"What?" Percy turned back to Beckendorf, his mouth gaping in disbelief, "N-no... Mom would have told me-" he lost his voice and just swallowed thickly, staring down at Phillip, who just stared back, his eyes glistening with adoration for this man he had been told was his big brother, and hope that he would be accepted by him despite his disability. At the look in those baby blue puppy dog eyes, Percy softened, and knelt down again, "You are cute though," he ruffled the boy's brown locks, earning a giggle and a lopsided smile.
"Big Brother?" Phillip asked hopefully, wrapping one small hand around Percy's wrist of the hand that was still in his hair.
"Yeah, Little Dude, I'm your big brother," Percy reassured him with a grin.
Phillip's eyes became wet with happy tears, and despite the lack of control in his legs, he launched himself into Percy's arms, sobbing and kissing his cheek over and over.
"I found you, I found you," Percy heard amidst the tears, and bent his own head onto Phillip's shoulder, holding him tight.
That night, after Percy had been told that Phillip was now his priority, and therefore he would be in the Hephaestus cabin from now on, Percy was tucking Phillip into his special single bunk.
"Are you sure you don't have to go to the bathroom again?" he asked cautiously. He had been informed that Phillip had little control of his bladder and bowels at night, so they had started a routine at night just for this purpose.
Phillip looked thoughtful, and then smiled his lopsided smile, "No. But I don't wanna sleep, Percy. I'll miss you."
Percy smiled, "I'll be right here when you wake up in the morning. Then we'll go swimming!"
"Yay!" Phillip squealed, his tone kicking in.
"Shh, shh," Percy laughed as he brought a finger to his own lips, "Time to go to sleep now, Little Dude."
Phillip giggled at the nickname, and then turned over with Percy's help and fell to sleep. Only after he was sure his charge was comfortable did Percy change into his own sleepwear and lay down on his new cot. But it was only after a prayer for guidance to his father that he felt at peace enough to follow his new little brother into dreamland.