So I got the idea for this one-shot nearly six months ago, and I wrote it the day I got the inspiration, but never posted it. Yesterday and today, I came back to it, and I added 703 words to it, and those 703 words pretty much altered the entire plot of the one-shot. I deleted my added words, and set out to just edit what I had written before, adding a few things here and there.

I hope you like it! Review please! Review/ PM me about any ideas for more one shots or stories. And also, feel free to PM me about anything- writing or not writing related (:

~foreverfanfiction

"Percy, stop!" Annabeth laughed, clutching her sides. Her twenty-five year old husband of four years was tickling her, trying to cheer her up.

"Hey, it worked! I got you to laugh," he said, his eyes gleaming. He rolled over so that she was on top of him and kissed her forehead.

Annabeth immediately remembered why she was sad in the first place, and tears began to form in her eyes, against her will. "Don't go Percy," she begged.

The couple had successfully avoided this conversation, until now- two hours before Percy needed to be at the airport.

He hugged her tight. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm so sorry, but I have to. I owe this to Grover." Grover Underwood had decided to join the Army, and Juniper had practically begged Percy to go with Grover and protect him. Percy, being the kindhearted, selfless man he was, agreed, knowing he would regret not going if Grover were to die.

"I'm going miss you so much, Percy. And not just me. Your daughter will too. How can you just leave Sophie like that? What about Sally? How could you do that to your own mother? The one who has done everything in her damn power to keep you safe!" Annabeth asked him, tears forming in her grey eyes, threatening to fall.

This was not a good sign at all; Annabeth rarely cursed, unless she was beyond pissed off. Percy's heart tore even more at the mention of his three year old daughter, Sophia Grace Jackson.

"Annabeth, you know it's not like that. You know that I love all of you, but I need to be there for Grover. He has a daughter too, Annabeth. Juniper is probably going crazy every day not knowing if he is still alive. I have to be there to protect him because if he died, I would never forgive myself."

"What if you die, Percy?! You don't think I'll be worried sick wondering if you're dead or alive every fucking day you're gone?! You can't even call or communicate or Iris message me because of the stupid rules! The only time I'll hear anything about you for six months is if you die!" She was sobbing hysterically now, and Percy's heart, which had been tearing, little by little as she spoke, broke.

"I know you'll be worried, but I have to go!" he protested.

"No, you don't Perseus!" Percy flinched at the use of his full name. "You don't have to do anything! You have a damn choice between your family and the army and you've sure as hell showed me that you've decided to abandon your own family!"

Anger immediately began to boil inside of Percy as Annabeth accused him of abandoning his family- an act he would never do. "I'm not abandoning you or Sophie, Annabeth! And I'm not choosing the army! I'm choosing to protect Grover because I owe him that! He's saved both of our lives so many times, and I owe him this! I'll come back! Annabeth, I would've been dead when I was twelve if it weren't for him!" Percy yelled, thoroughly frustrated with both himself and Annabeth.

"You don't know for sure if you're coming back! You can't promise me that! I can't believe you Percy! You've survived so much and now' you're giving yourself up to die! You survived the Titan War for god's sake, and now you're throwing yourself into another war! You're not even invulnerable anymore! Your daughter could grow up without a father!" she cried. Annabeth's heart wrenched, and the tears were unstoppable now.

She pushed away from Percy and slid to the floor, her back against the wall, sobbing. She tried to imagine her life without Percy, but came up with a blank. She didn't have a life without Percy. He was her life, her rock, and without him, she had nothing. He could die in a week, and she wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it.

After three months of putting off this conversation, their emotions which had been bottled up were flowing out.

"I'm not giving myself up to die!" Percy yelled, trying to keep his voice down, since his daughter was sleeping across the hall.

"Oh, yeah? Then what do you call joining a war, you idiot?!" she challenged, glaring at him. She sobbed harder, and Percy's heart ached. He moved so that he could hold her, but she pushed him away.

