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Disclaimer: I *sniff* do not own PJO or HoO, or anything else. Rick Riordan does.
Chapter one:
Sally sat in the kitchen the next morning, sipping softly from a cup of coffee. Wisps of smoke rose from the drink, and she blew gently to cool it down. Paul sat in the seat next to hers, reading the newspaper, while drinking from a glass of milk, with dribbles of chocolate in it. There wasn't enough for chocolate milk, but enough so it had a ting of chocolate
Percy stumbled in, hair messy and wild. His clothes were wrinkled, as if he spent the night tossing and turning. He sat next to her, and nodded groggily at her. She smiled at the sight of him, and wanted to touch him to make sure he was real, and sitting in front of him. But she didn't.
"Morning, Mom." He grumbled tiredly, and she was slightly surprised to see him up so early, and so like himself before he left. She had been prepared for the worst.
"Hey, Percy." She responded as Paul looked up from the newspaper, and winked at Percy.
"Hey, Mom?" Percy began uncertainly. "Uh, I was wondering if, uh," he scratched the back of his neck self-consciously. "The other could stay for Christmas? I understand if they can't, it's just that they have no where else to go, since most of them have parents who are, uh, gone. I know you weren't expecting a whole house full of demigods for Christmas, but they've gone through so much, and haven't celebrated Christmas in a while, so I thought they could use the break."
Sally blinked in surprised at his little speech, then smiled. "Of course, they're welcomed to stay. Paul, are you okay with that?"
Paul nodded, then continued reading. "Of course, why wouldn't I? They're wonderful children, well, teens."
"Thanks, Mom, Paul." Percy smiled. "That means a lot to them." Sally smiled back.
"Are they asleep?" Paul asked. The boys had gotten the living room after they had placed all the boxes back into the closet. The girls had gotten Percy's room, after Sally forced him to clean it up, both to his objection.
Percy nodded. "Yeah, Frank snores like a pig. Leo isn't much better, and surprisingly, Jason is silent."
Sally rolled her eyes. "Boys."
"Hey!" Percy and Paul both exclaimed in unison. She raised her hands in surrender.
A couple of minutes later, the four girls walked in, eyes half-closed, hair a tangled mess, followed by Nico and Frank. Jason and Leo must still be asleep, Percy thought to himself.
"Hope we're not interrupting anything," Hazel smiled apologetically. Paul noticed how innocent she acted, and seemed, and it all seemed genuine.
"Of course not!" Paul stood up and stretched his arms. "Excuse me while I take a shower, and get ready. I have a feeling we're going to have a large line."
He left the kitchen that had become seemingly crowded in a matter of minutes. Annabeth sat on Percy's lap, and he leaned his chin on her shoulder. Sally smiled at the two, and how happy they were for someone who had fell into hell.
Frank and Hazel shared a chair, hip to hip, while Nico sat in Paul's seat. Since it was a four-person table, Thalia stood leaning on the wall next to Piper.
"Leo and Jason still sleeping?" Percy asked. Piper nodded.
"Yeah, those big lug heads." Piper rolled her eyes as she spoke. Everyone else barely heard over tired ears.
"Did everyone sleep good?" Sally asked. Everyone nodded in conferment.
"The best I've had in a while," Frank admitted to her, stretching his arms behind his head. "Thank you."
"Your welcome," Sally's eyes gleamed. "Percy has a question he would like to ask all of you when everybody's awake."
"Mom," Percy groaned.
"Your idea," Sally said, shrugging as the words left her mouth.
"Okay, I was wondering if . . . Everyone wanted to spend Christmas with me and my family?" Percy asked hopefully.
"I will," Frank said, looking at Sally. "If that's okay with you, Mrs. Jackson, er, Sally."
Sally nodded. "Of course."
"I will!" Hazel exclaimed, the same time as Thalia and Piper. They all grinned at each other.
"Seaweed Brain's stuck with me, anyways." Annabeth grinned as she leaned in for a kiss. Immediately, Frank and Nico leaned back. Boys, Sally thought.
"Well, duh, Wise Girl." Percy grinned at Annabeth. She rolled her grey eye at the comment.
"I don't know, guys . . ." Nico trailed off, and shuffled his sock-covered feet. "My dad may need me, or . . ."
"Death boy," Thalia snapped. "You're in, whether or not you dad agrees. Do you understand?"
Under her terrifying gaze, Nico nodded frantically, gulping as he did. Thalia grinned, and leaned back.
"Well, that's settled!" Sally clapped. "But, you guys are helping unpack and decorate for Christmas."
As she walked away, she grinned at the sound of them groaning.
Soft Christmas music filled the background as the girls cooked inside the kitchen. The boys were in the living room unpacking, and teasing and chattering. The girls were busy cooking cookies, each wearing a Santa hat, the color matching their parents'. Nico's hat was a pitch black, while Hazel's was a gold color. Frank's was red, and Annabeth's was a light grey. Thalia's was an electric blue that matched her eyes.
"This reminds me when my mom and I cooked food together," Hazel said wistfully as she rolled some chocolate chip cookie dough into cookie shapes. Piper, who was working next to her nodded in agreement.
"My dad and I used to make Black Bean soup for dinner, and we would celebrate Christmas with my Grandpa." Piper said. Hearing the two girls talk about they're Christmas's made Sally smile sadly as stirred the dough.
It was later that day, exactly twelve days from Christmas, and they were cooking for the dinner they had planned for Christmas eve, and day.
Thalia stiffened as she felt a glob of dough hit the back of her head, and ,eyes narrowed, whipped around to see Annabeth whistling suspiciously to herself. Hazel and Piper looked like they were holding back laughs, and even Sally was smiling. A mischievous look came across Thalia's face, and she reached in the bowl that contained M&M cookie dough. Grabbing a handful, she chucked it across the room, hitting Annabeth right in between her eyes. Hazel and Piper cracked up, but soon received a glob of dough in their hair. Both glared at Thalia as she tossed another ball of dough in her hand.
"Piper, Hazel, to my side!" Annabeth cried as they launched a full-on war with dough. Sally laughed in glee, until a glob hit her in the side of the face. Turning, she saw Piper laughing at her.
"Oh, it's on," Sally promised, then joined allies with Thalia. They were so caught up in their little battle they didn't see they boys peak in, and snap a few pictures. Then they decided to video tape the whole thing.
Thalia laughed as Annabeth slipped and fell into a puddle of cookie dough, her grey eyes wide. Gritting her teeth, Annabeth scooped it up, and flung it at Thalia, who caught it with ease, and shove it at Hazel. Hazel glared at the girl, and Piper rushed to her help. Piper shoved a handful into Thalia's mouth, and the girl went down.
"Victory!" Hazel and Piper laughed, and danced. Then they all turned to Sally, who was frozen, arms full of dough. Smiling sheepishly, she grabbed a white towel and waved it over her head. She did not want to mess with them.
"Bravo, ladies, bravo!" Leo clapped as he cheered. "That had to be the best fight since, I don't know, ever?"
"Plus, we have blackmail!" Percy added, waving the camera around. The others laughed at them.
"BTW, you are so cleaning this up!" Paul said with glee.
"We'll see you in a few days!" Jason added.
"Who knows, you may be done in time for Christmas!" Frank shrugged. The girls looked around the kitchen, and their jaws dropped. They all moaned.
"Have fun!" The boys called as the exited the room.
Alright, that's it. Please read and review! Thanks!
