Mama, Where's Daddy?

One of Sylvia's (Charlie's mom.) memories about raising a daughter of Hermes. Charlie is six.

Disclaimers: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Cat in the Hat or Cinderella.


Charlie got home from school at three that day. I had to work so my mom picked her up and took Charlie to her house. Charlie loved her Granny's house. Granny always had a big cookie jar on the kitchen counter filled with something. Sometimes it was brownies, sometimes cookies, sometimes it was just chocolate. That was Charlie's favorite. Even when she was six she could get a chair up to the counter, climb up on to it, get a handful of whatever was in the jar and be sitting on the chair in the time it took her Granny to put away her coat. One time when she got caught she just looked up at me and said "Doggy did it." The 'doggy' was a stuffed fox that sat above the fireplace in the living room.

I was always telling her that, "Charlotte Carolina Walker! You put that back! You're just like your father!" When she was little she'd cry and apologize, once she got older she thanked me. She got her mouth from her father too. But when she was six she was in first grade and was already having trouble with reading. When I got home from work she was sitting at the kitchen table trying to read The Cat in the Hat. I could hear her when I walked in the door. She was getting bored and I knew that spelled trouble. "Charlie, what are you doing?" I called hanging up my jacket.

"Reading a stupid book about a stupid cat," she answered sullenly as I walked into the room. I gave her a once over. Hair coming out of its braids, red eyes probably caused by tears, and the beginnings of bruises on her arms. I sighed inwardly, 'another fight.' "Charlie, do you want to go play dress up in Granny's old clothes?" She nodded grinning a little. She got out of her chair and slid her little hand into mine.

"Where's Granny?" I asked looking through the door into the living room.

"She's in the garden. She said to tell you to come out once when you got changed." I nodded and leaned down to pick her up. Even though she was six she was still light enough that I could carry her if we both wanted to. Charlie didn't want to. I shrugged and headed up the stairs to my old bedroom. I'd moved out four years ago when Charlie was two, but my mom still left my things in there. The only thing that changed was that she started putting her old clothes that she didn't wear anymore in my closets. I didn't care and Charlie liked to play in them so we would try old things on and parade around in them. Charlie went straight for her favorite blue tie-dyed skirt and white shirt. I tried on my mothers old prom dress.

"So Charlie, what was today's fight about?" I asked digging through a box for some shoes. I heard a shuffle and then a thud, like someone small had kicked a dresser.

"Kids at school are stupid," she growled, starting to root through a bin next to me. I stopped looking for shoes and turned to her.

"Don't stay stupid Charlie," I scolded, handing her a bright orange scarf, hoping to cheer her up. She smiled and took it from me.

"Here," she said handing me a pair of silver heels that had most definitely not been my mothers. I thanked her as I slid them on my feet.

"You look like Cinderella," my six year old gushed as I twirled around.

My heart caught in my throat. "You look like Cinderella, Sylvia. Like a beautiful princess. I guess I'd better have you back by midnight." If only we had been back by midnight., I'd still be normal. I wouldn't have had a baby at sixteen, wouldn't be twenty two working every day to support a six year old. I'd thought these thoughts every day for nine months. Then I saw my baby girl and they went away. They would come back from time to time, but not very often. A giggle brought me back to the present. Charlie was trying to tie the orange scarf around her head. I smiled and helped her and she soon joined me in spinning. After a minute I got dizzy and quit to sit down on the bed. I watched my daughter as I took of the dress and heels and put on my jeans and sweatshirt. Time to stop being a princess and start being a mom. Charlie stopped suddenly and looked at me.

"Mama, where's Daddy?" I stopped breathing, my heart stopped beating. I stared at my little girl with her big eyes, wanting an answer. Needing a answer.

"Is that what the fight was about?" I asked her. She nodded sadly. I knelt in front of her.

"Charlie listen to me. Are you listening?"

She nodded.

"Your daddy is very important. He runs a lot of big businesses. And so he doesn't have time to come see you and me. But he loves you very, very much. Don't ever let anybody tell you your daddy doesn't love you. Ever." She nodded hugging me.

"But why doesn't he come see us?" she asked in confusion. I sighed, confused myself.

"Because one of his jobs is to get messages to people all over the world. That takes a lot of time." Charlie looked at me.

"Can't you write to him? If he's taking messages to everybody can't you send on to him?" I cocked my thinking about this. Could I send him a letter? It made sense sort of. He was the god of messengers after all. I thought about the box of letters under my bed at home. Maybe I could send him one for real.

"You know Charlie, that's a good idea. I'll write to him tonight." I stood up and took her hand. "Do you want to change or wear what you have on?"

"Wear this," she said with out any doubt. "If Daddy sends us a letter will you read it to me? I can't read myself yet." I smiled, thinking about a letter from him.

"Of course I'll read it to you! He is your daddy, after all. Are you ready to go help Granny?" I asked, heading down stairs. Charlie nodded and ran past me down the stairs and out the door. I watched my daughter running in the sunshine as I followed her through the door. No - not my daughter. Our daughter. His and mine. God and mortal. Perfect little girl.


A/N: This is going to be a fanfic about Charlie's early life. Charlie is a character in my Percy Jackson and the Olympians story called 'I Love You Anyway' So anyway I hope you like it and want more. Please review.