Author's Note: Hi! More Sally stuff! I was on YouTube and people were all saying "Hey it's almost Percy's birthday!" "August 18th is Percy Jackson Day!" etc. So, I wanted to write some one-shots for Percy's birthday. I mean, I have the biggest crush on Percy ever. Ever. I'm going to start ranting about how awesome he is if I don't let you read now. But I challenged myself to writing a one-shot every day until his birthday. So, Happy 13th Birthday, Percy!

I walked quietly to Percy's room, with a candle and a lighter in my hand. The door was almost closed—open enough just to let a few streams of the late-afternoon light into the hallway. He'd been out like a light since last night, when he'd come back from camp with his right hand heavily bandaged. His face had been pale and feverish, and he'd barely been able to stand upright. So naturally, I'd sent him straight to bed. But I had started to feel a little bad, since it was his thirteenth birthday, and he hadn't had a chance to celebrate at all today.

Wow, I thought. We'd made it all the way to thirteen. Demigods had such short lives, being chased by monsters throughout their lives. I'd always been especially worried about Percy, since he was one of the most powerful half-bloods out there. But…he was thirteen today.

I opened the door as quietly as I could, just enough to poke my head through to check if he was still asleep; even so, the hinges creaked. Percy was lying on his side with his back turned to me, but he must've heard the door open, because he turned to face me. "Mom?" he croaked tiredly.

"Hey, kiddo," I said with a smile. "Happy birthday."

Percy frowned. He sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Oh, yeah," he said. Then he added with a small smile, "I'm thirteen today."

"Yup," I agreed. I brought out the small blue candle. It was like a little wand, with the number 13. I lit the candle. "Make a wish."

Percy cocked his head to the side, eyes fixed on the ceiling in thought. Then he seemed to make up his mind, and blew out the small flame. "You know, I can't tell you what I wished for until it comes true," he reminded me.

"I know," I said with a smile. "So, how was the rest of your summer?"

Percy shrugged. "It was okay, I guess."

"'Okay, I guess'?" I smirked. "Come on, tell me what happened. Start from when you arrived back to camp."

Percy rolled his eyes, but he had a smile on his face. "Well, if you really want to know…I guess I could tell you. When we got back to camp, Annabeth, Grover, and I each got laurel wreathes, since we were the first to return successfully from a quest. We got to burn our burial shrouds—"

"Wait," I interrupted. "Burial shrouds?" It sounded like the camp wasn't very optimistic about their campers. "You mean that they sent you guys off with the mindset that none of you would come back alive?"

"I guess so," Percy answered. "Sounds pretty pessimistic, right?"

"Just a little," I said sarcastically. "But, I'm interrupting. Keep going."

"Okay, so we got our burial shrouds, and, Mom, Annabeth's was so beautiful." His eyes lit up. "It really was. Silver, with little owls embroidered into it—" He stopped suddenly, glancing at my face. I raised my eyebrows as if to ask, What? But I could tell that this Annabeth had left an impression on him, because he blushed, quickly continuing his story. "Anyway, yeah. Grover got his searcher's license, too."

I smiled. I admired Grover; he was still young, but he was a very brave satyr. And I was glad Percy had befriended him. He was, honestly, Percy's first real friend, and it made me very happy to know that their quest had mutual benefits. "Good for him," I said.

"Yeah," Percy agreed. He stared off into space for a moment, like he was reminiscing about his time on the quest with his friends Annabeth and Grover. "He's off to look for the long-lost god Pan now," he said. "He left on the Fourth of July, after the fireworks." Suddenly his face lit up again. "Oh, Mom. You should've seen the Hephaestus cabin's fireworks display. It was amazing!"

"I can imagine," I laughed. "They are the Hephaestus cabin, after all. What kind of fireworks did they have?" I asked, because I was, in fact, genuinely curious about it.

"I can't explain it well," he told me. "I mean, they were so close in sequence that it looked like the images were literally moving across the sky, like Hercules beating the Nemean Lion, or George Washington crossing the Delaware—did you know he was a son of Athena?"

"Nope," I told him. Honestly, before I'd met Percy's father, Poseidon, I would never have even considered that most of the famous people we know of today were demigods, like George Washington or Amelia Earhart. But after Percy was born, the word impossible was completely eliminated from my vocabulary.

Percy went on to explain how he'd gotten my letter about my "statue" called The Poker Party. I smirked when he mentioned it. Percy was an amazing kid, not just because he was half-god. He had the biggest heart of any kid I've ever known. He'd given my Medusa's head so I could start a better life without that awful man, Gabe Ugliano. I'd married him to hide my son from the monsters, but now that he knew that he was a demigod, he didn't need my protection anymore. And I will be the first to say that I had no qualms about setting that box down in front of him, coaxing him into opening it up, and I couldn't hide the satisfaction of watching him slowly turn to stone by Medusa's gaze. All my life I'd been running from monsters, keeping them away from my son and me; who knew that one day a monster would aid me in changing my life for the better? I wrapped an arm around Percy's shoulder and kissed his feverish cheek. "Thanks so much for doing that for me, Percy," I said quietly.

