Author's Pov

Morpheus expected a reaction.

The brothers all had expressions too close to hatred. Hatred for the situation that they've been put into. Hatred for themselves for drinking a little too much one night seventeen years ago.

But despite how much Morpheus’ words hurt, they all stayed silent. They didn't have anything to say. They wanted to forget this conversation ever happened.

They couldn't change their life after all these years. They couldn't just lose everything they had worked so hard for. They couldn't give up their life and take over the responsibility of a teenager just because their father wants them to.

When he saw his words weren't doing anything to soften the hearts of the beasts, Morpheus turned the other way shaking his head.

“I’ve tried my best. I've tried shouting at her, I've tried being gentle with her, I've tried punishing her, I've tried giving her what she wants but nothing ever works.” Morpheus stifled a sob. “I couldn't think of anything else, I thought this might be the solution to everything. I… I was scared I’m gonna lose her.”

“You shouldn't have shot yourself.” Hades said quietly.

“I needed a reason to come here.” Morpheus lets out a humorless chuckle.

“There's other ways to handle a teenager. Not every kid has parents but they aren't hanging around in the wrong company.”

“Every kid is different and so is their reaction to shitty circumstances.”

“I’m sure you can find a better way than to force us all into something all four of us don't want.” Zephyr said, hoping his father would understand.

Hades stepped towards his father, his expressions controlled but a few lines of worry still marrying his face. “I think it's better for everyone if she lives where she's loved.”

Morpheus was tired of this. He knew he shouldn't expect love and kindness from the Konstantinos brothers so he decided to rub reality in their face.

“What would happen to her if I die today?”

The question shocked the brothers. It was so off topic and something that they never thought about. They wanted their father to live a thousand years and even the thought of losing him felt like a stab to the heart.

“Why would you say that?” An unsettling feeling set in Ares as he asked the question.

“Just wondering, what would you do to her? Take her to an orphanage or throw her in foster care?”

“You're not dying dad.” Zephyr said hating the topic at hand.

“I’m not gonna live forever, boys. I will die one day and I want to die knowing that my Thena will be fine after I'm gone.” A tear slid down his face.

“Please tell me you don't have some illness that you're hiding from us.” Hades prayed to all the Gods for it to be false.

Morpheus chuckled, wiping the stray tear. “No, I'm totally fine —except for the injured shoulder of course. But you never know when it's your last day.”

“Stop talking about death.”

“Avoiding talking about it doesn't make the inevitable go away.”

“But you don't need to think about it when it's not due anytime soon.”

“You can't know for sur-”

“That's it, dad. You can't guilt trip us with your death to take her in.” Ares said with finality in his voice.

“Trust me I’m happy to take care of her my whole life, I never wished for you to take her from me. And I always planned her life without you. Because none of you deserve her and if it's in my power I would prefer not to let any of you influence her life in any way.” Morpheus said it without an ounce of uncertainty letting his sons know that he meant his words.

He exhaled a breath and continued, more calmer this time. “But I’m scared.” His expressions changed into sadness as he felt himself too weak. “Two months ago I was going to get hit by a truck. If it wasn't for another car who mistakenly took my place, I would've died instead.”

A sad smile appeared on Morpheus’ face. “And since that day all I thought about was what would've happened to Athena if I had died.”

“Nothing would happen to you… or her.” Zephyr said sure of his words.

“But if something did happen to me, you have to take her. She's just a kid, she doesn't know what's best for her. You have to be there for her-” Hades cuts his father off banging his fist on the table.

“Don't do this dad.” He said with frustration. “Please, stop. We have our own lives. You can't expect us to leave it all for her.”

“Don't. She'll fit right in-”

“You know what we do, do you really want her to live with people like us?”

“I'm sure you won't show her that side of yours.” Morpheus didn't know if he was lying to himself or his sons but his statement wasn't a hundred correct.

“You need to get her out of here.”

“Look, just... Sleep on it, it'll clear your mind. Don't make decisions you'll regret later. Take some time to think this through.” Morpheus used his most convincing voice.

“We don't need any more time to think about this. We're clear we don't want her here, either you take her away or we’ll throw her out.” Zephyr yelled.

“I can't believe I raised such heartless monsters.” Morpheus spat back with disgust. “Maybe it's better if I just sign off her custody to Oliver and Julia after me.”

“Your neighbor Oliver?” Ares asked.

“Yes. Julia is his wife. They're way better than you, they’ll love her like their own and she'd be happier living with her best friend than three men who can't give her anything close to love.”

“They’re Tristan's parents.” Morpheus nodded to the question.

“You can't just trust anyone to take care of her. Do you have any idea how disgusting this world is for girls?” Zephyr exhaled heavily. He was losing his patience and his father insisted on flaring him up.

“I trust them.” Morpheus said simply.

“So they know about… about us? That Athena has three… that one of us is… sort of related to her.”

Morpheus scoffed at Ares’ attempt to find the best words to avoid using ‘father’ in the sentence. It was just him blinding himself from the truth.

“Yes.” He answered.

Tristan and his parents are the only people Athena and Morpheus trust and so they're the only people who know her truth.

They know there's three people among which one is her father, while the rest of their neighborhood and her school simply calls her a bastard because she was a product of a one night stand after which she was abandoned.

That’s the most she had told her peers when she was ten and since that day, Morpheus and Athena decided to keep it that way.

