Ever After

by Gluten_Full

Summary:

Percy and Annabeth have dreaming about their future together and their kids since they were teenagers. It's past time they got their happy, domestic future.

This is a drabble collection of stories from their future life in New York City with their four daughters.

Notes:

I wrote a lot of future canon drabbles on tumblr and decided to finally upload them here. This fic will be just the sfw domestic fluff fics.

In this universe, Percy and Annabeth living a demigod-safe apartment building in Manhattan, where Annabeth works as an architect and Percy works as a high school Latin teacher. They have four baby girls, a dog, and one-to-three cats, depending on where we are in the timeline.

These fics are not written with a plan in mind. I've tried to keep elements and ages consistent throughout the stories, but don't do careful math on anything. Inconsistencies may happen.

See the end of the chapter for a full description of the girls' names, ages, and physical appearance.

Chapter 1: Baby's First Yule

If Percy hadn't been there for their entire conception journey, he'd have bet that Annabeth deliberately timed her pregnancy just right to maximize "baby's first holiday" cheer. It had taken almost a year to conceive Sophia though, so her early August birthday, almost exactly in between their own birthdays, was just how it turned out.

But this meant Sophia was holding her head up by the time Annabeth wanted to put her in a pumpkin for Halloween (perfect for pictures), and she wasn't such a squishy newborn for the holiday card (again, perfect). Hell, by Valentine's day she might even sleep through the night and let Mommy and Daddy enjoy their romantic holiday.

Annabeth had a real thing for the holidays. Growing up at camp without stable family traditions had turned her into an adult with bins and bins of decorations, and an iron will to throw every kind of party. New mom or not, she was determined to throw their New Years Eve party the same as every year.

Their daughter had spent the last two months in a series of rotating holiday-themed onesies and dresses. Today, she was in a candy cane printed onesie. She'd had a little red skirt on before, but now she was just in baby sweatpants. Her socks were lost somewhere between her stroller and the couch.

Sophia was attached to Annabeth's chest in a baby carrier, but facing out to look at the tree as Annabeth carefully placed ornaments. His daughter's eyes were wide and her chubby little hands outstretched trying to grab onto the glittery red ball Annabeth was holding up in front of her.

"We should get her some plastic ones to play with," Percy said, handing Sophia a wooden nutcracker ornament she probably couldn't break.

Annabeth kissed the top of her head. "She's trying to help," she said, bouncing slightly until Sophia cooed. "Yeah, you like our non-denominational holiday tree, baby?" Sophia made a little noise in response.

"How long before she starts talking?" Percy asked. He knew all the baby books said ten to eighteen months, but a kid who was half Annabeth was sure to start sooner.

"I started talking at about seven months," Annabeth said, "so maybe around then, or a little later. Or maybe she's just like every other baby, and that's okay too." This she said to Sophia, talking into the top of her head, which was covered in thin blonde curls. At a distance, she still looked bald as an egg.

As if to prove she was, in fact, not like every other baby, Sophia turned the kitchen sink on with a flick of her baby wrist. Percy turned it back off. Even at four months, bath time was already a war zone.

Annabeth laughed. "That's a very good trick, girlie," she said.

"We're in for it if she takes after me," Percy said with a smile of his own. But besides the occasional aquatic manipulation, his daughter was all Annabeth -- wide curious eyes, curly hair, and an ability to keep Percy wrapped around her finger. And absolutely perfect.

Sophia was a sign of everything they'd survived and gone through together; she was proof they were alive and grown. And as Annabeth hung an ornament that was a ceramic with an imprint of Sophia's hand, Percy couldn't help but smile to know she was going to grow up with so many signs that she was loved by both her parents all the time.

"No, we'll be lucky," Annabeth said, stepping closer to him to place a few more ornaments near his side.

Percy took the proximity as an opportunity to kiss his wife. Then he planted a kiss on Sophia's cheek with a loud mwah, pulling a giggle out of his baby. So he did it again, and got even more laughter. Sophia dropped the nutcracker to the floor and reached both her hands out, grabbing onto fistfuls of Percy's hair.

"Ow, ow, okay, okay," Percy said, carefully removing her hands.

"I think she's tired of me," Annabeth said, resting a hand under Sophia's bum as she undid the wrap. "Do you want to take her for a minute?"

It would probably be only a few minutes before Sophia reached back for Annabeth. Annabeth was her favorite person, except for maybe Grandma, and Percy had to agree.

But Percy happily took his daughter into his arms, holding her carefully as he let her face out towards the tree. He started pointing at ornaments he and Annabeth had collected together, and a few old hand-made ones from Estelle or his own childhood.

"Do you have a favorite?" He asked her. Sophia responded by reaching out for the large -- "olives, really?" It was a glass ornament that looked like three olives on a skewer for a martini. Percy had bought it for Annabeth a few years ago when he'd found spotted it in a random Christmas shop window. "You don't even know what olives taste like."

"Maybe it comes through in the breast milk?" Annabeth suggested from the other side of the tree. Annabeth did have a horrifying addiction to them. It'd even made it into his wedding vows, that he'd always get pizza with half olive half pepperoni.

"She still wouldn't know what an olive is. Unless she thinks those are boobs," Percy said.

"She's smart, she could figure it out," Annabeth said.

"Did you see Mommy eating those?" Percy asked. Sophia wiggled at the sound of mommy, and started looking around for Annabeth.

"I think my time is up," Percy said, as Sophia's coos started to get louder and more demanding.

"She might be hungry," Annabeth suggested, poking her head around the tree. "Do you want to feed her?"

"I'll give it a shot," Percy said, lifting his shirt up.

Annabeth laughed and pulled his shirt back down. "We've got some bottles," she said.

"Are you sure?" Percy asked, heading to the kitchen. Usually whatever she pumped they needed to save for during the day when Sophia was at daycre. Percy only got to feed her when he got up with her in the middle of the night, and even that was becoming less frequent as she got bigger. But feeding her was one of his favorite parts so far.

"Oh yeah," Annabeth assured him. "I'm pretty locked into this."

Percy prepped the bottle and sat on the couch, and watched Annabeth rearrange ornaments until they had the perfect flow and balance. Percy cradled Sophia carefully as she took the bottle.

"Was that it? Were you hungry?" Percy asked her.

"That's almost always why she reaches for me," Annabeth said.

"No, I think you're really just her favorite."

"Impossible, she's a total Daddy's girl."

"Oh please, she's obsessed with you."

"I'm the food."

"And I'm just the bottle guy," Percy said, nodding his head down toward the bottle.

"No, you're the fun, silly one," Annabeth said, stepping back to examine the tree with an extremely serious look on her face. Percy was pretty sure she was doing that on purpose, so that he couldn't push back with a simple you're silly and fun too.

Sophia, of course, didn't chime in.

"I love to tell you this gorgeous," Percy said, "she loves you so, so much. Because you're the best mom in the whole world." Percy looked down at Sophia, who was still eating away. "Can you say 'she's the best Mommy in the whole world?'"

Sophia stopped drinking and pulled away from the bottle. For a second, Percy thought she might just start talking.

But she just started to cry. Percy heard the toilet flush in the bathroom. She truly had his skill for disrupting the plumbing.

"Ah, burping time?" he asked her as he sat her up. She responded by spitting up into his lap before he could find a burp cloth.

"Here," Annabeth said, appearing at his side, cloth in hand in a moment. She cleaned Sophia's face first, before just laying it over the slash zone on his pants as he kept patting her back.

"You mean it?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, was definitely time for a burp," he said.

"No, that I'm good at this?" Her eyes were on their daughter.

Percy leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Of course," he promised.

"You're such a good dad too," she promised, before kissing his cheek. He'd started growing a beard when she got pregnant, and it seemed to be a crowd pleaser, so it had stuck around long past the birth. The crowd, of course, was Annabeth.

Percy smiled. "Well! It's easy to be a good dad to such a perfect little baby," he said. He lifted Sophia up under her arms as he leaned back on the couch. He held her up, almost like Simba, but so that she was looking at him.

Sophia decided then that she wasn't quite done spitting up what she'd ate. A good bit of her bottle ended up on Percy's chin then into his beard and onto his shirt.

Annabeth laughed. "Alright, bath time for both of you, I think," she said, taking Sophia from him, so he could compose himself.

The shower turned on.

Annabeth looked at him wide-eyed, then to the baby in her arms.

"I did that," Percy confirmed.

Annabeth sighed. "Oh thank the gods. I'm not ready for her to really understand words yet."

"She probably already does," Percy said, wiping his beard with his sleeve. "Her big brain is like a sponge."

Annabeth nodded, before resting Sophia over her shoulder. "I love you," she said to both of them. He saw tears well up in her eyes. "Baby's first Yule!" Annabeth said.

"It'll be perfect," Percy promised, before standing. He wanted to kiss her, but his beard was all milky and his spit-up-on pants were starting to stick to him.

Chapter 2: Thanksgiving

Conceiving Sophia had taken a year of careful, strategic trying, prenatal vitamins, ovulation tests, and a very serious conversation with an OB about potentially looking into fertility tests.

Conceiving their second baby had simply taken Annabeth forgetting to bring her birth control on vacation, and Percy forgetting to pull out once or twice.

They hadn't planned to get pregnant within a year of Sophia being born, but there they were again. And this time, Annabeth had had to suffer the slings and arrows of the first trimester during a New York August. Percy felt terrible for her.

But the temperature had dropped, she'd entered her second trimester, and Percy was pretty sure she'd nearly eaten the entire Thanksgiving turkey herself. At five months pregnant now, she had a sweet little bump and the same beautiful face Percy always wanted to kiss.

Their toddler was a different story. Turns out, a fifteen-month-old mini-Annabeth has a lot in common with drunk Annabeth: a lot to say, but with less-than-great communication skills, prone to running off without warning, and plenty of crying. At least drunk Annabeth was potty trained. Sophia might have started manipulating plumbing at three months and talking at eight months, but she didn't seem to be in any rush to the next milestone. Not that they'd be free of diaper bags any time soon anyway.

Sophia had spent most of dinner combining handfuls of potatoes with cranberry sauce and making a great mess. That her doting grandparents only cooed at, as Percy tried to wipe her down

But now Sophia was down on the couch between Grandpa Paul and Grandpa Fred, watching The Godfather II.

"Is this appropriate for her?" Fred had asked.

"We let Nico babysit a lot. She might find it comforting. All these old school Italians," Percy joked. Nico was taller than him now, and he looked like a young Al Pacino. Whatever. Percy had a beautiful wife and a perfect baby.

He walked back into the kitchen to help his mom clean and found her in a battle of kindness with Annabeth.

"--Sweetie, we've got it. Go sit --"

"--Sally, really, I'm fine. Let me help --"

"--That's what my two kids are here for --"

"--They helped cook --"

"--So they can help clean."

His mom looked at him, pleading as if to ask: Can you talk some sense into her?

Percy smiled and shook his head. As if he'd ever been able to do anything of the sort.

"Come on," he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his hands on her belly. He felt their baby kick against his hands, and Annabeth made a small opmh noise. The baby had started kicking last month, and she always seemed extra active after Annabeth ate, or (Percy argued) when he was around.

"See, even she wants you to sit down and relax," Percy said. Another girl. He couldn't wait. Maybe it was sooner than they expected, but he wouldn't trade this little girl for anything.

"Is she kicking?" Sally asked. Annabeth nodded. "Can I?"

Percy moved his hands, and Annabeth guided Sally to where she could feel.

"i can't believe this was me only twelve years ago," Sally said. "Now I have two more babies!"

"Grandbabies," Percy corrected.

"Oh, shush," Sally said. She still hadn't made peace with being a grandma. "I can't be a grandma. I have a middle schooler."

"Maybe by baby four or five, you'll be more comfortable," Annabeth joked.

"Five?!" Sally said. Percy and Annabeth just shrugged. They hadn't planned a final count. They'd just ... see where nature took them. "Well sweetie, if you're planning on doing this three more times, then you should really get your rest in now," Sally said, shooing them both to the living room.

They both came to a dead stop when they reached the living room. Both grandpas and Sophia had fallen asleep, all with their heads tilted back, mouths open.

"Food coma," Percy whispered.

"I'll say," Annabeth said, before snapping a few pictures. 'Want to lay down in the guest room?" She asked.

"Sure," Percy said, giving her a gentle kiss. When the door closed behind them, he asked: "Should we get a head start on babies three and four?"

"Cheeky. But I feel like a stuffed turkey," she said, climbing under the covers.

"You're a turkey I'd love to -- actually I'm just going to apologize immediately for that," he said as she laughed, rolling onto her side away from him. "Just snuggles?" He asked as he wrapped an arm around her and resting a protective hand on her belly.

"Yep," she said. Their baby kicked in agreement.

Chapter 3: Girl's Night

Percy had a girl on almost every side. Sophia was on his left, Nella his right, and Olivia was strapped to his chest, snoozing away. Fate had given him and Annabeth something of a break in their twenties, but now their thirties were a chaos of their own making. Literally.

They'd all gathered on his and Annabeth's bed to keep Percy company before bed time. Actually, he shouldn't be letting Olivia sleep like this. If her sisters woke her up (which was likely), she'd never get back to sleep on time. But he needed one of his girls to be relaxed. And the four-month-old's soft weight on his chest was calming.

Percy wished he could say the same about the presence of his other two girls. Nella tugged a bit of his hair roughly into a clip while Sophia, the oldest and most coordinated at four years old, braided a bit of his hair. Percy tried not to let their pushing and pulling and brushing and braiding distract him from the absolute mountain of Latin midterms he had to grade. The other Latin I teacher, an old man who looked exactly like you'd expect, had suffered, but survived, a heart attack a week before midterms. Percy already had a lot of exams to grade on his own. And now, he had double that.

His eyes barely skimmed over students' translations, looking for key words, sufficient length, and reasonable English and/or Latin grammar, depending on the direction. He'd always been an easy grader, but now he was giving out points for just about anything.

While he focused on Latin, Percy's hair had become the unwilling source of entertainment for his four and almost-three year old, while Olivia, only four months, and Max, their beagle, had the right idea. Both were snoring away. Percy was keeping a close eye on the clock. Twenty more minutes. Then bed time. The girls were fed, bathed, and dressed in pajamas.

He missed his wife.

Annabeth had been called in as a consultant on a New Roman shrine that was under construction. Seemed that, even in their Roman forms, the gods remembered the great work she did on Olympus and wanted her and no one else. Thankfully the gods had little concept of human money, and Annabeth had been able to secure a few years-worth of private school tuition as payment. There was no turning the gig down. Even if it meant leaving her four-month-old behind with a big kiss and freezer full of breast milk.

One more week, Percy reminded himself. Two weeks without Annabeth. He could handle all the technical parts of parenting no problem. But what was he supposed to do when the girls cried because they missed their mom, except join them with a lamentable "Me too!"?

Annabeth was dying out West too, he knew. Every picture of her babies was responded to with some variation of: "Stop, I'm at [important event] with [actual god], and I'm going to cry."

Percy typed a brief comment to a student about the genitive case and hit submit, hoping they didn't feel too bad about their C+ grade.

Nella gasped suddenly, the sound loud in his ear.

"What?" Percy asked, his hand flying to his head to make sure he hadn't suddenly lost a patch of hair.

"I have to go potty!" Nella announced loud enough to wake Olivia.

Olivia started crying as Percy said, "Okay, go, go," helping her climb off the bed. Nella scurried into Percy and Annabeth's bathroom. It didn't have the kiddy potty seat attached like the girls' bathroom did, or a step-stool in front of the toilet, so he had to lift her on, and hold her so she didn't fall in, all while trying to sooth the still-fussy baby attached to his chest.

"All done!" She announced after a minute.

"Great," Percy said, helping her down. "Wash your hands." They did have a little step stool by the mirror. It was the first time he got to see himself. He had a bunch of glittery clips on Nella's side, and several padawan braids on Sophia's side. Some were tied at the ends with rubber bands, some were holding on for dear life on their own. Percy smiled.

"High five," Percy said, holding up both hands to congratulate the recently potty-trained girl on not peeing in his bed. Nella jumped, gave two high fives, and landed on her feet on the floor. "Sophia," he said as they walked back into the room, "help your sister clean this hair stuff up."

The girls set to collecting their accessories.

"Do you like your hair?" Sophia asked.

"It's perfect," Percy promised. "Should we show Mommy?"

There was a chorus of "Yes!" from both of them. Even Olivia cooed, looking up at him, wide awake gray eyes waiting for Daddy to Facetime her favorite person. (Percy hadn't been keen on Olivia as a name. But when she came out with big, gray, owl eyes, wider than even Annabeth's in her baby pictures, they took it as a threat sign from Athena. "I think this means the next girl's name has to be horse themed," Percy said. Annabeth laughed, but Percy had found the perfect name: Rosalind. Rosie, for short, he imagined.)

Both girls brushed their teeth and got under the covers. They'd started sharing a room when Olivia was on the way, giving their baby sister her own nursery. If they had one more baby, which was the plan, it would probably mean finding a bigger place.

Annabeth answered the face time on the first ring.

" Hi girls!" She said. They called every night. It was only five in California, so she was still in her work clothes, hair pulled back off her face.

"Hi Mommy!" The girls said in unison. Percy had gotten Olivia out of the baby wrap so she could face forward. He waved her little sausage arm at the phone and, in a falsetto baby voice said for her "hi Mommy!"

Both girls got a few minutes to ramble to Annabeth about their days, before they asked her: "How was your day?" And Annabeth got to tell them about all the cool things she designed.

" And what did you girls do to Daddy's hair ?" Annabeth asked at the end of her story.

"Do you like it?" Percy asked, tossing back some of the braids.

" Oh it's beautiful ," Annabeth promised. " What do you think Livy ?" Percy had come up with that nickname, and it seemed to be sticking. The Latin teacher's revenge for his daughter's olive-themed nickname.

Olivia vocalized a few non-specific sounds.

"She likes it!" Nella announced.

"Of course she does," Percy said.

" Alright girls, it's time for bed, " Annabeth said. They blew kisses to each other, before Percy walked himself, Olivia, and Annabeth out of the room, with a "good night, love you sweet peas," to his older girls.

Back in the bedroom, Percy rested Olivia in her bassinet before walking his phone into the bathroom to start undoing his daughter's masterpiece.

"I miss you," Percy said, unclipping a sparkly barrette that had somehow become hopelessly tangled up in his hair.

" I miss you too, " Annabeth said with a sigh. " I have to have dinner with Venus tonight, and the last two times we've met, all she does is talk about you . I swear, she's putting some love magic on me when she does it, because by the end I'm so ..." Percy was familiar with what horny Annabeth looked like -- bit lip, pink cheek, deep breathing -- and this was it.

"This is a new story," Percy said with a smirk, trying to look hot, despite his dumb little braids.

" I've been here a week and my vibrator has already died," Annabeth said.

Percy laughed. "Well, I'm sleeping next to an infant, so you're jerking off for two."

"I am," Annabeth said, her voice almost solemn in its seriousness. She touched her breast then. It wasn't meant to be sexy, but Percy felt a bit of a thrill anyway. He missed her. "Gods, the amount of breast milk I've had to dump ... do you guys have enough?"

"We're doing fine," Percy promised. Annabeth was bent down out of frame. When she came back in, she had her breast pump and was undoing her shirt.

" The New Rome nursing rooms are great, " she remarked as Percy's gaze fixed on his wife's breasts, swollen and heavy.

"If I tell you we're out of breast milk, think they'll let you come home early?" Percy asked.

Annabeth laughed. " No," she said, "it's the gods we're talking about. We'll be set for a decade after this week. "

"Two weeks of abstinence, financial and educational security for our kids," Percy said, weighing each option on a hand. He lowered the "security for our kids" hand. "Ah damn, guess that is more important." As if he'd ever pick something else.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes as Percy finished undoing his hair, and she finished pumping. Sure, there was plenty to say. He wanted to hear about her day, she would want to hear about his and the girls’. But for a moment, they stayed quiet, enjoying an almost meditative calm they'd found a way to cultivate over the years.

"I told Lady Diana that we wanted four children," Annabeth said as Percy carried her back into the bedroom. "She gave me her blessing. So we should be careful when I come back, unless we want Irish twins."

"I think technically just enough time has passed that they wouldn't count as Irish twins," Percy said with a smile. "What would we name a fourth one?"

"Well, Oliver was always my favorite boy's name, but I think that's out," Annabeth said.

"Absolutely," Percy agreed. "What about Chase?"

"I like it, but I still use that last name professionally. People might think I named my son Chase Chase," she pointed out. "What if it's a girl? Any ideas?"

Alright, here was his chance. Dock the boat.

Percy pretended to think. "Rosalind is pretty," he said. "It's from Shakespeare."

"Oh that's nice," Annabeth said. "Does it mean something?"

"'Beautiful rose' in Latin," he said. Of course, the Germanic origins of the name meant "gentle horse," but Annabeth didn't speak German.

"I love that," she said.

"Rosie for short," Percy said.

"Rosie," Annabeth cooed, "gods that's so ... Oh, Venus is gonna have a field day with me later tonight."

"What?" Percy asked.

"I mean --" Annabeth flushed and laughed at her own poor phrasing, "she's going to use this miss-my-husband naming-my-babies energy to get me all riled up. I think she feeds on it, really. Like a lust vampire."

"One more week," Percy said.

"Tell your swimmers to really focus on XX. I'm a bit attached to Rosie already," Annabeth said.

Percy smiled. Success.

Chapter 4: Home

Notes:

This one is a sequel to the previous chapter.

Annabeth let herself steal one final moment of privacy with her husband. An hour ago, she'd made him pull over into the JFK parking garage, manipulate the mist, and get knee deep in the passenger seat after her flight. Now, they were outside their apartment door, and she could already hear the familiar, lovely chaos coming from inside. But right now, it was just her and him, in the quiet of the hallway, and she wanted to savor it.

They kissed slowly, her back against the outside wall of their unit, Percy's hands on her hips, her arms over his shoulders. It wasn't lazy, but it wasn't frantic or desperate. There wasn't any desperate pulling at clothing or hair tugging, just the comforting and familiar movement of his lips on hers.

On the other side of the wall, she could hear her older girls chasing each other around, and the occasional intervention of their aunt, who, at sixteen, was to be idolized in every way. While Stella was a good babysitter, she knew Sally and Paul were in there somewhere too, probably making dinner and keeping an eye on the baby.

"I think we should go inside," Annabeth said, breaking the kiss and running her hands through his hair.

"Okay," Percy said softly, before seducing her into another kiss.

"C'mon Max," she heard Paul say as their front door opened. They barely tried to pull away from each other, but Max forced them apart, bounding into Annabeth and tugging on his leash the moment the door opened.

"Oh!" Paul said, "that's why he was pawing at the door. How was your trip?" He asked her.

Annabeth was sitting on the hallway floor rubbing her dog behind his ears while he licked her face.

"It was good," she said, "yeah are you a good boy? Yes you are! Were you good for Daddy while I was gone?" She asked the dog.

"He was maybe the most well-behaved," Percy said. "Trouble makers, all of your kids."

Annabeth just smiled as Nella's voice started to ring through the hallway, a loud and welcome "Mommy!"

Soon, her almost-three year-old was crashing into her, and Annabeth pulled her into a tight, tight hug, trying to squeeze two weeks of love into her baby girl in a single embrace. 

With Percy's help, she did manage to get up off the floor, Nella still in her arms. Nella clung onto her tight; a few weeks before Annabeth left, Nella had a dream that Annabeth died, and all Saturday she'd held onto her mom much like she was doing now.

Nella proved to be a sensitive, easily overwhelmed little kid, much like Annabeth herself had been. But where Annabeth had a single dad who could barely pull his head out of his research to notice she was in tears, Annabeth was absolutely unable to put her daughter down as she desperately clung to her, as if her mother might disappear again any moment.

By the time they got to the threshold, Nella was crying into her shoulder. Annabeth just rubbed her back and tried to sooth her, but the chaos of her homecoming turned the apartment into cacophony. Max was still barking, Sophia was bossing her aunt around, while Sally tried to set plates for dinner and get pots off the stove. Nella pressed her hands over her ears and cried harder.

Annabeth looked at Sophia, who was setting up the couch for Annabeth to feed Olivia (if Nella had inherited all of her sensitivities, Sophia had inherited her bossy, control freak nature), and Olivia was just looking at her, quietly observing the chaos with her big owl eyes. She was, without a doubt, their quietest and most well-behaved child.

With her other two girls sufficiently, if temporarily, occupied, Annabeth slipped back into the hallway to find a moment of calm.

For a few moments, she didn't say anything or shush her. She just rubbed her baby's back, (avoiding her hair as she was incredibly tender headed), and bounced her as if her three year old were still a fussy baby. She felt Nella relax against her, her hands coming off her ears, and her tears slowing down.

"There we go," Annabeth said in a calm tone. Nella lifted her face off her shoulder and Annabeth wiped away her tears with her thumb. Nella had inherited Sally Jackson's wide, deep brown eyes. In fact, with the exception of her dark brown-almost-black hair, she seemed to resemble Sally more and more every day. Annabeth liked to see that their mortal sides also came through, especially Sally Jackson's influence.

"Do we have words right now?" Annabeth asked her.

Unlike Sophia, who learned how to speak at eight months and had not stopped for a waking minute since, Nella often went into long periods of quiet, especially after a big emotional melt down. Paul thought she might be autistic, but Annabeth and her father had been the same as little kids. Although when she told Paul this, he just exchanged a glance with Percy that she didn't understand.

Nella nodded. "I miss you," she said. Annabeth pulled her in for another hug.

"I missed you too," Annabeth promised, giving her another squeeze. "Can we go back inside now so I can say hi to your sisters?"

Nella nodded, apparently out of words.

The apartment was quieter when she came back in. Max had calmed down, and Sophia had been corralled to the coffee table with a handful of colorful lego. Nella scurried to the couch, ready to cuddle up next to her as Annabeth sat down with her big breast feeding pillow.

"Hi Stells," Annabeth said, as her sister-in-law, an unbelievable sixteen years old now, handed Annabeth her baby. She'd missed all of her kids an equal amount, but there was something primal in her that had felt the profound and unnatural absence of her infant daughter the last few weeks. Her monkey brain seemed calmed by the small weight back in her arms. She opened her shirt and undid her nursing bra without concern or shame around her in-laws. After three kids, her nipples were a non-event.

Stella tried to ask Annabeth about her trip, but when Sophia sensed conversation, she sat on Annabeth's other side, and started to talk about her two weeks. Not to be out done, Nella found her words, and started to do the same. Usually, when the kids started trying to have two conversations with her at once, she put a careful end to it. But now, she just relaxed back on the couch, comforted by their little voices.

"Come on, ladies, time to get ready for dinner," Percy said, finally, shuffling the older girls away from her and into the kitchen.

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" Sally said in a soft tone to give Annabeth a break from loud voices, before she also started crying and covering her ears in the chaos.

"So happy to be home you can't even imagine," she said with a smile, as she switched Olivia to the other boob.

"I bet," Sally said. "Percy did a good job, but they all missed you."

Annabeth smiled. "I know." She had no doubts about Percy's ability to take care of their family without her, but she liked to know her absence was felt. Annabeth looked down at her little baby, big gray eyes staring up at her as she suckled. She had a family who loved her, missed her when she went away even for just a few weeks. She had three little girls who looked like her, acted like her, and who had needs like she had. And they all knew they were loved, and missed, and cared for. She had a dog!

Annabeth felt herself tear up, and Sally reached for a tissue from the box on the side table. "I'm sorry," she squeaked out, "I just really missed them too."

Sally just smiled and gave her a little squeeze.

Percy slipped onto the couch on the other side, and Sally carefully passed her back to her husband.

"You alright?" He asked, his lips pressed to her temple in a gentle kiss.

"Just overwhelmed," she confessed. "And so happy to be home."

Percy tilted her face towards his to give her lips a kiss this time. "We're so happy you're home."

Olivia pulled off the boob, and Percy scooped her up to burp her. Annabeth redid her shirt, before saying: "Where is my Sophia hug?"

It was her oldest's turn to run into her arms. "We got the good Parmesan cheese, the kind Daddy has to grate himself," she told her.

"Oh really?" Annabeth said. "And how many handfuls did you eat?"

Sophia held up five fingers.

Annabeth laughed. "Did you leave any for the rest of us?"

Sophia shook her head, but Annabeth knew it was a lie. Annabeth flipped her daughter upside down and wiggled her until Sophia was cracking up with laughter. When she turned her upright again, Sophia's blonde curls were sticking up in every direction, and she was still laughing hard.

One kid laughing, one snacking, one sobbing. Her and Percy's kids indeed.

Notes:

If you don't think Annabeth would be the best mom who loves her babies with her whole heart and soul, we can't be friend.

Chapter 5: Jailbreak

In the middle of the night, Percy felt a weight settle on his chest. His mind was barely awake, but it was already telling him what this was -- sleep paralysis. It hadn’t happened much since college, but once and a while his little demon came back. Without even trying to move (he knew that was pointless), he forced himself to open his eyes. 

His daughter was staring back at him, her eyes open wide as she sucked on her pacifier and stared at him, her teddy bear held tight in her hand. Percy moved his arms, realizing this wasn’t a sleep paralysis demon, just a twenty-month old who’d somehow gotten out of her crib. 

“Sophia?” He asked in a hushed voice. Annabeth and the baby were asleep next to him. Last thing he wanted to do was wake either of them up. “How did you get out of your crib?” 

Sophia just shrugged before scooting off of him to settle between him and Annabeth. Her teddy bear had a rattle in it that made a little ringing sound with every move. Percy hoped it wasn’t too loud. 

“Is everything okay?” Percy asked, plucking the pacifier from her mouth. 

