Lucy
By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx
AN: Abortion is a real thing. It's difficult to have a baby, and not want it. Situations are different, and there are times where you probably feel alone, and not capable of taking care of a child, especially if you're a single parent that is a teenager.
But it doesn't have to end in abortion.
Abortion is a real thing. Many women and girls in America, and all around the world, today chose to terminate the baby, rather than go through with the pregnancy and put it up for adoption or keep it. Some rectify this action by saying that the baby isn't even alive yet, but they are wrong. The baby inside of them is very much alive! It has a heartbeat, just like you and me!
I'm not going into details, but I am a very pro-life person. I have no idea what it's like to be put in that situation, but let this story be an encouragement for everyone out there. Life is precious, and who are we to take an unborn baby's life away?
I mean no disrespect to anyone here, but this is very much what I believe, and this story is based off of a true one. Don't believe me? Type in: 'Lucy by Skillet meaning' on Google, and find the video that explains it. This story is loosely based off of the story that John Cooper(lead singer of Skillet) is telling.
I hope you all enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO or the song Lucy by Skillet.
The day that Annabeth dropped the news, Percy would've rather have gone up against the Giants again than have it be true.
It wasn't like the news was necessarily a bad things, but gods, Annabeth was only eighteen, he had yet to turn eighteen, and he so was not ready to be a father. Despite having saved the world twice in just two years and done a whole bunch of other crap in his life, he still felt like he was... just a kid. A kid who wanted to be able to live his life to the fullest, especially after losing eight months of it.
He didn't want to be a dad.
His mom and Paul had already had 'The Talk' with him, and so had Annabeth, not three weeks prior to when his parents did. This was Annabeth, of course, and she wanted every little thing to be planned out—from a battle strategy against the enemy to using protection while having... yeah.
It happened near the beginning of summer, and somehow, someway, Annabeth managed to get 'impregnated with his sea spawn' as Athena had oh so blatantly stated.
Both of them had agreed that they didn't really want the child—Annabeth wanted to go on to college, and he still had yet to graduate from college. Their godly parents, namely Athena, were all for getting rid of the fetus in way, shape, or form, Annabeth's father was more for putting it up for adoption, and Percy's mom was practically pleading with him to keep 'his daughter' as she had come to assume the fetus was.
Not the baby, Percy would often tell himself. It's not born yet. It's still a fetus. A non-living fetus.
The talk of aborting the fetus had come to their mind, suggested by none other than Athena. She had clearly stated that she wanted nothing—especially Percy's 'sea spawn'—to get in the way of Annabeth's future, and when Sally protested against the procedure, it took everything within the goddess not to vaporize Percy's mom right on the spot.
Still, whether any of their parents supported their decision—whatever that may be—it was up to Percy and Annabeth, and the latter had flatly told the five adults that. The decision of whether to keep the fetus wasn't their decision to make for the couple, and she seemed pretty pissed that they were trying to do so.
Promptly after that, Athena demanded that the decision be made before Annabeth reached the first trimester of the pregnancy. Being as stubborn as she was, Annabeth agreed to that, and for about two months, Percy had managed to avoid the talk. He told himself that he would support whatever choice Annabeth made—whether it be the two keeping the baby, putting it up for adoption, or aborting it. After all, it was more of Annabeth's decision because it would affect her future just a bit more than his. He hated to think of leaving her to make the decision on her own, but he had a feeling that she would know what to do, whereas he had no clue.
Athena's deadline quickly came, and, with their five parents(and step-parents) all crowded into Sally and Paul's apartment, Annabeth announced that they would abort the baby.
Of course, Percy had known about 'their' choice before the official announcement, but it still surprised him. He'd half expected Annabeth to go through with the pregnancy and put the baby up for adoption, but he had a feeling that a certain wisdom goddess had pressured her daughter into the decision. But, just as he'd promised himself and Annabeth he would do, Percy supported the choice, despite the guilt that was eating at his heart.
After the procedure was over, Percy figured that their problems would be gone. He could go on and finish his last year of high school, and Annabeth could have a fresh start at her university. Their mess up would be forgotten, and hopefully, someday, they would be able to get married and have a baby that they could and would want to keep.
But, the more Percy thought about it, the more he realized that the Fates really loved to prove him wrong.
Aeschylus once said, "A god implants in mortal guilt whenever he wants to utterly confound a house."
Annabeth Chase had never known how true that man's quote was until now.
It had been about half of a year since her pregnancy began, and about three or four months since she had aborted the fetus. Like Percy, she figured that the guilt was inevitable, and that it would go away after a while, but throughout the months following the procedure, she kept thinking about her unborn baby.
Had Athena been slightly more supportive of her, Annabeth almost could say that she would've kept the baby, or at least finished out the pregnancy. It's not like she wanted a baby, but killing it just seemed... wrong.
Not killing it, a little voice in the back of her mind that sounded much like Athena scolded. It's a fetus. It's not even alive yet. 'Killing it' would be taking your knife and plunging it into the baby's chest right after it was born. You did not kill the baby. You just terminated your pregnancy.
That's what Annabeth always told herself when the thought of being a cold-hearted murderer popped into her mind. The fetus wasn't alive yet, therefore, it was perfectly fine for her to have aborted it. She should've been able to sleep with a clear conscience, but she just couldn't bring herself to. The possibilities of what would have happened if they had kept the baby flooded her mind at all times, even when she slept.
