Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! (Or Happy Thursday if you don't celebrate Christmas.) This is a story that I've been wanting to write for quite a while now, and it's just a story about what will happen to the Seven during Christmas time (hence the title "Yuletide"). Not the most original idea, but I really hope you enjoy it! Here ya go:

December 2015

"Absolutely not."

"What?!"

"You heard what I said."

"But why not?" he whined, his eyes angled up at her, crocodile tears threatening to form.

"Because I said so," she said with a slight huff, unconsciously flipping her hair over her shoulder. It was such a stereotypically Cali-girl thing to do, and her image would definitely help lead to that, but anyone who truly knew Annabeth Chase would know that she was far from the dumb blondes that seemed to be bred in high schools on the silver screen and TV everywhere in the world. In fact, you didn't really even have to know her to be able to tell the difference, all you had to do was take on look at either her report cards from all of her intense years at school- perfect markings, all down the page- or give a quick glance at her eyes.

Oh, those eyes.

They were big and grey and deep and stormy and intense and intelligent and wise and beautiful and- well, point was, they were enough to make her boyfriend drop anything he was doing at a moment's notice. All it took was one sly wink or a few seconds of eye contact, and BAM: he was a goner.

That's right, the "almighty" Percy Jackson, the guy who was capable of defeating scores of monsters (including the Fury Alecto, the Nemean Lion, the Minotaur [twice], Medusa...); retrieving Zeus's master lightning bolt, Hades's helm of darkness, the Golden Fleece, and the 12th Legion's eagle; fighting the god of war Ares and winning; beating several Titans and giants, including the Titan lord Kronos and the Giant Hyperion; wielding the sword Anaklusmos (a.k.a. Riptide); being the savior of Olympus, the subject of two prophecies, a member of the Seven, and the only known demigod son of Poseidon; and doing loads of other cool things, in addition to just being incredibly awesome...

Yeah, that same guy could be brought down faster than a buttery stack of blue pancakes on a hot summer day when he came in the line of fire of Annabeth Chase's fierce gaze. Although, it was a blessing in disguise, because he figured he was the luckiest guy in the world for never truly having to worry about his girlfriend being able to protect herself, even though he did it all the time already. But there was one more thing nowadays that made Percy feel safer when it came to Annabeth and other guys: something that had nothing to do with her physical strength, and everything with the visual strength that one tiny ring and a few legal documents can do.

In other words, nobody messes with Percy Jackson's wife.

"Look, Seaweed Brain," she hissed, and he automatically stepped back when he heard the spite in her voice. But, upon seeing his reaction, she lowered her voice, and allowed a gentler tone and expression to ease onto face and into the sound of her voice.

"It's just...we've already got so many people coming over. I don't think that we can really afford to have this many guests."

He nodded, as if agreeing, but turned right back around with the conversation and pressed again: "But seriously, why not? I mean, it's not a party without them!"

"Really?" she said in a deadpan voice, the gentle tone gone. "So you won't be able to enjoy the party at all if your cousin and his wife from Montana, who you have only seen twice in your entire lifetime, don't come?"

Grinning like a madman, he nodded enthusiastically, the zeal and excitement plain on his face. "Exactly!"

Annabeth sighed, rubbing her fisted hands against her eyes. She not only looked tired, but she sounded really tired too. You could easily hear it in her ragged voice. If that wasn't a tip-off, then the fact that she wasn't really willing to argue with him certainly was. After all, nobody argued like they did; it was their specialty.

"Hey hey hey..." he said soothingly, tenderly grasping her shoulders with his hands, lowering himself slowly onto the leather sofa in their den, and pulling her down gently with him. "What's the matter, Wise Girl? You okay?"

"Y-yeah," she stuttered slightly, the tiny tremor in her voice and the subtle sniffle betraying her claim. Clearly she was not okay.

"Come on, Wise Girl. Tell me what's wrong."

"Well...it's just..." Her breathing was ragged and shaky as she let out a big exhale. "This party is turning into such a big ordeal. When I suggested we throw a holiday party, I didn't really think that we would be going to these lengths and inviting so many people. I had kind of hoped that we would just be having a few friends and family over- y'know, all of our close loved ones. But now we're talking about cousins from Montana and a nephew-twice-removed from Kentucky and an ex-step-grandma-in-law from Barbados, and it's all just too much!"

The guest list that Percy had had in his hand this entire time suddenly felt sweaty and gross and...wrong, and he crumpled it up slightly, trying to contain all of the ominous frustration present in the room into this one, tiny little paper ball. He knew in reality that it wasn't the guest list that was the source of all this trouble, but rather he was. He was the cause of all this tension, all this drama. He was the cause of Annabeth's stress.

He opened his mouth to try to say something, anything, to make her feel better, but it appeared that she was on a roll, because she just kept talking, and the tears just kept on falling.

"I mean, I can't cook for all these people! Heck, I can hardly cook for you and me, babe! How on Earth am I supposed to be able to cook for a house full of guests temporarily for one night, if I can't even cook for the two of us? And what happens in a few months, when there's three of us? What's gonna happen then?"

"Shh, shh, shh," he said in a steady voice, trying to calm her down by smoothing her hair, when really his insides were so jumbled up.

Percy felt like the biggest jerk in the history of jerks. How could he be so stupid? Did he really not stop to think at any point what kind of an effect all of this would have on his wife? True, Annabeth was tough- the toughest person he'd ever known, in fact- but the simple truth of the matter is, even the toughest person can begin to crack a bit after they've had loads of pressure heaped onto their shoulders.

Especially when that person is pregnant.

"Hey, Wise Girl," he said, sitting up from his relaxed position. She seemed startled, but didn't look up . "Wise Girl, please look at me." Reluctantly, she met his gaze, their alert green eyes and exhausted grey eyes seeming to bore into each other's. "We don't have to have so many people over. We can make it be a much smaller party. Just our close friends and family."

Annabeth's eyes, which just a moment ago had been weighed down with all the exhaustion and frustration of planning this affair, lit up instantly. They were bright and alert now, as if someone had turned on a switch reading "Be Happy" inside of them.

"Really?" she said, her enthusiasm shining through, clear as day.

He nodded. "Really."

"Oh, thank you Seaweed Brain!" She cried, suddenly throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around him. It caught him off guard at first, but it didn't take him long to get used to the familiar feeling of her in his arms.

"No problem, Wise Girl." They stayed there like that, locked in each other's embrace on the couch and shutting out the world so that it was just the two of them in their own little world, until he finally broke away, somewhat reluctantly, to say:

"Come on, Wise Girl. Let's go tackle that guest list."

Hopefully that's enough to intrigue you, and make you come back for Part 2, which will be up tomorrow, and will be much lighter in content, I promise. I hope you all enjoy your holiday today, and stay safe!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Love,

~Princess Andromeda II