“I wan’ see the baby,” Sophia said. Her voice was a squeaky little whisper, and her syllables seemed to all roll together, but Percy had no trouble understanding her. For all Sophia talked, most people had trouble figuring out what she was trying to say, but Percy and Annabeth heard her loud and clear. 

“The baby is sleeping,” Percy said. “You should be sleeping too.” 

Sophia rolled over, placed her two hands under her head as a pillow, and pretended to be asleep, fake snoring and all. 

Percy laughed, but tried to keep it quiet. 

“Come on,” he said, trying to get her up, “let's go back to your room.” Some distant part of his sleep deprived brain remembered the parenting books warning about toddlers testing boundaries with beds, and that you should put them back in their own bed. Percy also had to figure out how the hell she’d gotten out of her crib in the first place. 

“No,” Sophia said. 

“Did something scare you?” Percy asked. Nightmares, or spiders maybe? She had demigod powers, maybe she’d started --

“No,” Sophia said again. And then she rolled over towards Annabeth. His daughter was too much like Annabeth. Too clever by half, a better talker than anyone else in her daycare class, and already an expert at knowing how to get what she wanted. And she knew mama was the real pushover. 

“Mama,” she said in a little voice as Percy tried to pull her away from Annabeth. But Sophia climbed onto Annabeth before Percy could stop her. 

Annabeth woke up with a jolt. “Sophia?” She asked, processing who was there much faster than Percy had. Sophia rested her head on her mom’s shoulder and snuggled. 

“Can I stay here?” She asked, her voice wobbly, as if something had upset her.  

Annabeth folded immediately. “Of course baby, is everything okay?” 

Sophia nodded. “I just wan’ see sissy,” she said. If Percy didn’t know any better, he’d say Sophia was using an extra baby voice. Master manipulator, this girl, he thought. 

“Aw, that's sweet. Nella is sleeping right now, but she’s right there,” Annabeth said, scooting so Sophia could peek in the bassinet. “You should be sleeping too. Can we try to go back to sleep?” 

Sophia nodded and scooted off Annabeth to lay next to her again. 

“Good night, Love Bug,” Annabeth said, kissing her forehead. “I love you.”

“Love you too. Daddy?” Sophia asked. 

“Yeah?” Percy asked back. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Maybe an ‘I love you.’ Or at least a thank you or apology? 

“Paci,” she said, holding out her hand for her pacifier. Percy stuck the thing back in her mouth. 

“Good night, I love you,” Percy said to both of them. 

“I love you too,” Annabeth said. Sophia said it next, but with her pacifier in her mouth, it came out all jumbled. Percy accepted it anyway. 

In the morning, they asked Sophia to show them how she’d gotten out. Sophia seemed to take this as an opportunity to show off, and did so without hesitation.

Sophia dropped her teddy bear onto the floor first, and Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other, impressed and concerned about the level of fore-thought that went into this. Sophia got a foot through the bars and onto the top of the dresser that was flush to the crib; it was just a few inches shorter than the top bar of the crib, but short enough for her to reach it easily. Sophia pushed off of that to get her leg over the top bar, and then the next leg. She balanced on the outside of the crib, her feet on the mattress through the bars, wiggling down into a squat, before jumping off and backwards, landing on her teddy bear. It couldn’t have actually broken her fall much, but it seemed to give her the confidence to go for it. 

“That is so impressive, baby girl,” Annabeth said, “and I need you to not do it anymore.” 

Sophia pouted and stomped out of the room, teddy bear in hand. 

“We need to --” Annabeth started, but Percy was already pushing the dresser away from the crib. Annabeth got to work lowering the mattress to make any future jailbreaks harder. 

“If we move her into a bed soon, we won’t need to buy a second crib,” Percy pointed out. 

Annabeth considered that. “But if we move her, she might just end up in our bed every night.” 

“So we put her back in her own bed when she does,” Percy said. 

“You know I’d hate to do that,” Annabeth said.

Percy couldn’t judge her. He had his own collection of parenting struggles. Like Annabeth’s, they always benefited Sophia: new toys, McDonalds after daycare, generally spoiling her however he could. But that didn’t mean they didn’t both need to work on their hangups. 

“So does she,” Percy pointed out. “You’re being out-smarted by a twenty-month-old.” 

Annabeth frowned. “I don’t want her to feel like --” 

Percy kissed her forehead. “She won’t,” Percy promised. 

Annabeth looked like she was about to say something else, when they heard Nella cry from their bedroom. The two left the Sophia conversation for now, and went to check on her. But before they could reach the bedroom, they heard the cries turn into little coos. They heard Sophia’s little voice through the door, and when they peaked in, they found her hovering carefully over the bassinet, putting on a little skit with her teddy bear for Nella. Nella made tiny almost-laughing noises and wiggled, reaching up for the toy. 

“You can borrow him,” Sophia said. Percy almost melted, and Annabeth looked like she might cry. Sophia had hardly let go of her teddy in a year and a half, but there she was, resting it gently next to her sister. 

It couldn’t last forever. New stains on the front of Annabeth’s shirt and a quick come back of Nella’s cries made it clear it was time for food. 

“Thank you for your help, Love Bug,” Annabeth said, scooping up Nella before sitting down next to Sophia on the bed. 

“She liked Teddy,” Sophia explained. 

“It was very nice of you to share him with her,” Percy said. 

“She needs her own,” Sophia decided. 

“Maybe we can all go out later and pick one out for her,” Percy suggested. Sophia nodded, excited about any outing with her new sister. There hadn’t been many so far. 

“And maybe we’ll start looking for a big girl bed for you?” Annabeth suggested. 

Sophia stood up on their bed and started bouncing. “Really?” She asked. Percy grabbed her and pulled her back down. 

“You gotta promise not to do that if we do,” he said. Sophia just nodded as a promise. Percy had a feeling she wouldn’t keep that promise, but they’d figure it out. 

Notes:

Percy continues to learn that having babies with Annabeth Chase means having babies who get up to Annabeth Chase-levels of shenanigans.

Sophia's fun little kid to write, because with her Athena-genes, she's got the cognitive capacity of a three-year-old (give or take), but then there are still some things about her that are age appropriate, like using a pacifier and not being potty trained. So with every new milestone, the parents are never sure if it's going to be "aw cute regular baby thing!" or "Oh gods how did the baby figure that out?! That's not in the book!"

Chapter 6: Baby Bird

After Nella had been weaned, dinners in the Jackson household became a complicated affair.

Sophia was already a ... complicated eater. Not picky. She was adventurous enough. But she was stubborn and demanding, and she had the iron will of a hunger striker when she didn't feel like eating whatever Percy had made. Having grown up with limited options, Percy found this behavior a bit incomprehensible, but also, startlingly endearing and joyful. That Sophia felt secure enough to deny food, and safe enough to request new meals filled Percy with a satisfied joy that was contradictory to, although equally as present as, his frustration. Last night, she had eaten three bowls of Foot Loops for dinner.

Nella was a classic picky eater, though, and had been the reason so many home-made dinners had become bland and routine. Percy had started cooking what they called "Nella chicken." No pepper or other seasonings, just a breast cooked in a little bit of butter, plated up with butter noodles, and some ketchup. Hers was cooked separately so that he could season the rest of the food. They had a list of foods like these for her -- hot dogs (but cut up, no end pieces, and only beef, no pork), grilled cheese (but not burnt!), Uncrustable PB&J (but not homemade PB&J), carrots, strawberries, blueberries, and apples (but not bananas or oranges). Nella has also developed a hunger striker-like attitude. But where her sister acted on principle, Nella genuinely seemed like she might be sick if you tried to force her to eat a pork chop. Percy had one convinced her to try a spoonful of peas, and she'd held them half-chewed in her mouth until Percy discovered them an hour later at bath time.

When they started telling people that they were expecting a third baby, people responded with the same question: "are you hoping for a boy this time?"

Percy and Annabeth had traditionally answered gender questions with the truth: "We don't care, as long as it's happy and healthy."

But this time, they'd found themselves saying instead "We don't care as long as it's not a picky eater."

And they should have known better than to tempt fate like that.

If Nella or Sophia left food uneaten, Olivia would just about vacuum it up for them. She was the first kid who seemed to take after the dog.

Percy had announced it was a McDonalds night. There was some kind of Squishmallow happy meal toy the girls wanted and had been asking for all week, Nella ate nuggets, and Sophia seemed to be on the brink of hunger strike if she didn't get french fries.

His family seemed satisfied with the choice, even if his and Annabeth's food wasn't a peak warmness by the time they got to it. They had to cut up Olivia's chicken and fries small enough that the one-year-old could manage on her own, open the toys for the girls, and negotiate a trade deal between them (which involved promising Sophia a full-sized Squishmallow later in the week if she just handed over the purple bat to her sister because "you know it's her favorite color. You can have the flamingo. It's pink!"). But finally, the older girls were playing, Olivia had been set free from her high chair after eating all of her food, and Percy and Annabeth could sit and eat in front of the TV.

Percy figured his food was already past the point of being delicious, so he left his Big Mac for another minute to lean in and kiss his wife, the only thing that brought him true calm these days. He loved the chaos of their life together, but when he needed that steadiness, he could count on her to be there. He felt her hand on his stubble as she pulled away, a contented smile on both of their faces.

"Your burger is being watched," Annabeth said as they pulled away. Percy looked over, and on the other side of the coffee table, Olivia had peaked her head up, showing Percy just the blonde top of her head and wide gray eyes -- a tiny Annabeth looking not at him, but at his food. Had Percy had a single meal in the last six months that this girl hadn't stolen a bite from?

Olivia pulled herself up, looking at him now, and opening her mouth like a baby bird.

"You're still hungry?" Percy asked. Olivia just kept her mouth open, wordless. She could talk -- she'd started around eight months like her sisters had (continuing to baffle pediatricians) -- but she favored a Jackson-like commitment to the bit. Olivia closed her mouth and then opened it again with a little chirp.

Next to him, Annabeth giggled and said something about nature videos and the cat TV she played for Boo, their fifteen year old cat.

"Yeah? Are you a little birdie?" Percy asked, standing to pick her up.

"Birb," Olivia confirmed. Percy sat back down and rested her between himself and Annabeth. They took turns picking bits off their own burgers and offering them to her. Olivia ate whatever they provided - bits of patty, cheese, pickle, lettuce, bun, even the special sauce.

Despite giving her little nibbles, Percy did still try to get in actual bites of his own meal, distracting Olivia with a full-sized fry to try and chew through while Annabeth chatted to him about her day, and their plans for the weekend. Distantly, he could hear Sophia and Nella playing in their room, nicely and without trying to kill each other.

Percy settled into the pleasantness of the evening, and let his guard down.

Next thing he knew, Olivia had pulled herself to standing on the couch, and was leaning in for a bite of his burger in the same moment it made it to his mouth. Tiny thing that she was, she got a good bit in her mouth and was biting down possessively the way a street dog might. Too shocked by the whole scene to do anything about it, Percy reluctantly took the burger out of his mouth and helped Olivia take the massive bite she was after.

Annabeth, through her laughter, watched over her carefully to make sure she didn't choke, but Livy managed it all. Percy looked back at what would have been the final few bites of the burger, almost impressed at how diminished they were. Olivia only had a tiny mouth and four teeth, but she got through a decent chunk of meat and cheese, even a bit of bun.

Livy swallowed what she had, and held out a hand to Percy for more. Percy ripped off more bread for her and handed it over.

Well. There were always Foot Loops.

Notes:

Olivia is the kid who's ordering a dozen oysters on the half-shell at 4 years old while her sisters are still getting chicken tenders.

Chapter 7: Little Guy

As far as Annabeth could tell, the idea of "facing your fears" was total horseshit. She'd tangled the mother of all spiders in her own web once, and Annabeth still had to hide behind the couch when they got to the Shelob scene in Return of the King.

She'd found some ways of navigating it -- that is, some ways of killing spiders on her own. If she acted fast to stomp on it, or whack it with something, she could usually handle it. It also helped her to take off her glasses, so their little buggy bodies were less creepy. But she still usually had to leave the corpses for Percy to clean. She's trained Boo, their cat, to hunt and eat the bugs for her, but she was old now, too old to get most of them.

The last thing Annabeth wanted to do was give this fear to her kids before any spiders had even come after them. Annabeth didn't think they were after her kids yet. So far, the family only seemed to find the normal number of house spiders, and the spiders never seemed all that interested in her babies.

So when she saw a spider she couldn't muster up the courage to kill, she tried to bottle her fears, hold her voice steady like the warrior she was, and call out to Percy: "There's a situation," and he would come take care of it.

Annabeth stood behind Nella, looking at both of them in her bathroom mirror, with Nella standing on a stool to make her taller. Annabeth brushed through Nella's hair, trying to be gentle around snags. Nella usually didn't like people touching or playing with her hair, but she requested two dutch braids today before karate class. Thankfully, she had inherited Sally's straight brown hair, the only kid without a mess of curls to maintain. As long as Percy or Annabeth could get a comb through it once or twice a day, everything was okay.

"Ow," Nella complained as Annabeth tugged on her hair a little too tight.

"Sorry baby," Annabeth said, loosening her grip and kissing the spot that hurt. "Is that better?"

Nella nodded a little, and Annabeth tried to move her hands with her daughter's head so she didn't end up pulling her own hair.

"What else do we want to do today?" They were going over her goals for karate today. Nella asked to start after Sophia earned her yellow belt. They signed her up, even though Annnabeth expected Nella to hate it. But the discipline and consistency of karate class actually seemed to help her anxieties, and was helping her develop more social skills before starting first grade in the fall.

"I wanna work on my kicks," Nella said.

"That sounds like a good goal," Annabeth told her. Most of Nella's goals involved not crying when she lost a spar, but they'd gone through those already.

Annabeth was about to start going through their affirmations, when a black spider, big enough that she could see every leg, walked across their white bathroom counter.

Annabeth froze, and tried to keep her anxiety off her face, as she started, "Percy, there's a situation --"

"It's just a little guy," Nella said, reaching out and letting the spider crawl into her hands. Annabeth cringed involuntarily, and dropped the half-finished braid from her hands. It unraveled as Nella cupped the spider in her hand and started walking towards Percy and Annabeth's bedroom window.

Nella started chatting about how spiders were good for the environment and ate mosquitos. Percy opened the bedroom door just as Nella reached up and dropped the little guy in their flower box.

"Nella got it," Annabeth said, dumbfounded.

"Oh," Percy said. "She killed it?"

"She carried it outside."

"That's my girl!" Percy said, high-fiving Nella's now spider-free hands. "Let's get that hair finished so we can go," Percy said.

Nella stepped back up onto the stool and waited for Annabeth to keep going.

"Why don't you like bugs?" Nella asked her.

And here Annabeth had thought she'd been doing such a good job hiding her fears.

She couldn't begin to explain the spiders, the running away, Arachne, the Mark of Athena all right now. The girls knew about the gods, but so much of their parents' past was a mystery. Annabeth wanted to keep it that way as long as she could.

"Sometimes people just are afraid of things, even if they can't really hurt them," Annabeth said. "You know how you don't like loud noises, and get scared when fire trucks go by?" Nella nodded as Annabeth tied the end of her braid. "It's like that.

"Well, I'm not afraid of the bugs, so I'll get the bugs for you." Nella looked proud, confident even, not her usual shy, nervousness.

Annabeth wrapped her arms around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, sweetie. You're so brave, and I love you so much."

"Come on ladies, the karate train is leaving!" Percy said, stepping back into their room, Nella's bag in hand. Annabeth was staying home with the babies while Nella, Sophia, and Percy went to kick things (well, Percy wouldn't do any kicking, hopefully).

Nella ran from the room, yelling for her older sister, telling her all about how she caught another spider.

Another? Annabeth thought. Were they following her? If they were going to come after any of her kids, Nella made the most sense. She seemed the most like Annabeth, observant, careful, with hardly any water powers besides breathing underwater and staying dry. She'd turned six in March. She was about that age. Did Annabeth just not know? Had she not noticed? Had Nella tried to tell her --

"Are you okay?" Percy asked, his hand on her face.

Annabeth floated back to reality. "Another spider?" was all she managed to say.

Percy squeezed her hand. "She hunts for them at the park. All kinds of bugs. Digs for worms too. I think her classroom has a book on bugs that she likes. Don't worry," Percy said, "she finds them before they find her."

Annabeth exhaled, her mind emerging slowly from the pit of a thought spiral. "Huh, I wouldn't have guessed."

"She's brave," Percy promised. Annabeth rarely worried about Sophia. She had all of her dad's powers with Annabeth control freak attitude. She'd be running Camp by the time she was 15. Not the Athena cabin. The whole damn place. But Nella was sensitive, quiet, and easily overwhelmed. Percy kissed her gently, pulling her out again. "Like her mom." He added.

Annabeth pulled him in for a hug without saying anything.

"I love you," Percy said.

"I love you too," she mumbled back into his shoulder.

"Daddy, that karate train is leaving! " Sophia yelled stomping into their room, before making a blegh noise at catching her parents embracing.

Percy pulled away from her, kissed her again to Sophia's disgust, and headed towards the door.

"Nella's a weirdo," Sophia said.

"Be nice," Percy warned.

Annabeth kissed her girls goodbye at the door, wished them a happy time at karate, and then sat on the couch to watch Bluey with Olivia while Rosie kept snoozing. She was a good sleeper. She'd gotten an award at daycare and everything.

"Finally some peace and quiet," Olivia said in her small voice. Annabeth laughed. She'd never heard Olivia say that, but she knew Olivia had heard her say that.

"Yeah, are the crazy ones finally gone?" Annabeth asked.

"Be nice," Olivia warned, and Annabeth just laughed again. Olivia smiled, and Annabeth was sure that she knew she'd made a very good joke.

A new episode started and Olivia stood up to dance along. Annabeth stood up too, taking her daughter's hands to dance with her.

They were okay, she thought. They were all going to be okay.

Notes:

Mama Annabeth, my beloved

Chapter 8: Pregancy Test

Notes:

This one is a little more T rated. Percabeth's kids don't just spring out of Annabeth's head ....

Annabeth opened the box of pregnancy tests. Still breast feeding Olivia, she knew odds were low. But she wanted a fourth baby, and she wanted the fourth pregnancy to be over with. She scrapped her plan to wait a year and a half, never started birth control again, and told Percy they should start trying when Olivia was only eleven months old.

They'd been at it for about four months now. Not the longest they'd been left waiting for conception, not by a long shot. Sophia had taken an exhausting and terrifying eleven months. Olivia was thirteen months old, nearly fourteen months, and the holidays were finally behind them. Percy and Annabeth needed a vacation, honestly. But they'd take an afternoon.

She and Percy were going out for the afternoon, a date for just the two of them. And if she wasn't pregnant, she was going to get a glass of wine with lunch. She was sick to death of some of her coworkers, and she either needed the euphoria of another baby, or the small pleasure of a pricey glass of red wine.

Annabeth sat to pee, the test between her legs. Sophia must have sensed she was in the middle of a very private, deeply vulnerable moment, because she opened the door to Annabeth's bathroom without concern.

Whatever Sophia had come in for had instantly escaped her five-year-old mind, in favor of asking: "What are you doing?"

Annabeth was starting to wonder if a fourth one was a good idea after all. And then she felt a bit guilty. She tried not to sound annoyed as she explained the obvious: "I'm going potty. Can I have some privacy please?"

Sophia interpreted this as a request for her to turn around, not to leave and close the door. Through the open door, Annabeth could hear Sally's voice, and suspected Sophia had been sent in to let Annabeth know she'd arrived. Annabeth prayed to whatever god was in charge of this specific domain that her mother-in-law didn't seek Annabeth out herself.

"But what's that thing?" Sophia asked.

Annabeth set the pregnancy test on the counter to pull her pants back on. "A pregnancy test," she explained, "to see if I'm going to have another baby." She started washing her hands, taking an extra long time to try and set the best example she could. But Sophia turned the water off with her demigod instincts, giggling at the prank she pulled. When Annabeth reached to turn it back on, Sophia did it herself. "If you break another sink, you're telling the handy man what happened," Annabeth said.

The handy man was a son of Hephaestus who didn't appreciate the impressive quality of Sophia's Poseidon legacy abilities. The entire building was demigod safe -- protected by the same magic that protected camp -- but it wasn't demigod proof . A few minor weapons malfunctions in the downstairs training gym were proof of that.

Sophia took the threat of the handyman seriously, and stopped messing with the water.

"How does it work?" She asked.

"If a mommy is going to have a baby, she has special hormones in her body," Annabeth said, picking up Sophia and plopping her on the counter. Sophia faced the mirror, her legs criss-cross-apple-sauce. Her hair, as usual, was a tangled disaster that Annabeth got to work on, picking apart knots with a fine tooth comb. "The test can tell if those hormones are in the mommy by testing her pee."

"Ew," Sophia said.

"Yeah, it's pretty gross," Annabeth agreed. "But it'll tell us if we're going to have another baby or not."

"Will you be upset if it says no?" Sophia asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Yeah, but we just keep trying," Annabeth said, "like we do with everything we want really bad." Annabeth started to braid her daughter's blonde curls so that they would hopefully stay reasonable for Sally.

"Well, I hope it's positive!" Sophia announced.

Ananbeth smiled. "You don't have enough sisters yet?"

"Nope!"

Annabeth was almost surprised by this attitude. Sophia and Nella were known to have pretty rough fights with each other, and all Olivia did, according to Nella, was poop.

"It could be a brother," Annabeth added. "How would you feel about a baby boy?"

"What would we even do with a boy?" Sophia asked.

"Same thing we do with girls. Love him, support him, play with him --"

"It's a girl," Sophia decided.

"It might not be anything this time," Annabeth reminded her.

"Well, what does the test say?" Sophia asked, reaching for the test, before Annabeth stopped her.

"Mommy peed on that," she reminded Sophia, tying off the end of her braid. "We need to wait a few more minutes." She put Sophia back on her feet. "Can you tell Daddy to come in here?"

Sophia nodded and ran out.

Annabeth and Percy had checked every pregnancy test together. If this one was positive, she wouldn't want Percy to miss the moment.

Sophia dragged him in a few seconds later.

"She told me you peed on something in here that I have to see," Percy said.

"In front of Nanny Sally?" Annabeth asked, looking at Sophia, who giggled, understanding that she'd done something to embarrass her mother, intentional or not.

"Big time," Percy said.

Sally would probably guess what it was, but they weren't really in the business of hiding these things from her anymore. When they were trying for Sophia, the idea of telling Sally your baby boy is fucking me bareback every night by way of "we're trying for a baby" humiliated her so much that Annabeth refused to let Percy mention babies to Sally until they were pregnant. It was Nella, their "we were obviously raw dogging on vacation" baby, who pretty much ended all of that shame.

Percy picked Sophia up so she could see. "If it's positive," Annabeth said, "there will be two lines like this" Annabeth crossed her two pointer fingers, "and if it's negative, it'll just be one line."

Sophia nodded.

Annabeth picked up the test.

One line.

"Aw," Annabeth said, a little deflated. She wasn't even really dejected about the negative test. It just would have been such a cute moment with Sophia there.

She felt her daughter's hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Mommy. We just keep trying."

"That's right," Percy said, kissing Sophia's cheek, before sending her back out into the living room. Annabeth dropped the test into the trash.

"Well, we'll just keep trying," Annabeth said, pulling Percy into her by his shirt.

"Good," he said between kisses, "because I have a surprise for you."

~

The surprise was a nice lunch at a kid unfriendly restaurant, a bottle of wine she adored, and then an afternoon hotel rental, where they could have real, fun sex, not "keep your voice down, we live with three toddlers!" sex.

(It didn't take long for Annabeth to notice that hotel staff suspected both of them of conducting extramarital affairs. That was probably the main demographic who used these short stays anyway. For fun on their way out, she asked Percy, loudly, within ear shot of the nosy desk clerk, if he'd made up his mind about divorcing his wife. Percy, in on the plan, upped the tension by saying, "you know I can't, not when she's pregnant." The desk clerk couldn't hide her shock and surprise. Annabeth was glad they could add some entertainment to her day.)

By the time their temporary stay was up, Annabeth was flushed with satisfaction and starving. And then Percy announced another, fancier meal.

Back on the street, on their way to the next restaurant, Percy pulled her in close, off to the side of the sidewalk. He brought his face in close to hers, but he didn't kiss her yet.

"I'd never divorce my wife, by the way," he said, "she's the love of my life, you know."

Annabeth smiled and draped her arms over his shoulders. "Good, because my husband is the love of mine."

They kissed indulgently on the sidewalk, until someone shouted something at the from a passing car. Percy flipped them off, but they just kept driving, and she and him just kept walking the other way.

By the time they got home, it was past their girls' bed time, she was a little drunk, and absolutely ready to crawl back into bed with Percy.

"I needed that," Percy confessed as they stumbled back home. "Maybe we should take a real vacation soon. Just you and me, before the next baby."

Annabeth smiled. "Your spring break?" She suggested. "Somewhere warm, on the ocean?"

Percy pulled her in for another kiss. "I think that's the best plan you've ever made."

Chapter 9: Tickle monster

They had a solid evening routine. It worked perfectly. Annabeth cleaned the apartment while Percy managed bath time, and then he did story time with them, before Annabeth came in to get Sophia and Nella settled for the night.

Percy didn't enjoy disruptions to this routine, mostly because he felt like he'd been assigned to the parts he was good at. He could out maneuver them in the tub, making sure the apartment wasn't flooded. The children's books were easy to read, and some were even in Ancient Greek. He could do all the funny voices and get Nella and Sophia to laugh, so they went to bed with sweet dreams.

Annabeth was the one who calmed them down. She had a soft, soothing voice, and knew exactly how to brush their hair, trace their faces with her finger, and rub their backs until they were fast asleep.

She was the world's best mom. Percy felt like he was less of a good dad and more of a professional goofball.

Annabeth dropped a pile of freshly washed and dried laundry onto their bed, staring at her cell phone, indignant. And then she opened her work laptop, saying something about a high-strung client who didn't understand business hours.

"Can you just get the girls settled down after you read to them?" Annabeth asked, her eyes on her screen. With another maternity leave looming on the horizon, Annabeth had been putting in extra work instead of taking it easy, like Percy wanted her to. "I'll be in to kiss them goodnight in a minute."

Percy did his best, picking "I'll Love You Forever," over a funnier or sillier story. But then Sophia demanded another chapter of The Hobbit, which he and Annabeth had been going through with them. He tried to tone down the voices, but Sophia reminded him: "That's not how you sounded last night!"

He was outplayed. He had no choice. He made up a troll voice, and it got both of them giggling under their blankets.

When Percy made it to the end of the chapter, he tried to coax them to calmness, doing his best to mimic what Annabeth usually did, but he saw little feet still kicking under their blankets.

"It's time to settle down," he told them.

"But we've still got wiggles in us!" Nella told him, her wide brown eyes pleading for more silliness.

"We've got wiggles!" Sophia said louder, kicking her feet more aggressively.

Percy caved. "Wiggles?" He asked, leaning over to tickle Nella. She started squealing and kicking under him. "What are we going to do with wiggles?"

He went over to Sophia's bed, and plucked her out from under the blanket, setting her on her feet on her bed. "We're just gonna have to get those wiggles out."

Sophia started to bounce, and Nella followed on her own bed.

Percy turned into the tickle monster then, roaring like Godzilla as he went back and forth between them. Soon, they were both out of bed completely, running around the room, trying to pelt him with plushies as they laughed.

Nella started to run towards the door, and Percy was about ready to chase her into the living room, when he realized who she was running to.

"Mommy! It's the tickle monster!" Nella said, grabbing onto Annabeth's leg, still laughing, but clinging desperately like Annabeth might protect her from more tickles.

Sheepish, Percy stopped his game and looked at his wife, expecting a look of disappointment at his sheer ability to do the absolute opposite of what she'd asked.

But Annabeth was just looking at him fondly, bemused rather than disappointed. Annabeth picked Nella up and held her protectively.

"Oh no! Is it gonna get us?" Annabeth asked.

Percy picked up the act again, and moved towards both of them, saying "I'm gonna get you!" And wiggling his fingers to punctuate the threat.

Annabeth was laughing before Percy even got to them, but something about the apparent threat to her mom made Nella decide the game was over.

"No tickle monster!" Nella yelled. And first, Percy kept moving, thinking she was still playing the game. But then Nella held up one finger and started wagging it at him. "No Daddy, no, no, no!"

Percy stopped, his hands up. "Alright, no more tickles," he promised. "I'm very proud of you for using your words."

Nella just snuggled into Annabeth's shoulder.

"It sounds like the three of you had fun!" Annabeth said, directing her attention into the room towards Sophia.

"We did!" Sophia said, hopping back onto her bed. Percy moved towards her to try and get her back under the covers and calm.

"They had to get all the wiggles out," Percy explained.

"Ah, I see," Annabeth agreed. "Are they all gone?" Annabeth asked this to Nella, rubbing her pudgy little belly, implying that's where the wiggles were stored.

"I think I did a good job getting rid of them," Percy suggested. Nella and Sophia nodded.

"Well, that's good. Can't have girls going to bed with wiggles," Annabeth said, bouncing Nella. "Come on, wiggle butt, let's go potty."

Nella protested that she didn't have to, but Annabeth explained they were just going to try again before bed.

"You should go too," Percy suggested to the older girl, following Annabeth's lead. Sophia looked like she might protest this suggestion too, but she just slid out of bed and headed to the master bathroom.

Percy used the moment alone in the girls' room to tidy some of the thrown stuffed animals, returning the chosen few to the appropriate bed, and the rest to the corner pile.

Annabeth and Nella came back in first, Nella still in her arms, looking extra sleepy now. "I think someone is really wiggled out," Annabeth said, putting Nella back in her bed and raising the guardrail. She started to trace the features of the younger one's face when Sophia came back. Percy tucked her in, making sure her blanket was all pulled up, and Teddy was in hand.

