Hello!

Sorry for not updating Unconditionally! It should be up within the next 24 hours.

Since it's Mother's Day, I figured that I do a Mother's Day tribute to Sally Jackson. She's honestly my favourite book mom; Esperanza Valdez and Molly Weasley come in a close second, but Sally's just too awesome to not be first.

Special thanks to Chandler Skywalker for helping me out with a part of this story and (sort of) betaing it … well, you just read my story aloud to me while I was typing it out. That totally counts as betaing, right? :P

Happy reading!

Dedicated to my mom and all moms everywhere. Happy Mother's Day!

For years after Gabe Ugliano's death, Sally Jackson would often wonder how she survived those nine horrible years as his wife. As Mrs. Sally Ugliano. Sure, she knew she endured all this terror for her son, but how did she not crack under the abuse and strain of living with that monster of a man?

How did she manage to never, ever, ever lash out at him? Even a saint wouldn't have that much patience.

Sally Jackson, mother of Percy Jackson and former lover of Poseidon, god of the sea and patron of the horses, was the last person one'd expect to be treated lower than a worm. For nine horrible years, she endured the abuse and suffocating smell of sweat, urine, and cigar smoke that was constantly present in the house, no matter how hard she tried to wash it away.

Many times she wanted to kick Gabe, or, as her son called him, Smelly Gabe, in the balls and watch him writhe in pain.

Many times she wanted to disregard the protection Percy had by living under Gabe's roof, leave the Ugliano-Jackson household, disappear with Percy, and live far, far away from him and his abusive lifestyle. She wanted to go far away from that poor excuse of a man so badly, and let her precious child have the happy childhood he deserved before he was thrust into the world of the Greek gods, where war was an everyday occurrence and happy endings rarely existed with heroes. She wanted her black-haired, green-eyed child to be happy, and believe that their days with Gabe were nothing but a wan, distant nightmare.

She wanted, many times, to flat-out refuse his demands and say that she was his wife, not his servant, and certainly not his dog. However, she knew what consequences doing so would bring to both her and her son. She knew that, though Poseidon was watching, he could not do anything to save either of them. So she kept her mouth shut.

It was for the best in the long run … right?

Everything she did was to ensure her son's safety. Many times she wanted to go the easier, but more dangerous, route. She did not, however, solely for one reason: Percy.

March 1996

He wasn't all that bad at first, she supposed. Well, not bad compared to what a horror he was before his … demise. A little on the large and imposing side and neither well-kept nor sloppy, Mr. Gabe Ugliano was one of her customers at Sweet on America, the candy shop she worked at. Her son Percy, only two-and-a-half then, was sitting on a nearby chair behind the counter with her, asleep. "Hello," Sally, then a young woman of twenty-five, greeted the large man with a friendly smile.

He curtly responded with a distant hello, then proceeded to ask for a jar of caramel squares. "Hurry up," he grunted after Sally took a fraction of a second longer to ring up his purchase and hand the man his sweets. "Got places t'be an' events t'go. Don't 'ave all day, missy."

"Of course, of course," she demurely murmured, even though she was fuming on the inside. "Sorry." Who did that man think he was?! (Of course, his body odour was pretty bad already, but she chose to not judge the man on that. Perhaps he had forgotten to put on his deodorant that day, or maybe he just finished a run along the pathways of Central Park.) "Have a good day," she called to his retreating figure. She hoped that she wouldn't have to deal with him again, but if there was one thing being a clerk at a candy shop had taught her, it was that it was usually the less-polite people who always returned.

Half an hour later, her six-hour shift was over. Sally sighed as she disposed of her apron into the little cubby labelled "Sally Jackson." She had a three-hour break time before she was set to go back behind the counter for another shift. Double-shifting on weekends were brutal, there was no doubt, but if that was what she'd have to do to make ends meet and keep her child happy, healthy, and safe, she'd do it. "Percy." She approached the still-sleeping toddler and gently shook his shoulder. "Wake up. It's time to go home and eat. And Sammy's coming today to watch you."

He yawned, his large green eyes blinking sleepily. "Sammy?" he repeated as he stretched. When his mother nodded with a smile, his small face broke into a grin and he clapped his hands excitedly. Samantha Brooks was his favourite babysitter. At 15, the black haired girl was one of the few—and youngest—people she trusted Percy with. Besides, she could tell that the 15-year-old had the Sight—and was aware of it herself, even though she had no godly ancestry in her. Sally knew that Samantha would do an excellent job of protecting Percy from monsters unseen by the rest of the world.

She lifted Percy off the chair and handed him his jacket. "Try putting it on yourself," she encouraged him. He did so, his eyebrows creased in concentration, as Sally checked the sub's schedule to see what time they'd make it home.

"Mama, hewp." Somehow, in the two minutes where she was reading the schedule, her young son had gotten himself tangled into the jacket. Sally couldn't help it; she burst out laughing as she bent down to untangle him from the mess he'd made. After she'd freed him and he was wearing his jacket correctly, she led him out of the store.

As they walked by the park, a semi-familiar voice stopped them. "Hello."

She whirled around, pulling her son closer to him simultaneously. Gabe Ugliano was standing right behind them, a hand in the jar of sweets he bought less than half an hour earlier. "I would just like to apologize," he said. "I'm sorry I was rude earlier. I'd like to make it up to you, but …" He shrugged, almost apologetically. "I'm due for a meeting. Here"—he slipped his hand into his pocket, and, pulling out what looked like a business card, handed it to her—"is my card. Feel free to call me anytime."

