A/N: So, this is what happens every Valentine's Day: I sit at home, depressed because this holiday just brings out the worst in me. And then I get on the computer, get struck by a flimsy inspiration bolt and attempt to write. But because of my nasty temperament, said attempt at writing becomes some over-fluffy aggravating fic. Hence, this little doo-dad. Read it and weep. But I warn you, the excessive fluff in here might attack, choke and kill you. Or give you severe stomach cramps. It has been known to do that, just so you know.
Takes place about ten years or so after The Last Olympian.
It was two thirty seven A.M. The best part of the day.
Annabeth sat, legs tucked underneath her, fingers tapping away at the keyboard, in their apartment. The beautiful and sweet silence washed over her, nothing to be heard but the far off sounds of New York taxi drivers screaming at one another and the quiet brush of her fingers typing out the summary of her latest architectural pitch, to be delivered before the board of directors tomorrow. A cup of cold, bitter coffee sat next to her, untouched. The only light in the room came from the small desk lamp above her head. Yet Annabeth had never felt more awake. She was in the Zone, as Percy liked to call it. The Zone of the intent and hard working. Nothing can stop her now until she has finished this damn dissertation. This could be it, this building. Her next big break. If she could just get a way to show the Board that the building was worth putting money in and--
"Mommy?"
Annabeth's concentration shattered and she sat up straight, joints cracking as she shifted for the first time in an hour. Normally, she'd have been irritated with whoever was brave enough to interrupt to her. But when she saw the person who spoke, the Zone is gone, and suddenly, she was smiling. Smiling and watching the little four year in the blue footie pajamas walk into the living room.
Something flashed through Annabeth, obliterating any thought she had had for her building. Her eyes were set on the girl, who was walking over to her, a bright smile on her face for one up at two in the morning. She bounced over to Annabeth, who reached for her in turn, and wrapped her arms around Annabeth's neck, pulling herself into her lap.
"Callie...shouldn't you be asleep?" Annabeth asked her daughter.
"I can't sleep." Callie answered happily, as if it was the most joyous news in the world. "Whatcha doing?"
Annabeth glanced at her computer, deftly clicking a few buttons, saving a file and closing the computer down. The project could be delayed another day. "Boring stuff. Work."
Callie nodded slowly. "I was working too."
Raising a pale eyebrow, her mother looked down. "Oh, really?"
"Mhm. I was reading." Callie said solemnly.
"Reading?" Annabeth shifted the four year old so they were facing each other. "Reading what?"
"Well, first I started with a....Harry Potter book. But some of the words were a little big so I went back to Dr. Seuss."
Annabeth blinked at her daughter, grey eyes filled with adoration and wonder. At four, she hadn't even bothered to pick up Harry Potter books. Although, that wasn't to say she didn't read way ahead of her age level (as all Athena children do). She was personally more of a Nancy Drew girl herself.
"Harry Potter?" Annabeth whistled and grinned. "That's pretty hard."
Callie shugged, her golden ringlets rising and falling with her small shoulders. "I guess."
"So, you read all that and you still can't sleep?"
"No."
"And why not?"
Callie's lower lip trembled slightly. "I don't like the dark. And I don't like being all alone in my room."
Annabeth frowned and pulled her daughter close, mussing her hair and kissing her rosy cheek. "You know you can always come and sleep in our bed, Cal."
"Yeah, but you weren't in there. So I came here." Callie explained slowly, playing with the zipper on her pajamas.
"You could have always gone and slept with Daddy." Annabeth replied.
Callie's expression suddenly twisted into a rather disdainful expression that jumped out at Annabeth with a stab of remembrance of herself. "Daddy drools in his sleep."
After staring, bewildered for a second, Annabeth chuckled at the statement and smiled at her daughter. "You're smart, you know that?"
"Daddy thinks so too."
Of course he does, Annabeth agreed. It was no mystery that their daughter, while she may not have a God as a parent, was going to be one talented kid. She could only swim perfectly at the age of four, but she could also read way ahead of her level, do math problems very fast and hold her breath underwater for up to five minutes.
"Daddy says you're smart too." Callie added.
Annabeth cuddled her daughter with a wry grin. "Oh, really? And what else does daddy say?"
"That I'm a lot like you. That we're..." The girl struggled for the word, "Very alike."
"Alike?" The twenty nine year old asked.
"Yes." The four year old nodded.
"How so?"
"He thinks we both have the same reason for staying up late."
"Oh? And what reason might that be?" Annabeth questioned, already wondering what antics her husband could be up to, putting these ideas into their daughter's head.
"I think he called it Owl Head Syndrome." Callie answered, a small wrinkle in her pale brow. "Though I'm not sure where the 'owl' part came from." Callie blinked. "Grandma Athena's not sick, is she?"
Annabeth sighed exasperatedly, mentally noting to kick Percy's butt later. "No, Grandma is not sick. Your father is just silly."