"Good night, I love you," he said, kissing her forehead. He did the same with Nella, who was already asleep. Annabeth switched beds too to rub Sophia's back until she was fast asleep.

When the lights were out and the door shut, Annabeth looked at him.

"The tickle monster?" She asked.

"Best I could do," Percy tried. "Tired them out."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she didn't seem annoyed with him, which was a relief. Instead, she just slipped a hand over his ass and pushed him towards their bedroom. He got excited for a moment, but then she said: "Come on, tickle monster, you can help me fold the laundry."

Notes:

Annabeth loves this man so much ~

Chapter 10: Help

Notes:

Time for Clarisse to make her appearance!
In this universe, she and Percy teach at the same school, and they also live in the same building.

They'd tried everything.

The burping. The feeding. Bath time. Story time. Bouncing. Laying down. Sleeping in the crib. Sleeping in the bed. Percy had even tried doing what he could remember of the Solja Boy dance, which did seem to confuse Sophia enough that she stopped crying for about four seconds. But then she picked right back up again.

It wasn't stopping. Their daughter had woken up fussy, and after a diaper change and feeding, she'd started crying, and hadn't stopped for, by Percy's best guess, four and a half years.

"How long has it been?" Percy asked.

"One hour, thirteen minutes, and fifty-nine seconds," Annabeth said, bouncing Sophia in her arms, trying to sooth her.

"I'm texting my mom," Percy decided.

He expected Annabeth to push back, to insist that she could figure out what was wrong with her baby on her own. But she just nodded, too tired, and maybe too overwhelmed to do anything but agree.

Percy

What do you do when the baby won't stop crying but nothing's wrong?

And then, he had another idea.

He copied and pasted the text, and sent it off to Clarisse.

If he'd told twelve year-old him that the girl who'd shoved his head in the toilet would become a close adult friend, he wouldn't have believed it. He still didn't really believe it. But they taught at the same school now, and (at least, pre-baby) she and Annabeth went bouldering together on weekends. Even weirder, she had three kids of her own. They were all loud, sticky, chaos junkies who tried to steal Percy's wallet for fun, but Percy liked them. They were cool little kids.

His mom texted back first:

Sally

If she doesn't have a fever, you might just have to wait it out. She'll get tired eventually.

Not the thing Percy wanted to tell Annabeth, who's hair seemed to be getting taller and more frizzy as her stress levels grew.

"Here," Percy said, holding out his arms to take Sophia from her. "Lay down in the bedroom for a minute," Percy said. Sophia was only three weeks old. Annabeth was still dealing with post-partum bleeding, adjusting to breast feeding, and hardly sleeping the same as him.

Annabeth handed Sophia over without complaint, and flopped back onto the bed, a hand over her eyes.

Percy stepped out of the room and felt his phone buzz.

Clarisse Want me to help?

That was the worst possible thing she could have said. Maybe they were friends, drinking buddies, coworkers. But have Clarisse help him with his own kid? That was insane.

Percy didn't text her back. He just went back to trying to calm Sophia down. He even let Max, their beagle, try to help by licking her little feet.

Max was not much help.

Someone knocked on the door. Percy stood, Sophia in his arms, and looked through the peep hole.

Clarisse.

She only lived a few floors below them in the same demigod-safe building. War heroes didn't have to pay rent.

"I've got this under control," Percy said, opening the door and letting her in.

"Doesn't sound like it," Clarisse pointed out. She held out her hands, waiting for something.

Percy got defensive, and held onto Sophia. "Fuck off," he said. He said they were friends, he didn't say they were nice to each other.

"Don't be a bitch about it," she said. "You know what you do when she won't stop crying?" Clarisse asked.

Percy looked at her, hoping she knew where this girl's off button was. "What?"

"Hand her to someone else," Clarisse said. "Let me take care of her for a bit. Go lay down. Where's blondie?"

"Laying down," Percy said quietly. "I made her hand her over to me so she could take a break." Percy realized his confession put him in a pretty indefensible position. And sleep did sound great. "Okay, if you're sure," he said, handing Sophia over.

"I am," Clarisse said, cradling the still crying baby in her arms. His daughter's head looked like a tomato. "They teach you how to use a spear yet, kid? It's alright, I'll get you up to speed," Clarisse joked to the baby.

"Har har," Percy said. "She'll be hungry again in like an hour. I'll be out to feed her."

"Bottles in the fridge?" Clarisse asked.

"Yeah, some, and some formula."

"Then just get some sleep. I'll grab you if anything is wrong," Clarisse said.

"What?" Percy asked.

"I'm babysitting for you, dumbass. Get some sleep." And then her tone softened a bit. "No one can handle this all with just two people. I'm serious, get some sleep."

If she was being nice, actually, really nice, then he must look worse than he thought.

"Okay," he agreed. "Now, be nice, mind your manners."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Clarisse said.

"I was talking to you," Percy said, before making the confusing and baffling choice to leave his baby with his middle school bully. The choice seemed less confusing when he saw Annabeth already asleep. He got into bed, mumbled something to her about Clarisse being there, and drifted off next to her.

~

Sometimes babies really did cry for no reason. But she realized fast that this baby was crying because she was gassy. Clarisse laid Sophia on her back and moved her legs to get her hips and belly moving. Within seconds she was farting up a storm.

"Does that feel better?" Clarisse asked.

Sophia responded by scrunching up her face and doing a lot more than just farting. It went up the back. Total nightmare. But nothing unfamiliar.

Clarisse just tossed the white onesie out. It was beyond saving and not worth it.

Their little nursery was picture perfect. Pink and yellow walls with bunny rabbits painted on them, white furniture, hung and folded cute little outfits, neat bins of diapers and whipes, in locations optimized for quick changes ... It was cute.

"Your mom knows how to put together a space," Clarisse said, wiping Sophia down with baby wipes. "I bet clean ups like these are easy for your dad." She wasn't crying any more, just staring at her with those big green eyes. "You're his, no doubt. Not that there would be. But you know how the gods can be sometimes ..."

Redressed in a new onesie, Clarisse picked her up and sat in the rocking chair -- plush, white, with a little fabric pocket over the side full of baby books.

"I hope you appreciate all this," Clarisse said, popping a pacifier into her mouth. "Second babies never get anything this nice."

Sophia didn't respond, but Clarisse felt like she at least understood.

Instead of reaching for baby books, Clarisse decided to take the opportunity to tell embarrassing camp stories of Sophia's parents, like the time Percy got pants-ed during Capture the Flag by an oak nymph who got offended after he tripped on one of her roots.

After a few minutes, Sophia started staring at her boobs.

"Those don't do that anymore," Clarisse said. "C'mon, lets get you fed."

It was weird how easily all the baby stuff came back to her, juggling bottles and the kid at once like it was no trouble at all. Her own kids were at summer camp, regular mortal day camp, not Camp Half-Blood yet. She'd have to go get them around four, which gave Percy and Annabeth a solid three more hours to sleep.

"I'll have to teach them how to fart you when they wake up," Clarisse said, balancing the bottle for her. "You'll probably get constipated again too. Happened to Hunter when he was a few months old. He didn't go for four days. We had to give him prune juice. It was a mess."

Sophia didn't seem too interested in that story though, so Clarisse went back to telling her about how obvious it was that her mom had a massive crush on her dad. "We used to tease her about it too. She'd get so red. I think we made her cry once. That wasn't nice of us. But it was funny . But hey, jokes on the rest of us, it all worked out for her."

Fed, burped, and changed, Clarisse rested Sophia in her crib, which probably had never actually been used before. She guessed the baby still slept in Percy and Annabeth's room.

Clarisse couldn't find the baby monitor, which was another sign that the baby was probably never far from the parents in the three weeks she'd been Earth-side. So Clarisse just settled in the rocking chair, put in one headphone, and caught up on some boxing highlights.

Sophia must have used up a lot of her energy screaming her little head off, because she slept for a good, long while. While she was still asleep, Clarisse heard a knock at the door. She got up, and spotted Percy's mom through the peep hole.

"Hi Sally," Clarisse said. She liked Percy's mom. She'd gotten to know her while Clarisse helped search for Percy the few months he'd decided to disappear and worry everyone in his life.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Sally asked, smiling and confused.

"They texted me that they couldn't get the baby to stop crying. I took over, sent them to bed," Clarisse explained.

"How's Sophia doing?" Sally asked, stepping into the place.

"Better. Just gas turned out," Clarisse said.

Sally's mom instincts kicked in in a new way, and she started tidying the living room, picking up toys and burp cloths.

"And how long have Mom and Dad been asleep?"

"Eh, two hours-ish I'd guess," Clarisse said. "I'm glad you're here. I need to head out soon. Got my own kids to worry about."

Sally smiled at her. "Thanks so much for your help. You're a good friend."

Clarisse tried to brush it off, but her face did feel warm. "It was nothing."

"Whenever you need to head out, I can handle things here. I'll let them keep sleeping," Sally said.

Clarisse nodded, and stuck around for a bit more small talk. But when Sophia started crying again, Clarisse took that as her cue to leave.

~

Percy woke up sweaty and disoriented. He looked over and didn't see Sophia in the bassinet. Where was his baby? What time was it? Annabeth was asleep next to him. Should he wake her? No, let her sleep. Their infant couldn't have gotten far.

Hand on Riptide (pen version), he snuck out into the living room.

He relaxed when he saw his mom laying on the floor with Sophia, who was doing tummy time (and doing a pretty good job of it, if Percy said so).

"Ma?" He asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Memories of leaving Sophia with Clarisse came back to him then. "When'd you get here?"

"A few hours ago. Clarisse had to get her kids from camp," Sally explained.

"She called you?" Percy asked.

"No, we just both had the same sense that you and Annabeth needed a break," Sally explained. "How did you sleep?"

"Great," Percy said, "yeah, it was awesome. Is it tomorrow?"

"It's about seven at night," Sally said. "You got a good seven hours, give or take." That was the most sleep he'd gotten in weeks.

"Wow," was all he was able to say.

"How about I order us some pizza?" Sally offered.

"Olives for Annabeth," Percy said, still sleepy. He took his mom's spot on the floor and laid in front of his daughter.

He still really couldn't believe she was real. Percy booped her nose, mostly just to have some reason to reassure himself that she was a real, physical person. Sophia wiggled a bit at his touch, and reached a hand out towards him, her little tongue sticking out between her lips.

There was a tiny creature on his floor, and she had his eyes. Percy reached his hand out, and let her wrap her fist around his finger. Her little feet started to kick behind her, happy, it seemed, to be literally wrapped around Percy's finger. There was this persistent heart-swelling sense of disbelief that he felt every time he looked at her for more than a few seconds. It was as if his mind couldn't quite put together that she was real.

"What got you to finally stop screaming?" Percy asked her.

"She was gassy," Sally said. "Clarisse said she got her to fart, and then there was a blow-out situation. And then she was fine."

"Huh," Percy said. "How'd she get her to fart?"

"You have to help the baby move her hips," Sally said, tapping away at her phone to place the pizza order.

Percy picked up Sophia, who seemed relieved to be done with tummy time. Percy rested a hand on her chest, the other on her bum, and started to wiggle her hips.

"Shakira, Shakira," he mumbled to himself. "Yeah, those hips don't lie, do they?"

Sophia made a small noise that seemed affirmative, but Percy was pretty sure she wasn't making any actual intentional gestures or noises yet.

"Not like that," Sally said with a laugh, taking her granddaughter away from him and laying her on her back. She started to move Sophia's legs, pressing her knees up to her chest like she was in baby yoga. His mom must have done it right, because Sophia let out a big fart for such a tiny baby.

"It's just so cool to see her really taking after me, you know?" Percy said.

Sally smiled and ruffled his bed head.

"We'll need to wake up Annabeth soon," Sally said. "I'd love to let her sleep, but she'll need to breast feed."

Percy nodded. "I'll do that now, so she can eat when the food gets here."

He tried waking her up like a Disney princess, with true love’s kiss. He got "no, fuck off, I'm tired," back.

"My love," Percy said, "I'm sorry, but --"

Before he could finish, Annabeth pulled herself up to sit. "My boobs hurt. I know." She pulled herself out of bed with a groan. "What time is it?"

"Seven," Percy said.

He thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. " In the morning? "

"No, no, at night! Same day! Clarisse watched Sophia for a while, and got her to stop crying --" Annabeth pouted, her pride obviously wounded. "--and now my mom's here. She ordered us some pizzas."

"Is Sophia okay?" Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded. "Just needed to fart apparently."

"Go figure," Annabeth said, heading towards their bathroom. "I'll be out to feed Sophia in a minute."

"I'll tell her," Percy promised. True to his word, when he got back to the living room, he scooped up his daughter and informed her: "Mommy will be out to feed you soon."

Sophia seemed to understand who mommy was, and wiggled at the mention of her. Percy could have sworn it was intentional. Sophia had a big brain. Well, a big head really. Percy's big head. At Sophia's first doctor's check up two weeks ago, the pediatrician had looked at Annabeth and said: "Usually if a baby's head was that large, we'd be worried and run tests. But looking at your husband, I can see it's just genetic." Annabeth had been laughing about it for weeks.

Percy had to assume Annabeth's big brain was in that big head. Sophia seemed so smart already.

A few minutes later, Annabeth stepped out. For as tired and abrasive as she'd been a moment ago, that seemed to all wash off her when she spotted her baby again.

"There's my girl!" Annabeth said, taking her from Percy. "Did you miss us? Yeah, is your tummy feeling better? I bet you're hungry, yeah, let's get you fed."

With Sophia settled, pizzas on the way, and his mom compulsively cleaning his kitchen (no matter how much he insisted she didn't have to), Percy texted Clarisse.

Percy

T hanks for earlier. That was really cool of you. We appreciate it

Clarisse

No worries. your kid's pretty cool. less annoying than either of you It takes a village though, seriously anytime, i'm happy to help

Percy looked around at his little family, and remembered the young girl who'd shoved spoonfuls of nectar into his mouth while asking him a confusing string of questions.

He thought about what it would be like to go back and tell twelve year-old him "Hey, one day, you're gonna have a baby with that girl."

He wondered what his 12 year-old self would say. "On purpose? " He guessed.

And yeah . He leaned over and kissed Annabeth's cheek. She smiled at him, caught off guard although not surprised by the sudden burst of physical affection. She just had a kissy face back, and waited for him to deliver a kiss to her lips. On purpose .

Chapter 11: Beach Vacation

Their two weeks on Long Island every summer were a blessing. When Sophia was a baby, they'd booked the same cabin Percy and his mom used to go to, but then their family got bigger, and the small cabin wouldn't hold them. Plus, Percy's girls (Annabeth included) expressed a certain expectation of comfort and luxury.

The beach house they rented this year had enough space for each girl to get her own room, and it had a pool in the back, while the front yard extended out onto the beach.

Next week, their second week in the rental, Sally, Paul, and Estelle would join them. They were going to do one big birthday celebration for Percy and Annabeth, (their vacation only overlapped with Annabeth's birthday, but it was the best time to celebrate). Sally and Paul had volunteered to watch the kids for a night too, so Percy and Annabeth could go a few miles out to a fancy seafood place.

Last year, she'd been enormously pregnant, hot and frustrated as she tried to wiggle mini versions of herself and Percy into swim suits and sunscreen. This year, the fight to get sunscreen on them was just as intense, but she didn't have about forty extra pounds around her middle slowing her down.

Percy sent Olivia downstairs to where Annabeth was waiting with the sunscreen and the two oldest girls. She was dressed for the ocean in a little white and purple one piece and matching cover-up. Her sunglasses looked like little daisies, and she held them in one hand as she clung to the rungs of the banister with the other.

"Lookin' good, girlie," Annabeth said, helping the three year old off the last steps. Sophia and Nella had been sunscreened, and Annabeth was quick to get Olivia sprayed down too. She didn't fight it too much.

"Sophia," Annabeth said, "can you keep an eye on your sisters? I'm going to help Daddy with Rosie."

Sophia gave a thumbs up from her spot on the couch, where she was working on a woven friendship bracelet, the end secured under the cap of an empty Coke bottle.

Upstairs, Percy was putting the finishing touches on Rosie's outfit.

"How are things looking up here?" Annabeth asked.

Percy turned around holding out Rosie like Simba, his baby girl on display for Annabeth.

"Ta da!" Percy exclaimed as Rosie clapped.

Rosie was dressed in a bright red bathing suit with a little green bucket hat on her head, tiny white, round sunglasses over her eyes.

"She's ... Christmas themed?" Annabeth guessed. She knew it had to be wrong. Percy looked too proud of himself for Christmas to be the answer.

Percy gasped dramatically. "She's a strawberry! " He said.

"Oh!" Annabeth said, suddenly getting the vision. Percy gestured to her little white sunglasses.

"See, these are the little white strawberry bumps," Percy explained.

"That's so cute," Annabeth said. "Are you my little straw-baby?" Annabeth asked, tickling Rosie's belly.

"Mama," Rosie said, reaching her hands forward.

Annabeth smiled. Rosie had started talking even sooner than any of the other girls, closer to seven months than eight months. Now at ten months, she had a good collection of words, and even almost-sentences.

"Do you love mama?" Percy asked.

"Love mama," Rosie announced.

Annabeth took her little strawberry from Percy. "Mommy loves you too," she said, kissing her squishy little cheeks. "What about Daddy?"

Rosie reached out her arms to go back to Percy. "Love dada," she said. Percy took her back, kissed her cheek and said: "I love you too, straw-baby."

Rosie reached back for Annabeth and repeated "love mama." Percy handed her over, and once she was settled in Annabeth's arms, she reached back for Percy, with "love dada."

"Oh no, we've invented a new game," Percy said, taking Rosie back.

They played a few more rounds of "pass the baby," giving Rosie little kisses on the cheek every time she went between Mom and Dad.

Their game was brought to a halt when something down stairs seemed to come crashing down. The noise was louder than anything Annabeth expected her kids to be capable of knocking over.

"Nothing is broken!" Sophia yelled.

Annabeth went downstairs anyway, and found beach toys all over the floor.

"I built a tower. Olivia knocked it down," Sophia explained.

"Livy, can you say sorry?" Annabeth said.

"It was part of the game," Sophia said. "I told her to."

Olivia nodded. "I wanna go to the beach," Livy said.

"I know, we're going," Annabeth promised, "we just had to get Rosie's things together. And now you two need to pick up the buckets. Where's Nella?"

"Outside reading her cat book," Sophia said.

The books were the Warrior Cats books, bought for her on Grover's recommendation. Nella had a new kitten at home, and she was very nervous about the well-being of the little orange guy when she wasn't around. Grover thought they might help her understand that cats are pretty tough. Maybe they were doing that. Mostly, she was just addicted to them.

Percy came downstairs with the diaper bag and beach bag over one arm, the baby in the carrier on his chest.

"Alright, Cabin Three! Let's get down to the sand!" Percy said.

Getting down to the sand was a matter of walking out of their rental's front door, but it still required a huge number of provisions that Annabeth wheeled down in a wagon that also carried Olivia, while Sophia and Nella ran top speed towards the ocean (while Annabeth yelled out "Be careful!" And Percy yelled out "Wait for me!")

~

They managed to keep Sophia, Nella, and Olivia still long enough to get the umbrella up and some chairs arranged. Once Rosie was settled in the shade, chilling in her little beach bouncy seat, the cutest and most fashionable baby on the beach, Annabeth gave the girls and Percy permission to go in the ocean.

Annabeth set up the rest of the space, starting up her audiobook of Emma. She'd listened to all of the Austen novels so many times since middle school that she could easily tune in and out of them, not needing to pause them if a kid needed something or if she nodded off. Between the Austen men and Percy, she was sure none of her daughters were going to settle for some shitty man.

Annabeth dug a wide, shallow hole, and then laid out the splash puddle they had. It was a large piece of colorful plastic that just sat in the hole and got filled with ocean water. It was perfect for Annabeth to rest her feet in or for Rosie and Olivia to sit in. Right now, Olivia was enjoying the shallow part of the ocean, but she'd get tired soon. Annabeth set up a towel for her in the shade, where she'd be able to nap.

"Water," Rosie piped up, pointing at the ocean.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "You wanna go in?"

Rosie kicked her legs affirmatively. She'd been doing a good job of floating in the pool, but Poseidon genes or not, Annabeth was not about to let her ten-month-old loose in the ocean. Annabeth picked her up and walked her down to the shallow water.

She held onto Rosie's hands as she stood in the damp sand, giggling as the tide came up and tickled her feet. A few more feet out, she could see Sophia and Nella jumping waves. Percy was just ahead of her, in slightly deeper waters keeping a close eye on Olivia.

"Dada," Rosie said, trying to put one foot in front of the other, but off balance in the wet sand. Annabeth lifted her up and walked in deeper. "Dada!" Rosie said again, closer to him.

"Hi girls!" Percy said. "Are you happy to be in the ocean?"

Rosie waved her arms, and little splashes of water raised up out of the sea foam before splashing back down.

"Good job!" Percy said. Olivia showed off next, although her trick was sending a splash of water up and into Percy's face. Percy made an involuntary "Omph!" and spit some sea water out of his mouth.

"Olivia!" Annabeth said. "We don't do that. Say sorry."

Olivia pouted. "Sorry Daddy."

"Nella, not that far out!" Annabeth called out next, waving Nella back in. Nella let a wave carry her in a little closer.

"Don't worry," Percy tried, "I've got them."

Annabeth knew that. She trusted Percy plenty. It didn't calm her mom anxieties though. The post-partum anxiety had gotten worse with each baby, and it didn't seem to go away after Rosie. Annabeth held onto her baby a little tighter as Rosie just kept making little splashes. She spotted Sophia in the waves, brave and laughing, seven years old, almost eight. She was so tiny, even though she was tall for her age.

She felt Percy's hand on her back. "Where'd you go?" He whispered to her.

"They're just so little," Annabeth said.

Percy kissed the side of her head. "I know. Why don't I get that splash puddle filled up, you and Rosie can sit up on the beach?" He offered.

Annabeth nodded. Filling the puddle up was easy. Percy just carried a jet of water up from the ocean and splashed it down on the plastic twenty feet away. She didn't know what mortals saw, if anything, but no one seemed to pay much attention to them.

With Rosie comfortable in the puddle, splashing away, Annabeth started to relax, embarrassed about what a nervous person she'd become.

A few minutes later, she spotted a little smudge of white and purple half-running up to their set up.

Olivia ran up to her, a pristine sea shell in her hand. "Mommy! This is for you!" She said, handing it over. Annabeth had a collection of sea shells, sea glass, sand dollars, and rocks her daughters had collected for her over the years. She had to keep them all in a box, or else the cats would knock them off her dresser, but the former-shoe box had been covered in craft paper and decorated by Nella and Sophia years ago.

"Thank you so much baby!" Annabeth said. "I love it!" She tucked it carefully into the front pocket of her beach bag so she wouldn't lose it.

"Can we make a castle?" Olivia asked. Annabeth looked just past her toward the ocean, and saw Percy swimming closer to Nella and Sophia now, which really did wonders to settle her anxieties. She'd bet anything Percy had put the idea of sand castles in Olivia's head.

"Sure," Annabeth said, grabbing some buckets.

Annabeth, on vacation for work, let Olivia take the job of lead architect, while Annabeth just did her best to execute her vision. By the end, they had a pretty sizable castle.

"It's amazing! " Olivia announced. Annabeth took a few pictures, pretty impressed at their craftsmanship. Maybe she had a tiny architect on her hands. She'd have to bring Olivia to work one of these days and show her the scale models and digital blue prints she had at the office.

"It is. Great work, sweetie," Annabeth said.

"Can I have a snack?" Olivia asked.

"Sure, go sit on the towel."

Olivia did, and Annabeth opened a cheese stick for her. It was only half-gone by the time Olivia fell asleep. Annabeth made sure she was in the shade, but covered her with another towel to make sure the sun really stayed off most of her.

Rosie started to fuss in her puddle, and Annabeth picked her up, offering her a snack too. Annabeth dipped her toes in the puddle, cradled her baby as she nursed, and let herself relax and focus on Emma 's problems, and not her own.

~

Percy eventually convinced the two older girls to back onto the sand and eat lunch. Nella was the only girl who really had a knack for staying dry in the water, so as soon as she stepped back onto the sand, she dried right up. Sophia, though, was left to huddle under a towel as they each ate cheese and turkey sandwiches.

The girls were trapped on land after that, because Percy laid back in his chair, plopped his own bucket hat over his face, and fell asleep, snoring so loud that all the girls could do was laugh at him.

Olivia was still sleeping too, and Rosie had started napping in her bouncy chair. Annabeth stood to take a picture of her three sleeping beauties, and out of the corner of her eye, she watched Nella finish her book with a huff.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"I finished it," Nella said, holding up the paperback.

"What are we gonna do?" Annabeth asked dramatically.

"I left the next one at home!" Nella whined. "In New York!"

"We're still in New York," Sophia said, not looking up from her bracelet.

"This isn't New York!" Nella said.

"It is. It's Long Island," Sophia said.

"It's part of New York state," Annabeth said, reaching into her bag, "but not one of the boroughs." She pulled out the next Warrior Cats book. She'd never really expected that her battle strategy skills would be used for predicting the reading habits of an ADHD six year old. But she wasn't mad about it.

Nella gasped. "Thank you Mommy!" She said, jumping up to give Annabeth a tight, sweaty, sandy hug.

"Oh, you're welcome," Annabeth said with a squeeze. "There's a bookstore not far from here. Maybe if we ask Daddy really nicely he'll take us tomorrow."

Nella bounced with excitement, and started talking about what kinds of books she might look for.

The bookstore was the plan for tomorrow. She and Percy had decided on that before they'd even driven out here. The store had good kids books and little toys. The kids could all pick a souvenir. But they'd learned enough in the almost eight years they'd been parents to know not to let the kids in on the plan too far in advance.

Nella sat down in the splash puddle, opened to the first page of her book, and then closed it again. Annabeth panicked for a moment that she'd brought the wrong one, but Nella just looked at her and asked: "Do you think Pumpkin is okay?"

Pumpkin was their new orange kitten, a tiny, fluffy, brainless thing Nella had found in the hallway of their building. The neighbor's cat had had a litter, and thankfully he was adoptable. As long as, turned out, they adopted the sister kitten he'd bonded with. They'd left all three cats -- Pumpkin, Ghost, and Boo, their eighteen year-old first baby -- back in New York.

(It wasn't until the girls picked out Halloween-themed names for the new kittens that Percy and Annabeth realized the girls didn't know that "Boo" was short for "Bodega." But Uncle Nico liked the names, so that was something.)

"I'm sure he's having the best time," Annabeth said.

Clarisse's son was checking in on them a few times a day to make a little money. The boy was only eleven, and most days, he went up with his dad, but he was a good kid. They were happy to offer him some employment. ("I was shoveling shit in the Macy's Day Parade at his age," Percy said when Annabeth asked if they thought Hunter was too young to check on three cats for two weeks. "And you were begging Chiron for a death quest.")

"I can't wait to tell him about vacation," Nella said.

"I'm sure he can't wait to hear about it," Annabeth agreed.

"Mommy," Sophia said, "hold out your wrist."

Annabeth did, and Sophia wrapped the woven bracelet around her, checking if it was long enough yet.

"Is this for me?" Annabeth asked. It was a rainbow chevron, except with no yellow but added pink. It went red, pink, orange, green, blue, and then purple.

Sophia nodded. "It's red for Rosie, pink for me, orange for you, green for Livy, blue for daddy, and purple for Nella," she explained, deciding it was long enough, and tying a knot at the end before tying it to Annabeth's wrist.

Sophia had a real talent for these bracelets, and this was about the third one Annabeth had on her wrist.

"Thank you, that's so sweet and so creative," Annabeth said, rubbing Sophia's cheek affectionately, and to wipe away a bit of sand. Annabeth resisted the urge to scoop Sophia up into a big, embarrassing mom hug in the middle of the beach. But she'd make sure Sophia got one when they were back inside and out of public view, where mom's hugs weren't the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to her literally ever in her whole entire life (as Sophia claimed).

Usually, Annabeth just wore these bracelets until they got too grummy, and then she threw them out. But this one she'd probably try to save and tie it to her work bag or something.

The long ends of the embroidery thread that Sophia used to make them were still dangling off, but Annabeth would have to wait until they went back inside to cut them off.

"I love it so much! You should make one for Daddy, I'm sure he'd love it too." Percy was sporting about five of these bracelets, and a very funny tan line under them.

Sophia smiled. "Okay! But I've gotta finish Nella's bookmark first!"

She pulled another half-finished one out of her own beach bag. They were diagonal stripes in different shades of purple. If it were for Nella's wrist it would be long enough, but it would have to be about double the length to be a book mark. Sophia got to work, knotting the string to keep up with the pattern.

Annabeth looked over at her good sleepers. Percy was in the sun, letting the little ones take up the shade of the umbrella. Annabeth stood again, spray-on sunscreen in hand, and sprayed down his torso and arms.

Out cold, Percy didn't even flinch.

Notes:

(for the record, I know "bodega" is pronounced like "bow" not "boo." I just think Boo is a cuter nickname)

Chapter 12: Beautiful

Ms. Sasha was helping the kids fill out their mother's day worksheets. The holiday was over the weekend, and so the pre-school class was making crafts for Mom, and filling out little worksheets to take home.

"Sophia, what's your mommy's name?" Ms. Sasha asked. Sasha did have favorites, and Sophia was up there. She was precocious and reliably potty trained already at two years and nine months and actually very good at sharing, although not so good at nap time.

"Beautiful," Sophia told her confidently.

"Aw, that's cute. But that's not your mommy's name." Sasha knew her name was Annabeth, she dropped her girls off at the daycare every morning.