In her dreams—more like nightmares—she could often see a little girl, maybe five or six years old, with a beautiful mane of black hair and sparkling gray eyes, much like her own, running happily around with what looked to be an older version of Percy. It had taken her longer than it should've to put two and two together and realize that the girl was their daughter, or what could've been of her. The dreams would begin like that, then they would slowly shift into nightmarish ones, where she would see the girl being slaughtered... and she was the one holding the knife that killed her.
Often, she would wake up in a cold sweat, and too many times would she want to IM Percy right then and there. There were actually times where she did call him or something, and they would stay up for the rest of the night, talking for the rest of the night about the pregnancy. Annabeth learned that Percy felt the same way; he wished that they had done something different about the baby.
The baby, she began to correct herself. Not the fetus, the baby. The living, breathing baby with the heartbeat that I killed for my own selfish reasons.
The guilt tugged at her heart that entire school year, until she finally came back to New York for summer break. By this time, the two were ready to do something to right her wrongs—anything.
Dr. Wilson was a very interesting woman, but Percy had to admit, he was really growing fond of the counselor.
It was Rachel's idea.
When speaking with the Oracle, Rachel had promptly suggested that they go and see a counselor—one that wasn't Dr. Arkwright. While Percy reasoned that the idea was silly and the pregnancy was mostly a secret, Annabeth had thought it through and agreed with Rachel that the idea was indeed a good one. After much protests, Annabeth finally managed to bring Percy to a counselor named Dr. Wilson.
Their counselor was a young, small woman who was a mother herself. She must've been about thirty, maybe a little bit older, with dark hair and dark eyes to match. When he first met her, he thought automatically of Drew—did all Asian women look like that? She was a very sweet, but straight to the point person, and within one session, Percy found himself telling a big part of their story to the woman.
One session turned into two, then three, and so forth, and the couple found themselves becoming borderline friends with the woman. She was just so easy to talk to, and not condemning of them at all. She carefully and gracefully listened to their problems, while offering her advice at the same time. She, in retrospect, was the near opposite of Drew—caring, patient, and an all-around likable person.
During their last session, Percy found himself in for a surprise.
They didn't begin their session by her asking if they had any problems, like usual; instead, she began to talk to them, rather than listen. Percy felt a little annoyed, because, after all, they were paying her to listen to them talk, not the other way around. But, then, Dr. Wilson began talking of her first child, which was weird because she often would say 'she' instead of 'he' like she had often referred to her son.
The session went on, and the woman finally admitted that she and her husband's first child had been born stillborn.
Automatically, Percy felt embarrassed. Here, for a little less than a month, he and Annabeth had been telling her how they had selfishly chosen to abort their child, and this woman had patiently listened, all while having been through a miscarriage that was inevitable. She didn't have the choice on whether or not to keep her child, and they had.
At the end of her story, Dr. Wilson suggested to the couple that they act like they had a death in their family, rather than a procedure to eliminate the baby. Following that, she asked if they wanted to stay for the rest of the hour or not, and Annabeth promptly said that they would rather go home and discuss things alone.
The entire car ride home, Percy began thinking of ways to treat their baby's death as a true death, not a choice of terminating the pregnancy. They would first need to come up with a name for the child—who, from father's intuition, he figured was totally a boy—hold a funeral for him, and lastly get a tombstone. Those three things seemed practical enough, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.
Miraculously, Annabeth had came up with the same ideas, and she too was all for it. A new sense of peace settled over Percy's heart, and while he still regretted their choice, there was still something different. The healing process had begun.
March 23rd was a difficult day for Percy.
It was Lucy's unofficial second birthday, and Annabeth was all the way at her university, leaving Percy alone at his own college on this depressing day. Lucy, as they had come to call her, had her tombstone not two hours from his college, and while it hurt to bring himself to go, Percy knew that he owed his daughter that much.
So, getting up early in the morning, Percy first when to the flower shop, bought a dozen roses, and set out for Lucy's burial site.
He promised himself he wouldn't cry, but as he knelt down next to her tiny tombstone, the dam broke, and he began babbling like a complete idiot. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the ground as he whispered, "I'm so sorry, baby."
All the pent up feelings from the entire situation flooded him at once, and Percy found himself crying like he never had before. There was despair—as much as when he thought he had lost his mother—but there was also a sense of hope and peace. He'd already talked to Nico; any unborn babies automatically made to Elysium. It seemed that Hades had a bigger heart than people expected.
No matter how many days passed by, the remorse from giving up Lucy followed Percy everywhere. He knew that he would always regret not being able to hold her—to never be able to see her live. He wouldn't be able to experience that, wouldn't be able to even see her until he reached Elysium, if he even managed to do so.
"Oh, Lucy," Percy said breathlessly, shiny tears still streaking down his tanned face. He reached his hand up and stroked his daughter's tombstone, "I'm here. I love you... so, so much, and I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, Lucy, I'm sorry..."
March 23rd, 2014 was a difficult day for Percy Jackson. He experienced feelings of utter agony and remorse, yet he also experienced catharsis, emotional release. The loss of Lucy was still going to hurt, and he doubted that the pain would go away any time soon, but he still had the hope of seeing his daughter again. He had the hope of having another child with Annabeth.
Lucy made the rest of his life worth living. She gave him something to fight for—something more than just paradise after his life. She gave them something to remember—to learn from—and no matter how much he wished that he could hold her, he knew that someday, he would be able to.
Hey, Lucy, I remember your name.
AN: Now, you may wonder why I called the baby a fetus instead of a baby in the first couple of sections. Well, that's because I'm portraying what Percy and Annabeth are thinking, not what I am. As you can see, their opinions towards the baby change throughout the story, but in the beginning, they consider it an unliving fetus, whereas it is a living, breathing baby.
I hope you all enjoyed the story. (: