Nico frowned at his apartment door as he heard a knock, he set down his game controler and stood, walking over to the door. After opening it he was surprised by the sight of Piper and Jason, both looking ready for a date.
"Nico! Hey!" Jason exclaimed, grinning at Nico, who just raised an eyebrow at him.
"What do you want, Jason?"
"Hello to you too," Piper said, almost scowling at the demigod.
"Greetings, Piper," Nico replied, dipping his head, then he saw the kids. "You want me to babysit again don't you."
"How did you guess!?"
"Why don't you ask Will? Will loves kids," Nico asked, crossing his arms, Two kids peaked out from behind Jason and Piper, a girl named Maria and a boy named Jake.
"Will was on duty again today," Piper explained. Nico sighed. Will was always on duty.
"Alright fine, how long do you need to need me to watch them?" Nico asked.
"Nico, you're a lifesaver!" Jason exclaimed. "We should be back by nine."
Nico looked at the clock. Four hours . . . well, that wasn't as bad as last time.
"Yeah, okay," Nico stepped out of the doorway, Jason and Piper ushered Maria and Jake inside.
"Mama, are we staying here with Uncle Nico?" Maria asked Piper.
"Uncle Nico?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow at Jason, Jason shrugged at him.
"Yes, dear," Piper responded, crouching down to hug Maria, Jake hugged Jason's leg.
"How old are they now?" Nico asked.
"Maria's almost seven and Jake is four," Jason responded, crouching down to hug the kids. Nico nodded, Jake blinked up at Nico.
"Hi, Jake," Nico said waving.
"Are you sure you'll be okay with them?" Piper asked, standing.
"Yes, Piper, I'll be fine," Nico said rolling his eyes.
"Alright, well, call if you need anything," she said looking at Jason.
"Can do, you two get going," Nico said, pushing them out the door. Nico shut the door behind them and turned around to see the kids already turning the apartment into a mess. Nico sighed.
"Oi! Kids!" He called, crossing his arms, Jake looked up at him. "What do you two want for supper?"
"I want pizza!" Marie called, looking up from where she was completely ruining Nico's game of Battlefront.
"Ew!" Jake exclaimed, crossing his arms. "I want vegetable soup."
Nico raised an eyebrow at Jake.
"I'll go see what I have in the cabinets," Nico said, turning and walking to the kitchen, in the lounge he could hear the two arguing about which food was better. He shook his head and found a couple cans of chicken noodle soup.
And then there was another knock.
Nico froze.
"I swear to Styx," he muttered, causing thunder, he back out to the door as Marie and Jake peaked over the back of the couch. Nico pulled open the door.
"Not you too," he grumbled upon seeing Percy and Annabeth, Annabeth holding their one year old son, Luke, and Percy with the two girls, Silena and Bianca. There was a squeal from Marie and she came running over, grabbing the two girls hands and dragging them inside.
"Hey, Nico," Annabeth said, looking exhausted.
"Let me guess, you need me to watch your three kids for the next four hours?" Nico asked.
"Please? We'll pay," Percy said, his eyes pleading with Nico.
"You know I would never let you do that," Nico said, holding out his arms for Luke. Annabeth gladly transferred the small child to Nico. Luke blinked up at Nico with wide eyes before reaching for his shaggy hair. Percy handed Nico a bag with Luke's things.
"Thank you so much, Nico," Annabeth said. "Silena! Bianca! We're leaving!"
The two girls came running over, followed by Marie and Jake, who hug attacked Percy.
"OOf!" Percy exclaimed, staggering backwards. Nico chuckled, tilting his head to keep Luke from pulling his hair out.
"You're watching Jason and Piper's kids too?" Percy asked.
"Yeah, apparently . . . maybe I'll end up watching Hazel and Frank's too," Nico said with a shrug, wishing Will wasn't working.
"How weird would that be?" Percy said, looking away.
"Yeah, I know right." Nico narrowed his eyes at Percy. Annabeth straightened from her talk with the two girls, who dragged the Grace's off to play.
