Please note I am working on the newest Trials of Apollo book and I know about Jason's death and his and Piper's break up this fic IGNORES that series.
Nico di Angelo sighed as his rubbed his boyfriend's back while sucking on a mint after they had eaten lunch, "I'm sorry! I didn't know your baby doesn't like garlic!"
Will held up three fingers as a way of stating that it had been the third time his boyfriend had apologized then pointed to the sink wanting some water. Nico blinked a few times before getting the message and getting his boyfriend a glass of it.
After rinsing the sick out of his mouth Will spoke up, "We should take notes of foods that make us sick. It'll be easier to avoid them."
"Ok so, garlic for you and eggs for me," Nico said getting a note book and making notes.
"I thought you were just having morning sickness on the train that day," commented the blonde sitting beside him.
"Nope, I actually woke up feeling fine then I smelt the eggs you were having for breakfast and felt sick," replied the son of Hades making a face causing his boyfriend to laugh.
"Okay, I'll try to avoid eggs if you eat mints after you have garlic," the son of Apollo told him pulling him close.
"Deal," Nico said with a small smile.
While the two were discussing foods that made the other feel ill, Leo was sitting at a desk in his and Calypso's place working on something with great focus. The blonde Titaness got curious about what he was doing and found him working on a tiny motor, she saw plans for a pegasus and dragon themed mobile and resisted the urge to squeal. It was adorable, but she didn't want to disturb Leo and make him mess up his hard work. She decided to make him some tacos for dinner…except she had no idea how. After leaving a note for Leo in case she wasn't back before he took a break she went to Piper and Jason's room to find them both gone. She then tried Percy and Annabeth's to find the daughter of Athena wasn't there, but Piper was along with Jason who was playing a video game with Percy. She guessed the partial Native American had been watching.
"Hey…" she called, she knew she was friends with Percy, but she didn't know Piper or Jason that well yet.
"Hi Calypso, need something?" Piper asked stepping into the hall to let the boys keep playing undisturbed.
"I want to make tacos for Leo, but I have no idea how to or what I need to make them. I was hoping one of you could help me. If you're busy I understand, I guess I could try using that…inter web thing…if you're busy," Calypso told her.
"It's fine, I was honestly getting bored watching those two play Mortal Combat. Before we go shopping there are a few things I should say…first I think you mean the internet and second it depends on what kind of taco you want to make. I would suggest just cooking up some ground beef getting some tortillas, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, grill some onions, maybe some sour cream and ketchup for a sauce or guacamole," suggested Piper with a smile, "Personally I go for vegetarian options like tofu and black beans. Either way, let's go."
"Thanks a lot, Piper," the older blonde said with a smile.
Piper nodded as they walked to the grocery store after checking for the ingredients they had nearly everything except the guacamole and tortillas.
The native American demigod looked at the other girl as they walked, "So how are you adjusting to the modern world? I remember when my dad got his big start in the movies and we moved to California how scary and confusing things were. Before that we lived on a reserve, land that was put aside for my people in a little house with my grandpa. Sadly, he passed away when I was younger."
"You must miss him," the blonde said.
Piper nodded sadly, "He was an amazing grandpa…I guess it was harder for you…being all alone for so long."
"There were times I wasn't, like when heroes, Percy for example, would wash up on my beach. Leo was honestly not like anyone else who ever came to my island, not even his father! Okay maybe a little like his father."
"His dad visited you?"
"From time to time, once when Percy was there which is how he got back. He got covered in a soda he had my servants bring him," Calypso told her giggling at the memory, "He was not happy about that."
Piper giggled too as they shopped.
"Where is Annabeth?"
"Oh, she's studying with Travis and Katie. Jason and Percy can be loud when they're feeling competitive," Piper explained as they walked back, "Percy kept saying that Estelle; his little sister, played better then Jason."
"Isn't she a baby?"
"That's the joke. He has a photo of the two of them from last Halloween, she was Dory and he was Aquaman, it is utterly adorable!" cooed Piper.
"I'll have to ask to see it, maybe on the kids' first Halloween they can take a photo were the new baby is Nemo and Percy as Marlin," suggested Calypso, "Wait…who would Annabeth be then…"
Piper smiled sadly, she honestly wasn't sure how she was going to explain her and Jason's child to her father, not only were they both still teens but Jason was the one carrying it! She was honestly the only one who had this issue, the other demigods either only had their godly parents or their parents knew the truth. Sadly, due to his time being held hostage by the Giants she was worried that the origin of his grandchild would break his mind all over again.
