Okay, so Merry Christmas to Annabeth and Percy! For ExceedinglyPeculiarChick and Identity Crisis. [Hey, Emma. PROPOSAL! (Gets down on one knee and holds out hand at lunch)]

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything. All hail to Uncle Rick. (JK, I don't worship him or anything like that.)

"Annabeth invited me to spend Christmas with her family."

"Oh."

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Totally okay."

"Cool. Thanks, Mom. Have a Merry Christmas."

I hung up the phone and silently hoped she really didn't mind. I turned to Annabeth and gave her a thumbs up. I walked over to her at the table and kissed her head before sitting.

"So what did she say?"

"She said she was cool with it."

"Awesome," said Annabeth.

I was really excited, especially because I had never spent Christmas with her family. So when we departed from my mom's apartment in Manhattan, I had all my stuff ready: clothes, a cell phone, a first-aid kit, and pretty much anything someone would need in an emergency. Then I brought everything a demigod would need in an emergency: my sword, emergency nectar and ambrosia, and more nectar and ambrosia and more weapons. Just another regular road trip.

On our road trip, we stopped in several places, One of them being the Gateway Arch. I didn't want to go on it again, but Annabeth made me. She practically dragged me onto the elevator which, once again, made my stomach unhappy.

Of course, I was worried I was going to see an old lady with a chihuahua, frothing at the mouth. Annabeth told me it wasn't going to happen again. I made sure to stay in the middle and avoid the sides of the arch. She dragged me to the window and made me look out the window.

Now, I'm not afraid of heights. The only reason I'm uncomfortable with looking straight down into a five hundred foot drop is that I've had a bit of a bad experience with the Gateway Arch.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

I looked nervously at Annabeth and then at the sunset.

"It is. And it's getting dark. Shouldn't we be going soon?"

"I suppose."

I had promised Annabeth dinner by the river for that specific evening. I led Annabeth toward the elevator and waited for our turn. I let Annabeth in first and realized there was no more room.

"I'll get off."

"No, it's okay. I'll wait for the next one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Nothing's going to happen."

I said that more for me than for Annabeth. The elevator doors closed and I waited my turn on the elevator. I couldn't help look around nervously.

"Sir?"

I turned around and saw a little boy standing next to me.

"Hello. Where are your parents? Are you lost?"

"They—"

The child broke down in tears. I crouched down and touched him on the shoulder.

"What happened?"

"Mommy told me I had to find you. Then she disappeared. Daddy—"

"What do you mean, you had to find me?"

"She said a tall, brown haired man named Percy Jackson. Are you Percy Jackson?"

"Yes."

"Thank you. I finally found you."

What happened next surprised me almost more than anything in my entire life. The boy hugged me and cried on my shoulder.

"Do you know your parent's names?"

"Mommy was … Aphrodite. Daddy was … Aaron."

I picked him up after he said his mother was Aphrodite. I carried him into the elevator and told him to go along with what I was doing. He nodded and held onto my neck.

As soon as the elevator reached the ground, I stumbled out, my eyes searching for Annabeth. She was sitting at a table, tapping her fingers on the table.

"Annabeth!"

She turned to look at me and looked confused. I looked at her like, "I'll explain later".

She nodded and stood. Annabeth made her way toward me and kissed me on the cheek.

"Hello. What's your name?"

"Timothy."

"Well, Timothy, I hope Percy hasn't mistreated you."

Timothy's eyes widened after a while of silence. "You. She was talking about you. She said, 'Wisdom's daughter stands alone'."

Annabeth looked at me, confused. I shook my head. I really had no idea what was going on. I motioned Annabeth toward the parking lot. She nodded and spoke to Timothy along the way.

"What were you doing here, at the arch?"

"I was looking for Percy Jackson."

"Mission accomplished," I said, trying to cheer him up.

He smiled and hugged me even more. I felt sort of uncomfortable because I never had a little brother or anything. I was the only child. I had never had to take care of little kids.

"What else? Anything before you came here?" Annabeth was practically squeezing the information out of poor little Timothy.

"Daddy was with me until yesterday. Then he disappeared. Just like mommy."

"How did your mommy disappear?"

"First she told me to look away. I did and it was bright behind me. When I turned around, she was gone. Same with daddy."

"Percy," Annabeth choked. She looked at me and I thought the same thing.

"Was your father's name possibly Ares?" I had to ask.

"Yes! That was his name. It sounded like Aaron. He told me to tell people that that was his name."

"Oh gods." Annabeth looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"But I thought minor gods were … older."

"Minor gods?"

"Annabeth, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Take me to Olympus. Mommy and Daddy said they were going to be there."

