Request: Could you do something like Percy Annabeth are pregnant and Will delivers their baby. Cause honestly I don't think Percy would let anyone else do it!
"Holy mother of Hera…"
Percy's muffled curse echoed down the hallway. Annabeth paused in stirring honey into her herbal tea, glancing at the clock. She closed the window blinds for the night, turned off the kitchen light and padded down the hallway to lean in the doorway of the smallest room of their apartment, freshly painted a sunny yellow. Percy knelt on the floor, still assembling the crib. Somehow, the instructions had been printed only in Spanish. Annabeth had tried to convince him to do it some other time, but when he got restless, he got restless.
"You should come to bed."
He glanced up in frustration. "The baby is going to be sleeping on the floor. It's better for the spine anyway."
"I still want her to sleep with us in the beginning. The crib will mostly be for naps, and maybe when she's a little older…"
"Babe, I know. We've been over it."
They fell silent. Annabeth watched him maneuver a slat into place, his hair a rumpled mess from running his hand through it too many times. She looked silently around the little room, which still smelled of paint. Piles of their things were everywhere; it had been their office space until recently. Her books on ancient Greece were still stacked in a corner, along with Percy's no-longer-new textbooks.
She wandered over and began re-stacking them all into neater piles. Percy looked over at her doing it. "We should sell those back. Become millionaires again. We could use the money."
Annabeth's hand froze. "Percy, no –"
"They're just sitting there gathering dust –"
"Percy! Just because things are on hold for awhile, doesn't mean you're not going back to school." She was using her fiercest voice, because if she didn't, she thought she might start crying. "NYU will wait. We're keeping the books."
There was a pause. "Whatever you say."
She sat down next to him on the floor, taking his hand away from the almost-finished crib, lacing his fingers through hers. Her left hand and his left hand. The bands on their fourth fingers clinked in a familiar way. She looked at the tired lines on his 24 year old face. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly.
He let out a long, deep breath, like he'd been holding it in for months. His other hand ran through his hair.
"I just keep thinking – how much better it would've been. For the baby. If we'd been able to wait a few more years. I mean, we only just got our own health insurance this year. Do you feel like an adult?"
Annabeth snorted. "No. I still eat cocoa puffs for breakfast." She tapped a finger on his stubbly chin. "But I also work at a real architecture firm, and I know this really sexy man who works at a real marine research lab, and he and I both get paid real adult salaries, and have a pretty decent apartment in New York City. And his family lives nearby and his mom is amazingly helpful, and there have been a lot of sweet offers from friends to babysit for free, anytime."
She smiled in satisfaction as he rolled his eyes and made a face at her, finally looking less tense. He leaned forward so his head was resting on her rounded stomach, pressing a kiss through her sweater. "Do you hear that, baby? You forced your parents to finally grow up. You better know what you're doing when you come out of there, because that'll make one of us." She felt the familiar flutter in her chest, the same as always when he talked to their unborn baby, kissed it (no – kissed her – they'd known the gender as soon as they possibly could), or otherwise engaged with the life he'd made with her, accidentally or not, the one that she felt 24/7 but was half his. And then she felt a different flutter.
"Oh!" Her hand went automatically to her belly, and then she laughed.
"She kicked last time, too. She likes to hear your voice," Annabeth said, and she could feel Percy's wide, lazy grin against her stomach, could feel, finally, his vast, elated happiness as he pressed his face against the soft but persistent pattern of kicking baby feet inside of her.
"Annabeth! You're looking so vibrant and – gods, there's something different. Did you change your hair?"
"Shut up, you asshole." Annabeth pecked Will Solace on the cheek, giving him a one armed hug around her 38 week baby bump.
There'd been a last minute group message; Will was in town to scope out venues for his upcoming wedding, and would obviously be coming through Camp Half-Blood for a visit. Most of his old peers had, of course, moved on as well, into the real world. So he'd sent out a "spontaneous afternoon reunion party" message to everyone still in the vicinity. Percy was going well out of the way to pick up Grover, and had encouraged Annabeth to head there first, as long car rides made her nauseous.
She hadn't actually been back at camp for a while, and spent a long time with Chiron up at the big house, getting caught up on the latest camp drama and mulling over ideas for some new cabin renovations. Privately, she spent the time reminiscing in her head about all of the late, companionable evenings she'd spent in this house with her old mentor, all the serious chess games, cups of hot chocolate, and lengthy discussions about gods, prophecies, quests, her dreams, and the puzzles of the world.
