*Told you guys I'd be back for the holidays, didn't I? ;) Anyway, this is just a comedy one-shot about when Sally invites Annabeth over for Thanksgiving. Interesting? Yes. Romantic? Yes. Funny? Most definitely. Cheezy? Always.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Still.*
Happy Thanksgiving
"Pass the turkey?" I asked.
Mom sighed as she passed me the large plate of turkey - for the third time.
"Honey, if you keep eating all of the turkey there's not going to be any left for later."
I was too busy stuffing my mouth to answer. "Mhmm."
Mom, Paul and I were sitting at the table for Thanksgiving dinner. Mom made - bought, actually - so much food, I'd immediately started cramming myself.
Paul chuckled. "Let him eat, Sally. I'm glad to see him eating dinner at home for once, he's been so busy at camp."
It was true. Lately, I've been running all kinds of quests for Chiron. It was exhausting.
Mom and Paul still couldn't let it go that I was dating Annabeth, either. We've been going out since my birthday three months ago, when Travis, Clarisse and the other campers dumped us into the canoe lake. When I finally told my parents, a month ago, they'd gone out of their way to always inviting her over for dinner, a day at the beach, etc.
I've been dreading the day when mom will pull out the baby pictures of me.
Mom folded her hands on her lap and smiled. "Speaking of camp . . . Percy dear, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Annabeth over, since her parents are all the way in California and she can't be with them for Thanksgiving."
I immediately started choking on my ham.
"You what?" I managed to say after my throat cleared.
As if on cue, the doorbell rung.
"I'll get it." Mom said, smiling as she stood up to get the door.
I grabbed a napkin to wipe my face and tried to eat slower.
I heard laughing, and mom came back into the kitchen, followed by my girlfriend.
And I started choking again.
Annabeth was in a gray blouse, jeans, converse, and her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, but she still looked beautiful. Her gray eyes twinkled.
"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she said, sitting down next to me and - to my embarassment - she kissed my cheek, right in front of my parents.
"Um, hey," I said, then quickly filled my mouth again.
"So," mom said, "Annabeth, how is the building going on Olympus?"
"Great," Annabeth said. "The salad bar is a huge hit."
"I know it must be hard, being so far away from your parents on Thanksgiving," Mom said softly. "Ham?"
"Yes, please." Annabeth filled her plate. "And it's alright. They're going to have Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, I'm going to California for a day or two on break."
"Well thats good."
"Again, thank you for inviting me," Annabeth said.
Mom reached out and patted her hand. "You're quite welcome, dear. You know you're welcome here anytime."
"Percy!" Paul exclaimed.
"Wha?" I asked around a mouthful of potato. At least I covered my mouth with my napkin first, or food would have flown out my mouth.
"Slow down, you're going to choke again."
I swallowed. "No I'm not." I shoveled more food in my mouth.
Mom sighed. "He's been shoveling food into his mouth since I put it on the table," she said to Annabeth.
Annabeth giggled.
"Mom!" I said, my face hot. I'd recently been on a quest, and I'd barely eaten during that time. So seeing a table full of food . . . well, my willpower and appetite both crumbled.
Mom sighed again and smiled. "Oh, that brings back memories of when Percy was just a baby . . ."
Oh no, I thought. Here it comes.
"He was one years old, and he used to love sweet potatoes. He'd take the whole bowl and cram his face into it, getting it everywhere. Oh, it was such a mess. I have a picture of him in the bathtub with sweet potato all in his hair . . ."
"Mom!" I groaned. I should have burned that picture when I had the chance.
"Really?" Annabeth stiffled her laughs. "Can I see?"
"NO!" I said quickly.
Mom blushed. "Well, I'll try to find it later. But really, it was adorable . . ."
"So, Paul, how was your day?" I said loudly, hoping to change the subject. But the damage was done. Annabeth kept shooting me amused smirks, and I knew she wasn't going to give in until she saw that picture.
Definitely burning it.
If only I could find it before my mom did.
"Great, actually," Paul said. "Had a couple papers to grade, but I'd rather spend time with you than homework."
Sally laughed, and I sagged in relief. For now, I was safe. I started eating again.
After dinner, Annabeth helped my mom clean up while Paul and I picked out the movie we were going to watch, a Thanksgiving tradition.
I headed toward the kitchen to help, but stopped when I heard my name being mentioned.
". . . So, anyway, how is it? Between you and Percy, I mean. Sorry if I'm being a nosy parent."