"Don't touch me," she spat at him. "Fine, Perseus. Go. Go protect Grover. Leave your wife. Leave your daughter. Leave your family. You'll be missing part of her life. Leave me. Leave her. But if you die, I swear to the gods I won't shed a single tear. I refuse to cry for someone who would leave their family like this," she said, looking him in the eye, tears still streaming down her face. "You need to be at the airport in an hour, meaning you have to leave now. If you walk out this door, I swear I will throw the engagement ring and wedding band on my hands right now out and you will mean nothing to me."

Percy felt shock overcome him and his eyes saddened. He knew his wife wasn't simply threatening him. She would do every single thing she just stated if he were to get on that plane, but his decision was already made.

He gave her one last, lingering kiss on her cheek, and picked up his bags. "I'm sorry Annabeth. I love you and I love Sophie. Always. Don't forget that. If I don't die, I'll be back in exactly six months," he whispered. He walked into his daughter's room and saw that she was awake, listening to his fight with Annabeth. He kneeled down to her height and gave her a kiss on the forehead, hugging her.

"I love you, Soph. Don't ever forget that."

"I love you too, daddy," she whispered quietly, crying. "Please don't go."

Percy closed his eyes, letting tears fall from his sea-green eyes, and kissed her head again. "I'm sorry, baby. But I promise I'll come back. I love you and your mom more than my own life, okay?" He stood there for a moment, still holding his daughter. "Bye, Sophie," he said, releasing her.

"Bye, Daddy," she replied, her voice weak.

He walked out of the apartment door, shattering his marriage and tears running down his face. No, he thought. This marriage is not ruined. I promise I will fix everything if I come back. No- WHEN I come back.

2 months since Percy's departure:

Rachel Dare sat with Annabeth in Annabeth's apartment, fiddling her fingers.

"I'm pregnant," Annabeth told Rachel, a sullen look on her face.

"Oh my goodness! That's great!" Rachel replied, hugging her friend.

"No, it's not. This baby is going to grow up without its father," Annabeth sternly stated.

"What? Annabeth, you don't know for sure that Percy won't come back. He will. I'm sure of it. I've never seen someone like him. He'll pull through and come back to his family."

Annabeth shook her head and sighed. "Rachel, I don't care if he comes back or not. I told him the morning he left that if he walked out that door, he would mean nothing to me. He walked out, and I wasn't kidding when I said that to him." Rachel looked at Annabeth, bewildered. She had never seen anyone in love as much as much as Percy and Annabeth.

"Then why haven't you taken off you wedding band? Or engagement ring? Annabeth, if Percy really means nothing to you, you would've taken those off. If he really means nothing to you, then you would've changed your last name from Jackson to Chase. Don't do this to the baby and Sophie, Annie. I'm not saying you should forgive Percy, but I'm just saying that your kids should grow up with both of parents. You of all people should know that," Rachel challenged Annabeth.

"I don't know," Annabeth replied in a small voice.

Rachel gave Annabeth a sympathetic smile and stood up. "Anyways, I have to go, but good luck, and if you need someone to go to your ultrasounds with you, don't hesitate to call me."

Annabeth rested her hand on her stomach and thought about her future, letting out a frustrated sigh

6 months since Percy's departure:

Annabeth looked at the nursery room, thankful that she and Percy had decided to move into a three bedroom apartment after Sophie was born.

The room was painted blue for the baby boy that was due in two months. Her ultrasounds had gone well, but were painful experiences for her. When she was sitting in those waiting rooms, alone, she couldn't help but feel vulnerable- like she could break in half with the snap of a finger.

Sophie walked up to her and hugged Annabeth's leg, brining Annabeth back from her thoughts.

"Mommy?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, Sophie?"

"When is daddy coming back?"

Annabeth sighed and looked at her daughter. "Today, Sophie," Annabeth replied, an emotionless look plastered on her face. Annabeth didn't even know if Percy was alive, and even though she didn't want to admit it, it was killing her.

"When today?"

"I don't know, Soph."