She felt a kick in her stomach, accompanied by a sharp twinge. She rubbed it absentmindedly, wishing she could tell that twelve year old girl how extraordinary her life would turn out.
"Holy Hera, Annabeth Chase! Should you BE here?!"
Conner Stoll bounded through the doorway, laughing his infectious laugh, and gave her a brotherly kiss on the head. "Nah, I'm just messin. Camp's not camp without Annabeth. Pretty sure the statue of you will arrive any day now."
Annabeth punched his arm. "For your information, the midwife said it was fine to travel short distances. I'm not due for two weeks."
She rested her hand back on her belly as Conner got distracted greeting Katie. The twinges were back. Not for two weeks, she thought to her baby. Would you calm down in there?
It all happened very quickly.
The afternoon progressed in sunshine and old friends and inside jokes. Grover had called to say that Percy had found him but they were now stuck in traffic, and maybe it should progress to a sleepover, ha-ha. As the day wore on, two things happened: People slowly left, going back to their real life responsibilities, and Annabeth progressively experienced more and more pain, and more and more anxiety. By the time she decided she had to say something, she was alone on porch of the big house, and decided to just wait for the next person who came by.
Which naturally was Clarisse.
"Holy shit, princess girl, you are white as a sheet – Holy shit, you are having a baby!"
How had Clarisse cottoned on so much sooner than Annabeth?
Clarisse began shouting bloody murder for Will, and then took off running to find him. Apparently, there were a great many high pressure situations in which demigods could keep their cool, and childbirth was not one of them.
Will appeared, confused, but not panicked. "Whoa whoa whoa – didn't you feel yourself going into labor? I mean, there are clear signs –"
"Oh my gods, Will, yes, but I've had false alarms before! I even got sent home from the hospital once, it was nothing –"
"Well your vital signs are all there, I'm pretty sure this is not nothing –"
"How do you know?" It came out overly aggressive, to cover her fear.
And then her water broke.
"Okay! That right there, is how we know! Can you stand? Let's get you into the infirmary. It's all going to be just fine, Annabeth."
She let her old friend help her up, trying not to hyperventilate with how wrong to plan this was all going. "How many times have you done this?"
"Once!" Will answered cheerfully. "At least, by tomorrow I will have." He winked. Annabeth groaned. "This is not happening. This is not happening without Percy. Where is he?! This was not the plan!"
Will glanced in the direction of Chiron's office. "Oh, he'll be here in time. Clarisse is only screaming at him over the phone as we speak."
It was a blur from there. Rachel Dare materialized by her bed, telling her she was a badass warrior who could handle anything, providing cool cloths for her head, water to sip, but never ambrosia or nectar, which could risk harm to the baby. Annabeth was no stranger to pain, nor spontaneous stressful situations – she just needed her husband to be present for this one. He always made her braver and stronger.
Dazedly, she reflected that this was the room where, in a way, she and Percy had first met. She babbled about this to Will and Rachel, and also about the time Will had saved her life after being stabbed on the bridge, and here he was, saving her again. And then, just as she was getting lost in the contractions, she heard heavy footsteps and loud voices outside – one voice in particular – and her heart flooded with relief.
Annabeth lost track of the rest. Percy kneeling by her head, grabbing it gently with both his hands, whispering in her ear, letting her squeeze the life out of his strong hands. Between contractions, she managed to tell him that this was obviously his child, judging by it's intent to mess up her careful plans and just leap into things. She heard Will laugh. She heard Percy tell Will there was no one he'd feel more confident in to do this. She heard Will say that yes, this pain was normal and everything was going great. She heard everyone telling her to breathe. Just breathe. Just breathe.
She had sea green eyes. That was the first thing Annabeth registered, sobbing with relief, when Will placed the tiny, messy, breathing baby girl on her chest. Percy was kneeling by her head, one hand in the back of Annabeth's hair, taking deep, bracing breaths that might have been tears. He leaned in to Annabeth's ear, his tone one of reverent awe. "You scare me." Then, "Look how perfect she is. I hope she's just like you."
Annabeth let her head fall back on the pillow, and smiled at him through her exhausted tears.
"We'll see."
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