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Sally has worried for Percy's soulmate since he was tiny. She remembers the day a thin scar appeared on her son's lip, he had been about a year and a half old and obviously hadn't noticed anything himself. She often found herself staring at the jagged scar, Percy is so small, but she's positive, or maybe just hopeful, that whoever his soul mate is, that they are just as rambunctious as Percy and that the scar is from an accident.
From that moment on, her son's soulmate isn't just a distant figure, her son is bonded to him more visibly than others.
When Percy is two, he starts to get nasty bite marks over his skin, mainly on his neck and shoulders. She's concerned that they're ringworm or some contagious disease but quickly realizes they are soulmarks. When she baths him, she stares at them. They almost look like bite marks she would expect a dog to give, a very large dog though. She frowns, most of them fade until they're barely visible, but one set on Percy's shoulders are brutal looking. She winces just seeing them. Percy asks about them and she tells him about soulmates in a very watered-down way. Percy doesn't really seem to understand but she promises him that one day he will and that seems to ease his concern.
Less than a year later, Percy wakes up and confusingly shows Sally his arm, there's a thick burn on his inner elbow. She stares at it, it somewhat looks like writing but not quite to decipher it. She frowns, running a hand over it.
"Is my soulmate okay?" Percy's bottom lip wobbles, blue eyes filling with tears. She cups his cheek, wiping away those tears with her thumb.
"They will be. You'll protect them." She assures him. Even in his young eyes, there's determination and she knows that no matter what his soulmate goes through now, her boy will keep them safe. She just hopes her son can live long enough to meet his soulmate.
Soon after, their own lives get harder. Sally can no longer deny the monsters encroaching, there's a week where she sees one everyday and by the end of the month, she's engaged to Gabe. He's cruel and she sees how he bullies her son. She wishes there was a way to tell him why she's doing this, why she's subjecting them both to this horror. She can't.
The odd burn scar on Percy's arm gets a little bigger every year. By the time he's eight, it's almost double the size from when it first appeared. She can't even figure out what this would be from, aside from some sort of self-harm, but she doesn't say that last part out loud.
Smaller scars start to appear on his fingers and hands, just enough and frequently to find concerning but enough to wonder what kind of person her son will one day fall in love with. Gabe points out that some of these scars look like busted knuckles from a fight and Sally hates to agree but he's right. Gabe of course can't just say one thing and move on, he starts to tease Percy about his soulmate. Percy starts to wear long sleeves and Sally has to keep her mouth shut in order to not anger her husband.
When Percy is almost ten, he wakes up Sally in the middle of the night. He's crying and when she pulls him into the kitchen for some blue cookies, he shows her the nasty scar on his shoulder, it creeps down his arm and reaches almost to his chin. She calms him down, then scars don't hurt him, but she can imagine it's a shocking thing. It almost looks like a lightning strike and she winces to think of what that can even mean.
She wouldn't know. Her own skin remains unmarred by another's scars. It's not uncommon for a soulmate to pass away before ever meeting their soulmate. For others, they may remain unscathed, making it harder for their soulmate to figure out they're the one. It makes her a little relieved that her own scars, the stitches on her finger from when she cut herself on a kitchen knife as a young high schooler, the skinned knee from falling off her bike as a little girl, remain off of Gabe's skin. Something of hers is her own, even if it is her scars.
As clumsy as he is (or claims to be, she wonders how many injuries are from bullies at school), Percy's injuries don't usually turn into scars. His knees are permanently scarred from falling off his skateboard, same with the heels of his hand. There's a two inch scar on his outer wrist that happened at school, he's changed his story of what happened to him twice, leading her to believe that he's lying.
Then, her son goes to camp. It's the hardest choice Sally has ever made but anything to save her son. Then, she dies, kind of. She's reunited with her son, who has fresh scars that aren't his soulmates, a jagged scar on his forearm. Apparently ambrosia and nectar will get rid of small scars, just the large ones stay.
She kills a man. Makes a ton of money off of his death too. She enrolls in writing classes.
Percy emerges from those summers with a new friend, Annabeth. Sally would almost wonder if they were soulmates but she doesn't even need to ask because Annabeth's face is free from the scar on Percy's.
Sally likes Annabeth. She's funny and smart and keeps Percy alive, even comforts him when nightmares wake him up. Her and Percy hold hands and cuddle as they watch scary movies, Percy shares his love of blue food with her and she doesn't laugh at him or act like he's a small kid. She just smiles and wistfully says she wishes her dad and her had something like that.
