Disclaimer: Everything here? Rick Riordan's. Except, maybe, for these cute little troublemakers.


The wedding (part 1)

Truth be told, Gwendolyn Holly (now Armstrong) had been waiting her entire life for the day she would become a bride – and a Mrs., of course. It was totally understandable for a legacy of Cupid and Venus, right?

29 years old. Perhaps she had become a little older than that image of herself she'd always seen in her mind, the one that seemed to be taken out of a Disney movie: the white dress, a path of roses guiding her toward the love of her life, the most perfect day ever and everyone she loved smiling at her…

Okay, she was marrying the man she loved – even if he was an alcoholic who stuttered his vows and bit her lip when the Lar told them to kiss already. Some of her friends weren't at the wedding, but they had their excuses, and Gwen understood. She too tried to be comprehensive when her parents forgot the rose petals, and when that 'something blue' turned out to be a weird shade of purplish turquoise. Or when Augustus and Alexander, Octavian and Jason's sons respectively, started to fight about who was going to present the rings to the new husband and wife. By the way, none of them did – Reyna's daughter took care of that, and much better than the boys. Little Ashley, Alex's toddler sister, threw forget-me-nots at the attendants and Percy Jackson's daughter carried the back of Gwen's dress. It was cute, in a way; monstrous in the other.

The after-ceremony party was a completely different thing.

As New Rome was a rather small city (400 inhabitants had never been much) everyone was invited, including some Greeks they had grown fond of during the period of time they worked together in the war against Gaea. A lot of their former colleagues now had children, and although Gwen found them to be… "adorable", they didn't, under any way, shape or form, make her want to have some of her own. Dakota, on the other hand, wanted them as far away from him as they could be. He actually avoided them. It was silly, as pretty much all of his guy friends had daughters and/or sons and they ran to hug their fathers' legs, or ask if they could pick them up, or just do the stuff little kids do with their parents. Dakota shuddered at that.

If that meant they wouldn't be having children anytime soon, they were more than happy with the idea.


"Ha! I told you were as stupid as a graecus!" Augustus Varus stuck his tongue out at the two 5 year olds that were running after him, the girl picking at the bottom of her baby pink dress so it wouldn't become stained with mud or grass. She snorted when the blond kid disappeared into the mare nostrum of adults, knowing there was no way she could find him. Luckily for her, the other boy waited, but he looked as miffed as she probably did.

"Never mind him, Eli. All he is is mean." He shook his head and took her hand in his to guide her towards the high table coated in all kinds of sweet things, as he knew she had a thing for them. They had been best friends ever since their birth, with only two days of difference, and knew pretty much everything about each other – everything 5 year olds can know about themselves, of course. "And we both know he wishes he was Roman and Greek like us."

Elaine's soft brown eyes shot up to meet his kaleidoscope ones at that, and they smiled at the same time. It was enough to make her feel better, along with that ticklish sensation his touch gave her.

She grabbed a red velvet cupcake and nodded. "I don't know why Nikki's always playing with him. She's not even half-a-Roman. He should hate her more than he hates us, right Xander?"

Alexander Grace shrugged in response. How was he supposed to have an answer?


Nicole Jackson loved Augustus.

She didn't know what that meant, but it reminded her of pink and hearts and Barbie – Nicole loved Barbie.

It was kind of a vicious circle around that word. She once asked her daddy what love was, and it took him three days to come up with an answer that his daughter could understand at her six years of age. But she had then forgotten the original question, so it always remained unanswered for some reason.

She also asked Max Rodriguez, the son of two of her parents' friends and her buddy, who replied saying he didn't know and that she should ask her mom because moms know about girly things.

Nikki had to laugh at the idea.

Everybody knew that Annabeth couldn't be anywhere near her daughter, and Nicole would leave any room if her mother was there. They repelled each other for some reason, and it had been like that ever since the dark haired girl was born. Percy was the pour soul that had to mediate between his two girls, the sort of medium in the Jackson household. Nobody knew when did it start, or how, or why, but the point was Nikki wouldn't ask her mother about it because

a) They didn't talk to each other unless it was absolutely necessary.

b) Annabeth would say she was too busy working on her blueprints to give an actual answer, that Nicole should go ask her father, or would simply ignore her.

c) It'd shock her mother if she spoke to her any words that weren't near "When will dinner be ready? I'm hungry!"

It didn't bother her much, though – daddy was always there when she needed help with her homework, or someone had to go cheer during her soccer matches. They would go have lunch at McDonald's and sometimes visit Uncle Jason and the gang. Auntie Piper was pregnant (again) and dad told her that she would have more than one baby this time. Nikki was confused, but something told her that she shouldn't ask about it.

Perhaps it was the fact that her mom was pregnant, too.

Okay, that was the lowest of blows for Nicole. She wouldn't say it, as she didn't have the words to, but she was deeply offended when 3 days ago mom and dad sat her down to tell her about the family's newest incorporation. She, being the great actress she was, smiled and pretended to be happy when deep inside she was thinking about a hundred ways of getting rid of that unborn child. She didn't want a brother, or a sister for that matter. And even though Annabeth barely had any love to give to Nicole, she didn't want to share it! And she was afraid. Afraid her mother would love that thing the way she didn't love her.

That should be enough to explain her frown and permanent pout during the entire party.


I IS BAAAAAAAACK. Missed me? (I know you didn't but, oh, please, be nice this once).
I know I have no excuse, but this is my formal apology – I will do my best to try and continue with this story, the entire thing has been replaying in my head for months! I couldn't let it go that easily. Y'all know I'm close friends with one-shots, but I had to give this a try. So please, if you liked this sort of prologue, leave a review! It will inspire me so I can upload the next chappie tomorrow night.

And well, I think that's it! I hope you guys found this entertaining (:

-Bree.

P.D.: If you've read Of Storms and Sibling Love, I had to change a few things - to be honest, all I kept from the plot of that particular oneshot was Alexander and Ashley's names. Try not to think of it as a guide for this fic.

P.D.2: The idea of Gwen being a legacy of Cupid was taken from somebody's fanfic, whose author I can't remember right now, and so was Elaine's name (From the fic "Full Cycle Ending").