"Alright, well, Luke's diapers and supper are in the bag, if you need anything else, feel free to call," Annabeth said, tickling Luke, who giggled.
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Nico said.
"Thanks again, Nico," Percy said, putting his hand on Annabeth's waist, they said goodbye before heading off. Nico sighed, turning to the kids, who were sat in the middle of the floor, playing Duck-Duck-Goose.
"Finally, a peaceful game," Nico muttered, setting Luke's bag on the table and walking into the kitchen to start the soup for the kids, he turned around to find Silena standing in the kitchen.
"What's the matter, Silena?" Nico asked.
"Is Uncle Will coming to play with us?" she asked, playing with the hem of her shirt. The corners of Nico's lips turned up slightly.
"Maybe later, Silena," Nico responded, ruffling her hair. "What do you want for supper?"
"Do you have cereal?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure," Nico said. At this point, he wasn't really concerned for the kids health, he wasn't given any instructions on the feeding habits of the children.
"Alright kiddos!" Nico said. "Dinner is in five, anybody who has any complaints against Chicken Noodle soup is getting a PB-n-J, Okay?"
"Yes, Uncle Nico," the kids all called before going back to their games. Nico sighed, he sat down on the couch, muting his tv and setting Luke on his knee before returning to his video game. Luke watched the game, wide-eyed. It wasn't two minutes before there was another knock on the door.
"Who is it!?" Nico called, sighing.
"Nico? It's me, Hazel!" came the call, Nico looked over at Silena.
"Can you let them in please?" he asked.
"Yeah!" she said, jumping up and running to the door, she unlocked it and heaved it open.
"Oh my!" Hazel exclaimed, seeing all the kids. "It appears you've been overrun by children."
"Unfortunately," Nico responded, bouncing Luke who had started to cry.
"Could you manage one more?" Frank asked.
"I guess I could . . ." Nico said with a tired sigh. Great, two babies, and four small kids running around the apartment . . . he thought, pausing his game and setting Luke down on the couch to go accept Hazel's kid, who fortunately was older than Luke. Nico took Jessica from Hazel, then paused.
"She has a tail . . ."
"What?" Hazel said. "Oh, yeah, it's fine, she's normally like that."
Nico sighed. Luke started crying.
"Oh no," Hazel said. "I'm sorry to just dump this on you without warning."
"Nah, it's fine, you two need to get away from the kid for a bit," Nico said, cringing as he picked up a crying Luke and set Jessica beside Silena.
"Well . . . . . thank you so much for watching her, we'll be back by-"
"Let me guess, nine?" Nico asked.
"How did you know?"
"Cause that's when the others will be back for their kids too," He responded, rocking Luke. There was a boiling noise from the kitchen. Nico's eyes widened and he rushed to the kitchen, turning off the overboiling soup and setting it to the side.
"I think we'll just go," Frank said. "See ya later Nico."
"See ya," a very frustrated and very tired Nico called back, he heard the door close and sighed, looking down at Luke. "They're just gonna get Pizza," he said to the baby, who looked up at him and giggled.
After getting the pizza ordered and changing Luke's diaper, Nico crashed on the couch, setting Luke on a pillow.
"Uncle Nico!" Silena called, running over to him.
"What is it Silena?" Nico asked, looking at her. She climbed up on his lap.
"Can we watch a movie?"
"I guess, what movie do you want to watch?" Nico responded.
"Can . . . Can we watch The Little Mermaid?" She asked.
"I wanna watch Lion King!" Marie called, looking up at Nico.
"Any other movies?" Nico asked, looking at the other kids.
"I like How To Train Your Dragon," Jake said, walking up to Nico.
"Alright! How To Train Your Dragon it is!" Nico said, picking Silena off his lap and setting her on the floor.
"Awwwww," Came from Silena and Marie. Nico rolled his eyes, How To Train Your Dragon was the only one of those three movies he actually owned, mostly because Will adored the movie. Nico put in the movie and got in started while he went to the kitchen to heat up Luke's bottle. Silena shouted when the doorbell went off, Nico sighed, grabbing his wallet and walking to the door.
