"Please don't ever scare me like that again." Annabeth nestled her head in my neck. My whole body ached-from my head to my toes. I just wanted to go to bed next to this wonderful, goddess like girl next to me. I kissed her forehead and ran my fingers through her hair. "I can't make any promises. After all I am the son of Poseidon." I chuckled-trying to lighten the mood. Annabeth didn't laugh; I saw the hurt in her eyes and it killed me to see her in pain. She intertwined my hand with hers and gently put her head on my chest. I winced; even the slightest touch could hurt me right now. I pulled her to our bed where I wanted to stay forever. She slowly pulled the covers over us-careful not to hurt me. I kissed her forehead as she lye next to me. I loved her more than anything, I loved her with every fiber in my being, every beat of my heart. Annabeth was my other half, I would forever need her. But I wasn't sure how long I would be able to have her considering the war going on. Annabeth sighed as she gently put her head on my chest.
"I'm so sorry for scaring you today." I whispered as I brushed her brunette hair. "I honestly didn't mean to. My father needed my help and I. . . I kind of got hurt." I chuckled. Annabeth looked at me. I realized the tears streaming down her face, her mascara was smeared and her eyes were puffy. "Obviously I can see you got hurt Percy." Her voice cracked as she said my name. She settled her head back down on my chest. "You don't know how much crap I went through today. You don't know how much I cried today because I was so worried about you. I was on the phone with Chiron and every second he said something new I thought he was going to tell me you died." She covered her mouth to silent her sobs. "Do you know what that would have done to me? If you died I honestly don't know what I would do. I love you more than anything in the world and you could die any day. It's as hard for me as it is for you." I hated seeing her like this-in pain. I couldn't do anything to make everything better. I couldn't do or say anything that would reassure her that I would be okay. . .Because not even I was sure anymore.
I awoke to a light shining bright in my eyes. Anna was up. I slowly pulled the covers off of me and started to sit up. A sharp pain had spread through my body. I ignored it and walked from the bedroom and into the kitchen. I could see Anna making coffee in her pink robe, her long brown hair was made into a sloppy ponytail, but she look beautiful from behind. As I walked to her I was being as silent as I could, I wrapped my arms around her curvy waist and kissed her neck. She gasped as I did so. "Oh! Percy. You scared me." She smiled as she turned around and kissed me on the lips. "How are you feeling?" I had to think about that one. I let go of her and slowly stretched. I was sore, but not as bad as yesterday. . .that was bad. I'm glad Annabeth didn't have to see me like that. "I'm. . .Okay." I said slowly. "But I'm with you so it makes it a million times better." She giggled as I kissed her more, but she stopped me.
"Percy, I have to tell you something." She looked at me with worry in her eyes, but joy at the same time. "I'm not sure how to tell you." She unwrapped her arms from my neck and walked to the bathroom, leaving me to wonder. She had come out with a little white stick in her hand. So many things were going through my head at that moment. "I-I'm pregnant, Percy." I was dumbfounded. Pregnant? No she can't be. The worry had changed to joy. I smiled and ran to her-ignoring the pain I felt- and wrapped my arms around her waist and spun her around. "A baby." Was all I could say at the moment. She smiled at me and gently put my hand on the tiny bump forming on her stomach. She laughed with joy as she kissed me. Do you know what you've just done! I could hear my father interrupting my thoughts. You've created another life with. . .with this. . . My father didn't finish. I knew what he thought of Annabeth and I knew how her mother felt about me. Neither approved of us, so they definitely wouldn't like our situation. But to me it wasn't a situation-it was the encouragement I needed to continue fighting, fighting for Annabeth and for my child.
"I love you Seaweed Brain." She whispered in my ear.
"I love you, too Wise Girl." I responded.
Chapter 2My father hadn't called to ask for my help in a few weeks. I wasn't sure what to think of it. I had hoped that everything had calmed down and it could just be me and Anna all the time, but I have a feeling that it won't be like this for long.
"Hey baby?" Annabeth asked me as she was looking through the cupboards. "Where's the sauté pan? You know my special one for cooking? I can't find it." I watched her for a moment as she walked around the kitchen trying to find the pan. She was wearing a pair of my oversized sweatpants, a Camp Half-Blood sweatshirt-which we of course stopped going to long ago-and her rainbow slippers. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and she wore only mascara, but she was the most beautiful person alive. Her stomach had only grown a little bit in the last month. She tried to train whenever she could but she got tired out to easily and I worried about her. The training that she did do kept her smaller than usually a pregnant woman should be, but the doctors weren't worried. No matter what her size was I loved her more than anything on the earth. "I found it!" Annabeth said in an accomplished tone. "Great. Okay. Hey sweetheart, what's your mom's favorite thing to eat?" Anna asked as she began looking for the cookbooks. I laughed. "I have absolutely no idea."
"Well that doesn't help me much now, does it?" She chuckled without taking her eyes off one of the cookbooks. "What about lasagna? Hmmm or a casserole?" She shook her head as she flipped the page. "No. . ." She mumbled to herself. I walked up from the couch to her. "What's the occasion?"
"Oh nothing. I just thought it was time to tell your mom and stepdad about my being pregnant." She smiled. I had totally forgot about them. I was so busy being with Annabeth that I hadn't see my mom and stepdad in almost a few months. "Oh!" Annabeth squealed. "You're never gonna guess what I bought today." I smiled as I watched her walk to the refrigerator. "Look what it says!" She handed the white cake to me. It had said, 'I'm Pregnant!'. I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "It'll be perfect." I walked the cake back into the fridge. "My mum will be so excited." I brushed my thumb against her cheek. She closed her eyes embracing my presence. "And I am, too." I whispered. I took her hand and led her to the living room. I turned off the TV and turned on the stereo. I thanked the Gods that a very slow song started playing. I put one hand on her waist and the other in her hand.
"What are you doing?" She chuckled. We started swaying back and forth to the music. She let go of my hand and wrapped both her arms around my neck. I wrapped both arms around her waist pulling her closer to me. She nestled her head in my neck, I could feel her breathing on me. It was the most comforting thing I had felt in what seemed like forever. We were both content as we swayed back and forth to the music. I had her in my arms and that was all that mattered. She kissed my neck and looked at me. She smiled and kissed me pulling me closer to her, I didn't go any further than that. I could tell she didn't want to, and I respected her. "Sweetheart. Your mom's going to be here in an hour." She rubbed the back of my neck-it sent chills down my spine. "I have to start cooking and then get ready, but thank you. That was such a nice surprise." She whispered. I kissed her on the forehead and let her go.
Once she had finished making their dinner she went to get dressed. I watched her walk into our bedroom, wanting to chase after her, but she hadn't wanted to do anything with me since she got pregnant. It killed me inside, but I respected her wishes.
After almost a half hour of getting ready, Annabeth came out from the bedroom. She was wearing a yellow and white sundress. Her dark hair was down and curly. She had light makeup on and nude lip gloss. "Am I to dressed up?" She asked me. I had to clear my throat before I responded. "Ehem. . . Umm N-No. You-You look incredible." Gods, I sounded like an idiot. She laughed and sat next to me on the couch. She laid a pillow on my lap and put her head on it. I brushed the hair away from her face. She was just too beautiful. As she dozed off on my lap, I watched her sleep. I couldn't help but wonder how I had got so lucky to have a wife like her and that she loved me back. I slowly got up without her moving a muscle. I walked into the bedroom to change into a pair of khakis and a blue button up. I noticed a small shadow in the corner of my eye and smiled. "Anna? You can come in you know." She ran into the bedroom and hugged me-locking her arms around my neck. I kissed her on the cheek as she let go of me. "I want to apologize." She looked at me with sadness in her eyes. "You really don't know how much I want to make love to you. I want to so bad and I can see it in your eyes that you do to." Her eyes started to fill up with tears. "But I can't it-it hurts right now. I'm so sorry." She laid her head on my chest, I felt terrible. I didn't want to hurt her like this. "Baby, baby." I shushed her as I rubbed her back. "It's okay. I understand. I don't want to hurt you." I kissed her forehead and rubbed the tear from her cheeks. "You look so beautiful. Don't ruing your makeup." I smiled. She giggled wrapped her arms around my waist. The doorbell rang.
"Okay!" She rubbed her nose and sniffed. "You ready?" She smiled. I intertwined my hand with hers and led her to the door. As I opened the door, I saw my mother standing with a huge grin on her face.
"Percy!" She pulled me into a hug. But I didn't let go of Annabeth's hand. "I've missed you, baby!" I laughed.
"I've missed you too mum."
"Annabeth!" My mom put her hands up and leaned over to hug Anna.
"Hi Sally." She replied with a grin. Her smile was beautiful. "Come take a seat." Annabeth waved to the table. Annabeth grinned at me telling me to let go of her hand. I didn't want to, but had to. She thanked me and grabbed the lasagna.
Dinner was full of small talk and silverware tapping against the plates. The waiting was killing me. I had to tell my mother about the baby, now. I wanted to share the joy I felt with someone other than Anna. I loved sharing it with her, but I wanted to share it with others. I looked over at Anna asking for her permission with my eyes. She nodded. I walked over to the fridge. "Hey mom. We have a surprise." I chuckled as I walked from the fridge to the table with the oval cake. As I sat it in front of my mom she started reading it. Once she had finished she squealed. "No you're not! This is a joke." She laughed.
"No. No it's true." Annabeth giggled. I watched her expression as she smiled at me.
"That's so incredible! I'm so happy for you guys. I cannot believe it!" My mother said as she hugged me then made her way to Annabeth. "Now you baby girl, you have the hard part in all of this. You go through everything. Make sure you put him through hell the next few months, because he's really not the one going through it." She chuckled and nodded.
"I promise." Annabeth looked so beautiful when she laughed. The way her smile lifted up her cheekbones to reveal her beautiful grey eyes was breathtaking. For a moment, I had to remind myself to breathe. My mom looked at her watch, "Oh my. I have to get home to Paul. He's probably wondering what's going on." She kissed my cheek and Anna's and left.
Annabeth sighed as she fell onto the couch. I sat beside her. "I love your mom." She laughed. Annabeth laid a blanket on her lap and patted it. I brought my head to the blanket as she softly brushed my hair and looked at the ceiling. "What are you thinking about?" I asked softly.
"Us." She said simply. "What's going to happen when you get called out to fight again? What happens then?" She let out a soft chuckle to hide the tears. "I can't lose you Percy. I can't." I got up from the blanket and made her look at me.
"Listen to me, okay? I'm not leaving you. Yeah, I'll have to leave, but I'm going to keep fighting for you and this baby." I touched her stomach with my palm I felt something move and immediately took my hand away from her stomach. "What was that? Did I hurt you?" She laughed at my cluelessness. She cupped her hands around my face and brought my hand back to her growing stomach. She had nearly a bump, but enough to be able to feel what was growing inside her.
"No." She chuckled. "That's your baby. Our baby. My little Percy." She smiled. I kissed her lightly, but she intensified the kiss and wrapped her legs around my waist. She started to unbutton my shirt. I stopped her, "Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you." She began to kiss me again.
"I'm sure." She looked into my eyes. "I want you. All of you. Forever." She smiled.
"Forever." I responded as I picked her up and carried her into our bedroom.