This was written as a secret santa gift over on tumblr. Just a quick, cute little piece!
.
.
.
"You really don't have anything better to do?" Sally Jackson leaned into the mirror to reapply her lipstick, catching sight of her teenage son sprawled on the living room carpet, tossing a ball up and down.
"Geez mom, you're really helping the self-esteem here. Besides, don't you guys want to go out?"
"Yes. Yes we do." Sally threw the rest of the makeup in her purse, emerging through the open bathroom door. "Paul, honey, let's go before Percy changes his mind!"
A muffled response came from the bedroom.
Sally began rifling through things on the kitchen counter. "Now, Annabeth's coming over, you said?" She tried to make her voice sound nonchalant. In reality, it sounded like she had all kinds of crazy ideas about what New Year's Eve spent babysitting a literal baby in an empty apartment could mean. Percy felt weirdly like he'd already been caught out, even though there was nothing untoward even involved.
"Uh, yep. And Grover. So things might get a little on the crazy side. Maybe you guys should just stay."
Sally broke into a smile. "Hmm, I don't think so. I feel like dancing." She kissed Estelle in her playpen. "There's plenty of bottled milk for her; I pumped before I left, so–"
"Okay thanks bye now!"
Sally laughed. Paul emerged from the bedroom, straightening his tie. "All right Percy, there's pizza money on the table, and sparkling cider in the fridge; I hope it doesn't get you and Estelle too rowdy tonight."
"I'm sure we'll feel better tomorrow than you two."
Sally and Paul said goodbye and left; shortly after, the buzzer announced the arrival of Grover. He had, naturally, brought snacks.
"Hey, man—" He threw his arms around Percy. Not the half-handshake-half-one-armed-bro-hug most guys did; Grover did full, real, sincere hugs. Especially after spending so little times with his best friend for so, so long.
"Annabeth's not here yet?" Grover went straight over to Estelle, who was cooing contentedly in her playpen. "Hi little baby!" He knelt, instantly adopting a high-pitched baby voice. "I brought you something! Look what Uncle Grover brought you!" He pulled out a green onesie, printed with "Save the honeybees." On the back it read, "And eat cheese enchiladas." Percy was not entirely sure how these two things were related, but Estelle seemed to like it all the same, gurgling happily at Grover.
Grover looked over his shoulder at Percy. "Hey, so, I wanted to talk to you about something kinda big tonight—"
The buzzer sounded again. Grover waved Percy toward it. "It can wait. Let Annabeth in."
He opened the door. Now, Annabeth always looked good to him; sweaty and wearing battle armor, sleepy with her morning hair a mess, or wearing a ratty old sweatshirt, hair in a messy bun, deep in concentration over her computer. But right now – right now, all he could do was stand in the doorway and blink.
She was wearing a skirt – she never wore skirts. It was black and short-ish and even had a slight glittery effect. It was paired with dark, sheer tights and a loose charcoal sweater. Her hair was partly up and partly down. She looked like she'd been to Elysium and back. And she was smiling at him in an amused way, as if she knew it.
He abruptly stopped his elevator eyes and pulled her inside, shutting the door. "Hi–" she started to say, but he cut her off with a greeting kiss. He pulled away and put his face close to hers. "You didn't have to dress up like this," he said in a low voice.
She grinned. "I thought I could do whatever I wanted." She glanced down. "Besides, it's only a dumb skirt."
He kissed her head, lacing their fingers together. "Dumb and adorable."
"WHY NO little fox, you make the WRONG assumption!" Grover's booming voice echoed through the apartment; Percy and Annabeth both jumped, and looked over to where he was making two plastic toys talk for Estelle's entertainment. "I'm the big bad land developer coming to cut down all the trees you call home…"
Annabeth started laughing. She pulled away from Percy. "Hey, Grover."
"Oh please sir, this is our only den – we will have to live in a wasteland and eat garbage now—" Grover looked up, letting the plastic figures fall. "Oh, Annabeth!"
He swept her up in a hug, spinning her just a little. She laughed, and Estelle laughed, and Percy went into the kitchen to order pizza.