"Have a good day," Nico said, after paying for the pizza and accepting the boxes. He set them on the table and called the kids over. Jake made a face as soon as he saw the pizza.
"That's so unhealthy," He complained. Nico raised an eyebrow.
"You are soooo Piper's kid," Nico muttered.
"Shhh," Marie said getting a slice of pizza. Nico walked to the kitchen to make Jake a PB-n-J. Luke babbled at Nico, grabbing at his ear, Nico simply leaned away, setting the kid on a counter. Nico had just finished making the sandwich when he heard another "Uncle Nico!" Nico sighed, grabbing Luke, the plate with a sandwich and Luke's bottle before walking out.
"What is it, Marie?" He asked. Marie simply pointed at Jessica, who was completely covered in pizza sauce. Nico snorted, giving Luke to Silena and giving Jake his sandwich before pulling out his phone.
"Jessica, come here!" He called, Jessica turned to Nico, looking at him with round eyes, Nico quickly snapped a picture before picking her up and carrying her to the kitchen. Nico set Jessica on the counter by the sink before sending the picture to Hazel. He set down his phone and cleaned up Jessica's face and hair, getting a pair of clean clothes from her bag and changing her into those. He set her down on the ground, letting her totter back to where the other kids were. Nico leaned against the counter, sending the picture to Will with a 'mayday' attached to it. Nico walked back into the lounge to find the kids sat in front of the TV eating pizza and watching the movie. Nico smiled slightly, taking Luke from Silena and sitting down to bottle feed him. Silena suddenly appeared in front of him with a plate of pizza.
"I thought I should save you some," she said, looking up at him with round eyes.
"Thank you, Silena," he said smiling at her. Luke hiccuped as he finished the bottle, Nico adjusted Luke and sat away from the couch and started to burp him. Suddenly there was a cat sitting on his feet.
"I . . . Don't have a cat," he said, looking down.
"Oh Hades!" He exclaimed, snatching his phone and calling Frank.
"Nico?" Frank asked, sounding confused.
"Why is your child a cat!?" Nico exclaimed, setting the half asleep Luke down and picking up the cat.
"My child? Oh she turned into a cat again?"
"AGAIN? This has happened before!?" Nico exclaimed taking Jessica to the kitchen again.
"Oh yeah, just leave her be, she'll turn back eventually."
"Eventually! Great! Thanks for the help, Frank!"
"You're welcome, Nico, I'm sure you'll get it sorted." And with that, Frank hung up. Nico growled and set the hissing cat down. Jessicat(as Nico decided to call her) went running off and jumped on Silena's lap. Nico walked back into the living room and collapsed onto the couch next to a sleeping Luke. Nico started to drift off to sleep when there was a tap on his leg. He opened his eyes.
"What?"
"Uncle Nico, you should play airplane with us," Jake said.
"Airplane?"
"Yeah, you pick us up and then fly us around like an airplane!"
"Did your dad teach you that?" Nico said tiredly.
"Nope! Mama did!" Nico shrugged and stood up. He scooped Jake up and threw the boy in the air before spinning. The boy was laughing as Nico spun him. Nico set Jake down and grabbed Bianca next, repeating the process.
Will laughed as he saw the text from Nico. He quickly texted back with a 'Hang in there. Just got off work. Omw.' He got in his car and threw his phone onto the passenger seat, and started towards Nico's apartment. As he walked to the door, he heard laughing and screaming, Will narrowed his eyes and started to unlock the door with the key he'd been given. He froze in the doorway at the sight in front of him.
"Nico!" Will exclaimed. Nico was lying on the floor, tossing kids in the air. Nico stopped and looked up. As did the other kids.
"Will!" One of them screamed and ran over, grabbing onto Will's jeans.
"Hey Jake," Will said, picking up the kid.
"Will," Nico said, grinning at Will, which was a sight most would find heart attack worthy.
"You weren't kidding," Will said, walking in and closing the door behind him.
"No I wasn't, I didn't know you were coming."
"I texted you."
"Oh, Jessica is sat on my phone," Nico said, pointing over at a cat.
