A different-ish take on the young mom/teen mom trope because teenage pregnancy!fics where the author thinks Annabeth is stupid enough to do the frick frack without proper precaution piss me off greatly. I don't like where this went let's forget I ever wrote this okay
Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Sight of the Sun
"For once there is nothing up my sleeve;
Just some scars from a life that used to trouble me."
Her daughter's second-grade classroom was bright and homey. A number of desks were arranged into three neat columns in the middle of the room, while monoblock chairs were set up along the back for Annabeth and the rest of the parents to sit on. 'CAREER DAY' was written in capital letters on the blackboard using colored chalk, and a smaller 'WELCOME, PARENTS!' was blocked in beneath that. Half-shelves filled with books and bags lined the left wall, and various potted plants and flowers were on top of it. Some of the students' best works lined the walls, giving the parents a look at what their children did in class.
At the front of the room stood her daughter, Sophia. For the past minute, Sophia had been singing her mother's praises, talking a bit about her job as a freelance architect. As she did, Annabeth couldn't help but notice that Sophia's right braid was messy and partly unraveled; she'd probably been picking at it again. Annabeth frowned and made a mental note to warn her daughter of that habit.
"Without further ado," Sophia said, "please welcome my mommy, Annabeth!"
Annabeth walked towards the front as everyone clapped politely.
"Hello, everyone." She said as she faced them, "I'm Sophia's mom and, like Sophia said, I'm an architect."
"So you make buildings?" A little boy in the front row asked.
"I design buildings, yes." She replied, subtly correcting the little boy. "I make sure they're built right so that they're safe."
"What buildings have you made?" Another student asked eagerly.
"Well, most of my work is for… private clients," her lips twitched, recalling the group of immortals who had given her her first – and largest – project, "so I can't tell you about those; but recently, I've been helping Dare Enterprises create eco-friendly buildings as part of their New Earth project. Do you know the museum that's being built down the street? I helped with that."
Another girl raised her hand, and Annabeth acknowledged her. "Sophia said told me the other day that you're a counselor for a summer camp?"
"Yes."
The girl grinned eagerly. "I went to a summer camp last week and it was really fun! What's yours like?"
A large smile crossed Annabeth's face as she thought of her second home. "It's the best. I used to be a camper there myself. It's been such a huge part of my life that I couldn't bear to just let it go and move on."
One of the mothers at the back raised her hand. "You look so young. How old are you?"
At this, Annabeth bristled. She had been expecting that question, but she didn't think it would come so soon. Bracing herself for the critical looks that were sure to come, she straightened up and said: "I'm twenty-four."
As she expected, titters flew among the parents. Most had judgmental frowns on their faces. Even if they couldn't do advanced calculus or plan out twenty steps of battle strategy in their head like Annabeth could, they were surely capable enough to subtract a few years and come to the conclusion that Annabeth had been seventeen when her daughter was born.
From her position near the front door, the teacher frowned at the whispers and asked, "So, Ms. Annabeth, where did you say you graduated from again?"
Actually, Annabeth hadn't mentioned it, but she guessed that was the perk of being good friends with the teacher. She'd never been more thankful to Katie Gardner before this moment.
Annabeth sent Katie a small grateful smile. Then, the daughter of Athena's eyes flashed with a hint of pride as she turned towards the class and mentioned the name of the University where she graduated.
At the back of the classroom, a businessman in a crisp suit nearly toppled out of his chair in shock. Annabeth remembered him as one of the more arrogant parents of the day, gloating about his position as CEO of some bigwig corporation. She also remembered him saying – quite bullheadedly – that he had graduated from the same Alma matter she did, as if he didn't think anyone in the room could do the same. She smirked inwardly, feeling a bit of satisfaction at knocking the man down a peg or two.
One of the students raised her hand. Annabeth acknowledged the little girl, not even needing to look at her name tag. "Yes, Andie?"
The girl who was more like a sister than a best friend to Annabeth's daughter grinned mischievously. "You know, my brother is your age." She said, giggling with Sophia. At the back of the classroom, Andie's mother rolled her eyes, but smiled in amusement nonetheless.
"Really." Annabeth said dryly.
"Yup. I think the two of you would get along really, really well."
"Erm, good to know." Annabeth remarked, not knowing how else to reply. She looked at the crowd once more and asked, "Does anyone else have anything to say?"
"You're pretty." A boy blurted out of the blue before turning an interesting shade of red. She smiled as she looked at him, reminded slightly of a lanky, snarky boy she once knew.
"Thank you."
At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the start of a fifteen-minute break.