"Something wrong?" came Calypso's voice pulling Piper out of her thoughts.
"Just…thinking about my dad and how I'm going to tell him he's going to be a grandpa but I'm not pregnant…"
Calypso didn't know what to tell her so instead changed the subject, "Come on, we have a lot to cook before dinner, and I want to try to surprise Leo. I think we have enough for everyone and we do have tofu for you."
Piper smiled knowing she and Calypso were friends now, two girls who were isolated in one way or another.
"Game time is over boys," Piper told Jason and Percy who had been joined by Will and Nico for a round of Diablo III.
"Fine with me, Nico's playing a necromancer and it's not fair!" whined Percy.
Nico stuck his tongue out at his paternal cousin (Technically speaking), "It's the class that suits me best, you're just jealous."
"You're OP!" snapped Jason causing Will to frown, he didn't like that tone.
"What?" asked the confused Italian, "What does that even mean?"
"It means "Over Powered," explained Will, "What's up ladies? Also, Jason, dude are you ok?"
"I'm fine…" Jason growled, he was honestly confused by how he was feeling.
"We're making tacos and we wanted to know if you guys wanted some," offered Calypso with a smile, "I'll go get Leo."
"I'll get the others," said Percy getting up.
Leo was luckily taking a break when she came in.
"Oh, there you are! What were you shopping for?"
"I saw what you were working on, so I thought I would make you something special for dinner…Tacos! Piper thought it might be nice to eat with everyone if that's okay.
"Calypso…" Leo said tearing up, "How did I get such an awesome girlfriend?"
"Are you okay? Jason was acting strange too…angry to be honest," she said drying his eyes.
"I'm not really sure…I'm just to happy you wanted to do something like this for me I guess cause it reminded me of when my mom and I would have tacos."
Calypso smiled, "Well I think you better come help us because I for sure have no idea what I'm doing."
The Latino followed her to Percy and Annabeth's place to find a freaked-out Percy back with a worried Katie, a slightly annoyed Annabeth and a sobbing Travis.
"What happened?" asked Leo as Katie tried to calm Travis down.
"He messed up a few questions on our homework and started saying he was stupid then crying," replied Annabeth, "I'm IM'ing Thorn, she might know why Travis is acting like this."
"Maybe ask her why Jason looks like he wants to zap someone while you're at it…" said Will pulling Nico closer, wanting to keep him safe.
Nico wouldn't say it out loud but he honestly like being cuddled like this and snuggled the son of Apollo as Annabeth made the call.
"This is the Hecate cabin, Thorn speaking," the purple haired demigod said as she answered, "Oh hey, Annabeth, what's up?"
"Some of the guys are acting weird…" Annabeth told her.
"That really doesn't tell me a thing, what do you mean by weird?"
"Travis started crying when he couldn't solve some problems and Jason seems pissed off for no real reason," the blonde replied.
On the other side of the country Thorn face palmed, "You called me over mood swings?!"
"Isn't it a bit early for those to pop up though?"
Thorn sighed, she guessed Annabeth never thought about researching pregnancy unlike herself, so she didn't know that much about what went on.
"Not in this case. Their brains have been rewired to focus on keeping the babies alive instead of rejecting them creating hormones that are normally not in a male's system. If I had to venture a guess even my stepmom would have some early set mood swings too despite having been on hormone treatments for a while. Though it's a good thing you called the culprit came forward and he has to do the dishes every night while at camp equal to the amount of time the boys are pregnant…that's four and a half YEARS and as luck would have it…he's a year round camper and he has to pay for the ingredients I need to remake the potion he wasted."
"Thorn…" Annabeth said, worry filling her tone, "Was there supposed to be enough in that bottle to knock up six people?"
"I wasn't sure how much was needed to work on a human. I tested it on rats, but I would keep an eye on the boys' health just to be safe especially Nico and Leo. Hopefully you've talked to the healers over there already."
"Yes, they are being examined once a week starting tomorrow," Annabeth told her with a sigh, "I guess you're a little glad you didn't give it to your stepmom now huh?"
"A tiny bit…" Thorn admitted, "but the adoption process is tough and my testing on rats showed that the more potion absorbed into the body the smoother the pregnancy was."
"Thanks," Annabeth told her before ending the call.
"If I say you're OP then you're freaking OP di Angelo!" she heard from the living room.
Rushing back, she saw the others staying far away from a sparking Jason Grace and cursed in Greek.
"You're OP in real life, Grace!" Nico who had shadows coming off him snapped right back.