"That's what Daddy says," Sophia said. She was a good talker too, with a big vocabulary and solid pronunciation for her age. "Hi, Beautiful."

Sasha knew Percy too. He picked the kids up around four every day. He was the hottest daddy at the daycare. Everyone knew him.

"That's a very nice thing for your daddy to say, and your mommy is very pretty, but that's not her first name," Sasha tried to explain. For a moment, she thought about just writing Annabeth on the paper and telling Sophia it said beautiful. But with Sasha's luck that would be the moment that Sophia informed them she knew how to read.

"It is!" Sophia yelled, her little temper rising.

Sasha tried to calm the brewing storm, offering to just write "Beautiful" anyway, but the battle was already lost. Sophia hadn't slept well at nap time, or eaten the snack of pears afterwards, meaning she was sleepy and hungry. Ms. Sasha's usually bright and loving Sophia was, to put it simply, turning into a cranky little nightmare.

Ms. Sasha hated to send her off to her dad while she was still crying, but Percy showed up early, like he usually did on Fridays, coming in at three instead of four.

"Daddy!" Sophia said, running up to him, her melt down starting up all over again. Percy placed the car seat that held her baby sister down on the floor to scoop Sophia up.

"What's wrong, Love Bug?" He asked her. Ms. Sasha stepped up, Sophia's mother's day crafts in hands.

"There was some confusion over her mom's name," Sasha tried to explain. Sophia was also trying to explain, but between her tears and baby voice, it was pretty incomprehensible.

Sasha explained what happened, and Percy just looked at her apologetically. "Sorry for the confusion," he offered, taking the crafts. "Did you make these, lovey?" Percy tried to ask Sophia.

Sophia, in protest, shook her head no.

"Well, I'm sure Mommy is going to love them," Percy said. "Can you say goodbye to your teacher?" Sophia kept her face buried in his shoulder. "Come on now, be polite."

Sophia lifted her head and turned a bit. Her big green eyes were wet and wide, and her lower lip was stuck out in a pout. "Bye," she said.

"Good girl. Come on, let's go home," Percy said, holding Sophia on one hip and lifting the baby's car seat with the other.

~

Percy wasn't sure when exactly it happened, but somewhere between college and now (now being thirty-one years old) he and Annabeth stopped calling each other by their names. Well, stopped, with the exception of more intimate moments. But in casual conversation? It was all baby, babe, sweetheart, my love, gorgeous, beautiful, and handsome.

In fact, that was how they greeted each other at the end of the day. Annabeth would get home while Percy was making dinner. It would be: "Hello beautiful!" "Hi handsome!" And then a kiss hello.

It didn't really occur to either of them that their kids wouldn't know that Percy and Annabeth had real first names.

Percy tried to hand Sophia a snack pack he'd brought for her. Annabeth texted him today that the snack was going to be pears, a fruit Sophia hated, so when he'd stopped home after work to grab the car, he also grabbed some olives, a cheese stick, and apple puffs.

"Do you want a snack?" Percy asked, trying to hand the snack pack back to her. Sophia shook her head, still half-crying. "Are you hungry?" She shook her head again. Ms. Sasha had told him that Sophia hadn't eaten any snack at all, so Percy knew that must not have been true.

"Okay," Percy said, "can you hold it for me?" That sometimes worked. If he could get her to hold it, she'd usually end up eating from the tupperware.

"No!" Sophia yelled.

"Okay," Percy said, trying to keep her quiet so she didn't rile up Nella, who was blessedly pretty quiet and just waiting for Percy to start driving. "I'm going to put it right here," he rested it on the seat between their car seats. "If you want to hold it, just let me know, okay?"

He felt like he was negotiating a hostage crisis.

"I don't want it!" Sophia said. All those big Annabeth feelings, Percy thought, starting the car, and such a tiny little body. It didn't frustrate him though. He just wished he could make it go away, make her feel better, less overwhelmed.

"How about when we get home, we have quiet time and watch Moana? " Percy offered.

Sophia stopped crying a little. " Moana? " She asked.

"Yeah," Percy promised, starting to drive, "we can have movie night and make popcorn. Would that make you feel better?"

In the rear-view mirror, Percy could see her shake her head.

"What would make you feel better?" Percy asked.

In a small voice, Sophia suggested: "a cuddle."

Percy smiled. "Yeah, we can cuddle too," he promised.

"Okay," Sophia said.

On the drive home, rain started coming down, and he hoped Annabeth remembered her umbrella. Their apartment was close to the subway, but in this downpour, she'd get soaked either way. Usually, he left the car in the garage and just brought the girls home on the subway - that was how Annabeth did it, since she hated driving. Their preschool was only one stop away. On really nice days, they'd walk home and stop for a treat along the way. But today, he was grateful to pull into the garage under the building and park the car in their family's spot.

Inside, the apartment was warm. Percy flipped on the AC, not too cold since the rain would cool things down. He put the girls' things down, and then set Nella down too. Sophia came in last, dragging her backpack.

"Where should we put your beautiful mother's day gift?" Percy asked her. "Should we save it for Sunday or give it to her tonight."

Sophia left her bag in the middle of the floor. "It's a surprise." She still looked so grumpy, apparently utterly devastated by the discovery of her mom's name.

"Lets put it in your room, then?" Percy offered. "You can't leave your backpack there, someone could trip on it. Come on, pick it up, and bring it to your room with me?"

Sophia just threw herself to the floor and started sobbing again.

Percy left her construction paper tulips on the kitchen table, scooped up Nella (who was indifferent to her sister's antics), and took her into the girls' bedroom so he could change her diaper. When he came back out, Sophia was still on the floor.

"Baby girl," Percy tried, "do you want to cuddle?" Percy offered.

Breathing hard and sucking on a few of her fingers, Sophia lifted her head and nodded.

"Okay," Percy said, just let me get changed, okay? Do you want juice?"

Sophia nodded, which was a relief. Percy got her some watered down apple juice in a sippy cup, opened her snack pack and left it on the table, and then snuck into his and Annabeth's room to change out of his stuffy work clothes.

~

It didn't matter how big the tantrum was, cuddles were never off the table. When Percy stepped back out of the room, he saw that Sophia had moved her backpack to the wall near the door where it belonged.

"Good job, Love Bug!" Percy said, picking her up to plop her on the couch. Nella was occupied pulling toys out of the toy bin and then not doing much with them. Percy let her be.

On the couch, Sophia snuggled into Percy's side. Percy clicked on the movie, and he expected his over-tired, hungry little girl to fall right to sleep.

She did not.

By "How Far I'll Go," she was thankfully eating the snacks while she sang along, and then by "You're Welcome," she was scream-singing and dancing along. Nella got on her feet too, and started trying to bounce along.

Percy took a quick video of the two of them to send to Annabeth.

She texted back a few minutes later: they're so cute! I miss you guys

Percy heart reacted and then asked: will you be home soon?

Annabeth: not until six. ugh.

Both girls did end up falling asleep, though, around the time of "I am Moana." Sophia was curled up at Percy's side under a blanket. Nella was face down on the carpet surrounded by toys.

Percy sat through the end of the movie, hoping that Sophia stayed asleep so that she got some rest in. When it was over and Sophia didn't move at the sudden silence, Percy figured it was safe to move. He left both girls where they were, and went to start dinner.

~

Nella woke up first with a cry. Percy put down the meat cleaver and moved back into the living room.

"Hey baby girl," he said, picking her up off the floor and bouncing her. She was fourteen months now, but smaller than Sophia had been, and quieter.

"Mama," she whined.

"I know, mama will be home soon," Percy promised, carrying her into the kitchen. He put her in the little seat they'd attached to the island for her, and placed a few Cheerios in front of her to eat while Percy kept pounding out the chicken breast.

A minute later, he heard the toilet flush, which meant Sophia was up.

"Good job, Love Bug,” Percy said, congratulating her on going by herself. "Did you wash your hands?" Sophia smiled and held up her still-wet hands. Percy grabbed a clean dish towel and dried them off for her, praising her more as he did.

"Was' for dinner?" Sophia asked.

"Big chicken nuggets with melty cheese and Italian ketchup," Percy said. Chicken parm. It was chicken parm. But getting his kids to eat was 10% taste, 90% branding.

Percy managed to get the chicken fully prepped by the time Annabeth came home.

Sophia rushed off the island stool she was on to meet her mom, and Nella wiggled, helplessly stuck in her high chair but desperate to see Mommy.

Percy was still dealing with a "wet hand, dry hand" situation, so all he could manage was to yell, "Hello beautiful!" From his spot in the kitchen, as a kind of apartment game of Marco Polo. Nella contributed by crying "Mama!"

"Mommy's here," Annabeth said, carrying in Sophia, and then setting the older one back on the island stool before lifting Nella for a hug and kiss.

Percy could tell from Sophia's uninterrupted ramblings that she was recounting the story of her emotional meltdown, and was using Percy's most recent "Hello Beautiful" as evidence in her case.

"Did we have a lot of big feelings about it?" Annabeth asked. Sophia nodded. "How big?"

Sophia spread her arms wide. "This big!" She said

"And how are our feelings now?" Annabeth asked.

Sophia brought her hands back close together.

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better," Annabeth said, before finally turning to Percy for their hello kiss. "Ooooh, big chicken nuggets tonight?" Annabeth guessed.

"Only the finest," Percy said.

In Annabeth's arms, Nella said a string of vowel sounds that Percy and Annabeth recognized as Ariel.

"You want to watch Ariel?" Annabeth asked Nella.

Nella repeated the same sounds. The Little Mermaid and Moana. The only two films they seemed to watch any more. Before having daughters, Percy wasn't even sure he'd even seen all of The Little Mermaid. Now he could sing "Part of Your World" in his sleep.

"Can we leave you alone in here, Handsome?" Annabeth asked him.

"Sure can, I've got it under control," Percy promised. Annabeth leaned in for another kiss, which Percy happily provided.

~

Annabeth put Nella on the ground and let her toddle over to the couch, standing close behind her in case she fell over. She was still pretty new to the whole walking thing, but she was doing a pretty solid job.

With both girls on the couch and The Little Mermaid started, Annabeth snuck into the bedroom to get changed out of her work clothes.

"Mommy?" She heard Sophia behind her, opening the door.

"Yes baby?" Annabeth slipped on a white tee shirt with the logo of her bouldering gym on it; it already had a few miscellaneous stains on it, so it'd be perfect for a messy sauce night. She undid her bra in the back and pulled it off as she turned around.

Sophia looked a little nervous. Annabeth sat on the bed, still in her work skirt, and patted the spot next to her. "Come on, tell me what's wrong."

Sophia stood in front of her with her arms up, waiting for uppies. Annabeth pulled her onto the bed, and she crawled up to where all the pillows were.

"You just want quiet time?" Annabeth guessed. Sophia nodded into the pillows. "Where's Teddy?"

"My room," Sophia said.

"Want me to get him for you?" Annabeth asked. She stood and undid the holster that held her knife under her work skirt. Then she slipped sweats on under it, before finally getting rid of the damn thing.

Sophia nodded. Annabeth retrieved the bear fast, peaking in to check on Nella, who was locked into her movie. Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief that only one girl was having a rough night.

"Here baby," Annabeth said, handing her the bear. Sophia cuddled it tight as Annabeth got in the bed. Sophia cuddled up to her.

"Want to tell me what's wrong?" Annabeth asked, rubbing her back the way she did at bed time.

"What's your name?" Sophia asked.

Annabeth smiled a little. "Annabeth, and your daddy's name is Percy. We call each other nicknames, just like we call you 'Love Bug.'"

"Oh," Sophia said.

"Why does that make you sad?" Annabeth asked.

Sophia shrugged her little shoulders.

"You didn't like being told you were wrong, did you?" Annabeth guessed. Sophia nodded, and then Annabeth heard her crying again. "Oh, sweetie," Annabeth said, pulling Sophia onto her lap. "Everyone is wrong sometimes. It's part of learning, just like asking questions and reading books."

Sophia just stared at her, with her big wet eyes and her lower lip pouted, not saying anything, which was unusual for her.

"Are we still having big feelings?" Annabeth asked. Sophia nodded. "Yeah? Do you want to sit with mommy for a little while?" She nodded again. "Okay, let's do that. If you want to talk about your feelings, you always can okay."

"Can you tell me about the columns again?" She asked.

Annabeth kissed the side of her head with a smile. A few nights ago, she'd tried to bore Sophia to sleep by telling her about the different styles of classical columns. It hadn't worked. The next morning, Annabeth spent a good amount of time showing her pictures and models, while Sophia clumsily tried to draw them out on construction paper.

"Of course I can," Annabeth said.

After a few minutes, Sophia was calm again, asking questions about the differences, and about what structures had which kind, and how many had Mommy seen in real life, and did she use those columns when she was building things now?

Percy poked his head in. "Hey girlies. Sophia, do you want melty cheese on your chicken nugget?"

"Extra cheese please!" She said.

Percy smiled and got into the bed with them. "There's my happy girl," he said, tickling her a little until she started to giggle. "What about the ketchup? Do you want that on it, or on the side."

"On the side!"

"You got it!" Percy said.

"Can I help?" Sophia asked.

"Well, of course you can," Percy said, lifting her off of Annabeth.

"Hey, wait a second," Annabeth said, pulling Sophia back down. "How are we feeling?" Annabeth asked her.

"Good," Sophia said.

"Do you want kisses?" Annabeth asked. Sophia pursed her lips. Annabeth kissed her cheek with a loud mwah.

"Daddy?" Sophia said, turning her head, and waiting for him to kiss her, which Percy did with even more drama, all but tackling their toddler, toppling her over Annabeth's lap and back onto the mattress with a giggle.

"I learned your name," Sophia said, standing up and holding her arms out for uppies. Percy stood up before picking her up off the bed this time.

"Oh yeah?" Percy said. "What is it?"

"Percy!" Sophia said proudly.

"Very smart," Percy said as all three walked out of the bedroom. "You wanna know what your mommy used to call me?"

"What?"

"Seaweed Brain," Percy said. Something about that made Sophia laugh for real, and she fell into a fit of laughter, repeating "seaweed brain" through her giggles as Percy carried her into the kitchen.

Annabeth sat on the couch with Nella, who was glued to the TV, their cat Boo on her lap, getting pets from Nella.

"Good gentle hands," Annabeth said. Nella had always had a natural soft touch with their animals. Sophia, on the other hand, kept trying to ride the dog.

"Fishies!" She said, pointing to the TV where "Under the Sea" was going.

"Yeah! Do you have a favorite?" Annabeth asked.

"Flounder," Nella said. And then Annabeth got shushed by her one-year-old for talking during her movie. She tried not to laugh.

She heard the pitter patter of little feet running behind the couch. "Don't look, don't look, it's a surprise!" Sophia said, running into her room.

Annabeth looked at Percy, confused. "A mother's day present," Percy explained.

"Ah," Annabeth said. She'd have to wait until Sunday to find out if it had her actual name on it. But it definitely wasn't a catastrophe if her daughter thought her name was beautiful.  

Chapter 13: Daddy's Sleeping

It was the first day of summer. Technically, it was the first day of Percy's summer. School was out.

And that meant he was asleep.

Annabeth insisted that he really, properly sleep in that Saturday, instead of their usual seven a.m wake ups by their rowdy girls, or worse: his usual five a.m wake ups to get to school by the 7:30a.m start time.

Today when Nella and Sophia had knocked on their door to wake them up, Annabeth had just kissed Percy's cheek, told him to stay in bed, and gotten up alone to entertain the girls.

Percy had tried to protest; Annabeth was four months pregnant and needed rest, he claimed. But for the first time, she had a pregnancy that wasn't making her sick. In fact, she'd spent the whole thing so far imitating the very hungry caterpillar, and encountering new and increasingly specific food cravings.

But Percy was so exhausted himself that it really only took her leaving him alone in the dark and quiet bedroom for him to fall right back to sleep.

"Where's Daddy?" Sophia had asked immediately.

"Sleeping," Annabeth said in a whisper. "He's really, really sleepy, so we're not going to bug him this morning."

"I won't bug him," Sophia said, trying to push past her. Annabeth stopped her.

"By not bug him I mean we leave him alone to sleep," Annabeth explained. "We're going to give Daddy some privacy so he can rest."

Sophia pouted but nodded, understanding the basics of boundaries at least. Nella seemed unbothered by the lack of access to her dad, and mostly just wanted uppies. Annabeth did her best. Nella was a few months past her second birthday, but still she was a skinny little thing who clung to her blankie with an iron fist. Despite how small Nella still was, with Annabeth's ever-growing belly (her largest yet by a margin), it wasn't that easy.

"Come on," Annabeth said. "Lets get some clothes on and take Max outside."

The walk with Max only ate up about fifteen minutes of their morning. Annabeth was hoping to milk it more, but the girls were hungry and starting to get cranky. They dropped Max off upstairs before heading out to find a good breakfast.

The Greek diner around the corner knew them.

"Ah! Where is husband?" Vikki, the old woman who still owned the restaurant, despite developers' pleas for her to sell, asked after seeing Annabeth walk in with a girl holding either hand.

"Daddy's sleeping," Sophia said.

"Lazy man," Vikki joked with her, before grabbing a high chair for Nella. She got the family settled at a booth, crayons and paper place-mats for both girls to keep them busy, and the one cup of full-caf black tea Annabeth was permitted .

Starving and in the mood for just about everything, Annabeth ordered French Toast with whip cream and strawberries, with a side of bacon, extra crispy. Sophia got pancakes, and Nella picked a waffle. Annabeth insisted they each also get a side of fruit, so that they might eat something resembling a vitamin.

Not long after Vikki brought them their drinks, Sophia tried to help Nella draw a flower. Nella perceived this not as the big sister kindness Sophia had intended, but an encroachment on her territory akin to an act of war. Nella grabbed the place-mat off the table, crumbling the corner up in her baby first and screaming. Annabeth barely had time to save her orange juice from going everywhere. The crayons were not so lucky, clattering to the ground around them as Nella scream-cried.

Red-faced and doing her best, Annabeth offered apologetic glances to the other diners, while Sophia hastily tried to defend herself.

"You're not in trouble," Annabeth told Sophia. "Can you build me a jelly tower while I calm down your sister?" Sophia nodded, and set to her task, stacking likely-ancient packets of Smuckers jellies one on top of the other.

Nella was still crying and flailing her little arms, kicking her feet under the table too. If Percy was there, he'd probably find a way to distract her out of the tantrum, to tickle her or do some kind of funny bit. But whenever Annabeth tried to mimic him, she was told she "wasn't doing it right."

So, instead, she settled for doing what she thought might work.

"Nelly belly," she said in her soft bedtime voice. She started tracing her finger over Nella's face the way she did at bedtime. Nella stopped screaming, although she was still making her unsteady little breathing noises. "Do you want to sit with Mommy and tell me what's wrong?" Annabeth offered.

Nella reached out her arms, and Annabeth managed to get her out of the high chair and into her lap. Annabeth kept tracing her face.

"Do you want your juice?" Annabeth offered. Nella shook her head, fingers in her mouth. "Okay, we don't have to have it right now. Can you tell me why you're sad?"

Nella started to babble, but Annabeth got the gist -- she didn't want Sophia to draw on her place-mat and now her place-mat was all crumpled and ruined.

"I didn't ruin it!" Sophia said in defense of herself.

"Sophia was trying to show you how she draws flowers, but you didn't like her drawing on your paper, did you?" Nella shook her head. "Next time, can we ask before drawing on each other's papers?" Nella and Sophia nodded in agreement. Annabeth didn't really expect the two-year-old to remember to ask, but she hoped Sophia was old enough to remember. "Nella, can you say 'thank you for trying to help me, but please ask before you draw on my paper?'"

Nella managed to get some jumbled words out.

"Good girl. And can you tell Sophia you're sorry for yelling at her?"

Nella offered a weak: "Sorry."

"It's okay," Sophia promised. "Sorry you crumpled up your paper."

Annabeth glanced down to the floor, where the half-wrecked remains of the place-mat were still resting.

"Maybe if you ask nicely, Ms. Vikki will bring you a new one," Annabeth said.

But when Vikki came back, this time with plates of food, Nella was too shy to ask. Annabeth asked for another one for Nella, who spent the rest of breakfast coloring, eating four grapes and a quarter of the waffle. But she at least didn't scream anymore.

At the end of the meal (which Annabeth basically devoured), Nella showed Annabeth what she'd spent the morning drawing. It was a little blob person laying down on a line.

"Daddy," she said, pointing to the blob.

"It's beautiful. Should we bring it home for him?" Annabeth offered. Nella nodded. "What about you, Love Bug, are we taking your picture home?" Sophia nodded and scooted the paper out from under her plate.

Annabeth slipped them both in the to-go bag that had Percy's own pancake stack, two orders of home fries, and two sides of bacon (she'd placed an order for one of each, and then decided they sounded too good to not get some of her own).

"Daddy might still be asleep, so we need to be quiet, okay?" Annabeth said, unlocking their front door. It was barely nine in the morning. She'd bet anything he wasn't out of bed yet.

The girls took this instruction seriously and tiptoed inside. Annabeth set them up with a Spongebob marathon upon Sophia's request. Percy believed in the grand tradition of Saturday Morning cartoons, and the Sponge was a house favorite. Annabeth rolled out a big sheet of white paper for the girls to color on while they watched, asking first if they were happy sharing or if she needed to split it down the middle. This they were happy to share. Annabeth couldn't wait to see how long that lasted.

She sat herself down on the couch with her potatoes and bacon, and big mug of decaf coffee, and enjoyed the Bubble Bowl.

Sophia made it three episodes before she realized she still hadn't seen her dad yet that morning.

"Is he ever going to wake up?" She asked. Behind her, Nella nodded, as if to say seriously Mom, we're worried about him.

"He will wake up, he's just tired. He works really hard, we should let him sleep sometimes," Annabeth said.

Sophia put on her best pleading face, which Annabeth was usually completely vulnerable to. "But please! I miss him!"

Annabeth inhaled. "How about we do one more Spongebob episode, and then I'll go see if he wants to wake up. But it's up to him if he does or not."

Sophia nodded, happy with that arrangement.

~

Percy had been drifting in and out of sleep for over an hour. He kept thinking about getting up, but then ... no one was bothering him, no one needed him, and his bed was so, so comfy.

He did have to get up at some point, he figured. Annabeth opened the door quietly and stepped in, a mug of coffee in her hands.

"Is that my beautiful wife?" Percy asked, reaching towards her.

Annabeth smiled and put the coffee down on the nightstand. "Sure is. How'd you sleep?" She asked, sitting next to him on the bed and running a hand through his hair.

"Amazing," Percy said. "Thanks for giving me the morning off."

Annabeth leaned forward to kiss him. "You deserve it. There's food for you too. We went to the diner."

He was hungry. He usually ate before school, and on his free period which was about 11:30 in the morning. But he wasn't quite ready to get out of bed.

"I'll get up in a minute," he promised, resting a hand on her belly. "How are my girls doing this morning?"

"This one's eating me out of house and home," Annabeth said, looking at the bump. "The other two are dying to see you."

People often asked them if they were trying for a boy or wished they were having a boy. They were always honest: no, we don't care, as long as it's happy and healthy. But if Percy was really, really honest ... he loved his girls, his collection of tiny Annabeth's. A third girl sounded pretty perfect to him, and he had secretly been hoping for another one.

Percy was glad Annabeth was finally having an easy pregnancy. Sophia and Nella had made her so sick for months all Percy could do was hold the emptied contents of her tote bag while Annabeth threw up into it on the subway.

"Sorry, " she'd said to him, looking green and miserable.

Percy rubbed her back. "I meant it when I said sickness and health, better or worse." Before Annabeth could respond, she was sick again.

Annabeth actually seemed to be enjoying this pregnancy. It wasn't a secret that this was her least favorite part: "I have so much to protect, but I'm physically unable to," she'd said, near tears in a panic when she was still pregnant with Sophia

"I'll protect you," Percy promised, "that's what I'm here for."

This time, she was just as beautiful as she always was, but happier, more relaxed. Percy kept rubbing her bump, obsessed with it, obsessed with his wife, before reaching up for Annabeth's face.

Percy stole a few more kisses. The only thing that could have made his morning better would have been Annabeth sharing it all with him.

"Alright, send in the clowns," Percy said.

Annabeth barely turned towards the door before saying: "Okay, Sophia, you can come in."

Their bedroom door opened, and Sophia rushed in, Nella toddling behind her. Sophia jumped into Percy's arms and he dragged her onto the bed.

"We're you a good girl for Mommy this morning?" Percy asked her. Sophia nodded. Percy tossed her onto the bed and started to tickle her. "Were you?" He asked over and over as she laughed and laughed.

Nella was saying something to Annabeth quietly. "Yeah, let's go get it," Annabeth said. The two left and came back a minute later with a familiar green place-mat from the diner. "Nella made this for you," Annabeth said as Nella handed him the paper.

Percy looked and saw a blob laying down with its eyes shut.

"Daddy!" Nella explained.

"Wow! This is great!" Percy said. "Should we hang it up somewhere?" Nella nodded and pointed back towards the kitchen. "Yeah, I think the fridge is the perfect place for it," Percy agreed.

Chapter 14: Love Bug

Summary:

How baby Sophia got her nickname

Percy tried not to look at his phone during the school day. If he asked students to keep their phones in their pockets, he felt he needed to do the same.

And anyway, it was unlikely Annabeth would need him. Sure it was her first day alone with Sophia with him back at work for the first day of school, but she was so good at the mom thing. What could possibly --

His phone buzzed. He ignored it. He valiantly waited for the bell, his anxiety spiking with each minute he went without checking it. Finally, the period ended,and in the four minutes between classes, Percy slipped it out to look.

ANNABETH

On the home screen, he could read the text of the message, but not the picture she'd sent along with it. His heart dropped when he read the words:

What kind of bedbug is this?

Bed bugs were a top ten "worst non-demigod thing that could happen" for him. And with a six-week old baby, they were the last thing they needed. Not to mention, Annabeth wasn't fond of any bugs really. The spiders might be the worst, but she probably wasn't going to love bed bugs.

Percy opened the picture.

It was a video of Annabeth in bed, panning over their rumpled bed sheets, before focusing on ...

It was his baby daughter's little face, her round, rosy cheeks, her sparse blonde hairs, and her green eyes wide open, her baby fist wrapped around the covers, as she sucked away on her pacifier.

Percy sat back in his chair, his hand over his heart as he replayed the video over and over. He took a deep breath, relieved to know his girls were doing okay on their own.

PERCY

That's a love bug!

~

In between diaper changes, cluster feeding, and nap time, Annabeth had stolen a spare minute to dig through the box of miscellaneous craft supplies she'd collected over the years. She found what she was looking for and held it up to Sophia, victorious. Sophia just made sweet little grunting noises back.

Annabeth measured a few pipe cleaners around her daughter's head. It was pretty big by baby standards, and took two pink pipe cleaners to get around.

"Yeah, do you have a big brain?" Annabeth asked her. "Did your big head tear Mommy wide open on your way out? It sure did." Sophia seemed to almost be laughing, as if she didn't regret a thing.

Annabeth curled a few more pipe cleaners together for a pair of curly pink antennas and placed the creation on Sophia's head.

"Almost ..." Annabeth said. She bent a red pipe cleaner into a heart, secured it around the front, in between the antenna, and then leaned back to appreciate her creation. Sophia kicked her feet and waved her arms in her bouncer, but she didn't cry. Maybe she wasn't trying to get it off, but she still didn't really have the skills to manage it.

"It's perfect!" Annabeth announced. "Daddy's gonna be home any minute," she said, taking it off to preserve it until Percy walked in. He was coming home right after school, he said. It was only the first day of school, and there wasn't swim practice until the winter months. And she'd bet he was dying to come home to Sophia. Who wouldn't miss her?

"Yeah, are you excited to see Daddy?" Annabeth asked, picking Sophia up and savoring the new born scrunch she still had. Sophia rested her head on Annabeth's chest, clinging to her. "Yeah, is he your best friend? He's my best friend, but I guess we get to share."

Her first day without Percy had felt like a mess. They'd developed such a solid routine in those first few weeks that to do it all on her own felt strange and foreign. She'd almost called her mother-in-law for help several times, before resolving to take care of her daughter all on her own.

But they'd found a few blessed moments of calm. Her baby girl just wanted to cuddle and eat, which Annabeth couldn't blame her for.

"Mommy's got you, Love Bug," Annabeth promised. She stood, bouncing Sophia on her chest for a few minutes, just breathing in the smell of the top of her head, trying to hold onto the memory of the moment even as she lived through it.

She heard Percy's key in the door, and pressed another kiss to Sophia's head before putting her home made love bug headband back on.

~

"Hello beautiful," Percy said, spotting Annabeth in the living room, her back to him.

Annabeth turned around, a wide, goofy smile on her face. Percy looked down and found their daughter in her arms, two new antennas made of pipe cleaners with a big red heart right in the middle.

"Oh! And is that my love bug?" Percy asked, moving towards them quickly to steal Sophia away from her. "Hello Love Bug, I missed you so much," Percy said, kissing Sophia all over her face.

Annabeth took the baby back, pecked Percy on the lips, before saying: "Wash your hands."

"I sanitized when I got off the subway," Percy promised, but went to the bathroom without protest.

He came back a minute later, squeaky clean and out of his work shirt.

"Alright! I want Love Bug time!" He said.

Annabeth handed Sophia over. All three sat on the couch, Sophia cuddled up in Percy's arms, and Annabeth resting her head on his shoulder. In a minute, both of his girls were asleep, and he was trapped.

Percy carefully took his phone out, as delicately as defusing a bomb, and managed to get a picture of all three of them, Sophia's love bug crown and all.