I looked at Annabeth and I knew we were going to have to hold off on Christmas for a while.

"Okay. We have to leave now."

Annabeth nodded and took Timothy from my arms. She hurried off in the direction of the car when suddenly, a satyr appeared in front on her. A real satyr. No pants or hat to cover his goat parts.

I started to panic and was standing next to Annabeth in a flash.

"—don't believe what he's saying. He's a monster."

I assumed they were talking about Timothy. I looked at Annabeth and saw she was no longer holding the child. Had she dropped him? Did he run away?

"You couldn't take me to Olympus. You had to choose death."

Annabeth and I both turned toward a deep, rumbling voice behind us. Timothy had transformed into a giant. I held Annabeth close to my body. I couldn't move. We were going to die. I held Annabeth tightly, wanting for us to die together, if that the case.

"Percy!"

My eyes snapped open and I saw blond curls covering my face. Annabeth. I was breathing heavily and was in a cold sweat. I really was holding her tightly; too tightly.

I let go of Annabeth slightly, but not too much. I was still holding her, afraid she would be gone. As soon as I let go of her some, she turned in my arms and rested her head on my chest.

"What were you dreaming about?"

"Some really weird schist."

"What kind of schist?"

And so I told Annabeth my dream all while holding her. She flinched at the part where I told her Timothy was actually a man-eating giant who wanted to go to Olympus and most likely eat us as a snack along the way.

We both stayed quiet for a while after I finished, just acknowledging each other's lives. Whatever you do, don't cry. Guys don't cry. Demigod guys don't cry. Demigod guys who saved the world from destruction millions of times don't cry.

Despite my best efforts and calming thoughts, a tear escaped my eye. Then another. And another. The pillow started getting wet and I realized I was shaking. Great, I thought. Now I must look like a wimp.

"Oh, Percy. It's alright. You're okay. You're safe."

"I don't care if I'm holding onto the edge of a hole to you-know-where with my pinky. I want you to be safe."

"Percy, I am safe. And so are you. We're safe together."

I noticed I had curled up around Annabeth and my feet touched hers. I closed my eyes tight and tried to stop crying. I tried to think happy thoughts, like Tyson, how he had just turned eight years old. He seemed really mature for his age, though sometimes he broke into one of his childish conversations.

I smiled at the thought of every birthday I spent trying to eat the blue chocolate brick Tyson made for me. It was always so sweet how he had made one because it always looked like a huge chunk of cement.

"I guess we won't go to the gateway arch."

I looked at Annabeth and she looked up at me. She had her head buried into my chest and was looking at me with one eye. I smiled down at her and kissed her head.

"Hi, Mr. Chase. How are you? Mrs. Chase, have you been cooking? It smells heavenly."

I think I was overdoing it with the compliments, but they didn't seem to notice. Every now and then Annabeth poked me in the ribs or kicked me under the table when she thought I was being a complete and total suck-up.

We were sitting at the table, talking, when one of Annabeth's brothers screamed at the other upstairs. "You're such a jerk! That was my money, and you know it!"

"It should've been mine."

"It was mine!"

"You didn't deserve it."

"I'm going to tell Mom and Dad."

"Ooo. I'm real scared now."

There was a loud crash of which I assumed was the two boys in a fight. We all looked at each other quickly and I stood.

"I got it."

Annabeth nodded graciously as I left. I half ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. When I got to the boys' room, I pushed the door open and saw them practically ripping off each other's flesh.

"Hey, hey. Break it up."

Once they saw me, they shoved off each other. They stood beside one another and looked up at me. Being much taller than them gave me more courage to speak like an adult.

"What's going on?"

"He took my money."

"You weren't going to use it."

"Yes I was!"

"Alright, enough."

I told them to sit down and took a chair to sit in front of them. "Were you saving that money for something?"

"Yeah. I wanted to buy a girl something for Christmas. The neighbor."

"The neighbor? Her?"

"Shut up!"

"Okay. Bobby, do you still have your brother's money?"

"Yes."

"How much was it?"

"Forty dollars."

"Alrighty then. Give it back."

"What? I had my reasons too, you know."

"Fine, then. Tell your side of the story." I was growing impatient with Matthew and the whole incident with the money.

"Well, Percy, the thing is, I needed that money to buy something for a girl too. My friend."

"Then why don't you split the money and everyone will be happy?"

The boys looked at each other like the idea had not occurred to them. Coming to a silent agreement, they smiled at each other and shook each other's hands in some kind of handshake.

"Good. I'm glad we worked this out."

"Hey, Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. Oh, hey."