"Oh. Ok, mommy." Sophie's face fell. Since the day Sophie was born, she had been a daddy's girl, just as Annabeth and Percy had predicted. Not being with her daddy hurt Sophie, and Annabeth didn't know how to heal her daughter.

Annabeth picked up her daughter. "Sophie, you know I love you right?"

"Yes, Momma," Sophie said, burying her face in her mom's next.

"Good," Annabeth, smiling at her daughter.

Later that night:

Percy stood in front of the apartment, and took a deep breath before unlocking it. It was nearly midnight, and he figured Annabeth and Sophie would be asleep.

He quietly closed the door and jumped as the lights flicked on, showing an irritated pregnant woman. His eyes bulged out as his mind raced with thoughts. He thought of how she could be this pregnant unless it was his baby, which calmed him a little.

"Y-y-ou're p-pregnant?" he stuttered out, staring at her incredulously.

Her glare hardened and she replied in a cold voice. "Yes. With your baby. Though you would've known that months ago, had you had been here," she spat at him. An extremely uncomfortable silence fell over them.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked, her voice dripping with ice.

"I live here," he simply said, a little taken back by her harshness.

"No, you don't. You used to. Six months ago. Get out," she said, pointing at the door.

Percy could feel his temper rising, but controlled it, knowing better than to pick a fight with a pregnant woman, who was already beyond pissed off at him. He caught a glimpse of her wedding ring and engagement and realized she hadn't taken them off, giving him some hope of saving their marriage.

"Technically, I have every right to stay. We bought the apartment under both of our names."

She stared at him in disbelief, and he smiled inwardly, knowing he had won and she couldn't kick him out.

"Fine. Stay. See if I care," she said, her voice getting colder with every spoken word.

Percy looked at her sadly and tried to reason with her. He stepped closer and tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she stepped away. "Annabeth, I-"

"Don't touch me. I warned you six months ago, but you left. You can sleep in my room because I don't want Sophie asking questions." She turned and briskly walked into what used to be 'their' bedroom, not just 'her' bedroom. He sighed and picked up his suitcase. He walked into the bedroom and saw Annabeth with her back against the headboard of the bed, tears falling from her eyes.

She saw him and quickly wiped the tears away.

Percy let out a small, sad sigh, and went into the bathroom to shower and change into something comfortable.

After letting the water clear his thoughts and soothe his body, he came out wearing pajama pants and no shirt and walked to his side of the bed, sitting on the edge. He could feel Annabeth's eyes staring at him, but didn't turn around.

He looked down at his phone and made a spur-of- the-moment decision to call his mom, and let her know he was alive and in one piece.

"Hey, mom," he greeted glumly.

"Percy? Oh, Percy! I was so worried, baby. You're okay, right" his mother questioned, her voice filled with love.

"I'm fine, mom. Don't worry. I'm back," he said, his voice still solemn.

"I'm just so glad you're okay, Percy. I'll let you talk to Annabeth now, okay? I know you guys have a few things to work out," Sally told him, concerned.

"Bye, mom. I'll call you sometime tomorrow" Percy stated before hanging up the phone and setting it on the night stand.

Silence filled the room. Annabeth had now moved onto reading a pregnancy book, even though she already knew nearly everything there was to know, considering she had already been pregnant once, not to mention the countless pregnancy books she had read.

"Why are you so mad at me?" he asked her quietly, his hand automatically running through his hair.

More silence.

"Why am I so mad at you?!" She repeated in disbelief. "Percy, when we said our wedding vows, you promised to always be there for me. Always. You said you would me my permanence. You broke your promise. That's why I'm furious with you, Perseus. You broke the promise that made us one when we got married!" She took a deep breath before continuing. "Sophie was crushed, Percy. I've never seen her like that. She would come to me asking when daddy would be home and I could only tell her today's date. I didn't have the heart to tell her you might not even be alive because it would've killed her inside.

Percy scowled at the floor. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I really am," he told her, his voice filled with pain, just like hers.