Chapter 15: First Birthday

Summary:

Sophia's first birthday

Annabeth had made sure everything was perfect. Sophia had the perfect frilly pink outfit. The apartment was decorated to the nines. They had a cake for eating and a cake for Sophia to smash (and smash it she had!). Her baby girl's first birthday had been almost perfect.

Vomiting had not been on Annabeth's agenda, nor had her body given her much warning that it was coming. She'd felt fine all day. Maybe a little tired, but that was normal with a one-year-old. And then, out of nowhere -

She didn't even get the dignity of going to the bathroom. All the sudden, she was hunched over the trash can, throwing up onto discarded crusts of pizza and half-eaten slices of cake.

Percy was there to hold her hair in a flash, and apologized to party goers, saying something along the lines of: "You know how it is once the kid is in daycare. They bring everything home."

While it did enough to explain Annabeth's sudden illness, it didn't make party guests want to stay to open presents. People made their way out pretty fast, already fearing for the inevitable onset of some norovirus or other.

Annabeth managed to compose herself enough to try and help Percy clean up.

"Lay down, baby, I've got this," Percy promised, pushing her towards their bedroom. He'd enlisted Nico and Grover's help too, insisting his mom and Paul go home to avoid the plague. "Demigods have good immune systems, " he promised them.

They did have good immune systems. Annabeth had never had a stomach flu before. And she'd never had food poisoning either. And she knew enough to know that if it was one of those things, it'd be coming out both ends, not just the one.

Sudden projectile vomiting with no warning? She'd experienced that before.

"Nico, Grover, could you watch Sophia for a minute?" Annabeth asked, stepping back out of the bedroom after only a few minutes alone.

Nico took the chance to stop wiping down the counter, and started speaking Italian in Sophia's direction. Something about the language amused her and got her to laugh every time. Nico, for his brooding affect, seemed to like nothing more than making her giggle.

"What is it?" Percy asked as they stepped into their bedroom.

"I decided to take a pregnancy test," Annabeth said. "To check."

"What did it say?" Percy asked.

"I haven't looked yet," Annabeth said, pulling him towards the bathroom. "I thought we should look together."

Percy's expression was blank with shock. It had taken them so long to conceive Sophia, they didn't think they would ...

Her doctor had put her on the Nuva Ring after Sophia, instead of a longer-term option like the implant. They knew they wanted more kids within only a few years. It seemed practical.

But after years of implants and IUDs, Annabeth wasn't used to having to maintain birth control on a monthly basis. They took off for the Bahamas without her new ring. "I could go find condoms ," Percy offered, but Annabeth just pouted. She liked how it felt when -- "Or I could pull out ?" He tried again. That didn't fix the issue. "Or we could risk it ?" "If you're okay with that... " Annabeth said. " Hey, it's your body. As long as you're sure ... you don't need to convince me."

Annabeth turned the pregnancy test over, and before she could really process the two lines, she started laughing.

"All that work for Sophia!" She said. "Eleven months! And ten months later --" She kept laughing.

Percy was smiling too, his arms around her to hold her up. "If you're not ready to do this all again, we don't have to," he said.

"Ugh, what a gentleman," Annabeth said with a smile. "I'm in if you're in."

Percy rested a hand on her tummy. "I think me being in got us into this in the first place," he said, "but yeah, I'm in."

They stepped back outside to send their clean-up-team home.

Grover was smiling at them when he caught them smiling wide.

"Something you want to tell us?" Grover asked.

"What?" They asked.

"I couldn't tell last time. I mean, you smelled different, but I didn't know why. This time, I was sure."

"You knew?" Annabeth asked. "For how long?"

"Like two weeks!" Grover said. "How long have you known?"

"Like two minutes!" Percy said back.

"You're having another baby?" Nico asked, popping up off the couch, Sophia in his arms. She was saying a collection of syllables that sounded vaguely Italian, but might have been absolutely meaningless.

"We are," Annabeth said, still in disbelief.

"So can I keep this one?" Nico asked.

"Give me my baby," Percy said, reaching for Sophia.

"Do you want kids?" Grover asked Nico as Percy pulled his daughter away from him.

"Oh yeah," Nico said.

"Do you and Will have a plan?" Grover asked.

"Yeah," Nico said, "for those two to look the other way."

Chapter 16: The Beach

Summary:

Every percababy's first time at the beach.

Sophia - nine months old

Percy had wanted to take Sophia to the beach pretty much the moment they left the hospital. But, of course, the baby didn't need dirty New York beaches. She needed the warmth and comfort of the apartment they had made perfect just for her.

But if he couldn't take his baby to the beach in the summer, then he didn't want to take her at all. He didn't want her first experience of the ocean to be cold and gray. Percy had a vision. A sunny day, warm sand, cool water ...

Finally the day came. They made their way out to Long Island for the Memorial Day long weekend, s'morse in tow, cabin rented. His wife? Beautiful. His baby? Adorable. The weather? Ideal.

It was time.

Percy picked Sophia up and went to plop her on the sand between the ocean and their cabin.

And Sophia lifted her legs, either one out to the side, totally parallel to the ground. Annabeth, who'd been tasked with recording the whole thing, started laughing. Percy lifted her up, waited until Sophia let her legs go straight, and then tried again. Sophia kicked her legs out again, utterly disinterested in this strange dirt.

Percy should have seen this coming. For all that Sophia liked to play with water, she was bath time-averse, screaming any time they tried to get her wet (" Aw, Percy was the same way, " Sally had said fondly when Annabeth told her. "He was like a little baby otter! "). Not to mention, she was one quarter Athena. Maybe she could control their plumbing, but those Athena genes were in there too.

Percy gave up and placed Sophia on the sand, legs splayed and all.

"See? It's nice," Percy tried.

Sophia started to cry and call out for Annabeth with a desperate little "mama!"

"Okay, okay," Percy said, picking her back up and handing her to Annabeth.

"Oh it's okay Love Bug," Annabeth promised. "Do you wanna try the ocean?"

By the next summer, Sophia would be swimming like a little fish. But that year, they never quite got her to enjoy the beach.

Nella - three months old

Annabeth had slathered her baby in more sunscreen than Walgreens could sell. This year, they'd gotten a nicer beach house with a pool so Sophia could swim in a contained space, in case she still didn't like the ocean.

Percy wondered if Annabeth was going to put Nella down at all.

Anxiety disorders weren't exactly new for either of them, but neither had heard of "postpartum anxiety" before. Their OBGNY had told them that, despite more people knowing about postpartum depression, anxiety was just as if not more common.

Nella seemed to be okay with mama hardly ever leaving her side.

"Come on, Nelly Belly," Percy said, tickling the infant's pudgy belly, "wanna get your feet wet?"

Annabeth held Sophia's hand as all four walked towards the ocean. Sophia was much braver and more excited about the waves this time.

Percy knelt down in the surf, and set Nella on her butt on the wet sand as a wave started to roll in. The surf surrounded her, getting just about a centimeter of her wet. Nella squealed and splashed a little, kicking her feet and slapping her hands against the water as Percy held her up.

"Pick her up," Annabeth said, worried the wave would wash her baby away, straight to her grandfather, and she'd never see her again. "Percy, pick her up."

The surf started to retreat from where it had gathered around her little bum. Nella started to giggle, and she kept splashing in the sand even as the water pulled away. But Percy listened to Annabeth and lifted Nella out of the waves. .

"She's okay," Percy said, holding up their baby, so Annabeth could caress her face. "See? She's fine she's ..." Percy paused and looked at Nella's bum. "She's dry?" He said in stunned surprise.

Annabeth focused on Nella again. Nella hadn't caused plumbing chaos in the early months the way Sophia had. They were starting to think she didn't really take after the Poseidon side. She'd never stayed dry in the bath before.

Percy dipped her in the surf again. Nella giggled, and when Percy lifted her up, the water stayed right where it was.

"Well isn't that a fun trick!" Annabeth said.

Sophia started to pull at her hand. "Mommy, I wanna swim! " Sophia complained. Percy and her swapped babies, and Annabeth sat in the surf with her dry little infant, while Percy taught Sophia how to jump over the waves.

~

Olivia - eight months

"Stop eating sand!" Sophia yelled. Percy looked up from where he was writing words in the sand with Nella to see Sophia pull Olivia's hand away from her mouth.

"Livy," Percy said, scooping her up, "that's yucky." He tried to get the sand out of her fist and out of her mouth to medium success. She'd already gotten a few handfuls in her mouth so far this weekend. She'd be permanently altering the ecosystem of the beach if she kept it up.

Percy had promised Annabeth she could take a quick nap in the sun while the four of them hung out in the shallows. Last thing he wanted was to hand her back a baby with a mouth full of sand.

"Here," Percy said, holding her so she was looking out towards the water. "Let's write your name."

Percy wrote LIVY in the wet sand, and when a wave came up to wash it away, he waved at it. "Bye bye," he said. Livy held up her own hand and waved.

"Bye bye!" She said. Percy looked at her. Even the other two girls turned to look at her. "Bye bye," she said again, waving to her sisters. "Bye bye!"

"She said her first word!" Sophia said. "We gotta get Mommy!"

"That was amazing, Livy," Percy said to her as he walked them both up the sand. They'd been anticipating her first words for a few weeks; Nella and Sophia had started talking around eight months too, one month behind when the average Athena kid started. "I'm so proud of you, I love you so much."

"Bye bye!" She said back.

They made their way up the beach, Sophia and Nella yelling for their mom the whole way.

"What, what is it?" Annabeth asked, sitting up half-panicked.

Percy got there with Olivia, who looked at her mom and said: "Mama!" Annabeth melted, her shoulders relaxing as her arms stretched out for her baby.

"She said her second word!" Sophia announced.

"Second word?" Annabeth asked as she held Olivia out in front of her, examining her little face.

"Bye bye!" Olivia said to her, waving again.

"That was her first word," Nella said.

"Can you say 'hi mama'?" Percy asked Olivia.

Olivia was quiet for a moment, and then said: "Hi mama!"

Annabeth snuggled her close. "Hi baby! Can you say 'dada'?"

Olivia made a little ah-ah noise, trying her hardest but not quite getting the d sound. "Great job baby!" Annabeth said anyway.

~

Rosie - ten months

Annabeth sat in the surf with Rosie on her lap. Her baby had her emotional support plastic My Little Pony clutched in her hand, and Annabeth was keeping a careful eye on it. If Rosie dropped it, Annabeth wanted to be able to grab it before it got swept out. Or at least, she wanted to be able to alert Percy to the catastrophe before it got too far out.

Rosie seemed cautiously curious about the water. She hadn't liked standing in it as the waves came in. She had only just figured out how to stand on her own, and the water knocked her on her butt easily. Confused and overwhelmed by finding herself suddenly in the sand, she'd started crying. She only stopped when Annabeth sat with her in the surf, keeping her away from the ground, but close enough that she could get her feet wet.

With one eye on her older kids and husband, and one eye on the Fluttershy pony, Annabeth didn't notice Rosie reaching for the water and pulling the sea foam up closer to her.

Rosie grunted a little and kicked her feet, until the foam was floating in front of both of them.

"Oh!" Annabeth said, teasing her little belly. "What are you going to do with that?"

With another grunt, the foam popped into the shape of a Pegasus. Not a real pegasus -- a My Little Pony-shaped pegasus made of white sea foam, roughly the same size as her toy, with the same lush hair and tail too.

"Percy --" Annabeth called out. She was pretty sure Percy couldn't create life out of sea foam, but who knows? Maybe it was a recessive gene or something.

"Yeah?" Percy turned to look, but once Rosie had the attention of her daddy, she lost focus on the sea foam horse. She dropped that and her Pony into the sand and cried for him.

Annabeth scooped up the plastic pony as Percy walked over and took Rosie into his arms.

"She's making horses," Annabeth said as Percy pulled her up.

"Making horses?" Percy asked.

Rosie did it again. "Horsey!" She said. But then she lost control of the sea foam again, and it dropped to the surf, shapeless.

Annabeth handed her back her sandy Fluttershy.

"That's very impressive," Annabeth said.

"You'll have to show me how to do that," Percy agreed.

Later that night, cocktails in hand, kids blessedly asleep, Percy and Annabeth sat on the deck and looked out at the dark water.

"We almost had a fleet of living My Little Pony's," Annabeth said, still not quite believing what she saw.

"Thank god she can't create life," Percy said. "Yet."

"Stop, don't put that possibility out into the world," Annabeth said, resting her face in her hand.

"If we could teach one of them how to grow olive trees in our eighth floor apartment, we'd save like $200 a month on olives," Percy said.

Annabeth considered it and nodded. "I bet one of them could figure it out."

Chapter 17: Noise

Their apartment was always pretty noisy. Quiet time was hard to come by, unless you specifically requested to be left alone in a room. And even then, Mom and Dad were rarely afforded such privileges, and the little ones were ... well, too little to go unsupervised. But Nella was six now. If she wanted to sit in her room and read, she absolutely could. It would be quieter than her current place on the couch, right next to where her two little sisters were playing a game of "stack the blocks. Knock the blocks down. Scream." Sophia, eight and the tallest in her class, was there to help them build the tower taller and taller.

Annabeth could feel Nella starting to squirm next to her, trying to keep her attention on her book, but getting more and more frustrated.

"Girls, can we try just stacking the blocks, no knocking them over?" Annabeth asked. One of the benefits of a demigod building was the reinforced noise proofing between units. Even so, Annabeth didn't want to put it to the test.

The girls agreed, but somehow, their play time didn't get any quieter.

"Why don't you go read in your room?" Annabeth suggested to Nella in a soft voice. "I can come sit with you still."

That only made the problem worse. Nella threw her book on the floor, and pressed her hands to her ears. Within seconds of Annabeth's suggestion, she started to scream-cry, mostly repeating "No!" and "I wanna sit on the couch!"

The other girls were used to someone always crying, and they paid Nella no mind. Although Annabeth did clock Sophia guiding her little sisters to softer, quieter toys away from their space in front of the couch.

"Thank you, Love Bug," Annabeth said to Sophia. "You guys can play in the littles' room as long as you leave the door open, okay?"

Sophia gave her a thumbs up, and then corralled her little sisters into their room.

Nella was still having a melt down. Percy popped his head in from the kitchen, where he was half-way through making dinner.

"I've got it," Annabeth promised. "The other three are in Olivia and Rosie's room, if you could check on them in a few minutes?"

"You got it," Percy promised.

Annabeth finally turned her attention to Nella, who'd calmed a bit after letting out some of her feelings, and getting some peace and quiet. She was just sobbing now, not screaming or thrashing.

"Hey baby girl," Annabeth said in a quiet voice, gently wiping her tears away.

Annabeth remembered how this felt, when her dad brought home twin boys who cried all night and were smelly, and how her step mom had no patience for Annabeth crying too, and made things worse usually, by yelling back. The world felt loud and overwhelming, and for all her smarts, Annabeth couldn't process a way out of it besides throwing herself on the ground to cry, begging for her dad the whole time. If he was around, he usually followed the wisdom "letting her cry it out."

It did help to cry, Annabeth thought, but it would have been nicer to cry while being comforted, instead of being left on the kitchen floor to throw a tantrum unsupervised.

Nella held her arms open, silently asking Annabeth for a hug. Annabeth embraced her, pulling her up into her lap, so Nella could rest her head on Annabeth's shoulder.

Annabeth rocked her gently as she cried, and she slipped her hand under Nella's shirt, gently scratching her back like she did before bed. It seemed to be a pleasant sensory experience for Nella; it took her mind off of all the things that made her so frustrated.

"I know it's hard having sisters sometimes," Annabeth said, "but we need to share our spaces. We can take turns getting to be in the living room, we just need to use our words."

Nella nodded against her shoulder.

When her father used to collect her once she stopped screaming, Annabeth always asked: "Am I in trouble?" And the answer was usually: "Yes." None of that ever made her less emotional, though.

Nella didn't even think to ask if she was in trouble, though. She didn't get punished for melt downs -- none of them did. Sometimes there. were consequences, like if she ruined a craft or threw her food on the ground, she would have to clean it or fix it. But Annabeth would never send her to her room or take away books or TV just for her having her feelings.

"Is it quiet enough now, or do you want to go sit in Mommy's room?" Annabeth asked after a minute. She could hear the other girls in the other room, and Percy moving around in the kitchen.

"It's quiet," Nella said in a little voice.

"Okay, good," Annabeth said. "How about you get the living room until dinner? Your sisters will stay in the other room, since they got the living room for a while?"

Nella nodded. Pumpkin jumped onto the couch then. He was a year old now, about ten pounds and no longer the little kitten he had been. But he was still very orange, and despite the repeated claims that he was a "family cat," he sure had bonded with Nella.

"There's your buddy," Annabeth said, letting Nella go a bit so she could grab Pumpkin and cradle him like a baby. Pumpkin seemed to tolerate this, like it even. When Pumpkin started to purr in her arms, Nella almost started to smile.

Nella glanced at the floor where her thrown book was.

"My love, could you pick something up for me?" Annabeth asked, trying not to yell. The kitchen wasn't far.

Percy poked his head in again. "Like from the store?"

"Like from the floor ," Annabeth said. Nella giggled a little at the rhyme, and Annabeth smiled. Percy spotted the book and handed it to her. Percy planted a kiss on Annabeth's head, and then Nella's, and then - mostly to make Nella laugh - to Pumpkin's.

"Do you want me to read to you?" Annabeth offered.

Nella nodded and cuddled into her again. Pumpkin closed his eyes for a cat nap.

"Alright baby, do you remember what page you were on?"

Notes:

Annabeth finds parenting pretty easy. All she has to do is ask "what would my dad do?" and then not do that.

Also I will write about the Pumpkin acquisition at some point.

Chapter 18: Zio Nico

It meant a lot to Nico that Percy had made so much of an effort to connect with him after Jason died. Nico was happy to go on living his life at camp while Percy and Annabeth moved across the country and left the rest of them behind. But Percy made a different choice.

One that turned out, down the line, to make Nico one of the dozen or so people gathered outside Annabeth's hospital room, waiting for the chance to meet the person she and Percy had made together.

Kids tended to like Nico. He didn't know how to do kiddy talk or baby talk, so he just talked to them like they were people. And he knew all the rules to Mytho Magic, had seen all the Star Wars movies, and was an unironic fan of Disney's Frozen, so he could usually find common ground with the average kid.

He wasn't too sure about babies - he didn't have much experience - but he was pretty sure he'd figure it out. Worst came to worst, he'd just wait a few years to hang out with her.

"You want to hold her?" Percy offered, holding out his daughter, wrapped up tight in a pink blanket.

"Yeah," Nico said. Percy placed her carefully in his arms. Crazy, Nico thought, that he once held a sword to my throat. And now we're here. He stared at the little thing, this tiny human who hadn't quite existed a few hours ago. She was wrinkly and very pink. Her eyes were closed but her mouth was a little bit open. "You guys made a real person," Nico said in disbelief, touching her cheek and feeling surprised at its warmth and life.

"Well, Annabeth did most of the work," Percy said.

"What else is new?" Nico teased, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Grover's already called dibs on favorite uncle," Percy warned.

"Goat man doesn't get to decide that. Little Sophia does," Nico said.

"Oh yeah, what's your plan to usurp him?" Percy asked.

~

Earning Sophia's love ended up being easy once solid foods were introduced.

"Thanks for watching her," Annabeth said, clipping in her earrings as she and Percy got ready to go out on a date. "We'll only be a few hours."

"Take your time," Nico said, walking over to where Sophia was laying on the floor on her play mat.

"You're the best, man," Percy said. And with that, the two left.

Nico reached into his bag and pulled out a round ball of fresh mozzarella. "Sophia," he said, putting on his best, egregious Italian accent to get her attention, " vuoi il formaggio? "

Mozzarella, parmigiana, ricotta, provolone, even the occasional bit of feta, and Sophia was the happiest baby he'd ever seen.

Nico lifted her up off the floor and plopped her in her high chair. He cut off thin strips of the cheese at a time so she could eat slowly without choking. With each new piece, he got a happy squeal and a kick. Nico cut a few pieces for himself.

"[ Now, listen to me carefully, ]" he said to her in Italian. "[ Your mom and dad think you're going to start talking soon. And when you do, I need you to say ] Uncle Nico is my favorite. Do you think you can do that? Try it. Uncle Nico is my favorite! "

Sophia didn't say anything, which was maybe for the best. Nico wouldn't know what to do if he had to tell Percy and Annabeth their first baby had said her very first words on his watch.

Instead of proclaiming his victory over Grover, Sophia just reached for the big ball of mozzarella. Nico held it up to her mouth and let her gum on it like an apple.

"Well, at least this is probably the best day of your life so far," Nico said, watching her wide green eyes get even bigger in wonder as her greedy little baby hands held the ball to her mouth.

Chapter 19: In the Dark

Livy wasn't a fan of the dark. That was how Daddy put it. Sophia said she was afraid of the dark. Mommy had put a night light in her room, and in the hallway, and in the bathroom. But they made big scary shadows on the walls, and still left big dark parts of the apartment.

She'd run through the dark living room, clinging to the wall near the small light, her plush Gollum tight in her hands. But everything seemed even darker when she got back out into the hallway. She looked down the hall, and she couldn't see her bedroom door.

She looked the other way. Mommy and Daddy's room was closer. They weren't supposed to go in there at night unless it was an emergency. But this was an emergency. She couldn't get back to her room by herself. Daddy told her that if she woke him up, he'd always help her.

Livy took a deep breath and took off running towards their door.

She didn't think about the fact that Mommy and Daddy wouldn't have a night light. They were fans of the dark. But Livy could hear them breathing. She knew they were there, and that was enough to get her to move forward.

They had steps at the end of their bed that were supposed to be for the animals, but Livy found them very helpful. She climbed up and into their bed.

Her parents were asleep on the same side, Daddy's arm over her side. Livy crawled into the open space on the mattress.

"Max?" Her mom asked, her eyes barely open.

"It's Livy," Olivia said.

Her mom just made a little hmm noise and lifted the blankets in front of her. Livy gave up on the idea of going back to her room, and got under the blankets.

~

When Annabeth woke up, she felt someone warm and small against her chest. She didn't remember one of the girls getting into bed with them, but then again, Percy had left her pretty exhausted last night. Annabeth peeked under the covers, and found Olivia and her creepy little Gollum toy that she loved so much curled up against her, still sleeping and drooling away.

Annabeth rested the blanket back down and let her keep sleeping. A minute later, she felt Percy stir behind her. They must have spent the whole night spooning. Usually they rolled around, away from each other once they were out. But it was always nice to wake up in his arms.

He must have thought so too, because his hand was on her hip, his lips on her neck.

"Good morning, baby," he said in a low, enticing voice.

"We have a guest," Annabeth warned, lifting up the covers again.

"When'd she get here?" Percy asked, blinking and confused at the sight of Olivia in their bed.

"No idea. I don't remember it at all," Annabeth said. "Let's let her sleep."

Percy kissed her cheek before settling back. "You just want to keep cuddling."

"Maybe," Annabeth conceded. A selfish longing for cuddles aside, their four-year-old did have some serious trouble sleeping these days, and a fear of the dark that they worried was starting to border on a real anxiety disorder. If Olivia was deep asleep now, it was best to let her stay sleeping.

"I'm proud of her for making it all the way to our room," Percy said, laying back down and tucking his arm over Annabeth and Olivia.

Annabeth agreed. Usually, if she got scared in the middle of the night, she'd start crying from wherever she was in the apartment until one of them came to find her. Those were the better nights. On one occasion she'd gotten so scared she stood frozen in the living room until she wet herself. Another night, she'd woken up Sophia to walk her back to her bedroom. Sophia wasted no time tattling on her little sister first thing in the morning.

Percy had tried to reassure Annabeth (and himself) that it was a phase, and that he'd gone through a similar thing at her age. But he couldn't remember what woke him up night after night when he was little, or what he thought he saw in the dark. Sally said Percy never seemed to be scared of anything in particular, but she never stopped worrying there was something they just weren't seeing. "Eventually, I just wasn't afraid anymore," he recalled.

When they asked Olivia what she was afraid of or what had woken her up, she couldn't exactly tell them. If it was nightmares, she wasn't remembering them. If she was seeing something or sensing something, she was too young to articulate it. Monsters couldn't get in their building, but it didn't mean there weren't still plenty of things in their world that could scare a four-year-old.

But, it could also just be the dark.

"What if we try riddles?" Percy said after a minute.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Like riddles in the dark? Give her some riddles to think about, so she's thinking about something else. And maybe she can pretend she's Bilbo or something? We could give her a quest, and make the dark seem fun."

Annabeth turned the idea over in her head. It was worth a shot. It was better than her idea to just leave the living room light on all night.

"I like it," Annabeth said. "We'll need to come up with some really hard ones though. She's clever."

"I'll get researching," Percy said, kissing the back of her neck again. "Remember when you almost got us eaten by the Sphinx because her riddles weren't hard enough?"

"I maintain that that was an insult to my intelligence," Annabeth said.

"No, the intelligent thing would have been to answer the easy questions so we could make it out alive," Percy said.

"We made it out alive," Annabeth protested.

They agreed not to talk about life-threatening moments from their past in front of the kids (asleep or not) until the kids were at least ten, so they left it there, with the understanding they'd probably pick up their little fight in a more private moment, where it could be used for some playful, teasing, foreplay.

~

When Olivia woke up half an hour later, she popped up from under the blankets with her blonde hair sticking up in every which way. Percy was sitting up in bed with coffee. Annabeth had chosen to keep snuggling, ignoring the latte he'd made for her.

Percy smiled to see the two of them next to each other, both totally sleep rumpled. Olivia turned out to be Annabeth's total mini-me, with her blonde hair, big gray eyes, and most of Annabeth's features.

(She'd gotten a deep introverted nature and interest in surfing and skateboarding from Percy though. She was afraid of the dark, but she was already brave enough to drop in on the smaller half-pipes at the skate park. Go figure.)

Percy grabbed his phone quick. "Can I take your picture, lovelies?" He asked them.

Still rubbing sleep from her eyes, Olivia nodded. Annabeth smiled and pulled her a little closer to her for the picture. Annabeth's smile was wide and genuine. Olivia's looked forced, and the top half of her face still showed how tired she was, but they both had funny blonde bedhead that Percy needed to memorialize.

"You're both looking beautiful this morning," Percy said.

"How are you feeling?" Annabeth asked Olivia. "Did something scare you last night?"

"The hallway," Livy said in a small voice.

"Anything specific?" Percy asked.

Livy shook her head. "My room looked far away." She seemed embarrassed now that the sun was up, and Percy felt bad for the poor thing. He knew she thought her own fears were silly, no matter what Percy and Annabeth tried to tell her about them. "I tried to get you to walk back to my room, but Mommy said I could stay."

Annabeth didn't tell Livy that she didn't remember that at all, and instead said. "We're very proud of you for making it all the way here without waking up your sisters."

That perked her up. "Really?"

"Yeah, you must have been really brave," Percy said, smoothing down a little of her hair without much luck.

Livy nodded. "I didn't even cry at all!" She announced proudly, finally smiling.

"Wow!" Both of them said.

"I had to run here," Livy added.

"No wonder you were so tired," Annabeth said, before wrapping her arms around her and giving her a big squeeze and tickle to get her to keep smiling and laughing.

"Maybe next time, I'll be brave enough to get back to my room by myself?" Livy asked, genuinely curious and waiting for their reaction.

"Maybe," Percy said. "But if you're not, you can always find us, you know that." Annabeth nodded in agreement.

Livy seemed to accept this, but still said: "Next time I'm going to make it back to my room." Her mind seemed pretty made up to Percy. "Can I watch Two Towers? " Livy asked, starting to get out of their bed, apparently over the conversation.

Annabeth stood up. "If you're the first one to claim the TV, then sure." First one up got first dibs, that was the rule. It only ended in a screaming fight, like, 45% of the time.

Olivia ran into the living room and announced: "I'm first!"

Annabeth grabbed her mug. "Be there in a second!" She called back. She stood in front of Percy for a moment, contemplating him the way she so often did.

"You grew out of it?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah," he promised.

"Nothing ever attacked you in your sleep?"

"Nothing. Not everything is a demigod problem. They have little kid problems too," Percy said, hoping that was true.

Annabeth started to lean in for a kiss, when she heard Rosie yell: "No more Gollum!" and Livy yelled back, "Hey! He's mine!"

"Oh boy," she said. Percy pulled her in for a quick kiss anyway.

Chapter 20: Dinner Time

For Father's Day, Annabeth had made him an apron; it was blue with sea shells and sea creatures printed on it, and in the pocket she had put a waiter's notepad. On the front leather cover of the notepad's envelope, she'd put in gold foil: The Jackson Family Restaurant.

It was no wonder why, and it had turned out to be one of the most useful Father's Day gifts he'd been given in the last nine years.

"Alright ladies! Who will eat sweet potatoes?" He asked, stepping into the living room, note pad and pen in hand. Sophia, Olivia, and Rosie raised their hands.

Nella looked at him with her big brown eyes, and Percy knew he'd be making at least one extra side dish. "I don't want sweet potatoes. Can I have regular potatoes?"

"Unfortunately we are out of regular potatoes. I do, however, have gnocchi, the potato pasta," Percy said. He also knew there were tater tots in the freezer, but if he offered tater tots, then it would be a tater tot night.

Nella considered the offer. "Okay!" She decided.

"Do you want Italian ketchup or just butter?" Percy asked.

She thought again. "Could I have some with Italian ketchup and some with butter?"

Percy smiled. "Sure sweetheart," he said, and made a note. "The other vegetable tonight is going to be ..." the girls drummed on their thighs or on the coffee table. There was a rule that everyone had to eat at least one bite of the vegetable, so this was high stakes. "Roasted asparagus!"

There was a cheer. That was the family favorite veggie at the moment, and the summer meant Percy could get nice, fresh, in-season asparagus.

