B is for Benjamin
When Annabeth takes the pregnancy test, she does not really expect to be pregnant. Yes, her period was late, but it was more of a reassurance that she could continue to live her life normally.
So when Annabeth sets it on the table in the bathroom and realises it is raining while the clothes are drying outside, she forgets about the pregnancy test and hurries to get the clothes inside.
When Percy comes home from work, Annabeth is sitting on the couch, watching one of the many TV shows she loves.
Annabeth looks up as the door opens and pauses the TV to jump up and give Percy a long kiss. "How was work?" she asks, and he tells her, with a lot of enthusiasm, about his day.
They eat dinner, watch a little more TV together and cuddle. Annabeth is falling asleep on the couch when Percy gets up to go to the bathroom. He comes back, his face white, holding a little white stick in his hand.
"Annabeth…" something in Percy's voice makes Annabeth look directly at him.
"Yes?"
Wordlessly, Percy sits down next to her and hands her the pregnancy test she had forgotten about earlier. Annabeth sees two little red lines. She is pregnant.
Annabeth refuses to let Percy treat her any differently. "I'm pregnant, not dying," she tells him. She feels fine— no morning sickness, and continues to work as an architect from home. But inside, she feels excited— there is a whole little person growing inside her.
Percy immediately goes and calls Sally. Annabeth talks to Sally on the phone, who asks how she is feeling. Annabeth starts crying, and after hours of conversation on the phone, Annabeth and Percy hang up the phone and go to bed.
After a month or so, she decides to take a break from work. Every morning, Percy holds her hair back from her face as she pukes into the toilet. She only reassures him twenty times that this is normal, and also manages to persuade him to go to work.
Annabeth goes to the doctor to have check-ups to see if everything is going normally in her third month. Percy sits next to her, holds her hand and listens so intently to everything the doctor says that Annabeth has to laugh.
In Annabeth's fourth month, Annabeth and Percy decide to move into a larger apartment so they can give their child its own room. There is plenty of extra space 'for another one', Percy tells Annabeth with a wink.
In Annabeth's fifth month, they move into their apartment, and begin planning their lives out according to the newest unborn member of their family. Rachel Elizabeth Dare helps her two best friends by painting the baby's room with an aqua theme, the walls looking like clear blue waters.
Annabeth goes baby-clothes shopping, and at Percy's request, buys mostly blue clothes. They have decided not to find out if it will be a girl or a boy, but according to Percy, 'blue clothes can never hurt'.
In the last two months before Annabeth is scheduled to give birth, Percy is so kind and caring towards her. He makes her breakfast in bed, does some of the housework and even tries to iron their clothes. He is horrible at ironing, but Annabeth smiles, tells him she loves him and tells him to wash the dishes instead.
Annabeth is standing in the kitchen early in the morning, getting herself a glass of water to drink in the morning. Her stomach had been hurting, but they were only mild cramps. Suddenly she gasps and calls for Percy, who comes running in his pyjamas and messy hair, a worried look on his face. "My water broke," she tells him.
Percy wants to rush to the hospital immediately, but Annabeth convinces him to let her get in bed and sleep for a couple more hours.
After 8 in the morning, Percy takes Annabeth to the hospital and calls all of his and Annabeth's friends. At 1:23 p.m, Annabeth gives birth to a healthy baby boy.
Percy stands there in shock, watching as the nurse wraps the tiny little baby—his baby— in a towel and hands him to his father. Percy takes the little boy, his hands trembling and goes over to Annabeth, who is utterly exhausted, but the way her eyes light up when he holds the bundle in front of her, he will never forget.
"Annabeth," he says, his voicing catching a little, "he's absolutely perfect."
Tears form in Annabeth's eyes as she strokes his little arm, his tiny hand clenched into a fist. "Yes he is," she whispered.
"His name is Benjamin," she told him and Percy could not have agreed more.