"Well," sniffed to Callie, "He seemed to think it was funny. Him and Uncle Grover wouldn't stop laughing."
"Just ignore that. It's what your dad does best when he has nothing smart to say."
Callie laughed, a small giggle that filled Annabeth's head like the trickle of water in a spring. "He said you'd say that."
"Typical." Annabeth muttered.
They sat there for a few minutes in silence, and then Annabeth stood up, scooping her daughter up in her arms, ignoring her peals of laughter and cries for mercy as she carried her over to the couch and sat down in a heap. Callie laughed, and once again snuggled against her mother, resting her head on her shoulder and hugging her.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Callie?"
"Do you think Daddy was right?" Her daughter asked. "Do you think you and me are alike?"
Annabeth looked down at her daughter, four years old and already so clever that she amazed her teachers at school. Already pretty tall for her age, just as Annabeth had been. If anyone looked at her, they'd agree that she was definitely her mother's daughter. The golden halo of curls, the snow drop nose and the intelligent personality were definitely shared. But when Annabeth looked closer, took in the brilliant green eyes, the small mouth, the mischievous grin and the fact that she practically had to be all but dragged out of the pool every day during summertime, there was no doubt she was Percy Jackson's daughter too.
"Yeah," Annabeth answered, "I do. But don't tell Daddy. I think he'll be jealous."
"I'll keep my lips zipped." Callie yawned, suddenly and inexplicably tired after being up way after bed time.
Annabeth closed her eyes and hummed some tuneless song, hugging her daughter and feeling glad that she got to share the best part of the day with someone else.
Percy stumbled into the hallway, clad in his boxers and t-shirt and wondering if Annabeth had fallen asleep at the computer again. When it came to three A.M., he figured that she would once again not be coming to bed until dawn.
He was hardly surprised to see her in the living room, as she had been the past week working on that damn dissertation.
But then, as he took in the scene that actually greeted him, Percy couldn't help but let the surprised yet content smile spread across his face upon seeing his wife lying asleep on the couch, curled up next to their daughter.
"Needed a change of sleeping venue?" He asked softly, raising an eyebrow.
Annabeth's eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice; being a light sleeper had its benefits. Her drowsy grey eyed stare made Percy smile even wider, even when she glared slightly at him and replied. "I just needed some sleep."
He walked over to the couch and looked down at his daughter. "Apparently, you're not the only one."
Annabeth smiled down at Callie, and then looked up at Percy. "I tried to send her to go sleep with Daddy. But she was adamant. Something about drooling in your sleep."
Chuckling softly, Percy bent down and kissed Annabeth's forehead. "I'm guessing she told you about the Owl Head Syndrome as well?"
"Yep." The blond sat up as Percy picked up the sleeping Callie in his arms. "But she was okay with that. She didn't mind being like me."
"I don't mind either." Percy grinned as they arrived to Callie's small little bedroom, the walls decorated with little fish and sea creatures. He leaned over and set the little girl down in her bed, and she immediately curled up in her blankets, sighing softly in her sleep. "As long as she's as pretty as her mother, that's fine by me. But no prettier. I don't think there will be enough water in the sea to wash away the line of boys that will be leading from our doorstep."
"May the Gods help us when that starts happening." Annabeth groaned quietly, slipping her arm around Percy's waist. "But we'll worry about when we get there, yeah?"
"Yeah."
Percy looked down at Annabeth, a woman with whom he'd killed monsters, argued, yelled and saved the world a dozen times over. Her eyelids were hooded with polite exhaustion and her cheek was warm as she leaned against his shoulder. The last four years of marriage and parenthood had not been a piece of cake, nor had they been a reign of terror. Yet in that moment, he couldn't help but feel that all of it had been worth this. This, having a beautiful daughter who was the smartest kindergartner on the planet and a beautiful wife who made wearing holey t-shirts and sweat pants to bed the sexiest thing. Being happy was worth it all.
"Time for bed?" She asked, brushing her lips against his and stifling a yawn.
"You took the words right out of my mouth." He replied.
"We do that often." She said contemplatively as they left their daughter's room and walked to their own.
"Well, that tends to happen, especially when you have a couple as..."
"Alike?" Annabeth asked wryly, smirking to herself.
"Yeah," Percy agreed, "Alike as we are."
"Then I guess I've never been happier to be alike in my life." Annabeth replied, collapsing on their bed with another yawn and closing her eyes, snuggling into the blankets just like Callie did.
Percy smiled, and collapsed right next to her with an identical yawn of his own, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist and pulling her close so they were nose to nose.
"Me neither."
A/N: Bleck. Fluff. Don't you hate it? I'm pretty sure I do. Anyways, consider this your Valentine's Day present, because I was far too lazy to actually write anything of substance. So, Happy Valentine's day, and hopefully (for those of you, like me, who hate the holiday and all its hype) this will cheer you up considerably. Read and review?