ShiKeiLan || PJatO || Nicercy || Blue Christmas and New Heroes || Nicercy || PJatO || ShiKeiLan
Title: Blue Christmas and New Heroes – The Adopted Next Generation
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus | Voltron: Legendary Defender
Disclaimer: All rights to the Voltron remake reserved to DreamWorks, Lauren Montgomery and Joaquim Dos Santos, and to the original to Toei Animation. Percy Jackson reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. All rights concerning Percy Jackson reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Warnings: shounen-ai, threesome, fluff, adoption, Christmas fluff, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, double penetration, shoujo-ai, hetero
Main Pairing: Nico/Percy & Shiro/Keith/Lance
Side Pairings: Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Jason/Reyna, Chris/Clarisse, Malcolm/Katie, Tyson/Ella, Paul/Sally
Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez, Jason Grace, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Malcolm Cage, Katie Gardner, Chris Rodriguez, Clarisse la Rue, Tyson, Ella, Sally Blofis, Paul Blofis, Mrs. O'Leary, Small Bob, Blackjack, Arion, Tempest
Voltron Characters: Lance (Neptune), Keith (Ares/Vulcan), Takashi 'Shiro' Shirogane (Zeus), Katie 'Pidge' Holt (Ceres), Matthew Holt (Athena), Hunk (Pluto), Allura (Venus), Coran
Own Character: George the Goldfish
Summary: The Giant War had ended ten years ago and the Heroes of Olympus moved on, started their own lives very slowly. New demigods are born and the old heroes decide to adopt some of their orphaned half-siblings. Nico and Percy adopt Lance, the very adorable little son of Neptune.
They love Lance, raise him right and in his teens, see Lance off to his first big quest with who are considered the new Seven. Lance? He's really excited to go on a quest with all his best friends – and with the two boys he secretly had been crushing on for years now.
Blue Christmas and New Heroes
The Adopted Next Generation
Part 1: Families
The Giant War had taken its toll on New Rome. The half-destroyed city was what took the longest to rebuild. Only that they didn't just rebuild it, they improved it. Enlarged it. A bigger city, more houses and apartments, more space for more demigods – for it was no longer New Rome. They renamed it New Olympus, one city for all of them, Romans and Greeks alike.
Because living at a summer camp was not a permanent solution for children; should have never been. And separating Romans and Greeks? Yeah, that had worked so well so far. No, they needed to stop thinking of each other as separate groups. They were one united front.
That sentiment had cemented over the past ten years. Demigods lived in New Olympus, trained in Camp Jupiter during the school year and then left for Camp Half-Blood in the summer – so it truly was a summer-camp. A place to look forward to to spend some time with friends and away from the adults. Chiron and Dionysus were grateful for that too; they finally had a thing called free time.
Annabeth Chase was the current mayor of New Olympus and no one could really argue that; she was doing a splendid job. She also loved her job. After having spend years designing the additions to New Olympus, she was now proud to lead the city she had helped build.
And Annabeth was not the only one from her generation who had grown up and moved on. They all had, really. Had gone to college, got married, got jobs. Responsible, semi-normal adults instead of heroes who never thought they'd live to see their adult-life unfold.
When Percy had gone missing between the wars, when Jason, Leo and Piper had appeared at camp, Annabeth had found comfort in Piper. Comfort that, over the Giant War, had turned into love. Years ago, the two young women had gotten married and moved in together.
After the Giant War, Jason and Reyna finally managed to sit down together and talk things out. Their relationship was one that had never found the time to happen, but with peace upon them, they finally gave dating a chance – especially now that Jason's fake girlfriend was dating another girl.
While Hazel and Frank had started dating during the Giant War, they only truly felt complete as Leo returned from the dead, so to speak. He had freed Calypso and she had taken Festus to travel the world. But Leo? Ever since his mother had died, Leo had craved a place to call home. He finally had that and losing it again was a painful thought. For a girl he had known only a couple weeks, at that? No. During their short time together, it had already been clear that they were not a good match; she was bossy, even nasty if she was in a mood, while Leo had the kind of personality to put her into said mood. Leo left to return to his friends, where the most enthusiastic ones to greet him were Frank and Hazel. Having attended Leo's funeral, thinking him dead, it had put things into perspective and now that they got a second chance – they didn't waste it. Over the past ten years, the threesome had settled into a comfortable and healthy relationship.
And then there were Percy and Nico.
For nearly two years, all Percy focused on was helping. Helping with the rebuilding on Camp Half-Blood and New Rome/New Olympus and Mount Olympus. It was shortly after his graduation two years after the war that he actually moved to New Olympus. He started partaking in PTSD group meetings, tried to both help others and himself. Due to the fact that most his friends were paired up like this was Noah's Arc, Percy ended up rooming with Nico. It was out of necessity at first. Percy couldn't afford living on his own and Nico son of the god of wealth had gotten a house from daddy dearest. At least that absent godly parents made up for it with valuables. Nico had offered Percy to move in with him and Percy had happily agreed – because the thought of taking an apartment and moving in with a demigod he didn't know was absolutely terrifying.
Their friendship grew deeper and they grew closer, until about half a year into moving together, Nico's annoying blondes – also known as Will and Jason – had bugged him into finally confessing to Percy. And as they say, the rest is history. Five years ago, the two had gotten married.
"Mister di Angelo, you look ravishable", whispered Nico, voice dark.
Percy grinned amused, baring his neck to Nico. "That's not a word, dork. But it was the intention."
It was their fifth anniversary and...
/and for the fun-parts, you'll have to go to my AO3 account Takara_Phoenix and read the story there due to trolls, sorry!\
"Happy anniversary, best husband on the planet", whispered Percy and kissed Nico's collarbone.
"Liar", grunted Nico, nose buried in Percy's hair. "Because you are the best husband on the planet. And that was the best present on the planet."
"That wasn't a present; it was just sex", pointed Percy out and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. Sex with the most beautiful guy ever", hummed Nico pleased. "With the love of my life. The best present I could possibly want, amore. Now I feel bad for not getting you anything."
They had agreed on this years ago; no competing with Valentines' or anniversary presents. Shared dinner and sex being the only things they did for each other. Percy carefully adjusted to lay with his head on Nico's shoulder, Nico's arm folded so he could run his fingers through Percy's hair.
"Well... I would know something... that I'd want a lot and... well... maybe...", drawled Percy out.
"Yeah?", asked Nico, perking up cautiously because it was very rare for Percy to ask for something.
"Annie dropped by the dojo today", started Percy slowly. "And... And she said, well... The satyrs, they came back from their last rounds. From that orphanage where they suspected some demigods to be. There were a son of Pluto and a son of Neptune in that orphanage. She came by because... When they found Shiro two years ago, giving him into Jason's care was the ideal solution. Children of the Big Three are very powerful. It's better if they're raised by someone who understands their power and can give them guidance. So, well, Annabeth thought that maybe you and I could... meet the kids and... see? Maybe... it'll click. I mean, we haven't talked about this in a while, but..."
Nico silenced Percy by kissing him gently. They had talked about this before, back when Jason and Reyna had adopted Takashi Shirogane. Two years ago, a cute little half-Japanese son of Zeus had been brought to New Olympus. After a lot of talking, Jason and Reyna had agreed to foster him, to give him some guidance. They soon fell head over heels in love with the timid, well-mannered little boy and decided to fully adopt him. That was how their generation had began starting their own families. Honestly, most of them hadn't really given it much thought before – because life for a demigod was already hard and for them to have children, they were essentially dooming their own kids to the same kind of fate, some even worse because they might end up with both their parents' powers. Or the by now former heroes simply didn't feel ready just yet. About a year later, Chris and Clarisse had adopted a grumpy, adorable son of Ares named Keith. He was commonly referred to as mini Nico because the boy resembled Nico a lot in attitude and even looks. The thing was that Keith was a very special little boy; he was a son of Ares but he was also a legacy of Vulcan, as they had realized a few months ago because Keith had started fire-bending. Ever since, Leo kept stealing Clarisse's boy. Not that Clarisse minded; no young, exhausted, working mother would mind having a reliable babysitter. The thing was, ever since Clarisse – Percy's business-partner – had adopted Keith, Percy regularly saw the little boy when the babysitter couldn't make it and Chris would drop Keith off at the dojo. Percy adored the cutie and the more time he spent with Keith, the more he wanted a child of his own. Only that Nico and Percy couldn't have children of their own; not together. So adopting one seemed far fairer for Percy than having a surrogate.
"Okay", nodded Nico slowly, causing Percy's head to snap up. "What? We talked about it casually two years ago and agreed that we want to adopt, but that we weren't ready. It's been two years. And meeting the boys won't hurt, will it? Sure, let's spend our anniversary at an orphanage."
Percy smiled brightly and leaned up to kiss Nico deeply and feverishly. Within minutes were both of them dressed and Nico found himself dragged out of the house. Okay so the son of Hades had thought they'd first finish with the cuddles and eat the dinner that was just waiting to be reheated. But apparently having a child was something very important to Percy right now. Nico guessed it had been for a while but Percy never dared to speak up about it. By the time they reached the city's demigod orphanage, they were not the only couple visiting. The director of the orphanage – Coran – smiled at them and led them to the waiting room where their friends were already sitting.
"What are you doing here?", asked Percy surprised, staring at his best friend.
Annabeth smiled and hugged him. "Well, I successfully raised one son of Poseidon, I figured... Piper and I, we thought... maybe we could try, if neither of you would want."
"Hey. I take offense to that", huffed Percy, hitting her shoulder playfully.
"Well, we're here too", pointed Leo out.
Nico looked up to see Leo, Frank and Hazel enter the room too. He blinked slowly. Sure. Pluto. Annabeth had also told Hazel. The threesome didn't have kids themselves because Hazel was a daughter of death; barren. He saw it in her eyes when the siblings looked at each other before hugging. She wanted a child, saw this as a chance. The fact that Leo regularly stole Keith and brought him home probably didn't help the situation. Nico smiled gently as he kissed her forehead.
"Let's go and meet the children", offered Coran as he led the way to the common room.
"...Really?", asked Nico pointedly as he saw Malcolm Cage and Katie Gardner.
Malcolm grinned and shrugged. When Clarisse and Percy had opened their dojo, the son of Athena had joined as their accountant, while his by now wife had followed her Demeter-nature to open a flower shop. Katie smiled and went to hug Piper briefly while Malcolm approached them.
"What? I was there too when Annie came visiting. And sure, a kid of the Big Three is... a lot of responsibility, but it just reminded me of what Katie and I had been talking about for a while."
"Yes, they were already getting acquainted with the children", confirmed Coran as he knelt down in front of the children Katie and Malcolm had been talking to. "May I introduce? Those are Lance and Hunk. Boys, these nice people would like to meet you. Can you say hello?"
Leo made a high-pitched sound when he saw the chubby-cheeked son of Pluto named Hunk. The boy wiggled his nose as he looked up at the adults, a yellow car-toy in his hand. The other child was carefully hiding behind Hunk, peeking out from behind his friend's shoulder. Coran sighed.
"Maybe... that's a bit too much. Would you mind waiting?", asked Coran.
Malcolm, Katie, Annabeth and Piper obediently stepped away again. Percy couldn't. He tried, but when he looked into Lance's large, azure-blue eyes, he just couldn't. The tiny Latino looked afraid, but also curious and inquisitive. He also looked simply adorable. So while Leo was busy kneeling in front of Hunk and asking the boy about his toy-car, Percy sat down behind them and smiled at Lance. Lance was about three or four, if Percy had to guess. For a long moment, Percy blanked. What was he supposed to say to a frightened, curious child? But his husband helped.
"Hello, Lance", greeted Nico softly. "I'm Nico and this is my husband Percy. We hear you're a very special boy, mh? Sh, no, don't be afraid. That's nothing bad. My husband here, he's special too."
Nico carefully took the bottle Lance was holding and for a moment, Lance looked very upset, but thankfully enough Percy had caught on with what his husband was up to. Smiling reassuringly at Lance, Percy lifted his hands and raised the water out of the bottle. Lance gasped, eyes wide as he watched how the blob of water slowly started wobbling in the air.
"What's your favorite animal, Lance?", asked Percy gently.
"Lions! They make rawr and sing pretty!", exclaimed Lance excitedly.
Laughing softly – and making a mental note to dust off his Lion King DVD – Percy used his powers to form the water into a lion. He made the water-lion pose for Lance and jump around. Lance started giggling, cheeks red as he clapped excitedly. Percy was officially in love in a way he had never been in love before. He turned to look pleadingly at Nico and the son of Hades could just chuckle. When he looked at Lance, he saw so much of Percy in the boy; only smaller, younger, more vulnerable. Quite obviously did every instinct Nico had call for him to protect the mini Percy. Was that what fatherly instincts were...? The urge to protect a little one because the child reminded them of their beloved spouse? Nico didn't know; he just knew he had never felt that way. His eyes briefly flittered over to his young half-brother, but it seemed as though Hunk was already taken.
The little boy was sitting on Hazel's lap, listening in awe as Leo told him about the flying ship he had built while Hazel was quite clearly drawing parallels between Hunk and Frank, which made Frank blush. Or maybe it made Frank blush to see Hazel and Leo with the young child, because Nico could relate – there was something amazing about seeing the one you love with a child.
So while Percy, Nico, Hazel, Frank and Leo were busy adoring the two young sons of the Big Three, their friends were standing and leaning against a wall, with various levels of boredom. Well, not all of them. Piper tilted her head curiously as she spotted a young native American girl. She bit her lips. The stories from her grandpa Thomas had been so vital in her youth; part of her wanted to pass on her heritage. Also, the little girl had stark-white hair. Tugging on Annabeth's sleeve, Piper led her wife over to the young girl. She smiled as she saw the pink triangles the little girl had painted under her eyes and the general attempt at make-up. It looked cute.