He looked at me with those green eyes that I loved so much, green eyes that seemed to reflect his emotions so clearly; most of the time, a soft, quiet green, like the ocean on most days—hard to read, emotionless, but somehow calm. But other times, the ocean sparkled with the brightness of the sun, shimmering invitingly, like its own way of showing happiness. That was precisely what I saw in Percy's eyes at that moment. "You're totally welcome, Mom," he said.

I ran my hand through his dark hair, down his neck, resting my fingers on his shoulder. Then I felt something, like a cord, between his neck and shoulder. Percy seemed to notice and, with his good hand, took it from under his shirt.

"I got this at camp," he explained, holding out the leather necklace for me to see. It was leather, with a single black clay bead. "You get one every summer, and they put the most important event of the summer on it."

I looked closer. There was a green trident in the center of the bead, and I couldn't help the smile that crossed my lips. "I'm guessing that the 'important event' had something to do with you, am I right?"

He didn't answer right away, but his cheeks turned pink again, and that gave me the confirmation I needed. "First son of Poseidon at Camp Half-Blood," he told me.

"Well, good for you, then," I said.

He just sighed. "Yeah." Suddenly he winced and held his hand.

"What?" I asked, my motherly instincts automatically kicking in. "Are you alright?"

Percy saw the worry on my face, and although he didn't do a great job of hiding the pain, he nodded. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," I said. "Let me see."

He let me take his hand, and I gingerly unwrapped the bandages. My heart skipped a beat when I saw his palm. There was a huge red welt where his palm had swollen, like he'd been stung by something. "What happened to you?" I asked.

"Scorpion stung me," he replied bitterly.

"When was this?"

"Yesterday morning, I think," he answered, wincing again.

I stood up and retrieved a clean bandage. Then I told him to break off an ambrosia square and start eating it. Percy explained what had happened as I wrapped his hand again.

"Last day of camp," he started, "I went to the sword fighting arena to practice, and Luke was there already…I told you about Luke, right?"

I nodded. I remembered our teary homecoming back in June, where he'd told me everything that had happened to him. He'd mentioned Luke, a college-aged camper who'd welcomed him with open arms on Percy's first day.

"Well…he took me into the forest, and…he told me that everything about the lightning bolt was his fault."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

His eyes narrowed. "I mean, he's the real lightning thief. He sabotaged the quest, tried to kill us. He's being controlled by the Titan Lord, Kronos."

The room seemed to grow colder.

"He summoned a pit scorpion, and it stung me," he finished. "So here I am."

"Hmm," I said. It was all pretty disconcerting. Percy's first year at camp, and already he had evil Titans chasing him.

Obviously, I was scared to death for him, but Percy saw my expression and said, "Mom, it's okay. Trust me. And besides, it's my birthday: fun day, happy thoughts, remember?"

I stared at him for a few seconds, and again I was amazed at how much he looked like his father, how much he acted like his father. "You're right," I told him. "It is your birthday. And…" I stood to get something from my room. "I've got something for you."

I turned and dug through my closet for the present. It wasn't wrapped, just a red bow wrapped around it. But I knew he would love it, and I'd gotten it just in case he decided to return for the school year. It could come in handy for some escape from school, something to take to Central Park and have fun. I knew he'd had his eye on this forever, but with Gabe around, I'd never gotten the chance to get it for him.

I returned to Percy with his gift behind my back. I could see the smile slowly forming on his face. "What'd you get me?" he asked.

I revealed his gift to him—the skateboard he would always stop and stare at when we were at the mall.

His eyes widened when he saw it. "Mom, you're awesome!" he exclaimed. "How much did this cost?"

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Why does it matter?" I asked. "Money doesn't matter when it comes to my son. I'd sacrifice everything for you, Percy, don't you know that?"

He laughed. "Thank you so much, Mom," he whispered, throwing his good arm around my shoulder. "This is awesome."

"Anytime, kiddo," I replied, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Happy thirteenth birthday. When you get better, we can do something, if you'd like."

He shook his head, the smile refusing to leave his face. "This…this is enough. I love this. I love you, too."

"Love you more than you could possibly imagine, Percy. You are one amazing kid."

"And you are one amazing mom."

I kissed the top of his head. "Get some rest now, sweetheart," I told him.

"Not tired," he said. "Can we watch a movie or something?"

I smiled. "It's your birthday," I said. "Whatever you want."

Like it? Hate it? Don't care? Review! (BTW I wrote this making it up as I went along. Yeah, I didn't really have a plan for this. Well, sort of, but not really. I just really wanted to write this in honor of Percy's birthday!)

Thanks for reading!

~Mandi2341