Why Perfectionists Shouldn't Wrap Presents

By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx

AN: I hate wrapping Christmas gifts. Okay, that's a lie, because I love it, but, gosh, I just SUCK AT IT SO FREAKING BADLY.

I will never know how people wrap gifts so well. Like the people in Von Maur who actually wrap gifts for a living!

Oh well, I hope you enjoy this. I apologize for the OOCness... I think Percy and Annabeth are just a bit OOC, but that's because I wrote them as two different characters at first, then changed it...

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO.

"Oh, come on!" I groaned, exasperated. I threw down the tape that was in my hands and huffed, crossing my arms over my large stomach.

I hate wrapping gifts.

There, I said it. I know, I know, as the woman of the family, I'm supposed to know how to do these things, and blah, blah, blah, but dammit, I have never, ever been able to wrap a present well. I can do a whole bunch of other things—like take down five men on my own—but gift wrapping is just not one of my skills.

My husband claims that I'm actually not that bad of a gift-wrapper, which I guess I'm not, but there's just something about having ripped corners and ten pieces of tape on one stupid gift that annoys the heck out of me.

That, and maybe, just maybe, these stupid I'm-giving-birth-in-less-than-a-month hormones are causing me to act just a little dramatic.

I blew my blonde bangs out of my eyes, glaring at the half-wrapped present laying at my feet. In a few quick movements, I grabbed the box and ripped the red wrapping paper off with a frustrated huff. Then, I apprehensively picked up the roll of wrapping paper, ready to begin the cycle all over again.

I love Christmas, but I really hate wrapping Christmas presents for people.

"Hey, we're home!" a familiar voice called.

I glanced up from my place on the floor, throwing down the scissors. "Oh, thank the gods!" I said, standing up, my legs wobbly. "You're home."

Percy sent me a large grin, setting down the bags of groceries that he and Megan had bought after he'd picked her up. "Yup," he said as he pulled me in fro a hug. "Did you some things done?"

Once we'd separated, I glanced sheepishly at the mound of used, torn up wrapping paper. "Well," I said, rubbing my neck, "I, uh, tried to…"

His gaze shifted from me to my gift-wrapping area, and his green eyes widened so much that I figured they were about to fall out. "You've got to be kidding me."

I let out an embarrassed laugh. "I'm terrible at wrapping gifts," I reminded.

"Not this bad. What happened?"

My hands drifted to my large stomach, and I smiled at him, chuckling. "Well, you see, she is making me awfully cranky and plain out bitchy, especially to the poor wrapping paper."

He stared at me incredulously, then shook his head. "You can't possibly be using our baby has an excuse for you being a terrible gift-wrapper. And, I told you, it's going to be a he."

"You called me a terrible gift-wrapper!" I exclaimed, offended. I placed my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes at him dangerously.

My husband's face flushed. "Did not."

"Did so! You admitted it! I'm terrible at wrapping gifts, and I can't do it!" Before I could stop myself, I launched into a long ramble. "And, oh God, I'm going to end up being a horrible mother! What kind of mom can't even wrap gifts right? Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods…" [1]

I continued to babble aimlessly, and after a few moments of listening to that, Percy slapped his hand over my mouth. I shot a glare at him, which he returned with a cocky grin.

"Calm down," Percy said firmly as he removed his hand from my mouth. "It's not that hard, okay? And, where the heck did the 'going to be a horrible mother' thing even come from?"

"I... I don't know," I admitted softly. "I'm just stressed, and upset, and I… I don't know…"

"Come here," He gestured for me to follow him to where my… disaster zone was and sat down, a smile resting on his face. "I'm going to teach you how to wrap gifts, okay?"

I nodded silently, taking a seat next to him. Part of me wondered how the heck he knew how to wrap better than I did, but I decided not to question him. Instead, I laid my head down on my husband's shoulder, listening intently as he explained and demonstrated how to wrap a Christmas gift.

After one gift was done, Percy turned to me. "Do you get how to do it?"

I glanced towards the stack of gifts that needed to be wrapped, then at my husband, who was pretty much as a master at wrapping presents… Maybe I could…

"No, I don't," I said, shaking my head even though I really did know how to. "Can you do another?"

