For the first time in five years, Nico cursed the day Demeter thought it would be funny to give him the ability to have children. Now don't get him wrong, Nico loved his son more than anything else in the world. Marco was his everything and he would let the world come down in flames before he let harm come to him.
But Nico did not want to buy him that…that thing.
He swore it was looking right at him, right into his soul and planning his tragic demise. He was also very upset that Will didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with getting their five year old a Python for his birthday. Because first of all it was an enormous creature that could literally eat the child whole, and second of all, and there was the whole thing that had gone down with thee Python and the gift of Prophecy and Apollo. Nico still had nightmares about that beast chasing after him when he, Will and Reyna had been set to find and kill it, and he had already had a fear of snakes before that.
"Look, mommy, isn't he cute?" Marco asked, standing next to the creature's huge cage and smiling widely up at him. Nico groaned inwardly at the whole 'mommy' thing, Marco had always called him that-hell, it had been his first word-and Will kept on promising that one day Marco would latch onto the whole 'Papa' thing instead and that would be that, but it still hadn't happened. His son was as stubborn as Hades himself. If he wanted to call Nico mommy he would call Nico mommy.
When his son had begged and pleated with them to please, please bring him to the pet store so he could finally get himself a little companion, this was not what Nico had envisioned. First of all, he blamed this all on Jason, who had just bought his twin sons a giant golden lab puppy and had put the idea in his sons head that every child needed a pet to survive and continue breathing. Nico, at first, had tried to argue, but Marco had pointed out all his other friends had pets so it was only fair if he had one too.
He was much too smart for a little kid. "Just like you were," Will would tell him whenever he said that. It was only true, Marco had Nico's intelligence, even though he had Will's personality. In looks, he was a direct combination of his parents. He had Nico's light curly waves but his hair color had settled to an earthy brown, somewhere between Will's golden blond and Nico's sold black. His skin was neither tan nor pale, and his eyes shifted from brown to blue depending on the light. He was small boned, like Nico, but tall for his age, like Will. Nico thought his son was beautiful in a in between way, belonging in both his parents elements but also making his own.
Nico had expected a hamster, to be honest, because he was constantly playing with Leo and Calypso's daughter's hamster. Or perhaps a ferret or a chinchilla, or a Persian cat, but a snake? No. His son had never showed any interest in reptiles before, just fluffy, cute things, that's why he thought the Persian cat would be a dead ringer for his son if he went with something bigger. He had even made plans for the long haired creature, had imagined himself holding one of the furry beasts and had grown used to the idea to prepare himself.
But here his son was, wanting that beast.
He looked between his son and the snake for a moment, and then looked helplessly at Will. Will was the cool dad, the parent that could get his son to change his mind and see things the way he wanted his son to see them. Nico had never been good at speaking and convincing, he was the comforter, the one his son went too when he wanted sweet words and hugs, he never would have thought he would have been able to do that well either, but he found it came to him easily.
"Marc," Will said and Nico scowled, Will had never liked the name Marco but hadn't said anything until after they had filled out the birth certificate. He had only called Marco but his real name a handful of times in entire life. He had given the nickname 'Marc' when he was two days old and it had spread out threw his friends. Hell, Percy actually thought that was his real name and Nico was the crazy one. The only one who hadn't betrayed him was Reyna, even Hazel and Jason called him by his nickname.
Nonetheless his eyes were pleating. Will knew he was terrified of snakes, any kind, but Pythons especially. He had nearly had a heart attack when he came face to face with a garden snake while weeding their small garden in early spring, had refused to go swimming on several occasions because Percy said there could be water snacks nearby, and refused to go into the reptile house of any zoo they had ever come across, and had to be comforted by Will when Leo put a plastic snack in Nico's bed to scare him back when they were still at Camp.
"Marc," Will began again, ignoring his husbands glare pointedly. "I don't think a Python is the best idea for a pet…at least right now." He gave his son his 'cool dad' smile, which was similar to the one he used to give girls that used to hit on him when they first started dating. Gentle, cool, and sweet all at once.
Marco pouted, his big brown blue eyes going sad. "Why daddy?" he nearly whimpered.
Nico decided he did not want to see this any longer, he was hopeless against the pouty lip and big eyes, he turned and hurried out of the reptile section, shaking like a leaf when he saw nearly all the creatures staring right at him. He swore they were he couldn't just be imagining it.
He wandered around the giant pet store, estimating the time it would take Will to convince Marco not to get the demon animal. He found himself under a big section of well taken care of and Plexiglas cages, and a lot of emerald and amber eyes staring at him.
As Nico himself warmed up over the years, other creatures had warmed up to him. Of course, that stopped at once if he wanted too, but he didn't.
A tiny fluffy orange kitten pawed curiously at the Plexiglas as Nico passed, so he stopped for a moment and admired it. But it quickly grew bored with him and moved to slither in its little bed. Nico smiled slightly, though still unnerved by all the snakes. Perhaps he would stay here and look around while Will and Marco got that hamster.