"Now there is a bag of frozen broccoli if anyone would prefer --"

"No!" Was the chorus heard around the living room.

"Alright," Percy said with a smile. "The protein tonight is going to be grilled chicken. Do people want it Mommy and Daddy style," that was seasoned, "salt and pepper style, or Nella chicken?" Nella chicken meant no seasonings of any kind. Salt added at the table to taste.

"Nella chicken," Nella said at the same time Olivia said, "Daddy chicken!" The other two request S&P.

"Can I have cheese on mine?" Sophia asked.

"Sure," Percy said, "we've got provolone, white cheddar, and Kraft singles."

"What would the chef recommend?" Sophia asked.

Percy smiled and laughed a little. "Provolone I think."

"Then that's what I'll have!" Sophia said, bouncing on the couch.

"Any other cheese requests?"

"No," the other three said.

"Alright, I've got one S&P with provolone, asparagus, and sweet potatoes. One Nella chicken, asparagus, gnocchi half sauce half butter. One Daddy chicken, asparagus, and sweet potatoes. And finally one S&P no cheese, asparagus, and sweet potatoes. Does that sound right?" Percy asked.

Most of them nodded, but Rosie looked confused.

"What's S&P?" She asked.

"Well, let's think about it," Percy said, sitting on the floor next to her for a moment. "What kinds of chicken could we choose from?"

"Um ..." Rosie thought for a moment. "Daddy chicken, and Nella chicken, and ..."

"What kind did you want?"

"Salt and pepper," she said.

"Right, and do you know what letter 'salt' starts with?" Percy asked.

She shook her head. She was only almost three, so that wasn't a surprise.

Percy wrote it out on his pad slowly, and in big letters. "Salt goes S-A-L-T. And pepper is ..."

"P-E-P-P-E-R!" Nella said.

"Very smart," Percy said. But her spelling it out loud confused his dyslexic brain, and it took his brain and hand a moment to rediscover the right order of the letters. Finally he wrote the word out.

"S for salt," he underlined the S, "and P for pepper."

Rosie pointed to the S: "S for salt!" And then she pointed at the P. "And P for -- Mommy!"

The door opened, and Annabeth stepped into the routine bombardment of her girls rushing at her as fast as they could. Annabeth scooped up Rosie for a big kiss, before lifting Olivia for the same. Nella was too big for that now, and kept both her feet on the ground for her hug and kiss. Sophia took her turn last, holding onto her hug a little longer.

"Was school okay, love bug?" Annabeth asked.

"I didn't do good on my spelling test," she confessed. Percy had already signed the 60% test and promised her it was okay. Nella had been spared the dyslexia, but Sophia hadn't.

"Well, did you try your best?" Annabeth asked. Sophia nodded. "Then that's okay. You're still so smart." Sophia gave her another hug.

"Daddy," he looked down to see Olivia at his leg, "can I help you cook."

"Sure can!" Percy said, taking her hand and walking her into the kitchen. He stood her on the stool in front of the sink and got her started washing the veggies.

"Hello handsome," Annabeth said, coming up behind him as he seasoned the chicken.

"Hi beautiful." He avoided touching her with his chicken-y hands, but did lean in for a kiss. "How was your day?"

Annabeth started in on a story about annoying engineers and nepo babies who thought they knew more than her. She went to the fridge and got a bottle of white wine they'd been enjoying. She held it up to him to ask if he wanted one.

"Sure," he said.

"I want one too!" Olivia said.

Instead of laughing or saying no, Annabeth just took a stemless wine glass out of the cabinet and squeezed one of their white grape juice juice boxes into it. That seemed to be enough for Olivia who took it excitedly.

"That's real glass, though, so be careful. It'll break if you drop it, and broken glass is dangerous," Annabeth warned.

"I'll be careful," she said, sitting in the chair she'd been standing on.

"Are those veggies washed?" Percy asked.

"Yep!" Olivia promised. Percy inspected them, and they were actually very well washed. She hadn't even tried to use soap or anything.

"Great job, baby!" Percy said. "You can help next by breaking off the asparagus ends."

"And then can I cut the potatoes?" She asked.

"No," Percy and Annabeth said at the same time.

"Who does the cutting with sharp knives in this family?" Percy asked.

"Um ... you?" Olivia guessed.

"That's right. And who doesn't do the cutting with sharp knives?"

"Um ... Mommy?" She guessed again.

"No, it's you," Percy said.

"Oh," Olivia said with a giggle.

"Mommy cuts lots of stuff with sharp knives. It's one of her favorite things," Percy explained.

To avoid explaining, Annabeth grabbed a cutting board and got to work on the potatoes and showed Olivia how to break off the ends of the asparagus.

"How many different meals do we have tonight?" Annabeth asked.

"We have four unique plates, but low variety," Percy said. "Now one of your daughters did request gnocchi half with sauce half without sauce. But I think since we've got such a good helper tonight, we can make it work. What do you think, Livy?"

"We got this!" She said, breaking off just the right amount of asparagus.

"Heck yes we do!" Annabeth said, giving her a high five.

A minute later, Olivia heard the Avatar the Last Air Bender theme starting in the other room. With a loud gasp of "Avatar!" She jumped off the chair and ran back into the living room. But, to be fair, the asparagus was all prepped except for the seasonings.

Once Nella's chicken was on the pan, and his hands were washed for the moment, Percy wasted no time taking advantage of the otherwise empty kitchen and grabbed Annabeth by her hips to pull her in close to him.

"Do you have any idea how cute you look in that apron?" She asked him. "For our anniversary, I want you to cook me dinner wearing just the apron."

"Naughty," Percy said, thinking of meals that didn't involve much hot oil or boiling water.

Annabeth started to kiss him. Either she was in a particular mood that day, or the apron just really did it for her, but she deepened the kiss almost immediately, threading her fingers through his hair as he held onto her.

Percy forced himself to pull away despite his desires. "If I burn Nella's chicken I will literally never hear the end of it," he said. He once burnt a grilled cheese for her when she was four, and he still heard about it every time he made her a grilled cheese.

"You're such a good dad, do you know that?" Annabeth asked with a smile, pulling herself onto the counter. Once the vegetables were chopped, her main contribution to any meal was looking pretty.

"Thanks," Percy said, flipping the chicken with a smile on his face. "You're the best mom ever, did you know that?"

"I figured I was maybe in the top ten," Annabeth said with a smile.

Percy kissed her again, only pulling away to tell her: "You're sitting in front of the potatoes, and I really need to get them in the oven."

Chapter 21: Popsicles

“That’s not something a friend would do,” Sophia told her, stubborn and sure of her argument. 

Annabeth tried not to smile, amused at her daughter. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have popsicles in the morning. They’re an after-dinner treat,” Annabeth explained again. “Daddy already told you no. I’m not going to say yes.” 

The seven year old stared at her, her gaze intense and focused, her little eye brows furrowed. “I’m saying that’s not something a friend would do!” Sophia said again. 

“We don’t have popsicles in the morning,” Annabeth repeated. “I don’t want to have to tell you again.” 

Sophia did not heed the warning, and just climbed into Annabeth’s bed. “Mommy, Mommy, listen! A friend would give me a popsicle.” 

“I’m telling you that a mommy won’t let her daughter have a popsicle for breakfast. I’ve got to be your mommy before I can be your friend,” Annabeth said. 

Sophia flopped down onto her belly, burying her face in the pillow to pout. It was an interesting strategy. The fake crying was a nice touch. But Sophia gave away her position when she looked up to see if Annabeth was watching her. When Sophia saw that, yes, Annabeth was looking at her, and no, she was not moved by the display, she went back to hiding her face and fake crying louder. 

“Love Bug …” Annabeth said, taping her fingers up Sophia’s back, warning her the tickles were incoming. Annabeth moved her fingers closer to her side, and Sophia broke into laughter almost immediately. Annabeth started to tickle her with two hands then, getting both sides. Sophia tried to roll over to escape, giggling the whole time, but all she did was expose her belly, which Annabeth attacked with tickles right away. 

Sophia was scream-laughing as she scurried off the bed and took off running. Annabeth popped out of bed too and started to chase her. 

“We’re running away from Mommy!” Sophia warned her sisters. All of the girls started to run away. Even Rosie made an effort to crawl. Annabeth kept her sights on the seven-year-old who she caught easy and lifted up with a big squeeze. 

“I got you! You can’t run away from me!” Annabeth said, giving her girl big kisses on the cheek as she swung her feet back and forth. Sophia kept laughing and kicking her legs, but she wasn’t asking to be put down or for Annabeth to stop, so Annabeth kept it up the swinging. She could feel the other girls clinging to her legs, either trying to save their sister or get picked up and swung around too. 

“Get her! Get her!” Sophia commanded her sisters. Olivia and Nella started to push her, and Annabeth let them get her over to the couch, where Annabeth flopped backwards dramatically, Sophia still in her arms. 

“You got me!” Annabeth said, giving up on the fight and letting Sophia go. But Sophia took the chance to tickle Annabeth back, and her little sisters followed her example. Annabeth was descended on by three girls trying to find out where their mom was the most ticklish. Like Sophia, it was her sides and the bottoms of her feet. 

Annabeth was laughing uncontrollably; her sides hurt and she couldn’t breath or even get a word out to tell them to stop, but she didn’t mind much. 

“Alright, alright, let’s let Mommy go,” Percy said over them, lifting one girl after the other off of Annabeth. 

She caught her breath and sat up. “Thanks,” Annabeth said to him. They weren’t tickling or tackling her anymore, but none of her girls seemed keen to move far from her. They all stayed on the couch, cuddled up on her. Percy even plopped Rosie in Annabeth’s lap. 

“I’m taking a picture!” Percy announced. All the girls smiled. They were all still in their pajamas, curly hair all over the place, and the picture became Percy’s phone background for about a year and a half. 

“Daddy, pancakes!” Olivia reminded him. 

“I’m working on it,” Percy promised, putting his phone away. “Can you help me?” 

Olivia nodded and got off the couch first. Nella, usually her cuddliest, also moved, on the hunt for her kitten who’d taken shelter from the tickle stampede. 

Only Sophia and Rosie were left. And then Rosie started to wiggle, obviously interested in going back to her toys on the floor. Annabeth set her down and let her crawl away. 

“Are you my friend again?” Sophia asked her. 

Annabeth kissed the top of her head. “I’m always going to be your friend,” Annabeth promised, “but I’m also always going to be your mom, and I need to be your mom first. Sometimes moms have to do things you don’t like, or not let you do the things you want to do.” 

Sophia considered what she said. 

“Does that make sense?” Annabeth asked. 

“Yeah,” Sophia said. “But I don’t like it.” 

“Why not?” Annabeth asked. 

“Because I want a popsicle,” Sophia explained. 

“Right. How about this: if you wait until after dinner to have a popsicle, I’ll let you put whipped cream on your pancakes?” 

Sophia considered the offer. “What if I have a popsicle in the afternoon?” 

“You can have the popsicle at three o’clock,” Annabeth counter offered. 

“Can I have the last red one?” Sophia asked. 

“Deal,” Annabeth said. 

“Can I still get whipped cream too?” 

“I guess so,” Annabeth said. 

“Yay!” Sophia said, giving her a big hug. “You’re my second best friend,” Sophia told her. 

“Oh?” Annabeth asked. “And who’s your first best friend?” 

“Daddy,” Sophia said as if it was obvious. 

“You know, he was my best friend first,” Annabeth said. 

“I think he likes me more than you,” Sophia said, cuddling into Annabeth’s side. 

Annabeth gasped. “How do you know?” 

“Daddy!” Sophia called. 

“Yeah baby?” Percy called back from the kitchen. 

“Who’s your best friend, me or Mommy?” 

“All five of you are my best friends,” Percy said. 

“That’s a lame answer,” Sophia said just to Annabeth. “I bet it’s still me.” Annabeth didn’t want to confirm or deny, so she just kissed the top of her head. 

~

Once the girls were all asleep, Annabeth pulled out their popsicle-making tray. 

“Whatcha doing?” Percy asked as Annabeth pulled several juices from the fridge. No one had warned her how much parenting was just buying juice and berries. 

“Making morning popsicles,” she said. 

Percy wrapped his arms around her waist. “You’re the coolest mom ever,” he said as Annabeth poured orange juice into a few of the molds. 

She smiled and reached for the pomegranate juice to make some red ones.

Notes:

Annabeth is having so much fun with her daughter that she doesn't even have time to process that her daughter's idea of "running away" when she's seven is "be playfully chased around the living room."

Chapter 22: Target Practice

Percy didn’t go to Target often. New York City Targets were usually multi-level sensory nightmares, but when the family needed food, diapers, more baby clothes, several other odds and ends, it was the best place. 

He’d planned to run out by himself. It would be fastest, and that would leave the older girls at home to help Annabeth with the one-month-old Rosie. Sophia had accepted this; she didn’t want to be away from her baby sister. In fact, Sophia had taken every chance to feed, change, and hold Rosie that she was offered. 

It was Nella who really surprised him. 

“I wanna go,” she told Percy, staring up at him with her big pleading brown eyes. Percy was toast. 

From behind Nella, Annabeth mouthed to him: She wants a book. Percy smiled. 

“It’s going to be loud and crowded,” Percy warned. “And I really need to get shopping done, so I won’t be able to take you home if it’s too much. If you come with me, you see it through to the end.”

Nella nodded and ran off to her bedroom to get her shoes and headphones. The purple over-the-head headphones were noise cancelling, and came with little cat ears on top for extra cuteness. They’d hopefully keep her calm. 

Percy grabbed their folding shopping cart, and the two of them made their way outside. 

~

The Target wasn’t as crowded as Percy feared. He put Nella in the basket of the red shopping cart and made sure her headphones were on good as he started piling things around her. Baby stuff was up first. Diapers, and some wipes for good measure. The onesies … the socks … the … 

“Oh, how cute is this?” Percy held a little pair corduroy overalls with a little pumpkin-printed shirt under it up for Nella. “Should we get this for Rosie?” 

Nella nodded and took off her headphones. “If Rosie gets something, can I get something?” 

Percy smiled. “That seems fair.” 

Nella started chattering about the book she wanted that her friend at school had been reading. While she talked Percy steered her to the book aisle. They found it fast, and Nella held it up triumphant. Percy grabbed a few coloring books - a simple Bluey one for Olivia and a more complicated “adult” one for Sophia, so that they weren’t left out. 

Percy started to wheel her away when -- 

“Toothless!” Nella said. She stood up in the cart, forcing Percy to bring it to a stand-still. 

“If you stand up, you’ll need to walk,” Percy said, lifting her out. Nella only took off running into the toy aisle, where she grabbed the dragon plushy and held it tight in her arms. Oh boy, he thought. 

There were those big brown eyes again. “Please Daddy? Please, please, please?”

For a moment Percy thought about making her choose between the book and the toy. But the book was educational. And Nella took such good care of all her plushies. What was the point of having an adult job if he couldn’t spoil his babies? 

“Oh, could those eyes get any bigger?” He asked. “Sure, you can get him.” 

Nella jumped up and down in the aisle, her little hands flapping, shaking the poor Toothless toy all around. 

“But --” Percy said, “now we’ve got to pick things out for your sisters. And we need to be quick about it.” 

Nella found Olivia’s gift easily. There was a Bingo plush not far away that Nella tossed into the cart. They circled back to the itty bitty baby stuff for Rosie, and found a little soft Minnie Mouse in a red polka-dot dress. 

Sophia was last. She wasn’t too old for toys (thank the gods she wasn’t growing up that fast), but she’d never been much of a plushie’s kid, aside from Teddy. She’d always been more crafty and hands-on. 

“Do they have knitting stuff?” Nella asked, looking around. 

“Let’s ask,” Percy said. He found a red shirt-ed employee and he tried to get Nella to ask, but she got too shy. 

The employee led them to a craft aisle, and said: “We’ve got these kits …” pointing to crochet plushie kits, before walking away. 

They were perfect, though, according to Nella. “She can make her own animals!” Nella said, grabbing one of the kits to make a Snoopy. “She’s been telling Mommy she wants to make these.” 

She really did hear everything, Percy thought, even with her headphones. 

“That’s really thoughtful,” Percy told her, “I’m sure she’ll love it. Do we want to get her Snoopy, or a different one?” There was an octopus, turtles, and an axolotl too. 

Nella picked up the axolotl. “What’s this thing?” 

“It’s an axolotl. It’s an …” what the fuck was it? “Amphibian?” Percy guessed. “We can read about them when we get home. Is that the choice?” 

“Hm. It’s pink,” Nella said. “Snoopy is a dog.” Neither of those were answers to his question, but Percy tried not to push it. “But maybe she likes the sea creatures?” Nella asked.

“How about we get here two?” Percy suggested. “Would that make it easier?” 

Nella nodded and grabbed the axolotl and Snoopy. 

“Good job,” Percy said. “If I put you back in the cart, will you promise not to stand?” 

Nella nodded and lifted her arms to be picked up. Back in the cart, she was about to put her headphones back on when she had a revelation: “Mommy needs a present!” 

“You are absolutely right,” Percy said. He'd been thinking of a few things for her himself, but he'd leave the choice up to Nella. “What should we get her?” 

Nella thought. While she thought things over, Percy pushed them towards the food. 

When the cart was loaded with fruits, veggies, and enough chicken nuggies to feed an army, Percy steered Nella towards the home goods to find a Mommy present. 

“What do we think Mommy would like?” He asked her. Nella put up her arms again, asking to be lifted. 

Nella looked around the aisles, a very serious look on her face. She tapped a finger against her chin and asked: “What screams Annabeth?” 

Percy laughed. “What indeed?” 

They ended up in the lighting aisle. The combination of new-born chaos, three girls, and two animals had recently resulted in the breaking of Annabeth’s bed-side lamp. Now when she got up to feed Rosie in the middle of the night, she had to use the big light. 

Nella picked out a pretty one with gold accents that would actually match the dark wood of their end tables really well. 

“I think that’s perfect,” Percy said. 

“Mommy also likes jammies,” Nella said. 

“You’re so right,” Percy agreed. “Want to pick some out for her?” 

Nella grabbed a matching set of purple pajamas that were “Sooooo soft! Perfect for cuddles!” 

Percy dropped them and Nella back in the cart, and started to finally wheel them towards the cash register.

Nella gasped and pointed at a red dress. “Mommy would look so pretty in that!” Nella said. “Can we get it for her?” 

Percy didn’t know if Annabeth would have any reason to wear a burgundy dress in the next few months. There were the holidays, sure, but they kept things casual. But Nella seemed to have a vision in her head, and Percy just couldn’t say no now. 

And anyway, she was right. Annabeth would look stunning. It was a simple dress; it had some brown buttons down the front and looked like it would go down to the knees. It had short sleeves, but the fabric seemed warm. Maybe if they went pumpkin picking or something? Percy grabbed on in her size.

“Alright, let’s get out of here before we buy the whole store,” Percy said, racing to the cash register. 

He realized at check out that he didn’t get a gift for himself, and treated himself to a Coke. 

Percy made Nella keep Toothless in their cart until they got on the subway so she didn’t drop him. Percy kept one hand tight in hers while the other pulled the cart along. 

On the subway, Nella wasted no time reaching for her new toy. She pressed kiss after kiss to the top of his head. 

~

Percy’s anxiety spiked a little as they made their way into their building. Annabeth probably wouldn’t be outright mad at him, but he had been working on not spoiling the girls too much. This was probably too much.

“Do you think they’ll like their presents?” Nella asked. 

“I think so,” Percy said in the elevator. “You did such a good job picking them out.” 

Nella bounced up and down a little, then balanced on her toes until the elevator rocked to a stop at their floor. 

~

“Mommy, I got a Toothless!” Nella announced as soon as the door opened. She ran right for Annabeth and started talking a mile a minute about their Target trip. 

“Do you just have the best daddy in the whole world?” Annabeth asked. 

“I do!” Nella proclaimed.

“Did you say thank you?” Annabeth asked. 

Nella ran for him. “Thank you, Daddy!” 

Percy gave her a big squeeze. “Thank you for all your help, Nelly-belly.” 

“If Nella got a Toothless, what did we get?” Sophia asked. She’d been alive long enough to know whatever one got, all the others got too. 

Annabeth tried to chastise her, but Percy just said: “Let me get the chicken nuggets in the freezer, then we can have gift distribution.” 

“Yay!” Sophia cheered. “Should I wake up Olivia?”

“Let your poor little sister keep napping,” Annabeth warned her. Sophia sat on the couch next to her mom and reached for her baby sister. Annabeth handed Rosie over and let Sophia cradle her for a minute. 

Annabeth snuck up behind Percy, who was rearranging some stuff in the fridge. 

“Presents for everyone?” She asked. 

“Hi beautiful,” Percy said, stealing a kiss quick. “Couldn’t help it. Nella was being so good, and you know how much she loves that dragon.” 

Annabeth smiled at him. “Did I get presents too?” 

“Of course you did, Nella made sure of it,” Percy told her. 

“Well, then, I guess it’s okay. But next time one of them gets into bed with us in the middle of the night, she’s staying there,” Annabeth  said. 

“Fair trade,” Percy agreed. 

~

Sophia loved her crochet kits enough to give her sister a real big hug, before sitting down right on the floor to try and make the stuffed animals. She also appreciated her new coloring book. 

Rosie grabbed onto her Minnie Mouse quickly and shoved her ear right into her mouth, while Annabeth cooed at the overalls. 

“And you got me a new lamp?!” Annabeth said. “Thank you both so much! It’s perfect!” 

“And these!” Nella said, holding the pajamas and the dress in one big bundle in her arms. 

Annabeth held up the pajamas first. “Oh, they’re so soft!” Annabeth said. “I love them. And what’s this?” 

“Me and Daddy thought you’d look so pretty!” Nella explained as Annabeth held up the dress. Percy rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrassed, but not sure why. 

“I love it,” Annabeth said, looking at him. “Where do you think I should wear it?” 

“Dinner soon?” Percy offered. “Once you’re feeling up to it?” 

Annabeth leaned over to kiss him. “Sounds like a plan.” 

Rosie was in her arms, still sucking on the Minnie Mouse ear. 

Olivia’s bedroom door opened. They’d put her Bingo and coloring book in front of her door. Before she could even rub the sleep from her eyes, she yelped: “Bingo!” In a baby Australian accent. 

“Nella picked her out for you,” Percy said. Olivia ran right for Nella to give her a big hug. 

“Everyone say a big, big thank you to Daddy for your new presents,” Annabeth said. 

Soon, Percy had four girls on him, thanking him and giving him kisses. 

“You’re all so welcome,” Percy said. 

“Next time you go to Target, can I come?” Sophia asked. 

“You girls can either go with Daddy to Target, or go to college,” Annabeth joked. “We can’t possibly afford both.” 

Notes:

Little Olivia is going to go into daycare Monday and announce that her mommy said she can't go to college because daddy spends too much money at target.

Chapter 23: Chase Family Thanksgiving

It was set to be a real Chase family Thanksgiving. Fred was coming down for the long weekend, and Bobby and Mathew were joining too with their partners. 

“Are they good with kids?” Percy asked. 

“I don’t know. Neither has any,” Annabeth said, helping him plan the grocery list and keep track of what Sally was planning to bring. They’d volunteered their apartment to save on the hassle of getting the four girls out the door day-of, but it was now an added stress. 

Percy liked Annabeth’s brothers, although he didn’t know them very well. He’d met them in passing a few times, including at his wedding where they’d been invited to be groomsmen, and Percy had been Annabeth’s “plus one” to Bobby’s wedding last year. His wife was a beautiful Singaporean woman who’d introduced herself as Esther. Matthew was bringing his boyfriend too. Brian? Percy was pretty sure that was his name. He’d check later. Brian was new. Percy was pretty sure he’d never never met him before.

He was happy to see the three siblings make an effort to reconnect finally. Really, Annabeth didn’t have any personal issues with her brothers. Now that her dad and their mom were divorced, things seemed a little easier, too. She could invite them and her dad down for holidays without worrying about her step-mom joining. 

But it didn’t mean the Chase family dynamic was perfect. 

“I hope this …” Percy trailed off. Annabeth anticipated the rest with a sad smile. 

“Isn’t a total fucking shit show?” Annabeth guessed. 

“Yeah,” was all Percy could say. 

“Mommy,” Nella ran up to them. 

“Yes, baby?” Annabeth asked. 

“Can I show Rosie Ariel?” Nella asked. 

“The movie or your doll?” 

“The movie!” 

The gloomy day had kept them inside. Percy and Annabeth tried to entertain the girls with crafts as much as they could, but it was looking like movie time was over-due. 

“Okay,” Annabeth said. “Do you wanna build a fort?” 

“Yeah!” Nella said. “Fort! Fort! Fort! Fort!” 

Soon, Sophia and Olivia were in on the chant. Annabeth kissed Percy on the cheek and left him to the meal planning as she went to build a blanket fort. 

~ 

Bobby and Mathew were a relief. Mathew was an engineer, and he was keeping Sophia entertained with his iPad, showing off pictures and diagrams of different designs, while his boyfriend played Bluey with Olivia and fed her small pieces of cheese. Bobby was a literature professor, and he was telling Nella the plot of The Count of Monte Cristo in detail while his wife helped Percy and Sally around the kitchen. 

“She’s a great cook,” Bobby said of Esther, who did Percy the incredible favor of preparing sweet and regular mashed potatoes. 

When Nella didn’t have Bobby’s complete attention, he and Paul had some riveting conversations, it sounded like, about nineteenth century American and British literature. 

Annabeth blessedly had nothing to do but sit on the couch with Rosie in her arms, and occasionally talk to Mathew about the building projects they were working on. The dress Nella had picked out for her a month ago fit comfortably, and the buttons made it easy to breast feed. She just sat with Estelle who, when Rosie wasn’t eating, was holding her niece or trying to take Rosie away from Annabeth. 

“I wanna hold her as much as I can, if this really is my last niece,” Estelle said. 

“Are you officially done?” Fred asked Annabeth. 

She nodded. “Four seems like a good number, don’t you think?” 

“I think so. I’d always wanted three, personally,” her dad said, sitting next to her. “Got what I wanted.” 

Annabeth didn’t push back and argue that he had, in fact, not really raised three children. But it was way too early into Thanksgiving to pick fights. 

~

Dinner was easy. Nella ate four servings of mashed potatoes and two dinner rolls, and a little bit of turkey. Olivia asked for the turkey leg, and was given it. Annabeth had a picture of her with the big thing in front of her face, chowing down on it. 

“Those are the viking genes!” Fred said. 

Nella gasped. “We need to show grandpa How to Train Your Dragon!” Nella announced. 

“That movie is awesome!” Mathew agreed. “Dad, you’ll love it, it’s got vikings.” 

“And dragons!” Nella said. 

“We can watch it after dessert,” Annabeth promised, shooting a glance at her dad that said you don’t need to sit through the whole thing, but please indulge her. 

“Do you like that movie more than The Little Mermaid?” Fred asked. 

“The Little Mermaid has songs and this one doesn’t,” was Nella’s answer. 

Fred looked like he was about to say “That doesn’t answer my question,” but Annabeth shot him another warning glance. 

“Well, it sounds great,” Fred agreed. 

~

The families piled into the living room together, dragging in kitchen chairs, pillows, and blankets to watch the movie. 

“I was Astrid for Halloween! Nella was Hiccup!” Sophia told them. “Mommy made the costumes herself.” 

“I was a hot dog!” Olivia said. “Rosie was a lobster!” 

Annabeth showed her family some pictures, and got a few good awes out of her family and in-laws. 

Percy spent a good bit of the movie cleaning up and packing away left overs, but when he came to sit down, he found that Nella and Sophia had saved him a spot on the floor between the two of them. Olivia was already asleep on the floor in front of them. 

Percy maneuvered himself between them, resting his back against the couch by Annabeth’s legs. 

Nella clung to her Toothless plush in her arms as Stoic started to yell at Hiccup. Percy felt his daughter’s head rest against him, and he pulled her in extra close. 

“It’s okay,” Percy assured Nella. 

“I’m glad daddies aren’t mean in real life,” Nella said, innocent and ignorant to the way her words settled over the people in the room. 

Percy gave his girl a big, big squeeze and tried hard not to cry in front of his in-laws. “I love you,” Percy mumbled into the top of Nella’s head. 

Percy for his part knew a fair few things about mean dads. The closest thing he had for most of his childhood was a man best described by his smell. And Annabeth -- 

“Me too, baby,” Annabeth said, quietly. 

Percy looked back at her and could see she was also trying not to cry. Bobby and Mathew were looking at her and their dad. Paul was looking at Sally, and Sally was looking at Percy - apologetic in her own right for his bad dad experience. Fred was looking guilty into his glass. 

“I’m always gonna be proud of you, and love you, no matter what,” Percy told Nella. He reached over to Sophia and booped her nose, as if to say you too. 

Nella just snuggled closer. “I know that. Now shhhh. Everyone shhhhh.” 

“She knows that,” Percy heard Bobby whisper to someone. 

A minute went by, and then Fred broke the silence with an awkward: “I am proud of all of you, and I do love you all.” 

Percy met Paul’s gaze. It was time for the happy Jackson clan to move on, Paul seemed to be telling him. Seems like the Chase family has quite a bit to work out. 

“Let’s pause for a second?” Percy said to his girls. 

Paul, Sally, and Estelle did take the time to say goodbye, hugging all of the girls who were still awake after turkey. 

Percy met his mom in the kitchen to hand her left overs, and she pulled him in for a tight hug. 

“I am so proud of you, Percy.” It sounded like she was about to cry. 

“Mom, it’s okay --” 

“I didn’t give you much of an example of a father. But you’ve turned out to be so great.” She pulled away and Percy could see tears on her face. He wiped them away. 

