A/N: This story is going to become a collection of one-shots, so be sure to leave me a review with any ideas, or just a little happy face. ~M

Percy clapped his co-captain Austin on the back on his way out the locker room door, shouting to all of them.

"Get a good night's sleep, we have a game tomorrow! 8:30! Don't be late!" He ignored the jibes that the rest of the swim team called back to him, instead opting to hop into this car and get home as soon as possible. He knew Annabeth would be there with his Mom and Paul, probably waiting for him to start dinner. She'd stayed after until 4, but now it was almost 7, so she would be done with her homework, so probably bored and waiting for him. Or so he enjoyed telling himself. She was probably hanging out with his mom. Was it odd that his girlfriend hung out with him mother? But it was more than that; they'd bonded when he'd disappeared, the people who cared about him the most in the world.

He jammed out in late rush hour traffic to Blink 182, using the steering wheel as a drum, which in retrospect probably wasn't the best idea. He got back to the building and raced into the elevator and hit the button for their floor, jittering with excitement. He knew it was just a general Tuesday, with nothing too special to look forward to, but since Tartarus, his outlook on life had taken a complete 180. He loved to see the sun and stars, and the people he loved. His worries paled in comparison to survival, and as a result he was almost always smiling. They'd realized just how incredible human existence is, and how lucky they were to be able to smile, and they took full advantage.

He practically ran down the hall to the apartment, where he fumbled with his key, finally pushing the door open. He expected to see then in the kitchen, finishing making dinner, or cleaning up from dinner if they ate without him. Instead he saw the house empty, so he went into his room and threw his bag on the floor, sitting down on his bed with a sign. Just before he was about to get upset that nobody was home, he heard giggling. Specifically Annabeth giggling, which was an uncommon occurrence.

He walked into her room, where the door was shut and found his mother, Paul and Annabeth sitting in a circle on her double bed. Annabeth turned to face him with a slightly too-big smile, which naturally made him a bit nervous.

"What's up?" He asked awkwardly, running a hand through his hair, which his mother absolutely hated. It was just a nervous habit, which was apparently very attractive to the Aphrodite cabin according to Annabeth. But his Mom's concern lied elsewhere. It messed up his already insane hair, making it from a disaster, to the tornado itself. It was so far beyond a cowlick, it was more like a trimmed mop, which never looked the same two days in a row.

"We've been looking at baby pictures," Annabeth said with a smile. Percy cringed and groaned.

"Please… No…" His shoulders slumped and he hung his head. He knew she'd seen every single embarrassing baby picture that there was. Or she would. Either way, the results were positively devastating.

"Come on, they're not that bad. At the very least, no worse than the baby stories that we were told on the car ride up to get the Di Angelos." She smiled again, but there was more teasing and vindication than actual concern for his delicate emotions.

Percy sighed and sat down on her bed, pulling a granola bar out of the stash he knew she kept in the drawer next to her bed. He crammed half of it into his mouth in one bite, realizing how intensely hungry he was. His Mom looked horrified, but Annabeth just smiled and scooted over to give him a bit more space to sit crisscross applesauce next to her. The four of them on her bed was a bit of a squeeze, but they fi pretty comfortable if they just disregarded each other's personal space, which seemed to be the new normal in this house. Annabeth was lying face down on her bed, resting her chin on Percy's knee, while Sally was sitting with her knees off to her side, so her feet were under Percy's leg and Paul's knee was on her's. But other than that, it was perfectly comfortable.

The really uncomfortable part was the page that was open inform of them. The little boy in the picture must have been about three, with dark hair and bright green eyes that would send any babysitter running. The prominent part was the brownie batter that was smeared not only around his smiling mouth, but also in his hair and on the t-shirt that he wore. The brown gunk in no way seemed to impair the way he smiled at the camera, which was held by his mother.

The picture below this one was possibly worse. It was around the same age, but it was at Montauk. He was in swim trunks with his hair full of sane, but the worst was yet to come. He had a positively horrified expression, the one kids make right before they scream. He had his hand on the corner of his mouth trying to wipe the sand out of it, which he'd put in hoping it would taste good.

The one next to that one was less awful, and to be honest, pretty cute. It was a picture of him and his mom at the zoo. He was being held, with a stroller right next to them. Percy was holding a toy dolphin in his hand, holding it out to the person holding the camera. With a start he realized that his mother looked noticeably younger in the picture. Her hair was all brown, lacking its silver streaks, and her face had less smile lines. Percy looked to him mother, and smiled, seeing that her smile had yet to be touched by the years. Her face had too many frown lines, most from him, but it also had a fair amount of smile lines. People can have a lot of sadness inside of them, and go through even more, but this in no way stops that person from smiling. In fact, it gives them a reason to smile. They've seen the worst, and now they're seeing the better. He hoped he could hide the sadness in his face as he got older, but he knew it had already made a home in his eyes.

The last picture was the worst, and he almost left the room. It was him, when he was about a year old, and naturally he was in the bathtub. Why parents feel the need to take these pictures was far beyond him. He promised himself that if he should have kids, which he hoped he would, he would never take pictures of them in the bathtub. It's just cruel. He had soap all in his hair, and was smiling a gap toothed smile. He would have been cute, had he not been totally naked and chewing on a washcloth. The bar of soap was in midair, and he had a slight look of horror in his eyes but his smile still reflected the joy that the soap was flying. Had he not been sitting next to Annabeth, he would have been fine, but now his cheeks were bright red and he was refusing to meet her eyes, even though he knew she was glancing at him.

He finally stood up after him mother shut the book and glanced at him. He broke into a smile when Annabeth stepped under his arm and threw an arm around his waist. He smiled down at her, and saw nothing but adoring love in her matching smile. He knew she enjoyed seeing him when he was a little kid, like she was seeing him before everything changed, back when he was still happy and carefree. What he couldn't know was she could still see this wide-eyed little boy when Percy was asleep, or when he was swimming in the ocean.

"You were totally adorable," Annabeth said as they walked down the hall next to each other. Percy nodded in agreement.

"What happened?" Paul called from the end of the hall, hand in hand with Sally. Percy just shot a mock offended look over his shoulder, but he couldn't keep his smile gone for long. Annabeth stood on her toes once they'd reached the end of the hall and put her lips close to his ear.

"You got strong,"

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! My schedule is freeing up now (relatively speaking) so I'm hoping to update more often. I've decided to turn this story into a collection of one-shots, so leave me a review or PM me with any ideas for cute little chapters I can put up. Leave a review! Muchas Gracias my Lovelies!~M