Tapping

Leo Valdez is nothing special, he thought to himself, I've never been more than average. So how, I wonder, did I get lucky enough to have her?

He lay in bed, arms wrapped around the most beautiful girl in the world. She slept peacefully, unaware of the growing light outside. In just a few minutes time he was sure she would wake. Her breathing was slow and shallow, her chest rising and falling against his own.

His hands couldn't stop tapping. Just a few short months ago it had been a side effect of post-traumatic stress disorder, something he'd grown up with, the tapping code he'd done every night in hopes of hearing it back just one more time. Even though it had been over seven years since she'd died he'd never forgiven himself. It was Gaea's fault, he told himself, you're not to blame. But he was, wasn't he?

Now, though, the tapping had become something new. It was still the same message, repeated every night, every time he held Calypso in his arms. I love you. Where once the tapping was reflexive, attached to the grief he felt for his mother, it was now a reflex he meant.

He didn't know when it became love, but he knew it had something to do with Calypso.

She sighed, then yawned as she turned and cuddled into his side. Even if his arm was pinned under her head, he was fine. This was just fine.

"Mmm, Leo?"

"Hm?"

"I've been meaning to ask you for a while," she yawned again, "but why do you tap like that? It feels nice," she slurred, half-asleep.

Leo's mouth went dry. Thinking it was one thing, admitting to her just what it meant… he sighed. "Well, a long time ago, my mother- my mother taught me Morse code. It's a series of dots and dashes, long beeps and short ones, the spaces between taps in my case. It's used to send messages without using words."

"And what message is yours?"

"Well, it's… It means, 'I love you', Sunshine."

"That might be the sweetest thing I've ever seen," she said, sleepily kissing him on the cheek.

Her breathing returned to normal as she fell back into sleep.

Leo was very glad he'd learned to cook. Perhaps it was easier for him because he was the son of Hephaestus. Maybe it was just being in the place he loved, being really, truly happy for once. No monsters to fight, no goddesses to punch in the face, and no potty sludge faces.

Bunker 9 had shaped right up when she'd come back with him. She'd helped him design new rooms, making it into a cozy home for the two of them.

Home, he thought, it's nice to have a permanent home. The cliff that it rested in went all the way to the ocean, and using some of her magic she'd made the distance shorter. Now, every morning they caught the sunrise through the windows, rising over the ocean.

Calypso was also very happy with his cooking. She was a better cook, of course, but she'd had over four thousand years of experience.

She came down the steps towards the main area of the bunker, still dressed in silk pyjamas and a blanket draped over her shoulders. Leo, absorbed in making eggs and bacon, didn't notice until her arms slid around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder.

Leo laughed a little. "Morning, Sunshine. Sleep well?"

"I did. You woke me up with that wonderful smell. Pancakes too?"

"Of course, love."

Their couch was comfortably plush and big enough for two, perfect for eating breakfast with the love of his life. Pancakes were flipped and placed on plates next to eggs, bacon, and a cup of coffee. Moonlace, as it turned out, made an excellent addition to coffee. Simply by growing a coffee tree with moonlace near the roots, Calypso had made it better.

Buford the table took the plates and clambered over to the couch, Leo trailing behind. He sat next to his sunshine and she put her head on his shoulder, absentmindedly chewing bacon.

"Leo?"

Leo grunted through a mouthful of fluffy chocolate chip pancake, too big to speak.

"Earlier, were you serious about Morse code?"

He swallowed and took a sip of his coffee. "Yeah, I was. That's what it means. Is it wei-"

She cut him off with a coffee-flavored kiss. "No, it's the absolute sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me," she said, meaning every word. "I've had handsome, tall heroes sweep me off my feet every few hundred years. But somehow it's you who caught my heart more than any other."

"Of course! I am the super-sized McShizzle."

Calypso laughed softly. "A scrawny," she took a look at him, "Okay, maybe not that scrawny anymore, a guy with messy hair who scared away my birds and made a crater on my island."

"That's me!"

"You really are something special, Valdez."