Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson, not me
Sally knew that her child was going to be special. From the moment she found out that she was pregnant, she knew that it would grow up to be an amazing person.
When she had told Poseidon during one of their meetings that she was expecting, his face went pale. That was unexpected. Sally knew from the moment that Poseidon introduced himself that he was the real deal. One of the Greek gods. He had such a powerful aura of wisdom and age that there was no way he couldn't be. She didn't delude herself into thinking that he didn't have any other mortal women and children; he was too old not to.
He definitely had plenty of children, so she didn't think that finding out he was going to be a father again would take him by surprise or frighten him at all. But it did. And that made her curious. So she confronted him about it, demanding to know what he was so nervous about.
He told her about the Big Three gods, him and his two brothers Zeus and Hades. He talked about their powerful half-blood children and a horrible prophecy foretelling that the next demigod child of one of the Big Three gods to reach the age of sixteen would have to make a choice, potentially destroying the gods. The prophecy made it seem like the child wouldn't survive much longer after this choice was made.
"Sally," he said, "this will be the first child to be born to me or my brothers in sixty years. Under the best circumstances, he or she can only live to be sixteen years old. This will be the child of the prophecy. I didn't want to make you go through this; to raise this child on your own, only to have it die after sixteen years. That would be cruel."
But Poseidon didn't know what Sally did. He didn't know that this child was special and would grow up to do amazing things.
"The prophecy doesn't say that this child will certainly die," she said. "My baby will survive; I know it. You need to have a little bit of faith. In me. I won't raise a child that will choose to destroy its father. I will make sure that this baby will do the right thing."
Poseidon smiled at her. She loved his smile; it was one of the things that made her fall in love with him. Smile lines crinkled across his face exposing blindingly white teeth that starkly contrasted his tan skin. His smile was godly, but at the same time one of the most human things about him.
"I know you will Sally. I do have faith in you. But there's more." His smile faded. Sally suddenly became nervous. She put a hand protectively over her stomach, over her child. "My brothers and I… we made a pact. It was shortly after World War II ended and we heard this prophecy for the first time. We vowed never to have any half-blood children again. My brothers will not be pleased when they find out I've broken our agreement. We'll have to keep this a secret. For the child's protection, my brothers cannot know about this, at least until the child is older."
"But Poseidon," Sally said. She saw where he was going with this, and she didn't like it. "Keeping the baby a secret won't solve anything. How do you know that your brothers haven't broken the pact as well? For all we know, one of them may have a child about to turn sixteen." But he was shaking his head.
"No, Sally. You know some of the myths about Zeus. After we heard the prophecy, he destroyed any half-blood children we had who were younger than sixteen. Luckily, I didn't have any at the time, but he destroyed a pair of Hades' children… let's just say Hades didn't take it too well. That's why he can't find out about you or this child. This must remain a secret until Zeus can make a judgment on the child's character."
Sally closed her eyes and tried to think. She didn't see any way out of this. "Why me?" she asked quietly. "Seventy years, and why did you choose me?"
He didn't answer at first. She didn't open her eyes, and for a minute, she was afraid that he left her.
Then she felt strong hands on her shoulders. The scent of the sea that always hung on him grew stronger. She opened her eyes and found herself looking into deep green ones.
"Because Sally Jackson, you are a queen among women. As brief as our time has been together, I wouldn't trade it for anything. It has been a privilege to know you." She glowed at the praise. Not many people could say they received a compliment like that from a god.
"But you have to leave now." It wasn't a question. She saw that there was no way the two of them could be together.
He nodded.
"The more time I spend with you, the greater the chances will be that my brothers will find out about you. I can't risk that. I'm truly sorry, but you are going to have to do all of this on your own."
She nodded. Ever since her parents died, she was used to being on her own. And in a few months, she wouldn't completely be on her own any more.
"But you don't need to leave yet, right?" Sally asked. She didn't want to lose him just yet, not when they had only had a few weeks together. "You can stay for a little bit longer."
He smiled. He stayed at Montauk with her for the rest of the day. He told her as much as he could about the world their child would be born into, the mythological part at least.
She learned about a camp for half-blood children on Long Island she could send the baby to in a few years, although she didn't like the idea of her child being raised at a camp. She learned that monsters track heroes by scent and that she should try not to call them by name. Poseidon told her all that he could amidst words of love and affection.
And then he was gone. Sally had the feeling she wouldn't see him again for many years.
Over the next few months, she threw herself into preparing for the birth of the baby. She picked up as many shifts as her waitressing job as she could to save up some money. She bought baby things, read books about babies, and, after finding out she was having a boy, began looking up baby names.
She couldn't find the right name. Nothing ever fit perfectly. She needed a name that was as special as he would be. She couldn't name him something common like Nick or John or Michael (she definitely couldn't name him Michael!). It needed to be a little more unique.
She threw herself into learning about Greek mythology. She was looking for a name, but she also figured that it would help her in the long run to know more about the world she was bringing a child into. But none of those names fit either. She refused to call her son Achilles or Prometheus. She looked up the names of some of Poseidon's other children. Theseus, Triton, Orion. But she quickly dismissed them all. It would be too weird to name Poseidon's next son after one of Poseidon's children with another woman.
Then the day came. Sally went into labor still having no idea what her son's name would be.
She was in labor for hours and she was alone. She tried to focus on the fact that soon, very soon, she wouldn't be alone anymore. She would never be alone again.
And the baby came. Exhausted and intoxicated with the drugs they gave her, Sally held her son in her arms. He was perfect. She completely fell in love with him.
Sally rocked him gently. He opened his eyes even though all of her books said he shouldn't be able to yet. They were sea green, the exact same shade as his father.
Poseidon didn't think there was any way this boy could have a happy ending. He thought their son was doomed.
"We'll show him," Sally whispered. "You will have a happy ending. I promise."
"Do we have a name yet?" a nurse asked. Sally looked up in surprise. She had forgotten there was anyone else in the delivery room.
"Perseus," she said, almost without thinking. "Perseus Jackson." She had rejected the name Perseus almost immediately. She was hesitant to name him after a son of Zeus, especially since Zeus would be intent on destroying him if he knew about her son.
But Perseus in Greek mythology had had a happy ending. She could count on one hand how many of those heroes had happy endings, but Sally knew her son would one day be one of them. He was a special kind of hero, one that would always win. Against all odds, he would be happy. She was sure of it.