Matthew and Bobby turned around and got something out of a wooden box. When they turned back around to face me, they had a small wad of cash in their hands. It had some paper around the middle that said, "Sanbenath rischtams spretne" which, I guess made sense because my mind messed up words.

"Will you take us to get Annabeth a Christmas present?"

Oh. "Sure."

The boys looked at me expectantly for a minute before I realized what they wanted me to do. "Oh, right now?"

They nodded eagerly. "Yes."

"Alright."

I led them downstairs and told the others we were going out. "For what?"

"The guys need some fresh air. You know, to make up."

Mr. and Mrs. Chase nodded and left me to my business. Annabeth nodded too, but seemed to be suspicious. I worked up my best I'm-innocent-and-I-have-nothing-to-hide face and I think I had fooled her.

When I closed the door, turned on the car, and drove out the driveway, the boys talked among themselves. They asked me some questions every now and then.

"Does Annabeth like jewelry and girl stuff like that?"

"I guess, if it comes from you guys."

"How come?"

"Because you don't know her as well as I do, I guess."

"Does she not like girl stuff?"

"Not really. She thinks they're too cliché."

"Oh."

The boys went back to their discussing. They talked about not-as-girly things like books and designs. When they brought up some Lego buildings, I decided it was a good idea. Soon the mall came into view.

"Alright. Everybody out."

I got out and waited for Bobby and Matthew to get out then locked the car. We walked through the cold weather to the entrance and were hit with a rush of warm air.

Walking through the corridors, glancing here and there. I stopped outside of a jewelry store, seeing an owl necklace. The guys pulled my along, of course, and I didn't get a chance to stop and look at the necklace. Finally we got to the Lego store at the end of the passageway.

We walked in and Matthew went straight to the architecture boxes. Bobby stood next to me and glanced around. Maybe he didn't want to be seen in a Lego store. I didn't either.

"Look! This one is the Gateway Arch!"

This caught my attention immediately. I walked over there next to Matthew and picked up a box with a picture of the Gateway Arch on it. There were different sizes, so I picked the biggest one, deciding that Annabeth would have more fun with it if it took her more than ten minutes to make.

"Eighty dollars? Hades, that's a lot of money."

"We've got a hundred."

"Really? How long did it take you guys to gather so much?"

"About a year of not spending money."

I nodded and took the box to the counter. After paying for it with the boys' money, Mathew and Bobby were just about ready to leave. But I decided to go check on the owl necklace.

"Wait right here for a minute."

"Why?"

"Um … I have to go to the, um, bathroom."

"Geez, Percy. You're the worst liar in the history of liars."

"Well, I lied to Annabeth and your parents about going to get some air, didn't I?"

This shut them up for a minute. Even though I walked away and told them to stay where they were, they followed me. I led them to the jewelry store, not caring what they thought anymore.

I walked in and looked around for the necklace. I found it and a pair of matching earrings too. I was about to buy it when my eyes caught on something else. An engagement ring. It was a small diamond on a silver ring with a matching one for the guy.

"Can you guys keep a secret?" I spoke to the boys without looking at them; I knew they were right behind me.

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Sure, Percy."

"I think I'm going to propose to your sister for Christmas."

"Really?"

I nodded, smiling, thinking about what Annabeth's reaction would be. She would be completely flabbergasted with her mouth wide open. Bobby and Matthew laughed and patted me on the back. The next thing I knew, I was holding a small, velvet covered box with a ring in it.

"I'm gonna ask her to marry me."

"Do it, Perce!"

I couldn't stop smiling on the way out. I kept thinking about Annabeth, how beautiful she was, her intelligence—Oh Gods. Her mother. I stopped walking and was standing in between two parked cars. The boys turned around and looked at me funny.

"What's wrong, Percy?"

"Oh Gods."

"What?"

"Nothing. Lets go."

The boys turned and kept walking with me following. A billion thoughts ran through my brain. Most of them were positive: She's going to be that hated mother-in-law; but some of them were negative: She's going to throw me into the depths of Tartarus and send all the monsters that were made to destroy Poseidon and his children to kill me.

"Um … Percy? Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Why?"

"Because you just passed three red lights and you're driving at seventy miles an hour on a regular street."

"Hades," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

I slowed down and tried not to think about the thousands of ways Athena could torture me. I tried to think about Annabeth again. Didn't work. Just brought me back to torture. Looking around, I saw that we were in Annabeth's neighborhood.

"Thank the Gods."

I pulled into the Chase's driveway and turned off the car. We got out of the car and tried to be sneaky with getting the stuff inside the house. Thankfully, the adults and Annabeth were laughing about something and gave us a chance to go in and for the boys to run up to their room to hide the present.

"How'd it go, Seaweed Brain?"