"Hello, sweetie", smiled Piper gently as she knelt down. "I'm Piper. That's my wife Annabeth."
"Hello", piped the little girl back. "I'm Allura. I'm a daughter of Venus. Uncle Coran says that's important, but I dunno why. Mom didn't want me so now I'm here so why is she important...?"
"Because...", started Piper and blanked. "Well, you're right, I guess. Then you don't have to say it."
Allura nodded pleased. "Hello, I'm Allura. I'm the daughter of Alfor. He was a really-really great dad. But now he's... gone. And I'm alone, because mom doesn't want me."
Annabeth made a bit of a heartbroken sound as she crouched down in front of the child too. "I really like your hair. It looks very pretty, Allura."
"Thank you!", chimed Allura with a smile. "I watched cartoons – X-Men – and saw Storm and Storm is really-really awesome and she has white hair and I wanted white hair too to be as awesome and suddenly my hair turned all white!"
Piper grinned at that and tilted her head. "That's because you're a child of Venus. See, even though our mother doesn't... have the time to take us in and raise us, she gave us powers."
"Us?", echoed Allura with a curious frown.
"I'm a daughter of Aphrodite. That's Venus' Greek side", explained Piper with a smile.
Allura looked really fascinated by that, making Annabeth smile. "How old are you, darling?"
"I'm ten!", replied Allura, looking a bit upset. "I'm already really old. Everyone wants to adopt the tiny ones like Lance. The others say if no one adopts me until I'm 13, I'll never get out of here..."
Annabeth's eyebrows knitted as she turned sad eyes on her wife. She still remembered what it felt like to be a young child and feel unwanted or unloved. Piper smiled softly at Allura as she brushed the white hair out of the girl's face and looked at her gently. They had to talk to Coran.
From not too far off, Malcolm was watching his older sister. He knew Annabeth and Piper had contemplated adopted for a while now but they had always pushed it off. May it be because of new architectural projects or then because Annabeth had just become mayor. It seemed timing didn't matter much once they met the right child. If he was being honest, he wasn't even quite sure why he was here. Him and Katie, they had started talking about children a few weeks ago. But legacies could be risky and Malcolm knew from experience how many orphaned demigods there were. Just because they now at least had a proper orphanage and a foster system was still no replacement for parents. When Annabeth had come over this morning, something in Malcolm stirred and figured that perhaps they could or should visit the orphanage. It wouldn't hurt, would it?
"Why is your friends talkin' to Lance and Hunk...?", piped a small demanding voice.
Malcolm blinked slowly and turned to look at the source of the voice. In front of them stood two children, one about first-grader-age, the other very tiny. Both had sandy-blonde hair and hazel eyes.
"Because our friends are thinking about adopting them", replied Katie amused, sitting down.
"That's not okay", huffed the younger child, arms crossed with a pout. "They're my friends!"
"Ah. Well, but it wouldn't mean you'd never see them again", supplied Katie. "And... who are you?"
"I'm Katie! That's Mattie! He's my big brother!", exclaimed the little girl excitedly.
"Matthew Holt, son of Athena", grunted the taller boy, eying them suspiciously.
"So you two are children of Athena, mh?", asked Malcolm curiously, sitting down next to his wife.
"Nu-uh!", objected the tiny Katie, long sandy-blonde pigtails whipping around. "I'm a daughter of Cewes! I do plants and Mattie does books! But we have the same dad!"
"Ceres?", echoed Katie Gardner surprised before laughing. "Well, that's interesting. My name is Katie too and I'm a daughter of Demeter – that's the Greek Ceres, you know. And my husband Malcolm here, he's a son of Athena too."
"...That's confusing", frowned the little girl. "If you is Katie and I'm Katie too."
The older Katie frowned too and nodded. "You're right. That is confusing. May I give you a nickname then perhaps? Something that fits you. Like... mh... little dove?"
"Nu-uh!", objected the younger Katie wildly, shaking her head. "Doves are silly! All they do is look pwetty and bowing! Pidges are way betterer! They can be all colors!"
"Pidges?", echoed Katie Gardner confused.
"Katie has problems with some words", huffed Matt. "She can't say 'pigeon', so she always says 'pidge'. But it's okay, she's only two. She doesn't have to know everything."
Malcolm's eyebrows went to visit his hairline. Two? A child of two with such a vocabulary and a already rather good grip on grammar? For not being a child of Athena, little Katie sure was bright.