The boys were shaking, and Percy was starting to cry! She had to get them to calm down!
"Piper! Charm speak them into calming down! Their hormones are going crazy!" Annabeth called to the daughter of Aphrodite.
Piper nodded and said in her most commanding but kind voice, "Take a deep breath guys and calm down…"
Everyone in the room did as she said before she shot forward to catch a collapsing Jason, while Nico fell backwards into Will's arms.
"Shit!" Annabeth cried calling the local healer/doctor telling them to come quick since she wasn't sure the two boys would be ok.
…
When Jason awoke he found himself in a hospital bed with several machines hooked up to him. He sat up rubbing his head just as Piper walked in.
"Oh good! You're up!" she said before swatting him upside the head, "You scared me you idiot! Are you trying to shorten my life?"
"Sorry Pipes…I don't know what got into me," he admitted, "Is the baby ok? What happened to Nico?"
"The baby fine, you just wore yourself out making those sparks same with Nico expect it was his shadows that drained him. And what got into you two, into all of you honestly is hormones that normally aren't in your systems."
The blonde sighed, "I'm sorry…I must have scared you guys…"
Piper smirked a little, "You made Percy cry."
"Aw man!" he groaned making his girlfriend laugh.
"Since you and Nico were already here they did your exams, both of you and the babies are doing fine," she told him with a smile.
He took her hand, "Sorry I scared you."
Piper rubbed the back of his hand lovingly, knowing he didn't mean to, "You boys are not allowed to play Diablo III while pregnant."
"It's not my fault the Necromancer is OP," he said pouting.
"We all agreed that it was causing you guys stress. Therefore, we're taking it away."
Nico was in his own room, once again being fussed over by Will who seemed to be upset for some reason.
"Will, calm down, we're fine," Nico assured his boyfriend, petting his hair, "You're getting the blankets wet…"
The son of Apollo sniffed, "It's hormones… our bodies are adjusting to the overwhelming amount of them causing us to be moody."
"I guess that's why Jason and I exploded…"
Will nodded, "The girls took the game away figuring if you and Jason didn't have it to fight about you two would stay calmer."
Nico nodded handing him a box of tissues, "Now clean yourself up, please?"
Will nodded drying his eyes and blowing his nose. Percy, meanwhile, was watching his girlfriend go through all the video games they had checking for games that could cause stress and making up rules for playing them.
"Should we keep the Batman Arkham games or put them with Diablo?" she asked him.
Percy looked up, "I think limited play will work, like an hour a day for the series."
Annabeth nodded, "I think one hour a day of video games is good in general."
Percy groaned because he liked video games and wasn't keen of giving it up but knew it wasn't a good idea to fight her on this.
"There are plenty of books that are in Ancient Greek at the library and the book stores. I got a few on pregnancy and childcare you can read and yes, I found comic books in Greek too, I know how much you like to read about Aquaman. I still prefer Batman and the Question," she told him smiling.
Percy smiled back, "Thanks, Annabeth."
Annabeth kissed him, she was honestly nervous about becoming a mother, but she loved Percy and the baby. She had told her family over Skype using her laptop. Her father and stepmother had been surprised by the news but assured her they would be more than happy to provide anything they needed for the coming baby. She was honestly glad for the support and that no matter what happened her family was there for her.
"I wonder what the baby will be…" Percy thought out loud, "What do you want it to be?"
"Healthy and happy," Annabeth told him, sitting beside him on their sofa.
Percy nodded, that was what he wanted to. He could honestly see himself teaching their little girl or boy how to swim and watching him or her build block towers with his girlfriend. He also hoped the other children were born the same…
"What materials are you planning to use for the Dragons and Pegasi?" Calypso asked Leo as he tested the music box of the mobile.
"Good question… I was thinking metal but then there might be sharp edges or glare. Then I thought about plastic or plush, but I don't know how to sew or how to make plastic statues."
"I can sew, I just need the materials and patterns and I can make them," she told him with a smile.
Leo grinned, "Awesome! The baby will love it!"
Travis groaned resting his head on the book he was trying to study, "Katie…does pregnancy kill brain cells? Because I feel like I'm getting dumber."
His girlfriend sat beside him and pulled him close, "Maybe you should take the year off…You don't need the stress. I think the others are doing that too. You can study when you feel up to it."
"Good point!" the son of Hermes said shutting the book.
Katie smiled, knowing he felt much better, "No matter what happens we'll get through it together."
He smiled back up at her, "You're right Kitty Kat."
TBC