A/N: I do not own PJO. This takes place the summer before The Lightning Thief.
When Annabeth Chase remembered her father, she remembered a man who rarely smiled. A man who put work first, and his family second.
And somehow, Annabeth had found herself third.
He had betrayed her too, when he married Helen. Helen, who thought Annabeth had lied about the spiders attacking her, and worsened her phobia of them. Helen, who was the straw that broke the camel's back, broke Annabeth's last string that tied her to her family.
But the man who did all that was the same man who had taught her how to read, had listened when she said her first words, had inspired her love of knowledge, had taken care of her when she was sick, had taken her into his house -and maybe his heart- when she appeared on his doorstep twelve years ago in a golden cradle, although not without complaint.
Maybe he rarely had something to smile about. Maybe smiles were all the more precious when they were few.
Maybe he didn't mean to put his family second, had never planned to, but somehow it happened anyways. Gradually, like snowflakes falling from the sky. But one day you look out the window and realize that there's half a foot of snow, and you didn't even notice.
Maybe you can't help who you love. Maybe Helen didn't understand being a demigod. Maybe she felt guilty every day of her life because of what had happened so long ago.
And maybe when Annabeth left, she took a piece of Frederick's heart with her.
A/N: If you want to read any more about Frederick Chase, I also have another oneshot, Annabeth Chase vs. Green Beans, and an ongoing story called Becoming a Father.