I smiled at Annabeth and kissed her nose softly. "Just fine and dandy."

"Fine and dandy?"

I shrugged and kissed her again. She hugged me and I hugged her. We only pulled away when the boys came back downstairs and said, "EWWW!"

"What?" Annabeth was smiling at the two of them.

"You guys are—EWWW!"

Everyone laughed as I kissed Annabeth again except for the boys. They laughed after a while of us still kissing. After we pulled away, I looked into Annabeth's eyes and said, "I love you, Wise Girl."

"I love you too, Seaweed Brain."

I smiled when I thought about the silver ring in my pocket. I reminded myself to ask her father about marrying Annabeth.

"Mr. Chase?"

"Yes Percy?"

"May I speak to you?"

I spoke to him in a hushed tone after dinner. He and I had volunteered to pick up the plates after dinner. We were standing in the kitchen, next to the sink and I could feel a smile crawling its way onto my face.

"Of course. What about?"

"Annabeth." I paused. "I want to ask you if I can marry her."

"Oh." I was worried for a second then reminded myself about how much that guy loved me.

"I guess this is old fashioned, asking for your blessing and all, but I really wanted your approval."

"No, I understand. I sure do approve of you. Annabeth is always so happy around you."

"So, is that a yes?"

"Yes. As long as you promise to make her happy."

"Oh, thank you Mr. Chase. Thank you so much." I was so excited that I hugged him in the kitchen which was not really a guy-kind-of-action, especially to another guy.

"You know, I even have a ring."

"Really? Can I see it?"

I took the velvet box from my pocket and showed it to him. I felt like this Christmas was going to be the most memorable.

"Do you want to pass out the presents?"

"Sure."

Annabeth crouched next to the Christmas tree and took the presents from underneath it. I felt excited, remembering the ring. I had placed under the tree at the back and in the middle so that Annabeth would take it out last. It took some time, but we finally got through all of the presents and Annabeth checked around the middle in case she had missed one.

"I don't know. I think that's it. But wait. There's—"

She stopped talking when she saw what it was. She held in her hand a small velvet covered box. I couldn't help smiling. She opened it slowly and gasped. Looking up slowly, she met my eyes with hers.

I stood and walked over to her. I kneeled next to her and kissed her cheek. Gently taking the box from her hands, I said the magical words that made Annabeth cry.

"Annabeth Chase, will you do the great and wonderful honor of marrying me?"

"Oh, Percy! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

She wrapped her arms around my neck and I hugged her back. She cried into my shoulder, laughing at the same time. She pulled away and kissed me. I took the ring from its box and held Annabeth's hand. Carefully placing the ring onto her finger, I looked up at her face. It was a priceless mix of happiness and surprise.

"I love you Annabeth. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you, however long that may be."

"Don't say that. You're an idiot."

"I think I knew that already."

She was smiling and was happy at the moment, but I knew what I said was true. I knew that in that big mind of hers, she would remember what I said and wished I hadn't. Oh well.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Thank you for saying yes."

"I don't think I had a choice."

We were just looking into each other's eyes. The boys started to clear their throats excessively.

"We'll be going."

"Yeah. It's getting a little too lovey-dovey in here for our taste."

The rest of the day was spent with us not talking much but more admiring. I kept looking at Annabeth and her hair. There was plenty of cuddling and a lot of **mom-leave-us-alones** throughout the day. I saw her constantly glancing at her left hand. Every time she did, she smiled. But not one of those **I'm smiling because I'm happy** smiles, but one of those **I'm smiling because I'm really really really really happy** smiles. At night, after dinner, they really did leave us alone. Annabeth and I laid down on the couch in front of the fire. She was on top of me.

"Oh, Percy. I'm so happy."

"I'm glad. I really do love you."

"I love you too, Seaweed Brain."

Annabeth giggled and buried her face into my chest.

"What?"

"C'est l'amour. Je t'aime."

"Okay. I love you, but I have no idea what you just said."

"It's love," she translated. "I love you."

"Je t'aime?"

"Mm-hmm. I love you, Percy."

"Me too." After a while, I couldn't help saying it again. I felt like the more I said it, the more she would believe it.

"Merry Christmas, Seaweed Brain."

Annabeth whispered the words as she began to fall asleep. With the rhythm of her steady breathing and the sound of the crackling fire, I fell asleep as well.

Not such a schist-y Christmas after all.

So, how'd you do? Well, that's a stupid question, isn't it? A little confusing, you say? Percy was dreaming? Please review! Also, please report any typos. (I'm a grammar and spelling Nazi.)

PURPLE! PROPOSAL! Sorry. I had to. :D