She accepted it with a smile. "Thanks."

The man turned around and left. Sally wasn't buying his whole "nice" act, however. She could already sense what kind of person he was. She didn't want Percy around those type of people. They—

She was broken out of her thoughts by a small voice at her side. "Mummy." Percy tugged on the hem of my shirt, which was was far up as he could reach. "I don't like him. He's smelly." Try as she might, she couldn't chastise him for saying that. It was true. He reeked. Moreover, he was rude.

Sally glanced at the blue and white card in her hand. It read:

Mr. Gabe Ugliano
Owner of El Mega Mart
456 - 7533

She looked at her son, and back down at the card again. She knew what she had to do. If it meant keeping her precious child safe, she'd do it, not matter the consequences.

September 1996

On the day of her wedding, she, clad in an elegant bridal gown, knew that she was sealing her fate with him. By marrying Gabe, her son would be protected under his stench, but their lives would never be the same. By marrying him, Percy would never have a good childhood, but she had no other choice. By marrying him, they'd have more money. Although she knew that he had a habit of playing poker with his buddies (and often lost to them), Gabe's salary as the owner of El Mega Mart would be of great help to them. No longer would Sally have to run around, working two jobs and scrapping extra money to pay for babysitters. Admittedly, she was sad to see Samantha go. Even though her schedule was extremely tight, with school, homework, and ice hockey, the now-16-year-old always managed to find the time to help out her neighbour and look after her young child, who, unbeknownst to her, was a demigod.

"Ms. Sarah Jackson," the minister said, "do you agree to take Mr. Gabriel Ugliano as your lawfully wedded husband?"

She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments, but the thoughts that ran through her head then seemed to stretch for eternity.

"Mama, I don't like him," Percy had protested once she gently broke the news of her engagement to her young son. "Why Smelly Gabe?"

She bit her lip. How could she explain everything to a three-year-old boy in a way that he'd understand? "It's a long, long story, Percy. One day, when you're older, I'll explain. All I can say for now is that your daddy would understand."

She had talked to Poseidon, secretly, at night, the day after she agreed to marry Gabe. "You know that he'll mistreat you, right? Percy will need a lot of your support, love, and care to not be like his future stepfather. Gabe's a bad influence, Sally. I don't want my son to go down that same path, be a man unlike a hero." Sally didn't say anything, but her heart lifted and soared when she heard the Greek god call Percy "his son."

She had nodded, saying that there was no other choice.

"Are you absolutely sure?" he asked.

She could already imagine the hard life they'd lead, living with Gabe. There was no good man out there with a permanent pungent odour; there was no one who could be a good influence and good step-father to Percy, but yet smell so … insanely human. "Yeah."

She opened her eyes.

For Percy, she reminded herself. Then, in the strongest voice she could muster, Sally Jackson said, loudly and clearly, "I do."

At first it wasn't so bad, living with him. His apartment in Queens wasn't as bad as she thought. When she first stepped foot in there, she was surprised. Sure, it was slightly messy, but it wasn't a pigsty. Silently, she wondered, how his apartment could be so neat when he himself was a slob.

Her question was answered a moment later when a maid came out of the living room. "Mr. Ugliano, I—"

Without sparing a glance at the middle-aged woman, Gabe waved her question away with a flick of his wrist, a glass bottle in his other hand. "Don' matter. You're fired."

"But, but—," she sputtered.

"Leave." He pointed at the door.

The maid walked out of the apartment, but not before casting a look of hate at Sally and Percy. You made me lose my job, her furious expression seemed to say. I needed this job!

Sally had a sinking feeling that they wouldn't be hiring another maid anytime soon.

For the first few months after their marriage and move, Gabe was relatively like the person she'd encountered at Sweet on America. He kept mostly to himself and left Sally and her son alone, although he'd often have his poker buddies over for poker and wine.

Then slowly, bit by bit, everything changed. It went from bad to worse.

First was, "Your son is extremely annoying. Make him shut up or I'll do it myself."

Then came, "There's a stain on the countertop. Take it out. I don' care that there's no more soap. Take it out."

After that, "Make me a sandwich. An' get me more guac. Be back in seven minutes or less or I will lock that brat in the dumpster downstairs." He knew how much Sally loved her baby, so he often threatened the safety of the innocent, black-haired child to make his wife do whatever he wanted.

He began to hit her shortly afterwards. He slapped her mostly across her face, often leaving behind a large, ugly handprint on her cheek.

But not once did she ever complain.

For Percy, she'd always remind herself.

June 2005

When her little boy came home after his first quest, battered and bruised, she felt nothing but pride for him. It was at that moment when she knew for sure that everything that she had endured for almost the last decade was worth it. It was all worth it. And the terror was over.

Hope you liked it! Sorry I had to change some stuff and add my own (minor) character to this story; I felt that it wouldn't have the same effect if I kept this one-shot strictly canon.

Also, please note that I changed her name from "Sally" to "Sarah" in the wedding part because after a little research, I'd discovered that "Sally" was often a nickname derived from "Sarah," so yeah.

Don't forget to follow, favourite, and/or review!

Thanks for reading!

-K