The sun glowed brightly over the streets of New Rome despite the rain a while ago. A rainbow appeared across the sky as a sign of hope for a bright day and the streets were wet with puddles in every few feet. People bustled around, some selling a variety of things and the others wearing blazers hurrying as they lugged their briefcases with them. Just a normal day for the city.
At the suburbs, residents are rushing around in their homes to get ready for the day. Everyone has a different job to do— be it to attend a meeting at the Senate house at camp or go to the office. But in a certain house on the third street, the one colored completely blue, the man of the house was still in his room snoring(and there may be a small line of drool trickling out of his mouth) unaware that a new day has begun.
"Daddy!" a little girl about five entered the room. "Daddy, wake up!"
"Uhhh...maybe later..." The man replied then covered his head with his pillow. The little girl shook him more.
"Daddy, it's the first day of school and I'm gonna miss it. Mommy will get mad at you. Again."
Like a rocket on its way to the moon, Percy shot up. Oh men. That was right. He was going to take her to school today. He glanced at the clock. 7:15 am. His daughter needs to be at school at 8:00. He is in big trouble.
"Okay, okay we are in a tight schedule so here's what we're going to do," He said while looking for clean clothes to wear. He took a deep breath. "You are going to your room to get dressed and brush your teeth. Mommy picked out your clothes last night, right?" The girl nodded.
"That's good," he muttered, thanking his genius wife for thinking of doing that. Maybe she had the idea that Percy was going to wake up late so she did it.
"And while you do that, I'm going to make your breakfast and make your lunch." he continued.
"Okay, Daddy."And the little girl sped off to do her task while Percy pulled on his clothes in record time. Then, he rushed downstairs to make a quick breakfast-blue cereals and blue toast. He was in the process of making her sandwich for lunch when his daughter came downstairs. He quickly ushered her to the chair and gave her her breakfast.
"I want you to eat faster than usual, okay? But not fast enough that you will choke." Percy said while putting her sandwich in her lunch bag. He glanced at the clock again. 7:30 .The numbers seemed to be taunting him.
"Daddy, can I ask you something?" His daughter asked, stirring around her cereal.
"What is it, baby?" He replied in a casual voice even though he was getting impatient. He hoped that his daughter didn't notice it.
"Why are you taking me to school and not mommy.?" She asked him.
"What's wrong with me?" he frowned. "Aside from the fact that I'm gonna make you late for school. I promise, this won't happen again."
She shrugged. "Nothing. It's just mommy promised that she was gonna take me to school. I was really excited."
Oh. So that was it. Annabeth promised their daughter that she was the one who'll drop her on the first day of school months before but, unfortunately, there was an emergency on Olympus and she was called last night and won't be back until tomorrow. Percy didn't know that his daughter was looking forward to that promise. Like Percy, his daughter was really close to her mom. She goes wherever she goes its like the umbilical cord between them had never been cut. In fact, his little girl had been mopey eversince Annabeth left and no amount of blue treats would get her out of her mood.
Breakfast passed in silence with Percy glancing at the clock once in a while. His daughter didn't seem to be pressured at all by their lack of time. She took her time in eating the cereals one by one and Percy had to restrain himself from going at her side and spoon-feeding her the entire thing. But he has to remind himself that it's his fault and his daughter is probably punishing him.
Finally, his daughter finished. He cleared away the dishes making a mental note to wash it later. His daughter got her backpack and checked her school supplies. Then, they ran out the door and into the streets of New Rome. By that time, it was already 7:49 and the school is a 15 minute walk from their house more or less. Percy held his daughter's hand so she would not wander. She tends to be distracted all the time, and they could not afford to lose time. The street they were walking on was filled with puddles and his daughter took the chance to stomp on every puddle she passed, even reaching for the ones that are far from her. She jumped and would giggle everytime it splashed her and then she would twirl while humming the theme song of her favorite cartoon.
This slowed them down a bit, but Percy can't bring himself to call her out on it. It was the first time she smiled since Annabeth left and she looked really adorable when she giggles like that. Percy stared at her daughter realizing how lucky he is to have witnessed this. Maybe someday I'd have a little girl who looked like Annabeth and acted like me. This was his dream, all those years ago, when the vision of a good future was very blurry(he wasn't even sure if he would survive into adulthood). His daughter symbolizes all of the failures and then his triumphs but most importantly, she symbolizes his hope that one day his days of quests, dangers and amnesia will only be part of his painful memories.
Percy's heart melted when his little girl looked up to smile at him. A weak, fatherly smile stretched across his face. He knows that that wasn't the time to create moments as they were running late, but he could care less. His daughter was really cute and in his short life, he learned that every single time spent with their loved ones was significant because he doesn't know if it's going to be the last. Sad but that was one thing that being a demigod taught him.
The school came to view a few minutes later and they were definitely late. Percy and his daughter speed walked the remaining steps. When they reached the school property, they sat down on a bench first to catch their breaths. Percy fixed his daughter's hair to make her a little more presentable but it was no use. His daughter grinned up at him. Percy kissed her forehead and stared at her. She was growing up really fast and Percy really wished there was a pause button so he could catch up.
"I'm really sorry, squirt,"he said. "I got you late on your first day of school."
His daughter smiled. "It's okay, Daddy. I don't mind. I had a lot of fun," She leaned over and gave him a hug."I'm really glad you're here,Daddy." Percy hugged her back and grinned
Well," he stood up. "Let's go meet your teacher," He held his daughter's hand and walked towards the classroom.
After making up an alibi about how they were late, his daughter settled down in her class. She looked around the classroom then she spotted him still by the door so she gave him a thumbs up. That means everything was okay. Percy gave her one last grin and turned to go back home.
In all his life, he always thought that the fates and the gods were cruel. They still were but at least, they seemed to be easing a little bit down on him. And that was enough for him to send a little prayer of thanks.