Zephyr decided to avoid the topic of his father's death and Athena's custody going to anyone —anyone that's not the man who raised them. Both of it made him feel horrible and he wanted to avoid any overpowering emotions.

“We'll tell our men to not collect Athena and your belongings because she's leaving by tonight.” Zephyr said with a clenched jaw.

“She might get suspicious if we leave immediately.” Morpheus said with not a spike of emotion on his face. “We’ll leave in a month as planned.”

“Get her out of her, dad or I'll make her life miserable for as long as she's here.” He threatened.

“Don't you dare, Zephyr. If you do anything to her, consider me dead to you.” Morpheus warned.

“You haven't met us for the past three years, those texts of ‘how are you’ aren't so good to keep us in check.” Ares replied, taking another cigarette out.

“Let's make a deal,” Zephyr said, hiding his smirk as he felt he had the upperhand now. “We let her live here for a month and once you leave you won't cut off contact with us. You'll meet us occasionally, pick up our calls when we want to talk and you won't stop the monthly payments we send to you just because she's offended by it.”

Morpheus shook his head. “Do you hear yourself?”

“I’m aware of what I'm saying father.”

“Then hear my decision. I won’t keep any contact with you whatsoever and I won't accept your money any more. She knows about it now and I can't keep lying to her.”

“Stop abandoning us for her.” Ares said as an uncomfortable lump forms in his throat which he gulps down.

“I wish you understood I never wanted to abandon you.” Morpheus said with sadness.

“And I wish we never fucked that whore.” Hades muttered.

The whole conversation was messing with his head. He was conflicted with his thoughts. He hated how his father threatened his own life to make them love that girl.

He’d never thought about Athena. He always kept himself busy enough to not think about anything that didn't exist in his life. But he never thought leaving her would cause her life to become such a mess.

“We are your kids. If you wanna prioritize her over us it's okay. But atleast don't leave us. Even if we have grown up and become self-sufficient, we need you, dad. We miss you.” Ares said with his voice pleading.

Hades tuned out of the conversation and decided to focus his mind on something else. A throbbing pain had taken over his brain and he needed an escape.

He took out his phone again and opened the footage from the cameras. The hallway was empty now as Athena and Tristan had disappeared into her room so Hades rewinded the footage out of mere curiosity.

“...Athena needs me-” Morpheus was cut off when Hades suddenly cursed.

“The fuck is that girl doing?”

Ares peaked at what his brother's looking at and his blood boiled seeing Athena in Tristan's arms. “I knew something was going on between them.”

“I'm gonna fucking kill that bastard.” Zephyr said, raging with anger as he stepped towards the exit.

“Athena?” Hades asked in disbelief.

He knew this was something that would piss off his brothers just as much as it angered him but he didn't think Zephyr would wanna kill Athena. She was naive, she didn't know what she was doing. It was all Tristan’s fault in their eyes.

“No fuck, Hades.” Zephyr said scowling. “I'm talking about Tristan. Athena's not a bastard.”

“You’re not killing Tristan.” Morpheus interjected.

“Watch me.” Zephyr was about to leave when Morpheus spoke again.

“They're just friends.”

“She's hanging from his arms.” Ares pushed the phone screen in front of his father's face.

Morpheus shook his head. “It's just how they are. It doesn't mean they're together.”

“Because maybe they aren't together. There's this thing that's popular among kids nowadays…” Hades worked his brain but the word just wasn't coming to his mind. “Guys, what was that word Natalie said that day.”

“Situationship.” Ares answered.

“What's that?” Morpheus asked.

“It's like no strings attached or friends with benefits... some variation of it.” Hades explained. “Maybe they're doing that. All that care was just to get in her pants and now he’s taking advantage of her.”

“Enough!” Morpheus raised his voice. “They're not fooling around and Tristan is a good guy, he wouldn't ever use her.”

“You can't know for sure. And best friends don't hug each other like that.” Ares argued.

“I know for sure. I’ve seen both of them grow up, if there was anything between them I’ll know.” Morpheus said firmly. “Tristan cares for her and when she's sad he comforts her because that's what best friends do. So let him take care of her and don't make a big deal out of it.”

“You know things can escalate when a guy takes care of a girl. She might get wrong signals and who knows he might be playing into the gentleman image, I don't trust him the least bit.”

“It doesn't matter what you think. We're gonna leave in a month so keep your opinions to yourself and don't interfere in her life.”

“As long as she's living under our roof, she’ll follow our rules.” Zephyr said arrogantly.

“She won't. And I won't let you take away the only real friend she has.”

“So you just want us to sit here and let them do whatever they are in a closed room?” Hades asks like it was the most unusual demand his father has ever made.

“Yes. And don't overwork your tiny brain, they're just talking.”

The trio wanted to argue but they knew it was useless. “If they don't come out in one hour, I'm sending a guard to escort him out.” Ares said with finality.

“Okay. Now you’ll mind your business and stop spying, it's not a good habit.”

Morpheus didn't say anything further and simply left the room. Trying to talk sense into his sons has always been useless so he always opted to take decisions rather than convince them.

Even if he still wanted to stay positive, he accepted defeat. He didn't know what else to do. His plan failed. He failed.

And now all five of the Konstantinos had only one thought occupying their minds.

It was all a matter of a month.