“I didn’t need a dad. I had you. That was plenty. And anyway, Paul --” he grabbed his step dad who was coming in to help, “set the perfect example of being a girl dad for me in my late teens.” 

Paul beamed, proud of himself. “Well, look, I admire your parenting. You two have got this thing really figured out.” 

“Thanks Paul,” Percy said. “Let’s get you guys some left overs.” 

~

“--I never wanted things to go the way that they did,” Fred said. 

“Daddy, please, not now --” Annabeth tried, bouncing Rosie even as she argued. 

“-- I think it’s a good thing if we talk it out while we’re all in the same place,” was Bobby’s argument. 

“But not on a holiday --” Mathew tried. 

“-- And not in front of the kids --” Annabeth said. 

“God forbid anything corrupt your perfect kids --” one of the twins said. 

“What the fuck? Sorry for trying hard to make my kids’ childhoods better than --” 

“That’s enough, all of you --” Fred tried with no success. 

Percy stood with Brian and Esther, watching the chaos for a second. 

“Your kids are in their bedrooms,” Brian said. 

Instead of checking on them, Percy stepped between the warring Chase’s. As a high-school teacher, he had plenty of experience stopping adolescent conflict. How hard could generational trauma be? 

“Hey,” he tried, “look, look,” he got them all to quiet down. “What I’m hearing is that you all have a lot of built up feelings about your family dynamic, and how it feels like, for Bobby and Mathew, like Annabeth didn’t want you in her life for a while, and how for Annabeth she felt excluded from the family. And Fred, how you have done your best, but you know you’ve let your kids get hurt,” that was another trick, the strategic passive voice. “I know that holidays are hard, especially when they’re with family we haven’t seen in a while. There’s a lot we want to work through together. That makes total sense. But yelling about it right now won’t fix it.” 

Annabeth was crying. She knew his mirror-empathize-validate trick, and was onto his strategy. She decided to break the silence first. 

“I’m sorry,” Annabeth said. “Bobby, Matty, it’s been so great having you here, and I really want you in my life. I’m … I’m sorry I haven’t been better.” 

“I’m sorry we went on assuming you didn’t care,” Bobby said. 

“After what happened when you were a kid … it makes sense you would think we didn’t want you around. We could have made more of an effort too.” 

“You have,” Annabeth said. “Bobby, it meant everything to me that you invited me to your wedding.” 

“Yeah of course. You should have been in the bridal party. I’m … I’m really sorry.” 

“No, no, it’s okay,” Annabeth promised. 

Annabeth initiated a hug, and soon, there was a Chase sibling group hug in his living room. They pulled their father in when they caught him lingering on the outside. 

“How’d you do that?” Esther asked. 

“Mirror, empathize, validate,” Percy told her. “Works every time.” 

Both partners took out their phone and made a note. 

“Excuse me, I’m gonna go check on my kids,” Percy said. 

Poor Nella had been thrown way off her groove by the yelling and the interruption of the movie. 

Percy found her a sad little lump under her blankets, Toothless still in her arms. 

“She’s not talking,” Sophia said. 

“Do you want a hug, baby girl?” Percy offered. From under the covers, Nella nodded. Percy pulled back the blankets and scooped her up. She wasn’t crying, but she wasn’t talking either. 

“Let’s go finish the movie?” Percy offered. “If the coast is clear?” Sophia stuck her head out the door, saw everyone sitting, and nodded to Percy. 

They snuck back into the living room. Nella reached for Annabeth immediately, but Rosie was in her arms. 

“Here, I’ll take her,” Bobby said, reaching for the baby so Annabeth could take Nella. 

“Thank you,” Annabeth said, willingly handing her over. 

“I told Nella we could finish the movie,” Percy said as he gently put Nella in Annabeth’s lap, implying that the option was watch it or get out. 

The Chase family sat quietly through the end of the movie. 

“That was really excellent!” Fred said as the credits ran. 

“There’s two more,” Nella told him, her first words since the ones that had sent her mom and uncles into a spiral. 

“Well, we’ll need to watch them one of these days, huh?” Fred offered. 

Nella nodded. 

Bobby and Mathew left after the movie, though. Bobby handed Rosie back and Annabeth rested her on her playmat to keep her arms free for goodbyes. Fred took it as his cue to go back to his hotel too.

Alone finally, Annabeth pulled Percy in close and broke down in sobs. 

“Mommy? It’s okay,” Sophia said, trying to comfort her. 

“It is okay,” Annabeth promised. “Mommy is just having some big feelings.” 

“Can I give you a hug?” Sophia offered. 

Annabeth nodded, and leaned down to let her daughter give her a comforting hug. 

“I’m okay, I promise,” Annabeth said to her girls. 

“What made you sad?” Sophia asked. She had plenty of fights with Nella, and they never made her quite this emotional. The little girl couldn’t seem to understand why her mom was so upset about a fight with her brothers. 

Annabeth took a deep breath. “I’m not sad,” she told Sophia and Nella, “I’m really, really happy that you two have the best, nicest Daddy in the world.” 

Percy smiled. “Aw shucks,” he said. 

“He is the best Daddy!” Sophia said. “No need to cry about it.” 

Annabeth laughed through her tears. “If we feel like we need to cry, then we can cry,” Annabeth reminded her. “Crying isn’t a bad thing.” 

“You cry a lot,” Sophia said. “So does Daddy.” 

Percy shrugged. “It’s because we’re so full of love.” 

“I’m so full of cheese,” Sophia said. 

“Nalla,” Annabeth said, opening her arms to the younger girl. Nella went in for a big hug. Annabeth checked on her, getting a few promising head nods that she was okay, even if she still didn’t really have words. “You know that you didn’t do anything wrong, right?” Nella nodded. “And you know you’re not in trouble?” Another nod. “Can you show Mommy what you want right now?” 

Nella walked Annabeth into the kitchen and pointed at the covered tray of cookies. 

“Okay,” Annabeth said, handing her one and Sophia another. Olivia had walked herself into her room to keep napping during the fight, but she seemed to sense food distribution and emerged, immediately asking Percy for uppies and cookies, which he was happy to provide. 

“Now what?” Percy asked, Olivia still in his arms. 

“Cuddles?” Annabeth asked. 

“Mommy needs cuddles!” Sophia announced. “To the couch! Daddy, she needs juice and snacks! Mommy, what movie do you want to watch?” 

Percy put Olivia down with the other girls on the couch and watched her get cookie crumbs just about everywhere. That would be a clean up job for tomorrow, Percy decided. 

Annabeth clicked the remote and started How To Train Your Dragon Two, and Percy brought her a much needed glass of wine and cheese plate. And an extra plate for Sophia and Olivia, so they'd keep their hands off of their mom’s food. 

Notes:

Dealing with a bit of a httyd obsession at the moment. don't mind me.

Chapter 24: Picnic

Notes:

Sophia is almost two, Nella is five months old, and Percy is crashing tf out.

Percy had a parenting secret that had made his and Annabeth's lives easier from the moment Sophia was born.

Grandparents.

Sally and Paul were the keys to their success and time management, and this summer, they had really been vital. As high school teachers, Percy and Paul had the summers, and Sally had found enough writing success that she didn't need a day job anymore. That meant the girls didn't need day care. It also meant that Percy was spending nine months of his year teaching high school, and three months of the year teaching preschool.

Actually, Sophia still went to daycare two days a week for the socialization, and to keep her entertained while Percy did things like cleaned the apartment and went to the grocery store. Sometimes Nella would stay with grandma while he did, or she'd just join her Daddy as his little helper.

Technically, it was a daycare day, but the weather was simply too beautiful to let Sophia stay inside all day. The sun was out but there was enough cloud cover and breeze that it wasn't oppressively hot. Percy picked Sophia up at Noon and went to meet his mom and Paul in Central Park for a picnic.

"Nanny!" Sophia said, kicking her feet in her stroller to try and get out the moment Sally came into view.

"Hello, baby!" His mom said, picking her up out of her stroller.

Sophia instantly started talking about how Percy had picked her up early, and how she was so excited that Nanny and Poppop were her surprise. They'd set up the blanket under a big tree for some extra shade, but there were still some warm sun spots poking through the leaves.

"That girl sure can talk," Paul said as Percy set up the little sun tent to keep Nella in the shade. She wasn't even five months old. His baby girl did not need a suntan.

His other baby girl was still, somehow, remarkably, chattering away to a very attentive grandma.

"She's far and away the best talker in her class," Percy said proudly. "It's that big brain of hers."

"She's gotta be way ahead of the other two-year-olds," Paul said.

"She's not two yet," Percy corrected. "But yeah, she is. She's off the charts, literally. Tippy top percentile, the pediatrician said."

Sophia's second birthday was in five days, and Percy definitely wasn't freaking out about it at all. He wasn't constantly thinking about how quickly the two years had gone, or how big Sophia was, or that she was almost not a baby anymore, but a toddler. Percy wasn't thinking about any of that. He certainly hadn't cried about it after ordering her birthday cake. Nope, not at all.

"Any pregnancy announcements this birthday?" Paul asked with a smirk.

Annabeth had discovered her second pregnancy at Sophia's first birthday party. Paul was not the first one to wonder if she and Percy were planning to start a trend.

"Not as far as we know," Percy said. "And I think Annabeth would kill me if that happened again."

Annabeth loved Nella, but the back-to-back pregnancies had taken their physical and emotional toll to be sure. They both wanted her to take a healthy break before the next one.

"Daddy!" Sophia said, running up to him with a dandelion in her hands. "Is for you!"

"Thank you, Love Bug!" Percy said.

She ran off, picked another one, and soon Percy had a lap full of yellow flowers.

"They all gone?" Sophia said, looking around the lawn for more, and not spotting any more yellow.

"You must have picked them all," Percy said.

"But I wan' more of them," Sophia said.

"Maybe when we come back next time, there will be more," Percy said. But Percy could see it, the inevitable meltdown that came from not being able to reason with a toddl -- baby. A baby!

"Why don't we go look for some cool leaves?" Sally said, holding out her hand.

The bomb was diffused. Sophia smiled and took grandmas hand, and off they went.

Percy laid on his back on the blanket and stared up at the sky. And almost immediately, Nella started to fuss.

"I've got her," Paul said, scooping Nella out of her tent and readjusting her bucket hat.

"She's probably hungry," Percy said.

He started to sit up to get the diaper bag and cooler, but Paul just said: "I've got it."

"You're the best," Percy said.

When Nella was fed and burped, Paul rested her on Percy's chest, so that they were, more or less, tummy to tummy.

Percy smiled at his other baby. "Hi there," he said. Nella cooed back, staring at Percy with her big brown eyes, and doing a good job of holding her head up for a few minutes. But then Percy rested his hand on her back, and she settled onto his chest, and fell right to sleep in the warm summer sun.

"Could you put her blanket over her legs?" Percy asked Paul. "I've been nap trapped."

"You got it."

Sally and Sophia came back finally, with handfuls of dandelions, leaves, and twigs.

"Daddy, I'm hungry," Sophia said to him.

"Oh no, what are we going to do?" Percy asked.

Sophia frowned and stomped her little foot. "I'm hungry!" She said again. She must be way past hungry if she's full on hangry. Percy tried not to laugh or smile, but he couldn't help it. She was so much like Annabeth.

"Here, Love Bug," Sally said, "we've got a sandwich for you. And we packed olives!"

With a little "Yay!" Sophia skipped off to the other side of the blanket where Sally had arranged a paper plate with her sandwich, some olives, and some apple slices.

After a few more minutes, Percy carefully transferred Nella back into her tent. Thankfully, she stayed snoozing.

His mom handed him the Italian sub, bag of chips, and bottle of Coke she'd brought for him.

"You're my hero, did you know that?" Percy asked, relieved to have the food. The soda in particular was a welcome relief in the warm sun.

He was a few bites in when Sophia stood up and disappeared behind the tree.

"Sophia, what are you doing?" Percy asked, standing to try and find her.

"I'm pooping!" She announced.

Sally and Paul just laughed, while Percy exhaled. He was hoping she wouldn't poop while they were still at the park. The bathrooms weren't nice. A wet diaper he could take care of in a matter of seconds, and probably just out on the picnic blanket. A one year, eleven months and 29 days-year-old's poopy diaper was another situation completely.

"I'll change her in the ladies room," Sally said. Their changing table was at least some-what nicer than in the men's room, which had gang signs, hate speech, and probably so many drugs on it.

"Thank you," Percy said.

Sophia came back a minute later, now much stinkier. "Go with Nanny," Percy said. Sophia took Sally's hand and walked off towards the bathrooms.

"You know, if she's going to hide for privacy, she's probably ready to start potty training. That's how we knew Estelle was ready," Paul said.

Percy swallowed his bite. "She can't be ready to potty train, she's not even two yet."

"How are you handling her up coming birthday?" Paul asked.

"I'm fine," Percy lied.

Paul smiled. "It's not always easy watching them get bigger. I can't even imagine having a little girl who grew up as fast as Sophia did. She'd been a toddler since she was thirteen months old."

"Tell me about it," Percy said. "I'm excited to watch her get bigger. I just wish it didn't all go so fast." Percy tried to cover his misty eyes by looking away from Paul to peak in at Nella. If she was anything like her sister, it wouldn't be long before she was talking too. It didn't not help the misty situation.

"Well, at least someone's here who maybe understands how you feel," Paul said.

Percy was about to turn, expecting to see his mom, but instead he heard: "Is he crying about Sophia's birthday again?"

Percy whipped around and saw Annabeth, still in her work clothes right behind him.

"Hey!" Percy said, greeting her and protesting at the same time. Before he could stand, she sat down next to him. His heart still picked up the pace when he saw her. She was glowing and golden in the sun, and the perfect blend of pretty and intimidating in her work clothes.

"She's cried just as much," Percy told his step-dad, pointing an accusing thumb in Annabeth's direction. Paul handed Annabeth her food as Percy asked: "What are you doing here?"

"Lied about a family emergency," Annabeth said.

"I hope it's not too serious," Percy said.

"Oh very serious. I just found out my family was having a park day without me!" Annabeth said.

"Well, at least someone in your family was nice enough to let you know where we were," Percy said, feeling a bit bad that one of his parents had had the idea to tell her where they were when Percy hadn't.

"Speaking of ... where's Sophia?" Annabeth asked.

"Diaper change," Percy told her. "Paul thinks she's ready to start potty training."

"I've been thinking that too," Annabeth said. This was news to Percy who felt oddly betrayed. "Maybe after her birthday party? We can get her a potty for her birthday, make it seem like an exciting thing?"

"Or, hear me out, we find a way to keep them both little forever?" Percy joked. He was fine. He's fine. It's fine. He's fine.

Annabeth kissed his cheek. "You're handling this all very well," she said. Percy couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

"Mommmmyyyy!" A little voice yelled. Percy took Annabeth's plate from her as Sophia crashed into her mom.

"Hi, Love Bug!" Annabeth said, giving her a big squeeze. "It's so good to see you!"

Sophia grabbed the dandelions and the pretty leafs off the ground and handed them to Annabeth.

"Are these for me?" Annabeth asked.

Sophia nodded.

"I thought they were mine?" Percy said.

"Daddy, we need to share," Sophia told him, getting a laugh from Sally and Paul. "Is not funny," Sophia told them. Percy was glad to see her taking sharing so seriously.

"You're right, sharing isn't funny. It's very important," Sally said.

Sophia backed up butt first until she was sitting on Annabeth's lap.

"Why don't you sit with me so Mommy can eat?" Percy suggested.

Sophia sighed dramatically and stood back up to reverse back into Percy's lap this time.

"Where did you get this attitude?" Percy teased.

"You," Annabeth and Sally said at the same time.

Chapter 25: Fish Butts

Notes:

We're doing a silly one! Sometimes the Percababies are these incredible sweet and precocious little girls. Sometimes they are regular kids who interrupt Percy and Annabeth's night of sleep.

“Mama, mama, mama …” 

 

Annabeth opened her eyes again, expecting Olivia. Olivia had woken both of them up (she looked at the clock) an hour ago, crying out in fear of the dark again. They had found her in the hallway, helped her to the bathroom, and then Percy had carried her back to her room. 

 

But it wasn’t Livy. Rosie was standing at the end of her bed, an angry little look on her face, perceptible frustration even in the dark. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Annabeth asked. 

 

“Come get --” but Annabeth couldn’t understand the last words her two-year-old said. 

 

“Come get what?” Annabeth asked, rolling onto her back, trying to find the will to get out of bed. 

 

“Get --” 

 

“What?” 

 

“ Daddy! ” Rosie finally tried. 

 

Annabeth’s brain caught up to her. 

 

“Were you calling him my husband ?” She asked. “Come get your husband! ” Her toddler had been yelling at her. When had she started calling Percy that ? 

 

Rosie just nodded and held out her hand, as if to say, Lady, get out of bed and come get your man. 

 

Annabeth let herself be walked to Rosie and Olivia’s room, pulled along by the hand of a very angry-looking two-year-old. 

 

To be fair, Percy’s snores were loud enough to be heard from the hallway. 

 

“Ah, I get it,” Annabeth said. 

 

Rosie got herself back into bed as Annabeth walked over to Livy’s bed, where Percy had fallen asleep. Livy often asked him to stay until she fell asleep, but it usually turned into Percy sleeping in her twin bed and then complaining about his neck the next day. 

 

“Percy …” Annabeth whispered, shaking him awake. 

 

Percy woke with a start and a snort, sitting up fast enough that he shook Olivia awake and off of him. She woke up with a startled cry too. Annabeth peaked behind her at Rosie, who had buried her head under her pillow. 

 

“You guys are keeping up Rosie,” Annabeth said. She picked up Olivia, who instantly fell back asleep on Annabeth’s shoulder. “Come on.” 

 

All three shuffled back into Percy and Annabeth’s room, where they finally collapsed, hopefully, gods willing, until the morning at least. 

 

~ 

 

“Daddy, Daddy …” Before Percy could open his eyes, his eye lids were being pried open. Livy was looking at him, more visible now that the sun was up and pouring in through their bedroom windows. She’d spent a good bit of the second half of their already restless night kicking Percy in the kidney. He could feel the call to stay asleep deep in his bones, but his eyes were being held open like he was trapped in his own personal A Clockwork Orange. 

 

“What?” Percy asked, trying to keep his voice down. 

 

“Do fish have butts?” 

 

Well, at least she had a good reason for prying his eyes open. 

 

“Ask your mother,” Percy said, rolling over and burying his face in the pillow to keep his eyes out of reach. 

 

“Mommy, do fish have butts?” Olivia asked. 

 

“Depends on what you think a butt is,” Annabeth grumbled. “Is it the hole where the poop comes out or the cheeks?” 

 

Livy sat still between them. Percy was about to fall back asleep when he heard her asking herself: “What is a butt?” 

 

“Baby’s first metaphysical dilemma," Percy said. 

 

Olivia crawled onto his back and sat there, crushing his lungs. Bad day for his organs. 

 

“I’m not a baby,” she said. 

 

“Certainly not,” Percy agreed, trying to shake her off. But she stayed put, and Percy resigned himself to his fate. 

 

“Daddy, can we go to the aquarium so I can ask the fish if they have butts?” Olivia asked. 

 

“Baby girl, if you let Mommy and me keep sleeping for another hour, I’m willing to do whatever you want,” Percy said. 

 

Olivia gasped. “Promise?” 

 

“Yes, but I don’t wanna hear a peep or feel one single kick from you,” Percy said.  

 

Olivia got off his back and slipped out of their bedroom. 

 

What felt like thirty seconds later, Sophia was at his side, asking: “How do you spell cloaca?” 

 

“What?” Percy asked. 

 

“I told Livy fish don’t have butts, they have cloacas, and we’re trying to look it up, but we can’t figure out how to spell it,” Sophia said.

 

“She wasn’t supposed to bother me for an hour,” Percy said. He didn’t have enough brain power to even try to spell cloaca. 

 

“It’s been an hour,” Sophia said. “And we’re out of Froot Loops.” 

 

Percy looked at the clock and saw that, yes, an hour had passed. No, he did not feel more rested. And yes, he’d have to take the girls to the aquarium today. 

 

“Do you know how to use the coffee maker?” He asked Sophia. She was almost ten. She could probably figure it out. 

 

“Yeah,” Sophia said. 

 

“Could you make me a giant pot of coffee?” Percy asked. “Then I will help you with this fish butt problem.”

 

Sophia agreed and scurried out. 

 

With the room quiet again, Percy rolled over to Annabeth and draped an arm over her. “We have to take the girls to the aquarium today,” he said. “They have questions about fish butts.” 

 

“ You have to take the girls to the aquarium today,” Annabeth clarified. 

 

Percy frowned. “You’re not coming with us?” 

 

“No, I’m sleeping,” Annabeth said. 

 

“Well, if you stay home, maybe not all of them will want to go. Only Olivia asked to go,” Percy said. “Or maybe we’ll go and have the best time.” 

 

Annabeth just rolled herself into little spoon and shushed him. She’d come , Percy realized with a smile, no way she’d miss it . 

 

Sophia poked her head in and told them coffee was ready. 

 

“You’re the best Love Bug in the world,” Percy said. 

 

“Sophia, tell your sisters that if they want souvenirs at the aquarium, they need to clean their rooms first,” Annabeth said, her eyes still closed. 

 

“Even me?” Sophia asked. 

 

“Especially you,” Annabeth said. 

 

Sophia groaned and stomped out of their bedroom. 

 

“We really thought we’d start getting sleep again once Rosie left infancy,” Annabeth said. 

 

“I’m so tired,” Percy said, “how am I still so tired?” 

 

“Did we get any sleep last night?” Annabeth asked. 

 

“Hard to say.” Percy  had certainly been asleep at some point. If it did anything to rest and recharge him, though, he wasn’t feeling it. 

 

They paused for a moment, listening for signs of crisis from the living room, but all they heard were the muffled sounds of Toy Story Two. 

 

“This is your fault, by the way,” Percy said, breaking the silence. 

 

“How is it my fault? You are the one who could have pulled out,” Annabeth said back. 

 

“The Athena genes. That’s where they get that curious spirit,” Percy said. 

 

"They're trying to research fish cloacas. This is a Poseidon thing, obviously," Annabeth said in her mom’s defense.  

 

"'Research' was the verb in that sentence. A very Athena thing to do." 

 

"So you're saying Poseidon kids can't be smart enough to do research? Bold stance, but I'll accept it, Seaweed Brain."

 

Percy rolled over to her and stole a kiss. “So you admit it, it’s your fault.” 

 

Annabeth playfully pushed him back to his side. “We should probably make sure our children are fed,” she said, slowly pulling herself up and over to the edge of the bed. 

 

Percy groaned, his back a little sore for the brief sleep on a twin bed and the night of being kicked. 

 

“Yeah, I guess,” he agreed. 

 

The living room was actually, remarkably, not a total disaster. The girls had gotten themselves cereal and put the bowls back in the sink. There were a few toys out, but nothing impossible to deal with. Annabeth praised the older girls for taking such good care of the little ones as Percy poured them both large mugs of coffee.

 

“You two are the best big sisters,” Annabeth told Nella with a big hug. “You both still need to clean your room. Take the sheets off your beds. I’ll wash them later.” 

 

“Ugh,” Nella said, also stomping off to do her chores. 

 

“Rosie, can you help Mommy and Daddy clean your room?” Percy asked. 

 

She shook her head, her eyes glued to her movie. 

 

“No? Why?” Percy asked. 

 

“Because I don’t want to,” she said. 

 

“Sometimes we need to do things we don’t want to,” Percy said. 

 

He expected a “why” in classic toddler fashion, where he could then try to explain the importance of keeping a home and shared bedroom tidy. 

 

Instead, he got: “But I don’t.” 

 

“Yes, even you need to do things you don’t want to do,” Percy said. 

 

“No, I don’t. I’m little,” Rosie reminded him. 

 

“Not that little anymore,” Percy said, his heart admittedly breaking a little bit to realize his last baby was not so little anymore. “I know you can do it.” The littles’ room wasn’t terribly messy compared to the girls, who had officially graduated to doing their own vacuuming and dusting. Percy and Annabeth still took care of that in the babies’ room. All Rosie and Livy would need to do was pick up a few books and toys. 

 

“Come on,” Percy said, trying to get her to take his hand, “Jessie will still be here when we get back.” 

 

Rosie looked at the TV as Percy paused her movie, and then back at her dad. She had his big green eyes and dark hair, and those big eyes were welling with tears. Before he could try to stop it, she broke down in a fit. Rosie pressed her face into the couch cushions and sobbed. 

 

Percy watched her for a minute, until she gave up standing and laid on her back on the floor, kicking her little feet around. Percy knew well enough from all of his daughters that this could go on for a while. He offered her some comfort, and even her pick of bedroom chores, but it was clear nothing short of getting her way was going to stop this.  

 

Annabeth walked up to them, arms full of sheets, and dropped them on Rosie. 

 

The crying stopped, and as she dug her way out from the pile they could hear her laughing. 

 

“Again!” she demanded. 

 

Annabeth lifted the sheets only to stop them and bury her again. 

 

“We can do them with your sheets, not your sisters’ dirty ones, if you go to your room and help me,” Annabeth said. That seemed to work, and Rosie got to her feet and went with Annabeth to her bedroom, leaving Percy behind with the sheets. 

 

Usually, he did the dishes and cooking, and Annabeth handled the laundry, but he could manage to get some sheets in the wash. He walked back to the littles’ room, vacuum in tow. He was pretty sure this meant he also got an aquarium souvenir. 

Notes:

Later at the aquarium ...

The fish to Percy: "The little sea ladies seem particularly interested in fish butts."

Percy: "Yeah."

The fish: "Why?"

Percy: "Beats the fuck outta me."

(and yes, the "your husband" bit is inspired by the "milk bottle" tweet)

Chapter 26: Comfort

Notes:

Someone had requested Annabeth realizing she's a good mom. I think it'd be something that happened slowly, and also came in waves of confidence, but here's one moment where Percy illuminates things for her.

They'd convinced Sophia to pick something besides Moana for family movie night.

"What about Lilo and Stitch? " Percy asked, cradling and bouncing baby Nella in his arms while Sophia sat in his lap to look at her sister.

"Was it about?" Sophia asked.

"I think it's about aliens?" Percy said. "I haven't seen it since I was little."

Annabeth sat down with the popcorn, and Sophia wiggled off her dad's lap to get closer to the bowl.

"I've never seen it," Annabeth said. "Is it funny?"

"I think so? Probably," Percy guessed.

"Okay!" Sophia said. Getting her to agree to anything that wasn't Moana, or worse, Moana Two, was good enough. They clicked it on.

~

It was not funny. Or, it was funny enough for the two-year-old who didn't understand death, broken families, social services, or anything about the overall emotional core of the movie. Sophia found the funny blue alien very funny.

Meanwhile, Annabeth was trying hard not to let her daughter see her crying over a funny alien movie.

" This is my family. I found it all on my own. It's little and broken but still good."

Annabeth let out a squeaky little sob against her will. Sophia and Percy turned to look at her, and with two pairs of concerned green eyes on her, she really lost the battle with her feelings. She tried not to sob too hard but that made her cries sound more like high pitched hiccups than anything else.

"Mommy is sad," Sophia said to her dad, half making a statement, half asking a question.

"Yeah," Percy said, reaching over their daughter to rub Annabeth's shoulder.

"Oh no!" Sophia said. She stood up on the couch cushion with her arms open. "Can I give you a hug?" She asked Annabeth.

Annabeth nodded and pulled her baby girl in close.

"Can I get you some juice?" Sophia asked, still holding onto her.

Annabeth almost laughed. That was her trick to stop a Sophia tantrum.

"Okay," Annabeth said. Percy stood up to try and help her, but Sophia put her little hand up to stop him.

"I wan' do it!" She said. Sophia pulled the fridge open and found a juice box. She toddled back to Annabeth with it in her hands. She was about to hand it over when she said: "Wait!" She tried to whisper, but she wasn't very good at whispering yet. "Daddy, can you help me open it?"

Percy smiled and got the straw out of the plastic and into the box.

"Here Mommy!" Sophia said, handing her the juice box.

Annabeth took a few sips. "Thank you, Love Bug."

Sophia started petting her head and shushing her. "Shhh, I'm here," Sophia promised her.

"Thank you," Annabeth said, trying not to cry harder so Sophia didn't think her comforts hadn't worked.

"Do you want a cuddle?" Sophia offered.

"I would love a Sophia cuddle," Annabeth said, opening her arms to pull her daughter down onto her lap. "Can Daddy and your sister join our cuddle?" Annabeth asked her.

Sophia nodded, and Percy took the cue to scoot closer to them. Annabeth rested her head on Percy's shoulder and just when she thought she was about to cry again, she drank some of her juice. It really worked.

~

"Gods, how cute was that?" Annabeth asked after they got Sophia to sleep for the night. "What a good little girl we've got." She rinsed her face in the sink, finally getting rid of the tear marks left behind from her latest Disney movie breakdown. Who knew they could be so emotional?

Percy smiled, toothbrush in his mouth. He tried to speak through it, but it was incomprehensible. He spat into the sink and tried again.

"She learned all of that from you," he said.

"You do all the same things," Annabeth said.

"I learned all of them from you." Percy lifted her up and sat her on the bathroom counter. "Whenever she's upset, you know exactly how to make her feel better."

"I thought you said I have no emotional boundaries," Annabeth teased, running her hands through his hair.

She didn't though, and she knew she didn't. Any attention Sophia wanted, she got; any trouble she got up to, she hardly got punished for. Annabeth was worried about what kind of big sister she was raising if Sophia turned out to be the same attention-seeking kid Annabeth had been.

"Well, you definitely let her get away with more toddler shenanigans than you probably should," Annabeth smiled, acting unbothered, "but she hasn't had one feeling that you haven't helped her understand. She was so proud of herself for helping you today too ..."