"Of course," he said with a nod, then proceeded to repeat all of the steps of gift-wrapping, while I sat and watched him, my plan forming in my mind.

What better way to get all the presents wrapped then to trick my husband into doing it for me.

"Think you can do it now?" Percy said, once he had finished.

I stared at the wrapping paper, pretending to ponder it, and after a short few moments, I nodded. "Yeah, I think I can. Stay here with me?"

He nodded again. "Okay, you can do it."

Trying to mask my smirk, I began by cutting paper large enough to wrap the paper with. That was the easy part that anyone—even a terrible wrapper—could do. It would be too obvious if I acted like I didn't even know how the heck to cut the paper.

Next, I folded one side over, making sure it was very loose and big on the gift. I grabbed the tape from the ground and secured the side onto the gift with a slight grin. Then, I repeated that same step, only with the other side.

Now, it was time for the hardest part—folding the two smaller sides.

I frowned at the gift for a good moment or so, then turned to my husband. "I don't think it looks good," I said, making sure I sounded totally pathetic and unsure of what to do. "And, I have no clue how to do the next part."

Percy laughed. "That's okay," he reassured, putting his arms around me. "I hate that part too, so I'll just guide you through it, okay?"

I smiled at him somewhat sweetly and nodded. "Okay."

So, my husband's arms around me, the two of us finished wrapping the gift—which I think was for his mom. We both looked at it closely, admiring our… handiwork.

Yeah, to say the least, it looked terrible.

I turned to Percy, putting a pout on. "It doesn't look nice," I said in a whiny voice. "I'm still terrible at gift-wrapping, even with you helping me!"

"Well," he suggested, a slight frown on his face, "how about I show you how to do it a couple more times, and then you try it again?"

I smiled at him widely and nodded. "Sounds good to me!"

And, that cycle went on for a few more times, until finally, all of the gifts were neatly wrapped and in a pile.

"Would you look at that?" I said, turning to Percy with an innocent smile. "All the presents are wrapped! Time really flies, huh?"

He nodded, standing up with a tired smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess it does. I hope that, by next year, you know how to wrap gifts, because I am never doing that again."

I laughed and stood up, taking his hand. "Maybe I should take classes, hm?"

"Oh, I will definitely look in to that."

"You do that, Percy," I said, smiling. "I'm going to go make dinner, okay?"

"Good, because I'm starving."

"So, I heard that you tricked Dad into finishing up your Christmas job," a familiar voice said.

I turned around to see my daughter standing in the doorway, wearing an amused expression. "What are you doing up, Meg?" I asked, carefully avoiding the subject. [2]

The fifteen year-old shrugged. "Not really tired," she admitted. "But, back to you—" She pointed to me accusingly. "—tricking Dad into wrapping like twenty gifts!"

"There were not that many gifts."

"Close enough. My point is, I can't believe you actually did that!"

I shrugged, trying not to feel guilty. "He was glad to help, Meg," I said defensively. "That took a big part off of our To-Do list, you know."

She shook her head incredulously. "You are so lucky that Dad loves you."

"It's not like he knew I was tricking him."

"Riight. You underestimate Dad, Mom," Megan scolded, but there was a mischievous grin on her face. "Don't you ever wonder how I found out about you tricking Dad?"

I pondered that for a minute, and my eyes began to widen. I stared at my daughter in awe, and she laughed, nodding. I nearly did a face-palm; I couldn't believe he actually outsmarted me.

"Dad's smarter than you think," Megan said, grinning at me as she turned to walk back up to her room. "You're just lucky that you have a husband who loves you enough to wrap all of those gifts after coming home from a long day at work."

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving me alone and still in disbelief.

After standing there for a few moments, I shook my head and walked back up to my own room, completely forgetting the reason I was downstairs in the first place.

Maybe I would actually let Percy look into a gift-wrapping class.

[1]: I think that even Annabeth would be stressed if you were like 8 or 9 months pregnant and were terrible at doing actual Mom things... It's Annabeth. She breaks down in PJO more than Percy, if anyone can believe it...

[2]: Meet Megan... She's been in one of my fics, but in a younger form. Say she's actually fifteen, not five, in this story. Yup.

Well, Percy isn't as much as a Seaweed Brain as Annabeth thinks he is. Ha!

Hope you enjoyed, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!