Annabeth Chase was covered in spider bites. That was her first thought once she woke up. She had long since given up telling her father and stepmother because somehow the spider bites disappeared by the time she got dressed in the morning.
Her second thought was that she was seven. She didn't know why, but for some reason she felt like it was a big deal. It wasn't the fact that she was seven exactly, it was more the fact that she had heard her father on the phone with Aunt Natalie, and later with Uncle Randolph. She had a feeling that she'd see them soon, along with her little cousin Magnus, which she was actually looking forward to.
As she descended the staircase, she thought of her recent plan to run away. She didn't feel wanted anymore, so one day, she decided she could leave. Her stepmother seemed to hate her, because she kept on attracting monsters for some reason she wasn't entirely sure about. She just knew that she was different, that she wasn't like other kids her age; she just didn't know what she was. She knew that she was smarter than the average kid her age, and that she was dyslexic and ADHD, and that, despite her above-average intelligence, teachers didn't seem to like her much. Though she only just turned seven, she already knew it was because she was harder to teach, though she wasn't even in the first grade yet.
She was brought out of her reverie by her two-year-old half-brothers, Bobby and Matthew, who were making a mess of their breakfast. Her father, who had the misfortune of it being his turn to feed the twins breakfast, looked up at her briefly in acknowledgement, smiled slightly, and said, "Happy Birthday, Annabeth."
"Thank you," she replied, and slid into a chair at the table.
It could easily be passed off as her being polite, but in truth she was thanking him for much more. She was thanking him for remembering, because she had to admit that a part of her was worried that he would forget ever since he had met her stepmother, and only intensified when they had gotten married and had Bobby and Matthew.
She knew it was irrational, and usually she didn't do irrational, but she couldn't help it, because it wasn't just them anymore, and it felt they spent less and less time together. She was also thanking him for putting aside his own issues with his siblings for her, because she may have mentioned to him that they never saw each other anymore a few weeks ago, although he didn't know that she knew, as she had been eavesdropping at the time she found out.
The rest of breakfast passed in relative silence, aside from the sound of Bobby and Matthew arguing, which she didn't pay attention to, but was probably about something stupid. Just as she got up to put her plate in the sink, her father tentatively said, "So I invited your Aunt Natalie and Uncle Randolph to birthday party—" he cut himself off when he saw that Annabeth was completely unfazed by this. "You already knew didn't you?" he said instead.
"I heard you on the phone and I couldn't resist." Seeing his daughter nod sheepishly, he shook his head, though he was smiling.
"It's fine, I suppose, as long as you don't make a habit of it."
"Okay," she replied, relieved, and walked off.
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It was around the time when the rest of the Chase family was supposed to arrive, and Annabeth was bouncing in anticipation. She could've lived without seeing Uncle Randolph, but Magnus and Aunt Natalie we're coming, so it was fair in a way.
She had a faint recollection of Randolph's daughters—and her cousins—Emma and Aubrey, but nothing more than a fuzzy image of what they looked like. She didn't know what had happened to them, and no one ever brought it up, so neither did she.
She snapped back to reality when she heard the doorbell ring, and jumped up from her spot on the couch. Her father beat her to the door though, and it opened to reveal Natalie and Magnus Chase.
"Hello Frederick," Natalie said.
They were on friendlier terms than than either of them were with Randolph, which Annabeth supposed made sense. It was like no one liked him; he was like that one person who made everyone uncomfortable.
"Hello Nat. It's been a while."
"So it has."
While the two siblings conversed, Magnus and Annabeth has their own conversation of sorts through their expressions.
Wanna play with Dominos? Magnus' expression seemed to ask.
Only if we get to build instead of actually play was Annabeth's silent reply.
Deal, Magnus seemed to agree, which wasn't very hard since that's what they usually did.
That's pretty much what they did when once in a blue moon the Chase siblings got together. Annabeth built a tower or a building of sorts, while Magnus did his own thing, always different every time they played.
And so, Annabeth and Magnus went off on their merry way after greeting their aunt and uncle respectively, both of whom watched on amused at their children as they skipped to Annabeth's room while swinging their entwined hands between them.
Annabeth managed to build a whole city complete with Grecian columns in most of the buildings which she called New Greece while Magnus made a tower sort of thing he called Hotel Valhalla from the stories his mom told him when the doorbell rang again.
Knowing it was Randolph, the two cousins weren't really as excited to get to the door, but trudged down the stairs anyway. They came down to voices at the doorway, but, thankfully, it wasn't yelling this time like it was the last time the family got together.
Magnus and Annabeth both hesitated at the sight, sure something would go wrong any second. Thankfully, nothing did, so they descended the rest of the staircase slowly, as if to stall, which they were.
As they exchanged greetings with Randolph, which was mostly timid on their part, they moved to the living room, where Annabeth's stepmother Helen, Frederick, and Natalie talked while the two built with Dominos upstairs. Apparently, Bobby and Matthew sat in the corner this whole time, building—or at least attempting to, since they were taking apart more than they were building.
Magnus and Annabeth went back to building until the cake was brought out, at which point they ran downstairs so fast they almost ran over Natalie, who'd come up to inform them. Annabeth couldn't help but think she would miss this if she ran away.
Seeing the smile on Frederick's face as she blew out the candles, she decided she would stay. For now.