Now Percy looked like he might cry. Annabeth lifted his face to kiss him gently, and then asked: "Do you want juice?"

That got him to laugh.

"I just hope she doesn't turn out like I did," Annabeth confessed.

Percy looked at her confused. "Wanna explain that one? Because I really like the way you turned out."

Annabeth shrugged and explained a little. "--and you're right. I don't discipline her enough."

"That's not what I said," Percy said. "Sure, I think you let her push boundaries with us more than I think we should let her, but I don't think our two-year-old needs to constantly be in time out or feel like she can't come to us if she's sad. You don't give her too much attention. Gods, not at all." Percy rested a hand on her face. "She's little. She needs attention. She needs exactly the kind of love and care you give her. She can't even read yet, but she's already excited about getting to comfort you the way you comfort her. You're raising a good kid."

She could tell he was really trying hard not to get emotional too. She slid off the counter and pulled him into a hug.

" We are," she corrected. "She's as much yours as she's mine."

"She's really the best," Percy said.

"I am the best!" Sophia announced from around their bathroom corner.

"Sophia!" Percy said in a playful yell. Sophia took of running and laughing, and Percy set off to chase her. "What are you doing out of bed?" He asked when he caught her in the living room. He scooped her and started to carry her to her room. Annabeth followed them.

"I'm not tired," Sophia said.

"She's not tired," Percy relayed to Annabeth.

"What would make you tired?" Annabeth asked.

"Dessert," Sophia said.

"You already had dessert," Annabeth said.

"But my dessert tummy is still rumbly!"

Percy looked at Annabeth as if to say my one weakness. If she didn't have emotional boundaries, he was barely able to stop himself from giving her whatever food, toys, treats she wanted. If he was going to do the hard work of getting her back into bed, Annabeth could take over the hard work of denying her second desert.

"If you're really still hungry, you can have some fruit," Annabeth offered. "But you're not getting sweets."

Sophia pouted. "Daddy, can I have a cookie?"

"Mommy just said no," Percy said.

"We don't have to tell her," Sophia said.

"I think she can hear you, Love Bug," Percy said.

Sophia looked at Annabeth, who nodded yes, I can hear you . Sophia pouted.

"Do you want apple sauce?" Annabeth offered again.

"No," Sophia said.

"Do you want any food that isn't sweets?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Sophia said. "It only my desert tummy that's hungry."

"You have a cookie craving?" Percy asked, trying to interpret what a 'desert tummy' was.

Annabeth wasn't sure Sophia knew what a craving was, but she nodded.

"How about, if we get in the bed and go to sleep, we can have a cookie with lunch tomorrow?" Annabeth offered.

This seemed to satisfy her enough, and Sophia let Percy carry her back to bed.

"How about one more story?" Percy asked. "Is your story brain hungry?"

Sophia gave a big nod. "Yeah!"

Percy put her down. "Go pick one out and get under the covers. We'll be in in a minute."

They hoped that she'd fall asleep before they got into the room, but they found her sitting up, eyes wide open, waiting for them, with her copy of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in her lap.

"I wan' read it to you," Sophia decided. She couldn't actually read yet. Some of the pages she seemed to have memorized, others she improv'd based on the pictures. The story ended with: "That's why Sophia should have cookies, but mouses shouldn't."

Annabeth was impressed with her little Athena baby's plan. Maybe Athena's skills weren't as flashy as controlling the plumbing, but they did cause just as much amusing chaos in their apartment.

"Mice, not mouses," Annabeth said. "That was a very nice story, but just because it's in a book, it doesn't mean we have to do it."

Sophia pouted.

"Come on," Annabeth said, tucking her in as Percy turned off the lights. Annabeth started to trace a gentle finger over her face, "lets settle down."

Sophia's eyes started to close, but not before she looked at both of her parents.

"Can I have kisses?" She asked.

Percy and Annabeth leaned forward to kiss either cheek, their second good night kiss of the night.

Finally, Sophia's eyes started to close for real. They waited in her dark room for a few minutes to make sure she was really asleep. Finally, the coast seemed clear enough that they could make their way back to their own room.

"See that --" Percy said, pointing to Sophia's room, "that's what a great mom looks like." Annabeth smiled. Before she could tell him what a great dad he was, Percy added: "And! You do have boundaries."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Cookie boundaries."

"Better than nothing," Percy said.

Notes:

Annabeth: [has raised the sweetest little baby girl in the world, and that girl actively mirrors her mom's behaviors]
Annabeth: I hope she doesn't grow up to be like me. I was terrible.
Percy: what the hell are you talking about???

Chapter 27: Pumpkin

"Nella, do you want to come sit in Mommy's room?" Mommy asked her. She had Olivia by the hand and Rosie in her arms. Nella knew it was about to be nap time/quiet time in there. Mama cuddles sounded nice, but she wasn't tired. She wanted to play mermaids, but Sophia was at a birthday party with Daddy, so Nella didn't have anyone to play with. Olivia wasn't good at playing mermaids yet. She kept trying to be a pirate.

"Can I sit in the living room?" Nella asked.

Mommy paused and put her thinking face on. "Sure, that should be okay. I'll leave my door open," she said. "Want me to put on a movie for you?"

Nella nodded. "Ariel?"

Livy started to get cranky while Mama set up the TV for her. "Shhhh, it's okay," Nella tried to tell the two-year-old. The last thing she wanted was for Olivia to start crying. That would be loud and annoying.

Mama kissed the top of Nella's head. "You're such a good big sister," she told her. Nella beamed.

Once The Little Mermaid was started and most of Mommy's door was closed, Nella took off to her room to get her bathing suit. Their building had an in-door pool downstairs that Daddy took them to all the time, but even when she wasn't going swimming, Nella liked to wear it for dress up. The top was purple like Ariel's seashells, the the bottom had green scales and a little ruffly skirt like a fin. She slipped it on over her clothes, and ran back out to try and catch the good part of the opening -- the part where the mermaids showed up!

Nella sat with Boo, their cat and colored, singing along to "Part of Your World" and occasionally talking to Boo about what color tail and seashell bra she'd want if she was a mermaid. Purple was her favorite color, she explained, so she'd like a purple tail. She might like pink seashells, but Sophia always said that pink was her favorite color, and Nella couldn't have it.

"But Sophia's not here, so I can have it," Nella rationalized, drawing herself as a mermaid on some construction paper. She had a purple tail, pink seashells, and long, long, long yellow hair. It wasn't fair. Sophia and Olivia got to look like Mommy, and she didn't.

"That's me," Nella said, pointing to the paper. "When I get big, my hair is gonna look like that." But Boo wasn't looking at her any more. She was sniffing at the front door.

"Boo?" Nella asked, walking over to her.

Nella got on her hands and knees and looked under the door. Through the crack under the door, she could see little paws, and hear tiny meows.

Nella gasped. "A kitty!" She wasn't supposed to open the front door. Not under any circumstances. But she couldn't see other people in the hallway. And Mommy was right there if anyone tried to get her. She'd just ...

Nella opened the door a crack, and Boo bolted out.

"Boo! No!" Nella whispered, trying to keep her voice down. She'd be in really big trouble if she let the cat out.

But Boo just bit the kitten and carried it inside. Nella shut the front door behind her.

"Huh?" Nella wondered. It was teeny tiny, smaller than Rosie was. It was orange, with a little white belly and lots of fuzz. Boo started licking him right away, and the little guy let her do it. Nella sat on the ground next to him, and he jumped right into her lap. She laughed a little, and started to rub his belly as Boo kept licking his head.

"You got a big belly," Nella said, rubbing him until he purred. "You're orange. I'm gonna call you Pumpkin. Are you hungry?"

Nella stood up, and Pumpkin let himself be carried to their treat cabinet. She got him some pieces of dry chicken, and he ate them right up, right out of her hand.

"Mommy's gonna love you," Nella promised. She gasped again. "You wanna meet her?"

Pumpkin purred, and Nella suspected that was a yes.

~

Annabeth had not fallen asleep while co-sleeping with her baby and toddler. That would be dangerous and irresponsible. So, she hadn't fallen asleep. She was just ... resting her eyes.

She woke up to Max barking at something.

Annabeth gently untangled Olivia from her, and rested Rosie on Percy's side, far from the edge as she looked for what Max had seen.

It was just Nella, wearing her bathing suit over her clothes again. Annabeth had been listening to Nella sing along to the song in The Little Mermaid. It always made Annabeth happy to hear her daughter sing. Nella was too shy to sing in front of most people, but she actually had a good little singing voice. Gods knew she didn't get that from either parent.

"Max, stop, you're scaring him!" Nella said.

"Scaring who?" Annabeth asked.

Nella held up a small, clean, orange kitten proudly. "This is Pumpkin!"

Annabeth closed her eyes to try and gather her thoughts, but all of her thoughts were oh boy, what the fuck, and how?????

"Where did Pumpkin come from?" Annabeth asked slowly, trying hard not to freak out, and gesturing for Nella to get on the bed. Nella climbed the stairs they had for the dog, and then set Pumpkin free on the bed.

Worried for her infant, Annabeth scooped up the kitten, and held it in her arms. The little thing seemed to fall asleep there.

"He was alone in the hallway," Nella said. "Boo found him."

Annabeth looked at her six-year-old sharply.

"Marianela, did you open the front door without a grown up?" Annabeth asked her.

Nella shrunk a bit at the rare use of her full name. "He was alone! And crying! I didn't go in the hallway. Boo got him! Boo went in the hallway!"

"Okay, okay," Annabeth said, trying to calm her. "If there's ever something you need in the hallway, just come get me." Nella nodded.

Annabeth considered the kitten. There was no way he was a stray if he was up this high, this clean, and this well-behaved. Annabeth couldn't bear to look at Nella's hopeful little face. She was going to have to break this little girl's heart.

"Now, baby, I'm sorry but there is bad news," Annabeth said. "This kitten doesn't belong to us. We need to help him find his family. He can't live with us."

Nella's eyes welled with tears. "He can't?"

"No sweetie, I'm sorry," Annabeth said.

"But ... I found him," Nella said.

"And I'm sure he's very grateful he's not lost in the hallway anymore, but just because we find someone's pet, it doesn't mean we get to keep him. He probably belongs to a neighbor," Annabeth said.

"But what if we tell the neighbor that I love him?" Nella asked.

Annabeth rubbed a tear from her cheek. "What if Boo got out and a neighbor found her? Would you be okay letting the neighbor keep her just because they loved her too?"

Nella sniffed. "No."

"So we can't keep him," this was going better than she thought . "When Daddy gets home, we have to bring him back."

She thought too soon.

Nella dissolved into sobs. Before Annabeth could intervene, Pumpkin jumped out of her arms and scurried to Nella. Nella held him close and slid off the bed.

"I wanna keep him!" She yelled. "I found him! He's mine!"

Annabeth started to go after her, but Rosie and Olivia work up, both in tears now too at nap time so loudly interrupted.

"Nella!" Annabeth called after her. But she had to triage. She scooped up Rosie and got her soothed by letting her eat. With Rosie on the boob, she turned her attention to Olivia, who she got back to sleep pretty easily once the room was quiet.

Annabeth let Livy keep napping in her room, and she took Rosie to her crib. With them settled, she looked for Nella and found her, Boo, and Pumpkin hiding under her bed.

Annabeth laid on her stomach and looked at them. Even Boo seemed protective of the little guy, like she'd decided she was his mama now.

"Nella," Annabeth said in a soft voice. "I know this is hard."

Nella was still sobbing. "I don't ... want him ... to leave ..."

"I know baby girl," Annabeth said, reaching a hand under the bed. Nella reached out her hand too. "But it's what's right. Don't you want to do the right thing?"

"No, the right thing is letting Pumpkin stay here," Nella said.

"If he didn't have a family or a home, that would be the right thing. But he does have a family. He just got lost. He's very lucky he found you and Boo, but we're not his family."

Nella pulled the kitten in close. He was remarkably tolerant of the little girl, Annabeth noted.

"But he loves me!" Nella said.

"I know you love him," Annabeth said, "but he doesn't belong to us. When Daddy gets home, we need to help him find his family."

Nella kept sobbing face down on the floor.

"Baby girl, do you want to sit on your bed and cuddle? We could show him what a good reader you are --"

"No! You're the worst Mommy ever!" She kept crying into the floor.

"Oh," Annabeth said. She'd been called a lot of things by her kids - a poopy head, stinky. Embarrassing had been one Sophia learned recently, and which Annabeth embraced with pride.

But this one hurt. Really hurt. Annabeth pulled herself from the floor and sat on Nella's bed, trying not to cry.

"Well, I'll be up here, if you want a buddy," Annabeth said.

Nella kept crying.

~

Annabeth had warned him that there was some kind of fiasco at home. He wished she'd given him a little more warning for the total chaos he and Sophia were about to step into.

"Daddy! Please can I keep him!" Nella said, running up with a kitten Percy had never seen before. Livy was walking around with her hands on her ears, begging Daddy to make her be quiet, and Rosie was crying too as Annabeth tried to rock her.

"Aw!" Sophia said. "Who's this guy?"

"He's someone else's kitten," Annabeth said. He could tell she was at her wits end. Frustration was starting to come through in her voice.

"What happened?" Percy asked.

Nella started to explain something about Boo and the hallway, and how Annabeth said no, he couldn't stay, and --

"Percy, could I talk to you for a second?" Annabeth said.

Sophia started to make the oooooo you're in trouble noise. Annabeth almost never called him just "Percy" in front of the girls.

"Yeah, yeah. Sophia, why don't you show your sisters' your goody bag?" Percy said.

He followed Annabeth into their bathroom, shutting both their bedroom door and the bathroom door behind them. Annabeth had a baby monitor on her hip to listen to the living room, but so far, things seemed okay.

Rosie stopped crying once they were quiet. Percy took her from Annabeth, and Annabeth promptly nearly collapsed into his arms.

"Rough afternoon?" Percy asked.

"I'll tell you later," Annabeth said, her face buried in his neck and shoulder. "The thing we need to talk about is the kitten."

"Yeah, who is that?" Percy asked.

"Nella found him in the hallway. She wants to keep him, but I told her he probably belongs to someone else. Except ..." Annabeth pulled away, and he could see that she had her I have an idea face on. "The girl down the hall ... her foster cat had a litter. She's had those fliers up in the lobby?" Percy vaguely remembered that. "I think that's maybe one of her kittens."

"So you think the little guy is adoptable?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded. "And if he is ..."

"I think we should let her keep him," Annabeth said. "You remember how much Boo helped us in college! I think he'd be good for her! And Boo's eighteen. She won't be around much longer."

Percy took a deep inhale. "And if he's not adoptable, how long before we take her to the animal shelter to pick out a different kitten?"

"Tomorrow?" Annabeth guessed.

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "And you say I spoil them. So, who's bringing the kitten back?"

That was a high-risky, high-reward job. Whoever brought him back could find out that he was adoptable, and make Nella's whole year. Or they were the mean parent who brought the kitten back for good. The parent who stayed, though, had to deal with Nella's breakdown, and probably the tears of the other girls too.

"I could do it. I'm already the worst Mommy ever," Annabeth said with a small laugh.

Percy looked at her. "Did Nella say that to you?"

Annabeth nodded. Percy pulled her in with the arm not holding Rosie. Despite trying to laugh it off, Annabeth broke down in tears almost immediately.

"Let me take the fall," Percy said. "You stay here, let her get mad at me."

"She'll just be mad at the both of us," Annabeth said.

"Well then we'll be in it together," Percy said, lifting her face up to kiss her.

"Alright. Let's go be the worst parents ever."

~

It had gone just as badly as Percy expected. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard Nella cry so loud. Olivia and Sophia didn't look happy either, but at least Sophia tried to comfort Nella, and Olivia took comfort in Annabeth. At least not all of her girls were mad at her, Percy thought as he carried the orange boy out of their apartment. At least he was pretty sure it was a boy. Most orange cats were.

"Pumpkin?" Percy said. "That's a cute name. It would be nice to have another guy around. Just me and Max... we're pretty out numbered."

Pumpkin just looked up at him with his big eyes and purred.

Annabeth had gone downstairs to find the flyer with the apartment number on it. It was on their floor, which was a good sign. But the flyer had been up for a little while. Maybe the woman wanted to keep Pumpkin. Maybe he wasn't even hers.

Percy knocked on the door.

A woman with a deep tan complexion and long dark hair opened the door. "Joey!" She said.

"Percy," Percy corrected.

"I meant the kitten," she reached out for the cat, and Percy handed him over. "I know who you are," she said.

"Oh," Percy said. "I hope my kids don't keep you up --"

"I've seen them, they're adorable. But I mean, you're Percy Jackson. Everyone knows you!"

"Oh, right," he said. He of course knew his heroic exploits were still shared at Camp, he just didn't realize people in the building ... knew him like that.

"I'm Dhriti, daughter of Demeter," she said. "We never quite overlapped at camp, but I got there just after you left for New Rome. It's... wow, it's really great to meet you."

Percy was out of touch meeting fans, and only managed a socially inept: "Yeah, you too."

Pumpkin started to meow loudly, and a little white kitten about his size walked up and meowed back.

"That's Phoebe," the woman said. "His sister."

She set Pum-- Joey on the ground, and Phoebe immediately pounced on him, flipping him onto his back as if to say you're never getting away from me again.

"They're cute," Percy said. "My daughter found Joey in the hallway."

"I don't know how he got out," Dhriti stepped aside and welcomed Percy in. The place was covered floor to ceiling in potted plants.

The two kittens kept rolling around.

"I'm glad we were able to bring him home," Percy said. "Are you fostering them?"

"Yup!" Dhriti said. "Well, fostering Mom." She pointed to the top of the fridge, where a calico cat lounged, indifferent to the kittens. "Let me tell you, she is over the whole Mom thing. She can't wait until these two get adopted."

"So he's adoptable?" Percy asked quickly. "Because if he is, I mean, he's welcome to come live with us."

Dhriti smiled. "He is, except, well," she looked at where Joey and Phoebe were still playing. "They're bonded. They'd have to go together. I haven't had luck finding someone to take both of them."

Percy weighed his options. He could try to text Annabeth, or walk back home empty handed. He could outright turn down the offer and let Nella pick out a different cat tomorrow.

He looked at the bonded pair, and the way the white one swatted at the orange one when she got annoyed with him. He'd never let himself be separated from Annabeth. He couldn't separate these guys.

He imagined going back to ask Annabeth if they should just take both. " Yes, Seaweed Brain! " He imagined. The choice was obvious.

"We could take both of them," Percy said. "Is there an application process or ..."

"Well, usually, yes, and I'd want to see your place, or have your family meet them to see if it was a good fit. But it seems like it already is. And, anyway, I can trust you."

She was smiling at him a lot, and blushing a bit.

"This will make my wife and daughters so happy," Percy said, emphasizing wife. It seemed to only make Dhriti more flustered.

"Annabeth is so cool. Is it true she designed this building?" Dhriti asked.

"Sure is. Um, do they have things I need to collect or ..."

Dhriti gathered their vet records, and a few favorite toys and cans of food. She put both of them one cardboard carrying box.

"If you ever miss them, or if mama up there misses them, feel free to stop by," Percy said.

"I'm sure they'll be so happy," Dhriti said.

They weren't the only ones.

~

Nella hadn't stopped crying. Annabeth had calmed her enough that she was no longer worried Nella was going to cry herself sick, but the tears hadn't stopped. She'd thrown herself onto her bed and sobbed the moment Percy left the apartment.

At least she wasn't yelling at Annabeth anymore.

Annabeth just rubbed her back and let her cry, assuring her that mama was there, and that it was okay to let the big feelings out.

Percy stepped into the girls' bedroom with a white box, and Annabeth exhaled. Percy sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Pumpkin back out.

Sophia gasped from her bed and ran over.

"Nella, look who it is," Annabeth said.

Nella opened her eyes, and only cried harder when she saw Pumpkin. She held him close, resigned to never let him go.

"Your mom found out he was up for adoption, and she wanted to let him stay. So, he's all yours," Percy said.

Nella reached for her mom, saying "thank you" over and over, through her tears.

Annabeth gave her a big hug as she mouthed her own "thank you" to Percy.

"Do you have the best Mommy ever?" Percy asked her.

Nella nodded into Annabeth's chest. "I love you," Nella said.

"I love you too," Annabeth promised. "Say 'thank you' to Daddy too,"

"Thank you!" Nella said, reaching forward for a hug, which Percy gladly embraced.

"So, who's this guy?" Sophia asked, lifting the white one out of the box.

Annabeth looked wide-eyed and confused at the kitten, then back to Percy.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "They were bonded! They were the only two left! No one would take both of them. I couldn't separate them!"

Annabeth smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.

"It's perfect," Annabeth promised.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Sophia asked, holding the kitten up high to inspect its underside.

"She's a girl," Percy said. "They were calling her Phoebe, and him Joey."

"If that one's Pumpkin, and we already have Boo, then she can be Ghost!" Sophia decided.

"You know Boo's full name is 'Bodega,' right?" Percy asked.

"Bodega is a stupid name," Sophia said. "Ghost is a good name."

~

They gathered all four girls into the living room. "Okay, these are our two new family kittens," Annabeth explained. "They aren't just Nella's. They belong to all of us, and we are all going to take care of them like we take care of Max and Boo."

Three of the girls nodded, Rosie, understandably, just sat there.

"This means we all get to pick their names," Annabeth continued. She held up the orange one. "All in favor of Pumpkin, say aye."

"Aye!" The three girls and Percy said.

"Pumpkin it is! All in favor of Ghost, say aye!"

All four said aye.

"Ghost it is!"

They cheered.

"Now, these are all family kittens," Percy repeated. "So I don't want anyone to ask for their own kitten next. We're not getting four kittens."

"You can have four kids, but not four kittens?" Sophia asked with enough sass in her tone to make her father proud.

"I'd ask you where you got that attitude from. But I know it's my fault," Percy said.

Sophia just smiled.

"Besides, we've got four animals now," Annabeth pointed out.

"Yeah, and four pets," Percy said.

Notes:

What Annabeth did not know was that every time Grover comes to visit, he gives Boo the blessing of Pan, and she's actually going to live to be about 30.

Also I know "bodega" is not pronounced "boo-dega." I just think Boo is a cuter cat name than Bo or Bow.

Chapter 28: Rosie Interludes

Notes:

I was talking to @darkmagyk about my fourth Percababy, Rosie, and ended up writing three Rosie-centered interludes. These are a ll short, disconnected pieces set when she's two years old.

Percy and Sophia had run out to Walgreens to grab some last minute poster board, and had left Annabeth with a kitchen to clean and a baby who wanted an ice pop. Annabeth wrapped a bunch of paper towels around the plastic tube to try and catch any drippage as Rosie sucked on the pink Otter Pop. 

 

Annabeth held Rosie on her hip as she tried to collect the pots and plates in the sink. 

 

“Rosie, can you come help me?” Annabeth called towards the living room. 

 

No one responded. 

 

“Rosie, you need to help,” she yelled again. “Rosie, come --” 

 

She felt a baby hand on her face. Rosie turned her mother’s face to look at her. 

 

“Mama, I is right here,” she explained, obviously confused. 

 

“Right,” Annabeth said, processing that she’d been calling for the girl in her arms. “Max -- Sophia -- oh!” Annabeth stepped into the living room where her other two daughters were watching TV. “You!” 

 

Nella looked up at her. 

 

“Actually, both of you can help clean the kitchen,” Annabeth said to both girls, waving them towards the kitchen. The girls stood up to help clean with little protest. 

 

Rosie pointed at her older sisters. “Mama, they’s Nella and Livy,” Rosie explained to her. 

 

“There’s too many of you,” Annabeth said, nearly tripping over their white cat, Ghost. Annabeth pressed a steadying hand to Rosie’s back so her two-year-old didn’t fall. “You’re hard to keep track of.” 

 

~~

 

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. Olivia and Percy were in the kitchen cooking something up that they saw on the Food Network, but otherwise, it was a day for couch potatoing. Annabeth had a Sophia on one side and a Nella on the other. Rosie had parked herself on the floor with several horse toys and her Jessie doll. 

 

“Rosie, do you wanna cuddle?” Sophia asked her. Rosie shook her head and kept on playing. 

 

“Alright ladies,” Annabeth said after a few more minutes, “I’ve gotta clean my bathroom.” 

 

Annabeth pulled herself free of her daughters, who did not keep cuddling each other, but parted to the other sides of the couch. 

 

Annabeth had barely started wiping down the tub when she was interrupted. 

 

“Mama,” Rosie said, her Minnie Mouse in her hands. “Cuddles?”

 

Annabeth looked at her. “You want cuddles now?” 

 

Rosie nodded. “Just us cuddles?” 

 

“Just you and me?” Annabeth asked, picking her up. Rosie was getting big now, almost three years old, but Annabeth was determined to be able to hold her last baby for as long as possible. 

 

Rosie snuggled into Annabeth’s shoulder. “Just us,” she confirmed. 

 

“Okay, we can cuddle for five minutes, and then Mommy has to keep cleaning,” Annabeth said. 

 

“Can we use the comfy blanket?” Rosie asked. 

 

The comfy blanket was Percy and Annabeth’s weighted blanket, which the youngest two were still too little to use on their own. 

 

“Sure, baby,” Annabeth said. She got them both snugly under the weighted blanket, and only then realized her error. Rosie had always been the best, easiest sleeper of her girls. The Minnie Mouse lovey in hand was a sure sign of naptime, and the weighted blanket put Rosie to sleep right away, all cuddled up on Annabeth. She’d been nap trapped. 

 

Annabeth was impressed with Rosie’s plan. No one would bother them, because no one wanted to get roped into cleaning with mama, but also, what kind of mama could deny a cuddle request? Not Annabeth, that was for sure. 

 

Well, it was better than cleaning the bathroom. 

 

Annabeth pulled Rosie in nice and tight and listened to her little girl’s gentle breathing, until Annabeth also dozed off. 

 

~

 

Rosie was gripping Percy’s hair like she was Ratatoulie, and he was cooking. Daddy’s shoulders had already become the best place for her and Olivia to hang out so far this Disney trip, besides in the stroller. 

 

Rosie had been going around since check-in showing off her big blue button that said “It’s my birthday!” Really, it wouldn’t be her third birthday for a few more weeks, but she, Percy, and Sophia (whose birthday was three weeks ago), each got one. Everyone else got orange “First Visit” buttons. 

 

It was their first day in Magic Kingdom after spending their check-in day at Epcot. Annabeth had dressed Rosie up as Minnie Mouse in a red polka dot dress, with her black hair tied up in two space buns to look like ears.

 

After some family photos in front of the castle, they got into their first line, right on Main Street for something really important. 

 

The older girls knew what was going on, but the nearly-three-year-old had no idea. Percy kept her perched on his shoulders until she started to squirm. Percy took the hint and set her down. On her feet, Rosie just kept twirling around in her red polka dot Minnie Mouse dress, rambling about princesses, while the other girls planned what rides they wanted to do and when.

 

Finally, the doors opened, and Percy took her hand as they walked forward into the room. 

 

“Rosie, who is that?” Percy asked her. Annabeth had her phone out to record, and they all hoped Rosie didn’t start screaming in fear. 

 

“Minnie!” The little girl took off towards her favorite plush-come-to-life. Minnie Mouse knelt down and let the toddler crash into her with a big hug. Rosie held onto the character for a good, long hug. 

 

“You’re her favorite,” Annabeth told the character. Minnie showed her appreciation by putting her gloved hands over her mouth. 

 

Rosie started bouncing in front of Minnie, showing off their matching skirts, and Minnie made some gestures to compliment Rosie’s dress. 

 

“Want to show her your Minnie Mouse?” Percy asked, taking Rosie’s favorite toy out of his backpack. The girls were supposed to leave their loveys in the hotel room so nothing got lost, but they needed this one for the picture. 

 

Rosie ran over to grab her favorite toy, before she willingly handed it over to the character. Minnie pointed at the toy excitedly, and then she gave it a big hug before returning it to Rosie. 

 

They managed to get Rosie to settle enough for a big family picture, and a few of just Mom, Dad, Rosie, and Minnie. 

 

“Say bye bye to Minnie Mouse,” Percy said. 

 

“Bye bye,” Rosie said. “See you later!” 

 

Minnie Mouse blew her kisses. 

 

When they were outside, Rosie looked up at Percy, very seriously. 

 

“Disney World is … done now?” Rosie asked. 

 

“No baby, we’ve still got seven more days,” Percy said. 

 

Rosie’s eyes went wide. “Whoa,” was all she said. 

 

“Minnie Mouse is going to be in the parade later,” Sophia told her sister. Rosie didn’t reply, a little overwhelmed; she just reached up and took Sophia’s hand, and walked back into the Florida sun, obviously pondering what else there could be, if the trip had already peaked. 

Notes:

There were about nine hours between when Rosie was born and when she met her sisters, and she's been trying to rediscover the peace of those nine hours ever since.

The Minnie Mouse toy is the one Nella picked out for her when she was a baby (In the chapter "Target Practice").

Also, I know the rat's name is not Ratatouille, but I don't think Percy knows that.

Notes:

Sophia (Love Bug), born August 2 when Percy is 28 and Annabeth is 29. She's blonde with green eyes, and she has Percy's face.
Marianela (Nella), born March 10 when Percy and Annabeth are 30. She's the near spitting image of Sally Jackson, just with slightly darker hair.
Olivia (Livy), born November 24 when Percy and Annabeth are 33. She's Annabeth's total mini-me, blonde and gray eyes.
Rosalind (Rosie), born September 8 when Percy and Annabeth are 35. She has dark black hair and green eyes, but a mix of facial features from both parents.

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Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Ever After (My Percabeth Future Canon)