"The rivalry ends here," Percy said, "I love you, Wise Girl."


"Annabeth!" Percy whined, "Did you do the Calc homework? I don't get it!" He drew out the words childishly.

Annabeth slowly looked up from her spot at the table and met the green eyes of the pouting boy. "What are you ever gonna do for the test, Seaweed Brain?" she replied with an endeared exasperation. Percy grabbed an Arnold Palmer from the fridge and walked over and wrapped her in a bear hug.

"It's why I have you, Wise Girl!" he smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead.

It had been five months since the war with Gaea, and Percy and Annabeth had decided to live a relatively normal life. They had been living with Sally and Paul and were currently completing their senior year of high school. Monster attacks had all but disappeared since the peace between the two Camps and claimed demigods continued to flow into Camp Half Blood and older demigods from the New York camp migrated to New Rome in hopes to grow old with people who know what they had lived through. Even though they were far away from their friends, they continued to keep in contact.

"Hey Percy… have you heard from Will lately?"

"Will Solace?" Percy pondered, "No… Why?"

"It's just… Apollo, he hasn't had any new campers lately, Rachel still hasn't heard anything from the Oracle… How 'bout Thalia? Have you heard from Thalia?"

Percy shook his head solemnly. He was actually enjoying school with Annabeth and he didn't want to leave, even if it was for Camp. Annabeth was on the class council and he had swim tryouts in a couple of days.

"You don't think Zeus…?" Just like that Annabeth was cut off by a crack of blue lightning cutting across the dark winter sky. They got up and leaned against the window, staring into the nothingness. "I'll ask Chiron about the twins." he grabbed her hand while they sat in silence, wondering what their future held.

"Are you guys still studying?!" the couple heard Mrs. Blofis exclaim from the other room. Her voice was filled with love and laughter, par the norm. Annabeth got up and went back to the table to finish her homework, while Sally hobbled into the room. "Man… I really want pickles and ice cream!"

Percy just shook his head and Annabeth smiled. "Jeez! Tough crowd!"

They sat in an uncomfortable silence… each chewing on their own problems.

"Perce… I… I wasn't kidding about the pickles and ice cream… We're all out of pickles and Paul's gonna be out almost all night… Please?"

The look of amusement on Percy's face was evident, but it didn't stop him from mumbling about pregnant ladies and cravings as he grabbed his jacket and left to go pick up the pickles.

"Have you guys picked out a name yet?"

Sally rubbed her swollen belly and smiled, "Well, we still don't know the gender, but Percy's still pushing for Zöe. I like Kara for a girl and Levi for a boy, but Paul likes Amelia and Charlie," she sighed, "I have a feeling that we aren't gonna use any of them once the baby's born…"

"No matter what," Annabeth reassured, "the baby will be perfect!"

"How have you been doing, honey?"

The blonde beauty placed her head in her hands and rubbed her temples. "We've had very little contact from Camp, both camps actually." Sally slowly nodded, listening intently. "We don't want to leave what we have here, but we know we can't abandon everyone," she sighed, "Sometimes I just wish to be normal…"

"You guys could always stop by for a weekend, just to check in?" The older woman suggested. Annabeth let the thought roll around her mind; it wasn't a bad idea. There were so many what ifs, though. What if there was nothing wrong with the Camp and they were just overreacting? What if there was something wrong with it? What if something had happened to the Apollo campers? What if the camp wasn't as well off as they thought it was after the war with Gaea?

Annabeth shook her head, "I think we need to…"

"We need to what?" a new voice interrupted. "Sorry, Mom, they only had dill…"

"That's okay, hun!"She snatched the jar of pickles from Percy's hands and grabbed the vanilla ice cream from the freezer, with a subtle wink at Annabeth she shuffled out of the kitchen.

"So," He turned his attention to Annabeth, "What do we need to do?"

"I think we need to go to Camp," Percy nodded, understanding where she was going with her suggestion.

"How does Friday afternoon after school lets out sound? It's only two days away; it's not too long to wait…"

"It sounds great," They both sighed.


The past two days blew by; the couple was a mixture of excitement and nerves. The bell rang promptly at 2:05, signaling that the school day was over. They jumped out of their seats and practically sprinted out of the building. Percy had parked as close as possible to the school, anticipating the need to leave quickly. They hopped into Percy's beat up Chevy pickup and tore out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.

"Percy, what do you think's gonna happen?"

There was a long pause. It could go one of two ways.

"I don't know," he pursed his lips. "No matter what, it will be okay," he smiled at her and found her hand.

She looked down at their intertwined fingers and believed him.

"Percy!"

"What?"

"I think you just passed Camp…"

"There's no way I passed Camp… How could I pass it?"

"Just go back!" He turned the truck around, "See! It's the Big House! And Thalia's pine tree!"

He pulled over and looked at Annabeth in utter confusion and disbelief, "Where is everybody?"

"I don't know," she replied.

They sat in an anxious silence and watched for a couple minutes. Nothing happened. The Camp didn't appear. Nobody walked in or out.

"Let's go inside and talk to Chiron and Mr. D?"

They walked past the strawberry fields and up the stairs of the House. The door was unlocked. They let themselves in.

"Hello! May I interest you in our new strawberry jam?" asked an older woman.