Hera and Zeus

Leto

Zeus looked at Hera for approval, she rolled her eyes and nodded. "Let them in," Zeus told Argus,

A beautiful Hispanic woman in her mid-thirties walked in and behind her was a six-year-old girl and boy. Hera sighed, "I'll go outside."

"No," Leto said insistently. "You don't have to go. We're just passing through. Just seeing how he is."

Hera wanted to go, but Leto's kindness and smile were genuine enough to sway her. Hera nodded, "Alright."

"Ir decir hola a su papá," Leto told the children. They ran over to Zeus and started hugging him. Zeus started talking to them in Spanish in a paternal manner.

Hera, feeling awkward, attempted to make conversation, "Apollo and Artemis have gotten big."

"Yeah," Leto said wistfully, "Seeing them now makes the whole ordeal worth it."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was pregnant with them," Leto explained, "I had nowhere to go. My family disowned me and my so-called friends abandoned me, no one let me in. I refused to go to Zeus after finding out he was married."

"I remember your profuse apologies to me after you told Zeus about the twins." Hera recalled, "And I was so mad at you. In retrospect, I had no reason to be: you didn't know about me, you refused to take any money, and you were determined to do it alone."

Leto chuckled, "I was pretty stubborn back then. It's a miracle I managed."

Sympathetically, Hera asked, "How did you manage?"

"Well, I don't know," Leto said, considering how to explain, "I felt so... alone and lost; I had no place to call home. At one time or another, I was so convinced that I couldn't do it. I was completely ready to give in and beg for help."

"What stopped you?" There was no malice in Hera's voice.

"I realized I wasn't alone," Leto smiled at Hera and looked towards her twins. "I had them. I had to do it for them... and for myself. Sometimes when you lose everything, you find what you need."

Hera returned the smile and hugged Leto. "Vamos, niños." Leto went over and kissed Zeus on the cheek. She said to him in a soft voice. "Get well soon." Leto and the twins left.