"It didn't help that you weren't even there for my ultrasounds. For god's sake, Rachel was with me at the ultrasounds. Rachel was with me when I was told that I'm having a boy." Percy's heart warmed just a little as he thought about his son in Annabeth's stomach. "And to top it off, two week ago, I was having complications with my pregnancy, and Nico, of all people, had been the one to take me to the hospital. He held my hand while I was screaming from the pain. That should have been you holding my hand not Nico. It should have been you who I told first about my pregnancy, not Rachel. It should have been you next to me when the doctor told me it's a boy, not Rachel. Because that's what we promised each other when we got married- to always be by each other's side." Annabeth's voice cracked on the last word and she sobbed quietly.

Percy, the water in his eyes threatening to spill over, dared to look at Annabeth. He crawled into bed, and tried to pull Annabeth into a hug, but she didn't budge.

"Don't," she said weakly. "Just don't."

He sighed sadly, and lay down. "I'm sorry. So sorry, Annabeth. I don't know what to do to gain your forgiveness," he whispered.

"You can't do anything. You made your choice six months ago when you picked up your suitcase and walked out that door."

He felt her breathing slow and her sobs quiet and figured she fell asleep. He placed his arm over her belly and scooted closer to her, a sense of déjà vu hitting him.

"Hey, Annabeth?"

"Yeah?" she mumbled sleepily, the tightness of her voice gone.

"What's your name?"

"Annabeth Jackson," she replied before letting her body drift off to sleep.

Percy smiled, content she kept his last name.

The next morning:

Annabeth woke up feeling more rested than she had felt in six months. She tried to move but felt something restrict her from doing so. She saw that Percy had wrapped his arm protectively around her stomach, just like he had done when she was pregnant with Sophia. She felt both happy and angered by the gesture, and tried to remove his arm, but wasn't able to. She gave up on trying moving his arm and settled for waking up. "Percy," she hissed. "Wake up."

Percy just grumbled and continued sleeping.

"Percy, wake up!"

"What?" he mumbled.

"I can't breathe right. Take your arm off."

Percy immediately sat up. "Aw, crap. Sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yes, dork. I'm fine."

"Oh."

"Do you want to wake up Sophie?"

Percy's eyes lit up. "You'd let me?"

"As much as I resent you right now, she's still your daughter," Annabeth said rolling her eyes.

Percy got up to wake up his daughter and right when he was at the doorway, he turned around.

"Hey Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Keeping your name."

"My name has always been Annabeth, Percy."

"I'm talking about your last name."

"What?"

"What's your last name?"

"Jackson." She realized what he was saying and her eyes widened.

He winked and left the room, hope filling his heart.

"Hey, Sophie," he said as he tried to shake his daughter awake.

"Go away, mommy," she mumbled.

"I really hope I'm not your mother because that would be extremely awkward," he said, chuckling.

Sophia's eyes flew open and she grinned at the sight of her father.

"Daddy!" she said jumping on him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "You came back!"

Percy kissed his daughter's forehead. "I promised I would, and I didn't intend to break that promise."

"No, but you definitely broke a different promise," he heard an angry voice mutter behind him.

Percy sighed and set Sophie down. "Sophie, why don't you go take a shower and then maybe we can head to the beach or something, okay?"

"Ok Daddy," Sophie said, walking into the bathroom.

He turned around to face the glare of Annabeth and flinched. "What is your problem?" he asked her.

Her glare intensified. "You! You're my problem!"

"I get that! We're fighting! But can we at least not do that in front of our daughter?!"

"If you cared about her that much, then you would have stayed! You would have been the one to explain to her that even if she's going to have brother, she is going to be loved, not me! She's such a daddy's girl!"

"Don't say that! You know I love my daughter!"

"Well you sure have a funny way of showing it by leaving, huh!"

Percy through his hands up in exasperation. "If you hate me so much, why don't you just divorce me!"

Annabeth stumbled back at his words, and covered her mouth, choking back a sob.