Sally meets Paul and knows he's the one. Ignoring the small scar on his face that matches hers that Gabe caused, she just knows. He's gentle and silly and he's a teacher so she knows he's patient and smart. They get coffee and when she admits she has a son with a severe case of combined ADHD and double deficit dyslexia, he asks about IEPs and 504s and specialized programs. When she admits that most schools just keep expelling him when things get difficult, he goes on a long rant about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and how those schools have not followed it and how a disability rights lawyer would have a field day with that. She listens, knowing that there are other factors that contribute to her son's struggles. It's nice to hear someone defend Percy with as much energy as she feels like she's been using for thirteen years. He apologizes for rambling and she places her hand over his and thanks him instead.
After the Battle of Manhatten, her son had a long jagged scar down his leg. She asks how he got that.
"It's my soulmate's." He shrugs. "I thought they must be a demigod but no one in camp has these scars. Sil- the Aphrodite kids know everyones soulmarks and told me."
"Maybe they just haven't found their way to camp yet." She suggests. Her son shrugs again.
"Maybe." He says. There's some heavy defeat in his posture.
"What's wrong, Perce?" She asks. He lets out a long sigh and wipes a bead of sweat off his forehead.
"It's dumb... I was hoping my soulmate wouldn't be a demigod."
Oh . Sally feels something like guilt clench her chest.
"Like, what if they're really devout or... something." He shakes his head. "Nevermind."
She wants to push his brain but decides against it.
Percy disappears soon after that conversation. She cries so many tears, Annabeth and Paul are the only things that keeps her afloat. In his absence, Annabeth fills in the childless gap in her home. Annabeth sleeps in Percy's bed whenever she wants, she and Paul chat about Shakespeare and ancient mythologies to fill the silent void at dinner, she helps Sally with the dishes.
It's not the same but it becomes a new normal. Annabeth meets her soulmate, Piper, during this time. Sally accidently runs into them at a coffee shop, Piper isn't really what she envisioned for Annabeth but she can see the chemistry. Where Annabeth seems toughened, Piper seems easygoing. They both have determination in their eyes and Sally wishes them the best as she leaves. She wishes her son were here, she thinks he would get along with Piper.
The summer day she gets a voicemail from her son, she collapses. Paul is there to catch her but she sobs. "He's alive. He's alive, Paul." He makes soothing noises, stroking her hair and whispers reassurances.
Percy doesn't come home for another two months. He needs to save the world and she does understand, but the most selfish and human parts of her don't care, she just wants her boy back.
He comes back, there's something dead behind his eyes but there's a spark of hope and she holds him for a long time.
Sally Jackson meets Jason Grace about a month later. Percy has been sneaking out more and more and staying up late on Iris Messages. Percy tells her and Paul one morning that there's someone he wants to meet and she suggests that the person come for dinner. Percy nods and that evening, he drags Jason through the front door. Jason looks amused and a little nervous. The first thing she notices is the scar on his lip and the tattoo-looking marking on his forearm.
She takes one look at him and pulls him into the tightest hug. She's worried about this young man for almost as long as she's worried about her son. Jason freezes at first but after a long moment, he relaxes.
Percy stands to the side awkwardly. "Mom, leave Jason alone."
She releases Jason but swats at Percy. "Don't tell me what to do. I'm Sally."
Jason shifts, a less-nervous smile on his face. "I'm Jason."
"He's Thalia's little brother." Percy explains over dinner. Sally was unaware that Thalia had a brother. Jason and Percy try to explain Roman and Greek gods and she doesn't really understand but she nods anyways. Percy tells her about New Rome and for the first time, her son thinks about university and life after high school.
After dinner and dessert, Percy jumps in to help Paul with the dishes. Sally settles on the couch, Jason sits across from her, looking a little awkward.
"I've been very worried about you for a long time. Are you safe?"
Jason drums his fingers on his knee. "Yes, ma'am."
She doesn't tell him to just call her Sally this time. She knows what it's like to escape a strict background and how deeply those habits can be engrained. She knows how overwhelming it is to try to remember to silly rules of who to call formally and who can be called by their names. As they get to know each other through Percy, she'll correct him.
"Percy adores you." She says softly. A smile plays on the corner of his lips.