I heard Annabeth laugh. "Fine. Great. We don't argue nearly as much anymore, so that's good, but there are still times when we don't see each other for really long periods of time."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I mean, I miss him when I'm on Olympus, and we rarely see each other lately. And he's at camp alot, helping Chiron."
"Well, that's hard. I understand. "
"I have to constantly be on Olympus. I'm the architect. I have no time, he has no time either."
It was silent for a moment. I was about to head back into the living room, my head spinning, when my mom suddenly spoke.
"Sometimes you have to make time, whether people like it or not."
I left after that, my brain still feeling mushy.
Make time? How, when Annabeth was always busy? When I was constantly going to camp?
I sat on the couch and waited innocently as Annabeth and my mom came back.
"What did you do?" Annabeth asked at once.
I nearly jumped. She was too smart for her own good.
"What do you mean?"
"You're acting so innocent. I know you. What did you do?"
"Nothing!" I said, playing my poker face.
I noticed mom and Paul sharing a look.
Annabeth sat down beside me on the couch. I mean, right beside me. I could feel her arm pressed against mine. Mom gave us our own bowl of popcorn, and turned off the lights.
The movie was scary, but I only saw Annabeth jump once. When the killer was in the bathtub instead of behind the door - like Annabeth had intended - she grabbed my hand in surprise.
I smirked at her, and she threw a handful of popcorn at me.
"Oh, stop smirking, Seaweed Brain," she muttered.
We were so focused on the movie, we didn't notice that my parents were no longer with us until a long time.
Like any other scary movie, there was a nude woman running from the killer, and Annabeth covered my eyes with her hand.
"Hey!"
"You want to look at her?"
I felt my face getting hot. I grabbed her hand. "No! Well, I'd like to actually see if she gets killed or not, so . . ."
She rolled her eyes.
The movie was almost over by then. This was around when I finally noticed that my parents were gone.
Annabeth was about to stuff a handful of popcorn in her mouth when I cover her mouth with my hand. She crammed the popcorn into the back of my hand. Annabeth grabbed my hand and threw the popcorn at me.
So I grabbed some and threw it back. Pretty soon, we both had popcorn in our hair and in our shirts.
I also noticed that we'd been laughing pretty loud, and my mom nor Paul hadn't quieted us to hear the movie.
"Where'd they go?" Annabeth asked.
I shrugged and leaned back against the couch again, pulling Annabeth with me. She curled up at my side, arms around my waist and my arm around her shoulders.
The ending was so predictable, Annabeth and I both had to laugh. Of course, the two survivors somehow managed to kill the killer and lived to tell the tale.
When the movie was over, I dragged Annabeth by the hand to my parents bedroom, where Mom was writing more of her novel and Paul was reading a novel in bed.
"Why did you guys leave the movie?" I asked.
Mom looked up and smiled. "Well, we figured you two needed some alone time, is all. And I see you two had fun."
"And wore more of the popcorn than you ate it," Paul added.
I looked behind me. We'd left a popcorn trail leading from the living room to mom and Paul's room.
"Sorry, we'll clean it up," Annabeth said.
Mom smiled. "Don't worry about it, dear. I'll get it. So, are you up for a game of Monopoly?" Don't ask, another Thanksgiving tradition.
"Sure."
They followed us back to the living room, which looked like popcorn had gone crazy and decided to take over the entire room.
Paul whistled. "Wow. Remind me to never go to a movie theatre with you two."
Annabeth and I blushed and sat back on the popcorn infested couch while Paul got the game.
Annabeth was great, of course. She bankrupted me the first thirty minutes of the game.
It was almost eleven o' clock when Annabeth won.
Paul sat back and yawned. "Well, that was a good game. I'm beat. Goodnight. Goodnight, Annabeth. Nice to see you again, honey."
"Goodnight, Mr. Blofis," Annabeth said.
I put the game back into the closet, and as I was returning to the living room I heard Annabeth whisper, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I heard mom whisper back. "You two needed time alone together."
When I returned I sat with Annabeth on the couch, glad that Sally Jackson was my mother.
"Well," Mom said as Paul left, "you'll never guess what I happened to find in my room earlier." She held up a giant blue photo album.
Oh, Hades. My baby pictures.
*Hope you enjoyed this little Thanksgiving one-shot. Sorry if it's kind of short. My christmas one-shot will hopefully be longer. Review, tell me what you think. Yeah, I know it's short and cheezy. Thanks.*