The shop had cats of almost every breed and every color, and even some colors and breeds he had never seen. New Rome was certainly an interesting place to get pets, and possibly the best. A girl who worked there asked if he needed help, but he politely declined and kept on his way. He passed the elderly cats and kittens, the former looked like they couldn't be bothered with people, let alone Nico, and the latter were way too….tare-y for his tastes. They looked like they would shred his good drapes in the living room in an instance, they were bought in Egypt by himself and Will a year before Marco was born, he was not about to let them be attacked by kitty claws, no matter how cute a face came with it.
At the end of a row of energetic kittens there was a fluffy cat. She wasn't fluffy like a Persian, but her fur was longer than average, she was probably a mix. She was all black except for her chest and her two front paws. She was bigger than the rest of the kittens, but not quite full grown. She had big yellow eyes that blinked at him curiously.
He was unprepared by coo that left his mouth when he approached her cage. As soon as the noise touched the air for human ears to hear the girl appeared once again at his side so fast he might have thought she had shadow traveled.
"She's a beauty isn't she?" The girl asked.
Nico nodded softly as the cat and he checked one another out and took each other in. She moved closer to him, so he figured that meant he passed whatever tests she had put him under.
"What's her name?" he asked, not even looking at the bright purple slip that gave the cats details.
"Cleopatra." The girl said at once.
Nico took his eyes off the cat and turned and looked at the girl in disbelief. "Are…are you serious?"
The girl nodded, hiding a smirk. "Yes, sir."
"The Romans…named a cat after Cleopatra?"
The girl nodded once again, chuckling softly. "You could change it if you like."
Nico and the cat shared a look. Yes, that would be a good plan. "Okay." He said.
Her eyes brightened. "Are you taking her then?"
Nico frowned. Was he? He wasn't planning on getting a pet for himself when he came in the store, nor when he had been browsing the cats, he had simply been looking. They had come for Marco, but then again, the house was certainly big enough for them, a hamster or whatever Marco got, and this cat. And he didn't think Will would mind, Nico would be the one who would eventually take care of whatever pets they got, no matter what Marco and Will alike insisted about 'learning responsibility.'
"Yeah, I guess I will." Nico said after a moment of getting caught up in his thoughts.
"Excellent. She'll be two hundred, you have to fill out some paperwork for the adoption and we'll be checking in to make sure she's happy where she is in about a week."
"I live in New Athens."
"That won't be a problem, sir." Nico then noticed her was wearing a name tag that read Hannah.
"Is she really only two hundred?" Nico asked Hannah curiously. Hannah hummed and went to work opening the door to the cage, the cat rushed towards it in excitement.
Hannah said, "No one wanted to buy her, she looks really grumpy at first, but she's actually a big sweetheart." The cat happily leapt into Hannah's arms and she offered her to Nico who took her gently, and ran his fingers over velvety fur. Grumpy looking but actually a sweetheart?
Well, doesn't that sound like someone we all know?
She started purring and rubbing her chin along his shoulders, he fought the urge to smile and continued petting her softly.
Hannah led him to the front of the store, where he was met with an unexpected sight not for the first time that day. Will was at the counter, finishing up the paperwork and Marco was on the floor, playing with a yipping Yorki puppy.
Will looked up when he heard someone coming and smiled at him. "Alright," he said. "I know we didn't really discuss a puppy but he's so cute and it was the only thing I could get him to go with instead of the Python and-is that a cat?"
Nico nodded and placed her on the counter. "This is Poe."
"Poe?" Will asked in amusement. "Naming her after ole Edgar, huh?"
"Shut up." He offered the cat up and Will took her, Poe seemed to like Will, she cuddled right into him, snuggling against his chest. Meanwhile Nico crouched down and greeted his son.
"Hi mommy!" Nico sighed in exasperation but didn't comment. "This is Fergus, isn't he cute?"
Fergus? Good gods, he takes after Will in the naming department.
"So cute!" Nico said smiling, deciding not to comment on the name. The Yorki came over and took a whiff of Nico, crawling right into his lap and starting to eagerly lick his face, it had a golden brown coat, minimal black spots, and big blue eyes. Nico smiled and gently pulled him from his face, scratching him behind the ears with one hand and wiping his face with the other.
"Do you want to meet my kitty?" he asked his son.
Marco gasped in excitement. "Mommy got a kitty? Aw, cute! Is she nice?"
"Very nice." Will said, crouching down as well. Poe stopped her purring and Fergus stopped his yipping, they looked at one another. The small family held their breath, waiting for their reaction to one another. Fergus suddenly yipped and scrambled right over to Poe, licking her face. Poe stared at him for a moment, meowed loudly in annoyance, but didn't protest further when the pup started cuddling her.
"Poe and Fergus are like mommy and daddy!" Marco said suddenly.
Nico stared at his son in horror as Will burst out laughing.