"Pidge", echoed the older Katie thoughtful before turning to the girl. "How about that? Pidge?"
The child gasped wide-eyed and nodded widely. "Pidges are great!"
"Like you", grinned Katie and started tickling the newly nicknamed Pidge.
"Did you teach her how to speak so fluently?", asked Malcolm curiously, looking at Matt.
"Uhu. I taught her everything. Dad died a year ago and it's only been Katie and me since then", replied Matt. "Katie is all I have. They... They wanted to adopt her before, but... she always misbehaves so no one takes her away from me. I... don't wanna lose her, but I also don't want her to be stuck here with me if she could have a real family."
Malcolm took one look at the two Katies, still laughing and giggling with each other, before he looked back at Matt. "And how would you like to stay with us? Both of you?"
/break\
Deciding to adopt a child and actually getting to take said child home were two vastly different things, of course. There was a whole process to go through first. They needed to sign a lot of documents, there was a inspection of their home – which meant to first of all child-proof said home and prepare a room for Lance. As it turned out, Lance's favorite color was blue, so Percy could just go wild on the boy's bedroom, much to Nico's amusement. Ever since Clarisse, Malcolm and Percy had put the dojo together themselves, Nico hadn't seen Percy that invested in something and diving in with so much gusto. It was nice to see Percy so enthusiastic and with such sparkling eyes.
During that weeks-long process, Percy visited Lance every single day. And every day, it got a little harder to leave again – to leave the boy again. Coran had stopped Percy a total of eight times from sneaking Lance out of the orphanage and Percy was that short of being banned from coming over by the time everything was finally settled and the papers finally went through.
Percy was actually glad that their vacation this summer had been canceled on short notice because that way, he now had two weeks to take off from work to spend with Lance; it just didn't sit right with him not to spend that important first phase with the boy as he settled into their house and family. Percy wanted to be there for Lance, 24/7, just in case and to make sure. And honestly, Percy was so looking forward to this. They had also agreed with their friends and family to keep them away from Lance for now – right now, Lance needed to settle in with Percy and Nico before being overwhelmed and coddled by everyone. The fact aside some of their friends were currently also going through the adoption-process themselves and wanted to focus on their own children.
"Do you know what day it is today, Lance?", asked Percy with a bright smile.
He crouched down in front of the boy, excitement dripping from every one of his words. Nico smiled fondly as he watched them. Oh, he had visited Lance a lot too, not as often as Percy, but still. Nico had grown incredibly fond of his little mini Percy. Lance looked up at Percy with wide, azure-blue eyes. The boy slowly shook his head, eyebrows knitting in confusion.
"Today is the day you are coming home with us, bambino", stated Nico gently.
"Really?", asked Lance with a gasp, eyes widening. "I—I thought you changes your mind because you never take me home with you! You always only visit!"
"We had to finish your bedroom and everything, sweetheart", clarified Percy softly. "Now, do you wanna go home with us so we can show you your new, awesome bedroom?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!", chanted Lance, now as excited as Percy.
The little boy tackled Percy and clung onto his legs. Laughing, Percy leaned down to pick Lance up and carry him out of the orphanage and into his new life. Nico watched fondly how Percy and Lance spent the entire way rambling excitedly. Those two? Were a match made in Olympus.
"Oh. Oh, the house is all pretty-blue", gasped Lance, clapping excitedly.
"It is, right?", grinned Percy proudly. "Nico did that for me. And now you'll always easily find home, because home is the pretty-blue one among all the boring white ones."
Lance made a high-pitched, happy sound and from the looks of it, not because of the color, but because of the fact that Percy had referred to it as Lance's home. Nico couldn't tell which son of the Sea God was more excited as Percy dashed through the house with Lance on his hand, showing him everything – spacious living room, modern kitchen, training room basement, guest bathroom and then upstairs to where the bedrooms, another bathroom and the office-space. The room they had turned into Lance's used to be a guest-room/storage-room. It was the last room Percy was showing Lance, grinning broadly as he opened the door for the small child.
"And this is going to be your room", stated Percy ceremoniously.
Lance gasped again, a theme with him today, his eyes insanely wide as he looked around, running from one corner to the other. The room was pretty basic; a desk, a chair, a closet, a long shelf for Lance's belongings and a bed. Granted, the bed was the centerpiece here, because it was shaped like a spaceship, all in white-blue. What Percy and Nico had learned in the past weeks was that Lance really loved the stars and spaceships. Over the bed, glow-in-the-dark stars were glued to the ceiling in the formation of the lion star-sign. A couple children's books were put in the shelf, as well as some stuffed animals and toy-cars. It wasn't much, but it was at least something.
