"I'm gonna get you daddy! I'm gonna get you!" squealed the little black haired boy as he ran across the grass, chasing his father. Annabeth watched as he caught up to him and jumped on his back, grabbing hold of his neck as his father tickled him mercilessly. They made such an adorable picture that she couldn't help but smile. Her husband, Percy, with his gorgeous green eyes and that messy mop of black hair, and their 5 year old son Charlie, with his equally wild black curls and his striking grey eyes, cheeks flushed with laughter. Her perfect boys.
Her eyes suddenly misted over at the sight in front of her. How lucky she was, too have such an amazing family. Growing up, she had never believed in love, in marriage, in forever. She had seen too much for that. As a half blood, she had never been sure of surviving the next minute, let alone the rest of her life. Then, Percy had ambled into her life. Infuriating her with his immaturity, his stupidity, and yet amazing her with his strength, loyalty, skill and sacrifices. She had watched him bear the weight of the world on his shoulders, literally and figuratively, and had watched him give up immortality for a life with her, before finally succumbing to her love for him. Then those painful months when he had been ripped away from her. Curse that meddlesome Queen Hera. Those had been the longest, emptiest and worst months of her life, with only her love for him keeping her going. They had come a long way since then, building a new life, their life in New Rome, before coming back here, to Manhattan, to live as husband and wife. A year after their marriage, they had received the best gift ever, their little son, Charles Luke Jackson-Chase.
A pair of hands covering her eyes interrupted her reverie. The size of the hands and the tiny giggled from behind her told her that the culprit was Charlie, being held up by his father.
"Mommy, mommy, guess who?!"
She laughed as she pulled his hands away and swung him around into her lap, giving him a big bear hug.
"And what about me, don't I get a hug too?" asked a pouting Percy, his eyes twinkling.
Annabeth rolled her eyes, 25 years old, a father, and still her Seaweed Brain was the same immature 12 year old she had fallen in love with.
"Come here Seaweed Brain.." she said, smiling broadly as she planted a soft kiss on his lips.
"Yuck!" squealed Charlie, covering his eyes, as his parents laughed at his antics.
"Mommy, daddy and I found a pwetty rock!" said the hyper toddler, already squirming out of his mother's arms to go find said rock. Annabeth and Percy watched their little son go sprinting across the lawn, identical smiles on their faces.
"What were you thinking about, Wise Girl?" asked Percy, kissing the tip of her nose.
"Nothing," answered Annabeth, looking into those green eyes she adored. "Just thinking how lucky I am to have you in my life." she said softly.
"I am a catch, aren't I?" crowed Percy, throwing his chest out with pride. "Ow! That hurt, Wise Girl!" he exclaimed, rubbing his chest where she smacked him.
"But seriously," he continued, his eyes softening. "It's me who is lucky, to love you and be loved by you." he told her.
"We are all lucky," said Annabeth, sighing contentedly. And then, smiling shyly, she added, "All four of us are."
Percy began nodding his agreement, before his brain caught up. His eyes wide, he stared at his wife, mouth opening and closing like one of his father's fishy subjects. Slowly, the confusion disappeared, to be replaced by sheer joy, an enormous grin blossoming across his face as he swept her into a deep, passionate embrace.
Annabeth smiled against his lips.
They were going to be parents again. Her and Percy. He was the son of Poseidon. She was the daughter of Athena. They were not supposed to work, but somehow, inexplicably, they were two halves of a whole. And whole they would remain, for the rest of eternity.