brims , the first one of the night . ❛ why are you always so sure of everything , it’s like you know things are always going to turn out okay . ❜ she honestly didn’t know where she got it from , aphrodite had determination and when she wanted something to happen , she made sure that she made it happen. hearing persephone speak , she nodded her head ❛ at this point , I’ll even eat that nasty casserole that aunt athena tried to feed us once . ❜ she says with a small giggle escaping her brims , as she gets up and makes her way towards the kitchen . ❛ honestly you don’t have to fix me a room , i can take the couch . it’s not like I’m going to be doing much sleeping anyways. ❜ she tells her from the kitchen , leaning on the kitchen island.