"Do you like it, Lance?", asked Nico with a small amused smile as he watched.
Lance was giggling where he was jumping up and down on the bed. "Yes, yes, yes! It's perfect!"
Percy smiled gently as he leaned against Nico's side, his husband laying an arm around his waist. "Then we're glad, sweetheart. But if there's something you want to change, just say so, okay?"
"No! It's perfect! Thank you!", yelped Lance as he collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Percy heaved a clearly relieved sigh as he went to sit next to the bed, arms crossed on the mattress and chin on top of it so he could watch the boy being adorable. "I took the next three weeks off from work. That means I'll be staying with you all day. I'll show you all the awesome spots in New Olympus and go to the park with you. I'll cook everything I know for you so we can figure out what you like and what you don't like. And we can cuddle up on the couch and watch cartoons and animated movies, I kind of made a bit of a list. Does that sound fun, sweetheart?"
"That sounds awesome! Thank you, Percy", agreed Lance with a bright smile.
Percy paused for a short moment, contemplating his next words carefully. "If you... want to, you could call me dad and Nico papà. You don't have to, sweetheart. If that's too soon, you can keep calling us by our names, but I just... want you to know that we adopted you, that we consider you our son and that we'd be very honored if you'd come to see us as your fathers."
Lance was sitting up and looking at Percy while he talked, until he basically launched himself at Percy, hugging him really tightly and throwing him off balance. "I always wanted a dad! A—And now I have two! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Percy had definitely tears prickling in the corners of his eyes as he returned the hug tightly before he looked over at his husband pointedly. "Get in on this, Nico."
Snorting amused, Nico obeyed and sat down next to them, carefully laying his arms around both sons of the sea. Lance reached out so he could have one arm wrapped around each of their necks, clinging onto them for dear life. Something inside Nico warmed in a way it hadn't since he had found Hazel. That warmth of having a family. Having his beloved husband was one thing, but now? With their overly enthusiastic and excitable little boy, they were a real family.
/break\
"It's perfect, I tell you", declared Percy pointedly while preparing breakfast.
Nico was helping him, making virtually everything they could picture as breakfast-food because they wanted to know that Lance liked best. The boy was still deep asleep. The past weekend had been pretty exhausting and exciting for the child. Nico, sadly enough, had to go to work. But he couldn't wait to see his boys again in the evening. The Italian gave Percy a dubious look.
"Cartoons. I do not want my son to sit in front of the TV all day", stated Nico gravely.
"I didn't say all day", huffed Percy and rolled his eyes. "But watching cartoon has never hurt a child before, Nico. Besides, I'm not talking about any cartoon – I'm talking about Last Airbender here! It's perfect. Katara is the perfect role-model for a water-bender and maybe Lance will subconsciously pick up some of the lessons about control and such concerning his powers."
Nico rolled his eyes, knowing it was a lost battle. Perhaps he was a bit old-fashioned, considering he grew up in the 20s and sitting their kid in front of the TV was kind of not a thing back then. But Percy had forced him through an Avatar binge before and he had to admit that the show was pretty good. The whole element-controlling plot was also really well transferred to a son of Neptune.
"Very well", chuckled Nico as he leaned in to kiss Percy's cheek. "See you tonight."
"Have fun at work! I love you", chimed Percy with a bright grin.
Nico headed upstairs before he left – to kiss Lance goodbye. The boy stirred when lips were pressed against his cheek. He giggled and placed a sloppy kiss on Nico's cheek too, clinging onto him for a little and insisting that Nico should stay. Sadly, that was not an option, but Nico easily distracted the child with the promise of breakfast downstairs and daddy spending all day with him. By the time Lance dashed downstairs, Percy had already put up a large buffet in the kitchen.
"Morning, sweetheart", greeted Percy with a grin. "Hungry?"
"Morning, daddy!", exclaimed Lance and hugged Percy tightly. "What are we gonna do today?"
"Well, since the weather is so bad, I thought we'd watch cartoons", suggested Percy.
The two of them ate and joked together, Percy telling Lance about the kindergarten where he'd start in two weeks. He also reassured the child that his best friend Hunk would also be there, which was a huge relief for Lance. After breakfast – and with enough left-overs to last them the rest of the day – Percy and Lance went to the living room to curl together on the couch and watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. It had been Percy's favorite cartoon growing up and it wasn't that old – fifteen years, okay, but the animations and more importantly the story still held up.
"You okay, kiddo?", asked Percy softly when he noticed Lance jumping every now and again. "Is it too scary? If you don't like it, we can watch whatever you want, sweetheart."