"Alright, class. We'll have a short break before we listen to the other parents." Katie said, moving to stand beside Annabeth. "What do you say to our visitors?"
"Thank you!" All the students chorused.
As both the children and parents headed out of the room for the break, Annabeth moved towards the back of the classroom to get her bag. On the chair next to her own, Andie's mother patiently waited for her.
"Sally, your daughter has a strange sense of humor." Annabeth said as she reached the older woman and grabbed her bag. Together, they followed the crowd out into the playground.
"She didn't get that from me, I'll tell you that." Sally Blofis commented, watching as Andie and Sophia chatted in front of them.
During the break, Annabeth kept an eye out for monsters. With two demigods and a legacy in the same area, it was better to be safe then sorry. Granted, Sophia hadn't attracted a monster yet; but she was already seven years old, around the age when Annabeth first got attacked. Not only that, but according to Grover, she had a strong, distinct scent; she would definitely become a target someday.
Aside from the judgmental stares of the parents around her, though, Annabeth didn't sense any hostility or danger. She chose to ignore those, though she could feel Sally shooting her worried looks.
About five minutes before the break ended, a tall figure approached from across the playground, dressed in a fitted, dark blue FDNY shirt and a pair of firefighter's pants. Once Andie and Sophia spotted him, they broke out into a simultaneous run.
"Percy!"
"Daddy!"
The two girls tackled him, and Percy Jackson pretended to stagger under their weight, dropping to his knees as Andie clambered onto his back and Sophia wrapped her skinny arms around his neck, practically bouncing in excitement. Annabeth snorted and Sally let out a small chuckle as they walked towards the three on the ground.
"Hi, Mom." He said, flashing her a lopsided grin as the two women stopped in front of the son of Poseidon. Sally smiled back at her son.
"Hi, honey. What're you doing here?"
"Captain Montgomery found out about Parents' Day and forced me to take the day off, not that I need any incentive to spend time with my girls." Percy reached over his shoulder to ruffle Andie's hair before blowing a raspberry against Sophia's cheek, causing both girls to giggle.
Andie nimbly got off of his back, tugging on Sophia's hand. "Come on, Soph! Let's go tell Ms. Gardner Percy's here!" Together, the two seven-year-olds raced back to the school building on the opposite edge of the playground.
Chuckling, Percy stood up and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. Then, he turned towards Annabeth, and his grin softened a bit.
"Hey, you." he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a tender kiss against her lips. Annabeth leaned into the kiss, feeling herself relax as she did. She hadn't even noticed how tense she'd been in her attempt to not let the other parents get to her.
"Hi." She said as they parted. She briefly noticed that Sally had gone off to the side to give them some privacy.
"Are you okay?" He asked, eyebrows furrowing.
"It's fine, Percy."
Percy must've heard something in the tone of her voice (dammit, that Seaweed Brain knew her far too well), because his eyes quickly flitted to the other parents, many of whom were watching them and staring disapprovingly. He frowned.
"I don't like how they look at you." The son of Poseidon muttered.
Annabeth rolled her eyes at him and replied in an equally low tone. "First of all, Seaweed Brain, they're looking atus. And they can look all they want. It's better than them finding out the truth about Sophia and judging her for it."
There was a particular protectiveness towards her daughter behind her words, protectiveness that Annabeth felt was warranted. After all, the circumstances surrounding Sophia's birth were… interesting, to say the least.
Annabeth and Percy had found out about her when they came home to Camp Half-Blood after the Giant War, scarred physically and mentally from their time in Tartarus and the battles that came immediately afterwards. They'd been fully prepared to take the longest nap known to man when Rachel came in during the meeting in the Big House, cradling a baby girl with Annabeth's stormy grey eyes and Percy's untamable dark hair.
Chiron had then told them of how Rachel had found the baby one night on the front porch of the Big House, nestled in a golden cradle in the same way children of Athena were brought to their mortal parent. At first, they had all thought she was just another daughter of Athena, though they had found it odd that she'd been brought to Camp and not her mortal father. The next day, Poseidon had appeared as the campers were having breakfast, looking tired and utterly heartbroken. At this point, Camp Half-Blood had already heard of Percy and Annabeth's descent into Tartarus, and a few brave demigods had offered their sympathies as the god passed by. Poseidon had barely acknowledged them; instead, he went straight towards the Athena table, where Malcolm was taking care of who he thought was his little sister. The god had placed a hand on the baby, muttered an incantation for an ancient blessing, and asked Chiron to take care of her until her parents could come home.
Parents.