Percy's eyes widened as he realized what he said and felt like slapping himself for it, but Annabeth beat him to it. She walked up to him and slapped him right across the face.

"Annabeth, I didn't-" but she cut him off.

"How dare you! This marriage may be falling apart, but I never even thought about a divorce! Not even once! How dare you just say that, Percy! You have a daughter and a son! Wasn't breaking one promise to me enough?! Do u need to break the rest, too?!"

Annabeth raised her hand to slap him again, but he caught it and engulfed her in a hug. She cried into him, tears falling from her eyes onto his bare chest.

"I'm so sorry, Annabeth. I didn't mean it, I swear. It was just an impulse thing. I promise you I'll never leave again. I love you, Wise Girl. I love you and you have every right to slap me over and over again, but I don't want you to because every slap is like you kicked my heart. I love you and I want you to love me too because I swear everything in me will break if you don't. I was stupid for leaving, but, I don't completely regret it because Grover would've died if I hadn't gone."

Annabeth continued crying and kept whispering I love you in her ear, as if those were the only words in his vocabulary. "Please don't cry, Annabeth. I can't stand it, knowing that I'm the reason behind those tears. It's like I'm breaking when I see you cry. I want you back. I want you to let me hold you and love you and keep you safe and warm. Please forgive me," he begged.

Annabeth quieted down and Percy led her to back to her bedroom and sat her down on the bed.

She looked at the floor and fumbled with her fingers. "Grover almost died?"

Percy nodded, before saying, "he was about to get shot and the bullet would have hit him right in the heart, so I dove in the way. I'm taller so the bullet hit my side instead, so it didn't hit any vital organs. If the bullet hit him, he would've died instantly."

Annabeth's eyes and hand immediately flew to his side and she noticed the bullet scar. She saw that it was still healing and started to cry again, mentally cursing her pregnancy hormones.

"You could've died, Percy!" she yelled at him.

Percy, who had sort of expected a nonchalant reaction from her, looked at her, surprised that she sounded so concerned for him.

"I didn't think you would've cared. I specifically remember you telling me that if I died you wouldn't care in the slightest," he replied truthfully.

"I also said I would make sure your own daughter would hate you and that I would throw away my engagement ring and wedding band, but I didn't exactly do that either! You really think I wouldn't have cared if you died?" Annabeth yelled.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to reply. "Well last night you told me you didn't consider me as your husband either….," he trailed off.

"Because I was mad, you idiot! I was beyond in-fucking-furiated, but I always say stuff I don't mean when I'm pissed. You know that! It felt like the weight of the world was listed from my shoulder when I saw that you were alive and in one piece!"

Percy smiled, happy that she was warming up to him fairly quickly, and kissed the top of Annabeth's head. Then her forehead. Then her temple. Then the tip of her nose. Then her cheek. Then her other cheek. And finally he leaned down and brought his lips in front of his wife's, leaving a centimeter of gap between his lips and her lips.

"Can I?" he asked her.

She replied by crashing her lips into his and wrapping her arms around his neck. Percy brought his hands to her hips and rest them there, kissing her back passionately and full of love.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'" he said, and Annabeth laughed.

"Yes, Seaweed Brain. Take that as a yes."

"Hey, Wise Girl?" Annabeth smiled at the use of her nickname.

"I love you and I'm not going back with the army. 6 months was enough."

"Good." Annabeth replied. Percy's heart deflated. He had hoped she would say she loved him, but decided not to push his luck. "Oh and Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too. I never stopped. Even when I was angry, I couldn't get myself to change my last name back to Chase or take off my rings."

Percy's eyes glinted with happiness, and Annabeth's eyes reflected the same emotion.

Percy was finally home, with the love of his life and his daughter and soon-to-be-born son. He took one look at his Wise Girl and knew that they could overcome any problem or challenges they had to face. Separated, they were broken; but together, they were undefeatable.

Review please! Tell me what you think (: If I get enough interest, I might start a series of one-shots.