"Nu-uh, it's cool!", replied Lance before he jumped again. "B—But the storm is scary."
Percy blinked in realization. Lance jumped every time thunder rumbled in the sky. Smiling gently, Percy pried Lance off himself and sat him down on the couch before grabbing a pillow.
"I know exactly what helps against storms. My mom and I used to build pillow-forts to hide in when there was a big, bad storm. Do you want to build one with me, Lance?", asked Percy.
Lance's eyes widened in excitement and he nodded wildly before grabbing a large pillow himself. Within ten minutes did the duo build the perfect pillow-fort, covered with one of the large blankets from one of the couches, the front open so they could still see the TV. Before they crawled in, Percy took Lance by the hand and led him to the kitchen where he made them both nice hot chocolates.
"Do you want marshmallows in your hot chocolate?", asked Percy with a grin.
The grin widened at the scandalized look on Lance's face. How dare Percy would even ask such a silly question? Smiling gently, Percy gave them the finishing touch with a handful of marshmallows before he carried them back to the living room and into their fort, where Lance eagerly crawled into his lap and Percy pulled the second blanket around the both of them. Lance visibly relaxed – between the safety of Percy, the blanket and the pillow-fort and the comfort of the hot chocolate. For the next two hours did the two of them not leave their pillow-fort.
/break\
Nico smiled proudly as he watched through the window how Lance and Hunk played in the garden. Lance had been with them for a solid month now and the boy seemed really content. What made Nico so proud was that the two boys were currently playing with the di Angelo pets – Small Bob and Mrs. O'Leary. He had been doubtful at first, fearing that Lance would be afraid of the giant hellhound and the skeleton cat. But the boy thought they were awesome and he especially loved the kitten, even if it was a 'broken kitten'. Nico loved that his son wasn't afraid of the creatures of the underworld but rather thought of them as cool. Percy chuckled knowingly as he leaned against Nico's back and kissed his neck. Nico huffed at that and reached back to swat Percy's flank.
"Shut up. I get to be proud of the boy too. That he got so much in common with you is obvious because you're both sea brats", muttered Nico defensively before turning around and pulling Percy into a gentle kiss. "We should gather the boys or we'll run late for dinner."
"And no one wants to be late for Christmas", grinned Percy excitedly.
He sneaked out of his husband's embrace to fetch Lance and Hunk. The two boys were nearly as excited as Percy was. Nico rolled his eyes fondly as he pulled the four of them close to shadow-travel them to their destination. The Blofis-household for Christmas dinner. Percy was so overly excited because he couldn't wait for Tyson, Sally and Paul to meet Lance – they hadn't wanted to overwhelm the boy so for the first month, it had mainly been just Lance, Percy and Nico, with the occasional visit from Hazel, Frank and Leo with Hunk considering that Lance and Hunk had bonded in the orphanage already. Hazel, Frank and Leo had gone ahead to New York – they had pleaded with Nico for some couple-time so Nico had agreed to take Hunk for an hour before dinner.
By the time they exited the shadows, everyone was already gathered.
Sally and Leo were pacing in front of the large, blue-decorated Christmas tree, while Tyson, Paul and Frank were setting up the table and Hazel and Ella sat on the couch talking and eating cookies. The moment the four of them exited the shadows, all movement stopped and all attention was on them. The first one to move was Hunk, letting go of Lance's hand to run into Leo's arms.
"Papá!", exclaimed the four-years-old excitedly, colliding face-first with Leo's stomach.
"Hey there, mi hijo", grinned Leo pleased, wrapping his arms around Hunk. "You okay, cariño?"
"Uhu", nodded Hunk, staring up at Leo endearingly. "I played with Lance and his pets! Can I have a hellhound too, papá? Please? Oh! Or can we build a dog, like aunt Reyna's? Can we? Can we?"
"Who's them people, daddy?", whispered Lance, tugging on Percy's sleeve nervously.
While Frank and Hazel had gone to join Leo and Hunk, everyone else was right now surrounding Lance, making the boy a bit uncomfortable. He tried to hide behind Nico while clinging onto Percy. Percy smiled gently as he knelt down next to his son, patting his hair soothingly.
"This is my mom and this is my step-dad", introduced Percy slowly, pointing at Sally and Paul. "And this is my brother Tyson and his wife Ella – they're your uncle and aunt, honey."
Lance frowned thoughtful as he carefully peeked out from behind Nico's legs, making the Italian smile genuinely happy. Not because his son was frightened, hell no, but because Lance thought Nico was safe to hide behind in case of danger. After all, Nico knew there was absolutely no danger anywhere close, so Nico was allowed to be happy and amused. Very carefully and slowly did Lance step out from behind Nico, eyes trained on the pretty, kind-looking woman with the identical smile of his new dad. She didn't look dangerous and if she was Percy's mom, she couldn't be, right?