Before things can get awkward, she pulls out the baby photos, much to Percy's chagrin. She goes through a few pages before deciding to leave the rest for the boys to go through. She and Paul settle at the table and watch from afar.
Percy sits half on top of Jason, peering at the photos. He whines and complains but never holds any actual annoyance in his eyes. It's the first she's seen her son truly happy in years. Jason finds a photo of Percy dressed in a shark costume, Percy is probably seven or eight.
"This is cute." Jason is insisting. Percy is blushing and covering his face with his hands.
"It's embarrassing."
"You can keep the photo, Jason." Sally offers, laughing at the look of betrayal on Percy's face.
Jason does.
School starts up and Sally sees less and less of Jason, Percy mopes and she learns that Jason is going to school in California, with Piper who seems to be like Jason's version of what Percy has with Annabeth. It's cute.
When a god shows up that spring, she doesn't ask questions. Pregnancy is easier than she remembers, despite what the doctors say. Estelle is born a week early, screaming and kicking like the healthy baby she is. Sally didn't even know her heart could expand any more. When they go home two days later, Percy proudly IMs all of his friends but Jason is first.
"I love her so much and she's so boring right now." Percy tells her one evening, he's holding a sleeping Estelle in one arm while he tries to do a math worksheet with his free hand. His poor teacher is going to have to decipher whatever he's writing.
"Wait until you have your own kids." She hums, Percy looks like he's going to argue but stops before he can. A content smile settles on his face.
"Yeah." He settles on, nuzzling his nose into Estelle's curls.
Three weeks later, Percy wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, Sally is a little afraid. She rushes to his room as Paul runs to Estelle's room.
Percy is sitting on his bed, shirt pulled up as his hairs at his abdomen in horror. He's sobbing and she gets a good look at the nasty wound. It's not bleeding, so she knows something happened to Jason.
"I think he's dead." Percy wails. She holds him, there's nothing else she can do but pray to every god she knows that this isn't the truth.
Percy doesn't sleep for three days. He IMs Nico, the son of Hades, but the IM ends with Percy sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the wall. Annabeth comes over and holds him, resting her chin on his head. They don't talk.
The house feels somber and too quiet, even with a new baby.
One afternoon there's a knock on the door. Sally is busy feeding Estelle on the couch.
"Perce, can you get that?"
He drags himself up with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he opens the door.
There's a long bout of silence before Percy sways and is caught just before he hits the ground. Sally stands in a panic but her eyes meet Jason's and she knows everything is alright.
Percy clings to Jason's shirt for a long time, crying. After a few minutes, he pulls away.
"You bastard ." He hiccups. Jason has the decency to look apologetic. "I thought you died!"
"I did." Jason hums, grunting when Percy punches his chest. "But I'm here now, baby."
Percy wraps his arms around Jason's neck tightly. Jason manages to tug Percy into standing.
"Hi, Mrs. Jackson."
"It's Sally and you know it." She corrects. Jason gives her a smile and nods.
Percy doesn't let Jason out of his sight for the rest of the week. Jason sleeps over, letting Percy wrap around him like a clingy octopus. Jason seems to enjoy the attention, so it's really a win-win for both of them. She isn't surprised when Percy asks if Jason can stay with them for the remainder of the time before they head to New Rome University. She talks to Paul and they both agree.
Jason is good with Estelle. He's a baby whisperer, she thinks. Estelle is an abnormally happy baby, but with Jason she's delighted. Jason makes silly noises at her that make her burst into baby laughter. On one of these occasions, Jason is trying to get Estelle to sit up by herself. Sally and Percy are in the kitchen starting on dinner. She catches Percy staring at the two of them.
"I think I want to marry him, mom." Percy says quietly. She has to hold back a laugh, her son is so lovestruck romantic that she finds it amusing. She's not surprised, she remembers when a much younger Percy found consolation in the fact that one day he could keep his soulmate safe. Percy now has the same New Rome brand on his other arm, which makes her feel different emotions, none positive. Especially when she thinks about how the matching one on Jason's arm has been there for nearly fourteen years.
"Maybe get through college first." She suggests, but knows Percy doesn't hear her. He's too busy staring at Jason with a dopey smile.
If they're not engaged by the end of the summer, she'd be shocked. And as much as she'd like to always give the best advice, she's alright with being ignored this once.