Camp had exploded into chaos as they slowly came to the same conclusion: Sophia wasn't Athena's brain child; she was someone else's. And with the way Poseidon had blatantly ignored Zeus's no-contact-with-demigods order to visit the baby, they were pretty sure they knew who the parents were.
It had taken a while for any of the campers to believe that theory. After all, there'd never been a recorded incident of Athena passing on the ability to have brain children. If the Athena campers had to pick anyone who could have had that particular ability, they'd thought it would be Simone – the twelve-year-old daughter of Athena who had a knack for making concepts manifest; but nobody, not even Athena, had imagined that Annabeth's Athenian blood was that powerful.
(By the time Athena had realized what was going on, it had already been too late, and in a moment of startling clarity that she hadn't had since Gaea began rousing, the goddess only had enough time to prevent the child from falling into Tartarus with her parents.)
At this point in the story, Rachel had handed the little girl to Annabeth. Beside her, Percy had been stunned to silence. Annabeth quietly asked Chiron exactly when Sophia had been brought to Camp. When Chiron told her the date and approximate time, her assumption had been confirmed.
Sophia had been created the moment Percy had fallen into Tartarus with her.
"I wish they wouldn't look at you like that." Percy said, bringing her out of her reverie.
Having known Percy for half her lifetime, Annabeth knew where his thoughts were going, and she shook her head. "We can't say anything, Perce. You know how mean kids can get. They'll tell her that we aren't really her parents because they won't understand that Soph is every bit ours, even if I hadn't carried her in me for nine months."
They'd discussed it before. Paul had once suggested saying Sophia was adopted, but the family resemblance had been too similar. Then, Sally had suggested telling everyone that she was the mother, not wanting Annabeth to go through the same stigma she'd once experienced, the one that came with being a teen mother; but even that idea had left a sour taste in Annabeth's mouth. She loved Sally and knew Sally would raise Sophia with the utmost love; but Annabeth didn't think she could stand by and watch her daughter grow up not knowing she was her real mother. Even if they told Sophia that Annabeth was actually her mother, Sophia might take it the wrong way. Annabeth never wanted her daughter to think she was ashamed of her, or that Annabeth didn't acknowledge her as her daughter. She'd gotten enough of that from her own mother to ever wish the same fate on anyone else.
"You're such a great mom, you know." Percy whispered against her skin.
The stares must've gotten to her more than she thought they had, because Annabeth could feel a slight sting in her eyes as Percy pressed a kiss to her forehead, letting his lips linger there for a moment before pulling back to wrap her up in a hug. Annabeth took a deep breath to calm herself before pressing her palm against the small of his back as her way of saying thanks. She managed to pull herself together just as Andie and Sophia returned with Katie in tow. Sally took that as her cue to rejoin them as well.
"If it isn't Percy Jackson." Katie said.
Percy grinned as he hugged his old friend. "Hey Katie. Long time no see. How's living with the Stolls?"
"About as horrifying as you imagine. Tell me, why did I think it was a good idea to share an apartment with them?"
Percy laughed; but before he could reply, Andie and Sophia both turned around and looked at their teacher. "Ms. Gardner, could we have one more parent today? Please?" Sophia asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Beside her, Andie was nodding eagerly.
Katie raised an eyebrow at Percy. "That depends on what job you're going to tell them you have. What's it going to be, Mr. Jackson? Sword-fighting instructor, or part-time merman?"
He laughed again. "I think we'll just go with the average firefighter today." Then, he told the kids: "Come on, munchkins, why don't you show me around and introduce me to your friends?"
In another well-rehearsed motion (and, at this point, Annabeth wondered if they'd let the two girls spend too much time together; the way they acted like one entity was a little unnerving), Andie and Sophia each stepped on one of Percy's feet – Andie on his left, Sophia on his right – and yelled "forward!" Percy was more than happy to play along, exaggeratedly waddling like a penguin to the delight of the two girls.
"It's like having three kids instead of just two." Sally commented, making Annabeth laugh.
As Percy hobbled into the school with one hand gripping his sister's and the other his daughter's, trading stories with Katie as the teacher walked alongside them, Annabeth felt a nice warmth settle in her stomach. When Sophia turned around and eagerly beckoned Annabeth to follow, the blonde wasted no time in catching up to them and taking her daughter's free hand in hers. Sally appeared on Percy's other side, smiling proudly at all of them. Annabeth figured she knew how Sally felt.
All things considered – all the recuperation they had to go through after the war, all the sleepless nights and anxiety and meltdowns of being parents at such a young age, and all the stress of balancing schoolwork with taking care of their daughter – they turned out pretty okay.
"I like to think I have everything I want from this life."
—fun.
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