"H—Hello, I'm Lance di Angelo", said the little boy bravely, enjoying the way his new name rolled off his tongue laced with pride and happiness. "It's nice to meet you. Thanks for having me."
"Hello, Lance. I'm very happy to meet you", smiled Sally gently.
"If you're daddy's mom, that... means you're my new grandma, right?", asked Lance curiously.
Sally looked very happy at that – they hadn't wanted to overwhelm the boy, but if he made that conclusion himself, then Sally would gladly embrace it. "Yes, yes I am. And that's your grandpa."
That actually made Lance gasp excitedly and bypass Sally to stare up at Paul. "I never had a grandpa before! Mommy said that he died long before I was born!"
Paul looked a bit flustered by the boy's enthusiasm. "Well, I hope I'll do a good job as grandpa."
Percy laughed a little bit, but that was about as long as Tyson could hold back. Lance yelped as he was lifted into the air and whirled around by the excited cyclops. Ella tilted her head in a bird-like manner as she observed the tiny human. Lance giggled as she tickled him with her feathers.
"I always wanted to be an uncle! We're going to have lots of fun!", exclaimed Tyson.
For the next ten, twenty minutes, Lance and Hunk were being handed around and cooed at, which after initial nervousness, both boys gladly soaked up. Frank, Hazel and Leo had no family to speak of and out of them all, Hazel was the one with the closest relationship to her half-brother. So when Percy and Nico, as well as Tyson and Ella, had been invited over for Christmas, Nico had asked if Hazel and her family could also come. That had been many, many years ago and it had been tradition since then. And now that they had their sons, this tradition seemed even nicer. Thankfully both Hunk and Lance were very open and affectionate children, so within dinner, they had both opened up to the new people in their lives, especially considering how much they were being showered in adoration and love by the adults that tried to make them feel welcomed. By the time they decided it was time to hand out presents, Ella was happily decorating the boys' hair with her sparkling-red feathers. Next to blue, red was Lance's favorite color, so he looked very happy.
"Now, who wants presents?", asked Paul amused, looking at the children.
"Me, me, me!", chorused Lance, Hunk, Leo, Percy and Tyson, to no one's surprise.
Tyson had made toy-ships for both of the children and they adored them, which meant Tyson easily took the spot of favorite uncle right now, something that made the cyclops very proud. Ella had hand-picked a children's book for each of the boys – for Hunk one about a dragon and for Lance one about a little merboy. Ella also got roped into reading them to the children later on, something that pleased the harpy immensely. Sally and Paul had gone a little overboard on their trip to Toys'R'Us, but then again they never had grandchildren to gift something to. It wasn't that much, but still maybe a little over the top. Percy and Leo were grinning broadly as they stepped aside to reveal the two largest presents though – one for Lance and one for Hunk. Both boys instantly tore through the paper, revealing two giant, fluffy plush lions that were nearly as tall as the boys themselves. Hunk's was yellow-orange and Lance's was a beautiful azure-blue. Hunk hugged his happily while Lance buried himself between the lion's paws, smiling brightly up at the adults. As it turned out, Hunk's favorite animal was also a lion – as Percy and Leo had discovered over hot chocolate one afternoon, which had led them to these presents.
"You like them?", asked Hazel with a fond smile.
"She's all soft and pretty", smiled Hunk happily, nuzzling the extra-soft fur.
"You know what you'll call her?", asked Percy as he sat down next to Lance.
"I'll call her Azul!", exclaimed Lance, hugging the lion and Percy close.
"Azul? That means blue", stated Leo curiously and a bit amused. "You speak Spanish, Lance?"
"Yes! Mommy and abuela always spoke it!", nodded Lance with a bright smile.
Hunk frowned and looked from Lance to the newly named blue lion Azul. "Then mine's Melemele, because that means yellow in my mom's language!"
"Those are some very beautiful names, boys", praised Sally fondly.
Percy heaved a relieved sigh as he leaned back against Nico. First Christmas had gone without a hitch. Lance liked the family, had liked the food and liked his presents. Nico hugged him gently.
Author's note: Merry Christmas to all my readers! ^o^
Though, of course, this is being posted too early, but due to the fact that you get to open your presents in the evening, I kinda can't post in the evening for you to open this present - because I will be in the middle of opening presents at that time 3
So, this is a three-parter story, one chapter for each day of Christmas. Next, we will have Lance and the others settling into their new homes and families - and Shiro will make his first appearance ;3