The night commenced in games of cards, a scary movie (during which Annabeth got bored, and Grover eventually made them turn off), and Percy heating up a bottle of milk, testing it on his wrist, and turning to find Annabeth watching him silently, leaning in the doorway.
"What?" He asked, pausing.
"Nothing," she shook her head, a tiny smile playing at her lips. "Just – nothing."
…
Finally, nearer to midnight, Estelle fell asleep. ("What kind of party schedule is this kid on?" Grover had commented.)
They sat on the couch, drinking sparkling cider – no one was waiting till midnight – and debating New Year's Resolutions. Finally, it was decided that they each needed to come up with one single goal that would connect them with a simpler time; with who they had been before they really started fearing for their lives, watching friends die, waking up in cold sweats, and basically regretting everything. For Percy, it was skateboarding. For Grover, leading nature walks again. And for Annabeth, drawing and sketching designs just for herself, just for fun, just for her wildest daydreams.
None of their resolutions needed explanation. They all understood.
…
At one point, Estelle woke up crying. It was decided she needed a diaper change, and surprisingly, Annabeth volunteered. ("I need to know what I'm doing, if I ever watch her by myself.")
Percy, who was at this point playing Call of Duty beside Grover, suddenly remembered something. "Hey, G-Man, wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Oh. Yes. Right, there was." Grover cleared his throat, setting down his controller. "I wanted you to be the first to know. I want to tell Annabeth too, but…you first, Percy. You're my best friend."
Percy slowly set down his own controller, too. He looked at Grover warily. And he realized something. Grover was still the same satyr he's always known, that he'd known since 6th grade, but he wasn't, too. He was taller, more experienced, more mature looking. Older. In satyr terms, he was practically grown up.
Percy felt something deep within him stir. He and Annabeth, he supposed, had changed too.
"Percy," Grover said steadily. "I'm going to ask Juniper to marry me."
Percy nearly choked on the cider he'd just drank. "What!"
Grover laughed and thumped him on the back, and Percy coughed and suddenly he was laughing too, and all at once Percy grabbed him in a congratulatory bear hug. "Yes – Grover, dude, I'm so happy for you."
"You'll be my best man?"
"What, really? Dude, of course. I wouldn't miss it."
Grover sniffled, still laughing with happiness.
"Um, what did I miss?"
Annabeth was standing in the doorway, Estelle on her hip.
"Grover's gonna be a dad!" Percy yelled, just to be obnoxious. Grover hit him and got up, going over to Annabeth.
"Ignore him. For real though, I'm going to propose to Juniper."
"You're – oh my gods – Grover!" Annabeth went pale, and then abruptly burst into tears. Laughing, Grover led her back to the couch, where they formed a happy, chaotic pile, a wide-awake Estelle in their midst.
…
"You're parents are going kill us when she's still awake. We're literally the worst babysitters in the world," Annabeth said, as they watched the countdown on TV, Estelle giggling on Percy's knee and steadily eating the animal crackers he fed her.
"Or, I don't know, the best ones," Percy suggested with a shrug. "Look how happy she is!"
A snore interrupted them. Annabeth glanced over her shoulder. "On the other hand, Grover's entirely out. Should we wake him up to watch the ball drop?"
"Nah. Let the kid sleep. Besides, you're my midnight kiss and I want you all to myself." Percy draped an arm around her. "We're such wild, uncontained youth. What a night."
Annabeth snorted. "Your parents are the party animals, now. I'm kind of proud of them."
It circled closer to midnight, Estelle's eyelids slowly began to droop, and Annabeth scooted closer to Percy, laying her head on his shoulder. He turned his head and whispered something in her ear, just for her. She smiled slightly sleepily and sat back up, just as it struck twelve.
They leaned together and kissed, sweet and long and deep, as the commotion on the TV rose in pitch.
They were interrupted by a loud, delighted squeal from Estelle, roused back into high alert by the noise from the TV.
Percy leaned back and grinned, letting her wrap her tiny hand around his finger.
"Yeah, we're so dead."