"... THat's a cat."
"No, That's Jessicat, Frank Zhangs kid. Don't ask me. I don't know."
"OOokay," Will said, looking around.
"You got everyone's kids?"
"Yeaaaah," Nico said, sitting up, Will balanced Jake on his hip.
"Kids, why don't you finish the movie while Uncle Will and I have a talk," Nico said, giving Luke to his older sister before standing.
"OK!" Silena exclaimed, sitting down on the floor in front of the tv and starting the movie again. Will set down Jake only for the kid to go running away. Nico motioned for Will to follow him into the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, Nic, you know I would've taken the kids if I wasn't working."
"I know, Will. It's okay," Nico said wrapping his arms around Will's neck. Will in turn wrapped his arms around Nico's waist and kissed his forehead.
"They haven't been much of a trouble have they?"
"Oh terribly. Jake ruined my game of Battlefront, I had to order Pizza, which I think there is some still left by the way, And they won't be back for the kids for another….. hour or so," Nico said, leaning into Will.
"I'm sorry babe," the doctor said, tilting Nico's head up and gently kissing him. Nico sighed lightly and relaxed against Will.
When they pulled away Nico moved his arms around Will chest and hugged the man tightly.
"I love you Nico," Will said, smiling.
"I love you too, Will," Nico murmured, hugging Will tightly.
"Uncle Nico!" A kid shouted, causing Nico to groan.
"The DvD won't work!"
"I got this," Will said, pulling away from Nico. Will walked away into the living room. Nico followed after a bit.
"Well kids, look like the DvD's shot. I guess Uncle Nico scratched it too much," Will said, looking at the dvd.
"You're the only reason I own that!" Nico exclaimed, walking up.
"I know," Will said, grinning.
"Okay. Kids. Who wants to wrestle with Uncle Will?!" Nico asked, all the kids cheered and tackled Will, causing him to fall backwards, Nico had just enough time to grab the Dvd before Will fell to the ground.
Nico laughed and went to sit on the couch and rock the crying Luke back to sleep. Before he knew it, there was a knock at the door. Nico jumped up and ran to get it. He threw open the door to the sight of Jason and Piper.
"OH You beautiful people!" Nico exclaimed. "Jake, Maria! Your mom and dad are here!"
"Awww!" Came from the living room, but soon, little feet were heard, and Maria and Jake jumped on their parents. Jason went to pay Nico but the man promptly refused.
"As annoying as they are you know I would never let you pay me," Nico said, "besides, how would I take it, Luke is hogging my hands."
Jason just laughed, said hi to Will and thanked Nico before leaving. Nico shut the door and started walking back to the couch when there was another knock. Nico raised a brow and walked back to the door, this time greeted by Percy and Frank.
"Hello," he said, holding Luke out to Percy.
"Thanks," Percy said, taking the baby.
"Come on in while I get the others," Nico said, leaving the door open and walking back into the living room.
"Will, they're here for their kids."
"Daddy!" Silena exclaimed, jumping up and running to Percy and hugging his leg.
"Where's mine?" Frank asked, looking around.
"Uhhhh, Jessicat? Shee's, right here! Still sitting on my phone," Nico said, scooping up the cat and his phone, he gave the kid to Frank while looking at his notifications.
"Wow," he said and set down the phone. Once the kids things were collected and they were sent off, Nico and Will collapsed on the couch. Nico leaning against Will tiredly.
"You're pretty good with kids, Nic," Will said, lightly kissing Nico's temple.
"Thanks Will," Nico said before yawning.
"I have an idea. How bout I stay here tonight?" Will asked. "I don't have to work till noon tomorrow anyway."
Nico smiled. "That'd be nice."
"Come on then. Let's go to bed," Will said, standing and pulling Nico up. Will led Nico to the bedroom and sneakily stole a pair of Nico sweatpants, as was their habit. After they had both changed, they crawled into bed, Nico nestled against Will's chest.
"I love you, Nico," Will murmured, kissing Nico's head.
"I love you too, Will," Nico murmured back, before falling asleep.