I don't own PJO or HoO. I do own the two OCs that you are about to get acquainted with, though. :)
Also, since Rick has stated that not all of the Seven are going to survive the BoO, let's just say this is an AE to whatever happens. Everyone in the Seven lives-yay!
One: Normal Morning
"Papi!"
"Papi, wake up!"
Leo Valdez looked at the clock on his bedside table. It read 6:02 AM. He took his pillow and covered his face, groaning. Why did the universe always want him to wake up so early!?
Two small weights suddenly bounced onto his stomach. The wind was knocked out of him. Giggles vibrated from the weights.
"Papi, we hungry!" Two voices sounded together.
Leo peeked out from his pillow and smiled. Two little reflections of himself stared right at him, expectantly, laughter in their eyes. Twins, a girl and a boy: the children of Leo Valdez.
"HUNGRY," said the girl, Esperanza Grace Valdez. "Want food!"
The boy, Tulio Charles Valdez, bounced again. "Bekfast!"
Leo's smile got bigger and he rolled over, taking the twins with him. He rolled on top of them belly-first and sarcastically said, "Man, my mattress is so lumpy! Didn't I just buy a new one?"
Giggles and muffled shouts erupted from beneath him. He grinned and bounced lightly on top of them. "Geeze, I guess I should try and flatten these lumps before I take the mattress back!" Leo started patting his children down. The twins laughed.
Finally he lifted up and looked down at his kids. "Oh! Would ya look at that! I've found a couple of rats in my bed!"
Tulio grinned cheekily. "Papi, we not rats!"
"My mistake, mijo." Leo practically vaulted off the bed, trying not to roll back onto his kids. The twins bounced off in a similar fashion, mirroring their father.
"Bekfast now?" Little Tulio tilted his head. Leo smiled.
"What d'ya want for breakfast, then?" he asked.
"Eggs!" Esperanza—otherwise known as Espie—said enthusiastically. "Eggs n' bacon!"
"Waffles!" Tulio argued. "Want waffles more!"
Leo grinned and compromised, "How 'bout an eggs n' waffles tower with bacon on top?"
The twins gave a "Yay!" and ran out of the room. Leo stretched and looked at himself—his 24-year-old self—in the mirror hanging on his closet door. His pj's consisted of an old Rolling Stones t-shirt and plaid boxers. His curly black hair had grown out over the years, becoming wavier rather than curlier. His signature scrawniness had finally given way to more of a muscular build, his arms—particularly his biceps—being proof of the years of work in the forge and shop turning him that way. Though, all things considered, he was still pretty skinny. And short. Gods, he hated how he had never grown past 5'6. (A/N: I really don't want to hear it from him…I'm 5'3…dammit…)
He had slight stubble on his upper lip and chin, like a thin almost-goatee that wasn't connected, something he was mostly too lazy to shave off during his morning routine but had taken a liking to all the same.
He posed, flexing his muscles like he would if he was showing off to a girl. "Bad Boy Supreme," he mumbled to himself, grinning. "Lookin' good."
"Papi!"
Leo snapped back into reality and pulled on some jeans quickly. He realized they were the same jeans he had worn yesterday, with grease and oil stains smeared all over them, but shrugged and reminded himself not to touch them with his hands while cooking.
Leo stepped outside his room and tripped over his son. Tulio instantly clung onto his father's leg, giggling.
Leo grinned and started walking towards the stairs with Tulio in tow. "Man, first my mattress is all lumpy and now my shoe is being weird! I'm having such a rotten day!"
He reached the stairs and tickled Tulio until his son let go. Leo grabbed him and slung him over his shoulder while skipping down the stairs.
Leo's place consisted of two levels. The second story held three bedrooms—the twins', Leo's and a guest room—and two bathrooms, plus a storage closet in the hall, which was more of a toy-hiding closet. The first floor was split. The stairs led into the half that held the kitchen, dining room and small living room—all within view of each other, rather like an apartment. In the kitchen there was a swinging door that led to the other half of the first floor: the forge and machine shop. The machine shop held the front door while the forge held the back. The forge was where Leo could work on various weapons and do-dads that demigods could use. The machine shop was where Leo worked on stuff for the mortals: cars, televisions, the occasional computer, and other machines that were busted. Leo got plenty of work from both ends, earning a respectable living for him and his kids.
Espie was sitting at the dining table, swinging her legs back and forth while fidgeting in her chair. She spotted Leo and her brother instantly and charged them.
"Papi, I wanna up too!" She begged with her puppy-dog eyes, beating against Leo's leg.
Leo shifted Tulio onto his left forearm, the latter swinging playfully like a monkey. He held his right arm out and Espie grabbed on in a similar fashion.
Leo lifted them up, mimicking a weightlifter, shouting, "Who's the strongman?"
"Papi strongman!" the twins shouted together.
"Who's the strongman!?"
"Papi strongman!"
"RRRRAAAAAAAA!" Leo roared and set his kids down.
All three Valdez's laughed for a good five minutes before Leo tore himself away to cook.
Thirty minutes later, all of them were eating at the dining table, munching quietly on their individual eggs 'n waffle towers. Leo's was humongous, twice the size of the twins' with over ten stories of eggs and waffles combined, while the twins' towers were just four stories. The twins had developed Leo's appetite for sure, since they were trying to inhale their towers like their Papi.
Leo's work phone rang. He leaped up and took the phone off the sofa—where he had left it the night before. "Hello," he answered, "Ultimate Repair Boy speaking! How may I help you?"
Tulio and Espie ate on while their Papi took down his client's information. They knew not to interrupt him during work. Espie flicked a crunchy bit of bacon at her brother. He retaliated with a small bit of egg white. She countered by throwing a bit of waffle at him. He shot more egg—this time part of the yolk—at her.
When Leo returned to the table his twins were smiling innocently at him, covered in various pieces of their food towers. He looked down at them and crossed his arms.
"Uh-huh," he said. "Angels, the both of ya."
The twins kept up their cheeky smiles. He picked a bit of bacon off of Espie and ate it. "Yum."
Espie threw a waffle bite at her father. He caught it in his mouth, smiling. "Nice try," he said while chewing.
After they were done eating, the twins went over to the couch to watch TV while Leo washed the dishes. He heard them scuffle around, one trying to pry the remote from the other. He sighed. Just barely two years old and they were already fighting like a married couple. He wondered if this would be easier with…
His head began to throb.
Leo shook the pain away. The twins were now shouting behind him, each fighting for the remote. He turned his head and shouted, "Oi! Sit still over there!"
"Tui started it!"
"Did not! An' no call me Tui!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did NOT!"
"TUI!"
"PAPIIIIII!"
Leo intervened there. He hated hearing Tulio whine. It hurt his ears. Leo, soap still on his hands, ran over and grabbed the remote from Esperanza. He pushed the twins apart and glowered at them.
"What did I tell you about fighting?"
The twins both pouted.
"Well?"
"No do," they finally answered together.
"Then why were you fighting?"
The twins said nothing.
"Mmm-hmm." Leo wiggled the remote in his hand and set it between them. "Share nicely."
He returned to the dishes.
A/N: Aww, look! Leo's okay after all! All the fluffs happened in this chapter, didn't they? :3 Fair warning: the actual plot is a little slow to start so fluff shall continue for a couple more chapters! :D
